Emmie's Vegan Fertilizer, Pineapple Chunk 2020 Celebration: Experimental Soil Grow

[Cbeazy95]

ok, the 5 seeds have been planted. One of the tails looks funny and I don't think it will make it, but at least it has a fighting chance now that it is in the soil.
They were all planted 1" deep and gently covered over. A circular area about 4" in diameter around the seed was gently watered with plain water and I will do this twice a day until the seeds pop.
Here they are through the window of my Gorilla grow tent, formerly known as the Love Tent, now repurposed into being the Veg tent. One of my budget noname imitation full spectrum LED arrays has been put into service above them, set to an 18/6 schedule.
Now, we wait...

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The Proper Way to Water a Potted Plant (in soil) - STICKY
Emmie's Links, Journals and Tutorials
Berry-D'licious No AACT Organic - Grow Journal
Pineapple Chunk Mega Crop Test - Grow Journal

So you let your seeds sprout under full spec led's? Interesting. I toyed with this and my plants seemed to like spending 2 weeks under t5 before enjoying the blurple lol.

 

[Emilya Green]

So you let your seeds sprout under full spec led's? Interesting. I toyed with this and my plants seemed to like spending 2 weeks under t5 before enjoying the blurple lol.

It must be a strain thing... mine told me that they liked to have as much PAR as they could stand and that they really enjoyed it coming at them 24/0 for the first week. Seriously... this is a weed, and it will adapt to whatever situation it finds itself in. There is no need for humidity domes or starter soil... just plant the thing and let it come up and it will be that much stronger because of what it had to endure to seek the light. I would start seeds in solo cups of strong soil if it were not for the advantage you can give during germination by applying a little bit of warmth using the paper towel method, but I suspect putting solo cups of soil on a heating pad would have the same effect.

 

[Cbeazy95]

It must be a strain thing... mine told me that they liked to have as much PAR as they could stand and that they really enjoyed it coming at them 24/0 for the first week. Seriously... this is a weed, and it will adapt to whatever situation it finds itself in. There is no need for humidity domes or starter soil... just plant the thing and let it come up and it will be that much stronger because of what it had to endure to seek the light. I would start seeds in solo cups of strong soil if it were not for the advantage you can give during germination by applying a little bit of warmth using the paper towel method, but I suspect putting solo cups of soil on a heating pad would have the same effect.

I appreciate your insight very much. Ive leveled up multiple times just today already. #grateful

 

[Reave]

I appreciate your insight very much. Ive leveled up multiple times just today already. #grateful

I know right? I feel like I level up around her too. Lol.

 

[Emilya Green]

I hear the talk... gardeners standing around their compost piles discussing whether or not Emmie actually follows her own methods.
I understand. It is hard to neglect your plants to the point that they are actually begging for water. Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind.
Dry as the sahara. No humanly discernable water weight at all. You might think that I am killing them. They are beginning wilt... actually wilting clear up almost to the top.
Yep. It is what I do.

 

[Carcass]

you have to be cruel to be kind.

Do you go in and slap them around a little before they get their drink?

But seriously....they look great even when they're thirsty...

 

[barillaro]

I hear the talk... gardeners standing around their compost piles discussing whether or not Emmie actually follows her own methods.
I understand. It is hard to neglect your plants to the point that they are actually begging for water. Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind.
Dry as the sahara. No humanly discernable water weight at all. You might think that I am killing them. They are beginning wilt... actually wilting clear up almost to the top.
Yep. It is what I do.

I'm making a physical effort to NOT water my plants until they get to this point. 13 days of not watering and still no wilt on my end...
If I wasn't waiting for the plants to ask for it I probably would have watered 3-5 days ago. Let there be roots!

 

[Emilya Green]

I'm making a physical effort to NOT water my plants until they get to this point. 13 days of not watering and still no wilt on my end...
If I wasn't waiting for the plants to ask for it I probably would have watered 3-5 days ago. Let there be roots!

13 days is a little excessive... you can help keep the plants going at full speed during this by partially watering the top roots every 3-5 days... just don't add to the water table below. How big are those containers?

 

[barillaro]

13 days is a little excessive... you can help keep the plants going at full speed during this by partially watering the top roots every 3-5 days... just don't add to the water table below. How big are those containers?

Gotcha, went from a solo cup to a 3 gallon. Will be picking up 1 gallons for the next round of seeds

 

[SQl2kGuy]

There is this one but I believe it's not "official."

Thanks, ... and someone here needs to reach out to MC so they can be a sponsor here

 

[Vulx]

Thanks, ... and someone here needs to reach out to MC so they can be a sponsor here

I'll give it a shot. Love supporting the mag any way I can.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Not necessarily. Most of us don't add anything. I need to add a little cal/mag since I grow in coco/perlite under LEDs.

I do the same ...

But what about in flower?

I'm using powdered Fox Farm as a supplement until it runs out ... then I'm thinking about their ppm Bud Explosion ... right now I'm doing full nutes in coco/perlite every other day with 15% run-off ... 1800 ppm ... 6.3 pH ....

 

[multiVortex]

I do the same ...

But what about in flower?

Nope. Not a thing is needed. There are a few that are pushing the envelope, but straight MegaCrop will get you through the entire grow without the need for anything else.

Now there are a few exceptions to that, like needing a little more calmag because of using RO water or something, but that's an exception.

As far as needing umpteen bottles of crap to mix and manage, nope. Just a little more MC with each phase of the grow, and that's it. They do sell additional supplements, but IIRC those are intended to match up with Jacks, and MC already has that stuff incorporated into it.

 

[Emilya Green]

Last night before bed I watered the group with the 3g/gal MC / SC / SK mix. The result in the next 12 hours was a dramatic growth spurt where all 3 plants gained at least a couple inches of height. It was so dramatic a change that this morning I had to raise the lights and the fan.
Along with this rapid growth I am getting a light coloring in the big fan leaves that I don't like. I think it is telling me that I was wrong in coming in at only 3g/gal this time and that going up 1/2g would have been more appropriate. It is also clear that skipping a feeding produces a different response in the MC world than it does in a regular salt based nutrient grow. In the traditional grow, nutes are left over in the soil after a feeding and coming in with plain water helps to gather up those unused nutes to give them a second shot at the plant. In the MC world, things don't work that way. There is nothing building up... the water and nutes are pulled up into the plant and they are either activated by the amino acids in the plant and used, or they are not and I assume they pass along with the water right out of the leaves. The nutrient program calls for nutrients to be in that water every time because there is no residue... and when you give plain water like I did last time, you are simply starving your plants.
So my big fan leaves are turning a little yellow in response to my error. They did use a lot of water this round and they will be due to be uppotted soon. The next watering I will be going at 3.5g/g and never again will I give plain water trying to compensate for giving too much... I will simply go down to the previous level if necessary.
By the way... the plants seem to have taken the SC and SK well... I see no adverse effects from their use... just this growth spurt has resulted.
I will get some pictures when I get home this afternoon. With the harvest and carefully checking the drying process, I simply ran out of time this morning as I was getting ready for work.

 

[ChefDGreen]

So then it’s safe to say that all of the MC users out there don’t need to worry about a week 6 flower flush to aid in nutrient uptake? There aren’t any residual salts to flush out, so a flush would be pointless. You can just go on feeding straight through to harvest, right?

 

[Emilya Green]

So then it’s safe to say that all of the MC users out there don’t need to worry about a week 6 flower flush to aid in nutrient uptake? There aren’t any residual salts to flush out, so a flush would be pointless. You can just go on feeding straight through to harvest, right?

As well as I understand the new science, this is exactly right.

 

[Hydroholic]

I have 2 little ones that I am at 3.5mg-gl. These are smaller/younger than yours. I jumped up 1mg early on my other plants because they were happy but not ecstatic. I was moving lights twice a day after the increase. I have been surprised to not have found a dead fan leaf yet with the MC.

 

[Emilya Green]

I have 2 little ones that I am at 3.5mg-gl. These are smaller/younger than yours. I jumped up 1mg early on my other plants because they were happy but not ecstatic. I was moving lights twice a day after the increase. I have been surprised to not have found a dead fan leaf yet with the MC.

It sounds like you are doing great, and yes, I think I am putting too much of the blame for some of these problems on the MC when I am the one to blame. Admittedly I have been showing off a bit here, and now I have ended up with 3 gallon plants in 1 gallon containers, who are now complaining at me quite loudly to get them into bigger pots. That will be happening soon, but right now I am in the middle of the harvest of a fair amount of pot and I have put everything else on hold while I concentrate on doing that right. Soon we will clear out the other tent and these 3 will be uppotted to 5 gallon containers of @Vulx'ed up soil while also being moved to a good 3000k full spectrum COB light and a much larger tent. I suspect that at that point, most of the complaining will stop.
Veg, Day 26
So today I have pictures that show what happens when you start getting rootbound. The lower leaves are starting to show trouble. The cotyledons are gone. Now the trouble is progressing upwards to the first big fan leaves. I know what the problem is and it is not a crisis yet, but uppotting will be happening soon before I lose too much of the lower growth. I am cramped for tent space at the moment and we will just have to consider this to be a natural thinning of the undergrowth as we start transitioning into flower. The upper growth looks great and overall growth is best described as vigorous. Three growth tips from the sides needed to be trimmed today as they reached dominance since we desire as many of the side branches to rise up as possible before we move into bloom.
The other tent clears by this weekend and the transplant will happen then. At that point I will give them at least 2 weeks to grow into the new containers and I suspect by that point we will be ready to make the switch.
Here are the ugly pictures from a few minutes ago as they start getting that going to bed droop. Water usage and wet/dry cycle times indicate that 3 days ago was not too early to transplant, so until I can get to it I will just water more often, and it has gotten so bad that I think the one in the short container will need water every day for now.

 

[Schnookie]

Veg, Day 13
Wow! These plants LOVE MegaCrop! These plants are able to expand so rapidly because of the @Vulx mixed into the soil! In the 12 hours since taking the last pictures (go back and look) which includes 6 hours of darkness, there has again been incredible growth.

Other than the funny spots on a few of the leaves, especially on the one plant in a container only 2/3 full, everything seems fine. The plants are moving throughout the day with a dramatic droop during the dark period and a strong and vigorous uplift during the light period and the amount of growth could easily be captured on a time lapse camera if there was one in the tent. They got 3g/gal last night in a proper full watering of the containers, and along with the rapid and dramatic growth, the spotting problem has increased. I can see why people are reacting to this as if it were a magnesium deficiency, but I am skeptical that this is what is happening. I am going to keep adding 1/2 gram of MC per gallon on each watering until I see a clear sign that I am overdoing it. So far, what I am seeing does NOT appear to be burning.
Trying to explain why the plant with the most complaints is the one in the partially filled container, I have a theory. Due to the randomness of the leaf damage, it does not appear to me to be nutritional. I believe that several things have come together, the supersoil, the @Vulx and the MegaCrop, to provide for extremely rapid growth of these plants. If we follow the belief that the shape of the roots is roughly equivalent to the shape of the plant above, we can easily assume at this point that some of the rapidly growing roots have already encountered the edges of the cloth smart pot, and they have been air pruned. Note how the damage first started to appear as the plants got as wide as the container. It is my theory that the damage we see on the leaves is nothing more than the presentation that this has happened... and the reason that only one of the leaves on a node are showing the effect of this, compared to how a nutrition problem is usually presented in both leaves at any particular level.

Lastly, a look at internodal spacing with a shot from the side. All appears to be good here and we see that the plants are developing a good strong base structure. These plants will be ready to get their first topping very soon.

I see the same type of yellowing on the tips of some of my leaves that look like this as well with MC nutes...I like your theory. Maybe I can up the dose back up on skunk...since I thought it was nute burn.

 

[Vulx]

I see the a


I see the same type of yellowing on the tips of some of my leaves that look like this as well with MC nutes...I like your theory. Maybe I can up the dose back up on skunk...since I thought it was nute burn.

Burn will cause clawing. And your new growth will be affected as well. Yellowing and weird blotchy brownish color of the lower leaves and tips like this is, more often than not, general deficiency of the macros.