Derek910 Soil Liberty Haze & Gelato 2019

[StoneOtter]

Hey Derek, nice journal you have here! Your scrog work is fine too! I'm waiting for Gelato seeds now.

 

[derek910]

Hey Derek, nice journal you have here! Your scrog work is fine too! I'm waiting for Gelato seeds now.

I appreciate it. It’s my first time using SCROG. One of the corners of my Gelato is a little low, but I won’t let that happen next time. I’ve never smoked gelato but heard a lot of good things. So I’m excited to try it when it’s ready

 

[Van Stank]

Hey Derek, grow is looking great man. I am going to pull up a chair and enjoy the flower show! Cheers bud!

 

[derek910]

Hey Derek, grow is looking great man. I am going to pull up a chair and enjoy the flower show! Cheers bud!

Thanks. I don’t seem to notice too much change because I work from home and I’m able to go look at them every 10 minutes lol

 

[Van Stank]

Yeah I am the same way. I try to force myself not to look all the time, especially when they are all little. I'm a lazy grower and do most of my stuff in veg. Flower is just rain water and water.

 

[derek910]

Yeah I am the same way. I try to force myself not to look all the time, especially when they are all little. I'm a lazy grower and do most of my stuff in veg. Flower is just rain water and water.

Good to know I’m not the only one

 

[derek910]

Got some questions for the organic growers out there. I cut a clone from each of these plants and I’d like to make sure I’m getting off to the right start because I want to compare organic vs synthetic. I plan to start a journal for these as well. I have the clones in 5 gallon pots and I’ve only been giving them 6.5 ph tap water after sitting for at least 48 hours. I have them in a FoxFarm Ocean Forest/Happy Frog mixture soil. I was planning to top dress them with 50/50 FoxFarm All Purpose and Fruit and Flower dry fert and I also got some guano to add in for mid flower. Then using URB for the microbes. Plan on top dressing them on Sunday which will be 3 weeks in the big pots. Any advice or other things I should do? Also, I’ve seen around the WWW that organic grows are more appealing to pest. Is that true? This will be my first attempt at organic and am trying to be proactive

 

[Van Stank]

Any time you grow organically with organic matter being broken down in your soil, you are at higher risk for pests. I have had fungus gnat issues when I don't let the organic matter break down sufficiently. One of the easiest ways to avoid them is to have massive airflow moving over the soil line. Most insects that are pests to cannabis are not good fliers and will struggle to gain a foothold in your garden. On top of that....add in some yellow sticky traps and you will have a good idea if you are running into any issues.

There is no comparison between quality organically grown cannabis and quality synthetic grown cannabis......the organic is way better. It tends to grow a bit slower than other methods but the quality can't be beat. The highs last longer and aren't hollow like I find synthetics. You get more unique flavors and smells from organics as well. Just my opinion.

I know slower growth is a turn off to some growers....but the way I look at it is if I know its a little slower, I can compensate by either growing more plants or just give them longer veg times before flipping. I still produce great yields in organics....but the veg is a bit slower than coco or DWC or other mediums.

 

[derek910]

Cool. I appreciate it. All my fans are being used right now. I have the grow for this journal in a 4x8 and I have a White Widow in my 3x3 which was supposed to be finished already but she is taking her sweet &$(@#( time! I do have the yellow sticky traps and I also have neem oil that I usually spray all over the stems and branches. I won't add the URB until I get these in a tent with some fans. They seem ok without it for now. When you said "I have had fungus gnat issues when I don't let the organic matter break down sufficiently." What do you mean by that?

 

[Van Stank]

Ok, when you grow organically......I like to say I feed the soil and not the plant. You feed the soil with organic matter. Organic matter being compost, EWC, any amendments like Alfalfa meal, Bat guano, Kelp Meal, Gypsum, etc....needs to be broken down by the 'herd' (the herd being all the micro-organisms that work in conjunction with your plant roots to keep your plants happy and healthy) and made into a usable form for the plants.

Failure to give the amendments/organic matter sufficient time to break down during your "soil cook" and its a beacon for insects. The soil cook is the time you allow the herd to break down everything before you start using the soil. I recommend at least 30 days, but 45 to 60 will be better. After 60 days....that soil is nice and fertile and cooked and ready to plant in. So failure to give it enough time to "cook" or give it the proper environment to cook in (not too cold, not too hot) will lead to organic matter that isn't properly broken down or cooked which will attract pests. So a good cook is important.

That really only matters if you are using soil you mix on your own. I make my own soil so I have to do a good cook (I like 70-80 degree temps for the soil to cook in. Too low and bio-activity is slow. Too high of temps and it makes the conditions a bit too hostile for the herd to thrive. I cooked a batch in my basement last winter (55-60 degree temps) and my soil never smelled right and it just attracted every gnat in a 5 mile radius. No more cooking in cold basements.....I will cook it in the tent area where it gets a bit warmer temps.

Make sense?

 

[derek910]

Ok, when you grow organically......I like to say I feed the soil and not the plant. You feed the soil with organic matter. Organic matter being compost, EWC, any amendments like Alfalfa meal, Bat guano, Kelp Meal, Gypsum, etc....needs to be broken down by the 'herd' (the herd being all the micro-organisms that work in conjunction with your plant roots to keep your plants happy and healthy) and made into a usable form for the plants.

Failure to give the amendments/organic matter sufficient time to break down during your "soil cook" and its a beacon for insects. The soil cook is the time you allow the herd to break down everything before you start using the soil. I recommend at least 30 days, but 45 to 60 will be better. After 60 days....that soil is nice and fertile and cooked and ready to plant in. So failure to give it enough time to "cook" or give it the proper environment to cook in (not too cold, not too hot) will lead to organic matter that isn't properly broken down or cooked which will attract pests. So a good cook is important.

That really only matters if you are using soil you mix on your own. I make my own soil so I have to do a good cook (I like 70-80 degree temps for the soil to cook in. Too low and bio-activity is slow. Too high of temps and it makes the conditions a bit too hostile for the herd to thrive. I cooked a batch in my basement last winter (55-60 degree temps) and my soil never smelled right and it just attracted every gnat in a 5 mile radius. No more cooking in cold basements.....I will cook it in the tent area where it gets a bit warmer temps.

Make sense?

Ok I got you. I may try that in the future but right now I'm cool with FoxFarm cooking my soil. I'll start my journal on these once I can put them in a tent. Won't be able to compare yields because these will be going in a smaller tent. Quality is what I'm after most of all anyway. Thanks

 

[Van Stank]

If you want to go with quality....I encourage you to take a peak at Doc Bud's HiBrix growing style. If I didn't grow in my own soil (no pH, no nutes, just rain water only with an occasional Compost Tea) and have such good luck with it, I would be growing in Doc's stuff. His stuff produces some of the best weed I have smoked.

 

[derek910]

If you want to go with quality....I encourage you to take a peak at Doc Bud's HiBrix growing style. If I didn't grow in my own soil (no pH, no nutes, just rain water only with an occasional Compost Tea) and have such good luck with it, I would be growing in Doc's stuff. His stuff produces some of the best weed I have smoked.

Thanks I'll check it out

 

[DonkeyDick]

Ok, when you grow organically......I like to say I feed the soil and not the plant. You feed the soil with organic matter. Organic matter being compost, EWC, any amendments like Alfalfa meal, Bat guano, Kelp Meal, Gypsum, etc....needs to be broken down by the 'herd' (the herd being all the micro-organisms that work in conjunction with your plant roots to keep your plants happy and healthy) and made into a usable form for the plants.

Failure to give the amendments/organic matter sufficient time to break down during your "soil cook" and its a beacon for insects. The soil cook is the time you allow the herd to break down everything before you start using the soil. I recommend at least 30 days, but 45 to 60 will be better. After 60 days....that soil is nice and fertile and cooked and ready to plant in. So failure to give it enough time to "cook" or give it the proper environment to cook in (not too cold, not too hot) will lead to organic matter that isn't properly broken down or cooked which will attract pests. So a good cook is important.

That really only matters if you are using soil you mix on your own. I make my own soil so I have to do a good cook (I like 70-80 degree temps for the soil to cook in. Too low and bio-activity is slow. Too high of temps and it makes the conditions a bit too hostile for the herd to thrive. I cooked a batch in my basement last winter (55-60 degree temps) and my soil never smelled right and it just attracted every gnat in a 5 mile radius. No more cooking in cold basements.....I will cook it in the tent area where it gets a bit warmer temps.

Make sense?

Good explanation, Van.
Thanks for that.
.. a close second to doc’s kit
I’ve been having to plan not to buy soil, so good to finally find an explanation of the ‘cook’. Cheers.

 

[Van Stank]

He is a sponsor here and there are a lot of members that grow with his style. I have smoked several strains grown in his Kit and its the best tasting and smoothest weed I have smoked. My organic soil gives a pretty comparable result but can't quite hang with the taste of weed. Doc's kit really produces top notch cannabis. He gives some really top notch advice/customer service on a few of the threads on this forum as well.

Here is one link for his Q & A thread....

Doc Bud's High Brix Q&A With Pictures

Hello everyone! My last journal was getting too long, so we'll switch over to a new one. What I'm doing on this journal is showing what I'm doing and what I'm learning and experimenting with in my garden. High Brix is where all the action is and that's what I'm all about. This is also an...

www.420magazine.com

 

[Van Stank]

Good explanation, Van.
Thanks for that.
.. a close second to doc’s kit
I’ve been having to plan not to buy soil, so good to finally find an explanation of the ‘cook’. Cheers.

Glad to be able to break it down so others can understand what happens and why. Always lots of stuff to learn when growing. Cheers Donkey!

Doc can also run a soil analysis on your outdoor native soil if you are an outdoor grower and come up custom amendments for your specific soil to make it "HiBrix".

 

[derek910]

Just want to double check my environment with y’all and see what y’all think. What tweeks should I make. So since I’ve taken the a/c out of the tent and put the intake duct over the a/c during lights on it gets the temps fluctuate as the unit turns on and off. A/c on temp and rh drop. When the a/c is off temp and rh go up. It basically fluctuates like this throughout the day. Is this fluctuating an issue? Heres a snapshot of the meter readings while the lights are on

When the lights go off I take the intake duct off of the a/c because it would get the tent down to 68F and I think it’s too early for that cold at lights off correct? So I just put the intake on the floor and it’s not so cold. Here’s a screenshot of the lights off environment. I know my rh is a little high. I would turn the dehumidifier on but then it gets up to light 79 in the tent and figured warmer lights off temps would freak the plant out. I have two tower fans blowing from both ends through the canopy and two smaller plants blowing underneath the canopy and an 8” exhaust fan with an 8” intake. It’s like a tornado in there. Guess I’m asking are my temps and rh good for Week 4 of flower and are the fluctuations going to stress the plants out?

 

[DonkeyDick]

Hey man.
Your conditions look great. It’s normal for the VPD to bounce around a bit.

Here’s a link to some helpful info:

https://www.just4growers.com/stream...-deficit-the-hidden-force-on-your-plants.aspx

I have that VPD chart tacked up outside my tent. If you look at the life cycle, you go from the bottom left to the upper right from seedling to flower.

Stay in the green zone and you are gold!

 

[derek910]

The buds seem to be packing it on. I think I may have the start of a calcium deficiency. I gave them some cal/mag this morning. Hopefully that’s it. Let me know what y’all think

Flower Week 4 Day 31, Grow Day 64

Liberty Haze

Gelato

Gelato leaf. Calcium deficiency?

 

[Emilya Green]

Yes indeed... a little spotting up in the newer growth definitely looks like calcium is lacking. Be careful with topdressing those strong nutrients in there along with your other nutes. Trust the FoxFarm products to do what they need to do... you got this. Start giving calmag with every feeding to keep this from progressing.