Also, what water source do you use again (sorry tough to remember what everyone in the 70+ journals I follow use and for some reason I am drawing a blank on yours again)?
Pj's Perpetual: Take Two
- Thread starter Pjs420
- Start date
LaquerHead
Well-Known Member
Tap water left out for 24 hrs..might be worth getting that tested!? Soil shouldnt need ph'ing...well, not living soil at least!
Have you ever checked the pH on it?
I know that some amendments will cause pH swings up or down. In my case, I had water with really high pH so I created a soil that ended up drifting a bit too high with the tap water in conjunction with those drifting amendments. I adjusted the soil to amendments that drifted downward and started to use just a little fish emulsion fert to bring my tap water pH down. The soil pH was perfect throughout the grows (6-3-6.8 range vs 7.5 on the first batch of soil).
Since then I have switched to using rain water and have never had healthier plants and more energetic soil.
LOS soil pH will fluctuate naturally based on that symbiotic relationship of the herd and the roots and the communication that takes place down below the soil line. My thoughts are if you know what your water pH is, its wise to compensate that soil to deal with it. Or switch to the perfect water.....rain water (assuming you don't live in a highly polluted area).
I know that some amendments will cause pH swings up or down. In my case, I had water with really high pH so I created a soil that ended up drifting a bit too high with the tap water in conjunction with those drifting amendments. I adjusted the soil to amendments that drifted downward and started to use just a little fish emulsion fert to bring my tap water pH down. The soil pH was perfect throughout the grows (6-3-6.8 range vs 7.5 on the first batch of soil).
Since then I have switched to using rain water and have never had healthier plants and more energetic soil.
LOS soil pH will fluctuate naturally based on that symbiotic relationship of the herd and the roots and the communication that takes place down below the soil line. My thoughts are if you know what your water pH is, its wise to compensate that soil to deal with it. Or switch to the perfect water.....rain water (assuming you don't live in a highly polluted area).
CraZysWeeD
Well-Known Member
Hope you get things on track again Pj! Are they getting enough water? Too high temps?
- Thread starter
- #165
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
ok, first and foremost, thanks for stopping by guys. I have concluded i am a terrible journalist
but ill be attempting to change that now that things are going more along the lines of a perpetual grow.i think my issue was a combo of everything you guys have mentioned and me just being lazy/not thinking/paying attention.
1. Water -
using tap water left sitting out. I only have the dip strips (which i cant find at the moment) but last i checked water ph'd about 6.8-7.. Decided to google the towns water report, only had 2017 data for some reason but it fluctuated in the samples from 6.9-8.07. So this definitely played a role in my current issues. Id love to use rain water, but storage is an issue and it gets far too cold to store it outside (last xmas we had a -40celsius stretch last over a month and i spend enough time smashing ice to keepnthe horses watered lol)
2. Soil -
i started off using Gaia Greens living soil Livingsoil link. Its a great product got me through my first harvests with just tap water. My problem was the grow store ran out and i couldnt find it anywhere else. So i mixed what i had left with some triple mix stuff i bought for the outside gardens, which probably had a negative effect on the microherd. i used one of those "ph/light/moisture" probes on the bucket with the worst off girl (since been culled), it read 8ish on top, stick the probe as deep as could go and it was around 5-6. Not that i trust the accuracy, but i think the long period of time these girls were in the mixture of two soils had the ph drift.
3. Consistency -
l havent maintained the best watering practices. Often letting them get WAY too dry. So i need to develop a routine and stick to it. I think it was the combo of constantly searching for water, then getting wacked with a huge feeding, that really threw them and the soil for a loop.
I also noticed with the probe that the soil in the middle/bottom of the culled girl was still showing moist, which means i could have been fighting root rot from them being over moist/lack of drainage.
Solutions
Start from the beginning again. I had a long talk with the grow store owner, hes going to keep the soil i want in stock, so i picked up 60litres to get me on the right path. all the soil currently in use will be dumped in the outdoor gardens.
ph my water from now on, or atleast till i have a fairly accurate idea of what it needs to hit the 6.3-6.8 mark.
either drill more holes in the bottom of the 5gal buckets or buy some proper grow pots/trays which are all consistent sizes for purpose of comparisons on strains.
so thats my plan! At this point anyways.
The big killer queen is stinking up the house, its fruity... Kind of rotten, but sweet... Ill ask the wife shes got a better nose than i do.
lavender75 despite her horrendous appreance is turning the corner and pushing out some buds, need to get some updated pics.
in veg, i have two more lavender75s that need uppotting, two killer queens that are looking great, and 4 of 6 of the lavender clones i took are still alive by the looks of things. Hoping to get everyone in some fresh dirt tonight or tomorrow.
also going to drop a few more beans in water and see what i can get going
brothers grimm rosetta stone
malberry seeds - mulanje gold i really want some sativa in my life after reading duggan and neikos threads lol
thank you all again for your help and for sticking around for my intermittant journaling.... Now its time to go catch up on all your threads!
CraZysWeeD
Well-Known Member
Sound like you are getting there Pj! Great. Hope to see them flourish soon! 
- Thread starter
- #167
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
thanks @CraZysWeeD ! A few small bumps in the road, getting there though! Couple of pics from october 21
Killer Queen
Lavender75 - starting to show
Killer Queen
Lavender75 - starting to show
Looking UP man. 
You can see the lushness coming in to the KQ, that's the goodness, great work.
You can see the lushness coming in to the KQ, that's the goodness, great work.
Dusty Kiefers
Well-Known Member
Looking good brother. Hope your liking the light.
Looks like something up with your soil mix.
You mentioned "tripple mix" - what is that stuff?? Whats in it? The pics of your soil mix was hard to see but thought I saw some sort of bark fines in there??
Check that. Also with EWC/Kelp tea will work wonders on plants that need help.
DO NOT ADD alfalfa meal. It's too hot. That can be added to a soil mix then it needs to cook (compost) for a month before you plant into it. For Nitrogen, Kelp and EWC both have it and other goodies, enough to get you to your finish line.
I stopped using alfalfa meal for that reason. I add it to my compost pile, then worms eat it and then I add that compost to my soil mix and its good to go.
GL with the perpetual. Just be patient, work when its time and don't work when its not needed. That's how I do it. Try and avoid working when possible.
GL with the house. That can be stressful. Try and make it work out.
You mentioned "tripple mix" - what is that stuff?? Whats in it? The pics of your soil mix was hard to see but thought I saw some sort of bark fines in there??
Check that. Also with EWC/Kelp tea will work wonders on plants that need help.
DO NOT ADD alfalfa meal. It's too hot. That can be added to a soil mix then it needs to cook (compost) for a month before you plant into it. For Nitrogen, Kelp and EWC both have it and other goodies, enough to get you to your finish line.
I stopped using alfalfa meal for that reason. I add it to my compost pile, then worms eat it and then I add that compost to my soil mix and its good to go.
GL with the perpetual. Just be patient, work when its time and don't work when its not needed. That's how I do it. Try and avoid working when possible.
GL with the house. That can be stressful. Try and make it work out.
- Thread starter
- #171
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
Killer Queen - Day 62 of 12/12
please excuse the hairs lol animals
first pic and next two zoomed and cropped
on the dark side - same pic zoomed
random pics that turned out ok
cant wait!!
please excuse the hairs lol animals
first pic and next two zoomed and cropped
on the dark side - same pic zoomed
random pics that turned out ok
cant wait!!
- Thread starter
- #172
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
WARNING!
The following contains scenes of an abused cannabis plant.
Viewer Discretion is Advised.
The following contains scenes of an abused cannabis plant.
Viewer Discretion is Advised.
Before
After
But she is stacking nicely in the good spots
So. Any organic newbies who may stumble across this journal. Dont use alfalfa meal on your plants
Live and learn. Youd think id have thought of that.. Considering we have to monitor the alfalfa percentages in our hay.
Thank you @bobrown14 ! All this soil is going in the outdoor gardens for the winter and starting fresh with the gaia green blend as the basis and ammend as necessary, when needed, says 60 day fert, but it can probably go longer.
Soil medium ingredients: feather meal, and fishbone meal, sphagnum peat, perlite, African night crawler worm castings, fertilizing soil conditioner.
Fertilizer ingredients: Alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, glacial rock dust, mined potassium sulphate, fossilized carbon complex, rock phosphate, greensand, kelp meal, gypsum, bat guano.
going to be fun!
Wow. The burn is real on that girl. Sounds like you have it worked out though.
As you said, Live and learn.
Cheers friend.
As you said, Live and learn.
Cheers friend.
- Thread starter
- #174
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
Thanks for stopping by ditch! Next ones will be better!
WARNING!
The following contains scenes of an abused cannabis plant.
Viewer Discretion is Advised.
Before
After
But she is stacking nicely in the good spots
So. Any organic newbies who may stumble across this journal. Dont use alfalfa meal on your plants
Live and learn. Youd think id have thought of that.. Considering we have to monitor the alfalfa percentages in our hay.
Thank you @bobrown14 ! All this soil is going in the outdoor gardens for the winter and starting fresh with the gaia green blend as the basis and ammend as necessary, when needed, says 60 day fert, but it can probably go longer.
Soil medium ingredients: feather meal, and fishbone meal, sphagnum peat, perlite, African night crawler worm castings, fertilizing soil conditioner.
Fertilizer ingredients: Alfalfa meal, bone meal, blood meal, glacial rock dust, mined potassium sulphate, fossilized carbon complex, rock phosphate, greensand, kelp meal, gypsum, bat guano.
going to be fun!
What I do with amendments is put them in the compost heap... you can treat this soil like compost, put it out and just add all your amendments to it now (save the EWC until your ready to plant then mix that in). Let that sit outside all winter or until your ready. Those amendments will have composted enough and your soil will be ready to go.
Potassium Sulfate is pretty strong. Your mix is good for growing in soil outdoors. Its going to be pretty strong in a container and why I recommend composting it some over the winter.
I like to do this:
Base soil mix
1/3 humus (compost/ewc)
1/3 peat moss
1/3 aeration (per-lite)
Add amendments to the mix above.
I like Kelp meal, Karanga Cake/Neem Cake, Crustacean meal and Malted Barley ground fine. (all 1/2 cup per cu ft.)
Rock dust (basalt) and Gypsum powder and oyster shell flour. ( all 1 cup per cu ft)
All that @ 1/2 to 1 cup per cu ft (7.5 gal of the base mix).
This you can grow several runs in with minimal amending... (EWC + kelp + barley powder).
This mix I listed above I've had tested several times at my state extension service and its always the best spot on for soil and plants.
For the humus portion you can take what you already have and just let it sit out and compost. All the minerals and ferts are going to be soluble after they composted over the winter (6 weeks+). The burn happens from too much N. All that N starts to compost in your container and the plants roots get eaten along with the N that in the soil mix by over active bacteria in the soil. The microbes multiply rapidly due to the excess food you supplied. So can let that go its course without a plant in it and it will be good. Just needs to compost a little bit. You will be surprised.
Killer Queen looks tasty. Real nice older strain. Good to see it again.
- Thread starter
- #177
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
@bobrown14 the soil recipe i posted is a prebagged "living soil" mix that this company sells. I am/was under the assumption that it was precomposted and ready to plant in, but now i am second guessing so im going to fire off an email to the company for clarification. I up potted everything into the soil mix yesterday morning... So the plants will tell me faster than ill get an email i would imagine. Lol
eithery way, i appreciate you posting your/coots recipe here where i can easily reference it. Just some quick in my head math, and pre mixing my own will be much more cost effectice in the long run than purchasing these bags... Unless it works out really well... Time will tell.
$75canadian for 60l of living soil. Vs $40can for 85l of black gold (cpsm, perlite, dolomitic limestone, wetting agent)
ill have to price out ammendments from the zon, our local nurseries are all closed up for the winter.
thanks for stopping by BL, i dont think im doing her anywhere near the justice some of you folks would... She is so tall shes barely under the light, But i uppotted her daughter and threw her into flower last night as well, hopefully the next round will be even better. Thanks for stopping by!
heres a few pics!
Killer Queen clone flip day nov 4
Lavender x P75 clone, up potted, flip day nov 4
Killer Queen bud shots - excuse the hairs lol
eithery way, i appreciate you posting your/coots recipe here where i can easily reference it. Just some quick in my head math, and pre mixing my own will be much more cost effectice in the long run than purchasing these bags... Unless it works out really well... Time will tell.
$75canadian for 60l of living soil. Vs $40can for 85l of black gold (cpsm, perlite, dolomitic limestone, wetting agent)
ill have to price out ammendments from the zon, our local nurseries are all closed up for the winter.
Killer Queen looks tasty. Real nice older strain. Good to see it again.
thanks for stopping by BL, i dont think im doing her anywhere near the justice some of you folks would... She is so tall shes barely under the light, But i uppotted her daughter and threw her into flower last night as well, hopefully the next round will be even better. Thanks for stopping by!
heres a few pics!
Killer Queen clone flip day nov 4
Lavender x P75 clone, up potted, flip day nov 4
Killer Queen bud shots - excuse the hairs lol
PJ said:
Is this the "living soil" recipe you speak of? Looks a lot like Sub-cool's recipe.
Problem are the potassium sulfate and Soft Rock Phosphate = hot stuff.
I think there's a company up by you that makes a Coots style recipe mix that's a good one.
Here's the link:
Custom Blended Mixes Products from Black Swallow Living Soils, Brantford ON
- Thread starter
- #179
Pjs420
Well-Known Member
you are the man! Its not overly close to me, but they have absolutely everything. And i was planning some new veggie garden beds as well for the spring! Boy oh boy im excited now. Time to make a list and do some number crunching, see whether its cheaper to mix my own or buy their mix in bulk.... Either way, thank you @bobrown14
Glad I could help. Pricing depends on the price for shipping.
I have all the ingredients both ways. I have premixed nutrient and premix mineral mix and have all the ingredients separately as well.
I do a lot of raised beds outdoors and was mixing my own for years. I think it cost me more to get separate tbh.
Some ingredients are NOT readily available up your way in smaller quantities. If your doing the outdoor gardening that recipe you had it bags works outdoors much better that containers.
You should have good luck with Black Swallow, I have a friend that uses their stuff with good result if you wanna go organic its one way for sure.
Edit: Karanja Cake is one ingredient that is hard to find up your way same with Neem Cake in small qtys. Hit me up I can send you some if you're interested.
1 cup of both together per cu.ft. of soil works great. I always have extras.
I have all the ingredients both ways. I have premixed nutrient and premix mineral mix and have all the ingredients separately as well.
I do a lot of raised beds outdoors and was mixing my own for years. I think it cost me more to get separate tbh.
Some ingredients are NOT readily available up your way in smaller quantities. If your doing the outdoor gardening that recipe you had it bags works outdoors much better that containers.
You should have good luck with Black Swallow, I have a friend that uses their stuff with good result if you wanna go organic its one way for sure.
Edit: Karanja Cake is one ingredient that is hard to find up your way same with Neem Cake in small qtys. Hit me up I can send you some if you're interested.
1 cup of both together per cu.ft. of soil works great. I always have extras.
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