poor yeild

[PrivateAero]

I'm growing organic for the first time and I'm getting worried. My plants are a deep green and look healthy as can be and I'm growing the strain for the second time and know it puts out huge dense colas. But they are aren't right now. They look like nice buds but they are only going to be little popcorn nugs all the way up and down the plant. Does anyone think I'm short on P or K?
the plants are a little taller than 6' including their 15 gal smart pot. I've been watering with kelp meal (http://www.amazon.com/Technaflora-S...B002LHTMFO/ref=pd_sxp_f_i/185-3547603-0431153) and a couple tablespoons of molasses. I also give teas a lot. I brew 12 tablespoons of Indonesian guano (http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=IBG400) and a hand full of EWC and 1 teaspoon of kelp with about a fifth of a gallon of mollases in 7 gallons of water. I let it brew a day or two and then add 5 gallons of fresh water to it and water my plants. I'm running under 2 1k hps and one 600 hps.

Thanks for any input

Aero

 

[C21H30O2]

wuts in ur soil mix?

 

[PrivateAero]

it is Happy Frog® Soil Conditioner and potting soil with ffof in about equal parts. 20% EWC and then I added bone meal kelp pellitized dolomite lime (couldn't find powdered) and all diff kinds of bat and seabird guano.

 

[VerdantGreen]

sounds like way too much molasses to me. i use 1 teaspoon per gallon. you seem to be using about twenty times as much as that...

 

[C21H30O2]

it is Happy Frog® Soil Conditioner and potting soil with ffof in about equal parts. 20% EWC and then I added bone meal kelp pellitized dolomite lime (couldn't find powdered) and all diff kinds of bat and seabird guano.

did you powder the dolomite lime yourself? sounds like things are just not in balance. How long did you let the mix sit before using it? what youve mixed up sounds good and will probably perform better the second cycle. If you worried about yield go back to you old method with most of your plants and just use one or two pots of the recycled soil to see the improvement. Thats the one big downside about organics, it can take some time to really show its ability ie you need to recycle the soil and make sure it is balanced.

 

[prince kali]

pictures? hard to tell anything without more details..
they are nice and green? doesnt sound like a serious deficiency..

any light disturbance??

details? pix?

greets
pk

 

[Iron_Lion]

 

[PrivateAero]

Iron Lion, you've helped me rewire a ballast, but honestly that post did nothing to help me.
C21H30O2, I originally had them in 1 gal pots with soil that sat moist for about a month and then transferred them to 5 gals with same batch of soil that sat for almost 2 months or so. But when I transplanted them to the 15 gals I didn't let it sit at all. I didn't powder the dolomite lime.
Prince kali, no disturbances that I know of, but I do have an odd plant that is doing really well and I plan to get between 6-8 ounces on it. I'll have pics tonight or tomorrow.

 

[mad librettist]

sometimes the members here like to mess around a bit, when they are taking a break from helping you.

 

[The End Is Near]

My guess is that the lack of perlite in your mix cause it to get compacted, halting bud development on a plant that otherwise vegged fine. Happened to me, plants vegged robustly but the buds looked stuck in day 14 at day 50 before I scrapped the grow and started over with perlite, which fixed the yield problem. I know some people have success without perlite, but for me this failed crop made it a mandatory product for life. Keep it organic, the flavor is better and flush isn't as important if at all, but use a 30% perlite mix next time. Also, while lime should be powdered, it breaks down fairly easily when watered.

 

[PrivateAero]

The End Is Near: thanks for that, the mix that I used had some perlite but definitely not enough.

IronLion: I guess my sarcasm doesn't translate well through the written word. I appreciatte you looking at my thread.

I'm thinking it may have a lot to do with not enough light. I'm still going to get enough to keep me going so I'm going to go at least half organic next grow.

Pictures are in my album, I can't seem to get them to link over to here...

 

[zen_trikester]

I agree that is a shit ton of molasses. I've read that too much can cause stunting, but maybe it could cause slower flower response or decreased production. I've never done hydro, but it is my understanding that it is faster, so if you are coming from hydro then maybe you are just seeing a little slower process with the organics.

 

[David762]

I agree that it sounds like way too much molasses. There is a thread somewhere here on IC about using crushed (DIY) hardwood charcoal (like Home Depot "Cowboy" brand) in place of way more perlite -- perhaps a 50-50 mix of the two. In 15 gallon smart pots, you might use as much as 2 gallons of this mix in your soil. The "microherd" loves them the charcoal. It also sounds like you could use twice as many lights as you are using now -- those are big girls.

 

[PrivateAero]

oh yea I definitely cut down on the molasses. Read so much good about it was thinking more was better, rarely the case in growing. DOPE