Gimik's First Organics Grow: No Bottled Nutes!

[Gimik]

Heyy Good Morning everybody, Welcome to the grow Journal!

As the title says, this is my very first attempt at an all organic grow, and I couldn't be more excited. This is my third grow overall. My first grow, I used clones and Advanced Nutrient's line of synthetic nutrients -- I had FANTASTIC results and zero problems the entire grow... Although I had shitty genetics. Second run, I started from seed and used the rest of my AN bottled nutes. For my third run, a good friend of mine convinced me to give organics a try... So here we are

My plan for this grow is to mix up a batch of super soil and have that do most of the heavy lifting throughout the grow. I DON'T want to have to worry about pH/measuring out nutrients. This time around I intent to create a No Till grow system. I am starting a vermicomposting bin to help lower some of my costs over time and provide me with fresh EWC. Once the worms arrive I'm going to build my flower pots and toss a handful of Red Wigglers into them...this will help break down the organic matter and aerate my soil.

Alright lets just jump into it...

Grow Space: 2x4 grow tent. In the past I grew in a 4x4 space so this is going to be a bit different, having to worry about grow space / height.
Lighting: I have 4x Quantum Boards (288.2 LM301b diodes). At the moment I'm using one board on the lowest power setting -- I will introduce additional panels once I get to flower.
Nutrients: No bottled nutrients what so ever. Only pre-amended soil -- I will go into further detail in a moment.
Genetics: I currently have 4 seedlings. One is a feminized Gorilla Glue #4 left over from my last run. The other three seeds are random bag seed. Because of the 3 being random, this is going to be my first grow where I have to worry about the sex of the plant. The previous two runs I had fem seeds/clones. This will be a learning experience that I will need you're guys help on!!!

Okay... now on to the arguable most important part of this grow... THE SOIL!!

Base Soil: I mixed up enough for 21 gallons. (~3cuft)

• 1/3 Sphagnum Peat Moss (7gal)
• 1/3 EWC (compost) (7gal)
• 1/3 Perlite (Aeration) (7gal)

I then amended the base soil with the following dry amendments: 1/2 cup per cubic foot (1cuft = 7.5 gal)

• Fish Meal (9-4-0)
• Crab Shell Meal (4-3-0)
• Kelp Meal (1-0-2)
• Neem Seed Meal (6-1-2) + Pest Control
• Oyster Shell Flour (Calcium)
• Gypsum (Calcium / Sulfur)
• Glacial Rock Dust (Trace Minerals)

Not included in this list is the Malted Barley I purchased from a local beer brewing store for $2/lb. This will be ground up and introduced as a top feed during Veg, then again during Flower.

**I don't have the equipment for AACT so most of my reamending will be in the form of top dressing**

Goals for the Grow:

• Successfully go from seed --> harvest with zero bottled nutrients.
• Learn how to sex a plant prior to flipping to flower.
• Learn how to train plants to form an even canopy -- depending on how many turn out to be female I may SCROG. TBD

Well guys, that's all for now!! I will be posting pictures of the seedlings in just a moment. I hope I get some people to stick around for the ride -- I confess I'm terrible at writing these damn Journals but I will do my best to give updates and keep people intrigued and wanting to come back

 

[Gimik]

Here are a few pictures of the setup and of the seedlings. I germinated them using the paper towel method and planted into Red Solo cups filled with Fox Farm Ocean Forest. They will be eventually up-potted to the 1gal containers you see. I covered two with clover to help add Nitrogen to the soil and will be planting the two strongest seeds in those pots, the other two will go into 1gal as well but no clover. The seedlings are currently on Day 3 since they sprouted out of the soil and have already begun growing their first true set of leaves!! How exciting.

Something really interesting happened to my GG#4 (fem) seed. Once she sprouted, the next day I wake up to find a second stalk had grown. TWINS!! I'm going to just let her do her thing and see what happens. From what I understand, the dominate stalk will likely take over and kill the weaker one. Time will tell.

Woke up to find some of the bag seeds really stretching so I lowered the light a few inches.

 

[Enjoil]

Twins! That’s awesome! Grow em both, let’s see if there’re identical twins.

 

[Gimik]

Twins! That’s awesome! Grow em both, let’s see if there’re identical twins.

I know how cool is that?? Although I'm a little worried because the twin is my only fem seed so if she dies I only have three chances at a female. I'm going to just let nature run its course with the twin but with my fingers crossed

 

[Gimik]

As I mentioned in the OP, I decided to make a vermicompost worm bin to provide my garden with some fresh EWC, the worms are arriving Saturday. I went out in search today of cardboxes and after driving around various shopping centers I uncovered the motherload behind an Albertsons haha. Snatched several boxes which should last me for umm... ever lol.

Bought a couple of the local newspapers to add shredded paper to their beddings... and support the local paper! Win/Win.

I layered my bin:

1. Peat Moss (Top)
2. Shredded Newspaper
3. Shredded Cardboard
4. Peat Moss
5. Shredded Newspaper
6. Shredded Cardboard (Bottom)

Once the worms get acclimated to their new environment I'll start to introduce food scraps and other foods.

 

[Enjoil]

I know how cool is that?? Although I'm a little worried because the twin is my only fem seed so if she dies I only have three chances at a female. I'm going to just let nature run its course with the twin but with my fingers crossed

Nah, let em grow a few days and thicken up. Then rinse the dirt off in a bowl of water and untangle em real gentle like. Then replant em in separate pots. Yeah man!

 

[Gimik]

So while I was showering today I left the tent open so the plants could get some fresh air and well, my cat decided he wanted a taste of one of my seedlings!! I get out of the shower to discover one of the red solo cups knocked over and no seedlings in sight. I seriously thought my cat ate the whole thing but i found it fully intact, laying on the floor of the tent. I immediately went into rescue mode and gentle picked it up and after wiping away all the cat hair I attempted to replant it. It was completely floppy so i had to stake it. I don't have a good feeling about it...

Now I'm down to two bag seeds and our twin seedling. The bag seeds are looking good, strong and healthy. The twin seems to have stalled growth completely. This grow is off to an interesting start haha

 

[Stormblessed]

Fingers crossed for the little one, and that’s crazy u got 2 out of one seed, have u ever tried quad lining? It’s a training method that is working well for me to meet the “canopy” level, although she is still small so it’s not much of a canopy yet, there is a thread, quadsquad, on here that if very helpful

 

[Stormblessed]

It’s pretty easy so far, this is my first try at it

 

[One Of These Days]

wanted a taste of one of my seedlings!!

20200411_171201.jpg

• One Of These Days
• Apr 11, 2020

Haha yeah it happens

Ive just checked my soil today its been cooking for a few weeks now. I'm getting off the bottle as well.

Ill follow along for the show.

 

[Stormblessed]

I thought I was the only ont with cat problems lol mine likes to try to use my tent for a scratch post

 

[chib]

I'll pull up a seat. Just a question, are you ordering worms to make your own casting ?

 

[Gimik]

I thought I was the only ont with cat problems lol mine likes to try to use my tent for a scratch post

LOL!! I'm glad mine doesn't try to destroy the tent itself, just my baby girls

I'll pull up a seat. Just a question, are you ordering worms to make your own casting ?

Yeah I ordered some worms from UncleJim, they are set to arrive tomorrow. I want to produce my own castings, fresh is always best I'm going to toss a handful of them into my flower pots as well.

 

[chib]

LOL!! I'm glad mine doesn't try to destroy the tent itself, just my baby girls


Yeah I ordered some worms from UncleJim, they are set to arrive tomorrow. I want to produce my own castings, fresh is always best I'm going to toss a handful of them into my flower pots as well.

Good idea, I'm interested to see this. I collect a lot of worms for fishing, maybe I should start collecting them for my garden ! Haha

 

[Gimik]

Yeah Red Wigglers are best but I suppose any worm could work? I just played it safe and ordered some. 250 worms for ~$30... Kinda expensive for what they are but if I can manage to not kill them they will be a nice addition to my grow =D

 

[Gimik]

@One Of These Days Welcome!!

 

[Gimik]

Good Morning Everybody!

What an exciting day today is...the worms arrived!! When the Fedex driver dropped off the package he was genuinely curious what was inside because of the air holes. When I told him they were worms, he gave me this weirded out and confused look oh what a strange life we organic farmers live. Less than a month ago I started looking into organic farming and now I'm the proud father of 200 worms I promptly introduced the worms to their new home so they could start settling in as I imagine they had quite an interesting last couple days crossing the country haha.

As for the seedlings...

The twin seems to be stalled still, not much activity or growth coming from them. I'll give it another day or so and I might have to separate them, we will see. The one that my cat decided to yank out of the soil appears to still be alive but I don't have much hope for it. The other two bag seeds are coming along quite nicely however. They both have stopped stretching and have begun developing their 2nd set of true leaves. I just pray one of them turns out to be a female!!!

Unfortunately, every time I try to post a picture it says "Oops, something went wrong. Please contact an Admin" booo

 

[Gimik]

So I mentioned that my cat pulled one of the seedlings out of the soil and left it to die on the tent floor. Luckily I rescued it and replanted, but it wouldn't stand up on its own so I staked it with zip ties. Well I went out today and picked up some paper clips to stake with instead. When I clipped off the zip ties i was surprised to see the lil thing standing all on its own despite being shaped like a S haha. Just goes to show the resilience these plants truly have!

I've been giving her a quarter turn every so often in hopes I can get her to grow towards the light and straighten out a little. Plus I have a little fan blowing so they are jiggling ever so slightly, strengthen up the stalks!

The twins are still alive, but other than that, not doing much unfortunately. They both have established their first set of true leaves but haven't begun developing the next set. I wouldn't say growth is stalled but just taking its time

Lastly, the other two bag seeds are coming along nicely. Both have their first set of leaves and are already developing the second set! The one on the left is strong and growing nicely. The right one, I had to stake with a paper clip because I was a little heavy handed when I was moving them around and knocked it over. Whoops!

All these plants are in FFOF atm. My supersoil is still cooking. I added some additional water and turned it and left it outside in the Arizona heat for about 35minutes so it could get some warmth and jump start the microbe activity.

Well that's all the updates for today.
Stay safe everybody!
One Love.

 

[Gimik]

Quick update.

The plants are coming along nicely despite my cats repeated attempts to sabotage this grow The only complaint that I have at this point in the grow is all the stems are so flimsy. If I tap the cups or move them to roughly the plants start tilting over and I need to adjust the paper clips to keep them standing upright. I lowered the light and have kept a slight breeze on them so they jiggle and thickened up the stalks. When I transplant I'm going to have to bury the stems a bit more to add stability.

I'm happy to say the twin is still alive and kicking. I was worried it had stalled out growth but both stems have continual leaf development. The big guy is working on its 3rd set of leaves while the runt just completed the 2nd set. The older sibling is at least twice the size of the runt. I've also noticed the cup containing the twin is depleting its water quicker than the other three which leads me to believe there are two sets of root systems forming -- prolly going to have to transplant soon.

The plant my cat tried to get seems to have fully reestablished its roots because it finished developing its 2nd set of leaves which was where it was at before getting torn out of the soil. Unfortunately, you can see where my cat got it because it's missing a leaf =( Luckily, the plant has since straightened out and is now standing upright.

Here you can really see how lanky one of the plants is. I watered them this morning and when I was turning the cup it just started tilting over. Once I adjusted the paper clip it was fine.

 

[Gimik]

Day 16 Veg
Today I transplanted the two biggest plants into 1gal containers filled with FFOF. I determined they were ready for transplant because their leaves were extended out past the red solo cups, but more importantly, they had a clear 24hr wet/dry cycle. They would completely drink a full watering in ~24hrs.

During the transplant, I sprinkled the root balls with Mycos as well as the hole. I top dressed with a nice layer of worm castings and mixed in some ground up malted barley then slowly watered and made sure to make the edges of the containers the most wet part so the roots will expand out. The reason for the malted barley is it's believed to contain enzymes that promote vigorous growth... I will eventually mix some with water and give them a foliar spray. I chopped the clover that was growing and left it on the soil surface to act as a mulch.

The other two plants will remain in the solo cups for a few more days as they both had a rough start at life and are a little behind. No worries though

The twin is still alive and well. The bigger one is really taking off in growth and left the mini one behind. I worry the little one is on borrowed time as the big one is already starting to cast a shadow over its little sibling =( Once I transplant I may try to tie the big guy off to the side to allow light to the little one.