How to grow no till style in 65-100 gallon Smart Pots

[Cloudydreamz]

OK first things first I've had about 3 years of indoor growing experience using coco coir and Botanicare nutrients. I build my own DIY cob lights and I have to say I'm a very good at what I do indoors. But I'm not very experienced with outdoor or organic growing and that has to change.

I'm in the middle of closing on a house with 5 acres and I can't do indoor there except maybe a small tent to start my seeds and clones for outdoor this year. I should be on this new property by April 1st or soon after. I'll be growing at 6500ft in Colorado and my last frost is on May 19 so I'm going to shoot for May 20 as my in the ground day. I have to cut no later than Oct 10, Now here's what I think I'm going to do and maybe you guys can help out with the details.

The soil mix per 9 cubic ft :


1 part Roots Organic 707 blend(1 bag)
1 part Malibu compost Bu's blend(3 bags)
1 part Wiggle Worm EWC(3 bags)

To that I will amend with:

Bio-live 5-4-2@1/4cup per gal=15cups
Kelp meal 1-.1-2@2-3 tbsp per gal=8cups
Neem seed 6-1-2@1/8cup per gal=7.5cups

I will mix this up, make EWC tea and add Imo2 and LAB(korean natural farming) to the tea, I will then spray my soil blend down with tea and cover with a tarp so it can age about 30 days.

I will then fill up my Big Fabric pots with the soil and plant some clover or spread straw. Hopefully by May 20 my seeds(Germed about 3/15) will have rooted good in 10 gal pots and are knee to waist high or more.

Im Planting May 6-20 no matter what!
Im going to make EWC and compost tea and feed them that once a week.

After that I'm not really sure what to do because I've never grown with a pot I couldn't pick up or with organics. Here is some questions that if answered, could really help me and alot of other people out:

1) Do you guys think this soil recipe is good for no till? Would you change it or add anything to it?

2) How should I water such a big pot at the start of the grow like, how many gallons? How do I know when the roots have spread enough to water a whole 65 gallon pot? Or a 100gal?

3) When do I add more dry ferts to the plants?

4) How often do I top dress with compost and dry ferts?

5) What ferts should I add for flowering and when should I add them or should i put them in my starting mix?

When do I stop topdressing if I know I'm harvesting on Oct 15?
There will of course be a few more questions as this thread progresses and I will upload a journal for this grow season 2018 thanks in advance for anyone that can contribute sound advice on organic and big container outdoor growing!

You can find me on Instagram and YouTube under the name cloudyfarms
Check me out and stay lifted farmers!

 

[InTheShed]

Greetings CD! You're working well outside my scope of knowledge but I would like to point you to the amazing outdoor grower Sphnx and the trees he grows. You can find his latest journal here:
Sphnx's Norcal Outdoor Season

It is worth the read as he touches on a lot of your questions as he goes.

 

[Cloudydreamz]

Greetings CD! You're working well outside my scope of knowledge but I would like to point you to the amazing outdoor grower Sphnx and the trees he grows. You can find his latest journal here:
Sphnx's Norcal Outdoor Season

It is worth the read as he touches on a lot of your questions as he goes.

Thank-you for the link I'll definitely check it out!

 

[Conradino23]

Hey man, first thing first you use either EWC or compost in your mix, you don't need both or 50/50, but you cut the amount by half. Also bags don't tell me anything, you need to give me the total weight, weight of amendments and their NPK percentage. But you just can't create a good mix this way, it'd have to go through lab analysis to estimate CEC, C:N ratio, base saturation and Ca/Mg ratio.

 

[Tattoodlineman]

I’ve used this recipe for years and has never let me down. Might not be perfect, I’m no professional but it gets pretty darn close to where I need to be. Btw I can usually fill 2, 100 gal pots with this batch.

Approx 300# compost soil ( 3 scoops of my bucket loader)
30# organic worm castings
6# fish bone meal
1 cup dolomite lime
5# blood meal
1 cup Epsom salt
1 cup azomite
5# bat guano
+ or - 20% perlite

I find it easier to mix each batch in small kiddy pool. ( I use my backhoe )
I then lay all my mixes onto a huge tarp, in a sunny area, mixing weekly until all the ingredients are broken down. Water it down as needed btw or it will dry up.

I also like to try to be done early October, tho not always possible. Find yourself good quality stains fast flowering and mold resistant.
Good luck on your new 5acres my friend. Grow some monsters in those 100gal pots!

 

[Blew Hiller]

I grow in greenhouses, but usually they are fully vented April-Nov so some consider that "outdoors". All natural lighting (except to start seedlings in March like I am currently doing). Just legal in Maine last year so it was my first season. I used 20/25 gallon fabric pots that worked well but by July/August the plants were maxed out in growth. Was also hard to keep them watered as (it seemed!) like 90% of the pot was roots. Plants were big and healthy, but they can always be bigger/better so this year I am going with 65-gallon. It will be easier to water them and I think the plants will just be happier and healthier. I plan to saturate fully (in veg stage) every 3 days and every 2 days (if needed) in flower. Last year, in 25 gallon pots, it seemed as if they wanted water every day in flower. One nice thing about a 65 over a 100 is you might be able to actually move a 65! Sometimes you might need to shift things in the GH and sliding a 65 is easier than a 100.

Nice to hear @Tattoodlineman working with his bucket! Don't hear much about moving large amounts of soil on indoor grows. I too have a large compost pile that is my main soil supply and, to this, I add vermicomposted soil. Both of these take a little planning ahead but you can be ready for next year. Even if you get a load of crap dirt delivered at your place this summer you can augment it cheaply where it will be usable as a base soil next year. Worms are easy as well. I fill multiple containers with old soil and/or leaves, feed and water them 2-3 times over summer and then allow the finished material to overwinter (covered) and use this as my secret ingredient for plant nutrients. Usually 50/50 with regular composted soil.

So, can't comment on the bag soil question you asked...just throwing out some words of encouragement to look long term at making your own soil (and maybe adding some vermicomposting) and saving $ for the future.

Congrats on the acreage and good growing.