Gorilla Girl, San Fernando Lemon Kush & Crystal Candy - No-Till Grow - 6th Sweet Seeds Grow Diary Competition

[Openairbud]

Very cool start to your diary mate, no till is on the horizon for me for sure so I will be absorbing all I can from this one! I think I need more space to be able to accommodate indoor so it will have to wait.. doesnt stop one preparing though! 

All the best of luck with your grow and the competition 

[golf.007]

Great start mate and pictures looks fantastic, good luck man

[InTheSystem]

@Openairbud - Thank you for compliments on the diary, much appreciated! I am glad to hear you are considering 'No-Till' as a future option and I hope that you will find this diary useful in that case. You don't need heaps of space at all, but you do need at least a 57 litre Smart Pot for 'No-Till' to work and perform well to be honest. The bigger the container, the better really - I am able to get a 177 litre in a 90 cm x 90 cm still for example though with the base of the pot measuring around 69 cm. 

@golf.007 - Thank you for the kind words and positive vibes mate. This will be a fun diary and competition to take part in with the growers and strains involved  

 

 

[delagdo]

Superb introduction. This is a really interesting type of growing that I have very minimal knowledge of - thank you for such a detailed write-up of what goes in. Your presentation is really clear and helps with understanding what you're doing. You have some fantastic pictures, especially your wiggly friend. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out and I hope you like it. I've grown the Crystal Candy Auto version before, mine has a distinctive strawberry/melon flavor which I rated. Gorilla Girl and San Fernando Lemon Kush both sound like great choices too. Best of luck with it!

[InTheSystem]

1 hour ago, delagdo said:

Superb introduction. This is a really interesting type of growing that I have very minimal knowledge of - thank you for such a detailed write-up of what goes in. Your presentation is really clear and helps with understanding what you're doing. You have some fantastic pictures, especially your wiggly friend. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out and I hope you like it. I've grown the Crystal Candy Auto version before, mine has a distinctive strawberry/melon flavor which I rated. Gorilla Girl and San Fernando Lemon Kush both sound like great choices too. Best of luck with it!

Thanks very much for the kind words mate, it will motivate me to keep the level of detail high! Yes that worm and all his wriggly homies are just working the soil 24/7 turning that organic bio mass into mineral rich organic matter.. It's a beautiful thing! That is awesome to read of your positive experience with the Crystal Candy Auto version - the flavours sound fantastic to me! The Gorilla Girl I will be able to critic actually as I have grown Gorilla Glue #4 and a hybrid of it with Kush Breath in the past - San Fernando Valley is notorious for Kush hybrids and phenotype's - so I was keen to give it a go! I am sure they will smash it!  

 

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by InTheSystem

[Inspiration101]

Hi and great start off.  I too have a keen interest in no till, pulling up a seat for this one

 

I have done SFLK, GG, and CC historically- All three were banging and on my todo list again.

 

SFLK was super racy and high as a kite.

GG is curing in a bag from last grow, plus am smoking it solid this past two weeks, a definite winner.

CC I have done twice already as it was so enjoyable.

 

Such a great selection!  All three will stretch considerably during flip.  Will you top them or bend ?

 

Best of luck!

 

Insp.

 

[AustrianToker]

Can only agree with @Inspiration101 .  You picked some winning strains from the SS catalogue - all three very potent and tasty. 

 

This no-till method is fascinating and perhaps something i ought to be doing.  But sadly, some of my grows are not entirely pest free (gnats, mites, etc... ) and prefer the exchanging of compost instead of re-using.  There are some benefits, my friends veggie patch gets a load of high quality compost every year.  

How do you deal with pests as common as gnats or mites when re-using your compost?  

Nice grow, keep it up!

 

[InTheSystem]

@Inspiration101 - Thank you for the kind words and interest in 'no-till'. I am loving the response to 'no-till' in this thread and it's really motivating me to geek out and keep up these detailed updates! I hope you guys are ready for some serious waffling on plant biology, soil, microbes and everything else that falls in between! That is great news about the strain selections and getting me more excited about this grow!! Thank you for the heads up on stretching, much appreciated! I will do a standard topping once young and the rest will be low stress training with the aid of a SCROG net.

 

@AustrianTokker - Thanks for checking in and the good vibes! I do not need to add any new compost as I have hundreds of worms constantly turning the biomass (mulch) into mineral rich humus. Hot composting outside and amending the soil will not match it.. Get all that compost into a big Smart Pot as a worm bin and fill it with as much barley as possible, kelp and neem - it will create the most nutrient dense humus you could get your hands on and cold composted in 2 months if your worm population is high.. It's basically what I did to create my worm castings/humus for my soil mix

 

 

 Pest control is a topic I will cover in detail once the diary gets going more 100%. The crux of it is I use a few techniques to control them as relying on a single technique only will not get rid of the problem, it will just reduce it. One of the first techniques I use is a weekly foliar spray which is made from emulsified neem oil in silica and Aloe Vera. One of the many active compounds in neem is triterpenoids - which give it it's pesticide traits. I do want to get some tonics/tinctures made to compliment this weekly foliar. I have been looking into pre-made ones to be honest, as I find it hard keeping up with tinctures and growing the diversity needed for them (Bocking 14 Comfrey, Nettles, Aloe Vera etc). Maybe I will treat myself to a pack this month from organic tinctures or Mountain Organics - would be a great diary to try them out on!


The actual living soil is another pest control barrier in itself, you may notice that I include Neem Cake in my soil mix which aids in this and also the fact that the mulch layer is constantly enhancing enzymatic activity and microbial biomass which in turn will decrease pest susceptibility. Finally, I introduce a variety of predator bugs in my gardens - my soil plays host to a couple of mites that will sort out the usual suspects like you are mentioning. The mites I use are Hypoaspis Miles (Stratiolaelaps Scimitus) which will make short work of Fungus Gnats, even a tube of 10000 will sort infestations quickly; living soil you always want moist it should never dry out, so it does make the ideal habitat for Fungus Gnats... I have not seen any in my main tents for some time but I do see the odd one or two pop up in my veg tent - until they get eaten! For Thrips I use Typhlodromips swirskii mites which come in packs you just hang on the plant branches. Not seen any Thrips with these guys around and I did have them before when I was growing in poor media (Biobizz soil). 

[badbillybob]

Great start and interesting choice of strains. 

I hope they do well for you. 

Im also interested in reading and learning about your living soil technique, it sounds quite complicated, balancing all the elements in there and keeping the pests under control. 

 

Good luck with it.

[InTheSystem]

29 minutes ago, badbillybob said:

Great start and interesting choice of strains. 

I hope they do well for you. 

Im also interested in reading and learning about your living soil technique, it sounds quite complicated, balancing all the elements in there and keeping the pests under control. 

 

Good luck with it.

Cheers mate - I hear you but it's not too complicated really after some initial steps.. The work is the first cycle starting from an empty pot. After 2 or 3 cycles it is just tap water start to finish and a foliar spray once a week if desired. The eco-system will take care of itself with pests - once established. I don't see any pests in my gardens now compare to before in soil & coco anyway  

[InTheSystem]

14/01/2020 – Day 1 From Seed
First proper update and the Sweet Seeds are all above ground today! The seedlings have been sprouted under a 48 watt T5 fixture on a 24 hour light cycle. I will move them under LED and switch them to 18/6 imminently as the dark cycle is required for proper occurrence of the krebs/citric acid cycle, aka sleep!  - Another old habit starting seeds 24/7 on this light, no real reason why to be honest!

 

As mentioned in the original post, the media in these 2 litre pots has been going a good couple of months and had males culled from them – so packed with decomposing roots which are like nutrient time bombs! Leguminous cover crop of clovers are replenishing the soil with nitrogen and I did actually add a sprinkle top dress of rock dust in the form of basalt: rock dust is literally one of the main sources of nutrition on this planet and a key component to 'super soil'. Here are the young chicas anyway (if you can spot them, bit like Where's Wally initially ha):

 

 

In preparation for the main beds, you will notice I also have been sowing aromatic herbs into cell pots and biodegradable pots which are terpene rich and aid in pest prevention. The seeds sowed in the above overview pic are:

 

- Dill: attracts beneficial bugs, repels spider mites and aphids.
- Greek Basil: deterrent to aphids, white flies, caterpillars etc.     
- Coriander: can aid to repel aphids and spider mite. (these were sowed a week or so prior to the Dill and Basil).

 

 

Many medicinal/culinary herbs make excellent companion plants and also are delicious for use in the kitchen! I do want to add further diversity in the pots so will sow other types of plants in the main bed directly which I will cover when the times comes very soon. Companion planting a variety of species will give benefits such as:

 

- Rhizobacteria exchange and increase in soil microbe population and biodiversity. 
- More roots = more aeration.
- Source of biomass (mulch) increasing mineral rich humus.

 

 

My environment is 55-65% room humidity and temperature is at 19-23c, roots have the heat mat/tray below them as it was getting a bit too warm with the heat blanket under.. It would be nice to have the air temperature a bit warmer (26/27c) for ideal VPD, but everything seems happy enough for now and it keeps the cost down not having to run a heater. Here are each of the cultivars in clearer view anyway:

 

 

 

 

 

I have started the process of building the soil also for my 177 litre Smart Pot by getting the Biochar biocharged/inoculated. I use a ‘rapid charge’ technique which is using a compost tea made from worm castings and I like to add a spoon of Mammoth P to get the microbes kick started in the char (OMRI). This will bubble for 48 hours and be ready to mix in with the rest of the base soil mix. Worthy of its own section and ‘photo card’ as if the Biochar is not charged, it will actually pull from the soil like a sponge instead of supply endless nutrition pretty much:


 

I will update again when I build the Smart Pot and sow the cover crop in a couple of days or so… Exciting times ahead!

Cheers 

[Nervous]

Beauuuuuutiful! 

Good man. 

[Amo]

Now that’s a sweet update...

Really liking the detail in the info dude...

Cool to know what each does, to help the grow...

Pics look great, plants look like they would look in the wild I guess...

Good luck mate...

[InTheSystem]

@Nervous - Thanks bro! Always nerve racking popping seeds as the opener to a diary, particularly a big competition diary.. I will be honest and say I usually start a diary after the seeds are above ground to avoid looking like a prat... But I want to show the diary in it's entirety. Nice one to Sweet Seeds for 100% germination rate is all I can say, dignity is intact thus far!  


@Amo - Glad you are enjoying the information written mate... I know some people will think this kind of growing is completely nuts, so do want to explain what and why I am doing things - for instance it's a common misconception that people think companion planting is a bad idea because other plants in the container will compete for nutrients, but it really is not the case - they are helping each other out essentially! Look at the diversity in some of the most flourishing gardens or forests and it's quite evident to see that exchange happening. This is why 'no-till' rocks in that we are trying to recreate the wild and forest floor as opposed to an artificial practice driven by a profitable industry (nutrients, soil etc). Some of the outdoor plants we did last year in a similar soil mix and approach were off the hook in yield and taste compared to some good indoor grows and bud in the associations. I am seeing a similar growth rate to hydroponics in some cases indoors at the moment... This is with tap water, no nutrients, no EC, no PH readings - just the odd kelp/neem tea once every two weeks and some barley ground and top dressed... Oh and a bit of coconut water for cytokinins. No need for any trips to the grow shop or orders online. I just have to order 4kg of kelp off Indoor Organics once a year and barley grains for a brewery store which is about a tenner for a years worth  



 

[Nervous]

@InTheSystem How familiar are you with Korean Natural Farming? Couple of things I would add to compost tea - FPJ (fermented plant juice) and if you can source them IMOs (indigenous microorganisms). Also, FPJ has saved my life on occasion, on the very few times I've suffered deficiencies in no till, rather than using top dress which takes ages to become available or having a to brew a tea I can just reach for a bottle of stored FPJ! 

I agree on companion plants! It's just that when you get a thick canopy they won't do quite as well as they did when they had a share of the light in veg. I'm thinking I might mainline and lollipop in order to create a place to hang my propagation lights under the canopy to keep them going through flower.