Help with organics

[Hollatchaboy]

ive used kelp for the first time this run and smells like im on the beach in the grow tent lol. Ive read good things about seaweed and apparently very good for cannabis

Absolutely! Probably one of the most important. Alfalfa meal is another. Lots of microbes, probiotics, beneficial predators...etc.

 

[Lnp32]

Absolutely! Probably one of the most important. Alfalfa meal is another. Lots of microbes, probiotics, beneficial predators...etc.

thanks my friend, i will check it out

 

[Hollatchaboy]

ive used kelp for the first time this run and smells like im on the beach in the grow tent lol. Ive read good things about seaweed and apparently very good for cannabis

Grow-A-Long with Dick

Here’s to new beginnings! Restarting a perpetual grow from jump street so was thinking of doing something as an collective: I will post an updated pic weekly or bi-weekly to monitor our progress and show how these plants develop through veg into bloom and full maturity. Feel free to post pics of...

www.rollitup.org

Read through this thread.

 

[PJ Diaz]

is kelp more effective in tea or top dress ? How much would you top dress in 30L pot ?

I grow in a hydro style so I don't top dress. With top dressing you want to do it early, so that the microbes have a chance to break it down to a form usable by the plant. I would just add it to your regular watering routine, but it doesn't hurt to add to teas either. Back in the day, I used to pull it off the beach in it's raw form, and throw it in my compost pile.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

You can get the soil taste from coco if you include some organics along with your synthetic nutes. Try fulvic acid and kelp. I think you'll taste a difference.

I haven't tried coco yet. The whole "don't let coco dry out" thing kinda makes me remember dwc with power outage worries, low water levels, air pumps burning out. soil just seems like a no brainer in comparison. Wish I would've started with it.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

I grow in a hydro style so I don't top dress. With top dressing you want to do it early, so that the microbes have a chance to break it down to a form usable by the plant. I would just add it to your regular watering routine, but it doesn't hurt to add to teas either. Back in the day, I used to pull it off the beach in it's raw form, and throw it in my compost pile.

What nutes you use?

 

[Lnp32]

I grow in a hydro style so I don't top dress. With top dressing you want to do it early, so that the microbes have a chance to break it down to a form usable by the plant. I would just add it to your regular watering routine, but it doesn't hurt to add to teas either. Back in the day, I used to pull it off the beach in it's raw form, and throw it in my compost pile.

thanks for feedback my friend

 

[PJ Diaz]

I haven't tried coco yet. The whole "don't let coco dry out" thing kinda makes me remember dwc with power outage worries, low water levels, air pumps burning out. soil just seems like a no brainer in comparison. Wish I would've started with it.

I've done both soil and coco, and definitely prefer coco (plus perlite or rice hulls) in terms of robust growth. Once you automate your watering system, it's cake. And it's not the same issue as with DWC is the power goes off, because you can always revert to hand watering once a day if necessary. I also have way less pests with a clean system vs soil.

 

[PJ Diaz]

What nutes you use?

Jacks 321, plus Mr Fulvic, Clean Kelp, and Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide. Drip fed 3x times per day, drain to waste.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

I've done both soil and coco, and definitely prefer coco (plus perlite or rice hulls) in terms of robust growth. Once you automate your watering system, it's cake. And it's not the same issue as with DWC is the power goes off, because you can always revert to hand watering once a day if necessary. I also have way less pests with a clean system vs soil.

Lol yea I definitely agree about pests in soil. I got a gnat infestation going on right now. Lil bastards gotta go. I never had any pests in hydro so this is new to me. I'll eventually try coco when I can be in town longer than 3 days at a time. Lol. The growth rate in dwc was the benefit for me, and I've seen great results in coco, so it's definitely worth a shot.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Jacks 321, plus Mr Fulvic, Clean Kelp, and Southern Ag Garden Friendly Fungicide. Drip fed 3x times per day, drain to waste.

I had originally started with flora trio but I bought jacks 321 for the next flower run and then decided to go organic. Lol...I got the nutes, and equipment for coco, just need the coco and the time. Lol

 

[PJ Diaz]

Lol yea I definitely agree about pests in soil. I got a gnat infestation going on right now. Lil bastards gotta go. I never had any pests in hydro so this is new to me. I'll eventually try coco when I can be in town longer than 3 days at a time. Lol. The growth rate in dwc was the benefit for me, and I've seen great results in coco, so it's definitely worth a shot.

I had originally started with flora trio but I bought jacks 321 for the next flower run and then decided to go organic. Lol...I got the nutes, and equipment for coco, just need the coco and the time. Lol

Nothing wrong with organic, most of the food I eat is organic. Honestly tho, I do it mainly for the lack of chem pesticides.

I wouldn't stress too much about the gnats. The little fuckers are annoying, but they rarely cause any real damage. Best way I've found to deal with gnats is Mosquito Dunks or Bits (I prefer the bits, but they are sometimes harder to find locally). Put that stuff on the surface of your soil, and also mix in with your water. It's just a bacteria which eats the gnat larve. Sticky traps too.

 

[Green Refuge]

Lol yea I definitely agree about pests in soil. I got a gnat infestation going on right now. Lil bastards gotta go. I never had any pests in hydro so this is new to me. I'll eventually try coco when I can be in town longer than 3 days at a time. Lol. The growth rate in dwc was the benefit for me, and I've seen great results in coco, so it's definitely worth a shot.

Cover your soil with playsand and those demons will go away. It's a pain to top dress amendments with sand on the soil but it works. Smaller pots you can use fine steel wool.

 

[GrassBurner]

Do you recycle your soil?

Yeah I recycle it. I keep my dirt in a pile outside with chicken wire on 3 sides, and a piece of tin over the top. After each run I take the soil out there and mix it back into the pile with a little compost.

 

[myke]

I thought growing was meant to be relaxing and therapeutic lol. Nothing has ever stressed me out as much as growing weed lol

Take the advice of using a SIP.Im a newb also,Watering is a very difficult thing,I dont care what soil you have if watering is off your done.Im in my first SIP, very relaxing, just add water when you have time.Cover the surface so it doesnt go dry and watering is perfect.
Ive grown in hydro/coco for yrs,there was always a little red in the stems.Now in the sips there all green not even a hint of red.Growth is off the charts and Im just using a simple home made soil with Gaia dry.
Good luck.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Take the advice of using a SIP.Im a newb also,Watering is a very difficult thing,I dont care what soil you have if watering is off your done.Im in my first SIP, very relaxing, just add water when you have time.Cover the surface so it doesnt go dry and watering is perfect.
Ive grown in hydro/coco for yrs,there was always a little red in the stems.Now in the sips there all green not even a hint of red.Growth is off the charts and Im just using a simple home made soil with Gaia dry.
Good luck.

If growing in living soil, watering isn't hard if you get a sprayer, something with saponin, and stick to 5%. I actually break my 5% up into two daily waterings of 2.5% every 12 hours. I heard somebody on future cannabis project, say that breaking it up into multiple waterings a day works best for him. I dunno about that though.

 

[myke]

If growing in living soil, watering isn't hard if you get a sprayer, something with saponin, and stick to 5%. I actually break my 5% up into two daily waterings of 2.5% every 12 hours. I heard somebody on future cannabis project, say that breaking it up into multiple waterings a day works best for him. I dunno about that though.

Again a newb here. But yeah from what I’ve experienced is you have to keep the soil moist and covered. This is a must! So for guys like me that would either water too much or not enough. The sip is the answer. It’s taught me a lot so far as I’m still in pots in my veg room. Yeah the 5 % rule works. Who new lol. Just doesn’t seem like enough but it is.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

Again a newb here. But yeah from what I’ve experienced is you have to keep the soil moist and covered. This is a must! So for guys like me that would either water too much or not enough. The sip is the answer. It’s taught me a lot so far as I’m still in pots in my veg room. Yeah the 5 % rule works. Who new lol. Just doesn’t seem like enough but it is.

Yea I can't wait to mine comes. I think I can use bas 3.0 right away, so I'll be able to throw a clone in immediately. How many do you grow in your sip? I believe I'm only gonna do one in mine the first time.

 

[Richard Drysift]

I agree, but the purple stems are an indicator of a deficiency whether it's ph related or depletion. Ime, some purpling doesn't seem to affect my plants, but when the stems get straight purple, I have problems. I try not to let them purple but I need to get my top dress timing down a lil better. Lol

No you are absolutely right it is an indicator of an absorption problem (ph) but just saying that makes people start trying to check and adjust ph when all that is needed is to add compost especially in a soluble form. Adding organic materials and/or compost usually pulls ph down slightly at the root zone but you need a decent soil probe to measure it. I say don’t worry about it because just by making the soil highly active with microbes again the plants will fix themselves.

 

[Hollatchaboy]

No you are absolutely right it is an indicator of an absorption problem (ph) but just saying that makes people start trying to check and adjust ph when all that is needed is to add compost especially in a soluble form. Adding organic materials and/or compost usually pulls ph down slightly at the root zone but you need a decent soil probe to measure it. I say don’t worry about it because just by making the soil highly active with microbes again the plants will fix themselves.

Ok I see what you're saying I believe, just get the microbes into the soil, they'll take over from there? Am I close? Lol