Fanleaf Tries For A TLO, True Living Organics, Grow With 6 Plants

fanleaf

Well-Known Member
Hello All
It's been quite a while since I have done a grow Journal here and since I'm trying something totally new to me and I'm really excited about this grow, I figure now is the time.

This grow will be a 100% true living organic grow. I will be abiding by strict organic rules for the entire grow and we'll use absolutely nothing synthetic. This will be a first for me as I have never even completed any type of organic grow let alone a grow that abides by such strict rules. There will be no chelated synthetic stuff here. Actually we will never be directly feeding the plants at all! Instead we will be focused on nothing but feeding the microlife all that they need so they can in turn feed the plants.

I will be as absolutely detailed as possible with everything I am doing and every ingredient that I use. For this grow will probably be much more different than most organic grows that you see because in the pots we will be using fertilizer layers and homemade organic fertilizer spikes in the soil for the micro beasties to feed on as well.

I am actually deciding on the strains that will be grown as I write this first post so that will be coming up within the next hour as I update the thread with very detailed pictures of the soil that has been built and cooked as well as the strains.

I will be growing six plants in this style on this grow and we will start the sprouts in a 2'X2' tent under one of my small Cree cob LED arrays. The LED array in the 2-foot by 2-foot tent is made with 5 Cree cxb3590 chips with four of them in 3500 k and one of them in 5000k. This panel is adjustable from 0 to 280 Watts.

once the seedlings need a little more space they will go in a bigger grow room under my 25 Cree cob LED array that is adjustable from 10 watts through 2000 Watts.

we will only be using reverse osmosis water. During the grow if I am able to collect some good rain water we may mix some of that in just for the living microlife that can be in the rain water.

I plan to veg the plants for around 8 weeks before going to flower but that will also depend on size.

That is the end of this first post for this thread. Now I am going to select what strains we are going to go with and within the next hour I will post those details along with detailed pictures of the soil information and build.
Next post and pictures are coming right up!
 
Let's start by giving everyone details on the building of the soil . That is all this post will be....Just the base mix. All of the soil amendments will be in my next post.
I wanted plenty of room in the tub that I would be mixing and cooking the soil in so I stopped at my local store and bought a 27 gallon tub with a nice lid.
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To start off with, as a base we are using 6 gallons or 1 cubic foot of fox farm ocean forest soil.


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Next we are adding two gallons of Botanicare Coco Coir. I chose this brand because they let this sit outside and season for up to 18 months so there is no rinsing necessary to get rid of salts. I like the idea that they let Mother Nature clean all of the salts off of the Coco coir over a year.
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To this we are going to add 4 gallons of good quality living earthworm castings. We are also adding 2 gallons of 3/16 in pumice instead of perlite. Pumice never breaks down and microlife are supposed to love this stuff. We are also adding 2 gallons of vermiculite.
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I gave our new base mix a good mixing. After mixing oh, it is time to add all of our organic soil amendments. I will make another post within the next hour with the whole list of amendments with detailed pictures.

By the time we add all of this and all of the amendments that are comiing up in the next posts I ended up with a shade over 16 gallons soil.
 
Here comes the soil amendments! As you will notice while we build the soil there will be huge amounts of calcium in the soil. The soil will be so complete that it is possible to go start to finish with only adding good quality water. This soil will have absolutely everything needed for the plants lifespan.
1/2 cup of greensand
1/2 cup All purpose 5-5-5 organic fert
1/2 cup of Oyster shell Flour
3/4 cup of Oyster shell (crushed)
1 cup powdered Dolomite Lime
1 cup prilled Dolomite Lime
1/2 cup of Blood Meal
1/2 cup of 10-3-1 Bat Guano
2 cups of Feather Meal
2 cups of Bone Meal
3/4 cup of granular Rock Phosphate
1 Dash of powdered Rock Phosphate
1/2 cup of Gypsum Powder
3 cups of Kelp Meal
4 cups of Alfalfa Meal
3 heaping tbsp of Powdered Azomite
1/4 cup of granular Humic Acids
1 cup of organic Rice
4 cups of composted Steer Manure.
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Here is the last of the soil amendments.....
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At this point all amendments are in the soil. Have you noticed how much nitrogen and the huge amounts of calcium that are in all of the ingredients? A lot of nitrogen is needed simply so the micro beasties can multiply and grow.
Now at this point, I added 5 quarts of reverse osmosis water and mix the soil very very thoroughly.
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At this point it is an absolute must to let the soil cook. If we were to try to grow anything in this soil at this point it would burn it right up and kill anything. We have to let all of the ingredients compost for lack of better words. At this point, the pH of the soil is about 5. We need to let the soil cook for about 30 days and as it does so the pH will climb up into the range we need.
I started cooking the soil on February 3rd. On February 4th the soil was over 80 degrees in a 65 degree environment. The micro beasties were already multiplying and doing aerobics in the soil creating a whole lot of heat.

Here is the finished soil at the start of the cooking process.
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As you can see the soil is creating its own heat with all of the active micro life. Condensation just rolls off of the sides of the tote as well as the lid.
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I'm in Fanleaf. I finally made the first page too. I'm just gonna sit over here a spell.:popcorn:
Welcome. Not only the first page but the 1st person! Glad to have you. :passitleft:I am now going through my seed stockpile deciding on what strains to grow for the 6 plants. I will have them planted in soil in starter pots tonight!

This will be a very different grow for me. The last few years has been spent solely in Promix HP with the entire lineup of Advanced Nutrients which I feel I have mastered by now. I'm very excited to try something different, especially a true living organic grow.

Once we start the soil layers and spikes that will be done starting a few weeks into veg in this grow it will make it one of the very few and more (unique) organic grows.

More to come VERY soon!:)
 
On a side note . As anyone could imagine, this soil was pretty costly to get all of the ingredients needed. The awesome part about this style of grow, especially with this particular soil mix is that it can be reused over and over and over and just gets better for years! After I use this batch I can simply throw it in a tub with all of the scraps from the plants that the soil just grew, root ball and all! From there just add in a few amendments and re cook it. Not only that but with all of the ingredients bought for this soil mix I still have more than enough to make another fresh batch of soil as well.

Now, as I mentioned, we will be doing soil layers and organic made spikes. What I failed to mention was we will also be Brewing some pretty unique teas over the course of the grow as well. The main purpose of these unique organic teas are to re- inoculate the soil with fresh batches of millions of microorganisms. We will also be doing some top dressing of the soil to feed all of the living micro beasties what they need so they can in turn feed our plants.
 
Nice! Between the Revs book and talking with emilya, I am jazzed to go TLO. Unfortunately I am not having a ton of luck with my seedlings right now. Cant figure it out. Weeds are pretty darn finicky. I can grow veggies that are the envy of my neighbors, but cant grow a dang weed. I'll get it figured out, because I'm motivated to do so. I REALLY need to grow my own medicine. First, because I really function much better when I have it. I am tired of not having a 100% reliable source. I need this stuff to help me deal with my PTSD and anxiety. 2nd, as a connoisseur, I would like some weed that is actually cured and provides a smooth enjoyable smoke. Lastly, but also just as important (to me anyway) is overall quality. the last few times I got my stash, it was so dang over dried it would practically turn to dust just from handling it lightly. Also, it has not been the best tasting. I need to master this for myself. Then I can start choosing to grow the strains that agree with my pallet.
On another note, how are those awesome LED'S you made? I LOVE those sweet full spectrum cobs you built. I'd like to replicate what you have done with those after you see how they do. How many grows have you ran them on so far?
 
On another note, how are those awesome LED'S you made? I LOVE those sweet full spectrum cobs you built. I'd like to replicate what you have done with those after you see how they do. How many grows have you ran them on so far?
I have ran 6-10 full cycles on them. Haven't had a single hiccup and wouldn't trade em for anything. The way I built the panel's where I can adjust my Spectrum really works well for me.
Unfortunately I am not having a ton of luck with my seedlings right now. Cant figure it out.
Is the problem you're having getting the seeds to sprout? Or is it just when they are brand-new babies your having trouble at that point?
I REALLY need to grow my own medicine. First, because I really function much better when I have it. 2nd, as a connoisseur, I would like some weed that is actually cured and provides a smooth enjoyable smoke.
I feel the same way. I mean, I would need to have it either way but to grow the absolute best weed I can grow is even more important to me. I have grown the same way for the last few years and have it down to a T but I want to give TLO a shot to see if the quality improves without too much sacrifice in the quantity. It took me quite a few grows to get the drying and curing process down right where it is perfectly dry without smelling like hay. Over the last few years it's gotten to a point to where you almost need to double bag it otherwise it'll stink you out of the house.... in a good stinky way though LOL.
I feel I'm so good with my promix HP and Advanced Nutrient routine that this grow will have to be quite exceptional not to be a letdown. I don't expect Perfection this go round, being my first time and all but in order for me to keep repeating TLO it needs to be quite exceptional.
 
Well, I am good at germinating them, but somthing is up with 3 of the 9 right now and I dont know what it is. I can find lots of pics of sick or deficient plants in veg or flower, but no seedlings. So I am having trouble diagnosing it. I can post a pic if you want, or you can look at the last entry in my grow journal. There is a link in my signature.
 
Well, I am good at germinating them, but somthing is up with 3 of the 9 right now and I dont know what it is. I can find lots of pics of sick or deficient plants in veg or flower, but no seedlings. So I am having trouble diagnosing it. I can post a pic if you want, or you can look at the last entry in my grow journal. There is a link in my signature.
That picture is very interesting. I'm pretty sure I could take a good stab at what the problem with those are but I am not 100% positive. My guess would be they probably are getting over a mild root issue. I bet as they grow now you probably won't see any more of them blotches on the Leafs. I'm guessing that they stayed too drenched for too long. I think it was a combination of the wet soil with the humidity cups over the top of them. At that point you're soil is not only soaked but the plant doesn't transpire because there's 100% humidity so everything just sits. I would bet that it started to tear up on the roots fireplace. Like I said though I don't think it's going to cause you any issues from now on. I'm interested to see what Em says about it too. I really don't think you have anything to worry about. When they are in veg you can get them through about anyting.
 
Wow, this will be fun to watch. :popcorn:
That headband strain sounds appealing.
Sooooo, were you able to source all the ingredients locally, or was it an amazon order from hell?
Thanks for stopping in. Pull up a seat and enjoy.
Honestly, I only picked up a few things from a local Hydro Store as I was just passing through. Everything else I picked up online and had it shipped. I think I only bought three or four ingredients locally. I just Hunted online and found the best prices I could. Although I normally do like to support some of the local stores it seems that sometimes it's actually cheaper to buy things online even with shipping so you're not spending money on fuel running all over the place LOL. Yeah I have probably a half a dozen ingredients that came from Amazon. The rest from eBay and online hydro stores.
You know it's crazy when you can buy a huge bag of fox farm ocean forest soil cheaper online than you can find locally. I couldn't believe that considering it had to be shipped when purchased online. Oh, and I did pick up the steer manure from Lowe's LOL. The manure is a 50 pound bag that only cost $5. Only using 4 cups in the recipe I will have enough for a lifetime.
 
I'm really liking that malawi-Panama cross. Have you had it before?
Same here. I have not had it. Believe it or not that was a free seed from Seedsman when I ordered that brand new 16%CBD strain Master Hemp. I am very excited to grow that seed. My Hope's are high for that one. I like everything I see about it. I will be ordering more if it's as good as it seems.
 
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