Water only produces the finest terps

[screenager420]

I have years of experience growing and after starting this hobby I quickly realized the best way to grow is with soil that contains sufficient nutrients to grow bud using water only. Nature has been doing it this way for millions of years and it's classic human arrogance to think that you can improve upon the way cannabis is meant to be grown-the way it evolved to grow. I understand that indoor growing under lights is unnatural but beyond that I like to keep everything as organic as possible. When I use pesticide I make a homemade neem oil concoction to spray the plants with, but I grow strong plants with good pest resistance and don't usually need pesticide. I use gnatrol WDG larvicide for the first couple waterings to prevent fungus gnat problems but other than that the plants receive nothing but nice clean water. In some respects I'm still ignorant of growing. For example, I don't even know what the ideal ph is because I've never needed to know that to grow strong plants that produce good weed. I just find quality soil, start my seeds, and water the proper amount from seed to harvest. For years I've been using roots organics soil but next run I'm gonna try KIS(Keep it Simple) organic soil cause it's tailored specifically for people who grow water only. There will be those that disagree but I believe that to make the finest cannabis possible it's best to stick to the way Mother Nature intended to grow plants rather than giving liquid feedings.

 

[Eledin]

Organic has many things that synthetic nutrients dont have. Vitamins, hormones, aminoacids, etc... all of those goodies you can only find in organic liquid nutrients or ammendments. The composition of Iguana Juice, the organic liquid I use when my super soil depletes, has the same ingredients that a good soil ammendment so when you say liquids it depends. Also almost nobody would prefeer outdoors over indoors and theyve been bred like that for decades now so they are kinda used to growing indoors too and usually produce better buds since you can control the parameters instead of being at the mercy of nature.

 

[screenager420]

Organic has many things that synthetic nutrients dont have. Vitamins, hormones, aminoacids, etc... all of those goodies you can only find in organic liquid nutrients or ammendments. The composition of Iguana Juice, the organic liquid I use when my super soil depletes, has the same ingredients that a good soil ammendment so when you say liquids it depends. Also almost nobody would prefeer outdoors over indoors and theyve been bred like that for decades now so they are kinda used to growing indoors too and usually produce better buds since you can control the parameters instead of being at the mercy of nature.

sounds like you got it dialed in pretty good. for me growing weed is all about the terps. Some strains have such a mysterious smell that IMO will never be entirely quantifiable

 

[Eledin]

I respect your opinion 100% and I think only water is perfectly viable but I dont think the way they grow like mother nature intended is what we want hahaha, thats why people have been crossing or breeding like crazy. Most landraces were very poor in yield and potency until banks started messing with them.

 

[Eledin]

sounds like you got it dialed in pretty good. for me growing weed is all about the terps. Some strains have such a mysterious smell that IMO will never be entirely quantifiable

Yes, only with lab results but we dont have enough of that yet

 

[amneziaHaze]

WIth big enough pot it can be done. But soil only without anysupliments i dont think will taste anymore special than the rest

 

[screenager420]

WIth big enough pot it can be done. But soil only without anysupliments i dont think will taste anymore special than the rest

I'm glad you have a method that works. We can agree to disagree, water only produces the best terps I've had. Currently I'm doing a SOG in 1 gallon pots 12/12 from seed so I think I'll be good on nutrients and if the plant gets any deficiencies I'll address it by top dressing with organic dry amendments.

 

[amneziaHaze]

I'm glad you have a method that works. We can agree to disagree, water only produces the best terps I've had. Currently I'm doing a SOG in 1 gallon pots 12/12 from seed so I think I'll be good on nutrients and if the plant gets any deficiencies I'll address it by top dressing with organic dry amendments.

Oh so its not water only.
Yea lets do that :) you gonna make a diary? Few photos

 

[orggrwr]

I agree that water only grows give the best terp profiles but the difference is small and comes down to environment and growers skill more. I grow in living soil with little to no nutes added because that style of growing appeals to me and fits well with my schedule. But I think the best bud comes from deciding on a grow style and getting it dialed in as best you can rather than what method you use.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I suppose attempting to have everything in the pot at the beginning that the plant will need throughout its lifecycle would be an interesting challenge. I haven't tried it.

 

[Eledin]

I suppose attempting to have everything in the pot at the beginning that the plant will need throughout its lifecycle would be an interesting challenge. I haven't tried it.

You would need a big pot like mentioned before. Also a transplant, Ive burnt a few seedlings by making a too hot soil (mostly N toxicity) so you can ammend more heavily if you transplant them when they have a few nodes. With 7gal pots I run out of ammendments towards the end of flower, but maybe I could try to make it hotter and see.

 

[Eledin]

Also something to keep in mind is that maybe you shouldnt let the soil cook for too long because then there will be way more available nutes that the plant will take with the water wether she likes it or not. By cooking it for 1 week instead of 3 you can ensure the plant will have enough available nutes and then the rest will be released slowly. People say that in organic the plants only take what they need but thats not completely true, thats why there's dosages for ammendments. If you have a very big pot is hard to use too much but if you have a medium sized pot you can definetely burn them because Ive done it.

 

[Ninjadogma]

Sounds like you've mastered the microbial feedback loop. Kudos. You've done something amazing but if you really don't know what you've done by achieving that, or how you dialed it so you can apply it to other soil blends, not so much.

 

[Ninjadogma]

I agree that water only grows give the best terp profiles but the difference is small and comes down to environment and growers skill more. I grow in living soil with little to no nutes added because that style of growing appeals to me and fits well with my schedule. But I think the best bud comes from deciding on a grow style and getting it dialed in as best you can rather than what method you use.

I periodically supplement with liquids in case I bottom out my EC during a watering, and to offer mixed availability between microbes and added ionized minerals. I grow outdoors and microbes can have good days and bad days. The liquids I add are just a buffer to ensure the plants have what they need if microbes won't give it to them.

Good or bad, with living soil and liquid nutes being stacked on, I'm definitely checking what's going on in the soil. There are better, easier ways but I want to know exactly what's going on in the root zone and I get it by looking.

Also something to keep in mind is that maybe you shouldnt let the soil cook for too long because then there will be way more available nutes that the plant will take with the water wether she likes it or not. By cooking it for 1 week instead of 3 you can ensure the plant will have enough available nutes and then the rest will be released slowly. People say that in organic the plants only take what they need but thats not completely true, thats why there's dosages for ammendments. If you have a very big pot is hard to use too much but if you have a medium sized pot you can definetely burn them because Ive done it.

They take what they need and what they don't accumulates as mineral salts (excess food). When you water, that salt excess gets migrated out of the soil, presuming you use an appropriate volume of water, but not so much that the bottom drops out on your EC. Once you know this, I don't know why you wouldn't want to be occasionally checking your soil runoff to ensure you've got the right amount of water to make the EC fall within an optimal range every time. When you're able to do that without checking and then any time you actually do check it is in range, then it's safe to say you've dialed in the microbial feedback loop.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I've wondered how well EC applies to organic soil growing. I figure that is more useful for synthetic nutrients.

You would need a big pot like mentioned before. Also, a transplant, I've burnt a few seedlings by making a too hot soil (mostly N toxicity) so you can ammend more heavily if you transplant them when they have a few nodes. With 7gal pots I run out of amendments towards the end of flower, but maybe I could try to make it hotter and see.

I haven't had nutrient burn since I stopped using synthetic nutrients. I do follow recommended doses, though, so I haven't pushed the upper limits. If anything, I tend get conservative and not use enough.

The different nutrient mixes needed for vegetation versus flowering is what I see as the main challenge for having everything the plant will need from the start.

 

[Ninjadogma]

I've wondered how well EC applies to organic soil growing. I figure that is more useful for synthetic nutrients.


I haven't had nutrient burn since I stopped using synthetic nutrients. I do follow recommended doses, though, so I haven't pushed the upper limits. If anything, I tend get conservative and not use enough.

The different nutrient mixes needed for vegetation versus flowering is what I see as the main challenge for having everything the plant will need from the start.

The drybacks can trigger EC spikes. Microbes die off as the soil dries, the plant eats the nutrients they release. Too many die that the plant doesn't eat and you don't push enough water volume through when you water, and voila, you have a mineral salt accumulation on your hands.

If you've never done so, it's a good exercise to play with an EC pen when you do a normal watering. Check the value with the initial water coming out and then check when you're done. The good news about organic soil is if your EC dips, it's nothing much to worry about... the microbes will repopulate after the watering and feed your plant more in a day or two.

 

[Ninjadogma]

The drybacks can trigger EC spikes. Microbes die off as the soil dries, the plant eats the nutrients they release. Too many die that the plant doesn't eat and you don't push enough water volume through when you water, and voila, you have a mineral salt accumulation on your hands.

If you've never done so, it's a good exercise to play with an EC pen when you do a normal watering. Check the value with the initial water coming out and then check when you're done. The good news about organic soil is if your EC dips, it's nothing much to worry about... the microbes will repopulate after the watering and feed your plant more in a day or two.

I should clarify I don't mean constantly obsessing over your EC, just to go through the exercise looking at initial runoff vs ending runoff so you and watch what happens and gain insight from that.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

The drybacks can trigger EC spikes.

This basically means dried nutrients return to being in solution and thus are again available to the mycorrhizal fungi and the plant, as well as the EC meter. I doubt if the increase would be a problem if additional nutrients weren't added with the water (assuming the nutrients weren't initially excessive). I usually don't water to runoff because I prefer not to let the soil dry back completely, avoiding a massive die-off of the fungi.

 

[Ninjadogma]

This basically means dried nutrients return to being in solution and thus are again available to the mycorrhizal fungi and the plant, as well as the EC meter. I doubt if the increase would be a problem if additional nutrients weren't added with the water (assuming the nutrients weren't initially excessive). I usually don't water to runoff because I prefer not to let the soil dry back completely, avoiding a massive die-off of the fungi.

Can't forget those mycos! They'll take the hit for the plant. Yeah, take care of them. Replenish occasionally. Many amendments include them. I also use more molasses than anything else. Feed the plant food!

So sticking to the thread topic, I would agree the terps come through best when microbes do the work naturally rather than depending on a synthesis that is bound to miss something you're trying to recreate. And from my observations, each and every individual pot of soil is it's own diverse ecosystem as unique as a snowflake, and that's why your same strain of weed from the same plant in the same soil doesn't always smell exactly the same or have the same smell intensity. But the flip side of that, if you are trying to achieve consistent results, maybe artificial process allows better control or something.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

So sticking to the thread topic, I would agree the terps come through best when microbes do the work naturally rather than depending on a synthesis that is bound to miss something you're trying to recreate. And from my observations, each and every individual pot of soil is it's own diverse ecosystem as unique as a snowflake, and that's why your same strain of weed from the same plant in the same soil doesn't always smell exactly the same or have the same smell intensity. But the flip side of that, if you are trying to achieve consistent results, maybe artificial process allows better control or something.

We all have our own unique reasons and purposes for growing our own.