Debudman's 1st Journal

[Debudman]

Hey King John...
My plan is to provide new photos each week. So far I have week1 and 2, and this weekend will provide the Week 3 shot. The plants are looking better, but I don't anticipate them looking right for the next 2-3 more weeks when they can soak up the nutes that they need. Adding the wrong soil kind of set them back unfortunately.. 2 have great root systems, but one is struggling. I think they will all come back strong though.

 

[Debudman]

Week 3
Added nutes in new Fox Farms Soil (Plants starting to perk up)
- Added 5 ml to 1 gal Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow 3-2-4
- Added a tablespoon of dried blood for an added nitrogen boost
- Will be pinching nodes later this evening to promote more bud sites

Issues
My Fire OG roots are not responding like the other 2. She seems to be a bit slow in adapting.
I am hoping she bounces back. I was thinking of adding a root stimulant to help her along.

New techniques..
I have been reading about how well plants respond to compost tea.
I am thinking about setting up a 5 gallon bucket with a fish pump aereator today and start brewing a batch.
If anyone has done this and has a good recipe and advise please let me know.

New Pics

 

[Debudman]

Compost Tea - 1st Attempt

Today I purchased my ingredients to make my 1st Compost Tea Batch
For those experienced compost tea makers please chime in if I am doing something wrong.
I've read so many different recipies and heard so many variations. This is the one I came up with.
My goal was to produce a quality tea that wouldn't break the bank and use ingredients that were most beneficial. My Fox Farms soil already had bat quano in it with some other things so I felt I didn't need to add that this time around until about 4 weeks or so maybe. My plan is to make this once every couple weeks or at least once a month and use in concentrated form. I plan to use about 2-3 cups of the Compost Tea Mix to about 5 gallons of water to feed my plants.

Hopefully if all goes well I will have some quality tea in 48 hours

Ingredients Used

• 5 gallon bucket
• 2 airstones
• 1 fish tank air pump
• 1 gang valve to run the 2 airstones
• 1/3 cup of quality humus compost
• 1/3 cup of worm castings
• 4tsp liquid fish/kelp emulsion
• 1/4 cup of Black Strap unsulfered molassis
• 1 painters 1 gallon stainer for tea bag

 

[Truth Seeker]

Very nice Debudman,

Where did you get your instructions from?

What kind of stones are you using, are they just simple stones like for a small fish tank or are they the bricks?

Got pictures of your work?

Sharing is caring brotha!

 

[Debudman]

Compost Tea Pictures - Week 3

Hey Truth.. Here are a couple pictures..

These are photos of Some ingredients used...
- Minus the Molassis

Here is my little 5 gallon basic setup...
I just used a 1 gallon paint strainer made out of cheese cloth for the tea bag
and tied it up to a little stick setting across the top of the bucket.
On the bottom I have (2) air bricks or blocks that are about 6 inches long each .
I connected these to a gang valve hanging from the bucket... (simple stuff).

 

[djraven86]

You are in good hands here. Everyone is very helpful.. I am not experienced so ill be watching here

Good luck with your grow

 

[Truth Seeker]

Very good job brotha!

But where did you get your instructions from?

 

[Truth Seeker]

Hi djraven86,

Keep up with Debudman, he's got some skills in growing, I have only had the pleasure of him joining in on my previous grow journals when we were both new members here. But what he did show and what the worms didn't eat looked absolutly wonderful!

I look forward to watching his very first grow journal take off with 420% success!

You are in good hands here. Everyone is very helpful.. I am not experienced so ill be watching here

Good luck with your grow

 

[Debudman]

Thanks TS for the kind words...
I'm far from an expert, but much like you have always loved to grow . There is always something new to learn.
With all the new technology and products, it can be challenging, but the principles always seem to remain the same.

My girls are experiencing their first little shower today....
I didn't see the rain coming, it kind of hit by surprise..
They love getting a drink of natural rain.

What is your plan for this year TS? Have you started yet? It's never to late
If your remember the White Widow clone I tossed out in like Late July and ended up getting about an ounce or so..
And that was after the huge loss of buds due to the damn moth attack... Hopefully this year isn't one of those Lunar seasons that draw those wicked things back.

 

[Debudman]

Week 4
Added Compost Tea (Both Foliar and Soil Drench)
A few days after compost tea watering I increased Botanicals Pure blend Pro Grow from 5ml per gallon to 10ml per gallon.
Keeping PH from 6.5 to 6.8
I will soon be transplanting to 15 gallon pots...

Compost Tea Pic (After 2 days ready for use)

Week 4 Pics
The Fire OG in the middle seems to still be struggling as it seemed to have root issues from the beginning.
But I see signs that it is trying to slowly revive. It may be the runt of the family, but I have hope that it will come back.

 

[Truth Seeker]

OK!

You missed a weekly update!

Where are you brotha?

 

[Debudman]

Hello Truth....
You are right.. sorry I missed last week.
Here is a few shots of week 6..

 

[Debudman]

Week6
Last week I transplanted from the 1 gallon to the 7 gallon pots.
Here's some pics...

 

[Truth Seeker]

And you have given them the tea yes?

How much did you give them? They are looking great brotha!

 

[Debudman]

Hello Truth,

Yes, on Week4 I added the tea.
I just used about 1 cup of tea to a gallon of water.
The stuff is very concentrated from what I understand so you don't need a lot.
Some say you can add it full strength, but I would rather start out small.
They say the tea provides the plants with a number of micronutrients and of course the benefits of the microbes. I did both the foliar feeding and the soil drench with the tea. I plan to run another batch. If I had the time I would do it like once a month. I also sprayed all my vegetables and garden plants as well as my lawns with the stuff. I used a hose end sprayer for that. My plants look like their really taking off nicely.
Even my little one that had a stunted growth issue seems to be coming back slowly. I never figured out why its roots never grew like the others.. It seems to be healthy, but the roots just never grew out. I guess I just happen to get a bad clone on that one.

In any case, sorry for the late responses.. My system had auto upgrated to Internet Explorer 10 browser and I found a bug where it did not allow carriage returns here within the forum. I had to remove 10 and go back to 9. Microsoft for ya! .. hahah... Well until next week.. Thanks for viewing my journal.

And you have given them the tea yes?

How much did you give them? They are looking great brotha!

 

[Debudman]

Week 7
Well it is week 7 now and my plants are growing rapidly.
They are nice and healthy and green with no signs of any insect damage (knock on wood).

Nutes:
I increased dosage last week to the maxim recommended 15ml (1TBS per gallon) and no sign of burn.. Look great.

Water Consumption:
There has been a noticeably increased amount of water consumption, which is normal since the roots are growing like mad dogs and the stem diameter is now about the circumference of my thumb. It is naturally uptaking more water.

Compost Tea:
I am now about ready to run another batch, but its supposed to be really hot this week and will probably wait till it cools down just a bit. For some reason I think it might be safer to avoid the possibility of eColi, but I am taking every precaution against that by using quality compost and keeping everything clean and washing afterwards well with soap and water.. Also you don't want the tea backing up in your air lines and leaving it in there to breed who knows what.. But so far the plants seem to really love the compost tea. My goal is to add it at least every month or so... But time sometimes works against that goal.

Current Picture:
I photo shopped the background just to clean it up a bit. It actually is a lousy photo shop job, but I tried .

 

[Truth Seeker]

Very nice!

Are they showing signs of flower yet?

 

[Debudman]

Hey Truth...

Actually no signs of flower at all yet on the (2) pictured, they are growing like crazy every day.
I can't remember when the days start getting shorter here..

It's funny though that my 3rd problem child that had root issues from the beginning has now shown signs of flowering... It is only about 8 inches tall and scrawny . It's like a dwarw though with a strong will to live. It still looks nice and green, but failed to grow like the other. It had all the same exact care.. Just that clone was a dud. Oh well.. You win some and you lose some. I still fail to toss it, as a plant lover I always try to make them survive no matter what .. hahah.

 

[Debudman]

Week 8 - Still Going Strong

The watering frequency has definitely increased and I am watering now about every other day or so.
They are sucking water like a giant straw.

I am feeding every watering with 10mg of the Botanicare Veg formula.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Is that all the plants lined up?

Where are the other plants?

I am starting my number 6 grow soon brotha! Within the next few days, should be launching it!