First Ever Grow, No Til, Documenting Every Learning Step

FutureGrower · Nov 30, 2017

Hey everyone, im new here, but you guys have already helped me a bunch. Currently i'm setting up my future grow, and have everything ordered that i currently need (i think) to be ready to start growing.

I chose no til since its my first grow and it seemed to be the easiest to get correct.

Here's my setup
20 gallon pot
soil mix will be 1/3 red lava rock, canadian sphagnum peat moss, malibu biodynamic compost

per cuf: 1/8th cup gypsum, kelp meal, dolomite, malt barley powder

i'll be growing in a 3x3x6 cabinet with a 315 watt CMH open reflector, and building my own scrog setup most likely with pvc pipe.

the total cost so far has been right around $500 and here's a break down so far

Red Lava Rock $16.59
canadian sphagnum peat moss $12.32
compost - 15.55
malt barley powder - $10
gypsum $5
kelp meal $17
dolomite $13
$17 earth worm castings
3x3 grow tent $100
2 5 gallon buckets $17
air pump/hose $20
4" round air stone $10
30/60x magnifying glass $7
315 watt cmh open reflector with a 3200k bulb - $260

please let me know how my soil mixture / amendments sound and if i need to change anything up.

i didnt add the cost of the 20g pot yet beause i havent purchsed it yet but it should be around $10.

I'll also be posting pictures and everything as my grow goes on, as well as sharing things that weren't obvious to me no matter how dumb it is to potentially help a new grower like myself

MirrorZen · Nov 30, 2017

Welcome! Here ya go... @Organikz
@Ecompost @oldskol4evr hopefully one of them can chime in and have considerably more experience in No till than myself. Best of luck!

Organikz · Nov 30, 2017

Everything's looking good to me. Just let us know if you have specific questions.

1 thing i will mention. Leave about 5" to the top of each pot. Over your soil mix do a 2" layer of pure compost and then a layer of mulch.

Remember less is more and more is too fucking much. LITFA [leave it the fuck alone]. My plants do best when i almost forget about them...

Enforcer · Nov 30, 2017

Nice. But your name is about to be inaccurate. Subbed

FutureGrower · Nov 30, 2017

Organikz said:
Everything's looking good to me. Just let us know if you have specific questions.

1 thing i will mention. Leave about 5" to the top of each pot. Over your soil mix do a 2" layer of pure compost and then a layer of mulch.

Remember less is more and more is too fucking much. LITFA [leave it the fuck alone]. My plants do best when i almost forget about them...

Thank you man! I’m nervous I’ll mess something up but that’s the learning process haha

FutureGrower · Nov 30, 2017

Enforcer said:
Nice. But your name is about to be inaccurate. Subbed

Hahaha, I guess I’ll need to be currentgrower

Organikz · Nov 30, 2017

FutureGrower said:
Thank you man! I’m nervous I’ll mess something up but that’s the learning process haha

What's good about this style and a huge reason I chose it is that it's very forgiving. If you start seeing problems back off. It will work itself out.

Organikz · Dec 1, 2017

Also it's referred to as no till which is short for no tillage. When you harvest you cut the crown and ground level. Do not disturb the rootball as this is food for the next plant in. All fan leaf and stalk trims are returned to the soil. This will be your mulch feom here on.

85% of beneficial soil life live in the humus layer. When i have time I can put together some good reading that won't get your head spinning. When the humus layer is disturbed by tillage the microbiology is sent to the rapture...lol

Throw the idea of feeding nutrients out because the soil build has everything you need,very nutrient dense and we concentrate on feeding soil life to make it more efficient because we start with no humus....only 5-10% of high quality ewc is humus...but with that compost your soil will already be swarming with microherds.

You covered the most important part...high quality compost.

"Get a good humus source and you won't have many questions that need an answer." Coot

NHWhites · Dec 1, 2017

I didn’t see anything about fan/filter. You also want some cover crop

Dunge · Dec 1, 2017

20 gallon pot in a small tent may be unnecessary trouble.
I'd go 3 gallon, or 5 at the most.

Genetics are important. What are your options?

Looking forward to watching your grow.

NHWhites · Dec 1, 2017

Dunge said:
20 gallon pot in a small tent may be unnecessary trouble.
I'd go 3 gallon, or 5 at the most.

Genetics are important. What are your options?

Looking forward to watching your grow.

20g is for a no til bed, can’t really do it with less than 15g

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

Organikz said:
Also it's referred to as no till which is short for no tillage. When you harvest you cut the crown and ground level. Do not disturb the rootball as this is food for the next plant in. All fan leaf and stalk trims are returned to the soil. This will be your mulch feom here on.

85% of beneficial soil life live in the humus layer. When i have time I can put together some good reading that won't get your head spinning. When the humus layer is disturbed by tillage the microbiology is sent to the rapture...lol

Throw the idea of feeding nutrients out because the soil build has everything you need,very nutrient dense and we concentrate on feeding soil life to make it more efficient because we start with no humus....only 5-10% of high quality ewc is humus...but with that compost your soil will already be swarming with microherds.

You covered the most important part...high quality compost.

"Get a good humus source and you won't have many questions that need an answer." Coot

You’re awesome dude, thank you again! I read a tiny bit on the humus layer but I’ve been swamped this week, I’m definitely going to be reading a bunch on it this weekend, hopefully I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on down there lol

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

NHWhites said:
I didn’t see anything about fan/filter. You also want some cover crop

I have some fans that can clip onto my cabinet but I’m going to wait and let my setup run for 24 hours and adjust from there.

As far as the carbon filter I live alone and the room I’m placing it in is in the far corner of my home, if during flower it’s bad I will buy one

But you’re correct I do need cover crop, thank you! I wrote a entire list down and managed to miss that

Edit:I’m sure I’ll need a inline fan setup but I’d rather wait and make sure before I purchase them

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

Dunge said:
20 gallon pot in a small tent may be unnecessary trouble.
I'd go 3 gallon, or 5 at the most.

Genetics are important. What are your options?

Looking forward to watching your grow.

Another thing I missed, I’m sorry I’ll edit my original post, I have auto go kush fem seeds from Canuk(sp?) as well as cheese freebies on the way

Also I unfortunately can’t swing a 5g pot in a no til setup as organikz informed me as well as google that you really want a very minimum of 15g

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

Aww I lied I can’t edit my firs post lol

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

@Organikz hey man I do have a question, I’m planning on buying some clovers for ground cover tomorrow as it supposedly helps with nitrogen release, do you have a second ground cover you’d recommend?

Organikz · Dec 1, 2017

FutureGrower said:
@Organikz hey man I do have a question, I’m planning on buying some clovers for ground cover tomorrow as it supposedly helps with nitrogen release, do you have a second ground cover you’d recommend?

If you decide to run clover go light. Just a pinch. Fungus gnat city. The mulch itself is a nitrogen fixer in the fact that as nitrogen fixing bacteria feed on cellulose they fix N from the air.

FutureGrower · Dec 1, 2017

Organikz said:
If you decide to run clover go light. Just a pinch. Fungus gnat city. The mulch itself is a nitrogen fixer in the fact that as nitrogen fixing bacteria feed on cellulose they fix N from the air.

Thanks you! I had no idea clovers attracted gnats, especially if I don’t the clover.

Any recommendations for ground cover?

Organikz · Dec 2, 2017

FutureGrower said:
Thanks you! I had no idea clovers attracted gnats, especially if I don’t the clover.

Any recommendations for ground cover?

Anything is good. I will start from most commonly used and move down.

Barley straw
Wheat straw
Cocoa bean shells
Pine bark fines or nuggets
Leaf litter

FutureGrower · Dec 2, 2017

FutureGrower said:
Thanks you! I had no idea clovers attracted gnats, especially if I don’t the clover.

Any recommendations for ground cover?

Holy shit I have no clue what I meant in the last part of the sentence but that’s hilarious

First Ever Grow, No Til, Documenting Every Learning Step

First Ever Grow, No Til, Documenting Every Learning Step

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