Minimum Pot Size To Maintain & Recycle Living Soil?

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Perception

Perception

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Hope I helped! ✌️

Definitely! Thank you. Yeah, the nitrogen levels worry me. But, the plant that is in that pot now is looking pretty good. It's been potted for almost a month now, so hopefully the microbes in there are helping to balance things out.

I'll definitely adjust my soil recipe a little in the future to reduce N. Also, very curious to see what the levels are at the end of this grow.
 
keiksweat

keiksweat

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Definitely! Thank you. Yeah, the nitrogen levels worry me. But, the plant that is in that pot now is looking pretty good. It's been potted for almost a month now, so hopefully the microbes in there are helping to balance things out.

I'll definitely adjust my soil recipe a little in the future to reduce N. Also, very curious to see what the levels are at the end of this grow.
I re use my soil,again and again.seems to get better if anything.I pull the root ball.break it all up.throw it all-in a big old tote.add fish blood bone,kelp,frass and other bits.add a bag of cheapish new compo.leave for a month,water it with tea,once or twice.never have any issues.i think people get too carried away with adding 5 million amendments.bio bizz pre mix is good to replenish used soil.it has everything in it.organic too.stinks bad though.happy growing.
 
K

Kyle56914

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I'll probably catch some flack, but I have been growing in 3 gal smart pots using the same soil for a year now. Recycling/vermicomposting and using aacts is honestly the biggest factor for me. While I do absolutely agree that the more soil mass, the easier it will be and it may be a happier system, but for me that wasn't an option when planning my grow. I wanted to rock something with a quicker turn over rate and I love perpetual so I married the ideas of living soil and perpetual by using worm bins. I have two worm bins set up. Whenever a plant finishes, I chop, topdress with whatever comes out of the bottom of the worm bin(castings/compost/humus ), some cover crop and water it for a week. After a week , the old stalk comes out easily with almost no root mass attached and it goes into the worm bin. Then I put a clone in it's pot and and keep rockin!! Everything gets aact once a month along with some bio media pro by better organix. Some may disagree with it even being possible in 3 gallons, but it's very obvious to me that I have a flourishing microherd because I am able to feed water and humic acid all the way through with no deficiencies and pull 1-2oz/plant(strain dependant) harvesting 3 plants every three weeks under ~600 true Watts led.

Forgot to mention that while I'm scooping from one worm bin, the other sits and collects scraps/paper for 4-6 weeks at a time so the worms aren't constantly being thrown around in both bins and allows time for castings to build up.

Hey man great info really helped me a lot push myself to doing a similar set up. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering them and bringing thread alive again. My first question, do you use worms in your pot soil when growing plants?

My second question, do you use a cover crop? Such as straw or leftover plant material from the others grow cycles covering the surface as no till recommends

And my third question, is do you use humic acid every other water or every couple waterings? Also if you could tell me your compost tea recipe it would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the great info, your response would be very great ful
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

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Hey man great info really helped me a lot push myself to doing a similar set up. I have a few questions if you don't mind answering them and bringing thread alive again. My first question, do you use worms in your pot soil when growing plants?

My second question, do you use a cover crop? Such as straw or leftover plant material from the others grow cycles covering the surface as no till recommends

And my third question, is do you use humic acid every other water or every couple waterings? Also if you could tell me your compost tea recipe it would be much appreciated.

Thanks for the great info, your response would be very great ful

Worms are perfectly fine in a pot. They aerate the soil and digest organic material. They also provide exudates that are helpful to plant development.
Cover crops are live plants that would cover your soil rather than dead plant material covering your pot. Thats mulching. Both are great but cover crops generally refer to live plants that creates a symbiotic relation with your plant. Like clovers provide nitrogen to the soil.
Humic acid is abundant in composts and worm castings and peat so i dont think you need to provide extra humic acid but its your call. Just dont go over board with it. I had bad experiences with fulvic acid before. It burns.
Tea recipes are everywhere. Start with a basic compost, ewc, molasses recipe and kelp. Its probably all you will ever going to need.
 
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OrganicLit

OrganicLit

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Given circumstances that your soil has an adequate amount of nutrients, how do i gauge the size of the pot necessary for the length of the grow. If i want to veg for 6 weeks and flower will go for an average of 8 weeks, how do I figure what size pot to finish in?
 
OrganicLit

OrganicLit

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Should I continue veg for a week after final transplant to get through shock from the transplant?
 
goingtoguano

goingtoguano

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Given circumstances that your soil has an adequate amount of nutrients, how do i gauge the size of the pot necessary for the length of the grow. If i want to veg for 6 weeks and flower will go for an average of 8 weeks, how do I figure what size pot to finish in?

Should I continue veg for a week after final transplant to get through shock from the transplant?

I used the trial-and-error method on the pot size. My last few grows I used #3 smart-pots and this time I switched to #5's. I think I like the 5's better but, for the size of plants I grow, I think #4's (if there is such a thing) would be perfect. You also have the ability too use top-dressings and teas ect. to add some nutrients and micro-life so you can add a little extra if you think your pot is on the small size but you have to think ahead instead of trying to react to an issue. I tend to do these additions regardless of the pot size because I like to.
I add top-dressings after flipping to 12/12 over the course of a couple waterings and then a flowering-tea around week 3 or so.

Yes i think you should would wait at least a week after transplant before flipping. I aim for 10-14 days.
 
OrganicLit

OrganicLit

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I used the trial-and-error method on the pot size. My last few grows I used #3 smart-pots and this time I switched to #5's. I think I like the 5's better but, for the size of plants I grow, I think #4's (if there is such a thing) would be perfect. You also have the ability too use top-dressings and teas ect. to add some nutrients and micro-life so you can add a little extra if you think your pot is on the small size but you have to think ahead instead of trying to react to an issue. I tend to do these additions regardless of the pot size because I like to.
I add top-dressings after flipping to 12/12 over the course of a couple waterings and then a flowering-tea around week 3 or so.

Yes i think you should would wait at least a week after transplant before flipping. I aim for 10-14 days.
Nice. I'm in the trial and error process right now. Discovering that 3 gals run out around the half way mark of flower for my intended plant size. I do use teas and top dress. It helps for sure. I think I'll be using 5gal as my final pots next run. Thanks for info!
 

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