Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs

[SAMtheAPman]

Nice little tea.. I usually do mine in a 60L bin! One thing I do is put my vermicompost and/or regular compost into a stocking and tie it off. This works as a tea bag so I don't get too many solids in the final tea.

Yours will be easily strained though, as it's only a small container, and looking at how all of your solids will be moving around so freely, I do wonder if my tea bag method may inhibit the process somewhat.

 

[smithy8806]

It took so long to read this from front to her but wow am i glad i did. so much info...bravo!!!

 

[SweetSue]

Nice little tea.. I usually do mine in a 60L bin! One thing I do is put my vermicompost and/or regular compost into a stocking and tie it off. This works as a tea bag so I don't get too many solids in the final tea.

Yours will be easily strained though, as it's only a small container, and looking at how all of your solids will be moving around so freely, I do wonder if my tea bag method may inhibit the process somewhat.

I was reading Tim's thoughts on this today at Microbe Organics, Sam, and his extensive testing demonstrated the value of leaving everything loose, which was my preferred method anyway, although mine was a purely instinctive sense. More microbes break free from the compost when it's loose, although you need to be prepared to do more cleanup. I won't be straining it either, since I'll be applying it as a drench and won't use the sprayer. This way it also works as a mulch. Even more benefit.

One of his points is that you can add all types of stuff to a tea, but in his opinion this simple tea does just what you need an ACT to do, which is add a larger microbe community to your existing one. Sometimes simple is best.

Glad you enjoyed it Sam.

 

[SweetSue]

It took so long to read this from front to her but wow am i glad i did. so much info...bravo!!!

Welcome smithy. I do trend towards being long-winded. I'm glad you caught up and that I kept your interest. I'm attempting to share and document as much of the process as possible. I've learned so much from the forum and I want to repay that generosity by being attentive without being boring. The ride gets to be more exciting from here on out. We're already 3 weeks into a 10-12 week process. At some point it's going to feel like we blinked and the time was gone. It's been much too long since we smoked the fruits of my labors, and we're spoiled by that.

No-tills tend to grow stronger with each successive grow. The next grow will be even more fun. I'm still figuring out this art of posting.

 

[SAMtheAPman]

I was reading Tim's thoughts on this today at Microbe Organics, Sam, and his extensive testing demonstrated the value of leaving everything loose, which was my preferred method anyway, although mine was a purely instinctive sense. More microbes break free from the compost when it's loose, although you need to be prepared to do more cleanup. I won't be straining it either, since I'll be applying it as a drench and won't use the sprayer. This way it also works as a mulch. Even more benefit.

One of his points is that you can add all types of stuff to a tea, but in his opinion this simple tea does just what you need an ACT to do, which is add a larger microbe community to your existing one. Sometimes simple is best.

Glad you enjoyed it Sam.

Cool. I'm no longer going to use "tea bags". I don't spray either, will just have to be more gentle with my watering as the watering can head won't work with any solids.

 

[SweetSue]

Sam, just strain it so it won't clog the watering can, but dump the particulate matter on as a mulch first. Then the watering will work it into the soil a bit. I'm lucky enough to have worms busily working my mulches in for me. Love those little buggers.

 

[SweetSue]

When I woke up this morning the Bomb was almost touching the warm spectrum lights. It's time to begin moving the lights up every night before bed. When I raised the middle light I realized the pegs that were holding it in place are too short now, so I dug out the bamboo stakes we've been hanging on to for years. It's always nice when something you hoarded comes in handy years later. Usually I decide I need it right after I tossed it.

A group shot after the change.

A close up of how I secure the light. This will keep it steady in the fan breeze and can stay right where they are as the lights slide up higher. I'm rethinking the lights and will probable add another string beside Buddha, because she's still growing slower than her sister. At some point she's going to sprout right past the Bomb. Until then I need to get warm spectrum light closer to her leaves than this.

The tea is bubbling nicely, almost 18 hours into the process. The foamy bubbles speak of micro activity going on.

Dale can't believe I'm holding up his breakfast to post this, so I'd best get to it.

 

[Pigeons420]

Sue your journal is inspirational! I particularly enjoy the amount of research you do prior to your projects or tasks!

I also love how your soil is so....alive! Great work!

You've come a long way over just a short period of time. Well done!

I'm gonna watch you do your thing a read all your awesome info! Thanks
Keep up the great work!

Ps. I also get a rush of accomplishment when I use something I've hoarded away for a long time and finally find a purpose for because nothing is worse than needing something you threw out!

 

[SweetSue]

I read through this twice yesterday and will run through it again today. Invaluable info for the serious organic gardener. Pages 18-19 of the PDF (the numbering of the PDF is two pages off the original, so the phamplet pages are 16-18) have an excellent illustration of the symbiotic relationship being established.

https://https://green-diamond-biological.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Mycorrhiza-Primer.pdf

My personal favorite part is pages 12-13 of the PDF, which culminates in this glorious summation:

"Function: As the first organ of nutrient uptake, the mycorrhizal network mediates nutrient cycling. As the instrument of rapid root colo- nization, it determines the plant species composition of the community. As the medium of soil structure, it determines the flow of water, nutrients, and air, directs the pathways of root growth, and opens channels for the movement of soil animals. As the moderator of the microbial community, it determines the metabolic processes of the soil. In other words, the mycorrhizal network is practically synonymous with ecosystem function."

Excellent reading. Highly recommended.

 

[SweetSue]

Welcome Pigeons. I'm really enjoying myself and it's satisfying to find other like-minded souls. Thank you for the compliment.

I'll never forget the year my husband's favorite woodworking supplier did a payout for back catalog covers and he got $150 credit because he had a stack going back 8 years. I remember thinking "Damn! He'll never throw away another catalog again!"

 

[fringe50]

Mornin sue

will keep eye on this , very interested in your auto grow . I will be trying an auto soon, I just need to pick out the beans is all.

Be well

Fringe50

 

[SweetSue]

Welcome Fringe. I hope to demonstrate the potential of the LOS with autos. Good to have you join the conversation. Autos have exploded in selection and quality, from what I've seen in my short journey. The options are plentiful. I chose mine in the most unscientific way.

 

[SweetSue]

The past couple evenings I've noticed some drooping in the leaves, usually sometime around 8:30-9. Since they were always perky in the morning and through most of the day I casually crossed it off to plants being ready to sleep, but it's been niggling at the back of my mind all day. I was sitting here on the couch tonight, roaming around the Internet, looking at pictures of drooping cannabis leaves and glancing through questions and answers. I was pretty sure that this should not be the case, and wondered why the leaves would do this 14-16 hours into an 18 hour light schedule? Could they be trying to tell me that 18 hours was too much? That seemed highly unlikely. Totally unsatisfied by what I found on line, I got up to go over and ask the plants themselves.

This is what I found.

The Buddha wasn't as bad, but still droopier than I was comfortable with. These leaves should be uplifted. I know that instinctively.

Obviously this was more serious than getting ready to sleep. I knew the lights weren't too close. I knew they weren't too far away. The next reasonable thing was for me to admit that I'd miscalculated something in the watering program. I felt under the mulch, and sure enough, saturated soil. So I checked the pots and found them to be soaking wet through the bottom third. Although I had initially placed the pots off the ground, I had since set them in the tray so that I could bottom water. Maybe that wasn't such a smart move on my part.

OK. Admit that I am just a beginning gardener and I have much to learn. Don't beat myself up for stressing them with overwatering, and do something about it.

I raised the lights, pulled out a couple low plant stands that are sturdy but open for aeration and lifted the plants off the tray. Sadly, there was moisture below the pots. Not a lot, but moisture nonetheless. (Sigh) I reset the lights and set the fan on the floor, blowing onto the bottoms of the pots to assist drying out. I may leave the fan there all night. I have a tea brewing, due to be applied in the morning. I may pass on it if the soil is still too wet in the morning and offer it to another grower who lives in the apartment below me. I can easily brew another sometime next week.

I found pans I can use for the SIP setup. Picked them up today at Target. On Wednesday I'm running out to the local Home Depot to get a huge bag of perlite for the wicking medium, so by the time we're ready to welcome in the New Year the system will be up and running. From then on the plants will water themselves. Thank goodness and Whew!

So now I've committed the most common rookie mistake and learned from it. Now I no longer need to wonder when it was going to happen, and I'm thankful that it was such an easy fix.

The most wonderful part was that I never even questioned if it was a nutrient deficiency. It's also worth noting that even with this obviously wet soil, no problem with gnats arose. My last two partial adopted grows were riddled with gnats. I chalk that up to FFOF soil and the previous grower's poor watering technique (which he admits to). Living Organic Soil rocks!

 

[Pigeons420]

Great detective work! I always say "every mistake leads to a bigger lesson"

 

[SweetSue]

I bounced out of bed this morning to check on the girls. They were significantly less droopy so I went to the kitchen to grab the finished ACT.

Nice and frothy. Ready to go. I had felt the pots and the soil surface and determined that they could handle this beneficial brew, and then I'll give them a couple days to adjust the water levels. I probably won't water again before I get the SIP system installed. Each plant got a reasonable drench. Just enough to give them a nice boost in micro populations. When applying an ACT one must be careful to stir often and vigorously to keep everything in suspension.

The only other water used was a couple bursts to clean off any residue on the leaves. Then I stepped back and took a look at the lights. After a bit of reworking I settled on one warm spectrum in the middle and added two more cools to the back, one beside each plant. It's a matter of determining where that light can hang to get the best internal penetration. This will work for a while. The Bomb (on the left) is much bigger than her companion and I can get right into the center of the plant now. Buddha has a bit of growing to do to catch up. She was the main reason for this ACT application. I figured she needed some additional soil help to get her feet under her.

The living mulch can easily get overwhelming. I've culled out most of the larger plants, but kept a few to feed the mulch. There was so much of it today that I cut it up and tossed it into the worm bin. Maybe I should harvest the new shoots and ferment them? Interesting thought. Maybe toss in some fresh dandelion shoots. The weather here has been mild enough that they're still growing all over the place.

The rest of the tea got dumped into the leaf bin and stirred in thoroughly. I figure those micro beasties can only help out here too.

Love the smell of those decaying leaves.

I scraped out the rest of the tea residue and added it to the mulch layer of the cannabis, cleaned off any lingering residue on the leaves, gave everyone a last look over and went back to the kitchen to scrub everything down with hot, soapy water. It's an absolute must to keep everything associated with the brewing of ACTs clean, clean, clean. Now it's time to wake Dale and get on with the day.

I must admit that I have never been this engaged with any other gardening before. In the past I have been quite the lazy and neglectful tiller of the soil. Maybe it's the challenge coupled with the anticipation of reward beyond pure esthetics. It makes me laugh to think I jump out of bed every morning and head straight to the garden.

We were greeted by sunshine and clear skies here in the heart of Steeler Country. Not a normal thing for late December, so we're going to try to get out there and soak up some rays. Have a nice one everybody.

 

[COorganics]

Overwatering, I actually find it easier to properly water large plants, with large root systems. I'm starting seeds directly in their final 10 gal no till container homes. I think I won't utilize the bottom watering much until my plants get larger. This is probably where you went a little south with the watering. I may be partly to blame for that. As you said, it's a weed, and they are very hardy plants, which can tolerate lots of abuse and still keep going.

Thanks for pointing this out, sue, it will be helpful to me in the upcoming weeks.

 

[SweetSue]

My pleasure CO. It's a lesson I won't forget myself. I'm thrilled to hear you're starting your seeds in their home. Maybe we can influence other soil growers. I checked my beauties before we left for cardiac rehab and they are looking splendid. Bounced back beautifully. I had Dale come over to see them and he's quite impressed. I have to turn the lights off for him to be able to see them. Those CFLs are blinding!

Are you planning another journal? I hope so, but with all you have going on I wouldn't be surprised if you passed.

 

[SweetSue]

Once again, and right on schedule (beginning at 8PM) we have droopy leaves.

This leads me to believe that we may be dealing with something other than over watering. Although I will concede that over watering was part of it, the consistent timing is a clue to something else.

I'm new to this, so I'm asking the community at large: is it a normal thing for leaves to droop before lights out? My research suggests that it is, but I can't for the life of me find any definitive reason for it. Most of the answers to other growers questioning this plant behavior are speculation.

It's likely that, given time to dry out, this may stop and all my questioning is premature anxiety. Aside from this behavior, the plant appears to be strong and healthy.

It's almost like the Bomb is trying to protect her inner leaves. Is it possible that she requires less daylight than 18 hours? Is this typical of Autos? The lights come on at 5:30 AM, and by the time I see them at around 7 the leaves are all perky and reaching for the light. They stay that way all day long, until around 8PM.

Any insight anyone can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Aside from that, I do have soil gnats. Not an infestation, more like a presence. I'm not going to worry about them because my understanding of the soil is that regular use of good vermicompost will counter these pests. Next week I'll have some aloe vera powder (likely the best additive to LOS) and kelp meal to add to my neem and crab meal mix (thanks garden angel), and those additions will boost the soil immunity and pest control. If they get more abundant I can always resort to temporarily using some diatomaceous earth and yellow stickies. I have faith in the health of my soil community to keep them in check. Let's watch and see. If nothing else, we'll learn how to respond to them without going nuclear.

 

[SweetSue]

Here they are at 7:30 the next morning, waking up and beginning to reach for the lights, which have been on since 5:30. The THC Bomb is a bit of a slow riser, or so I've noticed. She's 25 days old and measuring in at 7" with five nicely spaced nodes,working hard on #6.

A side shot of the Bomb. Her stalk and all internal growth looks excellent, IMO.

Little Buddha Magnum is taking her time at bolting up in stature. At Day 24 she's 5 1/2" and four nodes, busily pushing up the fifth.

From the side she looks perkier than the Bomb, but equally healthy and robust. Before anyone freaks out, the dark spots on any of the leaves is just slurry splash. I got most of it off the cannabis, but I was less concerned with the living mulch. Those big leaves in the living mulch (anyone know what they are?) are juicy with water. When you snap the stalks they nearly drip. I pick them off, tear them up and drop them onto the mulch daily. Later today the ones in the Buddha's pot need thinned out a bit more.

This may well be a simple overwatering. If so, it's minor and should resolve itself if I just let them alone to continue growing. I felt the soils and they are still pretty moist. I think I'll restrain the urge to water for a couple days and see how it goes. Sometimes the best thing a grower can do is to simply get out of the way. I need to have faith in my micro community to deal with this little challenge. From my perspective, they both look lovely. I'm a bit biased, and completely new to this stage of development, so if any of you have a different opinion, feel free to chime in.

We don't have a vehicle so I'm going to have the bag of perlite for the SIPs delivered instead of running out by bus. This will also have the benefit of keeping me from interfering with the drying out process. I'll check the soil daily and when I think they've reached a balance point I can set them up then.

I gave some thought to the soil gnats, and I think I'm going to invest in one of those little puffer dispensers you can get for applying diatomaceous earth and shoot some down under the mulch. That way I don't have to disturb the mulch and it will kill the adults almost instantaneously. With my partial grows I sprinkled it on, and that left a messy white residue all over the surface. I think I'll see if I can figure out how to make one. I'd never even looked for any DIY instructions. Good, a project to distract me.

Lights are raised a bit more. I typically do that before bed, but I'm battling a cold and couldn't focus that much last night. Too much time waiting in the cold yesterday for a bus that didn't show, so I had to push him home in his wheelchair the extra 1/2 mile, uphill. Good thing I'm strong, but by the time we got home I could feel the sinuses beginning to drain. I'm going to spend the day drinking lots and lots of water and fluids and resting. I refuse to welcome in the New Year with sickness!

 

[Pigeons420]

Great work Sue!
Sorry to hear about the bus! But I'm glad you persevered though it!!
Your father is thankful I'm sure!

Have you tried leaving them without a watering for a day or two?

On a side note:
Are you at all concerned that the living mulch is taking nutrients and energy from your cannabis? I'm not to familiar with living soil so I have to ask. I just know during the summer I'm always weeding my garden avoid "suckers".

Ps. Get well soon