Swamping

AlienAgriculture

AlienAgriculture

Member
Hello Fellow Growers,

I’m going to be starting a new grow using the “swamping” method by Growing a plant in recycled material. This includes the use of corrugated cardboard a.k.a fiberboard, egg carton trays, drink trays and paper items such as mailed envelopes, old bill papers, etc. and using only food compost converted to liquid feed for easiest nutrient uptake and support of the root environment allowing saturation of the recycled material with nutrient water (water is allowed to evaporate chlorine for 110 hours indoors (2-3 hours in direct sunlight). With this I’ve been able to grow plants of all kinds of sizes. I look forward to all of you joining me on this exciting new adventure.
As I go through the next grow, I will be raising the plant specifically for the purposes of creating feminized seeds either with CS or STS each have their pros and cons. We can hopefully decide that together as a community. I look forward to growing with you all. In the meantime, here are some early look at micro-grow plants that are finishing up. Dark Devil Auto's in a 3 foot tent under nine 9w LED bulbs with (5) 2700k Bulbs, (4). The darkness you see in the root zone is from composted materials converted to liquid feed. Layers between the recycled fibers were covered with mycorrhizae. I pre drenched my fibers to prepare them for the roots. I'll be in depth when I start the new plant. Between now and then, I'll let you guys enjoy the rest of the grow and check in as often as I can. Peace
 

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R

rmax

Well-Known Member
Be aware, most papers are treated. The plants will up take the chemicals. Not sure of the toxicity, if any.
 
AlienAgriculture

AlienAgriculture

Member
Materials are usually pre-washed prior to use in any kind of swamping. The possibility of ink, chemicals, etc. are always considered. One of the favorite things to use, is drink carrying trays such as you might find from a fast food restaurant or coffee shop (see attached image) with a cup and tray you have everything you need to start a small swamp minus the seed and nutrients or compost. Keep your lid! by pre-drenching your swamp and your cradle, you can germinate in these. After sprouting you cut a hole in the top to allow your plant to grow and there you have it. The whole idea of Swamping other than creating a new environment to grow plants in is environmental conservation. You buy a drink, get your grow supplies for free (minus the seed and nutrients) and you recycle it's a win for everyone. We have done many of small and medium indoor and a large outdoor control group experiments with recycled material. Our next step will be pushing the envelope and attempting to create female seeds in a Swamp environment. Does anyone have any feedback as to whether Colloidal Silver or Silver Thiosulfate would be a better options, particularly given the nature of the root environment and circumstances in which we are growing?
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Roots 1.pngIMG_4670.jpeg
 

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DarkWeb

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
You don't want light on your roots.

And why not just compost?

I am not seeing the point of this unless you just want to do something different. And that's cool but you're overcomplicating something so simple.
 
AlienAgriculture

AlienAgriculture

Member
DarkWeb said:
You don't want light on your roots.

And why not just compost?

I am not seeing the point of this unless you just want to do something different. And that's cool but you're overcomplicating something so simple.
Click to expand...

I’m not seeing where the added complication is. It’s true to form your medium it’s slightly more labor intensive 5-10 minutes (probably less) of your time for a 20 ounce cup. The roots are not generally exposed to light because they are usually covered by something that blocks out the light. This could be a black fabric pot with loops tied around the cup, a new (usually black) sock pulled over from the base allowing both light block and drain support.
The point of “swamping” is more about trying to be more eco-friendly and make growing in general more affordable.to those with little or no money. With pot legalization emerging around the world and seeds not hard to come by, if you go to a gas station and buy a fountain drink or some fast food joint and get soda for $1.80 and drink tray, you’ve covered you’re your container costs and medium for less than $2 and maybe it’s someone who came into bag seed and couldn’t afford even soil? The remains from food preparation or used coffee grounds, etc. can provide everything in nutrients you need. In addition to expanding accessibility to those on the lower income spectrum, we are also actively recycling things that we would normally throw away. It’s meant to be cheap, effective and environmentally friendly.
 
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DarkWeb

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
AlienAgriculture said:

I’m not seeing where the added complication is. It’s true to form your medium it’s slightly more labor intensive 5-10 minutes (probably less) of your time for a 20 ounce cup. The roots are not generally exposed to light because they are usually covered by something that blocks out the light. This could be a black fabric pot with loops tied around the cup, a new (usually black) sock pulled over from the base allowing both light block and drain support.
The point of “swamping” is more about trying to be more eco-friendly and make growing in general more affordable.to those with little or no money. With pot legalization emerging around the world and seeds not hard to come by, if you go to a gas station and buy a fountain drink or some fast food joint and get soda for $1.80 and drink tray, you’ve covered you’re your container costs and medium for less than $2 and maybe it’s someone who came into bag seed and couldn’t afford even soil? The remains from food preparation or used coffee grounds, etc. can provide everything in nutrients you need. In addition to expanding accessibility to those on the lower income spectrum, we are also actively recycling things that we would normally throw away. It’s meant to be cheap, effective and environmentally friendly.
Click to expand...
LOL why the big words?

Like I said you can compost and still have medium and still be doing your part.
 
DarkWeb

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
AlienAgriculture said:
Big words were unintentional. Sorry about that and yes your absolutely right you can still do your part, this is just a way of doing a little more at once.
Click to expand...
LOL no worries bud. I think composting and building your soil is better and more balanced than tearing up some cardboard.

Here's another idea......use what you are doing to grow oyster mushrooms........eat the mushrooms till the medium is broken down.....add that to what you're growing your herb in. It works great.
 
AlienAgriculture

AlienAgriculture

Member
As these get finished up, I’ll be setting up a new grow to follow on here and probably some occasional updates between now and then. Thank you to those who are and will be taking an interest in Swamping. I look forward to interacting with you all.IMG_4850.jpegIMG_4851.jpegIMG_4852.jpeg
 
AlienAgriculture

AlienAgriculture

Member
Greetings Fellow Farmers,



We are getting started with our new grow! We are starting photoperiod plants (White Widow, O.G Kush) in 20oz clear plastic cups. We have pre-watered our containers with chlorine evaporated tap water (let water sit without cap for 110 hours) and placed them on a heating mat with the cradle (holds the seed) and the seed itself. This process will allow the fibers to sweat, maximizing humidity and water vapor. This will occur for about a day or so to bring the root environment to peak as well as allowing seed germination all at once.
Once the plants are big enough and the root system warrants it, they will be moved to a larger fabric 5 gallon container to resume the growing process. There is no imminent concerns about transplanting as a result of constriction or “outgrowing” the container given that It will wrap around from the bottom and continue to do so until they fill the container. This takes long enough that just one of these containers can take a plant from seed to a substantive harvest. We’ve been asked about growing in a 5 gallon container so we will happily indulge that request.

Happy Growing!
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Renfro

Renfro

Well-Known Member
Whats with the discoloration in the closeups? Did they get botrytis? Hard to see with the image quality and zoom.
 
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