Flytier's CKS Candy Cane Organic Closet Grow - Fall Of 2017

flytier

Well-Known Member
Hey, everyone! Greetings to all my friends and passersby. I just started another 5-pack of seeds, hoping I'll see it to the end before it gets smoked. Patience seems not to be my strong point.

This time I brought my camera along and got all the ingredients and steps of setting up my semi-organic (?) mix. I haven't done any side-by-side comparisons, but I'm pretty sure the main ingredient is my fish compost made from dead salmon at the hatchery where I work. I've done grows before I started using, and in between, compost grows, and there is a big difference for the better when I use it.

So, here we go. Here's the salmon compost which has some good microbial activity on the go already. This is what I inoculate the rest of the mix with, thus starting with a dilute microbial system which will develop over time.
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To dilute it, I just got some bags of soil at Walmart. It has good texture and the plants certainly crow well in it, and it's cheap.
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This is the mix so you can see what the fresh compost looks like in comparison to retail mixes. The compost, in the middle is much blacker and richer in texture, and not sterilized, so the seeds hit the ground running. In my hand is some dolomite, at about the amount I use for it, blood meal, bone meal and potash.
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And speaking of the nutrients, here's the dolomite that I picked up at Co-Opfor something like $4 or so
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The NPK nutes are taken care of with blood meal, bone meal and potash respectively, amounts as shown above. Also bought at the Co-Op, but it costs a little more, but mostly <$10.
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I stick in a couple pinches of Epsom salts to take care of magnesium and sulphur. Shown here with some dolomite in a manageable container
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I keep those things in my portable carrying/seating unit
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So the seeds were put into 5" starter pots, and although people say not to do it with an auto, I've done it with them in the past with no ill effects. Once again, no side-by-side comparisons, sorry
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And that was the last pic I got before the batteries crapped out. But I simply planted the seeds directly from the pack to the soil and watered. This time I did it cold: the soil was outdoors and in the porch, the seeds were straight from the fridge and the water was cold from the tap. They are just warming up as I type. Hope you like how things go, and thanks for tuning in.
 
Come on..... First....who gets this seat lol. Subbed brother! Let's get it on with some autos this winter!

The last photo with the crop King seeds card in the middle..... All we needed was your smiling face in there and it would have been a commercial from the 1970s LMAO.
 
Aww yea I'll jump in while things are warming up:p

Look forward to watching and learning from you!
 
Come on..... First....who gets this seat lol. Subbed brother! Let's get it on with some autos this winter!

The last photo with the crop King seeds card in the middle..... All we needed was your smiling face in there and it would have been a commercial from the 1970s LMAO.

Ok Guy, you're the right hand man on the thread.

I could Photoshop myself into the card, but that's a little tacky... like the 1970s commercials.
 
Aww yea I'll jump in while things are warming up:p

Look forward to watching and learning from you!

Mostly what you'll learn from me is how to harvest buds before they're ready. But welcome to the thread. I like to grow using compost that I make myself at the salmon hatchery where I work, and if you'd like to know how to do some up I can help you, but it's something best left for the spring now.
 
Gonna grab a seat n the middle... keep the rowdies under control! The detail is awesome Flytier! Once my current grow is done I will pack everything up until the spring but I'll be bringing in all these tried tested methods when I start back up! Cheers!
 
Gonna grab a seat n the middle... keep the rowdies under control! The detail is awesome Flytier! Once my current grow is done I will pack everything up until the spring but I'll be bringing in all these tried tested methods when I start back up! Cheers!

Thanks Peeece. I can do a pretty decent write-up when I want. Another skill I picked up when i got my science degree. You gonna get some fish compost on the go? It's very easy, just time-consuming.
 
October 18, 2017
Day 4

Well, I got my rifle sighted in for deer season. Gotta love the peep sight; I was always good with one. I did better than the guy I was with and he was using a scope. But on the negative side, I had in earplugs and I still lost another couple percent of my hearing. But anyway...

When I got home I checked in on my CCs and lo and behold, another 100% germination. Chalk up another one to dry planting straight to the soil. And this time they were planted cold. Seems like the rougher you treat them, the better they like it. I'll get a picture up sometime soon - I'm starting days off.

And speaking of days off, I think I'll hit the dispensary in Moncton tomorrow.
 
So a couple of things, on the opening of this thread there is a picture with your soil and a bunch of algae Etc growing on top of it..... What's the purpose of that and is it on purpose?

My other thing was, I'm down with your technique of throwing the seeds directly into their pots. I did it with these three Auto that I am presently propagating and all three of them came up. I went directly from the seed packages into my rapid rooters and put them under my small LED light. Two days later they popped up and haven't looked back since. It was at that point that I transplanted them into their final pots either 3 gallons or 4 gallons and now the wait begins LOL. Friday the 13th..... Fitting!
 
So a couple of things, on the opening of this thread there is a picture with your soil and a bunch of algae Etc growing on top of it..... What's the purpose of that and is it on purpose?

My other thing was, I'm down with your technique of throwing the seeds directly into their pots. I did it with these three Auto that I am presently propagating and all three of them came up. I went directly from the seed packages into my rapid rooters and put them under my small LED light. Two days later they popped up and haven't looked back since. It was at that point that I transplanted them into their final pots either 3 gallons or 4 gallons and now the wait begins LOL. Friday the 13th..... Fitting!

The algae on the compost just kind of made an appearance on its own, but it's a good sign that it's biologically active. The algae is making use of the nutrients in the compost and in turn is adding its own good stuff to the soil. Just sort of a natural progression in an unnatural setting.
 
I'm subbed. I'll be planting 4 cks candy cane in about a week here when my current grow is finished.

Your soil mix looks good

Thank you very much and welcome to the thread. Gotta love the fresh compost - great stuff.
 
Hey fly tie! I subbed up when you posted in guys thread . Finally had a minute to catch up! I'm really digging your semi organic (?) Set up.

K started a compost pile but now its covered in snow.....

I have a few questions if you don't mind?

How do you prepare your salmon / fish compost?

Do you "cook" your mixture for 30 to 60 days or can you just mix and go?

I'm really considering a side by side grow with a dwc, hempy, and living organic soil or super soil with a sub surface irrigation. The last one there interests me the most because it's like growing soil and or organically but has a res so when the roots reach it it's like a soil hydro combo!
 
Hey fly tie! I subbed up when you posted in guys thread . Finally had a minute to catch up! I'm really digging your semi organic (?) Set up.

K started a compost pile but now its covered in snow.....

I have a few questions if you don't mind?

How do you prepare your salmon / fish compost?

Do you "cook" your mixture for 30 to 60 days or can you just mix and go?

I'm really considering a side by side grow with a dwc, hempy, and living organic soil or super soil with a sub surface irrigation. The last one there interests me the most because it's like growing soil and or organically but has a res so when the roots reach it it's like a soil hydro combo!
That's similar to Growants Sip setup.
 
Hey fly tie! I subbed up when you posted in guys thread . Finally had a minute to catch up! I'm really digging your semi organic (?) Set up.

K started a compost pile but now its covered in snow.....

I have a few questions if you don't mind?

How do you prepare your salmon / fish compost?

Do you "cook" your mixture for 30 to 60 days or can you just mix and go?

I'm really considering a side by side grow with a dwc, hempy, and living organic soil or super soil with a sub surface irrigation. The last one there interests me the most because it's like growing soil and or organically but has a res so when the roots reach it it's like a soil hydro combo!

Hey, welcome to the thread! Making fish compost isn't a difficult process at all, it just takes a while to get settled away.

To get started you can use a plastic garbage can with holes drilled all over it (or whatever you prefer to use). Basically all you need are peat moss and fish in layers. Flies and beetles take care of the rest. I don't think there are even any worms involved in this process, so stuff like newspaper and plant matter aren't required.

We start the compost in the winter when they hatch. You can't compost the eggs as they don't break down. Between winter and summer we add fish. During the winter and early spring they just gather up, but when the insects come out, the transformation into top-quality compost begins. During this stage it can stink like royal hell, but it's worth it in the end. You can smell the ammonia when you open the lid, as well as the decomposition. We continue adding fish through the spring and early summer when the fish are in the hatchery and when they leave the hatchery around July we let the mix do its thing over the fall and winter. In the spring when it's time to plant I'll bring home a 5-gallon bucket of the stuff and mix it as shown in the first post of the thread. I did take a look into it a couple days ago out of curiosity and the smell is gone down, so it can probably be used now. I'd be hesitant to use it indoors at this stage, just because I don't know what could hatch out of it. I don't need any swarms of beetles or blue-arse flies in the house (or the accompanying grief from the wife).

I tried different mixes through the season this year, and what I used here seems to be the right road to a good quality grow. This was my first season growing weed, and I'm confident that if I use this basic procedure I'll have lots of good growing ahead of me. And it's easy enough on the plants that you can put your seeds right into the mix, although I don't know what would happen if you put a seed into straight compost. I'm a firm believer in not using the paper towel, and I do tend to overpreach to others to the point of nagging about not using it as well. I think I'm getting a couple followers in doing the direct dry-planting though.

You're in Alaska, right? It seems I remember you mentioning something about a lack of good retail potting soil mixes in your area, so this is the stuff for you. If you were to do another compost pile using vegetable matter and worms, I'm willing to bet that you'd be on your way to self-sufficiency if you were to recycle your potting soil in this manner as well. I just went by what I learned when I got my degree in Environmental Biology, especially from courses like botany, ecology and soil systems.

I hope you give it a try; you'll be pleased with the results, I'm sure. If you have any more questions, you know where to find me.
 
Sweet! All great stuff. Thanks. I'm considering a booth at the farmer market so I will have lots to prepare for next summer :)
 
What will you be doing at the FM?
I want to sell seedlings.... tomato, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, ghost pepper, maybe roses. To start the season. Then some produce in the middle and homade canned goods, carrots, and potatoes to finish :)
 
I want to sell seedlings.... tomato, bell pepper, Brussels sprouts, ghost pepper, maybe roses. To start the season. Then some produce in the middle and homade canned goods, carrots, and potatoes to finish :)


I can see something like that going over at a farmers' market.
 
I can see something like that going over at a farmers' market.
All locally grown and fully organic.....id be all over that even here where we have a pile of choice.
 
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