Hey everybody, I was offered the chance to sample the full line of Grow-Biotic organic nutrients, so I took it. More than anything, I was interested to see how the bottled nutes and bagged soil do in the SIP buckets. Just so you know, this is not a 'sponsered grow' or anything. I am under no obligation to promote the Grow-Biotic line or say nice things about their products. I will follow the feeding chart that came with the samples as carefully as I can, but if it all goes tits up...oh well. Here is what I'm starting with: The plant on the left is Nute Girl, a P1 clone (Peacemaker = Super Skunk x White Widow). The plant on the right is her twin. I was going to do a side-by-side grow to compare my water only soil mix to the bottled nutes, but I totally screwed my soil mix this time around. Water Baby got off to such a slow start that a comparison grow would be useless, so it's just Nute Girl from here on out. Here she is at 2 weeks: Not a very good pic, but you can see the two plants were about keeping pace with each other. Here she is at 21 days: She totally exploded in the 3rd week and left Water Baby in the dust. Here she is today: She went into the bud room yesterday, so I'm calling this Day 1 from the flip, and the official start of this grow. The bagged soil she is growing in is Black Gold Organic, cut 1/3 with perlite. At the start of each week (Wednesdays for her), I will empty the SIP res bucket, clean it out, and replenish it with a gallon of full-strength nutrients. I will give her a few days to wick as much of the full-strength solution as she can, and then it will be pure rainwater for the rest of the week. I know there is something of a stigma attached to bottled nutes here in the organics forum, and that's okay. I'm not trying to justify or encourage the use of bottled nutes. But I also know there are a lot of people who, for one reason or another, can't do the 'mix your own from scratch' organic soil grows, and for them the best solution is bagged soil and bottled organic nutes. More than anything, I'm hoping that this grow will demonstrate the value of the SIP, which I am big on promoting, even when using store-bought soil and nutes. Updates every Thursday. See ya next week...
Hey Ms. Skunk, Nope...just the Black Gold and perlite. Of course, the Black Gold has some amendments in it, but I'm interested in seeing how the Grow-Biotic nutes do on their own. Thanks for stopping by! See ya...
Hey all, Just another piece of the puzzle: I don't PH adjust the Grow-Biotic nutrient solution, either before or after mixing. I've never even checked it or the soil PH for that matter. If I start to have problems, that will be the first thing I do check, but until then I'm letting it ride. I mix all the nutrients in a gallon milk jug, and stir each addition thoroughly before adding the next. The only ingredients that don't dissolve completely are the Bloom Max and maybe some of the calcium. Here's the feeding chart: It's pretty standard. Nute Girl is on week 4 transition nutes until next Wednesday. See ya...
This should be pretty interesting. I'm subbed to this one, for sure, but I'll probably just be a lurker. I've read about the nutes you're using, but never gave them much thought. I've also read a lot about the soil you are using, and it was all pretty good. If you do well with this approach, I may give it a try, but with Roots Organic soil in place of the Black Gold.
It sucks that you won't have the water-only plant for comparison, but this grow should be very informative nonetheless! I'm definitely anxious to see the performance of the SIP under this new set of circumstances. Perhaps you will break new ground with this grow and lead us into realms of the SIP that are yet to be explored
Hey Ms. Pearl, Then you probably know more about them than I do. I've skimmed the Grow-Biotic literature, but not enough to make any kind of judgment about their products. They say they're organic...okay, I'll take their word for it. Call this a blind dummies grow. See ya... Hey Carlo, I have a pair of female Chemo clones I may run a comparison grow with, but from the way Nute Girl is growing, my soil mix will have to be hot to keep up. Nute Girl, a P1 clone, will finish 2 weeks after the big P1 that's in the bud room now. That will make for a pretty close sampling of the two. More than growth rates, I'm interested in comparing the quality and taste of the bud. No matter how it turns out, it should be a fun grow. See ya...
Ah, yes. I forgot about the potential for difference in taste. You seem to have the ability to be objective about these kind of things so I'll trust your findings. I'm not sure if you've heard about the Stanford study that claims to show that chemically grown produce isn't nutritionally deficient in comparison to organically grown produce. Not that this grow will refute any of their claims, but it might shed some light on taste differences between the two. Hope so!
Hey Carlo, I read excerpts and some conclusions drawn by the Stanford study. I got the feeling there were some politics involved - the way they framed the findings and left out or failed to address certain aspects of the debate between chemically and organically grown crops. I don't like politics influencing science. It makes me skeptical of the conclusions. See ya... Hey High, Thanks! Yep, P1 is a beautiful bold plant. Nute Girls older sister is really stacking up the budz. She's going to have some long, fat colas. See ya... *** UPDATE: Week 1 Weekly Maintenance: Wed: replaced her nutrient solution with week 1 nutes water only after she drinks the full-strength solution down Nute Girl is growing clean and green and at an average SIP pace, which is to say fast. The only thing I'm not too keen on is what the nute solution does to the roots that hang down in the reservoir. It makes them brown and limp like a dirty mop, whereas my water only girlz have white, firm roots. I would say that it's just the nute solution staining the roots, as it is brown, but the limpness bothers me. I'm going to check them out a little closer later today. If it looks like they are in danger of rotting, I will probably cut them out of the reservoir. Nute Girl She looks good - nice, even growth. She's got some tip diving going on, so she's right on the edge of max fertilization. Bone Structure: She has good stalk and stem structure. She's a little stretchy, but that's just P1 genetics. Canopy: Overall, she has everything I like to see in a plant - even color, bold leaf and frame structure, rapid and consistent growth. The Grow-Biotic nutes are doing their job quite well at this point. If it weren't for the mucked up roots in the res, I would say their performance was excellent. Still, there's a long way to go. See ya next week...
I agree with you regarding the study. I'm skeptical, but what more can you do in our age? Politics and science intermingle all too often. Plants look great! Not surprised to hear about the roots. The roots that have made it into my reservoir are also white and bulky. They are definitely cool to look at when I feel like undertaking the struggle to lift up the top bucket in my already cramped tent.
I don't care what your style is I'm following your grow Papa even if you switched to hydro (although I know you won't) I'd still pull up a chair and you watch you grow some dro.
If I remember correctly it was PW who said he had a whole perpetual hydro setup a while back. Was that you, papa? Subbed to see nute girl do awesome, but taste like wood.
Hey NOOB, Nope, no more hydro for me. This organic, bottled nutes SIP grow is the closest I'll get to that old mess. Thanks for the kind words! See ya... Hey Mashiro, Yep, I grew a perpetual hydro garden for 12 years. When I think back on all the work that was, even though I was dialed in and everything went smoothly, it just seems crazy. "Subbed to see nute girl do awesome, but taste like wood." There's a touch of evil in you, isn't there? Actually, the girl that's going to taste like wood is P3. She's going to be a real dud, I can tell. See ya...
I can't imagine how much work a perpetual hydro garden has to be. PPMs, TDS, ferts out the ass, but not literally, like organics. haw haw Evil? hehe, I don't know what you're talking about. And I'm sure anything you grow is going to be great, papa. I was just fooling anyway.
Hey Mashiro, Don't be so sure about that. I know you were fooling, but I wasn't. P3 is going to be completely worthless. She'll look great, but I'll be lucky to catch even a slight buzz off of her. She has very little trichome production, and she smells like pungent, green, ordinary plant matter. Most pine cones smell better than she does. It's just one of those things. Genetically, she's simply a dud. P1 on the other hand... See ya...
Hey, Papa ! I'm here. I will be subbed to the end results of this new line. Just tell me they are price 'Cheap'. I don't want to fall in love with a product that it will give a dent in my wallet, lmao !
Hey Zero, Good to see ya! I don't have a clue about the price. You'd have to check their website. And I wouldn't go buying anything until/unless they prove effective. Even then, I would want to check the ingredients, which I haven't done, to be sure you're comfortable with everything that's in them. This is a blind dummy run. I don't know anything about the Grow-Biotic line of nutrients. I'm just using them according to the recommended feeding chart...a real no-brainer. You'll probably hate it! See ya...