SoilBible · Episodes · Ep 042

Ep 042: Season One Review: Lessons From 33 Episodes

· Jeremy closes Season 1 of the 10x10 series with a full meta review — announces the giveaway winners (over 1200 entries), reassesses every core decision from the run, and lays out exactly what will change for Season 2. Key reassessments: mixing genetics in a single bed was a mistake for beginners, IPM and pruning documentation was weak, trimming took too long, vegetables diluted focus, and the finicky over-watered quadrant surprisingly became the yield and quality winner. Announces Season 2 quadrant plan (3x earth boxes Halitosis, 3x 30-gal Halitosis, 3x3 no-till re-amend with soil test, 5-gal automated drip with Niwa controller and feminized seeds) and a possible YouTube membership tier to fund deeper rabbit-hole content like the mushroom tent. The single most valuable meta-episode of Season 1 — every call-back is a hard-earned lesson.

Topics

giveaway winners announcement — four prize tiers · mixed-genetics bed mistake — isolate genetics by container · Halitosis stretcher vs Branson's Royal Revenge non-stretcher · IPM and pruning documentation shortfalls · over-watering the back-right quadrant became the winner · the finicky vegger-winner is not always the flower-winner · trimming delay hurt the series pacing · pulling vegetables out of the 10x10 for Season 2 focus · YouTube membership tier concept for extra content · Season 2 quadrant plan — 3x earth boxes, 3x 30-gal, 3x3 no-till re-amend, 5-gal drip · Niwa grow-room controller with new VPD feature and drip irrigation · starting from seed in small containers vs clone in large containers · clone lineage for Season 2 already rooting in mom tent · keep every mom plant — the discarded one is often the keeper

Sections

0:04 — 2:25

Intro and Giveaway Winners

Jeremy opens Episode 33 as the full review of the 10x10 series and previews what he'll cover: things he'd have done better, a play-by-play of the last round, YouTube channel conversations, and Season 2 quadrant decisions. He then announces the four giveaway winners — over 1200 people signed up. First prize: $300 BuildASoil gift card to D Mack. Second: $200 to Cole. Third: $100 to JD. A last-minute fourth honorary prize of $100 to My Three Pippin because participation was so high.

  1. 1. Confirm winner names by email
  2. 2. Issue BuildASoil.com gift cards at the four prize tiers ($300, $200, $100, $100)
  3. 3. Keep all giveaway participants engaged for Season 2
2:25 — 5:30

Mixed Genetics in One Bed — The Canopy Mistake

Jeremy pulls up a clip and pauses it to reassess the decision to combine Halitosis and Branson's Royal Revenge in mixed beds. Because the two cultivars have very different stretch profiles, the bed had height disparity that hurt the shorter plants by shading them under taller dominant plants. For beginners, he now recommends isolating same genetics to each container, even within a 15-gal. He notes the back-left Quadrant 2 really tried to dominate but the Number 8 in the front ended up being chosen the winner despite being shorter — the greasiness and terpene load put it in the lead even after multiple jar smokes. Halitosis is now confirmed as a stretcher, Branson's as a non-stretcher.

  1. 1. Run single-genetic mono-crops per container for beginners
  2. 2. Match veg length to the actual stretch behavior of the cultivar
  3. 3. Optimize light height for the canopy the cultivar will actually produce
  4. 4. For stretchers (Halitosis), anticipate heavy fill and flip earlier
  5. 5. For non-stretchers (Branson's), veg longer to fill the canopy before flip
5:30 — 7:28

IPM and Pruning Discipline Failures

Jeremy admits the IPM and pruning coverage was the weakest part of the season. He defines IPM as more than spraying — it's identifying problems before they arise, preventative measures, predatory beneficial insects, and preventative foliar sprays. He was distracted by customer back-orders and wasn't disciplined with weekly routines. Pruning shortcuts piled up into labor debt that eventually hurt yield. Going into Season 2 he promises weekly IPM and pruning documentation.

  1. 1. Run a weekly IPM routine whether that's inspecting or spraying
  2. 2. Do preventative foliar sprays before problems appear
  3. 3. Use predatory beneficial insects as part of the program
  4. 4. Prune tucking leaves under the scrog screen on schedule — don't skip
  5. 5. Document IPM weekly for the Season 2 series
7:28 — 11:15

Over-Watering the Back-Right Quadrant — The Finicky Winner

Jeremy replays clips from the over-watering incident in Quadrant 4 (back-right), where he initially over-watered early and then over-watered again trying to correct. He foreshadowed in-episode that 'the finicky one may be the winner' and 'the best vegger may not be the flower winner' — which turned out to be exactly true. He top-dressed, gave a little extra tea dose, bent the top, and pinched to bush the plant out. He identifies AJ (Number 5) as 'my favorite so far' — alien-looking, resin-railed, thick dense nugs, grapey with fuel notes. The final winner (Number 8) has the most complex odor. Branson's Royal Revenge unique odor profile from Dave's breeding combines fuel and fruit; Jeremy leans fuel, Dave leans fruit. The purple, rose, wine-color, plum rainbow fade came through at the end of flower.

  1. 1. When over-watered, stop watering and let the plant rebound into peak health
  2. 2. Wait for full color, turgor, and vigor before flipping to flower
  3. 3. On a stressed plant, give a small extra tea dose — water-available nutrients
  4. 4. Bend the top and pinch to force new bushy growth
  5. 5. Pull leaves that won't fully recover
  6. 6. Top dress the recovering plant
  7. 7. Still take a clone of every plant regardless of veg performance
11:15 — 13:00

Trimming Delay and Discipline Lessons

Jeremy says the trim took three or four weeks on top of the drying time and that delay broke communication with the audience. For Season 2 they're considering a trim party — bringing all material back at once, maybe live-streamed, with multiple staff helping. He broadens this into a general discipline lesson from the garden: if a task takes three to five minutes, do it now; if longer, plan ahead. The garden teaches life lessons if you're willing to listen.

  1. 1. Trim faster — batch all material for a single trim session
  2. 2. Consider a trim party with multiple staff and possible live-stream
  3. 3. Three-to-five minute tasks — do them immediately
  4. 4. Longer tasks — plan ahead and schedule
  5. 5. Check on plants even when running late — give yourself the minute
13:00 — 13:50

Pulling Vegetables Out of the 10x10

Jeremy removes the vegetable quadrant from Season 2. He still loves doing lettuce and tomato but the vegetable farm has a much higher standard (his wife runs it) and the 10x10 audience deserves focus on cannabis. Vegetables will be covered separately. The lettuce demos taught viewers how easy it is to harvest lettuce but didn't do justice to the farm's capability.

  1. 1. Remove the vegetable quadrant from the Season 2 10x10 layout
  2. 2. Cover vegetables in separate dedicated content
  3. 3. Let the vegetable farm content showcase his wife's work at the proper standard
13:50 — 14:20

Keep Every Mom — The Discarded One Is Usually The Keeper

Jeremy throws in a one-line bonus lesson: keep every mom plant. You never know which plant is going to be the best, and very often the plant you decide is not the keeper and discard ends up being the one that would have been the keeper. Don't be sad when you find that out — just keep everything.

  1. 1. Never cull a mom plant based on veg performance alone
  2. 2. Keep every genetic until flower results are fully judged
  3. 3. Take clones of every mom regardless of visual health
14:20 — 16:27

YouTube Membership Program Proposal

Jeremy introduces Dean as the new video editor keeping the channel on schedule. He floats the idea of a YouTube membership tier (similar to Patreon) — his first instinct was 'no, keep it all free', but staff proposed using it to fund a third or fourth weekly video for a narrower paying audience. This would let them pay for Dean's edit position full-time and tackle deeper rabbit-hole projects like the mushroom tent, which may fit better in winter due to heat. He explicitly promises the 10x10 series itself will never go behind a paywall — membership content would be additional (like the 2x2 and longer side-by-sides).

  1. 1. Hire Dean to handle video editing on a routine schedule
  2. 2. Evaluate YouTube membership tier as optional support layer
  3. 3. Keep the core 10x10 series always free for everyone
  4. 4. Use membership revenue to fund extra videos and deeper side-projects
  5. 5. Plan the mushroom tent for winter when heat fits better
16:27 — 20:30

Season 2 Quadrant Plan

Jeremy lays out the Season 2 quadrant plan in detail. Quadrant 1: three Earth Boxes running Halitosis (stepping up from two). Quadrant 3: three 30-gallon containers also running Halitosis — a direct comparison to the Earth Box auto-watering approach because bigger containers are his go-to recommendation. Quadrant 2 (middle): the 3x3 Branson's Royal Revenge no-till bed gets a soil test and a top re-amend to teach second-cycle no-till, covering the evolved Take and Bake recipe. Quadrant 4: he takes out the rack, reuses the Cypress 4 board they were given, and runs three 5-gallon containers with feminized seeds from his personal collection — automated with the Niwa controller running irrigation for the first time. Niwa just added a VPD feature. He'll cover multiple drip-head types and discuss pros and cons. Starting from seed in 5-gal while the big quadrants run clones should keep plant-to-container ratio aligned. Season 2 clones are already rooting in the mom tent.

  1. 1. Quadrant 1 — three Earth Boxes, three Halitosis plants
  2. 2. Quadrant 3 — three 30-gallon containers, three Halitosis plants
  3. 3. Quadrant 2 — 3x3 Branson's Royal Revenge no-till bed, take soil test, re-amend the top, teach second-cycle no-till, review evolved Take and Bake
  4. 4. Quadrant 4 — remove the rack, use Cypress 4 bed disassembled and reassembled on a rack, three 5-gallon containers
  5. 5. Run feminized seeds in Quadrant 4 — let viewers pick three varieties, one seed per container (maybe two to guarantee germination)
  6. 6. Automate Quadrant 4 with Niwa controller, drip irrigation, use the new VPD feature
  7. 7. Cover multiple drip-head types with pros and cons
  8. 8. Start seeds the same week clones go into big quadrants so plant size matches container size at flip
  9. 9. Document mom plant clone cuttings as Episode 1 of Season 2

Notable quotes

"we're human we're always improving every round and they go over a long period of time — I like to be honest with ourselves, address some of our weaknesses so we can improve going forward"

Jeremy's opening framing for the entire review episode — the meta-lesson of the series.

"when we combined the halitosis and the branson's doing mixed genetics in one bed we opened up the pandora's box of possibility for there to be a lot of height issues when it comes to managing the canopy"

His single biggest structural mistake of Season 1 — mixed-genetics canopy management.

"I'd rather you on your first time at least isolate the same genetics to each container, even if it's a 15 gallon you're putting two in there"

The direct beginner recommendation that falls out of the mixed-genetics mistake.

"when you're running from a clone and in mono cropping you can much better predict the future, you know how much it's going to stretch and that really changes the game for yield"

Core argument for mono-cropping from clone over seed starts with mixed genetics.

"integrated pest management means more than just some spray — it means you're integrating a process of identifying problems before they arise, you're doing preventative measures, you could also use predatory beneficial insects"

Jeremy's most complete Season 1 definition of IPM, delivered as part of the reassessment.

"the finicky one may be the winner, and the best vegger may not be the flower winner"

A prediction Jeremy made earlier in the season that turned out to be exactly right — the over-watered back-right became the eventual winner.

"the one that I over watered in the back that might be my keeper — it's like the most vigorous easy to veg plant may not have the best flower, there's not a lot of correlation there"

Expands the finicky-winner principle — no reliable correlation between veg vigor and flower quality.

"keep it, do your best to do that, still take a clone of it"

Immediate follow-on rule to the finicky-winner principle — preserve genetics through cloning regardless.

Glossary terms from this episode

10x10 series · 30-gallon container · Canopy height management · Complex odor profile · Drip head · Drip system · Earth Box · Extra tea dose · Feminized seed · Finicky winner principle · GMO funk · Greasiness · Integrated pest management (IPM) · Keeper / keeper phenotype · Mom tent · Mono-cropping · Mushroom tent · No-till re-amend · over-watering · Plant-to-container-size ratio · Predatory beneficial insects · Preventative foliar spray · Pruning discipline · Quadrant · rainbow fade · Resin rail · Scrog screen · Season 2 (10x10) · Second-cycle no-till · Soil test

Products mentioned

Earthbox · 10-gallon container · 30 gallon container · Halitosis · 15 gallon container · 5 gallon container · BuildASoil.com gift card · Branson's Royal Revenge · AJ (Number 5 pheno) · 100-gallon bed · 3x3 no-till bed · Cypress 4 bed · Niwa grow room controller · Drip irrigation system (Quadrant 4) · Scrog screen · Feminized seed packs · YouTube membership program · Patreon · 2x2 tent content