EQ does Organic Growing

[bakEQuatorial]

This much of dry amendments to a 50 litre or so batch of soil. It’s already only about 40-50% of most recommended amount. After this past/current grow, I’m beginning to appreciate the term less is more. Diversity is fine and encouraged imo but don’t overdo the quantity!

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Soil mixed with hand and a rake. Nothing else. Its an insane workout cos I gotta do it indoors in a bucket, making sure I don't make too much of a mess. I am a little OCD when it comes to mixing. I NEED to make sure its evenly mixed.

3 days, 12 x 5 gallon fabric pots filled to the brim, then filled to the brim again after watering. Gotta factor in work time and other commitments so a little a day was the plan.

For the next 2 months or so, gonna water them with different inputs but fairly diluted, to prep them up nicely. Probably once to twice a week will more than suffice.

 

[bakEQuatorial]

My worries of Soil being too hot seems unfounded.

After less than a week of cooking, I see sprouts in every pot and some nice mycellium action going on too. Will snap better pics next time.

Am gonna just let them grow and treat it as cover crop. Without much light, they are just gonna stretch, fall and decompose. If they don't, am gonna just chop and mulch.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

Congrats on your organic journey friend. If I may mention a few things to think about. Pots look nice btw. But first,if 125ml is roughly 1/2 cup as you mentioned,you have a few things to consider. first the cover crop and early veg and stabilization of the soil.and much of that is less than 1/2 cup for the 60 some days(plus cover crop) with N and P then K. so imho I would up the alfalfa and several other things if it were me. but as I started so many years ago now and cant do this any more due to MS and a lot of fun going on,Id recommend up several of the items.also depends on how long you are composting the soil/. also consider wetting and settling with rice hulls can be tricky if the soil isnt too textured(meaning aerated decently) since it will compact over the first few wet dry cycles and then you will have a few potential issues. just my 2 cents my friend.I wish you the best of luck.

also depends on which strain(s) you will be doing. as well as I use damn near a photo strength soil any more for my autos with great success with plugging and tiering, as broken as I am. food for thought

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Congrats on your organic journey friend. If I may mention a few things to think about. Pots look nice btw. But first,if 125ml is roughly 1/2 cup as you mentioned,you have a few things to consider. first the cover crop and early veg and stabilization of the soil.and much of that is less than 1/2 cup for the 60 some days(plus cover crop) with N and P then K. so imho I would up the alfalfa and several other things if it were me. but as I started so many years ago now and cant do this any more due to MS and a lot of fun going on,Id recommend up several of the items.also depends on how long you are composting the soil/. also consider wetting and settling with rice hulls can be tricky if the soil isnt too textured(meaning aerated decently) since it will compact over the first few wet dry cycles and then you will have a few potential issues. just my 2 cents my friend.I wish you the best of luck.

also depends on which strain(s) you will be doing. as well as I use damn near a photo strength soil any more for my autos with great success with plugging and tiering, as broken as I am. food for thought

I will be top dressing as early as Week 3. So the amounts are good for now I guess. But I may also give all the pots another dressing before planting. I just prefer lesser as I have no idea how strong my old soil are with nutes? I can always add more but can't take them out? Also, I'll be adding several KNF inputs (check Post 1) so don't wanna overdo it with dry amendments.

Can you elaborate how cooking time is a factor, on how much amendments to add? What's the relationship? I'll be cooking them for 2 months.

Soil currently aerates very well. Passed the clump/break test and watering seems to prove this. I know rice hulls will break down but since I'm not doing no till, I'll just add more between grows. Will that be good enough? Basically i dump all used soil and plant matter into a big bin.

 

[Eyes on Fire]

Im guessing you rinsed prior to harvest with this used soil with ferts in it from the last grow? its probably fairly weak if so. the N will run out and fade. but if you didnt it might be hot for a bit but it will fade fairly quickly.and as you said the hulls will break down leading to a compact situation.and depending on the water source the Lime(Id add gyspum as well) will get used quickly ime.less is a great place to start.so Lime, probably N top dressings since you dont wanna add any more.and the lesser foods will feed the soil life fine,but over time the life multiplies and will eat some.and if its weaker all the quicker it will fade.

and if its too hot I always thinned it out with a coco coir and soil mix. cuz once veg is essentially finished the pots are kinda rooted out and will be tough tpo add more.top dress is fine but mixed throughout will gain you added benefits. but Im just telling you how Id approach it man. keep it as is with these things in mind for next round. you will probably see what Im talking about in the first few weeks or so.

 

[bakEQuatorial]

Im guessing you rinsed prior to harvest with this used soil with ferts in it from the last grow? its probably fairly weak if so. the N will run out and fade. but if you didnt it might be hot for a bit but it will fade fairly quickly.and as you said the hulls will break down leading to a compact situation.and depending on the water source the Lime(Id add gyspum as well) will get used quickly ime.less is a great place to start.so Lime, probably N top dressings since you dont wanna add any more.and the lesser foods will feed the soil life fine,but over time the life multiplies and will eat some.and if its weaker all the quicker it will fade.

and if its too hot I always thinned it out with a coco coir and soil mix. cuz once veg is essentially finished the pots are kinda rooted out and will be tough tpo add more.top dress is fine but mixed throughout will gain you added benefits. but Im just telling you how Id approach it man. keep it as is with these things in mind for next round. you will probably see what Im talking about in the first few weeks or so.

I do rinse the old soil but it has also been left for 6 months. I water with EM and rainwater and wood vinegar. So I am guessing a lot of breakdown has occurred and hence, more nutes. I do add gypsum. Do read my first post.

Again, this is not for a no till grow. Nor is it a water only grow. Its not meant to last an entire cycle on its own. It will be more than enough for first three weeks when I'll start watering with dry amendments top dressing, fermented plant/fruit juices/Fish Amino Acids and a variety of microbe solutions. Add a plain water watering in the mix and it'll be pretty much a cycle.

Personally, I feel that the recipes are targeted for water only grows. I would like to try a different approach. Getting a good soil mix and then feeding appropriately at different times. Its a challenge for sure but I believe it will pay off. Next round, I'll try a water only mix.

Each grow is a learning process. I'm still early in my journey. Almost every attempt will be a newbie attempt lol. I really appreciate your input. Btw, whats MS?

 

[Eyes on Fire]

I do rinse the old soil but it has also been left for 6 months. I water with EM and rainwater and wood vinegar. So I am guessing a lot of breakdown has occurred and hence, more nutes. I do add gypsum. Do read my first post.

Again, this is not for a no till grow. Nor is it a water only grow. Its not meant to last an entire cycle on its own. It will be more than enough for first three weeks when I'll start watering with dry amendments top dressing, fermented plant/fruit juices/Fish Amino Acids and a variety of microbe solutions. Add a plain water watering in the mix and it'll be pretty much a cycle.

Personally, I feel that the recipes are targeted for water only grows. I would like to try a different approach. Getting a good soil mix and then feeding appropriately at different times. Its a challenge for sure but I believe it will pay off. Next round, I'll try a water only mix.

Each grow is a learning process. I'm still early in my journey. Almost every attempt will be a newbie attempt lol. I really appreciate your input. Btw, whats MS?

well the best of luck to you in all your pursuits.I read the first post, but like I said.everything needs to be increased. and MS is multiple Sclerosis.just an fyi I have gotten many many ppl here started in their organic path.Best of luck to you buddy

 

[hecno]

@Eye on Fire is the culprit the got me for ever having soil under me finger nails worth your while to take notice and understand what he says , I did even though I grow a different style of organic, the principles are the same . . i would like to follow your path .

 

[bakEQuatorial]

well the best of luck to you in all your pursuits.I read the first post, but like I said.everything needs to be increased. and MS is multiple Sclerosis.just an fyi I have gotten many many ppl here started in their organic path.Best of luck to you buddy

@Eye on Fire is the culprit the got me for ever having soil under me finger nails worth your while to take notice and understand what he says , I did even though I grow a different style of organic, the principles are the same . . i would like to follow your path .

Man…you guys must have read me wrong! How dumb can I be to not know who @Eyes on Fire is? He is among the gods around here along with @hecno my OG mentor!

I thought I had mentioned that I WILL add more amendments after reading the advice? I was just too occupied with explaining my reasoning for doing what I did.

The thing is, my learning curve started with tons of nutes at first. Then, as I reduced and reduced, I am liking it more and more. Heck, I've seen marvelous grows feeding only bacteria. I'm obviously not close to that level yet. I just wanna see where this goes? Nothing else. No ego here.

I've seen some seedling struggle with just compost heavy mix. Most soil recipes will require a minimum of say 20-25 gallon pot. This makes sense but I'm only using 5 gallon fabric pots. The consensus online seems to point towards lessening input amounts/ frequency for smaller pots, or "weird" things can happen. Of course, not all inputs. This tells me that in a 5 gallon fabric pot, the microbiology is different compared to large pots. Larger pots can mimic nature much better in a nutshell. In smaller pots, we gotta feed them too it seems, instead of relying only on the soil. This is why I chose to build my soil this way. The biggest challenge will be to know when to add what? Recipes are there for a reason and they are tried and tested for sure. I just wanted to experiment and share it with you all. After all, it is here at AFN that I learned, you can always add more but way more difficult to take them out.

I'll add another layer of amendments to all pots few weeks before planting. Thank you all so much for the input. Forgive me if my replies sounded cocky!