BakedArea's 1st Grow! 2019 Outdoor/Greenhouse: StrawDiesel x Critical+

[Emilya Green]

when learning what to do with that moisture meter it should be noted that with its inaccuracy there is only one real measurement that it can do. Sticking the probe in the soil usually results in a "moist" reading, but if you continue to go deeper and deeper with the probes, the meter will suddenly peg over to the right side, saying "WET". You have just found the water table. Imagine a small lake in your container who's level continues to drop as the plant uses the water. The top of that water table acts like a diaphragm to pull oxygen deep down into the soil, and it is important to let the level of that water table to fall into the last inch or so of the container before watering again. Yes, sticking the probe in from the bottom will tell you if moisture is down there, but it won't tell you where that line is. Track that wet/moist line as it falls each day and you will get a good idea of the water use of your plants, and you will be able to project ahead as to when the next time you will water should be.

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

when learning what to do with that moisture meter it should be noted that with its inaccuracy there is only one real measurement that it can do. Sticking the probe in the soil usually results in a "moist" reading, but if you continue to go deeper and deeper with the probes, the meter will suddenly peg over to the right side, saying "WET". You have just found the water table. Imagine a small lake in your container who's level continues to drop as the plant uses the water. The top of that water table acts like a diaphragm to pull oxygen deep down into the soil, and it is important to let the level of that water table to fall into the last inch or so of the container before watering again. Yes, sticking the probe in from the bottom will tell you if moisture is down there, but it won't tell you where that line is. Track that wet/moist line as it falls each day and you will get a good idea of the water use of your plants, and you will be able to project ahead as to when the next time you will water should be.

Wow Emilya , again you explain something unknown in such an understandable way that i hear the ping of " getting it" in my distant fears of soil recesses. lol
That makes so much sense amd again why i have to sub you on soil grows. So sorry if it robs all your time and i do try to hold off doing it to you but you are an indispensable member with so much knowledge that it is my 1st thought when i see members with soil grows having issues. I do direct to your threads too. peace and blessings Emilya , thank you

 

[John Wick]

After rereading the post about watering from Emilya, I am seriously thinking I have over watered these ladies this first week of having them. Besides the transplant and breaking those branches, I have a feeling they have too much water. The description given in that thread about how they droop and look with overwatering is evident the past couple days. They got water yesterday. I'm going to back off and keep track of the soil moisture with my probe and finger method.

Has anyone ever tried sticking moisture probes through the fabric pots toward the bottom of the pot? It would be interesting to start tracking that moisture content and aligning that with Emilya's explanation of how the roots stretch more for water when they are allowed to dry out some in the upper sections of the pot.

Don't feel bad baked, most of us start out over-watering.

 

[Mono]

For all your initial issues, I have a feeling everything is going to work out in the end

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

Don't feel bad baked, most of us start out over-watering.

I have avoided soil for nearly 20 years now due to my fear of this issue alone. lol.
have some new living soil to try in my next run as a side by side so no doubt will be in a similar panic during it. lol

 

[CannaMochi]

I broke the main stem of my first plant, too. Taped it back together as best I could using Gorilla Duct tape. It's really sticky and strong. Held well. Plant survived and is being harvested tomorrow. Wish you all the best!

 

[CattleTurd]

Nice setup, I like the greenhouse.

 

[BakedARea]

I have avoided soil for nearly 20 years now due to my fear of this issue alone. lol.
have some new living soil to try in my next run as a side by side so no doubt will be in a similar panic during it. lol

I have an affinity for soil. Always have...since I was a kid. Water...dirt...happy soul! LOL. I will be trying growing without soil in the future. For the experience and comparison. There will always be something growing in my backyard garden now though until I move out of this place or die. Right now, there is a giant trampoline for my kiddos where I could put 3-4 plants in ground and they would be very happy (and HUGE)!

I broke the main stem of my first plant, too. Taped it back together as best I could using Gorilla Duct tape. It's really sticky and strong. Held well. Plant survived and is being harvested tomorrow. Wish you all the best!

Congrats on the harvest! I'm excited to watch this process unfold before my eyes. I appreciate the support. Cheers

Nice setup, I like the greenhouse.

Thanks! I've been happy with it for the most part. Setting up a fan today so that it can help move more air when I have the door closed. It got really hot a couple days. The ladies seemed to like it though. It's a bit short though. I'll likely be replacing it with a larger and taller DIY greenhouse.

Here is update pic from this morning. Still need to tape it up. Will be doing it later this afternoon. They are perking up which tells me there is still living tissue and nutrients are reaching them! I wanted to give them a few days with the elastic tape before meddling with them and possibly causing more damage when I'm putting the tape on. It seems they are scarred over already. I need to come up with a good way to be able to drag/wheel them out for unfiltered sun that won't add too much height. It's already a short little house. I also will be asking for advice on how I should grow the two leggy ones. I would like to try topping one of them. Have a comparison between doing it and not doing it. Thoughts? There's a lot of space between each node. I'm counting 5 nodes. What should I do?

 

[John Wick]

I have an affinity for soil. Always have...since I was a kid. Water...dirt...happy soul! LOL. I will be trying growing without soil in the future. For the experience and comparison. There will always be something growing in my backyard garden now though until I move out of this place or die. Right now, there is a giant trampoline for my kiddos where I could put 3-4 plants in ground and they would be very happy (and HUGE)!


Congrats on the harvest! I'm excited to watch this process unfold before my eyes. I appreciate the support. Cheers


Thanks! I've been happy with it for the most part. Setting up a fan today so that it can help move more air when I have the door closed. It got really hot a couple days. The ladies seemed to like it though. It's a bit short though. I'll likely be replacing it with a larger and taller DIY greenhouse.

Here is update pic from this morning. Still need to tape it up. Will be doing it later this afternoon. They are perking up which tells me there is still living tissue and nutrients are reaching them! I wanted to give them a few days with the elastic tape before meddling with them and possibly causing more damage when I'm putting the tape on. It seems they are scarred over already. I need to come up with a good way to be able to drag/wheel them out for unfiltered sun that won't add too much height. It's already a short little house. I also will be asking for advice on how I should grow the two leggy ones. I would like to try topping one of them. Have a comparison between doing it and not doing it. Thoughts? There's a lot of space between each node. I'm counting 5 nodes. What should I do?

Just a thought, pick up some 3" rubber coaster wheels on swivels, plywood and rope.

Put together and roll them out.

 

[BakedARea]

when learning what to do with that moisture meter it should be noted that with its inaccuracy there is only one real measurement that it can do. Sticking the probe in the soil usually results in a "moist" reading, but if you continue to go deeper and deeper with the probes, the meter will suddenly peg over to the right side, saying "WET". You have just found the water table. Imagine a small lake in your container who's level continues to drop as the plant uses the water. The top of that water table acts like a diaphragm to pull oxygen deep down into the soil, and it is important to let the level of that water table to fall into the last inch or so of the container before watering again. Yes, sticking the probe in from the bottom will tell you if moisture is down there, but it won't tell you where that line is. Track that wet/moist line as it falls each day and you will get a good idea of the water use of your plants, and you will be able to project ahead as to when the next time you will water should be.

Thank you for that great description of the water table. I appreciate you taking the time to share the wisdom. I keep missing some posts. Just saw yours today. Still trying to keep up with the notifications. I have a better moisture meter I will be trying soon! Hopefully that will accurately give me readings.

For all your initial issues, I have a feeling everything is going to work out in the end

Appreciate it! Just going to try and take a breath, step back and not stress too much about them. Enjoy the process and not be so pressed for a perfect plant and grow on the first go round. Got to learn and the way is recognizing mistakes and fixing them. Don't know how to fix them except for everything that you folks have taught me already. Some might say I'm an expert by now!

 

[BakedARea]

Just a thought, pick up some 3" rubber coaster wheels on swivels, plywood and rope.

Put together and roll them out.

I was thinking the same thing. Harbor freight has the furniture movers that are pretty cheap actually and they aren't too tall I guess.

 

[HayStack]

Looks good so far. I'm in for the ride.

 

[BakedARea]

So speaking of height and being limited in this little greenhouse, I would like some advice from those seeing this on how you proceed. Your philosophy and/or methods for what you would do with these plants. Both of these are really stretched out and not much side branching happening. They had just been transplanted the day before I got them. I agree, they are showing signs of deficiencies. I have given them both a foliar treatment (twice) and watered with nutes into the soil. The soil is still showing signs of moisture so I'm not watering yet for another feeding. I need to redact my previous observation of 5 nodes. It is 7 nodes on each plant.

Should I go ahead and top one of them? If so, down to which node? Should I wait to see if they are even females? Whatever advice you may have about how you would proceed with these two would be appreciated.
#1

#2

 

[BakedARea]

Looks good so far. I'm in for the ride.

Hey @HayStack ! Thanks for following along. Just trying not to screw things up!

 

[HayStack]

Hey @HayStack ! Thanks for following along. Just trying not to screw things up!

Just keep doing what you've been doing and you'll be rewarded nicely come October

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

They are tall ladies and the node lengths are very long. If you are still in Veg then maybe supercropping them 90° and allow the lowers to level up with where you have done the bend. Each bud will head up once recovered and a good sized knuckle should form too. If already through the stretch then this is more difficult for her recovery time wise.
i have had to do it on 1 of my Gorilla zkittelz with 5 mains to keep them lower and to allow the lower growth to come up too.

Taping once bent will help while they knuckle up and stop them dropping lower than 90°

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

I did those tops after stretch and a 21 day actual flowering defol. It was a little late but i hesitated thinking the rest could catch up. Your girls could be supercropped easily to reduce heights. If you rub the stem between thumb and forefinger where you want the bend to be , you apply pressure as you rub to soften the stems before bending them over. if you gently crush them as you bend then you can stop at the horizontal you want the canopy to be at. the tape can then be used to help anchor it in place amd also to cover any spkits in the flesh. Phew thats a waffle , sorry. Have a research for supercropping . could be perfect for them and your needs.

 

[HayStack]

So speaking of height and being limited in this little greenhouse, I would like some advice from those seeing this on how you proceed. Your philosophy and/or methods for what you would do with these plants. Both of these are really stretched out and not much side branching happening. They had just been transplanted the day before I got them. I agree, they are showing signs of deficiencies. I have given them both a foliar treatment (twice) and watered with nutes into the soil. The soil is still showing signs of moisture so I'm not watering yet for another feeding. I need to redact my previous observation of 5 nodes. It is 7 nodes on each plant.

Should I go ahead and top one of them? If so, down to which node? Should I wait to see if they are even females? Whatever advice you may have about how you would proceed with these two would be appreciated.
#1

#2

For these two I have to agree with @Ganjagrandaddy You can supercrop them to shorten them up a bit and all the side branches will be tops instead of tiny under branches. I might even make the first break about 2/3 of the way down the stalk if its still soft enough to work it with your fingers. Then let that lay flat and support it with some kind of stick brace. And then take the top 1/3 and supercrop that. Bent it either to the left or right and make another stick brace to hold it up. The only problem with supercropping is that it might be a little too late in the grow season to do that. But hey. Give it a try, you never know. It just might work if your yard can still provide enough full sunlight.

 

[BakedARea]

I did those tops after stretch and a 21 day actual flowering defol. It was a little late but i hesitated thinking the rest could catch up. Your girls could be supercropped easily to reduce heights. If you rub the stem between thumb and forefinger where you want the bend to be , you apply pressure as you rub to soften the stems before bending them over. if you gently crush them as you bend then you can stop at the horizontal you want the canopy to be at. the tape can then be used to help anchor it in place amd also to cover any spkits in the flesh. Phew thats a waffle , sorry. Have a research for supercropping . could be perfect for them and your needs.

Thanks for the insight. I took on these two plants to give me a chance to play. They are definitely younger plants. I will look up supercropping some more and give it a try. Thanks for the visual on the tape. I am more of a visual learner. Looks like you used aluminum tape. At this point, would topping one of them be worth it? Top one and supercrop the other?!

For these two I have to agree with @Ganjagrandaddy You can supercrop them to shorten them up a bit and all the side branches will be tops instead of tiny under branches. I might even make the first break about 2/3 of the way down the stalk if its still soft enough to work it with your fingers. Then let that lay flat and support it with some kind of stick brace. And then take the top 1/3 and supercrop that. Bent it either to the left or right and make another stick brace to hold it up. The only problem with supercropping is that it might be a little too late in the grow season to do that. But hey. Give it a try, you never know. It just might work if your yard can still provide enough full sunlight.

Thanks. Yeah, they are still young and they should be soft enough to give it a go! It's a worth a shot. We have a long grow season. Won't be seeing any frost for quite some time. It will be interesting to see if the greenhouse will keep them warm enough as winter approaches.

 

[BakedARea]

Ok...I was about to do the supercropping and then I got psyched out! I started thinking about when the best time to do it is. In the morning to allow them a full day of energy to heal? Or is it better in the evening? Or does it matter at all?

Since I hesitated, I decided to do something else. I pulled this one back a little bit more. You like my pot anchor? I'm sure these won't last too long but it would be cool to find out. It's an easy way to anchor the lines. Also, the area where those branches snapped are healing up! It is starting to look darker and looks like it is thicker. Maybe I'm seeing things. I was going to remove that flexible plastic I used to wrap it in tape. I got nervous about taking it off. LOL I think tomorrow, I'm going to just tape over it to minimize. Thoughts?

20190807_191158.jpg

• BakedARea
• Aug 7, 2019

20190807_191139.jpg

• BakedARea
• Aug 7, 2019

20190807_191135.jpg

• BakedARea
• Aug 7, 2019

20190807_191558.jpg

• BakedARea
• Aug 7, 2019

20190807_191501.jpg

• BakedARea
• Aug 7, 2019