Hey broski! Welcome, glad your here! I have some learning to do from you, sir! Your KNF methods and results are astounding to say the least. 
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Thanks man, 
LOS can be pricey especially initially, but your choice of input ammendments can save you alot of expenses down the road.
I do the big bed but it’s taken many years to aquire the volume I currently have. LOS can be done in smaller volumes. You have to feed the soil, the plant is a kinda second. Always keep it hydrated and grab a cheap NPK soil test kit with reagents. Mabey 30 bucks off Amazon. Helps give a base line showing what present values are currently in the substrate, but also help to give you an idea of the nutritional preferences of that particular strain. LOS can be tweaked alot like other grow methods. You can push your plants harder.
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Interesting thread. I admire anyone who can grow healthy plants, indoors, in any medium organically. T’warn’t me. I went to coco/perlite and salts a while back, but have always had a nagging notion to try organics with coco … hmmmm 
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Welcome! I’ve used my fair share of salts in the past, and I can attest to the quality that can be produced, not to mention yield. Ain’t nothing wrong with happy, healthy producers!!
The eco-nerd in me is what keeps drawing me back to organics. I’m completely fascinated by it. I’m a Terpene nut and in my experiences with organics, I’ve had a much higher profile, which made me start thinking about therapeutic value of the flowers I stick with.
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Now feel like it’s time to start showing the action… I only have 1 plant going atm, she is 46 days from germination in a paper towel on 5/2
Pure chocolope x Gelato 41
5/7 couple days old
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Here she’s been getting established in the deep soil spreading her wings for about 1 week. I supper cropped the meristem @ node 3 and 5. She completely rebounded in less than 8 hrs.
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6/2
Implemented LST ties at node 3 and 5. She has already healed and had a distinctive recoil or spring at the cropping points. Because of the vigor and resilience shown, I tied down the side branches to.
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6/5
Rebound from LST
6/7
Moderate defoliation. More LST. Maintaining light distance 24" @ 40% power
77f. 72RH
RVPD .68
LVPD .89
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6/9 she’s starting to take off now. Noticed slight yellow tips on newer growth. Nutrients are plentiful and that will turn into a burn tip, typical of a slight excess. My initial impression was the light was too intense. Second was the vegetative growth is faster than the root structure at that given time. Raised light to 28". Foliar sprayed with Purple sulfer and none sulfur bacteria, threw in some Fermented Aloe extract.
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Present day
Water only and 1 foliar. Her footprint is already a 3x3. Making daily gains, vigor is very high. She just showed sex a couple days ago but obviously fem as I started with a fem bean.
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Very cool @McShnutz and thank you for the advice. Maybe I’ll just grab stuff slowly and eventually I’ll get there
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Anytime my guy! I’ve got about every organic ammendment known in the soil but over the course of a decade. There’s no way realistically it’s affordable for the small scale personal use homegrower to do all at once. Little here, little there, but diversity helps in the long run.
I truly hope you do make the transition, it’s more care free than other styles I’ve ran. Water only, couple foliar spray and monitoring lights is all really I do.
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Just in case anyone may be wondering what ammendments I’ve used, here’s a list…
[MEAL]
Kelp
Alfalfa
Cotton Seed
Neem
Fish
Soybean
Feather
Shrimp, Lobster, Crab, Oyster, Green Lip Mussel
[MANURE/GUANO]
Alpaca
Rabbit
Fish
Poultry/ Sea bird
Bovine
Bat
Vermi
[MINERALS]
Soft Rock Phosphate
Glacial Rock Powders/ Azomite
Magnesium Sulfate
Gypsum
Sulfur
Diatomaceous Earth
[STIMULANTS]
Aloe Vera- fresh and fermented
Yucca Root
Seed Sprout Extract
Citric Acid
Malic Acid
[MICROBIALS]
Lactic Acid Bacteria
Purple NON Sulfur Bacteria
Purple Sulfer Bacteria
Bacillus SSP- broad spectrum
Trichoderma- viride, koningii, harzianum
Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (BTi)
Endo/Ecto Mycorhizal
I think it’s worth saying that I’m not a fan of endo/ecto as these fungal species are more suitable for perennials and Trees. Cannabis is an annual, and as such benifits most from bacterial.
Also there quite the competition between the aggressive trichoderma and the Mycorhizal. The trichoderma will always dominate that fight. There’s more evidence supporting the benefits of Trichoderma, with diseases suppression, nutrient assimilation, rhizome enhancement and proliferation.
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It is important from a horticultural perspective, that carbon products make up about 95% of the dry matter in plants, not the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace minerals (NPK) from the fertiliser we use to “feed” them. Although plants do a fantastic job bringing in CO2 and fixing it into the carbon products used for metabolism and growth, supplementing “premade” complex carbon can greatly improve growth. Citric acid in particular, is a beneficial source of carbon.
Lemon juice is a natural source of citric and malic acid, sugars, and other beneficial compounds that can be used instead of citric acid.
The easiest option to use is bottled lemon juice sold by grocery stores. Freshly squeezed lemon juice will also work well.
Food grade citric acid is another option and if you do use it, think about including one part malic acid to ten parts citric acid. Lemon juice contains both citric and malic acid. Both acids are used by plants.
Lemon juice can be used to mimic the supply of organic acids (citric and malic acid) that plants are exposed to in their natural environments. All living organisms use and/or exude citric acid for one reason or another in various metabolic processes.
One of the processes for which plants use citric acid is to maintain a stable root pH homeostasis. Plants maintain the root pH by pumping out root exudates of organic acids, primarily citric acid, to regulate the pH of the rhizosphere to approximately 5.8.
In order for the roots to be able to absorb and utilise nitrate, the most common form of nitrogen in the root environment, they have to use the nitrate reductase system. This is a protein system inside the plant that converts nitrate to ammonia, where it is used to create amino acids, which are converted into proteins and cellulose.
The nitrate reductase process, which is not specific to almost all green plants, is the mechanism whereby nitrate (NO3−) is converted to ammonia (NH3) by the removal of oxygen molecules. The process of removing the oxygen molecules leaves them with an alkali (high pH) hydroxide molecule (OH−). The hydroxide molecules need to be discharged before they reach toxic levels in the plants tissues.
To get rid of the hydroxide molecules, they need to have an acid sink at the root to “dump” them. The hydroxide flows from a high alkaline environment to a low alkaline system, this is the narrow region between the root surface and the soil or substrate (rhizosphere). To do this they pump citric acid out into the rhizosphere to lower the pH and drag the hydroxide molecules, created by the nitrate reductase system, along with it.
Whenever we start using pH buffering materials like limestone, shell grit or dolomite, etc. to raise the pH (alkalinity/bicarbonate) of the potting mix, we create an uphill climb for the plants to acquire and utilise nitrate.
If you are using a nitrate-based fertiliser, you want to have low alkalinity (pH) in both the potting mix and the nutrient solution you use to water your plants. This is where you add the lemon juice (citric acid) to set the pH of the water/nutrient solution to 5.8. By doing this, we are trying to copy what the plant attempts to do naturally. Instead of the plant having to exude citric acid to acquire calcium, phosphorus, nitrogen and chelated metals to absorb back into the plant, by adding lemon juice we provide citric acid for the plant instead of having to use its own.
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Here a link to an abstract paper on Aloe Vera
Effects of malic acid and bacteria
This is another very useful resource from Build-A-Soil on Seed Sprout Tea.
Info on Trichoderma
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What’s good OG fam.
Just a quick n simple update.
Cocolato is through the screen. I did more FIM, topping, defoliating and LST on the 16th (3 days ago). Trying to get a nice even canopy, but this plant is leggy and it’s been quite the challenge to manipulate hormones of selected terminals and bring them all fairly even. Had to pinch out the small stragglers that just didn’t catch up. Oh well, I suppose I’m a bit dense to begin with, and I plan to use a fabric net with 4" holes as she stretches out in flower. That should give me the opened canopy I’m looking for.
Anticipated stretch of around 250%, but we’ll see. She’s an F1 so there’s no telling yet.
Took 2 clones 8 days ago. Rapid rooter plugs used with fresh aloe gel in the soak water.
Root temp 77f and foliar sprayed with tap water 2x daily. Took dome off on day 6 and had no wilt so I knew I had some root development at that point. I’ll hit them with some microbes and worm shit water while in the prop tray. Afterwards they’re going into a 12 gal SIP. Gonna keep 1 as a potential mother and the other will be reversed using STS for pollen. Possible S1’s this winter.
Really hoping her flower structure is tight and chunky, otherwise I may scrap this one. I’m not really into airy buds. Time will tell.
Hope everyone had a great Father’s day!!!
That’s all I got for now. Much love 
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Morning 
fam.
5 days into 12/12 now. She hasn’t done much, in the end of vertical growth yet, but she’s starting to stager her internodes. Filling out a little bit tho. Looks like she could benefit from a lite trim of some of the obstructive fans that are shading internal growth terminals. I’ll get around to that today or tomorrow 
. I also plan on brewing up a tea too in the next week when she does start to stretch up.
Had a mishap a few days back with my blumats. I think I got a small fleck of mulch lodged in my cap right under the turn screw. Ultimately I over irrigated, luckily caught it in time. But for a few days the plant had yellowed new growth. She seems to be acclimated now but I still have some drying out to do.
On a different note, outdoor maters are doing well. You can see the difference between the SIP’s, fabric and round plastic container. All plants were started from grocery store bought cherry tomatoes and Roma. Got some yellow and red pears, yellow and red small cherry, purple cherry of which are a larger cherry variety. Around 20 plants total, looks like I definitely have my work cut out for me with pruning and training.
So far, eh… so good. I’ve seen better indoor and out. Hopefully this weekend and coming week things will pick up. Should be upwards to 90f so I’m hopeful for my veggies to get going.
That’s all for now, much
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