4 Ladies In A 100 Gallon Fabric Bed, Organic Super Soil, 4x4 Tent, 1000W HID

[TheFrizz]

Hiya 420 magazine, it's been awhile! I took some time off from growing during my pregnancy but baby boy is almost 3 months old now so I am feeling ready to start again! However, I will be using an organic soil approach this round because I am trying to avoid chemicals while nursing. Also, I would like to compare the taste/smoothness and yield of the final product to buds from my hydro grows. Here is a quick overview of the grow setup:

Strains: Gold Leaf, Strawberry Kush, Blueberry, Pineapple Haze, 1 plant each (all from 420)
Seed or clone?: Feminized seed
Light: 1000 watt Metal Halide/High Pressure Sodium
Grow Space: 4x4 tent indoor
Ventilation: Carbon filter w/ inline fan
Grow Medium: Super Soil (based on SubCool recipe) at double strength
Nutes/additives: Fox Farm Trio, compost tea, and other random stuff I will inevitably impulse buy throughout the grow
Container size: 100 gallons! Wait what? See explanation below

Here is my calculation for using a single 100 gallon bed for all the plants instead of 4x 7 gal fabric pots (which would be the standard for a grow of this size).

Math for Big Bed

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

So yeah that is a pretty big difference in terms of total root volume available! I will also be adding companion plants in between the cannabis plants such as yarrow, stinging nettle, red clover, and chamomile, each for a specific purpose. More details on this later

Organic Soil Grow Top View.png

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

I followed SubCool's recipe for Super Soil, but only used half the amount of base soil so the nutrients are twice as concentrated. Since the girls will be sharing a container, I want to make sure there are plenty of goodies during flowering for them! The super soil will be ready in about 20 more days and by then the ladies will be a decent size for transplanting.

Making super soil!

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

Covered super soil

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

Started the seeds in my base soil (Just Natural Organic) a couple days ago and Gold Leaf popped today! I just poked a hole in the dirt with a pencil and plopped a seed in each hole, then covered firmly and watered w/ filtered tap.

Putting the seeds in

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

Baby Gold Leaf, yay! The girls are under my Perfect Sun 1000 for now which I am also using to grow some veggie seedlings for the garden.

Gold leaf pop

• TheFrizz
• May 28, 2018

More updates to come as the other ladies break ground! It's good to be back! As always, questions, comments, and feedback are welcomed!

~TheFrizz

 

[AKgramma]

Doubling up on your nutes is like feeding steak to an infant. You'll get serious nute lockout and even death.

Less is more with indoor plants, esp cannabis. Follow the recipe!

 

[TheFrizz]

Doubling up on your nutes is like feeding steak to an infant. You'll get serious nute lockout and even death.

Less is more with indoor plants, esp cannabis. Follow the recipe!

Hi Ak thanks for the input, have you observed this to occur even with organic nutrients? I have never gotten nute burn in my outdoor veggie garden and have used extremely high levels of natural fertilizers. But I got it when I tried using a synthetic fertilizer called the "Mittleider Method" on some strawberry plants a couple years ago, and during hydro when using chemical nutes.

 

[AKgramma]

Organics may be safer for younglings, but common practice is not to feed your babies sooner than 4 weeks of age. The soil mix and the cotyledons have all the nutes they need.

 

[Bilbobudkin420]

Hey frizz!. I havent had the patience or time to look into all this organic stuff just yet but you have literally just made it click for me in the space of 5 posts lol thank you . Love the setup. Ill be about

 

[Tony Urban]

I share in AK Grammas concern regarding too much nutrients in the recipe. Subcool recently joined the site so I would be curious what he thinks.

There are quite a few of us growing in organic soil that may have some insight too.

I built my own batch of organic soil based off of clackamus coots recipe. If I remember correctly the Subcool Supersoil was to be used at the bottom half of the pot as it was so high in nutrients. Allowing the veg plant to grow in normal soil and then letting the roots hit supersoil for latter stages of growth.

Now to be clear my concern is just based on a very weak understanding of living organic soil, and an OCD level of following rules and recipes lol. I have no idea what will really happen with a double batch.

Good luck, and I will follow this one, I really like the 100 gallon bed. My next round will be 4 plants in two 31gallon totes. With red clover to cover.

 

[AKgramma]

Your 100 gallon "bed" is SO AWESOME! I wish I had the space. If I did make a smaller version to fit in my 3 x 3, I'd have to put it on a turntable, to reach all the ladies.

And I would have to put a cat-proof gate on the front of my unit, cause Merlin likes to eat them, then he barfs it all over the rug! He would also start using it as a litter box.

 

[Jax Rider]

I don't grow in big pots mostly 3 to 5 gal but I use Fox Farm Ocean Forest as the bottom layer and then the top layer is a mix of natural nutrients that my hydro shop mixes up. Same theory as above babies in top of soil and then roots reach the hotter stuff further along.

 

[Blew Hiller]

I agree with @AKgramma...it is very easy to kill seedlings with hot soil. You plan to add nutrients during the grow, so having hot soil isn't such a priority (whereas I water only).

 

[TheFrizz]

Welcome aboard folks and thank you so much for the info, and neat to hear that SubCool is on this site now!

Regarding nutrients, my idea was to layer the bottom of the 100 gallon pot with the SuperSoil, about halfway. Then I will top it off with my base soil layer. The girls will be moved into the 100 gallon bed after they are ready to exit their future 1 gallon pots. So they will not be exposed to the hot soil til they are over a month old. By that time the soil will have cooked for about a month and a half.

All 4 ladies are above ground now, the order of popping is illustrated below: Gold Leaf 1st, Blueberry 2nd, Strawberry Kush 3rd, Pineapple Haze 4th

Grow #4 Wk 1 005.jpg

• TheFrizz
• Jun 2, 2018

Grow #4 Wk 1 008.jpg

• TheFrizz
• Jun 2, 2018

I notice they are a lot leggier under the Perfect Sun than they were under my MH, but no biggie. I will bury them deeper next transplant and switch the light out soon.

They will stay in these containers til the leaves reach the edges and then I will transplant into 1 gallon fabric pots with the same base soil (Just Natural Organic) and a light dose of Fox Farms nutes. I will also be burying quartz and moss agate crystals which will become part of the root ball. Those crystals will then go into the final bed as well. Yeah I am kind of a hippie now, shush

Oh yeah, have any of you guys experimented with using worms in your soil for aeration/fresh castings & enzymes? I was thinking about adding some to the final big bed to help simulate a more natural outdoor soil structure.

 

[Blew Hiller]

Oh yeah, have any of you guys experimented with using worms in your soil for aeration/fresh castings & enzymes? I was thinking about adding some to the final big bed to help simulate a more natural outdoor soil structure.

That is a big enough pot for earthworms, just not sure how they would like the modified soil. I make my own vermicompost but under different conditions...

 

[TheFrizz]

That is a big enough pot for earthworms, just not sure how they would like the modified soil. I make my own vermicompost but under different conditions...

What do you feed them? I have heard they like watermelon rind & other fruit/veggie trimmings.

 

[Blew Hiller]

What do you feed them? I have heard they like watermelon rind & other fruit/veggie trimmings.

I raise red wrigglers in fish totes...the base media is old soil and then I add veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, dryer lint, etc. I don't use fruit with my inside bins because you get fruit flies and they are annoying. On my outside bins I give them fruit, but not rinds as they won't break them down fully. The worms need about 3 months to fully process the food into the soil (plus all their castings) and then I use that finished product as 50% of my soil...the remaining components are 25% coir, 10% Pro-Mix (or similar), 10%perlite/vermiculite, 5% greensand/glacial rock dust/basalt/elf magic.

 

[TheFrizz]

I raise red wrigglers in fish totes...the base media is old soil and then I add veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, dryer lint, etc. I don't use fruit with my inside bins because you get fruit flies and they are annoying. On my outside bins I give them fruit, but not rinds as they won't break them down fully. The worms need about 3 months to fully process the food into the soil (plus all their castings) and then I use that finished product as 50% of my soil...the remaining components are 25% coir, 10% Pro-Mix (or similar), 10%perlite/vermiculite, 5% greensand/glacial rock dust/basalt/elf magic.

Love the detail, thank you! I will try adding a handful of worms to the top layer of the big bed and mix in finely chopped veggies. Maybe I could put the Vitamix to use- It seems like blending the food into a slurry would help it get broken down faster? #greendrinkforworms

 

[HiddenGrow]

Nice operation here.

I would love to hear how the Yarrow and Stinging nettle serve to increase potency?

 

[Blew Hiller]

Love the detail, thank you! I will try adding a handful of worms to the top layer of the big bed and mix in finely chopped veggies. Maybe I could put the Vitamix to use- It seems like blending the food into a slurry would help it get broken down faster? #greendrinkforworms

Yup, there are def people out there that blend it down...just not me .

I actually make the vermicompost (VC) the year prior (in the summer) and then let overwinter outside...then I have it when I need it in April to get ready for summer growing.

 

[HiddenGrow]

I just read up on the companion plants. I can't wait to see the results.

 

[TurboBucket]

I'll follow along. I was considering having a pair of custom fabric beds made to fit my room. I think the benefits of an interconnected root system could help produce some bumper crops.

 

[Tony Urban]

I love it, for a minute I thought you were planting into the supersoil lol, but very curious about both the 100gal grow space as well as the supersoil at the bottom. I am on the same road thinking about my next adventure.

I have over 150 gallons of soil that has been brewing for a year now. Only used 30 gallons at a time to grow some plants. Considered building a big box for my 3’ x 3’ and going multiple rounds in it. Was considering putting some extra amendments on the bottom. Watching this closely!

 

[HoBrah808]

A friend of mine sent me an article claiming basil was a great companion plant for increased oil production and as a natural pest deterrent. I dismissed it but now kinda regretting not at least giving it a shot. Glad to find your journal and see how your companion plants help!