Indoor Mars Hydro grow journal: WildBill does Hubbabubbasmelloscope in EarthBoxes under MarsHydro SP3000

[WildBill]

The girls are now on the off period of 18/6.

Kong and Sour Stomper are chugging akong,,,,,,,,,,,,,especially Kong. The two HBSS are showing a very very tiny bit of discoloration on the leaves. I'm sure this is because they are a bit too sensitive about going 24/0 for so long. I let the light over power the immature root system.
The humidifier is working great so far. The humidistat isn't that accurate, but it gives you a good idea where it's at. I run it manually at one of the 8 "Mist Levels" and it stays pretty stable.
Hopefully the rest period will correct the problem and I got it time. Idf Kong keeps showing the same vigor, I'm gonna put her in one of the EBs. I think it would be a shame to waste such vigor and not try to maximize it's potential.

I want to try and minimize transplant shock/delay. i'm thinking I'll malt some barley, grind it with a bit of water and use the strained water to wet the holes and plant ball and then dust with mycos. Any thoughts?

 

[WildBill]

I'm a little pissed at not turning up the lights sooner and let the seedlings get too spindly.24/0 worsened it.

I don't think I'll be normally transplanting anymore either. Sure there will be times I'll need to do it, but as a normal way of growing, no. This problem with the stretching has made me more aware of how any kind of delay hurts autos. With what I grow in this space, there's no downside to direct planting. My amended media is not too hot for the direct planting of seeds. Moisture control is better and easier in my size grow pots and no kind of stall due to roots being restricted and then going into new media with the transplant.
Again, the end goal is to eliminate or minimize ANY kind of delay or stall.

One positive this morning, Sour Stomper didn't stretch crazy because her dealing with the helmet head. New set of leaves coming in fine, as with all the other girls, but her main stem is thicker and sturdy. LOL!

Lessons learned is a good thing!

 

[Humanrob]

My amended media is not too hot for the direct planting of seeds.

I was starting seeds directly in my soil, but I was using OF as a base for my mix and I was having issues with some strains not doing well at first.

For the last three I popped, I dug an indentation about the size of my fist in the center, and filled that with Light Warrior (or you can use any seed starter soil), and placed the seed in that. It seems much lighter and more neutral, holds moisture well, and I had 100% germination with it. I think next time I'm actually going to go a little deeper and maybe narrower, and let the tap root stay in the starter soil for a good 6 inches or so, give it a little more time before it hits my somewhat hot soil.

 

[Big Sul]

I was starting seeds directly in my soil, but I was using OF as a base for my mix and I was having issues with some strains not doing well at first.

For the last three I popped, I dug an indentation about the size of my fist in the center, and filled that with Light Warrior (or you can use any seed starter soil), and placed the seed in that. It seems much lighter and more neutral, holds moisture well, and I had 100% germination with it. I think next time I'm actually going to go a little deeper and maybe narrower, and let the tap root stay in the starter soil for a good 6 inches or so, give it a little more time before it hits my somewhat hot soil.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your post. I've had the SAME problem and being the ULTIMATE noob, I'm totally lost as to what is wrong.

 

[Humanrob]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your post. I've had the SAME problem and being the ULTIMATE noob, I'm totally lost as to what is wrong.

Glad I could help, we're all learning as we go and I just started doing this recently. I've germinated seeds a bunch of ways over the years, this seems the simplest. Oh, another note, I've found it helps a lot if I use distilled water with them for the first week or so, but that all depends on how your tap water runs, mine is high on the ph scale.

 

[WildBill]

I was starting seeds directly in my soil, but I was using OF as a base for my mix and I was having issues with some strains not doing well at first.

For the last three I popped, I dug an indentation about the size of my fist in the center, and filled that with Light Warrior (or you can use any seed starter soil), and placed the seed in that. It seems much lighter and more neutral, holds moisture well, and I had 100% germination with it. I think next time I'm actually going to go a little deeper and maybe narrower, and let the tap root stay in the starter soil for a good 6 inches or so, give it a little more time before it hits my somewhat hot soil.

My soil isn't very hot It doesn't need to be. OF is too hot for direct planting. I only transplanted because I wanted the bokashi and wicking working in the Earthboxes. Next grow with EBs, I'll plant and then start the wicking and bokashi after the seedling’s roots are more developed.
If you didn't see any problems with you last seedlings, keep the same size mild media size, unless you know the next girl is nute sensitive.

 

[Humanrob]

My soil isn't very hot It doesn't need to be. OF is too hot for direct planting. I only transplanted because I wanted the bokashi and wicking working in the Earthboxes. Next grow with EBs, I'll plant and then start the wicking and bokashi after the seedling’s roots are more developed.
If you didn't see any problems with you last seedlings, keep the same size mild media size, unless you know the next girl is nute sensitive.

A couple of years ago I built a bunch of different SIPs and used them inside and out, that was back when I was growing photos. Haven't tried one with an auto yet. My current grow situation doesn't really work with that platform, but I'm sure someday I'll use them again, they have some amazing advantages.

 

[Humanrob]

@WildBill - quick question for you, it sounds like you are using a 'living soil' mix in your sip? Does that mean you don't trench in time release nutes?

 

[WildBill]

@WildBill - quick question for you, it sounds like you are using a 'living soil' mix in your sip? Does that mean you don't trench in time release nutes?

Trenching in these things is silly, organic or not. Even if it's not a living soil, but more so if it is! LOL! At one time EB said to trench the dolomite, but they now say to mix it into the top 6 inches. Better recommendation, but still silly. It should be mixed everywhere except the wicking pockets.

I just can't see any reason to stray from normal organic practices in using Earthboxes. The only thing I won't be doing is making teas for the EBs.

 

[Humanrob]

Trenching in these things is silly, organic or not. Even if it's not a living soil, but more so if it is! LOL! At one time EB said to trench the dolomite, but they now say to mix it into the top 6 inches. Better recommendation, but still silly. It should be mixed everywhere except the wicking pockets.

I just can't see any reason to stray from normal organic practices in using Earthboxes. The only thing I won't be doing is making teas for the EBs.

Glad to hear that you've found something that is working for you. I've used trenches in all the sips I've run and had great luck with them. I've even experimented with something similar in regular pots on a much smaller scale. That said, I know enough to know that sometimes we do things that we attribute our success to, that had nothing to do with our actual success. And that said... I tend to repeat what works for me. Isn't being human confusing? LOL


I'm always growing different strains, and looking for a set up that can work for the widest variety of strains possible. The idea that leaving the vast majority of the soil without nutes so that light feeders are not overwhelmed, and then leaving an ample resource at their disposal which allows heavy feeders to have access to all they need, makes sense, if that's how it actually works. Are you basing your criticism of trenches on science or experience?