Welcome to the newcomers and welcome back to the returning folks! I’m going to be launching a second grow with the same bagseed I sourced for my first grow that turned out excellent after a major intervention. All of the hardware will be the same, the area will be expanded, and the style will be refined.
Last grow I learned some lessons, and shot off into multiple avenues of learning. I read True Living Organics by The Rev which lead to Teaming with microbes, teaming with nutrients, and teaming with fungi. I couldn’t put them down and have now read each multiple times, learning something new every time. I’ve also watched many of Dr Elaine Inghams soil food web lectures. I am going to take the lessons I learned from my grow, and the knowledge from the books and lectures, and apply them to this grow and hopefully can double my results four times over.
I believe the plant in concert with the soil food web can grow itself far better than I could ever even dream of doing. I have seen the results of giving the plant the reins. SIP and TLO/LOS growers know what I’m talking about!
Safety First:
Safety is huge when it comes to growing indoors. The last thing any of us want to do is burn our homes down trying to grow plants. For safety I have a smoke detector installed, and a fire extinguisher by the door. I use only UL listed extension cords, surge protectors, and timers. My light is American made, IP65 water resistant rated, UL 8800 certified, and it is on its own circuit. The heater(s) when needed are placed on their own circuit that is shared by the blower. I make sure the heater(s) have at least 3 feet of clearance all around them and keep the plug elevated or on a heat resistant surface. The rest of the equipment in the room (fans, humidifiers, etc.) is on a separate circuit dedicated to the room as well
Hardware (Light, Area, Equipment, etc.):
For my light I will be using a ROI E720. I won’t mention the company but the light is easily googled.
I will flower a 4x4 area in my attic. Last grow I used cannibalized gorilla grow tent pieces and made a makeshift tent in the attic. This time I pushed the wall pieces out giving me up to 3 extra feet in some areas so I will be able to walk around my entire grow area freely.
I have one oscillating fan, one small clip fan, a 6 inch blower, and a humidifier. High humidity is not an issue until summer time, which I will not be growing during the summer indoors.
Medium and Mix Breakdown:
So this will be a TLO/LOS style using Coast of Maine Stonington blend soil, with coast of maine amendments. I also have some 4-4-4 organic all purpose from Jobes I will be using in my base mix.
I do not use chelated nutrients. I originally was going to try to do an “organicish” grow where I’d use any products listed as OMRI but quickly realized that was a terrible idea and wasn’t really “organic”. This left me with a surplus of items and soil, so I will be using the rest of the soil and the amendments in this manner so when this grow is complete I can begin recycling and building a new soil from it.
It is a peat based soil however the peat is sustainably harvested and will have a long decomposition time due to its origin. This will allow me to recycle this soil multiple times while I hunt down a long term replacement.
The base mix will be 4 gallons of Stonington blend Platinum growers mix (aka organic growers mix) , 4 gallons of perlite, 4 gallons of Gaia green EWC (my grow shop didn’t have CoM EWC) and 4 tbsp of 4-4-4
This will make (4) 3 gallon smart pots.
I’ve chosen perlite for its surface area and ability to withstand the high levels of microbial action that will take place.
I will use spring water and seedling starter mix during seedling stage and transition to RO water and my base mix for veg and flower when I uppot.
Amendments/Nutrients:
I will be using layers and spikes which I will breakdown the details of as I create them. They are what they sound like. Specific layers of organic matter and nutrients in the container with spikes of amendments/organic matter driven through the entire medium.
The ingredients for layers and spikes will be CoM lobster compost, EWC, Stonington Blend Plant Food (alfalfa meal, kelp meal, etc.) CoM fish bone meal, and perlite. I have blood meal and steamed fish bone meal on hand in case of emergencies but I don’t believe I’ll need it. As I make the layers and spikes I will more fully detail exactly what they’re made of.
Myco was an issue last grow. I spawned it early in the grow but along the way it was either outcompeted or destroyed. This time I’m not taking that chance. Myco is so crucial to obtaining nutrients in hard to break bonds, it can deliver up to 50% of a plants P need alone! I will be rolling my seeds in myco, lining my first hole with it, and when transitioning to veg I will dust the root ball. I will use fish fert initially to feed the fungus until it obtains colonization then will let the bacteria unleash itself.
I may need to use a compost tea or two just to maintain a balance in the soil food web. The additional organic matter I will be adding in layers and spikes should ward off carbon issues.
I will post the tea recipes I use as well as pictures so everyone can follow along.
Conclusion:
I will attempt to be as transparent, informative and responsive as possible. I will post amounts, measurements and ingredients as they’re used. If you look back at my previous grow journal you can see I have a tendency to overshare and update often lol. I believe that these journals are where some of the best information and discussions can be found. Anyone and everyone is welcome to comment, criticize, recommend, or quietly follow along. Linking to other journals, images, and outside sources is welcome as long as it is somewhat on topic.
I have no sponsors, I have no sponsored equipment, and I am not employed by any growing related service. I’m a disabled veteran that works part time picking up dog poop and the rest of the time is spent with my kids and my plants. Any mention of any product I use should not be misconstrued as having the support of 420 magazine or it’s staff. I am an independent private grower who uses what I can find to grow what I can. I live in an American major metropolitan area so any products I use should be relatively easy to find or source for those in similar circumstances.
If for some reason I do have some sort of personal interest in a products success I will state it explicitly and clearly.
That’s it for the introduction! I am starting to wind up the grow now and will post as soon as I get seeds in water!
Last grow I learned some lessons, and shot off into multiple avenues of learning. I read True Living Organics by The Rev which lead to Teaming with microbes, teaming with nutrients, and teaming with fungi. I couldn’t put them down and have now read each multiple times, learning something new every time. I’ve also watched many of Dr Elaine Inghams soil food web lectures. I am going to take the lessons I learned from my grow, and the knowledge from the books and lectures, and apply them to this grow and hopefully can double my results four times over.
I believe the plant in concert with the soil food web can grow itself far better than I could ever even dream of doing. I have seen the results of giving the plant the reins. SIP and TLO/LOS growers know what I’m talking about!
Safety First:
Safety is huge when it comes to growing indoors. The last thing any of us want to do is burn our homes down trying to grow plants. For safety I have a smoke detector installed, and a fire extinguisher by the door. I use only UL listed extension cords, surge protectors, and timers. My light is American made, IP65 water resistant rated, UL 8800 certified, and it is on its own circuit. The heater(s) when needed are placed on their own circuit that is shared by the blower. I make sure the heater(s) have at least 3 feet of clearance all around them and keep the plug elevated or on a heat resistant surface. The rest of the equipment in the room (fans, humidifiers, etc.) is on a separate circuit dedicated to the room as well
Hardware (Light, Area, Equipment, etc.):
For my light I will be using a ROI E720. I won’t mention the company but the light is easily googled.
I will flower a 4x4 area in my attic. Last grow I used cannibalized gorilla grow tent pieces and made a makeshift tent in the attic. This time I pushed the wall pieces out giving me up to 3 extra feet in some areas so I will be able to walk around my entire grow area freely.
I have one oscillating fan, one small clip fan, a 6 inch blower, and a humidifier. High humidity is not an issue until summer time, which I will not be growing during the summer indoors.
Medium and Mix Breakdown:
So this will be a TLO/LOS style using Coast of Maine Stonington blend soil, with coast of maine amendments. I also have some 4-4-4 organic all purpose from Jobes I will be using in my base mix.
I do not use chelated nutrients. I originally was going to try to do an “organicish” grow where I’d use any products listed as OMRI but quickly realized that was a terrible idea and wasn’t really “organic”. This left me with a surplus of items and soil, so I will be using the rest of the soil and the amendments in this manner so when this grow is complete I can begin recycling and building a new soil from it.
It is a peat based soil however the peat is sustainably harvested and will have a long decomposition time due to its origin. This will allow me to recycle this soil multiple times while I hunt down a long term replacement.
The base mix will be 4 gallons of Stonington blend Platinum growers mix (aka organic growers mix) , 4 gallons of perlite, 4 gallons of Gaia green EWC (my grow shop didn’t have CoM EWC) and 4 tbsp of 4-4-4
This will make (4) 3 gallon smart pots.
I’ve chosen perlite for its surface area and ability to withstand the high levels of microbial action that will take place.
I will use spring water and seedling starter mix during seedling stage and transition to RO water and my base mix for veg and flower when I uppot.
Amendments/Nutrients:
I will be using layers and spikes which I will breakdown the details of as I create them. They are what they sound like. Specific layers of organic matter and nutrients in the container with spikes of amendments/organic matter driven through the entire medium.
The ingredients for layers and spikes will be CoM lobster compost, EWC, Stonington Blend Plant Food (alfalfa meal, kelp meal, etc.) CoM fish bone meal, and perlite. I have blood meal and steamed fish bone meal on hand in case of emergencies but I don’t believe I’ll need it. As I make the layers and spikes I will more fully detail exactly what they’re made of.
Myco was an issue last grow. I spawned it early in the grow but along the way it was either outcompeted or destroyed. This time I’m not taking that chance. Myco is so crucial to obtaining nutrients in hard to break bonds, it can deliver up to 50% of a plants P need alone! I will be rolling my seeds in myco, lining my first hole with it, and when transitioning to veg I will dust the root ball. I will use fish fert initially to feed the fungus until it obtains colonization then will let the bacteria unleash itself.
I may need to use a compost tea or two just to maintain a balance in the soil food web. The additional organic matter I will be adding in layers and spikes should ward off carbon issues.
I will post the tea recipes I use as well as pictures so everyone can follow along.
Conclusion:
I will attempt to be as transparent, informative and responsive as possible. I will post amounts, measurements and ingredients as they’re used. If you look back at my previous grow journal you can see I have a tendency to overshare and update often lol. I believe that these journals are where some of the best information and discussions can be found. Anyone and everyone is welcome to comment, criticize, recommend, or quietly follow along. Linking to other journals, images, and outside sources is welcome as long as it is somewhat on topic.
I have no sponsors, I have no sponsored equipment, and I am not employed by any growing related service. I’m a disabled veteran that works part time picking up dog poop and the rest of the time is spent with my kids and my plants. Any mention of any product I use should not be misconstrued as having the support of 420 magazine or it’s staff. I am an independent private grower who uses what I can find to grow what I can. I live in an American major metropolitan area so any products I use should be relatively easy to find or source for those in similar circumstances.
If for some reason I do have some sort of personal interest in a products success I will state it explicitly and clearly.
That’s it for the introduction! I am starting to wind up the grow now and will post as soon as I get seeds in water!
. How many sproutlings are you thinking for this grow?
?
