The best way to apply Silica is foliar. I use it in waterings 3-4 days a week and my 2x weekly IPM Foliar and my 1x weekly Kelp Foliar. CO2 can be expensive to get all the equipment but the flip side was not growing during the summer for me. You’ll need a 20 pound CO2 tank, CO2 regulator, CO2 meter, and CO2 rain tubing.
Yo that is awesome. That setup is crazy. I also heard that Diatomaceous Earth (great pest control btw) is great for Silica. I used it myself a while back for exactly that. Sent from outer space...
Rice hulls are a great source of silica. Either as an aeration component or a top dress. They take a couple months to break down. The best way I have found to use them is in the creation of compost or vermicompost. Then the silica will be available to the plants immediately. Stinging nettles are another great source if they are available locally (and for free) in your area. They breakdown very fast. cheers os
I've been struggling with the temps in my tent since the Sydney summer started... the girl's leaves are showing signs of heat stress with canoeing and clawing leaves (although the clawing might be due to a nitrogen toxicity, not sure). What to do? After this grow is cut down, I'll remove the tent to a cooler part of the house. The harvest should be happening within the next 14 - 18 days. If I can pull an ounce from this grow I'll be satisfied; anything more would be fantastic, all things considered. The buds are fattening up, but the plant isn't huge: For outdoors I'm thinking to focus mainly on autoflowers from now on. That way I can grow pretty much anytime of the year except winter, June - August. Still got a fair few auto beans left, may as well use em. I got 2 GG Allin plants going outside in the garden, one seems to be powering along, but the other is dwarfed compared to the first. I did supercropping on both; the larger plant took it well and is really getting bushy, whereas on the smaller one, I over did it and broke a branch that died. The other branch seems to be fine, but the plant overall is really lagging behind. I'll just let her go and do her thing and see how she goes.
When in doubt, I water with plain water for a week. You can add Silica, Aloe Vera, Soap Nut Powder, or Yucca Extract to help things, each one brings a little something different to the table but they’ll all be very gentle on stressed out plants. Silica and Aloe will help directly with stress. Kelp also has anti-stress hormones in it. I grow my own Aloe Vera and just break off a few spears, blend them, strain and water!
A few more pics of my tent grow, Eagle Bill. This is the larger GG Allin out in the garden. She's been supercropped, and boy, did she bush up after that! I'm getting a bit worried about her getting out of control and compromising the stealth! And this is the smaller GG Allin. The supercropped stem is clearly visible here. She hasn't really bushed up much as yet. I actually over-did it on one branch - it later died so I removed it. I forgot to mention - the Eagle Bill is starting her 9th week of flower tomorrow, so she will be left standing perhaps for another week or two, and should be just about ready to harvest (hopefully!).
If you go by the hairs on that Eagle Bill, it looks like the plant could even go for another 3 or more weeks! We'll see. Not many clearly visible trichomes on her..
A few bud shots from today... I reckon they need at least another week before they're ready for harvest... I examined them under a loupe and at this stage there are practically no amber trichs. Also I think I need at least two plants in this smartpot in order to fill most of the scrog screen...
Wow man great shots, what you using to take pics? She's looking great, how much yield you hoping for?
Hey Vegi. Those photos were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S7 with flash. I was hoping for at least 1 ounce, but I'm guessing it'll be half that, or slightly more. She just didn't stretch much, and I suspect the high temps didn't help anything either. But hopefully whatever she yields will be a nice smoke.
Ok, a little update. I harvested the Eagle Bill in the tent today. According to the breeders, Eagle Bill should be ready for harvest in 60 - 70 days after switching to flower. I ended up letting her go for 84 days after switching to flower because I was waiting for amber trichomes to appear, but after 84 with barely any amber trichs I decided to go ahead and harvest. The buds are drying now. Looking forward to checking out the quality!
Hey thanks man! Regarding final weight, hard to say Vegi - I didn't bother taking a wet weight recording. Just eye balling it I'm guessing it'll be 15 grams or so dry. Hope I'm underestimating it. We'll see! I've just popped a Dutch Passion Think Different auto which is now 4 days old. She's in the tent. And I've still got 2 GG Allins going in the garden outside. One is in flower and hopefully she should be ready for harvest 1st or 2nd week of March. The other plant hasn't started flowering yet. Not sure why since they were both popped around the same time. Something strange going on there. But I'm really enjoying growing. Still feel like a noob overall, even after dabbling in cannabis cultivation the last 5 years or so. I think I pick up bits of knowledge and experience with each grow though, so I'm hoping for many more years in relationship to this wonderful plant!
Ok, all the Eagle Bill has been dried, trimmed up, and put in a jar to cure! Really looking forward to sampling it. Oh, and the dry weight came to 39 grams - just over an ounce! I was thinking I'd get half that. Glad I underestimated instead of over estimating, hahaha! The buds weren't overly sticky, and they were somewhat airy, not super tight nugs. I suppose that may partially be due to the strain. Eagle Bill is predominantly sativa. I'll cure the buds for a couple of weeks before I try some. Gonna be hard, hahaha. As I mentioned recently, I've popped a Think Different Auto and got her in the tent along with a Nirvana Blue Mystic Auto. Might put that Blue Mystic out in the garden with the GG Allin. Looking forward to seeing how that GG Allin turns out too. Last time I tried growing it, she hermied on me. Hopefully this time I get something out of it.
While the Eagle Bill is curing, waiting to be sampled, I'm redirecting my attention to a new grow. This is Dutch Passion's Think Different Auto and Nirvana's Blue Mystic Auto. Still using the same general setup as last time: No Till Soil Mix 10 gal (38 litre) smartpot Mofo's watering schedule (more or less) Mars II 400 led 70 x 70 x 160 tent New addition: Exhale CO2 bag Not sure if I'm going to attempt to scroG this grow yet. I've got some time to decide. My doubt is whether to attempt to scrog a single plant or whether I need a minimum or 2 or 3 plants in order to maximize scrogging potential. I'm using DP Think Different genetics which is considered as a 'super auto'. Apparently these genetics are well suited to a scroG setup and are vigorous growers. In such a case topping the plant may not cause too much setback, which one wants to avoid when growing autos. Autos are on a strict time schedule so one needs to think very carefully before topping these plants. I've read a few Think Different grow journals and in many cases the plants were topped without any ill effects. The Dutch Passion Think Different plant is just under 3 weeks old as of today. The Blue Mystic is only a week behind, but is very tiny compared to the Think Diffy. I think she lacks vigor since the seed had been sitting in a cupboard for more than 3 years. Let's see if she snaps out of it with some TLC. I'm thinking to place her into the outside garden. I would have kept her in the tent as part of the scroG, but since there is such a disparity in size between the two, I think she'll go out. Let's see...
Oh, and by the way, this is the second run of this no til soil mix. Hopefully should be a bit better than first grow.