36Gr0w's First Journal - Hi-Brix - LOS - Indoor & Out!

36Gr0w said:
Acapulco Gold

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Some of those leaves look like they are made of gold. Beautiful picture 36.
 
So a proper update is due.

I had a 45 gallon, two 7 gallon, and some 3 gallon smart pots in my kiddie pool swick. The kiddie pool started leaking, my guess is from the weight of the 45 gallon full of soil pushing on lava rocks somewhere on the side of the pool.

As far as the swick, in my experience, the smaller pots were drowned out at the bottom. They were re positioned regularly. The 3 gallon smart pots were mud on the bottom. Same with the 45. I feel it is important to point out, all plants were vegging. I wouldn't recommend this for long term vegging of plants. It stunted my Green Crack. Chocolate Thai and Purple Sour Diesel didn't skip a beat. I think the swick could be used very effectively while flowering. Just make sure it won't leak. Solo swicks could better contain accidents.

I have also discontinued the use of my straw/hay mulch inside. As soon as I brought it in, i've had bugs trying to enjoy a few of my plants. Mostly the PGSC. Surprisingly to me, the two re vegging plants (ultra grapefruit and dirty red heri) haven't had any problems.

Outside plants looked phenomenal today. I'm thinking about a net 8 ft high, and bushing those two out. Summer mothers and wash the buds for some sort of solvent less.
 
Not all strains react well to a SWICK and your Green Crack may be one such strain. Duly noted and waiting to see if someone else notices the same someday. It would be nice to have a list, wouldn't it?

The fabric pots are naturally wetter on the bottom as the water wicks up. It's one of the things you check for to be sure the system is working, but they shouldn't be mud. Gravity should keep them from becoming saturated if the water level is at most 1-2" below the surface. It's interesting that yours got so wet.

Learning as we go. I'll think more on this tomorrow on the SWICK thread. Good input 36.
 
If we keep track though, over time we may notice which ones don't care for it. I think they're probably strains that respond best to the dry cycles. That's two that you noticed.
 
Blueberry is in a 3 gallon plastic pot. Purple Sour Diesel was in a shared 45 gallon, but it looks stunning anywhere. Chocolate Thai was in a seven gallon. Green Crack in one and two gallons. PGSC in one, three, seven, and shared 45. Doing great in a friends hydro mother system.
 
I wonder if the SWICK would have worked better if all plants were in the same size pot. That might help keep them all at the same level. Then the depth of the perlite/pumice/whatever, and the depth of water could be adjusted for correct pot saturation.
 
DrZiggy said:
36, were the SWICKd plants in HB soil? Are most of your plants in Doc kit soil? :)
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Hey Ziggy. None of my plants are in docs kit soil anymore. It's much easier for me this way. I don't like measuring 1/8 oz of liquids or converting tiny measurements. When I purchased the kit, I didn't realize I would basically be paying to beta test someone's product. It's not for me currently. A while back I tried a pot of kit soil as water only, as you can imagine that didn't work out too well lol.

I'm looking for stellar results coming from simplicity. Docs kit gets the results, but I don't have time between work, hobbies, and veggie/mmj gardens to be growing with another system. Plus, it's almost summer time, I want to enjoy it rather than spraying wet dog ass in my grow/bedroom.

Not meant to be a knock on docs kit, add obviously people are getting great results. Its just not for me right now. I'm considering getting some tests ran on straight Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, but that depends if I can choose a test that is both affordable and reliable. There are many different methods of testing soil that give different results. More research and reading to find what I want.
 
36Gr0w said:
... Its just not for me right now. I'm considering getting some tests ran on straight Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, but that depends if I can choose a test that is both affordable and reliable. There are many different methods of testing soil that give different results. More research and reading to find what I want.
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Hey there 36 why don't you go LOS soil, you can use the Sphagnum Peat Moss with LOS and you will get good results with just water but you have to make the soil up. You can use a cup or your hand to measure... not real difficult. Sphagnum peat and compost and a few amendments and you'd have a killer soil the ladies would love you for.
 
Dear 36,

Can I make a suggestion?

I know this will sound horrible to pretty much everyone here, but go with me... Buy 3 x 5 gallon bucket.

Design is as follows:

1st Bucket touches ground. Has zero holes in floor, has 1 hole in side
2ned Bucket touches 1st bucket. Has holes in floor to 1st Bucket. Has hole in side for wick
3rd Bucket is last into the stack. It has a mesh floor. Potting Soil. Plant at top. (hopefully :-))

Now, about 1 inches below where the floor is of the 3rd bucket. Drill a hole side ways through both buckets (1&2) . A large hole. Use a drill, do this properly, so you don't destroy the buckets. Practice first.

Use 5/8's to 1 inch or equiv and I am guessing 5-8 ft of synthetic rope from a big box you are going to buy and coil up in the middle area and thread through this hole.

So, Here is the idea in a nutshell.

You can over water this design and it will drain the extra water out the sides between the first and second floors over a course of minutes to tens of minutes. The rope should have an end in the bottom area and and end you can hold/touch. If you pour too much water in... it will drain out quickly using this end of the whick. If the bottom basement is full, it will flood the second area and again the wick to the outside drains.

If everything is dry, you will know it.

Now, this is the weird part for your readers. Go buy some M.G. potting soil. Ya, the evil stuff. Fresh stuff. 3 month stuff so its not overly loaded. Ya, this grow is basically designed to break every rule and some how grow great plants with as little care as possible...

So, you have a plant in a three bucket design, large wick to outside, lots coiled in middle, some in bottom. MG potting soil. Now. Add some kind of Myco supplement to the plant with your weekly waterings. Flood the plant with the waterings. You shouldnt have to do anything more for the plant in its life cycle.

Why?

The potting soil has enough juice for the early growth, the Myco kicks in and feeds the plant to harvest. You Supplement it with new juice each week so the roots should get a healthy dose of everything as needed. I mean, there are not a lot of roots to start with anyway.

This is my next grow, if you have noticed. lol.

Care to join me? No kits. No rules. We make this stuff up as we go.

Aki the Wick plumber
 
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