Hey Grasscity Growers, Starting a Socal Greenhouse run in the next few weeks / month for the fam and wanted to get as much input possible as this will be my first grow not indoors. Any experienced grower input is valued and much appreciated. My plan is to do 10 auto flower strains to begin , and after the first cycle (ab 3 months), plant photoperiod clones to grow throughout the rest of the year. I am more inland so temperatures will be on the warmer sides of things. Right now climate is about 70/75 but warming up usually to around 80-90 latespring/summer. peak summer days 100 and hot ones ++. Temps die back to 60/65 or a bit lower on more extreme days. Tips on Environment control epecially airflow or tarps for cooling would be +. The autoflower strains will be : Barney's Farm Purple Punch Garden of Green Cookies and Cream Garden of Green GDP x Gumberry Advanced Seeds Auto Gelato #33 DinaFem Seeds Kush N' Cheese Fastbuds Six Shooter SeedsMan Northern Lights Now for the Dirt. I will be digging down into the ground and filling the holes with the re-amended soil mixture below. Im thinking of digging equivalent to a 30 gal pot but would like to know how deep of a hole to create before I set off to dig and fill. I havnt used Native Ground soil before or chicken manure so ratios on those are Neeeeded! I know chicken manure is pretty hot and where I will be getting most of the macros NPK so i plan to level that out and "dilute" with some less hot local compost. I would most likely dig up all the dirt mix it together with the listed amendments, and then water with a compost tea and let the Soil cook for a 2 weeks turning it once inbetween. Heres my breakdown so far. Soil Composition - Compost -Native Ground Soil -Sphagnum Peat Moss -Chicken Manure - Application Ratio Neeeded* For aeration I know 1/3 of my total soil volume should be composted of aeration. Due to cost I believe perlite or rice hulls would be the cheapest and most affordable option but wanted to hear grower input on putting perlite into the ground like that and the effect it could have on environment. Even though Hulls are natural and breakdown if they were better and more sustainable while still being an effective option I would be most inclined to go that route. Aeration -1/3 of vol either in Lava Rock, Rice Hull, Or Perlite For Soil Amendments My Mixture will include: - Bio Live A Base all in 1 Amendment and has mixture of npk + micro Sources - Kelp Meal - Alfalfa - Neem - soil bugs. - Gypsum - Dolomite Lime Teas will consist of : 1. Alfalfa + Kelp 2. Corn SST 3.AACT Compost+Molasses IPM - I would really appreciate help on Ipm and best organic methods before synthetics as my plants will be out in the elements and I will definitely be facing the forces of nature lol . Thinking of early on in their life introducing Rove Beetles and HypoAp Miles to the greenhouse space to add beneficial pressure. - Diatomaceous Earth - Neem Oil + Essential Oils - Aloe Vera foliars + in tea - forbid4f (dont want to use this but if it had to be done) - Plus whatever great information I come across in this thread! Really looking forward to starting my outdoor journey and seeing what information I'll be lucky to come across. Thanks for reading and I'll be sure to update this thread as the grow goes along. - backwoodleaf
IPM would be azamax and Bonide Pyrethrin alternated every 10 days. Mix each to the lightest concentration and spray at non peak sun hours. I didn’t see Biochar in your mix. In my recent readings, Biochar is great for aeration and for growing your micro life. I precharged mine with a nutrient tea and homemade LABs. Perlite stays suspended in the medium better than lava rock which has a tendency to settle. Rice hulls will break down eventually providing a source of silica. Your compost is going to be the most important part of the mix. It’s winter here so I used a mix of ancient Forest Humus, EWC, and Chicken Manure. Alfalfa is going to get hot so you’ll definitely have to cook it for a few weeks. Plant some clover as a cover crop to gauge when the soil is ready to plant. If the clover burns up, it’s still too hot. Research KNF techniques with Chris Trump, Eric Weinert, or Master Cho. Whoever catches your attention. A homemade LABs would be great to start off the micro life in your soil. IMOs would be great too Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Thank you so much for a start ! I forgot to mention the addition of the cover crop, I have a covercrop seed mix i'll lay down and let grow out before planting. Might pop them in solo cups just for a smoother transition as youngins. If you were to go Perlite VS Rice Hulls what would be the determining factor break down over time , so if i went with it i'll have to reamend with hulls? For the compost portion and chicken manure is the manure 1/3 of the Humus, EWC, and Manure combined? going to look up KNF and the people you mentioned, looks like some good information thank you . Edit: I currently have neem , I see that azadarachtin is the main ingredient in azamax, are these the same, or does azamax provide an additional repellent effect
You can probably go with the 1/3 of your compost portion as Chicken Manure. If you want to seek help from others here, it would be a good idea to use one of the No Till mixes in the thread. Otherwise you can experiment with your own mixes. That’s what I do. I added Insect Frass and Biochar to this run to see how it goes Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
This is pure bonkers. Work with/improve upon your local soil, don't go digging it out and dumping non sense into the holes. Just find good aerobic local compost and dump 6 inches of it across the entire area you plan to grow on. Keep mulching and over a year or two your top soil will be healthier than any concoction available on the internet.
Or he can dig out the holes, amend the soil and it will be ready immediately rather than waiting for a year or two. This is a much better plan and how guerrilla grows have been done for decades. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I plan to reamend the soil I dig up adding compost to it and the dry amendments, let it sit for a week, and then refill. EDIT: I am currently doing a run indoors thats no till using my own mix stated above minus any Native Soil and Chicken Manure. everything else is the same.