Gee64
Well-Known Member
In side by side comparisons in 2.5 gal cloth pots fir bark mulch grew a substantially nicer plant than no mulch every time. I get 10gal bags of it for $7 too so that makes me like it as well.
Keffkas Coast Of Maine Line, TLO/LOS Style, Bagseed, Indoor Grow
- Thread starter Keffka
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Gee64
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I find mulch is far more important in small pots than large ones. I have done many grows in my 10gal cloth pots without any mulch but in the small pots the light is alot closer to the soil than with the big pots as the plants are substantially smaller.
Can someone explain how to top dress when you have a mulch layer? Sorry to hi jack this thread, feel free to pm me. Thanks!
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Here is a bit of fungal/microbe knowledge for you Keff. I know you have myco on your mind. Beneficial aerobic microbes, for the most part, are classified as neutraphiles. That means they like a PH thats neutral, so a PH of 7. Fungii do their absolute best fungii work at PH 4.5-5. Obviously 4.5 wouldn't work so well in organics, but here is where I am going with this. If you get the fungal network up and running and introduce your microbes, then let the plant tell the fungii how to manage the microbes to constantly supply the plant with what it needs when it needs it, the soil ph will naturally come down below 7 as fungii is in control, and the plant/fungii will set the soils ph to exactly what the plant needs at that precise moment in its life, and it will fluctuate between about 6.2 to 7, depending on the nutes being used at the stage of grow that the plant is at. The symbiotic relationship between the plant/fungii/microbes sets the soil ph so you have no need to ph your water if its ppm is low. If you are feeding the soil with a liquid nute mix, thats different, and can actually knock a rhizoshperes rhythm out of wack if the feeding wasnt needed and the ph you set the solution to didn't match the ph of what the plant/fungii/microbes were currently using. Long story short.... Dont feed your plants any solution in an organic living soil grow that needs its ph adjusted unless its a rescue. A rescue is a rescue and if needed must be done, but once your pot sets its fungii/microbe system up to what the plant has asked for, try to only feed the soil ( topdressing etc) and not feed the plant itself. If your soil ph is too high add fungii, if its too low add microbes. When you get the fungii/microbe ratios in balance with a nutritious soil mix your soil PH will just happen. One myco drench or one microbe tea is usually enough to fix balance if its needing to be fixed. Its why organic growers rarely check or adjust ph. The only thing I ever PH now is my soil, and only when I see a problem popping up. Also I use fish fertilizer at a low dose regularly, and although you can argue its a feeding solution, and it is, its fungii food not plant food so you dont need to adjust its ph. Don't get too caught up in the PH game but be aware of it so you have it in your tool belt. Just get that base fungal network running and then add your microbes. If something goes wrong and you suspect PH, chances are you overloaded the pot on microbes so start with a myco drench. In veg you don't need as robust a rhizosphere as you do in flower so you have a few weeks of veg to balance this out before every day starts to count in flower.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Myself I scrape away an area of mulch and add my topdressing in piles, then rebury with mulch. I use 10gal pots so 4 piles about 1 tbsp each works for me.
thanks Gee64!
I usually do what Gee does, but I also sometimes just spread it a bit on top and mist it in. Stuff like malted barley and dry worm castings, and such. Stuff that's very fine and will get carried down below the mulch layer with the water. I use leaf mold as my mulch.
I use pine bark from trees in the yard, some oak and maple. Cooked for an hour over 210F in the BBq grill in a foil pan to kill unwanted life. I bring it in to begin new life in the tent. It fits nicely together and blocks out almost all light. I find roots right under it and can see microlife doing it's thing sometimes with my eyes! Scary but normal and good. I see some use stones but I can't help feel bark is better, just a feeling though.
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- #50
Makes sense.. closer soil, soil food web not fully established, etc.
No need to apologize, your question was on topic and more than welcomed! Little stuff like that, a lot of us just know it without saying it out loud so it’s beneficial to have someone ask it so we can get the answer out there for anyone else who was wondering the same.
Honestly I don’t intend on ever feeding the plant again, nor do I intend on introducing liquid nutes. Obviously emergency rescues happen, and some times a bit of calmag will do, but my whole objective is to never have to “step in” again. Ph is something I’ve struggled with my entire life so if I can just cut it out of any math I have to do then I’m all for it lol! Reading about PH in relation to PPMs blew my mind and changed everything lol.
This is brilliant! I have pine trees in the back.. I think I’ll do this when the containers get going so I have some busy work.. I’ll prep em for my flower pot.
The more I thought about it the more I want to lean away from rocks. I’m real concerned about compaction with the high levels of decomp that take place, I think the added weight of the rocks would be an easy to overlook issue, plus the bark does give some extra organic matter if it’s really needed.
Everything is set and I’m gonna begin in the morning.. I shifted a day so I can start my calendar on a Friday Saturday Sunday so I’ve got more breathing room around my hit days. It suck’s having to do a bunch of plant stuff on the days I work, plus this way I’m not nearing transplant during Christmas
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- #51
I prepped the starter soil this evening.
I am gonna start 8 seedlings hoping to get 4 females. We’ll see what happens. I decided to just use perlite to cut the starter 25/75 perlite/soil
I used a solo cup to put 6 cups worth of starter soil into a mix bin then 2 cups worth of perlite. Each time I tapped the cup lightly twice to settle it.
Here’s how the starter soil looked before being mixed
Here’s how it looks mixed up
You can see a clear difference. I’m gonna let this sit and breathe tonight. Before I plant my seeds I’m gonna add distilled water to the mix. Just enough to get it to clump in my hand but easily break apart. I’ll plant into that then sprinkle just a little water to settle the seed in and it’ll be game on. I’m also gonna add my EWC into my base mix in a couple days to start getting everybody ready for transplant.
As always I’ll post the pictures as I complete.
I am gonna start 8 seedlings hoping to get 4 females. We’ll see what happens. I decided to just use perlite to cut the starter 25/75 perlite/soil
I used a solo cup to put 6 cups worth of starter soil into a mix bin then 2 cups worth of perlite. Each time I tapped the cup lightly twice to settle it.
Here’s how the starter soil looked before being mixed
Here’s how it looks mixed up
You can see a clear difference. I’m gonna let this sit and breathe tonight. Before I plant my seeds I’m gonna add distilled water to the mix. Just enough to get it to clump in my hand but easily break apart. I’ll plant into that then sprinkle just a little water to settle the seed in and it’ll be game on. I’m also gonna add my EWC into my base mix in a couple days to start getting everybody ready for transplant.
As always I’ll post the pictures as I complete.
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- #52
Boooo! I’ve gotta go to the VA (Veterans Affairs) this morning for my monthly meeting with my doctor. I’m not a big fan of going there.. Hospitals make me uncomfortable and the VA is just a massive hospital surrounded by poverty, drug abuse, and gentrification, so it’s just an all around weird experience. It’s only a matter of time before we make the money coming into the area uncomfortable and they move us out of the way.
This is my experience in Detroit, from what I’m told Ann Arbor and a few other places are actually pretty nice and welcoming. I get it though, Detroit and the metro area have millions of people, Ann Arbor and it’s surrounding area have a quarter million, there’s going to be some differences lol.
This is my experience in Detroit, from what I’m told Ann Arbor and a few other places are actually pretty nice and welcoming. I get it though, Detroit and the metro area have millions of people, Ann Arbor and it’s surrounding area have a quarter million, there’s going to be some differences lol.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Dang! I would say "Have a great day" but that doesn't sound like it fits so... " Make the best of it and hurry home, theres a few jars of wicked organic weed waiting for you"
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- #54
Dang! I would say "Have a great day" but that doesn't sound like it fits so... " Make the best of it and hurry home, theres a few jars of wicked organic weed waiting for you"
I complain lightly here so I don’t complain out loud there lol. Thankfully I’ve been doing this for a while so it’s more of an inconvenience than anything, but I am gonna smoke on my way right before I take my drug test which is one of my favorite things to do lol.It’s all good though.. if this is my biggest problem today then it’s a good day
I mixed yesterday too Keefka. It's nice to have another grow in the bin! See you when you get back.
Highya Keffka,
I've had 2 hip replacements, been in VA hospitals in several states, and only ran into one problem. I know it happens, but I beg you not to judge based on one location. Now, We're in Maine and use Togus (Maine VA Facility) as often as needed, and love it more than any hospital around us! Happy Smokin'
I've had 2 hip replacements, been in VA hospitals in several states, and only ran into one problem. I know it happens, but I beg you not to judge based on one location. Now, We're in Maine and use Togus (Maine VA Facility) as often as needed, and love it more than any hospital around us! Happy Smokin'
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- #57
I KNEW someone was growing cannabis in this house before me. Check out what I just found in a box in the attic!
That's some good Juju right there..... or bad.... dammit, nevermind, lol!I KNEW someone was growing cannabis in this house before me. Check out what I just found in a box in the attic!
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- #59
I don’t have much negative to say about the VA itself. I’m a post 9/11 veteran so all of my paperwork was digital which made it very easy to submit a claim. Interestingly though, I didn’t know I was all messed up until I met a caseworker one day who asked if I went to the VA. I said there wasn’t anything wrong with me so no and she looked horrified
.She said “oh no there’s something very, very wrong with you, you need to be seen asap” so she helped me submit my claims and I went to my C&P appointments thinking maybe I’d get 10 or 20% and they came back with 80%. I was so messed up I didn’t even realize it until they started asking me questions and the answers I was giving made me see that I had problems lol.
As far as the VA itself, it was difficult to get real help until I got arrested. Once I got arraigned the VA bent over backwards and ever since then I’ve had a good experience with the VA itself. The area it’s located in is what makes it an uncomfortable place to be. It’s a lot of abandoned buildings and closed down hospitals and psych hospitals in the area so there’s always something wild going on. Plus I just don’t like hospitals, I never have.. Hospitals are filled with a lot of grief and sickness and I can almost feel the energy it puts out.
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- #60
I’ll take it! If nothing else it’ll be useful come January and February when temps start dropping.