And please continue the MBP discussion ...I find it all interesting, coot typically changed his mind on some things every two or three years... The guys brilliant and has taught most of us a lot but that doesn’t mean he’s not wrong now and again... Curious to hear if everyone that started using MBP a couple years ago still feels the same way about it... Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I have been contemplating this quite a bit lately, and was gonna post this in another thread, but this is even better. Here goes. I have been using mbp for several years. When I started I recall several of the folks using it long term mentioning what seemed to be a tendency to cause foxtailing or crowning caused by mbp use too late into flower. I found this curious, as I didn't have this problem. The more time that went by, the more I noticed this tendency. I must note that I have been using the same soil for years. I used to only recycle, but now I recycle and no till. But it is still the same soil, just re-amended, and resulting in a greater quantity of soil in the end. Based on this, and some of what I see/hear around gco, I feel that there may be a base saturation level, that happens through the use of mbp over a long period of time. I don't see this as bad, but instead, just means I don't need to use it as often. I typically only use it a couple times a grow. I also went from using powder to make tea, to top dress, back to tea. This is more based on what is easier for me to apply, based on my unique 'growing style'. Its easier for me to get a chapin wand into spots and water in tea, than a spoon to top dress powder. I also feel that the explosive results I get from application of the original tea recipe of kelp, mbp, agsil, and ful power is worth the extra effort compared to just sprinkling mbp as top dress and watering it in with kelp, agsil,and fulpower. My $.02 cheers happy holidaze os
if you read the old no-till thread, pretty much anyone who tried MBP reported an earlier harvest by a week or two.
I’ve been using MBP for a couple years now. I’ve also been using several different strains over this time so it’s difficult for me to say with any degree of certainty that it’s made a significant difference. I mean, sometimes just a good watering causes my plants to “explode with growth”. Now if there happened to be MBP applied first one might think that was the reason. There was a lot of momentum towards using it and excitement as well, Sometimes people want to jump on the bandwagon with “ya me too” When they’re really not sure but they don’t want to be the only one not seeing the results that supposedly everyone else is seeing. “If everyone else is seeing amazing results from MBP and I’m not, I must be doing something wrong” kinda thing....Sometimes we see and believe what we want to be true. I use MBP every couple weeks and will continue to do so....Like others I think I’ll scale back late in flower until more information is available. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I would like to think it's a combo of a correct environent along with the proper components amended in and on the soil. Having a good humus layer on top filled with life, good light aerated soil helping with transpiration. Humidity and temps staying in the correct zone without swinging to far when lights go on or off. The easier the uptake of nutrients in the root zone the healthier and faster the plant will grow. So anyone not seeing the results noted by others could be due to one of a thousand other underlying variables. Also growing different strains would give different results on timing. Which is why coot has had such results and experience with his research, hes been growing the same plant for decades. So many things can contribute to the speed of growth or inhibit it, which is why without years of research and trials like coot has done it would be hard to tell.
Now I understand why making vermicompost and compost is so crucial as well. Consistency is key, buying commercial inputs who knows what you are really getting without a microscope and understanding what you are looking at. Very few companies that sell quality and not quantity exist today. That and paying on shipping for essentially sand that's supposed to be castings kinda chaps my ass
With regards to overall finishing time using mbp. I see an across the board earlier finish of at least 1-2 weeks, compared to pre mbp times. cheers os
I no longer make a malted barley tea to feed my soil. Instead I place the powdered (ground up) malted barley and add it to my soil mix just like any other amendment. I made the change based on a suggestion from CC. I think he is still adding malted barley to his soil at this time.
I've been using fresh ground mbp as a soil amendment and top dress for a couple of years. I've experienced great harvests every single time. Now, it's not exclusively because i used mbp that my harvests were pleasing, it might be in addition to the other 57 things that are required - IDK - but in no grow cycle did i ever notice an early finish. Not one. But, I grow my own hybrids most of which have been produced as sativa dominant so there's that variable. I did notice foxtailing a couple cycles back so I too now limit use of mbp to early vegatative development only. I'm seemingly always on the long cycle. It greatly depends on when one starts the count I reckon.
Another question....Other than being a PITA to trim, Why is fox tailing frowned upon? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Its not a big deal to trim, and doesn't really cause any real problems, it just looks funny. The only reason I try to avoid foxtails or crowns, is it makes it more challenging to tell when a whole plant is 'ready' for harvest. The foxtails are really 'new' growth, so you don't want to gauge how finished the plant is based on foxtails. I did this when I was a nube. In other words, foxtails will be fresh white hairs, on a nice bud that has turned orange and sucked the hairs in that would otherwise be ready to pick. I usually keep em separate and roll joints with them. The foxtails are usually a little 'racier' than the bulk of the harvest. That little variety can actually be nice. hth cheers os
I recognize that look. That's exactly the crowning/foxtailing I was referring to. Its new growth that just keeps happening over and over. But ya know here is the deal. If this is the only problem that comes up, you have basically won the war. The foxtails don't end up looking very different than the rest after curing. The hairs usually darken up and look like the rest. cheers os
I was thinking the light was just to intense. Interestingly if you look at the bud directly behind the big left cola you see the horizontal bud near the scrog, it only has hairs where the light is.
I noticed this exact thing a few years ago and I'd say you are correct in this observation. The intense light directly under the light will cause any plant to foxtail more IME, especially if the air circulation is not up to par, and the canopy temp is a bit high closest to the light. I've run a small SOG set up with smaller containers than most (3/4 gal) for almost 10 years. My solution was to rotate the plants in the last few weeks of flowering to the edges of the grow box, and the newer plants are always put dead center when they go into the flowering room. Noticed the difference immediately, not only did the plants at the edge ripen more evenly, but the newer plants benefited from the intense light. Kind of a pain in the ass, but well worth giving it a shot it if your set up allows. I've pondered building another larger flowering box with minimal wattage just to finish all my plants to test/prove this theory, but I'm a lazy pothead. We all go AWOL for a bit at some point. I do share your sentiments though.