Roots organic coco mix and ph

doug mirabelli

Well-Known Member
An update to anybody who cares,

I transplanted my babies from root riot to roots organic with makos this morning. Watered them with rainwater and kelp mixer. Also put them under my old 150 watt hps until my new light comes. Prob should add my cfl's in there too but feckit. Eventually, they will go in a tent in my shed outside. Worried about heat in the summer but we shall see. I'd also like to add that I'm disappointed in my seed selection. I wish I read more into it. It's hard to find a good review for green house co. Also the kaloshnikova was the one I was most excited about after watching their grow video on it. Come to find out everyone says it's the worst thing they've grown out. Fuck man I'm sick. Probably will keep the a kalosh outside bc it's supposed to be a heavy yielded. I wonder if ppl were curing it long enough bc the grow video said 3-5 months in a paper bag. Ppl could have been smoking strait cloraphyl. Comments criticism suggestions welcome

Peace peace
Nicky Boy
 

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doug mirabelli

Well-Known Member
Not bad...
I think I misread the description.

"The built-in fuse, cooling fan and graduating fin design resulting in 15% cooler operation"

I thought they were talking about the heat of the light. But I think it's just the ballast. How would you ventilate this light? Should I just return it?
 

SPLFreak808

Well-Known Member
I think I misread the description.

"The built-in fuse, cooling fan and graduating fin design resulting in 15% cooler operation"

I thought they were talking about the heat of the light. But I think it's just the ballast. How would you ventilate this light? Should I just return it?
You might need a sealed hood if you plant to use it in an environment above 60f, most people that don't run hoods run A/C, run lights at night or live in cold places
 

doug mirabelli

Well-Known Member
Thanks man. Wish I had realized the sealed hood feature before hand. Think I'm going to return it for a new one. Was hoping to move he babies under the new light soon but I don't think I'll even open the package
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
An update to anybody who cares,

I transplanted my babies from root riot to roots organic with makos this morning. Watered them with rainwater and kelp mixer. Also put them under my old 150 watt hps until my new light comes. Prob should add my cfl's in there too but feckit. Eventually, they will go in a tent in my shed outside. Worried about heat in the summer but we shall see. I'd also like to add that I'm disappointed in my seed selection. I wish I read more into it. It's hard to find a good review for green house co. Also the kaloshnikova was the one I was most excited about after watching their grow video on it. Come to find out everyone says it's the worst thing they've grown out. Fuck man I'm sick. Probably will keep the a kalosh outside bc it's supposed to be a heavy yielded. I wonder if ppl were curing it long enough bc the grow video said 3-5 months in a paper bag. Ppl could have been smoking strait cloraphyl. Comments criticism suggestions welcome

Peace peace
Nicky Boy
Don't listen to reviews on strains everyone has different skill levels and you definitely do not not need to cure for several months to produce high quality bud. Heavy yield shmeild; yields are governed by how much wattage/sunlight they get. Don't believe all the hyped marketing bs they use to sell seeds; keep your plants happy & healthy and they will produce.
My shit is dank as soon as the stems are dry enough to snap & you can smoke a joint without it going out on you; I have never cured longer than a few weeks. A couple weeks in the jars helps it burn smoother & can gain more potency but all they need is a few weeks inside the jars... it never lasts that long anyway lol
Don't bother watering with kelp meal; it's not doing much and these youngins need nothing but love and moisture until they get some nodes. Save your kelp for amending spent soil and for compost teas; kelp has a ton of probiotics that bubbling with EWC brings out. The 150w by itself will do them fine for a few weeks. A hood is a great investment but I think you are going to have problems with heat growing out in a shed during the summer. Hopefully it will stay cool enough maybe running lights at night. I suggest a good exhaust fan as well to pull off that heat; I would get one slightly more powerful than you need and add a speed controller.
 

doug mirabelli

Well-Known Member
Thanks man. I invested in a sealed hood. I'm worried about the temps too but it does always seem to be colder in that shed than it is outside somehow even in the summer. I'll have to pay close attention when the summer heat comes. Thanks for the tips man. The girls are looking happy currently under the 150 watt. Do you top your plants ever?
 

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
Ah lads,

Thank you all for sharing your expertise. Since I'm a rookie, my plan was to experiment with different grow mediums. I definitely like the idea of using Dry's organic compost method a lot (everyone's right btw, great response. Thank you). How do I access your thread? Real Newb here. Tes, I like your simple and clean approach as well. I will definitely take your guys' advice with me.

I'm pretty set on trying hydro with 400 watt hps using the "grow boss's" technique so I knew I wasn't avoiding pH all together. I wanted to put two girls outside in a 7 gallon bucket and just let them go with a Scrog. I thought it sounded simpler and would provide less room for error to use organic soil because I was under the impression that pH wasn't a worry. Me being a newb, I bought the first bag I saw that said organic on it (Roots organic coco mix).

Now I'm at a loss; should I stick with this mix? I can still take it back. Why do you prefer peat mixes, Grease? What's a cec rate? What should I transplant my pods into next? Also, unrelated topic; I noticed today there's small green spots forming on a couple Root Riot pods. Are they junk now? The babies themselves look healthy.

Definitely will be investing in an RO machine as I have no access to a glacier here in Boston. Btw for the record, I am not the real Doug Mirabelli, nor did I play football with you, Grease haha. I made the name a few years back out of randomness.
sorry my man, didn't see you asked me a question there.
so peat is the media I use for the base of my mix, I have tried coco as well and I had much better results with the peat, I speculate it's because of the superior cation exchange capacity.
Now, you inquired on that, and a simple explanation is to think of the tiny pieces of organic material in the soil as sorta like sponges, some can hold more than others, and some don't hold any at all (sand for example)
but essentially the CEC is the ability of the material to hold onto positively charged cations (potassium, calcium, mag, etc)
now that is not the whole story though, as organic material also has the ability to attract anions as well
the actual CEC rate is the measuring of only the negative charged sites in specific, but it's relevant also to the anions as well.
The CEC role is important also to the soils ability to buffer any potential issues as well, from, for example, overfeeding or having ph issues.
it also can play a role in certain soils for it's superior ability to hold water as well, but that can also create issues too, and leads me back to what I always say, and that is organic soil tend to need much more aeration than the typical 33%
especially if the mix is heavy in compost or castings

here is a more specific scientific explanation on it.

http://soilminerals.com/Cation_Exchange_Simplified.htm
 

doug mirabelli

Well-Known Member
Don't listen to reviews on strains everyone has different skill levels and you definitely do not not need to cure for several months to produce high quality bud. Heavy yield shmeild; yields are governed by how much wattage/sunlight they get. Don't believe all the hyped marketing bs they use to sell seeds; keep your plants happy & healthy and they will produce.
My shit is dank as soon as the stems are dry enough to snap & you can smoke a joint without it going out on you; I have never cured longer than a few weeks. A couple weeks in the jars helps it burn smoother & can gain more potency but all they need is a few weeks inside the jars... it never lasts that long anyway lol
Don't bother watering with kelp meal; it's not doing much and these youngins need nothing but love and moisture until they get some nodes. Save your kelp for amending spent soil and for compost teas; kelp has a ton of probiotics that bubbling with EWC brings out. The 150w by itself will do them fine for a few weeks. A hood is a great investment but I think you are going to have problems with heat growing out in a shed during the summer. Hopefully it will stay cool enough maybe running lights at night. I suggest a good exhaust fan as well to pull off that heat; I would get one slightly more powerful than you need and add a speed controller.
Hey man, you were right. Temps were doing great until today and the 98 degree heat. My tent temp was at 90. My current set up is as follows:

248 cfm booster>hood>248 booster> 440 cfm exhaust

I still have another 440 cfm inline. What do you think is the best way to cool it? I feel so frustrated man I just want to grow in peace this experience has been so stressful to me. Almost not worth it. I feel like I'm going to get mold in my garage and recirculate moldy air into my tent. Should I just put them outside and save all the shit for when I get a better property? I'm at a loss here
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Outside is the easiest option IMO but keep in mind that up here in New England the flowering season will go well into October when everything else is turning brown. They are easy to spot in full flowering mode plus the deer love to eat them so you'll need a barrier along with a bit of seclusion. Oh wait it is legal up there, I keep forgetting lol...
Your plants are not going to "catch" mold from a dingy garage air unless you've got serious moisture problems in which case it would be probably also be unhealthy to live there. No reason you couldn't set up in your garage if temps are closer to 70ish in there; just add a dehumidifier to reduce humidity if that is an issue. Mold occurs from too many plants overlapping or too high humidity for too long. I have never had a mold issue in my old school basement grow area. It is an old house with fieldstone foundation; the walls actually sweat when the ground is saturated. I run a dehumidifier 24/7 and use the water it collects for the plants..it's a win-win. Basements are optimal spaces for indoor growing IMO but a garage can work too.
 
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