Beginning Journey- (3 Northern Lights Autos)

Sterilization does not make the medium less elementally “hot”. It might break down some elements, but without an actual flush, those broken down elements will still be in your medium, immediately available to your plants, which can cause issues.

A flush is very intensive and requires tons of water.

Also, the corpses of the microorganisms are still there. They will break down making your medium even hotter.

2 Likes

Oh I gotcha! @MrPeat

I think the sterilization of the soil is suggested by people who get fungus gnats in the misconception that bagged soil can somehow carry fungus gnats into their homes.

Fungus gnats have about a 12 day life cycle where they need to be adults, find a suitable damp place to lay eggs, the the eggs have to hatch, the larvae have to turn into adults and somehow fly around in a bag of potting mix to repeat the cycle week after week until the bag of soil is purchased.

Sterilizing soil just kills the good microbes, bacteria and fungus.

1 Like

UPDATE: @blackthumbbetty @CMichGrower @MrPeat @Cannabian @PharmerBob @CalamityJane @repins12 @Mrcrabs

Alright everyone, so I got the panty hose on the intake ducting. Got the wet rag for more humidity hanging. 2/3 seeds in soil. I’m guessing I dropped a seed when planting the others but that seed that was dropped had not germinated so I planned to keep it in the dark warm place…but ITS GONE ugh. Searched for quite some time.

Runoff is at pH 5.5-5.6 which is concerning am I right? Should be aiming for 6.3-6.8 is that right?

I know I’ve messed up already by planting seed in soil before runoff. Should have prepared soil in advance before germination was finishing. I feel I put too much trust in the FF and got careless. Hopefully not a huge deal. Any amending I should do?

Still waiting on ppm/EC meter in mail.

Anything proactive I should do?

I know with the next soil grow, it’s going to be HF as a top and OF for medium.

Hey @Caseybmh! Gutted for you that you lost a seed. I’m sure it will turn up - just no hoovering for a while… :laughing:

I agree soil ph needs to be around the 6.5 mark, but I’ve gotta be honest, I’m a bit of a novice when compared to some of our more experienced friends you’ve tagged here.

I’m not sure what you can do now the seeds have been sown. I would say water lightly with ph corrected water but if they’re already soaking from watering to run off, you might just need to ride it out until soil is dry again then lightly and regularly water with ph-correctd water.
That’s just my 2 pennies but let’s see what the experts say. :+1:

1 Like

What was your input pH? Also, wait, you watered in seeds til run-off?

Unfortunately, by killing off the soil biome with sterilization, you have no mycorrhizae to help with pH regulation, so you’ll need to be very strict with reading the pH of your input and your run-off. You can add microbes to your soil throughout your plants’ lifecycles, though.

Also, depending on your input pH, the low pH could be indicative of the dead microorganisms in your soil breaking down. When nutrients and salts in the medium start breaking down, acidification can occur.

Can I ask you: what grow advice, exactly, was given to you regarding preparing Fox Farm pre-made mediums?

1 Like

All I do is feed and water. I don’t worry about pH, TDS and everything else. If its good for Mother Nature, then its good for me. She don’t check a single thing. :+1::+1::+1:

2 Likes

Mother nature doesn’t sterilize her soil, though. When she does, things don’t grow well til the organics start breaking down and a new soil biome can form.

Yeah, if may chime in here… you have done a few things that are questionable. Let me say that a seed needs no feed until the 2nd or 3rd set of true leaves. Typically, if one is to use ff soils, the best thing to do is germinate the seedling in straight peat or promix hp and fertilize with something like GH trio after the second set of true leaves start to poke out. By fertilize I mean super light mix… maybe 1/4 strength if that. Personally, I use seaweed extract with humic acid. Again very sparingly!


If you plan using ff stuff start seeds in solo cups… pre moisten the medium and pack the cups firmly… poke a hole roughly 1/2" deep and drop pre soaked ( overnight ) seed in there… use a cheap :syringe: and wet soil with 5 ml of water and repeat as needed… yeah 5 ml of water! here you can see what I mean. Once the seedling comes up let it search for some of the moisture in the pre moistened material. After a couple days give it 10ml in a circle around the seedling an inch away from the stem. Do not water on the plant! This is not ok! Water away from the stem and make the plant reach for it. Continue with this light feeding strategy for a few days then water once deeply… at this point you can wait until the plant is filling the solo cup with root and is about 8 inches tall or so…its time for transplant about 2 weeks in… prepare ff soil of choice by pre moistening just to the point if you squeeze it no drips come out. Fill pot until the solo cup can sit in there and be an inch below lip of pot… put sol cup in center and pack ff around it to make the same shape as solo cup… remove plant from cup and stuff in hole. This should better help you understand the basic process… it doesnt need to be more difficult. Cannabis is from a semi arid desert climate primarily, it doesnt do well in wet soil… it likes well drained soil that is rich in organic matter with a relatively neutral ph. @Caseybmh

2 Likes

Honestly @blackthumbbetty i didn’t check the input pH. Only did the soil runoff after I put the seeds in. I only did the soil runoff test in the pot that isn’t being used. I figured it would have a similar reading as the other two pots.

I didn’t water seed in the runoff test at all, if that’s what you mean.

Basically I didn’t have time to flush them all due to the taproots being an inch long ready to go in. Didn’t want to put the seeds in a soaked medium.

Let me know:)

Excellent you did a tester pot. Next time, though, you need to know the starting number so the run-off number can be compared to it.

Don’t flush, now. That will cause issues. Definitely try another run-through with your tester pot. Adjust pH input to 6.8, then compare run-off with that number. You want your run-off to stay between 6.3-6.8.

Can also do a slurry test.

2 Likes

@Cannabian Just a few yet my results are top notch. :hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs:

Thanks @CMichGrower i hear ya. I got the whole idea of sterilization from another grower I met on Xbox. I know… doesn’t say a lot but he seemed somewhat knowledgeable on growing so I heard him out. I also read online from another forum that states fungus gnats are prevalent in FF soils. I figured I was being proactive but next time I’m not going fix what’s not broken.

Probably just going to top dress FFHF over OF next time if I don’t go hydro.

1 Like

Will do @blackthumbbetty. Just to make sure I understand you, the starter number you’re referring to would be a run-off test too is that right?

Side note: I went back and checked the same runoff pH an hour after and got a reading of 6.1 …is this normal to have the pH raise on its own after sitting for a while?

Definitely not going to flush the seeded plants. Just hoping they pop up out of the soil for the time being.

I’m going to continue to say thanks again for your help. Much appreciated!

1 Like

Obviously my dissertation on how to grow pot was intended for the OP… sorry @MrPeat

1 Like

Yes, once it’s sat for a while, the pH will rise. That result is not usable.

Also, at this stage, pH isn’t too big of a deal. Once the seeds germ and roots form, you will need to definitely be careful.

2 Likes

Gotcha @blackthumbbetty . When do you think I could/should add some limestone and raise the pH? What do you use?

Before you do anything else, you need to wait til you properly test your pH, starting with measuring input, then run-off from that input. Please, for the sake of your grow, stop arbitrarily adding/subtracting things. Let the tests guide you, not a knee jerk reaction. :grinning:

Well, I grow in completely different medium using liquid organic nutrients and lots microbes. I allow my pH to swing, naturally. I don’t add limestone to the medium or anything to regulate pH, bc I don’t have to. I do add calcium derived from bones and feathers, but that’s for Calcium, not pH stabilization.

For pH, I just control my input pH and rely on my microbes to do their thing.

2 Likes

Day 1: End

Lights at 38” veg mode
Slurry test 5.5
Runoff 5.5
100ml water fed p/plant
No sprouts (24 hours in soil)
77F
70-75RH

@blackthumbbetty @PharmerBob @CMichGrower @MrPeat @Cannabian @CalamityJane

Hey @Caseybmh, you say you have a ‘run off’ pH, can you say what was the ph of the water IN was, please? :grin:

And was this on your test pot?

1 Like