Newbie Grower, Carmen Auto x Diva, Outdoors

[CBDMed]

One more?? That's all you got? Come on, there must be something else you want to know.

Well, yeah, I guess there is. And it is related to females, but only indirectly related to cannabis plants, haha. So I am not sure if this is the correct forum for it.

I have a "Dutch sister" I am very close with (long story, but she was kind of a lost duck I ended up taking under wing). She is very intelligent, and helps me with a lot of things (completely platonic), but she had some severe childhood trauma, and she does not have a lot of friends she relates with. So she talks to me endlessly, and seemingly about nothing. (It is like she waits until I finally get a moment to relax and decompress my head, and then she starts talking, and talking, and talking, and it seems like she will continue talking as long as I am paying even 1% attention--so then I don't get an opportunity to de-stress my head.)

I appreciate my "Dutch sister" very much, and I don't want to hurt her feelings for anything. And I would appreciate it if she was saying something insightful or important, but it seems more like what she wants is just to share literally whatever random feeling or emotion comes into her head, about her feelings, and how she feels, and what some random thing meant to her, etc. And she wants me to pay attention to her. (It seems like that is what she really wants, is my attention.)

I have met lots of highly intelligent women who add tons of value to the conversation. And she is super-intelligent, and some of her insights help me a lot. But sometimes I feel like I am talking with a 3 year old girl who never got approval from her daddy, and so now she is seeking it from me. Is there a right place in this forum for that kind of question? Or where is the place for that?

I don't want to hurt her feelings, and I get the feeling like if I ask her please only to talk with me when she has something to say, she will be crushed, and I don't know how to express it in a loving, friendly way. So, is there a right place in this forum for that kind of question? (Or do I need a different forum, haha?)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Azimuth]

yeah, that one definitely goes in the "Off Topic" forum.

 

[CBDMed]

Oh dear. I hope I did not just kill my plants.
Long story short, I noticed a few white flies.
I have been using neem oil and natural dish soap (because I could not find organic, or Safer Soap), and it helped.
Only, then I saw on YouTube that someone advised a solution of baking soda, neem oil, organic soap, and water to kill white flies.
So, I already had a bottle of water and baking soda on hand (long story), so I thought I would be so very clever, and maybe spray some baking soda water on top of the neem applications I have already put, to end up with a baking soda and neem oil coating on the leaves.
So I sprayed it, and came back maybe four hours later, and now there are all sorts of brown spots on the leaves, and several of the leaves are wilted, and curling up, like they are having a major negative reaction to the spray.

I took the spray bottle with clean water, and went to spray them down again until dripping, trying to rinse some of the baking soda off.
After everything my poor little plants have been through, I hope I have not killed my plants!

This is an Alaskan Purple Auto. The leaves are all wilty, and the pistils now look sick.

Major wilt on another Alaskan Purple Auto with wilt, curlm, and browning pistils.

Leaves browning and curling on an Auto Blue Ace.

More leaves brown and wilting / curling on an Auto Blue Ace

These leaves were very pretty this morning, with lots of shades of red, blue, and purple. Now the leaves with the color are all curled and faded and yellow???

I would wash them under a shower, except it is bad clay soil, and I don't want to go back to drowning my poor girls.
Is there anything I should do, other than having sprayed them down again until dripping with plain water?
Thank you very much.

 

[Azimuth]

Yikes! That's not good. Add that one to the "Lessons Learned About What Not To Do" pile.

Who knows what kind of chemical reaction happened when you mixed those things together. Maybe really messed up the pH?

I think rinsing them with clean water is good and maybe get them into a bit less light and see. They're going to need some recovery time, that's for sure.

 

[CBDMed]

Thank you, Azimuth.

I hope they will recover!

 

[CBDMed]

Hi Azimuth. I read somewhere that yes you can spray with baking soda powder, but some plants have reactions if you spray during the day. It says it can cause phytotoxic shock.

Anyway, my new nutes got here, BioNova Veganics Grow and also Bloom. I hope to use it on the new plants.
About halfway down on the pages for Grow it mentions a way to ferment the nutes.

"Tips from Bionova growers:
Can be used as a booster in Profimix and Microlife tea formulation: add from 2-4 ml of Veganics Bloom per litre of water in the organic tea preparation tank, connect an air pump inside and let the mix fermentate for 24/36h, use the organic tea in around 6 hours."

That sounds very interesting. Only, I have never seen an organic tea preparation tank. Is there a good tutorial on that somewhere? What kind of air pump would I need? Does a bucket work as a tea preparation tank? Or what kind of tank is necessary?
Thanks very much.

 

[CBDMed]

Ok, I found a tutorial on YouTube, and will follow up.

 

[Azimuth]

You can use a 5 gallon bucket with an air stone or two. Making teas like that is a way to multiply the microbes existing in a given sample of compost or worm castings, etc.

With one air stone you'd put it at the bottom of the bucket. With two, you can put one in a suspended paint strainer bag or something along with the compost and the other goes at the bottom of the bucket.

The air stones will constantly stir up the mix and super saturate it with oxygen. A regular small fish tank air pump and air stones work pretty well. Make sure to clean off the air stones as soon as possible since a biofilm will form and harden on the stones, clogging the pores and rendering it much less effective for future rounds if you don't.

 

[CBDMed]

Azimuth, thank you. I am just now getting (weekend) time to research. I found an aquarium air pump that has good ratings, but it has lead weights to hold down the air stone tubes. Will lead weights cause a problem for making tea? Or does lead only cause a problem with long term exposure (lead pipes, etc.)? (Maybe it is ok? But my Inner Organic is going off...)

Also, what is finer? 100 mesh 150 micron, 200 mesh 75 micron, or 300 mesh 48 micron? And is there an ideal mesh / micron?

And do I put the pump itself in a bag? Or how does one filter the intake for the pump?

Thank you.

 

[Azimuth]

No lead. Some air stones come with a plastic suction cup to hold the stone at the bottom. On one I built, I just tied the air hose with the stone attached to a long piece of pvc pipe with some string and then tied the pipe itself to the bucket handle to hold it down. But whatever works.

And you don't need anything special for a pump. A small aquarium air pump will work fine. But you want an air pump, not one made for moving water. The water moving ones sometimes are made to actually sit in the water, but  not the air pumps.

The  air pump sits outside of the bucket and is elevated a bit off the ground so that there is a dip in the tubing between the pump and the bucket. This is so that if water that drips down the tubing it will fall on the ground at the lowest point rather than going into the pump where water and electricity are not a good match.

The micron rating tells you the minimum size particle that will pass through. Here too, you don't need anything fancy. In fact too tight a mesh might restrict some of the larger microbes from populating the water. I just use a 1 gallon paint strainer bag which works great.

 

[SmokingWings]

I read somewhere that yes you can spray with baking soda powder, but some plants have reactions if you spray during the day. It says it can cause phytotoxic shock.

Phytotoxic shock or reactions take place on a plant and the light has little if anything to do with it. They happen for other reasons.

A phototoxic reaction is one that happens because of light when two or more ingredients are used though that usually is something that happens with people and not plants.

The most interesting Phytotoxic shock I have heard about when growing Marijuana plants happens when gardeners spray something with sulfur in it on a plant that was recently sprayed with something that had any kind of oil in it. That is the main reason many sulfur sprays have a warning on the label. Some growers will spray with a Neem Oil for insects or mildews and then a day or two later will spray with the sulfur and then within several days will see an unwanted reaction.

Another interesting thing about the Phytotoxic reaction between sulfur and oil is that it does not always happen. It is a sometimes thing but the safe thing to do is wait at least two weeks after an oil has been sprayed, then do a test spray on a branch, and check for several days. If no reaction then it is usually safe to do a full spray on the rest of the plant or plants.

 

[SmokingWings]

I found an aquarium air pump that has good ratings, but it has lead weights to hold down the air stone tubes. Will lead weights cause a problem for making tea? Or does lead only cause a problem with long term exposure (lead pipes, etc.)?

It is long term exposure but if you want to be on the safe side you could use stainless steel nuts and.or washers. Slip them over the end of the air hose and then put the stone on. The stainless steel should not rust in your lifetime. Common steel nuts or washers usually take a month or two before rust shows.

I have used both stainless and common steel nuts for holding down plants and air-lines in my aquariums.

 

[CBDMed]

It is long term exposure but if you want to be on the safe side you could use stainless steel nuts and.or washers. Slip them over the end of the air hose and then put the stone on. The stainless steel should not rust in your lifetime. Common steel nuts or washers usually take a month or two before rust shows.

I have used both stainless and common steel nuts for holding down plants and air-lines in my aquariums.

Ahh, ok. stainless steel nuts and washers. Makes sense. Thank you.

 

[CBDMed]

No lead. Some air stones come with a plastic suction cup to hold the stone at the bottom. On one I built, I just tied the air hose with the stone attached to a long piece of pvc pipe with some string and then tied the pipe itself to the bucket handle to hold it down. But whatever works.

And you don't need anything special for a pump. A small aquarium air pump will work fine. But you want an air pump, not one made for moving water. The water moving ones sometimes are made to actually sit in the water, but  not the air pumps.

The  air pump sits outside of the bucket and is elevated a bit off the ground so that there is a dip in the tubing between the pump and the bucket. This is so that if water that drips down the tubing it will fall on the ground at the lowest point rather than going into the pump where water and electricity are not a good match.

The micron rating tells you the minimum size particle that will pass through. Here too, you don't need anything fancy. In fact too tight a mesh might restrict some of the larger microbes from populating the water. I just use a 1 gallon paint strainer bag which works great.

Ahh, ok. Got it. I am pretty sure it is an air pump (bubbler). I will make sure it rests outside the tank.

Thanks very much, guys.

 

[Azimuth]

Right. You want air bubbling through an air stone.

You could do it with water and make a waterfall type deal to introduce oxygen, but that's bigger and potentially more involved than the simple set-up with just an air pump, an air stone or two, a paint strainer bag and whatever you're using for the microbes (compost, worm castings, leaf mold, etc.)

 

[CBDMed]

Ok, I ordered the bubbler, some bigger stones, and some paint bags. We will see if I can figure it out from there! Haha.

About how much worm compost do I use to make two gallons of tea?

 

[CBDMed]

Azimuth, Wings, thanks a million.
I just started composting some SubCool Supersoil last week, so it should be ready in 2-3 months. So basically in time for the next grow.
For the grow I am just starting (and the small batch I hope to start next week), I ordered some BioNova "Veganics" nutrients, to have some nutes to help power the grow.
To my surprise, the ordering page says you can ferment it.

"Advice from Bionova Growers
It can be used as a reinforcement in the Profimix and Microlife tea formulation: add 2 to 4 ml of Veganics Bloom per liter of water in the organic tea preparation tank, connect an air pump inside and let the mixture ferment for 24 hours. / 36h, use the organic tea in about 6 hours."

So if I understand correctly, I would prepare the tea about a day in advance, and then use it within 6 hours of making it?

And do I add 2ml per liter? Or 4ml per liter?

And do I feed once a week? Or once every other week?

Or is there a thread I should read up on, about fertilization?

Thanks.

 

[Azimuth]

About how much worm compost do I use to make two gallons of tea?

You don't need much. Maybe half a cup and maybe 3/4 Tbl of molasses for a food source and small amounts of whatever amendments like meals or rock dusts and things that you can add as well.

And that'll brew for 24-36 hours and then get diluted with another 2 gallons of non-chlorinated water before giving it to your plants.

 

[CBDMed]

Wow. Ok. I will do my best.
Only... how much rock dust?
Also, when you say "amendments like meals and rock dusts", you mean that the nutrients leach into the water???
(Or did you mean corn meal, McDonald's Happy Meals, or what kind of meal? Hahaha.)

Molasses has to be imported from the States. It can be done, but it costs ($35 for two each one-quart bottles).
Do you suppose maybe organic raw cane sugar (or unprocessed cane sugar) would work as a sweetener? Or is molasses hands-down better, because it has better nutrients?

Also, is there a point in throwing dandelions in the bag (to make dandelion tea)?

(I ordered the Rev's book, but it is not here yet.)

 

[Azimuth]

Ok. The Rev's book will get you done. A really good read and great info for growing our favorite plant organically.

In the meantime, small amounts of the various items measured in amounts like half tablespoons at most. Some of The Rev's recipies read like 'the more the merrier.' The meals I'm referring to are things like alfalfa meal, neem meal, crustacean, barley, kelp, etc. meals. However, McDonald's meals likely lack the nutrient profile beneficial to you plants.

The microbes Iike to feed on some kind of sugar. Molasses is inexpensive here so that's what we use. The sugars you source where you are I'm sure will work fine.

Here's a post I did on my Dandelion tea. Dandelion is one the dynamic or 'super' accumulators which are plants known for their ability to soak up nutrients that most other plants can't. Often this is because of an unusually long and vigorous tap root. Another good one is comfrey.