Need help identifying issue

[jpemberton1]

The microbes die and smell like sewage

Okay! I didn't get much foam at the top though during the brew. I had a very slight ring and very light settlement on the bottom of the pail. I'm starting tot wonder if I didn't somehow brew correctly??

 

[jpemberton1]

next time you do a full water or feed/water check the ph of the runoff. Lets see how the soil is doing?

I'm going to go water right now! I'll do a quick test

 

[Gee64]

sometimes you get more foam than others. As long as you added ewc and/or manure as its optional, you will be fine.

 

[jpemberton1]

next time you do a full water or feed/water check the ph of the runoff. Lets see how the soil is doing?

It checked out right around 7-7.1 I'm ordering a digital ph reader soon!

 

[Gee64]

Thats awesome! OK so now that your doing fine heres a bit on soil ph maintenance. You may know this already so i apologize if its repetitive its just a really good basic to know....
In living organics you and your soil supply nutrients but initially the plants cant use them....yet.
Fungus (mychorizael and a few other beneficial funguls)in the soil eats the nutes with the dirt. Feeder microbes eat the fungus and digest both the fungus and the contents of the fungii's stomach. Then predator microbes eat those feeder microbes and digest them and poop them out. Now plants can use the nutes as they are composted by the microbes. Roots can only pull these nutes thru the soli for maybe a half inch maximum so plants, as they grow send sugars from the leaves down to and out the roots (exudates) The exudates attract fungus to the roots and thus bait in the microbes. Knowing that, its easy to understand that more roots means you have more intakes within a half inch of microbe poop.

Now....
Fungus likes lower ph. too much fungus and your soil ph will plummet towards 4ish.
Microbes like higher ph. Not enough fungus and your microbes will drive ph up ..but....
Nature is smart. Too many microbes means not enough fungus to eat so microbes starve and balance is restored however you dont have as much microbe poop. Adding more microbes is easy. just add more tea. Fungus doesnt multiply like microbes but it does grow like a plant so...
If you want more fungus to lower your ph or to support more microbes you need to add more fungal spores. I tell you all this because 7 or 7.1 is fine however 6.5 is ideal so you can add more fungus and as it grows add more microbes to get more microbe poop. In Canada we have a product called Myke. Its endomychorizael spores. Its cheap. You want endo not ecto. Ecto is for trees and shrubs. you want for herbs and vegetables. Its 10 dollars for a tub. If you can find it or an alternative I suggest you grab it. A little goes a long way. A tub will easily last a full 9 plant grow. If you do, sprinkle a bit on the tops of your pots to add just a bit more fungus. Its not nescessary as 7 or 7.1 is close and it will balance itself but if you want to you can do it and you will get a bit better results long term plus once you have it you can balance your soil any time you need to.
It sounds like your plants are really happy so flower should go well

 

[jpemberton1]

Thats awesome! OK so now that your doing fine heres a bit on soil ph maintenance. You may know this already so i apologize if its repetitive its just a really good basic to know....
In living organics you and your soil supply nutrients but initially the plants cant use them....yet.
Fungus (mychorizael and a few other beneficial funguls)in the soil eats the nutes with the dirt. Feeder microbes eat the fungus and digest both the fungus and the contents of the fungii's stomach. Then predator microbes eat those feeder microbes and digest them and poop them out. Now plants can use the nutes as they are composted by the microbes. Roots can only pull these nutes thru the soli for maybe a half inch maximum so plants, as they grow send sugars from the leaves down to and out the roots (exudates) The exudates attract fungus to the roots and thus bait in the microbes. Knowing that, its easy to understand that more roots means you have more intakes within a half inch of microbe poop.

Now....
Fungus likes lower ph. too much fungus and your soil ph will plummet towards 4ish.
Microbes like higher ph. Not enough fungus and your microbes will drive ph up ..but....
Nature is smart. Too many microbes means not enough fungus to eat so microbes starve and balance is restored however you dont have as much microbe poop. Adding more microbes is easy. just add more tea. Fungus doesnt multiply like microbes but it does grow like a plant so...
If you want more fungus to lower your ph or to support more microbes you need to add more fungal spores. I tell you all this because 7 or 7.1 is fine however 6.5 is ideal so you can add more fungus and as it grows add more microbes to get more microbe poop. In Canada we have a product called Myke. Its endomychorizael spores. Its cheap. You want endo not ecto. Ecto is for trees and shrubs. you want for herbs and vegetables. Its 10 dollars for a tub. If you can find it or an alternative I suggest you grab it. A little goes a long way. A tub will easily last a full 9 plant grow. If you do, sprinkle a bit on the tops of your pots to add just a bit more fungus. Its not nescessary as 7 or 7.1 is close and it will balance itself but if you want to you can do it and you will get a bit better results long term plus once you have it you can balance your soil any time you need to.
It sounds like your plants are really happy so flower should go well

Okay so here is a 48 hour photo update since the girls received their first ever tea! As happy as I am I believe the ladies are even happier! I have at least 3 inches of noticeable growth on 4 out of my 6 plants! And even the smaller ones (2 on the left of the photo) which I also like to refer to as the runts, have noticeably grown as well! Thank you again Gee!!!!

 

[jpemberton1]

Okay so here is a 48 hour photo update since the girls received their first ever tea! As happy as I am I believe the ladies are even happier! I have at least 3 inches of noticeable growth on 4 out of my 6 plants! And even the smaller ones (2 on the left of the photo) which I also like to refer to as the runts, have noticeably grown as well! Thank you again Gee!!!!

I would also like to note that I had to press my back on the opposite side of the tent to fit them all in the picture they seem very happy to me!!!

 

[Gee64]

Wow JP nice work! They do look really happy. Your on the right track now. Start figuring out what your going to use for flower nutes. Find a nice organic line that appeals to you and be true to it. Your teas will get tons of microbes working for you so flower should go really well.
Great Job

 

[Gee64]

Also get some michorizael fungus. Great White is a popular brand. It helps alot in flower by freeing phosphorus from the soil. They use a ton of phosphorus in flower and its really hard to get phosphorus to release from the soil. Mammoth P works wonders but it is pricey. Its a phosphorus specializing microbe.

 

[jpemberton1]

Also get some michorizael fungus. Great White is a popular brand. It helps alot in flower by freeing phosphorus from the soil. They use a ton of phosphorus in flower and its really hard to get phosphorus to release from the soil. Mammoth P works wonders but it is pricey. Its a phosphorus specializing microbe.

Wow! They certainly are a pretty penny!!! How much of either of those do I use? The mammoth appears to be a liquid and the great white looks like a powder?! What quantity would I need ?

 

[Gee64]

Great White is a myccorizial fungus. Almost all plants need it. Weed being one of them. Your soil likely has myccorizae in it but it grows slow so more is better to a degree. Mammoth P is a microbe. Both are great for freeing nutrients from the soil. Both excel at freeing Phosphorus. Mammoth P is a phosphorus specialist. If I was only buying one I would grab the Great White. It frees phosphorus but also all the other nutes. It will help a bit this grow but because it takes time to grow in the soil really its best if you add it right into your first pot when transplanting your seedling in. It works best if you sprinkle it on the rootball at every transplant as it attaches to the roots to feed nutes in. So on your next grow you will have much healthier plants if you use it from day 1 but also adding it now will help alot later in bloom when its grown in.
Mammoth P is an expensive add on. It does work really well though. You saw what a tea does so imagine in flowering what phosphorus specialists can do.
Simply adding more phosphorus to the soil doesnt help. Having it isnt the problem, freeing it from the soil to be available to the plant is the problem.
So in a perfect world you have both but myccorizae is needed to grow, Mammoth P is a high end luxery item that makes a mediocre grow good and a good grow epic. Without mycc you dont get a grow in organics.
You dont NEED either as your plants are doing great but if you do need mycc in the future it takes time to work.
Then there is the balance thing. Heavy on microbes and ph goes up. Heavy on fungus and ph goes down.
The reason Great White is expensive is because theres hundreds of strains of mycc but GW is the strains that specialize in cannabis. I use a brand called Myke. Its 10 bucks a tub and works great. Any endomyccorhizae will work. Ectomyccorhizae is for trees.

 

[Gee64]

As for quantity Im not sure about Mammoth P as we cant get it in Canada but I get a similar product called Activated EM and a litre does an 8 plant grow. 1 container of Myke also does an 8 plant grow

 

[Gee64]

And thats in 10 gal pots. Your in 5s so less will be needed to populate your soil mass

 

[Gee64]

You dont nescessarily "need" either but your grow will be better with both. And your plants will be far healthier so the grow goes quicker.

 

[jpemberton1]

You dont nescessarily "need" either but your grow will be better with both. And your plants will be far healthier so the grow goes quicker.

I'm really torn to go with the great white. But I don't really have the $ for it right now. I will definitely get some for the next grow! It seems like it would be much more beneficial to introduce it at the beginning of a grow!

 

[jpemberton1]

Great White is a myccorizial fungus. Almost all plants need it. Weed being one of them. Your soil likely has myccorizae in it but it grows slow so more is better to a degree. Mammoth P is a microbe. Both are great for freeing nutrients from the soil. Both excel at freeing Phosphorus. Mammoth P is a phosphorus specialist. If I was only buying one I would grab the Great White. It frees phosphorus but also all the other nutes. It will help a bit this grow but because it takes time to grow in the soil really its best if you add it right into your first pot when transplanting your seedling in. It works best if you sprinkle it on the rootball at every transplant as it attaches to the roots to feed nutes in. So on your next grow you will have much healthier plants if you use it from day 1 but also adding it now will help alot later in bloom when its grown in.
Mammoth P is an expensive add on. It does work really well though. You saw what a tea does so imagine in flowering what phosphorus specialists can do.
Simply adding more phosphorus to the soil doesnt help. Having it isnt the problem, freeing it from the soil to be available to the plant is the problem.
So in a perfect world you have both but myccorizae is needed to grow, Mammoth P is a high end luxery item that makes a mediocre grow good and a good grow epic. Without mycc you dont get a grow in organics.
You dont NEED either as your plants are doing great but if you do need mycc in the future it takes time to work.
Then there is the balance thing. Heavy on microbes and ph goes up. Heavy on fungus and ph goes down.
The reason Great White is expensive is because theres hundreds of strains of mycc but GW is the strains that specialize in cannabis. I use a brand called Myke. Its 10 bucks a tub and works great. Any endomyccorhizae will work. Ectomyccorhizae is for trees.

I also did notice a gnat flying around in my tent yesterday. I haven't seen anything in my tent before I tead. Could that be a cause? Anything I should worry about? All the leaves and stems seemed clean and healthy

 

[Gee64]

Its hard to say. It could possibly be from the manure but if it was composted properly it shouldnt happen. Ive had a couple but never an infestation.

 

[Gee64]

Try just ewc next tea. I usually add manure every 2nd or 3rd tea. I find teas with manures do get better results in the next 48 hours than teas without.

 

[jpemberton1]

Try just ewc next tea. I usually add manure every 2nd or 3rd tea. I find teas with manures do get better results in the next 48 hours than teas without.

So the same recipe without manure then? Do I leave the leonardite out this brew?

 

[Gee64]

i use leonardite every tea. double up the amount of ewc. leonardite allows the plants to intake the nutes better