Hello Blades ofGrassCity members, and hello all you Lurkers=). For those that don't know me, I'm PlaidBee. I've been a member for a year in August. I lurked for 6=7 months before that. I'm starting a new thread for a couple ofreasons. One is that I want to have my“main project†separate from my other thread, which kind of coverseverything. I also will have a chance toreview all of my methods and gardening practices, as they have changed in someways, quite a bit. So I get to list thespecifics of the grow-space, and my gardening techniques. I also have a new light, an LED! Very excited about it, I wanted to get onewhen I bought my HPS last year, but didn't feel I knew enough to make aninformed decision. <o></o> SO let's getstarted. Here's my Set-up. <o></o> <o></o> I have a set oftwo home-made boxes made of plywood and 2x4's. They are painted on the inside with high-gloss, white, anti-mildew paintfor a nice reflective surface that's very easy to clean. One of the Boxes is 4x4x7ft., and the otheris 4x4x4ft. <o></o> The tall one is theflowering cab, and the shorty, the Veg. cab. In the Tall cab there is;<o></o> -1 x 600w HPS(Hortilux ES) w/ enclosed exhaust/reflector hood. <o></o> -or<o></o> -1 P450 Platinum LED, 137 veg., 255w = 450w. <o></o> -1 x 6†inline fan<o></o> -3, 4ft, t-5 flouro tubes(5900k)<o></o> -2, 6†mini-fans for air movement<o></o> - High gloss mildew resistant paint <o></o> The Short box has;<o></o> -4 x 4ft, t-5 flouro tubes(6400k)<o></o> -1, 6†inline exhaust Fan,<o></o> -2, 6†mini fans for air movement<o></o> - Needs to be finished painted.<o></o> Both boxes run at24c/75f, and have an Rh of 50-65%, depending on the weather. <o></o> <o> </o> These are my main grow spaces. There is a third 2.5 x 3 x 4ft. cab comingwhen the WW's are ready to flower. Itwill house the LED. <o></o> So, Where does the LED come into thepicture? Well, My eventual plan is toput the LED up against the HPS in a flowering comparison involving two WhiteWidow clones(20years old, original WW?). This, however, cannot be done until the WW's are Vegged out. I think, I've changed my mind a few times,lol.<o></o> <o></o> I promise the follower that; This will be anobjective look at the LED's performance. That I will let the results speak for themselves and try my best to keepmy opinions out of things. This is whatI promise! <o></o> <o></o> So, in themeantime I will show how the LED does in place of the HPS in the tall cab. I will let the two SK1/kush crosses finishflowering under “12 bands†of light. This should be interesting because as we all know, the last 2-3 weeks ofdevelopment are the most important in terms of quality of smoke. It can be the difference between realmedicine, and recreational smoke. Thetwo SK1/kushs' are @ 7.5 weeks, and they appear to have at least 2 weeks remaining. After this is done, the WW's should be readyto hit the stage. That's the plan methinks. =)<o></o> <o> </o> In the next postI will list and explain my soil recipe, The Strains involved, and and maybe someof my philosophies on cannabis cultivation. As well as gardening techniqueslike Aerated teas and foliar spray and IPMs'.<o></o> BTW- I love feedbackand questions. I do answer everyquestion as well.=-)<o></o> <o> </o> Enjoy the ride, <o></o> <o> </o> <o></o> PlaidBee
Alright < I thought I'd Give everyone a Look at my Growspace. Here it is, near the start of my first full cab run. Vegging their way up. I think this may have been a pre-potting-up shot. Potted into 7 and 8 gallon pots. View attachment 152074 Those lanky ones were Haze, I gave a couple away, and then culled one more, ended up with 7. 1 Hash Plant, 4 Early Vixen, 2 Haze Extreme. It was a great run. I don't have an exact number on the harvest, since some from the time I harvested the first plant, spanning to the last harvest, was 3-4 weeks. I cultivate for personal consumption, so I'm not in any rush to harvest. And IMHO, If you want the most out of your 4-5 months, patience is a must. So, strain wise, The first to come will be two White Widow's, and One c99 cross that is crazy good! They are all Clones, and both strains are proven winners. White Widow's, just after transplant. View attachment 159020 c99 Cross, Post transplant. View attachment 159057 AK-47, that will be cloned and run in this thread. View attachment 159060 And here's the LED, trippy, lol. View attachment 159088 If anyone wants to see a pic of something, let me know. More to come, much more, Plaid
Now first of all We'll be seeing these two beauties finish! These two have been under my 600w HPS from the beginning of flowering, 7.5 weeks ago. T-5 flouro's are surround the cab on three sides, but that won't change. SK1/Kush crosses! This one smells like Pepper, and Lemons! View attachment 159025 View attachment 159082 And this one, with the pop can sized buds on it smells like skunk berries, lol. View attachment 159024 View attachment 159083 And here's a few close-ups of the flower tips. View attachment 159086 View attachment 159085 View attachment 159087 Gettin' rollin', Plaid
Yeah man, sometime I think more of them come in that members. Lots of times i'll see at the bottom of the page; Members, 0, anonymous, 2, Bing, 1 They're a neglected demographic that still contribute to GC's numbers, or some S&%#, lol BTW, Great to have you NorthernAutos, and of course, Welcome Cen Cal Care. Plaid
Glad to be here bro and watch you grow I was subbed to the last thread for a long time was just always busy so I'd read your posts and like all the time but never comment
That's cool. I think there's a lot of people that just pop in and read/look at pics. Ususally there are 20 views on the pics I post within a couple-few hours. I do like feedback though.=) Soil recipe and growing techniques, IPM, and aerated teas to come..... Hope everyone is having a sweet weekend!! PlaidBee
Oh yeah bro Plaid love the new format and can't wait for this to kick off in here Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using Tapatalk
Hey, Welcome TJ, Dutty, and Jay! Great to have you guys in the crowd! So here's myAerated Tea set-up. I built it, and ifyou are new here, you'll find that I'd rather build it myself. It gives me a greater understanding, I think,=). So there's an ECO 1 industrial airpump, rated @38 liters per minute. Andmy Cauldron is 5 gallons. I begin bythrowing in all of my non-liquid ingredients first. <o></o> -1-2 cup(s) Quality Compost<o></o> -1--or--1/2 cup(s) Worm Castings<o></o> -1/2 cup of oats<o></o> <o></o> <o> </o> View attachment 159108 View attachment 159112 Then I turn on the aerator and fill thebucket with water. I use a high pressurehose to help aerated things and also help mix things up. I also use a drill and paint mixerattatchment to mix things up really good. I don't use it past 12 hours or so for fear of destroying fungal hyphae(fungal“rootsâ€, if you will). <o></o> <o> </o> <o> </o> View attachment 159109 Then once thingsare good and blended, I add my liquid ingredients. Now I don't always use everything, but todayI used; <o></o> -15 ml humic acid/fulvic <o></o> -15ml Black Strap Molasses<o></o> -15ml Kelp Extract<o></o> <o></o> View attachment 159110 I make sure the Black Strap Molasses is mixedwith some warm water bofore I throw it in to be sure it's mixed well. Also, the product I have contains both humicand fulvic acid, but humic only is alright. That's what I usually use, but I was given a free bottle of AN AncientEarth for free. After everything is inthere, I give it another good beating with the drill/mixer. <o></o> <o></o> 24-30 hourslater, it's good to go. I don't like todilute my tea. Instead I make sure mysoil is miost, and that way I can use less(volume-wise) than I use for regularwaterings and keep the tea nice and strong. For a 7 gallon pot, I apply 1 liter of tea, unfiltered. <o></o> <o></o> I make mycompost with lots of sticks for a good Fungal/Bacterium balance. That's the Idea anyways. I also add oats, and Glacial Rock Dust to mycompost to help in the same way. This August,you can see me make comfrey compost, lots of it! <o></o> <o> </o> <o> </o> Next: Soil!<o></o> <o> </o> <o> </o> View attachment 159111 Any Questions/comments are welcomed; <o></o> <o> </o> <o></o> PlaidBee
Cool beans on the comfrey compost. I use lots and lots in my gardens. Good luck with your new LED. I hope it gives you the results you're looking for. J
Alright, Soil. <o></o> <o> </o> My understanding ofsoil has improved quite a bit since I began mixing soils last spring. I began with a mix of pro-mix, Worm Castings,and Bagged Compost, amended with Gaia Green 4-4-4(**see below). The first time I used this combination was atthe start of last years' outdoor season. I would mix it up 5 gallons at a time in a wheelbarrow, adding ¼ cup of4-4-4 per gallon. I think I used 3gallons pro-mix, 1 gallon bagged compost, 1 gallon worm castings. And zero extra perlite, lol. Yeah. Add this to the fact that I didn't realize that you should let the soil “cookâ€,before you use it. Opps, lol. I told you I was a beginner last year! <o></o> So after having some problems with gettingenough air to the roots, I drilled a bunch of holes into my 5 gallon pots, Imean lots, lol. <o></o> <o></o> So as I beganLurking here at GC throughout last spring and summer, my interest for soilincreased. I began asking seasonedOrganic gardeners here on GC what they preferred and why, and combined thatwith some Ideas of my own that I developed through reading up via varioussources on the internets. <o></o> My next couple ofmixes were substantially better. I stilldidn't have a great source of compost, but I did add more perlite, Epsom salt,dolomite lime, and some other things that helped balance things out. Things were better. I grew better herb than I had ever grown withbottled nutes, back when I grew for those two years in my early 20's(I'm in myearly 30's now). <o></o> Things reallyimproved in the new year(2015). I had amixed 3 or 4 batches of soil, and began to see some trends emerging. Air, I discovered, is one of the mostimportant things to consider when mixing up soil. Cannabis plants take as much as 80% of theiroxygen through their roots. Less is more. As well as; potassium, calcium, andmagnesium seem to be the most common deficiency issues. And best of all, I discovered the “Tarpmethod†of mixing. Takes two people, butman it works well. <o></o> <o></o> I like to use 50% used soil in my mix if Ihave any on hand. Used Organic soil isvery effective if used properly. Infact, in my experience, a mix that contains used soil is more effective than a100% fresh mix. I think the reason istwo-fold. One, the micro-herd, the armyof bacteria and Fungi that develop over months and months are likely more balancedand specialized for the soil they are in, and the plants they are workingwith. And two, some of the amendmentsthat are in there take years to completely break down. SO soil can become more productive over timeif tended to properly. <o></o> <o></o> This is why I would very much like to switch over tono-till. Wouldn't it be nice to justhave to top dress, and plant on the other side of a rubber-maid tote afterharvest? <o></o> Another thing to note. I got away from using Gaia green 4-4-4 for a bit, but found that it's agreat balanced mix to build upon. I useit as a sort of a base mix, then add some other goodies. <o></o> So here is how Imix up my soil these days. Some of the amendmentsI won't use every time I mix soil, but others are needed in every singlemix. <o></o> -No used soil Mix: <o></o> -35% Perlite<o></o> -40% Pro-Mix<o></o> -15% Worm Castings<o></o> -15% Compost <o></o> -5% Composted Chicken Manure<o></o> - Amendments and Additives; Measurements are per Cubic foot (approx.7.5Gallons).<o></o> - ½ cup Epsom salt,<o></o> - ½ cup dolomite Lime<o></o> - ½ cup calcite lime<o></o> - 4 cups Gaia Green 4-4-4<o></o> - ¾ cups Fish Bone Meal<o></o> - 2 cups Diatomaceous Earth Or 1 cup DE and 1 cup Pyroclay3 (pyrophyllite clay)<o></o> - 4 cups Glacial Rock Dust<o></o> - 1 cup Kelp Meal<o></o> - ½ cap rock phosphate<o></o> - ¼ cup greensand<o></o> <o></o> I think that'sit. Make sure when you apply youramendments, you sprinkle a little bit anll over. Really make sure you spread it out. You don't want clumps of anything at the end. Then I mix it up really good using atarp, and a friend, lol. <o></o> Avoiding clumps is also why I wait untileverything is thoroughly mixed before adding water/moisture to it. I spread it over the tarp evenly and use alight spray on the sprinkler, or, if I'm using kelp or something in the water,a watering can with good spread. Makesure you tell your friend to wear “work clothesâ€, lol. My buddy's shoes got pretty f*&%ed up onetime, haha! <o></o> So after it'smoist all the way through, I put it into rubbermaid totes to cycle for 6-8weeks. I like to apply a “stsrter†teato the mix as well. It's just a basic aeratedtea mix. Compost, worm castings, oats,and Molasses. <o></o> <o> </o> I think that's it, it look like this when it's been cyclingof 4 weeks. <o></o> View attachment 159111 <o> </o> Alright, Updates on the c99 and the White Widows nextpost. I've started training them and applyinga little stress training. They seem tobe responding quite well. I sprayedeverything with Neem, and applied some diatomaceous earth to the soil as partof my IPm or Integrated Pest Management plan. <o></o> <o> </o> Until next time<o></o> <o> </o> <o></o> PlaidBee
Thats a very good mix. Looks like you got a handle on this. Kinda similar to doc buds kit. Very interesting stuff plaid I just got 3 yards of screened chicken litter and 3 yards of compost so I'm gonna start making some as well for fun. I traded 100 clones to a no till gardener for the litter and compost it's actually all mixed and prepped by him. I'll find out all ingredients and pm you and tell me what you think.
Growing cannabis 17 years no till zero. I've been using docs kit a year this November and house and garden for about 4 years. I've used tgas super soil and a few other soiless methods as well. A large organic farmer that lives on this island makes his own. He got those cbd widow clones off me so that was a trade cause I want to try true organic and no till a Lil.