Nana-Glued Earthboxes

Starter soil is Fox Far Happy Frog mixed with seaweed compost, rice hulls and worm castings. Additional inputs: Gaia Green - Gypsum, Insect Frass, Basalt Rock Dust, 4/4/4, Oyster Shell Flour Other - Crab/lobster meal, bokashi, ground malted barley, karanja cake, Myco by Dynomyco

Fast forward to week 5, sorry I missed a few weeks in the middle but things were growing and I wanted some nice growth on the cover plants before posting again. This will be round three in the same soil (which smells amazing btw), currently sitting at a PH of 7.1 so I'm pretty happy with that. I found a comparable additive to Recharge, called Mikrobs so the plants were watered with that for a few weeks. Both plants were transplanted at week 4, then topped 4 days later and will be growing as a mainline on both plants. I will be removing the 2nd nodes after they grow out a bit more since more leaves = move solar panels and I don't want to slow them down too much. Pretty happy with the cover crop so far; as follows: White clover Red clover Yarrow Borage Thai sweet basil Alfalfa Fenugreek I also planted nettles but none of them popped so I've ordered some more and will plant them properly this time by just spreading them on moist topsoil. I just added some bokashi to increase the mycelium and it's starting to take off in the dark spots under the foliage. The plants in the middle are Chemdog Millionaire by Next Generation Seeds, which are for a breeding project and will be out of the tent as soon as they start showing sex traits.

Cover crop was starting to get pretty unruly so it was time to chop n' drop. All clover, alfalfa, fenugreek and some large borage leaves chopped and removed. Both feed jars were shaken and turned sideways to mix before adding to the top of the soil, then gently massaged. This was then covered with a thin layer of compost and watered in with water, 200x aloe, LAB, EM1 and Mikrobs. The chopped cover crop was then laid on top as a much layer and watered lightly again to get the microbes started on the mulch. Manifolding is complete with 8 tops on plant two and 12 on plant one as kind of an experiment, with any leaves blocking tops removed. From here on in they will be low stress trained only for a few weeks. Yarrow, basil and borage were left to grow as normal. I had to order some more nettles as none of them germinated=/ Top Dress 1/3 cup - Kelp meal, Lobster/crab meal, Basalt rock dust, Gypsum, Oyster shell flour, biochar (uncharged), Bokashi 1/2 cup - Ground malted barley, Karanja cake 1 Tbsp - Insect frass, Alfalfa meal, All Purpose

Most of the chop n drop cover crop has been diced and used as a mulch layer now. Consisting of large borage leaves, some of the thai basil that, most of the clover and alfalfa, and trim from the girls. Also planted some new alfalfa and clover around the base of the plants to keep a healthy root system and microbiome; also added some Nettles to the back mulch area that are just starting to come up now. Most of the Thai Basil, 3 Borage plants per Earthbox and the Yarrow are going to stay and get trimmed as needed. Really pleased with what I'm seeing under the microscope in the top inch of soil under the mulch; loads of springtails, worms, mites and pot worms in the mulch itself. Trying some new carbon based nutrient additives after doing some research on them. I waited until the reservoirs were dry for at least a full day, then watered in 1 gallon over the top soil. Some of this finds it way into the reservoirs so I waited until these dried out again before the next standard filling. Also added 1/4 cup of gypsum and mineralized phosphate around the base of the plants since there's a bit of purpling on the petioles and stalks. Flipping to flower next week most likely if they get to 18-20 inches.

Plants are growing so fast now I've had to trim them twice a week, I might have to trim them again tomorrow. Everything 3 or 4 days I can no longer see thru the middle on the top down shots and I'm out of space for training outwards. Mulch layer is over an inch and a half thick now, moving it reveals worms and even some worm cocoons so they're getting enough to eat. Going to push them into flower soon, the only thing holding me back is waiting for any loose pollen to become inert from my breeding tent that I just washed down (Those plants are looking hella seedy=) ) I'll probably take a day or two and spray everything in the main tent down with water and let it dry a few times. Lot's of bro-science on the pollen subject but I found a study I posted below: "The study found that pollen collected during different growth stages has different periods of longevity. Researchers collected the pollen during four different stages of flower development over 21 days; Early, Mid, Mid-Late and Late. The only stage that did not lose viability after 7 days in storage at 4°C (39.2°F) was Mid. The pollen collected during the Mid flowering stage retained its viability for the longest period which was 22% of pollen grains after 21 days stored at 4°C." This is based on pollen stored at low temps for longevity, and I certainly don't have low temps. Greenhouses also use fogging machines to help prevent pollination as well, so we'll see what happens with the spray-downs.