Awesome Jerry!!!! I like the part about being a student, as that is what I am currently. Poppy, hows it goin man. Ya know, its funny. I see other grows, and my own, and they do pretty good, and I've been doing it for a real long time, so sometimes I think I know alot *lol* - and I bet to hell that I do, compared to some. I know HOW to do it. Then I start reading posts by LD as to WHY our gardens work, and I realize how little I do know. I dont think that any of realize just how lucky we are to have resident genius(es) here in the Organic forums at GC. Seriously. HOW - pretty easy! We follow recipes for soil mixes, AACT's, FPE's, etc. And it works, and it works very well. WHY - Man, that is a whole other story. Why it works is a whole new level which I personally dont know if I'll ever understand. I try to, and I read, and listen. but holy shit is there ALOT to it! So - yeah, I'm a student, and hopefully will be for the rest of my life. Maybe I'll understand just a little tiny bit by then... jerry. ps - hey, doc, I will get some more updated pics up over then next few days. I am at work right now, but luckily have the next few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday! jerry.
Jerry, Much respect for you, the way the write, and the always positive vibe, psyched to know you man, tuned in
ITDFG - i dont know what to say - you folks are some damn good people. I feel exactly the same way, my friend. *smile* jerry.
Finally home from work with the next 4 days off!!! Yay! I needed to re-tie the last 2 plants in the flower room when I got in. They are growing strong! The littlest one in there that I put in on Sunday is doing great. The next one behind it - wow, is id oing so darn well. I'm simply amazed all of the time lately. The big ol' Blueberry is changing fast. I havent been in the flower room for 2 days now, and fall colors are coming in strong. Hopefully I can get a couple more weeks out of it. Daily checking on this gal is the only way at this point. Down in the veg room, all is good too. Growing strong too. They are going to need re-tying tomorrow too. as they grow a few mor inches every few days, I continuously keep pulling the largest branches down and out with the yarn, opening up the centers and keeping them very short and wide. I'll definetly be putting another vegging plant into the flower room this weekend, and then the weekend after that. I needed to water, and I havent done it in quite some time, so I gave everything a root drench with BioAg Humic/seaweed. I also sprayed down the vegging plants, and the 2 in the flower room foliar - ly with the same mix. I dont like spraying anything that has actual flowers on it. Gotta run. jerry.
Gals still very thirsty today in the flower room. It stays kinda dry in there I think with the multiple thousand watt HPS lights and the ventilation running. Soaked them all down in a fish hydro mix. They drank alot before running out the bottoms! Felt better once I did it. I had put a solid inch and a half of my own ewc/vermi on the last 2 gals to enter the room. I'm really liking this - it works two-fold; topdressing and mulch. Hope y'all had a nice Thanksgiving! *loosening the belt a notch* burp jerry.
Doc, I'm STILL eating...turkey and stuffing sandwiches today and tomorrow I make my turkey soup... Havent stopped eating for 24 hours now - think I'm just gonna keep going for the next 2-3 days. jerry
LOL, yeah its the same way here at my house we have so much food.... Woke up and made turkey omelets! & I think we're making turkey split pea soup soup tomorrow lol Enjoy the weekend Jerry!!!
hey jerry everything looks awesome. i dont think its the lights and ventilation - plants that big have to have an enormous root zone. im sure you see an explosion in growth every time you water. keep on doin what your doin, because i cannot wait to see the producto terminado. i have a question. i have always been taught to remove the dead leaves in the soil that fall off the plant. everybody who has told me this has not grown 100% organic, though. in that earlier picture i saw some leaves in your soil. in an organic mix, would it make it ok, since the microbes break it down? i know only a very tiny ammount would be broken down because it takes alot of time to fully compost leaves, but wouldnt the plant's own matter, after digestion, be harmful to the plant still? and wouldnt those extra moist leaves on the top of the soil create a breeding ground for botrytis? i have had some people argue with me that it is ok for them, but i have never really known if that was true or not. i do know they are a breeding ground for pathogens, though. i added the microbe organics in my favorites. i havnt read it yet, but im about to. i am also going to use it as a refrence. hope you had a happy holiday
Doc - *lol* - Turkey omlets? Tomorrow I make my "turkey carcass soup" *grin* Everybody here loves it, and with the gigantic soup pot I have, It makes alot! Kinda like chicken noodle and veggie soup only with turkey. OSU - good to see you man! I'm not sure what "botyritis" is - sorry. I actually learned to do this here, and any dead leaves that do fall off, I definetly leave right in the pot. Basically, its mulch. I dont see any negatives about this at all, and as a matter of fact I find it to work better to keep the top of the soil moist. When I topdress with my homemade vermicompost - same thing! Mulch. Check out Stankies grow - he does the same thing, and kinda where I learned to do it! I think that it keeps the soil moister longer, from natural drying, and also keeps a cool little environment for the rest of the soil food web critters. As far as being a breeding ground for pathogens, well, I am relying on my soil food web to "police" the bad guys, and I've not seen any negatives from mulching - only positives. I'm glad you are bookmarking the Microbe Organics site. Tim Wilson is a good guy, and if anyone know thier shit about AACT's, he's the guy, or definetly right there at the top - scientifically speaking, with pictures and movies to prove what he does works. Also, if you havent read it yet, get yourself a copy of "Teaming with Microbes". Make sure you get the "Revised Edition - An Organic Gardeners Guide to the Soil Food Web". For cheap money, its well worth the read. I am continuously reading this book. Hope you had a good Turkey Day too! I'm gonna work on an update with new pics tomorrow. jerry.
botryotinia is a genus of fungi that causes rot on many different plants. budrot is associated with botrytis molds. i know if you colonize your soil with good beneficial bacteria it will make it extremley hard for harmful pathogens to "move in." im just wondering if it would affect the leaves on the very top of the soil, the ones that still have a while to go before they settle into the medium. i know botrytis can release tons of spores into the air, which can really affect some buds if they get infected. you have never had any problems with it growing on your compost leaves on the top of the soil? have you ever had any bud rot problems (especially starting from the lower parts of the plant)?
I'm going to check out microbe organics. I was also wondering if the leaves ethylene's bad, but I guess if you topdress with ewc or compost that it's no issue
OSU - Regarding MULCH. I did some digging around in my copy of "Teaming with Microbes, Revised Edition, An Organic Gardeners Guide to the Siol Food Web". Exerpt from Chapter 15 - Tools for Restoration and Maintenance. There are 3 basic tools for rstoration and maintenance - Compost, MULCH, and Compost Tea. Page 125 - "Organic mulches are, too, an effective Soil Food Web gardening tool. By organic, we mean natural material, full of carbon and nitrogen - namely leaves, grass clippings and wood chips. These provide the proper environment for the soil communitys organisms and plenty of organic foods for them to live on. After all, these are what makes up the compost pile. Mulch is a form of cold compost - it doesnt heat up like a compost pile, but it will decay, over a longer period of time. By providing different kinds of organic matter as mulch, you can establish or supplement different members of the soil food web, ones that will provide more of the types of Nitrogen preferred by the plants grown in the area." This is just one exerpt from Teaming with Microbes praising mulch as a tool for the organic gardener. There are many, many more. If you get an opportunity, pick up a copy of this book - it is an invaluable tool. hth. jerry.
Ok, folks, its been a busy day here, and I have some pictures and updates. Lets start out with worms. I have 2 giant totes that I use to make my own worm castings. I will definetly be building at least one, but hopefully multiple Flow-Thru bins soon, but in the meantime, totes it is. I had harvested one tote a month ago, and have been putting off harvesting this one, as it takes me a few hours per tot to run the vermicompost thru my homemade harvester. Some of you may have seen it in a different thread, but I made it myself at our sheet metal shop at work. Its fairly simple - the bulk material from the bins in put into the crank end of the tool, and as you turn it, the smaller castings go thru the 1/4" size mesh screen, and the worm and unfinished worm food/compost come out the other end to go back into the worm bins. I of course get some small plant matter in there, but that doesnt bother me at all - its vermicompost, not 100% pure castings, but I bet its at least 75% castings. All I know that I guarantee that this vermicompost is totally loaded with organic goodness and life in the form of bacteria, etc! I'm just going to put the pictures together, but as you can see at the end, I harvested probably 15 gallons of beautiful vermicompost! (2 hours later...*lol* - but hey - it works!) jerry.
I figured while I had this fresh vermi out, I would make another AACT tea to douse, drench, and foliar everything in veg. and maybe even hit the couple of gals in the flower room that are not actually flowering yet. I didnt pull out the BIG BREWER, but am just doing a 5 gallon pails worth. I kep it very simple - several healthy scoops of freshly harvested material from the worm bins, 2 teaspoons of molasses, and a half a cup of aloe vera juice. I'll let this brew for 24 hours before using it. jerry
Veg area - All is very, very healthy. I always keep plants in different stages of growth going on, from clones and moms right up to fully vegged gals ready to hit the flowering room. I plan on putting one more into the flower room later today to keep the cycle going as I like to do. I have been putting a new one in every week to ten days for the last couple months. This will bring me up to 5 in the flowering room now. When I put No. 6 in there in another ten days or so, at some point soon after that I should be able to harvest the big blueberry, and the cycle goes on from there, being able to harvest a plant every ten days or so. The one that I put in there this afternoon may be a Pineapple Express. I like that strain! jerry. ps - they are standing at attention!
I think it was Mike (and a couple of other Blades) that had asked me about my "table" that I use in the flower room. I love my table! I built it out of 2x4's and plywood, and covered it with one single piece of bright white roofing material. It is only 11"-12" at the high end, and around 10" at the low end. It basically fills the entire room, and I am able to walk around on it. This allows my pots to drain down the table, and into a mortar mixing tub that pretty much fits perfectly under the table. I only need to have several inches of the refuse tub sticking out for it to collect draining water. It is very cleanable, so I am able to keep my flower room nice and clean with this system. Did I say I love my table? jerry.
The Flower Room. Here are several pics of the general growth going on in the flower room. Its kicking ass! I wouldnt expect my microbe pets to treat me any differently. The first pic, believe it or not, is the littlest one that I put in there 6 days ago, and had taken a few pics of how I tied it dowm etc. The growth is very nice, and I couldnt ask for healthier plants. jerry.