Colombian Andes Greenhouse SIP CBD Auto Grow

[Emilya Green]

and then once you have loaded your soil with extra K, what does Mulder say will happen to your soil? Ratios are very important. It looks like getting K out of balance would cause problems with Calcium, Phosphate, Nitrogen, Boron and Magnesium. Be careful when adding things to a soil mixture... this is why there are recipes that are known to work, people found the right balance.

 

[CBDMed]

and then once you have loaded your soil with extra K, what does Mulder say will happen to your soil? Ratios are very important. It looks like getting K out of balance would cause problems with Calcium, Phosphate, Nitrogen, Boron and Magnesium. Be careful when adding things to a soil mixture... this is why there are recipes that are known to work, people found the right balance.

Oh, @Emilya Green , thank you so much!! I appreciate how you always help me with my newbie problems! I hope you get majorly blessed for that!

Sorry, but I never heard of Mulder!! And yeah, I suppose maybe I could deserve another appropriate tongue-lashing, to remind me again (like you did several months ago, haha!) that these are closed systems.
Again, sorry!!! I did not know that they were closed systems when I did that! I thought it was a simple matter of making sure to provide enough of everything, mixing it, and letting the plant sort it out.
Sorry!! I was not thinking like a cannabis plant at the time!! Just like we like a certain balance in our diet, they like a certain balance in their diet as well!
So I can only claim ignorance, and throw myself on the mercy of the court! (Hahaha!!)






But if I may please speak a word in my own self-defense (and in all fairness to myself), I think the idea was not so much to further unbalance an already unbalanced closed system formula, but rather to wait until the test results come in next week, to know best how to re-balance and re-cook correctly.
Only, if you are telling me that the soil lacks K, then how can I fix the deficiency, except by adding K??? (Me not get it, mon!)

So I think the idea is to wait until the report comes back, so as to make a careful and informed decision about HOW MUCH K to add, to try to correct the imbalance.
But am I really doing wrong to try to identify what organic substrate I can safely add, to try to bring the imbalanced soil come closer into a proper balance?
Or if we already know that we need to add K, then why am I being busted by the Emmy Police? Hahaha!

We love you, Em! Thanks for all of your excellent help! My garden will never be the same!!

 

[CBDMed]

One muy buena thing is, I am learning a lot about soil and nutrientes!!

Only, it is still really weird...
#1: N. We are pretty sure we saw a shortage of N. That may have been due to the rice hulls breaking down. For example, this article says if you use a lot of rice hulls, pair it with a source of N:

How to Use Soil Amendments-Rice Hulls - Organic Gardening

Explore the benefits of rice hulls for gardening with our guide on effective soil amendments. Discover how rice husks improve soil structure & moisture retention.

www.groworganic.com

It also says:
>> Rice hulls are nontoxic and biodegradable, so they feed the soil as they break down. However, they are stable enough to last for the typical gardening season before decomposing...

And:
>> For potted plants, you should mix 10–50% rice hulls into the potting soil.

They say it is a neutral, and 50% is considered an acceptable percentage--just remember that it breaks down after a season of use.

#2: P. I think Azimuth said that we have not seen a shortage of P.

#3. K. I think everyone agrees that we have a (strong) shortage of K.

So apart from the lab test results and the rebalance / remix, I guess my next question would have to be, WHY does my supersoil seem unmbalanced, if it was designed to be balanced, and all that happened was that rice hulls were added for aeration? Because rice hulls are considered practically inert for one season, and they do not change the pH!
So, WHY is my supersoil so unbalanced??
What ELSE did I do wrong? (Haha!)
'Cuz I added some extra worm castings, and a whole lot of rice hulls (for aeration), and that was it.

 

[Emilya Green]

Has your supersoil been given a chance to cook all of the original ingredients in? They may be in there, but totally unavailable to the plants and your microbes.

 

[CBDMed]

Has your supersoil been given a chance to cook all of the original ingredients in? They may be in there, but totally unavailable to the plants and your microbes.

Yes. The first edition of the supersoil cooked in mildly hot sun for two months.

Then when it was down to about a half left, I was having some troubles on the rooftop grow, which seemed like it was due to a lack of aeration in the supersoil.
There was a second issue with a tiny amount of biochar. I was concerned that it was not pre-charged, so Azimuth suggested adding some more worm castings, and re-cooking. (In retrospect, it was wayyyy too small an amount of biochar to worry about, but I did not know that at the time. I am still learning.)
So, if I was going to add even more worm castings (which I did not really need), I decided to add aeration, to open it up. I thought about Perlite, but went with 50% rice hulls (and I thought it would compact a little, but it did not really! Haha!)
It re-cooked in that same mildly hot sun for another two months. (And the remainder of the batch is still cooking on this roof.)

When I remix, I will probably drag the cooking bins inside the greenhouse, to keep them warm.

 

[Emilya Green]

Yes. The first edition of the supersoil cooked in mildly hot sun for two months.

Then when it was down to about a half left, I was having some troubles on the rooftop grow, which seemed like it was due to a lack of aeration in the supersoil.
There was a second issue with a tiny amount of biochar. I was concerned that it was not pre-charged, so Azimuth suggested adding some more worm castings, and re-cooking. (In retrospect, it was wayyyy too small an amount of biochar to worry about, but I did not know that at the time. I am still learning.)
So, if I was going to add even more worm castings (which I did not really need), I decided to add aeration, to open it up. I thought about Perlite, but went with 50% rice hulls (and I thought it would compact a little, but it did not really! Haha!)
It re-cooked in that same mildly hot sun for another two months. (And the remainder of the batch is still cooking on this roof.)

When I remix, I will probably drag the cooking bins inside the greenhouse, to keep them warm.

I always thought that 3 months was recommended to break everything down, especially the rock and bone components. Then the humic acid needs time to do its work and turn this mess into that very complex thing that we call soil. Its always the basics, and this very well could have something to do with why you are having problems with the elements that you are.

 

[CBDMed]

I always thought that 3 months was recommended to break everything down, especially the rock and bone components. Then the humic acid needs time to do its work and turn this mess into that very complex thing that we call soil. Its always the basics, and this very well could have something to do with why you are having problems with the elements that you are.

Well, it is not Ed Rosenthal, but this is from High Times: "Subcool's Supersoil Step by Step."
It doesn't say, but it sounds like this article was either written or dictated by Subcool.

"So we’ve added the water, and now we let it cook in the sunshine—30 days is best for this concentrate."

 

[Emilya Green]

I think it was The Rev that recommended 3 months. I know that mine wasnt ready in 2 months and I ended up with problems similar to yours. After I took the cooking more seriously, I ended up using that soil for over 5 years it was so good. I know that those that came later added this time element to the original recipes, but I can see why you went 2 months too, with so many recommending that. I bet it gets better next run without adding anything to it.

 

[CBDMed]

I think it was The Rev that recommended 3 months. I know that mine wasnt ready in 2 months and I ended up with problems similar to yours. After I took the cooking more seriously, I ended up using that soil for over 5 years it was so good. I know that those that came later added this time element to the original recipes, but I can see why you went 2 months too, with so many recommending that. I bet it gets better next run without adding anything to it.

Thanks!!
I'd love to read the Rev! And KNF! But Time is a real cruncher.
I can try to cook it good! It should stay warm inside the greenhouse, so it should cook.

I will be very interested to get this report back!
I can do this liquid K thing for autos, but I want to get the supersoil fixed up before I do photos in a SIP, such that I only have to maybe touch up with liquid PK (and not have to rely on it outright).

I can continue to use the liquid PK with some autos, in the meantime. to give the supersoil all the time that it needs to cook.
Frankly, between these SIPs and you guys' instructions, these autos are providing quite a substantial harvest, and in a very short period of time!
I was just realizing today that this harvest is going to last me a long time! (That is, until I figure out how to make concentrates, hahaha!!

But either way, should be able to give the supersoil all of the time it needs, to cook. I will just work with autos in the meantime, to keep the smell of cannabis flowering inside the house!
I love having the smell of cannabis flowering inside the house!!
Thanks for your help in getting it!

 

[CBDMed]

Hi @Azimuth !
Can one make LAB from yoghurt that is going bad?
Or does it have to be uncultured milk?
Thanks.

 

[Azimuth]

The LAB is the runny stuff you sometimes find separated from the more pudding textured stuff in yogurt.

Milk is only used to separate the LAB microbes from everything else that gets collected when you start the process. If you already have yogurt, you already have LAB so no need to try to isolate them again.

 

[CBDMed]

The LAB is the runny stuff you sometimes find separated from the more pudding textured stuff in yogurt.

Milk is only used to separate the LAB microbes from everything else that gets collected when you start the process. If you already have yogurt, you already have LAB so no need to try to isolate them again.

Um... Ok, so how do I use yogurt in organic gardening?
Hahaha, do I pour yogurt on my plants?

 

[Azimuth]

LAB has many uses in the garden as the microbes are good at breaking things down so some organic gardeners add some the soil when fertilizing their plants.

In my various experiments I've found the microbes from worm castings to be superior so I mostly use them instead.

 

[CBDMed]

LAB has many uses in the garden as the microbes are good at breaking things down so some organic gardeners add some the soil when fertilizing their plants.

In my various experiments I've found the microbes from worm castings to be superior so I mostly use them instead.

Thanks, Azi! That's very helpful!
Makes my life simple!

 

[CBDMed]

Hmmm.... Purple Kush 1:1 coming down to the finish line.
Ummm... what are those white thingies? (Are they perhaps hermie flowers??)
Sorry I could not get everything in focus on the cell phone all at once. Please let me know if more / better photos are needed.

I don't see amber yet, haha!
Are those white things flowers? (Or what are they?)

 

[CBDMed]

 

[InTheShed]

They're looking like nanners, which are pollen-bearing male bits that plants put out, sometimes near the end of life and sometimes earlier because of genetics or stress.

If all your plants are in late flower with few white pistils then you don't have to worry about them because it's too late to make seeds. But you might want to wet them and pluck them just to keep the pollen out of the grow room for next time.

 

[CBDMed]

Thanks, Shed!
I am a little concerned to get any moisture at all on her, since she is a Purple Kush, and her sister got grey mold for nothing.
If she's a he then I think the easy thing is just to chop her. Her sister was plenty potent, and I harvested her weeks ago!
(Plus the plants are getting bigger than I thought! I need to spread them out a little more...)
Thanks!

 

[InTheShed]

Just a drop of water from a wet q-tip is all you need, not a full on spray. Just to keep the pollen from spreading if you pluck them out.

 

[CBDMed]

Just a drop of water from a wet q-tip is all you need, not a full on spray. Just to keep the pollen from spreading if you pluck them out.

Ahhhh! Light bulb coming on!


Well, good for future reference, because she is chopped already!