I try to take leaf only but it gets impossible to squeeze enough sap at some point. I use the Horiba sap ph meter and the brix meter from peaceful valley. 14 and 6.5 last check...apparently I have room for a touch more nitrate if I want but I am happy with growth as is
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C
Cep
Nice. I might be short on N. Last year when I was getting higher readings my soil had nitrate at 200-300 ppm and there wasn't a deficiency even into late October. I'm pretty sure they weren't converting it well though because I started getting chewing insect pressure.
Last time I tested the levels were all around 200 but I tilled in last years straw with biodigester so I'm sure the numbers are lower.
Last time I tested the levels were all around 200 but I tilled in last years straw with biodigester so I'm sure the numbers are lower.
C
Cep
At some point you have to allow yourself to be satisfied with whats going on. I've been teetering on both sides of optimal for several things this past year, looking at numbers, measuring this or that. I loose sleep when the weather turns to shit or I oversupply K with compost, but I'm trying more to just wake up and smell the flowers.
Cep,
short on N?... I got some stuff Kempf recommended just sitting in the fridge. Once you break the seal you gotta use the whole bottle and it covers an acre. A mixture of Azotobacter and other N fixing microbes. The stuff he talks about over applying x 3 and killing the crowns on a bunch of cantaloupe from fixing too much N. If you want to use it let me know,Ill bring it next time.
http://bloomingblossoms.com/products-page/bionatural-products/nutrifoliar
short on N?... I got some stuff Kempf recommended just sitting in the fridge. Once you break the seal you gotta use the whole bottle and it covers an acre. A mixture of Azotobacter and other N fixing microbes. The stuff he talks about over applying x 3 and killing the crowns on a bunch of cantaloupe from fixing too much N. If you want to use it let me know,Ill bring it next time.
http://bloomingblossoms.com/products-page/bionatural-products/nutrifoliar
C
Cep
Psuedomonas fluorescens? Or just Azotobacter? Yeah I heard that. I'm a little hesitant. I'd probably pull the trigger if I knew my N ppm in the soil was in the below 50 range.
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I have both. I believe the root drench contains Psuedomonas fluorescens and Azoto, the foliar is just azotobacter...
C
CaliGabe
Thought you were replacing the Ca and not the P?
Need to make you a T shirt
AEA stuffs
AEA stuffs
Cep,
What exactly did AEA send you to try out?
You guys tried the Nutra Live Vitality yet?
Just about to order some to give it a whirl....
How about MagCo Plus
Sounds like it has the potential to be gnarly with all that salt...
FE
AEA stuffs
Cep,
What exactly did AEA send you to try out?
You guys tried the Nutra Live Vitality yet?
Just about to order some to give it a whirl....
How about MagCo Plus
Sounds like it has the potential to be gnarly with all that salt...
FE
Get us back on track with photos, boss
C
Cep
I'll be a little slow with updates. Got a bulging lumbar disk but I had an old high school buddy come out and make remesh cages today:
Just in time too, as they're growing quick. 5' diameter 4.5' hight
Also had one plant get an early fungal infection. Normally I'd yank it and replace it with a healthy start but I hit it with all the foliars and let it go for another week. Yield will probably not be as high as the others but I wanted to see if I could save her. It callused up and is growing at the same rate as the others now:
The other interesting thing I found were hundreds of lambs quarters. From what I've read they are an indicator weed for quality soils with a working decay system.
I'll be adding them in my weekly juice.
Just in time too, as they're growing quick. 5' diameter 4.5' hight
Also had one plant get an early fungal infection. Normally I'd yank it and replace it with a healthy start but I hit it with all the foliars and let it go for another week. Yield will probably not be as high as the others but I wanted to see if I could save her. It callused up and is growing at the same rate as the others now:
The other interesting thing I found were hundreds of lambs quarters. From what I've read they are an indicator weed for quality soils with a working decay system.
I'll be adding them in my weekly juice.
C
Cep
Took readings today during a thunderstorm…
Row 1 (Biological Advantage treatment) Brix - 13.5, pH - 7.0
Row 2 (Foliar Ca, P, and ppd only) Brix - 11, pH - 7.3
Row 3 (Skipped last weeks foliar) Brix - 11, pH - 7.4
Anyone else ever tested during weird weather? I took row 1's results as a sign that I should start treating the other plants and hit them all with a round of Ca, Photomag, ppd, + bio advan stuff. I haven't seen a single aphid, mite, leaf hopper, etc., but if my pH continues to climb they might show up. I'll resample tomorrow or the next day during sunny weather and see what changes.
Row 1 (Biological Advantage treatment) Brix - 13.5, pH - 7.0
Row 2 (Foliar Ca, P, and ppd only) Brix - 11, pH - 7.3
Row 3 (Skipped last weeks foliar) Brix - 11, pH - 7.4
Anyone else ever tested during weird weather? I took row 1's results as a sign that I should start treating the other plants and hit them all with a round of Ca, Photomag, ppd, + bio advan stuff. I haven't seen a single aphid, mite, leaf hopper, etc., but if my pH continues to climb they might show up. I'll resample tomorrow or the next day during sunny weather and see what changes.
C
Cep
Xmobotx, yes ideal sap pH @6.4 like Reams, Tainio, Kempf, and C-ray suggest haha.
Milky, I remember reading about brix dropping during poor weather in Esper Chandler's book Ask the Plant and I think Kempf might have mentioned it in one of his longer talks too. I haven't checked out the Sait sessions yet, have only seen his ted talk on humus.
I've never read anything about pH swings during poor weather though. I'll retest when it gets sunny again before I decide that I have a problem. I'll be hooking up 55 gallon barrels in between my hard line off my reservoir and the manifold to my drip emitters. This will make it easier to root drench.
Milky, I remember reading about brix dropping during poor weather in Esper Chandler's book Ask the Plant and I think Kempf might have mentioned it in one of his longer talks too. I haven't checked out the Sait sessions yet, have only seen his ted talk on humus.
I've never read anything about pH swings during poor weather though. I'll retest when it gets sunny again before I decide that I have a problem. I'll be hooking up 55 gallon barrels in between my hard line off my reservoir and the manifold to my drip emitters. This will make it easier to root drench.
http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/blog/2010/02/ten-reasons-to-own-a-refractometer/
http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/blog/2009/09/the-refractometer-an-indispensable-monitoring-tool/
chances are your high sap pH is from the K...I don't know this for a fact but...with no fruit there is no sugar sink, K is carrying sugar to the new growth and roots but does not get trapped there. I returns to truck more sugar.
That means the K is in the sap...it is claimed 97% of K can be found in sap before fruit forms. K gets trapped in fruit. K being a base cation it will raise the sap pH.
It will be really interesting to see if that pH starts to drop once bud starts to form. That might tell us something...that K is building in the bud I would think.
just a thought. but I would definitely be avoiding K in foliars or root drenches if I were you.
http://www.nutri-tech.com.au/blog/2009/09/the-refractometer-an-indispensable-monitoring-tool/
chances are your high sap pH is from the K...I don't know this for a fact but...with no fruit there is no sugar sink, K is carrying sugar to the new growth and roots but does not get trapped there. I returns to truck more sugar.
That means the K is in the sap...it is claimed 97% of K can be found in sap before fruit forms. K gets trapped in fruit. K being a base cation it will raise the sap pH.
It will be really interesting to see if that pH starts to drop once bud starts to form. That might tell us something...that K is building in the bud I would think.
just a thought. but I would definitely be avoiding K in foliars or root drenches if I were you.
C
Cep
Potassium would be my guess based on my soil analysis. Here is what I know from last year: K levels were in the 6-7% range during veg with brix in the 15-18 range. I didn't test sap pH when the plants were this healthy. During transition to bloom (Sep 1), K levels dropped to 3-4% in the soil as well as brix to 9-10, sap pH ranged between 6.5-7.5 in a few plants. Sep 10th the same plants were at 10-12 brix and all the pH readings fell between 6.4-6.6. What was the K doing 1-2 weeks into bloom? The numbers suggest K storage but there are other unknown variables (roots moving into soil outside the beds or into subsoil with lower K values). I think your theory about unfertilized plants not trucking K has merit though. Perhaps I'll just pollinate everything to pull the excess K out of my soil this year...
Definitely not using a lot of extra K. There is some in rejuvenate and sea shield, but I want that micronized chitin on my plants!
Definitely not using a lot of extra K. There is some in rejuvenate and sea shield, but I want that micronized chitin on my plants!
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