One Pink Lemonade - no-till cycle 7 in 4 foot diameter pot, 5x5 tent

N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
green_machine_two9er said:
How many rounds do you plan in your bed?
Click to expand...
Well perpetually, so forever. But reality interferes, like death for example. lol

My wife and I have been toying with the idea of moving back to rural Annapolis Valley Nova Scotia for retirement within the next couple years. If that happens, I'll just cut up the current soil into big chunks and transport them in plastic totes, then reassemble at its new location.
 
Gardenator

Gardenator

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
I think it would set back all the balanced biological activity going on in my humus layer if I just drown it with 4" of mineral soil. The younger red wriggler worms, springtails, and mites would be very pissed off at me for destroying their habitat.

I was thinking of adding in a few handfuls of mineral soil each day sprinkled over the mulch just before watering. I'll just monitor how everything reacts by looking under the mulch now and then to see if a party is still going on in there.
Click to expand...
Getting tired of the no-till interegation yet? Lol. I like this approach to the problem, the no till has time to fill up over time while hopefully keeping the microbe party rockin n rollin and unaffected by the addition of new "top soil" if you will. I just wonder if you plop all 4 inches of soil down on your cover crop to fill your bed, wouldnt it break down the cover crop you are filling over? And if it begins to break down wouldnt that still be enough carbon munchies for your microbe buddies? Or are you more worried inturn that by disturbing the habbitat they will die off completely?
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
Gardenator said:
I just wonder if you plop all 4 inches of soil down on your cover crop to fill your bed, wouldnt it break down the cover crop you are filling over? And if it begins to break down wouldnt that still be enough carbon munchies for your microbe buddies? Or are you more worried inturn that by disturbing the habbitat they will die off completely?
Click to expand...
When I lift the mulch to expose the humus layer, it's covered in all kinds of creatures running around with baby red wrigglers within it. Organic material is cycling very quickly at this level, not just because that's where most of the newer carbon is, but also that the first 2" depth of soil under the mulch gets the most oxygen. This thin humus layer took many grow cycles to develop. I don't think anything would die off completely if I just smothered everything in 4" of new soil, but I think (without proof lol) that it would temporarily impact the rate of organic material cycling until a new layer of humus had time to develop again.

Considering the grow method I'm using relies ONLY on organic material cycling to supply the plant's nutrition, I guess I'd rather not take the chance. Plus I'm not in any kind of rush.
 
Gardenator

Gardenator

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
When I lift the mulch to expose the humus layer, it's covered in all kinds of creatures running around with baby red wrigglers within it. Organic material is cycling very quickly at this level, not just because that's where most of the newer carbon is, but also that the first 2" depth of soil under the mulch gets the most oxygen. This thin humus layer took many grow cycles to develop. I don't think anything would die off completely if I just smothered everything in 4" of new soil, but I think (without proof lol) that it would temporarily impact the rate of organic material cycling until a new layer of humus had time to develop again.

Considering the grow method I'm using relies ONLY on organic material cycling to supply the plant's nutrition, I guess I'd rather not take the chance. Plus I'm not in any kind of rush.
Click to expand...
Okay i got you, you dont wanna reset the clock on all the work they put in so far down there being loads more important then the time it takes to get the new top soil in the bed.
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
Oops, I accidentally overwatered this morning by a few litres. I try not to do it if I can help it especially at this early stage in flower, but it happens now and then. I sucked up the runoff with my little shop vac, and this is what a glass of it looks like:
20201222_105245.jpg

Yummy! The best electrolyte restoring drink ever! (Not serious here.)

It doesn't smell like anything really, but perhaps a slight earthy smell if I almost stick my nose in it. The brown color is likely due to dissolved tannins from the decaying peat moss and other organic material. I use it to feed the house plants on the main floor whenever I get some. I'm not sure if it contains many nutrients, but the house plants don't seem to mind it.
 
green_machine_two9er

green_machine_two9er

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
Oops, I accidentally overwatered this morning by a few litres. I try not to do it if I can help it especially at this early stage in flower, but it happens now and then. I sucked up the runoff with my little shop vac, and this is what a glass of it looks like:
View attachment 4775102

Yummy! The best electrolyte restoring drink ever! (Not serious here.)

It doesn't smell like anything really, but perhaps a slight earthy smell if I almost stick my nose in it. The brown color is likely due to dissolved tannins from the decaying peat moss and other organic material. I use it to feed the house plants on the main floor whenever I get some. I'm not sure if it contains many nutrients, but the house plants don't seem to mind it.
Click to expand...
Wow what a rich color. I had a blu mat carrot go cray and had a small amount of runoff. nothing like that color.
 
Brandon137

Brandon137

Well-Known Member
Well wife had to work a half day today so I got my raised bed early. Hopefully my soil will be ready in a week or two I pre cooked about half of the ammendments already with my worm/worm castings that I planned to add to this pot. I mixed the rest in the bottom half of the pot. this master kush is getting a bit big for her pot! I planted some cover crop to see how it handles the soil 20201224_113608.jpg
 
mistergrafik

mistergrafik

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
Trichome check! (Just kidding, but they're fun to look at. Once I fix my tripod mount issue, I'll be able to get the real colas once they swell later.
View attachment 4782297
Click to expand...
I think my favorite thing about your grows is how green the plants stay. Can't find a crispy leaf. Like u said roots takes what plant needs, when it needs it. Lovely stuff Mister Northwood. I had to click a link to see ur attachment I'm not sure if you meant to post it that way
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
mistergrafik said:
I think my favorite thing about your grows is how green the plants stay. Can't find a crispy leaf. Like u said roots takes what plant needs, when it needs it. Lovely stuff Mister Northwood. I had to click a link to see ur attachment I'm not sure if you meant to post it that way
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what's going on with that. Possibly because the photo is too large to be imbedded here? I did Ctrl+P just like usual though. I'll try edit again just in case it's me. lol

Edit: Nope, it's not me. I think the photo's resolution is 6000X4000 on that one, so perhaps it's just a bit too large to be shown in the post.
 
Last edited:
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
Well by the looks of her, she'll need at least another 4 weeks or more:
top.jpg

I watered her after taking this photo this morning. She was thirsty and took 5 gallons of water without a drop of runoff. Oops? She can supply her own nutrients, but she's still dependent on me for water! With as little as 4 weeks to go, it's time to start thinking about a cover crop. I try and time my cover crop seeding so that the plant only has about 2 weeks left. That's coincides with when I do a last defoliation to expose the lower buds to more light, while allowing more light to reach the soil so that my cover crop doesn't sprout in darkness. By the time this girl is 100% harvested, the cover should be well established so that the soil always has living roots in it. Any nitrogen continually mineralized that goes unused by the plant during late flower will be moped up by the cover as well.

There is a little preparation I'm going to do before planting the cover crop this time around. I think I'll throw in a pound of alfalfa pellets a week before planting. I don't normally do this every cycle, but it's been 3 full grows since I've adding anything external except hay or straw (mulch). I'm also going to add a little azomite to raise the mineral content of my mix and for worm grit, and some bentonite clay (calcium) over top a day before seeding the cover in a couple weeks.

This is what the underneath of the plant looks like now:
edge-on.jpg

I partly base my 4 to 5 week estimate on the look of the whole plant. She's still not killing off any of the old lower fans that have been in darkness for weeks. Plus I'm hoping the colas get 3 times fatter over the coming weeks. lol After the trouble of training this plant with the extended veg, if she doesn't yield as expected I'll be a little disappointed. I'm looking forward to getting 4 Bubba Kush 2.0 seeds in there. Back to "easy" growing for me. :P
 
DonPetro

DonPetro

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
Well by the looks of her, she'll need at least another 4 weeks or more:
View attachment 4784644

I watered her after taking this photo this morning. She was thirsty and took 5 gallons of water without a drop of runoff. Oops? She can supply her own nutrients, but she's still dependent on me for water! With as little as 4 weeks to go, it's time to start thinking about a cover crop. I try and time my cover crop seeding so that the plant only has about 2 weeks left. That's coincides with when I do a last defoliation to expose the lower buds to more light, while allowing more light to reach the soil so that my cover crop doesn't sprout in darkness. By the time this girl is 100% harvested, the cover should be well established so that the soil always has living roots in it. Any nitrogen continually mineralized that goes unused by the plant during late flower will be moped up by the cover as well.

There is a little preparation I'm going to do before planting the cover crop this time around. I think I'll throw in a pound of alfalfa pellets a week before planting. I don't normally do this every cycle, but it's been 3 full grows since I've adding anything external except hay or straw (mulch). I'm also going to add a little azomite to raise the mineral content of my mix and for worm grit, and some bentonite clay (calcium) over top a day before seeding the cover in a couple weeks.

This is what the underneath of the plant looks like now:
View attachment 4784671

I partly base my 4 to 5 week estimate on the look of the whole plant. She's still not killing off any of the old lower fans that have been in darkness for weeks. Plus I'm hoping the colas get 3 times fatter over the coming weeks. lol After the trouble of training this plant with the extended veg, if she doesn't yield as expected I'll be a little disappointed. I'm looking forward to getting 4 Bubba Kush 2.0 seeds in there. Back to "easy" growing for me. :P
Click to expand...
That is super cool. Would love to try this method.
 
mistergrafik

mistergrafik

Well-Known Member
Northwood said:
Well by the looks of her, she'll need at least another 4 weeks or more:
View attachment 4784644

I watered her after taking this photo this morning. She was thirsty and took 5 gallons of water without a drop of runoff. Oops? She can supply her own nutrients, but she's still dependent on me for water! With as little as 4 weeks to go, it's time to start thinking about a cover crop. I try and time my cover crop seeding so that the plant only has about 2 weeks left. That's coincides with when I do a last defoliation to expose the lower buds to more light, while allowing more light to reach the soil so that my cover crop doesn't sprout in darkness. By the time this girl is 100% harvested, the cover should be well established so that the soil always has living roots in it. Any nitrogen continually mineralized that goes unused by the plant during late flower will be moped up by the cover as well.

There is a little preparation I'm going to do before planting the cover crop this time around. I think I'll throw in a pound of alfalfa pellets a week before planting. I don't normally do this every cycle, but it's been 3 full grows since I've adding anything external except hay or straw (mulch). I'm also going to add a little azomite to raise the mineral content of my mix and for worm grit, and some bentonite clay (calcium) over top a day before seeding the cover in a couple weeks.

This is what the underneath of the plant looks like now:
View attachment 4784671

I partly base my 4 to 5 week estimate on the look of the whole plant. She's still not killing off any of the old lower fans that have been in darkness for weeks. Plus I'm hoping the colas get 3 times fatter over the coming weeks. lol After the trouble of training this plant with the extended veg, if she doesn't yield as expected I'll be a little disappointed. I'm looking forward to getting 4 Bubba Kush 2.0 seeds in there. Back to "easy" growing for me. :P
Click to expand...
So epic :eyesmoke: :peace:
 
N

Northwood

Well-Known Member
myke said:
So your 43 days?
Click to expand...
Sunday, November 22nd was her first 12 hour night. A quick Google based on that date as of now says "41 days" days. lol

Edit: I think I did stall her though with too much light. I raised everything about 2 weeks ago and the pistils are appearing really thick again. That's one of those "note to self" moments ;)
 
Last edited:
J

JHake

Well-Known Member
Northwood, may i ask about your take on defoliation?

Im doing my first scrog and have some squares were there are leaves and a bud site underneath them. I dont now if i should cut the leave and let the bud site exposed to light.

I normally dont defoliate anything. As you mentioned, i found that with time, leaves just fall themselves being in the shaded area.
But i also have read that cannabis is the type of plant that expose its fruits to the sun, in contrast with other plants that grow their fruits underneath the leaves, like pumpkins and tomatoes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top