How I started growing weed WAY more easily.

[UndergroundFarmer]

This year I've taken potential twin disasters of hydro grows and recovered them. Watching a little YouTube led me to find a way to grow that will let me use up my stock of hydro nutes while growing the healthiest - as you might find them growing in their natural terroir - plants I've ever had. Whether or not the bud quality will be improved won't be known until early September but I'm optimistic. I saw the results Matt from Mr. Canuck's Grow was getting growing in coco, perlite, mycorrhizae, worm castings and slow-release fertilizers. I had just moved all my plants from both hydro grows to coco to keep them alive. I also am stuck with loads of my hydro nutes that I won't waste. I've adapted his technique to my situation and now grow in a mix of plain coco with 25% worm castings added then 30% perlite added to that. I feed liquid nutes once a week and water every other day. They get a top dressing of fresh worm castings every three weeks too. Every transplant, they get a dusting of mycorrhizae on the root ball.

This is much easier than what I was doing, especially when I was purging crap from two RDWC setups every evening. It's also much more flexible since I can move plants in and out of tents to take advantage of free spaces. OK, I never had crap to purge in my previous hydro grows. It's not like hydro was ever that much of a second job until this year. I suspect my city's water supply for the algae issue that came back every nute change. I still have the setups and may try them again in cooler weather, but only on RO water.

Does anyone else out there grow like this? I'd like to use slow release fertilizers when the hydro nutes are gone next year or so. I'm also considering getting a real composting system for the backyard. I'd give it all the waste from growing then use the compost for plant food in a closed loop. I always said I wanted to grow organically some day. My first grow attempt misfired because I bought organic nutes and used them in hydro. (I tried to, anyway.) For now, nothing I'm doing seems difficult.

[PLreef]

I've watched alot of Matt's videos. He makes it look so easy! Last year I tried his method of growing in living soil paired with dry amendments. Honestly I didn't do too well with it. I didn't start off with living soil ( gaia green like he does). I made it using pro mix and natures living soil concentrate. The PH in the soil bombed and I was never able to get it back to an acceptable level. I'd like to try using coco, perlite and worm castings like yourself. I wish you the best of luck. Ill be following along.

[Puglover1]

I watched that video, then another after it with a gal who waters from the bottom up. They make it sound foolproof, and they use 5 gallon bags for photos. I'm going to use Stonington Blend soil for sativa photos, hopefully that will give me more time to train the girls well before the flip.

[Jimmynuetron]

This is my second year using Gia Green. I met a guy who used to work there, it’s 5 miles up the road, and he taught me a lot about living soil. I bought a fifty pound bag of power bloom and all the garden gets it. I buy worm casting from the same plant but under a different name. My grow is 90% organic. I tried some Big Bud once cause one of my girls was too stretched out.

[UndergroundFarmer]

That's about as local as you can get! I'd like to try the GG stuff if they ever export it to the States. So far, the DTE stuff and castings and myco are making this new batch grow trouble-free except for the trouble I cause by myself.

[DeadlyFruit]

It will be interesting to see if the time release nutes are a problem. Many folks say these continue to release high levels of nitrogen when the plants are in bloom but I guess it depends on the formulation. I have to admit to dumping some time release nutes in the big outdoor grow pots I used this summer. It is about 50/50 coco and soil (plus perlite). I am a bit lazy and I figured given the pot size (30 gallons I think) and that it has a good amount of soil it might be ok. Mainly I was being lazy. So far it has been quite good - I left them to grow naturally and one of them is about 12 feet tall with a stalk a bit thicker than a broom handle (it is actually the plant that I accidentally snapped off one of the two main sides after topping it once in prep for manifolding if anyone remembers that post - I let it grow naturally after that little accident). I am a little worried they haven’t started blooming yet and hoping it isn’t related to the time release nutes. If it doesn’t start blooming soon I am going to have a full on tree.

I’ll be following along to see how the grow goes!

[UndergroundFarmer]

Thanks! I'd like to see you make that stem into a broom handle or something akin to one. If they stay in stock, I could always revert to using Buddha Grow/Bloom plus Trinity (the stuff I screwed up my first try with) when the Soul nutes are exhausted. Gaia Green isn't sold south of the border but the grow shop recommended a good substitute - GreenGro. They sold me some of their mycorrhizae otherwise I wouldn't remember the company's name!

I'm curious about that 12 footer. Is it an auto or photo? I remember your post about the breakage and I'll search for it in a minute.

One minute later: OK it's a photo. It should start flower around September 20. From my experience, she should be more than ready to make flower by then. I wonder if she'll stretch when she's already about sunflower height? If it was a shorter plant, you could try covering it after 12 hours of sunlight each day then uncovering after the sun goes down to start flowering. Damn, dude - at that size, you might wind up getting two pounds or more from this thing.

[DeadlyFruit]

UndergroundFarmer You’re right it is a photo. It is Zkittlez but the seed was a house label version rather than the actual developer of the strain so it may not be identical (everything seemed out of stock this past spring!). The plant is taller still now and still going. I definitely see the pre-hairs so it might be considering bloom finally - very curious to see if I get any type of bloom stretch.. I also find it interesting that the plant with the major injury grew the tallest by a large margin - genetic trait or reaction to the injury?

In the past my outdoor plants have started to bloom anytime from mid July to mid August. I know that sounds early from an hours of dark perspective but always seems to go that way. If they were to bloom in mid September there wouldn’t be enough time for them to finish blooming before the weather got too cold. I don’t know why that happens - somehow the plant has a sense of winter and starts blooming earlier than expected. Man, two pounds… wouldn’t that be a stellar achievement from one plant! I would put that solidly in the win column.

[UndergroundFarmer]

That makes sense. I haven't had the privilege of growing outside yet, but I know for some varieties that ten or more hours of darkness can be enough to trigger flower. I hope it gets going for you soon!

[UndergroundFarmer]

This is my flower tent with the autos out to be fed so I could get a shot of the first set of photos that will finish after I started growing this way.



Left is Crockett's Tangie. Center is DP Blueberry. Right is Reserva Privada Kosher Kush. These guys were already half-grown in coco when I started growing this way. Kosher was to be crossed with Tangie pollen. The other two were backups in case I lost anyone in hydro. I gave them their first top dressing with worm castings and started them on 12/12 in this tent about three weeks ago. When the autos are gone, I will be adding a Lavender (Expert), a GSC (Garden of Green), and a PPD (Humboldt Seed Co). I've got six other young plants in my nursery that will be replacing these guys after harvest. Those will be a Purple Kush (ILGM), a Super Lemon Haze (Green House), a Peyote Z---z (Seedsman), a Wedding Cake (GoG), a Pineapple Express (G13 Labs), and an Alien Technology (Prism). My other grows have their own threads: Project Murcott is regular Crockett's Tangie being grown for seed, Project Deuxberry is Dutch Passion Blueberry for seed. You can read about my nightmarish starts for these grows in hydro until a red-brown algae forced me to switch. Thank Jah I'd been playing in coco for a while before all that! The six in the nursery will bring a return to manifolding for me. I've already slashed the Purple Kush and the Super Lemon Haze and they've rebounded nicely. I swear this way of growing is (so far) harder to screw up than a wet dream.

[DeadlyFruit]

Great looking plants! Holy smokes, tall for autos? It may just be that my one auto grow I manifolded everything. They produced a fair bit but didn’t grow very tall.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Oh, sorry. Those guys are all photos, two are from regs, even. I meant the three autos (NL, Dark Devil, CBDV) were out of the tent getting fed and I wanted a shot of the ones that got too big for the seed projects by themselves. The autos, though, are nearly as tall. They just aren't as healthy because they were too far along in flower to bother using worm poo on them. Only NL looks all that good. CBDV is gangly and can't support its buds. Dark Devil is a pheno that needs to be bred out. I probably should have trashed it weeks ago. The only way it can redeem itself is if the tiny frosty "buds" let you see the whole history of the universe in one night when you smoke them.

[PLreef]

Those are some nice tall autos. JAH has blessed you.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Two of the autos are shown below. They aren't bad. If I could get that kind of growth out of autos that I'm getting out of these photos, I'd switch and never look back! Kosher Kush is packing on the flower so much already that I'm excited at the thought of harvesting some baseball bat colas next month.

[Puglover1]

Ever have Kubbie Kush? It was popular in IL in 2018/19 but I never see it anymore: "indica-dominant cross between Lemon Alien and Pre-98 Bubba Kush" I liked it, still have a little bit of shake left from ~3 years ago. I thought maybe the name was bc IL/Chicago Cubs so I looked it up. I already knew a parent was pre-98 bubba. It had good reviews and it was good weed, don't why they stop putting out some popular strains. Spend yourself down for 4 years buying at the dispo, find what works but now you have to freaking grow it to get it. I just read about Kosher Kush, it sounds pretty good.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I haven't heard of that before and I'll bet it's too late now. I've probably only tried maybe 2% of the "strains" out there! I haven't even gotten around to Blue Dream yet. I'll bet you could go through any important pot site's strain listings and find a hundred or more that were for sale five years ago and are now extinct. I bought some called Robert Plant on my first dispensary visit ever. You can't find it anymore and I have a hunch why - it wasn't anything special despite the claims of high THC. Kosher Kush has a fabulous reputation and has been growing like a champ for me. Kosher is here to stay!

[UndergroundFarmer]

Here are two of the autos getting fed. I forgot to get a shot of Dark Devil but no big deal. Left is Seedsman CBDV 1:1. At right is Seedsman NL auto. I think they are about a week from chop. I need to post a pic of my DD next to the one the breeder uses as an example. I'm really surprised that for mostly freebies, the Seedsman autos have produced no clunkers.

My new pH pen and my trusty label maker make cameos here too. The stems waiting for their trip to the compost pile are from Seedsman Pink Kush CBD auto - one that I would buy after the freebies run out. She was one of the prettiest plants I've had yet.

[Puglover1]

I got the Seedsman NL auto clunker for ya. YW.

[PLreef]

Those are super tall autos. Very nice! I rarely get them over 24" tall.
DD has been one of my favorite strains. The smell is amazing. You'll definitely enjoy it.

[UndergroundFarmer]

You're right about the smell. I'm going to post its photo from today down below here. It is at least very frosty for such small buddage.

[SoOrbudgal]

That soil mix your making is wonderful. I also top dress with worm casings and mix it in tea with the fish/guano meal fed that only 4x outdoor this summer. The sun and soil did the rest with just well water. I've cut that off now focused on higher P waterings. Oh and that P is for potassium not pee pee for the newbies who don't know the terms LOL Boy we got to have lots of patience for photos outdoor when bloom begins.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Thanks! I got a little lazy and started buying loose prewashed coco instead of the blocks and I'm getting good results. I've got a compost tea I was given as a promo I'm going to break out around fifth week of flower for the photos. It was useless to me when I only did hydro!

[UndergroundFarmer]

Finally! I had to reboot the PC to get iCloud to get in line. Left is of course what Dark Devil ought to look like. Middle is my DD, Right is a close-up of a bud. Mine is puny but frosty.

[dakogotin]

Most of my seeds to grow bought from here https://medicalmarijuanaseedscenter.com/ so far so good.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Here's the top of the coco Blueberry is growing in.

The roots grow all the way to the surface, something I've never seen before in coco!

[uglygangaguy]

Yes mine are doing the same but I’m running 5 gallon smart pots. I will be going to 7 gallon pots next grow.

[UndergroundFarmer]

With pots that big, you can easily do one plant per tent and fill it! I'm considering doing something like that when I'm ready to break out the scrog nets and grow out some of my homemade seeds for bud production.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 5 in flower is starting for these three! Left to right they are Tangie, Blueberry and Kosher Kush.

I'm noticing earlier frost on the buds on these three. The upper buds already have sugar on the sugar leaves! KK doesn't smell much yet. Either that or I can't tell standing too close to Tangie. I put my nose near a Tangie bud and it smelled just like freshly peeled orange rind. Even the Blueberry now smells just like blueberries. If I was paying someone to grow this stuff for me, I wouldn't complain.

Dark Devil and CBDV 1:1 got the chop this morning. Northern Lights needs (at least) another week. She got her last real feeding this morning and will get only water until time to come down. She is back in this tent until she is done then I will move the PPD, GSC and Lavender over from the Project Murcott tent to finish flowering here - away from Tangie pollen.

I'd like to know if growing this way works with more straightforward chemical nutes like GH trio. The ones I use (Aurora Soul Infinity, Bloom, Big Swell & PeaK for this feeding) aren't organic per se but they are organic-compatible. I have enough of the basic three (Infinity, Bloom, Grow) to last me until well into next year because I hoarded them last year when I thought the supply was going dry. I still can't find a steady source locally because of Hydrofarm's distribution issues.

The next three incoming plants after the three lined up in Murcott will be a return to manifolding. Since these are mostly feminized one-shots, I'd like to maximize yield and maybe get out of having to do so much defoliation. Here's Super Lemon Haze at her feeding today:

[UndergroundFarmer]

We had a power outage from Friday afternoon to Saturday evening, so all my plants except two spent a day in the sun!

Of course, this little snot got knocked off before I brought this Blueberry back inside. This leafhopper was so stoned that I had to flick it off the sugar leaf.


Kosher Kush in natural light!


Tangie smelling up the entire backyard.


Frosty Blueberry.

I may have to drag them outdoors for bud porn shoots from now on! I can't get them to look this good inside.

These three got their five week's top dressing of worm castings to get them through the final weeks. I upped the EC for the feed from 1.2 to 1.6 because they were looking a bit hungry. They were also quite thirsty today after their sun worship even with a watering that morning before. They are now sharing cramped space with a PPD, GSC & Lavender from another tent to keep them away from unwanted pollination. NL auto got the chop and should be some nice smoke in a few weeks.


Before and after moving in the new guys. Tangie is left front, KK is left rear, BB is right rear. PPD is center rear, Lavender is center front , GSC is right front.
The three new ones may get to go back to the Murcott tent to finish after the males are gone. There are at least two and possibly five boys now so there will be some space coming up.

[UndergroundFarmer]

We are getting closer to chop. It's maybe only a week for Blueberry but likely everybody will need at least two more.
Here's the Kosher Kush, the Blueberry and Tangie by themselves.

And with the rest - PPD, GSC and Lavender.

I've been trying to keep an eye on them for critters after their day out. I've caught a leafhopper but haven't seen anything other than fungus gnats. I'm seeing some stippling on some of the leaves like thrips came in but I haven't caught them yet. The smell inside here is terrific. I just wish the humidity would go away.

[UndergroundFarmer]

The humidity broke and it's a good thing because I had to spray down a lot of the grow and work space in the basement because I (achoo) took down the male Tangies today. I did dab some Tangie pollen on a few branches of my GSC for some Tropicanna Cookies. The Blueberry is on its last week and is outstinking everything else right now. The other two late-flowering girls are about two weeks out and got their final feed today. Here's pics because I somehow remembered to:


Kosher Kush, Blueberry, Tangie in back. PPD, GSC, and Lavender up front.


Kosher Kush, Blueberry, Tangie

Two more weeks is a hard thing to wait for when you've got these trying to push the older ones out:


I had to mist these guys and everything else that wasn't in late flower with Capt. Jack's after I caught a few thrip larvae yesterday. I also jarred up that NL auto. I got three mason jars of nice-smelling bud - smoke report eventually.