Legion Of Living Organic Soil

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FutureGrower

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Sorry I am late to the party on this. I water lightly but frequently. The best way to check is to stick your finger in the soil and if its bone dry up to your first knuckle its water time. A tensiometer will work wonders in larger bodies of soil. I keep one every 2x2 foot area. In smaller pots I always keep one pot unwatered but filled with soil as a benchmark when I'm working with a different type of aeration. I'm on a big hunt right now so I'm using rice hulls.

I like blumat but sometimes they aren't practical. I've flooded my room 5 too many times.

Yeah I'm pretty paranoid about that I have a tarp covering 2x4's that I set my pots in just in case. I couldn't even get a accurate reading for my blumat sensor til I placed wet peat around it so no rocks were touching.

I'm doing the same thing with the carrots just in case. So are you hand watering? And great tip for testing water levels!

Thanks for the response man.
 
Wishbone

Wishbone

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So got my first indoor run going, having done two greenhouse runs with a LOS, and just setup a mini drip system. Under the light the soil dries out much quicker than it was in the GH, in order to keep life moist and happy in the soil I want to keep it pretty moist with frequent light watering, is there concern of root rot with much more frequent watering in a LOS?

Image
 
OldSmokie76

OldSmokie76

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As long as you're monitoring the water schedule of the system and make the initial adjustments to maintain "moist" and not saturated I think you're good. Especially with the fabric pots. Allows ample air to the root mass. I just started using them and those times when I think I over watered, the root mass never felt saturated the next day. Good evaporation rate.
 
F

FutureGrower

606
93
So got my first indoor run going, having done two greenhouse runs with a LOS, and just setup a mini drip system. Under the light the soil dries out much quicker than it was in the GH, in order to keep life moist and happy in the soil I want to keep it pretty moist with frequent light watering, is there concern of root rot with much more frequent watering in a LOS?

View attachment 843847

I cant tell from your photos if you just have soil and perlite up top or if that's a mulch layer but if you dont have a mulch layer soil dries out fast
 
Wishbone

Wishbone

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As long as you're monitoring the water schedule of the system and make the initial adjustments to maintain "moist" and fnot saturated I think you're good. Especially with the fabric pots. Allows ample air to the root mass. I just started using them and those times when I think I over watered, the root mass never felt saturated the next day. Good evaporation rate.

Ok, thanks, fully manual watering for now, I’ll just keep an eye on it with light watering.

I cant tell from your photos if you just have soil and perlite up top or if that's a mulch layer but if you dont have a mulch layer soil dries out fast

I considered that, but had issues top dressing and getting clumping without being able to dig it in, but may go that route. Used clay pellets in the greenhouse.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

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Ok, thanks, fully manual watering for now, I’ll just keep an eye on it with light watering.



I considered that, but had issues top dressing and getting clumping without being able to dig it in, but may go that route. Used clay pellets in the greenhouse.

Dude get some pine chips. Mulching with drip irrigation, the soil will be as fluffy as the day you filled it into your pots when harvest comes. It works great. If you want you can pick them up, topdress and mulch again. Or better yet make some nutrient teas or fpes, so you don’t have to even do that :)
 
Wishbone

Wishbone

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Dude get some pine chips. Mulching with drip irrigation, the soil will be as fluffy as the day you filled it into your pots when harvest comes. It works great. If you want you can pick them up, topdress and mulch again. Or better yet make some nutrient teas or fpes, so you don’t have to even do that :)

Yeah I was seeing a few folks using those, I’ll take a look at them, thanks. I’ve been using both teas and a top dress, like the slow release of dry ingredients in the soil as well as fast action from a tea.
 
F

FutureGrower

606
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Dude get some pine chips. Mulching with drip irrigation, the soil will be as fluffy as the day you filled it into your pots when harvest comes. It works great. If you want you can pick them up, topdress and mulch again. Or better yet make some nutrient teas or fpes, so you don’t have to even do that :)

Rice hulls too but they need to be replaced more often. Right now I'm using my previous harvest as mulch it works but it's kinda weird on the top layer it's super hard but a inch down it's basically turned into soil. My worms dont seem to be getting to the top very well as my neem and stuff are still on top so it's kind of mess but working good I suppose lol.

I did wood bark fines and it worked great but it would attract fungus gnats when I over watered every time... like those suckers were waiting or something almost instantious lol.

I think I'm gonna try straw or rice hulls next. I will say I used all the branches and the stock cut down into 1" pieces in one pot and it seems to be working the best and super easy to remove it to top dress, the other 3 it's not fun lol.
 
F

FutureGrower

606
93
Ok, thanks, fully manual watering for now, I’ll just keep an eye on it with light watering.



I considered that, but had issues top dressing and getting clumping without being able to dig it in, but may go that route. Used clay pellets in the greenhouse.

Ah yeah I'm having the same problem right now! First time trying mulch from my girls. I really dont like it as much as going with wood chips that I've used in the past. I want to try rice hulls next. But it's actually super helpful to your soil life to have some sort of mulch layer so if you can you should definitely get something on top :). Some people even use plastic to insulate with fabric pots I'm not too sure about going that far though lol
 
Wishbone

Wishbone

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Rice hulls too but they need to be replaced more often. Right now I'm using my previous harvest as mulch it works but it's kinda weird on the top layer it's super hard but a inch down it's basically turned into soil. My worms dont seem to be getting to the top very well as my neem and stuff are still on top so it's kind of mess but working good I suppose lol.

I did wood bark fines and it worked great but it would attract fungus gnats when I over watered every time... like those suckers were waiting or something almost instantious lol.

I think I'm gonna try straw or rice hulls next. I will say I used all the branches and the stock cut down into 1" pieces in one pot and it seems to be working the best and super easy to remove it to top dress, the other 3 it's not fun lol.

Ah yeah I'm having the same problem right now! First time trying mulch from my girls. I really dont like it as much as going with wood chips that I've used in the past. I want to try rice hulls next. But it's actually super helpful to your soil life to have some sort of mulch layer so if you can you should definitely get something on top :). Some people even use plastic to insulate with fabric pots I'm not too sure about going that far though lol

Thanks, I’ll get something going soon.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

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Yeah I was seeing a few folks using those, I’ll take a look at them, thanks. I’ve been using both teas and a top dress, like the slow release of dry ingredients in the soil as well as fast action from a tea.

Well to each his own :)
Rice hulls too but they need to be replaced more often. Right now I'm using my previous harvest as mulch it works but it's kinda weird on the top layer it's super hard but a inch down it's basically turned into soil. My worms dont seem to be getting to the top very well as my neem and stuff are still on top so it's kind of mess but working good I suppose lol.

I did wood bark fines and it worked great but it would attract fungus gnats when I over watered every time... like those suckers were waiting or something almost instantious lol.

I think I'm gonna try straw or rice hulls next. I will say I used all the branches and the stock cut down into 1" pieces in one pot and it seems to be working the best and super easy to remove it to top dress, the other 3 it's not fun lol.

Didn’t had any gnats with pine. If you have them you have them i don’t think it has much to do with pine barks. Easiest to collect back and reuse. Very efficient. You just have to layer it by hand and let them all lay down on the soil horizontally.
 
F

FutureGrower

606
93
Well to each his own :)


Didn’t had any gnats with pine. If you have them you have them i don’t think it has much to do with pine barks. Easiest to collect back and reuse. Very efficient. You just have to layer it by hand and let them all lay down on the soil horizontally.

I was using pine bark fines but it didnt make sense to me why I had the issue either. Maybe just not enough neem in earlier cycles I'm too early into dialing my setup in to be making those types of statements (wood/pine bark fines causing gnats)
 
JediHustle

JediHustle

16
3
What size pot or bed are you using? I was using a water only LOS mix but learned the hard way that 5 gallons is wayyyy too small. Looking amazing!

this was grown in no till LOS. picture hanging in background is 12 in wide to give reference to the overall head bud size. All lower buds were baseball sized nugzz Water only thru entire run

fatgurlpheno-1-jpg.717055
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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What size pot or bed are you using? I was using a water only LOS mix but learned the hard way that 5 gallons is wayyyy too small. Looking amazing!
3 or 4 gallon pots strain dependent. This pheno was grown in a 3
 
jumpincactus

jumpincactus

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So got my first indoor run going, having done two greenhouse runs with a LOS, and just setup a mini drip system. Under the light the soil dries out much quicker than it was in the GH, in order to keep life moist and happy in the soil I want to keep it pretty moist with frequent light watering, is there concern of root rot with much more frequent watering in a LOS?

View attachment 843847
just be sure not to oversaturate. Moist not waterlogged. You can actually drown your roots and the microbes. Delicate balance man. both soil and herd need some mix of air.
 
JediHustle

JediHustle

16
3
Alright perfect I was just thinking about running beds after my current harvest, thanks for the tips!

yes you are correct, the soil volume will increase over time. But parts of the inputs will be mineralized by the microherd and a portion of it will compacted and become finer and finer and loose its (tilth) A good balanced LOS system always receives organic inputs. All we as indoor guys are doing is attempting to mimic recreating the natural forest and each season adds more organic matter with the changing seasons.

To answer your last question, at some point you do need to off set some of the spent soil to make room for fresh organic inputs. Hope that made some sense. It is a much easier task outdoors in a natural setting as the system handles all this for us. Indoors is a little trickier as you don't ever want to throw all the soil away as it still contains the microbes and critters that make up the whole balanced ecosystem.

I would suggest if your truly interested in this style of growing indoors there is a wealth of information on indoor bed planting and growing.

Not my words but here are a few things to consider when diving into indoor bed grows. Again outside it is a whole different beast and much easier overall.




Hey guys and gals, thought I'd make a thread illustrating some of the pros and cons of growing in an indoor bed. I'm 6 months in now through my bed grow and have had a few issues that I have had to work out, as well as a few things that I learned to like as well. BTW I run my beds no-till, I just add a top layer of amendment on the bed from time-to-time.

Pros:
Soil cost - There is a large upfront cost needed for the soil for your beds, however it is a one time cost (40 Cu. Feet of soil mix cost me in the 175 dollar range, using cheap nursery soils / ewc / amendments)

Root Growth- The root growth I am seeing is very fibrous and is not restricted like it is in a container.. my plants stretch often times 2-3 times their size and will continue growing throughout flower. Since a bed is much more akin to growing out in nature, the root structure is more natural and thus creates healthier plants. I can elaborate more on this if you would like me to, there is some reasoning behind this.

Watering - Watering once a week or so has been my favorite part, while it's a large amount of water at once there is less maintenance, if any, required in between waterings

Running 1 strain - if you run all of 1 strain, and are running them from the same stage of growth, watering , nute schedules, growth and everything is very uniform. Canopy is very even and yields can be very high.

Cons:
perpetual cycles are hard to pull off- it becomes difficult to determine the size of your plant needed to create a nice canopy, problems may arise that are difficult to address with plants being in different stages (not like u can move your flowering plants out or vice versa for a quick pesticide application), plants need different nutrition at different stages

Hard work - When you do work, it's typically of the back breaking type (moving large amounts of soil or sand), while less frequent definitely more difficult

Running different strains is tough - since all the plants grow very differently, yields will suffer if proper canopy control isn't taken... While growing 10 strains at once I had a few strains dominate and choke out smaller plants , reducing my yield on the small plants

***
Those are some of the major things that I can think of about running beds. If you can work out the cons or come to terms with them somehow, you can really reap the benefits of the pros..

Pest prevention and plant nutrition are both something that need to be learned quickly when running beds, however I feel the knowledge and experience you get from having to do these things prepares you for almost anything.
 

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