Nunyabiz
Well-Known Member
IMO if doing a true LOS grow pot size is very important, I use 20 gallon fabric pots, but thats only because 30 gallon fabric pots won't fit in my space.
Do you use Real Growers Recharge?
- Thread starter The123321
- Start date
Sorry for the delay @safeman real life stuff.. @Nunyabiz made probably the most important point in LOS period. Pot size.. It’s more important than your soil, nutrients, everything. 15 gallons of low quality soil will outperform 5 gallons of top shelf amended and top dressed.
If you’re going LOS the bare minimum you could get away with, without needing some sort of intervention or very carefully formulated layers and spikes is 7 gallons. That’s absolute bare bones minimum to get you off the ground. You’ll still need layers, spikes, top dressing, etc. at that size but they’ll be whatever you like. You’ll be on your way and won’t get tripped up as easily. 15 gallons is closer to what I would recommend everyone runs at a minimum. At 15 gallons you can sustain the microbial life without worry and regardless of how you run they’ll have a spot they can hide and repopulate. You’ll also be able to make mistakes and recover much easier.
The larger the pot size you can go, the better, always. I would run 100 gallon pots if I thought my floors could handle it and if I didn’t think the plants would blow through my roof.
This is for a multitude of reasons, microbial life, organic matter, myco, carbon, etc. I could go and go but I’ve made my point, pot size is important.
@lootznbootz is currently running grow boxes I believe and he’s shifting to LOS.. It certainly would be better than a 5 gallon pot if you can pull it off but I personally have no experience with it. I either grow in pots or in the ground (that I have been no-till top dressing and amending).
The grow I just completed is an example of what happens when you run in pots below 7 gallons. I went with 3s and if you flip through it you’ll see I had to layer, spike, top dress, and rescue, on top of the 1 1 1 mix of soil EWC perlite I ran. Good results but I spent the entire grow having to do one thing or another, or planning for eventualities. I wanted to perfect my diagnosing and rescuing skills. Good learning experience but I’m done with rescues and just want to grow.
As far as the nutrients I use, I don’t really lean into any specific line of anything, I pick and choose based on the amendment itself and its labels. I like Coast of Maine Stonington blend soil but it’s lacking in Mag out of the bag unless you go with a 15 gallon pot. I like kelp meal, lobster meal, crab meal, alfalfa meal, organic 4-4-4 all purpose (or 5-5-5), bone meal, blood meal, soft rock phosphate, Dolomite lime (prilled for living water), Hydrolyzed fish (either powder or liquid with no stabilizing acids), Myco of course, EWC (earthworm castings), coco for carbon/microbe food, perlite, and mulch.
Mulching is pretty important. I don’t see enough mulching from growers and it’s interesting that it’s not pushed more. Mulching will keep your microbes alive and your plant hydrated much better especially under LEDs and hot sun. It also allows your roots and myco to grow into it above the soil line making top dressings even more effective plus more air. More air is always good.
The cool thing about LOS is once you find the nutrients you like you can usually find them in large quantities for fairly cheap. They’re a lot of traditional gardening products so they’re already cheap.
I don’t know if there’s any books on LOS specifically. I wouldn’t doubt it though and will take a look around and see if I find anything. The books I do recommend though are the Teaming With series by Jeff Lowenfels.. Teaming with bacteria, Teaming with microbes, teaming with nutrients, and teaming with fungi. These books explain all of the processes occurring, what the different nutrients do, and how the plant and soil interact with each other in a pretty plain speak kind of way. It can get a little heady when first diving into it but overall the books are really accessible for anyone interested in growing and I highly recommend them for all growers synthetic and organic. They’re great references as well and even have a few recipes for yards.
If you’re going LOS the bare minimum you could get away with, without needing some sort of intervention or very carefully formulated layers and spikes is 7 gallons. That’s absolute bare bones minimum to get you off the ground. You’ll still need layers, spikes, top dressing, etc. at that size but they’ll be whatever you like. You’ll be on your way and won’t get tripped up as easily. 15 gallons is closer to what I would recommend everyone runs at a minimum. At 15 gallons you can sustain the microbial life without worry and regardless of how you run they’ll have a spot they can hide and repopulate. You’ll also be able to make mistakes and recover much easier.
The larger the pot size you can go, the better, always. I would run 100 gallon pots if I thought my floors could handle it and if I didn’t think the plants would blow through my roof.
This is for a multitude of reasons, microbial life, organic matter, myco, carbon, etc. I could go and go but I’ve made my point, pot size is important.
@lootznbootz is currently running grow boxes I believe and he’s shifting to LOS.. It certainly would be better than a 5 gallon pot if you can pull it off but I personally have no experience with it. I either grow in pots or in the ground (that I have been no-till top dressing and amending).
The grow I just completed is an example of what happens when you run in pots below 7 gallons. I went with 3s and if you flip through it you’ll see I had to layer, spike, top dress, and rescue, on top of the 1 1 1 mix of soil EWC perlite I ran. Good results but I spent the entire grow having to do one thing or another, or planning for eventualities. I wanted to perfect my diagnosing and rescuing skills. Good learning experience but I’m done with rescues and just want to grow.
As far as the nutrients I use, I don’t really lean into any specific line of anything, I pick and choose based on the amendment itself and its labels. I like Coast of Maine Stonington blend soil but it’s lacking in Mag out of the bag unless you go with a 15 gallon pot. I like kelp meal, lobster meal, crab meal, alfalfa meal, organic 4-4-4 all purpose (or 5-5-5), bone meal, blood meal, soft rock phosphate, Dolomite lime (prilled for living water), Hydrolyzed fish (either powder or liquid with no stabilizing acids), Myco of course, EWC (earthworm castings), coco for carbon/microbe food, perlite, and mulch.
Mulching is pretty important. I don’t see enough mulching from growers and it’s interesting that it’s not pushed more. Mulching will keep your microbes alive and your plant hydrated much better especially under LEDs and hot sun. It also allows your roots and myco to grow into it above the soil line making top dressings even more effective plus more air. More air is always good.
The cool thing about LOS is once you find the nutrients you like you can usually find them in large quantities for fairly cheap. They’re a lot of traditional gardening products so they’re already cheap.
I don’t know if there’s any books on LOS specifically. I wouldn’t doubt it though and will take a look around and see if I find anything. The books I do recommend though are the Teaming With series by Jeff Lowenfels.. Teaming with bacteria, Teaming with microbes, teaming with nutrients, and teaming with fungi. These books explain all of the processes occurring, what the different nutrients do, and how the plant and soil interact with each other in a pretty plain speak kind of way. It can get a little heady when first diving into it but overall the books are really accessible for anyone interested in growing and I highly recommend them for all growers synthetic and organic. They’re great references as well and even have a few recipes for yards.
Sueet
Well-Known Member
I'm extremely curious about this, but what does it mean 'living water' ? And how do you use it ?
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