Sig's 1st Journal Ever In The World!

[siginm]

Right, Hello and welcome to my first ever journal, thanks for stopping by and feel free to have a mosey around.

The boring part:

Strains that I've decided on for this run are:

Amnesia Lemon,
Top Dawg,
Tangie Dream,
Kiwi Skunk.

There is no reasoning behind why I chose these I just did, maybe it was the pretty pictures, the amazing reviews, or because they all except for the Kiwi got really good reviews and possibly I'm into those winning cup Barneys strains.

Medium used:

Seedling phase is a mix of Peat moss, perlite and some compost in pots.
But will be transplanted into 50 Litre (13 gallon) fabric pots containing peat moss, compost, worm castings and chicken manure.
GOING FULL-ON ORGANIC INDOOR

Lights and :

For the VEG ill be using my trusty 4 X T5 5ft fluorescent fitting with 2 X cool and 2 X daylight temp tubes.
They will be on a timer 18 hours on and 6 hours off.
A little usb fan will be blowing the "hot" air off the fitting so as not to create too much heat.

For FLOWER ill bring in my single 1000W HPS and digital ballast as well as an exhaust inline fan and ducting to keep things at a reasonable temperature.
OH! Did i mention I stay in South Africa and summer time temps get up to 30'C (86'F) indoors so an air conditioner will come into play when things start to get weird.

THE ORGANICS:

Worms! and their castings - very important!
I have a great garden with very rich soil so I don't need to add too much to it except the Peat for some aeration.
My main focus is feeding the soil and all the life within it to have an optimum "living soil".

My feeding schedule will incorporate:

Water, Seaweed extract, Molasses, Bone and Blood meal liquid fert, Chicken manure tea, Worm wee tea, a touch of Silica, Fulvic acid, H202 for that extra oxygen molecule.
Ill touch on the teas and my methodology as we go on.



Well, here are some PICS, currently on week 9 somewhere, they have been outside but as its our rainy season the sun has been very scarce and growth has been slow. Currently outdoors our daylight hours are 13 hours, 41 min. So i hope with the Fluorescent and the 18hr light schedule we should see some growth spurts coming up.

Thank you for your time and happy growing!

 

[siginm]

The fabric pots are ready and have been sitting for around a week, all the worms, fungus and those thingies can settle before planting.
I plan on planting the girls in their new luxury accommodation on Sunday 19th Nov. So the bags would have sat for 2 weeks to acclimate or mature or which ever the term is that is commonly used.
In the mix is Peat, composted chicken manure and grass clippings, worm castings + worms, and some plain rain water.

 

[siginm]

And for fun here is some Snow Dawg 2 that i've been working on and is probably over due its harvest.

 

[siginm]

Ok 1st of Dec 2017, all 4 plants have been planted into their fabric 50L fabric pots and are loving being outside under the African sun.
We have had mostly sunny days this week with a few cloudy patches temps ranging from 23-32'C.
The next week shows heavy showers and so the ladies will be watered mostly by the rain, pots are still damp so no need to water this week.

I have added some cover crop seeds to the pots as well as a light covering of worm castings with worms. So in the next few days we will have some vegetation to keep the worms and microbial activity happy.

The girls are looking stoked with life and side branching has just exploded as well as a generous amount of stretching from the main stem. The Sativas are starting to show with their vigour and structure as well as leaf shape, I have mixed the plants around so much that I've lost track of which strains are which but it adds to the fun and i'm excited to see how they individually change as they grow.

As part of my pest program I've sprayed the plants with some Kingbo which is a very effective biological insecticide, main ingredient being Oxymatrine (an alkoloid from the roots of the Sophora plant) and extracts from other medicinal plants. This stuff works better than anything I have ever tried before and the plants seem to have no side effects from it either.

Here are some pics of the progress so far...

 

[siginm]

And for some bud porn from my previous winter grow, harvested yesterday.

Chemdawg 2

 

[JimmyZee]

Looking good @siginm hopefully those girls will turn into monsters with our current SA weather.

Mine has really taken off, including a reveg of my winter grow.

 

[siginm]

She is one thick plant JimmyZee! Can I ask what soil and amendments you're using?

 

[JimmyZee]

Freedom farms premium mix & EHG nutrients. Fed once a week with grow, micro & bloom... they get sun all day & love it

 

[JimmyZee]

Wish I could tell you how old it is, but I've lost track. Lol. I prefer to check each plant to see what's going on. They're both Royale haze. And there's another seedling I'm waiting on for its transplant to a 40l pot & I'm going to take clones from that one.

 

[siginm]

I cant wait to see her in flower man, gonna be epic!

 

[Mindcontrol]

great grow...! tagging along to watch the LOS. been very interested in people's results and hardships throughout their living soil grow!
aloha friend!

 

[420BudzFreak]

Looks like I'm just in time for the show! Hope you don't mind if I join you those are some great looking plants and that's one heck of a bud!

 

[siginm]

Welcome Mindcontrol and 420BudzFreak!!!!

Another update as the grow enters week 12...

Each pot got watered with a watering can full. I added some fish meal and bone meal to the top of the soil just before I watered it in. Manure based composts tend to have a low Phosphorus but high Nitrogen so the Bone Meal will help raise the levels of P as well as balance out the N. The Bone Meal should last in the soil for around 4 months so its also priming the soil for the flowering stage when that comes around. And the fish meal pellets are hopefully going to provide some amino acids to the microbes and plants.

And now for the ladies

They have really taken to their new fabric pots and seem to be loving the soil with all its wonders. I cant seem to find a single fault on either of them, there may be some yellowing of the leaves low down but that was due to them getting a bit root bound in their last pots.

Cover crop seeds have sprouted and will eventually grow only to be mowed down occasionally. The worms will have some food and cover and a mulch starts forming on the soil, which in turn harbours life to a vast majority of other little harmonious creatures.

So hows this leaf growing all strange like...

And a look at the run off after watering them...

And its only PH 6.4! I'ts mostly from the worm castings and manure compost and so as I water during the following weeks the PH should drop. That colour though!

 

[JustinHemp420]

I'll follow along, nothing like watching the local boys grow weed.

 

[siginm]

Week 14 update...

Things are going well, we have almost a 20-30cm (8-12inches) of vertical growth and the side branches are growing out nicely and making the girls bush out.
Sunlight this month has still been rare and today we have our first full day of sunshine in almost 5 days, but at least during the veg they don't require too much hey.

We have a bit of deficiencies on the one i'm guessing its either magnesium or calcium, or it could be too much magnesium which is locking out the calcium??? Usually when the ambient temperature is below 25'C magnesium is not really required its when things get hot that a plant will absorb more mag. If anyone has any ideas I'd dig to hear them...

The cover crop is also going crazy and keeping the top of the soil damp and shady for all the little dudes chilling out there.

Otherwise there's not more to say, veg is always slightly tedious for me, it mostly revolves around watering and pest prevention, although lately its just the pests because of the rainy season here.

I did recently buy a bottle of Lifeforce 2 which is a microbial bio-fertilizer containing Bacillus sp. Bacillus Subtilus is a soil microorganism that poduces plant hormones and solubilizes insoluble forms of phosphates. This makes the phosphate, a necessary chemical in plant growth, available to the plant. Soil microorganisms, such as B. subtilis, are essential to plant health and plant growth. The synergistic relationship between the soil bacteria and the plant roots is a vital one for both parties.
So basically the plant and these guys are buds and well that's ok by me. They can hang out with all their other mates have a huge party and be stoked with life. Happy plants!

Cheers to Cannabis!

 

[siginm]

BUD PICS!!!

Winter crop, dried and cured.

 

[420BudzFreak]

Nice! Yummy looking buds

 

[Tony Urban]

Cool, a fellow organic gardener, I will follow along. Good luck!

 

[siginm]

And they smell so dank 420Budzfreak! Chemdawg, one of my favorites, may be a while until I grow that strain again.

 

[siginm]

Organic because its more fun UrbanAchiever