Indoor Autotron's organic super soil perpetual grow

[MrOldBoy]

@BISCUITS thanks for the advice, I'll plan on modifying the can as that's all I'm going to use it for. Yes, I have alfalfa meal in the mix.

The lower right plant is the gimpy Alien vs Triangle. I'm gonna pull it and germ a new one.

I just mixed up 20 gallons worth of a slightly modified version of The Rev's TLO 2.1 soil mix. I used two different types of bat guano(Happy Frog and Down To Earth) and used half as much unsteamed Bone Meal(Burpee) and used Fish Bone Meal for the other half. Some of the NPK values for my stuff didn't match his exactly, so I compensated with Shrimp Meal and Crab Meal(Down To Earth) to keep the ratios correct and to add some diversity of sources and extra good stuff like chitin. I also used half earthworm castings and half compost instead of straight EWC. I raked and shoveled all the shit together on a tarp for what seemed like forever. I sprinkled some Great White and a cup of Bokashi into it and shoveled it into a 20-gallon garbage can in my basement which sits at 65F and watered it with a gallon of gassed off plain tap water with a pH of 6.5. My tap water doesn't have chloramine or high PPMs, so I feel good about using it after letting it sit out for a few days. I'm gonna give it a full 30 days to cook before I use it. I'm super psyched to try it out when it's ready! I put a lot of time into sourcing all the ingredients from the cheapest spots, but it still wasn't cheap. It seems like there is a lot of work up front to run TLO style, but it's like set it and forget it as you go on.

I get a lot of fertilizers and amendments at local feed store such as .... Kelp, Straw, Alfalfa, Osyter Shells, Ground Cover Seeds and more, cheap too ....

Peace and good luck with grow!

Best,
OB

 

[BISCUITS]

That AvT looks MESSED UP!! Damn! Straight up mutant I guess.? I would yank it and get a new one going.Unless you just want to watch what happens.I would probably send Mephisto a pic of that thing.I would check the pH of your soil out of curiosity too if it was me the next time you mix it up.It will usually start pretty low and slowly work it’s way back up until it stabilizes and that is when it will warm up and slowly get cooler too.The smell and texture and feel will change too as you should notice when you remix every couple days.Do you have all your aeration amendments mixed in too?I usually leave it out until just before potting up just so I can have it more concentrated Incase I do a photo and I will cut the soil depending on what auto I grow with more plain peat/coco and perlite/vermiculite.I am also experimenting with making different ewc’s for grow and bloom by feeding the worms specific foods and supplements.Then this would be all I need to add while growing for teas or slurries/extracts easy peasy.Just add a Tblspn per gallon shake with molasses for an hour or two and feed soooo easy and growth is supernatural.I LOVE WORMS!!

 

[BISCUITS]

I think I may have recommended the wrong ewc’s earlier in this thread.It is Organic Solution’s worm castings as my [HASHTAG]#1[/HASHTAG] choice after my own followed a close second by make organic soil .com.I think I said organic “gardening “solutions instead.This old stoner gets confused with all the new companies and their names are very similar but I have never used the OGS brand although it looks pretty good and they have everything else you could want over there.OS only sells like 4 products I think and the ewc’s is the only one I have tried but if they are on par with their castings then they are the best.They have bamboo vinegar which I am curious about.

 

[Autotron]

@BISCUITS yeah bro, there is 4 gallons of perlite in the 20 gallons of soil along with however much perlite was already in the 4 gallons of Roots Organic soil I Included in it. I just put everything in the TLO 2.1 recipe together at once, mixing thoroughly after every two or three additions.
I just poured it out of the barrel tonight and mixed it up again. It seemed too dry, so I used a gallon of water with Recharge to moisten it up after putting it back in. I took your advice and drilled a ton of small holes in the garbage can after I poured out the soil and propped up the top a bit after shoveling the soil back in.

I added 3/4 teaspoon of Roots Organic Uprising Bloom into the top of the White Crack pot, followed by a freshly ground teaspoon of malted barley, then covered it up with EWC(I currently have Unco Industries brand I bought on Amazon a year or two ago along with a small bag of some other kind I got from Home Depot) and then composted bark mulch. I watered all the girls well with the rest of the water with Recharge.

Where do you get those OS EWC from? Mine are a bit old and almost out, so I have been planning on replenishing with some new quality ones. It seems like EWC is such a critical and fundamental component for organic gardening, from the soil to the compost tea. It makes sense to get some quality there. Eventually I'll splurge and get a stackable earthworm farm, but that's a while away.

@MrOldBoy , I sourced a lot of my ingredients from my local farm/feed store! It's a great resource and way cheaper than online or the hydro shop. I start there, then Home Depot or Lowe's, followed by the hydro shops in my area and online for the stuff I can't find there.

 

[MrOldBoy]

@BISCUITS yeah bro, there is 4 gallons of perlite in the 20 gallons of soil along with however much perlite was already in the 4 gallons of Roots Organic soil I Included in it. I just put everything in the TLO 2.1 recipe together at once, mixing thoroughly after every two or three additions.
I just poured it out of the barrel tonight and mixed it up again. It seemed too dry, so I used a gallon of water with Recharge to moisten it up after putting it back in. I took your advice and drilled a ton of small holes in the garbage can after I poured out the soil and propped up the top a bit after shoveling the soil back in.

I added 3/4 teaspoon of Roots Organic Uprising Bloom into the top of the White Crack pot, followed by a freshly ground teaspoon of malted barley, then covered it up with EWC(I currently have Unco Industries brand I bought on Amazon a year or two ago along with a small bag of some other kind I got from Home Depot) and then composted bark mulch. I watered all the girls well with the rest of the water with Recharge.

Where do you get those OS EWC from? Mine are a bit old and almost out, so I have been planning on replenishing with some new quality ones. It seems like EWC is such a critical and fundamental component for organic gardening, from the soil to the compost tea. It makes sense to get some quality there. Eventually I'll splurge and get a stackable earthworm farm, but that's a while away.

@MrOldBoy , I sourced a lot of my ingredients from my local farm/feed store! It's a great resource and way cheaper than online or the hydro shop. I start there, then Home Depot or Lowe's, followed by the hydro shops in my area and online for the stuff I can't find there.

That’s the way to shop .... Haven’t yet but going to hit up brewery shops and check out their grains, maybe broken or open bag deals ....

I’m in same camp as @BISCUITS with worms, I raise three types, Africans, Euro and Wigglers, each has different functions in the garden and castings .... Worms are the Worlds BEST Gardeners - Can’t beat them, just can’t.

 

[BISCUITS]

Organic Solutions .com is where you go for ewc’s NOT Organic Gardening Solutions .com.

 

[BISCUITS]

You should check out sprouted seed tea my friend.You will not be sorry.This is what I do.I take 1 Tblspn of each kelp and alfalfa per gallon of good water and grind real well in the coffee grinder.First I boil the water just until it starts to boil then remove from heat and add the kelp and alfalfa and green tea if you like and stir well and let sit until cool or even over night.I will usually only boil a quart of water and after it has cooled I add it to a blender.I will now grind my 1Tblspn per gal malted barley into powder and add to blender and blend on low first and work your way up to full power.I will let this sit overnight at room temp blending every time I walk by it and also adding 1 tspn of molasses and Humic Acid and blend the shit out of it.Ok this is optional but is what i do.I add 1 ml of rubbing alcohol while it is blending on full speed.This will change the color from dark to light while blending and may actually make it bubble.The alcohol works like a super surfactant and adds a lot of oxygen to the brew.After 24 hours it is ready to use.I will add the quart to the rest of the gallon with a couple tablespoons of worm castings/compost or Great White.Always pH before adding ewc’s or GW.You can also add some coconut water or fulvic acid.I always see a positive response within a day or two sometimes in hours.Good stuff and now you know! Boy that was a rant.This auto Malawi x NL has me humming like a double espresso.

 

[Autotron]

@BISCUITS Thanks for sharing that recipe, I'll definitely give it a shot at some point. Do you find its better for veg or flower or either? I think I read something about it a while ago and the benefit is that it's full of growth enzymes or something rather than nutrients or bacteria?

I had some free time tonight, which I don't get often, so I got to spend some time tidying up loose ends in the tent and stuff. It was getting a bit messy in there. I also mixed up some of The Rev's custom manure blend for the bottom three inches of my pots. My time with my plants is like my zen hobby time. So peaceful, fulfilling and satisfying to learn more, apply it and see your plants as healthy as they can be in 100% natural conditions. This style is definitely more challenging, but frankly, that's what makes it fun. I feel like I'm learning so much and skills that I can apply to my vegetable garden as well. The quality really is so much better too. I've grown in soil and hydro with nutes and Kindsoil that I had to booster later on, but I think that this style may be what I stick with, at least for a good long while. It's a lot of work up front, but once you buy everything you need and take the time to mix up some blends and the oocasional tea, it's pretty low maintenance. I like the fact that I can have plants in all different stages of life in my tent at once, receiving the same light and watering/nutrient regimen.

I swapped out my 400w MH bulb for my 400w Hortilux Super HPS bulb tonight. I have an adjustable 1000w ballast in my tent that I can very easily swap with a plug and bulb change with my current hood, but this 400w HPS will give me more than enough light for what I have at the moment. I also turned on my AutoCOB for them. Here's some pics from tonight.

My apologies for the sideways pictures!

 

[Autotron]

Just to make things interesting, the gimpy AvT has put out a branch that looks somewhat healthy. I'll let it stay for a little bit longer, just out of curiosity, but I've put another AvT seed in water with a bit of liquid kelp overnight before I put it in a Tupperware with wet paper towels, wrap that up in a tshirt and put it all on a germination pad so it stays in the 80F range.

 

[Autotron]

That AvT seed hasn't popped yet, but I'll be out of town for a few days, so had to put it in its final pot early. There was no tap root showing, but it did look like the shell was cracking with a bit of white showing.

I set my 2-gallon felt pot up Rev style. I sprinkled a teaspoon of Roots Uprising Grow on the floor of the pot, then put about three inches of his custom manure blend(50/50 composted manure/perlite with some coir, oyster shell, greensand, kelp meal and rock phosphate) into the pot. I potted it up a couple more inches with some of my original blend of Roots Organic soil mixed with all three Uprising dry nutes and a healthy dose of EWC. I put in a plastic Solo cup and continued to fill the rest in with the super soil to the top. I pulled out the Solo cup and filled the empty space with Biobizz Lightmix. I popped the seed in a knuckle deep and sprinkled Great White directly into the hole so it inoculates the tap root immediately. I gave it all a gentle but thorough watering and put a clear Solo cup lightly over where I planted the seed so it doesn't dry out while I'm gone and kill the seed.

I'm really hoping it's popped by the time I get back Thursday evening. That super soil has been sitting for over a month, so it shouldn't be hot or acidic. I've had this bad and abnormal bout of luck sprouting seeds lately, so I'm a bit paranoid.