[Ninja Mechanics]

Oh man Dave, this thread was epic! No idea how I havent seen it until now! Bravo, lots of awesome stuff in here!

[MaryMaven]

Hi Dave!


How are those DP x Shit(Early Durban) girls doing? I see it's been a couple of weeks since the last pictures - how is budding coming along? AND, I JUST noticed, not only do you have the sitting on carpet, but it is WHITE carpet - and it is CLEAN. Damn, your ladies go nothing but first class, huh?

Peace
Maven

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by MaryMaven

Thanks again, Dave.


I don't think UB is around over there anymore. But, like you, I don't really go over there anymore, especially since I found this place. Not near as "toxic" seeming over here, you know?


Most everyone I really enjoyed reading was also mostly gone by the time I discovered the site a couple of years ago, including you. I'd be reading along in an old thread and think 'I'll ask X if Y would work when I get to the end,' only to get to the end and find out they were no longer there posting.


I'm generally out of the loop when it comes to in-fighting/"politics" on message boards. I was happy to end up running across you over here of all places. (Oh, god, really, I'm not a stalker! You were just a participant in a couple of my fav. threads there so I remembered the name)


Everyone over here, for the most part, seems a bit more 'mature/diplomatic' and I like the vibe here much better.


Our vegetable garden is a little over a quarter acre in size. We also have a small orchard, berry patch, and a grape arbor. It's a lot of work, but I love it. We can/freeze/put up everything we are able to harvest. We have 3 married daughters and we supply all of their families with as much vegetables/fruit (fresh and put up), eggs, meat (venison, fish, turkey, beef, etc.) as we can. Gardening is my 'therapy' And I'd rather hoe a row for 6 hours in the sun than wash a sink full of dishes


Lord, I do babble on, don't I?


Peace
Maven

Its a shame he's not around there anymore. I always liked the guy. Hope he's still kicking up dirt somewhere.

Im glad you like ICMAG more as well. I dig the site and rarely had any issues here other than the ones I probably started myself.

Your garden sounds like a small slice of heaven. The perfect place to go to get away from all the struggles of life.

Btw, you came to the correct thread to prattle on. Im prone to doing it myself at times hehe.

Originally Posted by Ninja Mechanics

Oh man Dave, this thread was epic! No idea how I havent seen it until now! Bravo, lots of awesome stuff in here!

Welcome Ninja Mechanics! Im glad you stopped in and checked it out. Some nice pictures and some good content that could help your garden. Hope you'll stick around for future updates

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by MaryMaven

Hi Dave!


How are those DP x Shit(Early Durban) girls doing? I see it's been a couple of weeks since the last pictures - how is budding coming along? AND, I JUST noticed, not only do you have the sitting on carpet, but it is WHITE carpet - and it is CLEAN. Damn, your ladies go nothing but first class, huh?

Peace
Maven

Those 3 ladies are doing quite well. Getting lots of tlc by me. Hungrier girls than I may have expected too. Im taking fertility measurements every two days, then increasing/decreasing food based upon the results. One of the plants ppm levels have gone from over 2Kppm to less than 800ppm since flowering began and were not even at the 1 month mark. The very lowest fan leaves are just beginning to lose their green, but Im trying to stave it off as best I can.

Feed strengths have been upwards of 450PPM for the really hungry girl, and 350ppm-400 for the less hungry ones. Ill keep at it and maybe I can get them all to the 1300-1500ppm range before heavy flowering really kicks in. Thats when fertility levels will plummet very quickly if Im not keeping up with feed strength.

The carpet isn't quite white. It does have some stains from where Ive spilled fertilizer . I just try to keep the stains out of the pics hehe. Maybe Ill get some pics snapped of the ladies tonight so you all can see the progression.

[MaryMaven]

Now, using the suction lysimeter, and your ec/tds meter, I get that you know how much overall feed that your plants are using. But how do you know how much of what they are using/hungry for? Do you depend on the leaves alone to tell you - do you have to wait for a deficiency to show, like top of the plant for calcium, bottom for magnesium? Or am I missing something where these meters are concerned and how you know what you have to increase/decrease? Or do you just feed a good all-round WSF and let that be it?


I bought an EC/TDS meter but haven't had the time to make friends with it yet. The SL is, like I said, on my list for the *future*


Looking forward to the new pics...


Peace,
Maven


ETA: heh. when you roll over the "tlc" in your post it says it means 'thin layer chromatography" I'm like what the HELL is THAT, and will I need ANOTHER kind of meter for that? hahahahha. Then it hit me.

[Dave Coulier]

Originally Posted by MaryMaven

Now, using the suction lysimeter, and your ec/tds meter, I get that you know how much overall feed that your plants are using. But how do you know how much of what they are using/hungry for? Do you depend on the leaves alone to tell you - do you have to wait for a deficiency to show, like top of the plant for calcium, bottom for magnesium? Or am I missing something where these meters are concerned and how you know what you have to increase/decrease? Or do you just feed a good all-round WSF and let that be it?


I bought an EC/TDS meter but haven't had the time to make friends with it yet. The SL is, like I said, on my list for the *future*


Looking forward to the new pics...


Peace,
Maven


ETA: heh. when you roll over the "tlc" in your post it says it means 'thin layer chromatography" I'm like what the HELL is THAT, and will I need ANOTHER kind of meter for that? hahahahha. Then it hit me.

While there is tech you could use in your garden to measure the concentration of macro nutrients in the soil solutions I extract, it just isn't necessary, and its much more expensive than a simple Suction Lysimeter, and a good EC/PPM meter.

But I use leaf health to help me gauge whats going on like you said. Nitrogen deficiency is the most common problem we'll experience simply because plants typically use more N than anything else, especially MJ. Every now and then I may see early symptoms of Mag deficiency, but it doesn't occur very often unless Im chronically under-feeding.

Stick with a well rounded WSF, and as long as you provide an optimal feeding routine, you'll rarely have nutrient related issues. Osmocote helps too when the WSF may be lacking in some areas. Last time I checked, I think the Dyna Gro may be lacking on the Mag, Sulfur some, possibly could use a bit more Ca too, but the Osmocote covers that for me.

Ive got a bag of Calcium-Nitrate, and Epsom Salts, and various other salts I never use anymore because Osmocote + Dynagro covers my bases so well.

Once you get that SL, you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner. Get a 12" model though, as I find they're easier to get solutions from containers that are 3 gallons or less. There are longer lysimeters, but they're more suited for larger/deeper containers. Plus the shorter ones are cheaper if you want to save money. I know I do.

The best way to use it, is to get your plant to a perfect state of healthy and green, then take a measurement. Afterwards just try to keep the ec/ppm of your soil solution near that value. With repeated usage, and experience you'll be able to narrow down an ideal range for each individual plant, as well as an overall range that works across the board pretty well.

[MaryMaven]

Originally Posted by Dave Coulier

While there is tech you could use in your garden to measure the concentration of macro nutrients in the soil solutions I extract, it just isn't necessary, and its much more expensive than a simple Suction Lysimeter, and a good EC/PPM meter.

But I use leaf health to help me gauge whats going on like you said. Nitrogen deficiency is the most common problem we'll experience simply because plants typically use more N than anything else, especially MJ. Every now and then I may see early symptoms of Mag deficiency, but it doesn't occur very often unless Im chronically under-feeding.

Stick with a well rounded WSF, and as long as you provide an optimal feeding routine, you'll rarely have nutrient related issues. Osmocote helps too when the WSF may be lacking in some areas. Last time I checked, I think the Dyna Gro may be lacking on the Mag, Sulfur some, possibly could use a bit more Ca too, but the Osmocote covers that for me.

Ive got a bag of Calcium-Nitrate, and Epsom Salts, and various other salts I never use anymore because Osmocote + Dynagro covers my bases so well.

Once you get that SL, you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner. Get a 12" model though, as I find they're easier to get solutions from containers that are 3 gallons or less. There are longer lysimeters, but they're more suited for larger/deeper containers. Plus the shorter ones are cheaper if you want to save money. I know I do.

The best way to use it, is to get your plant to a perfect state of healthy and green, then take a measurement. Afterwards just try to keep the ec/ppm of your soil solution near that value. With repeated usage, and experience you'll be able to narrow down an ideal range for each individual plant, as well as an overall range that works across the board pretty well.

Ah, gotcha! Makes sense.


So far, so good this time around. I took your advice when I mixed my medium and added the Osmocote for extra insurance, so each time I've repotted it's been refreshed. I'm really impressed with how things are going so far. Now that I've gone into flower, the real test begins because there will be no more up-potting/refreshing of the medium so I have to watch a little closer.


I'm hoping to have time to get some decent pictures tomorrow because I have a couple of questions for you regarding defoliation. I've never been a big subscriber to it; I'm a firm believer that those leaves are there for a reason and I just HATE the 'lollipop' look, it makes me sad.


But this grow, I've created monsters. It's getting fairly tight in the grow space and I'm wondering if I need to clean them up just a little more than I have for light/air flow and to open them up. I just don't know if they need it, or if I've just been reading too much and second guessing myself again. I did clean up the lower area just to avoid any rotting problem from touching medium/watering. The (Ace) Early Bubba Hash plants are insanely vigorous and bushy!


What are your general thoughts on it? Do you ever do it to any degree; do you think it has its place?


Peace
Maven

[Dave Coulier]

I dont do any defoliation myself, but I do practice selective pruning mostly from the lowest parts of the plant. I will do this both in veg and flower. If I have lower branches that are never going to reach the canopy, Ill remove them.

Those sucker branches wont produce anything but larf at best in flower, if they can't reach the canopy(If were using overhead lighting). Different animal if vertical/side lighting is in play.

Some may call that lollipopping, but I dont go to the extreme. Ive seen pics that make me cringe too where the lowest 50% of the plant is removed, which seems like a huge waste to me.

[Dave Coulier]

Well it looks like the trifoliate Durban that had outgrown that trait has came back with even more of the problem. She started with 3 leaves per node, and slowly returned to normal. Today I discovered she had actually auto-topped herself, and the new top tripled down on the number of leaves per node.

This plant has 8 that you can see in the picture, with another 2 on the backside! Im just gonna let the plant keep doing its weird thing for awhile and see what happens next.

[MaryMaven]

Originally Posted by Dave Coulier

Well it looks like the trifoliate Durban that had outgrown that trait has came back with even more of the problem. She started with 3 leaves per node, and slowly returned to normal. Today I discovered she had actually auto-topped herself, and the new top tripled down on the number of leaves per node.

This plant has 8 that you can see in the picture, with another 2 on the backside! Im just gonna let the plant keep doing its weird thing for awhile and see what happens next.

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Wow, that is so cool! Glad you are going to let her go - can't wait to see what happens next with her.