Fanleaf Tries For A TLO, True Living Organics, Grow With 6 Plants

[Monkeyluv]

If you wanna read something that will be fun and teach just about anyone a ton, grab the book. I'm not a big reader but I couldn't put it down. I've read it 3 times now lol. The book is by the Rev. It's called "True Living Organics second edition".

I second that! Awesome read. I've read it 3 times, and some sections 5 to 6 times. I love the way you have labeled all your TLO mixes.

 

[Monkeyluv]

I use a RO/DI unit in my reef aquarium hobby. If I remember right. The deionization process takes carbonates out of the water and exchanges them for salts. IIRC, salts are bad news for our favorite plants. Causes lock out or some such thing right?

Excellent assumption. Theses re-introduced minerals/salts into the RO water are for human consumption, mostly in the form of electrolytes. I learned the hard way a few years back that this addition to RO systems is a [strong no no] for cannabis.

 

[Monkeyluv]

I figured since I'm doing the main 6 girls straight to the book I want to also experiment with some of the feelings I've had about how this grow is going and what may make it work better for me. While I will stay straight to the book on our 6 plants, today, we start an experiment....

3 cups full strength TLO soil
2.5 cups Promix HP
1/2 cup Earthworm Castings

This will cut the TLO soil strength by about half. While I usually dont transplant autoflowers I have never experienced it stunting them if done early enough.
Since autoflowers have such a short lifespan (3-4 week veg and 4 week flower) I feel this mix along with a few simple teas could do amazing things as far as growth rates and the quality.

That said, I started 3 autos today with the above mentioned mix.
1 Pineapple Express, 1 Dark Devil and 1 Blueberry.
I have a gut feeling this will be some fast growing 100% TRUE organic fantasticness!!
Let's just see....

Awesome addition to the current grow log. Having a few examples in the grow room at the same time greatly increases the knowledge base. I'm 2 plus years into the "TLO" method, and I can clearly see from your early results in veg is the same thing I experienced in the beginning when I switch over to TLO. The main thing I learned early on, and with each grow there after was that a gallon of brewed tea (using the recipes in The Rev's book) needed to be diluted with 3 gallons of RO water, instead of 1 gallon. This dilution rate kept my plants from experiencing that stunted droopy look that always followed after watering with the brewed tea at a 1 to 1 dilution rate.
Another thing I discovered was...I started off my first TLO style grow with room temps at 80 deg. F because I was so used to running the room at 73 to 75 deg. F. This was the one rule I didn't follow from the book.
Once I raised the room temps to 85 deg. F at the canopy level, my rate of watering went from every 6 to 8 days down to every 3 to 2.5 days, and allowed me to use a brewed tea at the standard suggested 1 to 1 dilution rate without any down time due to plants having to recover from too much "good stuff" being introduced to the living soil. I'm learning so much from your grow journal, and at the same time getting confirmation from your pics, that my 2 + year TLO adventure has been worth every minute I have put towards learning the details of indoor organic growing using quality amended/cooked soil. I still have 11 more pages to read through, and it seems well worth my time. Thanks for the time and effort you have put forth to help this grow community expand it's knowledge and skill sets.

 

[Monkeyluv]

We are humming along at a decent clip now. Plants seem to be doing better and better each day.
Tonight I gave each plant a good dunk. The soil is so resistant to taking water from the top that I decided to just give each plant about 5 minutes of a good funk inside a 5 gallon bucket full of straight RO water. It only takes a few minutes with these pots to let the soil thoroughly saturate from the bottom and sides.
They are looking happier each day. I really hope the Malauwi X Panama gets over her clawing before flower time. She has been that way for a month now. She dont seem too unhappy and shes growing fine so we will let it ride. Here they are as of tonight 3 hours after the watering. They are all perky. FYI, Panama is the one in the center rear row.

Easiest way to eliminate the hydrophobic tendencies of the soil once it's dried out on top is to us a spray bottle, and mist the top of the soil till it looks a bit wet. By the time you have finished misting the last pot, the first one sprayed will be ready to accept the water. It eliminates the pooling on top of the mulch, allowing the water to saturate in at an even rate. The Rev suggest watering twice. Meaning a bit of water, followed by a 30 minute wait, then adding the additional water you think it will require. The misting works like a dream, and cuts out the timely suggested watering schedule from the TLO book. I hope this helps, it certainly did for me.

 

[lootznbootz]

Awesome grow fan! Exactly what I needed to get my head around the whole idea of organic and getting away from the bottle nutes I learned to grow from.
I won't be growing for a while yet but im itching to get back to it. In the meantime I'm just soaking up as much knowledge as I can and learning the "muscle memory" through reading journals like this.
Always a go-to member when It comes to great journals.
Glad to see that 25 cob beast still in action!
@Emilya thank you for your part in this journal as well you really helped me understand things from a different angle so to speak and it was very useful! So again thank you I look forward to seeing more grows like this @fanleaf