SoilGirl's Indoor Organic Soil Medical Grow Journal - Mars II 1600 & Other LEDs

[Radogast]

Those big lower fan leaves with multibud sites riding remind me of a fairy castle.
Very good growing there SoilGirl.

 

[SweetSue]

And doing it so enthusiastically SoilGirl. We're beginning a mini revolution, just by doing something that brings us joy and sharing it in our journals. A nice approach.

So glad I was able to remind you about the saline. It did sound very mom-like, didn't it? In no time the pain will be but a memory.

 

[B A R]

I made a little herbal tea on top of Sue's motherly advice, and the buds and advil are also making my day much better. I'll be back at everything in no time. but today I'm just being lazy and enjoying it

 

[SoilGirl]

and that Dinafem clone looks super. It's in full LOS, yes?

Oopsie sorry I left this bit of your question out lol. I always get so carried away ...

No actually it's in an interesting mix of soil Mr. Teddy. That well cooked PeeJay flowering soil with leaf mold I had made, I took and re-amended with my shiny new LOS amendments (Glacial Rock Dust, Oyster Shell Flour, Kelp Meal, Neem Cake, Crustacean Meal) and re-cooked, with more leaves lol. Now its in the smallest flowering pot, 1.5-2.5 gallons I'd guess. I took a little pinch of top cover seeds and planted them with it too. So - ... it's a living organic mix I'd say, but my own. I think it will be awesome anyways though to be honest. and eventually I can plant it/re-use it inside a CC LOS if I want.

OG Kush PR is in the same mix, just in a 10 gal fabric pot and with 2 nightcrawlers Perhaps the 2 nightcrawlers will make it a full blown LOS

Those big lower fan leaves with multibud sites riding remind me of a fairy castle.
Very good growing there SoilGirl.

Hahahaha I love your mind Rado. they do sorta look like magical towers don't they?

And doing it so enthusiastically SoilGirl. We're beginning a mini revolution, just by doing something that brings us joy and sharing it in our journals. A nice approach.

So glad I was able to remind you about the saline. It did sound very mom-like, didn't it? In no time the pain will be but a memory.

very mom-like actually today my cheek's starting to do better. I might eat something besides ramen lol. can't wait.

and on with the mini revolution! down with synthetics!!

-speaking about that I have the urge to fix a magnesium deficiency I see in my plants (all the red stems/petioles) ... and have the urge to pour some bottle in and fix it..... or the salty sul-po-mag I have (That is NOT the dirt looking langbeinite I see on organic sites!!) but I'm not gonna I think I've finally learned better. I'm sure my plants will do better without me trying to force feed some quick fix. I thought this link was interesting. Dolomite Lime: More Harm Than Good - Organica: Garden Supply & Hydroponics - I know dolomite lime is added to Sunshine Mix #4's (Which is the original base of my soils) so I think the magnesium is there, just maybe not in the optimum ratio to calcium. I probably ought to add a little more oyster shell flour or baked and ground egg shell.

thanks Reg, ugh on top of being sore from the dog-induced fall, now I'm suddenly sick as a dog. Can't stop coughing and sneezing. but I might do a veg update anyways today. might. lol. we'll see. I at least got them watered and am on day 2 of sprouting for another SST - and I have my eye on this one aloe vera leaf that keeps falling over (although the rest of the plant is very happy now) - I may take it and make some aloe juice for my plants soon. - Loki can knock me down and my nose can stop me up but this organic growing stuff is my calling in sickness or in health

 

[daTenshi]

My home-cooked calcium fix!

Wash eggshells in plenty of water, place on a oven tray and bake them for 10-15 mins at high temp. Let them cool off and peel the membrane, then grind them up in a powder and just simply sprinkle on top before watering a even layer.

Hope this helps! And feel better


Oh and red stems in flower, usually means the girls are using up all the K and P they find, so throw in some banana peel and molasses and they'll love you for it!

 

[SoilGirl]

My home-cooked calcium fix!

Wash eggshells in plenty of water, place on a oven tray and bake them for 10-15 mins at high temp. Let them cool off and peel the membrane, then grind them up in a powder and just simply sprinkle on top before watering a even layer.

Hope this helps! And feel better


Oh and red stems in flower, usually means the girls are using up all the K and P they find, so throw in some banana peel and molasses and they'll love you for it!

Aw thanks daTs! I love your home cook recipes! I was actually planning on giving a little molasses to all of them eventually anyways, I found some organic blackstrap molasses recently cool! thanks for reminding me I kept forgetting. We don't have any bananas around, and I think there should be quite a bit of potassium between all the amendments I used in this particular flowering soil, so I'll just go with that for now. But thank you for the share! I'm not 100% sure whats causing the red stems, it could be that, or it might be that LED lights make lots of calcium and magnesium deficiencies. >.< But either way, I have faith in my soil's biology to make things go well whether theres a slight deficiency here and there or not. I'll just help it out a little with teas and drenches

and thanks so much! I will soon I'm sure

 

[Subnoise]

Hey sg subbing up that last picture update looked awesome. Can't wait to see more

 

[SweetSue]

CC and his many disciples will tell you that his recipe is meant to be a starting point, and they encourage adaptability. He is big on locally sourcing and playing with the mix to suit your needs and realities. This particular recipe rocks! There's no denying that, but half the fun in growing is in the experimentation. If you're staying within general guidelines and ratios you should expect that your soil is strong. Adding all that leaf much is cool. I'll be watching that soil as you go along.

I would consider adding more calcium rich items to the worm bin. As it becomes worked into the top dressings the soil community will have an easier time meeting the plant's need under the LED lights. I'll take my own advice since I plan on adding an LED to my space. See how helpful you are?

Now, in my softest mom voice - chamomile tea. As much as you can make yourself drink. So much that you won't want any more for weeks. We just survived the flu here - me first and then Dale. Thank goodness I had time to heal before he went down. I had to laugh about the compulsion to watch the garden. I never missed a morning. Rest well.

Oh yes - thank you for the reps. You caught me by surprise again.

 

[MedFarmer]

Can I just throw a spanner in the works?

When we compost our kitchen waste(peelings and such) we never consider too much or too little of anything except maybe citrus stuff. We just throw it in and nature does the rest.

So my spanner would be, adding banana skins to an LOS should not really be a problem because it will compost down and be balanced by bacterias already in the soil and just incorporated like in compost piles. If you top up your soil with humus(compost) then that banana skin is going to be put in anyway.

Am I right or is it a bit more complicated than that?

 

[MedFarmer]

The point I'm trying to make is, we don't check the nutrient levels in our compost before we use it so what's to say it is not too heavy in any one or more nutrients.

 

[SweetSue]

The point I'm trying to make is, we don't check the nutrient levels in our compost before we use it so what's to say it is not too heavy in any one or more nutrients.

We can control the balance of what we feed the bin. The soil extracts what the plant needs, but it comes up to us to be certain not to throw ratios off.

 

[Ranger275]

Howdy SoilGirl,
I like your attitude and approach to growing. I've seen your thoughtful responses here and there, and was impressed. They were a pale reflection of your work here. Wow!
I just started a vscrog/espalier in SuperSoil experiment, and would be honored if you'd take a look. My sig is fubar; been trying to fix, but w/everything else going on...
Happy days

 

[MedFarmer]

We can control the balance of what we feed the bin. The soil extracts what the plant needs, but it comes up to us to be certain not to throw ratios off.

I understand that compost heaps need more than just fruit & veg so mine gets grass clippings all summer, shredded wood from overgrows and shredded paper and is constantly mixed. Should I change what I'm doing? Would I be better adding bagged compost that has been better regulated? I've always done what is said about pile it, mix it, use it when well rotted.

I'm getting a wormery soon. Would it be better to add this compost instead of my own when topping up my soil?

I'm all for learning more about LOS and I seem to have landed in the right place.

 

[SoilGirl]

Hey daTs, lol sorry I was so out of it yesterday. Eggshells. Yeah I used your recipe a while ago for that thanks for sharing it again! I have tons of eggshells baked and ground up. I just don't want to top dress with them because some is already in the soil mix, and because I've recently top dressed with a mix including Oyster Shell Flour (35% calcium, tons of trace minerals)

Hey sg subbing up that last picture update looked awesome. Can't wait to see more

Cool Subnoise glad to have you here!

CC and his many disciples will tell you that his recipe is meant to be a starting point, and they encourage adaptability. He is big on locally sourcing and playing with the mix to suit your needs and realities. This particular recipe rocks! There's no denying that, but half the fun in growing is in the experimentation. If you're staying within general guidelines and ratios you should expect that your soil is strong. Adding all that leaf much is cool. I'll be watching that soil as you go along.

I would consider adding more calcium rich items to the worm bin. As it becomes worked into the top dressings the soil community will have an easier time meeting the plant's need under the LED lights. I'll take my own advice since I plan on adding an LED to my space. See how helpful you are?

Now, in my softest mom voice - chamomile tea. As much as you can make yourself drink. So much that you won't want any more for weeks. We just survived the flu here - me first and then Dale. Thank goodness I had time to heal before he went down. I had to laugh about the compulsion to watch the garden. I never missed a morning. Rest well.

Oh yes - thank you for the reps. You caught me by surprise again.

Aw Sue, I just adore you! Lol, I've been drinking steaming hot Sleepytime tea with egyptian chamomile religiously. I feel a lot better today than yesterday so far. So glad you and Dale are over that flu. Yesterday was so miserable for me. Yet, yes I had to watch the garden LOL. I think today will be time for a veg update later.

And what a good idea, I'm going to work some ground eggshells and oyster shell flour into my worm bins immediately - and thanks, I'm interested in how this soil does too. I don't think I'm going to no-till it, I think I'm going to finish off those plants except OG Kush PR, then immediately get to cooking the soil with CC LOS amendments, then move it to a no till.

Can I just throw a spanner in the works?

When we compost our kitchen waste(peelings and such) we never consider too much or too little of anything except maybe citrus stuff. We just throw it in and nature does the rest.

So my spanner would be, adding banana skins to an LOS should not really be a problem because it will compost down and be balanced by bacterias already in the soil and just incorporated like in compost piles. If you top up your soil with humus(compost) then that banana skin is going to be put in anyway.

Am I right or is it a bit more complicated than that?

Oh ofcourse adding banana wouldn't be a problem. I just don't have any - I bet there's some in my compost and worm bins though. I just am not ready to use my oldest worm castings yet, there's still some black soldier fly larvae, and I don't think those are as discriminate about what they eat as worms are. I better start harvesting some and drying it out actually. that should kill the larvae.

The point I'm trying to make is, we don't check the nutrient levels in our compost before we use it so what's to say it is not too heavy in any one or more nutrients.

it probably is heavy hahaha. at least for me. I know composting can be a lot more exact, and produce a much more premium compost though. I'm going to go for that in the future. There wasn't any thought put into my worm can lol. just, filled it up with compost, chicken poo, straw, leaves, twigs and snapped branches, kitchen waste, and added worms... it's taking freaking forever lol.

We can control the balance of what we feed the bin. The soil extracts what the plant needs, but it comes up to us to be certain not to throw ratios off.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Howdy SoilGirl,
I like your attitude and approach to growing. I've seen your thoughtful responses here and there, and was impressed. They were a pale reflection of your work here. Wow!
I just started a vscrog/espalier in SuperSoil experiment, and would be honored if you'd take a look. My sig is fubar; been trying to fix, but w/everything else going on...
Happy days

Awesome Ranger, thank you, and I'd love to see you soon!

I understand that compost heaps need more than just fruit & veg so mine gets grass clippings all summer, shredded wood from overgrows and shredded paper and is constantly mixed. Should I change what I'm doing? Would I be better adding bagged compost that has been better regulated? I've always done what is said about pile it, mix it, use it when well rotted.

I'm getting a wormery soon. Would it be better to add this compost instead of my own when topping up my soil?

I'm all for learning more about LOS and I seem to have landed in the right place.

Well IDK, if you think you have good compost, you probably do. Its hard to make bad compost if you leave out citrus and oils/fats and meat. What you're doing sounds pretty dang good to me actually. What I'd also do if I were you is just take your compost, feed it to your future wormery, and then use that. That'll be amazing 'vermicompost' for sure!

I try not to tell people to go buy bagged stuff haha. But I mean, coast of maine compost or oly mountain fish compost, yeah its probably a lot better than most composts you or I make - but I wouldn't know I haven't used it. I just know my homemade compost, even when we put very little thought into it, grows some great plants outdoors. So I'm not gonna spend any money on compost haha. If you want to, you can, and you'll likely get better results. But I'm drawing the line now, I will spend no more money on composts or worm castings lol, it's just needed elsewhere. That's stuff I can do myself, and pretty dang well if I try!

 

[MedFarmer]

Thanks SoilGirl. I shall add to my soil as time moves on with top-up amendments but will only use 'vermicompost' for the soil part from now. By the way, I've ordered my neem and crab shell on your advice.

 

[SBG]

That last photo update was great. Those look like they are going to turn into some amazing buds.

Next up for me into the flowering cabinet is my mainline (of sorts) and I'm going to flower my mother plant she's just getting to big for the space I have.

Do you have any suggestions for of direct me to somewhere for make a good compost tea?

thanks in advance.
SBG

 

[B A R]

Do you have any suggestions for of direct me to somewhere for make a good compost tea?


SBG

Try AfricanGrower. He hasn't posted in awhile but he's deep into teas.

 

[MedFarmer]

A quote from COorganics

"Teas aren't that difficult, in fact according to microbeman, it's fairly difficult to make a bad compost tea. In my personal experience they will not stink, unless there is fish product in the tea.

Please get your compost tea information from microbeorganics.com and the enzyme tea info from buildasoil. There is much misinformation about teas being circulated on the web."

I use the microbeorganics.com recipe for my teas. No problems here.

 

[B A R]

That's right! Organics knows a lot about teas also.

 

[SoilGirl]

Thanks SoilGirl. I shall add to my soil as time moves on with top-up amendments but will only use 'vermicompost' for the soil part from now. By the way, I've ordered my neem and crab shell on your advice.

I'm not saying only to use vermicompost MedFarmer, I bet you have good compost for simple topdressings, I'm just not using mine right now because I'm cautious about the larvae. Awesome that the neem and crab meals are on the way though! So awesome! I bet you'll be very happy you got them.

That last photo update was great. Those look like they are going to turn into some amazing buds.

Next up for me into the flowering cabinet is my mainline (of sorts) and I'm going to flower my mother plant she's just getting to big for the space I have.

Do you have any suggestions for of direct me to somewhere for make a good compost tea?

thanks in advance.
SBG

It's been a while since I checked in on your grow, (or any of my friend's) I will soon SBG sounds like things are going well though! As for ACT's, here's 2 great links for you. One from our own Sweetsue Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs the other, a link to 'MicrobeMan' Tim Wilson's page. Microbe Organics

Try AfricanGrower. He hasn't posted in awhile but he's deep into teas.

A quote from COorganics

"Teas aren't that difficult, in fact according to microbeman, it's fairly difficult to make a bad compost tea. In my personal experience they will not stink, unless there is fish product in the tea.

Please get your compost tea information from microbeorganics.com and the enzyme tea info from buildasoil. There is much misinformation about teas being circulated on the web."

I use the microbeorganics.com recipe for my teas. No problems here.

That's right! Organics knows a lot about teas also.

Thanks so much for jumping in guys! reps for both of you - not that you need them, just because I appreciate that spirit here! COorganics definitely is a resident novel on teas and amendments, and organics in general, and I bet AfricanGrower sure knows his stuff too, though I don't really know him.

I'll do a little update later on today, I have the pics already, but my dad's in a worky mood today, lots of chores to do. See ya later!