First time organic greenhouse grow Hawaii

Discussion in 'Growing Organic Marijuana' started by smokymcp0t, Aug 20, 2018.

  1. Aloha Grasscity!
    I recently got my medical card and decided to start growing. It's been over 5 years since my last grow which I did while I was in college. My previous grows have been indoor hydroponic. I am trying something different and will be using all organic soil and will be growing outside in a green house.

    Growers Choice Seeds

    Diesel
    Bubba Kush
    Cinderella 99

    Soil Mix 60 gallons total
    1/3 Compost
    - I used 10 gallons of compost I made a few month's back
    -5 gallons worm castings from my worm bin
    -5 gallons store bought castings
    1/3 peat moss/coco coir
    -15 gallons peat moss
    -5 gallons coco coir
    1/3 airation
    20 gallons medium size popped recycled glass (similar to perlite )

    Nutrients
    In a bucket I mixed in a 1:1 ratio the following
    Neem cake, blood meal, fish bone meal, down to earth organic 4-4-4, kelp meal (2:1 ratio) endomycohorizal fungi (proper amount as bag said to add)
    I may be missing one or two ingredients as I can't remember everything right now, but I mixed these together homogeneous.
    Added 9 cups to soil
    Planning to be using compost tea regularly during grow

    9 cups mixed rock dust (dolomite, azomite, glacial dust, trace minerals)

    I made this soil last week, it is mixed thoroughly and damp. Letting it sit 4 weeks before I plant with it.

    I am going to be building in the next week or two a green house to use for my grow. It will be made of pvc pipe with plastic wrap doors framed in on both sides and ventilation windows. I don't plan to use any extra lights other than sunlight ☀ except before sunset I will turn on a low watt white light for a few hours to keep plants in veg state. I live in Hawaii and we currently only get 12hours of light per Day.

    I am doing this grow journal for my own interest in keeping a record. I hope you guys can learn from my mistakes and from things I do correctly. I plan to provide daily picture updates. Feel free to ask questions or provide helpful feed back.

    Going to be planting new seeds or clones every 4-6 weeks to try and get a good cycle going. 3 plants each cycle
    Hope you guys enjoy! IMAG0707.jpg
     

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  2. Hi @smokymcp0t welcome to GCO! Nice to see another organic warrior join our ranks ;)
    You said you forgot what else you put in your mix but did you add any lime?
     
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  3. Howzit! Welcome to GCO.
     
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  4. #4 old shol4evr, Aug 20, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2021
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  5. Howzit! Good to have another kama'aina in the hood. Interested to see your grow. I also have a feminized C-99 (Female Seeds) growing outside now.
     
  6. #6 wetdog, Aug 20, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2018
    I see you have some lime as part of a "mineral mix". IMO that is a huge mistake as lime is not there to provide minerals but to buffer the pH of the soil. As part of a mix it is vastly under applied with not much buffering getting done.

    I add lime totally separate from my 'mineral mix' and just for pH buffering. The normal rate is 1cup/cf (7.5 gallons), of mix. With 60 gallons of mix you should have 8 cups of dolo for adequate buffering compared to whatever amount got added as part of your mineral mix. This is why I add it separately.

    Yes, I know dolo adds Ca and Mg, but for me that is just a bonus rather than it's primary purpose of buffering. My 'mineral mix' is mainly greensand and azomite.

    HTH

    Wet
     
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  7. I haven't decided what kind of light. I think i want to use yet probably a cheap LED bulb, I'm not going to be using this extra light for plant growth electric is too expensive where I live. But I don't want to use auto flowers. I want to use any light that will allow my plants to be tricked into staying in Veg. Not sure if it needs to be a certain intensity or color though. Will be glad to take suggestions
     
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  8. Right on! I'v never tried C-99 just kinda picked it random
     
  9. Hey thanks for their response! So my mineral mix is actually mostly dolomite. I think out of the 9cups I added 7is dolo. I thought I had more of my other rock dusts when I was at the store but turned out my bags were about empty. Do you think I should add some more lime then? I can head to the local store and get more azomite. I was nervous to add too much trace mineral powder because the bag didn't have much instructions on it
     
  10. #10 old shol4evr, Aug 20, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2021
    delete
     
  11. #11 old shol4evr, Aug 20, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2021
    delete
     
  12. Now, this is me. The dolo is recc @1cup/cf of mix, *I* use 1 1/2 cups/cf because of acidic tending stuff used in my mix. I've used way more without realizing it using 'screenings' of Oolitic limestone (coral rock), adding a shovelfull to 2cf wheelbarrow full. Even used it as emergency soil a time or 2. My Dad got it by the dumptruck full to spread on the yard and I always thought it was just white sand and used it to add weight to my soiless mix. LOL 30 years later I found out it was actually calcitic limestone. Also figured out that using WAY over 1cup/cf didn't hurt a thing.

    The greensand and azomite in my mineral mix I use at 1/2 to 1cup/cf, usually the 1cup amount and less for seedling mixes and such. The 1 cup amount is also what the azomite co. reccs when you do the math (they give the amount in weight, not volume). So far it has worked well for me with reamending after ~3 years.

    Wet
     
  13. Hah that's pretty crazy story, yeah I never heard of lime really hurting. Appreciate the recommendation I think I will add some more dolomite since I have it.
    You mentioned seed starting soil. I am going to make something to start my seeds in real soon! I'm getting excited to pop them but I'm trying to be patient because I'm not ready yet. I was thinking of doing it similar to my soil mix above but adding like a 1/4 or half the nutrients so it's not too strong. For my veggies I use a mix of coco coir and really good compost I get from a biodynamic farm near me when it's available. It's good for very beginning but o think I want something that will give them a good boost in the beginning.
     
  14. Quick update
    Still waiting for my actual medical card to come in the mail before I pop my seeds to be safe.

    Today I did a lay out in my yard for the greenhouse. Going to be 10'x12' and about 6' tall. My yard is small so I am limited by that but I think this size will be plenty big. I am hoping to have it together by the end of the weekend and I will post pics. Busy with work and a new baby who's two weeks old so not much free time for me.
    Soil has been cooking for one week now.
     
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  15. If you're in Hawaii have you considered a shade or slat house? In SoFl a greenhouse was just out of the question unless you just wanted a giant slow cooker. I started off with shade cloth, but soon transitioned to a slat house which gave way better ventilation plus you could space the slats for whatever % of shade you wanted.

    If there are any orchid growers around, there's a good chance the'll have one to check out. Very easy to DIY with 4x4's for the frame and furring strips for the slats. Furring strips are the 1"x2" strips nailed to block walls for hanging sheet rock and sold in bundles.

    Just a thought.

    Wet
     
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  16. Straight up full sun southern exposure @wetdog on da lanai right now brother. Gotta bring them in for the hurricane.

    We’ve had a couple rolling towards us lately that’s the only reason they haven’t gone to the flower house. The only shade cloth on the house is 20% on the sides and front. I use clear poly 96% for the roof. It’s not all enclosed and cannot breath. Just enough to keep rain off late in flower. Now the fucking geckos...

    @smokymcp0t Just a suggestion, keep it open otherwise you’ll be paying HECO a fortune trying to climatize your situation. Genetics also play a huge part on fighting the issues we face.

    A7A79AFD-6A54-4F43-9ADD-936625103832.jpeg
     
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  18. Ficky keep yourself and plants safe for hurricane, who knows what will happen! Hmm maybe I should reconsider the polytunnel. I wanted to have it so i can control the water and keep rain off them especially during flower. I figured with the right ventilation it wouldnt get too hot but I geuss i wont know that until its actually up. Iv also been wanting some storage space that is out of the rain, so it would be a multi purpose hah. Your plants are looking good Ficky and nice looking green house, wish i could build something more real like that.

    I figured Genetics play a big role. i dont know any one on Island to get clones from so i got some seeds online and going to experiment from there. There is a cannabis event by me on the 25th with some scientists from California talking about medical marijuana stuff. Maybe i can make some connections there!
     
  19. Mahalo @smokymcp0t ! Keep you and yours safe also. So far we’ve been very fortunate. Let me know if I can be of assistance in your future endeavors.

    Genetics are something, that to this day, I keep searching for the fixed rotation. That’s after many years of growing. It’s a journey, enjoy the trip.
     
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  20. Been a while grasscity, just started germinating some seeds!
    Bubba kush X 1
    Diesel X 1
    Cinderella 99 x1
    OG Train wreck X 5
    (new strain from my dad, OG kush crossed with Train wreck) have a bunch of seeds but not feminized though.
    Seeds soaked in water for about 5hours, now in wet paper towel.

    Been working on greenhouse, made a lot of progress but still have work to do on it. For fun posting pictures of it during construction. Soon to be work bench on one side of the greenhouse other side will be for plants.
    I was planning on using a scrog set up and train plants to be bushy. Never done scrog if anyone has tips would love to hear.
    Also I will be installing some supplemental light, was thinking two small LED fixtures to cover about a 12'x 4' area. Only going to have them on for ~5hours to keep plants in veg.
     

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