Emmie's Berry D'licious 2019 True Living Organic: No AACT, SCROG, COB, SuperSoil Production Grow & Seed Run

[Emilya Green]

I will be growing out a special gift that came just for me from @santero, the well known German breeder, called Berry D-licious ... a cross between Shishkaberry x Sour Diesel. Thanks San!

From Leafly:
Shishkaberry, or “Kish,” is an indica-dominant hybrid that came about from crossing DJ Short Blueberry with an unknown Afghani strain. This plant will mature in 8 to 9 weeks and should yield a fairly high amount of flowers. Shiskaberry’s buds have a fruit and berry aroma and will be painted with shades of purple. Its initial head buzz is happy and good for finishing things up or being social, but once its indica side kicks in, lazy is the word.
Sour Diesel, sometimes called Sour D, is an invigorating sativa-dominant strain named after its pungent, diesel-like aroma. This fast-acting strain delivers energizing, dreamy cerebral effects that have pushed Sour Diesel to its legendary status. Stress, pain, and depression fade away in long-lasting relief that makes Sour Diesel a top choice among medical patients. This strain took root in the early 90's, and it is believed to have descended from Chemdog 91 and Super Skunk.

From OpenGrow I grabbed a couple of pictures from @santero 's journal to show what this beauty is expected to turn into. I only hope to do it justice.


My goal will be to bloom 2 large plants under a 2x4' SCROG maximizing my new COB lights while also producing a couple of carefully fertilized buds for seeds in the process. I have started 7 of my 10 seeds with this goal in mind.

They were dropped into spring water yesterday afternoon, and this morning with just a bit of agitation all 7 seeds sunk to the bottom of the bowl. I predict a good run.

I have been working on one of my bins of supersoil by adding quite a few amendments to it for this landmark grow. I have added some partially used bags of all the stuff laying around here, some earthworm castings, old forest humus, a half a bag of perlite... and then I mixed in more of the good stuff by adding back in to this well used soil a goodly amount of azomite, oyster shell flour, dolomite, epsom salt, bone meal, RealGrower's Recharge, Happy Frog 5-5-5 organic, rock phosphate, humic acid... and the result of all this mixing is a sweet smelling soil that smells just like the forest floor.
I realized when I smelled it that this soil is just fine and very rich, and I have put off my plan B of buying one of the commercial supersoils... my 7 year old soil is just fine. The majority of this mix will cook for the next 2 months and will be used as a base layer in final 10 gallon GeoPots and I will start up this weekend germinating and moving to solo cups. I will sneak a bit of this newly amended soil into the bottoms of all of the containers as we successively uppot so that some of this mineralized soil will be at every layer for the roots to eventually find.
This run will also be the first run with my new COB lights and I am reasonably sure that by running a SCROG I will be able to keep my canopy at exactly 16", or the hotspot of these lights, and all the numbers tell me that I will be experiencing the best lighting I have ever had indoors for this run. I am very hopeful for very good things to happen. Throughout this run I will be referring to the numbers found after doing extensive tests of these lights and their pattern.
LUX, Wattage & Distance Analysis: 6x CREE CXB3590 Array
The big experiment on this run is going to be in not doing any of my traditional actively aerated compost teas (AACT) to provide supplements to the active microlife in the soil. Instead of constantly mixing up brews specific to the stage of the grow and dealing with the multi-day smelly, messy brewing process, I am going to make a modern attempt to do away with all of that and instead use one of the instant microbe products now available to growers. There are several of these out on the market these days and two others that I know about are URB and Voodoo Juice. These liquid products are quite expensive and probably cost prohibitive to someone curious about organic gardening but not quite sure they want to make the plunge, especially if they are expected to trust in an unknown expensive product and process.
I am going to use the cheapest alternative to these products that I have found, the freeze/dried, microbes in a bag, RealGrower's Recharge. This mix of instant microbes is so strong that they claim you can even use chlorinated water (although I will not), and it won't significantly influence the population. That is a very impressive claim, and I intend to see what this product can do in my cannabis garden after playing with it this summer in my outdoor tomato garden. It seems to be very good stuff, and I intend to prove that you can now grow organically without all the fuss and mess and knowledge level previously required of True Living Organics by using these very powerful products and with the one I chose, it appears it can be done very economically.
So, here we go! I will have great soil, new lights and amazing genetics... this should be epic.!
Thank you for following along! I hope we learn a lot of new things together!
Emmers

 

[Old Salt]

Good luck with what looks to become a very interesting grow.

 

[irie lion]

Hey Emy, i'll join in for the ride!
Nice genetics, sounds like a nice cross. Looking forward to see your lights in action!
Happy growing see you around.

 

[Emilya Green]

Thank you to everyone who has joined or looked in so far.
We had mild excitement in the garden yesterday and this morning. The seeds are quickly coming to life and 4 of the 7 had tap roots at 1/2 inch this morning and needed to be put into soil. Two of the others are showing the first signs of a foot coming out, and one seed is still just sitting there on the paper towel.
Yes, I decided (laziness) to not do the clinical cotton ball thing this time, and I just used a well rinsed out paper towel under saran wrap...
The solo cups were built with 1/3 supersoil at the bottom, and the top 2/3 is a mixture of FFOF and Roots Organic 101... in my world that is about as inert at soil gets.
The 4 sprouts that were ready have been placed 1/2 inch down, pointy end down, and the top 1/3 or so of the soil was watered very slowly so as to not float the sprout. I will continue to lightly water at least twice a day until I see the seedling pop the surface.

 

[Emilya Green]

This morning brings the count up to 5 viable seeds that have made it through germination. Two of the seeds appear to not be working... the one with the early foot has stopped and the other never started. I will give it another day under the plastic wrap and on the wet paper towel... but with 5, I like my odds.
No one has popped to the surface yet... probably tomorrow we start seeing a few of them. A re-energized carbon filter has been hung in the tent and the lights have been tested. I am ready to hit the seedlings with 5,000 LUX of 3000k light, only running half of my COBS for now, at a cool 25w of power from the wall!

 

[clrwatrtom]

When do you find time do do anything after answering all my questions?

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Hi @Emilya ... I am looking forward to learning with you on this grow.

I have been researching and growing cannabis for about 2 months now. Right now my focus is on trying to understand the cycle of "water -> nutrients -> medium" . A big part of this is learning about pH, alkalinity, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, micro-organisms and how their complex interaction supports healthy root systems.

It's going to be interesting to watch you "Measure and Manage" your light and distance parameters.

I just a new Vivosun 2'x4' tent (Amazon Prime Days 30% off ... I like saving money) ... so I will try to follow along. I currently have my 2 Bakerstreet photoperiods in 5 gallon pots but I will now transplant them into 10 gallon pots and setup a ScrOG above them.

I'm curious why you choose 10 gallon instead of 5 gallon, 7 gallon, or 15 gallon? Root mass? Organic slow-release? pH creep?

I have spent a lot of time learning about training the plant using topping, lining, and fluxing ... but it is difficult to manually keep the canopy even. I am thinking now, ... that a 2'x4' tent with a ScrOG will be much easier. I will be able to just reach in, do the work within easy reach, and not have to move the plants around. This means I won't accidentally break stems or disturb the roots while moving the plants.

In your opinion, is AACT, Recharge, Bokasi Pro-Gro, and B-52/Rhino Skin/Voodoo Juice/Piranha/Tarantula pretty much the same?

I am starting to think that there are a lot more cheaper and organic ways to get the same growth effects as the more expensive line-up of popular supplements like Advanced Nutrients and Fox Farm. Unfortunately I still have to rely on the pre-packaged science until I learn more about the details and can do-it-myself.

Also, I heard that if you have healthy micro-organisms, roots and soil, then you don't need base nutrients and a bunch of the other additives.

Is this part of your supersoil and Recharge plan for this grow?

Have a great day!

TTYL

 

[Old Salt]

Hi @Emilya ... I am looking forward to learning with you on this grow.

I have been researching and growing cannabis for about 2 months now. Right now my focus is on trying to understand the cycle of "water -> nutrients -> medium" . A big part of this is learning about pH, alkalinity, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, micro-organisms and how their complex interaction supports healthy root systems.

It's going to be interesting to watch you "Measure and Manage" your light and distance parameters.

I just a new Vivosun 2'x4' tent (Amazon Prime Days 30% off ... I like saving money) ... so I will try to follow along. I currently have my 2 Bakerstreet photoperiods in 5 gallon pots but I will now transplant them into 10 gallon pots and setup a ScrOG above them.

I'm curious why you choose 10 gallon instead of 5 gallon, 7 gallon, or 15 gallon? Root mass? Organic slow-release? pH creep?

I have spent a lot of time learning about training the plant using topping, lining, and fluxing ... but it is difficult to manually keep the canopy even. I am thinking now, ... that a 2'x4' tent with a ScrOG will be much easier. I will be able to just reach in, do the work within easy reach, and not have to move the plants around. This means I won't accidentally break stems or disturb the roots while moving the plants.

In your opinion, is AACT, Recharge, Bokasi Pro-Gro, and B-52/Rhino Skin/Voodoo Juice/Piranha/Tarantula pretty much the same?

I am starting to think that there are a lot more cheaper and organic ways to get the same growth effects as the more expensive line-up of popular supplements like Advanced Nutrients and Fox Farm. Unfortunately I still have to rely on the pre-packaged science until I learn more about the details and can do-it-myself.

Also, I heard that if you have healthy micro-organisms, roots and soil, then you don't need base nutrients and a bunch of the other additives.

Is this part of your supersoil and Recharge plan for this grow?

Have a great day!

TTYL

First grow?

I started with a similar 5' tall grow tent. You may encounter problems with the height. If you move the in-line fan and filter out of the tent, you'll have at most 30" above ground for your plants. This assumes 18" for a LED light, its minimum distance to the canopy, and 12" for your containers etc. I didn't grow SCRoG, but flipped when the plants were about half the final size I wanted. Every grow had them reach into and over the light.

In my opinion 5' and shorter tents are good from seed to early veg (late veg if indica) or growing as a SCRoG. Since that's the way you intend to go, you should be OK. It will be labor intensive. Folks have done it with less height.

Bakerstreet genetics indicates you are in Canada. Check out Grow Lights Canada, as they are a retailer for our sponsor Mars Hydro. They carry a 2' X 4' X 7'-8' tent that I replaced my 5' tent with. They are good people. I've dealt with them, and a sister company they own for over ten years.

 

[Canuckush]

Following!

 

[Emilya Green]

Hi @Emilya ... I am looking forward to learning with you on this grow.

I have been researching and growing cannabis for about 2 months now. Right now my focus is on trying to understand the cycle of "water -> nutrients -> medium" . A big part of this is learning about pH, alkalinity, macro-nutrients, micro-nutrients, micro-organisms and how their complex interaction supports healthy root systems.

It's going to be interesting to watch you "Measure and Manage" your light and distance parameters.

I just a new Vivosun 2'x4' tent (Amazon Prime Days 30% off ... I like saving money) ... so I will try to follow along. I currently have my 2 Bakerstreet photoperiods in 5 gallon pots but I will now transplant them into 10 gallon pots and setup a ScrOG above them.

I'm curious why you choose 10 gallon instead of 5 gallon, 7 gallon, or 15 gallon? Root mass? Organic slow-release? pH creep?

I have spent a lot of time learning about training the plant using topping, lining, and fluxing ... but it is difficult to manually keep the canopy even. I am thinking now, ... that a 2'x4' tent with a ScrOG will be much easier. I will be able to just reach in, do the work within easy reach, and not have to move the plants around. This means I won't accidentally break stems or disturb the roots while moving the plants.

In your opinion, is AACT, Recharge, Bokasi Pro-Gro, and B-52/Rhino Skin/Voodoo Juice/Piranha/Tarantula pretty much the same?

I am starting to think that there are a lot more cheaper and organic ways to get the same growth effects as the more expensive line-up of popular supplements like Advanced Nutrients and Fox Farm. Unfortunately I still have to rely on the pre-packaged science until I learn more about the details and can do-it-myself.

Also, I heard that if you have healthy micro-organisms, roots and soil, then you don't need base nutrients and a bunch of the other additives.

Is this part of your supersoil and Recharge plan for this grow?

Have a great day!

TTYL

Hi @SQl2kGuy, what a great set of questions to start this grow! The key to getting a soil that does not need additional nutrients throughout the grow is in the proper balance of mineralization in that soil. Too much of one thing can lock out others, so certain ratios need to be kept within limits. This is why I don't try to engineer my own soil... I don't know enough. I start out with a good base soil and then I follow a well known and well tested recipe to build the mineralization in that soil. When I researched it out years ago I fell in love with SubCool's recipe and I built 50 gallons of the stuff.

In your opinion, is AACT, Recharge, Bokasi Pro-Gro, and B-52/Rhino Skin/Voodoo Juice/Piranha/Tarantula pretty much the same?

There are differences and some that are better than others because of that. Voodoo Juice, URB and Recharge get away from the nutrient model and specialize in creating a healthy population of exactly the microbes that we want to introduce into our mineralized soil. The microbes in these mixes are strongly specialized in exactly the minerals that we need them to be and they are not intended to also serve the purpose of being a nutrient because any nutrients in those mixes are not for the plants, they are there to keep the microbes happy. Compare this to an AACT where we are essentially winging it... again we may use tried and true recipes, but there is no guarantee that in our kitchen, with our mix and our air pump, that we get the same results that the pros can get in their highly specialized culture vats where they are growing one specific microbe at a time. Korean gardening methods are also good, but not as complete as the modern products that include many more species of microbes, fungi and beneficial nematodes.

I'm curious why you choose 10 gallon instead of 5 gallon, 7 gallon, or 15 gallon? Root mass? Organic slow-release? pH creep?

I chose a larger container over the 3 gallon containers I ran last time because I was taught again the need to have enough soil to be able to provide all of the minerals needed through a long grow. I do plan on vegging a bit longer on this run so as to maximize final yield, and I wanted enough soil to support that. I am also a recent winner of the Member of the Month contest, and one of my prizes was 5 10gal GeoPots... it would be a shame not to use them. I am also wanting to get some good yield out of this run, and the best way to do that is to veg a bit longer and finish in a larger container. In a 2x4 area, 2 large plants is all I am willing to attempt.
I am not sure what organic slow release is or pH creep, but being an organic grower pH is not even on my radar screen. The only time you need to adjust pH is when you are using synthetic nutes.

Also, I heard that if you have healthy micro-organisms, roots and soil, then you don't need base nutrients and a bunch of the other additives. Is this part of your supersoil and Recharge plan for this grow?

Healthy soil just means not unhealthy, but if you have a strongly mineralized soil you do not need to buy additional nutrients, if you have living microbes and fungi in that soil, breaking down those minerals into usable forms that the plants can use. This is the whole purpose of the supersoil and the spikes and layers that I will use to build all of my containers as we successively uppot toward the 10 gallon final containers. There are two main paths for the organic gardener to go, TLO or LOS. LOS stands for Living Organic Soil, and is the true and sustainable organic method, if you have the ability to maintain it. To keep the soil living requires large containers and strict organic farming techniques even as far away as the compost pile. I am using TLO, which stands for True Living Organic, and instead of striving to keep the soil itself alive, I supplement the living microbes and fungi and beneficial nematodes regularly by using AACT or in this grow, RealGrower's Recharge. Both methods are essentially the same as far as the plant is concerned, we feed the microbes and make sure they are populating the soil sufficiently, and they feed the plants.

 

[clrwatrtom]

i'm watchin Emmy. you have already taught me so much.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

First grow?

I started with a similar 5' tall grow tent. You may encounter problems with the height. If you move the in-line fan and filter out of the tent, you'll have at most 30" above ground for your plants. This assumes 18" for a LED light, its minimum distance to the canopy, and 12" for your containers etc. I didn't grow SCRoG, but flipped when the plants were about half the final size I wanted. Every grow had them reach into and over the light.

In my opinion 5' and shorter tents are good from seed to early veg (late veg if indica) or growing as a SCRoG. Since that's the way you intend to go, you should be OK. It will be labor intensive. Folks have done it with less height.

Bakerstreet genetics indicates you are in Canada. Check out Grow Lights Canada, as they are a retailer for our sponsor Mars Hydro. They carry a 2' X 4' X 7'-8' tent that I replaced my 5' tent with. They are good people. I've dealt with them, and a sister company they own for over ten years.

Hi again @Old Salt ... always a pleasure chatting with you!

Yes ... this is my very first grow ... although I did have a vegetable garden for one year a long time ago.

Wow! Thanks for the feedback ... I read about the height and went ... Doh ... I didn't think about that ... I'm glad I'm going with the ScrOG!

I picked up a 4'x4'x7' tent on sale yesterday for US$75 ... so I think maybe I can use that for the photoperiod veg grows, mother plants, cloning and autoflowers.

I ran out of space in my original tent, so my friend's kids are going to take my old tent when they move into their new place.

I'm trying to get more organized, and everything I read said ... have a small tent and a big tent if you have the space.

Originally, I was thinking about mostly growing autoflowers, but the more I learn, I think it might be wiser to grow large photoperiods vegged for 3 months ... or photoperiods using 12-12 from seed ... or photoperiod SOGs ... and clone instead of buying autoflower seeds.

Overall, I think there may be more a lot more opportunities with growing photoperiods.

Alright, we are off for a country drive and to put flowers on my friend's grandmother's grave ... she does that every month.

TTYL

 

[FishEyedFool]

An answered prayer. Emmy has a new grow journal. God is good. I'm in Em!

 

[Emilya Green]

I have some good news to report! I can see two of our plants just popping the surface.

The two that were planted yesterday still have not reached the top, but I remain very hopeful for these seem to be exceptionally vigorous plants.

The one still on the paper towel doing nothing is still doing exactly that, nothing. I am losing hope on that one, but this is why I started 7 seeds instead of 5... it is not the end of the world.

The other one sitting there with the early 2mm foot still has a 2mm foot, but I planted it anyway and labeled that cup so I can know why it fails to emerge. I am hoping that the good stuff in the soil will jump start this seed back into doing something... a few days from now we will know.

They have all been moved into the grow tent and the lights are still up quite high, taking full advantage of the lights to combine their outputs across the field. At 24" above the soil surface, I carefully adjusted the output to 5000 lux, and with 3 COBs activated, I am pulling a whopping 37.4 watts.

So here we go... day one of veg should be officially marked on the calendar as tomorrow!

 

[Emilya Green]

I spoke about how vigorous these plants already appeared to be. The last picture was about 6 hours ago as the sprout was just breaking the surface. Since then, both plants have cleared the surface with 1/2 inch growth and thrown out their cotyledons. I am keeping the lights on 24/0 at the moment and I expect to see more have popped the surface by morning. These two should be half a foot tall by then.

 

[Scottsquatch]

Subbed.

 

[Scottsquatch]

What can you tell us about your new cobbs? Are they commercial lights or did you build them yourself? BTW, have you seen my journal lately?

 

[Emilya Green]

What can you tell us about your new cobbs? Are they commercial lights or did you build them yourself? BTW, have you seen my journal lately?

Hi Scott! My new lights are home made, comprised of 6X chip (CXB3590 90 CRI) divided between 2 banks, each with its own power supply and metering so I can directly adjust the wattage being used. Each 100w COB is being run between 5-80w, with the peak efficiency at around 60w.
I do look in on a goodly number of journals each time they are updated, and yours is one of them. I have been noticing great improvement lately and I love that you are experimenting with all the methods that you are, now including hempy! You remind me of me!

 

[Emilya Green]

It starts today! A third one is up and I see rising on the other two. No word from Ms. 2mm foot yet. Nothing is afoot.

 

[Jdeck]

We’re in big trouble if I’m the only one who brought snacks. Ready to enjoy the show Emilya. Cheers!!