[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by gorilla ganja

Are you going to tell us the secret to those roots. Whats the syringe for? Most people only care whats above ground, but the roots are where it's at. Great job. I hope my Durbans finish half as healthy as yours. I believe my DP's have a some Indica in them, They are from Dutch passion.

Well obviously it would no longer be a secret if I told everyone. Its coming I promise..I had to get more pictures snapped to help demonstrate how I water.

Im also bogged down with quite a full garden. All this transplanting every couple of weeks wears me out. Anyone want to volunteer to be my mixer? Two more Thai to transplant, and then Ill begin working on that watering update.

[MOneYMiKe]

Nice show dave....surprised of the visual indica influence of your durbans....im watching because I have some south african seeds durban I used a whyle back....much different skeletal structure than mine...none the less interesting selections....and good luck with those GN thai....

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by MOneYMiKe

Nice show dave....surprised of the visual indica influence of your durbans....im watching because I have some south african seeds durban I used a whyle back....much different skeletal structure than mine...none the less interesting selections....and good luck with those GN thai....

Much obliged moneymike. I do see how they look Indica like from the leaves. I expect changes in leaf morphology over time though. Check out this leaf on my Thai Stick A Clone. The leaves never looked like this in the seedling/young veg stage.

Got any pics or threads for your Durban you ran?

Im working on the watering/rootball update post, but its a time consuming one and unfortunately Ive got work. Ill try to get it finished and posted tonight after tending to my garden.

Toodaloo everyone!

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by Pendleton

Fyi Dave, I was just reading about T. harzianum being inhibited by glomus fungi. I'll try to find the study.

Thanks for the info. With some quick googling I found some interesting studies, so I think Ill read up on it now.

After reading a few abstracts, Im sure I need to research more. One abstract I read says Glomus Intradices adversely affected T. harzianum, but that was a root-free study. Another one involving melon seedlings stated they worked quite..


Abstract
BACKGROUND: Biological control through the use of Trichoderma spp. and arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi (AMF) could contribute
to a reduction of the inputs of environmentally damaging agrochemical products. The objective of this study was to evaluate
the interactions between four AMF (Glomus intraradices, Glomus mosseae, Glomus claroideum and Glomus constrictum) and
Trichoderma harzianum for their effects on melon plant growth and biocontrol of Fusarium wilt in seedling nurseries.
RESULTS: AMF colonisation decreased fresh plant weight, which was unaffected by the presence of T. harzianum. Dual
inoculation resulted in a decrease in fresh weight compared with AMF-inoculated plants, except for G. intraradices. AMF
colonisation level varied with the AM endophyte and was increased by T. harzianum, except in G. mosseae-inoculated plants.
Negative effects of AMF on T. harzianum colony-forming units were found, except with G. intraradices. AMF alone were less
effective than T. harzianum in suppressing disease development. Combined inoculation resulted in a general synergistic effect
on disease control.

CONCLUSION: Selection of the appropriate AMF species and its combination with T. harzianum were significant both in the
formation and effectiveness of AMsymbiosis and the reduction of Fusarium wilt incidence inmelon plants. The combination of
G. intraradices and T. harzianum provided better results than any other tested.
c 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

References:

"Interactions between arbuscularmycorrhizal fungi and Trichoderma harzianum and their effects on Fusarium wilt in melon plants grown in seedling nurseries"
AinhoaMart´ınez-Medina, Jose A Pascual,∗ Eva Lloret and Antonio Rold´an
Published online in Wiley Interscience: 25 June 2009
(full text) https://microgaia.eu/almost/wp-conten...-nurseries.pdf

[Dave Coulier]

I think Ive had you all waiting long enough, so I present to you my method of producing amazing rootballs.

It isn't enough to provide a great medium, nutrients, and beneficials to get great roots. All that can easily be undone by improperly watering, which is often a common concern for many of us. Steady, methodical watering is the key step in growing amazing roots. I used to just take cups of water/feed and pour it on top of the media and let it soak in, rinse repeat until I thought I was done or until I saw pooling below. How many of us have done that one before? Dumping water onto the top of our rootballs usually leads to funneling/channeling of water as well as water flowing down the sides of the rootballs. Piss poor watering as I learned. I could do better.

Then Spurr told me about pulse watering, and that was a game changer for my roots then. You simply apply your solution to your plants in pulses allowing time for the water to wick throughout the media in between each pulse. Time between pulses are typically 5-10 minutes for me. I like to apply about about 20-25% of the water to plant A, move onto Plant B and water, move to Plant C and water, etc and eventually you work your way back around to Plant A where we start the process over again. Rinse repeat until we give them the required solution. The time in between plants give the water the time it needs to wick throughout the media. I can apply more water without wasted run-off.

Step 1: Start with a rootball needing water. I water sooner than others may. A consistently moist rootball is a happy vigorous rootball. Blumats taught me that, and I carried that over to hand-watering. Dry-downs in wet/dry cycles only cause damage to your fine root hairs and roots, leading to greater chances of root pathogens infecting them as well as stunting.




Step 2: The mysterious syringe and measuring cup. The syringe provides me the fine precision control I need to cover every square inch leaving no dry spots left behind. I can water with a slow steady drip as I do for my seedlings in small containers, or a steady flowing stream or anywhere in between. I always water either in 30ml or 60ml increments each pulse. Nothing in between.

The measuring cup allows me to accurately measure out a consistent amount of water/feed every time. There is no guessing or half assing involved. I measure out exactly how much solution I need for all the plants and each gets their appropriate amount. Its important to know how much water it takes to reach container capacity and to exceed it. When you know that, you can better tailor how much water your plants really need each watering. I do not water to run-off by the way. No leaching in my garden at all. That only kills root-hairs if you are constantly flushing/leaching with each watering, IME.

Although, I also do water from the bottom once the plants reach the .75 gallon or larger containers. Its too time intensive to use the syringe on each plant at that stage. After about a 30 minute period to wick up the bottom watering, I lift the plant, tilt it at 90 degree angle to drain the perched water table(often times lifting the plant up and quickly descending repeatedly to further drain the PWT) and set it in a saucer with no more water.




Step 3: I start with 60ml in my syringe at this stage. I apply the solution to one half of my media. The first picture shows me about done watering that side of the plants rootball. The 2nd picture shows the media with the full 2oz/60ml of water applied. She's also already soaked up 180ml I bottom watered by the time I was done applying 2 oz of water to the top. This is just the first pulse btw.





Step 4: Now this step is crucial if you want to keep those beautiful fuzzy white roots on the outside of your rootball. Its real easy for them to become desiccated if too much time passes between waterings, or care isn't taken to fully ensure the entire rootball is moistened.

I make sure the roots on the outside edge dont have any dry pockets by applying around 50-60% of my water along the edge of the rootball. If I apply most of my water to the inner areas of the rootball, I end up with dry spots on the outside, which is why I pay great care to circling the entire rootball with a slow steady stream from the syringe.





Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 on the other side of the rootball. Follow that up with a watering all the way around the outside edge only, and Im typically done at that point. It usually takes 2 or 3 pulses + bottom watering to satisfy a plant. Once the plants have rooted enough, I lift them from the containers to gauge the results of the pulses as well. It helps me know how many more pulses Im likely to require.

Unfortunately, I have hit my limit for photos to upload. Please visit my albums to see pics of the rootballs, or if you've been following the thread you've already seen some of them.

[CimeTempestose]

Originally Posted by Dave Coulier

............about pulse watering, and that was a game changer for my roots then. You simply apply your solution to your plants in pulses allowing time for the water to wick throughout the media in between each pulse. Time between pulses are typically 5-10 minutes for me. I like to apply about about 20-25% of the water to plant A, move onto Plant B and water, move to Plant C and water, etc and eventually you work your way back around to Plant A where we start the process over again. Rinse repeat until we give them the required solution. The time in between plants give the water the time it needs to wick throughout the media. I can apply more water without wasted run-off......

plus with this irrigation method you can prevent that the soil become washed out from nuts.. that often means also a raising concentration of salts.. sò discomforts for plants.. I also like the syringe ..glad to see that I am not the only mad who do that

Concluding I can only agree with HB and BG when they say :

Originally Posted by heady blunts

wow such broad leaves! beautiful plants dave!

Originally Posted by Baron Greenback

They really are lovely, not a leaf out of place. Really good work.

green vibes man

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by CimeTempestose

plus with this irrigation method you can prevent that the soil become washed out from nuts.. that often means also a raising concentration of salts.. sò discomforts for plants.. I also like the syringe ..glad to see that I am not the only mad who do that

Concluding I can only agree with HB and BG when they say :
green vibes man

Cime, do you use google translate to follow my thread, as I do yours? I got kinda confused when I read nuts. So you use a syringe too? Provides great control and was a better option than anything I ever found in a gardening store.

Originally Posted by Pendleton

Dave I like your system but would really suggest airpots like smartpot that reduce the root problems.

Hey Pendleton, Im glad you like it.

Ive tried fabric bags before for over a year, and while I liked them. I also had some complaints. If you dont pack the media in heavily, you get media that will shift around easily when handling the container. I dont want to pack the media heavily as it alters the physical properties negatively. Maybe its better with the square fabric pots versus round?

Ive also tried plastic pots coated with Microkote, which is supposed to stop root circling with the use of copper. It worked and it didn't work so well. As media drys out, the rootball contracts from the container walls. Over time that shrinkage will interfere in the ability for Microkote to do its job correctly. Plus it has to be reapplied periodically. I still use the pots but almost all the Microkote coating is gone at this point.

I picked up some Airpots awhile back though and Ive been intending on giving them a try. Im hoping they will provide me with something superior to plastic pots, but without the negatives Ive experienced with other containers Ive used.

When I transplant my next batch of Durban Poisons seedlings, Ill use some of them along with regular plastic pots. We'll see how they compare and go from there.

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by Pendleton

I've never had that issue with soil compaction, but tend to set 10g containers and move on. Am just trying a new brand of plastic fabric pots that are a much lighter material and about 1/4 of the price. Happy so far, but they seem to dry a little faster.

I tend to do alot of moving my plants around, so I can see how we have had different experiences. I may still have some Root Pouches(fabric bags). Ill root around and see if I can find one. The DP need a transplant soon, so I think Ill try throwing one in there and see how she does.

[CimeTempestose]

Originally Posted by Dave Coulier

Cime, do you use google translate to follow my thread, as I do yours? I got kinda confused when I read nuts. So you use a syringe too? Provides great control and was a better option than anything I ever found in a gardening store.....

Hi Dave, I dont use google transaltor.. is my english that really suck.. ..I apologize for that..

anyway with nuts I mean nutrients.. and yes I use syringe too

[heady blunts]

ooo I hated those plastic egg crate airpots. I think they'd be great for a flood table with coco maybe but did not love them with soil hand watering or blumats.

I'm currently using the geopot brand with handles. they are very sturdy much nicer than the smart pots with handles I used several years ago (no clue whether smart pot has improved their design since).

I do know what you're saying regarding the soil shifting when moving pots. fwiw it's much less of an issue after a cycle or two no-till style