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So i figured I'd share an update on the thread i created yesterday (thanks to all that offered their insight!)

Hopefully this could be of benefit to others experiencing something similar. I ran two different pH tests, both came out fully neutral. Check that off the list.

As you can see plenty of N, what looks like maybe low K (hard to tell based on the color grid) and absolutely ZERO Phosphorus. :(

If you look back on the original post and the pictures provided there it was almost to the "T" what pH stress would look like, but certainly was not. The yellowing in sploches, the purpling of the stems to leaves, and the droppy and brittle main stalk certainly are indicators of a deficiency in P. Also another observation that may be of benefit to others is that it wasn't until I added the Gypsom salt (Cal/Sul) that the splotches of the seedlings really came out. So starting with minerals may not always be the answer, and getting back to the basics of NPK assessment after pH might be the best road to take.

SOOOOO that leaves me needing to get some highly available, water-soluable P into this dirt. What recommendations do you have that will lend a hand naturally to getting this corrected pretty quickly? I know Bone Meal, and Bat Guano are good for that. I do Compost teas with vermicompost almost weekly, so I'm shocked it would be this low. Looking for something that is P dominant that has very little to no N, and maybe a bit of K.

Thoughts?

EDIT: Maybe some Seabird Guano is the answer? https://www.amazon.com/Down-Earth-Phosphorus-Seabird-0-11-0/dp/B016A8Y3FS/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=bat+guano&qid=1573689740&sr=8-4

2nd EDIT: One last observation I thought was important was in relation to adding calcium (via gypsum salt +sulphur) before finding out it was a P deficiency caused rapid onset of discoloration (leses than 24hrs). I assume this as something to do with the salts taking up space, or in the very least causing additional ions in the soil to be interferring with uptake of other nutrients? Not sure still learning more everyday about amazing world of soil. But the observation is a good one none the less, b/c nothing but gypsum and water had been offered in the last 3 days.

Cool, coots recipe it is.

The recipe in the sidebar specifically mentioned horse manure compost, so I'd imagine it would be fine, though hearing from others would be reassuring too. I'll do some more research though.

> fermenting lids
> > $29.99

holy shit that's highway robbery. Maybe I'm missing something, but those seem to do the same thing as homebrewing airlocks. With these grommets and these airlocks you'd be able to make 5 of those for about 15 bucks. Regardless, thanks for the advice, since cleaning up fermented plant material and broken glass doesn't sound very fun. Any ferments (or top dressing additions, etc.) you're particularly fond of?

As far as the LEDs go, I'm thinking of building 2 light assemblies, each with 2 BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 and 2 BXRC-40E10K0-D-73. That would mean 2 3000K and 2 4000K chips per assembly. Those chips drop 37.2V at 1400 mA, so I'd run them on a HLG-185-C-1400b and add a potentiometer to let me dim the driver down to ~1000mA, which would give me a range of 38-52W per chip. I think that gives me a lot more flexibility than a single monolithic light.

I've gone through a lot of iterations of my planned LED setup lol. If you'd have asked me two days ago I'd have said cxb3590s all the way, but 25 bucks a COB from digikey seems like a pretty solid deal. I haven't even checked kingbrite yet.

Your response was super helpful, much appreciated!

Go with the coots recipe, it's what I'm using. With all the top dressing and other additions I'm sure it's drifted pretty far off that original mix though. I'm finishing up the 4th round but I did till/remix with more pumice and biochar after the 2nd round.

I am currently using 1 maxi with 4 distribution drippers in each 15g pot. Only thing I add to my res is agsil (silica) and some BTi to combat fungus gnats. I started with 2 maxis and no distro drippers at first but I'm really liking the 4 different drips. With just the 2 maxis the sides where there were no drippers got a little to dry for my liking. I've never had a run away dripper but plan for it just in case. My system is gravity powered so they could theoretically empty the res but that's a 13 gallon trashcan so it would never exceed that much water.

Not sure on the compost, I've only used homemade thermal compost and homemade ewc and the worms are fed the BAS craft blend so it should be nutrient rich.

I don't really do aact as much anymore...I just never really saw a huge difference and the brewing is annoying. Fermenting is awesome though, get some half gallon jars and fermenting lids. Exploding a glass jar of fermented stuff isn't awesome lol.

300w in a 3x3 is 33 watts per sq foot. That should give you pretty great results. There are 3 voltages of those new Vero 29s so that will pretty much just depend on how you want to drive them, how many watts per chip you want, etc. I'm guessing the HLG-320H-C drivers would work well but I haven't actually looked at the datasheets recently.

Kinda all over the place but hopefully that helps. Too many dabs! Just got some rosin plates and went a little too hard "testing"

That's good to hear.

I'm actually user a soil PH meter like this one, and from what I can tell calibration is not necessary but I'll make sure when I get home.

I asked my wife to check the soil in a few different area's and from what she is telling me, the soil along the outer area of my tote has a lower PH (2-3) while the middle is looking a little more promising (5). Looks like I need to mix the solution up a little better tonight.

If I can rule out the meter as the problem, where would you recommend starting to resolve the issue?

You should take a look at "Teaming with Microbes" by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. It helps paint a picture of what kind of life we are trying to keep alive in the pots by using all of the inputs as well as mulching and watering schedules.

I think /u/abjectCitizen has a done a great job describing the process. I will also recommend taking a look at build a soil's earlier blog posts. They show the process of filling/transplanting/watering during a grow that I found to be pretty helpful. They also carry quality products you really can't find elsewhere (powdered aloe and coconut water being two I purchased).

What kind of ventilation do you have setup? What are the average temps in the room with the tent?

If you have cool Intake temps and good air movement, one or 2 315w cmh lamps would be a decent option.

I like the idea of quantum boards and leds in general because I do not have low intake temps and I am also very cheap when it comes to utility bills. I hope to save more money over a longer period of time vs. up front. Four 125w quantum boards would light that tent up proper. That being said, I’m nerding out on some cob’s.

I have read that some people drive over them with a car. Other folks have even said they have just given up on breaking them down. They toss them in whole.

1/2 inch isn't too bad, really. The ones I have are about 1 - 1.5 inches. I think I'm going to toss them all in a 5 gallon bucket and drop a sledgehammer on top of them. I personally would like to see them 1/4" - 1/2".

Remember there are other types of aeration. I'm also going to use rice hulls from a local beer craft store. I'm also kicking around the idea of using activated biochar (it's aeration and good for soil life). Hence, my 1/3 aeration is going to be mix of things.

Also, someone sells pumice stone on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008YSVPHW

The problem is it's like $30 for 5 gallons. That's not even 1 cubic foot. It's fancy, don't get me wrong, but jeez.

Anyway, good luck with your soil build.

I've been searching for aloe vera powder that is cheaper than what is available at Build a Soil. I found this on Amazon.com and seems to be similar to what you purchased. This is made from the whole leaf and not just the gel which is why it's so cheap for how much you get.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008WNUUDY/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_121_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41GWsSm8uSL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C71_&psc=1&refRID=EQ37K7FCEDN40JNQNHEW

Is gel only extraction better than whole leaf as far as benefits to the plant? The only difference I see would be using more of the whole leaf powder each watering than the 200x gel only powder which could negate the cost savings. I ended up with 60 grams of USDA certified gel powder from Amazon for $36. Only a couple dollars saved ordering on Amazon than Build a Soil.

I’m not in a garage but I did look into a means to control humidity in my tent. Check out these humidity and temperature controllers. I personally have that humidity controller with a small humidifier and dehumidifier in my tent. Works like a charm. I keep the exhaust fan constantly running and the humidifier combo keeps RH in check. You could do something similar using that temp controller. Depending on your light source (HPS run hot, LED run cool, comparatively speaking), you may require some additional equipment to manage temps.

Bt is very dependent on how well it was stored by the distributor. I've had the best luck with this.

Do you know what strength magnification would be needed to see the microbes? Literally looking at amazon right now lol. Do you think this would work?

get Leds for sure, Hlg132 are a sick deal or the hlg288 diy kits even. hlg132 are way cheaper tho.

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Your basiclly looking at 1 dollar a watt with leds.

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https://www.amazon.com/Horticulture-Lighting-Group-Quantum-Boards/dp/B07TNHL8XF/ref=pd_sbs_421_t_0/131-7343029-5643314?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07TNHL8XF&pd_rd_r=410a68f1-8862-4d59-9db9-ef6502b31d41&pd_rd_w=5vXWI&pd_rd_wg=O7GOf&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=KVNYKT5QAMATDA8DYWY6&psc=1&refRID=KVNYKT5QAMATDA8DYWY6

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https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/collections/kits

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As for no till just mix up the standard soil and let her rip. Water only is perfectly fine keep it simple.

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For a 9 by 9 space thats a lot of room. What size canopy are you looking for. I run 4 30 gal totes in a 5 by 5. I would get as much soil as you can. So maybe like 8 25 gal totes if you want to fill the whole tent... Or if your trying to grow huge monsters that fill the tent. Say 4 plants in 50 gal totes.

https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Reverse-Osmosis-50-Gallon/dp/B00DOG63OY
It's gone up a little since I purchased. Little creative home depot, I used garden hose splitter and tapped off my washer. The discharge ran into sump pit. I bought the extra float valve kit and let it fill a 5 gal bucket at a time that has a drain nozzle I drilled into the bottom. Works pretty well.

I'm not an expert and I don't know how productive or counterproductive regular spraying will be, in terms of the spider mites getting a tolerance to the spray, or the soil microbiome being affected, or residual spray harming the predatory arthropods.

If you're doing no-till and have enough humidity, I believe you can get by just on predators and no spray. I'd just get a mite combo like https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I0ZXU18/ from the beginning and they'll be able to maintain a population just eating detritus if they can't get mites. I got that combo and it cleared up an infestation on a green onion plant and some strawberries that had reemerged a second year running.

I also got hypoaspis miles for fungus gnats and i can clearly see them running around in my worm bin 5-6 months after application. Better yet, they eat dormant spider mites underground.

The reviews on that link are informative. Some people spray until flower, like you propose, and stop for a week and spray water before they deploy predators. Maybe that works better? Beats me. I imagine it takes a while for the predators to start a population so I start them early.

BTI stays active for about two weeks, i would mix a tbsp of mosquto bits with water and water with that, dumping the bits on the soil. Worms like to eat the bits, they're corn cob chunks.

I hear ladybugs work great against spider mites but they may wipe out predator mites too, I'd do one or the other.

Start by making a Lactic acid bacteria serum; it will help you cut your teeth, and it's needed/warranted for many of the other ferments.

Find a place where you can get the purest, and cheapest sugar, because you're going to need A LOT of it. None of the processed stuff, read the forums on IG mag and the like, there is a lot of no-till knowledge out there.

Our main man u/ediblesdidmedirty is my go to guy for anything KNF related; he knows his stuff.

Read Dr. Cho's KNF manual, and Teaming With Microbes. You can buy it, or be filthy like the rest of us and download it from grasscity lol.

Edit: Look into Vero 29's before you spend some money on the "Cree" name. Their stats are pretty close in benchmark tests. I've heard good things about Citizen chips, but I never looked into them (~$12/chip). I also bought my drivers on mouser.com, they were cheaper.

Jiusion 40 to 1000x Magnification Endoscope, 8 LED USB 2.0 Digital Microscope, Mini Camera with OTG Adapter and Metal Stand, Compatible with Mac Window 7 8 10 Android Linux
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06WD843ZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The stand it comes with isn't the best quality, but the software and lens itself are great for the price.

Read this. Permaculture is nothing new, but its not a concept most look at. Its a way of using plants to help grow other plants, taking advantage of each plants unique features.

Just a note, Jeff Lowenfels has a related book you can read free if you have Amazon Prime. I’m reading it now.

Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web, Revised Edition

Edit: Will check out Joshua Steensland.

http://www.amazon.com/SLF-100-liter-South-Cascade-Organics/dp/B00PO4D8G0

Gift from the organic gods. Doesn't harm your roots or soil life.

Part of it depends on how big of pots and how much biology you have living in them. I'm still playing with CO2. If I look at the average over 24 hours I think it's more around 500-600 ppm. On my first round I used to much in the first part of flower and it caused a lot of stretching. Now I'm waiting till 3rd or 4th week of flower to add CO2. I had the CO2 tank on a welder so I didn't have the expense of a tank. I bought an autopilot monitor/controller and just a cheap regulator with solenoid.

Everything is in 'Teaming with Microbes' .