just went and bought 8 new 3 gal smart pots. Layered the containers with 1.5-2" of pumice stone on bottom. Then 3/4 way full with supersoil, that was mixed up and let to cook in a compost tumbler for 3 wks. Then i put a cup in dirt with bottom cut out and filled last 1/4,of the container with organic potting soil with just bio-live and trace minerals,peatmoss, vermiculight, and compost added, wet all my soils down with comp. Tea and allowed to sit for a few weeks to let the microbes and all the little living things start thriving. @Countryboyjvd1971
12 Likes
I will be using the Nector of the Gods advanced line up. With SL100,easy bloom tea,great white, molassas, and photsynthesis plus(microbal life) and my soil doesnt have as much insect frass in as i normally like so ill be top dressing once in a while with a mixture of compost,wormcastings and inaect frass
2 Likes
400watt mh/hps and a 300watt full spectrum LED, (possibly another 300COB LED, not sure yet if im going to use that light for this grow or a feminized auto seed breeding new project).
6"inline fan pulling cool fresh air
6"inline fan pulling the hot stinky air threw the charcoal filter and out some were the heat is useful. And a 14" oscillating fan. So far its worked great and is easy to control temps and humidity. My only issue is the plants i have in the room now need another 30 days approx. And have soil nats that i cant get rid of. They have a full inch of pumice stone in top of soil.No standing water or run off. I have good strong airflow and i have a bunch of fly strips(work really good replace them bc they are completely full every 2wks) I tried some organic bug killer but it didnt help and it threw the ph way off so wont be going that route again. I just know that they are going to invade the new soil the second they get a chance. @Countryboyjvd1971 Is there a better way or can i just deal with them. They dont seem to do any damage???
Wow @Familyman420 you have a lot going on. I’m buckling up and coming along for the ride as it sound interesting.
CB has been dealing with some family stuff so maybe @garrigan62 or @bob31 or @Hogmaster or @Ragnar can offer some inside on the gnats while he is away~AB
2 Likes
I cant give any advice about the ghnats in soil, sorry, I have not experienced anything like that …
Maybe my chickens scratching the area have something to do with it 
2 Likes
I got just what you need and it works great.
The potato works great.
Prevent indoor entry of gnats by making sure there is no open windows open without screens on. Aug is a bad time for them as they are worst that time of the year.
Put sticky traps on the soil surface to trap the gnats
Put potato slices on the surface of the soil. The larvae like it and will be drawn to it… After about 4 to 5 days, remove the potato slices with the larvae. To get rid of them you can do a lot of things like either use a NO pest strip, neem oil or putting sand on the surface of the soil will suffocate the eggs and get rid of them as well. Tobacco juice kills them, and works well for re-occurrences!
They can be in or on the soil and can fly. In order to get rid of them you can use neem oil, sand or perlite on the surface again kills them, and no pest strips catch the ones that fly. A chemical product called Zone works very well and is very powerful and works well in Hydroponics/Aeroponics!
Other Products which can be used in Hydroponics/Aeroponics and soil are:
Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide
GNATROL( used in Hydroponics/Aeroponics in the water as well as soil),
Safer Sticky Stakes,
TR-11000 Pyrethrum.
PERMETHRIN dust
Mosquito Dunks
Organic Control
Natrasoap
Pest Oil
Neem Oil
Hot Pepper Wax
Doc’s Neem Pest Soap
Sticky traps
Safer’s Insecticidal Soap
Neem Oil
Neem 2
Wrote By
Stitch
Posted By
Garrigan65
6 Likes
@Familyman420 the fly strips, bowl of apple cider vinegar all work for the ones that fly, but not all of them fly. You need to get the ones in the soil too and @garrigan62 advice will work! It worked for me last year as well!
3 Likes
Thanks you. I appreciate that! Yeah its been a few years but it gets back in your blood fast. These autos are new to me. But I’ll get them dialed in here soon. I’m glad i choose ILGM, seems to be a really good group of people.
3 Likes
Thank you. Yes u are right they do get into the soil i have 2 air pots and buckets with LOTS of pretty big holes and when i turn the fan off i see them come out of the holes.I appreciate the help
1 Like
How high from plants what kind of ventilation and air flow u got? Thats 1k watts of HID lighting, that sounds good. But can u give more info? @Shuggz.
As long as you can control heat it should be fine,but the only benefit I could see is if their in transition and you keep the mh in to reduce stretch while the hps gets those buds a popping
How close to the plant tops are they? Example. My 400mh i kept about. 15inches above tops of plants. My LED is about 18inches above at one point before they were turned up to full blast i had them 10-12 inches git a little burn and moved accordinly. 5 ft is too far for light to be from plants
Ya you can use both, and a good thing to remember is place your hand above your plants if the light burns or feels hot so do your plants so you raise your light.
Will 
1 Like
Imho I believe 5ft is way to high,maybe try 18-20 in so they will get the intensity they need to bulk up those buds we all love
I can literally lay the back of my hand on my cool tube so heat isnt an issue this time but ive been there. Make sure u have a good breeze blowing right over the tops of plants. Put the back of your hand at the top of the plants no fan and set a timer for 2mins. If it doesnt get hot you can lower them. If they are to far away u will get long lanky plants that get weak stems and thinner wispy bud.
@Shuggz i peraonally dont mind helping if i can and i most likely speak for everyone with that. But do u mind starting ur own thread? This is my new wwa grow journal getting filled up with stuff unrelated, and it doesnt seem like u want the advice to begin with? Why did u ask but then not take any advice? If ur set on 5ft. Thats u and ur grow.do u. But please do u in ur own thread
1 Like
Was planning on starting 10wwa, but i was rushing around before work and dropped one while putting them in water to soak for the day, so after work i can drop em into the rapid rooters. I gave the grow bags a good soaking after they were filled last night
1gal water
12ml of “photosynthesis plus”(microbial and bacteria)
1TBL of molassas
1/4tbs of great white
Ph,d 6.5 then let sit with bubbler in it for 24hrs before i soaked the soil. 8-3gal bags tool whole gal. no run off.
Magic beans got dropped in a cup of bottled spring water at 6am. Tonight after work putting into rapid rooters and right into the soil.Since i still have 6 autos under my big lights, they will be under a 2bulbx4ft T5 and sitting on large heating pads. Im going to cut the bottoms off a clear plastic water bottle and cover the rapidrooter and soil lile a mini green house. And then when they get first sets of leaves move them under the big lights. Hopefully the first run will be finishing up by then.
1 Like
Be extra careful with the heating pad,my experience is that they dry out quickly and I over compensated with water, causing dampening off. Killed 12 bag seed when I first started
1 Like