Mephisto Genetics White Crack and Kis Organics Soil

[MrOldBoy]

Sam was topped dressed often, Every week or so I would add a handful or two of earthworms out of a worm bin but that was the main top dressing ..... Around day 40 I added a few cups of a commercial flower specific compost from buildasoil and 1/2 cup of KIS Nutrient Pack ...... I also adding straw mulch, cut fine, along with a little kelp to help keep the worms fed ..... the straw mulch I have is inoculated and is already breaking down and the worms thrive under it ...... This is all under the plastic cap .......

Issue I had was air running under the cap preventing condensation on the underside of the cap - to combat the lack of condensation I would spray mist under the cap or place wet towels over the top of the cap - when I placed the wet towels over the cap it condensed like crazy and the straw and top dressings were nice and moist ..... Under the cap it was full of life, truly living organic soil .......

The Cap MUST Condense for the top dressings to have any effect - moisture must travel thru the top dressings down into the feeder roots - That could be the issue with the gal in the five gallon pot @MMMi ..... I don’t give a flip how much you top dress it simply will have minimal effect without water traveling thru it ....... I do believe the buckets work well better with a plastic cover, if you watch the video where the kids made the bucket to fed the starving you'll see they put a plastic cover on top ....

Well ok now - so you figure I will top mist the grow but issue here is how much - remember the plant wants the soil in the 100ish millibar range so careful on when and how often you spray - my solution was the soaked rags on top of the plastic cap but then I had a ton of air flow in my tent, I had five fans in total in an oversized 2x4 tent and had mulch on top of the soil which helpEd lift the cap up / off the soil preventing condensation but not with the rags .....

Its exciting to watch you guys experiment with different things but honestly some of things are a little overboard which I suspect comes from the hydro background - I know I go a different path but my main goal was, keep the worms happy and let nature run it’s course, she does such a beautiful job ....... Logically and this is just me but how can you have living organic soil without life and worms are part of that life ....... and if the worms are happy it will work out .....

We will see how how I do, I’m starting a new grow in the Juniors you can follow here https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...ow-featuring-the-worlds-best-gardeners.74902/ ......

Peace,
MOB

To give you an idea of soil mounded up / over top here’s another pic of Sam and as you can see I had no issues with the plastic cover, no rips or tears but then wife likes my touch too, hehehe - also of interest is number of fans I have on her, she was transpiring like crazy, without the air movement I got sweat and the air dried out under the cap so that issue - lots of things learned with Sam.

 

[MrOldBoy]

You don't need a cover crop if you use a cap. I personally think the cheap cap is one of the reasons it works well. Keeps pests out and moisture in for top dressing. I plan on top dressing weekly from late veg til late flower. So I would prefer a better quality cover. My Top dressing tent idea is to address the frequent access issue and integrate misting lines for having top dressing moisture.

Correct no cover crop on the EarthBox ..... Saw a video of two earth boxes grown side by side - one with cover crop other with cap, the cap won ......

Cover Crops work great in cloth pots but not SIP Containers

 

[Organic Sinse]

Are you going to top dress with one of their premixes or individual amendments?

I'm still flipping between using:
- Dr Earth 2-2-2 top dressed monthly
- Following that article and using only alfalfa/kelp top dressed monthly
- Steeping the Dr Earth in tea bi-weekly

Also, apparently the 2-2-2 are granules -- which I'm not sure are good or bad for this application.

My juniors still look great. Settling on a similar schedule, plain water on weekdays. Weekends is MBP and alternating AACT/recharge top watered.

My bucket lady has was appears to be a little mag def. My current light schedule isn't ideal for weekday foliars, but I'm gonna hit her tonight anyhow. Tent runs cool and it's probably 3' away from the LEDS.

Between you and me, I have never hurt or damaged a plant grown under led by foliar spraying with the led lights on. I have used Mars reflector blurples as well as citi and cree cobs with no issues. Just don't aim at the lights.
cheers
os

 

[slowandeasy]

Sam was topped dressed often, Every week or so I would add a handful or two of earthworms out of a worm bin but that was the main top dressing ..... Around day 40 I added a few cups of a commercial flower specific compost from buildasoil and 1/2 cup of KIS Nutrient Pack ...... I also adding straw mulch, cut fine, along with a little kelp to help keep the worms fed ..... the straw mulch I have is inoculated and is already breaking down and the worms thrive under it ...... This is all under the plastic cap .......

Issue I had was air running under the cap preventing condensation on the underside of the cap - to combat the lack of condensation I would spray mist under the cap or place wet towels over the top of the cap - when I placed the wet towels over the cap it condensed like crazy and the straw and top dressings were nice and moist ..... Under the cap it was full of life, truly living organic soil .......

The Cap MUST Condense for the top dressings to have any effect - moisture must travel thru the top dressings down into the feeder roots - That could be the issue with the gal in the five gallon pot @MMMi ..... I don’t give a flip how much you top dress it simply will have minimal effect without water traveling thru it ....... I do believe the buckets work well better with a plastic cover, if you watch the video where the kids made the bucket to fed the starving you'll see they put a plastic cover on top ....

Well ok now - so you figure I will top mist the grow but issue here is how much - remember the plant wants the soil in the 100ish millibar range so careful on when and how often you spray - my solution was the soaked rags on top of the plastic cap but then I had a ton of air flow in my tent, I had five fans in total in an oversized 2x4 tent and had mulch on top of the soil which helpEd lift the cap up / off the soil preventing condensation but not with the rags .....

Its exciting to watch you guys experiment with different things but honestly some of things are a little overboard which I suspect comes from the hydro background - I know I go a different path but my main goal was, keep the worms happy and let nature run it’s course, she does such a beautiful job ....... Logically and this is just me but how can you have living organic soil without life and worms are part of that life ....... and if the worms are happy it will work out .....

We will see how how I do, I’m starting a new grow in the Juniors you can follow here https://www.autoflower.org/threads/...ow-featuring-the-worlds-best-gardeners.74902/ ......

Peace,
MOB

To give you an idea of soil mounded up / over top here’s another pic of Sam and as you can see I had no issues with the plastic cover, no rips or tears but then wife likes my touch too, hehehe - also of interest is number of fans I have on her, she was transpiring like crazy, without the air movement I got sweat and the air dried out under the cap so that issue - lots of things learned with Sam.

View attachment 1136016

Make a list of everything you gave to Sam. I can guarantee it is a fraction of what we have used so far. You gave her a lot more items and used them a lot more often than us.. The Juniors hold much less than a regular and that makes for more frequent attention. So problems will show faster and theoretically should respond faster. I will admit that I have to plan ahead better. Also I grow on a much larger scale than you and most people on this site. So I have a large scale mindset and long-term plans are always thought about with any growing method. The Juniors work well, but the cap is garbage. A complete redesign with better materials would be much better than a plastic wrap as thin as toilet paper.

 

[MrOldBoy]

Between you and me, I have never hurt or damaged a plant grown under led by foliar spraying with the led lights on. I have used Mars reflector blurples as well as citi and cree cobs with no issues. Just don't aim at the lights.
cheers
os

I sprayed Sam when in flower and will repeat with my new girls ...... Back in Reagan Days I had a one plant grow and sprayed weekly with liquid seaweed up to flower and then stopped the seaweed and went to Budswell Amazon product

Sprayed up to the last couple weeks - that plant had a huge cola bud and was grown under a 400 Watt HPS - since it was a photo, I usually sprayed last mission before lights went out.

 

[MrOldBoy]

Make a list of everything you gave to Sam. I can guarantee it is a fraction of what we have used so far. You gave her a lot more items and used them a lot more often than us.. The Juniors hold much less than a regular and that makes for more frequent attention. So problems will show faster and theoretically should respond faster. I will admit that I have to plan ahead better. Also I grow on a much larger scale than you and most people on this site. So I have a large scale mindset and long-term plans are always thought about with any growing method. The Juniors work well, but the cap is garbage. A complete redesign with better materials would be much better than a plastic wrap as thin as toilet paper.

All I’m trying to do is help, apologies if there is any confusion.

 

[Organic Sinse]

@slowandeasy
Glad to see your girl snap out of it and growing well. Sometimes LITFA (leave it the fuck alone) works killer in organics.
keep up the good work.
cheers
os

 

[MrOldBoy]

Make a list of everything you gave to Sam. I can guarantee it is a fraction of what we have used so far. You gave her a lot more items and used them a lot more often than us.. The Juniors hold much less than a regular and that makes for more frequent attention. So problems will show faster and theoretically should respond faster. I will admit that I have to plan ahead better. Also I grow on a much larger scale than you and most people on this site. So I have a large scale mindset and long-term plans are always thought about with any growing method. The Juniors work well, but the cap is garbage. A complete redesign with better materials would be much better than a plastic wrap as thin as toilet paper.

Better than a list here is everything is used, everything except the worm castings ...... Almost very watering I had either Mammoth P or EM 1 ..... Coco flakes some waters and a few with thrive.n or buildabud ...... the kasha and craft blend sparingly .......
Lots of EWC and some mulch completes the list.

Kelp and kashI were given when castings were added

 

[slowandeasy]

Better than a list here is everything is used, everything except the worm castings ...... Almost very watering I had either Mammoth P or EM 1 ..... Coco flakes some waters and a few with thrive.n or buildabud ...... the kasha and craft blend sparingly .......
Lots of EWC and some mulch completes the list.

View attachment 1136069

Kelp and kasha were given when castings were added
View attachment 1136070

Awesome, thanks for adding that info/pic. Nice list, and now I have a better idea of what to use and when! So as I was saying, we have both used a fraction of that. I only used URB MICROBES and a little Organic Calmag a few times. I top dressed (late) with EWC and a few cups of Water only soil. I ordered Craft Blend, Silica , and Flower Top Dress from Build a soil. Will be here next wed or Thurs. I am going to use it on Friday or Sat night. Then use MBP next weekend, then. Flower Top Dress and Craft Blend alternating weekly through flower. Not gonna add shit to my Rez besides a little SILICA for heat, light, stress, ect. Btw @OrganicSinse I have been using Tap water all week and the plants look fine. If it was bad, the Healthy veg plants would tell me. Actually, I am filling the Rez more often on everything this week. Maybe they like Tap water better? Thanks foe tge advice. Peacez slowandeasy

 

[MrOldBoy]

Most welcome slow ....

if you look note the craft blend bag is pretty full whereas the kashi is well used as is the kelp but the kelp was down a lot before it came into the room ..... As I was adding a handful of EWC with worms and some mulch I would toss in some kashi and kelp - straw, kashi and kelp went down first with the live worms and castings on top - sprayed mist before and during process and that was it unless I felt like some craft blend but that was rare ...... the bottle nutrients on the other hand were added more than not with each watering but heavens she was drinking in excess of two gallons a day in her peak AND the amounts added were always under recommended quantitie, always .......

also the water - I used rain water that tests about 120 ppm and around 6.8 ph