First two grows were with in a hydro drip system with clay pebbles as a medium. Wasn't happy with the quality of final product ( it takes a lot of skill to get good quality with hydro imo). The amount of work was ridiculous. I couldn't be happier with the results of my first soil grow. I'll never go back to hydro. Organic soil for life I had 4 diff plants in the tent. This is Tangie grown from seed with only 2 weeks veg (maybe 16 days) and nothing but tap water since flipping to flower. Not a great trim job I know, I dont cared too much about that. Its a lovely smoke. Actually all 4 plants produced incredibly smooth smoking weed. Like everyone that tries any of them comment on how smooth they are. Just really really easy to smoke. Also they all have very complex smells. Nobody seems to agree on what they smell like. With the tangie I've heard tangrines and cream, sour milk, lavender, vomit, baby poo, spice, black pepper,skunk....
@bp1977 I had been looking at some Reserva Privada Tangie seeds but hadn't pulled the trigger on ordering them. How is she from a growing perspective? P.S. Beautiful looking ladies!!
Yeah, I got the Reserva Privada Tangie.. a couple of male flowers at the base very early in flower. Other than that effortless and a pleasure to have in the garden. I spent hours just staring at it. Having said that I did hear that the Crockett version is slightly superior. The Tangie was some sort of joint release from the two companies but they're always listed as having slighly different genetics and flowering times. They're reg only, I wanted fem seeds,that why I ignored them. But if starting again I'd go for the crockett version. Crockett's Tangie
Well, someone might do a side by side, but I'm certain it won't be me for two major reasons that both apply to my situation. First is cost. I'm using Amazon for comparison for like size. Everything local to me is little 2 1/2 gallon bags of the mix this. Amazon: 1 1/2cf bag, $21.79 + $3 shipping Perlite (local): 1 1/2cf, $6 even OTD Second is weight. Mix this, 18lbs/1 1/2cf bag Perlite, a bit over 5lbs/1 1/2cf I'm not commenting on the efficacy of the Mix this, I have no experience with it and would be just a WAG. But, I do use an average of 6cf of perlite/year and the cost difference is just a non starter for me, being on a fixed income. I'm also well past retirement age with a back that goes with that. 18lbs vs 5lbs+ is also a huge consideration when the shovel work of mixing starts. Still, less than the huge price difference. I just kinda doubt it would be almost 4x better than perlite to justify the $$$. If youse guys are young(er), and have the extra cash, you could do the side by side and let everyone know. But, TBH, using the same amounts of each, I'd be really surprised if there was any real world difference.
@wetdog very solid points on the cost vs weight difference. My biggest concern with perlite and doing no-till is I've heard that over time the perlite breaks down and settles into a cement like compound at the bottom of the containers, no bueno. Obviously I have no experience in this area so this would be just a WAG for me as well. Have you, or anyone for that matter, had any trouble with this when reusing soil for multiple runs? @bp1977 that Crockett Tangie is something to behold. I literally caught myself with my mouth open lmao
That's a new one, the breaking down and settling to the bottom. Usually it's "it all eventually floats to the surface, no matter the depth of the mix" (it doesn't). It does float, so how does it sink? "The dust can cause cancer". It's listed as an irritant, but not carcinogenic right on the bag. Sometimes it gets real Alex Jones kinda weird the stuff that gets said and with over 4 decades of using the stuff, I think I might have noticed. Weird claims are stated as fact till you ask for a cite, or actual experience, then .... silence. AFA no till, I think the longest continual use was ~6 years with a pony tail palm. When it was finally upcanned the perlite in the mix remaining was still evenly distributed and had not all floated to the surface, nor broken down and sunk to the bottom. You'll read and hear a lot of "facts" on the internet that are just unmitigated BS.
That's a new one, the breaking down and settling to the bottom. Usually it's "it all eventually floats to the surface, no matter the depth of the mix" (it doesn't). It does float, so how does it sink? "The dust can cause cancer". It's listed as an irritant, but not carcinogenic right on the bag. Sometimes it gets real Alex Jones kinda weird the stuff that gets said and with over 4 decades of using the stuff, I think I might have noticed. Weird claims are stated as fact till you ask for a cite, or actual experience, then .... silence. AFA no till, I think the longest continual use was ~6 years with a pony tail palm. When it was finally upcanned the perlite in the mix remaining was still evenly distributed and had not all floated to the surface, nor broken down and sunk to the bottom. You'll read and hear a lot of "facts" on the internet that are just unmitigated BS.
Hey WetDog, I bought 4 50 lb. bags of pumice for about $10 apiece. I'm sure I'll be needing more aeration when I'm finally done and surely for the future. Do you think that there is any value to using pumice over perlite. You can't beat the price of those 4 cubic foot bags for $15-20.
I couldn't say about pumice over perlite, I've no experience with pumice. But two things stand out for me. First, there are some commercial operations that use pumice. When you're potting up 10's of thousands of plants you aren't going to use something that doesn't work well or cost effective. The vast majority use perlite of course, but I know of none that use lava rock. That alone should speak volumes. Second, @Possuum uses it. Said it was a matter of convenience for him rather than one better than the other (He is also a perlite fan), but he is also extremely experienced growing mj and one of the most knowledgeable people on the site. A very serious grower. That he would even use it at all is telling, at least to me. The cool thing is that you have it and at what sounds to be a decent price (how many cf does 50lbs provide?). Now, source some perlite and you can do your own side by side. Then, with your own experience you'll be able to tell what works best for you and your situation instead of someone else's opinion or even experience. Your own experience is the most important for you.
After having some knowledge bombs dropped on me by @wetdog I did some more research and other than an occasional board member mentioning that perlite breaks down in passing I could find no evidence or studies done elsewhere talking about perlite degrading over time. Hey @Mangul thanks for stopping by! Out of curiosity, what does the mix look like that you're working on?
im willing to bet its just a cost effectiveness issue. lava rock is VERY common in my country, and is dirt cheap. you couldn't walk into a garden supply shop, or landscaper without finding any size and color (as long as those colors are red and black ) you want for less then the gas it will cost you to drive it home. not only that but its used in practically every garden that is built for homes and commercial spaces. on the other hand, never seen pumice here.
It's going to be 1, 3 cubic foot bag of SPM which will expand to 6 cubic feet mixed with 3 50 lb bags of pumice the farm supply I bought them from said the bags are about 2 cubic feet apiece (I may up this as needed based on Scooby's and Wetdog's recommendations of increasing aeration to 40% or more). Compost will be 6 cubic feet mix of homemade worm castings some malibu compost, and a local farmers compost filled with lots of goodies (alfalfa, hay, straw, pine shavings, cow, goat, sheep, rabbit, alpaca manures). Amendments will be pretty much 1 cup per cubic foot of (Crab Meal/Shrimp Meal .5 each or 1 each not sure yet, Oyster Shell, Kelp meal, Neem Seed Meal, Gypsum) A 10 lb bag of Agrowinn volcanic rock dust hopefully will have enough cups want to use a 4 cups / cubic foot. Mixed with about 2.5 pounds of 6-row milled malted barley. Also 1 cubic foot bag of Mother Earth BioChar. Also need to pick up something for a mulch probably alfalfa straw or whatever is available I'll ask the farmers when I go get the compost. A couple of things I'm thinking of incorporating or just purchasing now for use later are. DTE Humic Acid (good price seems like lots of benefits for making nutrients available), Alfalfa Meal (cheap price lots of benefits).
Ok guys and gals, I just finished purchasing my supplies for the next soil batch. As suggested I upped my aeration to 40%-45% and am running about 30% each Bu's Biodynamic Compost and Pro-Mix BX w/ myco. From there I'm going to include 1 cup/cf of Kelp/Neem/Crab meals and 1/2 cup/cf or alfalfa meal along with the BaS mineral mix @ 4 cups/cf. I plan on watering down with a compost tea to really get the microbial life going then it's into the bins to cook for 30 days. Luckily I purchased enough of the BaS LOS for my first run until I have my own ready to go!
Well you got some good solid info. In my lurking i learned the perlite myth is a myth. Damn damn. I would have gone perlite. You always hear stuff like "it can cut the worms" or "it breaks down". Glad that's finally cleared. Thanks @wetdog Lava rock $8 a c.f. then I have to go at it with the sledge.
A 3cf bale isn't going to double to 6cf. It's compressed, but not THAT compressed. You'll get ~1 1/2x of the compressed size +/-. A 3cf bale will expand to ~4 1/2 cf.
I can be too passionate about NTG. @wetdog knows me to be an asshole [may even have me blocked] so he will get a laugh but there was a guy on another forum claiming he was running Coots mix in 3g containers running no till with no problem... I was quick to call bullshit. After all these guys have beat me head in about large containers. I tried to run no till in a 7g and barely made it out. I think we develop a passion for grooming our soil. This guy was claiming he recycled coots mix. Any true NTG knows this just isn't possible. We put in work to keep our soil rich and build our humus. Even my virgin 150g is still finicky. She's getting there.
@MajorToker I'm gonna have to run with you on this one, can't see how anyone is running NTG in a 3g pot unless they're completely skipping out on veg and going straight to 12/12 from clone but I feel you would be missing out on a ton of flavor and weight development with that route. I've always heard/ read 7g was a minimum for running a true NTG but have seen successful runs in 5g although I'm not sure what the sacrifice was on total yeild.
Oh yah in organics the roots run for nutrients. I had issues near the end in a 7g. I pulled it up and it was a solid 7g root mass. Coots mix is only a base to build on. It's no super soil.
There's no reason you can't recycle small batches of soil organically. thers a ton of evidence proving this across many forums.
Ohh for sure @jonhova but we're eliminating the need for dumping the soil out and re-amending which in turn destroys your soil food web that you worked so hard to build and establish.