Getting ready to start 3rd grow, have some questions

[bluecanoe]

I love it when things come together. I am almost ready to begin my third grow. I am changing the medium, size pots and type of pots. I'm using 2- 5 gallon fiber pots, I've never used them before. I'm using Kind Soil, never used it before, and am waiting on another led light to come in but as of today's mail, I'm ready with the exception of the light.

First question: What do you use under the pots? Is it better to have a small pallet or something of the sort for air circulation, rather than have them sit on the floor?

Second question: With Kind Soil, I know that you have to ph your water every time before you water, and you do not water to run off, but...the last two grows I saturated the soil completely and let them sit for a couple of days before I planted any seedlings. How do I get the grow medium completely saturated without watering to run off? Do I take it to the edge and stop? How do I know where the edge is? I just don't want to screw it up.

Third question: do any of you eenie meenie miney moe which seeds you germinate? I got 14 seeds and will only grow 2 plants at a time because of space constraints for now. All are autos, all will flower 60-70 days from seed, and all are different but treat the same symptoms. I'm just wondering which is best. Putting them in a hat and drawing two seeds out, or my fall back of eenie meenie.

Later after the seedlings start growing, I'm going to be needing info on manifolding or something. I want a bigger yield than I had last time. It was great right at 7 oz, beat the hell out of my first grow of 1/4 pz, so I want to double (at least) this yield, I'm going to run out before my next crop comes in and I want to prevent that, the next time, it's fun to just go stick my hand in the cookie jar and get what I want for that day.
I can't wait!

Upcoming grow:
2x300w led lights, 1 small led not sure of wattage,
1 60w cfl clamp on light
ceiling fan 24/7, small floor fan
space will increase some, but for now is approx 2.5x3x4.5'
Kind Soil
Compost/perlite
5 gal fiber pots
2 plants

[D.A.A.S.69]

HeyBlue, where you been ? With your KindSoil an when your seedling come up, just use a little water in a circle around your seedling, not much more than a cup, an just increase the water as your plant gets larger, just don't ever use enough to cause run-off, it ain't hard, after a while you'll want to use 8-10 cups, just go slow when you water them, so you can stop when you need to, ain't no way to mess up with KindSoil unless, you wash all the nutrients out the bottom of your pots. You know how to do it, just go slow ,with your watering untill you get used to it.
eeny, meeny, for your choice, I'm sure it will be a good one.Good luck BC, your gonna love KindSoil ,
Hows everyone doing around the house, good I hope.
PS- send Mr Kind some pictures of your buds, and he will send you some free KindSoil, he's a nice man.

[bluecanoe]

Thanks D.A.A.S.. I'll keep that in mind for the free soil!
So I'll just have to learn a different way to prep my medium for planting seedlings. I'll keep it in mind and only freak a time or two!
Over the past few months I've spent some $ here and some $ there to improve my ph meter, lights, and things. It's funny how it's all come together over the past week.
Should I get something to keep the fiber pots off the floor so they can have circulation, common sense tells me yes.
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm more confident now than I was 6 months ago, but still learning everyday. I am starting to see the fruits of my labors and know that it'll be here when I want it. And that my dream of a perpetual grow is within my grasp.
We are doing okay around here, I hope things are good for you, thanks for asking. It got really cold here, I guess hell froze over when Roy Moore lost the election, people further south are driving mad! And I felt so sorry for his horse, it has to be hard carrying someone who rides like a sack of potatoes as my friend from Oz put it! And now the new senator is all for legalization! GEEHAW!!

[alltatup]

bluecanoe, I didn't realize that you're down here in the dirty south with us!!!
Your setup sounds great; what are your seed choices? Are you drawn more towards one kind of effect than another?

[D.A.A.S.69]

Yep ,we got another Southerner, on GWE ,Alltatup. From the dirty South.an she's a trip too. She had a hard time on her first grow, but her last grow, she did great.

[bluecanoe]

I like couch lock, and I want to sleep like a log. I haven't slept in almost 40 years until this grow...and I don't know what the seeds were, they were freebie mystery seeds and unlike Seedsman, the company didn't give the name only Mystery. They were the only seeds that grew so I guess I am lucky!
All the seeds I ordered are for pain, anxiety, insomnia, and other things I can't remember. So they will all do basically the same thing I hope. I've just not had this many choices.
And yes, I'm in the south, born and raised.

[Potted]

To raise the pots off the ground I use plastic milk crates cut to the height I want.
Hope u feel better.

[oldjarhead100]

I lay all my seeds out and look at them I ask them who wants to grow and wait for the answer so far this has not worked they haven't talked to me,just sit there and look pretty lol just kidding , I pick by names what sounds the best,and I buy my seed from what others say about the strain .It is really good to see a post from you Blue

[Spanky]

Hi Bluec.
I am growing in fabric pots too. I put each one in a plastic dish pan. This makes it easier to lift the plant in and out of my space, especially once the plant gets big.
I bought some low profile white-coated wire baskets at the dollar store. I put these under my pots in the upside down position. This allows plenty of bottom circulation and keeps the plant out of the water if you decide to flush at some point. It is also easier to get whatever device you use, to withdraw the runoff water, into the pan if you don't want to take the plant out and just dump the water.

You might want to reread Nebula's auto tutorial. I don't think you will be wanting to manifold an auto, but there are good thoughts on low stress training.

If you haven't chosen your seeds yet, you might want to consider planting two with similar traits. You mentioned they all have a similar maturity range. But, have you considered height? If you plant one that is very tall and another that is not so much, you will be constantly trying to figure out how to adjust your lights.

Hope this helps!

[bluecanoe]

I'm not going to be flushing or watering to run off since I'm using Kind Soil. All of the seeds have about the same height listed, I like shorter plants but have room for about 4 feet, never got there though. I will have two lights so I can adjust one light per plant. It's not a big deal for me, I have a wooden board that I put across the shelves and raise it as I need to and then adjust the cables holding the lights to where I need them to be.
I saw a post here, a grower/tester for Seedsman and he manifolds autos, these last ones I let be, didn't top, pinch or train at all. I'll have to look up who the member is. Green something I want to say. I'll find it. And I'm not opposed to LSTing them. I just want the most from my grow.
Thanks for the input!

[Aloner]

It's Green75. You should check out his and LuckyAcres' YouTube channel. Inspirational!

Lucky 75's on YouTube

[bluecanoe]

yeah, that's it, thanks Aloner!

[oldjarhead100]

they sell these plastic plates with holes in them for putting plants on they keep the plant off the ground and have air holes in them

https://www.amazon.com/Gro-Pro-Level-Pot-Elevator/dp/B01J37FHF8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513592314&sr=8-1&keywords=grow+pot+elevators

[Locrian99]

Jeez they are proud of their plastic. 13$ for one I think I paid about 3 bucks for on at the grow shop.

[Paracelsus]

LuckyAcres is the guy, he pushes the envelope and experiments often sharing his experiences with well written documentation. I couldn't find the link for his journal when he did the manifold on Auto's but I remember he had to make adjustments to the basic technique with topping and flming

NebulaHaze also did a tutorial on her system of manifolding http://www.growweedeasy.com/manifold and she also explains why Auto's and Clones are less than desirable normally for Manifold training.

Most of the technique comes from @Nugbuckets and his original in depth with pictures can be found here. http://www.growweedeasy.com/mainlining-nugbuckets

[D.A.A.S.69]

It's not Lucky, it's Green75, like Aloner said.
Nebulas manifold works just as well
Blue.
If you don't have a healthy, fast growing plant,
I would think twice before starting a mainline on an auto.

[LuckyAcres]

Thanks man! There are two of us on Lucky75’s though and green75 is the mainliner wizard! I ramble about other things! 😜😅 we both have Instagram accounts too with more pics.
No topping on my grow this time around! My set up requirements are different than his and I wanted to see what happens when plants are left alone.

[Paracelsus]

My Mistake D.A.A.S.69, I got my Manifold confused with my Cam and Hemi because I ran nitrous oxide instead of CO2.

[bluecanoe]

I have another question. On the bag of Kind Soil it said that 5lbs of soil would be what I needed for a 5 gal pot. I got industrious yesterday and put the soil in my pots. They are 5 gal pots, I double checked. By the time all the soil from a 5lb bag was in the pot, there is about 8 inches maybe from the top of the pot. That's not how it shows in the pictures on the bags. What's going on? Is that too much Kind soil? Will it be too hot? I just followed the directions.I can always pull some out and save it for next time.
I have my seeds germinating, gotta check on them. I have the funk and feel like death sitting on the sidewalk eating a soda cracker. But I will check them to make sure they are wet, before I head back to bed. I just don't want to mess my grow up with too much kind soil.
Thanks!

[Aloner]

That sounds about how mine was, I made sure there was a layer of at least a couple inches of Roots Organic Original above that before transplanting from 1 gal pots (and filled in around the plant with more ROO). What are you using with the Kind Soil (I know Kind recommends ROO or FF Coco Loco)?

[oldjarhead100]

hey Aloner I use ff happy frog and am not happy with it hows that ROO work I'm a little Leary of FF after I got trips from the soil. still using it have one more bag of it lol

[Aloner]

I used it outdoors so bug-wise what I got could've come from anywhere. My New Year grow will be indoors so we'll see how that one goes. But I like it just fine so far.

[D.A.A.S.69]

7 cups equals 1lb.
If your using 5 gallon pots, put the whole bag of KindSoil in one 5 gallon pot.
It will go down as your plant grows, fill up the pot with a good soil-coco.
Hope you get feeling better.

[bluecanoe]

Thanks D.A.A.S. I take two steps forward and 3 steps back, but managed to get my grow medium together and into the pots and one seed that has popped into the wet medium. It takes right at 7 cups of water to get the medium moist to wet. I'm hoping the other seed pops in the next few days.
I noticed as I was adding water that it was dripping out the sides of the pot, it makes sense to me since they are fiber, I just let it drip into the catch pan, but have to get bigger pans so it can suck it up from the bottom and not have water running onto the floor..
My second LED light didn't come. Even though there was no mention of NOT delivering to a PO Box, seems that they didn't. So light will be reordered soon and sent to my sister, who actually gets mail delivery. But I won't need that light right away anyway.
So I'm ready to go, ready for grow #3. Just in time for the new year.

I hope everyone has a peaceful holiday season.


Current grow:

1-300w led, adding another soon
1 small led not sure wattage
1 60w cfl
2-5 gal fiber pots
Kind Soil
Compost/perlite
Water Ph 6.0-6.4
Seeds:
Sweet Soma/ auto-fem/00 Seeds
Sweet Berry Cough/unknown grower/auto-hopefully fem
Tent 2.5x3x4

[bluecanoe]

I have a sprout! 6 days after being put into the grow medium, I have a sprout. One seed hasn't popped completely so I put it in dirt and it's under light so hopefully it'll pop and sprout soon. I'm psyched! My third grow is underway.
It's been really cold here in the dirty south, but inside the tent is warm and toasty. May the grow gods be with me.

Current grow:

1-300w led, adding another soon
1 small led not sure wattage
1 60w cfl
2-5 gal fiber pots
Kind Soil
Compost/perlite
Water Ph 6.0-6.4
Seeds:
Sweet Soma/ auto-fem/00 Seeds
Sweet Berry Cough/unknown grower/auto-hopefully fem
Tent 2.5x3x4

[D.A.A.S.69]

That's good news Blue, I hope that one seed grows into a monster size plant.

[Paracelsus]

Blue Canoe, How do you do Your using Kind Soil and adding compost with perlite? Is that as the top layer on top of the Kind Soil? or have you used the compost to amend the Kind soil with the perlite?

[D.A.A.S.69]

Hey Paracelsus, I'm pretty sure Blue is going by the directions on the bag, an just putting the KindSoil on the bottom, that works fine, if you go by the directions it's hard to mess up.Just like outdoor growing, they turn yellow like they are supposed to,when their getting close to harvest .
Blue did good on her last grow. She's gonna do good this time too, as long as the humidity ain't too low, she's from Dixie an it's cold as hell down here.

[bluecanoe]

Paraceisus, I am following Mr. Kind's instructions.
Just like D.A.A.S. said, you layer the kind soil in the bottom of the pot and then fill the pot the rest of the way with whatever grow medium you are going to use. Last grow I had good luck with compost and perlite, although this time I slacked off on the amount of perlite I used. And I'm going to take D.A.A.S.'s advice and take pics of my grow and send them to Mr. Kind and get some free soil...free's always good.
I just ordered my second 300w led light, the last one was sent back because it didn't deliver to PO Boxes, even though it wasn't listed. But that's remedied and it's going to my sister's. So by the 10th I should have my light, even though I won't need it yet, better to have what I need when I need it, than need it and not have it.
And it's colder than a well digger's ass in Montana here but, it's warm in the tent and that's all that matters, and I have no problem with humidity, got plenty of that shit too.

Stay warm and be cool!! Happy New Year to all and to all a great grow!

[Paracelsus]

Ah Hah, I see Thanks @D.A.S.S.69 & bluecanoe and What I didn't understand was the Mr. Kind's instructions were to place another soil on top of the Kind Soil because it is so hot and might nute burn your seedlings. In my mind compost is hot and as rich. Other super spoils recommend Perlite at the bottom to assist drainage and airflow in the grow bag. I'm looking forward to your pictures.

[D.A.A.S.69]

KindSoil will burn up your seedlings no doubt, plus it's already got perlite in it.

[bluecanoe]

My last grow I used a mixture of 3:1 compost to perlite, but it seemed to shed the water too fast. And I mix my compost with the perlite, and don't layer them. With Kind Soil you don't water to runoff either, although some people say you do. I believe in following the directions of the manufacturer for best results. I use organic compost with worm castings and cow manure, I guess if it's not aged it's hot, but I don't make my own.

Current grow:

1-300w led, adding another soon
1 small led not sure wattage
1 60w cfl
2-5 gal fiber pots
Kind Soil
Compost/perlite
Water Ph 6.0-6.4
Seeds:
Sweet Soma/ auto-fem/00 Seeds
Sweet Berry Cough/unknown grower/auto-hopefully fem
Tent 2.5x3x4

[redbeard]

Hey canoe how are u. So not in kind soil but a homemade ss. My first time in the ss. So with that being said my advice would be to not be afraid to water. I started off being scared to run off and wasn't watering enough at once. I saw a post from green75 don't know how to find it but definitely saw an improvement when I watered to just runoff and let the pots soak it up. Anything left I suck up with a big long squirt gun. Got to make sure u water the bottom roots. Goina do subirrigated next round. Happy gardening

[bluecanoe]

Redbeard,
Several people, D.A.A.S and Old Jar Head have used Kind Soil successfully and they said not to water to run off, just ph water before watering. The directions on the bag said do not water to runoff, so I will water when the soil gets dry at least 2 knuckles deep, I have short fingers or I'd go just one knuckle. I've been told how to water, just slowly water until right before runoff and stop.
I'm not afraid of anything, just don't to negate my expensive soil by watering to runoff. I intend to get catch pans large enough to hold the 5 gal pots in case water seeps out of the sides of the pots, it can collect in the pan and be sucked up from the bottom.
I appreciate your input.

Current grow:

1-300w led, adding another soon
1 small led not sure wattage
1 60w cfl
2-5 gal fiber pots
Kind Soil
Compost/perlite
Water Ph 6.0-6.4
Seeds:
Sweet Soma/ auto-fem/00 Seeds
Sweet Berry Cough/unknown grower/auto-hopefully fem
Tent 2.5x3x4

[redbeard]

Ya I was meaning just to runoff to make certain bottom roots are getting water. And whatever comes out u put back or let it get sucked up nothing lost. Happy gardening

[D.A.A.S.69]

Hey Redbeard, if your in SmartPots all you gotta do is feel the bottom of your pot, you can tell that the roots are getting wet.It's not hard at all.