Pakalolos Organics For The Win

 
I have a FujiFilm FinePix S8200. I don't know much about cameras.

 

 
It's the first time I've used HPS lights. I'll play around with it this weekend. Thanks for the information.

 

I got my last 2 seed mother harvested. I didn't get a many seeds from these mothers because they came into flower later than the first 2 ladies. I'm keeping the buds off of the Goblin Queen. I tested the quality and it is there. I'll find more seeds as I smoke my way through the buds. I'm not sure about the quality of Mazar-I-Shariff x Guerrero. I tried a bit of it and it didn't reach my keeper threshold. I try it again in the morning and make up my mind whether to keep it or make IWE hash out of it.
 

 

 

 
I'm running 2 1000W MH lights in a 4x6' space. I notice that the girls just accelerate their growth under those lights.

 

 
I have each of those 1000W MH on a separate 120V 20 amp circuit. In my new flower area I'm running 2 1000W HPS on a 240V 30 amp circuit. I run my fans on separate 120V 15 amp circuits. I'm bringing 3 more 120V 20 amp circuit into my cellar. You can never be too careful not to overload your electrical wiring.

 

 
If I didn't acquire 2 more MMJ card holders into my collective I won't have bothered to build out the new flower area. I can't smoke up what I grew in my original flower area. I ended up giving much of it away when I got down to harvesting my outdoor girls because I didn't know if I would be going over the allowed limits of 24 ounces. It turns out I didn't so I could have kept some of it but not all of it from the last harvest.
 
I do like my new setup though. I'm still waiting on my nephew to come over and do the panel work for the new 120V circuits. I don't do the panel work even though I think I could. As a fireman I went on some house fires that were caused by problems in the panels.
 
What I'm liking about my new setup is that I get to veg my teenagers until they are at the right height to flip. I've been moving them into one of the 2 new 4x4' flower areas when they are ready. That way each individual plant is turned when it is done with the veg cycle rather than having to turn all 6 of them because one is too tall.

 

I've got some ladies that are into their seventh week in my new flower area. Considering I don't have any fans they seem to be holding up quite well. I only need a couple more weeks for them to finish.
 
Nocturnal

 
She is one of my girls from seeds. I haven't grown Nocturnal before so I'm not sure what to expect. I'm hoping for a little more filling out of the buds.
 
Ravnus

 
I really like the looks of this lady. She has nice structure and fat buds. I just need this lady to met my quality criteria and she'll be part of my stable.
 
3M

 
This lady is worth getting to know. She was breed from my Eminem male to Mildred. This is the first girl that I've gotten from seeds that I created with those old school males. She definitely has a sativa look to her. I think it gives a hint to what I might find in those seeds I breed this summer. I'm looking forward to sampling her. She may take longer than a couple of more weeks to mature.
 
Goblin Queen seedling

 
This is the daughter to my seed mother from this summer. I really like the mother. She had lots of fat, tight buds and the quality was borderline. She is 2 weeks behind (into week 5) the other 3 ladies but she doesn't look like it. Her mother was the one I got 1000s of seeds from because she was the first to start flowering. I'm pretty sure she will be a keeper. I'm thinking she might even be a better yielder than my Goblin Queen clone.
 
I'm eager for the next few weeks to pass so I can harvest these ladies.

 

 
I need to work on the color. I'll eventually get a clear representation of what I see with my eyes.
 
The Nocturnal got a little too close to my HPS bulb and it caused some heat burning. She is also pushing the limits of my ceiling space and I've had to tie her down a little. She isn't stretching anymore so I think she is going to be okay. I must confuse that I haven't taken the best care of these ladies. Shoving them into an unfinished grow area without any air circulation isn't how I like to grow my plants. Sometimes you have to do and use what is available at the time. If I decide to keep any of these they will be treated better the next run.
 

 
I can't disagree with your observation about growing them all. I have to be a little more discerning about what I keep because I don't have a lot of space. My teenage area is 3x4' and my original flower area is 4x6'. With these two new flower areas I have are both 4x4'. This will allow me to grow 14 plants. Now I know that many here in the city would be ecstatic to be able to grow 14 plants. Actually I'm ecstatic to be able to do this. My problems is I have some of the best genetics I have been privileged to grow in the last 20 years in my cellar. I've tossed some plants that would be good quality marijuana because I've got better. These are all good problems to have.
 
Thanks for your complement because I really appreciate it. I've said this before that I just mix up the soil and pay attention to the micro-herd and LITFA. Learning from those who have gone before me and shared their experiences and knowledge has made it all possible. I've understood this plant for years but switching to living organic soil and coming to know the soil food web has really upped my growing ability. My only regret is I didn't come to this sooner.

 

I've got my camera figured out so here are much better pictures of my buds.
 
Ravnus

 
Nocturnal

 
3M

 
Goblin Queen seedling

 
I really haven't taken very good care of these because they were seedlings and I have no idea of the quality. I didn't have room for them and I didn't transplant them into bigger pots in my normal way. They were root bound and I let them get too close to the lights and they got burnt.
 
Other than that they are in pretty good shape. It goes to show with a good soil mix you can get pretty lazy and still be successful.

 

Over in the lounge I read a post by Possuum relating the experiences he has had over the last 4 years at GC. This is the start of my second year since switching to using my own mixed soil. It was October 26, 2013 that I mixed up my first batch of soil using this recipe.
 
I created the base with 2 cubic feet of Pro Mix, 1/2 cubic foot of grass (the lawn type) compost and 1/2 cubic foot of EWC. To this I added 1/2 cup each of kelp meal, alfalfa meal, crab meal, azomite, organic fertilizer and neem seed meal.

 
It was also at this time I had popped those 2 seeds from my old grow buddy that had been frozen since the early 70's. Those seeds both turned out to be males, Eminem and MTV. I still have them in my cellar.
 
My next soil mix was on November 1, 2013 and I modified the recipe to this.
 
Base soil:
50% was peat moss
15% compost
15% EWC
20% rice hulls

Amendments
6 cups glacier rock dust
1 cup each: kelp meal, crab meal, neem seed meal, organic fertilizer, alfalfa meal and azomite

moisten with kelp/alfalfa tea
 
It was around this time that I was building my outdoor compost pile that I got so much benefit from.
 
I had been growing in my cellar for the last 19 years using ProMix and bottled nutrients. The plants were okay but they didn't yield much. Lots of yellow leaves towards the end of the flower cycle too.
 

 
It was also at this time I got some dispensary clones and ended up with a spider mites and powdery mildew infestation.
 
By December 24, 2013 I had modified yet again my soil recipe.
 
Here is the recipe I used for my base mix:
 
Peat moss                 15 gallons (2 cubic feet)
EWC/Compost             9 gallons ( about 1 1/2 cubic feet)
Rice hulls/Pumice        6 gallons (about 1 cubic feet)
 
For amendments I used 2 cups of each for a total of 12 cups (3 cups / cubic foot)
 
Kelp meal
Neem seed meal
Organic fertilizer
Crab meal
Azomite
Alfalfa meal
 
Finally I added 12 cups of rock dust.
 
November 30, 2013 I started my NPA spraying using this recipe.
 
1 teaspoon of neem oil
1 teaspoon of ProTeKt
 
Emusify these together and it will look like this
 

 
I poured this into a spray bottle and filled it almost to the quart level mark with warm water. Here are the ingredients.
 

 
I shook this all up and finished it off with 2 tablespoons of aloe vera juice. Shook that up to get it all mixed.
 
Around January 12, 2014 I was experiencing a full blown attack of PM on most of my ladies.
 

 
My soils were doing well though and when I dropped on some oatmeal the mycelium was quick to sprout.
 

 
It was in late February that I started to rethink my soil recipe. This is when I thought of my base soil mix of being equal parts of Canadian sphagnum peat moss, EWC/compost and aeration. The base soil mix needed amendments and minerals. I decided to experiment with a mineral mix that I'm still using.
 
6 parts basalt
3 parts granite rock dust
1 part  oyster shell flour
1 part  gypsum
1 part  bentonite
1 part  soft rock phosphate
 
In mid April I had settled on my final soil recipe. This decision was based on posts I had read and books and articles that were relevant to mixing soils.
 
Base soil mix:
 
10 gallons of Canadian sphagnum peat moss
10 gallons of my own EWC/compost
  8 gallons of pumice
  2 gallons of biochar
 
Amendments 2 cups each
 
Kelp meal
Alfalfa meal
Neem seed meal
Fish bone meal
Crab meal
 
Mineral mix I used 16 cups of the following recipe
 
6 parts basalt
3 part glacial rock dust
1 part soft rock phosphorous
1 part bentonite
1 part gypsum
1 part oyster shell flour
 
I always moisten my soil mixes with an ACT
 
I would never of been able to end up with this if it wasn't for everyone who has posted about their experiences and shared their knowledge here at Grass City.