COorganics - All Natural - No-Till With ACT's - Winter Attic Grow

[SweetSue]

I can smell your soil from here. The farmer in my soul went "Ahhhh" when I spotted the picture.

Thanks for the info. I'll be at the hospital all day, every day for a bit with my husband and I'll be studying the whole time. It's such a pain that the hospital wifi doesn't allow access to cannabis sites (how ironic - medicine that actually improves his quality of life, unlike the toxic dump they dose him with) so I'll spend some time now copying to the photo album for later reading.

 

[SweetSue]

Thanks for the PM offer. I need to do 8 more posts after this before I can PM you back. I will accomplish this today or tomorrow, schedule permitting. The hospital may not let me use wifi for this forum but my 3G account with AT&T only cares if I pay the bill on time every month. I really appreciate the help.

 

[SmokesDaKush]

Regarding the cottonseed meal, Epsoma advertises theres to be 100% organic. I was under the impression that to advertise such claims it must be completely GMO-free as well.

Looking great CO!

 

[B A R]

Looking real good in here Organics. Keep up the good work...

 

[COorganics]

thanks BAR, does my WT "a" or "b" pheno look more like the one you grew?

I was guessing the "a" because I cant remember seeing big sativa looking fan leaves on yours. but your journal is too huge for me to search, so if ya notice this, lemme know what you think, just curious.

 

[B A R]

Can't really tell from the pics by memory but I'd say A...

 

[COorganics]

@bar,
I thought maybe so, I was just hoping to get a winner like you did. i think i will.

 

[Conradino23]

Yeah, your pheno B of WT really looka like a sativa. If the other one doesn't it means genetics has been hybridized, and you'll be always getting 3-5 different phenos from tgat kind of stock. For anyone looking for a real sativa deal I'll point once again to CannaBiogen or Ace Seeds. Their gear is available through Herbie's!

 

[COorganics]

your right C,
honestly I don't know why I was thinking of running a pure sativa in the attic anyway. Maybe because I like sativa buzz, anyway I have to stick with hybrids until I have a taller grow space. the "a" pheno is just like bubblegum interestingly, there is a fair chance that WOS crossed a thai sativa with BG to shorten finishing time, and my "a" is just an expression of indica(dom) parent. im happy with the both of them, watching them thus far, but im currently in the process of sourcing some real deal genetics, will update on that as it happens.

 

[SmokesDaKush]

I think I may have found a use for those chelated products. I still have some leftover GO nutes from my transition. This is one of the plants I have been nurturing back. Had mad purple stems and doing some completely random mottling and yellowing. Anyhow I normally don't foliar feed but started using 1/4 tsp GO grow, 1/2 tsp epsom salt & 1/4 to 1/2 tsp iron. Things started turning around and the purpling even started reversing from the stems. I have since laid off but I still haven't researched yet the exact cause. I sure hope I got my soil in check now because this plant is a big old bush. I'm actually thinking about starting back at square one and re-evaluating my mix with what I have learned here on 420 mag so far. I also included a pic from my CBD Critical Cure at day 55 today. I think I am going to take her next mid week, she should chew up most of those fan leaves by then. Won't look the prettiest but man does it make for a great smoking experience. The clone to replace it has been vegging for close to two months and should be a bit bigger bush then this. As long as I can solve my issue I am on track for some killer yields. All organically...

Oh a question perhaps someone can answer. I recently switched my veg room from cfl to led and have read a few comments about needing more CA & MG then normal. How true does this hold as this could be exaggerating my issues a bit as well.

 

[COorganics]

WOW smokey,
pic # 1 is a big bush already, pic # 2 looks like you're getting "hydro yields", but with organics! excellent, thanks for sharing those! 10 gallon pots?

lol, I have no idea re: led's and veg or led's and flower or led's and anything. I love my HPS attic heaters/plant growers. Where's brazel at? He grows in living organic soil under led's.

I gotta imagine that if the soil food web is there and functioning in a healthy complete soil, plants would thrive under any sort of light (edit: veg), assuming it was powerful enough to promote decent growth. that's just me guessing, zero science there. id be skeptical about anything people say regarding nutes and Ca and Mg though, most of it is bullshit.

Sometimes its good to just start new and fresh with a soil mix, im really glad I did, and transitioned from TLO, this CC mix is superior so far in every regard, there is science behind bigger pots as well, I have a blog post on that.

looking at your plants and not knowing your soil mix, id guess its pretty darn good, you may already be there and have no need to start over.

laterz

edit: p.s. , are you worried about mulch and bugs?

 

[bobrown14]

Those plants look fine. The last pic there - in my limited indoor grow experience and a lot of reading here and else where, my take on yellowing leaves in the last few weeks of flowering can be the plant just eating up nutes in those big leaves. I wouldn't worry too much unless the buds start to yellow which it doesn't look like is your case. I just bit the bullet and just used water the last 2.5 weeks in flower, my fan leaves yellowed like yours are doing and lots of them fell off. No problem less trimming and my buds taste sooooo smooooth, hard to believe anyone would want to use a vape pen to smoke cannabis which I really don't get , but hey whatever to each their own I suppose.

I'm doing all organic grow as well, what fixed my yellowing this grow (same strain/cloned) was amending my soil a bit better this time. I added a lot more EWC and added Alafalfa meal and dolomite lime - mixed that into 5 gal of Roots Organic Greenfields soil. I'm gonna go with the Dolomite lime that helped me - my PH runoff is almost exactly what went in. This time around I'm watering with RO water adjusted up a tad to 6.7 with runoff at 6.5 (Hanna pen the good one calibrated and backed up with another PH pen). PH was my issue the first time around - this time plants are like 2x the size compared to my last grow and no or very very few yellowing (just the inner old leaves falling off naturally). Dolomite lime is working for me buffering the soils PH. I top dress with Buffalo Loam (treating my girls) and EWC, water and good to go.

 

[COorganics]

Dolomite Lime - How Using Garden Lime Is Likely Hurting Your Garden

BB, maybe you will find this interesting?
I have been steered clear of using dolomite a while back. this article is a little older, as is most information suggesting use of dolomite in advanced organic gardens.

id be willing to bet, that the thing that gave you the most benefit from your new soil mix is the increase in organic matter. More exchange sites for the essential plant nutrients to bind to.

 

[COorganics]

Soil pH Kits - How Doing A pH Test May Hurt Your Garden

no one growing organically is ph'ing anything after they get a grasp on whats going on with the SFW, unless they are doing some kind of scientific testing. PH isn't in my vocabulary as I'm just a gardener, not a scientist.

Is A pH Test For Soil Totally Useless?

here are some easy reading links re: soil ph

 

[COorganics]

just for fun (I love all my free time this time of year),
Lets look at an Advanced Nutrients organic bottled product. its likely people who follow this journal are not using any advanced nutrients products, but nonetheless this is informative.

sexy cartoon, right? and it says organic, so what the hell does it do?
"Product Information

Wet Betty Organic is the worlds superior non-ionic surfactant. Our research scientists tested organic surfactants to find the ones that would best transport nutrients into your plants. Wet Bettys proprietary 100% organic surfactants deliver nutrients, hormones and bio-catalytic agents directly to leaves and roots for immediate use by plants. Multiple, organic transfectants were blended to create this unique growth-enhancing formula. Wet Betty Organic contains naturally-occurring steroidal and triterpenoid saponins derived from Yucca and Quillaja, which are deserts plant known to contain many compounds that benefit plants and humans. These saponins help plants resist stress, manufacture phytohormones, and deliver larger harvests. Yucca and Quillaja extracts deter the development of root knot nematodes and other harmful fungi. Wet Betty Organic includes aromatic terpenoids that contribute to nicer taste and aroma. Some people believe surfactant products are only useful for foliar feeding, but they are also useful in the root zone, where they lower the surface tension of root media such as soil and sphagnum moss so root media and roots can better absorb water and nutrients. If youre an organic grower trying to get the biggest bang for every buck you spend on agricultural supplies, Wet Betty Organic is the slickest way to get more into (and out of) your plants.
Ingredients:
•Saponin
•Yucca Extract"


(I added the bold myself to draw attn: to that last sentence)
copied from greners.com

OK, so its a wetting agent that uses yucca and quillaja in some kind of liquid solution for their saponin content.

from MSDS:
"SECTION 2. COMPOSITION/INFORMATION OF INGREDIENTS Ingredients: The chemical identity of the compounds and the exact proportions used in the mixture are a proprietary trade secret and are believed to be non-toxic."

price of wet betty 27$/quart +shipping.

I know another source of saponins. Uhhh... Aloe. fresh, powdered, however you take it, aloe is amazing. LOL, its like natures Wet Betty, only better.

aloe is useful for its saponin content as a "wetting agent" but its uses go far beyond that. aloe is loaded with enzymes, amino acids and secondary metabolites. this quote from buildasoil re: aloe is good "Remember! Aloe has Salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is involved in local and systemic plant defense responses against pathogens. It plays a role during stresses such as drought, chilling, heavy metal toxicity, heat, and osmotic stress. SA can volatilize and warn neighboring plants of attack." furthermore, aloe has a wide range of nutrients, and it also contains growth hormones and natural rooting compounds. Here's a coot quote re: aloe " Aloe Vera: contains Salicylic acid is a plant compound which has been used as a rooting agent for over 120 years in the nursery industry. This is the compound that's found in Willow trees which you might have run across in posts on rooting a cutting. This plant material is also very high in Saponins (30,000 ppm) and this adds another level of benefits."


badass stuff.

buy an aloe plant today, have a healthier garden tomorrow. sorry wet betty.

 

[COorganics]

conradino,
this one's for you!

gardening, listening, and getting very medicated this afternoon. nice vibes. if ya get a chance to listen enjoy!

[video=youtube;TOrZcchVOwQ]

[/video]

 

[COorganics]

I cant find an aphid, and I thought maybe gnats were coming back, but nope, gnats are at bay for the moment. I like seeing less than 10 gnats per flower room visit, that is success for me.

I tried to get some better pictures tonight, I am so pumped the way this run is turning out, and they all say it only gets better.

day 38 pictures:

wt "b", being huge and praying leaves.

big JH, red petioles and praying leaves

2 Jacks, 1 pot, two clones of the bigger one, same red petioles here as well, a bit lanky'r though probably due to no veg time or training. lol I bet this bucket surprises a few people.

lower down on 2 jacks, 1 pot.

wt "a", out of the HPS

this one ("a") has me glad I have a clone! breeder integrity aside, it smells like bubblegum and is budding bigger than my BG, me likey, whatever it is.

my bubblegum cut that I like so much, here is a little clone forced into flower and kicking ass.

next run ill plan for things such as canopy and really crush the yield. this one may be impressive also, (to me at least).
I haven't gave a hoot about yield since I started growing, those are all the wrong reasons, ..
.. but since its getting dialed.... it will be great to start measuring in yield in addition to quality.

quality is paramount, yield a bonus for hard work

 

[COorganics]

oh and smokey, I had to bump these pics,
some of the best plants on this forum my friend, no doubt!
sorry, making this journal hard to follow, atm, but ill be gone soon for a bit, packing it on whilst I can.

 

[SmokesDaKush]

What the... I lost my tunes. lol

bobrown14, I'm not worried about the last pic, this is all part of the schedule for me. I use straight filtered water through my whole grow with an occasional ACT, veg and flower. I love me some smooth smoke.

Whats this PH thing you speak of? Kidding... I don't check anything. I like the buffalo loam for tea's myself. Thanks bobrown!

COorganics, Thanks for the invite and allowing me! They are in #7 smart pots but I do have a #10 or two reserved.

The flowering one was in a different mix then the ones having issues. I think I was close with it but something went wrong with what appears to be one batch or at least hoping. I recycle more or less in 21 gallon increments, three #7's. I was in a little hump around that time frame apparently because I didn't make adequate notes or they are on another piece of paper I have to find.

I am worried about bugs and such. Actually I top dressed with some castings a few days ago and shortly after I can see a rather large amount of little white bugs running around on top of the soil. I have not identified them yet but given the scenario I am sure hoping they are predatory mites. I do also use mulch but not as a living mulch. I use cocoa been mulch, it smells wonderful and breaks down great. I just don't put it on in a thick layer as it will mold over easily. Basically just mixed in with castings, compost, neem, kelp and crab shell.

That's awesome about the bugs. I'm still doing good here with the gnats. I see a few here n there in the flower room but nothing in the veg room. I think the combination approach of using equal parts DE to neem cake is far superior. Not one gnat even in my little traps.

Lol, I haven't weighed a plant in years CO! Thanks buddy and have a great time camping, sounds so relaxing. I guess I'm gonna have to get an aloe plant now... lol

Great update, there moving along nicely!

 

[COorganics]

thanks for the kind words, smokey.

I think being worried about introducing pests to the garden through bringing shit inside from the great outdoors is a pretty valid concern. I figured you felt that way, I did up till a few months ago. Your mulch is camo then, lol, cool you are using a layer. Seems to me without some kind of mulch layer, its hard to keep the living in the living soil.

I hope you do have lots of predator mites. I do, but mine are mostly orangish redish. not that this means your white mites aren't predators as well, idk nothin', never studied up on that, yet ha haaa.

my worm bin is so full of life its insane. I pick up a handful of vermicompost and it is literally wiggling around in my hand and teeming with life. last winter I let it get really cold and many of my worms died, this winter ill be keeping it warm enough to keep the worms healthy and working for me. lessons...

When we get the new house I will be building some huge outdoor flow thru production worm bins. and I mean huge. I wanna get into the worm business. Premium castings are in high demand and as people learn more about growing organically, making their own food and whatnot, premium worm castings will be in even higher demand. (I think).

cool equal parts of de and neem cake is working so well for you! zero gnats? I never have that few, lol, id be lost without a couple gnats. I don't have any DE, but ill remember that if I get an infestation in future, thanks.

get an aloe plant, they rock! I used the same soil mix that I use for everything now, and just bumped up the drainage amendments pretty heavy. it likes living in the container.

gearing up to leave for WY tomorrow, I like going to WY sometimes as opposed to CO, as there are more sheep than people in WY. I like some degree of solitude when im in the wild. No phone, internet, microwave, just me the dogs, a big pile of wood and my flyrods. fuckers would probably put me in jail if they caught me with my 5 day personal stash of cannabis. I could honestly care less, they have to catch me first, a little game ive been playing with them since my early teens.