Damn dire wolf, thanks so much for all the info!
Regarding
pests, just last night I happened to watch a video where a guy's soil was PACKED with soil mites and little worms. It was absolutely horrifying! Like horror movie material under a microscope. Apparently those particular critters weren't going to harm the plants but watching that vid was enough to get me focused on pest treatment in a hurry. I've seen a lot of solutions to different problems to include the yellow sticky tape,
neem oil, nematodes, predatory mites, mosquito dunks, and now
spinosad! I'll be sure to spend the necessary time to learn what helps with what, what I can and can't use together, and pest identification.
Is this the
nutrient mix you were referring to? I see it does have some lobster shells but otherwise matches your description. Is this something you use when transferring your seedlings to a new home or when prepping your final pots? According to the Stonington's bag info I'd have to do some amending after 30 days anyway.
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As for
EWC, that shit seems pretty ubiquitous when it comes to organic grows. I've seen it used in seed mixes, primary mixes, top dressing, teas, etc. Pretty amazing. There is no shortage of great information out there and good people freely willing to offer that info and help a newbie. The challenging for me is trying to consolidate all of that info into a single plan that will work for me. I worry about trying to do too many "helpful" things to my grow, which is why my original plan gets trimmed back on almost a daily basis, lol.
Regarding
training, I came to this same conclusion and the ScrOG is one of the things I decided to trim from my first grow. LST and topping was still on the list but I'll have to look more into the other techniques you mentioned. For example, topping vs fimming is still a bit of a mystery to me but I have no doubt there are a billion videos on exactly that!
For
drainage I was planning on using plant saucers along with a riser for each pot.
And yeah, I don't think I have a good grasp on my space, grow size, etc despite all of the vids I've watched and the info I've read. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with the 5 gal containers in keeping with my new KISS focus, and once I get the tent setup I hope to have a better feeling for the space I'll be using.