DonBrennons 'Unconventional' organic gardens

[DonBrennon]

The flower room had it's full 12 hours darkness today, got photo's just before and after lights on. Can't remember if I've already mentioned it, but the final line up of females are 6 PK x Livers from Breeders Boutique, 3 SSDD from Bodhi, 2 Cinderella99 Bx & 1 Blue Iguana from Mosca
You can see from the above photo that the 100w of mono's on each light really makes a difference 'visually' at least

 

[DonBrennon]

The Gravy has landed so they're getting run next round, had it all planned in my head, but gotta pick 2 strains to leave out now

 

[calliandra]

Sorry for the late reply, been a busy couple of weeks

You must be so excited about the new place, hope you've found you're new 'space' suitable and setting up ain't too much hassle...............that sour D you just done looked great and you must be desperate to get something going again.

I've had another light's mono's give up on me now and not had time to sort it, but finished work for 2 weeks today, so can concentrate on the room again.

Haha yeah I'm right in the middle of it all right now and checking out the infrastructure.
The first thing I did was to plant thermo/hygrometers everywhere I was a bit annoyed to realize there's a cold draft in the cellar exactly where I want to do my soilifying experiments, but then again, a bit of airflow may be a really good thing? Base temps are at 14-16°C, so what am I worrying, in the old one I only had 8 constant
Etcetera! haha
Yes very exciting, but the way things are going it may even be February before I get back up and running... this move is a complicated one I definitely need my seedling space first, as I plan to grow onions from seed next year. So we'll see!

Oh awesome you've got a bit of time off! I imagine it will be a heavenly treat after these past months of stressiness and growroom upheaval
Which is looking just amazing btw, rosebush and aloe plantation and all! The monos really do give the light something more of freshness, somehow - do you have same strains on both sides so you can compare how they do?

Oh and I just realized you seem to be moving back to hard pots?
Cheers!

 

[DonBrennon]

Haha yeah I'm right in the middle of it all right now and checking out the infrastructure.
The first thing I did was to plant thermo/hygrometers everywhere I was a bit annoyed to realize there's a cold draft in the cellar exactly where I want to do my soilifying experiments, but then again, a bit of airflow may be a really good thing? Base temps are at 14-16°C, so what am I worrying, in the old one I only had 8 constant
Etcetera! haha
Yes very exciting, but the way things are going it may even be February before I get back up and running... this move is a complicated one I definitely need my seedling space first, as I plan to grow onions from seed next year. So we'll see!

Oh awesome you've got a bit of time off! I imagine it will be a heavenly treat after these past months of stressiness and growroom upheaval
Which is looking just amazing btw, rosebush and aloe plantation and all! The monos really do give the light something more of freshness, somehow - do you have same strains on both sides so you can compare how they do?

Oh and I just realized you seem to be moving back to hard pots?
Cheers!

Ahhhhh, it's fantastic, lay in bed till the dog really started getting pissed off(7.30am, a 2 hour oversleep for me), rolled a fatty and went for an hour's stroll around the local park, now chilling with another fatty and a coffee.

I'd actually consider the draft a good thing in a cellar, my worst fears would be damp stale air. My first attempts at growing were in a small cellar, oh how I wish we had RIU back then. But still, after a steep learning curve, I found that basement growing is easier than in a bedroom or attic purely because it's easier to add a little bit of heat in the winter than remove excess heat during the summer. As long as you've got fresh air with good movement you should be good. When I next move house I'll be looking for something with a large cellar so I can custom build some rooms into it. I'm restricted to what I can do at the moment with regards to environmental control and this would allow me to get things really dialled in.

I do think it'd be interesting to see a side by side............BUT!!!! All the plants are from seed and are already showing different pheno's within each strain and the effort that went into adding those mono's really makes me wanna use them. I'm also nervous that the lights lack the intensity needed without them, the cobs are only running at 36w each.

The plastic pots are from the small tent, I was gonna just run in fabrics this time, but one of your earlier comments inspired me to just re- use these as no till. I did have to dig out a little more of the old soil than I'd have liked, but had no choice because of the size of the pots the plants had previously been in prior to transplant. Added some fresh soil and topdressed with some 'meals' and compost before mulching. I've used hay this time as opposed to straw and my room smelt like a freshly cut summer meadow for about a week.

......and onions from seed? Are they rare or heirloom varieties? I've never thought of growing em from seed, 'sets' just seem so much more convenient, maybe I'm just a lazy arse, LMAO

 

[calliandra]

Ahhhhh, it's fantastic, lay in bed till the dog really started getting pissed off(7.30am, a 2 hour oversleep for me), rolled a fatty and went for an hour's stroll around the local park, now chilling with another fatty and a coffee.

I'd actually consider the draft a good thing in a cellar, my worst fears would be damp stale air. My first attempts at growing were in a small cellar, oh how I wish we had RIU back then. But still, after a steep learning curve, I found that basement growing is easier than in a bedroom or attic purely because it's easier to add a little bit of heat in the winter than remove excess heat during the summer. As long as you've got fresh air with good movement you should be good. When I next move house I'll be looking for something with a large cellar so I can custom build some rooms into it. I'm restricted to what I can do at the moment with regards to environmental control and this would allow me to get things really dialled in.

I do think it'd be interesting to see a side by side............BUT!!!! All the plants are from seed and are already showing different pheno's within each strain and the effort that went into adding those mono's really makes me wanna use them. I'm also nervous that the lights lack the intensity needed without them, the cobs are only running at 36w each.

The plastic pots are from the small tent, I was gonna just run in fabrics this time, but one of your earlier comments inspired me to just re- use these as no till. I did have to dig out a little more of the old soil than I'd have liked, but had no choice because of the size of the pots the plants had previously been in prior to transplant. Added some fresh soil and topdressed with some 'meals' and compost before mulching. I've used hay this time as opposed to straw and my room smelt like a freshly cut summer meadow for about a week.

......and onions from seed? Are they rare or heirloom varieties? I've never thought of growing em from seed, 'sets' just seem so much more convenient, maybe I'm just a lazy arse, LMAO

Haha nah, maybe I'm just curious On the one hand, it's practicing for autarchy (and I love onion and leek flowers, so why not use the seeds then too?). On the other, I want to grow a batch where I have total control over the soil they get. So good wormcasts and extra mycos right from the seedling phase. I want to see how they do, whether the slugs will still have their go at them and such. No side by side here either though, just trying things out and seeing how I fare

Hm interesting thoughts regarding cellars. Yes in a house definitely, if it's not prone to excessive humidity that is. I'm in an apartment building though, with these cage-like cellar compartments. lol I had just finished setting up my workbench again when I realized I actually won't be doing much down there due to, what, like 9 other compartments where people have their stuff lying around. Imagine me sanding down some wood down there, no windows either! Haha
So I'm just going to have my soil amendment going on there, the garden stays nice and close to meee for now

Hope your day continues as sweet and relaxed as it started!

 

[DonBrennon]

Been at the DIY again, hacking Mars Hydro's

This one has only had minor surgery, around 20 blue/red diodes have been replaced by white diodes salvaged from the light further down this post. It's currently being used in my male flowering chamber, all of which were cut back to 1 branch each last night and the timers set to 12-12. I have these 2 light's(in shot) alternating on timers with short cross over periods when they're both on, to keep the temperature down.


This one's had the full board of diodes replaced with 8 1212 CLU048's at 4000k, running on the original drivers. It pulls 208w at the wall and is my new nursery light if it stands the test of time.

 

[DonBrennon]

Having a well earned break after filing my tax return, just found this, so I'm gonna kick back and watch it..........

 

[DonBrennon]

Plant update, 10 days into 12-12, all been lollypopped for the last time, hopefully. All except the fat purple are totally new plants to me and are bushier than I was expecting, not helped by delays causing a prolonged veg period. At least I won't be short on 'tops', LOL


Blue Iguana


C99-Indi(both my C99 ladies are 'Indi dom hybrids', just one more than the other, hence the names)


C99-Sat(self explanatory, no?)


Fat Purple


Psycho Killer x Livers(recently found out it's AKA '2 Toke'), #5 & #3(the stretchiest one)


PK x Livers #7, #9 & #2, number 2 has been tied down less than the rest because she split right down the main stem under LST and then one of the side branches split. She's come round well and totally healthy, just lagging behind her sisters a little.


PK x Livers #4 & Sunshine Daydream #11


SSDD #2 & #6

The 3 SSDD's are suffering from a little under-watering, shit they're vigorous and thirsty after flip. I think all my tops may be feeling the fans I'm currently using, they're looking a little wind burn't to me, need to wall mount them or do something to get em' higher up.

 

[DonBrennon]

This is possibly my favourite part of a grow, when you're in the room you can almost see and feel the plants growing. I'm still struggling with high night-time humidity, which isn't a huge problem at the moment, but I need to get the exhaust and intake balanced soon or I'll run into problems later.

Just over 2 weeks of 12-12

I've had to lift my lights up higher than I thought I would, what I initially thought was wind burn turned out to be too much light intensity, which was given away by the big C99 in the middle of the room, which, whilst not getting as much light, wasn't having the same problems as the other plants, despite being right in front of the fan.

 

[ShLUbY]

really beautiful garden mang. well done.

may i ask what you're using for soil amendments? also do you run any coco in your base mix or strictly peat?

 

[DonBrennon]

really beautiful garden mang. well done.

may i ask what you're using for soil amendments? also do you run any coco in your base mix or strictly peat?

There is coco in the mix, but by volume it's probably very low, like 5%. I think I've been on a similar quest as you, although I started out with a 'UK improvised' version of supersoil. That was 3 years ago now and after initial problems re-amending that soil for re-cycling, it is very diverse now(and seriously takin over my back yard), the list of 'ingredients' in there are too diverse to list right now, LOL, I'm baked. But I have now found most of the main amendments always banded about-kelp-neem-frass-comfrey-crabshell-basalt. The thing that I feel's making the difference this run is the proper homemade compost, when it finished, worms truly took over it.

 

[ShLUbY]

There is coco in the mix, but by volume it's probably very low, like 5%. I think I've been on a similar quest as you, although I started out with a 'UK improvised' version of supersoil. That was 3 years ago now and after initial problems re-amending that soil for re-cycling, it is very diverse now(and seriously takin over my back yard), the list of 'ingredients' in there are too diverse to list right now, LOL, I'm baked. But I have now found most of the main amendments always banded about-kelp-neem-frass-comfrey-crabshell-basalt. The thing that I feel's making the difference this run is the proper homemade compost, when it finished, worms truly took over it.

yeah i think that's where i went wrong. i started using my pure homemade pile compost, no worms. I think the soil just lost the diversity. the last couple runs have not been as productive as when i first started organics using only EWC and alaska humus. now i'll be incorporating EWC into my mix always. I'll run it 2 to 1 with my pile made compost. can't wait to start harvesting my own castings.

 

[DonBrennon]

yeah i think that's where i went wrong. i started using my pure homemade pile compost, no worms. I think the soil just lost the diversity. the last couple runs have not been as productive as when i first started organics using only EWC and alaska humus. now i'll be incorporating EWC into my mix always. I'll run it 2 to 1 with my pile made compost. can't wait to start harvesting my own castings.

From what I've been learning lately, while it's important to have fungal life in your soil, cannabis prefers a bacterial dominant soil and worms are THE best way to produce that.

 

[calliandra]

Having a well earned break after filing my tax return, just found this, so I'm gonna kick back and watch it..........

great plan, had to copy you right away haha - great talk, thanks for linking!

 

[ShLUbY]

i need to learn about those LEDs y'all are rockin these days..... been seeing some impressive stuff lately

 

[SSGrower]

Just lurking around, like your Mars hacks, more proof organics not equal to technical neophyte.

Trying bokashi for first time made some with em, some with lacto, some with wheat bran, some with barley "bran" I ground and sifted, and some with a 50/50 mix.

Qustion for you and the other posters here - The lacto is getting bluegreen and red spots, has it "spoiled", is it useable?

Thanks in advance.

 

[DonBrennon]

Just lurking around, like your Mars hacks, more proof organics not equal to technical neophyte.

Trying bokashi for first time made some with em, some with lacto, some with wheat bran, some with barley "bran" I ground and sifted, and some with a 50/50 mix.

Qustion for you and the other posters here - The lacto is getting bluegreen and red spots, has it "spoiled", is it useable?

Thanks in advance.

Mmnnnn, that doesn't sound good to me, I think a little white mould is ok, but when it starts getting coloured there may be 'nasties' in there. What do you think @iHearAll ?

 

[SSGrower]

Mmnnnn, that doesn't sound good to me, I think a little white mould is ok, but when it starts getting coloured there may be 'nasties' in there. What do you think @iHearAll ?

White is what I was expecting and seeing on the others, but the lacto I collected myself, which is what concerns me. The dogs loved the curds tho, I ate a few and had no noticeable ill effects.

 

[DonBrennon]

White is what I was expecting and seeing on the others, but the lacto I collected myself, which is what concerns me. The dogs loved the curds tho, I ate a few and had no noticeable ill effects.

I throw mine in the worm bin, they go crazy for that stuff.

 

[DonBrennon]

i need to learn about those LEDs y'all are rockin these days..... been seeing some impressive stuff lately

It's my first run with them and they a real PITA TBH, well the mono's at least. I'm back down to 2 lights with working supplementary mono's. Think I'm just gonna leave em' now for this run and replace them with some high cri cobs instead to use up the spare driver space.