Fanleaf Tries For A TLO, True Living Organics, Grow With 6 Plants

[fanleaf]

All 6 plants were ready for a drink today. They all got a good tea that had brewed for 48 hours or so. I did notice while watering them that in even the 13 gallon pots that are roughly 20 inches tall that the roots have grown straight through the bottom layer of flower food but also through the 2 inches of perlite and to the bottom. Take a look at the base of the pot closely.

I also noticed that on the 4 plants that didnt make it to large flowering pots that the multch has been annihilated by the microbes. I need to add some fresh multch to those 4 pots.

 

[fanleaf]

 

[Aroxol]

All 6 plants were ready for a drink today. They all got a good tea that had brewed for 48 hours or so. I did notice while watering them that in even the 13 gallon pots that are roughly 20 inches tall that the roots have grown straight through the bottom layer of flower food but also through the 2 inches of perlite and to the bottom. Take a look at the base of the pot closely.

I also noticed that on the 4 plants that didnt make it to large flowering pots that the multch has been annihilated by the microbes. I need to add some fresh multch to those 4 pots.

Was the tip of this just a traditional air exposed root turning amber??? That’s wild.

 

[fanleaf]

Was the tip of this just a traditional air exposed root turning amber??? That’s wild.

What you are seeing there is a white insulated solid copper wire and a bad lower leaf. I use those wires to tie and bend branches where I want em.

 

[Aroxol]

What you are seeing there is a white insulated solid copper wire and a bad lower leaf. I use those wires to tie and bend branches where I want em.

LOL got it, that was absolutely tripping me out. Makes much more sense.

 

[StoneOtter]

Pretty amazing the mulch is getting eaten so fast. Good growing.

 

[fanleaf]

I will have an update for all of you tonight that will include what I know will be a very controversial decision I have made to 2 of the plants. The hint, is that normally at this stage in a grow I wouldn't consider what I chose to do but I felt there was little choice.....
Update will come tonight with some pictures.

 

[Emilya Green]

I am going to practice my response, so that I will be able to react properly at the time.
Egads!
Gadzooks!

ok... the keys still work. I am ready.

 

[dr.h00k]

...betcha' scissor's were involved... ...cheerz...h00k......

 

[fanleaf]

I am going to practice my response, so that I will be able to react properly at the time.
Egads!
Gadzooks!

ok... the keys still work. I am ready.

lolol...

...betcha' scissor's were involved... ...cheerz...h00k......

Nope, no scissors involved.
All guesses until the update are welcome though.

 

[dr.h00k]

...please say you didn't cull the M X P's... ...cheerz...h00k......

 

[fanleaf]

Okay, so here is the scoop. I found some time now so here goes.

Let me first lay this out for y'all to follow. We have 6 TLO plants. 2 of which are medium sized plants and 4 that are rather large. Remember when I took the 2 largest plants and transplanted them to 13 gallon pots before flower? Sure you do. Do you also remember a few weeks ago when it looked like there was a Magnesium deficiency on the other 2 large plants and @Emilya said it looks like macronutrient issues? Sure you do. So, we brewed a few much stronger teas right? Well, the plants did respond and looked much happier. As we know, organic issues can work themselves out over some time (7-14 days) after a good tea. Well, at that point we had 2 medium sized plants in the 3.5 gallon air pots looking 100% happy and healthy, 2 large plants in 13 gallon flowering containers looking happy and perfectly healthy and 2 large plants in the 3.5 gallon pots looking deficient to a degree that we helped with a tea okay?

Well ober the last few days I have noticed the 2 large plants in 3.5 gallon pots also starting to get a lighter green over the whole plant as well as some lower leaf necrosis and still signs of issues.

That's when it hit me a few days ago.....These 2 large plants showing the issues just cant be fixed by a good strong tea simply because they are very big plants in a container with an actual capacity of 3 gallons.
But what do you do when you have them in flower, you dont want to transplant them at this point in flower but you can see they are simply crammed in those pots. Besides that, I have no more TLO soil cooked and ready to go even if I did want to transplant them.....
Well, this left me with a very hard decision to weigh out because these 2 large plants simply cannot produce to full potential in the end if they are completely rootbound and showing signs this strongly early in a 10-12 week flower. So, do I risk shocking them a bit now and making life happy for them through the rest of flower by transplanting? Or do I force them to deal with being severely root bound and accept an inferior result.
Well, I weighed the decision. What I decided to do is this....

Well, on page 253 of the Revs book he mentions a simple "ready to go" TLO mix that while not as heavy as the 2.2 mix does get the job done. Its 3 parts FFOF, 1 part EWC's, 2 parts perlite and 1 part coco.

I mixed up just a few gallons of that mix, the goal here was not to add fresh hot soil but simply more room for the roots. So, I transplanted the 2 large plants showing issues. I transplanted them from 3.5 gallon (3actual gallon) pots to 7 gallon pots (actual is 5.5 gallon) pots using that mix as the filler for room for the roots to stretch out some.

While I dont like the idea of doing this in flower I truly feel those 2 plants will not stress additionally what so ever. I truly believe within 7 days those 2 plants will be 100% like the other 4 plants. Let me tell you, when I unrolled the 3 gallon pots from them it confirmed my instinct....They were completely bound up. I did brush the roots around the sides and bottom to loosen them up a bit and placed them in the bigger pots with flower spikes and layers as they should have.

Now, dont they look like they will be much happier in those pots rather than this?......

I learned a few things here. Even though the Rev flowers in 3 gallon containers, his plants are small and yield 2-3 ounces. My plants are between 4 feet tall and Malauwi is over 5 feet tall and training has made many many tops on all of them. They need more room than a 3 gallon container can support.
So, there is no replacement for displacement.

 

[fanleaf]

Here is what they are looking like 1 day after transplant...

 

[Emilya Green]

I will save my witticisms for another time. You have made some masterful decisions here, and your plants are going to be just fine as a result. We know, despite all the warnings we read, that transplanting can be less stressful than remaining in a rootbound situation, even while in bloom. We also tend to forget that the roots are still growing all through bloom, albeit not as rapidly as while in veg, but as long as the plant above is growing in complexity, so are the roots. As above, so below... the saying goes.

 

[StoneOtter]

...betcha' scissor's were involved... ...cheerz...h00k......

That's my first thought

 

[StoneOtter]

I am going to practice my response, so that I will be able to react properly at the time.
Egads!
Gadzooks!

ok... the keys still work. I am ready.

True Batwoman style.

 

[StoneOtter]

Well thought our Fanleaf. I think you're on the right track too. 3.5 gallons just isn't enough for growing a plant this size I guess.

 

[fanleaf]

I will save my witticisms for another time. You have made some masterful decisions here, and your plants are going to be just fine as a result. We know, despite all the warnings we read, that transplanting can be less stressful than remaining in a rootbound situation, even while in bloom. We also tend to forget that the roots are still growing all through bloom, albeit not as rapidly as while in veg, but as long as the plant above is growing in complexity, so are the roots. As above, so below... the saying goes.

Honestly, you don't know how great it is to hear you say this. It was one of those conundrums that I spent time trying to figure a way out of the problem. Many different plans came to mind but then I remembered the Revs "quick tlo soil". I thought about it some more and decided I wouldn't even report to the forum with my final plan until it was done simply so there would be no going back at that point. I've probably never sat down and thought of what would be best to do with any of my previous plants this hard and long and I think that's where many growers mess up, they just jump to the first thing that comes to mind and act. I have been guilty of doing the same many many times but I am finding that organics are making me think a bit differently (slowly).

Now, over time I know the huge amount of soil life in the pure TLO part of the pot will spread to the fresh soil where there should already be good life and what I hope is to help that explosion happen when it's time for another tea.

We have 4 very happy good looking plants and in short order I hope it's back to 6.

 

[fanleaf]

Well thought our Fanleaf. I think you're on the right track too. 3.5 gallons just isn't enough for growing a plant this size I guess.

Yep, now I know. Ever since we got out of the growth stall they got really big really quickly. I'm mixing another TLO batch to start cooking now. I'm going to do this all over again and use all 13 gallon pots lol. Its plain to see that size matters with this type of grow more than any grow styles I've don before.

 

[StoneOtter]

Yep, now I know. Ever since we got out of the growth stall they got really big really quickly. I'm mixing another TLO batch to start cooking now. I'm going to do this all over again and use all 13 gallon pots lol. Its plain to see that size matters with this type of grow more than any grow styles I've don before.

Mine are in 10 gal cloth and so far so good. They exploded when I flipped em too. Never been a minimalist, no sense starting now.