Does kelp cause stretch.

[floppyfundanglr]

this is good know considering i implement this in my organic micro. Ill have to start watching my feeding for correlations with the plant. Im just getting ready for my stretch and this is great info. Thanks guys and girls.

peace

 

[JackTheGrower]

I had a fun time this weekend and had a chance to photograph real Sea Kelp in a kelp forest.







I thought Kelp in a sea setting would be interesting.

I also saw what I believe was kelp on the shore.

 

[Guest]

Finishing this out here: Its a definite that foliage feedings of kelp during stretch will cause excess stretch which indoors can suck bad.
Now the clincher root feedings do not have the same result.

 

[BurnOne]

Stretch is caused by the genetics of the plant. Sometimes, when the light source isn't bright enough or doesn't cover the spectrum properly the plant will stretch excessively because the plant thinks it is being covered by other plants. It is trying to grow up and over other vegetation and is competing for the light (sun).
Kelp does not cause stretching.
Burn1

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Stretch is caused by the genetics of the plant. Sometimes, when the light source isn't bright enough or doesn't cover the spectrum properly the plant will stretch excessively because the plant thinks it is being covered by other plants. It is trying to grow up and over other vegetation and is competing for the light (sun).
Kelp does not cause stretching.
Burn1

Thank you for posting that.

It is true that cold-extraction methods for manufacturing products like Kelpak, KelpGrow, Acadian Sea Plant's 'ASL TP' result in higher levels of auxins than traditional seaweed extracts and are generally used in farming to facilitate explosive root development.

Field reps from 2 companies, i.e. Acadian Sea Plant & KelpGrow, told me that traditional seaweed extract was better to use as a foliar sprays on fruit & flowers because the auxin levels are more normal and the other plant hormones are more in balance.

I have all 3 products and can attest to the fact that these cold-extracted products produce rooting growth like I've never witnessed on a wide range of plants - tomatoes, herbs, peppers, flowers of all types, roses, et al.

Take care!

 

[BurnOne]

CC-
Good info.
It's good to spray a kelp solution on clone cutting leaves to help them root.
Burn1

 

[Clackamas Coot]

CC-
Good info.
It's good to spray a kelp solution on clone cutting leaves to help them root.
Burn1

Because it's easily available and priced well (about $1.05 per lb) I buy kelp meal by the 50# bags.

I mix it in my 'modified LC' soil concoction, I feed always with kelp meal tea & 1 tsp. of molasses (or even less) as my 'general water' brew. We feed it on all of our vegetables, flowers and my medicine both indoor as well as outdoor gardens. All of our plants are healthy, drought resistant, vibrant and grow fast & furious.

BTW - here's my soil mix.

2 bales of Sunshine Growers Organic mix - these are 2.8 cf bales and cost me $16.50 each. From their web site is this description: Formulated with Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coir, coarse grade perlite, coarse grade vermiculite, gypsum, Dolomitic lime and an organic wetting agent.

I add 1 cf. of earthworm castings. This gives me a mix with 15% earthworm castings which is generally what many mixtures call for.

To that I add some kelp meal, Gair Green (brand name) glacial rock dust, root enhancer. The coir in the Sunshine naturally provides the trichoderma microbes.

To each #5 SmartPots (the ones made out of cloth) I add 1/2 cup of this fertilizer and that's it for fertilizers for the entire cycle - both vegetative as well as flowering cycle.

A bacteria-dominant tea to kick-start the 18-hour cycle and a fungus-dominant tea at the start of the flower cycle and regular waterings as described above.

Pretty simple. Mindlessly so.

LOL

Cheers!

 

[swampdank]

CC-
Good info.
It's good to spray a kelp solution on clone cutting leaves to help them root.
Burn1

really? so maybe the roots will develop thicker? not so much faster but more abundant? i have some kelp stuff in my lineup but i rarely use it. maybe this will give me a reason to use that stuff.

 

[BurnOne]

really? so maybe the roots will develop thicker? not so much faster but more abundant? i have some kelp stuff in my lineup but i rarely use it. maybe this will give me a reason to use that stuff.

Yep. Neptune's Harvest 2-3-1 Fish/Seaweed would be even better. Mix in a little Liquid Karma to add fulvic acids.
Burn1

 

[Guest]

Excess stretch pretty much will be kept to a minimum by adding light and avoiding foliage feedings of kelp during the plants normal stretch period.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Dr. T. L. Senn studied kelp and kelp extracts for 40 years. His work at Clemson University has been studied and implemented around the world - literally.

He's written books, authored peer-reviewed studies, etc. etc. - and not once single reference is made in ANY of his published writings about the 'kelp stretch' - real or imagined.

And yet - head over to almost any cannabis-related boards where Stoner Joe passes out the wisdom a buddy 'who really knows what they're talking about' and the urban legends are up and running!

Wee!

I heard that if you take a pot plant, cut it off at the soil line, plunge the stalk into boiling water it will push the resin out further onto the buds! Really! Everyone knows about it! Don't you?

 

[Dignan]

Did you know you could turn your plants purple by watering with grape Kool-Aid?

 

[CT Guy]

Dr. T. L. Senn studied kelp and kelp extracts for 40 years. His work at Clemson University has been studied and implemented around the world - literally.

He's written books, authored peer-reviewed studies, etc. etc. - and not once single reference is made in ANY of his published writings about the 'kelp stretch' - real or imagined.

And yet - head over to almost any cannabis-related boards where Stoner Joe passes out the wisdom a buddy 'who really knows what they're talking about' and the urban legends are up and running!

Wee!

I heard that if you take a pot plant, cut it off at the soil line, plunge the stalk into boiling water it will push the resin out further onto the buds! Really! Everyone knows about it! Don't you?

Wow! You read my mind! I was just getting ready to post that book as recommended reading. I am reading it right now, it's called "Seaweed and Plant Growth." by T.L. Senn. So far it's been excellent. You can find it cheap on amazon.com

 

[jaykush]

clackamas coot, can you honestly say that dr. T. L. (whoever that is) worked with cannabis? all plants are different, just because one doesn't "stretch" with kelp so to say doesn't mean that cannabis wont. either way cannabis "stretches" with or without kelp, the plant is making room for formation of buds, specially the bigger yielding strains. hundreds of other plant species do it daily, its just not noticed in the same way as cannabis. imo too much kelp will cause unwanted stretch in some cases ive seen it happen a number of times (remember everyone grows different so we all get different results and thats not even taking in the different strains we all have and grow)

oh yea dont forget about genetic traits, can be a MAJOR cause of stretch.

 

[Burt]

i thought exactly the opposite-kelp and seaweed extracts in general-controlled stretch?

 

[Suby]

I think the kelp stretch theory is plausible, I'm not trying to be the odd man out but I'm not ready to rule it out myself.

Marijuana is a plant with a defense mechanism to certain types of stress that causes it to stretch and grow like mad.
I've seen some commercial grows with either a light leek or a nutrient hormone level way too high cause plants to just kind of spin out, hermie, and generally stretch like nuts.
I love the books and all but it remains that comparing known commercial crops with MJ is like comparing apples to oranges.

I do think it's blown out of proportion, it's real impact is felt caused by people using it at times where stretch is in full force.
Every aspect of environment needs to be in check and strain is also a huge factor, some hermie easily others are difficult to flower.
That's what's particular about MJ, there is so much variation among varieties and crosses.


Food for though

Suby

 

[Clackamas Coot]

I think the kelp stretch theory is plausible, I'm not trying to be the odd man out but I'm not ready to rule it out myself.

Suby

Suby

Neither am I, per se.

But until I see anything even approaching a viable test where kelp has been applied on one plant and not on another of the same strain, that are equal in leaf mass (number of sq. inches/millimeters/whatever), that the original cuttings were taken from similar branch position, etc., etc., etc.

And let's assume that all other factors are equal - precise temperature controls and not the usual "Well, my room is usually 72F for most of the day period - I'm pretty sure about that"

Or added amendments like earthworm casting teas - were they made under the exact same conditions, exact & precise measurement of ingredients, water temperature during the brew, brew periods, etc.

Position relative to the light - gotta measure PRECISELY the amount of light each plant will receive during the day period, will they be turned during the day, will light be measured after each change of position, etc.

When and if I ever see anything approaching this kind of testing - and kelp is the only factor separating the methods used on the plants - and can be reproduced at least a single time - then yeah, I'll buy into the 'kelp made my plants stretch' legend.

I doubt that it's going to happen any time soon however.

 

[Suby]

You hit the nail on the head CC, there are so many variables to growing that to effectively compile data we would need a huge grow with alot of fancy equipment.

I grow by feel and by visual analysis of my plants, not data of comparitives.
I'm always changing these methods, evolving them and testing stuff out in my own way so anything correlative is useless.

S

 

[Clackamas Coot]

You hit the nail on the head CC, there are so many variables to growing that to effectively compile data we would need a huge grow with alot of fancy equipment.

I grow by feel and by visual analysis of my plants, not data of comparitives.
I'm always changing these methods, evolving them and testing stuff out in my own way so anything correlative is useless.

S

Suby

Same with me. Just last month I started adding glacial rock dust to both my soil mix as well as to teas. Do I have any viable proof that this amendment improved the plant growth in terms of branch girth, stalk thickness, leaf development?

No I do not. Visually I will continue with this amendment to my Sunshine Growers Organic soilless mix. That, some kelp meal and EWC and 1/2 cup of a good basic fertilizer in each #5 pot and I'm good to go for the entire deal.

I hit the plants with foliar sprays 3 or 4 times per week which is usually just kelp meal steeped in water for a couple of days, a touch (very small) amount of molasses and some humic acid from time to time. Does it work? I believe that it does. Do I have any solid evidence? Hardly.

When I went out and bought an over-powered (and probably over-priced) air pump like the ones in the commercial brewers, did I see enough of a change in my plants to justify the investment? I believe that I did and will continue to do use these teas as intended based on solid scientific information available and not trying to use it as a replacement for the N-P-K myth.

Back to kelp and related products. My question is this - given the diluted seaweed extracts available like Kelpak, KelpGrow, StimPlex, et al. and which are widely used in commercial organic as well as conventional and transitional farming operations have proven their worth.

As a highly-concentrated product, getting a good cover on several acres is much easier than trying to apply kelp meal. In the situation with the wine vineyards all around this area, applying kelp meal would be more expensive than applying the active ingredients of the kelp in a clean liquid form.

So I guess my question would be this - is a kelp concentrate inherently better than using kelp meal? What benefits are there in using liquid kelp products (which almost always include humic acid so the comparison is unfair) over soaking kelp meal and making your own teas?

I've been making kelp tea for our vegetable garden for 5 years or so. Best strawberries on our road!

Just a thought.

Cheers!

 

[jaykush]

CC ive done testing before or else i wouldn't have said shit, they were outside, in the ground right next to each other, fed compost teas from the same pile (lasted the whole grow) same sun exposure, clones they grew at about the same rate untill i added kelp during the stretch on one and it did end up taller and couldnt handle the weight of the buds as much. maybe i should rephrase what i said, i think kelp in excessive amounts AIDS or HELPS the stretch not CAUSES it, and imo in some cases it can cause problems.

ALL IN ALL TO EACH HIS OWN, i don't use kelp much personally as i have to buy it ( not near the beach) its all about them nettles lol. as suby said we all evolve.