Vegan4life
Well-Known Member
This soil recipe works best in large containers, 15 to 20 gallon plus. I use 20 gallon fabric pots.
I need a UV light to kill chloramines
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bobj
Well-Known Member
Can I water it with chloraminated water?
Vegan4life
Well-Known Member
Yes you could, but you may be killing microbes in the soil. Some who posted above said it would only kill a minimal amount of them. I use a RO filtration with a chloramine filter.Can I water it with chloraminated water?
Get a 5 stage R/O system with 2 carbon block filters, R/O membrane and a Deionizing Resin filter. Been using one for probably a good 8 years now and plants are fine. Water goes from 450ppm to 0ppm and pH of 8.6 to pH 7.
Assuming that's not a mental thing, it's more likely to be indicative of a bad gardener than a "bad" brand/type of nutrients. Properly grown cannabis that was fed (+/-)synthetic nutrients is no more likely to taste like chemicals than properly grown cannabis that was fed natural(?) ones is to taste like shit.
There's also a chance that you're tasting cannabis that wasn't properly dried/cured. I'd add "or that is contaminated with mold spores, caterpillar feces, et cetera," but one assumes that product gets checked for such things before being offered for sale in a retail store.
AdaminCO
Well-Known Member
Please give this a read…
Found this in my research awhile back. It’s a bigger article, but here’s the data I used. This is how I came up with the measurements.
25mg/gal = 125mg 5gal
The smallest measuring spoon I have is the 1/4 tsp, so that’s what I’ve used.
“It takes about 1,000 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid form) to remove chloramines from 40 gallons of water”
Found this in my research awhile back. It’s a bigger article, but here’s the data I used. This is how I came up with the measurements.
25mg/gal = 125mg 5gal
The smallest measuring spoon I have is the 1/4 tsp, so that’s what I’ve used.
“It takes about 1,000 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid form) to remove chloramines from 40 gallons of water”
- Chloramine Removal:
Carbon filters remove this chemical but the filter is used up much faster than for other chemicals and takes much longer to do the job. A special form of carbon, “Catalytic carbon”, as it works better than standard carbon (sometimes called Centaur). In other words it will require a larger and more expensive filter to remove it.
- Carbon filters remove the chlorine portion of the molecule leaving the ammonia behind hence it requires another stage of filtration such as reverse osmosis to remove it.
Vitamin C filters – For showers this works better than other types at removing chloramines.
- It takes about 1,000 mg of vitamin C (ascorbic acid form) to remove chloramines from 40 gallons of water.
Reverse osmosis units do remove chloramines as they generally have a couple carbon filters but they often produce large amounts of salt (sodium) in the water which can also cause problems if used to water plants.
Double counter top units work better than single stage filters for drinking water(Cool water must be used for these filters to work effectively).
Note: When chloramines is coupled with chlorine and fluoride the combinednegative effects on plant and soil health is much greater.
REFERENCES:
Removing Chloramines from Water, Pure Water Products, LLC.
Citizens Concerned about Chloramine,
Chloramine Facts - Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
Home - Citizens Concerned About Chloramine (CCAC)
Alternative Disinfectants and Oxidants Guidance Manual, EPA 815-R-99-014, April 1999
WHO’s Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality. PDF 145KB - Wikipedia – Chloramine
Chloramines - Wikipedia
Catalytic Carbons Help Remove Chloramine, by Stephen Spotts
Calagon Carbon Corporation
HTG Supplys “Ask The Doc”,
“Chloramines Can Kill Your Plants”
“Water Problems and Ornamental Plants”
“Watering the Vegetable Garden with CityWater”
Watering the Vegetable Garden With City Water | Veggie Gardener
The Case Against Fluoride, Paul Connett, PhD, James Beck, MD, PhD and H.S. Micklem, DPhil, Chelsa Green Publishing, Copyright 2010, ISBN 978-1-60358-287-2
AdaminCO
Well-Known Member
If you don’t want to use traditional nutrients… simply purchase ANY organic soil and brew your our teas with store bought raw nutrients.
Watch out for anything that says wetting agent or time release as those are typically preloaded with ingredients you seem to not desire.
I brew compost teas.
5g Spring Water
3tbl Blackstrap Molasses
2 scoops Blue Planet soluble seaweed extract (or liquid equivalent) might have to do a conversation
1 scoop Great White mica (or comparable item)
8tbl URB (optional as it’s an expensive humic acid)
In a strainer:
3c Organic Compost
2c Earthworm Castings
1/2c Down to Earth Flower Blend (I’ve also used Dr. Earth Flower Girl) then non soluble kind.
I put a 4” air stone on the bottom of a Home Depot bucket, fill about half way, add the molasses, URB, and seaweed. Allow that to bubble while mixing your dry ingredients up.
I mix the dry up very well in a bowl, then pour into the strainer. I suspend the strainer bag a couple of inches above the air stone, pour the remaining water over the bag, let brew for 12 or 24 to 36 hours.
I use crock pot bags to cover the top of the bucket because foam will form, keep it around 75F, and out of UV light. If I run it longer that 24 hours, I add another 3tbl of molasses. If you don’t use URB, I recommend minimum 24 hour brew. Use within 3 hours.
Watch out for anything that says wetting agent or time release as those are typically preloaded with ingredients you seem to not desire.
I brew compost teas.
5g Spring Water
3tbl Blackstrap Molasses
2 scoops Blue Planet soluble seaweed extract (or liquid equivalent) might have to do a conversation
1 scoop Great White mica (or comparable item)
8tbl URB (optional as it’s an expensive humic acid)
In a strainer:
3c Organic Compost
2c Earthworm Castings
1/2c Down to Earth Flower Blend (I’ve also used Dr. Earth Flower Girl) then non soluble kind.
I put a 4” air stone on the bottom of a Home Depot bucket, fill about half way, add the molasses, URB, and seaweed. Allow that to bubble while mixing your dry ingredients up.
I mix the dry up very well in a bowl, then pour into the strainer. I suspend the strainer bag a couple of inches above the air stone, pour the remaining water over the bag, let brew for 12 or 24 to 36 hours.
I use crock pot bags to cover the top of the bucket because foam will form, keep it around 75F, and out of UV light. If I run it longer that 24 hours, I add another 3tbl of molasses. If you don’t use URB, I recommend minimum 24 hour brew. Use within 3 hours.
AdaminCO
Well-Known Member
If you’re worried about synthetic nutrients causing your bud to taste funny… please read this.
Actually read both No flush links in @InTheShed signature.
Believe in science.
Post in thread 'InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time'
InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time
Avoid confusion by researching experiments with controls. Here’s at is just what it is….
Actually read both No flush links in @InTheShed signature.
Believe in science.
Post in thread 'InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time'
InTheShed Grows Inside & Out: Jump In Any Time
Avoid confusion by researching experiments with controls. Here’s at is just what it is….
as mentioned above that's likely not what you are tasting in your dispensary bud.
most of the smoothness is achieved in the cure. the rest is starting with good genetics.
Can I water it with chloraminated water?
also mentioned, yes you can. it will have some effect on the microbes. probably not as much as the hand wringing is worth. it will depend on your municipality.
even a regular ro filter will take the majority out. something about the molecule size the membrane lets through. it doesn't reduce it to zero though. same as chlorine. just knocks it to an amount that isn't worth a mention. the membrane will last loads longer with a chloramine filter however.
So many wonderful responses and avenues to accomplish your goal!
I agree with the others though. I'm thinking it's a bad cure. Many commercial operations are focused on fast turn around. Not all of them. But that's been my experience here in California.
Bookmarked ACO! Thank you for that great information.
I understand where you're coming from. I have heard many talk about being able to taste the difference between organic sun grown versus indoor synthetic. Personally, I haven't developed a palette like that yet. Take a look at the recent Emerald Cup winners. Lots of outdoor organic sun grown won.
I agree with the others though. I'm thinking it's a bad cure. Many commercial operations are focused on fast turn around. Not all of them. But that's been my experience here in California.
So I agree with @bluter about the soil and fertilizer aspect. I know you said you're a year away from making your own soil.
You will likely need to accept that you may not be able to make enough castings in that time. I have two worm bins going. I buy all my castings. I use my bins to inoculate and breed worms primarily now. I still get castings. But not nearly enough for how much I use. Just throwing that out there.
Yes. But you can greatly reduce that with some simple filtering and @AdaminCO gave you an awesome solution below!Can I water it with chloraminated water?
Bookmarked ACO! Thank you for that great information.
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bobj
Well-Known Member
So if the bad taste or rather, the chemical taste in marijuana plants, is due to bad curing, why is flushing a thing? Or why is the mere idea of needing to flush your plants completely with nothing but water a week or two before harvest often recommended if you're using synthetic nutrients? Growganica is a 100% organic OMRI listed additive that states on the package that it doesn't require flushing, DESPITE having obnoxious PK ratios of 10-25.So many wonderful responses and avenues to accomplish your goal!
I understand where you're coming from. I have heard many talk about being able to taste the difference between organic sun grown versus indoor synthetic. Personally, I haven't developed a palette like that yet. Take a look at the recent Emerald Cup winners. Lots of outdoor organic sun grown won.
I agree with the others though. I'm thinking it's a bad cure. Many commercial operations are focused on fast turn around. Not all of them. But that's been my experience here in California.
So I agree with @bluter about the soil and fertilizer aspect. I know you said you're a year away from making your own soil.
You will likely need to accept that you may not be able to make enough castings in that time. I have two worm bins going. I buy all my castings. I use my bins to inoculate and breed worms primarily now. I still get castings. But not nearly enough for how much I use. Just throwing that out there.
Yes. But you can greatly reduce that with some simple filtering and @AdaminCO gave you an awesome solution below!
Bookmarked ACO! Thank you for that great information.
Right now I'm smoking Pure Sunfarms Pink Kush and quite frankly, it's disgusting. But I suppose that's the price to pay for eighths that cost $20CAD. But I'm not gonna gamble on spending $400+ for an ounce of 'quality' stuff to get the same kind of crap. I'd rather grow my own and avoid this hassle.
So I have 12 seeds. Well, 8 now, four have become seedlings. It'll take me roughly 4 months for these girls to grow, and then another four months for the next seeds I plant, that's 8 months from now. If I start a compost bin in August/September this year I should have good humus to use by spring, won't I? If I need to wait longer I'm completely fine with that. I'm planning to use Fox Farms soil and their synthetic nutrients my next grow anyhow so I won't have any need for compost. I can always buy additional worm castings as required. But the key to making good soil is having good humus, from what I've gathered. And what better way to achieve that then to put a bunch of worms into a bin with a bunch of mulch and other stuff?
The idea behind the 'flush' is to remove any possible salt build up in the medium so that the plant is able to take in the nutrients it needs. If those salts are allowed to build up there is a very good possibility that the plant's root system will start to shut down in an attempt to wait out the salt problem until healthier conditions return.
What I figure happens is that about 50 years ago when the underground growers started working out how to grow these plants indoors and outdoors using soils and artificial grow mediums to hold the roots there was a lot of exchange of ideas and techniques between themselves . Hydroponic growers using pre-dissolved nutrients in their fertilizer solutions were learning to do a flush every so often throughout their grow and especially a few weeks before harvest as a way to reduce the build-up of salts.
Before long it seemed like everyone with a plant growing in their home's basement or in the backyard was running round doing a flush a few weeks before harvest because that is what someone told them to do to as a way to solve every plant problem known to humans.
If the flush did not solve their problem they would not say anything but would try something else or just stop trying. But, when it worked they told everyone to use the magic flush trick to fix whatever needed fixing which gives the impression that the flush is true scientific 'magic'. After a few decades of hearing this growers would automatically recommend a flush because they remembered the few times it worked and disregarded the majority of times when it did not.
It is not the numbers or percentages of the major or macro nutrients in the fertilizer's N-P-K formula that help determine if a flushing of the grow medium is needed. Nor is it the name that goes with the macro of micro nutrient. It is the buildup of salts in the area that the roots are growing in.
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bobj
Well-Known Member
How does the salt build up in the soil, and if not dealt with properly, can it affect the taste of the buds?
Many of the fertilizers that do not meet the requirements for 'organic' are made by taking existing natural items and separating them, concentrating the compounds, mixing in other compounds, and then drying them out so that the result is a concentrated product.
The consumer is then able to mix a 1/4 teaspoon to a gallon of water and has a liquid fertilizer with high levels of water soluble nutrients. Since the vast majority of fertilizers are derived from one form or another of a salt there are higher levels of salts left over after the plant takes the dissolved nutrients it needs.
It does not bother the food crops that we rely on and expect to find in the supermarket. The fields are naturally flushed several times a year with spring run-off and the occasional heavy rainstorms that dump enough water to dissolve and then flush those salts away.
But when growing in a very limited environment like a pot filled with a couple of gallons of a soil mix those salts can build up quickly.
Can it affect the taste of the buds? Probably not if you are asking if they will have a salt or chemical taste. But, too many salts can affect the health of the plants, affect its ablility to pull in the nutrients it needs, and effect the way the existing micro-organisms are able to extract nutrients from the water soluble and water-insoluble material in the root zone. An unhealthy plant could mean a plant that does not ripen properly and that will affect the quality of the harvest.
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
As said above, many of the nutrients themselves are considered salts. If they build up in the soil (the plant doesnt use them) they can block other nutrients. These nutes are mostly being used by the plant however, so you really have to be giving an excess for the mineral salts to build up. The primary cause of salt in our soil is from the EDTA salt that is used to chelate some of the nutrients to keep them stable in the bottle. When you put these in a bucket at the right pH, that salt is ripped away to free the nutrient, and this salt, not being used by the plant, will build up over time in your container.
It isn't, in the way that many people "understand" the term. A big part of it is merely yet another case of "monkey see, monkey do." That happens a lot on cannabis-related Internet forums (although less so now than in the past, but it's still an issue). Especially if the person making a suggestion happens to include pictures of a nice-looking plant. For better or worse - and it's often the latter - Homo sapiens appears to have a dominant "copycat" gene
. Many people don't even stop to wonder, "Did the plant turn out the way it did because of {thing} - or in spite of it? Or did it have no relevance whatsoever?"Flushing, like most other things, should be done for a *reason*. (It should also be done with an acidic liquid instead of a neutral or alkaline one, but that's meat for a different sandwich
.)By the way... Some have questioned whether they should feed right up to the day of harvest. If one is a commercial gardener, it's a matter of economics - stop feeding prior to harvest, and one saves money. However... blind taste tests have been run, with bud that was sourced from plants that were fed up to the day of harvest, ones that stopped receiving nutrients 7 days prior, and that stopped receiving them two weeks prior to harvest. The ones that were fed up to the day of harvest always got declared the winner by the majority of tasters. I should point out that "majority" is exactly that; taste is subjective, and people's opinions differ. I should also point out the assumption that the cannabis used was grown by people who knew what they were doing, and who presumably knew how to "read" their plants, as opposed to someone blindly following a recipe/schedule.
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