Help with Diagnosis for Sativa Strain in Organic Soil Less Mix

[Scrappy4]

Yankeegreen, I used to be an earth juice guy too. And at times my garden rocked and other times I had mystery sicknesses too. The canna boards did not help much either, with all the talk about ph, and lime to counter EJ's low ph and was mostly confusing. By taking carefully notes I was able to see when I used superior compost and eventually made my own compost my garden rocked, and when I used what I now know to be lame store bought bagged EWC my garden had lockouts at critical times during bud building and I was left with mediocre yields and quality.

Then after I figured that I better make my own compost I looked at EJs ingredient list and thought, what the hell why not make my own feeds too. After all EJ is pretty much fermented extracts. So I made my own ferments and things got better.

Then next in my progression came plant based inputs not fermented but bubbled for a day or two, or mixed directly into the soil. Again my garden got better.

I guess my next step once I was confident in my methods and materials, was that I followed Gascanstan into no till gardening. And that's pretty much where I'm at now. And for the last couple of years my garden has been consistently improving' yields, taste, everything.

So now I make and use the best compost I can, I add diverse organic inputs, use large pots and imediently repot after harvest, feed either fermented plant extracts or quicker plant based teas and I've been a happy camper. Hope this somehow helps you save some time and effort in your quest......scrappy

 

[yankeegreen]

right, well i agree with the others that you'll likely have less of these type of problems in a properly built soil with more compost etc.

but as for the problem at hand if the roots are working properly and have grown into the new soil then your nute line/soil is somehow not doing its job. the indica looks better but still on the hungry side to me. have you used this bottle combination before successfully?

This is the first time with both the medium/mix and the Earth Juice nutrients. I am only using 1/3 strength, which was fine for veg but not for flower (veg formula + Bloom). Mandala advertises that the strain needs very little supplemental nutrients.

 

[yankeegreen]

Yankeegreen, I used to be an earth juice guy too. And at times my garden rocked and other times I had mystery sicknesses too. The canna boards did not help much either, with all the talk about ph, and lime to counter EJ's low ph and was mostly confusing. By taking carefully notes I was able to see when I used superior compost and eventually made my own compost my garden rocked, and when I used what I now know to be lame store bought bagged EWC my garden had lockouts at critical times during bud building and I was left with mediocre yields and quality.

Then after I figured that I better make my own compost I looked at EJs ingredient list and thought, what the hell why not make my own feeds too. After all EJ is pretty much fermented extracts. So I made my own ferments and things got better.

Then next in my progression came plant based inputs not fermented but bubbled for a day or two, or mixed directly into the soil. Again my garden got better.

I guess my next step once I was confident in my methods and materials, was that I followed Gascanstan into no till gardening. And that's pretty much where I'm at now. And for the last couple of years my garden has been consistently improving' yields, taste, everything.

So now I make and use the best compost I can, I add diverse organic inputs, use large pots and imediently repot after harvest, feed either fermented plant extracts or quicker plant based teas and I've been a happy camper. Hope this somehow helps you save some time and effort in your quest......scrappy

Thanks scrappy.

 

[Scrappy4]

Thanks scrappy.

Your welcome, I'm glad my post did not offend you and your choice of fertilizers. If you do a search in this forum on earth juice there is a nice long thread that used to be a sticky here. Some of those posters might still be active, I'm not sure.....scrappy

 

[yankeegreen]

No offense taken. I am moving from soil and chem to organics and its a journey for sure! I intend to get off the bottled nutes and into home-prepared teas and ROLS but won't get there over night. THanks for the feedback it is appreciated.

 

[VerdantGreen]

for now i would increase the strength of the bottled foods. if you are at 1/3rd strength now then perhaps try half or 2/3rds strength.

VG

 

[yankeegreen]

Thanks VG. I top dressed with EWC and bone meal last night but did not water in yet. I have a boiled bm, EWC and molasses tea aerating now (just the bone meal was boiled) that I will apply tonight at lights-on. Hope that will help boost Mg, Ca and maybe some added N for the short term (tea) and long term (top dress). If this seems like a bad idea let me know.

I will bump up the EJ nutes as well.

 

[EllieGrows]

I think you need to aerate your EJ nutrients for about 24 hours stiring as often as possible or using and airlift. I also think many people in the thread have it right...high quality EWC topdress. Might not hurt to do a topdress early flower if you dont plan on changing your soil mix next run, ive used EB stone and Dr Earth. FWIW if you get things straight NOW during this grow you can turn it around. Good luck!

 

[BlueJayWay]

aye, I would start to rethink your soil mix for your next time around. seeing that that this won't solve your immediate problem with the ladies, i'd recomend the following.

1) i'd do a 2" top dress and or slurry with high quality earth worm castings, that seems to do the trick with problems of this nature.
2) stop feeding with all those crazy concoctions of bottle stuff asap
3) hit it with the mix below. Water undiluted and see if you don't notice any greening up in the next 24-48 hrs. The N in the alfalfa becomes instantly available along with a sleu of micronutrients from the kelp and a long list of secondary metabolites from both.

1/2 cup alfalfa
1/4 cup kelp

Per 5 gal water and bubble for 24hrs - then add:

25ml potassium silicate (Protekt)
50-100ml fulpower
1/2 cupaloe Vera juice

good luck and let us know!

Someone's been doing their homework! .

I'd do exactly this.....oh wait, I DO do exactly this

 

[yankeegreen]

I think you need to aerate your EJ nutrients for about 24 hours stiring as often as possible or using and airlift. I also think many people in the thread have it right...high quality EWC topdress. Might not hurt to do a topdress early flower if you dont plan on changing your soil mix next run, ive used EB stone and Dr Earth. FWIW if you get things straight NOW during this grow you can turn it around. Good luck!

EG- I do aerate the EJ tea for at least 24 hours, generally 36 or so. Top dressed with EWC & bone meal last night and will water in with a boiled bone meal, EVC and molasses tea (only bone meal was boiled). Hopefully that will help in the short and longer term.

 

[BlueJayWay]

Why do I keep hearing the same thing over and over....EWC topdress/slurry.....it can't be that easy can it.......I thought every different problem has a different answer

 

[yankeegreen]

Why do I keep hearing the same thing over and over....EWC topdress/slurry.....it can't be that easy can it.......I thought every different problem has a different answer

Right on, easier with synthetics but organics is a mystery. My thinking is EWC for some N & Ca, bone meal for potassium, molasses for Mg & carbs. Top dress for longer term amendment, tea for more immediate hit.

 

[FunTimesIndeed]

Xmoebotx said it best. NPK is a hydro approach. We're into humus and minerals.

EWC slurry is just crazy easy...i don't even bother with compost tea anymore.

 

[BlueJayWay]

Quality EWC/compost will have everything a plant needs, not just N and Ca - mix in some neem kelp and crab to boost resistance to pests and a boost of macro/micro nutrients to help with yield and keeping plants healthy and productive through harvest....some fish bone meal for P, just for good measure, long term deal there and much better source than mammalian bone meal....round it out with rock dusts for high mineral content and again long term there......

And definitely teas as needed......

...molasses for feeding microbes in ACT, its bacteria food - with good compost/ewc you will never need to worry about the elusive Magnesium deficiency....or even worse a CalMag deficiency.

 

[yankeegreen]

Xmoebotx said it best. NPK is a hydro approach. We're into humus and minerals.

EWC slurry is just crazy easy...i don't even bother with compost tea anymore.

I have had a hard time getting my head around both Supersoil and ROLS approaches and maybe it is because I started with the NPK + amendments as necessary and am still in that mindset. I am not implying the approaches are the same, just the philosophy that pretty most everything is in the soil from the start and the plants will use the appropriate nutrients at the right times. I am educating myself and definitely like the ROLS idea and will be starting a base and cooking/aging it in the near future to try it out in the next few months.

 

[FunTimesIndeed]

There's way more than enough to feed a plant, that's why we keep reusing the dirt. Adding EWC slurries ensures that there is a strong enough microbial presence to allow for proper nutrient cycling that the plant influences by offering favorable conditions to certain microbes desired at particular points throughout the life cycle.

Simple as that, but it does require a leap of faith...


I can't get my head around Supersoil either.

 

[BlueJayWay]

I can't get my head around Supersoil either.

That's probably a good thing!

 

[EllieGrows]

EG- I do aerate the EJ tea for at least 24 hours, generally 36 or so. Top dressed with EWC & bone meal last night and will water in with a boiled bone meal, EVC and molasses tea (only bone meal was boiled). Hopefully that will help in the short and longer term.

What PH is the nutrient solution when you are watering. Are you using any products that contain borax in the nutrient solution? Microblast contains some. I find 36 hours to be overkill almost all of the time. Are you wetting the soil before applying the tea?

 

[yankeegreen]

What PH is the nutrient solution when you are watering. Are you using any products that contain borax in the nutrient solution? Microblast contains some. I find 36 hours to be overkill almost all of the time. Are you wetting the soil before applying the tea?

Ph is north of 5.5. I have used Microblast all through veg and in the first week of flower but not for the past two weeks. What is the implication regarding borax? Longer aeration seems to lower the ph further as a film begins to form. I do not wet the soil before applying the tea except with a multiple, small applications of the tea as the top of the medium gets wetter.

 

[dogfishheadie]

yank, i'd really consider getting an earth worm bin going now as you're waiting out this last run. a few more weeks in flower + a few more weeks to gather all your ingredients will add up to just the right amount of time to have some quality castings ready for your main batch.

- 2 rubbermaid 18 gallon bins
- peat / newspaper / eggshells / coffee grounds
- worms off amazon or local guy (red wrigglers to start and if you have the extra cash, splurge for the african nightcrawlers. they're red wrigglers on steroids)

done.

my biggest regret thus far after seeing the quality stuff the worms turned out the other night is not starting my bin sooner. really wish I could have used the good stuff in my main soil mix that's cooking now. wanted to get it going as soon as possible and never seeing quality castings before, I ended up going with a lesser quality from a craigslist guy. plus, it's really fun seeing the looks on peoples face when you walk around a parking lot after it's rained and rescue all the worms from death. i literally drive my truck around them if I see them in the road trying to get wherever they think they're going.