Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL - LED

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Happy 420 everyone! Wish I could go to the Cannabis cup downtown but I'll watch from here!

I always say "Next Year. Yeah, next year." It works most of the time.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Just had a blowout with Dale about his unrealistic expectations of my ability to be all things for all people (mostly him) at the expense of everything that defines me as me. Yeah,..... I'm not even going to try to straighten out that sentence. (Laughter - a good sign.) Yesterday I informed him that this persona I had finally allowed to surface wasn't going to magically disappear when he came home, so please adjust accordingly. I absolutely insist on taking time away from that f*****g room! Today's "conversation" was somewhat inevitable. I'm afraid I wasn't very Sweet.

We haven't had a "conversation" in 22 years. I kid you not. That number surprised me too, considering the overwhelming stress of the past 5 years alone. I'm going to seriously medicate here, get back to Callanetics and get out to see him. He's not going anywhere and I need the time. These transition stages are the roughest, but life - and in particular HIS life - is too short for pettiness and anger. We'll be stronger by tonight, my magic man and I.

You know, I was incredibly frustrated when I started this, and now I'm feeling pretty calm. You guys listen well. That helped a lot. It just hit me how important your listening was to me. Choked me up a bit there.

Where's that pipe? Let's celebrate 4/20! Then Callanetics. Then Dale.

 

[Major PITA]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

I hope your next "conversation" is in 2037, 22 years from now.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Thank you for that Major. We're pretty good at compromise. It's not every day one loses a leg. It tends to start ripples. To have to also content with your wife going through transition and needing her own time..... Well, it takes a lot of reminding myself that the man loves me unconditionally, but there's no denying it. We'll be laughing by dinner.

Think I'll pass on the Callanetics though. Damn, these Buddha meds are effective.

 

[DarkGreenGoo]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Happy 420.

 

[wildjim]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

HAPPY 420 TO ALL !!


WJ

 

[B A R]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Nothing is more important than your growing environment. Not soil, not "nutes"....not even really cool gardening methods.

The environment trumps all. What do I mean by "environment?"

Temperatures, day and nite
relative humidity
air circulation/freshness/C02
Lighting

Get those 4 things right and everything becomes pretty easy. Get them wrong and nothing but trouble ensues!

I think that G8600 will ROCK 2-4 small plants. When you start talking 20 gallons I start talking 3 more LED's and a whole bunch of environmental upgrades.....

Class A post Doc.

Thank you for that Major. We're pretty good at compromise. It's not every day one loses a leg. It tends to start ripples. To have to also content with your wife going through transition and needing her own time..... Well, it takes a lot of reminding myself that the man loves me unconditionally, but there's no denying it. We'll be laughing by dinner.

Amen!

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Simple and Easy Malted Barley Grain Enzyme Tea

My method of preparing an enzyme tea with malted barley grain has been to bubble the powdered grain overnight (instructions were 4-24 hours). The other day I was catching up on BlueJay's No-Till thread and found him laughing about how he used to bubble for 24 hours. What he now does is to mix the grain powder and reconstituted kelp meal with good water, swirl it to mix thoroughly and then simply let it sit for four hours before straining and drenching, after adding the aloe juice and fulvic acid, of course.

He took an already simple process and made it even simpler. A man after my own heart. Let's get to it.

Before I start I need to neutralize some chloramine polluted water. Two drops or so of blackstrap molasses in the bottom of the gallon bottle will do the job.

I add the drops and then a bit of warm water to dissolve the BSM, then fill with cool tap water. This sits for ten minutes while I get everything else prepared.

Begin by grinding the barley grain to a fine powder. This grinder is dedicated to grow use, so it doesn't matter that the fine particulate dust permeates every crack and crevice. I am only preparing a tea for two 7 gal pots, so I use 1/8 cup of the grain.

I keep going until I can hear that there are no large chunks left. I want fine powder.-

Add to the watering can. A funnel comes in handy here.

The basic recipe is 1 Tablespoon of reconstituted kelp meal for every gallon of tea. I'm making a half gallon, so I used a heaping teaspoon. Close enough for government work. Part of the beauty of organic gardening is you don't have to be exact. These are building blocks you're adding. Ratios are not cut in stone and you won't harm the plants or the soil community if you add a bit too much or a wee bit too little.

Fill with water to the 1/2 gal line. All that gets stirred thoroughly and left to sit for about four hours. Mine set for five.

It was at this point that a I realized I'd done this in the watering can, which meant I couldn't strain it into said can. Duh! I poured it into a gallon jug, being careful to swish as I went so nothing got left behind.

After steeping for an appropriate amount of time I add aloe vera juice (1/4 cup to the gallon, so 1/8 cup here) and a splash of fulvic acid directly into the watering can. I use so little fulvic acid for this small tea that it's ludicrous to try to measure. Again, organics has a cushion, no need to be exact.

Strain the brew into the watering can.

Squeeze out all the goodness you can.

Into the living room and the joy hiding behind the green curtain. That escaping light is such a tease.

Our little Devil, pre-drench. Leaves shooting for the light already. Of course they're new growth, so they should be reaching, shouldn't they?

Stirring before I begin, I carefully split the tea between the pots. I'm aware of the particulate matter being heaviest at the end, so I try to make sure that gets evenly distributed as well. Pour, swish, pour, swish..... no rush here. There should be no fine particulates left in the watering can when you finish.

Both pots get the tea. This pot is in waiting indefinitely, but it still gets the same treatment. By the time I plant in here this is going to be one incredible soil community and medium.

The darling Devil, post-drench. I have to share - I brushed up against her leaves and was shocked at how soft they are. Honestly, they feel like cashmere. I thought I had imagined it, so I felt again and yep, cashmere. Wasn't expecting that.

Our newest companion is settling into the garden beautifully.

There we have it. A simpler enzyme tea. You're welcome.

 

[DrZiggy]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Sue, Thats awesome!

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Thank you DrZiggy. I seem to be in educational overdrive.

Dale and I have resolved our differences and all's well in my - OUR - world again. It's tough making so many transitions at once. These little moments can build strength, if you can get beyond yourself and let go of the fear.

As you have probably figured out, I can be a handful. Poor guy. He handles me so well. The fact that I bring meds helps too.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Nothing is more important than your growing environment. Not soil, not "nutes"....not even really cool gardening methods.

The environment trumps all. What do I mean by "environment?"

Temperatures, day and nite
relative humidity
air circulation/freshness/C02
Lighting

Get those 4 things right and everything becomes pretty easy. Get them wrong and nothing but trouble ensues!

I agree wholeheartedly that controlling the environment should be the goal for an indoor gardener. However, - you knew it was coming - in practice, I managed to pull 4 1/2 ounces of top-grade cannabis from a grow run in an open closet. No humidity control to speak of and the only air movement was from the furnace action and one small fan, that did not oscillate, mind you. No control of light dark cycles. When the grow lights went out the ambient light in the room became part of the game.

So, I essentially built an awesome soil mix, dropped the seeds and watered, with little control of the environment to speak of. I think I did quite well under those conditions, so please, let's give proper respect to my soil mix.

Having said that, my goal is firmly set to dial in environmental control in my new tent, and I anticipate that this wise move will result in a finer harvest than my first. My advice to a new grower would be to follow Doc's admonition about environmental control. Why court disaster?

But let's not forget that I broke all the rules and rocked this tiny closet regardless. Say what you will about luck and natural ability, I know it's this soil I play in, coupled with my cool gardening techniques.

I'm comfortable with that. I'll be content to woo you with results. We have years of fun ahead.

 

[TheBoogyman]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Thanks for the awesome tutorial, sue. I just bought some worm castings, I plan on getting some barley this week at some point. I've got my bubblers and air stones so I'm going to go at it. What does everyone recommend for the amount of EWC to use per gallon of water? I want to water my plants in a few days with a tea

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Thanks for the awesome tutorial, sue. I just bought some worm castings, I plan on getting some barley this week at some point. I've got my bubblers and air stones so I'm going to go at it. What does everyone recommend for the amount of EWC to use per gallon of water? I want to water my plants in a few days with a tea

From Microbeorganics:

So if you have 5 gallons you multiply that by 2.38% to get the amount of [vermi]compost to use. Then you can go to; Online Conversion - Volume Conversion and convert it into any unit of measure which is convenient. In my opinion measuring [vermi]compost by weight is inaccurate because of varying moisture content.

Anyway to proceed we have;

5 x 2.38% = 0.119 of a gallon = 0.476 of a quart = 0.450 of a liter
= 450.5 milliliters [450 rounded] = 1.904 cups [2 cups rounded] - Your choice

If you haven't been to Microbeman's site, do yourself a favor and visit soon. An amazing and brilliant man.

Microbe Organics

 

[Tomster420]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Happy 420 Sue! I hope you and dale enjoy the day and spread love to all whom surround you both

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

For your 4/20 viewing pleasure.

Ex-Cops Smoking Weed.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Feeding The Worm Bin

Today was enzyme tea day, which means time to feed the worms. The mash left over from the tea can't go to waste. That would be wrong. All that goodness in the barley and the kelp...... Yeah, time to feed the bin.

On today's menu we have:
- One moldy banana skin. I saved the bananas whole so they could get good and gross. This one was chosen because it was actually beginning to grow mold. WooHoo!!
- One moldy green pepper. It was purchased right before the amputation. I haven't cooked since, so it became a science experiment in the refrigerator drawer.
- The mash left over from the tea. Malted barley grain and kelp meal.
- A handful of oatmeal to soak up the moisture from the green pepper.
- A few eggshells, crushed fine.

Finely chopped, but by no means puréed. Worms need bits, not liquid.

Over here we have some new bedding to go in. I save plain sheets of paper that come with medical info to shred. Egg cartons are a favorite of the worms, so I like to cut some up into small strips or chunks.

Dig a trench in the bin. I'm really liking this small spatula for this. I think I've finally found the best tool for the job.

This is some nice looking vermicompost going on in here. I'm pretty stoked about it!

Fill the trench with the mash.

Cover the mash. Are you as excited about the mold as I am?

Add the additional bedding and moisten lightly with good water.

All the coverings in place and safely back under the sink. Another week, another meal, more depth to the black gold growing in secret beneath the dirty dishes. LOL! If it weren't for these teas I'd probably forget they were there.

How easy is that? The weird and wonderful part is how much fun it is to do this.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Happy 420 Sue! I hope you and dale enjoy the day and spread love to all whom surround you both

Happy 4/20 Night. I did my best, and it went quite well. I hope your day was filled with warmth and love as well.

One of the nurses stopped to tell us how much she admired our relationship. How touching. It feels satisfying to know you're setting a good example. To be able to brighten any small part of this dismal nursing home is a blessing.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

I baked brownies today for our daughter. She hasn't been sleeping well since she stopped dosing at bedtime. While she was here I was showing her the posts from today. They've been kind of fast and furious, haven't they? Must be the energy of 4/20. As I was scrolling I was stopped cold by this one.

Look at this stalk!

Just days ago this was a tiny, almost insignificant little thing. I think we're in for some exciting times.

It's 12:30 and I'm going to finally catch that buzz I started trying to get to four hours ago, before I got carried away posting. Then I think I'll go walking through the late-night threads. See you around.

 

[SweetSue]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

I wore it proudly all day. Had my picture taken by a friend whose daughter is so taken by my MOTM honors that she asked her mother to get one. We had a good laugh about the day. Had a few other people comment, which always opens the door for "Have you visited the site?" One young man did, and was quite tickled to meet me.

Representing. It's what I do.

 

[newoldguy]

Re: Sweetsue's Tiny Closet - Second Grow - Sweet Dark Devil & Bomb Berry Bomb - CFL -

Rather than add water to the paper after it's in the bin,
soak the paper then squeeze it "dry" and add it to the bin