Sincerely420
New Member
Well damn....Can't really ever account for human error or mishap huh?! 
Organic Growing Made Easy & Fox Farms Ocean Forest!
- Thread starter Sincerely420
- Start date
Sincerely420
New Member
I missed that question from ya bro, but I've never looked into anything like that!See my other post ?
IF not :
Have you though about doing a grow with a Earth-Box or something a like? Still soil basedJust w/ a res.
I know plenty of people who use it and keep re-cycling their soil but growing legit tomatoes
I looked into some of the self wicking setups and all that but I figure I've got time to do everything manually.
I'm still learning things, so manually watering I feel like will keep me on top of things. It's a little more effort especially bcuz I water so slowly, but i'm not pressed about the extra effort as the reward it worth it!
I feel like 3gal pots will be best for me as they're small but can grow a full size plant, so I can cram them ya know?
I'm in using all smart pots this upcoming run to flower in, but if I don't like the result, I'm going back to grow bags as I've had excellent results with those, and they're SO MUCH CHEAPER than fabric pots or "smart pots".
You looking into going the earth-box route? I'm def. gonna try to keep the soil a little more wet in the smart pots tho, as they dry out faster.
I'll be documenting eveything again tho, and I'll let you know once I start the thread!
I'm currently using 3# Smart Pots. I have two 5# and will Veg longer with that to see how big I can get it. I have noticed with the fabric that it DOES in fact dry out faster. But I like it because now I have a system with it. Day 1 : Water / Day 2 : Dry / Day 3 : Check to see if it needs water, if not go one more day.
Question with feeding with tea. Do you feed once a week? Or twice?
Heres another question : From going by numbers I have two weeks left 'till harvest. But how can I tell? My colas are still looking strictly white. Some people wait 'till 75% amber colour. The leaves are slowly loosing the green colour because I know it's getting towards the end. But I may do one more run of home-made organic cal-mag just to keep it running. MY understanding is the last watering is flush - so yeah.
I want to use earth box for outdoor set-up. I think that it'd be easy. Or maybe I can just use the 5# smart pots for that.
I just had a dream that I grew with Coco organically. I wonder how the hell that's possible. Use a lot of tea? HAHA
Question with feeding with tea. Do you feed once a week? Or twice?
Heres another question : From going by numbers I have two weeks left 'till harvest. But how can I tell? My colas are still looking strictly white. Some people wait 'till 75% amber colour. The leaves are slowly loosing the green colour because I know it's getting towards the end. But I may do one more run of home-made organic cal-mag just to keep it running. MY understanding is the last watering is flush - so yeah.
I want to use earth box for outdoor set-up. I think that it'd be easy. Or maybe I can just use the 5# smart pots for that.
I just had a dream that I grew with Coco organically. I wonder how the hell that's possible. Use a lot of tea? HAHA
Sincerely420
New Member
TYPED ENTIRE RESPONSE AND LOST IT! DAMN IT!
So this is your back up response haha.
But I just bought a pack of 10 #3 smarties for my next run. I'll be finishing all my girls in those.
I start out in solo cups, and then somewhere between days 14-21,(depending on growth) I transplant them to 1 gal grow bags.
I'll then top them back to just about the 2nd true node(to grow all main colas), train them to the outside of the grow bag, let them grow a little, and then transplant them into the 3 gal smarties.
Once in the smarties they get trained to the outside of the smarties for a week or two, and are allowed to grow up from that point on!
I did a couple plants this way last run, and like the results enough that I've decided to build off of this system!
And I've had a similar system like yours!
Usually I start with like a 4 day gap in water the plants from the second week on, and I wait until the plant wilt(once they get some foliage), and start to give them water the day before that..I only mist the plants the first seven days tho.
But as they get bigger they'll need more water and will eventually wilt sooner, so you know you need to give water a day earlier than that!
By the end of flowering I'm watering every other day.
And I don't flush and my ashes burn all white with no after taste bro!
I gave teas to my last crop the watering before their last, just to see if it's taste different from the first crop, which I've given water on the last couple weeks. There is/was no difference in the smoke. My first white widow was flushed but the next three weren't.
There's no need to flush in organics(if your soil is healthy), because the microbes feed of the fertilizers we added and hold them within.
The roots control what nutrients the plants get at all times. There's no stored nutrients in the plants that need to be flushed, as everything is stored beneath, in the soil.
In the final 2-3 weeks, the plants in our mix will start to lose green and there's nothing we can do about it.
I mean of course we can hit them with some chemical fertilizer to keep them green, and say F the soil eco system, but that's not natural..
Leaves fall in the fall and losing that color in natural so when it happens don't sweat it.
As long as the bud leaves remain green, there are no problems!
And don't go by the number bro. It's good as a reference, but won't always be realistic.
The number or dates they're giving us are ideal when we're growing in ideal conditions.
I'd guess that 100w HPS per plant with CO2.
But we have to add weeks on to our harvest date sometimes due to human error and things like training the plants.
What I've learned is that there's moreso a "peak harvest" window. The more indica dominant the plant, the smaller that window(5-10 roughly).
The more sativa dominant, the longer(10-21days roughly).
When you harvest during the peak window, you get your plants full punch to the brain!
There's more science in the degradation of the trichs and effect is has on the high as well, and in going thru all of this, I've figured that I want to experience every plant for all it's worth! Don't wanna let the THC degrade for a couch lock effect..
If I want more couch lock lol I pop some more White Widow, or run some Kushes! Some indy dominant.
If I want more uplifting and energetic, It'll take me a bit longer to grow some sativas, but it'll be worth it in the end!
And lets just say that I've have GREAT success using teas 3/4 watering during my first run, and every other watering during my second run, so this third run I plant to use them every single watering! We'll see how it goes, but I'm planning on blowing it away boss!
For you tho, I'd suggest a tea once a week until you start and really get then hang of them.
If you feel comfy sooner than expected, I'd give them every other watering. Or every watering like I'll be.
I also dilute them with water 1:1 everytime, just in case the proportions within are a little off. Thats not somthing you have to do, but moreso a safety net(for me at least). I somtimes I give a little more tea than water but I always cut my teas with some water.
The thing is, every tea has it's own personality lol. The slightest difference in ingredients added and water temp and amount of aeration and all that could make the end results vary. So with every tea it's hit or miss...The good thing about it is, if you miss, you've got an army of microbes working for you.
The greater thing is is you hit, you plants get a dose is food in the natural form...Yeah they don't know which N is which, but the microbes do lol!
And when you do hit, your plants grow noticeably within the hours after! Very much so!
What can be used immediately, will be used immediatly, the moment it hits the rhizosphere.
What's not needed will be held in the soil for future consumption!
I feel like the teas also go A LONG WAY in establishing soil fertility as well boss. This next grow im gonna blow it away lol, or have to repot a few times lol!
I'm banking on blowing it away tho. I bumped up the humus content in the latest mix, so that I have move microbes to work it out with!
NOTE TO ALL* Copy you text before you hit reply lol..In case you lose it..
So this is your back up response haha.
But I just bought a pack of 10 #3 smarties for my next run. I'll be finishing all my girls in those.
I start out in solo cups, and then somewhere between days 14-21,(depending on growth) I transplant them to 1 gal grow bags.
I'll then top them back to just about the 2nd true node(to grow all main colas), train them to the outside of the grow bag, let them grow a little, and then transplant them into the 3 gal smarties.
Once in the smarties they get trained to the outside of the smarties for a week or two, and are allowed to grow up from that point on!
I did a couple plants this way last run, and like the results enough that I've decided to build off of this system!
And I've had a similar system like yours!
Usually I start with like a 4 day gap in water the plants from the second week on, and I wait until the plant wilt(once they get some foliage), and start to give them water the day before that..I only mist the plants the first seven days tho.
But as they get bigger they'll need more water and will eventually wilt sooner, so you know you need to give water a day earlier than that!
By the end of flowering I'm watering every other day.
And I don't flush and my ashes burn all white with no after taste bro!
I gave teas to my last crop the watering before their last, just to see if it's taste different from the first crop, which I've given water on the last couple weeks. There is/was no difference in the smoke. My first white widow was flushed but the next three weren't.
There's no need to flush in organics(if your soil is healthy), because the microbes feed of the fertilizers we added and hold them within.
The roots control what nutrients the plants get at all times. There's no stored nutrients in the plants that need to be flushed, as everything is stored beneath, in the soil.
In the final 2-3 weeks, the plants in our mix will start to lose green and there's nothing we can do about it.
I mean of course we can hit them with some chemical fertilizer to keep them green, and say F the soil eco system, but that's not natural..
Leaves fall in the fall and losing that color in natural so when it happens don't sweat it.
As long as the bud leaves remain green, there are no problems!
And don't go by the number bro. It's good as a reference, but won't always be realistic.
The number or dates they're giving us are ideal when we're growing in ideal conditions.
I'd guess that 100w HPS per plant with CO2.
But we have to add weeks on to our harvest date sometimes due to human error and things like training the plants.
What I've learned is that there's moreso a "peak harvest" window. The more indica dominant the plant, the smaller that window(5-10 roughly).
The more sativa dominant, the longer(10-21days roughly).
When you harvest during the peak window, you get your plants full punch to the brain!
There's more science in the degradation of the trichs and effect is has on the high as well, and in going thru all of this, I've figured that I want to experience every plant for all it's worth! Don't wanna let the THC degrade for a couch lock effect..
If I want more couch lock lol I pop some more White Widow, or run some Kushes! Some indy dominant.
If I want more uplifting and energetic, It'll take me a bit longer to grow some sativas, but it'll be worth it in the end!
And lets just say that I've have GREAT success using teas 3/4 watering during my first run, and every other watering during my second run, so this third run I plant to use them every single watering! We'll see how it goes, but I'm planning on blowing it away boss!
For you tho, I'd suggest a tea once a week until you start and really get then hang of them.
If you feel comfy sooner than expected, I'd give them every other watering. Or every watering like I'll be.
I also dilute them with water 1:1 everytime, just in case the proportions within are a little off. Thats not somthing you have to do, but moreso a safety net(for me at least). I somtimes I give a little more tea than water but I always cut my teas with some water.
The thing is, every tea has it's own personality lol. The slightest difference in ingredients added and water temp and amount of aeration and all that could make the end results vary. So with every tea it's hit or miss...The good thing about it is, if you miss, you've got an army of microbes working for you.
The greater thing is is you hit, you plants get a dose is food in the natural form...Yeah they don't know which N is which, but the microbes do lol!
And when you do hit, your plants grow noticeably within the hours after! Very much so!
What can be used immediately, will be used immediatly, the moment it hits the rhizosphere.
What's not needed will be held in the soil for future consumption!
I feel like the teas also go A LONG WAY in establishing soil fertility as well boss. This next grow im gonna blow it away lol, or have to repot a few times lol!
I'm banking on blowing it away tho. I bumped up the humus content in the latest mix, so that I have move microbes to work it out with!
NOTE TO ALL* Copy you text before you hit reply lol..In case you lose it..
Sincerely420
New Member
Super Starts: Healthier Transplants for Happier Harvests
Professional athletes know that the best finishes come from a strong start. Same goes for experienced croppers and their plants.
Like all races, your road to victory in the garden is about going the distance. However, just like professional athletes, experienced croppers also know that the best finishes come from a strong start. If you get hung-up coming out of the gate, you might finish the race, but it there is little or no chance of it being the best performance possible.
So, lets break it down into those important first steps. By better understanding each of these steps and, most importantly, how one lends more power to the next in the succession, you will be well-trained this season and stand an excellent chance of making this your best victory garden harvest ever (be it outdoors, in a greenhouse or even under grow lights).
Its worth noting that there are selections of commercially propagated plants available at the grocery store, your local garden center or maybe even your local hydroponics shop to start your garden. These can be convenient and easy, especially if you arent growing for a living. Be warned, though; while you can take home some great starts, you can also take home problems (for example, insects and diseases). If you cant talk to who grew your transplants, there can also be uncertainty as to whether or not they were sprayed with chemicals that could harm you or lessen the yield potential from your crop. This makes an even stronger case for growing your own, especially if you make your living from your crops and if you have a short season (meaning you can only bank on getting one crop planted and harvested). In other words, theres a lot riding on the quality of your starts.
Prepare for success
Fact is, the majority of the work that needs to be done when starting new plants typically has more to do with setting up to plant rather than the act of planting itself. Farmers know the importance of creating a proper seed bed: firm, but not hard, and of finer texture that still drains freely. If you are using a medium to start cuttings or seeds, that description still fits. Commercial peat or coco-based soilless mixes work great (especially if starting from seeds) and can be used to fill cell trays that fit into a standard 10- by 20-in. propagation dome/tray set-up. There are specially made plugs available too, with rockwool being just one of the choices. Different mediums will have different pretreatment requirements in order to stabilize the pH or provide/remove nutrients. Some mixes and plugs are ready to use right out of the package. Also, make sure your medium is sterile or else rots and other problems could occur easily in the warm, moist environment created.
Inoculating your seeds and cuttings and encouraging them to be extra healthy is easy with additions of B vitamins and beneficial soil fungus (for example, mycorrhizae and trichoderma).Bacillusstrains of bacteria also promote bigger and healthier root systems that resist the bad guys, which can occur in the soil. To get the best bang for your buck, you can soak your seeds for a short period in good-quality water mixed with ¼- to 1/8-strength beneficial inoculants and B vitamins. Once your seeds are planted and have emerged, you water with this solution until they need a regular fertilizer program, which could also include some of the beneficials youre already using.
Its also a good idea to start with new trays and domes every time you propagate (be sure to recycle them after youre done). For the cost, relative to how many healthy transplants you can start in a single tray, it is worth the peace of mind. However, if you prefer, mild bleach solutions and lots of rinsing can be used to sterilize and reuse plastic materials. Ninety-nine percent pure isopropyl alcohol is also effective; just use in a well-ventilated area away from sparks or flames. Nonetheless, note that plastics can get porous; so, overtime, you could be leaving behind harmful pathogens that can quickly infect the next batch of new plants.
Mastering balance
Learning what the correct moisture content is for your propagation medium can take a little practice; in fact, it can years to perfect. Newbies tend to over soak it (A.K.A killing with love), while veterans might get lazy and give a light mist once in a while to even out moisture to the different cells in the tray. However, having the right balance of oxygen-to-water around stems to root or germinating seeds is critical to having a fast and healthy trouble-free start.
With peat and coir mixes, you can learn to watch the color of the medium. As it goes from dark to light, it is losing moisture. Of course, lifting the dome and touching with a clean finger is perfectly acceptable way to test for moisture.
While were on the topic of water, using RO filtered water that has been remineralized with nutrients, vitamins, humates, etc. helps ensure that the water is free of harmful contaminants (including disease-causing organisms) while removing chlorine, which would hurt the beneficial life you introduced into your propagating medium.
Knowing when to push and when to breathe
Some seeds need light to germinate, although most will pop up in dark conditions when provided with the right temperature range and moisture. However, once a tiny seedling emerges, it will need light. Its important to get this rightwith cuttings, lighting is a critical factor. The right photoperiod (duration of light to dark) and the right intensity can make all of the difference between developing a strong healthy root system in a short time frame or having the cuttings lag during rooting, making them very weak and pale by the time they are ready to plant.
When plants absorb light wavelengths, they combine this light energy with the chemical energy from air and water (CO2 for leaves, O2 for roots) and nutrients to form glucose (C6H12O6). Then, when its dark, they grow by burning the sugars they made during the light cycle.
However, temperature is king. In fact, deciding the intensity of artificial light you give your seedlings and transplants will often have more to do with temperature, as they are sealed up tight underneath a humidity dome. This is because seedlings or cuttings can get dehydrated in environments that are too warm since they cant keep up with the water demand on a non-existent or newly developing root system. As a rule of thumb, light-loving plants like fluorescent lighting kept at a distance of 6 to 12 in. and HID lighting at least a couple feet away from their tops. For cuttings, this author finds between 800 and 1,200 lumens of T5 lighting provides the best results. Two 4-ft. long tubes roots two 1,020 trays nicely. Seedlings can start with similar lighting conditions.
Maintaining steady temperature of about 80°F in the humidity dome typically gives the best balance between fast development and less risk of problems. Usually maintaining a light cycle of 18 hours on proves optimal for most varieties, however, if it gets colder with the lights out, the lights can be left on 24/7. If it gets too warm under the covered dome, youll need to move the light source further away. Keep in mind though that venting warm air away with powerful vent fans is not advisable, even with a snug fitting dome.
When the time is right
Once about 75% of the seedlings have emerged or cuttings are showing roots, its time for the young crop to gradually get acquainted with the outside world. If left under the dome for longer, they will stretch and grow soft and weak, thus wasting your earlier efforts to promote optimal health. Start by taking the dome off for an hour or two and then recover by letting it sit covered for a few more hours. Then uncover for longer. If no signs of wilting appear, your plants are ready to stand uncovered.
At this point, if going outdoors right away, you might want to harden your plants off by putting them outside in cooler conditions and then bringing them back in, repeating the process until they get acclimated to outdoor weather. Watch out for strong breezes or intense light, as tender young transplants can get fried quickly. Insects and animals would love to eat your seedlings, so take care here too. Keep in mind that bigger plants stand a better chance outdoors.
If you are going to keep growing indoors, which is advisable, you will want to do what savvy indoor growers do. Thats to pre-veg your plants before introducing them to more intensive growing conditions. This way the young plants experience no hiccups early on and end up producing maximized yields.
Pre-growth tactics
Instead of putting plants straight outside or even indoors into more intensive full-on vegetative growing conditions, it pays to provide them with a healthy adolescence before they become young adults. This way they will be revving to go for the big race ahead, and will have bulked up enough on the top and bottom to resist troubles and grow big.
One of the best and easiest methods to accomplish this is by planting into small pots (or beer cups with drain holesbeer cups are great because they are deeper than wide so you can still fit lots of plants under one light fixture). At this point, keep fluorescent lights just off the tops of the plants (if using metal halide lighting, about 1,600 to 2,000 lumens is ideal). Also, provide a gentle breeze with a small fan. At this point, bioactivity is good, so step it up. Go light on nutes and heavier on things like vitamins, bacteria, fungi, humates, fulvates and amino acids. This will encourage strong healthy root development without making your plants stretch. Also, let them dry out a little between waterings (but dont let them wilt) now that the plants have some roots to stand on. You will have hardier, studier plants that are better able to withstand stresses. However, while your plants are growing up and able to resist a bit more, do keep a watchful eye so that you dont accidentally stress or dry out your valuable starts.
After ten to fourteen days in this pre-veg stage, your plants should be very well-established and ready to transplant into larger containers or well-prepared planting holes. However, if the leaves dont look vibrant or healthy, or you see signs of troubles from insect or diseases on them, hold off on planting. Plants are much easier to treat and handle while they are smaller, so its much easier to nip the problem in the bud (so to speak) at this stage. In other words, dont ignore a problem if you do see one! They rarely go away on their own.
Super start tips
- April 2013
- Written by Erik Biksa
Professional athletes know that the best finishes come from a strong start. Same goes for experienced croppers and their plants.
Like all races, your road to victory in the garden is about going the distance. However, just like professional athletes, experienced croppers also know that the best finishes come from a strong start. If you get hung-up coming out of the gate, you might finish the race, but it there is little or no chance of it being the best performance possible.
So, lets break it down into those important first steps. By better understanding each of these steps and, most importantly, how one lends more power to the next in the succession, you will be well-trained this season and stand an excellent chance of making this your best victory garden harvest ever (be it outdoors, in a greenhouse or even under grow lights).
Its worth noting that there are selections of commercially propagated plants available at the grocery store, your local garden center or maybe even your local hydroponics shop to start your garden. These can be convenient and easy, especially if you arent growing for a living. Be warned, though; while you can take home some great starts, you can also take home problems (for example, insects and diseases). If you cant talk to who grew your transplants, there can also be uncertainty as to whether or not they were sprayed with chemicals that could harm you or lessen the yield potential from your crop. This makes an even stronger case for growing your own, especially if you make your living from your crops and if you have a short season (meaning you can only bank on getting one crop planted and harvested). In other words, theres a lot riding on the quality of your starts.
Prepare for success
Fact is, the majority of the work that needs to be done when starting new plants typically has more to do with setting up to plant rather than the act of planting itself. Farmers know the importance of creating a proper seed bed: firm, but not hard, and of finer texture that still drains freely. If you are using a medium to start cuttings or seeds, that description still fits. Commercial peat or coco-based soilless mixes work great (especially if starting from seeds) and can be used to fill cell trays that fit into a standard 10- by 20-in. propagation dome/tray set-up. There are specially made plugs available too, with rockwool being just one of the choices. Different mediums will have different pretreatment requirements in order to stabilize the pH or provide/remove nutrients. Some mixes and plugs are ready to use right out of the package. Also, make sure your medium is sterile or else rots and other problems could occur easily in the warm, moist environment created.
Inoculating your seeds and cuttings and encouraging them to be extra healthy is easy with additions of B vitamins and beneficial soil fungus (for example, mycorrhizae and trichoderma).Bacillusstrains of bacteria also promote bigger and healthier root systems that resist the bad guys, which can occur in the soil. To get the best bang for your buck, you can soak your seeds for a short period in good-quality water mixed with ¼- to 1/8-strength beneficial inoculants and B vitamins. Once your seeds are planted and have emerged, you water with this solution until they need a regular fertilizer program, which could also include some of the beneficials youre already using.
Its also a good idea to start with new trays and domes every time you propagate (be sure to recycle them after youre done). For the cost, relative to how many healthy transplants you can start in a single tray, it is worth the peace of mind. However, if you prefer, mild bleach solutions and lots of rinsing can be used to sterilize and reuse plastic materials. Ninety-nine percent pure isopropyl alcohol is also effective; just use in a well-ventilated area away from sparks or flames. Nonetheless, note that plastics can get porous; so, overtime, you could be leaving behind harmful pathogens that can quickly infect the next batch of new plants.
Mastering balance
Learning what the correct moisture content is for your propagation medium can take a little practice; in fact, it can years to perfect. Newbies tend to over soak it (A.K.A killing with love), while veterans might get lazy and give a light mist once in a while to even out moisture to the different cells in the tray. However, having the right balance of oxygen-to-water around stems to root or germinating seeds is critical to having a fast and healthy trouble-free start.
With peat and coir mixes, you can learn to watch the color of the medium. As it goes from dark to light, it is losing moisture. Of course, lifting the dome and touching with a clean finger is perfectly acceptable way to test for moisture.
While were on the topic of water, using RO filtered water that has been remineralized with nutrients, vitamins, humates, etc. helps ensure that the water is free of harmful contaminants (including disease-causing organisms) while removing chlorine, which would hurt the beneficial life you introduced into your propagating medium.
Knowing when to push and when to breathe
Some seeds need light to germinate, although most will pop up in dark conditions when provided with the right temperature range and moisture. However, once a tiny seedling emerges, it will need light. Its important to get this rightwith cuttings, lighting is a critical factor. The right photoperiod (duration of light to dark) and the right intensity can make all of the difference between developing a strong healthy root system in a short time frame or having the cuttings lag during rooting, making them very weak and pale by the time they are ready to plant.
When plants absorb light wavelengths, they combine this light energy with the chemical energy from air and water (CO2 for leaves, O2 for roots) and nutrients to form glucose (C6H12O6). Then, when its dark, they grow by burning the sugars they made during the light cycle.
However, temperature is king. In fact, deciding the intensity of artificial light you give your seedlings and transplants will often have more to do with temperature, as they are sealed up tight underneath a humidity dome. This is because seedlings or cuttings can get dehydrated in environments that are too warm since they cant keep up with the water demand on a non-existent or newly developing root system. As a rule of thumb, light-loving plants like fluorescent lighting kept at a distance of 6 to 12 in. and HID lighting at least a couple feet away from their tops. For cuttings, this author finds between 800 and 1,200 lumens of T5 lighting provides the best results. Two 4-ft. long tubes roots two 1,020 trays nicely. Seedlings can start with similar lighting conditions.
Maintaining steady temperature of about 80°F in the humidity dome typically gives the best balance between fast development and less risk of problems. Usually maintaining a light cycle of 18 hours on proves optimal for most varieties, however, if it gets colder with the lights out, the lights can be left on 24/7. If it gets too warm under the covered dome, youll need to move the light source further away. Keep in mind though that venting warm air away with powerful vent fans is not advisable, even with a snug fitting dome.
When the time is right
Once about 75% of the seedlings have emerged or cuttings are showing roots, its time for the young crop to gradually get acquainted with the outside world. If left under the dome for longer, they will stretch and grow soft and weak, thus wasting your earlier efforts to promote optimal health. Start by taking the dome off for an hour or two and then recover by letting it sit covered for a few more hours. Then uncover for longer. If no signs of wilting appear, your plants are ready to stand uncovered.
At this point, if going outdoors right away, you might want to harden your plants off by putting them outside in cooler conditions and then bringing them back in, repeating the process until they get acclimated to outdoor weather. Watch out for strong breezes or intense light, as tender young transplants can get fried quickly. Insects and animals would love to eat your seedlings, so take care here too. Keep in mind that bigger plants stand a better chance outdoors.
If you are going to keep growing indoors, which is advisable, you will want to do what savvy indoor growers do. Thats to pre-veg your plants before introducing them to more intensive growing conditions. This way the young plants experience no hiccups early on and end up producing maximized yields.
Pre-growth tactics
Instead of putting plants straight outside or even indoors into more intensive full-on vegetative growing conditions, it pays to provide them with a healthy adolescence before they become young adults. This way they will be revving to go for the big race ahead, and will have bulked up enough on the top and bottom to resist troubles and grow big.
One of the best and easiest methods to accomplish this is by planting into small pots (or beer cups with drain holesbeer cups are great because they are deeper than wide so you can still fit lots of plants under one light fixture). At this point, keep fluorescent lights just off the tops of the plants (if using metal halide lighting, about 1,600 to 2,000 lumens is ideal). Also, provide a gentle breeze with a small fan. At this point, bioactivity is good, so step it up. Go light on nutes and heavier on things like vitamins, bacteria, fungi, humates, fulvates and amino acids. This will encourage strong healthy root development without making your plants stretch. Also, let them dry out a little between waterings (but dont let them wilt) now that the plants have some roots to stand on. You will have hardier, studier plants that are better able to withstand stresses. However, while your plants are growing up and able to resist a bit more, do keep a watchful eye so that you dont accidentally stress or dry out your valuable starts.
After ten to fourteen days in this pre-veg stage, your plants should be very well-established and ready to transplant into larger containers or well-prepared planting holes. However, if the leaves dont look vibrant or healthy, or you see signs of troubles from insect or diseases on them, hold off on planting. Plants are much easier to treat and handle while they are smaller, so its much easier to nip the problem in the bud (so to speak) at this stage. In other words, dont ignore a problem if you do see one! They rarely go away on their own.
Super start tips
- Be careful with heat mats; they can get too warm and cause rots and other problems
- Lift the dome off for a few minutes every day and wipe the condensation off with a clean paper towel
- Humates and fulvates are completely natural ingredients and promote healthier and bigger root systems
- Foliar spray only if you have to; standing moisture on foliage is a gateway for pathogens and is best avoided if possible
- Set it up right and then leave it alone; your young plants want a stable and regular environment, so do it right the first time
Sincerely420
New Member
Nice! i just stack three solo cups and cut holes in the bottom of the top two for draining, and leave em' there for a good 2 wks!
hyroot
Well-Known Member
Viagrow tm pots from amazon are the ones I use. I like them more than smart pots. They are taller and not as wide. But aerated more and after several batches. They still hold their shape and not flimsy like smart pots. Have handles to. Very cheap. Most of my smart pots were moved outside to my veggie garden.
Sincerely420
New Member
I'll be adding this in and giving it a try, rather than adding more perlite!
Order it online and pick it up at your local Lowes.
They've got a great deal of things online that you can have shipped to your local store for free.
But here's a link for the lava rock. http://www.lowes.com/pd_2568-66882-2568_?productId=3028785
I'll probably add 10 cups of this to each batch of soil.
For those of you having a hard time finding things, I think Lowes and Home Depot are two places that you can find everything you need rather than hitting the hydro store.
Also gonna try out some compost they have there! I've still got a batch of soil to recycle!
<-This is that compost!
But IDK....I might just buy some worms and put em' to work in that soil....I dunno...Decisions decisions...
Order it online and pick it up at your local Lowes.
They've got a great deal of things online that you can have shipped to your local store for free.
But here's a link for the lava rock. http://www.lowes.com/pd_2568-66882-2568_?productId=3028785
I'll probably add 10 cups of this to each batch of soil.
For those of you having a hard time finding things, I think Lowes and Home Depot are two places that you can find everything you need rather than hitting the hydro store.
Also gonna try out some compost they have there! I've still got a batch of soil to recycle!
But IDK....I might just buy some worms and put em' to work in that soil....I dunno...Decisions decisions...
Sincerely420
New Member
Thx boss! I was wondering about eco-scraps! & I will def. give it a try!
And as farm as casting for now, got a local supplier, so I can get those really fresh!
Red Wigglers and make Vermicompost - you can't go wrong. They're Florida Native Worms.
Sincerely420
New Member
I'm def. gonna get it poppin bro,just got some things to do this month, so got be patient..if I could tho, I'd start one tomorrow!
I will be composting with red wigglers here soon no doubt!
I'm heeding your advice for sure tho c4!
Might have to start flipping worms and castings too lol
I will be composting with red wigglers here soon no doubt!
I'm heeding your advice for sure tho c4!
Might have to start flipping worms and castings too lol
Tons of local gardeners will always be happy to get compost / worms . So like 5 bucks for a can of like 20/25 worms. I only invested 5 bucks for my worms. I got like 24 , 1 dead
. But a few have died because I had a bad set-up before.
Sincerely420
New Member
So I went ahead and picked this compost up from Lowes. It looked the part and smelled the part so I'm happy with it!
I'm cutting my previous soil mix with 1gal of this compost, 1 tsp mycos and 1/2gal perlite, per 3 gals soil mix.
Reason being, I figure the diversity of compost in this soil mix will work wonders for me based on all I've learned!
So now I have a little of this compost, a little ancient forest compost, and a little mushroom compost in my mix, as well as some EWCs!
Not gonna add anything else to in in the way of mineral or nutritional amendments, just more compost and more perlite to balance that out, as it sits a little heavy at the moment.
___________________________________
So I'm taking this mix:
Growing Medium
My 100% Organic “$uperb” $oil Mix
Each 10-12 gallon batch of reclaimed, recycled, Fox Farms Ocean Forest Base soil I reconditioned w/
And adding to it 3 gallons Nutri-Fibre compost, 1.5 gallons perlite, and 3 teaspoons mycos spores!
I'm cutting my previous soil mix with 1gal of this compost, 1 tsp mycos and 1/2gal perlite, per 3 gals soil mix.
Reason being, I figure the diversity of compost in this soil mix will work wonders for me based on all I've learned!
So now I have a little of this compost, a little ancient forest compost, and a little mushroom compost in my mix, as well as some EWCs!
Not gonna add anything else to in in the way of mineral or nutritional amendments, just more compost and more perlite to balance that out, as it sits a little heavy at the moment.
___________________________________
So I'm taking this mix:
Growing Medium
My 100% Organic “$uperb” $oil Mix
Each 10-12 gallon batch of reclaimed, recycled, Fox Farms Ocean Forest Base soil I reconditioned w/
- 3 Gallons(48 cups) Mushroom Compost
- 2 Gallons(32 cups) Ancient Forest Compost,
- 2 1/2 Gallons(40 cups) Red Wiggler castings + 8cups*
- 10 cups Perlite*
- 1 cup Hi-Cal Lime,
- 1 cup Algamin Kelp Meal 1-0-2
- ½ cup Indonesian Hi-P Bat Guano .5-12-.2
- ½ cup Espoma Tomato Tone 3-4-6
- ½ cup Azomite
- 1 cup Greensand 0-0-0.1
- 3 cup Glacial Rock Dust*
- 11tsp Mycorrhizae spores.
And adding to it 3 gallons Nutri-Fibre compost, 1.5 gallons perlite, and 3 teaspoons mycos spores!