Mephisto Genetics Simoigets SIP grow ..all time favorites of the mephisto variety

[simoiget]

This will be my first grow journal here at AFN. Not my first grow..my background with canna growing started quite a few years ago and then I had an extended break

Legalization happened here in Canada and i was super stoked to start growing my own

I did a bit of research and decided to go the organic route. The simplicity is what appealed the most to me and i value quality more so then quantity which again lined up with an organic approach

I started very simply with just promix and some organic gaia green amendments this worked well and as I started to learn more I have refined my approach and I now practice vermiculture to create my own castings and I have started to put more effort into building my soil

I like some others on this site first heard about earthboxes from @MrOldBoy threads and my interest was sparked. I did a run with a couple earthbox juniors and experienced pretty impressive growth. My previous fabric pot grows would typically yield 2-4 oz per plant and with SIPs I seem to be at about 4-8 oz per plant

I by no means have the SIPs fully dialled in and I have been having a recurring issue with a deficiency/lock out of some sort that usually shows up around the first few weeks of flower. I am no longer using dolomite lime in my soil and I may also try running without the mulch covers as well as letting the reservoir dry out before filling to see if these measures help to resolve the issues I've had in the past

I am at the point where I have grown out at least one plant of all the mephisto strains I have in my seed collection. So this run will be repeats of my favorite strains to date
These will be one each of Forgotten cookies, Double grape and Samsquanch og

The forgotten cookies and sam og will be in my homemade SIPs and the double grape is in a 5 gallon fabric pot

Tent is a 4x4 lights are 1 315cmh and one 240 watt QB I will dim them at first and increase light as the plants mature

Soil is a 1/3 1/3 1/3 mix of peat/castings and compost and aeration amended with gaia green all purpose and bloom with some bokashi, insect frass, gypsum,oyster shell,alfalfa, and kelp.I try to always keep the amendments on the less is more side and plan to top dress once or twice during the grow.I dont use teas and this grow I will be trying a new to me product called microbial mass for some added microbes

Some tags for SIP growers that I have been following and learning from @WildBill, @TxRebel/Mark

Here we are with humble beginnings.. definitely one of my favorite moments in a grow is when the seeds first break the soil these were soaked for 36 hours in tap water and just over 24 hours after direct planting in the final containers they are up and we are off!

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Nice start man! Be following along!
Any SIP questions feel free to holler at me! I added lime this run which I had never used it in the past but had Mg or Ca deficiency across numerous diff plants last run so gave it a try here.....and well when it finally started working it drastically raised my ph so it shot up from 6.65 to 7.26 over maybe only 2 weeks! Wound up causing many an issue I’m trying to correct now! If u have had these same deficiencies in EBjr and u need extra Ca Mg I’d def go with the powdered Agricultural gypsum and some epsom salt! Also not sure if u realized it but oyster shell flour can also affect ph so def go light on it!

Also for extra food if u let reservoir go dry and slowly water it in from the top u can actually use teas in these type of boxes! Just water in enough to saturate box and let it sit a few before adding more! Do this til u know it’s saturated good but not to the point u can look down the fill tube and see it leeching thru into the reservoir inside!

Anyways nice start there and pretty sure like most MrOldBoy also got me into these boxes but since his unfortunate passing been having to learn lots on the fly as I go so if u need help or just curious about something give me a shout!

 

[Organic Sinse]

Nice start man! Be following along!
Any SIP questions feel free to holler at me! I added lime this run which I had never used it in the past but had Mg or Ca deficiency across numerous diff plants last run so gave it a try here.....and well when it finally started working it drastically raised my ph so it shot up from 6.65 to 7.26 over maybe only 2 weeks! Wound up causing many an issue I’m trying to correct now! If u have had these same deficiencies in EBjr and u need extra Ca Mg I’d def go with the powdered Agricultural gypsum and some epsom salt! Also not sure if u realized it but oyster shell flour can also affect ph so def go light on it!

Also for extra food if u let reservoir go dry and slowly water it in from the top u can actually use teas in these type of boxes! Just water in enough to saturate box and let it sit a few before adding more! Do this til u know it’s saturated good but not to the point u can look down the fill tube and see it leeching thru into the reservoir inside!

Anyways nice start there and pretty sure like most MrOldBoy also got me into these boxes but since his unfortunate passing been having to learn lots on the fly as I go so if u need help or just curious about something give me a shout!

Just thought I would throw this out there for whoever it could help. Peat, aka Canadian sphagnum peat moss, is acidic by nature. Normally 1 cup of dolomite lime per cu ft of peat, will balance it perfectly and supply calcium and magnesium. However what's in your water makes a big difference. If you are using RO water it will stay in balance pretty well. If you are using tap water that has lots of carbonates (like CaCO3), the pH will drift up over time, especially if you do more than one run in the same soil. Limestone filtered tap typically has lots of carbonates. If you can check a municipal water report and see high carbonates, you definitely want to dial back the dolomite lime. Oyster shell flour and calcitic lime will also properly buffer the peat pH using the same amount, 1 cup per cu ft, but don't supply any Mg. I typically use 1/2 cup dolomite lime and 1/2 cup oyster shell flour. It is almost the perfect ratio of Calcium to Mg. My tap is almost RO quality (glacier runoff) , so there is very little in it.
I miss Mr. Old Boy. Haven't chatted with anyone over here about organic growing or worm farming since he passed away.
cheers
os

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

My tap sucks ass and local place outta the hose filter I need so I buy jugs for now! Also yes if using a plain sphagnum base obv lime is needed but if u but premade soil like I did on the run with issues it’s def not wise to add it since it’ll already have some in it....or mine sure did! Ph was low starting off on mine is only reason I added this round and made tons of issues from ph swinging!

 

[Organic Sinse]

My tap sucks ass and local place outta the hose filter I need so I buy jugs for now! Also yes if using a plain sphagnum base obv lime is needed but if u but premade soil like I did on the run with issues it’s def not wise to add it since it’ll already have some in it....or mine sure did! Ph was low starting off on mine is only reason I added this round and made tons of issues from ph swinging!

Most bagged stuff comes pH balanced (limed). I just wanted to throw that info out there, for folks like @simoiget making there own mix. There is a lot of conflicting or incomplete info out there because water quality is usually not mentioned or considered when making a recipe. Its often assumed that everyone will be using water that is good quality. It seldom pans out that way in real life.
Its good to chat with ya Mark. I miss the "Old Gang".
cheers
os

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Ya water quality is crucial! How I realized mines loaded with chloramine and other nasty stuff! Mine smells like bleach coming out the tap so I don’t drink it and won’t give it to the plants! They’d prob move if I fed em that water! Come gone to empty pots!

 

[simoiget]

Just thought I would throw this out there for whoever it could help. Peat, aka Canadian sphagnum peat moss, is acidic by nature. Normally 1 cup of dolomite lime per cu ft of peat, will balance it perfectly and supply calcium and magnesium. However what's in your water makes a big difference. If you are using RO water it will stay in balance pretty well. If you are using tap water that has lots of carbonates (like CaCO3), the pH will drift up over time, especially if you do more than one run in the same soil. Limestone filtered tap typically has lots of carbonates. If you can check a municipal water report and see high carbonates, you definitely want to dial back the dolomite lime. Oyster shell flour and calcitic lime will also properly buffer the peat pH using the same amount, 1 cup per cu ft, but don't supply any Mg. I typically use 1/2 cup dolomite lime and 1/2 cup oyster shell flour. It is almost the perfect ratio of Calcium to Mg. My tap is almost RO quality (glacier runoff) , so there is very little in it.
I miss Mr. Old Boy. Haven't chatted with anyone over here about organic growing or worm farming since he passed away.
cheers
os

@Organic Sinse great to hear from you! please follow along! I have enjoyed reading your posts as well and very much appreciate your input

I have well water that I believe is quite low in overall PPM my carbonates are at about 48mg/ml ...problem is I have no idea if this is high or low! my water analysis does not give a reference range for this but I will do some more research to try and determine what these values suggest

Edit to add...a quick google search reveals that these levels are quite low..meaning my water is "soft"

 

[Organic Sinse]

@Organic Sinse great to hear from you! please follow along! I have enjoyed reading your posts as well and very much appreciate your input

I have well water that I believe is quite low in overall PPM my carbonates are at about 48mg/ml ...problem is I have no idea if this is high or low! my water analysis does not give a reference range for this but I will do some more research to try and determine what these values suggest

Edit to add...a quick google search reveals that these levels are quite low..meaning my water is "soft"

That is low which is good. Its easy to add lime or equivalent to add a little calcium or mag. A couple other categories to look at are sodacity or sodium and chlorides.
I like to compare water to suggested guidelines published by universities or extension services.
This isn't my favorite, but I have a link handy. https://extension.psu.edu/interpreting-irrigation-water-tests
Davis and Cornell Universities have a similar set of guidelines you can find easy with google scholar.
HTH
cheers
os

 

[Organic Sinse]

@simoiget Here is a link to a thread on another forum, hope that’s ok. This is by one of my buddies and he explains exactly how water reports work and relate to your particular organic soil mix. We all basically use the 1:1:1 peat/compost/aeration like you use, but just a little different amendments. Link https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/water-quality.1544647/#post-24779519
This is a good quick read for anyone growing in soil.
HTH
cheers
os

 

[simoiget]

@simoiget Here is a link to a thread on another forum, hope that’s ok. This is by one of my buddies and he explains exactly how water reports work and relate to your particular organic soil mix. We all basically use the 1:1:1 peat/compost/aeration like you use, but just a little different amendments. Link https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/water-quality.1544647/#post-24779519
This is a good quick read for anyone growing in soil.
HTH
cheers
os';
'
]\';[
]\
[']\
\

thank you kindly @Organic Sinse very good info there. My water is pretty low in everything including calcium and magnesium but `there should be plenty of dolomite left in the soil to provide mag and I have several sources of calcium.

the issue I have been having seems to be a calcium deficiency that is likely the result of cal being locked out. My best hypothesis is that it is because of the semi anaerobic conditions of the earth box causing the soil to become acidic, this is what the dolomite lime should help to correct but I decided against continuing to add lime as I don't want an excess of mag to build up in my soil. Instead I am using gypsum and oyster shell this round in place of dolomite

That is why this run I will try running without the plastic mulch cover and instead I will mulch with straw. I will also let the reservoir run dry before filling it too provide more oxygen to the bottom of the root zone

At any rate I have been very pleased with my results even with the issues I've had I would just like to try to dial things in to see if I can achieve what I think is possible with SIP growing