slowgro;2211493 said:
Hi Reg - trichomes brought me along for the soil discussion. Great stuff from PeeJay!
Good to catch up a little. Love all the different things you're doing and trying, and obviously a lot of it works. I bet your humidifier/cloner would work with a cool air humidifier - good brainstorm!
One reason peat-based mixes need time to cook before use: "Limestone is added to neutralize the acidity of peat. Limestone is a rock and needs time to break down from the moisture in the growing media."
I'm curious - with your new soil mix, how will you approach using nutes?
Hi Dennise - looks like you're zeroing in on a mix. What about microbe/myco innoculation? Is it the Pro-Mix HP with mycorrhizae? Their website looks like it has detailed info on their soil theory and what all their different mixes are about. More reading to do.....
Play on!
Both Denise and Reg are/will be using Growology step one for a myco innoculant. Step one is only mycos and humate and they both have plenty on hand.
Denise will be using a bagged compost and worm castings to microbe innoculate her soil. Reg used a little composted mulch offered up free from the city. Those bio-active materials don't need to be used in great quantities because the Yum-Yum feeds the little critters like crazy. They will be fruitful and multiply.
Denise will be using the full-blown mixes I use. It is a three soil system.
The first soil is myco inoculated, very light and well drained, and not very rich in nutrients. Seedlings grow in this mix for the first three weeks in 1 quart pots.
After three weeks the plant will be transplanted into 1 gallon pots of a richer soil with more organic matter and Yum-Yum until it's time to switch to flower lighting. I recently kept two plants in this mix for well over 100 days in my veg box in one gallon pots! I root pruned them once and topped them several times to keep them short. She will not need to do any additional feeding during veg.
A few days before switching to a flower light schedule she will transplant into 3 gallon pots of the flower soil. The flower soil is the same basic mix as the veg soil but with increased potassium via Indonesian bat guano and soft rock phosphate. It carries through flower very well. All she will need to do is give them clean water to drink.
Pot sizes can be larger, but I think those sizes are good for Denise's growing spaces and her desire to grow multiple strains.
All three of the soils will be mixed in large quantities and kept in rubbermade storage bins. As soil comes out, more can go in - just mix the ingredients in the correct ratio and stir it into the existing soil.
I have messed with acts and don't think they are necessary in this mix. The soil will support a population quite well without adding a bunch more microbes. The large plants I have going now in the flower soil have been in there for 13 weeks because I transplanted the first of June and they didn't start flowering until the last week of July. That's only because I have them out in the greenhouse, wanted to put then in large fabric pots (7 and 10 gallons), and just let them go.
Due to their large size and the time in the containers I topdress them with a mix of Yum-Yum, worm castings, a little of the high P guano (0.5-13-0.2) and some flower soil from the bin. I make a little container of that mix and moisten it. In a couple of days it smells really rich. It's like making a dry act. It gets scratched into the soil and watered in.
This is a really easy way to grow great cannabis. No fussing with bottles of this and that. No deficencies. I see brix readings of 15 plus at harvest in these soils.
A picture of my current grow:
A nice flower from a previous grow:
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