3rd Grow: Amare Tech 450W LED & UVB, 4x4 Tent

Day 53 of Flowering:

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They're getting more and more sparkly. I actually haven't been checking on them that often so when I do it's kind of surprising. Most of the ladies look pretty much done growing pistils and are just swelling and frosting now; while a couple others are stacking pistils like crazy still. I started the flush a few days ago and will probably harvest in a week or so. :slide:

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Thanks Shiggity! Still doesn't compare to your plants, but I'm happy to be learning and improving alongside you.
One of the plants in my tent had mostly composted leaves for soil because I ran out of ocean forest. It appeared to be doing great in veg but the flowers are kind of pathetic compared to its sister clone in the full ocean forest. Really showed how much soil matters, so I'm even more excited to be getting into soil building and brix.

Thanks Noob! I'm in the flush now, but yep that's all I was feeding them with. I used a few tbs of epsom in one of the latter feedings too. Not 100% sure if it was needed tho. I'm still trying to learn how to read the plants and figure out what to give when.
 
Plants look great man!! If you have any organic soil building questions I would be happy to help!

I think Prepper420 brings up a valid point....I too am always interested in different "soil mixes, and additives" So what exactly is in your mix Versai? Enquiree minds wanna know! lol! *Wink-Wink* Thanks in advance... Sparks.
 
Hey Big Sparks, I haven't made a mix yet. I've been using Fox Farm's "Ocean Forest" because I'm really still a noob and heard it was good to use right out of the bag. The nutrients in the ocean forest mix last about 3 weeks then you need to start feeding your own liquid nutes when watering. But apparently it's good for more than just nutrition because my ocean forest pots are flowering much better than my one lady in composted leaves. I don't have the bag anymore but here's an ocean forest ingredient list I found online:

Ingredients: Composted forest humus, spagnum peat moss, Pacific Northwest sea-going fish emulsion, crab meal, shrimp meal, earthworm castings, sandy loam, perlite, bat guano, granite dust, Norwegian kelp, and oyster shell (for pH adjustment).

That list doesn't include the mycorrhizae or bacteria inoculants, which I'm sure play a big part.
 
Hey Versai- Fox farms ocean forest and happy frog are good right out of the bag as long as you "cut it" a lil bit when using for seedlings because sometimes they'll burn plants when they're too small and just starting out. Young seedlings are still just trying to establish a root system large enough to sustain and feed a mature plant. I usually start mine out in "promix" wich is basically spagnum peat moss and perlite, and then only feed very diluted nutrients or even clone nutrients during the second week of life, and gradually increase until I'm up to a normal feeding schedule. After a few weeks to a month in either solo cups or #1pots I transplant or up-pot to either #3or #5 pots, and into a homemade mix of soilbase, compost, humus,earthworm castings, "the meals" ect. ect., depending on strain and root development. Bla bla bla bla....I'm sure you'll do fine! You are already doing extremely well for a beginer. My hat go off to you! Keep up the good work! Im out....Sparks
 
I used FFOF when I first started soil, but now years later I love my organic soil mix, so easy, so simple to maintain, FREE to maintain if you have plently of weeds outside or want to grow your own Dynamic Accumulators. No bottles, no trips to the hydro store, just nature at it's finest. All you need is an earthworm farm and a few things like Neem Cake.
 
Awesome, the worm farm sounds like fun. A neighbor wants to throw down on one.

I wouldn't know where to begin with the amounts of each ingredient. I want to cook up the Hi-Brix tho so I'll probably follow Doc's guide or one of his followers. Sounds like the ingredients are already measured out in a kit and I just need to mix them with Pro-Mix and wait. My only problem there is I'm not exactly learning the science of it and just accepting another bought mix. Do you other soil builders test your brix or think it's necessary?
 
What does No-Till organic soil contain and how/where to buy the ingredients?

No-Till means you do not disturb the soil. You'll mix your soil and fill your containers/raised beds once. You'll use teas, top dresses, and mulches to feed the soil life. You won't dump out your soil after every grow cycle, instead, you'll transplant the next plant into the same container, top dress and water. Very simple and easy. With a healthy balanced soil and lighting, you'll get the healthy plants.

In one thimbleful of healthy soil, you can find several MILES of fungal filaments, all releasing powerful enzymes that help dissolve tightly bound soil nutrients. 

This is one of the major reasons why tilling the soil is deleterious to gardening or farming as it damages these fragile fungal filaments. The last thing any gardener or farmer should be doing is tilling the soil.

Sourcing your soil mix's ingredients can be simple, just make sure to check labels throughly, ask the company any questions you may have via email or phone. I source my Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (CSPM), Earthworm Castings (EWC), and Lava Rocks all from a local nursery and landscaping yard next door. It's very cheap, high quality, and supports local businesses which is important to me. There are a lot of great websites out there where you can source the organic soil amendments. I'll be mentioning different brands and products that I use at home in this guide, I'm not sponsored by any of these companies. 

I'm not going to talk about yields in this book because it's foolish to say if you grow a plant to certain size with this light, you'll get x amount of bud. Every grow room, growers experience and training methods are different. Just focus on doing the best you can in the space you have and you'll be rewarded with healthy lush plants that produce beautiful resin covered buds.

Chapter 2 The Mix
Mixing your own soil is the best way to ensure the highest quality ingredients and even ratios of amendments. You can correct any issues you encounter much easier than using store bought mixes because you'll know exactly what went into it and at what ratios. This is just my recipe, I've added a cubic foot of fresh Dynamic Accumulators (in chapter 6) with great affects before, leftovers from harvested plants, it all goes back in. Feel free to experiment and learn new things. You can use less amendments or ratios and still have a very successful garden.

I use:
1/3 Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (Premier is best.)
1/3 EWC/Vermicompost (homemade is best.)
1/3 Aeration (small sized Lava Rocks or Growstones)
Bio Char 5-10% of Total soil mix. I usually go with 5-6% to be safe.

Using a 5gal bucket to measure with, 1.5 buckets equals 7.5gals (1 cubic ft).

These measurements don't need to super precise with the bucket. Just try to make it as equal as you can. Your CSPM should be fully hydrated before measuring because it expands and will throw your ratio off.

Amendments Breakdown Per Cubic Foot of Vermicompost.
Nutritional Amendments:
1 cup Alfalfa meal
2 cups Neem Cake
2 cups Kelp Meal
2 cups Crustacean Meal
(I use 1 cup of Chicken manure per cu.ft. and 1 cup Kelp Meal and Neem Cake to charge the bio-char and are added to soil mix with the bio-char. Watch for thermal composting, you’ll need to let the soil cycle for 2 weeks before use.)
Sulfur:
Gypsum Flour 1 cup per cubic ft
Liming:
Oyster Shell Flour 2 cups per cubic ft.
Mineral Amendment: Rock Dust 4 cups per cubic ft
Premium Basalt Rock Dust

Next is your Vermicompost or Earth Worm Castings (EWC). This is THEE MOST IMPORTANT part of your soil mix! Producing your own Vermicompost is easy and fun. You can use just about any thick or dark colored container to block light from entering and disturbing your photosensitive worms. I use red wigglers. There are many worm farm kits you can buy if you don't want to make your own. Worms reproduce by laying 2 eggs every 90 days. The population is self regulating, there won't be to many. I put worms in all my pots, your soil mix wouldn't function properly without them in my opinion.
 
Awesome!! Thank you for all that info Prepper. I'll have to research it all more and work on getting it together.

I totally recognize the importance of the microbial web. But if it only takes two weeks to re-establish it, I'd say tilling is worth it outdoors. I think it was necessary to till my new garden. I double dug it and removed ~30 gallons of rock and a lot of glass, ceramic and metal junk. The entire area was also filled with tubers and a deep rooted bush. Plenty of reasons to till IMO; at least once.

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But yea, I've been wanting to learn about the no-till container methods. Thanks again!
 
Awesome!! Thank you for all that info Prepper. I'll have to research it all more and work on getting it together.

I totally recognize the importance of the microbial web. But if it only takes two weeks to re-establish it, I'd say tilling is worth it outdoors. I think it was necessary to till my new garden. I double dug it and removed ~30 gallons of rock and a lot of glass, ceramic and metal junk. The entire area was also filled with tubers and a deep rooted bush. Plenty of reasons to till IMO; at least once.

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But yea, I've been wanting to learn about the no-till container methods. Thanks again!
My pleasure!! And I totally agreed with fixing things and making them better. Just moved onto my farm a few months ago and the last people trashed it. Been pulling all kinds of shit out of the garden area and resetting it.
 
Day 62 of Flowering!

Lights off, chopping tomorrow.

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Seems like the defoliating and lollipopping has worked. Buds are more ripe all the way down the stem, either from getting exposed to more light or more nutrients that the low popcorn branches would have been sapping away.

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Buds are looking super frosty. Can't wait to see them dried.

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Day 62 of Flowering!

Lights off, chopping tomorrow.

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Seems like the defoliating and lollipopping has worked. Buds are more ripe all the way down the stem, either from getting exposed to more light or more nutrients that the low popcorn branches would have been sapping away.

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Buds are looking super frosty. Can't wait to see them dried.

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Yes sir I told u would be happy in the end they might look funny but if ur happy then it worked and that light turns my popcorn into real buds all the time I'm still amazed at how much difference it made it made from the old blurple

Sent from my HTC Desire Eye using 420
 
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