PeeJay's Perpetual Organic Homebrewed Soil - Stealth Cabinet And Greenhouse Grow

Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

You know how it is PJ; Individuals who see a lot at a young age always seem to strive in life. Collete is one of those girls. She's going to be alright. They both look gorgeous. Your game plan sounds concrete.:popcorn:
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Ty for the nice words, BAR. They are growing like crazy! Got a while to go until they're covered in nice frosty nugs like your girl Laverne... You are so close to harvest - stoked for you!
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Thanks PeeJay and the pics are great!:circle-of-love:
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Keep it up buddy! That is an amazing amount of growth you got. What is your watering method with the smart pots? I have been putting my indoor plants outside to get the warmest part of the day when I can and they seem to just love it and have a growth spurt from it. I fimmed and lst'd one of my plants. You can see it in the first page of my journal I think. I did end up getting a much thicker stem on this plant, and multiple tops, but it also suffered the most from mites, had funky leaves for weeks at least, and seems sensitive in general to nutes too. I think it is very strain dependent as to how a plant responds to different training methods. It also depends on the age of the growth as it tends to get more rigid with time. A friend of mine says you can easily double yield when you get training methods dialed in for a strain that responds well to it :)
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

I let 'em go pretty much all the way dry before watering, Rain. Sometimes it's tempting to water them sooner, but I always wait until I see signs of the leaves losing turgidity. When I do water, I stop when I get a little run-off. Also, I raise the bottom of the pots off the tray for about a couple of hours after watering with a couple of bricks so they drain well. I started doing that because I noticed the bottom of the pots stayed a little too swampy for my taste for a couple of days. I suppose I make sure that the medium is holding as much moisture as it can when I water, and that the drain tray and bottom of the bag aren't holding in extra.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

PeeJay said:
I let 'em go pretty much all the way dry before watering, Rain. Sometimes it's tempting to water them sooner, but I always wait until I see signs of the leaves losing turgidity. When I do water, I stop when I get a little run-off. Also, I raise the bottom of the pots off the tray for about a couple of hours after watering with a couple of bricks so they drain well. I started doing that because I noticed the bottom of the pots stayed a little too swampy for my taste for a couple of days. I suppose I make sure that the medium is holding as much moisture as it can when I water, and that the drain tray and bottom of the bag aren't holding in extra.
Click to expand...
Good post, this is making me wonder if I'm giving enough water to my plants when I water them. I know I'm not overwatering, but if I should be looking for a little run-off, that's not happening. So, on my next watering schedule I'm going to make sure I see a little run off in the trays. Could be the reason for my yellowing leaves on a couple of the plants?
Things that make you go "hmmmm...."
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

I can't really say, Canna. I reckon that some of it depends on genetics, and some on climate, too. The air is very dry here. In a more humid environment (like where you are) it might take an awful long time for the medium to dry out if you totally soak the pots. I struggle to keep the RH up to 20% during the day lately.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Well today is the first day of a 12/12 light cycle for the girls. I thought Helen was looking especially lovely this morning. Here is a top down picture of her. Keep in mind that her tallest growth is ~ 8" above the top of the pot! I'm pleased with the nice low, even canopy.

helen_goes1212.jpg
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Just for fun, I decided to repost that last picture with the top-down shot from five days ago. The girls are growing like crazy!

Helen_top.jpg
helen_goes1212.jpg
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Very Nice Happy Freeweed day PJ :thumb:
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

PeeJay said:
I let 'em go pretty much all the way dry before watering, Rain. Sometimes it's tempting to water them sooner, but I always wait until I see signs of the leaves losing turgidity. When I do water, I stop when I get a little run-off. Also, I raise the bottom of the pots off the tray for about a couple of hours after watering with a couple of bricks so they drain well. I started doing that because I noticed the bottom of the pots stayed a little too swampy for my taste for a couple of days. I suppose I make sure that the medium is holding as much moisture as it can when I water, and that the drain tray and bottom of the bag aren't holding in extra.
Click to expand...

Thank's so much for the thorough answer. I have been giving them just a little bit of water since they don't even come close to filling the pots with roots. That is good to know that the bottoms can get soggy. I happen to have mine on bricks now, but just for height reasons. You are getting some very fast growth. I cant wait to see how this develops into flower :)
:thanks:
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

I think the reason mine get "swampy" at the bottom if I don't suspend them for a couple of hours is the drain pans are a tight fit for the pots. They have about a 2 1/2" lip on them. The tight fit keeps any runoff from spreading out away from the pot and there is not much evaporation from the bottom.

I have no idea what the root system looks like in there... It makes sense that there is much more root mass down deep. With the fabric pots, I can feel where the moisture level is in the pots by placing my hands against the sides of the pot. They definitely dry from the top down. As the roots down low drink up, gravity and diffusion keep the lower part of the pot moist continuously.

I've pondered this quite a bit. I think when I need to flush, I'll do it in a flood and drain style. Fill a big tote full with 6-8 inches of dechlorinated water (enough so the water level goes about 2/3 of the way up the side of the pot after displacement) and sink the pot in it for twenty minutes or so. Remove the pot and let it drain well. Change the water in the tote. Repeat a few times. The salts will diffuse into the surrounding water. Entropy is unavoidable. The porosity of the fabric pots makes flushing like this possible. I don't think it would work nearly as well with a plastic pot. Never seen anyone flush like that, but it makes sense. If the roots are mostly in the bottom half of the pot, that is where the salt buildup will be.

If you go out and dig a hole in the yard, depending on how long it has been since it rained, the top inches of soil are dry. The deeper you dig the wetter the soil gets. Eventually, you get down to a level where the soil is saturated with moisture. Soil is alive. As you move from the dry top to the saturated bottom of the hole, there are different microbial life zones. I want to have that same microbial diversity in my containers.

When you only water the "top" of the soil, the root system will not develop like it would in nature.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

:idea: PJ, you might want to cut a few slashes in the bottom lip on the pot to get better drainage. Just a suggestion.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

That's a thought, Reg, but the pots drain fine if I lift them up out of the drain tray. Water pours right out.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

I was looking at this this morning and thinking... Things are going to get a little too close for comfort in there...

crowded1.jpg


I toyed with the option of murder. I could kill one of the Mamma Mias and let the survivor have all the indoor room. Or, I could try to finish one exclusively outside.... A ceramic heater in the greenhouse at night might keep it warm enough. Then again, that would use a ton of electricity and I'm already having a problem keeping the RH up in the greenhouse (currently 74 degrees and 13% RH out there with the greenhouse vented.)

This is what I decided to do. I scored a black plastic footlocker at Wally World for cheap. I hit Petco and picked up a 350 watt submersible aquarium heater with a thermostat for 28 bucks. I installed the heater inside the black footlocker and drilled a couple of 3" holes in the top of it. Then I filled up the footlocker with H20 — roughly 22 gallons.

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heater3.jpg
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I'm banking that the black tote will build up heat mass from the strong sun all day. When the water temperature drops below ~65 degrees, the heater will kick on and keep the water warm. Due to the amazing chemistry of water, I should be able to radiate heat into the greenhouse all night. It will keep the roots of my stinky perennials from freezing. And, the girl I'll try to finish outside will live here:

toasty.jpg


The lucky girl that gets to come in at night will enjoy a couple of extra hours of bright light from the 128x3watt led, and have plenty of room in the 18"x24"x6' space.

roomtogrow.jpg
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

That looks like a great set up PeeJay. Nice DIY!
Can't you alternate the girls, each enjoying that nice LED every other night?
And you're right, that was getting cramped in there already. :-)
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

Perhaps I could rotate them, Canna. The thing is, it already gets down to around 50 degrees in there at night without heat. Whom ever stays out there will see low temps in the 30's in the greenhouse. I can supplement with a small ceramic heater, too, if the overnight low gets very cold.

The DIY heater will, most of the time, keep the temp in the GH above freezing at night - I hope. Trying to actually heat the thing to a reasonable temperature would be futile.

I think it would be smarter to just leave one out there all the time rather than subjecting both plants to drastic yo-yo temperatures. I flipped a coin and Colette lost. She has moved outside for the duration. We'll see how she does. If I'd decided on murder, she'd be a goner anyway.
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

looking great. Nice work. :thumb:
 
Re: Stealthy 1st time indoor/outdoor hybrid grow. Mama Mia and White Panther in soil.

You're probably right on the Yo-yo'ing. Better to take a loss on one than both because of constant environmental changes for them.
I'll hope they both do great with you!
 
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