Wanna Ask The Old Farts A Question?

[HempKat]

thanks hempcat..been waitin on yer advice before i fk up somethin...in ref to the organic thing.primary reason is to get everything the plant needs in the soil so it can take what it needs..i'm just learnin so will be much easier to watch plants and go from there...gotta go put tops on pop bottles.you've been a big help..

Well it sounds like you got all the right ingrediants. I was never very good at working with raw organics like that so I can't reccommend and ratios or anything but it sounded like you had a pretty balanced mix there.

 

[HempKat]

topcat,hehehe(as a kid,and even now thats my favorite cartoon character and when i see yer name i think about old topcat)....heres what i mixed up for my next grow..been cookin for a wk...10 gal spagnum peat moss,5 gal compost and manure,3 gal perlite,bone meal,blood meal,kelp meal per lc's mix instructions,2 tbsp dolomite lime per gal mix.(lc's mix from organic forum)...what do you think...those ingredients wont be too much for this close to flowerinf?...hope not cause thats what i'd like to do..

Where you really got to be careful about something being to much for the plant is when they're very young and starting out, then you want the mix to be fairly mild. Hopefully by the time they go to flower they are a fully mature plant that needs a robust diet.

Two things I don't see in there that many folks use is worm castings and bat guano. Also fish emulsion is a common supplement. Fish emulsion and worm castings are mainly good in veg though as they're good sources of nitrogen, in flower you don't need much nitrogen. Bat Guano is mainly for flower and as I understand it you have to be careful with it because it can burn plants if you use too much.

 

[HempKat]

"organic is fine but where it really matters the most is in flower as it is whats produced in flower that we harvest"...that makes a lot of common sense.never heard it stated like that before.

Well most organic folks wouldn't say something like that because they're usually purists meaning they believe it should be organic beginning to end. You'll find as you get into this hobby more that most of it is common sense and when you realize that it becomes easy to reason your way out of most problems.

 

[HempKat]

Thanks HempKat,
As soon as I get into my new place I'm going to get a de-humidiphyer, I really injoy reading your posts, they have really helped me on my Little Grow Room.

Yeah dehumidifiers are nice things to have. They're a bit more expensive then I think they should be but it's worth it to keep things from getting too humid and that leading to bud rott and/or powdery mildew.

Thanks, I'm glad to know my posts are helping people. People helpped me get started and now it's my turn to do the same. Sort of a pay it forward thing :smile:

 

[WAMEN]

Hey Hempy..
i was thinking where i could get some good advice and i imediately thought about you hehe

Ive got some plants in soil under 400w , 11 liters pots with good potting soil and ive been adding Plagron Alga Boom and a few ml's of PK13-14 along the bloom.
What happened is that my ph testing was wrong and I discovered that i was giving fertirrigation at around ph 5.8 - 6.
Some Kali Mists x DSD have been growing nicely and not yellowing much, one SSH is suffering from acid soil i guess.
Now im flushing them all but one Of the KaliD's is worring my because it looks like it has lots of nutes still on the soil cause of the wrong ph and non-complete sucking of them nutes cause to that.
I had to cut off some parts of it due to mold and managed to dry and smoke a couple of bits.
After 8-9 days of flush it was totally clogged in ferts.. no flavour and black turdy ashes while smoking.. so im worrying
would you suggest dipping the whole pot in a water container 3-4 times a week to wash away the salt and the rest.
I know i have to be patient and i know the flush will last at least 10 more days.. but im worrying they couldnt be enough.. what you suggest?

thanks in advance bro

 

[HempKat]

Hey Hempy..
i was thinking where i could get some good advice and i imediately thought about you hehe

Ive got some plants in soil under 400w , 11 liters pots with good potting soil and ive been adding Plagron Alga Boom and a few ml's of PK13-14 along the bloom.
What happened is that my ph testing was wrong and I discovered that i was giving fertirrigation at around ph 5.8 - 6.
Some Kali Mists x DSD have been growing nicely and not yellowing much, one SSH is suffering from acid soil i guess.
Now im flushing them all but one Of the KaliD's is worring my because it looks like it has lots of nutes still on the soil cause of the wrong ph and non-complete sucking of them nutes cause to that.
I had to cut off some parts of it due to mold and managed to dry and smoke a couple of bits.
After 8-9 days of flush it was totally clogged in ferts.. no flavour and black turdy ashes while smoking.. so im worrying
would you suggest dipping the whole pot in a water container 3-4 times a week to wash away the salt and the rest.
I know i have to be patient and i know the flush will last at least 10 more days.. but im worrying they couldnt be enough.. what you suggest?

thanks in advance bro

Well it sounds like when you say flush you're talking about the flush at the end of flower just before harvest which just consists of only giving the plant water with no nutes. This sort of flush is fine for clearing out a normal build up of nutes. With your ph having been off that would have caused nute lock out and a build up of nutes in the soil if you didn't catch it right away. Typically what is done in that situation is the sort of flush where you dump a larger amount then normal (some say 2 to 3 times normal all though I'm not sure it has to be that much) so as to get extreme run off with the hopes that the excess nutes get washed out of the soil.

Another factor to consider is how you dried the samples you used to test it. If you quick dried it, and/or didn't get it completely dry that could also cause it to burn more black with the turdy ashes as you say. Also it sounds like maybe those samples were taken early on so maybe it was too soon to test?

I would say that if it seems like there's still alot of nutes then do the 2 - 3 x normal amount of fluid flush to wash them out. I can't think of anything else other then maybe something like clearex by Botanicare which is designed specifically for removing salt build ups.

http://www.americanagritech.com/product/product_detail.asp?ID=1&pro_id_pk=11

I've never used that before though so I'm not certain it would be right for you. The soaking of the whole pot in water 3-4 times a week seems like it would be a bit much and if you're doing it by just setting it in a larger pot of water then you're not really giving anything a chance to wash out.

 

[Gold123]

Well it sounds like when you say flush you're talking about the flush at the end of flower just before harvest which just consists of only giving the plant water with no nutes. This sort of flush is fine for clearing out a normal build up of nutes. With your ph having been off that would have caused nute lock out and a build up of nutes in the soil if you didn't catch it right away. Typically what is done in that situation is the sort of flush where you dump a larger amount then normal (some say 2 to 3 times normal all though I'm not sure it has to be that much) so as to get extreme run off with the hopes that the excess nutes get washed out of the soil.

Another factor to consider is how you dried the samples you used to test it. If you quick dried it, and/or didn't get it completely dry that could also cause it to burn more black with the turdy ashes as you say. Also it sounds like maybe those samples were taken early on so maybe it was too soon to test?

I would say that if it seems like there's still alot of nutes then do the 2 - 3 x normal amount of fluid flush to wash them out. I can't think of anything else other then maybe something like clearex by Botanicare which is designed specifically for removing salt build ups.

http://www.americanagritech.com/product/product_detail.asp?ID=1&pro_id_pk=11

I've never used that before though so I'm not certain it would be right for you. The soaking of the whole pot in water 3-4 times a week seems like it would be a bit much and if you're doing it by just setting it in a larger pot of water then you're not really giving anything a chance to wash out.

I've use clearex with great success. The rule of thumb is to flush with enough h2o to equal 2 times the volume of your pots. Ph adjusted of coarse. If you have a lot of plants this could take all day it took me 6 hours for 30 plants. You have to let them drain out good so they don't sit in a dish of run off. You could also use blackstrap mollasses as a chelating agent in plain h2o ph adjusted.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=94653
It will do the same thing as the sugars in clearex. Clearex does not give ingredients on the label but it has sugars to remove the build up by chelating.

 

[whub]

biggups old farts

My first harvest is fast approaching and im having temptation issues. Its a lowlife autorflower AK47 she hits 10 weeks tomorrow. She is my only source of weed, and for the last week or two, because of illness I have been "testing" some of the buds. Not amazing for pain.. but its a very uppy high and slows down nicely and gets me to sleep real well.. its not as physical as some homegrown that I have tried.. ie: the kinda weed where you struggle to keep your eyes open or move. I should say I've not properly dried out or cured anything I've tried so far because I've been so sick I just needed whatever I could get to help.

The triches are about 90% or so cloudy, a few clear and litteraly 1 or 2 ambers.

So my real question is this, what do I GAIN if I leave her another week, apart from learning patience. Will I realy notice much difference or is it better to get the herb drying. And will it pack on much if any more weight ?

I realise some of this stuff is subjective and we all like a different kind of stone, but i have really no experiance to pull from on this one. So thanks much respect

This is (part of) her as of last week.

 

[cosmiccowboy]

Where you really got to be careful about something being to much for the plant is when they're very young and starting out, then you want the mix to be fairly mild. Hopefully by the time they go to flower they are a fully mature plant that needs a robust diet.

Two things I don't see in there that many folks use is worm castings and bat guano. Also fish emulsion is a common supplement. Fish emulsion and worm castings are mainly good in veg though as they're good sources of nitrogen, in flower you don't need much nitrogen. Bat Guano is mainly for flower and as I understand it you have to be careful with it because it can burn plants if you use too much.

,rootbound from hell.learned an invaluable lesson and that shit wont happen again.do you think theyll recover?..i low stress trained em..they look like football players.just no height and thats what i needed..very healthy stalk....as for guano and castings.that was also a money thang..1st of oct i'll have some....thanks for all yer help..

 

[cosmiccowboy]

,rootbound from hell.learned an invaluable lesson and that shit wont happen again.do you think theyll recover?..i low stress trained em..they look like football players.just no height and thats what i needed..very healthy stalk....as for guano and castings.that was also a money thang..1st of oct i'll have some....thanks for all yer help..

well i've used up all of my medium so gonna put together another batch.question about the dolomite lime.why cant you just mix lime with water and then add it to peat,compost and manure, as you do the kelp,bone,and blood meal?..instead of puttin it in mixture dry.

 

[Gold123]

biggups old farts

My first harvest is fast approaching and im having temptation issues. Its a lowlife autorflower AK47 she hits 10 weeks tomorrow. She is my only source of weed, and for the last week or two, because of illness I have been "testing" some of the buds. Not amazing for pain.. but its a very uppy high and slows down nicely and gets me to sleep real well.. its not as physical as some homegrown that I have tried.. ie: the kinda weed where you struggle to keep your eyes open or move. I should say I've not properly dried out or cured anything I've tried so far because I've been so sick I just needed whatever I could get to help.

The triches are about 90% or so cloudy, a few clear and litteraly 1 or 2 ambers.

So my real question is this, what do I GAIN if I leave her another week, apart from learning patience. Will I realy notice much difference or is it better to get the herb drying. And will it pack on much if any more weight ?

I realise some of this stuff is subjective and we all like a different kind of stone, but i have really no experiance to pull from on this one. So thanks much respect

This is (part of) her as of last week.

IMHO letting them finish and proper curing is 50% of your grow. I think it's that important. After you let it finish and cure you won't ever pull it early again.

 

[HempKat]

I've use clearex with great success. The rule of thumb is to flush with enough h2o to equal 2 times the volume of your pots. Ph adjusted of coarse. If you have a lot of plants this could take all day it took me 6 hours for 30 plants. You have to let them drain out good so they don't sit in a dish of run off. You could also use blackstrap mollasses as a chelating agent in plain h2o ph adjusted.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=94653
It will do the same thing as the sugars in clearex. Clearex does not give ingredients on the label but it has sugars to remove the build up by chelating.

Thanks for that info on Clearex Gold123 :tup:

 

[HempKat]

biggups old farts

My first harvest is fast approaching and im having temptation issues. Its a lowlife autorflower AK47 she hits 10 weeks tomorrow. She is my only source of weed, and for the last week or two, because of illness I have been "testing" some of the buds. Not amazing for pain.. but its a very uppy high and slows down nicely and gets me to sleep real well.. its not as physical as some homegrown that I have tried.. ie: the kinda weed where you struggle to keep your eyes open or move. I should say I've not properly dried out or cured anything I've tried so far because I've been so sick I just needed whatever I could get to help.

The triches are about 90% or so cloudy, a few clear and litteraly 1 or 2 ambers.

So my real question is this, what do I GAIN if I leave her another week, apart from learning patience. Will I realy notice much difference or is it better to get the herb drying. And will it pack on much if any more weight ?

I realise some of this stuff is subjective and we all like a different kind of stone, but i have really no experiance to pull from on this one. So thanks much respect

This is (part of) her as of last week.

Well here's the thing, it's all subjective because it all boils down to what you want. 90% cloudy and one or two amber triches is some people's idea of perfect because they like that up, racey, trippy kind of high that gets the mind going in all sorts of directions and that's what Mostly cloudy gives you. Some like the more couchlock, down, put you to sleep high and that you get by letting it get alot of amber. To get that you want a fair amount of amber to build up. The more amber the more couchlock effect. Some feel this sort of high is best for pain. Then there is the inbetween were you let it get some amber but not too much.

Here's something you should understand though, when it's mostly cloudy with just a few scattered clear and amber triches, that's when the THC in the resin is at it's peak. When it turns amber the THC in that trichome is degrading and it breaks down into other cannabinoids. Now these cannabinoids do have a high to them still but they also are what tends to cause the effects many consider medicinal. So it's still good but not really THC. That racey trippy high that's what true THC is.

Another thing to also understand is that there is another way to pursue that trippy, up high or that down, couchlock high. It can be done in choosing which strains you grow. Sativas tend to have that more up, trippy high and Indica's have that more down, couchlock high and hybrids represent that inbetween just like with cloudy vs amber vs a mixture with trichomes. To that end if one want to achieve an extreme up, trippy high then they would grow sativas and harvest then when they were like your AK-47 is now. Conversely is someone want an extreme down, couchlock high they would grow an Indica and let it get alot of amber.

I can't really tell you if it's worth it to you to wait. I kind of side with Gold123 on it being worth the wait. On the other hand I'm a realist (not to imply Gold123 isn't) and after all you've already been hacking at the plant. So I say if you need it that bad and you like how it has been then go ahead and harvest now 10 weeks is pretty long for an AK-47. Hopefully you grew enough to hold you over long enough to get your next crop done without picking at it early?

I can tell you this. Looking at your budshot there it looks like it could go a bit longer. Especially if the trichomes are the way you described. If you did let it go another week or two it probably will get a bit more weight to it but nothing dramatic.

 

[HempKat]

,rootbound from hell.learned an invaluable lesson and that shit wont happen again.do you think theyll recover?..i low stress trained em..they look like football players.just no height and thats what i needed..very healthy stalk....as for guano and castings.that was also a money thang..1st of oct i'll have some....thanks for all yer help..

Yeah rootbound is fairly easy to recover from. Basically just transplant to a bigger pot. It also helps to get the roots to spread out better if you take a utility knife and score the rootball on four sides and a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Another thing that lots of people use to avoid transplant shock and to give the roots a little boost is a product called super thrive which is like a vitamin tonic for plants. It's pretty powerful stuff the suggested dose is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water for transplant shock or when a plant is stressed. If used regularly then you just use a few drops per gallon. You don't need it though. Anyway worst case scenario (assuming rootbound is the only problem) is your plants might grow a bit slower then normal over the next few days.

In the future a good way to identify rootbound, at least in soil is that when your pot dries out every day requiring you to water every day, then your plant is root bound. When you first start out in a new pot where there is room for the roots to spread usually it's 3-4 days between waterings. When it gets to every other day that's when alot of folks transplant.

Now if you're in flower and discover a plant is rootbound, I'm of the opinion it's best to avoid transplanting if you can. If you do have to transplant try to use a pot that is only a little bigger and don't bother scoring the roots. I say this because my observation of my plants in flower is that after the stretch phase (first 2-3 weeks of flower), the roots don't seem to grow much and all energy and growth seems to get focused on the buds. Therefore it's my opinion that to disturb the roots too much at that point will do more harm then good as far as how well the plant will grow.

One final thought. Part of why your plants are short and husky is because you were rootbound, not enough room to grow more roots to support new growth. All the roots could do was maintain what's there. Therefore, now that you've given the roots more room to grow into, don't be surprised if you get a sudden surge in growth.

 

[HempKat]

well i've used up all of my medium so gonna put together another batch.question about the dolomite lime.why cant you just mix lime with water and then add it to peat,compost and manure, as you do the kelp,bone,and blood meal?..instead of puttin it in mixture dry.

Lime is pretty powerful stuff, that's why you only need a couple of tablespoons per gallon. That will pretty much help keep your soil ph balanced for the length of the grow and provide a good source of calcium and magnesium. Now there is the granular version which is what you should use in a soil mix as it breaks down slowly but there is also a powdered version which is more meant for watering in as a semi quick fix when you have a problem with an actively growing plant such as a ph imbalance or a calcium or magnesium deficiency. You typically still apply it dry and scratch it into the surface but then you pour water over it and that washes it into the soil.

 

[cosmiccowboy]

Yeah rootbound is fairly easy to recover from. Basically just transplant to a bigger pot. It also helps to get the roots to spread out better if you take a utility knife and score the rootball on four sides and a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Another thing that lots of people use to avoid transplant shock and to give the roots a little boost is a product called super thrive which is like a vitamin tonic for plants. It's pretty powerful stuff the suggested dose is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water for transplant shock or when a plant is stressed. If used regularly then you just use a few drops per gallon. You don't need it though. Anyway worst case scenario (assuming rootbound is the only problem) is your plants might grow a bit slower then normal over the next few days.

In the future a good way to identify rootbound, at least in soil is that when your pot dries out every day requiring you to water every day, then your plant is root bound. When you first start out in a new pot where there is room for the roots to spread usually it's 3-4 days between waterings. When it gets to every other day that's when alot of folks transplant.

Now if you're in flower and discover a plant is rootbound, I'm of the opinion it's best to avoid transplanting if you can. If you do have to transplant try to use a pot that is only a little bigger and don't bother scoring the roots. I say this because my observation of my plants in flower is that after the stretch phase (first 2-3 weeks of flower), the roots don't seem to grow much and all energy and growth seems to get focused on the buds. Therefore it's my opinion that to disturb the roots too much at that point will do more harm then good as far as how well the plant will grow.

One final thought. Part of why your plants are short and husky is because you were rootbound, not enough room to grow more roots to support new growth. All the roots could do was maintain what's there. Therefore, now that you've given the roots more room to grow into, don't be surprised if you get a sudden surge in growth.

hempkat,when i moved maryjane to 5 gallon buckets i didnt cut em but went around the edges with my hand and tried to free them up a bit.about half the old medium fell into the new container.think thats cause it was made up of pine bark,peat,perlite and lime..it was aerated well but i didnt have a basic understanding of how to apply nutrients..hope that don t kill em.these plants that are in flower are outside and we had a good rain last night so maybe that'll help..one thing i didnt like about transplantin them yesterday was that they werent dry.too wet actually but felt that needed to be done.didnt want to wait for them to dry out.

 

[cosmiccowboy]

Lime is pretty powerful stuff, that's why you only need a couple of tablespoons per gallon. That will pretty much help keep your soil ph balanced for the length of the grow and provide a good source of calcium and magnesium. Now there is the granular version which is what you should use in a soil mix as it breaks down slowly but there is also a powdered version which is more meant for watering in as a semi quick fix when you have a problem with an actively growing plant such as a ph imbalance or a calcium or magnesium deficiency. You typically still apply it dry and scratch it into the surface but then you pour water over it and that washes it into the soil.

lime i have is in granular form but heres my question and the reason for it...i burnt up 2 blenders on that 1st 2 cups of lime and dont have money to buy another one..last night i put 2 cups lime in bucket of water and it dissolved very well...why cant i slowly integrate this into my mix with the other ingredients?..does it have to be in a solid form to work?.tried bustin lime up with hammer,sledge hammer,etc,and didnt accomplish anything but wearin myself out..ps: just re-read what you said about lime in granular form.are you advisin to put in the mix as is?..doesnt need to be broke down into powder ?

 

[HempKat]

lime i have is in granular form but heres my question and the reason for it...i burnt up 2 blenders on that 1st 2 cups of lime and dont have money to buy another one..last night i put 2 cups lime in bucket of water and it dissolved very well...why cant i slowly integrate this into my mix with the other ingredients?..does it have to be in a solid form to work?.tried bustin lime up with hammer,sledge hammer,etc,and didnt accomplish anything but wearin myself out..ps: just re-read what you said about lime in granular form.are you advisin to put in the mix as is?..doesnt need to be broke down into powder ?

Yes I'm saying you don't need to make it powder, just leave it as it is. That's how I've been doing it for several years and it's never caused me any problems.

The reason you don't want to try to slowly integrate it like you are saying is because it wouldn't be slow. When you powderize it, you're making it able to break down much faster and this would result in your plant getting too much too quickly.

 

[whub]

Well here's the thing, it's all subjective because it all boils down to what you want. 90% cloudy and one or two amber triches is some people's idea of perfect because they like that up, racey, trippy kind of high that gets the mind going in all sorts of directions and that's what Mostly cloudy gives you. Some like the more couchlock, down, put you to sleep high and that you get by letting it get alot of amber. To get that you want a fair amount of amber to build up. The more amber the more couchlock effect. Some feel this sort of high is best for pain. Then there is the inbetween were you let it get some amber but not too much.

Here's something you should understand though, when it's mostly cloudy with just a few scattered clear and amber triches, that's when the THC in the resin is at it's peak. When it turns amber the THC in that trichome is degrading and it breaks down into other cannabinoids. Now these cannabinoids do have a high to them still but they also are what tends to cause the effects many consider medicinal. So it's still good but not really THC. That racey trippy high that's what true THC is.

Another thing to also understand is that there is another way to pursue that trippy, up high or that down, couchlock high. It can be done in choosing which strains you grow. Sativas tend to have that more up, trippy high and Indica's have that more down, couchlock high and hybrids represent that inbetween just like with cloudy vs amber vs a mixture with trichomes. To that end if one want to achieve an extreme up, trippy high then they would grow sativas and harvest then when they were like your AK-47 is now. Conversely is someone want an extreme down, couchlock high they would grow an Indica and let it get alot of amber.

I can't really tell you if it's worth it to you to wait. I kind of side with Gold123 on it being worth the wait. On the other hand I'm a realist (not to imply Gold123 isn't) and after all you've already been hacking at the plant. So I say if you need it that bad and you like how it has been then go ahead and harvest now 10 weeks is pretty long for an AK-47. Hopefully you grew enough to hold you over long enough to get your next crop done without picking at it early?

I can tell you this. Looking at your budshot there it looks like it could go a bit longer. Especially if the trichomes are the way you described. If you did let it go another week or two it probably will get a bit more weight to it but nothing dramatic.

Thanks for the replies I think what I will do is take a couple more popcorn buds, to see me through a few days or a week (I dont smoke much at all) and cut and cure maybe half. Like you say it is at peak TCH goodness right now, and I dont always like a couch lock stone during the day anyway. I'll let the rest go on till I see a bunch of ambers, then cut AND cure propperly. Everyone says the cure is important so it would be silly for me to ignore everyones advice.

I have a LSD and himalayan gold, both at a week old at the moment, so im hoping the AK47 will last me a good few weeks. I hear that himalayan gold should be prety good for pain. Like I say im just starting out and trying to find a strain that suits me.

Once again thanks for the help, reps coming your way if i can figure out what button to press

I'll try do a smoke report of both the weed I cut in a week and the stuff I let go on if im not to spaced out

Peace

 

[cosmiccowboy]

Yes I'm saying you don't need to make it powder, just leave it as it is. That's how I've been doing it for several years and it's never caused me any problems.

The reason you don't want to try to slowly integrate it like you are saying is because it wouldn't be slow. When you powderize it, you're making it able to break down much faster and this would result in your plant getting too much too quickly.

thank you sir.