Earth Box vs Living Soil

[No3odiesShad0w]

The Battle is on. Earth box Nutrients vs Living Soil 🥊🤓🥊
The gloves are on. Let's have a fair flight!🔥🙏🔥

I've been really wanting to do this experiment. I wanted to take the Nutrient Package from the Earth Box system and put it against an established Living Soil blend. The nutrient package is just stuff like feather meal, bone meal, dolomite, calcium carbonate and other organic based inputs. My Living Soil mix also contains things like crab meal, plant meal, dolomite, calcium carbonate and other organic based inputs. It's formulated for tomatoes and other heavy feeding plants, it should do just fine with 2x cannabis plants

In the lineup we have:
2x Uncle Grandpa aka UG (End Game #5 x Grandpa's Stash#6 by Ethos)
1x Mandarin Zkittlez by Ethos
1x Grape Balls of Fire by Ethos
(Still have the Lilac Diesel Auto by Ethos growing for Battle of the Breeders)

Both seeds have popped, so I took clones of the UG. I'm hoping in 2-3 weeks time she will have roots.

I really wants 2 sets of clones but the Freakshow seed is not doing well at all..... She's 15 days old and still only cotyledon leaves. I had to go with plan B. Because I can't grow a whole plant out to clone in 2 weeks, I just planted 2 seeds. It's going to skew the results a little bit because both cultivars are going to be different feeders as compared to having 2 sets of clones. One set in the Earth box nutrient soil and the other in my living soil.

Still going to be an interesting experiment. Right along side the Lilac Diesel growing in Coco Based Living Soil. It's going to be Coco vs Peat based Living Soil. Auto vs Photo All caught on time Lapse video. Always lots of cool fun stuff.

Happy Growing Happy Experimenting 🤓

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[No3odiesShad0w]

The Earth Box with the brand nutrients is going to be
6 gallons peat moss
4 gallons perlite
​​​​​​2 gallons earthworm castings from my Vermihut bin
1 gallon Fox Farm Happy Frog

1x Dolomite package mixed in
1x Nutrient Package put into a trough at the front of the container as shown in the Earth Box directions.
The happy frog soil was to cover and slightly mound.

It's been sitting a month and is ready for planting.

This Earth box will get an UG and the Mandarin Zkittlez.
In about 2-3 weeks time

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

The Living Soil Earth Box is going to have
6 Gallon peat moss
4 gallon perlite
2 gallon Earthworm castings from my Vermihut bin

Dry Amendments
5/8 cup each Crab, alfalfa, Neem meal, insect frass
1 cup each oyster shell, ag lime, dolomite, gypsum, basalt and glacial rock dust, azomite
10 tsp granular humic Acid
2oz biochar

It's been aged for 3 months with worms and other life forms breaking everything down during that time period. The soil becomes really rich and black.

​​​​​​In this soil I'll plant the other UG and the Grape Balls of Fire


The Coco Living Soil you can just watch here exactly what I added
https://youtu.be/Rvuj98WJeDE?si=2OtV65xtRy1BsdTc

I didn't add the transplant into the video because I didn't want YouTube to flag my video for drug content.
The Lilac Diesel is coming along nicely. Might be a bit spicy but she's doing great.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

The Grape Balls of Fire and the Mandarin Zkittlez seedlings aren't looking too good 😅. That's totally my fault. With VPD in the range of 1.3 - 1.4 kPa, (69-72F 48-52%) They were NOT happy. They should be better in the tent. More stable micro climate. Now I can have temps in the 75 range and humidity around 58%. Get things more comfortable for the plants and for my pocket lol
They have another week or 2 before I plant them in the earth boxes and start this whole grow. I have a feeling I'll need the space... Might want to give the Lilac Diesel some time to get closer to the end. She's already on day 32 or something like that. Another 2 weeks and she'll be in the 50s . I just wasn't expecting this Pound Town to take so long. I could have waited a bit longer but it's okay. Gotta be patient besides if they all finished at the same time.... Where would I fit it all 😅

They should have some time to recover and on we go!
This one is going to be fun. Bringing back some favorites of mine. Doing some science, because it wouldn't be me if I wasn't.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

The FreakShow survived. Not only did it survive but then survived a transplant to a small pot. It's going to make it. Maybe it's a female and I'll get some clones going.

The last MAC1 X BD will go to my friends house. His GSC is looking fantastic. I told him, just toss the other pot in the corner of the tent. He's got space in that 2x2.

The 2x UG, Mandarin Zkittlez and Grape Balls of Fire are about 5 days from transplant into the Earth boxes. Almost there!!

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

The FreakShow survived. Not only did it survive but then survived a transplant to a small pot. It's going to make it. Maybe it's a female and I'll get some clones going.

The last MAC1 X BD will go to my friends house. His GSC is looking fantastic. I told him, just toss the other pot in the corner of the tent. He's got space in that 2x2.

The 2x UG, Mandarin Zkittlez and Grape Balls of Fire are about 5 days from transplant into the Earth boxes. Almost there!!

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Sighs....I had to cut down all my outside plants... Including the big, beautiful Blue Dream that I spent 2 months vegging 🤦‍♂️. I decided to take a few more clones of the UG just because it hurt so much to have to throw it away. The blue dream I didn't take any clones. She was already flowering. Just pointless.... Anyways

The good news. Both the Mandarin Zkittlez and Grape Balls of Fire are recovering very well. No more weird leaf growth. VPD is within range as well as light distance. The first clones of the UG have rooted for sure. They haven't wilted and they're growing again.. the Lilac Diesel is stretching like crazy. She's getting huge. I think she's going to be a huge yielder. She already has budlets on the main cola. There's a whole story in that main stalk. Broke her on purpose, Broke her by mistake, tied her, bent her over and she's still resisting and doing her own thing.

I've also taken the opportunity to do some much needed cable and driver management. Because the 2x3 isn't actually 2 feet wide, it's shy 4 inches, I believe, and I have space behind the tent, I put up a net and hung the drivers. I'm going to flip one inline fan to blow towards the drives and the gap under and above will move air past then efficiently. It'll keep them cooler and extend their lifespan.
I also get to do better cable management. I'll put the power strip behind the other inline so it's not visible. It'll look much neater. No cables hanging all over. Couldn't do it before side the tents were full. This is my last chance since on Saturday I'm going to be transplanting all the younglings into the Earth box forever homes. I'm also going to finish painting the room this week and hang up the records and pictures. It's time to finalize this grow room. Not much will be changing in terms of hardware for a long time. Only the cultivars and experiments will be changing very frequently.

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[No3odiesShad0w]

Oh the other plant in the pictures is the GSC that my best friend is growing. She's starting to bulk up. Super happy for him. His first grow is going super well!

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Here's an update on the Battle of the Breeders Lilac Diesel by Ethos. She's freaking huge.... So huge she's taking up half of the 2x4. IDK how I'm gonna fit 2 plants in the earth box and this lilac diesel next to it. It's crazy. Every grow, they just keep getting bigger and bigger 😅 not that I'm complaining. I'm just going to have to go back to 4 plants again. 5 is too much.

I need to plant the clones and seedlings into the Earth boxes today or tomorrow. I've already waited long enough. But wow. This Lilac Diesel is a beauty. She def looks like she's going to be a yielder. That main stalk is almost an inch thick. These autos just keep on impressing me.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

I finished cleaning up all the cables and wires. I just need to remove the wood and plaster it up. The whole place is really coming together nicely. More organized. Not tripping on everything.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

All nice and neat!

Plus I transplanted the 2x UG the Mandarin Zkittlez and Grape Balls of Fire.

The Grape Balls of Fire and an UG went into the Earth box with the living soil that I made. The Mandarin Zkittlez and the other UG went into the Earth Box with the Earth box nutrients.

Both got a Tbsp of mykos and Azos for the transplant. They all had healthy roots but the soil was too dry and it fell apart on me. They'll all probably have a little bit of transplant shock. Tbh. Could have gone better but that's okay. I don't need them getting huge on me. Especially not with that giant lilac diesel there. They can take all the time they need

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

At first I thought it was my terrible VPD that was causing word growth on the seedlings, but after more than a week of stable VPD, the Mandarin Zkittlez hasn't improved. I see new leaves growing. I'll have to see if those are properly formed or if they're misshapen. I might have a mutant on my hands. The Grape Balls of Fire is growing perfectly healthy and normal leaves which leads me to believe the Mandarin is a mutant. Lolol IDK what it is. Can't get 4 nice plants. There's always gotta be some anomaly.

I have 3 plants on stand by. I have the Freak Show..... Which IDK if it's a female or male. A bit of Russian roulette....I have 2 more clones of the UG AND I still have 1 of the MAC1 x BD left over. Though IDK if it's a male or female. Not the best standby team but it's what I got. I'm hoping the Mandarin pulls through. It's a favorite of mine.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

I also made a new video on my YouTube channel documenting my Vermicomposting journey
https://youtu.be/6dQS1OQsvaA

 

[Franklin]

Dude. That video!
Nice work, man. With your avatar photo, I always thought your voice would be gravelly and death metal like, or like the singer from Motorhead. You sound much gentler than that.
Man, I have been vermiconposting for a couple years now And I love it, that's pretty much the most of the nutrition that my my plants get when I start a new round. But I just use buckets for my worms. Your system looks way better than mine. I might go buy one of those.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

I can sound like that. I've done my share of heavy metal singing but now focus on Mongolian throat singing 🤣🤣. The avatar is from Far Cry Primal a video game I enjoy because I'm endlessly fascinated with the stone age and earlier.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

You can make lots of homemade ones from buckets or wooden structures that sit on top of each other. I bought this plastic one because it fits in my tiny apartment. It's not in the way and produces the perfect amount of castings that I need for my 4-5 plants. It can produce significantly more. I only have about 2 inches of material on each layer. You can stack it to about an inch below the rim. I just don't have that much waste material so I work with what I got.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

IDK what to do. That Mandarin Zkittlez is mutated for sure. Even on the time lapse video it's doing a whole lot of nothing and it's been 7 days. All the other transplants have grown new sets of leaves.

Here's the choices.... Both have risks... Both potential rewards and/or setbacks

1. Keep the Mandarin Zkittlez and let it give me what it gives me.

2. Replace with healthy Freak Show seedling but IDK the sex

Both options are a 50/50 shot. But what 50/50 shot do I want to take?

If the Freakshow is a female, there's high potential of good reward. If it's a male then I just have a hole. I won't have time to plant an auto.

If I leave the Mandarin, I'll get something out of it...buuuuuut..... Because of the mutation, there could be a high chance it can be a herm or end up herming later in flower.

I'm leaning FreakShow just because If I'm going to keep a mutant then I might as well keep the one that's intended to be a mutant, not the one that's just a bad draw of the seeds. Maybe it'll be a female and it'll all be good.

 

[Going2fast]

Hard call. I've grown freakshow and she's a nice sativa high that does well with wet feet and high humidity. On the other hand I've grown a few mutants that either leveled off after a month or so or gave good/ bad bud. Black cream auto from sweet seeds one gave me a freakishly wild mutant but produced the most beautiful lavender buds ive ever seen. Nice smoke too. Northern cheeze haze was a waste of time.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Hence why I'm conflicted. I think i might leave the mandarin. She seems to be turning around. I'm gonna give her one more day and see what she does. I noticed some new leaves that don't look too beat up. Maybe there's hope. One more day and I'll make the call on Saturday.

 

[No3odiesShad0w]

Still a little twisty but looking better. I think I'm just gonna stick with the Mandarin. It may get better. The leaves look healthier. I'll post another update tomorrow.