Keffka's Stonington Soil, Bag Seed, 2022 Setup Indoor Grow

[Gee64]

I have done side by side comparisons of plants with spikes and layers as per Rev's book, and plants that had the spikes and layers mixed globally and the spikes and layers produced better outcomes every single time. Globally made the soil too hot and it got ugly quick. Spikes and layers gave me SO.MANY.ROOTS. The roots completely surround the spikes and grow root towers inside the rootball. Disect an old spiked rootball and you will see what I mean. More roots=more hoots

 

[Keffka]

I have done side by side comparisons of plants with spikes and layers as per Rev's book, and plants that had the spikes and layers mixed globally and the spikes and layers produced better outcomes every single time. Globally made the soil too hot and it got ugly quick. Spikes and layers gave me SO.MANY.ROOTS. The roots completely surround the spikes and grow root towers inside the rootball. Disect an old spiked rootball and you will see what I mean. More roots=more hoots

That’s relative to why I believe the SIP system will be found to be superior for LOS.. In LOS we’re establishing an environment that allows the plant full control over the decisions it makes in regards to nutrition and resource allocation. It seems to me that making water another resource the plant chooses when and how to tap, is the next logical step. Although this is going to require quite a bit of refinement in how to establish a living water reservoir that won’t be diluted/filtered through the wicking action.

Our forced wet dry cycle seems dated when put up against everything else we’ve learned about the soil food web. I’m already leaning toward it being a relic of time past when soils were thick and compacted and we knew little of the soil food web. The destruction to the microbes and fungi alone is enough to question it, but add in the salts and crystals that form when soil dries, and I’m wondering how necessary it actually is if you’ve got good aeration.

I think with proper aeration, quality soil, and the SIP system, wet dry cycles go out the window, and the plant can fully take the reins of its growth. I’ll be testing the wet dry cycle theory in my next grow, minus the SIP

 

[Keffka]

Hopefully this is my last EWC purchase 8 gallons for 38$ is rough.. I’ll be buying the worms for my casting farm some time next month

 

[Keffka]

Let me show everyone something real quick.. I haven’t seen many images of fungus gnats larvae, but I have seen many mentions of just how many larva they spawn. These images I’m going to show are how many larva are in the soil when you only see 2 or 3 fungus gnats flying around and only have 5 or 6 adults stuck on your paper. So even when you think the infestation isn’t that bad, understand this, it’s just like fungus, once you can see it, it’s already so much bigger than you thought.

Look closely in each image.. you can zoom in if needed, the camera is fairly decent quality. Every single tiny speck you see that isn’t perlite or soil is larva.. In the images with the water, all those little tiny spots that look like bubbles are actually thousands of larvae. What you see is exactly why the gnats can be devastating to sprouts but not so much to larger plants. In my plant, the gnats can only go down an inch or two at the most, so all of the roots below that are fairly safe, it’s only the top inch. On a big plant that’s fine and likely won’t cause much of an issue aside from stealing some top dressing resources, however their bodies leave organic matter, so it’s kind of okay with me because it adds nutrients and organic matter back to the soil as they die, plus they keep the top inches of my soil aerated with their constant movement.

On a small plant or sprout when you don’t have that much soil and roots aren’t well and deeply established, this can be overwhelming for the plant. The sheer numbers alone could overwhelm a tiny tap root and all of the initial feeder roots that spread across the top in the beginning.

 

[Keffka]

Attention ladies, gentlemen, everyone in between, and anyone on the outside, we have begun our final descent into harvest. It’s been a pleasure traveling with everyone these past weeks. Trichomes are covering everything, turning cloudy, I’ve spotted one or two ambers here and there but we still have clear in places so we’re holding on.

I hit her with the autumn rain tea recipe on the 24th and will be giving nothing but water now. She seems to have slowed her drinking slightly. Before she would’ve already been dry up top within 24 hours, it took her about 36 hours this time. However this time I soaked her to runoff in the morning then hit her with the tea in the afternoon so I’m not surprised.

There’s still plenty of room left for improvement and efficiency.. I never turned my light power past 75% and the plant is finishing at about 26-28 inches away. I made multiple mistakes, and had multiple issues, all of which can be mitigated with a bit better planning and execution.

I only had one plant going but have plenty of space left.. I think I could get away with Four plants that are up to 10 gallons max, if I train and position correctly. While this plant lesson was extremely valuable, going forward, I will no longer grow only one plant, the yield from one is not worth the effort as long as I’m running the 4x4 light. Perhaps if I get a smaller light for some reason that will change but until then, I have to fill the space to make it worth running an environment.

I haven’t fully committed to a drying space yet, I’d like to get the next grow up and running asap but also don’t want to screw my finish with a crappy dry. I’ll be checking a few areas in the coming days to see if there’s somewhere other than the grow room that can handle it.

 

[Gee64]

Im not exactly sure what you are seeing as its too hard to tell from the pics but if you are using ewc and your soil is healthy you should and will see millions (probably not an exaggeration) of little white wigglies. They are part of the ewc process. EWC farms spawn a lot more than just ewc. It loads the soil with beneficial aerobic microbes of all kinds. Thats not to say that those aren't gnat larvae but if it is what I think it is then my worm farm is loaded, my ewc bulk bins of finished ewc are loaded, and every grow I have done has been loaded, yet I have never seen a fungus gnat in my tent. They are usually the 1st composter to show up. If you pick a couple leaves and toss them in a nice damp tote of ewc you will see what I mean, they are pretty much always 1st to the dinner table. They are called Springtails and you need them. Here is a google snippet on them.

"What Are Springtails?
These tiny little insects are springtails, or Collembola, and they’re usually found in areas with high moisture and decomposing organic debris, such as soil, leaf litter, and decaying vegetable matter. They can also be found in compost piles, mulch, beneath logs and rocks, and under potted plants.

They eat bacteria, fungi, lichens, moulds, algae and decaying plant matter, recycling them back into nutrients which fertilise the soil.

Typically, springtails are around 1-2 mm (1/25 – 1/12”) long, though the smallest ones are only 0.2 mm long, and are among the world’s smallest insects. They are usually are creamy-white, dark-coloured, brown, grey or black in colour. but some springtails species are brightly coloured, being red, orange, yellow, metallic green, or lavender in colour."

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Could also be soil mites. As far as I remember they do the same thing as springtails, just smaller.

 

[Gee64]

When bam's ( beneficial aerobic microbes) eat the soil and poop it out, thats the plant food. When an insect such as a springtail eats a bam that has a belly full of soil and poops that out that poop is often refer to as "twice digested" as the bam was digesting it, got eaten, and it was all digested again. Twice digested is the holy grail of plant food. Your apex predators in your soil do this for you.

 

[Keffka]

Im not exactly sure what you are seeing as its too hard to tell from the pics but if you are using ewc and your soil is healthy you should and will see millions (probably not an exaggeration) of little white wigglies. They are part of the ewc process. EWC farms spawn a lot more than just ewc. It loads the soil with beneficial aerobic microbes of all kinds. Thats not to say that those aren't gnat larvae but if it is what I think it is then my worm farm is loaded, my ewc bulk bins of finished ewc are loaded, and every grow I have done has been loaded, yet I have never seen a fungus gnat in my tent. They are usually the 1st composter to show up. If you pick a couple leaves and toss them in a nice damp tote of ewc you will see what I mean, they are pretty much always 1st to the dinner table. They are called Springtails and you need them. Here is a google snippet on them.

"What Are Springtails?
These tiny little insects are springtails, or Collembola, and they’re usually found in areas with high moisture and decomposing organic debris, such as soil, leaf litter, and decaying vegetable matter. They can also be found in compost piles, mulch, beneath logs and rocks, and under potted plants.

They eat bacteria, fungi, lichens, moulds, algae and decaying plant matter, recycling them back into nutrients which fertilise the soil.

Typically, springtails are around 1-2 mm (1/25 – 1/12”) long, though the smallest ones are only 0.2 mm long, and are among the world’s smallest insects. They are usually are creamy-white, dark-coloured, brown, grey or black in colour. but some springtails species are brightly coloured, being red, orange, yellow, metallic green, or lavender in colour."

Yep I’m tracking springtails, they actually got introduced through the lobster compost, I spent an entire day trying to figure out whether they were good or bad and had to put them under the macro lense to actually see. The springtails also don’t react to the BTi (which I will no longer be using after this grow, I think it throws off the microbial balance, or at least seems that way) but the larvae are wasted by it and turned into little organic debris.

The spring tails are slightly larger with a more ant exoskeleton look to them as well as antennae and the appearance of a mission/objective, they move around far more and further. Even when they’re smaller you can still see the antennae. The gnat larvae however look like tiny maggots/worms and wriggle around aimlessly it appears, although that may be a result of the BTi.

 

[Gee64]

You did really well for your 1st indoor grow Keff and your Vixen is very pretty. She should give you some nice smoke. Cruise her to the end, take lots of pics to reminisce as you are 5 months from next harvest. Be proud, you pulled her back from the edge and she has really shown you the love. When I 1st saw her I wasn't sure if you would get her there but you definitely put in the time both tending her and doing your research. Well done Sir! Spend the next couple weeks enjoying her smells and her beauty as you prepare her demise into BongVille. Keep us posted, I love looking at her beautiful long hairs, shes a beauty. Again... Fantastic job!

 

[Gee64]

With the knowledge bank you now possess it is very likely you will never need BTi again unless you introduce some "dirty" ingredients. Never bring in outdoor compost or soil, and if you put a plant outdoors for some sun, leave it there. Good healthy soil with good myco will build you a rhizosphere/soil biosphere that will be self maintaining and hold its biological balance just fine.

 

[Keffka]

Could also be soil mites. As far as I remember they do the same thing as springtails, just smaller.

I thought about that but can’t seem to find much in the way about soil mites other than they exist lol. I know they’re beneficial so nothing to worry about, but that thought definitely crossed my mind. What really sold me on it being gnat larvae was the BTi causing them to waste away on the surface. I’d water and they would come to the surface then just lay there slowly dying. The mistake I made was stopping BTi after a week.. They disappeared for a while but then came back in even more numbers, but by that time the plant was so far along it wasn’t a big concern. I have since learned how to create an environment they can’t compete in so hopefully that’s the last of them.

You did really well for your 1st indoor grow Keff and your Vixen is very pretty. She should give you some nice smoke. Cruise her to the end, take lots of pics to reminisce as you are 5 months from next harvest. Be proud, you pulled her back from the edge and she has really shown you the love. When I 1st saw her I wasn't sure if you would get her there but you definitely put in the time both tending her and doing your research. Well done Sir! Spend the next couple weeks enjoying her smells and her beauty as you prepare her demise into BongVille. Keep us posted, I love looking at her beautiful long hairs, shes a beauty. Again... Fantastic job!

Thank you, I really appreciate it. You came in with all kinds of information and really triggered my interest. I wound up learning way more than I expected to, and had my mind opened to ways that are far more in tune with who I am versus trying to force the plant to submit. Im extremely pleased with how it’s turned out, and I’m much, much more excited about getting the next grows going, and I’m super pumped about learning how to get closer and closer to symbiosis with the plant.

 

[Keffka]

With the knowledge bank you now possess it is very likely you will never need BTi again unless you introduce some "dirty" ingredients. Never bring in outdoor compost or soil, and if you put a plant outdoors for some sun, leave it there. Good healthy soil with good myco will build you a rhizosphere/soil biosphere that will be self maintaining and hold its biological balance just fine.

I think the most beneficial thing I learned was to always look past the problem.. The problem we see is very rarely the actual issue and is most likely a knock on effect 2 or 3 issues down the line. Stuff like getting stuck on a “mag deficiency” will have me chasing a solution that doesn’t exist and throw everything off balance, and the most important thing is balance.

 

[Gee64]

On a side note here is something I stumbled onto while fiddling with Rev's living water and my worm farm. If you decide to start a worm farm keep this in the back of your mind.
Our outdoor patio pond had 2 pond lettuce plants in June and by September the entire pond was covered in it. Its a prolific spreader. I brought the pond in for the year and put most of the pond lettuce into a tub to go to the composter but that night before I threw it in a cold snap hit, froze it solid in the tub, and then a foot of snow. It sat outside frozen solid for a couple weeks. During that time I had to start a new tray for the worm farm but had no produce scraps so I thought " Will pond lettuce work?". So I googled its nutritional value. Its incredibly nutritious in NPK calcium, mag, and so many micro's. So I thought WOW, maybe I should keep that in mind for next year and immediately googled it to see how I could grow it quicker. Get this.... Rev's living water with the dolomite in it is exactly what it wants to flourish and at the exact ppm it likes so if you make living water do it in your tent or under another light and grow pond lettuce for your worm farm. I prefer the corner of my tent to get the water temp up a bit closer to ambient temps.

 

[StoneOtter]

I thought springtails too Keffka. I noticed when i gave them a bath in one of the Sierra Natural science offerings, they don't like it at all and jump like crazy like they have a spring in them!
You're almost there! Have you considered a cardboard box for drying if you have no small room to use? The opening and closing of the flaps controls air flow and rh. InTheShed has a tutorial. I found a pic. https://www.420magazine.com/community/gallery/20220409_205838-dv-box-layer-3-jpg.1865817/full

 

[Keffka]

Alright so I went back and looked at my drip tray and looked at the soil while watering today. When multiple experienced people tell you something, you should probably listen.

I believe what I am seeing is going to be mainly springtails and some fungus gnat larvae. I think the springtails far outnumber the gnat larvae which is why my gnat problem never spiraled out of control, they’re being competed against by the spring tails at such a rate they can’t expand. There’s never more than 3-5 adult fungus gnats flying around and there’s maybe 15 total on the yellow stickies that have been up all grow. At a certain age springtails are fairly indistinguishable from gnat larvae, however it quickly changes since springtails have no larval stage.

A few of my observations make more sense now.. The hopping of the larval sized “bugs” didn’t make sense to me originally but I chalked it up to misunderstand gnat stages, now I think it was springtails. It also explains why a lot of the “bugs” didn’t seem to have the prominent black shiny head I’ve read about and seen repeatedly in photos.

One thing of interest that did confuse my observations was I couldn’t get many springtails to jump. Moving dirt around them, approaching them, using a stick, they wouldn’t jump, they’d just move away. The younger ones would jump some times but fairly unpredictability. I wonder what that’s about.

 

[Keffka]

Here’s some images I took that made me go back and reassess. I thought the smaller “bugs” were fg larva but the closer I looked, I could see antennae and body shapes like a springtail. They also seem to like to herd up which is a springtail trait I’ve read about somewhere I don’t remember.

 

[StoneOtter]

How much time you figure?

 

[Keffka]

How much time you figure?

I’m estimating about 11 days.. That’ll land me right at 70 days of flower.. The majority of the trichomes are cloudy with a few clear still here and there.. I’ve seen one or two amber but I’m not expecting much with how strong the sativa traits seem to be.

 

[Keffka]

I’ve learned how to cultivate specific myco strains and harvest them for renewable usage which alleviates the next most pricey continuous investment. They are stable for up to a year and require around 16 weeks to produce. This can be done with ANY myco source, whether it’s great white, dynomyco, or myco from your region.

I’ll run a myco farm with my next grow to show the process, but it’s really just as simple as one would think. Inoculate a host plant in a sterile medium, allow time for colonization, once the colony is established and growing around 14 weeks, stop feeding. Allow 2 weeks for drying then sieve your medium and chop up your roots. You’ll be left with viable spores that can be stored for up to a year. No more costly myco purchases.

The next step is to figure out a way to host a perpetual colony. The longer myco has with the plant, the more efficient it becomes in its symbiosis, this leads me to believe being able to harvest a perpetually grown colony and expand it to a new plant would allow for greater and greater efficiency. This plan is most likely going to require an area I can sprout multiple plants in a shared medium, idk though, I have to think it through more.