Neef’s first attempt at No-Till

[Tyleb173rd]

How long did you actually let the soil rest for after mixing? and what were they in prior to this mix and how were they being fed? I'm seeing a lot of symptoms all over those girls... need more info to diagnose anything accurately

I do think you can overdo the worms in terms of your growing containers... they'll decimate populations with that high of numbers in that small of an area. throw off the balance of the soil, and then it will take time to rebalance itself.... which is not what you want. adding a few in is fine.... 500... way too many.

Uh oh.....I guess the 2000 worms I split between 2, 20 G containers is no bueno?

 

[ShLUbY]

Uh oh.....I guess the 2000 worms I split between 2, 20 G containers is no bueno?

i mean, it's not going to be detrimental (or is it? )... but think about your food web for a second. what do worms eat? the bacteria and fungi that break things down in your soil... which is a good thing because it will release available nutrients for the plant... but 1000 (edit) worms in 20 gal... that population will never survive entirely unless you're basically turning your planter into a worm farm because there just won't be enough food source for them... and some will end up starving to death. So you will have some die off... the population will self regulate. but in the mean time, if the worms gobble up as much bacteria and fungi as they can then who is going to be breaking down those foodstocks for the plant? another concern i have, worms have a tendency to neutralize things... like your acidic peat... and will basically turn your whole pot into compost. I can say that over time i've diluted my mix with too much compost, and that's why I lost my acidity... leading to less than ideal yields (but still healthy plants).

So overall... I'll be interested to see how this plays out if you're willing to leave them all in there; just seems like mega overkill to me and a sure way to disrupt the balance of the ecosystem. I mean, this is just me speculating on a few things and is by no means a definitive thought process... but remember... less is more. start small, and go from there. you can always add more if need be.

 

[Tyleb173rd]

i mean, it's not going to be detrimental (or is it? )... but think about your food web for a second. what do worms eat? the bacteria and fungi that break things down in your soil... which is a good thing because it will release available nutrients for the plant... but 500 worms in 20 gal... that population will never survive entirely unless you're basically turning your planter into a worm farm because there just won't be enough food source for them... and some will end up starving to death. So you will have some die off... the population will self regulate. but in the mean time, if the worms gobble up as much bacteria and fungi as they can then who is going to be breaking down those foodstocks for the plant? another concern i have, worms have a tendency to neutralize things... like your acidic peat... and will basically turn your whole pot into compost. I can say that over time i've diluted my mix with too much compost, and that's why I lost my acidity... leading to less than ideal yields (but still healthy plants).

So overall... I'll be interested to see how this plays out if you're willing to leave them all in there; just seems like mega overkill to me and a sure way to disrupt the balance of the ecosystem. I mean, this is just me speculating on a few things and is by no means a definitive thought process... but remember... less is more. start small, and go from there. you can always add more if need be.

Word....My idea was that the population would self regulate faster with more in there from the start.

 

[ShLUbY]

Word....My idea was that the population would self regulate faster with more in there from the start.

they probably will... don't worry, i won't tell PETA you're starving worms to death LOL j/k Please let us know what you experience! that's a lot of worms for a planter!!

 

[Tyleb173rd]

they probably will... don't worry, i won't tell PETA you're starving worms to death LOL j/k Please let us know what you experience! that's a lot of worms for a planter!!

Whatever worms that do survive the “Vermi-Purge” they will be the biggest, baddest and strongest around.

 

[neef]

they probably will... don't worry, i won't tell PETA you're starving worms to death LOL j/k Please let us know what you experience! that's a lot of worms for a planter!!

I get where you’re coming from but would the dead worms pay back into the food web as food for the bacteria?

I haven’t added any yet but am interested in seeing how this all would play out.

To answer back to what did I feed with and planted in before the transplant

The tea consist of 2 tbs of kelp meal 2 tbs of worm casting some molasses (didn’t measure but have it the good ole 3 count pour) and some white shark bubbled for 30 hours in a 5 gallon bucket then fed. Could there be a problem with not “cutting” the brewed tea with water?

They were planted in straight ffof before hand in 5 gallon bags.

I fed this due to the idea of there being a Fe deficiency. My water plain water ph is 6.8 with a ppm of 180 if this helps.

 

[neef]

Did anyone else experience problems getting onto RUI yesterday later in the day?

Kept saying host error maybe their watching

 

[ShLUbY]

Did anyone else experience problems getting onto RUI yesterday later in the day?

Kept saying host error maybe their watching

yeah it happens from time to time. and yeah the dead worms would definitely be recycled. just pointing out to be cautious of "too much of a good thing"

 

[neef]

Oh i left out I let the soil rest for 2.5 weeks before transplanting the 2 foot ladies. One in a 65 gallon and 3 in their own 10 gallon smart pots

 

[ShLUbY]

Oh i left out I let the soil rest for 2.5 weeks before transplanting the 2 foot ladies. One in a 65 gallon and 3 in their own 10 gallon smart pots

ok so you say you transplanted them like just within a few days... and they came out of containers with FFOF soil. how big were the containers and were the plants rootbound heavily before transplanting? you may just need to give them time to grow into the new mix if that is the case

 

[neef]

They were in 5 gallon black grow bags. heavily rootbound! But the majority of the roots looked a nice fuzzy white. I watered them in after transplant with plain water (didn’t want to go to wild) but was thinking a humic tea after a couple of day may not be a bad idea or maybe that’s me trying to do to much.

 

[ShLUbY]

They were in 5 gallon black grow bags. heavily rootbound! But the majority of the roots looked a nice fuzzy white. I watered them in after transplant with plain water (didn’t want to go to wild) but was thinking a humic tea after a couple of day may not be a bad idea or maybe that’s me trying to do to much.

ok that makes sense, they looked kinda large. honestly, i would just let them grow into the new soil, and your problems should stop. obviously the damage is done, and will not be repaired... but further damage will subside. it will take them a bit to loosen their roots and move into the new soil. i know you want to help your ladies... but just let the soil take care of it

 

[neef]

ok that makes sense, they looked kinda large. honestly, i would just let them grow into the new soil, and your problems should stop. obviously the damage is done, and will not be repaired... but further damage will subside. it will take them a bit to loosen their roots and move into the new soil. i know you want to help your ladies... but just let the soil take care of it

Thanks for the advice helping me thru the process it means to a old guy like me. What are your thoughts on cover crops?

 

[ShLUbY]

Thanks for the advice helping me thru the process it means to a old guy like me. What are your thoughts on cover crops?

they have to be well timed to be effective. sown and sprouted when your cannabis plants are very small, so they can grow and mature and then die off when the cannabis gets larger and shade out the cover crop. this creates effective nutrient cycling. watch out for spider mites when using clovers. mites can detect that shit from outdoors in an indoor grow if it is not sealed well (not enough barriers between outside and inside). I've experienced that several times lol.

 

[neef]

Dam spider mites! Kind of crazy to think that they find their way inside. Not to mention that I haven’t heard of them being attracted to clover especially for the people gardening outside.


So I’m thinking I will be needing to switch these ladies over to flower shortly since I’m running out of vertical space. I also have 2 TGA Agent Orange seedlings rolling for the next attempt at this along with clones of the current plants. I plan on doing the whole light deprivation for 36 hours to help initiate the flower hormones a little quicker. Thoughts?

The other question is should I feed them some kind of beneficial bacteria tea before switching to flower or just go straight to a flowering tea?

Any great flowering tea recipes anyone would like to contribute?

Below are pics of the pics as of today when the lights came back on

 

[ShLUbY]

Dam spider mites! Kind of crazy to think that they find their way inside. Not to mention that I haven’t heard of them being attracted to clover especially for the people gardening outside.


So I’m thinking I will be needing to switch these ladies over to flower shortly since I’m running out of vertical space. I also have 2 TGA Agent Orange seedlings rolling for the next attempt at this along with clones of the current plants. I plan on doing the whole light deprivation for 36 hours to help initiate the flower hormones a little quicker. Thoughts?

The other question is should I feed them some kind of beneficial bacteria tea before switching to flower or just go straight to a flowering tea?

Any great flowering tea recipes anyone would like to contribute?

Below are pics of the pics as of today when the lights came back on

guarantee, if you go out and examine random clover plants, as well as wood sorrel, you will come across mites. that's how it is here in Michigan anyway. fuckers are everywhere outside!

 

[neef]

So I decided that I would top dress these lovely lady’s with some EWC, Kelp meal and seabird guano about 2 days ago after watching all sorts of living soil YouTube videos on a drunken night and I must say the ladies are loving it. Wish I would have learned about top dressing sooner

 

[neef]

Can you over do top dressing? I went with the idea that less is more but not too sure.

 

[ShLUbY]

Can you over do top dressing? I went with the idea that less is more but not too sure.

all things in moderation. you can definitely overdo it. just because you get a positive response from a little doesn't mean you should chuck more on there lol. a good topdressing (1/2 a cup of the right nutrients) will last a good 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[neef]

all things in moderation. you can definitely overdo it. just because you get a positive response from a little doesn't mean you should chuck more on there lol. a good topdressing (1/2 a cup of the right nutrients) will last a good 3 to 4 weeks.

You answered my next question! Thank you! Today I will start the ladies 36 hour light deprivation (read that cutting the lights helps the plant produce flower hormones quicker). Hopefully all goes smooth.

I’m thinking about trying 11 hours of light and 13 off.