Reset And Restart Living Soil Grow

[cloudyhelads]

Plugging along. Not much to report. THC Farming.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Perpetual Flower

 

[cloudyhelads]

Made a tea: 1 gal water, 1/4 cup alfalfa meal,1/4 cup kelp meal, teaspoon molasses. Bubbled 18 hrs. It foamed up like mad and smelled really earthy. I applied it this am. Strained and undiluted and dropped the strained out turd in the center of the big bag for the worms. I have not done a lot with teas. This is maybe my 3rd try. I did not spray on the leaves, only the soil in all the veg pots and the big bag.
I also transplanted two COGs that were beginning to get really root bound into 10 gal smart pots of straight FFOF. These went into the flower tent.
I hope that the tea was not too strong or hot. I probably should have diluted it or maybe tried it on a few plants instead of spraying down the whole works. We shall see. I do have a problem with my scientific brain. And I sometimes do rash things. Especially first thing in the am.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Happy Holidaze. It’s a frosty and purple Christmas

 

[cloudyhelads]

So the alfalfa tea did not seem to burn anything. I think it gave all the plants a little perk. The crazy thing is that the leftover blob/turd of strained alfalfa and kelp is already gone. Below it in the mulch is a crazy living tangle of red worms that seem about as happy as worms can be. A holiday feast. I don’t know how effectual the tea was. And I only let it bubble for 18 or so hrs, but if my worms are happy with it than I am too.
The purple bush I took down was a chocolate chunk. Temps have gotten a little low in the tent at lights out which makes for great colors, but I have reluctantly decided to hook up the heater for the cold dark nights ahead. (Lows were in the low 60s in the tent during the recent cold snap). Ah New England winters.
A year in with the big bag: call it 5 cycles of 6 plants times an average of 2 zips a plant is 60 oz maybe 4 lbs. Perhaps not the awesome numbers some more serious growers get, but I am content and anyway it’s more than I can ingest and give away. I have spent little to nothing on inputs (besides electricity ho ho ho). Maybe $30 on malted barley. A $40 splurge on mammoth p. And, including solo cups which I use as starter pots and label collars, I don’t think that I filled a single trash bin all year.
I am obviously loosing yield by doing the perpetual flower. Between the uneven canopy and the fact that the plants don’t get to veg into the big bag, I think I loose ounces each cycle. But I am happy with the results and the experiment. I have proven to myself that you can grow really top shelf herb without chemicals, fertilizers, and $ on dirt and bottles. I have come to understand that environment and soil health replace these expensive and dubious techniques and substances.
At first it was hard to drive past the grow shop. “I must need something for the garden.” But now I’m used to it.
Thank you everybody who has followed along. It really has given me an extra incentive to keep things ship shape, knowing that cats can look in at what I’m doing. It has helped me, for the most part, be less sloppy and lazy and to keep to my pledged schedules of ipm and maintenance. It is nice to have an outlet to make notes and ponder the proceedings. Maybe brag a tiny bit.
Anyway. Much love and prosperity in the new year. I plan to continue this experiment for another year. I hope I’ve been able to help somebody on their path. Even if it’s just to show that a half assed dummy stoner like me can supply himself and his friends with top shelf.
Peace

 

[cloudyhelads]

Cleaning out flower tent and some perspective.

 

[cloudyhelads]

The Tropicana cookies pheno is doing a similar thing this cycle. Small hard stacked buds. Tons of frost. It will be interesting to see if all the trichs fall off when it dries like the last plant or wether that was a dry/cure snafu. In a way I hope it does preform the same way because the sift from this plant was amazing.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Bib bag is looking healthy. Only bit of yellow is on the new transplant and the WW fading out.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Veg needs work though. Grandevo this am as ipm. Plus oroboost and a filet of aloe.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Boi

 

[cloudyhelads]

New genetics arrived today. Looking forward to seeing what I can get out of this 10 pack. Diesel was the first strain with a name in my circle. Initially there was no “sour” I’m my neighborhood. It was just the Diesel. And you knew if someone had it the second they walked into a room. Funky stank. Anyway I hope these seeds produce something close to the Diesel I remember, because it was fantastic uplifting goat high.
I dropped four to start with into a cup of fresh aloe water.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Some frosty flowers are popping. The big bag is looking so good. I’ve fed in about 3 lbs of malted barley over the last week and the worms are going absolutely silly. I added another WW tonight to replace the one I took down last week.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Root check at uppot and a sprinkle of mycos
Alfalfa meal kelp meal. Granular humic, neem seed meal and a pinch of oyster shell powder and molasses tea.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Fresh dried WW heading from drying box to cure bag. I prefer gallon ziplocks to jars. So much easier to get an even cure and monitor. So easy to fuck up with jars because you are either cramming bud in and damaging it, or the jar is to big and there is too much air. Bags are gentle and reusable.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Also. The plant in the flower tent in the One gallon clay pot is the only Exotic Genetics mystery seed that was female. I did not take clones and I don’t know what it is. Just growing it out for the hell of it. The other of these seeds that I grew out produced dank looking bud that did not get me high. Theorizing it’s a cbd strain or perhaps I just fucked it up. Anyway there is room.

 

[Farmer P]

Glad I found this! I like your style.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Hey Farmer P. Thanks for reading and having a look at my garden.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Seeds into paper towel with mycos. All four had dropped to bottom of aloe water cup. Hope to have sprouts tomorrow. Fed the tea to everything. Even sprayed foliage in veg. Might call that IPM this week.

 

[cloudyhelads]

All four cracked.

 

[cloudyhelads]

Got a new light for flower. HLG through Hone Depot. All wired and everything. Not a kit. The big bag is tight and I was looking for a little space for some side experiments. To be honest I’m having trouble getting backed up in veg waiting for a place in the bag.