Oldmanjj's First Run, Soil

O

oldmanjj

Well-Known Member
Currently starting 7 plants (1 from a previous attempt at germination that was pretty much a disaster)
1x Power Plant
1x Chem Dog
1x White Cookies
1x Chocolope
1x Purple Kush
1x Blueberry
1x Skunk Hero (the only one to survive my first attempt at germination, looks sad but is showing signs of new growth, she want's to live!)

Seedlings are 8 days old as of today. I started them under small led clone lights then moved them to the small tent and dialed the led to 25% of it's total output.

All plants are going to be grown in soil - Michigan Mediums Start Mix (Current) Veg Mix and Bloom Mix
According to the information, it's living soil - water only no nutes.

Small tent 2x4x7'11
ROI E200 Led light from Growers choice
6" clip fan
Small space heater (it's cold in my basement)
PH Pen
Running an average of 76 F with 51% RH (I will try to get the RH closer to 60% using an air stone and bubbler for a fish tank)
18/6 light schedule

Large Tent 5x9x7'11
4" Exhaust with charcoal filter
2x ROI E680 Led light from growers choice
Tower fan
AC/Dehumidifier combo (may not have needed this but we will see) Initial test runs of the main tent the temp runs about 77.6 F 50% RH with all fans and lights on.

20210617_160808.jpg

20210617_160808.jpg

Off to the races
 
Great setup. As i have said before to a number of people your ladies should feel special. :cool:
 
oldmanjj said:
Currently starting 7 plants (1 from a previous attempt at germination that was pretty much a disaster)
1x Power Plant
1x Chem Dog
1x White Cookies
1x Chocolope
1x Purple Kush
1x Blueberry
1x Skunk Hero (the only one to survive my first attempt at germination, looks sad but is showing signs of new growth, she want's to live!)

Seedlings are 8 days old as of today. I started them under small led clone lights then moved them to the small tent and dialed the led to 25% of it's total output.

All plants are going to be grown in soil - Michigan Mediums Start Mix (Current) Veg Mix and Bloom Mix
According to the information, it's living soil - water only no nutes.

Small tent 2x4x7'11
ROI E200 Led light from Growers choice
6" clip fan
Small space heater (it's cold in my basement)
PH Pen
Running an average of 76 F with 51% RH (I will try to get the RH closer to 60% using an air stone and bubbler for a fish tank)
18/6 light schedule

Large Tent 5x9x7'11
4" Exhaust with charcoal filter
2x ROI E680 Led light from growers choice
Tower fan
AC/Dehumidifier combo (may not have needed this but we will see) Initial test runs of the main tent the temp runs about 77.6 F 50% RH with all fans and lights on.

20210617_160808.jpg

20210617_160808.jpg

Off to the races
Click to expand...
Welcome up and running. I'm not familiar with that type of soil you may still need nutes after a few weeks. All the help you need is here with the great people at 420.
 
Looking good! I am not going to miss this! :popcorn:

Greetings to the Mrs too! We are a household of two girls and my Father who is of your generation, growing legally in Missouri! Welcome to the group!
:green_heart:
 
Man, I am so glad I found this place! I am looking forward to learning for you all.

Nutes, if needed won't be a problem, I will post regular pics and seek advice. Soil says you don't need them but, we all know how marketing works, LOL. I thought I'd end up needing some CalMag at a minimum.

@Emilya You mentioned in my introduction post that it should be RO water only :/ Mama has demanded that I stop spending $$ for now (not that it's ever stopped me before but, happy wife, happy life yanno ;) ). I also called the soil company directly, they asked where I lived and even looked at the water quality report for my area before getting back to me saying that I wouldn't need RO water. Having said that, I can filter the water through my refrigerator (not ideal I know but better than tap), use distilled or piss mama off and just get the RO. I will defer to the master :adore:.

I lurked and read your journal on Electro Girl aka Grilled Cheese, that was awesome! I have to ask, are you going to run an experiment with your Ham radio next? You could do a new strain and maybe call it "Ham Sammich"? :idea:

Thanks for all the help!!
 
Life in general is life under Ham Radio signals around this place. My Dad is a big time Ham too, so when I am not on the radio playing with the digital modes and morse code, my Dad is on talking to his buddies all over the place. Who knows, that might be the actual secret ingredient in my grows, RF energy. It is awesome that you have read my little electrified experiment and I have to wonder since you gravitated toward that old thread, if you are also a ham?

Regarding the soil, the manufacturers seem proud of it, but I have seen lots of these supersoil grows fail toward mid bloom, because the soil runs out of oomph... and a lot of times it has to do with city water and the chlorine slowly killing off the microbes. I myself have chosen to use tap water around here for my organic grows, but I don't just rely on the soil staying alive, I actively bring in fresh microbes on a regular basis. Right now I am using Geoflora as an easy organic solution, but before, when relying on just my supersoil, I either made weekly compost teas or I brought in a microbial inoculation product to supply just the microbes. If you are in the states, RealGrower's Recharge is a real option.

You can also treat your tap water rather cheaply by grinding up a vitamin C tablet and putting it in a bathtub amount of water... this drops all the chlorine product to the bottom as sediment. You could do that, mix it up and bottle it for later use... and it would be cheap.

All that being said, I like your soil mix and how it comes in 3 parts. Successive uppotting into these fresh mixes as you go along should not only bring in new fresh mineralized soil periodically and at just the right times, but also new microbes. In this case I tend to believe the manufacturer in that your soil will get you all the way through, even using tap water... I just tend to err on the side of caution. Good luck! I am going to enjoy watching.
 
Nope, not a Ham :) Just and old school sparky so the electric experiment really peaked my interest :snowboating:

On the water note, I do let it sit for 48 hours prior to using it so hopefully, most of the chlorine is gone by then!!
 
oldmanjj said:
Nope, not a Ham :) Just and old school sparky so the electric experiment really peaked my interest :snowboating:

On the water note, I do let it sit for 48 hours prior to using it so hopefully, most of the chlorine is gone by then!!
Click to expand...
That does get rid of the actual chlorine, but water companies have gotten more wise over time and now bind the chlorine with an ammonia atom to make chloramine, and it does not evaporate out over time. This is why we see so many grow room failures associated with chlorine buildup and the killing off of the microbes, because people think that they are dealing with the problem but in actuality, are not. The vitamin C (ascorbic acid) trick works every time though.

But, as said above, your soil manufacturer is proud of their product and are willing to stand it up against tap water, and I believe them, with that clever 3 part system. Geoflora also laughs at tap water chlorine, because they bring fresh microbes in with each 2 week application of their organic goodness. Its the folks who are buying a store bought supersoil or creating their own, relying on the microbes that they started with, who have the most trouble with this. While it takes swimming pool levels of chlorine to immediately kill all the microbes in your soil, over time, the little bit in tap water can take its toll.

The most impressive thing here however, is you. You had already thought of this before I came along and had already contacted the manufacturer to ask very good questions. You got this! I seriously doubt that you are going to have any troubles at all with your grow.
:meatballs:
 
20210619_074930.jpg

20210619_074930.jpg

  • Media owner oldmanjj
  • Date added
Update 6/19

Girls are looking ok to me so far. They got a little drink last night - about 3oz each, enough to get a little runoff from each one. I won't water again for 3-4 days unless they show signs they are really dry.
 
The runt on the right is a Skunk Here that this noob really tried to kill from the first attempt at germination. It seems to really want to live! I'm really interested to see what this survivor does despite my efforts to kill it.
 
Update:

Girls are starting to grow nicely. I am noticing that some of the leaf stems are a different color, @Emilya is this something to be concerned with?

20210623_075325.jpg
 
oldmanjj said:
Update:

Girls are starting to grow nicely. I am noticing that some of the leaf stems are a different color, @Emilya is this something to be concerned with?
Click to expand...
Hi Oldmanjjs! No, although many online gurus will rant on and on about the colorations of the stems and the 12 things you must do about it, until I see indications on the leaves that there are problems, I don't worry about this at all. When you are dealing with a confusing deficiency, sometimes stem colorings can be a part of the overall diagnosis, but usually what you are seeing is simply the way the plant moves itself around, using color to draw in more energy from the light on one side of a branch vs the other. Outdoors you can really see this happening as the leaves track the sun across the sky.
 
Nice journal ! I’m new also and looks like you’ve got some serious support going on. This place is really awesome. Haven’t run into an unhelpful person. If I may before I forget about it I would like to inquire more about the “compost tea” @Emilya
That sounds like something interesting and I will start researching but since you had the ear of this award winning thread author i thought I’d ask. (Her watering thread is gold)! My apologies.

NTH
 
No worries NTH! @Emilya is awesome, very knowledgeable and her willingness to help noobs like me (along with the others in this community) is simply fantastic :adore: :snowboating:
 
Nine Toed Hippie said:
Nice journal ! I’m new also and looks like you’ve got some serious support going on. This place is really awesome. Haven’t run into an unhelpful person. If I may before I forget about it I would like to inquire more about the “compost tea” @Emilya
That sounds like something interesting and I will start researching but since you had the ear of this award winning thread author i thought I’d ask. (Her watering thread is gold)! My apologies.

NTH
Click to expand...
Compost teas... again, a subject with many expert opinions... lol
There are certain species of microbes and fungi that deal with each of our nutrients. Being separate species, they don't always get along well together, and brewing them together can be problematic. Some tea recipes call for creating a specific type of microbe in the first 24 hours of brewing and then when they have reached a viable population size, only then introducing another input that produces a competing microbe.
It then logically follows that if certain brews are for processing certain elements, then different brews would be appropriate for different times of the grow, and I typically would brew up either a veg tea, a flowering tea and a finishing tea, each with different inputs and brewing times.
Then there are those who say all of this is nonsense and just brew up some worm castings, or a handful of humus, and call it a day... a microbe is a microbe is a microbe.
And then there are the pros. URB, Voodoo Juice, and RealGrower's Recharge were the vanguards of this new science of microbial inoculations, and there are many more available these days. These guys brew up vats full of specific microbes, and then combine them in their products into a usable shot of just the right microbes and fungi to add to your grow. It again is a bit of a shotgun approach, but with so many billions of microbes coming in, it works well.
Some of the best recipes that are around for the home grower were collected by The Rev in his book, True Living Organics, and a few of them were captured here for us by @StoneOtter. Here is a link that I have bookmarked: Otterfarm Flooded! NextLight Mega Responsible!
 
Emilya said:
Compost teas... again, a subject with many expert opinions... lol
There are certain species of microbes and fungi that deal with each of our nutrients. Being separate species, they don't always get along well together, and brewing them together can be problematic. Some tea recipes call for creating a specific type of microbe in the first 24 hours of brewing and then when they have reached a viable population size, only then introducing another input that produces a competing microbe.
It then logically follows that if certain brews are for processing certain elements, then different brews would be appropriate for different times of the grow, and I typically would brew up either a veg tea, a flowering tea and a finishing tea, each with different inputs and brewing times.
Then there are those who say all of this is nonsense and just brew up some worm castings, or a handful of humus, and call it a day... a microbe is a microbe is a microbe.
And then there are the pros. URB, Voodoo Juice, and RealGrower's Recharge were the vanguards of this new science of microbial inoculations, and there are many more available these days. These guys brew up vats full of specific microbes, and then combine them in their products into a usable shot of just the right microbes and fungi to add to your grow. It again is a bit of a shotgun approach, but with so many billions of microbes coming in, it works well.
Some of the best recipes that are around for the home grower were collected by The Rev in his book, True Living Organics, and a few of them were captured here for us by @StoneOtter. Here is a link that I have bookmarked: Otterfarm Flooded! NextLight Mega Responsible!
Click to expand...
You rock! Thanks for taking the time to write that out.

NTH
 
The girls seem to like their home and a =re coming along nicely. They way it's going, it will be time to transplant them in a few weeks, then we can see how the veg mix from Michigan Mediums works. I'm also thinking about adding one of my exhale c02 bags to the tent, thoughts?


20210626_084429.jpg

20210626_084429.jpg

  • Media owner oldmanjj
  • Date added
What a difference a week makes!
 
Ok, time for an update. Normally I would wait a week buuut, I saw some things starting on a few leaves that caused me to question. I sent an email to Michigan Mediums questioning the length of time the plants should be in the start mix and described what I was seeing (all I can say is this company has FANTASTIC customer service!). Here is the response:

"It depends on a few variables when gauging how long to keep them in the Start Mix. Pot size is a large factor, solo cups and 1gals can get filled out very quick. Especially when starting from seed. Seeds will grow much more rapidly then clones transplanted into the Start Mix.

I noticed you said from Sprout, over 2 weeks from sprout is a decent amount of time in a small container. Also you said they are turning light green. This leads me to believe these plants are most likely root bound and ready for a larger container with Veg Mix.

With our soils it is never a matter of lack of nutrients, but a lack of container space due to such rapid growth.

When you transplant into a larger container, if those plants are extremely root bound, maybe consider starting them in a larger container.

Let us know if you have any other questions!"

Any thoughts @Emilya ?

Here are the girls, day 19 from sprout!



20210630_074420.jpg

20210630_074420.jpg

  • Media owner oldmanjj
  • Date added
19 Days from sprout
 
I agree with their assessment 420%... especially since the solo cups were not filled up to the rim. Looking good, and the new soil will green them right back up again.
 
Back
Top Bottom