Canopy Managment 101

Ohsogreen said:

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SelfSupplied..... Yes, I reuse all my soil, you should too.
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I take the soil after the finish of one run, throw it in the compost barrel and rejuvenate it. After a thorough composting, it gets mixed into new pots, with a fresh run of peat moss, pertilite and some worm castings.
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I mix it 50 percent compost, 30 percent peat moss, 10 percent pertilite and 10 percent worm castings.
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Keep it Real...Organic.... & always reuse & recycle when possible.
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Ohsogreen said:

Lets do some recycling... it's good for the forum, new growers, old growers and growers set in their ways - to learn new things.... bump.....
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subcool said:

To me there is nothing like the flavor of properly grown organic cannabis. The subtle flavors and aromas created when using mother earth is over whelming to the senses when done properly. As with many vegetables a rich Organic soil can bring out the best in a plant. Over the past 20 years I have tried almost every possible way to cultivate our favorite plant and while hydro is certainly faster and the yields blow soil away, I have developed a soil that performs extremely well and there’s very little guess work. I don’t worry about ph or ppm I simply have spent a few years developing a sound recipe and in combination with 7 gallon nursery pots I can run from start to finish using only water. Other than a bit of sweat equity every 90 days or so it takes a huge amount of science out of the garden and puts nature back in charge. This recipe is slightly different from my last and from the one so many use as gospel that I have passed around for years from grower to grower








I always start with at least 6-8 large bags of high quality organic soil. The selection of your base soil is very important so don’t cut corners here. I cannot begin to discuss all the different products but I will discuss a few in this article. A good Organic soil should cost between 8-10$ per 30# bag. I want you to get a real good idea what I consider a balanced soil to be so take a look at the ingredients of a product called Roots Organic:


Lignite*, coca fiber, perlite, pumice, compost, peat moss, bone meal, bat guano, kelp meal, Green sand, soy bean meal, leonardite, k-mag, glacial rock dust, alfalfa meal, oyster shell flour, earth worm castings and Mycorrhizae.
I have always believed in giving my plants a wide range of soils and additives I figure it's like a buffet they get all they need

“Lignite, also known as leonardite, mined lignin, brown coal, and slack, is an important constituent to the oil well, drilling industry. Lignite, or leonardite as it will be referred as hereafter, is technically known as a low rank coal between peat and sub-bituminous. Leonardite was named for Dr. A.G. Leonard, North Dakota's first state geologist, who was a pioneer in the study of lignite deposits. Leonardite is applied to products having a high content of humic acid. Humic acid has been found to be very useful as a drilling
mud thinner.”


The Roots produced a more floral smell in the finished flowers while the Harvest Moon generated larger yields.

If you have access to a good local mix like these then I highly recommend starting with these type products. We have also had decent results using commercial brands as well but not as is. The best results we have seen from well known soil that is available nationwide is Fox Farms “Ocean Forrest” soil combined in a 2-1 ratio with Light Warrior. On it’s own the Ocean Forrest is known for burning plants and having the wrong ratio’s of nutrients but when cut down with Light Warrior it makes a pretty good mix for a base soil.

You can also just use 2 bales of Sunshine mix #4 but this is my last choice and plants growing in this may not complete properly with this “Just add water” method of soil growing. The concept to this concentrated soil is to not have to worry with mixing up nutrients after the soil is made. The concentrate is placed in the bottom ¼ to ½ of the container and blended with base soil. This allows the plants to grow into the strong concentrated soil and in the right size container need nothing else but water throughout the full harvest cycle. With strains requiring high levels of nutrients we go as strong as ¾ of the container with Super Soil but this is only with a small percentage of strains.

Here are the amounts we have found that produce the best tasting buds and strongest medicines.

8- Large bags of High quality Organic potting soil with a coco and Mycorrhizae
1-25-50 pounds of Organic Worm castings
5# Steamed Bone meal
5# Bloom bat Guano
5# Blood meal
3# Rock Phoshate
¾ cup Epson salts
½ cup Sweet Lime ( Dolimite)
½ Cup Azomite ( Trace Elements)
2-TBS Powdered Humic Acid



I would like to thank Vic High for his original recipe which I modified over the years to create my own.


Super Soil Mix



1 Bale sunshine mix #2 or promix (3.8 cu ft)
8 cups Bone Meal - phosphorus source
4 cups Blood Meal - nitrogen source
1 1/3 cups Epsom salts - magnesium source
3-4 cups dolmite lime -calcium source & pH buffering
1 tsp fritted trace elements
4 cups kelp meal.
9kg (25 lbs) bag pure worm castings

If youd like to accelerate your learning read every word on this site

bcgrowers title

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Big P said:

Hi subcool,

Firstly I want to congradulate you on being such an asset to the community


I was just wondering what your thoughts are on a strain called "Cherry Lime Ricky". I think its supposed to be a cross between AK47 and Jash Flash

I think its a clone only strain, anyway im growing it for the first time just wondering your thoughts on the strain

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subcool said:

Not one I am familiar with but its some of the same genetics that make up that huge pool the dutch in breed with. The Jack Flash in its day was amazing but as with many of there work now a days its over worked and over sold without alot of thought into the end results.
If its parents that are 10 years old or better you have something special if not you have your work cut out finding a keeper

Sub

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charlesweedmore said:

how many plants can i grow in 4 X 4 foot tent with 600W hps ?

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subcool said:

I Many Sativa varieties will fox tail and form dready buds if the light intensity is to high.

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VerdantGreen said:

hey subcool - loving your work here!

i was interested in this statement. i have a DP Blueberry that seems to exhibit sativa characteristics - stretches like a good'n - lovely smoke though (calm euphoria just as described)

anyway i grew it in my greenhous last year and it foxtailed some (very sunny)- i thought it may be the temp variation, but now i am trying it in a small closet grow indoors (luckily i realised i was onto a good thing and took some reveg cuttings )
the same foxtail thing is happening - its about 4-5 inches from a 250watt HPS
do you think it may be too close ?
(no heat stress noticable - but the foxtail thing is happening again.)

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subcool said:

Way to close the intensity is causing the dreading
Try a 10-12" distance

S

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