MEVOlution - DIY LED ARRAYS + RecycledOrganicLivingSoil

[jubiare]

Foreverflyhi, good call there, thats pretty much exactly what happened.. Recycled soil mixed with fresh and the humus wasn't up for the ride. I am making my own castings but its taking time, still using the best I can find over here..

Nevertheless, I have some A+ grade medicine going, its nearly harvest time for the MEvo side:

Kali, needing more time, can't wait for this, such a nice creative high


Jack's


Malawi gold proper sativa it needs time, droopy but she keeps on flowering. I snapped her and I planted the snapped end, she started growing too (I risk snapping her again lol)



The MEvo's have a:
20x hyper red
20x red
20x mixed whites (apart from 2x royal blue due to missing parts)

configuration;

I am driving everything at 500mA

Total wattage 140ish

Happy growing RIU

PS: really loving organic, switch to organic with no hesitation because our plastic world can never compare to mother nature. RESPECT

 

[SupraSPL]

Sweet setup! I had a hard time dialing in the strength of recycled soil. If I went too strong I'd get plants finishing deep green and drying with a "farmy" smell and harsher smoke. Some plants would keep growing new calyxs instead of finishing which made the buds look like fluffy crap lol. If I went too weak they would fade early and yields would suffer (although the bud was very dank and did not require much of a cure).

I had a cheapo ppm meter so I tried to estimate soil fertility. I would add 25ml soil to 100ml water and check the ppm after about 6 hours. Used soil would measure 500-600ppm and properly fertilized and cooked soil would measure about 800.

The 800ppm soil can be used as water-only but I like to water in some organic fish hydrolysate, indonesian guano, and blackstrap at the beginning of flowering, especially if it is a hungry variety. Hope that helps!

 

[jubiare]

Supra, thanks. However higher cation exchange aka humus should solve problems altogether... Ultimately. I want to (we should) get there rather than find the right ratio myself, if you know what I mean.

Well cooked soil full of humus/cation exchange should be the key altogether folks

Simplicity is no simple thing (Charlie Chaplin) LOL

 

[jubiare]

I was just thinking that the best I learned in the two fields
-led
-organics

-knna
-clackamas coots

comes from two very generous souls that both have/have had serious health issues

It's sad and fascinating altogether

 

[jubiare]

Certainly one can't argue with the gurus of ROLS

(By gasganastan)

 

[SupraSPL]

Yea I expect CC would disapprove of my amendments. I agree fresh organic compost, homemade EWC and microbial teas are where its at. I am working my way in that direction adding more and more but not there yet. Neither have I tried the no-till approach but I'd like to experiment with it for sure.

 

[Bad Karma]

Certainly one can't argue with the gurus of ROLS
View attachment 2911725View attachment 2911726
(By gasganastan)

That is exactly what every forest should look like, bamboo, and cannabis, as far as the eye can see.
My compliments to the chef.

 

[jubiare]

Yea I expect CC would disapprove of my amendments. I agree fresh organic compost, homemade EWC and microbial teas are where its at. I am working my way in that direction adding more and more but not there yet. Neither have I tried the no-till approach but I'd like to experiment with it for sure.

It's all good fella, I am just like you gradually getting to "the truth"... I am yet to use my own castings though and that should make a big impact (I have a worm bin going it won't be long). I tried a sort of no til but with small pots etc its been a laughing joke. From the gang just for reference:

"I think it is important to reintegrate the part Cootz touched on in another thread. When a lot of us simply say compost, thermo compost and earth worm castings, we do not mean store bought off the shelf materials. This is where we win in this game, and it all starts before a cutting or seedling hits the soil. Properly made ewc/compost equals some work, and takes some time. But it is time well spent IMHO.

Our organic grows are a direct result of our compost quality, no other way to put it. So I feel it is where you want to spend your time, efforts and resources. When you make great compost, the actual grow is almost a non event. Things just chug long when those microbes are happy"

"Commercial thermal compost operations are there to reduce biomass and nothing more"

 

[SupraSPL]

I have 4 worm bins going currently (my wife even lets me keep them stacked in the living room!) We have lots of scraps from organic fruits and veggies, plus all the fan leaves and stems. Some get fed to the worms and some are allowed to compost in the cooking soil. Same goes for old root balls, although they take longer to break down. Even without the worms it all breaks down and looks great.

When I add things like guano, kelp and chicken manure to the cooking soil I like to think of them as microbe food and plant food combined. I assume CC objects to this because if you have enough compost/EWC and large enough containers, store bought ferts may not be necessary. On the other hand I'm not sure I can find enough organic scraps to do the job.

 

[jubiare]

He def amends on top of the good humus. He also always talked good about chicken manure, not so about Guanos just coz he advocates its a extra expense that can be avoided (I do have it and use sparingly)

What they really push is not that you don't need amendments but that if you have high quality humus the living soil takes care of itself regardless of spot on amendments quantity etc.

They completely disregard limestone too, as something considered unnecessary if not even damaging as it tends to compact the soil with time and applications

 

[SupraSPL]

Very good info. I scored a big bag of organic certified chicken manure for $0.50/LB. Organicare Pure Grow granular is about $1/LB is you buy a big bag and it is based on organic chicken manure. I have insectivorous bats living on the side of my cabin and they leave big guano pellets but I just use them for outdoor veggies.

I stopped using dolomite lime because of CC lol. I was only putting a tiny bit in but he makes a very good argument against it.