Experimental Grow To See The Difference Between Coco Perlite & Living Soil

[Jungle Joseph]

If you can bump up your temp to 78⁰ your humidity to 65%
Water the large pots more, especially around the outer edge.
If that soil is anywhere near aerated properly you do not want it to "dry out".
And you should try to get some barley straw or something to use as a mulch layer on the larger soil pots.

Ok thanks. It's nice soil, designed specifically for cannabis, with pumice for aeration so it drains ok. I'll water them now. I read emilyas post on watering, but I'm still learning. I've over watered before but the soil was different and didn't drain as well (too much peat, my mistake) I was thinking about a pot of hot water in there, would that help the temp and humidity? since I'm off grid on a budget it's a little difficult to maintain conditions without power. I have power to a certain degree, my small inverter can only run the light. Any fans I incorporate into the system must be 12v, hence my use of pc fans. Auto fans use way too much power. I know it would be easier to have grid power, but that defeats my philosophy of keeping a small carbon footprint. Since I never intended to grow, I only installed a small solar system, I will fit more solar capacity asap as funds allow. We just got put into lock down, which means I can't go to the store (stupid covid) so the mulch will come later. I appreciate the feedback. Sorry for the lengthy blah blah blah.

 

[bluter]

If you can bump up your temp to 78⁰ your humidity to 65%

probably accomplish both with a good watering / feeding regime. he's not far off right now
just bottle it up a touch. he's not running huge ventilation now. shouldn't be hard.

And you should try to get some barley straw or something to use as a mulch layer on the larger soil pots.

do you think that dark soil looks a bit heavy ?

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Here's some pics of the soil if it helps

 

[bluter]

it just looks heavy to me.
it looks like stuff we struggled through in the 80's. what's the brand ?

 

[Jungle Joseph]

it just looks heavy to me.
it looks like stuff we struggled through in the 80's. what's the brand ?

Easy as organic.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I watered them with a compost tea this time, otherwise they just get water, and a little molasses for the critters in the soil.

 

[Nunyabiz]

Does look a bit heavy but hard to tell from pics.

 

[bluter]

going by the ingredients it looks like it's built ok. it might just be how it looks in the pics.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I'm really impressed with the coco perlite. This is the first time I've used it.
All plants are healthy and showing visible daily growth.
The plants in the soil have the tiniest little bit of nutrient burn on the tips of the leaves. I believe that means the soil has lots of natural amendments, and is slightly 'hot'. I can live with that.
I notice that the 2 plants in the smaller coco pots are growing shorter, with the nodes closer together. Am I right to assume that's because of the size of the pot helping to keep them compact?
If so, that's good.
I will repot them sooner or later (before flowering) but for now I'm just experimenting to see how the root and plant growth are affected by different approaches in growing methods and substrates etc.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I noticed roots coming from the bottom of the pot on one of the small coco plants, so I transplanted it to a bigger pot (4 gallon) and watered it in with pH 5.7 and EC 1.3 (3 ltrs, around the edge of the pot to encourage root growth out)
Might have been a bit early, and the pot might be overkill, but like I said, I'm experimenting.
Gotta get more coco before I repot any others, also have to decide which ones will stay in the tent, so I'm in no hurry for a while.
I'm at max capacity now, but I expect some males, and a couple will go out to face the reality of outdoor life in a few weeks when it warms up.

 

[bluter]

a fabric or air pot will do a bit better than those bags.

i prefer a hard sided pot to a plastic grow bag. the plastic bags are a combination of the worst parts of soft and hard sided buckets combined. if you are running a hundred plants or so they are a cheap option, but that's the only place i'd be tempted.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

a fabric or air pot will do a bit better than those bags.

i prefer a hard sided pot to a plastic grow bag. the plastic bags are a combination of the worst parts of soft and hard sided buckets combined. if you are running a hundred plants or so they are a cheap option, but that's the only place i'd be tempted.

Yeah, I never really thought about the pots before I started, it's not ideal but it's all I have for now. If the coco works for me, I'll invest in a couple of decent pots for future grows. I've seen some good ones at the grow shop in the city. Later down the track maybe upgrade to automatic drip watering. Gotta make sure I can keep them alive in coco before I invest (waste) too much money. Think of it like spending $500 on a toolkit, only to find out you don't know how to use the tools. If I wanna build a drag car, I better learn how to change the oil first.

 

[bluter]

Yeah, I never really thought about the pots before I started, it's not ideal but it's all I have for now. If the coco works for me, I'll invest in a couple of decent pots for future grows.

everyone starts somewhere. i still use hard sides in coco and hp. most folk hate that. i simply do it for cost purposes. i know it costs some yield though. i weigh the loss against the replacement cost of bags and other buckets over time.

we all get to make our own choices. it's why growing can be so unique. what works for me might not be your deal.

so long as the basics are there you good to go though.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

This one is my favorite, hasn't missed a beat after transplanting.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

I just transplanted it again, into a fabric pot.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Unfortunately the one I snapped has died. There was a small ceremony, after which she was cremated. RIP.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

The growth in soil is definitely slower than coco.
Watered coco with
EC 1.4
pH 5.9

 

[Trala]

Hey JJ

I love how neat your grow is. Order makes my heart sing

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Hey JJ

I love how neat your grow is. Order makes my heart sing

Thanks, I like order too. The funny thing is, I live in utter chaos lol. Glad I could brighten your day with song.

 

[Jungle Joseph]

Hi all,
I'm slowly thinning the indoor crop since I can't fit them all in my tent.
Today I repotted the plant in the small soil pot. It had a good root system (i think) so I moved it to a fabric pot with quality soil and watered it with a fish-seaweed solution. It's outside getting used to the sunshine. We are still getting morning frost at the moment so it'll be coming in at night for a while till it warms up some more.
All the others are happy and healthy.