2nd Grow - Indoor Soil - organic

[kovenant]

quick photo update - since they fixed the problem. sorry for the delay in show. ill be posting another update in 3 days - my weekly schedule... but these pics are from the last weekend. around day 10 of flower i believe. ill post the acurate flower date on this next round.

also, you can see where ive replaced the flower saucers with ebb & flow tables. and cleaning the grow room floor in the process - swept, then mopped it down with a light bleach and water solution.






i trimmed the bottoms to make it easier to water, see pests, check soil, and force more nutes to the upper sections. you could see bud formations just starting here - not sure how visible in these pics... but the ones you'll be seeing in a few days will be sharp.






hope you enjoy and this keeps you tuned in for the next report! you wont be sorry

 

[Smoke68]

Lookin good... and clean!!! Nice grow so far Kov! So I was wondering, will you be using Humbolt county's products for this grow?

 

[kovenant]

Lookin good... and clean!!! Nice grow so far Kov! So I was wondering, will you be using Humbolt county's products for this grow?

hi smoke, thanks for stoppin by. i am using humbolt county's products - except for Bushmaster. I have been foliar spraying with PurpleMaxx (and gave one light nute solution with it included) and will be using Gravity when the time comes.

infact, i gave the 3rd foliar of PurpleMaxx earlier today. by the way, the flowers are looking amazing - cant wait to watch them grow. you'll be getting picture updates in 2 days!

 

[In Vino Veritas]

kovenant, looks really nice!

Can you measure one of those bags? I was supposed to have received 3gal bags, but I think they gave me 2. I wanted to compare sizes.. I was going to veg until the 31st, but I may go a little longer as I really want to fill out the room.

nice work man!

 

[kovenant]

im actually updating pictures tonight. Day 21 of flower. Got alot done today.

1. i transplanted the 5 rooted clones into 20 oz cups. there are 2 trainwreck, 2 blue good, 2 blue cheese, and 1 pure power plant. i took these clones a day or two prior to switching to flower.




2. i took new clones off the mom plants i seperated a week into flower. so the clones have bud sites but barely any flowers to them - and should revert to veg once they grow roots and get some veg nutes. i took about 24 goos, 12 trainwrecks, and 4 blue cheese. i am thinking from the looks of the plants that i love the growth, buds, and vigor of the blue goos - hoping i really enjoy the high. i already know i really dig the trainwreck. and cheese im not too impressed with (at least the clones i have) but maybe they will be a great smoke and produce better than i think.




3. i planted 5 seeds of Kalichakra from Mandala. i am hoping to get some good specimens and flower any girls i get. i also am hoping to get a male or two and take the most vigorous as a pollen donor for future crosses. i was thinking of crossing it with trainwreck and also blue goo. maybe call them Kali Wreck and Blue Chakra. who knows - we'll see what comes of it.

4. i watered with Gnatrol tonight to help with the minor gnat problem i am having. i planted 6 yellow stick traps around the bases of the plants last week and havent noticed many - but i see a random one from time to time and i want to exterminate any problems before it leads to infestation.

5. ive been noticing the bottom fan leaves turning yellow and falling off. i pulled all the loose and dead leaves from the bases yesterday and already today had some new yellow and wilting leaves. not sure what it is... maybe the gnats? also - i took a trap in with some on it, and the hydro guy said gnats for sure. these little buggers are living in and around the soil - hopping and flying around. im guessing if they live in the soil and feed off my girls - then this could be part of the problem. not sure - but i finally hit it with gnatrol tonight.

the soil mix i used is supposed to go from start to finish and im only at day 21 of flower - so im not sure if this is a deficiency... maybe i didnt water enough since last time... but it seems in the past usually i see some wilting in the whole plant, and not any yellowing or drying up of lower fan leaves. maybe some burn?

heres some pics of the yellowing leaves. any advice or opinions are more than welcome.







now for the flower pics!! hopefully i havent bored you with the update - but hey, what better note to finish on but the goodies!?

blue goo




blue cheese


trainwreck

 

[judas cohen]

You've been busy! Things are moving along pretty good. Diatomaceous earth sprinkled in the soil will cut the gnats to pieces. or continue with the gnatrol.

I think your plants want some N.

Nice update!

 

[chubbynugs]

Lookin damn good kov

 

[i_score]

hey there kovenant, they are looking great, im with judas cohen on this one, i think its n they are missing, i know your soil is suposed to last a hole cycle, but i do think that wen you flushed it you have cleared allmost any nutrients that were available, so you should bost your plants with some N, wen i need to do that i give the normal veg nutrient and a foliar feed with a wigh N value,i use fish mix from biobizz!!
hope they turn out great!!
peace

 

[In Vino Veritas]

Kov! how tall were they when you turned em to 12/12?

Be sure and wear a cheap painters mask (REALLY!!!) or at least stand up wind. Pretend it's as nasty as asbestos. Wash your hands and fingernails with lotsa' soap after digging in the bat, chicken, cow, worm poop and mycorrhizae. Those lil' shit-boogers will grow things in human tissue as good as they grow plants. I don't usually worry much about germs, but you can't smoke pot if your lungs have spores or an antibiotic resistant infection.

I was like dude this is a good basic way to get in organics....then you scared the shit out of me with the germ closer. Heh.. I had fun, not only was your post long as **** but it felt like a roller coaster.

Id follow your advice..if my environment wasn't so integrated with my daily life.. i don't wanna die from bat poop infection. Great advice though.

 

[kovenant]

well, loosing leaves every day - but today i went and got some Iguana Juice - Bloom and along with my normal regime, i blasted the nutes into the girls. probably a bit more than they needed, but i cut almost all the recommendations in half (advanced nutrients are so potent already.) the runoff after watering showed in the mid 2000s PPM. i ran a 3-4 minute watering of just RO after to bring that down a bit.

my flower nute included: Multi-zyme, Pirahna, Root Excellerator, Organic-B, Iguana Juice - Bloom, and Mother Earth Tea - Bloom.

i also hit the mom's i just cloned from with a veg nute. the mix was: Multi-zyme, Root Excellerator, 1/4 strength of Iguana Juice - Bloom (dont have Grow), Mother Earth Tea - GROW, Liquid Karma, and a dash of Sensi Cal/Mg.

noticed i have mold growing on the AC box i constructed. im worried. i dont want mold anywhere near my girls. dont even know if all mold is the same, as in - if this mold can spread to my plants... or if its different from the mold that forms on vegitation. im scared to pull the unit out and inspect the inside. if the mold is growing through the wood to the outside... i imagine the inside is FULL of mold. but i guess it could just be coating the inside and not necessarily filling the box. i dont know, but i was not happy to see it. here's a pic - you can see the mold growing next to the unit clearly, but look at the side facing the water res... there is actually fuzzy white mold.






here's one more pic i took tonight, to show the continued yellowing. even all of the leaves are a yellowish-green... so i think i was slipping on the job with this one - should of probably hit them with N at least a week ago. hope i didnt stress the shit of my girls, or worse. i think i'll be okay now, going to see how they react to the nutes i hit them with.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

...
noticed i have mold growing on the AC box i constructed. im worried. i dont want mold anywhere near my girls. dont even know if all mold is the same, as in - if this mold can spread to my plants... or if its different from the mold that forms on vegitation. im scared to pull the unit out and inspect the inside. if the mold is growing through the wood to the outside... i imagine the inside is FULL of mold. but i guess it could just be coating the inside and not necessarily filling the box. i dont know, but i was not happy to see it. here's a pic - you can see the mold growing next to the unit clearly, but look at the side facing the water res... there is actually fuzzy white mold.
...UOTE]

on that note u might want to spray the outside and wait till crop is done and rebuild another box in the meantime but this time seal each piece with a basement sealer (the milder resistant veriety...) add 3 coats and then its ready for when your crop is done. no risk, ill be alot later though... get a painters mask. and 2 sprayers with bleachwater (10-20%)that will kill everything without burning your skin.

 

[kovenant]

on that note u might want to spray the outside and wait till crop is done and rebuild another box in the meantime but this time seal each piece with a basement sealer (the milder resistant veriety...) add 3 coats and then its ready for when your crop is done. no risk, ill be alot later though... get a painters mask. and 2 sprayers with bleachwater (10-20%)that will kill everything without burning your skin.

thanks DH - quick question about that. should i simply spray the outside with the bleach solution... or could i mix the bleach solution in a bucket and apply it with a sponge or something? just thinking saturation might be even better. let me know what you think - ill be doing this later tonight. if i dont hear from you by then... i'll give it a spray.


also - even after hitting with the nutes. some green came back to the leaves in general... but im still loosing leaves. they are moving higher. and im a bit worried. wondering if there could be pest or microscopic beasties in the soil causing it. i had root aphids on my last grow (hydro - so i saw them plain as day) and am wondering if root aphids (or some other pest im aware of) causing this yellowing and loss of leaves.

tonight ill water with another high Nitrogen nute solution. maybe add in some fulvic and humic acids... and kelp extract.

i gave a foliar feeding today of purplemaxx, organic b, and pirahna. ill post some pics tonight of the girls. buds are looking NICE. mostly loosing leaves on my blue goos. they are taller and drinking up their waterings alot faster too. i started to think for a moment that maybe the yellowing and dying of fan leaves may be because they are 'drier' and need watering more frequently... but wouldnt they just start to wilt if water was the issue? i dont see any wilting really.

cheers - will update later with pics


--edit--

so... Uploading temporarily disabled. BUT i got some good pics tonight... and will post them soon as i am able.

i stopped by the hydro shop and picked up some PATROL. it's an anti- aphid, root aphid, mite, white fly - organic killer of soil pests. not sure if im going to use it - but thought perhaps i have root aphids as i did on my first grow. but in hydro i could see them by simply looking. now, in soil, i have no clue. i also picked up some nematodes. which i put in the fridge and will add to the soil either next time i water, or a week after i stop using Patrol.

on another note - i think i have figured out what the problem is. most of the yellowing/dying leaves are the blue goos, as ive mentioned before. the blue goos are also the most thriving strain i currently am growing. they are simply bigger plants. i believe they have used all the nutrients in the soil mix i made... and now they are getting the nute deficencies - AND they are drinking the water quicker. the goos are ready for another feeding by the time i water... when the trainwreck and blue cheese still have some saturation.


so tonight, i mixed up a new nutrient solution. i decided i need to quit being lazy and do this correct - like i tried to do my first. i think im feeling soil is so much more forgiving that i dont need to, but hey... i want to get the best i can - so im being lazy and stupid.

i only watered the goos tonight. the cheese and tw still feel 1/2 full. another part of my laziness. ive been watering all plants the same amounts on the same schedule. not necessary. just lazy. so tonight i hit the goos. on ill keep checking daily to see how they are all reacting and retaining water. also, after talking with a friend, dispelled a misconception i had. i was thinking that i should be watering with nutes every 3 feedings. he said that because my soil seems to be depleted of all the nutes it had... that i should always be watering with nutes. that too, could be why the yellowing and dying leaves. i havent really hit them with much, outside the soil.

my nute solution was mixed with 20 gals of water, and watered about 1/2 gallon per plant. each showed drain-off, so i didnt water more. remember, they are 3 gallon bags. does 1/2 gallon of water sound about the right dose? so... onto the nutes. i added Iguana Juice Bloom, Mother Earth Bloom Tea, Sensi Cal/Mg Bloom, Fulvic Acid, Humic Acid, and Root Excellerator. after mixing the solution my meter showed 4.5 pH @ 840 PPM. i added pH-UP until i reached 6.5 pH - which raised me to 980 PPM. the numbers look good, going off of my research and compared to the Advanced Nutrient feed chart.

now i wasnt pHing my water before. pure laziness. i have heard so often how its not really important in soil. (soil is forgiving) well... testing it tonight shows me i've been watering with 4.5-5.5 pH water. in soil. maybe not the only reason i have a problem, but id say it could definately be one of them. heathy should be 6.0-7.0 - that's why i pH'ed at 6.5 tonight.

i also foliar fed this morning during the dark cycle. i hit the girls good with PurpleMaxx, Organic-B, and Pirahna. the girls are getting the loveliest berry smell. standing in between them i catch the greatest wisps... even better than bending down and smelling the flowers directly. of course, that's incredible too!

so! my current plan is to be a little more on top of my game. oh, and just to point out that i started doing it today... i noticed one blue goo leaf 'spotting' with the weird damage i have come to notice accompanies our foes - the spidermites. i didnt like seeing it. but, i turned the leaf over and yup - sure enough - we've got a few noticeable spidermites and even a ton of the small and light colored eggs. i picked the 1 leaf off carefully and removed it from the room. i looked all around that leaf. all around that plant. all around my garden. under many leaves. didnt see anymore or notice any webs. still, im going to spray with Pest-Out and/or NEEM tomorrow. i dont really want to use the pesticide i got with obvious flowers now.

1) going to monitor pH and PPMs as i would in hydro - which is each and every time. 2) going to monitor watering closer - meaning... not watering when soil is still wet, not watering all strains on the same schedule, etc. 3) going to water with nutes each time i water.

 

[kovenant]

uploading pics is still disabled. boo.

so i have a question for all of you with more experience growing. is it common for the fan leaves to kinda die and fall off as the plants grow and pass the half-way into flower point?

reason i ask is ive been done my last two feedings with 900-1000 PPM nutes as well as using some organic pest-control that would certainly wipe out any pests in my soil including root aphids, gnats, aphids, etc, etc... and im still getting the larger fan leaves wilting and falling off. the yellowing isnt as bad now, but continuing to loose fan leaves.

if that is NOT normal. then i have no clue what it might be. i cant see the roots, so cant tell how healthy they look... but got vigorous plant growth that look otherwise healthy (the buds and smaller leaves look fantastic.)

would fan leaves that arent getting much light tend to fall off? we're talking like 1-3 leaves per plant every 2-4 days. most of the lower fan leaves have gone through this process and are gone... now we're working up toward the mid and upper 'fan' leaves. if it isnt normal that something is definately wrong.. and i dont want it spreading up or affecting the quality and growth of the buds.

room temp = 77F, RH = 55-70%, CO2 = 1350 PPM

CO2 levels arent too high for flowering are they? and if it was too much CO2, what would be the affect... would it be leaves falling off, or would they exhibit some type of burn?

any input, insights, or suggestions?

 

[kovenant]

i see pictures are back online. sorry it took so long, but here's last weeks update. tomorrow will bring this weeks update with pics


Day 29 Flower




wanted to give a good show of the blues. but first lets see how the trainwrecks are looking in soil. (i put them into tomato cages last week after snapping these pics. its just a necessity for the strain)



and for the blue cheese!!







i personally am really looking forward to seeing how the blue goo smokes. the plant is so vigorous and just grows and grows and grows. it has the most fantastic berry smell. i want to eat the buds.













also... took pics last week of the yellowing, dying leaves. as well as an after-shot (4 hrs later) of the nitrogen returning into yellowed leaves after hitting with nutes. the problem is... a week later (and 3 nute-waterings later) still loosing leaves on several plants and its moving to the upper fan leaves. i have no idea what else it could be. low in K? cant be pests... they are eliminated. no spidermites. no more aphids in the soil and on my yellow stickies. /shrug. here are those 2 shots.

 

[khaleel]

damn kovenant, hell of a setup. very well-thought out and clean, kudos. i don't know how you organic guys handle all the different stuff that goes in soil. haha i started using organic nutes, but just a two-part solution, one grow one bloom. easy peasy.

anyway, i think your advisors are right about the nit deficiency, but since the yellowing started at the bottom and is working its way up so steadily i think the deficiencies stem from lack of proper nutrient uptake due to overwatering, like you wondered on my thread. your plants look similar to how mine did


here's a link to an infirmary thread i started for it. the good peeps here at icmag, especially stinkyattic, mynamestitch, and 10K, helped me save my first crop:

Nitrogen or magnesium def?

check it out if you have time, it might help.

at any rate, i'm pullini' up a seat brother! nice work!

 

[kovenant]

khaleel - thanks for stopping by and for recommending i read your thread in the infirmary. looks like they covered all the issues it could be, and i think i learned a few things from it.

1) i also switched directly to bloom nutes when i changed to 12/12 light cycle... perhaps in the future i will continue to use veg nutes for another week or two.

2) i believed my soil would carry me from start to finish, however it would seem it did not and that i am experiencing an overall nitrogen def.

3) in my recent attempts to dose with a good concentration of my bloom nutes to up the nitrogen... i may have been over-watering which would also contribute to the N def.

4) on top of all that, my recent research of LED technology in grow rooms has given evidence that yellowing of leaves can also occur early in flower due to the lack of blue and ultra-violet light... so, based off that knowledge and the fact that Blazeoneup switches his lamps back to MH Veg bulbs for the last half of flower... i decided to swap back to Veg bulbs and see how things shape up. the theory is - the veg light should promote some growth (greening) even though the plant itself is far beyond the veg period.




so - what's new. i dropped my AC so that the room is around 75-76F. CO2 levels still remain between 1200-1400. Humidity during lights is pretty steady in the low- to mid-60%. During lights off it is around 55%. Not using the dehumidifier. switched to 600 watt Veg bulbs - going to monitor how they look for a week and decide to keep or switch back to red spectrum.

here are current pics of my mothers and mothers-to-be. these three mothers were pulled after 1 week into flower - they are re-vegging nicely... the clones taken from them are about to be transplanted into 20 oz cups - just waiting on a bit more root growth. the blue cups here are clones taken before the plants went into flower - and i will be keeping these as my true mothers, since they havent been stressed or potentially changed in some way by the re-vegging process. they are Trainwreck, Pure Power Plant, Blue Cheese, and Blue Goo.


4 of the 5 Kalichakra i planted from seed have sprouted and are standing tall. i havent given up on the 5th... i could still break through. i placed it in the grow dome with the others - so we'll see if it survives in there.


tonight's pics are sitting under the blue veg lamps -

Day 30 Flower
you can really see the yellow under these bluer(whiter) bulbs... but, i can say that they also came out looking more yellow in the pictures than they do to the eye.

blue cheese

blue goos


took a close up of the blue goos with trichs pouring out over the leaves... smells so amazing



going to do some hole poking at my bags to make sure they are getting proper drainage. i know the blue cheese have not needed watering and its been days... so could be part of my problem all along. cheers!

 

[kovenant]

late update guys. actually having trouble downloading pics on my home pc - so this is from last week.

Day 43



the goos



the cheese



goo buds



cheese buds




ppp buds



hope you enjoyed the quick update - in a few days i'll try to get the current pics up

 

[kovenant]

alrighty. Day 50 update. im trying to find out more information about the blue cheese strain... it has become blatantly obvious that blue cheese is not a 8-9 week strain, as the blue goo is. a rough guess is that it's more likely to be a 10-12 week strain.

lets get to some photos. ive taken a few more than normal, so i hope you all enjoy.

Day 50 Flower

here's a shot of the whole flower room



here's the blue goo side





and some close up of the blue goo buds






here's the blue cheese side, and some shots of the blue cheese buds












here's one of the pure power plant




one of the trainwreck




and i have some trich shots of the blue goos







the last is with the light on the magnifier turned down. the trichs seemed to be about 60-80 cloudy, roughly 30% clear, and no amber trich heads... but some amber starting at the base of some stems.


anyone have any info on the blue cheese strain, and how long its flower period is?

havent had much feedback, hope you all are enjoying the show. for those that are, thnx for viewing!

 

[judas cohen]

Good Show! Lower fan leaves yellowing and falling off is normal after mid-flower. It will progress upwards, as the plant consumes the older fans to promote bud growth.

Some growers strive for that by cutting back N after the 12/12 stretch, as they feel it makes for a smoother smoke.

The other school of thought likes to continue with enough N in flower to keep everything green, as they feel it makes for bigger/more potent buds. They feel smooth smoke all comes down to the cure.

Both methods work... Which tastes better? chocolate or vanilla... personal preference thingy, IMO....

Organic soil that is healthy with humus, mycorrhizae, dolomite or oyster shell etc., and fed organically, is pretty forgiving regarding Ph between 5 1/2 to 7 1/2, IME. Keeping your ferts/water around 6 1/3 is still a good idea, IMO & IME. There are many other opinions floating around regarding this.

(Accuracy of most Ph meters is plus or minus 0.2; so reading of 6.5 means you're somewhere between 6.3 and 6.7, which is good enough for the girls I go with...LOL)

I'm very impressed with your grow and your threads. Thnx for sharing!

 

[kovenant]

hey judas. good to see you stop by.

as for the yellowing i was experiencing. i would say the lower fan leaves dropping was normal - for the portion of flowering the goos were in. i was getting more-than-normal yellowing because i was making my nute solution too weak. they greened up nicely. then my blue cheese starting showing from the lack of N and weak nutes... working on getting them greener - especially since im realizing they are going to take quite a few more weeks.

pretty much flushing the goos and planning to cut them down over the next couple days. may cut half down in a few days, and let half go another week.

took some trich macros. the only ones i havent checked/photoed are the blue cheese. they simply are too early in their flower to even bother.

blue goo


ppp


trainwreck


the above picks were minor scantly covered leaves - i noticed some nice ambers while scanning each cut, but didnt take any snaps with the ambers (they were on the goos mostly, though the trainwreck suprising had a few amber trich stems.)

enjoy the show!