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

[Deketx]

So... It's been about a week since I flushed the girls. Based on the weight of a pots They didn't need any watering over the last week. I've been watching certain leaves to see if the lockout persists and it seems to have subsided for the most part. Five of the eight got water tonight. The other three maybe tomorrow night. The Mazar's for whatever reason are holding water in the soil and not using water? They are also the most affected by this lockout. So there's that. Plants are still flowering and forming trichomes, I'm sure they were slowed by the flush though. I fed 4.25 grms MC tonight. I'm hoping, fingers crossed that they will take to that and restart the flowering in vigor. Learning as I go.

 

[Emilya Green]

So... It's been about a week since I flushed the girls. Based on the weight of a pots They didn't need any watering over the last week. I've been watching certain leaves to see if the lockout persists and it seems to have subsided for the most part. Five of the eight got water tonight. The other three maybe tomorrow night. The Mazar's for whatever reason are holding water in the soil and not using water? They are also the most affected by this lockout. So there's that. Plants are still flowering and forming trichomes, I'm sure they were slowed by the flush though. I fed 4.25 grms MC tonight. I'm hoping, fingers crossed that they will take to that and restart the flowering in vigor. Learning as I go.

Deketx, that is wonderful news! You are on your way to recovery, and we have also learned from you, and for that we all owe you and this grow a debt. We now know, that flushing a MC grow is not the best move. Rather, it is better to ramp down and let time and the correct dosage do their thing. By flushing, you did clear some of the problem, the parts of the MC that are not amino chelated and if not being used would have been building up in your soil. The negative that came along with that is that you filled the plant up with water, so for a period of time the plant had ZERO nutrients. It's sort of funny actually, to see the reaction to this in your plants stunting out for a watering period... they were not at all impressed with that flushing business. Rest assured, now with a proper hit of MC, they will jump right back into conducting their business and all soon will be well in Deketx's garden. Better times are ahead my friend... glad to have you on board.

Speaking of that, can you feel the cool refreshing breeze in the virtual air? Do you hear any more talk of 6g being the goal? No, instead we are hearing warnings about going over 5, and refreshingly we are now seeing much more talk about going for the MC color. I have actually been reading advice recently that I agree with!

It is nice to know that one can sometimes be a small help in the world, and can actually influence trends. You don't make a lot of friends when you have to tell little boys no... calm down... listen to Aunt Em... but I do smile when I realize that they do listen eventually, after you beat them over the head a few times. Boys will be boys, all over the world. I do this for all of you.
Auntie Em loves you. You are all my family. Enjoy the breeze.

 

[Emilya Green]

Still looking awsome Emilya you said at the start you were going to push the limits with MC and you truly have but have had the smarts to see the first signs of over doing it and backed it off at the right time and found the amount you need perfectly for your growGreat job

Thank you BT! I remember scoffing when the boys told me to be a good little inexperienced non scientist, and keep in my lane by running MC all by itself for the first run, apparently timidly and under their tutelage. lol We see how that went.

 

[Zooie]

Way to go girl...……………...

 

[Emilya Green]

Final Bloom, Day 43
It would have been remarkably lucky to have correctly guessed the correct MC level after scaling back from 6g, and I have purposely gone low so as to speed up the recovery and see if I could see what happens when you hit the lower limit. On this watering cycle, we now see what the lower limit looks like... a calcium deficiency. Here it is, classic spotting in the upper third of the plant. I also notice today a less healthy and lighter green in some of the plant, and the angle of some of the leaves has changed to a downward tilt. They need more MC.

Working with MC has been fun, but it also has been a lesson in watching the plants and reading what they are doing, knowing that things can change with each watering cycle. The way I have this timed, when it is time to water every other day, I have the chance to look over the plants and access how they did on the last watering, and adjust when needed. Throughout this entire grow I have been adjusting the MC based on the plant, ignoring the recommendations on the feeding calculator and it is this constant interaction that seems to be necessary. If you think about it, all the nutrient lines have you adjusting their mix a bit depending on the stage the plant is in, but usually you have to go by a chart or spreadsheet or the advice of another grower to find out how best to do it. A megacrop grow is more interactive, more seat of your pants sort of gardening, and the system seems to be designed to talk to you when you need to make an adjustment. It's not pretty sometimes, but it isn't organic growing either... it is you playing the part of mother nature, using the tools provided. MC is a good system and I am starting to like it a lot, but it certainly isn't plug and play. It is imperative to learn your plants if you wish to push the limits.

Today, being an even numbered calendar day, it is watering day, and they got 5g/g MC. They also got their normal dosage of 1g each of SC and BE. I am confident that we have found the correct level, for now... but I still plan on cutting back again... a bit, in this upcoming last week. Lets see if this problem progresses first. Right now it is only showing on one side branch of one plant.

Other than this slight adjustment, they seem to be growing daily, with noticeable bud building going on as these buds work on gaining twice this current size and weight.

 

[Emilya Green]

I forgot a few things... my joint made it out here to my desk, but my notes didn't.

First, upon opening the tent this morning I got a clear initial rush of pineapple! Now the plants are starting to take on their flavor... the terpenes must be building.

I have also made some environmental changes to let the plants know it is time to get on with it... the heat has been turned down 5°, the lights have been turned down 20 watts and there has been a shortening at both ends of their day of 15 minutes. Winter is coming girls... build those buds.

 

[multiVortex]

my joint made it out here to my desk, but my notes didn't.

At least you have your priorities straight?

 

[Emilya Green]

At least you have your priorities straight?

exactly!

 

[ChefDGreen]

Hey there Emilya,

havent said much in a while but I have been following along. I think it’s silly that anyone would look down on you for taking your own approach on the MC. In the kitchen it goes like this; cooks follow recipes, and chefs interpret recipes. Anyone can follow the instructions, but a great gardener interprets the instructions and applies them to what they know about their plants.

I’d have to say that reading your plants and adjusting is a good habit regardless of the chelate line you’re running. For example, I follow the recommended ml/gal of dynagro on my star pupil last run. This run, she’s at least 25 days from chop and her buds are already as big as they were last run at harvest because I’ve been scaling her up and paying attention to the foliage. I like to think these products we buy give us a guideline to grow any plant with it. The plants we grow are way above average for nutrient hungry-ness.

anyhow, it’s been funny following along. Your plants look great! Can’t wait to see how they finish out...

oh yeah one question, and maybe @Vulx can help out with this; do you think Vulx would be as impactful in a TLO grow?

 

[Emilya Green]

oh yeah one question, and maybe @Vulx can help out with this; do you think Vulx would be as impactful in a TLO grow?

I can answer that one... a definite yes! I started using Vulx in my final container in my last grow, which was essentially a TLO grow powered with RealGrower's Recharge instead of regular compost teas. Vulx made such a huge difference in that test grow, even in just half of the grow, that I was sold on it and convinced that I was going to add it with no hesitation to all of my containers from start to finish on this grow.

 

[ChefDGreen]

I’m planning to switch into Rev style TLO growing in about 4 months, while I’m dropping big coin on dry amendments I’m thinking I’ll sneak in a few buckets of Vulx. Would you suggest that I mix it globally with my soil before I cook? Or add it to the final pots worth of soil as I’m filling the pot?

 

[StoneOtter]

I’m planning to switch into Rev style TLO growing in about 4 months, while I’m dropping big coin on dry amendments I’m thinking I’ll sneak in a few buckets of Vulx. Would you suggest that I mix it globally with my soil before I cook? Or add it to the final pots worth of soil as I’m filling the pot?

Hello Chef, I'm using Revs mix. Also I'm new at it, maybe a few grows. I have a question if you have his newest book. My books recipe for version 2.2 uses coco. I was over Skunk mag where he writes and he is saying Don't use Coir in an article. I'm confused with him calling for it in the book i bought less than a year ago. So, my question is, is coco still one of the 4 first things in your recipe? I wonder if he changed the book since I got mine? Or maybe coco and coir isn't the same thing? Anyway, good luck with it. I'm having a blast. Chime in Em if you please and all.

 

[ChefDGreen]

The book I have lists coco as one of the bulk ingredients along with peat moss, perlite, and EWC or compost. I think the ratio is like 3winkyface:2 peat moss:coco: perlite:ewc.

 

[Emilya Green]

I’m planning to switch into Rev style TLO growing in about 4 months, while I’m dropping big coin on dry amendments I’m thinking I’ll sneak in a few buckets of Vulx. Would you suggest that I mix it globally with my soil before I cook? Or add it to the final pots worth of soil as I’m filling the pot?

First to the lucky Otter's question... that was one of the reasons I was comfortable in using the FFOF and RO101 soil mix that I used as my base soil... had coco as one of its ingredients. I crossed it off the list as I started building.
Regarding the Vulx... cook your supersoil first and find out after that process how much your soil weighs per gallon, and then add the Vulx by weight. Remember, the base soil that is in 2/3 of your containers growing TLO style, is going to weigh a little less, and require less Vulx.

 

[Vulx]

oh yeah one question, and maybe @Vulx can help out with this; do you think Vulx would be as impactful in a TLO grow?

Yeah, it works great in similar things like LOS and KNF. I'm assuming this is the Rev's soil blend you're talking about. I haven't read his book but I'm quasi-familiar with the recipe.

In soils you build for "water only" growing it works just as well as those you add nutes to. Seen good results in different LOS/notill setups and BioAll by Bio365.

Let me know if I am on the same page here.

 

[Fudo Myoo]

Yeah, it works great in similar things like LOS and KNF. I'm assuming this is the Rev's soil blend you're talking about. I haven't read his book but I'm quasi-familiar with the recipe.

In soils you build for "water only" growing it works just as well as those you add nutes to. Seen good results in different LOS/notill setups and BioAll by Bio365.

Let me know if I am on the same page here.

Had the same questions, thanks. I’ll be getting some for my next grow.

 

[Rad Man]

that was one of the reasons I was comfortable in using the FFOF and RO101 soil mix that I used as my base soil... had coco as one of its ingredients

Was this soil combination a result of what you had lying around the house, or an intentionally premeditated base soil for the MC/Vlux experiment? Ratios?

I am facing the decision as to what to fill my geopots with for an indoor situation like yourself, and since I'm at the point I can start with anything, I would appreciate your opinion.

BTW the girls look great.

 

[Deketx]

@Emilya I'm just noticing today the same spotting in the upper canopy of my Zamal, and some yellow tips along the sides of the fan leaves. I'm guessing it was the week without food. She got fed late last night so hopefully it stops it. And I just noticed a few spots and a bit of droop in my Squatch 24 and Bluetoof×HubbaSQ. They should be getting watered tonight.

 

[Emilya Green]

Was this soil combination a result of what you had lying around the house, or an intentionally premeditated base soil for the MC/Vlux experiment? Ratios?

I am facing the decision as to what to fill my geopots with for an indoor situation like yourself, and since I'm at the point I can start with anything, I would appreciate your opinion.

BTW the girls look great.

Originally I was exclusively FFOF and I ran for several years using their system and one day I got tired of throwing away soil after several runs and I decided to go organic, first starting with building one of the original versions of supersoil, Subcool's. It also called for coco as one of the components, but after working with FFOF for so long I wanted to lighten it up a bit, and I created a 50/50 mix of FFOF and Roots Organic 101 for my base. Part of this mix after mineralization became my supersoil, and the rest remained as my base soil for the top 2/3 of my containers.
After 5 or 6 years of running these soils, the two batches began to merge together, even as best I tried not to, and coming out of my last run as a TLO I declared the soil the winner of this game, merged them all together and have as a result the soil that I am using today... about a 50/50 mix of base soil and 7 year old supersoil, re-amended multiple times. Having lost control of the supersoil was one of my primary reasons for seriously considering leaving organics for a while and checking out MegaCrop.

 

[Emilya Green]

@Emilya I'm just noticing today the same spotting in the upper canopy of my Zamal, and some yellow tips along the sides of the fan leaves. I'm guessing it was the week without food. She got fed late last night so hopefully it stops it. And I just noticed a few spots and a bit of droop in my Squatch 24 and Bluetoof×HubbaSQ. They should be getting watered tonight.

Yep, I expected that... clearly that calcium deficiency spotting is a warning that things have gone too low. Never fear... we are going for perfect buds, and not going to stress out over a few leaves taking battle scars as we adjust things. Sometime tomorrow you should be seeing the effects of the feeding on the Mazars... curious, but hopeful how that is going to go.
Are you going a week between waterings in flower??