*pre-edited - stoner ramblings - beware!*
I've watched those, but I run a lot of regs. That means either having a multi-plant bed that's too full or has empty spots. I am quick vegging (I thought) for only a month, but I am trying 3 weeks on a few plants. I just like growing in the pots, and I'd like to figure a way to make it work. If I am growing the plants for a month or longer in cups then 1g pots waiting on them to sex, they are growing in something other than the living soil with worms I guess? I am going straight from a mini beer-cup to the 5g to see if that helps. Anyway, I watch and learn, but I don't always completely trust the guy that wants to sell me another take-n-bake kit
Thankfully he also tells people to source local vs ordering it online from him. I like that about him. I personally just scoop soil out the bed for my other pots. So its living soil but I try to keep the worms out of it.
I can understand the theory of the soil being depleted by the plants, but I want to see the testing on the 5g he is doing now. and some of the stuff he wants to try - he is also proving that it is theory that you need a big bed. There is every likelyhood that he will find that the 5g do great as well, and it's the system, not the volume.
Its not that you need a big bed, its just that a big bed is less work. With my bed being automatically watered I dont need to topdress them. All i do is water them and mulch them. Have you ever looked into Soil Food Web Gardening by Dr. Elaine Ingham?
Here's the part he doesn't cover - I am counting on worms and microbes to process the food for the plant. If I keep the worms alive and keep adding top dressings, castings, compost etc. throughout the grow - aren't they just continuously processing what the plants need?
They are, but not anywhere near fast enough. Adding in some Kashi can help them along but in 5 gallons you would proly still need to feed them.
I drop beans every month in a multi-tent rotation and one thing I am trying besides dumping and reammending is having a few pots out of the rotation. I cut the main taproot out of the center but they still have worms, whatever cover crop is left. I just keep them moist and let the worms work on the roots and other dead and dying stuff for a month. I scraped the mulch layer off just before planting, added a layer of compost and a layer of castings then just put the seedling straight into the 5g.
Back when I did 25 gallon pots, I would have 4 in growing and 4 out resting. Worked well for about 6 years, then i had to dump and, remix and amend it.
I have one tent that is going through a re-ammmended grow and it seems fine. I have plenty of smoke and am juist replennishing my buffet with a little of this and that so trying stuff that doesn't work won't bother me.
I am looking to get into breeding some strains for myself. Thats why I popped all these seeds.