James' Soil - Multi-Strain 2012 Grow

[jameswri85]

Re: James' Organic Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

They are here!!!!

Expect the name of this journal to change to James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow soon!

Thank you Corey for everything!!!

I mixed up the Veg 1 mixture and watered until I had run off so I could check my PH.

Ph of water out of the tap is 7.

Ph after mixing in the nutes was 6.5.... I thought perfect!!!

Then I checked the Ph of the run off.... 5.... UH-OH!!!

They were already really wet and I didn't want to give them too much more water or wash out all the nutes I just put in. So I decided to let them go until today to soak up as many nutes into the dirt as they can. It was almost lights off and my lights have only been on for a couple hours so far today so I figured they wouldn't die overnight.

Just walking down close to the room now I can smell that sweet smell more than ever!

To remedy the issue at hand I have decided to water them with a Ph 8 water until the run off is about 6 (figuring the water that doesn't go through is going to be slightly higher than the run off. So I don't waste the nutes that I just put in I'll water them over my res' and then just drop the rope down into the run off after I Ph it. That way they already got the insolubles and whatever goes through should just be soluble and get wicked back up.

My wife found a great tank to use for my clones. I'll post pictures later today or tomorrow with more of an update.

Miwa- you said high 80's for humidity... can it be too high? My meter went to 99% and stopped. Should I open a hole for it to breathe some? They are all doing better and standing up again at least.

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Well it's a little later then I thought it was going to be but I have been busy and not really up to posting much.

First off the clones... this is when I first put them in there and then less than a day later

I was getting impatient waiting for a tap root out of the bottom, so I pulled them up to see what was going on and... nothing!

They were mushy and swollen so I clipped that part off, dipped em in clonex and put them back into the cubes. With the better conditions, hopefully this time they will do what they will root.

The good cheese that I already have in the 2 liter was the only girl to have a good ph (6.5). I gave her the farmers pride for the first time on Tuesday when she was 9". Yesterday she was 10", and today she's 11"! I'm happy with an inch of growth a day!

The roots are also hitting the res now, they were about an inch away on Wednesday and today they are almost all the way to the bottom of the bottle. My next grow will for sure be hempy's!!

 

[OldMedMan]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Looking good my Friend.

I'll take an inch a day, anytime.

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

I wanted to recap my feeding schedule up to this point for easier reference later, so here it is:

3-20-2012- seeds placed in dirt. water w/ superthrive only 2 gallons for 6 plants
3-31-2012- 1/4 strength FF Big Bloom (organic) 1.5tsp/gal 2 gallons for 6 plants
4-08-2012- 1/2 strength FF Big Bloom (organic) 3 tsp/ gal 2 gallons for 6 plants
4-11-2012- Full strength FF Big Bloom (organic) 6 tsp/ gal 2 gallons for 6 plants
-----Pulled runt and male in this week-----
4-18-2012- top dressed soil with worm castings then watered through the top with
--------1/2 strength FF Big Bloom (organic)
--------1/3 strength FF Grow Big (non-organic) 2 gallons for 4 plants (not even enough or run off)
-----Gained a cheese clone making it 5 plants----
4-25-2012- Full strength FF Big Bloom (organic)
------------1/2 strength FF Grow Big (non-O) 2 gallons for 4 plants (not even enough or run off)
5-01-2012- Received my BPNs!!!!! Fed them Veg 1 schedule 1/2 gallon each, checked Ph.... 4
5-03-2012- Super flush to bring up Ph Top dressed with root magic then about 15 gallons ea.
5-04-2012- Super flush to bring up Ph then re-nute with Veg 1 schedule 1/2 gallon ea.

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Now for some troubles....

5-03-2012 - I started to flush the girlys to bring the Ph back up. I put one quart through to get enough run off to test the Ph. It was deep red meaning 4... Yikes!!!!

I PHed water to higher than 8.5 (all I have is the liquid Gen Hydro test kit so no exact measurements) and flushed 15 gallons through my fimmed lady. The Ph was finally about 6 so I did this to the rest of them. I let them dry for a day and adjust to the Ph change before doing anymore.

5-04-2012 - Ran one quart through to get run off... Ph was 5. I Ph upped water to 8.5 again and ran another 15 gallons through the fimmed lady. Finally got it to what I would call 6.3. I used up a ton of my Ph up doing it this way so because my tap water is Ph 7 I hooked up my hose for filling my fish tanks and just kept running water through until the Ph was were I wanted it (I would guess about 20 gallons ea.)

Now with the Ph where it is suppose to be I mixed up another Veg 1 feeding and put just one quart in each and checked the run off. Three of them were 6.5 and one was still 6.0. I'll bring that one up later though, I was already too worn out.

I took what was left of the nutrients I had mixed up and put 1/2 gallon in two of the reservoirs and 1/2 gallon of just water in the middle reservoir.

I have my cheese in the plain water to hopefully slow it down just a tad. I may end up topping this one a few times to keep her at the same height as her sisters and to let the bottom bush up some! Plus that will give me a few more cheese clones. I plan on keeping an eye on the reservoir and whenever it gets low filling it up with nutrient water through the drain hole while leaving the wick in the plain water.

Now that everything is a good Ph and good nutrients I'm expecting some happy results in the next few days!!!

Thank you again Corey for all you have done, although my wife said the smell reminds her of the rhino house at the zoo, lol.

(The cheese is the one in the middle waving high!)

Hope to have happy updates for you soon!

 

[miwa]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

everything looks good...i just took the cover off my clones 3-4 times a day for fresh air...i don't think cuttings will survive being pulled out of the medium before they have rooted...i might be wrong...hope so...good looking grow...

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Thank you OMM and Miwa

Right now my cover is half off, even with it completely off my humidity is still 99%.

They weren't going to survive left alone either.. The end of the root got all swollen, mushy, and flattened. I had to cut all that nastyness off and try again. I have been debating pulling them as it's not something I want to do but I've just had a feeling something wasn't right, turns out none of them had even tried to root yet. I agree though, pulling them before being rooted is a bad idea but I would have hated waiting another week or two to find out they were the way they were.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Just wanting to confirm, are you ph'ing your feedings or just waterings? If you are using a decent organic soil and organic nutrients, ph'ing shouldn't be necessary, the buffers in the soil should handle your ph. PH up & down are toxic to the beneficial microbes that break down the organic nutrients and will kill off your microherd.

 

[OldMedMan]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Just wanting to confirm, are you ph'ing your feedings or just waterings? If you are using a decent organic soil and organic nutrients, ph'ing shouldn't be necessary, the buffers in the soil should handle your ph. PH up & down are toxic to the beneficial microbes that break down the organic nutrients and will kill off your microherd.

Very, very true!

 

[OldMedMan]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Thank you OMM and Miwa

Right now my cover is half off, even with it completely off my humidity is still 99%.

They weren't going to survive left alone either.. The end of the root got all swollen, mushy, and flattened. I had to cut all that nastyness off and try again. I have been debating pulling them as it's not something I want to do but I've just had a feeling something wasn't right, turns out none of them had even tried to root yet. I agree though, pulling them before being rooted is a bad idea but I would have hated waiting another week or two to find out they were the way they were.

You have to find a way to get the humidity down first.....way to high!

 

[miwa]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

You have to find a way to get the humidity down first.....way to high!

ANYTHING THAT ABSORBS water will bring your humidty down...i've used salt that you put down to melt ice...charcoal that you cook with...the salt saved mine...make sure your meter is right...any container with water in it will raise your hum...you have water in your 2Ls...move your clones to another room that may solve your hum problem...if you need to check clone roots..put your clone in a clear plastic cup..i made a dark cover to set my cup in..you're doing great though...i see a good harvest coming,,,

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Hey stoned, I haven't PHed anything up until about 2 weeks ago when I finally got the test. I checked the water in my reservoir at the time and it was 7.5 so I PHed it down to 6.5 (only took a few drops).

What I unfortunately overlooked:

I used the regular Pro-mix which contained a bunch of bonus nutrients and also had dolomite lime in it. Well this time I grabbed the Pro-mix Vegetable and Herb because it was on sale and did not realize it doesn't come with any additives other than mycorrhizae. Which means no dolomite and really no buffers.

When I Ph downed the nutes it must have dropped it then.

The second and only other time I Phed water was flushing it through the fimmed lady. I didn't like needing to use it that much and that's why I decided to flush the others with plain water and not use the PH up. Which ended up working out better anyways with the hose I used it made it much easier to run more water through faster.

The cheese clone is the only one that was a normal Ph at 6.5 (I got this clone after Ph downing the first time). I just measured her and she is just shy of 12" today!! By the end of the day she should be 12"... another day.. another inch. Also I measured three other shoots on the other plants yesterday and just measured them now and they are also an inch longer.

Now that the Ph is figured out I don't plan on PHing anything, my water out of the tap is 7 and after adding nutes it is 6.5..... just perfect! It just got way out from me not having run off or a tester, I know for next time to run water through the top at least once to check the PH. And also to use the right Pro-mix (w/ lime), it is just mixed with coco and perlite so no buffering there either.

Thank you for coming by and for your advisements!!
p.s. I sent you reps a little while back for your help before!! Thank you!

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

OMM and Miwa:

Thank you, I was concerned about the humidity a few days ago but had no response or time to look it up. I will be taking a wash cloth and wiping everything down and then laying it in the bottom to see if that pulls it down and then change it each day. I already have them outside of my room, they are in a 1.5 gallon fish aquarium with 7 LED lights on it and even with the cover off the humidity remains high. I may try adding a fan blowing across the top of the aquarium if the wash cloth doesn't work.

Thank you for letting me know to lower that!!

 

[jameswri85]

re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Well poop!!!

I started to pull the top branch of my UBTed Love Lettuce down a little more because it was starting to grow above the rest....

Had it just where I wanted it..

Just pulled it down another 1/4 inch to get the hook around the lip of the container and...

SNAP!!!

I thought well there goes that branch for a little, then I looked and was upset to find it even worse than I thought....

I am hoping this will heal up??? If not maybe I'll just PH some rockwool and stick it on top for a more direct method of watering???

Here is the cheese, she pretty much made it to the 12" mark now

 

[Deege420]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

NICE MAN! way to pull through that ph issue!

 

[jameswri85]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

NICE MAN! way to pull through that ph issue!

Thank you much or the +rep!!

I still have one that I have now flushed 3 times and it was still coming out 5!!!

I just solved that one though by replanting into a 1 Gal hempy with new dirt. Should fix that!!

I need to mix up another batch of nutes tomorrow and I will be checking the Ph then!!

for stopping in!

 

[jameswri85]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Here is the 7 week update!! (just about 4 days late)

I was a little upset to realize they are starting their 8th week. I was not only hoping for them to be taller by now but I had hoped to be going into flower by this point. So much for that plan...

Now that I have seen some good growth on them I plan on letting them get a few inches taller before giving them the "crazy growth" feeding and then switch to flower the following feeding. If all goes as planned (which it never does) I should be flipping them 5-14-2012 (full 8 weeks old) to 5-21-2012 at the latest.

I'll start with the clones..

They are all doing much much better now: they look healthier, standing upright again, and if I gently lift at the base of the stem the rockwool cube goes up to

I had to scrap the cheese that I topped off as it was toast... no saving it! However I did take a clipping from celeste (the one that had blueish leaves) and that one seems to be doing pretty good in the perlite/water/solo cup method. If this way works out better then I'll be switching, although now that all but one of them has started rooting I don't believe the rockwool method is too bad either.

 

[jameswri85]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Now for the one I'm calling fugly until I care to come up with a better name. I don't like the way this one is growing and it's the one that gave me the most Ph issues.

I replanted this one into a 1 gallon hempy (used a sunny D container... big mistake, horrible idea... has a handle which is nice, but flimsy, short, and wide. I'm not a big fan of how this one turned out.

 

[jameswri85]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

Here is Celeste

I really like how this one turned out, all the branches split evenly and ended perfectly on the opposite side of the container.

I have noticed a few leaves have been showing signs of mag def. I ran water through to check the run off and its back to 5ish. I'm hoping to get paid today and I will be picking up some dolomite lime to mix into the substrate and then maybe replant. I'm not 100% sure I want to try replanting this one with how nicely it's tied down though and may just end up top dressing it. Once I get the Ph back up and stabilized the mag def should go away.

 

[OldMedMan]

Re: James' BPN Farmer's Pride Soil, Multi-strain 2012 Grow

From one Jim to another....they are looking good. Just a note....if you can see through your containers...it is not good. Paint them or put tape around them them so the roots will not get any light on them.