Stank,
I started at the beginning of this thread and am about 25% thru. Haven't come across your soil mix yet. Am I about to run into it or should I start with another of your journals? Turn me in the right direction please.
Stanks Switch It Up In 2019
- Thread starter Van Stank
- Start date
Stank,
I started at the beginning of this thread and am about 25% thru. Haven't come across your soil mix yet. Am I about to run into it or should I start with another of your journals? Turn me in the right direction please.
Page 109
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Thanks, guys!
Well, then. Just read the mix. Pretty long list. No wonder the plants seem to manage to find whatever they need to grow like they do!
Good morning VS and Ms Stank. I know you dont ph your water, but I do have a question... is there a ph that is too high for your soil? My tap water has a ph of 7.8 and was wondering your thoughts on a ph that high in your soil? Hope u guys have a great day. I am in the midwest and we are waking up to windchills in negatives with upto a foot of snow coming over the weekend. I know that's common for the northeast, but it isn't common here. Windchill is supposed to be -20 for 3-4 days. Not looking forward to that. Sounds like a great weekend for some chili.
- Thread starter
- #3,047
Hey Ozark! Great question. When I first started growing, we lived in a place that had really bad town water....like a 9.2 pH and my plants just weren't ever really happy until I switched to rain water. NOTHING beats rain water, especially from a thunderstorm. That stuff is like magic to the soil and plants.
Now in our new place, we are on well water and the pH is right at 6.9 when we had it tested....so I'm golden. I would suggest if you have any means to collect rain water, give it a shot and see how your plants respond, you will be really surprised how well they react to it.
So, back to the old place.....because the water wasn't very good at all, I was brewing ACTs every other watering to see the results I wanted. They were mild in strength, just a little EWC, kelp meal, and a very small amount of guano (Bat in veg, seabird in flower) and brewed for about 12-18 hours. I don't miss brewing the ACTs though honestly its very little work in the whole process.
There is a natural pH solution out there you can use if you wanted to....its from Earth Juice. I used it a bit and absolutely hated that freaking pH pen and pH'ing the water but it works great for organic grows and doesn't harm the herd. I was never so happy to ditch a pen and throw that bottle in the trash. Never again LOL...I hope!!
I will be collecting rain water. I have to get a couple of 55 gallon drums first. I do use a natural ph down now. I get it range of 6.3-6.7, but not always exact
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- #3,049
Sorry for the silence guys. Yesterday was soil reclamation day and I was hurting after pretty good. Took pics of the process for anyone interested.
What normally happens is that as I harvest plants, I will set the pot off into a corner in the basement and wait for reclamation, either for indoors or use outdoors. Well, at a certain point it starts to become a backlog. I was running down to my last 30 gallons of soil from last years summer cook and thats not going to get me through Spring. So easiest solution is to take the soil from recent harvests and prep it for use.
Here is the process in a a few pics...First up, the remains from the harvest
If the stem won't break off easily from the roots, just grab some snips and cut the stubborn ones
Ditch the stem or find an interesting way to repurpose it. Sometimes I give them to the dogs to chew, they love to tear them apart.
Dump the pot of used soil into whatever you use to reclaim it. In my case I was using 20-30 gallon trash cans and tokes
I like to use a simple garden spade to break up the full root ball. This pot had sat untouched for a few months so the roots where fairly well broken down. Fresher pots will be much harder to break apart and will have a lot more roots.
Once you get it broken down good, it will look something like this. All those roots are great sources of food for the herd to break down for future plants, so resist the urge to remove them.
Now you are ready to add in your amendments. Since my pots were sitting for a while and dried out pretty good, I want to amend and activate it. When I say activate it....I am say ramp up the herd. The amendments I am adding are feeding the herd....not plants. I Have a few things I have been using to amend my soil. First one is a product that I was given a local Cannabis event by one of the breeders. I had tried multiple other samples my growstore and others had used but none of them showed any reaction in my plants.....except for one. Every time I used it, my plants absolutely loved it. So I went out and bought 5 gallon of it for my outdoor grows.
They also have a bloom and flower finisher product but I didn't see any real improvement in my plants so I can't recommend them the way I do the above product. Whatever it is with this product, it really works exceptionally well with my soil so I reverse engineered the mix and made my own. I had all the amendments, its was just a case of playing around with the amendment ratios and seeing how plants react. What I have come up seems to be fairly close but not quite the same...I'm running a bit hot, so I gotta tinker a few things still, but its close.
The third thing I have started trying to use is the @GeoFlora Nutrients line of organic amendments shown under the sponsors. I have no prior experience with these products but they certainly have a selling point that I absolutely love. They coat all their amendment so its in a coated granular type form instead of the dreaded dusty ground up form so many of these amendments are in. That alone got me curious enough to give it a try because anyone that has used these organic amendments knows its not good to be breathing in those dust particles that include guano and whatnot. How will it compare to my mix (dust form) or the other commercial amendment I use outdoors, I don't have a clue? But I'm going to try it and see how the plants react. This is what I'm talking about in terms of dusty ground up form
The soil activation generally will come in any one of a number of ways. Since I just got in some of the prizes from the November POTM contest, I figured I would give them a try and this is one that was sent from one of our sponsors and is basically just inoculating the soil with a good dose of good micro-organisms. Other products are Great White, New Growers Recharge (Which I really like), and various forms of Mykos. This is my first time using this one so we will see what sort of energy we can get going in this soil.
In this scenario I am amending each pot I add in, so they were mostly between 5-10 gallon pots. I use about 1/3 cup of the Pride Lands Veg product per 5 gallon of soil I am amending.
Then I am sprinkling in about a 2 teaspoons of the soil activator on top of that per 5 gallons of soil.
Mix both of them in and break down any clumps you might find. Now just add in water. Depending on how dry the soil is I adjust but my basic guideline is half a gallon of water per 5 gallons of soil. If the soil is fresher and damper, I will reduce the amount. Basically you don't want soggy soil since there is no where for the excess water to drain.
Mix the water in and make sure there is an even dampness throughout. Don't leave wet clump and dry clumps. Put the effort in to prep it right and the soil will treat you right when its time to use it.
Then just keep going....repeat with every additional pot of soil you have to reamend.
When all was said and done.....there is probably close to 90 gallons of soil that was prepped. I Had an odd 3 pots left, but they were a bit on the newer side so I'm going to let them dry out a bit before I work with them. This should get me through the spring grow until I can mix up more or amend more used soil. All my other soil is outdoors and frozen solid and buried under a lot of snow so I couldn't put this off any longer. Getting it done and getting a good supply of soil prepped feels good and puts the mind at ease.
What normally happens is that as I harvest plants, I will set the pot off into a corner in the basement and wait for reclamation, either for indoors or use outdoors. Well, at a certain point it starts to become a backlog. I was running down to my last 30 gallons of soil from last years summer cook and thats not going to get me through Spring. So easiest solution is to take the soil from recent harvests and prep it for use.
Here is the process in a a few pics...First up, the remains from the harvest
If the stem won't break off easily from the roots, just grab some snips and cut the stubborn ones
Ditch the stem or find an interesting way to repurpose it. Sometimes I give them to the dogs to chew, they love to tear them apart.
Dump the pot of used soil into whatever you use to reclaim it. In my case I was using 20-30 gallon trash cans and tokes
I like to use a simple garden spade to break up the full root ball. This pot had sat untouched for a few months so the roots where fairly well broken down. Fresher pots will be much harder to break apart and will have a lot more roots.
Once you get it broken down good, it will look something like this. All those roots are great sources of food for the herd to break down for future plants, so resist the urge to remove them.
Now you are ready to add in your amendments. Since my pots were sitting for a while and dried out pretty good, I want to amend and activate it. When I say activate it....I am say ramp up the herd. The amendments I am adding are feeding the herd....not plants. I Have a few things I have been using to amend my soil. First one is a product that I was given a local Cannabis event by one of the breeders. I had tried multiple other samples my growstore and others had used but none of them showed any reaction in my plants.....except for one. Every time I used it, my plants absolutely loved it. So I went out and bought 5 gallon of it for my outdoor grows.
They also have a bloom and flower finisher product but I didn't see any real improvement in my plants so I can't recommend them the way I do the above product. Whatever it is with this product, it really works exceptionally well with my soil so I reverse engineered the mix and made my own. I had all the amendments, its was just a case of playing around with the amendment ratios and seeing how plants react. What I have come up seems to be fairly close but not quite the same...I'm running a bit hot, so I gotta tinker a few things still, but its close.
The third thing I have started trying to use is the @GeoFlora Nutrients line of organic amendments shown under the sponsors. I have no prior experience with these products but they certainly have a selling point that I absolutely love. They coat all their amendment so its in a coated granular type form instead of the dreaded dusty ground up form so many of these amendments are in. That alone got me curious enough to give it a try because anyone that has used these organic amendments knows its not good to be breathing in those dust particles that include guano and whatnot. How will it compare to my mix (dust form) or the other commercial amendment I use outdoors, I don't have a clue? But I'm going to try it and see how the plants react. This is what I'm talking about in terms of dusty ground up form
The soil activation generally will come in any one of a number of ways. Since I just got in some of the prizes from the November POTM contest, I figured I would give them a try and this is one that was sent from one of our sponsors and is basically just inoculating the soil with a good dose of good micro-organisms. Other products are Great White, New Growers Recharge (Which I really like), and various forms of Mykos. This is my first time using this one so we will see what sort of energy we can get going in this soil.
In this scenario I am amending each pot I add in, so they were mostly between 5-10 gallon pots. I use about 1/3 cup of the Pride Lands Veg product per 5 gallon of soil I am amending.
Then I am sprinkling in about a 2 teaspoons of the soil activator on top of that per 5 gallons of soil.
Mix both of them in and break down any clumps you might find. Now just add in water. Depending on how dry the soil is I adjust but my basic guideline is half a gallon of water per 5 gallons of soil. If the soil is fresher and damper, I will reduce the amount. Basically you don't want soggy soil since there is no where for the excess water to drain.
Mix the water in and make sure there is an even dampness throughout. Don't leave wet clump and dry clumps. Put the effort in to prep it right and the soil will treat you right when its time to use it.
Then just keep going....repeat with every additional pot of soil you have to reamend.
When all was said and done.....there is probably close to 90 gallons of soil that was prepped. I Had an odd 3 pots left, but they were a bit on the newer side so I'm going to let them dry out a bit before I work with them. This should get me through the spring grow until I can mix up more or amend more used soil. All my other soil is outdoors and frozen solid and buried under a lot of snow so I couldn't put this off any longer. Getting it done and getting a good supply of soil prepped feels good and puts the mind at ease.
- Thread starter
- #3,050
And now that catches up to today. I've been struggling with strain selection here for the next run and I finally whittled the list down and pulled the trigger. I figure once they are wet, there is no going back or changing my mind for 100th time.
I generally try to start a pretty good selection of strains, to include new Sativas, hybrids, and indicas. I am smoking at all times of the day and need a good variety to choose from so here's what we got.
Slurricane is from In-House Genetics and is a grow I'm hoping to get right. I screwed up the last one I grew with a batch of badly cooked soil and wanted to try it again with some good dirt. Its a pretty even 50/50 hybrid that is a cross of Dosidos x Purple Punch
Black Domina is from Sensi Seeds (one of my personal favorite breeders) and is an almost pure indica, something I love for bedtime smoke. I've run Sensi's Afghani, Northern Lights and Hindu Kush for indicas and their Durban for Sativa and loved them all. Black Domina is a 95% Indica made up from 4 well known indica genetic lines (landrace Afghani, Ortega, Northern Lights, and Hash Plant)
G-13 Haze is from Barney's Seeds. Its one I have wanted to run for a while but never pulled the trigger. She's a cross of G-13 and a Hawaiian Sativa and is listed as an 80% Sativa so that should be right in my wheel house.
Kali China is from ACE Seeds. Its another one I have wanted to grow for a while but just never did. Unlike most ACE things, its not a Sativa, its an indica dominant cross from them so I am anxious to try it. Its listed at 75% Indica and is a cross of (Kali Mist x China Yunnan) x China Yunnan.
Jack Mist Tree is the last of the bunch and is from lesser known breeder Dr. Krippling. Its listed as a 95% Sativa cross of Kali Mist x Jack Herer. Here's to hoping there is a good one in the bunch!!
I generally try to start a pretty good selection of strains, to include new Sativas, hybrids, and indicas. I am smoking at all times of the day and need a good variety to choose from so here's what we got.
Slurricane is from In-House Genetics and is a grow I'm hoping to get right. I screwed up the last one I grew with a batch of badly cooked soil and wanted to try it again with some good dirt. Its a pretty even 50/50 hybrid that is a cross of Dosidos x Purple Punch
Black Domina is from Sensi Seeds (one of my personal favorite breeders) and is an almost pure indica, something I love for bedtime smoke. I've run Sensi's Afghani, Northern Lights and Hindu Kush for indicas and their Durban for Sativa and loved them all. Black Domina is a 95% Indica made up from 4 well known indica genetic lines (landrace Afghani, Ortega, Northern Lights, and Hash Plant)
G-13 Haze is from Barney's Seeds. Its one I have wanted to run for a while but never pulled the trigger. She's a cross of G-13 and a Hawaiian Sativa and is listed as an 80% Sativa so that should be right in my wheel house.
Kali China is from ACE Seeds. Its another one I have wanted to grow for a while but just never did. Unlike most ACE things, its not a Sativa, its an indica dominant cross from them so I am anxious to try it. Its listed at 75% Indica and is a cross of (Kali Mist x China Yunnan) x China Yunnan.
Jack Mist Tree is the last of the bunch and is from lesser known breeder Dr. Krippling. Its listed as a 95% Sativa cross of Kali Mist x Jack Herer. Here's to hoping there is a good one in the bunch!!
Good looking line up. Anxious to see jack mist treeAnd now that catches up to today. I've been struggling with strain selection here for the next run and I finally whittled the list down and pulled the trigger. I figure once they are wet, there is no going back or changing my mind for 100th time.
I generally try to start a pretty good selection of strains, to include new Sativas, hybrids, and indicas. I am smoking at all times of the day and need a good variety to choose from so here's what we got.
Slurricane is from In-House Genetics and is a grow I'm hoping to get right. I screwed up the last one I grew with a batch of badly cooked soil and wanted to try it again with some good dirt. Its a pretty even 50/50 hybrid that is a cross of Dosidos x Purple Punch
Black Domina is from Sensi Seeds (one of my personal favorite breeders) and is an almost pure indica, something I love for bedtime smoke. I've run Sensi's Afghani, Northern Lights and Hindu Kush for indicas and their Durban for Sativa and loved them all. Black Domina is a 95% Indica made up from 4 well known indica genetic lines (landrace Afghani, Ortega, Northern Lights, and Hash Plant)
G-13 Haze is from Barney's Seeds. Its one I have wanted to run for a while but never pulled the trigger. She's a cross of G-13 and a Hawaiian Sativa and is listed as an 80% Sativa so that should be right in my wheel house.
Kali China is from ACE Seeds. Its another one I have wanted to grow for a while but just never did. Unlike most ACE things, its not a Sativa, its an indica dominant cross from them so I am anxious to try it. Its listed at 75% Indica and is a cross of (Kali Mist x China Yunnan) x China Yunnan.
Jack Mist Tree is the last of the bunch and is from lesser known breeder Dr. Krippling. Its listed as a 95% Sativa cross of Kali Mist x Jack Herer. Here's to hoping there is a good one in the bunch!!
Kali crosses ... 
Damn, I'm ready now to see pics of their colas and read their smoke reports! 
dynamo1
Well-Known Member
Looking forward to these new strains Van, good luck. I'm pulling up the easy chair for my viewing pleasure/PT.
So, no need to "cook" the reclaimed and amended soil for a bit prior to potting up?
Fungus gnats are a pain in the winter. I just removed a couple inches on the top part of my soil. Air movement is pretty decent but still have some around. The apple cidar vinegar trap isnt working so hopefully not overwatering the plant kills them back a little.
- Thread starter
- #3,057
Thanks Ozark! Thats a cross of two classics that I can't recall seeing elsewhere. Hopefully she will grow and put on a great show!
Yes sir.....I keep going back to alot of the classics, while trying some of the newer stuff here and there. I just find the highs of the older school strains to be much more to my liking. They might not be as pretty as some of these new strains but I can tell ya that my arm reaches for the old school stuff 8 out of 10 times. Today was DTF....I think you would really like the DTF strain Gray.....Sue absolutely loves it. Out of everything I sent her, that was her favorite....and I sent her some good stuff!Kali crosses ...
Hey Stunger.....Smoke reports, something I don't generally do a lot of, not sure why. I do need to get better at doing them. I am anxious to see these new ones get going! Here's to hoping they show up early and healthy!!Damn, I'm ready now to see pics of their colas and read their smoke reports!
Thanks brother, make yourself comfy....I know you have a surgery coming up soon. Hope the new ones don't disappoint...I have back up strains picked out should any of these feel shy in these crisp winter conditions. Burning a lot of wood here the last week or two. Low RH and low temps.....always an interesting time to start seeds LOL.
- Thread starter
- #3,058
Not at the amount that I amend with. This stuff will be broken down relatively quickly. Its going to get 2 weeks before I use any of it anyways so it will be ready or still working on breaking down the previous plants roots.
I ran experiments this summer with the outdoor grows....where I ran unamended (Jack Herer), amended and up potted immediately (Sour Cherries), amended and sit for 1 week (Afghani), amended and sit for 2 weeks + (rest of the outdoor crops).
The only thing I really noticed out of the experiment was that the Jack Herer ran out of steam in late July and I needed to start top dressing and that the Sour Cherries was not happy for the first week or two in the immediately amended soil. She had some burnt leaves a couple days after up pot, but after a bit she really took off. The reamendment ratio was much higher than what I am using on the indoor plants, probably a good double if not triple what I did here. I think two weeks on a soil reamend and cook is sufficient at warmer temps.
I also want to reiterate that the amount of water that you use in the cook plays a big part. DON'T WATERLOG YOUR SOIL. I only use 5 gallons per batch of soil when I am mixing it up. If you overwater it, the herd doesn't get going and the soil doesn't break down and can become toxic. Cold temps and overwater, worst possible combo for making good soil.
- Thread starter
- #3,059
Amen there brother.....tough not to get them bastards in the winter time. Yellow stickies are your friend....along with box fans LOL. Make it like you see outside, helps strengthen up the plants branches as well as makes it harder for the damned gnats to move around.
Not overwatering helps A LOT with the gnats, another reason I am a big advocate of the wet to dry cycle in soil in veg.
Great amending/reclaiming post Van. Wearing that GJOTM badge with pride! 
Nice variety pack for the upcoming grow...
Nice variety pack for the upcoming grow...