Planning an experiment - Would like some input

[BrokrnEyes]

Hey guys, I'm planning a experiment once I get my aerogarden back from my white widow. I have 2 aerogarden units, both LED extra and ultra models ( The only difference between the two models is that the ultra as an LCD screen) and an idea popped into my head today. My sister is really getting into the essential oils produced by young living who claim a pretty high cultivation standard ( not a plug! ) and while doing some research online about them, I came across a few oil's that are recommended in the garden to ward off pests and atleast 2 that are of particular interest to me, Lemongrass and lavender.

From what I read, the lemongrass was used by an individual whose house plant been shocked and was looking like he was nearly dead, the poster claims that after sprain his plant a few days later not only did it come back but in subsequent weeks it came back stronger and more vibrant than before it was stressed.

The other, lavender, is recommended as a sort of fertilizer.

My plan is to have one unit using the essential oil S, Levander as a fertilizer supplement in the lemongrass to be used if in the event of stress or as a booster while the other unit will be the control. Originally I was planning on using tomatoes but then the thought occurred to me to consider using plants that are genetically close enough to cannibus to be a reliable test subject without having to waste one of my seeds and whose legal status isn't in question, can anyone recommend a plant that meets what I'm looking for?

 

[sshamish]

hops are the closest related plants to cannabis, you can actually graft cannabis onto a hops root stock, so if your experiment goes well you can keep the sternest plant with the biggest root system, graft a clone on and have a supercharged ready to rock plant, able to focus growth above the ground as there is already a well established rootstock, the plants cvan take onb some of hops characteristics though, it may become almost a vine which is really interesting to watch grow, good luck!!

 

[sshamish]

interesting to hear about the essential oils though! ill have to do some research myself and see if it could be useful in my garden, thanks for the idea!!

 

[BrokrnEyes]

Problem guys, I'm actually planning on going all out and maybe even doing a video journal to compare the two units. That thing about hops is interesting, I wonder if anyone has ever tried to graft entire female plant to a hops plant for the sole purpose of Vining it, would be a rather interesting training technique though how big does the root system typically get for hops? I remember seeing commercials for her I think it was Budweiser in those guys are having give up on ladders to take the hops down. I mean I could just let the experiments go until the plant reached 2 feet ( The upper limit for the grill hood ).

 

[spacef]

I've read a bit about medical essential oils when I was interested by the subject.
Any book about medicinal essntial oils will remind you that they are dangerous, and can burn your skin if they are not diluted in oil (like olive oil or this kind of alimentary oils - it can depend on the essential oil you want to dilute.

I am not an expert, but one can think about them as closer to alcohol rather than oil that can be used for food.

They will burn the soil and plants the same way if you apply them without caution. It is like pouring alcohol in the soil.

Esential oils can be added to your floor cleaning solution for your house, in order to ** burn ** mites, bacterias and what not. **Burn** is the key word.

Some mixes of essential oils are sold as "purifiers", they will repell or kill mites etc. But some smell may attract them.

a few examples:
- Lavender: the smell of lavender is supposed to repulse ants.
- Mint: attract most insects, caterpillars etc: outdoor, the best idea is to have mint growing close your plants, so they will go to the mint and leave your plants alone (not all insects, but many, especially the flying ones, caterpillars etc).
- All the "mosquito" repellant plants: i don't know the english name, but they are plenty. They all have a "citrus" smell (verbenna for example: pretty efficient, i have a big one on my balcony to repell mosquitoes in summer - it seems to work ok).


I don't think essential oils properties differ from the properties of the plant they are made with. Essential oils will only make the smell much stronger. They are highly concentrated active matter : the risk is to simply kill the plants if you apply them without caution.


I would not personnally, but I do not know the subject except a few books I've read about essential oils, how to use them, which is good for what etc; i would not know the dosage and in which oil it is best to dilute when it comes to plants.

The best to try would be to use them as intended, ie as perfumes in the air (with a diffuser), rather than additives in the water/soil.

I'm not doing that inside my tent until someone does it sucessfully
I perfume my house, not inside the tent which has filters on all opening, and if the plants like it, good. But I am afraid that essential oils molecules will cover the plants and change the taste or other properties. (city pollution is already enough....).


In conclusion! might be useful, but dosage is key, as well as being prepared to loose some plants in the experimental process.

Good luck ! let us know if you find more.

 

[BrokrnEyes]

Yeah that's why I'm going to be as scientific about this as possible, measuring ph, ppm, recording the condition of the test plants (leaves, flowers/fruit, stems, roots).

Currently my plan is to do this in 3 phases (which granted will extend this experiment considerably):

Phase 1:
I'll be using 1 fruiting plant (tomato), a herbal plant (likely a variety of basil) and a flower plant (not sure what kind yet), the idea being to be able to see any differences in leaves, flowers and fruit compared to the plants in the control group.

Phase 2:
A single hops plant ( Plus one for control) due to hops and cannibus being related. Obviously growing hops in AH'e means I can't let them grow to maturity but I imagine that by 2 feet I'll have a pretty clear comparison between the experiment and control.

Phase 3: a actual cannibus plant.

Still have awhile before I get my main AG back from my first grow do I'll be able to hammer out the details more so I'm open to suggestions and ideas on how to get the most out of this experiment.

 

[spacef]

I've made some research and did find a lot of things for essential oils as a repellant for the garden.

The following is from a french website (you find an awful lot in french websites if you look for " huiles essentielles + engrais ) (engrais = nutrient, but i found nothing about using essential oils to feed plants. Only for insect repelling)...

I Hope it helps, there is a lot of information. It is google translated, but i hope it is understandable. I still did not find anything about oils as plant food.

Use of essential oils in vegetable garden

Essential oils and organic to protect our gardens
Protect your gardens and vegetable gardens by using the benefits of essential oils and repellent plants. This is surprising but quite possible.

essential oils and organic vegetable garden
We know the benefits of essential huilles to treat certain illness, pain ... Yet their use is still unknown in gardening.

Indeed essential oils are increasingly used to avoid us some inconvenience, but we can also use the vegetable garden for beautiful vegetables. Eating healthy vegetables not polluted by herbicides and pesticides, preserve our health.

And yes there are many essential oils that specifically treat our plants, vegetables and fruits. We can naturally stop the invasion of insects and plant diseases harmful to our gardens and vegetable gardens.

In addition to using its oils to treat certain parasite and disease, we can also place, as prevention, repellent plants in our gardens. The most effective are lavender, sage, rosemary, mint (***) and santolina. Alternatively, the dosage to be complied is 4 to 8 drops of essential oil to 3 liters of irrigation water.

The use of essential oil is done in two categories: those that promotes a repellent against insects (insecticides or repellents) and fungicides that fight the disease cons of plants in the garden and vegetable garden, including disease fungal.



How to prepare your spraying.

Beware the water quality is essential for success. MUST BE rainwater at a temperature between 15 and 25 ° (C)


The essential oil does not mix directly with water. We must therefore start any treatment by performing a preparation: mix in a saucer number of helpful drops: 20 drops of essential oil per liter of final potion in a few drops of dishwashing liquid or a spoonful of black soap fungicide preparations.

This preparation can be sprayed as after adding a liter of rain water and mixing well.

To promote the dissemination and adherence of all essential oil treatments can be prepared a clay milk. This clay will capture and integrate the active substance contained in the essential oil to ensure a perfect dispersion. Its grip ability will help him stay as long as possible in contact with the leaves, much above that below, increasing the desired effect. Choose a superfine clay (white or green) to avoid clogging the filters sprayer.
For milk, mix one teaspoon of clay in the rain. Beat with wire whisk until completely dissolved. Then pour the essential oil emulsified with tentioactif in the sprayer. Shake well, it's ready!


When spraying?

Choose the days without wind, mild temperature and without rain.
In summer it must be treated later in the evening if a little humidity returns or very early morning. Above all, never treat in the heat!


Some precautions

Essential oils are not innocuous products and should be handled carefully, especially those that are aggressive enough to the skin and mucous membranes such as garlic, chili, street ... Wear long sleeves, masks, goggles a hat to protect you effectively. You wash thoroughly with soap after spraying.

le potager d'Aurélie: Utilisation des huiles essentielles au potager

From a site for organic gradening or gardening without chemicals. Can't give you the link for the above quote because it is the official link of a city-hall (ie, very official).

Essential oils can replace stuff like Mosanto's Round up: good

Essential oils are the probable solution of the future [for killing weeds]. Pine Essential oil prevents sprouting, as is the case in nature where there is no grass under the pine needles. Same for the essential oil of basil. They are found everywhere, pharmacy, Bio-coop....

The fight against pests

Chemical insecticides also kill all other insects. For example, one against aphids also killed ladybugs,eventhough they eat aphids. In addition, a resistance phenomenon appears: chemicals contain only two or three active molecules and insect DNA can isolates them and adapts gradually .

On the other hand, essential oils, such as geranium, contains 250 active molecules. It is impossible for insect DNA adapt and isolate them, given their numbers. It must nevertheless comply with the prescribed doses. Moreover, their persistence is low: they disappear in two or three weeks. The book Eric PETIOT, "Caring for plants with essential oils' TERRAN editions, explains techniques to use for it.

(***) as said and experimented, Mint plant (the one for morocan tea: Mentha Spicata, or Nah Nah) WILL attract many insects, and they will leave the other plants alone because of this. That's what it is good for.

Gernium is a flower that is known to be the best natural insect reppellent. It works better than any citrus flavoured plant for mosquitoes. But you need to like geraniums

 

[spacef]

Looks like essential oils are "the thing" for natural pest fighting.

 

[BrokrnEyes]

Yeah they are, plus you get the added benefit of using them as a scent mask for the grow.

I'm still very confident in th m not so much being plant food but rather been more of a " booster " if you will. My cousin who got into these said that after using thieves oil blend to clean the family dishes she dumped it in their garden on some flowering plants that actually lost their flowers , apparently a few days later the plants began to regrow their flowers( and I have no reason to doubt her). I'd say that alone is worth looking into for cannibus application. Imagining harvesting bud, spraying thieves oil on the plant and a few days later buds start growing again. This is what I want to find out, if these oil's from this company can really do what I've been hearing.

 

[spacef]

I'm very interested to know more about any development you bring to this area. Very interesting.

 

[BrokrnEyes]

I still have about 30 days left on the white widow grow but when that's done I'll be starting this up, still need to figure out a flower for that part of the experiment (granted I can use the tomato flowers but I want a flowering plant whose flowers arnt self pollen sting and it only takes a breeze to do that). Maybe when I get the experiment going in earnest 420mag could sticky it, considering the ultimate goal of the experiment.

 

[spacef]

Hello brokrneyes,

do you have - or know where to find - a list of the essential oils against insects/pests etc ?
ie, which one is good for what ?
Also, may be they also give advice on which oils to **not** mix together ? (sometimes, i think it can have an adverse effect, or nullify the expected effects, at least when talking about human health/aromathérapy).

Thanks

 

[spacef]

PS? that's all I've found myself:

ticks: essential oils of citronella, lemongrass, sage and thyme

Mosquitoes: essential oils of lavender, citronella, lemongrass and tansy

Flies + Horseflies: essential oils of lavender, lemon grass, peppermint and tansy

Essential oils to put into your diffuser: caution: use only essential oils, 100% pure and natural

Lemongrass essential oil: insect (ants, aphids, flies, gnats, mosquitoes, moths) and deodorizing

Eucalyptus essential oil of lemon: insect repellent and deodorant

Lemongrass essential oil: insect (flea beetles, aphids, mosquitoes, ticks), anti-stress and anti-depressive

Lavender essential oil: insect repellent (spiders, flies, mosquitoes, beetles, fleas, aphids, mites, whiteflies)

Oil of Lavender: insect repellent (spiders, mosquitoes), calming, antidepressant

Geranium essential oil: insect repellent, relaxing and balancing

Oil of Peppermint: bug repellent (mosquitoes, ants, caterpillars, beetles, flies, gnats, lice, mites)

A mosquito recipe essential oil
Here is an easy recipe to make 100 ml of mosquito repellent :

40g essential oil (HE) citronella
20g HE Lavender
20g HE geranium
20g HE Peppermint
20ml vegetable grape seed oil
80ml floral water Witch Hazel
5 g of grapefruit seed extract
3g of Vitamin E
1/2 teaspoon glycerin

Shake hard before using the lotion.

One can also use , instead of a diffuser, pieces of cotton or fabric with a few drops of the chosen oil or recipe.

 

[BrokrnEyes]

I have primarily been looking for information regarding essential oil application to the plant itself rather than as pest control to which there seems to be 20 sites regarding essential oil pest control to everyone regarding essential oil for plants use (but they are there). I think this partially has a lot to do with the quality of the oil, from what I have found so far, Unless The oil is extracted in a certain method, and was grown 100% organically ( and I mean, 100%, i.e. no pesticides herbicides or chemical fertilizers and that the soil never at those used on it ) then when the crop this processed into oil, any residue of the pesticide herbicide or fertilizer will end up in the oil, and since the oil is highly concentrated essence of the plant, any contaminants are also highly concentrated (just as much if not more so when it was first applied to the plant in the first place). So naturally, seeing as I am looking for essential oil application to benefit the plants were out of them as pest control, I can imagine anyone else would want to make sure that whatever they were using did not have any " Secret ingredients".

I'm considering brushing up on my bushman skills ( by that I mean actually getting them) or finding some way of testing the resulting plants from this experiment for any sort of toxicity from the essential oils ( if anyone can suggest a testing method, I am all ears ).

 

[BrokrnEyes]

OK thought I would resurrect this thread a bit as I'll be starting the experiment in the next week or so.

I have decided on five different plants ( and will be going one for each, one in the control group and one in the test group ),

They are:
Cherry tomato - newly this is a two-for-one deal. I have seeds that I harvested from a previous arrow garden kits that are heirloom GMO free and would like to see if those seeds are viable after about nine months. In addition, there heirloom GMO free status gives me a good natural plant to test the oils on.

Thai basil - I have grown this plant several times and know it well enough that I will be able to tell ataglance how the plant is doing in the experiment versus the control. I am also very familiar with the plants aroma and will be able to tell by that as well. Plus concerning that it is a culinary herb, it is a plant that naturally gets clipped a lot and this is a prime test subject for the lemongrass essential oil ( see below ).

Chocolate mint - yes there is a mint plant that is supposed to have the same taste as when you bite into a York peppermint Patty. This plant is a hybrid and as well as being part of the mint family is a pretty hardy plant, both of these reasons why am going with it in this experiment.

Oregano - another hardy plants in one that has a very potent aroma. The main reason why am going with this one however is because we actually have oregano essential oil and would like to see what if any benefit giving a plant the essential oil of itself will do (please no feeding cows to Cows puns). The reason for this is that I've heard that in France they are producing a cannabis essential oil, which granted it's in France and likely would be just as difficult as to get seeds from overseas at the moment if not more so but my partner has expressed an interest in a central oils as well and suggested the possibility of getting the equipment together to make her own for the purpose of making cannabis essential oil. Depending on where the oil would be located in the plant, it could be something as simple as say harvesting the bud and tossing the rest of the plants into the essential oil apparatus to extract the precious few drops of cannabis essential oil for the next grow if it turns out that using oregano essential oil and oregano plant has benefits that warrant such investment.

Cilantro - I won't lie… I have to grow pods from Erbe kits that are both salon for that kind a want to get rid of. The first time that I grew cilantro however I recall it being a pretty fast growing plants.


In addition to the arrow gardens, I haven't have a cloner buckets and so will also be in court looting that in the experiment to see what if any essential oils could be used to help increase reproduction. Likely be testing cloning out on the mint, basil, and tomato plants.


The central oils I plan on using:

Lavender: from what I read lavender is recommended as a type of all-around " fertilizer " and that it's recommended that you mix lavender into the soil. I'm thinking it benefits the root systems of plants which is always a positive thing.

Lemongrass: From what I have found, and even when I have observed ( as my father used lemongrass on his coleus plants In his aero garden a month or two ago after he trimmed them down quite a bit, the plants came back pretty aggressively a day or two after he sprayed them. This likely means that it is a great post trimming essential oil to use On plants to speed the healing process that plant has to undergo after defoliation. If this does indeed prove to be the case, the benefits are obvious and may even help open up say auto flowers to more aggressive training techniques.

Thieves: this is an oil blend ( with a rather interesting backstory!) that, as I said earlier comment, that my cousin used after washing dishes ( I have since found out that I was mistaken, she said that she washed her vegetables with it) and then dump the water into her garden plants that have lost their flowers. A few days later the flowers had returned. For cannabis application this would be amazing for plants that are harvested ( carefully). You harvest the colas, then spray the plant and a few days later buds begin to form again. Considering though that's the plan starts cannibalizing nitrogen from the leaves with blue nutrients, it may be better to instead use lemongrass to treat the plant and then switch it back it's a vegetative for a few weeks before going back into flower but regardless it would revolutionize how long it takes between harvests.

Oregano: This essential oil is being used for the sole purpose that I have oregano plants to tested on. It is my hope that the oregano that is treated with oregano essential oil will benefit from it in someway, I E being more potent, better smell and taste , growing faster, or some other benefits. If this works, and someone can get a hold of cannabis essential oil in the future the same benefits might be had.

I plan on doing a combination of spraying the plants and addint the oil directly to the roots via the reservoir. Considering the volatility of essential oils, I would expect that any such loyal added to the reservoir with moderate enough bubbling from an air stone will diffuse in the space The roots are in fairly rapidly and be absorbed by the roots via the humidity created. Doing this method, I will only use 1-3 drops per gallon to avoid waste as well as overexposing the routes to essential oil.

Royals are we using at the root level: lavender, oregano
In spray bottle: lemongrass, thieves

Also I should point out, I will be using the oregano essential oil directly in the reservoir likely a week or two before the experiment concludes to see if there is a negative impact in using oils directly at the root level other than lavender. For example, I add the oregano essential oil to the reservoir and all but the oregano plants display signs of stress or die.

With the exception of plant nutrients and the plant revolution great white (which I am using as a standard from this point forward and all my growing projects, both because the microbes contained within are found in nature in the soil to begin with, and also because the plants clearly benefit from it ) I will only be using the essential oils as attitudes. I will not be using such things as super thrive. That will likely come in stage two.

For the nutrients, I'm bouncing between using flora nova and the last remaining bottle I have of miracle grow. The reason being that the miracle grow is an all in one and so the plants would be able to transition at their own pace whereas with the floor at nova, once I switch over to bloom all the plants would have to follow suit. Any thoughts on this point?

 

[spacef]

very interesting