Cape Mountainside Bay Garden: Transkei Sativa Soil Grow

[yogi gardener]

by ten or so i should be able to make short indiscriminate sounds and vague gestures only or so my calculations tell me. cheers.

 

[Carmen Ray]

wish you were here 3rd cup heating up atm, its amazing, 10mg per cup too lol. mood: Saturday chill. the bricks (or clay shards, rocks heck i have a 5lb hammer head heating atm.) w my canopies the heat is trapped. though i could cover w plastic, sheets etc to hold in more heat. a little go a long way believe it or not. ive got two bricks on clay shards w more shard on top five feet apart, the hibachi is almost touching my ground orchid container. adding stones next. skirting mid to low 30°f here.
keeps turning the plants towards the purps though

Yogi, 30 degrees below is scary cold, way too cold to contemplate. Pretty purple plants though

 

[Backlipslide]

30 degrees below

Sounds like any given day for us, walking to the corner store for a slushy!!

 

[yogi gardener]

Yogi, 30 degrees below is scary cold, way too cold to contemplate. Pretty purple plants though

30° good lord no please no -30° lol whoo im good but not that good

 

[Carmen Ray]

30° good lord no please no -30° lol whoo im good but not that good

misread that hahaha, still 30 is cold enuff!

ADVICE NEEDED: This is my Inzane ITM clone still in a transitionary state. I hope I am doing the right thing with the training. I snipped small branches off the main stem and I hope that by opening the branches out in this way I am exposing new branches so that they can develop too. I'm not confident that I know what I am doing here. Comments would be gratefully received.

 

[yogi gardener]

that will be a beast Carmen im sitting here chuckling away sipping coffee looking at that. a quad sativa w each branch loaded with secondary branches - about what, 8 of them? yeah 32 colas thus far and most likely each main branch will be growing for a while so possibly a whole lot more cola sites. the trimming looks good, its amazing how it will fill in and then we look and wonder did we really trim it hard 2 weeks ago.
Anyhow. ive found cutting branches back not a problem. i tend to use a maxim of tree care, no more than 1/3 of the canopy removed at a time. tricky for a stateside guy like me to know when flowering starts in a land of 12 hours of light a year but i would think you have time for significant growth to achieve more secondary, tertiary branching. the only in the ground sativa i grew hit 17 feet at lat 28N (thaitantic. epic herb) i pulled it over every six feet and tied it off to stakes. lol you have four main branches, i had one. you will garden under its shade if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Carmen Ray]

that will be a beast Carmen im sitting here chuckling away sipping coffee looking at that. a quad sativa w each branch loaded with secondary branches - about what, 8 of them? yeah 32 colas thus far and most likely each main branch will be growing for a while so possibly a whole lot more cola sites. the trimming looks good, its amazing how it will fill in and then we look and wonder did we really trim it hard 2 weeks ago.
Anyhow. ive found cutting branches back not a problem. i tend to use a maxim of tree care, no more than 1/3 of the canopy removed at a time. tricky for a stateside guy like me to know when flowering starts in a land of 12 hours of light a year but i would think you have time for significant growth to achieve more secondary, tertiary branching. the only in the ground sativa i grew hit 17 feet at lat 28N (thaitantic. epic herb) i pulled it over every six feet and tied it off to stakes. lol you have four main branches, i had one. you will garden under its shade if I'm not mistaken.

Oh gosh, I can't have that Yogi, lololol. First off it will finish in this 20 liter pot because I can't afford to pot up. I am going to have to prune dramatically to avoid a massive tree if that's going to be the tendency. I guess I will have to watch it. I wouldn't want more than say 12 colas but I am not sure I will manage that many in such a small pot. Flowering is expected in about mid Feb.
I have a few sativas and one that is already hip height. I expect that will be pretty tall by the end and that one is in the ground. You 17 ft plant must have been a monster!

 

[Backlipslide]

Hard to see what is going on, but you opened up the middle that’s for sure! You succeeded at what you were longing to do.

looks good Carmen!

I just wanna add, you have a beautiful piece of property, with an ocean view! I would love to see some pictures of the landscape around you! (Without you giving away you’re location)

I'm not confident that I know what I am doing here.

Don’t worry, we all are in the same boat!

 

[yogi gardener]

Oh gosh, I can't have that Yogi, lololol. First off it will finish in this 20 liter pot because I can't afford to pot up. I am going to have to prune dramatically to avoid a massive tree if that's going to be the tendency. I guess I will have to watch it. I wouldn't want more than say 12 colas but I am not sure I will manage that many in such a small pot. Flowering is expected in about mid Feb.
I have a few sativas and one that is already hip height. I expect that will be pretty tall by the end and that one is in the ground. You 17 ft plant must have been a monster!

it was ridiculous. used to nap under it. I got away w it because it was growing out from under a yellow striped bamboo, blended right in, lol for a while. Glad the plant is in a 20 liter or 5 gallon for us yanks, root control w a sativa is everything imo. in your neck of the woods are multiple year round grows possible? hey have a good evening!

 

[Carmen Ray]

I just wanna add, you have a beautiful piece of property, with an ocean view! I would love to see some pictures of the landscape around you! (Without you giving away you’re location)

Ah BLS it's not my property I am a tenant. It is very beautiful here. I am enjoying it while it lasts.

in your neck of the woods are multiple year round grows possible?

You know who could answer that question, is @Lerugged. I believe that one of the plants I am growing yields well in our winter. I think it is very much strain specific because our winters are typically very wet and quite cold. So it is possibly only the indigenous plants that do so well. (hey LR when you pop in )

 

[Pennywise]

At this point you can treat it like any other plant as far as training.

 

[Carmen Ray]

At this point you can treat it like any other plant as far as training.

Thank you Pennywise. Do you think I should cut some of the new branches of that top section, which is now bent down? I guess I don't know what to expect of the growth going forward.

 

[Pennywise]

You could trim the top, if it were mine I’d just let it grow out some.

 

[Lerugged]

I do 3 harvests a year. 4th in the middle of winter is not worth it though be honest. It's not cold like heavy snow but can get chilly. Maybe snow on the mountains. As soon as my summer grow is harvested the clones go out into the pots. Some yield tighter nugs with better terps by far. Some are stretchy but full of trichs. Also needs to be mold resistant. Happy New year.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I do 3 harvests a year. 4th in the middle of winter is not worth it though be honest. It's not cold like heavy snow but can get chilly. Maybe snow on the mountains. As soon as my summer grow is harvested the clones go out into the pots. Some yield tighter nugs with better terps by far. Some are stretchy but full of trichs. Also needs to be mold resistant. Happy New year.

Thanks LR, this is food for thought!

Happy new year everyone

 

[Carmen Ray]

Fermented teas, questions​

My plants are in soil, outdoors. I have been giving them 100 ml diluted fermented SST (alfalfa) per 1 litre water everyday. Most days I add a product called Seagro, which is a gentle all round natural fertilizer that one cannot overdo. Once a week I add another product called Epic5:2 (which I also add as a foliar spray every second day with my pest control).

I have come to the end of my SST, which I had fermented with molasses and lactobacillus. I am in the process of making more but I had to throw my LABS away when they went septic. Can I make the SST with molasses and store it, or does it have to have the LABs? I read somewhere that the LABs eat the alcohol during fermentation?

I have another question regarding a PK tea made by chopping banana peels into water, adding LABs and molasses. It has been standing waiting for flower in a black bucket for two months. It smells like banana and molasses. Do you think it is still full of PK after all this time? I was thinking to dilute 100mll to 1 litre.

"Seagro organic plant food is a nutritious fish emulsion that has a wide range of applications as an organic fertiliser in agriculture, horticulture and for home and garden use. It is highly concentrated and easy to apply. Seagro contains macro as well as micro elements for healthy soil and plant nutrition and can be used as a soil drench or a foliar feed." Detailed product information

"this product significantly increases the growth, resilience, blooms, and overall yield. Epic – 5:2 likened to a symphony in its abilities to supply and create demand for your ever evolving rhizosphere." Product information

 

[Carmen Ray]

Weekly Update:
The plants are doing great. They are taking a bit of wind but are none the worse for wear. They are still getting the same feeds and pest control.
From the top:
LC-18 x TK
DWD
Wedding Cake
Inzane In The Membrane
Inzane In The Membrane (top view)
Molly (TK origin)
Mystery Purple
Holly (TK origin)

 

[The Celt]

Morning Carmen

I am behind in all the journals I follow, so shooting me a PM was a good way to get my attn

First, a note on the plant you are training, you can keep pulling those 4 limbs out and pin them down right up until you see flowering. You can also pull secondary branches down as well making her appear like a ground cover shrub.

After she is about 2 weeks into flower, trim off any spindly lower branches and let her go

As for LABs and teas, next time you make LABs, mix some of the serum 50/50 with molasses and store in an airtight container somewhere cool (fridge, cold cellar, etc) and it will keep for months and not go septic on you.

As for your fermented banana tea, if it doesn’t smell septic, it is fine to use and should have worked as intended. Not sure how much molasses you used, but molasses alone has ~ 1.4% K as well as carbohydrates (carbon source for microbes).

Thinking back to your tea that went septic, if you have a drill and mixing paddle, you could mix your teas a few times a day to aerate them. Just a thought for future endeavours

 

[Carmen Ray]

Morning Carmen

I am behind in all the journals I follow, so shooting me a PM was a good way to get my attn

First, a note on the plant you are training, you can keep pulling those 4 limbs out and pin them down right up until you see flowering. You can also pull secondary branches down as well making her appear like a ground cover shrub.

After she is about 2 weeks into flower, trim off any spindly lower branches and let her go

As for LABs and teas, next time you make LABs, mix some of the serum 50/50 with molasses and store in an airtight container somewhere cool (fridge, cold cellar, etc) and it will keep for months and not go septic on you.

As for your fermented banana tea, if it doesn’t smell septic, it is fine to use and should have worked as intended. Not sure how much molasses you used, but molasses alone has ~ 1.4% K as well as carbohydrates (carbon source for microbes).

Thinking back to your tea that went septic, if you have a drill and mixing paddle, you could mix your teas a few times a day to aerate them. Just a thought for future endeavours

Thank you Celt for swinging by mine to help. I love the idea of a ground cover shrub!
Re teas. If I am making a SST that I want to store and use for the rest of the grow in a 20 litre bucket, can I mix molasses into it and leave it, or does it need the LABs as well, to process into a good tea?

 

[The Celt]

Thank you Celt for swinging by mine to help.

Anytime mate

The reason we use LABs is because it’s easy to make (literally from next to nothing ) and it breaks down organic matter quite quickly. We are basically just accelerating a natural process by introducing high dose microbes to our soil/solution.

Any solution, whether water based or soil, if it has organic matter in it, will attract microbes that will colonize the mix. This is actually how we start the process for making LABs:

The rice wash (starchy water) attracts lactobacillus and other microbes from the air.
Then by adding milk, we add a food source that LB thrive on. As they populate the
solution and digest the lactose, they excrete lactic acid (sour smell) that takes the
pH down to ~ 4 eliminating competition by other microbes.

When we mix in the molasses (50/50) it’s not to feed the LABs, it overloads the
solution with carbohydrates which shocks the LB and they go dormant.

Left to nature, ie a bucket left exposed to the environment, microbe load is lower and if the nutrient load is also lower (like your banana tea) it is less likely to go septic. In this case, you are actually better off leaving the molasses out to keep the nutrient load lower. Add your molasses just before you use the tea. Using no more than a tablespoon of molasses per gallon of tea, once a week.

Molasses is a good supplement in organic grows, but too much can cause issues. Being high in potassium you can cause lockout of Ca & Mg. Second to K issues, molasses is also an extremely high carbohydrate source (High in carbon). Carbon is also good for your plants, but too much all at once can cause microbe population explosion. During this explosion, due to high carbon source, microbes use a lot of N and can starve your plant of this much needed nutrient.

Like all things in nature, to achieve good results, we need balance.