Diary Hoping for something great

[Cuddles]

Thanks Creeperpark . Just cut 27 clones, 3 from each of the plants I am keeping for outdoor. I used clonex this time so we will see what happens if it helps or hurts my setup.
View attachment 18113345

a lot of the growers on the old forums I used to be on used clonex and used to swear by it

 

[revegeta666]

Congratulations on the great harvest, must feel nice after 2 years

I read the whole thread but I missed how many plants of each strain made it to the harvest. Did you mention it?

I was pleasantly surprised to see you had 2 MLI plants, it's one of my favorite strains and the one I know best, I think it is and underrated classic strain. There is some variation between plants in this strain though, it takes a bit of luck to get a special one. Also had some weird growing patterns with these. THe rest of the selection is interestign as well. Any keepers yet?

On the subject of clonex, I can attest it is very effective. I made a side by side comparison 2 years ago with clonex vs aloe vera (MLI clones btw) and the clonex ones came out on top and rooted 5-6 days faster.

 

[OG_NoMan]

I like that MLI myself and got two different pheno's, only one plant of each, and was only able to clone the bigger bud one that smells fruitier to run outside this year. The one that packs the most punch is the smaller bud one that smells more hazey at least in my experience but it also finishes faster which may be why it's a bit heavier. There were 13 plants under the 600 3 Bruce Banner, the small bud MLI, 3 poison breath, 1 uncle Kenny, 3 locomotive breath, and 2 scoutbreath. Under the 315 there were 9 plants 1 Bruce Banner, 3 Scout breath, 1 big bud MLI 3 uncle Kenny, and 1 poison breath. I don't plan to keep anything. I have multiples of my 6 strains to put outside but what ever isnt planted outside or given away this year will become compost. Will pop new seeds next winter and so on...

 

[OG_NoMan]

Got something great for this year to run outdoor . Was lucky enough to pick up a Loompa Headband plant off of a very generous member and friend. Also have 3 cuts that I am hoping like hell root because they're fire also. Plan to start taking clones as soon as the current cuts that I am preying root are out. Today is day 5 under the dome so hopefully see some roots in 5 more days. Damn I hope these root. I don't even want to say what they are so I am not so disappointed down the road if they don't root . Anyway, just needed and glad to get back to journaling my grow.

 

[OG_NoMan]

15 days since I did a good bit of travel and received a few choice cuts that I then drove home and plugged into some coco. I up potted today as 2 were showing roots at the bottom. Well the first clone, a Cherry Cookies, rooted the slowest and had one little poker of a root so gonna have to watch this one for better root development. The second clone, a Smackerz, had decent roots and was ready. The third clone, a Tropicana Cherry Cookies, had the best root development of all but the least amount of above ground growth. Very happy to say the least

 

[OG_NoMan]

Gonna start cutting clones off the Loompa hopefully Sunday. Just changed all the filters in my RO unit.

 

[OG_NoMan]

Just cut and stuck 15 Lumpa's. Fingers crossed for success

 

[OG_NoMan]

Mailed a soil sample today of the outdoor garden and front and rear lawn to UMass Amherst. Using different crop codes for the lawn and general mixed garden along with @ sqft they will be giving recommendations. Ordered regular soil test and organics test, now I anxiously wait

 

[Creeperpark]

Mailed a soil sample today of the outdoor garden and front and rear lawn to UMass Amherst. Using different crop codes for the lawn and general mixed garden along with @ sqft they will be giving recommendations. Ordered regular soil test and organics test, now I anxiously wait

Super good deal and that is the smartest thing one can do in the beginning. The main reason I like having my soils tested by the Lab, is they will give good recommendations on how to fix it. Most all the soils I have tested (100s) from the lab lacked enough nitrogen. Thanks for sharing friend and post it when you get it back if you don't mind.

 

[OG_NoMan]

Got my results...

 

[Creeperpark]

Glad you got your test back friend. Can you post 1/2 of it, "right side up" so I can get a better view? I can't make it out as it is now.

 

[OG_NoMan]

Glad you got your test back friend. Can you post 1/2 of it, "right side up" so I can get a better view? I can't make it out as it is now.

Surprised you can't read it? Trying to re upload right side up pics but keep getting a server error telling me to try again later. Will get a better pic up as soon as I can. Bottom line is it seems I am well fertilized for the season with plenty of calcium and need lime to get ph up. Will also need a source of nitrogen, I was thinking alfalfa meal but let's be honest. I don't know wtf I am doing lol.

 

[OG_NoMan]

Here it is right side up

 

[Creeperpark]

You have an acidic pH of 5.7 and are lacking Nitrogen. They recommend using Lime to raise the pH. However, the soil tests say your calcium content is 5 times higher than its suppose to be, so using too much lime will cause problems. They recommend splitting the lime application into 2 applications Spring and Fall. I recommend amending the soil with well-rotted extra composted compost. Then top dress with the same compost throughout the Summer.

With your soil, you have to be very careful not to top-dress synthetic fertilizer excessively or it will cause problems. The reason is you have above optimum range in macronutrients and adding any NPK fertilizer will hurt the soil. I would not use ammonium nitrogen with the pH you have. Instead, I would use nitrate nitrogen to help raise the pH.

Only 2 issues pH and lacking nitrogen.

Nitrate-based products are the least acidifying of the nitrogen fertilizers, while ammonium-based products have the greatest potential to acidify soil. Google

 

[OG_NoMan]

I was planning to till in to the top 3 inches of soil ,10 lbs per 100 sqft of down to earth alfalfa 2-0-1 and 5 lbs per 100 sqft of lime. Covering it all with a couple inches of wood mulch for moisture retention. I don't use synthetic fertilizers in my outdoor garden, try to keep it fully organic. Why are your thinking on adding more compost?

 

[Creeperpark]

I was planning to till in to the top 3 inches of soil ,10 lbs per 100 sqft of down to earth alfalfa 2-0-1 and 5 lbs per 100 sqft of lime. Covering it all with a couple inches of wood mulch for moisture retention. I don't use synthetic fertilizers in my outdoor garden, try to keep it fully organic. Why are your thinking on adding more compost?

To buffer the pH only.

 

[Cuddles]

this is all very informative stuff. Thanks for sharing you guys

 

[Chunkypigs]

Here it is right side up

we talked about this on the phone at length but the main points are these:

1. you got a different type of test, modified morgan, than what most all canna growers use, Melich 3, (adding AA8.2 testing for Calcium numbers if you are using Slownickle's strategy) to compare with other canna growers Spectum labs K2 or K3 are the slownickle tests that were figured out here on ICmag as working better for the modified media that we use which is typically only 20- 30% as heavy as average field soil weighs. most canna growers use Logan labs but I'm having my best results following Slow's targets and using his tests.

2. that test is missing 3 important elements, Na (salt), Nitrate Nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen making it difficult to balance the cations and figure out how much Nitrogen the soil needs.

3. the optimal ranges listed are for conventional ag and based on yield only. these optimal ranges from the lab are also skewed to suit the average local conditions so that's why you don't want to make up crop info, like saying the test is for a tomato garden when it's for weed. just leave crop info blank on your soil test and request all results in PPMs, not pounds per acre.

Cannabis has not been studied long enough to know what's optimal yet. we grow canna for secondary metabolites, cannabinoids and other chemicals that create the aroma and effects, science really hasn't a clue yet about what is ideal to create the highest quality in canna yet but IME tasty weed likes way more micros, P, and S than AG crops in general.

4. no trace elements included on your test, one thing that science is showing already is that the trace elements are important in secondary metabolite amounts. I personally have not tested for these yet and have not added them to my water, which comes from the sky mostly or a pump in the creek. get some tm-6 or 7 and add to your water if you can afford it and have the time, should help your quality.

now that I'm back home and can see the test it looks pretty unusual from what I saw in class.
unusually high in Ca and S, hard to believe that's just common backyard soil to me, did you put down a metric shit-ton of Gypsum on that soil last season?? 2 shit tons maybe, lol???
it's nice that they included bulk density.

the soil testing company's ideas about amending are typically ignored by the canna and ag grower and are forwarded to a person or business or soil guru or student like myself who will then plug the ppm numbers into a spreadsheet and come up with application numbers for the farmer.

on IG there are folks like the soil doctor or kis organics, etc. who do it specifically for canna. there are agronomists like Slownickle who specialize in specific crops and or practices like organics, etc.

IME everyone has different ideas and goals about what is best for the soil and makes it more art than science.

in choosing who you are going to listen to my best advice is to first look at and then smoke the weed they grow before you feed your soil like them. also a big thing is that soil, growing conditions, rainfall all affect how you manage your soil so what works in norcal isn't always going to be the best program in Mass or elsewhere in the north east.

compost all tests wildly different in elements, sometimes toxic in things like K and Mg, and soil recipes don't cross the street well because of it.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I was planning to till in to the top 3 inches of soil ,10 lbs per 100 sqft of down to earth alfalfa 2-0-1 and 5 lbs per 100 sqft of lime. Covering it all with a couple inches of wood mulch for moisture retention. I don't use synthetic fertilizers in my outdoor garden, try to keep it fully organic. Why are your thinking on adding more compost?

because we have a bulk density figure we can calculate what your proposed addition will add to your soil.

at a depth of 3 inches over 100 square feet you are working with 100 x 144 x 3 =43200 cubic inches divided by 1728 = 25 cubic feet of soil to adjust.

there are 27 cubic feet in a yard of soil and my spreadsheet is set up for yards here.

before we move on here, some homework for you.
what percentage Potassium does this alfalfa meal contain?

 

[OG_NoMan]

because we have a bulk density figure we can calculate what your proposed addition will add to your soil.

at a depth of 3 inches over 100 square feet you are working with 100 x 144 x 3 =43200 cubic inches divided by 1728 = 25 cubic feet of soil to adjust.

there are 27 cubic feet in a yard of soil and my spreadsheet is set up for yards here.

before we move on here, some homework for you.
what percentage Potassium does this alfalfa meal contain?

View attachment 18837971

1% ?