New Grower Aaaand I'm off. First grow. Organic soil with Mephisto beans

[Belle]

@Iriee Vibez Hey man, so my soil is made up of top 1/3 happy frog, bottom 2/3 ocean forest with amendments (worm castings, neem seed, kelp, biochar, hydrocorn). Then about 2 weeks ago I started doing a weekly compost tea and a weekly topping of nature's pride bloom.

INGREDIENTS
Derived from crab meal, seabird guanos, oyster shell, alfalfa meal, volcanic ash, rock phosphate, fish bone meal, glacial rock dust, sulfate of potash, langbeinite, kelp meal.

Soil amending ingredients: wood biochar

3% Humic Acid (Derived from Leonardite)

I'm using 5 gallon smartpots right now, but want to upgrade to 15 gallons with blumats after a grow or 2 when I figure all this out.

Thanks @smokeyfromau - I really started off on a bad foot with my light. I didn't realize how powerful it was and think I have it figured out now. I hope. =). Good luck man!

 

[Iriee Vibez]

@Iriee Vibez Hey man, so my soil is made up of top 1/3 happy frog, bottom 2/3 ocean forest with amendments (worm castings, neem seed, kelp, biochar, hydrocorn). Then about 2 weeks ago I started doing a weekly compost tea and a weekly topping of nature's pride bloom.

INGREDIENTS
Derived from crab meal, seabird guanos, oyster shell, alfalfa meal, volcanic ash, rock phosphate, fish bone meal, glacial rock dust, sulfate of potash, langbeinite, kelp meal.

Soil amending ingredients: wood biochar

3% Humic Acid (Derived from Leonardite)

I'm using 5 gallon smartpots right now, but want to upgrade to 15 gallons with blumats after a grow or 2 when I figure all this out.

Thanks @smokeyfromau - I really started off on a bad foot with my light. I didn't realize how powerful it was and think I have it figured out now. I hope. =). Good luck man!

Got it! You are attempting a living soil grow. Awesome! As a recent convert from DWC style growing, I am still learning the differences. The most important concept that I had to get in my head was with living organic soil growing, you aren’t feeding the plants, but the microbes in the soil. Keep them happy and the plant will have everything it needs at its disposal. Top dressing and compost teas are both meant to feed the microbes in the soil. The plant doesn’t interact directly with either. Microbes love teas! They go crazy feeding on that stuff and breaking things down to make it available to the plants. I never grow without top dressing and teas. However, I don’t do both each week. A pot of folks top dress weekly or brew teas weekly, but you probably are doing too much if you are doing both weekly, as they accomplish the same things. One is just a faster.

I would probably recommend rotating teas one week and top dressing the next, but watering with plan water otherwise. Also. Do not let the soil dry out, it kills the microbes. It is true that a tea will make things available again, but drying out in between isn’t ideal for the microbes in the soil. Once you upgrade to 15 gallons, you will need to topdress or give teas even less frequently, as living soil is better done in bigger containers.

Good luck, brother! Happy organic growing!

 

[smokeyfromau]

@Iriee Vibez Hey man, so my soil is made up of top 1/3 happy frog, bottom 2/3 ocean forest with amendments (worm castings, neem seed, kelp, biochar, hydrocorn). Then about 2 weeks ago I started doing a weekly compost tea and a weekly topping of nature's pride bloom.

INGREDIENTS
Derived from crab meal, seabird guanos, oyster shell, alfalfa meal, volcanic ash, rock phosphate, fish bone meal, glacial rock dust, sulfate of potash, langbeinite, kelp meal.

Soil amending ingredients: wood biochar

3% Humic Acid (Derived from Leonardite)

I'm using 5 gallon smartpots right now, but want to upgrade to 15 gallons with blumats after a grow or 2 when I figure all this out.

Thanks @smokeyfromau - I really started off on a bad foot with my light. I didn't realize how powerful it was and think I have it figured out now. I hope. =). Good luck man!

[/QUOTE]
Hello Belle, The old CFL T5 lights are weak and you can touch them, i always put my hand to test the lights power at the plants height to see if its too hot. Beautiful soudning soil you have there mate and thanks for the luck and you also Bro

 

[Belle]

Hello Belle, The old CFL T5 lights are weak and you can touch them, i always put my hand to test the lights power at the plants height to see if its too hot. Beautiful soudning soil you have there mate and thanks for the luck and you also Bro
[/QUOTE]

Thanks Smokey - I think I have too much N in the soil right now. i should have filled them up as well. First try. Lessons learned, I hope. The Chem Bear seems to be extra sensitive and claw very easily. I can't wait to start the 2nd run and see if it goes better.

 

[Belle]

W7: Things are going well. Watering less at a time but more frequently. Trying to do it every other day. I did a day of about half recommended strength Nature's Pride and 1 day of compost tea. Finally got a pH meter this week and will check it and do a flush tonight.

Ordered a loupe so I can check the trichomes. Until then, I'm using my wife's nikon. I can definitely see lots of amber on the leaves of the Cosmic Gold, but it's only 50 days old. I accidently stressed it and it started flowering early.

Cosmic Gold top:

Cosmic Gold lower bud:

Cosmic Gold mid cola:

 

[smokeyfromau]

Hello Belle, The old CFL T5 lights are weak and you can touch them, i always put my hand to test the lights power at the plants height to see if its too hot. Beautiful soudning soil you have there mate and thanks for the luck and you also Bro

Thanks Smokey - I think I have too much N in the soil right now. i should have filled them up as well. First try. Lessons learned, I hope. The Chem Bear seems to be extra sensitive and claw very easily. I can't wait to start the 2nd run and see if it goes better.
[/QUOTE]
Hi Belle, Yes i have a new mix and one plant has claws so a bit much N in that pot. Cosmic Gold has some nice frost, she could be ready sooner maybe. The 2nd run will be better you can fix any errors in the first. I still mess up at times myself

 

[Belle]

W8: It's been raining a lot, so I watered them with rain water this week. Temps are up a bit to about 75-85. Noticed more yellowing on the fan leaves.

 

[Illini4life]

W8: It's been raining a lot, so I watered them with rain water this week. Temps are up a bit to about 75-85. Noticed more yellowing on the fan leaves.

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Yellow tips maybe a tab bit too much nitrogen. How is she developing in the trich department?! Few more weeks at least. If you have any nitrogen going in, maybe cut it back. The girls need for the N starts to drops significantly after the stretch

 

[Belle]

Yellow tips maybe a tab bit too much nitrogen. How is she developing in the trich department?! Few more weeks at least. If you have any nitrogen going in, maybe cut it back. The girls need for the N starts to drops significantly after the stretch

Hey @Illini4life , do you live in Illinois or did you go to school there? I'm down south of there a couple hours.

I'm not sure about Nitrogen. I initially added some amendments when setting up the soil that I know I used too much of. After that, I only used compost tea and Nature's Pride bloom which is fairly low in Nitrogen. My question is this. Does that wash out when flushing or is it all still in there? Before I start my next seed, should I just dump that soil and start fresh or does flushing get rid of the extra nutrients?

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W9: Harvested the Cosmic Gold D65. Fed with compost tea and water the last week. Through into the MyHerbsDryer for 4 days. Will taste and put in jars for curing after that.

Fed a top dressing of Nature's Pride to the other 3. They're bulking up slowly.

Only complaint about the MyHerbs is that the trays are too shallow and I had to smash the main cola to get the try to close. =/

It was stunted from the beginning due to heat and the light being too close. Not much of a root ball either.

 

[Illini4life]

Hey @Illini4life , do you live in Illinois or did you go to school there? I'm down south of there a couple hours.

I'm not sure about Nitrogen. I initially added some amendments when setting up the soil that I know I used too much of. After that, I only used compost tea and Nature's Pride bloom which is fairly low in Nitrogen. My question is this. Does that wash out when flushing or is it all still in there? Before I start my next seed, should I just dump that soil and start fresh or does flushing get rid of the extra nutrients?

---------------

W9: Harvested the Cosmic Gold D65. Fed with compost tea and water the last week. Through into the MyHerbsDryer for 4 days. Will taste and put in jars for curing after that.

Fed a top dressing of Nature's Pride to the other 3. They're bulking up slowly.

Only complaint about the MyHerbs is that the trays are too shallow and I had to smash the main cola to get the try to close. =/

It was stunted from the beginning due to heat and the light being too close. Not much of a root ball either.

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View attachment 1186490

Yeah I'm in Illinois, and I also went to the University of Illinois for my bachelor's and grad school! Hence the name on here haha

As for your plant... We live and we learn! Make some adjustments to the next run and start fresh. I would not recommend using the same soil, I would say start fresh with everything!