Transition

You need to provide information about what medium your using. What size pots? What light are you using?

 

Not doing any transition, although I slowly decrease lights on time at the end of flower:

 

Just try to keep them happy. I've learned some strains will fight you all the way from week 4 flower through finish in a little 5 gallon pot,like Critical Mass. Some don't pose as much of an issue, such as Tangie. You won't yield nearly as much in those little pots either using an organic mix.

 

Decide when to start counting flowering days. Start counting at flip to 12/12? Or start counting when white hairs start to show? Spent the first 40+ of my flowering days counting from flip, then found out people don't start counting until hairs show. So right now I'm either 5 or 12 days from breeders target date.

 

I count from flip, but only to have some idea of where I am at. I let the buds and trichomes speak the most.

I also will reduce light in those last 2 weeks down from 12 hours of light down to 10.


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More life is good to break down your amendments. But, you'll still need to top dress to feed your soil. We always keep living soil moist.

 

I learned a lesson on 5 gallon pots, going to 10's for my second grow. Also I have been screwing up with my watering as I have been on the dry side from time to time as I guess I have had a bit of a bias towards letting the plant struggle some at the end to stress grow more sticky stuff.

I'm also going to try and dial back out light hours and maybe intensity to see if I can coax a better finish.

When do you stop top dressing and compost tea? Or do you continue all the way through to finish?

 

You can follow the first post in this thread. I don't use compost tea's.
No-Till Gardening: Revisited
You can use the watering schedule with some adjustments to your specific grow for your first cycle with a new no till mix. I grow auto's in 10 gallon pots and photo periods in 20 gallon pots minimum. Top dressing for me depends on soil mass as well as soil age in cycles.

 

I though about 20's but I only have a 3x3 tent and I'm not sure I can get more than one in there. So maybe that's a new grower thing wanting to grow more than one plant or cultivar at the same time.

So here's what I have going now, would love your take one it. I'm committed to this recipe as I have already purchased the stuff (and was happy with it in my first grow withe the exception of getting the Jack Herer to finish in the 5 gallons)

1.5 CF FFOF amended with
5 quarts worm castings... from a local guy and got some red wigglers to start my own worm bin
4 quarts Malibu Bu Blend
4 quarts local compost
8 quarts perlitle
1.5 cups Dr Earth Flower Girl

Planning on activating soil with compost tea including castings, compost, seaweed extract, a pinch of dry kelp powder and some Urb...yeah I bought it, yeah it was stupid expensive and yeah I'm gonna use it even if it doesn't do anything. I don't think it will hurt at any rate. Let that cook for at least a couple of weeks

Also thinking about adding some bio-char (lump charcoal) that I plan on activating myself with compost and water.
And some azomite.

Not sure about the amounts of bio-char or azomite, or if I should add at all.

Conflicted on the neem use...that's my personal problem and it nags me.

Thoughts?

If I had to do this again I probably would have just adopted a recipe from the no til, but I'm already committed and look to improve where I can.

Appreciate it man!

 

Your soil mix will work fine,may be lacking a little aeration. That product Urb, is not necessary. Your compost and worm casting should give you the same microorganisms. I tried a few different soil builds myself. They all grew plants. Once it tried the no-till mix here everything started going much better for me. Less problems and more soil life. That formula works. I wasted lots of time and money thinking I could recreate the wheel. These guys in the organic section know there shit. I've learned a lot from them. And I've been pigheaded and tried things they said wouldn't work and what do you know.. They were right.

 

I'm going to post ^^ in the no til thread as well sorry if that

Sounds like we are cut from the same cloth, lol.

I was at the hydro store the other day and asked the guy about a problem I was having and he was sort of shocked that I was estimating about 3/4's of a pound of decent quality bud from my first grow. And then it clicked, they have three aisles of potions and notions and they are selling shit just to sell shit.

 

Might I impose and ask what no till formula you have have settled on? I know that's kind of a pain in the ass and it would be easier to just say go read the thread (I have, mostly) but there are a lot of variations and frankly I'm looking to adopt a tried and true recipe but I'm having a hard time distilling the information there.

Maybe I'll do a side by side this grow with the no till and the FF based soil.

Again I appreciate it

 

I use a mix very similar to the one on the first post of the thread I listed above. I only add 1/2 cup per cu.ft. of humus and peat. We don't amend the aeration portion of our mix. But, it won't hurt if you do. I also add 1/2 cup per cubic foot of oyster shell flour,alfalfa and dried nettles. I don't use basalt. I use 1/2 cup each per cu. ft. of green-sand and azomite as that's what I had on hand. I use perlite for aeration as getting lava rock or pumice here on the east coast isn't cheap. The most important item in your mix is your compost/worm castings. Starting a worm bin is a great idea.

 

TimJ. Lava rock is easy to find and cheap on the East Coast. You can purchase lava rock refills for grills at almost any hardware, big box or online. If you can wear some eye protection, it crushes easily with a brick or almost anything.

That said, I have enough porous stuff in my dirt now, but the pumice is a very good silica source.


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Perlite is way cheaper for me and less work. It would cost one hundred dollars or more to mix 12 cu.ft. of soil with crushed lava rock used for gas fireplaces. I made one small batch using gas fireplace lava rock. Don't get me wrong it was nice stuff. All between 1/2-3/4" It was from Lowes and I believe it cost over $20.00 for enough to mix around a cu. ft. of soil. I use 2-$20.00 bags of perlite while mixing 12 cu.ft. I'm cheap, and perlite works.I think it takes a while for that silica to become available. That's why most supplement Silica. I use GH Armor Si as I had it. I'm switching over to Horsetail FPJ now.

 

HA! I can create a better wheel,


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Not really but you know what I mean


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