Plushberry Clones In Soil

[uhewekguilw]

Where's the update? Been waiting patiently....

 

[Kriaze]

Hey GB sorry mate but I've been well busy here and not much has been happening to my plants apart from a branch giving way, I'll do an update tomorrow with eye candy lol. Thanks for reminding me, I get carried away sometimes

 

[arellanobrian]

We're all just eager to see the orphans you saved!!

 

[Kriaze]

2 are doing really well, 1 is dying I think. I'm holding it up with wire already it seems to have no strength. It's late here and their lights are out but tomorrow I'll do a full update. I finally got a decent PH meter instead of the £2.54 one I was using. Will run them as a comparison too.

 

[uhewekguilw]

Don't forget the buffer solution also. That way you can assure that your ph testers are reading the correct Ph. Fairly cheap and a life saver (for your plants). If they are off, just adjust the screw in the back of the tester to the correct Ph of the buffer solution. Easy peasy

 

[arellanobrian]

Ya calibration is very important or who knows what your ph is really accurate

 

[Kriaze]

Hey, yeah the tester came with some buffer 7 solution and I also ordered a bottle of that plus buffer 4. Sorry for the slow response but it was pretty much bedtime for me when I last posted. Today I'll get some pictures taken and do an update, I'm hoping these girls are hungry as it could be the first time they've ever had the right PH feed

 

[db003]

Hey, yeah the tester came with some buffer 7 solution and I also ordered a bottle of that plus buffer 4. Sorry for the slow response but it was pretty much bedtime for me when I last posted. Today I'll get some pictures taken and do an update, I'm hoping these girls are hungry as it could be the first time they've ever had the right PH feed

don't feel bad I an at the end of my grow and I never ph. a thing in my life but I will try to get one for my next grow

 

[Kriaze]

Hey db003, I think I'd have done better if I hadn't have messed about with PH myself after taking these pics today and running my comparison tests with a real PH tester I'll be uploading the pics shortly plus writing up my thoughts in the journal, it's definitely been a bit of an eye opener for me. I think it may prove that if something is worth doing it's worth doing properly, and hopefully it will allow others to learn a little from my mistakes and also understand that cutting back on the essentials can cause more problems than it's worth. All the best and I'll crack on with the update

 

[Kriaze]

OK I'll be changing my format on this update. I'm going to break it into three sections due to the amount of pictures I'm uploading, it'll help me to keep them in order as I've still not found a decent way to organise my pictures in my gallery as of yet. Plus they're so small that I find it hard to distinguish between them and usually have to spend half an hour deleting and re adding pics

Today I went into Lonely Girl's tent and was hit with a sorry sight. Now I mentioned earlier that a branch had brokjen on one of my plants, well it wasn't this one but when I went in today she had suffered the same problem and was sagging badly, almost touching the floor. I moved her over to the side of the tent for some support until I can pick up some bigger canes tomorrow and splint her left right and centre to support her. I'm not sure what caused it but I do know now that I've been doing some very bad things to her with my feeding, as you will find out later on in the journal where I do my PH meter comparisons plus PH feed tests. There's no way it's the weight of her flowers as they are sparse, fluffy and quite airy, Plus she was only flipped to 12/12 on the 11th June so after only 21 days in flower to find her like this the omens don't look great.

OK so here she is, my little pretty is looking glum:

I'll be back to update the 2 girls 1 tent in a very short while once these pics are sorted and uploaded

 

[Kriaze]

Now onto the second tent where we have one poorly girl and one (seemingly) healthy girl. The plant on the left in the pictures is the one where the branch keeled over and it seems more are doing the same, much like the girl under the Reflectors has done. Again I have no concrete evidence of what caused this although I do also suspect that it was the PH values that I was feeding her, it just seems strange that the other clone seems to be thriving. I feel like the first two girls are turning into rubber plants or something, they just don't seem able to stand up. OK so let's see if we can show the branches that collapsed and also show some nice pictures of my one remaining healthy(ish) plant Both these ladies were flipped to 12/12 on the 31st May so they are 32 days into flower.

Here is my first plant that collapsed. It's a shame because while in veg this plant seemed to be my bushiest and strongest girl, although the other plant was always taller it was much narrower:

Here is a close up of how I've 'patched her up' for now:

Here is my healthy plant:

The poorly girl now pales in comparison:

Two side by side comparison shots:

That's the plant shots out of the way, the next section will be my PH meter comparison results and my findings. More you say? Did someone say door?

 

[Kriaze]

Now onto my final part of this particular journal's trilogy As you probably guessed I'm now at the stage where things can only get better, and after this round of testing I'm hoping they may well do so. Maybe not in time for this particular grow to flourish, but on my next grow I will be going all in with regular PH balancing in the knowledge that I have a working PH meter. I thought I already had one, but let's see what these comparison tests show.

First of all the tools

These are my meters, the analogue one with the metal prongs is what I originally bought for £2.54 from China, it took a few weeks to get here but I didn't really consider PH to be such an issue, unfortunately with the way my plants are growing I've had to reconsider those initial thoughts, and I've come to some disturbing conclusions. Here they are side by side:

Along with the buffer calibration solution:

Alone:

The buffer solution used for testing:

The results from my new meter:

The results from my original meter!

As you can see there's a fairly large difference in measurements, considering that the buffer solution is bang on 7 PH the new meter measured perfectly (it was calibrated yesterday in the PH 7 solution that came with it). Unfortunately my original meter barely even moved, having a reading around the PH 8 mark I've been making some bad mistakes when adding this stuff to my water/feeds:

Now luckily because of the problems that I had been having I had found that the same bottled water that I drink has a PH value of 6.2 at the time of bottling at source. I have fed my plants with this before today as plain water which may be why they keep struggling on. Unfortunately I had also been using nutrients AND PH Down too, effectively giving my plants the equivalent of acid rain:

It measured at 6.3 with my new meter:

My tap water measured the same today as when I tested it yesterday, PH 7.3:

So realising that I'd been making a booboo I decided to test what the PH values were for feeds with both the bottled water with nutes and the tap water with nutes. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the bottled water with nutes (mind must have wandered there) but let me tell you that with 5ml each of Micro, Grow, Bloom, CalMag and CannaBoost the PH tested at 5.8, great for hydroponics but unfortunately not much good for a soil grow. I'm not wasting another batch of water and nutes just to retake a picture so apologies regharding that. But still it goes to show what I'd been doing to these poor plants, especially considering the fact that when using my original meter I tended to have to add PH Down too!

Then I tested my tap water along with 5ml of each Micro, Grow, Bloom, CalMag and CannaBoost and this is the end result:

I'm literally a squirt of lemon juice away from the holy grail of PH 6.5

So what are my conclusions from these tests?
Well I could blame my wonky meter or my too strong PH Down but I know where the real blame lies, right on me It seems that in cutting cost corners and 'winging' it I've been giving my plants some really bad feeds. Even more so with the fact that I would use PH Down with whichever water I was using, although obviously not as much with the bottled water as it would hit what I thought was PH 6.5 with a lot less PH Down as would take with the tap water according to my original meter.

As it stands I'm really happy that I have found what could be an underlying problem with my grows. I'm not going to say everything will be perfect in the future, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. I'm also going to consider buying in some silica to supplement with the plant's feeding regimes in order to help strengthen them up. I'm not too keen on that at the moment though, as I've been reading B A R's journal and he has great plants with minimal added nutrients, it's been making me consider that the old adage 'less is more' would be a better way to grow. Who knows? I'm still uncertain as to which way I'll go but one thing is for sure, the plants won't be fed acid rain again if I can help it.

I hope there are enough pics for you, and that I didn't overload you with them too

My plants have had their first reasonable feed since before I got a PH meter and started seriously messing things up. I hope that I caught them in time to make a difference, and that there is no other underlying problem that I've missed. I've heard that Relative Humidity can affect plants a lot too, that's probably where I'll delve deeper next time.

GB I'd like to thank you for giving me a push into updating my journal with pics today as not only have I learned a lesson regarding PH, but I've had great fun doing it too! Apologies for the dirty work table, it's my little lab where I like to mix things up and a lot of nutes get spilled on there.

I hope you all enjoy the read, as ever I wish you all the best and happy growing

 

[arellanobrian]

awesome update man!! we learn things everyday and it looks like your a sponge right now i hope your ladys man a come back and im sure that at least your healthy girl will turn out amazing

 

[Kriaze]

Hey thanks for the good wishes arellanobrian It's all a learning curve but over time everything will improve

 

[Scarfinger68]

Well I could blame my wonky meter or my too strong PH Down but I know where the real blame lies, right on me It seems that in cutting cost corners and 'winging' it I've been giving my plants some really bad feeds. Even more so with the fact that I would use PH Down with whichever water I was using, although obviously not as much with the bottled water as it would hit what I thought was PH 6.5 with a lot less PH Down as would take with the tap water according to my original meter.

As it stands I'm really happy that I have found what could be an underlying problem with my grows. I'm still uncertain as to which way I'll go but one thing is for sure, the plants won't be fed acid rain again if I can help it.
I hope there are enough pics for you, and that I didn't overload you with them too

I believe the #1 factor that improved my grows was figuring out the PH. As you may have heard people say... "your growing in soil, you shouldn't have to check PH". I say BALONEY to you Sir!

You have taken a big step towards improving yourself as a grower. You learned something! One day you may get to a point where you have things dialed in and you may actually check PH less. But don't forget about PH.

When I saw your plants I was saying "those look kind of tall" and then I see you commented on it

Not sure about the curling. I personally don't think it is your water/feeding schedule. Plants only need watered when they need watered. They will go limp if they are severely thirsty. It could be at heat issue maybe. Otherwise It is probably a PH issue.
Yellowing if it is lower isn't much of anything to worry about. Up top maybe be different depending on where and how much.

When there is problems... I almost always think PH. With the high tech fertilizers we use. Everything should be available to the plant. For some reason it gets locked out.

When in doubt, flush out. Check the PH.

Congratulations! +Reps

 

[Kriaze]

Hey Scarfinger thanks. PH checking will be down to a fine art soon now that I've learned some respect for it. I suppose that I should have respected the ladies better by learning about them first instead of rushing in like a bull in a china shop. It seems that ladies in all walks of life are fickle when it comes to how they're treated (tongue in cheek if any ladies are reading this) I always appreciate your input Scarfinger, thanks again

 

[Kriaze]

OK so I got down to the nitty gritty today after going buying some bamboo canes covered in plastic. They seem much more suited to the heights of these plants and are also much sturdier than the supports that I was originally using. While I was at it I thought it was about time I cleared out some of the dead leaves that were creating some form of mulch around the plants. It looked like it was degrading into compost which I had thought was a good thing at first until I realised that it may actually still contain unwanted nutrients that the plants could be taking, so out they came and there was a lot of them too.

As I'd just decided to crack on without wasting any time I forgot to take pictures of a before shot of Lonely Girl but there are some earlier in the journal from yesterday to compare against so not much of a great loss. Here are some after pictures though

Lonely Girl with her new supports and tied with garden wire:

I'll split this update again so that I can upload before and after shots for the 2 girls 1 tent

 

[Kriaze]

Now onto the 2 girls 1 tent. Things had worsened even more so today when I went in. The poorly girl had collapsed further and seemed to be making her own form of scrog. It might be worth trying with these genetics again in the future and using something like that, maybe this is why the Plushberry genetic is hardly around anymore. Well I think that's a shame because the big juicy dense nugs of smoke that my friend gave me from his crop were absolutely superb, a real nice smoke and I hate to think that such a breed should die out just because of weak genetics. I'm going to be leaving some buds on these plants when I chop them, then I'll switch them to reveg and if they survive I'll consider that fantastic, give them a few months of reveg with scrog training and rebuild their immune system so to speak, then try again but as a scrog style. The branches hadn't actually snapped or anything, they've just bent like rubber and I think if they were supported this wonderful strain could be around for everyone to share. Anyway, enough of my dreaming here are some pictures to show you what I mean.

Poorly Girl shots and side by side comparison with Healthy Girl:

I'll go upload the after pics

 

[uhewekguilw]

I'll be the first to admit that when I grew in soil (1 time) I didn't ever ph my water. I still tell people it isn't important. But you sir have proved me wrong. I still think when using a 1 part grow or bloom nutrient it isn't going to be a do or die situation, but as you proved, with a 3 part it is definitely recommended! Thanks for opening my eyes! +rep bro!
Next, are you adding any silica to your feed? That should help with the branches bieng brittle or weak. I have noticed that my branches are stronger using silica than when I dont. It takes a few more moments for me to prep the branch for supercropping now. If I don't pinch all around the branch, I will snap it. Just FYI for your next grow!
GB80

 

[Kriaze]

Here again is the final of my update trilogy. These are the shots that I've taken after cleaning out and adding the supports to poorly girl. I apologise about there being a lot of pitures the same but as a Photographer Iget used to talking to my subjects, and although I don't tend to need to work with people as much nowadays (I hate lairy beer drinkers kicking my camera bag at weddings asking for their photograph to be taken so now they are a no no unless needs be must) I really do feel a need to talk to these, and when I'm talking, I'm shooting. Sorry if that means I overload the pictures but these babies needed some loving

These are the after pictures:

On a final note I would really like to add that I love this 420Magazine community spirit. Not only have I had help when in dire need but I've also had some of the most fun reads I've experienced since Terry Pratchett. So that being said I would like to give a little back. I'm not a rich man financially (although in love I am blessed) but I can afford some small form of giveaway so I ask that if you have any ideas please let me know. I don't want it to be a competition, just a little helping hand from someone that cares about community and mankind (I believe in manKind not the Human RACE) and has a little love that can be shared. Please don't hesitate if you have an idea, just please also don't go over the top, something that we could all probably do if we had a few quid spare at the end of the month. If it's a nomination for someone that's great too. I hope I'm not breaking any 420Magazine rules here.

As always I will end by wishing you all the best, great health, wealth and happiness. My wealth is invested in love, I see this community tends to be the same