420 Magazine's Official Girl Scout Cookies Comparative Grow By Justin Goody

[Stunger]

On re-using soil, I say this with no claim of expertise, but I have re-used my current soil now for 3 years, I re-amend over winter and let it settle in for a several months before planting again. 3 years ago I got the fungal infection of Fusarium Wilt which one by one effected the plant stems and caused them to die. The general advice was to throw the soil out and stay away from it. But I didn't want to 'lose' the good amendments I put in it, and I felt the problem could be that it was not in balance, so I re-amended and continued using it without any reoccurrence of the Fusarium Wilt fungus.

I have read of people throwing away soil because of mites too, I had an infestation of those last year too which to my mind was a fault of me failing to spray sufficiently, but I still re-amended the soil for my current grow which is currently (touch wood) mite/bug free and no fungal issues. This grow I have been spraying regularly and the plants seem free of mites/bugs so far. My desire was to keep the soil and lose it. But my justification to do so was based on what seemed to me the likelihood that in organic soil there probably exists every fungus possible and bugs too. After all, even in great soil you only have to over water a seedling to see it develop the 'damping off' fungus, so to me all soil probably contains spores of many fungi that will come out if conditions and stress enable them.

The (probably dodgy) logic that I am following is that if the soil and conditions are optimal for the plant then the plant is far more likely to be resilient against damaging pests. I believe that for my initial mix of soil 3 years ago that while I had some great amendments in it, but I had too little of other things and I failed to notice and act when the resulting deficiencies were stressing the plants and making them more likely to be attacked. So currently with the same re-used built up soil my plants, to me on this run, are looking particularly happy and healthy, and in my limited experience (until results show different) I'm taking this to mean that if the soil supplies the plants needs then they are far more likely to be resilient to infections and stress.

Sorry for the length of waffle!

 

[Carcass]

That SSH of mine is in used ProMix HP- seems to work just as well as the new stuff- maybe even a little better with all those old roots in there.

 

[Stunger]

That SSH of mine is in used ProMix HP- seems to work just as well as the new stuff- maybe even a little better with all those old roots in there.

I'm definitely finding my re-used soil is better every grow. I've got bio-char in it too, which is supposed to help store lots of good stuff and good microbes. My biggest plant has been only watered so far and seems to be happy and doing great at this late stage.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

So many products that look similar.

I'm considering it mulch as well as feed as it keeps my roots protected from the light and moisture in.

IMG_0470.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Feb 21, 2021

Bonsai regrowth

I've noticed the same Stone. The GF plant I'm growing takes about 2/3s the amount of water that my Mega Crop plants take, sometimes even less than that.

 

[dick23rk]

Going to sub up and tag along on this one. I'm interested in seeing some new products in action, especially the lights. A 1000w pulling 100w, will be nice to see the results!

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

On re-using soil, I say this with no claim of expertise, but I have re-used my current soil now for 3 years, I re-amend over winter and let it settle in for a several months before planting again. 3 years ago I got the fungal infection of Fusarium Wilt which one by one effected the plant stems and caused them to die. The general advice was to throw the soil out and stay away from it. But I didn't want to 'lose' the good amendments I put in it, and I felt the problem could be that it was not in balance, so I re-amended and continued using it without any reoccurrence of the Fusarium Wilt fungus.

I have read of people throwing away soil because of mites too, I had an infestation of those last year too which to my mind was a fault of me failing to spray sufficiently, but I still re-amended the soil for my current grow which is currently (touch wood) mite/bug free and no fungal issues. This grow I have been spraying regularly and the plants seem free of mites/bugs so far. My desire was to keep the soil and lose it. But my justification to do so was based on what seemed to me the likelihood that in organic soil there probably exists every fungus possible and bugs too. After all, even in great soil you only have to over water a seedling to see it develop the 'damping off' fungus, so to me all soil probably contains spores of many fungi that will come out if conditions and stress enable them.

The (probably dodgy) logic that I am following is that if the soil and conditions are optimal for the plant then the plant is far more likely to be resilient against damaging pests. I believe that for my initial mix of soil 3 years ago that while I had some great amendments in it, but I had too little of other things and I failed to notice and act when the resulting deficiencies were stressing the plants and making them more likely to be attacked. So currently with the same re-used built up soil my plants, to me on this run, are looking particularly happy and healthy, and in my limited experience (until results show different) I'm taking this to mean that if the soil supplies the plants needs then they are far more likely to be resilient to infections and stress.

Sorry for the length of waffle!

So what do you use to re-amend your soils over the winter?

 

[StoneOtter]

I've noticed the same Stone. The GF plant I'm growing takes about 2/3s the amount of water that my Mega Crop plants take, sometimes even less than that.

The roots don't grow into it. I like that. Every 2 weeks I scrape it off and renew it. I wonder what I can do with the spent stuff?

 

[StoneOtter]

On re-using soil, I say this with no claim of expertise, but I have re-used my current soil now for 3 years, I re-amend over winter and let it settle in for a several months before planting again. 3 years ago I got the fungal infection of Fusarium Wilt which one by one effected the plant stems and caused them to die. The general advice was to throw the soil out and stay away from it. But I didn't want to 'lose' the good amendments I put in it, and I felt the problem could be that it was not in balance, so I re-amended and continued using it without any reoccurrence of the Fusarium Wilt fungus.

I have read of people throwing away soil because of mites too, I had an infestation of those last year too which to my mind was a fault of me failing to spray sufficiently, but I still re-amended the soil for my current grow which is currently (touch wood) mite/bug free and no fungal issues. This grow I have been spraying regularly and the plants seem free of mites/bugs so far. My desire was to keep the soil and lose it. But my justification to do so was based on what seemed to me the likelihood that in organic soil there probably exists every fungus possible and bugs too. After all, even in great soil you only have to over water a seedling to see it develop the 'damping off' fungus, so to me all soil probably contains spores of many fungi that will come out if conditions and stress enable them.

The (probably dodgy) logic that I am following is that if the soil and conditions are optimal for the plant then the plant is far more likely to be resilient against damaging pests. I believe that for my initial mix of soil 3 years ago that while I had some great amendments in it, but I had too little of other things and I failed to notice and act when the resulting deficiencies were stressing the plants and making them more likely to be attacked. So currently with the same re-used built up soil my plants, to me on this run, are looking particularly happy and healthy, and in my limited experience (until results show different) I'm taking this to mean that if the soil supplies the plants needs then they are far more likely to be resilient to infections and stress.

Sorry for the length of waffle!

I'm in agreement Stunger. My mouse/damping off issue last month ended with me putting the soil back into the bin and is in use today in the KOS seed grow. Healthy as horses they look today. Conditions and health of the plant have lots to do with everything, if something is deadly or not in the garden. Seems to me.

 

[Stunger]

So what do you use to re-amend your soils over the winter?

My soil has been an evolving mix. I started broadly speaking with a Subcool type super soil, it wasn't exact because I couldn't find all of his ingredients where I am, and initially I made it a weaker mix which proved nutritionally deficient where the plant got Fusarium Wilt. I then I liked Clackamas Coots soil ideas and I didn't want throw out and start again so I included some of his ingredients like Neem meal, diastatic malted barley and crustacean meal which I couldn't find in a garden shop so I brought a few packets of dried shrimp from a food shop and washed them free of salt and mixed them in. I've added quite a variety of rock dusts, paramagnetic where possible. Bio Char, dried kelp pellets, oyster/mussel flour, organic blood n bone, fish meal, guano phosphate, worm castings, a few handful of compost. My pots have a living worm population in them from the worm castings. In the bottom of my pots I put a layer of volcanic scoria, and a 2-3 inch layer of composted chicken manure (2 parts sawdust:1 part chicken manure) then all the re-amended soil on top.

When flowering started I gave them a layer of worm castings, Neem meal, Malted barley with a pea straw mulch layer on top. 1 plant is in a smaller 7gal pot and was getting yellowing lower leaves so I included some fishmeal and blood n bone.

That's the general thrust of my soil, I didn't mention it in my grow journal so far, as you never know until later in the grow whether your re-amending was positive or not. Over last winter I have re-amended with most of the above, particularly those ingredients that I expect to be 'used' during the grow but things like rock dusts are said to last many years so I probably wouldn't add too much more of that, it's only when people start talking about some amazing smoke they had in Hawaii that I start wanting to add a bit more rock dust to give it more of a volcanic content! My feeling is that the soil over time gets more 'biological' and can support the plants even better, so after this grow I imagine my re-amending will be fairly modest.

 

[Justin Goody]

Thanks to everyone for their input on soil, it’s been great. I’m admittedly lazy and could easily stop buying so much new soil for my indoor grows. Now I have no excuses. As for outdoor-
I will reuse last year’s outdoor soil which is a mix of the last 3 years or so and has lots of worms. I’ll add the Earth Alive Soil Activator and some mosquito bits before I get going, but otherwise it’s not really bad (I do want to make sure and avoid fungus this year) and it's easy cause it's already here in pots .
I’ll probably end up running one or more of these GSC photos (or maybe autos) outdoors cause I like the @Weed Seeds Express genetics. I think it will love the WA summer sun.

As for this girl- live updates aren’t always super exciting but she’s looking good!

For those wondering, she’s at 24,000 Lux and currently 18/6, same as the autoflowers.
I used to do 19/5 but seeing the autos start to sag early every evening, I knew I could cut 1 hour off at least.

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

The roots don't grow into it. I like that. Every 2 weeks I scrape it off and renew it. I wonder what I can do with the spent stuff?

Why do you scrape it away, Stone?

 

[Grand Daddy Black]

My soil has been an evolving mix. I started broadly speaking with a Subcool type super soil, it wasn't exact because I couldn't find all of his ingredients where I am, and initially I made it a weaker mix which proved nutritionally deficient where the plant got Fusarium Wilt. I then I liked Clackamas Coots soil ideas and I didn't want throw out and start again so I included some of his ingredients like Neem meal, diastatic malted barley and crustacean meal which I couldn't find in a garden shop so I brought a few packets of dried shrimp from a food shop and washed them free of salt and mixed them in. I've added quite a variety of rock dusts, paramagnetic where possible. Bio Char, dried kelp pellets, oyster/mussel flour, organic blood n bone, fish meal, guano phosphate, worm castings, a few handful of compost. My pots have a living worm population in them from the worm castings. In the bottom of my pots I put a layer of volcanic scoria, and a 2-3 inch layer of composted chicken manure (2 parts sawdust:1 part chicken manure) then all the re-amended soil on top.

When flowering started I gave them a layer of worm castings, Neem meal, Malted barley with a pea straw mulch layer on top. 1 plant is in a smaller 7gal pot and was getting yellowing lower leaves so I included some fishmeal and blood n bone.

That's the general thrust of my soil, I didn't mention it in my grow journal so far, as you never know until later in the grow whether your re-amending was positive or not. Over last winter I have re-amended with most of the above, particularly those ingredients that I expect to be 'used' during the grow but things like rock dusts are said to last many years so I probably wouldn't add too much more of that, it's only when people start talking about some amazing smoke they had in Hawaii that I start wanting to add a bit more rock dust to give it more of a volcanic content! My feeling is that the soil over time gets more 'biological' and can support the plants even better, so after this grow I imagine my re-amending will be fairly modest.

Thanks, Stunger! That's a bunch of stuff.

How do you determine how much to use of each ingredient?

(I hope you don't mind me picking your brain about this, but I've got a huge bin of used soil and...)

 

[Stunger]

Thanks, Stunger! That's a bunch of stuff.

How do you determine how much to use of each ingredient?

(I hope you don't mind me picking your brain about this, but I've got a huge bin of used soil and...)

Yes it does look a bunch of stuff but it is because you end up buying this, then that, and so on over time as your soil evolves and the number of your ingredients increase. If I was starting fresh I would probably do a Coots mix which is nice and simple, not a lot of ingredients, and not hot like Subcools. But at this point I have to say I am pretty pleased with my mix and how it is performing now.

When it came to quantities I based it pretty much on the quantities that SubCool and Coots gave, if I had several of something similar to their one, then I would reduce down my several to approximate theirs. Some things I added that weren't in their lists, like bio-char because it sounded good to have. Others like dried prawn is mentioned by Coots for the Chitin to the soil, but I was most moved to add this by a friend who grew up in Malaysia who told me how when he was a kid they were carrying a big sack of dried pawns thru his Grandmother's bamboo grove (that she used for cooking), the sack ripped and the pile of dried prawns were considered spoiled and left amongst the bamboo. He said the following year the bamboo grew amazing and so big. So for this year I added about a cup of supermarket bought dried prawns (first rinsed/soaked to removed the added salt). If that interests you then I would recommend also adding malted barley (diastatic as that contained the enzymes) it is Chitinase which helps break down the Chitin of dried prawns.

For what it's worth I think that soils are like cooking, there are many wonderful different recipes in the world but they share in common a balance of flavours/textures. I think it is the same with soils, there are countless variations that work fantastic just as long as they are in balance. And for a organic living soil I think the longer you can leave the soil to cook/settle the more forgiving it is if you added a bit much of this or that. Also too, worms are a bit of a barometer for me, if they are living in the mix it gives me some confidence about plants liking it, just my 2 cents.

 

[NuttyProfessor]

i have a small compost pile, i throw all my fruit and veg waste into , , i then like to throw old used soil on top , i then plant my comfrey in there , come summer i can chop up the comfrey and use this as my liquid ferts , i have alfalfa seeds too that i can cover crop the same pile , even throw some stunted autos in to grow out, as you can see in the pic , you can also see old root balls , after a while this soil should be really good again , i will drench in compost teas to keep it active then reuse the soil and move the comfrey to this years pile

if you can understand me
this is were most of my peat base goes to reuse for all my plants not just Mary JANE the comfrey is dormant but should take off any day soon , the leaves from them should be packed with nutrients for my girls

 

[NuttyProfessor]

I have read of people throwing away soil because of mites too, I had an infestation of those last year too which to my mind was a fault of me failing to spray sufficiently, but I still re-amended the soil for my current grow which is currently (touch wood) mite/bug free and no fungal issues. This grow I have been spraying regularly and the plants seem free of mites/bugs so far. My desire was to keep the soil and lose it. But my justification to do so was based on what seemed to me the likelihood that in organic soil there probably exists every fungus possible and bugs too. After all, even in great soil you only have to over water a seedling to see it develop the 'damping off' fungus, so to me all soil probably contains spores of many fungi that will come out if conditions and stress enable them.

T

with mites i now get some neem cake/rock dust/ seaweed dust for the top of the soils , i also hang a live mite predator sachet seen here, the plant is too small yet to hang it up , maybe this week ill hang it after topping ,they only cost about £1.50 each , that other thing is a fish tank temp gauge i buried the prob so i can check root ball temps , a little hack

 

[StoneOtter]

Why do you scrape it away, Stone?

Hah! Because I was told to do it like that. Hehe, I don't know really. Roots come in around the scaped area but I don't know the science. I don't do a lot of it maybe half of the diameter and a half inch or inch.

 

[Timhomegrow]

What's the deal with the geo flora? Put it in/on the soil every two weeks to keep it hot?

 

[copperrein]

Welp...time to rethink this year's soil.

Great journal so far Justin

 

[MackMurder]

My only advice would be purchase a lux meter along with any light, to make sure you have the proper distance between your light and your garden

Only thing I would add to that if I may is certain lux meters cant measure certain lights accurately including LEDs.

Can A Lux Meter Measure LED Light? - LED & Lighting Info

A lux meter (sometimes called a light meter or an illuminance meter) is a handy tool for measuring the amount of light in an area or on a surface. You can use them to get the right amount of light for growing plants, or to display artwork in controlled conditions. You can even just use

ledlightinginfo.com

That's a handy page that explains which lux meters work for which grow lighting technology before anyone picks up the wrong one

Great looking setup by the way JG gl

 

[Rexer]

Hey Justin! I'll be lurking on this one. I'm no good with soil, but I'm already learning quite a bit. Hopefully it'll stick.