I know that you can grow using only water with your dirt. However, what is the largest crop you have got (based on m/2) using just water? When I did it, I got no more than 3 ounces. And, since the point of this thread is to get as much cannabis from your yield, for the smallest amount of money... I will use the nutrient. ' That being said, perhaps you could do a thread showing a water-only grow. I'm sure there are quite a few who would be interested.
My indoor grow is limited because I can't get the head room in my cellar. The ceiling is only about 7' tall and with the hoods I've only got about 4 1/2 feet of growth height. I don't mean to despair your grow journal. Of course, my yields are good for a plant that is only 4 1/2 feet tall (including the pots their sitting in). I don't have scales because I'm not in the commercial side of things. But one plant usually fills up my gallon hermetically sealed glass jars. So that is probably 4-6 ounces but I'm guessing at the weight. I've grown with GH and other brands of bottled nutrients in ProMix for over 30 years. I never got as good as yields that organic soil is giving me. As far as cheaper I will admit that my initial outlay of funds for creating organic soils was somewhere between $100-150. But I still have much of the materials and I've mixed up about 18 cubic feet of soil. I also have a good and reasonably priced source for all my materials at KIS Farms. So I'm on my third run of organic grows and spent $100-150. I'll be able to use this soil for many more runs without putting out any more cash. It is turning out to be cheaper over the long run than bottled nutrients. At least that is my experience from growing this herb for over 30 years. I wish I had discovered organic growing years ago. But I'm an old dog that can learn new tricks. I apologize if I have over stepped my bounds on your grow journal. If you're happy with your results then I'm in total support with you. My only comment is organic bottled nutrients are not growing the herb in living organic soil no matter how much the GH marketing department claims it is. True that carbon in chemistry equates to organic chemistry but that doesn't equal living organic soil. If you're interested in the soil food web then you might check out the book 'Teaming With Microbes' from your local library. That helped me get a better understanding of the relationship between the soil and the plant.
Actually that is the chemistry definition of organic (one of them). In agriculture and horticulture, 'organic' has a very different definition. But I have a feeling you already knew that...... According to the USDA National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), organic agriculture is defined as "an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, or enhance ecological harmony. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people." I hope Jerry responds here, because I know he's gotten over 9oz on some of his organic, water-only plants. A very admirable goal indeed, certainly one of the goals of every organic grower on GC. How much is GH's nutrient line retailing for these days? And you didn't describe your soil, did you build it yourself, or buy it? I think you would enjoy reading around the GC Organics section...... it is definitely the cheapest way to grow. Pakalolo does have a thread showing his water-only grow..... http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1285821-pakalolos-organics-win.html
I'm sorry you got so offended by people calling you out on this not being an organic grow. All everyone was trying to do is educate you a little bit. No need to get butt hurt and get an attitude. A quick PM to a section mod will fix the title and correct any of the organic questions being brought up. Trust me, these few are NOT the only people that are going to question your 'organic' growing. TwB
The room in your cellar (height) can be mitigated by doing a SCrog Of Green. It will only cost you between $3-$12 depending on whether you do your screen with string or rabbit-fencing (about$6). As for the Organic grows, I have also gotten very good results from pure organic grows. My wife had me add potato peels, egg shells, and coffee grounds to an pure organic grow last summer, and the results were about 12% better than without - however, I did grow Northern Lights in that grow, and Marvel Kush without; and Kush's are notorious low yielders. As for your post - Of course you didn't step over your bounds - there is no "limits" to asking questions in this thread. Not that I'll always be able to give you an adequate answer. Thanks for the post.
Also, peace right back at you bro. I hope that what you take away from the last couple posts is that true organic growing is the by far the cheapest, healthiest way to grow, and that it may help maximize yields for many people, once it is dialed in. We'd love to see more of you and your garden in the Organics section man!
When I finish with this thread, and this grow - I will do a pure organic grow of the same scale, with all the same stats kept. I will also use all the same strains so that we can see once and for all which one has the best cost-to-yield ratio! I wish I had a few more rooms to start it now, as I really like the idea of this experiment.
Thanks for not taking my opinions negatively. I usually try not to engage in those types of discussions. By the way, your babies look great. It has been my experience that using bottled nutrients has some yellowing of the leaves and more pest issues after about the 3-4 week in flower. This I'm not seeing with organic soil. Like I said I've been doing since the early 70's. That's me in the back in 1972 View attachment 127145 By the way that is my old grow buddies field. Like I said I was never in the commercial side of things but I did help harvest. So you can get results using bottled nutrients but in the long run it isn't the cheapest way to go. But I've only come out of my cellar in the last 6 months or so and I'm surprised at what is common knowledge for growing the herb here in the forums. I obviously never learned to grow like many describe here. If it works for you and you're happy with your results then don't listen to what others have to say. I've gone over to organic soils and I'm never going back to bottled nutrients. My results are better by far with organics. That is from my experience. Yours may be different. I'm sending you good vibes on a successful grow that yields large amounts of the herb.
Thanks, I also am not in the habit of having negative discussions on a forum. Makes no sense to me. Anyway, thanks for the info. I'm always willing to try different things. I do use "Organic Soil" in my grows, along with top-soil and sand. The organic soil is purchased from Lowes. Thanks for the good vibes, I appreciate it. Here are a couple update photos, just taken 30 minutes ago: These are the Pineapple Chunk. They have been flowering for almost 21 days. They are are about 3ft in height. These are the other ten that were just put in the flower room 36 hours ago: An up-close pic of the front-sitting "Critical".
I'm going to sub up on this journal if you don't mind. FYI, I don't consider Lowe's as a place to get anything organic in the same terms as I use it. Here is the recipe I'm using for my soil mixes: http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/1285821-pakalolos-organics-win.html?p=19878607
"Penny wise, on 23 Apr 2014 - 1:31 PM, said: I know that you can grow using only water with your dirt. However, what is the largest crop you have got (based on m/2) using just water? When I did it, I got no more than 3 ounces. I hope Jerry responds here, because I know he's gotten over 9oz on some of his organic, water-only plants." Pennywise, I sincerely apologize - the very last thing I meant to do was to derail your thread. This was not my intention and again, sorry for that. Us organic gardeners, gardeners that make our own compost, raise our own worms, make our own soils from scratch and nurture an actual living soil environment get a little funny sometimes when we see fertilizer companies promoting "organic" nutrients that simply aren't. No disrespect intended and again I apologize. So in response to the posts above, while I stopped doing the "journal" thing quite awhile ago, this one is still there collecting dust lol. I *do* consistently harvest around 6-8 ounces from my plants which are grown solely in a homemade aerated, amended thermal compost that I make out in my backyard. No bottled nutrients are used - or needed. I don't have many pictures handy (but could dig some up later if you like just cuz it's fun looking at buds ) but I did to back to this old journal of mine and took a couple of pictures from it. This is a Blueberry girl grown without bottled nutrients in a simple organic soil mix that finished at around 5' across with a total dry bud weight of 11 1/2 ounces. This is the old (now defunct) thread that they came from - http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-grow-journals/946124-jerrys-organic-obsession.html?p=12999867 I wish you the very best of luck with your garden and appreciate your good nature. Again - peace! J
Whoa, whoa, if this is an argument about yield vs investment I can chime in a minute to help you out. M/2? So in a 10x10 room that Gould be what (I'm not so good at math) 9 m/2 ish? Room yielded 4.25 lbs so the math would make that 7.5 oz per m/2 correct? Water only grow. Please correct me if I'm an idiot, I clearly might be. The investment in the soil in said room was ~ $500, water was pretty much free and the soil is still in use today. Don't know how you could be much cheaper than that. (Well Jerry can, lol)
That is a good goal to save money on this hobby. I work as a computer programmer and it pays well so I don't really need to worry too much about money. On the other hand while I don't mind spending my money I do mind wasting it.
Thanks for the info, and I understand that organic purists can get... pureist-like (lol). Anyway, you said Jerry gets 9 ounces from a plant? What strain? If that is all you can get from an indoor grow then that would proves my point. I generally get 15-18 ounces on average. I have got 6X that though. Kush is the lone exception to the rule. When doing Kush (any kush - so it seems), I struggle to get 8 ounces a plant. Thanks again, and no apology was needed.
I won't change a thing if I was getting pounds off an indoor grow. Can you show your flowering and veg rooms? I'd like to see what you got going. I understand if you don't want to do that though.