FelipeBlu's Auto Jack & Kryptonite, PSMini LED, Root Pouch, Recipe 420

Pterostychus said:
when the baby leafs are starting to shrivel its time to start the feeding ... at the very soonest on day 10 ... let her settle a bit longer
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Thank you Pterostychus! That sounds like a pretty good indicator. The next watering will be at or after 10 days.
 
My post above that mentioned fungus gnats reminds me of another growing topic - PESTS.

On my last grow, it was a nice Fall in NorCal, and I decided to give the plant some fresh air and sunshine on occasion. Well, she picked up the crabs! JK, it was really thrips. I started seeing curious white places on the leaf tops, then I finally spotted the fast, minuscule bastards. I caught it early, and the spinosad worked well, but I decided right then that my indoor plants would not go out there. Since, I’ve become a bit anal about making sure that anything that even comes near the tent has been thoroughly inspected, and pre-treated with spinosad, if needed.
 
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Sisters

Photo from ~noon yesterday.
Krypta. - Day 7
Jackie - Day 2

Jackie looks so small in her Big home.
 
I highly recommend at least tin foil hats on those CFLs (dull side down). Most of the light from a CFL comes off the side so you're losing a lot without a hood on them.

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FelipeBlu said:
Thanks Shed. I will see what I can do with some foil. The bathroom vanity strip that the CFLs are in has a chrome finish, so there’s some reflection off of that.
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Just from looking at the photo I can tell you the fixture is not helping your cause! Foil, dull side down :)
 
I love those pics of Jackie, like she sprouted on the moon!
 
Thanks Shed. I've found that fungus gnats don't like to burrow through a 1/4-1/2" thick layer of pumice. I can get a 40 lb sack of Dry Stall at the local feed store for $12. With all the nooks and crannies, pumice has a tremendous amount of surface area and holds moisture/nutrients for fine roots to exploit. Also, unlike perlite, it doesn't crush/break down, which helps reduce soil compaction, and doesn't float out of the soil. Only downside I know of is that it makes the pot heavier, but not such a bad thing if your pot is outside, and you want to keep your plant from blowing over.

I wash it though a 1/8" sieve to remove the dust/fines.
 
FelipeBlu said:
Thanks Shed. I’ve found that fungus gnats don’t like to burrow through a 1/4-1/2” thick layer of pumice. I can get a 40 lb sack of Dry Stall at the local feed store for $12. With all the nooks and crannies, pumice has a tremendous amount of surface area and holds moisture/nutrients for fine roots to exploit. Also, unlike perlite, it doesn’t crush/break down, which helps reduce soil compaction, and doesn’t float out of the soil. Only downside I know of is that it makes the pot heavier, but not such a bad thing if your pot is outside, and you want to keep your plant from blowing over.
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Good info Felipe! Never thought of pumice or granite grit. I'll have to see if they have it nearby. Not a lot of feed stores in LA!
 
I've heard that sand keeps too much moisture in the soil.
 
And then there’s turface, which is granular diatomaceous earth, often used on baseball fields. This is great stuff, but a bit more expensive. You can get this at NAPA Auto. It’s called Floor Dry (Part #8822). Sieving this gives you the typical DE for pest control.

Edited to correct NAPA Part #. My bag is old - it looked like a zero.
 
Two in one bag! Good deal.
 
InTheShed said:
I've heard that sand keeps too much moisture in the soil.
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This is true. Pumice and turface are very different than sand. Sand typically used in horticulture is medium-grained, well-sorted (poorly graded, for you engineers). This is much smaller than the typical pumice or turface particle. Sand, therefore, develops a higher surface tension between particles. Thus the water retention.
 
Next time I plant I'm going to put a layer of DE on top of the soil at the first sign of gnats and see how they like them apples!
 
One last self-post for now :o)

I should add that you don’t want your pumice to be raisins floating in pudding. That won’t optimize the drainage benefits of adding it to your soil. I use a minimum of 50% of the total volume (70% for seedlings). This guarantees excellent drainage.

For example, Krypta’s pot is losing an average 80ml/day in a 1 liter pot. I’m already having to water her every 2 days. Almost time to transplant.

Here’s my mix with 50% pumice
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The pied piper of pumice you are!
 
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