changing from hydro to organic soil... first time! help appreciated!

[billdo]

Billdo transitions from Hydro to Soil

As you may know from my previous Grow Journal, I am a relatively new grower.

I had 1 really successful grow using Advanced Nutrients Sensi AB and Big Bud... but I wanted organic bud.

I then tried to go hydro-organic with my little (6 gallon) dwc system and the entire BMO line, but the pH shifts became too much to bear.

I thought even about going back to chem nutes, but I then thought about the reasons I am growing... which don't have anything to do with yield. they have to do with quality, taste, and knowing what is in it. what good is that if i am putting chemical crap in my girls?

So today... maybe against my better judgement, albeit... I switched to full-blown organic soil. I transplanted some (maybe) ladies from the dwc system to 10x10 pots filled with e.b. stone soil and just a bit of some white pellets made of corn starch that retain moisture like no other. they were recommended by my local garden store. I then watered them with just a bit of the old res solution.

I also planned my auto-drip system that I may implement in the future. I also, in preparation for my trip this week, added a crude wick system and ran the butcher's twine to the old dwc cloner res which will soon become my auto-drip res.

I am not sure that this will work... but I had to try something since I will be leaving them for a week.

Not to mention that I am sure these plants will have a rough transition to soil at their maturity level. It IS only their 3rd full day of 12/12, and they have not shown any roots out of their rockwool cubes yet, as shown in the photo.

Any thoughts or comments on this move?

The Gear
EB Stone Organic Soil
10x10 pots
BMO Nutes
My Worm Tea from my Vermicomposter
400w HPS
Carbon Scrubber
Air-cooled hood

Lineup of Ladies
2 White Widow
1 Critically Smashed
1 Sensi Star
1 Northern Lights
1 Fast Blast
I am new to soil, so I got a soil pH meter. My soil is currently set to 7.0. Is this ok? it seems on the high end of things.

Also, what pH should my nutrient solution be when I water the ladies? Sorry for all of these questions, but I really have no clue and am learning soil on the fly.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

Thanks for the help!
BILLDO

 

[billdo]

Oh, one more thing.

The plants were dosed 48 hours with BushMaster 1 week before the transplant.

 

[billdo]

Hey Guys,
I just got back from vaca, and when i left for a week and a half my 6 plants were looking really sad after having been taken out of my dwc setup (one week from having been Bushmaster treated for two days and put into 12/12) and switched and being trown into organic soil and BMO nutes (plus my worm tea).

When I returned, I found everything doing much better. I had three of my plants become males, so those are now gone. I am now left with one Sensi Star, one White Widow, and one Critically Smashed. The SS and the CS are both about 13" tall.

Also, you will see that I have 3 purple wreck and 3 blueberry seeds germinating in E.B. starting mix in the heating/propagating tray... in addition to all of my veggies getting ready for planting in a few week.

Am I missing hydro? Not one bit thusfar. My three plants are shaping up nicely in week 3 of flower. Should be a nice end product when you consider everything they have been through.


Quick question...
My bigger (18") white widow has a few bent leaves on her. not sharply bent like tip burn... but more like they are popped inside-out (the fifth photo above). Does anyone know what might be causing those?

There is also a leaf which is popped the same way (but in this case popped up) visible on the Critically Smashed plant shown in photo 3.

 

[farel2]

Looks good man. Have you noticed growth rate slow in general when going form hydro to soil. It seems to be common knowledge that hydro makes the plants grow a bit quicker. Just wondering if you have noticed a difference?

 

[billdo]

Looks good man. Have you noticed growth rate slow in general when going form hydro to soil. It seems to be common knowledge that hydro makes the plants grow a bit quicker. Just wondering if you have noticed a difference?

Thanks for stopping in, Farel.

I noticed a growth stop... but that was as much due to the fact that I switched on the fly, and they would have stopped anyway due to the BushMaster.

The budding has actually been happening quickly over the past couple of days, so we will se how they end up.

 

[billdo]

FYI,
I have been using OhSoGreen's BMO feeding schedule, and it is forking wonderfully thusfar.

Thanks, OhSoGreen for helping a brother out!

 

[billdo]

Also, I have been using ZEBA Quench in my soil. I am not using much, but just a little bit really helps to keep your rootball moist in cases when you are going to be away for a few days. I started using it at the suggestion of my local garden store for my potted lemon tree on my back porch. It works wonders for outdoor plants. I thought that a little extra water retention wouldn't hurt my ladies indoor, either.

Check ZEBA Quench out. Anyone else have any experience with it?

 

[billdo]

ZEBA at a glance.

Looks like it is made with natural corn starch. not too shabby.

 

[farel2]

Are you sure the ppm should be that low all the time. I thought the norm was 800-1350 ish. Ive had flowering plant at 1400 and they loved it. This was for hydro though. But 1000 max seems low, does it not??

 

[billdo]

different strains, different nutes, different garden, different gardener

When I was using chem nutes in DWC hydro, I was topping out at about 1100 ppm in flower.

 

[farel2]

True enough all depends on the garden and strain. So are doing organic completely or jsut organic nutes????

 

[billdo]

soil, my friend. soil.

i tried the hydro-organic thing, but it was to unstable for me because of the small space situation. 8 gallons is not a lot of buffer.

haha

 

[farel2]

thats cool any more pic updates soon????

What i meant was do you compost and let the nutrients in the soil fertizile your plants or do you have soil and add nutrients to the soil>??

 

[billdo]

organic soil, organic nutes, my own organic worm tea, super plant tonic, purple maxx

my battery is dead on my camera, but I will have them soon!

 

[billdo]

My three lovely ladies are coming along quite nicely! I am very happy with the short stature of the Critically Smashed and Sensi Star, but the White Widow (in the right corner) is at maximum height right now before i have to start taking drastic measures. Perhaps the BushMaster just isn't as effective on this strain. Perhaps it is just genetics.

We are at 3.5 weeks, and I watered with a 1000 ppm solution of grow it green, flower power, purple maxx, and super plant tonic. The plants are just loving this mixture of stuff.

I TOTALLY HEART SOIL!

On the other side you can see that the 3 blueberry and 3 purple wreck plants are up. (along with some tomatoes)

Rise and shine, ladies! It is time to go to work! I need my meds.

God Bless Prop 215
BILLDO

 

[billdo]

From left to right:
Sensi Star
Critically Smashed
White Widow


The BushMaster really did the job on the SS and the CS, but the White Widow stretched a bit and got a little too tall on me. I was hoping that I could avoid tying her down, but today I had to bite the bullet and do just that. She was only about 4 inches from the glass on my cooled HPS, but now hopefully she can finish up just fine like this.

All of the ladies are really loving OhSoGreen's BMO feeding schedule. I am excited about how much development should come over the next few weeks given the fact that Mary seems to be loving life in the Organics!

In the last photo you will see my new sprouts (along with some tomatoes and peppers)... 3 BlueBerry seedlings and 3 Purple Wreck seedlings. This is my first time germinating Mary in soil, so 3 for 3 is excellent.

 

[billdo]

One more thing... I am really impressed with how well the Critically Smashed and White Widow handled the topping. They each grew a pair of nice colas. I didn't top the Sensi Star.

If anyone out there is growing either of these strains, I highly recommend topping them.

 

[HookedOnChronic]

wicked grow man, love all 3 plants im subscribed

 

[billdo]

Thanks for the complement!

I love the Kush, BTW... if I had space I would grow that shit. I get the purple kush from my caregiver from time to time.

 

[dirt clean]

those seedlings man looked a little streched. they need more lumens on them.

nice grow. i am growing white widow too. lst is the way to go. lst and top.

try reading subcools canopy mangement. it has some nice advice from a seasoned grower.