JKeefster13
- 5
- 3
Thanks got your response, so may be a dumb question but what is amended soil and what does it mean to top dress? Clearly this will have to be done on next grow. But i love some good constructive feedback and ultimately knoledge. As others have said, yes I have been playing the guessing game seeing how the plants react to tap water as a pose to bottled or purified water.Ok so I'm not a fan of soil and bottled foods. I prefer soil that's amended. And top dressed as needed. I also don't like soil. I prefer a ProMix or DWC. No Fox farms or anything. And when starting out a 1 part food is fine. Rhino skin and cal mag going into soil is just hard to measure in my opinion.
Now for this algae like substance. First let's
*defoliate. This will reduce moisture and increase the flow of air where it's needed most. Start small.
Remove by hand the top layer of green and fouled media. Top dress with the same media or worm castings.
Stick a finger all the way in the soil to gauge moisture and density. If its wet and heavy don't water.
(There is a sticky thread on this forum that describes good watering practices.)
Fungus Gnats.
You have options. You can use diatomaceous earth. Thoroughly powder the top of the soil and any where pests are use a dusting bulb.
You can get some pest spray. Like safers 3 in 1. Or you can get safers defender powder and sprinkle that on the top of the soil.
Diatomaceous Earth creates a barrier that the gnats can't survive. It dessicates their bodies.
To increase success for your next grow I highly urge you to try a simple method. Using ProMix HD. And Floranova or Maxi series. Or another popular 1 part. And no supplements.
And hermaphrodite plants are typically genetic. It's a huge part of getting your genetics. It's about sourcing quality genetics and having the proper lighting conditions.
If your heart is set on soil you should use amendments to the soil and teas and top dressing and quality de chlorinated water.
For promix and DWC I literally use straight tap water and use it immediately. No issue.
I appreciate the wisdom really. Thank you, and I’ll keep the tent crowding in mind as well just moved 4 of them into a 4x2x6 tent keeping 6 in the 4x4x8Alright I'll do a brief break down. Soil is actually nothing like coco coir. Or ProMix. It's it's own living entity and when you set up a pot of soil you want all the nutirents the plant will use in it. For example let's say you have a bag of black earth soil. You add some worm castings. Perlite for drainage. And whatever other minerals or organics you decide to add. Those would be amendments. You would feed compost tea and water. Ph around 6.4
The simple method. Using ProMix HD and 1 part is super simple. ProMix HD is stacked by the truckload at the grow stores and garden centers. It's peat and perlite. And wetting agent. Has date stamped bakes. About 25 bucks for you. 3 to 5 gallon standard nursery pots. And choose from either Floranova grow and bloom (liquid) or Maxigrow and Maxibloom powder. These are the simplest foods. I use maxi series because with my tap water it comes to a stable PH of 6.0. All you do is veg. Alternate feeding and watering just water. Switch 2 weeks into flower. Thats it. Use correct watering techniques.
As for the bulbs. A 1000 watt in a small tent is too hot. And you don't want to have a stash of old bulbs. Recycle em. Tents can handle 600 watt HPS..and now the standard is LED arrays. I prefer HPS.
Pesticide and fungicide is a must. I use safers 3 in 1 because it's effective and all I can really buy. It is organic. Diatomaceous earth is just a mechanical pest control. And not toxic in any way. In California you have more options. Grow store guy can help.
And for tent crowding. Plants don't like:
Over lapping leaves. Being against the tent walls. And transpiring so hard the tent gets most. They need room and space to breathe. Defoliate them after reading up on it.
For now finish with your plan. Learn from it. See how it yields. So far so good. The real headache is week 6 when your buds look good and then bud rot hits. So do keep that air flow in check. Don't worry about organic. Just knowing what pesticide is used and when is a win.
Smart. Prevent issues. The less plants and pots and the more canopy the better. Less fungus. It's like an aquarium. If you over crowd it plants are bound to get sick. I find the ideal plant count to be 2 or 4 per light. 1 if you have a solid time to veg and not much stretch. So far so good. And when you defoliate sterilize the scissors and wash the hands. Just to be safe.I appreciate the wisdom really. Thank you, and I’ll keep the tent crowding in mind as well just moved 4 of them into a 4x2x6 tent keeping 6 in the 4x4x8
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