Ep 011: Post-Transplant Check-in and Environment Walkthrough
· Four days after transplant into the 10x10 tent, Jeremy walks the four quadrants showing plant turgor, cover crop progress, mycelium on the mulch, early watering rhythm, and container-to-plant sizing philosophy. He breaks down watering volumes (5% per event via Chapin sprayer), explains why he keeps the Earth Box reservoirs empty with living soil, and narrates plant-health signs (droopy vs turgor, yellowing vs burnt tips) so viewers can diagnose their own beds. The episode ends with an environment FAQ covering Timber grow lights, PAR/DLI/VPD targets, humidifier-fan cycling, oscillating-fan maintenance, and a teaser that the flip to flower is coming soon.
Topics
post-transplant walkthrough of four quadrants in the 10x10 tent · Earth Box reservoir rules when running living soil · top-water vs bottom-water rhythm after transplant · calculating watering volume as 5% of soil volume with a pump sprayer · reading plant health — turgor, droop, yellowing, burnt tips · cover crop and Kashi mycelium activation under the mulch layer · shiitake mushroom log from a local mushroom farm · container-to-plant-size relationship in living soil · Timber grow lights — 50W Cobb and Cypress 8 strip fixtures · DLI, PAR and VPD basics for veg stage · humidifier and exhaust-fan cycling with a lung room · oscillating fan maintenance and front-plate removal
Sections
Quadrant 1 walkthrough and seedling racks
Jeremy opens episode nine introducing quadrant one with the Timber Cobs fixture. He answers viewer questions about why tomatoes and peppers are still on the unlit seedling racks — they rotate trays to address the 'weakest link' because the greenhouse is still too cold. He notes the light-shaded half is visibly weaker and suggests small LED shop lights under each rack as an optional upgrade.
- 1. Walk into quadrant one and identify the Timber Cobs light
- 2. Point out the seedling racks still carrying tomatoes and peppers
- 3. Rotate trays regularly so light-starved halves catch up
- 4. Address the 'weakest link' — cold greenhouse vs warm indoor low-light
- 5. Note option of small under-rack LED shop lights as improvement
Earth Boxes 3.0 halitosis and Kashi mulch
Jeremy shows two Earth Boxes in quadrant one, both running the halitosis cultivar. The front box is a recycled BuildASoil 3.0 with craft blend and turned-in cover crop, the back one is fresh 3.0. He reveals mycelium from a gro-kashi top-dress under the mulch — taught to him by Alan from gro-kashi — and explains his rule that with BuildASoil you must let the Earth Box reservoir go dry between waterings to keep oxygen in the root zone.
- 1. Identify Earth Box 3.0 recycled and fresh units running halitosis
- 2. Top-dress Craft Blend and turn in cover crop when recycling soil
- 3. Lay Kashi blend on top of mulch to activate biological breakdown
- 4. Water down the reservoir hole one time, then watch for dry-down
- 5. Let the reservoir fully empty before watering again (BuildASoil rule)
- 6. Future plan — pile a full bag of compost on top for feeder roots
3x3 bed watering math and plant tags
Jeremy details the watering routine on the 3x3 no-till bed — two events in four days, each calibrated at 5% of the 70 gallons of soil (3.5 gallons) delivered through a Chapin pump sprayer with a 1 gallon-per-minute nozzle. He peels back the mulch to show moist soil, cover-crop shoots, and decomposing pinched leaves. He walks through diagnosing droop, yellowing lower leaves, and burnt tips, then identifies the four plants by tag — two Branson's Royal Revenge plus two halitosis.
- 1. Water the bed once with 3.5 gal (5% of 70 gal soil) via Chapin sprayer
- 2. Use a 1 gallon-per-minute nozzle for controlled even delivery
- 3. Wait four days, water a second equal volume after humidifier ran dry
- 4. Lift mulch edges to verify moisture reaches corners
- 5. Inspect leaves — turgor up means healthy, droop means over/under-water
- 6. Watch for burnt tips on edges after dry-down (salt concentration)
- 7. Watch for yellowing + fade on lower leaves (over-watering)
- 8. Label each plant with plant tags for tracking
Shiitake mushroom log and local mushroom farm
Jeremy introduces a shiitake mushroom log — a half-log sample from a local organic mushroom farm BuildASoil works with, the same source for their mulch. He explains it is a sawdust-manufactured wood-eating log that will be offered in limited batches. Soak in water, place in good conditions, and the shiitake will fruit. He notes CO2 off-gassing is a mentioned side-benefit for Growers but BuildASoil is positioning it purely as a food product.
- 1. Receive shiitake sample log from the local mushroom farm partner
- 2. Soak the log in water to activate fruiting
- 3. Place in nice conditions (consistent humidity, indirect light)
- 4. Harvest shiitake as they fruit, product will be offered in limited batches
Quadrant 3 one-cubic-foot bags, four recipes
Jeremy visits quadrant three where each of four BuildASoil recipes fills a 7.5 gallon one-cubic-foot bag with one plant. All four are Branson's Royal Revenge for a cleaner comparison. He teaches turgor as the primary post-transplant health sign and warns on the container-to-plant-size relationship — expect plants to double after the flip, and stepping up from 7.5 gal to 15 gal yields roughly 60% more, not linear. Since transplant, each bag has received only the initial transplant solution plus two 5% waterings (about 0.375 gal each).
- 1. Open one bag of each of the four BuildASoil recipes — 3.0, Ollie, Malibu, and the Light mix
- 2. Transplant one Branson's Royal Revenge into each 7.5 gal bag
- 3. Monday transplant then top-water with the initial transplant solution
- 4. Water every other day at roughly 5% of soil volume (~0.375 gal)
- 5. Plan for plants doubling in height after flip — manage pot sizing accordingly
Quadrant 4 tomato vining, peppers, salad greens
Jeremy moves to quadrant four to show a tomato that has been rolled onto a vertical string using BuildASoil vine clips — pinching the string in the clip wedge to hold the stem. He removes a sucker below a fruiting branch to keep energy central. He notes the pepper plant has doubled in size after being moved into brighter light, harvested lettuce is regrowing, over-seeded greens are competing, and teases a paper-pot hand-plow transplanter for later episodes. A shoutout to Kale regrowing after deep leaf removal.
- 1. Tie a vertical string above the tomato stem and wind stem around it
- 2. Use BuildASoil specialty clips to pinch the string and hold branches
- 3. Remove all lower branches up to the last branch below the fruit
- 4. Identify suckers between main stem and fruiting branches, pinch off
- 5. Move pepper plant to the brighter light section of the tent
- 6. Harvest lettuce without cutting too deep to allow regrowth
- 7. Plan paper-pot transplanter demo for future episode
Environment FAQ — Timber lights, PAR, DLI, VPD
Jeremy answers the FAQ on grow tech. He runs multiple Timber Grow Lights fixtures — a 600W Cobb array made of twelve 50W Cobbs (dimmable, currently maxed) plus two Timber Cypress 8 strip-style fixtures that are now his favorites. He measures roughly 500 PAR about five feet above the canopy, which he deems ideal for this veg stage. He explains DLI (daily lighting integral) as a function of power times hours, introduces PAR, and tells viewers to study VPD (vapor pressure deficit). Grow tent is held at 78°F — when the temp trips, the exhaust fan pulls in fresh CO2-rich air, which drops humidity and triggers the commercial humidifier on a 5-gallon reservoir.
- 1. Set the tent thermostat to trigger the exhaust fan at 78 F
- 2. Fan-on pulls fresh CO2-rich air from outside via passive ventilation
- 3. Fresh-air intake drops humidity and triggers the commercial humidifier
- 4. Humidifier feeds from a 5 gal reservoir (~1 day of runtime with heavy fan cycling)
- 5. For lighter cycling, reduce fan trigger frequency; for more, humidify the lung room
- 6. Look up manufacturer PPFD charts or buy a PAR meter to set hours/day
- 7. Study DLI and VPD for better environmental control
Oscillating fan maintenance and teaser to flower
Jeremy explains he zip-ties the oscillating fan to the rack (normally to the top corner of the tent), will add more fans as flower approaches, and removes the front grill plate because the plastic gears inside are prone to breaking under moisture and grill weight. He leaves the rear cage on because it will cut you. He cleans each fan between grows and blows them out with a compressor. He closes with the teaser that the flip to flower is coming in the next few episodes.
- 1. Zip-tie the oscillating fan into the top corner of the tent
- 2. Remove the front plate to reduce load on the plastic oscillation gears
- 3. Leave the rear cage intact — it protects fingers
- 4. Between grows, disassemble and clean the fan, blow out dust with a compressor
- 5. Replace failed fans under the BuildASoil return/refund/exchange policy
Notable quotes
"the main key is that we're addressing the weakest link"
Jeremy explains why rotating seedling trays in a lit tent is better than moving them to a cold greenhouse — always fix the limiting factor.
"you can use our soil but you must let the reservoir go dry — that keeps air in there"
Jeremy's firm rule on running BuildASoil living soil in an Earth Box, directly contradicting the manufacturer's full-reservoir recommendation.
"I don't want to create a habitat where it is excessively moist — that leads to anaerobic conditions, there can be fungus gnat problems"
Jeremy skipping a watering after lifting the mulch and finding moisture in the corners of the 3x3 bed.
"see how it's holding itself up — it's got a nice, it's not droopy and it's not yellowing with like a fade"
Jeremy teaching turgor as the primary visual sign of a successful post-transplant plant.
"we want to keep that ecosystem and relationship alive — and it'll reward us with really high yield"
Jeremy's living-soil philosophy, contrasting with the hydro paradigm of forcing small containers.
"in hydro you can kind of force-feed them — I have to ask them"
Jeremy's central metaphor — in living soil you ask the biology to feed the plant, you don't push nutrients on them.
"there's hundreds of videos, lots of information — it'll make you a better grower to learn about this stuff"
Jeremy urging viewers to go study DLI and VPD properly rather than rely on a single episode summary.
"sometimes it's not about the price of the equipment — it's about the plastic waste and just trying to keep things as long as we can"
Jeremy justifying his meticulous fan cleaning and teardown routine as an environmental ethic, not a cost-saving one.
Glossary terms from this episode
5 percent watering rule · 50 watt Cobb chip · 60 percent yield step-up rule · ambient tent lighting · anaerobic soil conditions · between-grow fan maintenance · burnt leaf tips · container-to-plant-size relationship · cover crop pinch and drop · DLI (daily lighting integral) · droopy plant diagnosis · Earth Box reservoir dry-down rule (BuildASoil) · fan front-plate removal · feeder roots · flip to flower · fresh air CO2 delivery · fungus gnat conditions · halitosis · humidifier-fan cycle · hydro vs living soil paradigm · Kashi mycelium activation · keeper selection · LED strip fixture (horticultural) · lung room · minimal training approach · mushroom CO2 synergy · old seed germination failure · overseeding (cover crop and salad) · paper pot transplanter · PAR (photosynthetic active radiation)
Products mentioned
BuildASoil Craft Blend · PAR meter · Zip ties · BuildASoil 3.0 Living Soil · Chapin pump sprayer · Timber Cypress 8 · Timber Cobb grow light (600W, twelve 50W Cobbs) · Earth Box 3.0 · BuildASoil Ollie soil recipe · BuildASoil Malibu soil recipe · BuildASoil Light mix (lighter recipe) · Kashi / gro-kashi mulch activator · Cover crop seed (general) · Local mulch (organic, from mushroom farm) · Shiitake mushroom log (BuildASoil sample) · 1 gallon-per-minute spray nozzle · Active Air commercial humidifier · Oscillating fan (generic tent fan) · Exhaust fan (tent inline fan) · Plant tags (green, labelled)