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basic simple growth medium question


Ghost'sshadow
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heres a basic medium mix a grower friend of mine suggested.

 

to create 3cu ft of medium:

 

1 cu. ft. Canadian sphagnum peat moss

1 cu ft. mushroom compost

1 cu Ft vermiculite

3 cup Dolomite lime

into mixture of this mix

3 cup kelp meal

3 cup alfalfa meal

3 cup Tom/veg/herb fert

(Dr Earth HG is what I have available.)

mix, water, and bag or pile for 1-3 weeks.

 

now I have some experience in container vegetable gardens and wouldn't hesitate to use this mix there but this is for medicinal cannabis purposes. 

 

inasmuch I have a few specific questions.

 

I was wondering what yall thought about it esp about mushroom compost. PH PPM salts etc...

the next question is should 12 cups Granite dust be added during the initial  "cooking" process  or can appropriate amount be added just prior to potting?

will adding 1/2 cu ft worm castings help the mix?

TIA

GS

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heres what we tossed together.

 

2.2 ft*3  Canadian sphagnum peat moss (compressed)

2 ft*3     mushroom compost

1 ft*3      worm castings

3.5 ft*3  vermiculite

Into 9 ft*3 bio-mass fold

8 cup Dolomite lime

8 cup kelp meal

8 cup alfalfa meal

8 cup Tom/veg/herb fert

16 cup granite dust

1 cup Azomite

16 gal water

double bag 2 4.5 ft*3 measures into  50 gl. leaf bags  l

place on western exposure for 5 days then hand aerate  every 3 days for 2 weeks

makes a really light fluffy fertile growing medium

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  • 2 weeks later...

just to report... in the 7 days after t planting into 7 gal smart pots kids have grown substantial like 6" or so in height and are flushing out nicely.

my guess is that they will grow at an even faster rate now that the roots have set into the additional medium.

 

seems that this medium is a winner. one correction would be to use pure EWC rather than a EWC blend

will do a PH check later next week but a cursory one take the day they were t planted came back at 6.5 and 6.2

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  • 2 weeks later...

here it is 19 days later they have popped up between 12 and 16 inches.  at least another week and he should move into the next phase.

used very little fertilizer in the last 3 weeks and they have been on clean water for 2 weeks just now showing hints of slowing some . But I think this may be a case of lack of moisture impeding the composting and growth processes.  once we go short he will resume a regular feeding regimen while watering 2.5 Qt in 6ish gal media containers every 1.5 to 2 days.

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love the name of it..."basic medium mix" :crazy:

You have there- mushroom compost and peat moss -and  have lack of moisture...?

What about that  "vermiculite" it that- asbestos contamination FREE??? What about Perlite ???

It must be very hot winter this year...

Keep Growing!

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  • 4 weeks later...

well things are going well in my buddies "Herbitorium".

 

this soil mixture has resulted in a growth rate of about an inch a day in the last 40 days especially now that he has resumed the fert schedule for the flowering phase. (week 2)

I sincerely believe this rate has been slowed some by the gardeners inexperience nad his unwillingness to fully exploit the ability of his dim-able ballasts by not going to the 660W settings faster. The most notable growth has been with the kush which has really shot up. in addition the B.Dream strain has increased to 54" (from 16" ) in the past 40 days.

 

The hybrid (Train Wreck) is looking magnificent and the Indicas (Soma Lavender and G.Grape) plantings have thickened and widened spectacularly.

 

I would not have reservations about using this soil mixture other than those noted before (which have to do with the limieing of the virgin soil and that of use of pH lowering fretilizers or mixes like the addition of cotton seed meal and perhaps a K-mag based mineral mix) I am not convinced liming is necessary as these are acid loving plants. however I dont view it a detrimental due to the high amount of humus in the medium which I contribute to the addition of worm castings as well as the use of mushroom compost. 

additionally I would not go with a totally fert free regimen due to my doubts of any soils ability to nurture the plants to maximum potential due to immediate bio availability of macro nutrients to these very demanding plants with their vigorous growth and flowering cycles. in addition and to be more specific I would add both azomite to the original mix in both regular (which was added prior to transplanting) and micronized forms as well as generously utilizing both guano based foliars and toppings or teas. (a soil test shows high available nitrogen phosphorus and potassium which is likely the result of the fret regimen utilized.)

 

look for updates after the next few weeks and perhaps a photo profiles after or near harvest time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

the plants indeed look very nice with the mixture so far :) lets see how it does toward end of flowering, it is always what worries me concerning soil mixture, finding the perfect spot so it ends up in end of flowering with nothing left in the soil. But for sure so far so good :)

 

Have a good grow ;)

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Soill is a collection of living organisms and organic matter sand and clay.  (this mixture has very little sand or clay) Soil has elements in different stages of decomposition some of which may literally take eons to fully decompose into and or release their base nutrients. Its a given that this is an ongoing process.

 

if a biomass were to finish with "nothing left" it by very definition would be severely deficient for nearly the entire growth cycle and in no way could support the vigorous growth and fruiting cycles of nearly any plant much less one such as cannabis. Certain carnivorous plants have evolved to thrive in areas with soils that are very weak in the way of macro/micro nutrient density.

 

In as much I don't understand what you mean nothing left in the soil?

 

Are you referring to undissolved salts formed from nutrients with nearly immediate bio-availability not taken up by the vegetation's annual life cycle?

 

we do understand that very high levels of hummus in the soil itself works to off set the formation of these salts and keep those nutrients in a readily available state. that is "unbound"

 

Please clarify.

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When i say nothing left i dont mean sterile of course :)  I refer more to the many mix you can see using guano for examples which is very strong and most of the time overdosed, or other products that contained high dosage of  whatever people want to be release in flowering, usually it takes a few rounds to adapt the mix so that there is just enough nutrient to give to your plant a nice flowering, and a clean taste at harvest with a nice natural decoloration, not a dark green leaves until last day like i see very often.

 

We will see :)

Have a good grow!

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Ah yes, I do appreciate the clarification and do agree.

In as much I intend to strongly suggest a bit of a flushing regimen to the owner.

this will include 3 full cycles ( likely 10 days)  with pure pH adjusted water and pH adjusted water combined with a premium quality flushing  agent.

it is very common for container gardeners to over fert during the entire live cycle of their crop but it has been my practice to err on the lighter sdie and simply pour on the pure water during the last 2 weeks prior to harvesting.

However Med cannabis is basically new to me, (creekside or wardrobe cannabis is another matter) :yahoo:  So....

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  • 2 weeks later...

yeah the train wreck threw two abnormal colas. it is almost undoubtedly a result of our hero's limited experience with training and or cropping.

but rest assured it is really frosty looking.  the Platinum OG and the blue dream (photos 1 & 2 )are about 5 feet tall now and they have about a month to go.

 

Ill have to do some research and figure out when these two strains should finish approximately.  I figure the Indica should be finishing in 8 weeks total the wreck and the LA confidential in 9-10 and the dream and OG in 11

 

there is also a Soma lavender (photo 4 top right)  that is about 3 weeks behind the rest and has been taken out of veg 3 weeks ago and should finish up with the sativa.

 

I haven't been involved in a grow like this is almost 30 years and now that some of the legality issues have been worked through its nice to get my hands .. sticky again as it were. Looking forward to the next round which should be dream, lavender, LAC , and train wreck.  But since it isn't my grow personally we shall see what  pops up !

 

as far as the medium is concerned its holding at about 6.6PH we top dressed it with some of the original mixture with a wee bit more worm ( Roots Organics is what I think I  used ) and a slight dusting Jamaican Bat guano 0-10-0. we used about 3/4 cu ft between 8 #7 smart pots.

I didnt PhTest the tea that occasionally seeps out under but it looks like good strong man piss  in color so its my guess the medium is holding well. 

 

After its all through I will give the medium a through flushing do a sensitive pH and macro panel and refresh it with Kelp & alfalfa meals. probably some micronized azomite, good pure worm, and add some perlite to increase the aeration. I also might add some cotton seed meal or based organic fert  (if your interested in the fert I use to do this just shout)  to get the pH back down to 6.0

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Up date: Looking for clarification !!!

just the first indications of leave yellowing in the indicas. Now the 8 week finishers have received thier last feeding. ( but no milky capitate stalked glandular trichomes as of yet) and after drying out for 4-5 days will get a good flushing. and a good close view of the trichs.

 

we are looking at using the tips from GHSC and Franco's tricks.

 

I was looking for clarification on the pH adjustment for the flushing water for the medium mix  all the other info I think I have down Pat.

 

Franco states "Besides the normal watering cycle, it is also important to regularly flush the medium to get rid of salts. This can be done with a mild solution at pH 5.5 and EC 1.0, so that the salt crystals can bind to the low-mineral-content in the solution and dissolve. Flushing should be integrated in the regular watering cycle, and after flushing the medium should be allowed to dry properly before feeding again."

 

I assume this hold for finishing as well however no clarification as far as pH is concerned is made between hydro and soil.

72 degree F Water Temp

looking for 20%+ effluent with a similar EC and PH as input

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Day 46, 10 days out on 8 weekers. some milky trichs w/ the vast majority clear

 

Ran 5 gal solution at 71 F - 6.3pH <200 ppm through approx 6 gal medium held in 7 gal Smart pots . returned 3.5 gal effluent (amber piss) at 7.3 ph >1000ppm strangely the temp of the piss was lower which may be a product of the temp of the container and evaporative  cooling on the trickle (we have very low humidity here) as the soil temp prior to input was 67 f

Plan on running another 7-10 gal solution through each in a few days.

will post Pics soon.

post-35614-0-70431500-1421523304.jpg

post-35614-0-70431500-1421523304.jpg

all looking frosty. however LA confidential looking rather sparse in the trich realm. (hopefully will see some uptick on this highly praised strain.)

post-35614-0-88853800-1421523333.jpg

Train Wreck B Dream and Platinum Haze (not OG) all show signs of increasing potency. lots and lots of clear trichs increasing in numbers.

G grape and P Kush really looking wealthy frosty and coated but looking for uptick in density of trichs among sugar leaves..

post-35614-0-70431500-1421523304.jpg

post-35614-0-88853800-1421523333.jpg

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