Emeraldo's 2020 West-Facing Balcony Grow

[Emeraldo]

I started a thread on this leaf damage issue and have learned something new. Apparently, adding kelp meal to your soil can have the effect of dramatically raising soil pH. I added a lot of kelp meal in amending my soil this year, probably more than I should have.

Potassium deficiency? Or heat stress? Or soil pH too high?

A month ago, we had high temps (104F/40C) and, at the same time, high winds that whipped the 5 foot tall plants, snapping them this way then that. At the time I noticed injury to the leaves, the serrations turning upward in a kind of little cup. At first, I though all these symptoms were just...

www.420magazine.com

Were you aware of that? I mentioned that because kelp meal is a great source of K, and for that reason I knew there was sufficient potassium in my soil. Nonetheless, if it drives up the soil pH dramatically, it can result in a K-lockout that looks exactly like a potassium deficiency. Because it is.

Oyster shell is also said to raise soil pH, and I in fact amended my soil this year with that too. Also without knowing what the consequences could be.

Add extreme heat, and the plants' water draw increases, amplifying soil issues.

Live and learn! One of these days I'll be good enough to be dick of the month!

 

[Stunger]

I wasn't aware of that. Soon I will re-amend my container soil, I have been reading a bit on Clackamas Coots (aka Jim Bennett) soil building approach, he advocates Kelp Meal, Oyster shell flour along with Crustacean Meal and Malted Barley, all of which I now have, but yet to re-amend to my soil. Jim Bennett also advocates giving kelp meal and malted barley to the worm farm which I wish I had started doing that earlier and then the worm castings would have even more vitality in them.

I guess if your pH has risen excessively from the Kelp Meal that you have unwittingly given too much or does it require a longer 'settling period' before using it to grow. Off hand I can't remember if the reamendment amount suggested was either half a cup or a full cup per cubic foot. It is something I need to go thru for myself on paper soon and establish clearly how much of each ingredient I add. My grow last season was much improved on the previous grow, but I don't want to over do it and go back wards either.

Hopefully you can turn it around. What will you do to bring the pH to where you want it?

 

[Emeraldo]

I wasn't aware that kelp drives the soil pH up, but one guy who responded to my thread on potassium deficiency said it does. Another respondent on that thread ignores that and says kelp is the key to growing in high temps and I should add more. One guy's experience doesn't make it applicable for everyone. So, Cum Grano Salis -- I am going to wait until the soil pH meter I've ordered comes and then start figuring it out.

 

[Stunger]

I used a cheap 'prong' pH meter last season to check my container soil, the readings seemed all over the place so I didn't have confidence using it. In the end I took the fact that worms were reproducing in the soil meant it was presumably in an OK pH range and nothing to worry about, and I think that was borne out by how the plants grew.

I am currently reading thru @bobrown14's organic perpetual thread, only 25% thru but he has some good stuff in it and he's been growing some really nice looking and particularly frosty buds. He is big on Clackamas Coots style of soil mix where Kelp meal is highly favored and even used in worm farms/compost. I wonder what his view is of the Kelp meal quantity that you have used. It does seem hard to accept that you have put too much in to negatively effect your soil, I can understand that the soil benefits with some settling time which I imagine you would have allowed for that anyway.

Another thing from Bob's thread, he has been growing a strain by the breeder Snow High called Devil's Tit (I am only up to mid 2017 in his thread so he's no doubt moved on since), but he's been rating it as very potent. I thought it was interesting that it's breeding line contains Acapulco Gold which you are currently growing. For what it's worth Snow High Devils Tit - Mendocino Durban Poison x Acapulco Gold x C99 (male).

 

[Emeraldo]

...It does seem hard to accept that you have put too much in to negatively effect your soil, I can understand that the soil benefits with some settling time which I imagine you would have allowed for that anyway.

Another thing from Bob's thread, he has been growing a strain by the breeder Snow High called Devil's Tit (I am only up to mid 2017 in his thread so he's no doubt moved on since), but he's been rating it as very potent. I thought it was interesting that it's breeding line contains Acapulco Gold which you are currently growing. For what it's worth Snow High Devils Tit - Mendocino Durban Poison x Acapulco Gold x C99 (male).

Yeah, I'm getting the feeling I read too much into the heat stress damage, thinking it was a lack of potassium. There's lots of K in my soil (kelp meal, alfalfa meal, langbeinite, and others). I really think the dominant cause of the leaf edges turning brown and yellow was the heat back in June. Since the newer growth is healthy, am willing to let it go. Will be able to measure soil pH next week.

Here's a front-on view of the grandstand: Everyone in the bleachers standing and stretching! The Super Lemon Haze is the tallest one, in back.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 18, 2020

Acapulco Gold in preflower:

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 18, 2020

Horizontally grown (LST'd) Dream Berry from a side view, she's also been stretching, pushing her branches up "sideways"

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 18, 2020

 

[Emeraldo]

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

Dream Berry stretching

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

Gold Leaf, 19 July

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

G13 x Haze, 19 July

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

White Widow, 19 July

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

left to right, WW, G13Hz, Gold Leaf

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 19, 2020

Somewhere Over the Raingutter: SLH, AG

 

[Stunger]

Awesome to see those girls growing up so quickly!

 

[Emeraldo]

Two days ago, LST'd the White Widow into this horizontal position. She's headed out off the edge of the balcony railing, growing in the direction of the afternoon sun, so she's guaranteed to have sun until sundown. Plus she won't be able to throw any shade on any other plant. Last night at about 8 pm the sun had dropped below the lowest branches of the oak tree and hence the fading direct sunlight...

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

White Widow LST'd to prone position, July 22

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

White Widow after LST, turned upward, July 22, 8 pm

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

White Widow below Dream Berry colas, July 22, 8 pm

G13 x Haze will be the next to be trained, LST'd and bent horizontally on the top of her scaffold, then topped. The side branches will be strapped as needed to the vertical lattice for support.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

G13 x Haze, July 22

Acapulco Gold is heavily into pistil production. Hopefully no males with pollen or hermies around! Hopefully that heat stress in June was not enough to make Super Lemon Haze herm! aaaghh!

Strange, how none of the other plants are as far along as the AG, am curious about when she will be ripe, Barney's Farm says harvestable in late October... that would be around 12 weeks from now.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

Acapulco Gold with pistils, July 22

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 23, 2020

Acapulco Gold with pistils, July 22

In past grows, I've seen flowering starting around August 5. This year, Acapulco Gold started pushing pistils much earlier than that, around July 10, but the others have not yet reached that point, though I do see white hairs, especially on Dream Berry and Super Lemon Haze.

Greetings to all, stay safe!

 

[Emeraldo]

Spotlight on Nirvana's Blackberry. She's gotten bushy, truly a bush. Oyeah, a blackberry bush!

She has darker green sativa-ish looking leaves, sturdy structure. Strong branches. Nothing special to report, actually, except to show how her branching took shape after topping and that she has stretched this month. These main branches have doubled in size in the last 2 weeks. Am seeing preflowering changes, but no significant pistil growth yet (unlike Acapulco Gold).

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Blackberry bush

Here the view of Blackberry where she crossed and grew up out of the grid. The stub where the mainstem was topped is visible, straight up the mainstem, a small dead bit of branch in line with the mainstem. The mainstem topped at a point lower than the height of the then existing side branches. The side branches pushed up and some were topped as well.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Blackberry: stub where mainstem was topped

After topping, the Blackberry's mainstem was bent toward and out over the railing a bit to get sun and earlier in the day.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Blackberry: after topping, mainstem bent out over railing

Looking now at Dream Berry. Plenty of photos above show how she was LST'd into a horizontal fan-like position growing out over the railing towards the sun. Here a photo of just the vertical branches shooting from the nodes of the mainstem and other LST'd branches. She will have multiple colas, like 40 or so, growing vertically off the horizontal mainstem and initial branches that were also tied down low. She has been stretching now for two and a half weeks, has tripled in size, over 200% from where she was. These side branches have gotten so strong, the longer ones are almost three feet long. I like the even spacing of the branches, all buds will have good light and air. Heavily into preflower, pistils just beginning to form, unfortunately hard to get a good photo of these tiny pistils just yet.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Dream Berry's side branches stretched 200% over the last 2 weeks

Finally, the latest pistils from Acapulco Gold. I've not seen this many pistils this early in my three past grows at this site, this plant is way out front in flowering.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Acapulco Gold pistils

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 26, 2020

Acapulco Gold pistils

Feeding: Gave the big 4 plants (DB, BB, AG & SLH) a second round of Flower Girl 3-9-4 tea, the recipe is on the package: 1 cup FG into a gallon of water, let it sit for 24 hours. Gave each of those 4 a 1/4 gallon, worked it into the topsoil, later watered down.

Not going to use Jack's Blossom Booster (see separate thread I started which did not get much response, though @Emilya did vouch for Jack's knowledge and willingness to talk).

Jack's Blossom Booster 10 30 20

Does anyone have any experience with this? It is that time again, and I was thinking of trying Jack's Blossom Booster. The info sheet says 1 tbsp in a gallon of water once a week, and I understand a foliar application will also work. But there seems to be a debate about whether or not to...

www.420magazine.com

I just can't get my head around the warning labels that the chemicals in it are harmful to animals and children, so not sure I want to consume it either in edibles or smoking. See photos in the thread.

Heck, I reckon you could eat Dr. Earth's Flower Girl straight out of the package with a spoon and have no harm, ingredients are all from natural plant sources. Compare: Jack's is a bluish powder, looks like crystals crumbled into its powdery form, and when mixed makes a blue koolaid kind of drink I do not doubt is fantastic for garden flowers. But Jack makes no claim it is organic or natural. However, I am still waiting for confirmation that it is safe for human consumption. Prolly not going to get that, I predict the question will remain unclarified. Hence will not use.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 14, 2020

I like that "People and Pet Safe" statement at the top of Flower Girl. Open that package and you can smell the organic goodness of fish bone meal etc etc. Love it!

Stay safe everyone!


Emeraldo

 

[DonkeyDick]

Wow they have just exploded with growth!
I could sit and look at them all day long.

Open that package and you can smell the organic goodness of fish bone meal

This reminds me of how much my dogs like it when I’m using blood meal in the soil
Innocent expressions are betrayed by soil on their noses.

 

[Stunger]

Wow they have just exploded with growth!
I could sit and look at them all day long.

Yes, they look fantastic! And there's nothing wrong with wanting to sit and bask in the company of their lush vigor. I know that feeling too!

 

[Emeraldo]

...
I could sit and look at them all day long.

I'm mostly standing looking at them all day long. Sometimes at night, too.

I'll have to get some more photos of the three young ones, White Widow, G13 x Haze and Gold Leaf. Now, they have been through some changes. More later

This reminds me of how much my dogs like it when I’m using blood meal in the soil
Innocent expressions are betrayed by soil on their noses.

Yeah, smells like F-O-O-D. Attracts critters to the grow, if they get access. Bottled nutes are good on that point, the dogs aren't interested. It ain't alive.

 

[Emeraldo]

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 28, 2020

Head-on view, July 28

 

[Emeraldo]

Ever since last year's experience with late-flowering, late-harvestable Arjan's Haze #1, I've become much more unassuming about what pistils are supposed to look like. Or when they are supposed to appear. Particularly with a haze strain. And most particularly with haze strains from Green House Seeds.

It seems like each strain can have pistils that differ widely from others. With AH#1, I was wondering, on or about October 1, 2019, just when were those pistils supposed to appear and what would they look like? (In case you are curious about this, have a look at my 2019 grow in the weeks of October and November).

That left me with a lot of patience with late-flowering sativa haze hybrids like Super Lemon Haze, but also with Nirvana's Blackberry (Black Domino x Raspberry Cough, plenty of haze in there), and FS Dream Berry (also sativa-leaning).

So... lately I've been wondering: When would the SLH (incidentally also by GHS) show some clear sign of flowering? But, not unlike the AH#1 of last year, I just will have to wait and see how rapidly it develops. Luckily, there are already, now in early August, some signs of flowering. Yes, there is a small bit of pistil growth, also of whitish pre-flower stem-like growth, and there are bracts.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Super Lemon Haze, July 31 (with bract)

In the close-up of the bracts, note the initial pistil growth among the stem growth.

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Super Lemon Haze, July 31, (bract close up)

Blackberry: whitish pre-flower and pistil growth can be seen

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Blackberry, July 31 (pre-flower growth)

Correction: this isn't Blackberry below, it's Dream Berry, July 31

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Blackberry, July 31 (pre-flower growth)

Dream Berry

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Dream Berry, July 31 (pre-flower growth)

Acapulco Gold

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Dream Berry, July 31 (pre-flower growth)

Acapulco Gold will soon be just covered with bud!

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• Emeraldo
• Jul 31, 2020

Acapulco Gold, July 31

The latest flowering of the original four is Super Lemon Haze, just now starting to form pistils. The others are mostly right on time, have been in preflower for a week or two. Even the latest youngest three, WW, G13xHz, and Gold Leaf are showing signs of preflower, some tiny white hairs, these girls are mature at almost three months, germinated May 10.

Except AG, which was way earlier than expected. I was surprized to see the Acapulco Gold start pre-flowering on July 10, and by now is looking fuller at the end of her third week. She's said to be harvestable in mid-October, which would put ripeness at about 12 weeks of flowering.

 

[Emeraldo]

Every day, it's a gettin' closer, goin' faster than a roller coaster...

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• Emeraldo
• Aug 2, 2020
• 1

AG, August 2

Dream Berry (front left) is still stretching. I've been watching her every day, wondering when she'll stop stretching. Blackberry (just behind Dream Berry) had already stretched sooner than Dream Berry, which has now practically caught up with Blackberry.

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• Emeraldo
• Aug 2, 2020

August 1

 

[Stunger]

Lovely view of them, such an exciting time seeing the flowering begin to take off. The Dreamberry looks like she's growing into quite a big bush.

 

[DonkeyDick]

Ahem. Yes. Well. Look. Size isn’t everything, is it? I mean, there’s.. apart from size I mean there’s.. ahh.. well there are probably just other factors, aren’t there? Besides (phew) size, I mean.. gosh, look any number of other things might come into it. Oh, I didn’t mean it quite like that.
What I meant was that even your little one is bigger than my.. you know what, never mind.

 

[Emeraldo]

Lovely view of them, such an exciting time seeing the flowering begin to take off. The Dreamberry looks like she's growing into quite a big bush.

Sheesh Stunger! Thanks! That Dream Berry is wrapped around that corner and has a whole bunch of colas going up in behind there! You can't even see all of them in the photo. She's one huge muthe. And it's all in the horizontal spread she has, about 90 degrees spread over the corner of the balcony. She's not topped, it is all in the LST my friend.

...
What I meant was that even your little one is bigger than my.. you know what, never mind.

Yeah, Donkey Member, but you have many more plants in a continuous grow. The size, I'll admit, is impressive, hehe, but no size is not everything. Jeez those colas are loooooonnnng! Downside is that's all there is for this year. What you see will have to last me a while...

 

[DonkeyDick]

Downside is that's all there is for this year. What you see will have to last me a while...

It’s nail biting stuff just watching you outdoor once-a-year growers. It is very much all your eggs in one basket, but with the risks come rewards!
You should easily clear 3+ pounds from a standing start and that’s an ounce a week for a year. Depending on a musician’s needs that may be okay. You’ll end up with more than that anyway and heaps of variety too.

 

[Emeraldo]

It’s nail biting stuff just watching you outdoor once-a-year growers. It is very much all your eggs in one basket, but with the risks come rewards!
You should easily clear 3+ pounds from a standing start and that’s an ounce a week for a year. Depending on a musician’s needs that may be okay. You’ll end up with more than that anyway and heaps of variety too.

Mixing metaphors, I never could weigh the ounces before they hatch. Outdoor growing is all I have ever done, just seems easier with all that free light and the continual free breeze. Outdoors, growing time is limited to a few months. Risks: heat stress, wind, bugs, etc. However... if it's SIZE that matters... So far so good this year...

I do admire the good indoor grower. You've got everything contolled, right down to the temps, light, RH%, the pH up and down. Risks, but different from outdoors. For the indoor grower, the great outdoors must seem downright scary with all those risks! Aaaagghh! How did that bug get in here??