http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmvQiEbVW7Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YWGGzUGZFMThis is my first time to start from clones (instead of from Texas seed, and Texas seed clones), as well as my first time to start with genetics that didn't come from a bag of smoke. And my first time to have money to spend on a grow. Not much, but money.
Strains:
Blue Dream, Ice, Golden Goat, Sour D X OG Kush, Sasquatch, Thai Lights.
Got some Fox Farm "Grow Big".
I'll be using it on most of my plants, the others (maybe after this grow, maybe a few in this grow) will get RCs and I hope to find one that will work better than Fox Farm I might do a few mixed plants also.
I got some "Grow Big" from amazon, and I can't believe what's in it. Not saying it's bad for the plant, just can't believe that they are getting away with selling us more than 80% water. And 8 EASILY found minerals (basically all of them are just metals, in minute amounts).
I have decided that next grow, I'm making my own fucking nutrient blend. I thought there was something special here.
I am still going to buy the other two Fox Farm nutes and use them, then next grow I will compare results between Fox Farm and home blends.
So far here is the list of what will go into my home made nutrients. I checked and all of them are usable by plants.
Potassium Nitrate
Boron Nitrite
Calcium Phosphate
Magnesium Powder
Now I just have to look up minerals (Iron, Copper, etc) and wait till I get flower nutes to see what the difference is, then order those and I can make my own powder Fox Farm (basically). Plus I will add Research chems to a few plants nutes to see what happens.
Here is the rest of the materials for my "Grow Big" knock off:
Ammonium Phosphate
Magnesium Phosphate
Zinc Oxide
Iron Chelate
and
Copper Chelate
I also found a source for bulk chelated metal powder once I can afford it:
Copper
Iron
Zinc
Boron
Manganese
Magnesium
Why do people not tell people about Nematodes ALL the time?
$20 on amazon, you get 7 million+ and they eat most bad bugs, including flies and fleas. So it's not just good for the garden, good for the house and your pets in general.
@EVERYONE
Get some, and put them in your dirt, I am.
You know earthworms are good right? These are like Micro-worms. Please go forth to the plant problems sections and share this knowledge.
I was just looking some other stuff up on amazon and I found Earthworms and Lady bugs.
$6 for lady bugs, $20 for Earth worms.
Get both, and put the lady bug feeding dish under one of your plants. Then let all the ladybugs go outside (like throw them away basically, unless you can make a cage for them) except like 5 or 6, then put them near the feeding tray.
Separate the earthworms between buckets and moisten the soil so they can dig in, maybe loosen it up before you put them in.
And if you get the nematodes I'm guessing they will keep the lady bud population in check, so that you don't get a house full. But the lady bugs will keep mites and stuff away from your plants while the Earthworms recycle the soil.
I am still reading the book on Microbes, but I learned that Bacteria is the main thing needed. So I ordered some Petri dishes, some Agar, and 2 books on classification of bacteria. So I'll use the Microbe book I'm reading, plus the identification books to grow bacteria that is beneficial to the grow. Then I will let it loose in the grow in mass amounts (not too much, but more than most people would get naturally).
And I'll add Agar to my soil before I put it in the 5 gallon buckets.
Then Nematodes and Earth worms will be what I order after buckets and soil. Then I'm sure I'll learn more from this microbe book before I get any of this stuff, so I'll have more stuff to order.
And I found a few textbooks that will be extremely beneficial in this pursuit, so I will get them at some point. I need to get a better flower light first though.
Then sometime in the future I will start making my own nutes as well.
Good natural soil contains:
30-50% sand
30-50% silt
20-30% clay
5-10% organic matter
This is a test to find out how much of these you have in your soil:
Get the soil you want to test and put some in a quart jar (like a handful or two). Mix in 2 cups of water, and a table spoon of water softener. Wait for them to separate, then measure the layers with a ruler to see what percentage of each there is.
I just realized that my nutrient blend won't have an Ammonia content, so I decided that Ammonia Carbonate will be added to the list.
And it says it can be made by mixing Ammonia and CO2, so I am thinking of (safely) putting some dry ice into some ammonia and see if that works. It just says they have to make "contact".