Hey Everyone. I'm glad to be starting my next journal here in the organic section. I've had nothing but better results since i switched to organic. Here's a run down of what i'm working with: Soil: My super Soil mix Food: AACT, FPE, and Harvest Moon Containers: 15 gallon smart pots Screens: 28" from floor, 3ft. x 3ft. w/ 2 in. squares. Lights: 8600 watts, Super HPS Bulbs Sentinel: CHHC-1, MDT-1, HPH-4, HPH-8, PXM-1 (x2) Co2: 1500 ppm Temps: 72- 84 Humidity: 35-40% Strains: White Widow(x4), Northern Light(x2), Blackberry(x2), Jack Herer, Mazar, Black Domino(x1). The pics are from 2 days ago. i switched to 12/12 yesterday so i'll update some new pics tonite when my lights turn on.
morning GC. The ladies are really stretching after the switch to 12/12 which is good cause i like my screens FULL. I'll post pics tonite or tomorrow. now i'm going to start my first FPE after LOTS of reading i think i have a good idea how to start it. i'm also to going to try the rice wash method to cultivate Lacto Baccilus. this should be fun.
Killer setup man! I went through some of your journals, awesome stuff! I'm sorry but I have to ask. Have you ever considered going vert? I know vert isn't as common on GC as some other forums but a setup like this (8x 100w) just seems like it would work soo well. Excited to hear your thoughts! Just curious
Thanks alot man. By "vert" do you mean ditching the screens and letting them grow to the ceiling? Cause i have done that but my yield suffered. SCROG is the ultimate producer for my strains. plus i hate tying up hundreds of colas.
Yup, I meant growing them to the ceiling and placing the bulbs between them. I think that's really cool that you've already tried that and found it not to be as effective. I guess it's no surprise that with the way you fill your screen up with huge colas. I'll be back to check on ya man! Keep it up
Thanks man. i'll update some pics. soon. the ladies are looking great. I also started my first batch o FPE.. i used kelp meal, alfalfa, meal, cottonseed meal, and fish powder and a splash of ful power. i'm also working on Lacto Bacilli serum using the rice wash method. Organics kicks ass. soon i will be on a water, AACT and Botanical tea only schedule. no bottled nutes.
Thanks man. I've found the scrog tables to be quite effective in production. And they are fairly easy to work with/around. To me, work space is key!
Just placed my order with Bulk organic herbs, spices & essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs I got powdered yarrow, nettles, aloe vera, spurulina, and yucca root. They were sold out of comfrey. Damn it! I'll find some. Can't wait to start some tea with some real ingredients!
Just placed my order with Bulk organic herbs, spices & essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs I got powdered yarrow, nettles, aloe vera, spurulina, and yucca root. They were sold out of comfrey. Damn it! I'll find some. Can't wait to start some tea with some real ingredients!
Try Liberty Naturals in Oregon City. A working organic Lavender farm (several culinary & medicinal cultivars) and they also have a business similar to Mountain Rose Herbs but is more bulk oriented. Usually on their products you will have domestic & foreign sources, conventional or organic, some plant materials are labeled 'Wild Harvested' which is more accurate in some cases, i.e. Yucca plants aren't grown on farms. HTH LD
Borage can be a good substitute to comfrey as LD pointed out to me earlier which MR does have in stock. Its roughly the same cost as the comfrey too if I remember right. Nice set up, very clean and well organized. The only thing I can really even think of that I would change is to get rid of the 90 bend on the far can fan to something like 60. You'll get a much more efficient and even flow of air that way. If I remember right a 90 bend reduces efficiency by 40% or more while 60 was around 25%. I know I'm kind if nitpicking but if you if you can get better performance and maybe extend the equipments life with a few minutes work its definitely worth it.
Jsmokey Here's a couple of things to assess when considering Borage or Comfrey and in this case I'm limiting my comments to the non-invasive, sterile version - Comfrey Bocking 14 Comfrey - because of the deep roots this plant sends down in the sub-soil (15' and up to 20'), it is a far more efficient plant at producing biomass. It's not even close. Borage - long used by organic gardeners as a companion plant for strawberries and tomatoes especially. Both root exudes as well as the Secondary Metabolites produced in the flowers function as a pollinator attractor, natural herbivore insect suppressor, etc. Comfrey Bocking 14 -perennial Borage - annual Plant both. Use both. Toss in Stinging Nettle & Yarrow and you're done. LD
You never cease to amaze me with all your info on this. I was actually planning that but that extra info about both really helped clarify on the matter of the two for me. I was actually having some trouble finding good info on both.
The horticulturist who developed the Bocking 14 almost 60 years ago has a book that is considered the bible on this plant: Comfrey: Past, Present & Future by Lawrence D. Hills Always, always, check with Acres USA Magazine for organic/sustainable farming books because their prices cannot be beat. One book in particular that I wanted from the Australia Biodynamic Farming Group was $120.00 at Amazon and it was < $20.00 at Acres USA. Delivered. Pick-up Dr. T.L. Senn's book on seaweed and agriculture. Dr. Senn spent 55 years studying kelp as a soil amendment at Clemson University's Horticulture Department. A must-have book for any serious organic terrorist. HTH LD
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely have to give those a look. I have quite a few on medicinal/beneficial plants I gathered up but those should be a very nice addition.
thanks for the input man. i almost ordered borage as well as horsetail. Maybe that will be on my next order along with some valarian root and comfrey.