justiceman said:

Here is an update on how the amended mix is going. So far it smells of fresh earth. I took a couple pictures to show what some favorable signs generally look like.

If you look closely in the middle You will notice some two areas in the middle of the picture what look like a cluster of white hairs. That is microbial life. Seeings these kinds of the signs combined with a fresh earthy smell is what I'm shooting for.
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Here is a picture from the past where I got a pretty good layer going. Let's see if I can do that again!
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This picture is after I mixed the soil for a little bit, so some of the water fell down as well as evaporated from the inside of the garbage lid. I like to see this because it means I'm at a good point of water saturation. It also means the microbe community is definitely growing.
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What are the risk of mold forming on the soil if closed up in a tote? I have just mixed my soil but have not watered it for the fear of mold.

Newbie2019 said:

What are the risk of mold forming on the soil if closed up in a tote? I have just mixed my soil but have not watered it for the fear of mold.

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The thing with soil is you absolutely want mold/fungus and bacteria to make homes within. When making soil or compost the idea is to shoot for a certain variety microbes which are mostly aerobic(think earthy fresh soil smell) and to try and avoid most of the aerobic types(think sour noxious poopy rotten egg smell). They are the work force in breaking down organic matter to the point that plants can actually use it.

Don't be scared to moisten the mix up. If you do happen to get it "too wet" then just leave it uncovered and it will naturally dry out. Thing's don't have to be perfect. If you don't the organic matter will break down very slowly if at all and won't be ready for use in 2-3 weeks from the born date.

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Hello everyone!

You may or may not have noticed my absence. Some unexpected things came up in my family that took precedent so I had to shift my focus elsewhere and for the most part abandon this grow. I did however make sure to take cuttings of my Tangerine Dream seedlings and left them in a humidity dome while I was away for a couple weeks in hopes of a restart. They rooted and were saved. I also started some other seeds, and received a few cuts from a friend so now I have a mess of stuff going on and I love it! Down below I will give a small review of a few things I have been playing with. This grow has evolved into not just water only but a combination of both water only soil and hydroponic nutrient coco. I am going to end this thread and start up another soon so when I do I will post the link here for any who are interested in following along.

Here's a G13 Giga Bud hanging out in 1 gallon of the amended LC's Mix(Peat Moss, Perlite, Worm Castings, Dolomite Lime, Blood meal, Bone meal, and Kelp meal) She had a pretty nice rootball going so I put her into a 5gal fabric pot.


Here I have a Stardawg autoflower from Fastbuds in LC's mix but with a new twist. Instead of going with the tried and true blood, bone, and kelp I wanted to try and see how a pre-blended organic dry fertilizer would do so I went to the local big box store and picked up a bag of Dr. Earth Tomato, Vegetable & Herb (4-6-3). I mixed it in at 4Tbsp per gallon and planted in it right away without any "cook" time. I assumed that since this fert replaces blood meal with fish and alfalfa that I would not need to let it mellow out for a couple weeks. So right after mixing I planted the stardawg and she has been growing without issue on just plain unfiltered tap water.


I also have some coco plants going as well. Currently comparing coco with coco/perlite. For nutrition I am trying out a very inexpensive fertilizer called Master Blend and it has been working well for me. I have not noticed much if any difference between coco vs coco/perlite so far.


Here is a Super Lemon Haze in coco/perlite doing well.

Alright everyone I have started up another thread that will encompass simple water only organic growing as well as growing in coco coir with hydroponic nutrients.

If you would like to follow along here is a link to the new thread

Grow Lab: Diverse Methods