re the cdlc. sounds reasonable. Makes me at least feel better that you have seem similar behavior yourself and it seems to clear itself up. as I mentioned, as the growth matures it turns "normal". just makes me wonder if it has anything to do with the plant being fairly small or if it will affect end yield in anyway. who knows?? perhaps that is what is holding back the flowering on this plant too? hmmm?? idk the fs: could happen from leaf tips staying wet? I can see that occurring with all my AV foliar, neem foliar for IPM, etc interesting..... i get what your saying on the mix and all the nutrients across the board. I really don't think I should be lacking anything. I don't really think I'm lacking anything, I guess I may have somewhat misphrased by using the term deficiency...??? I know the soil mix should be generally decent, after all I've already grown multiple plants in the same mix. But some strains tend to want a higher level of nutrients and some tend to like less. My thinking was perhaps these were cases of plants that happen to maybe want a higher level of something - and maybe my soil has sufficient levels of everything but these particular cultivars want more than my soil has to offer?? I don't know, I'm too new at this organic stuff. and maybe my thinking is still in the "bottled nutrient" way. not sure. didn't know the soil could sour but it did sit for over 6 months in closed storage totes. interesting observation..... trying to investigate this issue I took my el-cheapo 3-way soil meter (moisture/ph/light level) and measured ph in all 5 pots. all from the same soil mix. all measured very close to identical measurements all falling between 6-8ph - except one pot that measured down around 3-5 depending where I poked the soil. want to guess which pot shows lower ph? If you chose the Forum Stomper you win the lollipop. seems for some reason the ph in that soil is way different than all the other pots. don't know why. all from the same soil batch. mixing 100 gals of soil at once, on a tarp, in my basement, middle of winter, first time-never mixed a soil before. hmmm, think I might have missed a bit that didn't get quite mixed in enough?? As you yourself brought up, soil mixing IS a lot of work. good chance I happen to have filled this pot with soil that maybe didn't get a great mixing is a definite possiblity and could explain variations between the plants like with the cdlc. ?? all learning experiences
I bet the pot with the low pH will bounce back. In a big batch of soil, I could see the very bottom of the batch having less air and maybe slower breakdown of materials. For the record, even when I need 60 gallons of soil, I try to mix in small batches. I feel that it gives me a more uniform mix, if I make up 8-10 gallons at a shot. I then will combine all the small batches in a tote for storage. I know its more repetitive work this way, but I think its worth it. cheers os
since we're just gabbing about, it's pretty well established i only grow 4-6 plants which represents 4-6cf of mixed media. i hand mix each one separately so i ensure that every container has exactly the same amounts and ratios of every single ingredient. if i were routinely mixing larger amounts i would look to alternative mechanical means to mix it all up or as you said OS mix it in smaller manageable batches and combine as required. i use the large concrete mixing tubs from lowes/hd. i think i have four now. they're great for mixing or storing used material. i compost all my root balls in them. uniformity. that's what i'm after. uniformity in each container.
That's my feelings exactly. One of the time savers I will sometimes do is fill solo cups or whatever, with the dry amendments pre-measured for each little batch. Then I just throw in 2 gals this, 2 gals this, 1 gal that and add a solo cup of amendments. It moves along pretty quick that way. My favorite mixing vessel is my wheelbarrow, but I use a tote in the winter. A 3 tined cultivator makes for quick and thorough mixing when working with 8-10 gals. I prefer the 'racing' model of the 3 tined cultivator. I pretty much only run 6 containers at a time as well. For the record, I use the same mix for my veggies and spices as I do canna. Flowers get a weak amendment version. cheers os
even with a much lower soil ph than the other pots the plants doesn't look TOO bad. As long as she doesn't get significantly worse I'm not going to worry too much. in the future I'll mix smaller quantities of soil at a time for a better job....
yes, I've learned my hand mixing of the soil is not enough. I sure don't make enough soil to justify a concrete mixer. lol but next time smaller batches are the key live and learn.....
just curious what your thinking might have been if you were doing the bottled thing. what would you have added, changed, etc.? not trying to put you on the spot. if you dont know i'm the guy that's always late to the party so-to-speak so when you say you're "too new to the organic thing" i'm scratching my head and wondering wtf? i thought you were old-hand at organics. you can fast track to successful organic container gardening by studying the broader topics of soil science, the organic element decomposition "cycles", and basic element plant needs. you probably understand the latter already and it's no different with organic growing, i.e. plants absorb elements only in their ionic form and they do so on the scale of ppm's. overfertilization, elemental conflicts (on the ion level), ph swings, are all are in play with organic vs synthetic styles of growing. how it occurs with the organic style is what you have to connect the dots for and ime it starts with soil science. all other doors to required paths to organic, water-only growing start there. that is if one wants to understand how to get it right so a grow is minimum maintenance. otherwise one is left to "recipes" and " fixes". start with soil science as the broader topic and keep in mind that we grow indoors in containers not in open field agriculture. what we do is closer to greenhouse operations. the chemical reaction occurring in our grow container is much more concentrated because in organic growing we never water to leachate as a practice so everything in the mix stays in the mix - elements are not leached from the medium. just gabbing here on an early monday morning but you're doing some things very well already. you connect the dots that must he connected for organic container gardening and you'll be rolling in the mean green man! guaranteed. the sticky threads herein are a wealth of information. anyone wanting to grow organic from the basic 16 element "espoma grow" to the more advanced and often seeming esoteric methods for growing our beloved should read those stickies in the order i suggested and they will be successful. it took a lot of work to get those stickies there. it's great reading. Ciao
I still have a closet full of new bulbs and fixtures magnetic and digital ballasts. I used them in my last grow and bought new equipment but I am going to wait and not use them instead I’m going to go with the LED option because because air-conditioning is too expensive and environmentally irresponsible besides. I wish I could grow outdoors.
since you DID put me on the spot... my answer is "I don't know". and that right there is one of the main reasons I switched to Organics - BECAUSE I don't know. When I still grew in DWC and used bottled nutes I was always chasing a problem. a deficiency here, a an excess there, etc. I was lousy at diagnosing and properly fixing issues. It was a top reason I switched away from hydro and bottles to organic. figuring if i built a good soil, making sure everything was in it it was a big buffet for the plants to have everything they needed without me having to get it wrong which I usually did with bottle feeding. since I switched, 90% of my issues disappeared ( most of the rest are my bad mixing of soil?? LOL LOL) nope, not an old hand at Organics at all - only my 3rd soil grow away from Hydro, and only the 2nd grow in my own soil mix. Learning as I go, learning as i grow. making every mistake along the way but that's how you learn best sometimes I guess. I'm still trying to "connect the dots" as I learn. From posts from growers like yourself, Os, and many others on here I'm learning WHAT to do to have the plant grow better and more successfully and meantime trying to research and learn the reasons WHY I than do it. just trying to learn as i go....
I feel you nailed it to low ph and hitting a pocket of un homoginized soil amendments. A learning experience. I wonder if Home Depot rents small cement mixers.
they probably do, but I doubt I'll be mixing 100 gals at a time anymore. did it twice. it's a pia. especially for a tiny grower like me. I think best course of action is the supplied advice in future mixing needs and just do small amounts at a time.
I have some fem. auto seeds from random promos when I purchased my last seed batch. My question is would it be a bad idea to try to run two autos in with my 7 10 gal. photo plants.
A lot of folks do that. The key is to grow them in the area with long days like a veg area. I personally feel that growing autos with only 12 hours of light per day, will leave you disappointed. I prefer 24 hours light for autos- start to finish. Cheers and welcome aboard Os
hmmm. I run my veg lights 24/7 I could veg. them in there but my flower lights are only on for 12 hours, if I did do that should I take them from flower room to veg room when I turn lights off? or maybe I should wait and try an all auto run when I have the chance
that's easy than! If you run your veg lights for 24/7 just grow your auto's in with your vegging plants. leave the plants under the vegging lights, no need to keep moving them back and forth unless your vegging lights are very much lessor powered. IF that's the case you can grow under the flowering lights and move them at lights out to the vegging lights but that's a lot of extra work every day.
in that case, run them under the flower lights and than move them under the veg lights during your lights out. it won't be quite as good as under flowering lights 24/7 but it's better than 12 hours of darkness for an auto.
I know I'll get disagreements on this from the advanced growers... but I've come to the conclusion I hate all mulch indoors. Had a major gnat infestation issue a few weeks ago - started after I bought and applied a new batch of Timothy hay and used it. the previous batch of Timothy never caused any issues strangely enough. gnats showed up within a couple days and nothing would get rid of them until I removed all the mulch. took about week to get rid of the remaining gnats/eggs/larve and killing the life cycle with endless foliars of neem . Have avoided mulch since and no gnats. I know the current recommended mulch material is small nuggets pine bark. none around here. huge nuggets, yes, or shredded. shredded would probably work but I was holding out until I could try to find the small nuggets stuff did a bunch of defoliating of the plants and figured I'd use the defol'd leaves as new mulch. D*mn if the gnats didn't return! been trying for almost a week now to get rid of them again so yesterday had to get rid of all the mulch in the pots and I'm now working on the remaining ones. figure it will be dayds again until it's clear. Totally filled up 2 new yellow sticky cards in 2 days! The swarm that flew out from the soil as I was peeling backing and removing the leaf mulch was nasty. been spraying so much need oil foliar at the soil to kill remaining eggs / larvae it's almost a soil drench. A few more days they should be gone. I know all the benefits - well, maybe not all of them, but i know a good number of benefits of mulch - but just not worth the gnat issue hassles. i'm done with mulch. PS: outside is another story. i don't care about gnats outside. outside mulch is not optional, it's required! LOL Edit: funny thought... between my daily aloe vera foliars and the neem foliars for the gnats i figure i have the cleanest, softest feeling leaves! LOL
Bro the only thing that has gotten rid of 99.99999% of my gnats is bottom feeding. I tried everything too but nothing lasted. The top few inches of soil stays dry now. I water the trays that the pots sit in and let the roots pull the water up until the tray dries out. I water them every day in the morning and night. I'm thinking about using nematodes for the bottom feed rather than top. Your supposed to keep the soil moist when you apply the nematodes otherwise they die so the gnats usually come back hard after it does. With the bottom of my pot/drain holes being exposed and constantly moist I think that's where I'm getting the occasional gnat from but honestly I see like 1 every few days and just kill it myself lol. I bet a nematode treatment via bottom feed along with the twice daily waterings will keep the nematodes alive and thriving on the gnat larvae. I'll give it a try when I get back home. Sent from my SM-G892A using Grasscity Forum mobile app
with i could bottom feed all mine. can only do that to two of the five of them and that's what I've actually changed out to. the rest are in saucers that are literally just big enough to sit the smart pot in (or whatever generic brand I have this grow). Wish they were in proper sized saucers that would be one size larger on each like the first two, but they are in such a tight fit saucer because it's literally the only way it would fit all five plants. anything larger wouldn't fit them in the short front/back dimension (only a 2x4 tent). on the e plants in smaller saucers, for exactly they are 12" (diameter) pots in 12" saucers, and 13.5" pots in 14" saucers. no room to put water to underwater them unfortunately. The other two plants are 13.5" pots in 16' saucers so enough room to hold 1/2 gal water to underwater them. Blumates would be great for this i'd imagine. oh well. once I get the leftover gnats and their eggs finished off I'll be ok. BTW, don't think your DWC is 100% safe from gnats. I got some when doing that too. just NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING, oh, did i say NOTHING, like i've experienced in soil lol ironically, that's why I moved to DWC from soil a lot of years ago and started in DWC last year when I started to grow again. i didn't want all the "bugs" i knew soil could/would bring. Now I'm back to soil even after knowing wha the risks were/are. still a better trade off fishing a few gnats that will be gone in a few more days versus constant months on end of daily DWC chore labor... LOL LOL LOL I give you a hard time about the DWC because of all the chore work i grew to hate. but I do envy the yields you are going to see