So here's the scoop. I have my girls inside and because of issues beyond my control, they need to go outdoors for the flowering cycle. Luckily I have an outdoors space available. It is however a guerilla style grow and I can't spend too much time here, and i can't carry nutes and shit out there, so I need to build a soil hat I don't need to do to much too(obviously things due come up and will be addressed). I do plan on making some teas and whatnot when needed. This all must be done this weekend and on a budget. So this is what I have so far, bone meal at 6-9-0, veg and tomato nutes at 2-7-4 and 9-12-12, buffaflo composte at 1-1-1, and cow manure composte at .5-.5-.5, anything else I left out would be appreciated. The biggest thing I need help with is how much to mix of what. I am also planning on getting a bag of sunshine #4 advanced and small bag of ocean forrest if needed. Please, any input would be great. Sorry can't upload pics for some reason I will try later if needed.
Id say the best bet is to start with a few bricks of dried coco for the base, its usually cheap and much lighter than soil because you add water later. Then pickup this sunleaves guano kit [ame="http://www.amazon.com/International-House-of-Guanos-Sunleaves/dp/B004DKNOC4"]Guano[/ame] That will be enough nutrients for a nice sized space. Thats enough for a good clean organic grow. Just mix a good amount of guano with the coco and some of the areas soil and it will do well.
JubudZ, I'm gonna go so far off of the "standard" with my suggestion that it will be pretty much guaranteed to generate some poo-poo's from the viewing public. Here is I how I interpret your dilemna; you need to plant them and leave them the fuck alone LITFA right? Ok, here goes my opinion along with a bit of editorial. Let's take the easy part first. #1. Ensure that all 13 essential plant nutrients are available in the goodies you have on hand. If you are missing any micronutrients the top priority should be purchasing Azomite if you can get your hands on it. If you cant, don't sweat it because the native soil will in all likelihood contain every micronutrient you need. #2. Depending on the tilth of the native soil you will be planting in (very clay'ey, very sandy, very muckey, etc.) all you really need to do is improve the tilth. How you will accomplish this will depend on your answer so give it a shout and an opinion will be forthcoming. I'm perplexed at why many G growers just don't use the soil that nature has at hand and improve that soil instead of luggin heavy bags of peat mix to their plots. It just kinda-sort doesn't make sense to me. But that's just me. My advice is to improve the tilth of the soil at the site you are planting and let it be done. Depending on your answer to the tilth ? will dictate what you need to do to accomplish this. So lemme know. #3. If the nutrient line up that you have on hand is all organic then just follow the label directions on the package for a regular grow. If the directions are expressed in "lbs per 100 sf" or something similar, again, lemme know as I have a conversion table I can share with you to convert those suggestions to Tbsp/cups/ recommendations per linerar/square foot to amounts per container size. Bottom line is the hole you dig will in all likelihood be real close to the volume of a 5gal container. #4. If you can get your mits on it purchase some Sul-Po-Mag, aka K-Mag (it should be in your staple ingredients anyway). Might be hard to find locally, IDK, but it's easily available in 5lb bags online for cheap. Get you some for next time for sure. #5. Again, depending on the existing soil tilth that you will condition on site you will probably need some perlite/pumice. Real easy to tote and ~3-4 cups per 5gal container is plenty. If you can not get the coarse grade perlite in the 4cf bags and can't find non-ammended perlite, just use the StayGreen or MG Organic choice perlite. It's synthetic nutrient content is so minimal that when used outdoors it won't mean jack to your grow. It will contain one tenth of one percent on NPK and that's nothing in an outdoor plot. #6. Dig your holes 12" deep, and 18"-24" wide. Circle or rectangle it doesn't matter. Take the dirt out of the hole and put on or in something so you can work with it. Take available forrest litter from the top 2" of the surrounding area and put 3-4 cups of that in. Add your perlite/pumice, and what we'll determine to be your requested "how much" on the NPK, mix it real good, and plant it in the ground. Mulch the top of the finished hole with at least 4" of available mulch-type 'stuff' you'll find everywhere outdoors, water 'em good and come back in a few weeks or whatever your schedule is and you will be good to go. Outdoor planting is really remarkably easy if you use the native soil. Humping weight and volume of peat is unnecessary unless the native soil really, really sucks. Everything we try to accomplish with our indoor grows is to mimic that which is found naturally outdoors. Leaf mold from oak trees is one of the best natural fertilizers and soil organic matter ammendments to add to an outdoor grow and arguably one could grow and entire crop from start-to-finish with nothing but leaf mold and native soil. It's been done and documented in the agricultural world Lemme know to the best of your ability to judge so: What is the condition of the native soil you will be growing in and we'll go from there.
Thanks a million poss. I didnt even think to just amend the native soil. We are mainly dealing with sand around here. And the plot I will be using is mainly prarie land with some woods around he edges. I was planning on digging the land today and tillin it some then bringing the girls back tomorrow. I've tried to get only 100% organic stuff, some is even omri listed. Thanks again poss, you da man!
Sounds good man. If the soil is really sandy you absolutely must have organic matter mixed in there (this is wherre the peat typically comes into play), but that can certainly be made up from natural forest litter and other humus type substances found in and around wooded areas. So, don't let me lead you astray here, sand should comprise only about ~10-15% of your total mix, ~60% humus material (peat, forest litter, etc), and the remainder aeration (perlite, pumice, or similar). If you are near a wood line then you're good to go. The top ~2"-4" of the native soil in a wooded area is the gemstone. That is where you are going to find the bulk of the microbial activity, humus substances, and the types of materials that make for a great soil. If there is already grasses and moss's growing in those woods, your golden. If not, hump the peat. Got to have, must have humus in your soil mix. Peace and good luck!
Thanks again bro! Here's a pic of one of the holes I dug to give you an idea of what I'm working with. I've also included a pic of a oil sumthin I found out there. A hemp plant. I have some sunshine #4 mix I'm going to use to build my "soil" with. I may throw some ocean forrest in but the npk is 20-10-10. And idk if I want/need that much nitrogen for flower, along with the rest of what I have. If you could post up or pm me with that chart I would appreciate it. Thanks again man.
Jbyrd, here's an example. (I'm having a helluva problem with my internet connection staying up ) Pic 1 was taken around noon'ish. Pic 2 was taken around eight'ish with a flash. The soil these are planted in native soil which has a very high clay content (not a bad thing). It was dug up, worked with native humus from around the area and mixed with StayGreen perlite. Think of the "humus" as a form of compost. Pretty much the same thing but without the actual control over what goes into the batch to make up the compost/humus. It's just naturally occurring leaf-mold, algae/fungus, small sticks from dead plants etc. To this I added a full cup of Espoma Garden Tone and planted them. I then mulched the hole with ~6" of locally gathered grasses which has already started decomposing. If I were to lift up this mulch and lightly fork the soil up the earth worms would be scattering! I planted these well over three weeks ago and I've only watered them ONE time. I'm not here to brag about how they look, they only get maybe ~4 hours of direct early morning sunlight. After 2:00 pm they're pretty much in the dark until around ~7:00 pm, and the rest of the time any "light" is just reflective light bouncing around from all the stuff surrounding the area - I mean it is "daylight" but the plant themselves get little to no direct sunlight. You can even see how they're stretching out to grab some solar energy. These aren't intended to be pretty or heavy yielders. The one in the front is a male G45 and the other is a female BF. I planted them close together and in this manner for two reasons. One, I want the seed produced by the 45xGF cross. Two, I want to sample some outdoor bud compared to the indoor bud just to see what, if anything, is different. Only points are, this is native soil, Espoma 'Tone' product, a shit load of grass mulch, and very little orderly watering. Just what water nature provides in the form of occasional (not much) rain, morning dew, condensate occurring below the soil line from the natural occurring decomposition process. Pictures. I always attempt to provide some sort of visual example of my suggestions. . Like I said, these aren't being grown for looks or yield. I specifically want to test the method and to get some seed. That's it. Anything beyond that is a bonus .
Thanks again P. It's always good having you around brotha. Im glad you mentioned the grass on top as a sort of mulch. All of the farmers around my area swear by it, and I was going to use what is already out there as you mentioned. Hey wolverine, that pretty much looks like the area I'm using. Those were some purdy girls man. What strain was it?
Not all that much, they went around 5-6 oz per. In that grow area the biggest limiting factor was water, but that line never produced heavy. The holes were lined with newspaper in an attempt to hold in moisture and there was some vermiculite in the mix. Knowing what I know now I would have used that moisture holding stuff ( the name escapes me, crystals?)......MIW For what it's worth I re-worked my holes in late fall after harvest, so once summer came it was just plant and scoot.....
Not a bad pull at all man. I wish I had more time to work with in getting my girls outside. But, it was beyond my control. Problems with neighbors and their dogs had police around to much. And I would hate for my shit to be found over that.
You are being wise JbudZ. That kinda shit happens all the time man. "unintended consequences" as it were. Smart move! Kinda like the 'busted tail light' syndrome and the next thing ya know, headline news. Fucking neighbors. Damn hard to pick 'em ya know
Kelp .. It's a great flower amendment Cheap too .. 2# for $30 shipped .. 4 days later I got it .. .. Provides tons of micronutrients and some macro needed for flower .. Watch out using bone or blood meal outdoors .. Make sure it's mixed in at the bottom of your holes .. If animals smell it they may try digging .. .. Chicken wire fencing is great to make a mat to prevent digging and a small cage to protect against munching .. Plus the chicken wire cages help hold buds up in the Fall