Elephant Man's Grow Journal, 1st attempt

[TURKEYNECK]

Everything is looking great you mad man. :aok: You have so much going on it's hard to follow sometimes.

No kidding, Much props E-Mang.

 

[Elephant Man]

Ok EM, you might be on next grow. Keep in mind this would be a side by side clone in the exact same environment. EM vs the Big Corporate Fert Factories!

Hey man, if I can get something that works and not have to pay 29 bucks for a QUARTER LITER of additive I can be supporter! But to be fair, you will have to defeat "Big Ferta" legitimately!

I am not sure I can do a full on sub but if I use organic nutes next grow, I can try to swap out some elements like your flowering mix as an additive vs. Biocanna. Frankly, I have no place to put a huge funkin fermentin' factory (and neither do most people) so one challenge I have is for you to make this something people can do in a small area.

(Love it that the stuff is filterable! COOL!)

Zarnon, you have inspired me to try new things and I am here for you brother, any help I can offer - you got it.

That flower mix is doing great, but I am actually working on simplifying it. I have no 'basemix' any more, my worms do my composting for me. Once I finish a 'go round' and run out of new soil, I should have my teas and soil amendments dialed, and will be running off of 100% recycled soil and homemade casings. I think I can do it all with teas now, and just a few minor soil amendments. I may start adding some coir too. A teamaker can be as simple as a gallon jug with airstone, and can be made quite potent and diluted before use, so space need not be a problem.

 

[Elephant Man]

No kidding, Much props E-Mang.

Thanks Turkey! Posted in your thread about your ladies, hoping for the best brother.

 

[Elephant Man]

Such smiling faces, posing for pics.:farm:

 

[caabca]

hey e-man, i was thinking...you said you watered when you felt the plants were getting light..because you found they put on the most growth in the last two days before watering...for a first time grower would you recommend growing on a mail scale? that way you could monitor the weight day to day...

ps this just occured to me...i hope you didn't mean light as in colour...

 

[Elephant Man]

hey e-man, i was thinking...you said you watered when you felt the plants were getting light..because you found they put on the most growth in the last two days before watering...for a first time grower would you recommend growing on a mail scale? that way you could monitor the weight day to day...

ps this just occured to me...i hope you didn't mean light as in colour...

Thanks for dropping by . You are exactly right about my method...go by the weight of the pot. I'd imagine a postal scale would work great. Once you try this method though, it really is obvious when your plants are on their 'dry cycle'...pot weight will probably be less than half their saturated weight.

 

[Zarnon]

Dude!!

If you invented a cost effective home fert system that beat the commercial ones, I would not only enthusiastically endorse it, but also suggest you could make a home 'fermenter's' kit which had instructions to create your own bioactive compounds! Make you the old 'green energy' (and if the results are good totally justified IMHO).

You could have instructions for soil, soilless and hydro mixes.

Think of it dude. I do not know of anyone who is exploring a 'home grown' method for the masses.

I still think those Dutch Dudes have a lot on us in R/D, but I would DEF root for the American small bidnessman, ya know? Esp you bro!

I have little room for a fermenter, plus I have been successful at keeping a completely sterile room. Think of the need of the average apt. dweller or homeowner who wants to keep it on the dl. That is yr challenge LOL!

I can get a lot of 'component' parts including beneficial bact like B. Subtilius in a culture. However, I know no one who is making a 'home grow' that another could duplicate.

 

[Elephant Man]

Dude!!

If you invented a cost effective home fert system that beat the commercial ones, I would not only enthusiastically endorse it, but also suggest you could make a home 'fermenter's' kit which had instructions to create your own bioactive compounds! Make you the old 'green energy' (and if the results are good totally justified IMHO).

You could have instructions for soil, soilless and hydro mixes.

Think of it dude. I do not know of anyone who is exploring a 'home grown' method for the masses.

I still think those Dutch Dudes have a lot on us in R/D, but I would DEF root for the American small bidnessman, ya know? Esp you bro!

I have little room for a fermenter, plus I have been successful at keeping a completely sterile room. Think of the need of the average apt. dweller or homeowner who wants to keep it on the dl. That is yr challenge LOL!

I can get a lot of 'component' parts including beneficial bact like B. Subtilius in a culture. However, I know no one who is making a 'home grow' that another could duplicate.

Great idea...you can buy a 'home fermenter' kit though, just like you can pay way too much for a hydro kit if you want LOL.

That's ok...rather post it here so new (and old) peeps can try it out.

Still working on my veg mix, but flower does great...teas are solid too.

But...if you wanna experiment along with me, it goes a little something like this:

2 part Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil
1 part Fox Farm Light Warrior soil
1 part perlite (big perlite if you can get it)
1 part topsoil (nice chunky woody)
1/2 part manure (steer, rabbit, horse etc. composted)
1 part earthworm casings
Mix well

For every gallon of this add:

1 tsp Fox Farm Peace of mind All Purpose fertilizer 5-5-5 (with mycorrhizae)
3 tsp dolomitic or prilled lime
1/4 tsp Azomite, or Rock phosphate or 1 tsp epsom plus
1 tsp kelp meal
1 tsp alfalfa (best) or cottonseed meal

Done dealio...could probably sub out any of it. If you can, pre mix this and give it a light water and mix it everyday for 2 weeks...just keeping it barely wet...aerated.

For the teas, I use several and on nearly every watering. Bubbled with stone for 24 - 48 hours. It will start to foam and smell a little better (than the fish ferts).

Seedlings weekly, and fresh rooted clones:

2 gallons RO water (or filtered)
2 tsp Fox Farm Peice of Mind All Purpose 5-5-5
1/2 tsp blackstrap unsulphured molasses
1/2 tsp Alaskan Fish Ferts
1/8 tsp Down To Earth Kelp Meal, or 1 tsp maxicrop (seaweed extract) or 1 tsp Liquid Karma

Vegetative tea (6" and up)

5 gallons RO water (or filtered)
1/3 cup peruvian seabird guano
1/3 earthworm casings
1/3 high N bat guano
1/3 cup blackstrap unsulphured molasses

Flower tea (first half of flower)

3 gallons of RO water (or filtered)
2 tsp blackstrap unsulphured molasses
2 tsp Fox Farm Peace of Mind Fruit and Flower 5-8-4 (or all purp. 5-5-5)
1/2 cup earthworm casings
2 tsp seaweed or kelp extract or Liquid Karma or 1/4 tsp kelp meal
2 tsp Fox Farm High P bat guano
3 tsp Alakan Fish Ferts
2 tsp Fox Farm Big Bloom

You can work on getting this stuff together, or we can sub some stuff out...could surely use coir too.

Got a few mixes for topdressings, a few other amendments that work great too...if you wanna hunt down more stuff...we will use foliars for fixes.

I will post up my flower transplant recipe in a bit.

 

[HGB]

wow great info bro

got a few goodies now and a worm bin well started and a note pad full of notes :ccc:

plants look great E-man

grow on

 

[Elephant Man]

wow great info bro

got a few goodies now and a worm bin well started and a note pad full of notes :ccc:

plants look great E-man

grow on

You are the man HGB, I owe it all to you for showing me the way! :aok:

Gonna get back to the recipes real soon, went shopping today and got a little work to do in grow. Wanted to post some pics of the kind of stuff I use. Got a HUGE discount from hydro guy on some soilless mix, so we can all look forward to trying that out. Got some free 4' pots (about 50) at my local nursery, so surely gonna be messin' around with a 'micro SOG' too LOL. I am a pretty freindly guy I guess, better to find stuff on my own rather than order it. Always have great conversations and guys wanna gimme stuff free to try...coolio.

The 'bumper crop', humus, chicken manure, and steer manure I get at my local nursery...$5 a bag.

The 'bumper crop' is the bomb...really woody...I use it as my 'topsoil' in mix above. But, it also contains chicken manure, guano, kelp, casings, humas, and oyster shell and lime as buffers. :aok: $6 a bag!

 

[Elephant Man]

Couple more pics...

 

[Elephant Man]

Ok...gonna try to post a little more on the 'DIY basic soilweb build'.

Water:

As with any new grow, have your water tested. You can try calling your local water district or even your local hydro shop, they probably know. If it is over 300 ppm, use filtered or a filtration system. Ph is a little easier to deal with, as long as it is consistent. For this same reason, I wouldn't recommend well water either. I use RO home filtered, 6.8 >10 ppm. If you decide to use tap, make sure at the least you leave it out for some chlorine to evaporate and pickup a cheapo Brita filter. If your ph is high, invest in some apple cider vinegar. We can adjust your buffers in your soil too.

Transplants:

I like to transplant often, like once a week. 4" to 6" to 1 gallon to 3 gallon works awesome. IMO centers a much higher root mass. When doing so, I sometimes mix my soil a little weaker in the small containers and stronger towards flower.

Amendments:

You must get FF POM, or a similar all purpose fert with mycorrhizae innoculant. Try and get close as possible to 5-5-4. If you can't get guano, you can use blood and bone meals, available just about anywhere. You can sub out just about any manure too, but any kind other than rabbit must be composted first. Chicken manure is great too, but use 75% less. The casings, kelp, and molasses are a must.

Layers:

I like to mix in layers, long term hotter nutes down low. Lime and POM globally, micronized stuff up top. As far as top dressings, just about anything goes except for blood and bone meal. I will post a few examples of top mixes here in a bit.

Foliars:

I have many...cal/mg for fixes...FF Big bloom for boost...use teas sometimes...could apply epsom, seaweed, liquid karma, bloom stimulator, lots of different things. I even have a fish/seaweed enzymatic emulsion foliar that works excellent and smells great too LOL. Pretty much all foliars are 1/4 tsp per gallon...does not take much.

Ok...that pretty much covers the basics except for your final transplant (flower) mix that is very similar to the one I posted a few pages back. I am going to look at it and simplify it as much as possible and post it up for you real soon.

P.S. My mind runs like a billion miles a minute and believe it or not I have changed my current mix again last night. Gonna give a few clones a test run and post it up later...so as not to confuse anyone.

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Man everytime i come in here my jaw drops. I'm like *** is he doing this time around. Dude you amaze me at the amount of stuff you are into. Like always everything is looking great my friend. :aok:

 

[Elephant Man]

Thanks TBG! I wish I could actually post up pics and info of every experiment in the lab, but unfortunately sometimes I have to stop posting to attend to grow. I have nearly 10 different soilmixes I am messing with now, and 5 strains going...still dabblin' in hydro too. Seedlings, mothers and very soon revegs also. Maybe even some breeding.

Ok, back to our soil prep...

Ph

Ph is most often overlooked by new growers, possibly just because they don't understand it. Basically, in as simple terms as possible, your ph affects nutrient availability.

My teas are ph adjusted, mostly by my beasties. Believe it or not, once my soil is balanced, I never check ph. Part of this stems from my ability to 'read the leaves' or identify plant status visually though, so don't put away the tester yet. You will need it when building your soil. This mix above will surely work with 'good water' and no testing, but better to get your ph tester now and learn how to use it than later if problems show.

When you mix your soil and allow it to 'compost' or 'balance out' for 2 weeks, you are going to want to check your soil ph. Organic amendments will always be on the acidic side. To some extent, our beasties are going to help alot but a 'stable' mix will get things booming. Ph can be lowered with nearly any organic amendment. Peat, topsoil, e casings will all lower ph. Dolomitic lime is a great long term 'ph upper' and in our mix is also an essential source of Ca, and Mg. Oyster shell lime is great to have too for quick top dressing ph fixes, it is usually micronized and more quickly available.

To test your new 'homemade' soil mix, mix your containers normally and saturate them well. Allow them to sit and dry out pretty well, not completely, but pretty dry (as if there was a plant in it). After you have allowed the containers to 'dry cycle' several times (2 weeks) check your ph. Also a good time to check the water retention of your soil during this process, if it seems a little compacted, add more perlite...but I wouldn't go over 30%.

 

[Elephant Man]

Abit about microbial farming...

Just so eveyone is on the same page..microbial farming is what we are doing. There is more on this a few pages back in this journal, or tons on the net. Search for it at google or pm me if you want to read more.

But for now, in a nutshell...we are in essence no longer 'growing a plant'. We are attempting to recreate an 'extremely fertile' outdoor condition indoors. We are growing microbes...benefecial micro organisms or 'beasties' as I (and my mentor) like to call them. They will grow the plant. They consist of nematodes, bacteria, and fungi, all forming a symbiosis with the plant. In fact billions of beasties completely surround the roots, encasing them and protecting them. They will control intake, protect from drought, control ph, fend off pests and pathogens, break down insoluables, and much more. You must protect their lives and care for them, just as they are doing for the plant. The most important way to do this, is by making sure you absolutely never introduce anything synthetic. If you are not sure...ask me...I can find out. It would be a terrible waste to set this all up and ruin it all as simply as adding one drop of something inorganic like 'superthrive' or 'miracle grow'.

I'm gonna try to not get too in depth on our particular microbes we use and why...but diversity is paramount. FF POM ferts and guano and soilmixes like light warrior and bumper crop are pre-innoculated, I use as many sources as possible, but even one will get you going. I use many other innoculants too. I even grow my own, if you would like to use a seperate innoculant, I would recommend GH Subculture (not cheap) or Biozome. Both have the largest concentration and diversity of any product I have used. Basically, we are only going to sprinkle 1/4 tsps on roots during transplants, so a little goes a long way.

You can find Biozome here:

http://www.groworganic.com/item_ISO300_Biozome2LbSize.html

along with many of the other items I use. Just about any hydro shop that carries GH products will have subculture. Like I said, you really don't need this stuff, but it will help tremendously. Once you get the feel for how this works...I highly recommend you experiment on your own...I will show you why.

One other thing I noticed is pretty much everyone has easy availability to lots of organic plant food sources...rabbit food is an excellent example of alfalfa meal, and if you ever wondered why I am such a big fan of alfalfa...just look at what it contains...

Triacontanol (growth stimulant)
Vitamin A (high concentration)
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Pantothenic Acid
Niacin
Pyridoxine
Choline
Bentaine
Folic Acid
co-enzymes
Crude proteins (16 - 25% in dry alfalfa)

Amino acids (% in alfalfa meal).
Tryptophan, 0.3 %
Aspartic Acid, 2.3%
Threonine, 1.0 %
Serine, 1.0%
Glutamic Acid, 2.7%
Proline, 1.2%
Glycine, 1.1%
Alanine, 1.1%
Cystine, 0.2%
Valine, 1.0%
Methionine, 0.3%
Isoleucine, 0.8%
Leucine, 1.6%
Tyrosine, 0.5%
Phenylalanine, 1.0%
Histidine, 0.4%
Lysine, Total, 1.1%
Arginine, 1.1%

Minerals (contained in dry alfalfa)
Nitrogen 3.75-5.5 %
Potassium .75 - 3.5 %
Phosphorus .3 - .7%
Calcium 1 - 2 %
Magnesium .30 - 1 %
Sulphur .2 - .5 %
Manganese 30-200 ppm
Iron 20-250 ppm
Boron 20-80 ppm
Copper 5-20 ppm
Zinc 20-70 ppm

No wonder Cannabunny likes it so much.

Just an example of how all these ingrediants have been carefully selected and work in combination with each other. And how easy it can be to get them.

 

[Zarnon]

Oye....

Mah haid done has the hurtin' thing goin' again!

I'll have to recheck this out more than 10 minutes before I have to leave for work LOL...

Interesting, complex. I'd still have to find a place to put it....but very good. I'll be lookin' for the hydro mix mon.

 

[Droster]

Damn E-man your getting good at this whole growing thing lol. Good work and Nice set up.

 

[Elephant Man]

Thanks guys...it takes alot of work to post this stuff up for peeps. I can throw a soilmix together in alot less time than it takes me to write it down...much less post it. Good to know it is appreciated.

Been reading alot of posts lately and decided to put this here for new growers:

Putting her in flower does not mean strip her and kick her out of the house. Do not cut off N or switch immediately to flower nutes. Feed her N for first couple of weeks and blend in your bloom ferts as she stops stretching. Raise your light all the way up for the first day or 2 in transition. Happy plants make happy growers, which means no stress.

 

[Elephant Man]

Oye....

Mah haid done has the hurtin' thing goin' again!

I'll have to recheck this out more than 10 minutes before I have to leave for work LOL...

Interesting, complex. I'd still have to find a place to put it....but very good. I'll be lookin' for the hydro mix mon.

Ok...hydro mix...thas gonna be me and you bro'...I have yet to find a 'recipe' on the net for this, other than 'biobizz' or that new Canna you got. But it can be done bro, we will try it together, I have my bubblers ready and prolly' enough soluable stuff here.

Get this:

Blackstrap Unsulfured Molasses (so far making it fine through my pump.)
Fertell 3 Foliar plant food 2-1-1 (veg, filtered and enzymatic, and smells great!)
Squanto's Secret 2-4-2 enzymatic fish emulsion (bloom)
Peaceful Valley MicroPhos 0-2-0 (micronized and soluable)
Micronized rock phosphate or azomite (micros and traces) or use your 'mineral matrix'
Botaniare Liquid Karma (insane catalyst only use on the kids) and Maxicrop liquid seaweed (dry soluable is mega potent and last forever)
Worm tea...there are a few brands on the market...I make my own.
Apple cider vinegar
Fox Farm Big Bloom

There are a few other things that would be nice to have, or can be substituted,

Some I have:

Biobizz Fish Mix 2.1-0.2-6.6
Botanicare Hydrogaurd
Fulvic or Humic acid
Botanicare Pure Blend Original compost tea...Not Pure Blend Pro
Greenfuse Bloom stimulator
Biozome or GH Subculture
Filtered guano tea...I have seen a few products out there...I will probably make my own out of micronized.

Or...you could make a 'teabag' and put whatever you wanted in it...but I know you will probably want to have more control...so get as much of this stuff as you can eh? I have alot of micronized stuff that has shown to work great with our misters. That stuff is really cheap and concentrated so it lasts forever. Can even get dry soluable molasses too if you look around.

At one point I had clones going pretty darn well it my aerocloner (misters), too bad they were so close together , so I know it can be done.

 

[Elephant Man]

Lacto Bailli

One of the major workhorse beneficial indigenous microorganism used in natural farming is lacto bacilli. This particular beneficial microorganism is popularly used in composting that specifically arrest foul odors associated with anaerobic decomposition. Lactic acid bacteria thrive and feed on the ammonia released in the decomposition normally associated with foul odors. So if you need to decompose or ferment wastes less foul odors, lactic acid bacteria is the specific bacteria to use. Its application in organic farming is enormous. In aquaculture, one of the problem is related to water quality. Poor water quality stresses the fish which in turn stunts their growth and affects their health. This is very evident specially on high density and tank aquaculture. The ammonia produced through fish excretions pollute the water and stress the fish. With regular addition of this beneficial microorganisms to the water, this ammonia problem is minimized, if not fully arrested. It helps hasten or complete the denitrification or converting wastes into forms not harmful to fish.

Spraying diluted solution of lactic acid bacteria serum to the plant and soil helps plant growth and makes them more healthy. As it is applied to the soil or the leaves, these beneficial bacteria aid in the decomposition process, thus allowing more food to be available and assimilated by the plant.

Lactic acid bacteria is also known to produce enzymes and natural antibiotics aiding effective digestion and has antibacterial properties, including control of salmonella and e. coli. To farmers, what are observed are the general health of the plants and animals, better nutrient assimilation, feed conversion and certain toxins eliminations.

Here’s a simple method of collecting this type of microorganism. Lactic acid bacteria can be collected from the air. Pour rice wash (solution generated when you wash the rice with water) on a container like plastic pot with lid. Allow air gap at least 50-75% of the container. The key here is the air space. Cover the (not vacuum tight, allowing air still to move into the container) container with lid loosely. Put the container in a quiet area with no direct sunlight. Allow the rice was to ferment for at least 5-7 days. Lactic acid bacteria will gather in 5-7 days when temperature is 20-25 degrees C. Rice bran will be separated and float in the liquid, like a thin film, smelling sour. Strain and simply get the liquid. Put this liquid in a bigger container and pour ten parts milk. The original liquid has been infected with different type of microbes including lacto bacilli. And in order to get the pure lacto bacilli, saturation of milk will eliminate the other microorganisms and the pure lacto bacilli will be left. You may use skim or powdered milk, although fresh milk is best. In 5-7 days, carbohydrate, protein and fat will float leaving yellow liquid (serum), which contain the lactic acid bacteria. You can dispose the coagulated carbohydrate, protein and fat, add them to your compost pile or feed them to your animals. The pure lactic acid bacteria serum can be stored in the refrigerator or simply add equal amount of crude sugar (dilute with 1/3 water) or molasses. Do not use refined sugar as they are chemically bleached and may affect the lactic acid bacteria. The sugar or molasses will keep the lactic acid bacteria alive at room temperature. One to one ratio is suggested although sugar, regardless of quantity is meant simply, serving as food for the bacteria to keep them alive. Now, these lactic acid bacteria serum with sugar or molasses will be your pure culture. To use, you can dilute this pure culture with 20 parts water. Make sure water is not chemically treated with, like chlorine. Remember, we are dealing with live microorganisms and chlorine can kill them. This diluted form 1:20 ratio will be your basic lactic acid bacteria concoction. Two to four tablespoons added to water of one gallon can be used as your basic spray and can be added to water and feeds of animals. For bigger animals, the 2-4 tablespoons of this diluted lactic acid bacteria serum should be used without diluting it further with water. Lactic acid bacteria serum can be applied to plant leaves to fortify phyllosphere microbes, to soil and compost. Of course, it will help improve digestion and nutrient assimilation for animals and other applications mentioned before. For any kind of imbalance, be it in the soil or digestive system, lacto bacilli can be of help.

One of the popular beneficial microorganism innoculant sfrom Japan (EM) contains lactic acid bacteria as its major component, including photosynthetic bacteria, yeasts, actinomycetes and fermenting fungi. These are pure culture imported from Japan and can be subcultured through the use of sugar or molasses. These other microbes can be cultured in several ways by farmers themselves.