Snafu's Organic Garden

Hello all,

For those of you who know me or follow my work, you would kniow that I constantly harp on the importance of a diverse Soil Food Web with a healthy microbiological support network with fungal hyphae in order to create a symbiotic relationship with the plant and soil.

When you do this right, your rootballs should be strong, sturdy and abundant with roots growing everywhere, even outside of the container at times(air/fabric pots).

This morning I had to cull another Medicine, Man male out of the garden. However, I took some pictures of the rootball so you can see what I am talking about.



The first picture shows the overall abundance of roots throughout the entire mass of the rootball. Growing from the bottom, the sides and the top. This rootball was culled yesterday morning, and I took pictures of it 24 hrs later this morning. Some roots have died off, but these are overall good pictures to see. The second picture is a closer picture after I shook some dirt off.

The next pictures below were taken after I shook the rootball very hard to get the dirt out so I could better show you the network of roots and hyphae. Even after shaking, the network was so strong almost the entire rootball stayed intact.



This last picture below is after severely shaking the rootball to recycle the dirt. Notice how half of it kind of ripped off, but for the most part, over 70% of the mass is still intact. This tells me the Soil Food Web/microbiological population is strong, diverse and actively aiding my plants. For the rest of my grow, things should be a breeze.



For the love of roots!


-Snafu

I am actively preparing to flip the switch into flowering.

Today the tent was cleaned and the plants were all taken out, inspected, and placed back after a re-organization.

Also, another Medicine, Man male popped up. Instead of dumping this one, I actually transplanted him into a 5gallon smart pot with my soil concentrate on the bottom. I did this because I am not super-confident in my soil batch yet...it should be fine, but I am using a new base soil so I want to be sure I do not hurt the ladies.

If the male adapts to the transplant and begins growing nicely, I believe my soil should be just fine. All meters and Phs are checking out fine, but I never want to run a great crop only to spoil it on a bad batch of concentrate.

If the male gets fine, he will go chop-chop and I will recycle his soil. After that, the ladies will all be transplanted into their 5gallon finishing containers.

I also eliminated 1 UFO for right now, as my plant counts have dwindled from the male cullings and I do not need the extra light power at the moment.

The grow room was re-organized. Here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

-Snafu


The room all cleaned up and re-organized.



Here is the male I transplanted for the soil test.




Enjoy your day and happy growing.

-Snafu

Lovin those pics of the root mass! Check out what I found during a transplant the other day

This is the top inch or so of the soil...The pot was pretty dry before transplanting, and the soil chunked off the top (where there were no roots) revealing a very healthy fungal network underneath. I was able to hold that piece horizontal in my fingertips and wobble it and it didn't crumble at all...glued together by hyphae. thank you fungi

Cann said:

Lovin those pics of the root mass! Check out what I found during a transplant the other day
View attachment 2470491
This is the top inch or so of the soil...The pot was pretty dry before transplanting, and the soil chunked off the top (where there were no roots) revealing a very healthy fungal network underneath. I was able to hold that piece horizontal in my fingertips and wobble it and it didn't crumble at all...glued together by hyphae. thank you fungi

Click to expand...

Well done, you obviously know how to keep the microlife strong and happy!

-Snafu

Hello all,

This is not an official update...but just wanted to inform everyone that earlier this week I bought the Kessil H350 Magenta to aid in the flowering spectrum.

I took a few photos, so here they are. This LED light is really pretty cool.




I also setup my cloning chamber, which is a Turbo Clone 24 with a 90 Watt High Output LED for Veg/Clone. This UFO Bands are 6 Band, Red: 630, 660nm, Infrared: 730nm, Ultraviolet: 380nm, White: 6000k, 12000k.



I am preparing to clone out very soon as soon as they grow into their transplant containers.


Here is the room all setup earlier this week with the new Kessil, right after transplant.

An official update will come on Monday, with females to report.

Cheers,

Snafu

Hello All,

Just wanted to do a quick mini update. Today I added another Kessil H350 Magenta to the 4x4 tent, effectively now 780W of LED.

Over the past few days I have been prepping to flower. I have transplanted into 5gallon finishing containers with my concentrate, trimmed out the undergrowth, begun LST'ing with pipettes, and installed their LST screen for maximum penetration to the bud sites.

Now, I will veg for a little bit longer and begin adding in small amounts of Jamaican guano in preparation of 12/12.

It has now been just about over a month, as this grow started on 12/1/12 when I first germinated the seeds.

So far, the plants have been:

Transplanted 3-4x, topped, undergrwoth pruned and LST'ed. All males have been culled as well, and some clones have been taken, but not all clones taken yet.





I had to leave recently so the plants were all overwater, which slowed them down a bit, plus all of the manipulation I have done. I expect to see some ridiculous growth this week, as all manipulation is basically over.

-Snafu

Snafu1236 said:

An official update will come on Monday, with females to report.

Click to expand...

Still have not gotten the time to do a properly documented official update yet, as I do have all ladies. Work has gotten in the way. I Plan on getting an official update3 either this Saturday, but most likely this coming Monday.

-Snafu

hey looking great bro ! You are turning into a LED collector... just wondering what your temps are. with all the lights? and what you are using for ventilation ? ..keep on keepin on !

Snafu1236 said:

...unfortunately not a lot of solid information being thrown around here anymore...
I currently am pulling 690 Watts of LED (240w+270W=90W=90W).....that full spectrum Chrome......

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Hey Snafu, you do know that you aren't pulling 690, nor 780 watts? A BS240w runs at about 133 watts and some of that wattage is lost to the drivers. The 90 draws about 60 to 65 watts I believe and I'm unaware of what a Chrome 270 truly draws, but the way BS labels their panels I doubt it is drawing 270 watts. I see you added some Kessil so that will help, though maybe if you tweak the way the panels are setup, you can maximize an area to grow in. Also you've got to remember that wattage doesn't mean shit by itself in LED grow lights like it does with HIDs. Think horsepower to a car. If the car can't handle or has other design flaws, what does horsepower matter anymore? Sure the car can go straight, (veg), but wait till it hits the zig-zag, (flower), portion of the race. Also, there is no such thing as a full spectrum LED, at least since the last time I checked, but there will be one day. It's just multi-spectrum for now. Just thought you might want to know these things. Best of Luck with your grow and I'm definitely along for the ride!

FranJan said:

Hey Snafu, you do know that you aren't pulling 690, nor 780 watts? A BS240w runs at about 133 watts and some of that wattage is lost to the drivers. The 90 draws about 60 to 65 watts I believe and I'm unaware of what a Chrome 270 truly draws, but the way BS labels their panels I doubt it is drawing 270 watts. I see you added some Kessil so that will help, though maybe if you tweak the way the panels are setup, you can maximize an area to grow in. Also you've got to remember that wattage doesn't mean shit by itself in LED grow lights like it does with HIDs. Think horsepower to a car. If the car can't handle or has other design flaws, what does horsepower matter anymore? Sure the car can go straight, (veg), but wait till it hits the zig-zag, (flower), portion of the race. Also, there is no such thing as a full spectrum LED, at least since the last time I checked, but there will be one day. It's just multi-spectrum for now. Just thought you might want to know these things. Best of Luck with your grow and I'm definitely along for the ride!

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Hey bud, thank you for the information and time to drop a line, it is much appreciated and your ifnormation is rock solid.

Although I did know this information, I also have not much else to go on. Since the LED grow light field is still in its juvenile stages of industry development, I find it easier to go with what the companies say the output is, as I am not a lumen scientist to say the least.

However, as I originally stated in one of my first posts, I am not comparing the LED wattage output to a typical HPS wattage output, as wattage comparisons are not sufficient for a true study...it is more about the bands and spectrums.

When I switch to flowering, the lights are going to be adjusted. The Chrome will be the center liught along with the 240W blackstar, with Kessils on the perimeter in order to mitigate the christmas tree effect.

-Snafu

P.S. Any and all information about LEDs is greatly appreciated! Keep it coming!+

NugHunter said:

hey looking great bro ! You are turning into a LED collector... just wondering what your temps are. with all the lights? and what you are using for ventilation ? ..keep on keepin on !

Click to expand...

Temperatures are 74-77F. RH is 35-45%. I use a small tabletop desk fan that is placed inside one of my tents vent holes. I run it on low...it is about four inches wide.

I do not run any other fans at the moment, as I recently just took off a King Air 6" fan that was used for stem support and growth. I took it because the plants are getting quite structurally strong and I have recently added physical support stakes through the LST screen. Also, I am getting ready to flip the switch so I want all auxina nd plant energy to be directed efficiently and not held up by wind resistance.

-Snafu

As long as you know it's their naming convention and not their actual wattage Snafu, I've done my job .

Actually I'm very excited that you're growing some Black Widows under multiple panels using organic techniques. I'm running some Black Widows through my flowering tent right now using similar techniques and really would love to see what you're going to get with them so I can have some kind of comparison. Plus I can always use more organics knowledge. I love those root-ball pictures BTW and just wanted to throw in you might be interested in Mykos by Xtreme Gardening. Helps create massive root-balls that you would probably love the look of. I recycle most of my soil and 1 time I had to cut the bag off because the network of roots and hyphae were that solid and massive. It was like a human head with really dirty hair. I don't use a lot of stuff from the hydro store but this is not snakeoil. Cya Snafu!

FranJan said:

As long as you know it's their naming convention and not their actual wattage Snafu, I've done my job .

Actually I'm very excited that you're growing some Black Widows under multiple panels using organic techniques. I'm running some Black Widows through my flowering tent right now using similar techniques and really would love to see what you're going to get with them so I can have some kind of comparison. Plus I can always use more organics knowledge. I love those root-ball pictures BTW and just wanted to throw in you might be interested in Mykos by Xtreme Gardening. Helps create massive root-balls that you would probably love the look of. I recycle most of my soil and 1 time I had to cut the bag off because the network of roots and hyphae were that solid and massive. It was like a human head with really dirty hair. I don't use a lot of stuff from the hydro store but this is not snakeoil. Cya Snafu!

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Thanks for all of the information. Mykos by RTI is great when transplanting, and used it in this grow actually.

It is granular based Mychorrizae and does work very well. I have used their CalCarb as well, but I am not a believer, or their Azos.

-Snafu

Snafu1236 said:

Temperatures are 74-77F. RH is 35-45%. I use a small tabletop desk fan that is placed inside one of my tents vent holes. I run it on low...it is about four inches wide.

I do not run any other fans at the moment, as I recently just took off a King Air 6" fan that was used for stem support and growth. I took it because the plants are getting quite structurally strong and I have recently added physical support stakes through the LST screen. Also, I am getting ready to flip the switch so I want all auxina nd plant energy to be directed efficiently and not held up by wind resistance.

-Snafu

Click to expand...

hmmm never thought about the plant energy and wind..i will have to give that a try in a couple weeks with my NL auto grow

When the Azos works it's great, but sometimes it doesn't infect the plant. I just harvested two SLH clones and one was mostly green when I harvested it and the other looked more yellow. To me that green at harvest is the sign that it had plenty of N which I take as a sign that the Azos took. And I like the Cal Carb too. Great for keeping PM away. I add it to BMO's Foliar Harmony but it only works as a boost sometimes and it has to be made fresh. If the leaves show signs of PH imbalance (bent leaf tips) it's useless I've noticed. I've been wondering if I can get calcium carbonate at the health food store, which to me means it should be ph'd to be a little more acidic since it's for human consumption and has to survive your stomach, and then maybe I can use it more.

Anyway looking forward to your re-organization of your panels. I like the multi panel growing technique with that one main panel shining down and other panels supporting it. This seems to be the best technique for LED growing IMHO, with the exception of running a SCRoG, which is a great way to get a single LED to shine. But shining multiple lights from multiple angles grows buds in my book. I think of it as turning a single HPS inside out, if that makes any sense to you .

FranJan said:

When the Azos works it's great, but sometimes it doesn't infect the plant. I just harvested two SLH clones and one was mostly green when I harvested it and the other looked more yellow. To me that green at harvest is the sign that it had plenty of N which I take as a sign that the Azos took. And I like the Cal Carb too. Great for keeping PM away. I add it to BMO's Foliar Harmony but it only works as a boost sometimes and it has to be made fresh. If the leaves show signs of PH imbalance (bent leaf tips) it's useless I've noticed. I've been wondering if I can get calcium carbonate at the health food store, which to me means it should be ph'd to be a little more acidic since it's for human consumption and has to survive your stomach, and then maybe I can use it more.

Anyway looking forward to your re-organization of your panels. I like the multi panel growing technique with that one main panel shining down and other panels supporting it. This seems to be the best technique for LED growing IMHO, with the exception of running a SCRoG, which is a great way to get a single LED to shine. But shining multiple lights from multiple angles grows buds in my book. I think of it as turning a single HPS inside out, if that makes any sense to you .

Click to expand...

Very happy to have you aboard here...and again, thank you for sharing your experience with this thread and grow.

This is my first LED-only grow, as I am typically more of an HPS guy. However, LEDs have really begun to take off, and I love their ease-of-growing nature.


My current LED loadout is this:

2012 100W UFO Flowering 6-Band from LightHouse Hydro (http://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Hydro-Light-Flowering-Watts/dp/B0051HOCJC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_lg_1)

2013 Blackstar Chrome 270W (http://www.amazon.com/Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-Spectrum-Flowering/dp/B009F01OVK)

(2) 2013 Kessil H350 magenta (http://www.amazon.com/Kessil-KSH350M-Grow-Light-Magenta/dp/B00598HKJ2/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1358458775&sr=1-1&keywords=kessil+magenta)

2012 Blackstar 240W (http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Lighthouse-Hydro-BlackStar-Flowering/dp/B004E662SA/ref=sr_1_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1358458801&sr=1-1&keywords=blackstar+240)

I am currently thinking of configuring my setup for flowering as this:

BS Chrome in Center, Alongside BS in Center

Supplement sides of the center panels with my remaining Kessils and the 90 watt UFO. I DO plan on picking up two more Kessils before I make the switch to flower. This is all in a 4x4.


Based off my current setup and my plan to reconfigure, what would you recommend?

Any helpful information would certainly be entertained!

-Snafu

^^^Wow that's a lot of panels .

You've got options that's for sure. For a 4x4 I like your idea or you might think about this; The BS Chrome in the center. BS240 behind that, angled at about 10 to 20 degrees, (maybe more depending on height), towards the center. The 4 Kessils I would surround the Chrome, maybe just slightly angled toward the center again. The Chrome and the Kessils, (assuming you're getting the same color), should be in the same ballpark output wise and should be able to be hung around the same height, with maybe the Kessils a bit closer. The UFO could be hung in the front of the grow with about a 30 degree angle pointing in or better yet get another put them on the left and right sides, though that's overkill and may not fit in the tent, huh? Also I like to angle some panels to help penetrate the canopy and define the grow area. If you have panels at the periphery you don't want to light the wall behind it right? So angling them in helps keep the lights in the grow area, but has one caveat. Angling the panel more than roughly 20 degrees will result in the lights closest to the plants becoming more intense and you have to be careful of "bleaching" or stunting the plants. And I say roughly 20 degrees since the panels have preset viewing angles and in some cases lenses, so the angle you want is unique to your lights and your grow area.

Good Luck on your choices Snafu. Looks like a fun problem .

Excellent! Thanks for the kind feedback FranJan, your advice will definitely be critically analyzed and probably reproduced.

Fun part is, I'll post it all here for you on what I decide.


-Snaf

Nice! ..and feel free to add info on your media/organic amendments etc..! I am totally organic too actually nearly veganic! And I grow with LEDs too.
Anyway, nice!

..sounds like this may be the way to go...

Hydro since the get go.. but flavour is of utmost importance, is it a rough transition?

LED+Soil~~potency+flavor..assuming.