Emmie's Organic Garden Using Advanced Lighting Techniques

[Emilya Green]

I will be re-reading Tim's site then before bed. Thank you. Less is more... this is a hard one for the former queen of overnuting.

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks to the earlier reference to this link in your soil thread I have already devoured that site and several others, and recently read The Rev's book through and through... still have my questions though. It's the way I am... always wanting more.

Also Sue, sorry to hear about all the personal drama in your life these days... I send light and love in your direction.

Thank you Emmie. I came through the worst of the grief in record time, I think, because the community encouraged me to grieve out in the open, so I didn't internalize. I've been sheltered by the loving arms of the members of this site in a way I never anticipated.

My thoughts on the Rev are he means well, but he missed the boat too often for me to give him more than a passing glance. But then, I'm pretty spoiled by my CC mix. Minimal input, thoroughly mixed and capable of running indefinitely with minimal amendments through teas, drenches and vermicompost top dressing. There's a wonderful post a couple pages back on the soil discussion thread that Llama shared from a friend of his that's an actual soil scientist. Well worth the read. I reformatted it for easier reading.

 

[DankWolf907]

I love it! Why sue? Why are the mycos the most important? For me, its the others that eat and produce the food that the mycos can then bring to the roots. Without the others..the mycos just take up space..

Sorry for highjacking Em

 

[Emilya Green]

not highjacking in my view my friend... seems to be right on topic.

 

[SweetSue]

Thats not what i read, at all!,lemme see if i can find that read again
..damn ive done so much reading n sesrching. Cant even remember what search pulled this info up.

Edit. Mkay my searching has been interrupted, and i havent found what i wanted yet. Go with Sues words..for now..

Sue, explain why molasses with water thats NOT bubbled lasts 4-6days, when bubbled its gone bad after 24hrs. Air going into the water adds microbs, when left for longer then 24hrs not being aerated, they breed/multiply/convert/make my water go bad...(this is my understanding)

What makes your water go bad is mold. Molasses attracts bacteria and mold grows. In my experience, unbubbled water with even minimal molasses added must be used almost immediately. I try not to mix up excess.

Emmie, the water can be dechlorinated by standing it for 24 hours. More surface area helps this process. If your municipal water service uses chloramines they can be neutralized by adding two drops of molasses per gallon (or a pinch of EWC or humus) and letting it sit for ten minutes.

 

[SweetSue]

I love it! Why sue? Why are the mycos the most important? For me, its the others that eat and produce the food that the mycos can then bring to the roots. Without the others..the mycos just take up space..

Sorry for highjacking Em

They exist in balance. The myco expand the root system by essentially creating their own network, exponentially greater than the original roots. They're capable of transporting nutrients from anywhere in the pot back to the plant. Surely you can appreciate the value of hundreds of myco fibers associated with one root fiber instead of one root fiber on its own.

 

[Emilya Green]

What makes your water go bad is mold. Molasses attracts bacteria and mold grows. In my experience, unbubnled water with even minimal molasses added must be used almost immediately. I try not to mix up excess.

Emmie, the water can be dechlorinated by standing it for 24 hours. More surface area helps this process. If your municipal water service uses chloramines they can be neutralized by adding two drops of molasses per gallon (or a pinch of EWC or humus) and letting it sit for ten minutes.

yes, I learned early on that bubbled water does not mold... learned a hard lesson on that one... but then Tim talks about over bubbling too...

and my head almost exploded, I had to put on a tight hat for a while to keep everything in place.... getting rid of chloramines is that easy?? Really? I still have so much to learn.

 

[SweetSue]

yes, I learned early on that bubbled water does not mold... learned a hard lesson on that one... but then Tim talks about over bubbling too...

and my head almost exploded, I had to put on a tight hat for a while to keep everything in place.... getting rid of chloramines is that easy?? Really? I still have so much to learn.

Yes, it is that easy, and Tim has the images to prove it.

 

[Emilya Green]

Yes, it is that easy, and Tim has the images to prove it.

so why can't you just use tap water then to make the teas?... or can you?

 

[DankWolf907]

They exist in balance. The myco expand the root system by essentially creating their own network, exponentially greater than the original roots. They're capable of transporting nutrients from anywhere in the pot back to the plant. Surely you can appreciate the value of hundreds of myco fibers associated with one root fiber instead of one root fiber on its own.

Right, i get that. But without the other mocrobes that eat and transform minerals into soluble form, those mycos dont benefit much. The roots will still eat what they can, but if theres,no nutes available...mycos arent helping..

yes, I learned early on that bubbled water does not mold... learned a hard lesson on that one... but then Tim talks about over bubbling too...

and my head almost exploded, I had to put on a tight hat for a while to keep everything in place.... getting rid of chloramines is that easy?? Really? I still have so much to learn.

Wait..sue just said it does mold.. Typo em?

 

[Emilya Green]

Tonight I continued to wrest this grow out of the evil hands of the synthetic nutes, and watered to 20% run off with a very rich nutrient laden actively aerated compost tea. This is the second application of a brewed tea, and I have to say that I am extremely pleased with what I saw in the tent this evening. I am no longer thinking that I am going to have trouble reverting this grow back to its originally intended organic status.

Tonight I put larger drip trays under the 5gal buckets and raised the buckets up on large river stones to get them out of any run off water, hopefully loaded with salts and synthetic junk. Every plant in the tent is responding to the organics. Without giving nutes for a week now, there is no sign of starvation, and instead I am starting to see a deep satisfying green on all the plants but one, and she is trying to get with the program too, she is just growing too fast. Three of the plants had branches so heavy already at day 27 that they could no longer support themselves, and especially the seeded branches. I had to spend a good hour and a half in there with my garden stakes and gardner tape giving them all support where needed. I am so impressed with what is happening in there already, I can't wait to see how they finish out. Things are going good in Emmies garden and I am blown away with the effectiveness of these teas, even to correct blunders like mine. I have great hopes for this one tonight too... These plants are starting to get phat!

Wish I had a picture to show you... it seems that you have to recharge your batteries now and then. I will get a snap in the morning before heading off to work.

 

[DankWolf907]

I knew you could do it!! Great news Em!

 

[SweetSue]

Those pesky batteries.

I like your plan Emmie. I'm also thrilled that you're seeing the positive results of growing in soil that feeds the plants. This is your first venture into living organic soil? If so you're going to be so pleased with the taste.

 

[Emilya Green]

Those pesky batteries.

I like your plan Emmie. I'm also thrilled that you're seeing the positive results of growing in soil that feeds the plants. This is your first venture into living organic soil? If so you're going to be so pleased with the taste.

yes, first time. I have been told by several folks the last few years that this really was the only way to grow pot, and that I had never really tasted what pot really tasted like. Then I noticed something strange on the growing forums... Usually when one went organic, they never went back. Many of them having perfected their art, disappeared, and I started to notice that these disappearances had something to do with finding organic.

So here I am... told everyone I was tired of supporting the nutrient companies and trying to think for my plants. As I am inclined to do, I dived in, feet first, learning as I go. This is the first run of the new experiments and already I have learned a lot as I attempted to build a soil for the first time. Brilliant ideas, or so they sound at the time, always throw new kinks into a run, and this one was no different... but so far all the obstacles have been surmounted, and this grow already looks to be one of my finest yet.

Yes, I am sold on organics... and will not be going back to a synthetic method. Nothing is now wasted or thrown away, it is simply recycled. Even plant culling is less painful now, knowing that their essence will be going into the soil to make a future run that much better. I see the value in this mixed up world of being able to maintain this soil forever, without having to rely on companies to supply me with what I need... and don't tell anyone, but I am also a cheapskate... and this fits right in with that mindset. Yeah, I spent some money this week to get this going, but as you said, I probably didn't need all this stuff. The beauty of this though, is that with the stuff I got, I can maintain this thing for a long long time... and if I start raising worms, even longer.

Yep, I am counting the days now... I am not even halfway through and already these buds are looking impressive. I have a feeling that at the end of this run I am going to look at what I have done here and say, "finally, for the first time I grew some good pot."

Nite Sue... I better get to bed... morning is going to come way too early.

 

[DankWolf907]

Nah, you did good buying supplies..

Im a cheaper cheapskate with the same mindset of not funding synthetics..
Unlike you, when i encounter a problem.. Making a simple tea isnt so easy. Trying to find alternatives.. Like boiled shrimp! It worked! But damn did my flowers smell fishy! ..it passed, but was still a stressfull headache. If only i wasnt so cheap while i had $$, a bag of guano woulda been sooo much easier!

 

[Emilya Green]

My 793 gph air pump arrived, along with 3 airstones, so I ran home for lunch to hook it up. Now we are brewing, and it is laughable the difference between this and the aquarium pump. I should have no trouble creating beneficial life with all this aeration. Things are about to get interesting around here.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Now that's an air pump! aerated teas with billions of microbes are on the way!

 

[SweetSue]

My 793 gph air pump arrived, along with 3 airstones, so I ran home for lunch to hook it up. Now we are brewing, and it is laughable the difference between this and the aquarium pump. I should have no trouble creating beneficial life with all this aeration. Things are about to get interesting around here.

Yes they are Emmie. Yes they are. Do yourself a favor and purchase malted barley grain, if you haven't already. One of the best things you can offer your soil. I can fill you in on particulars later.

 

[Emilya Green]

is this something you would find around beer brewing? I will most definitely get some.

 

[SweetSue]

is this something you would find around beer brewing? I will most definitely get some.

Absolutely. 6 Row if you can get it - more proteins and enzymes. 2 row if that's all you can get. It's already sprouted under controlled conditions. It's the best Sprouted Seed Tea (SST) available to you. I use one a week when I'm paying attention.

Straight from the mouth of Clakamas Coot:

Weigh out 1 oz. of malted barley grain for each gallon of enzyme tea you wish to make. Grind that to a powder and a cheapo coffee bean grinder works very well for this.

Add the powder to about 1/2 gallon of water and an airstone is helpful but not mandatory. If you have kelp meal on hand add about 2 tsp. and you want to bubble this for 4 hours to 24 hours.

Strain & drain this into a bucket and fill with dechlorinated water for the total volume of tea you want to apply to the soil. Add 1/2 oz. per gallon of Ful-Power and 1/4 cup of Aloe vera juice per gallon or the equivalent amount of 200XX Aloe vera powder.

Drench your soil - that's it.

HTH

Other ways to use maltedbarley grain:

- Grind the grain to a powder, sprinkle it over the surface and water in with the rest of the things you were intending to use in your tea. This is the way I do it. No messy straining or bubbling. If you strain, dump the material you hold out into your worm bin, compost heap or soil reserves.

- You can grind, add to your water, sit for up to four hours and use that way, without straining.

- It's an excellent soil additive, at 2 cups of the grain (no need to grind for this) per cubic foot of soil. You won't believe how healthy your plants will be with malted barley grain added to the soil mix.