Boron at harvest

[CrustyCruz]

The boric acid sits on my shelf unused. As a dirt farmer, I don't know how to use it. I intended to run some experiments moving sugars around the plant though.

https://johnkempf.com/using-boron-to-speed-up-natural-maturity-and-senescence/

I know in the legal/internet/pharma narrated weed realm we're still pretending it's all about myrcene and synthetics cbd isolate, but I find sweet sugary bud to be a much bigger factor driving sales and medical efficacy in the traditional/real world.

I don't expect a single person in the cannabis community to contribute to this thread. Why would they.





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[Chunkypigs]

get a soil test and ask for your results in ppm's and see how much is there then adjust.

when I mineral balanced my OD bed this year I aimed for 87% Calcium and 6 PPMs Boron but I used Borax because it's easy to source.

my plants are loving it. #ThanksSlow

 

[moose eater]

get a soil test and ask for your results in ppm's and see how much is there then adjust.

when I mineral balanced my OD bed this year I aimed for 87% Calcium and 6 PPMs Boron but I used Borax because it's easy to source.

my plants are loving it. #ThanksSlow

I was told by someone years ago to use Borax, rather than the Boric Acid I also have here, and I can't remember why, but that's what I've been using routinely in mixing my soilless mixes since then.

Question re. the 87% Calcium. I had been pursuing similar levels, ultimately reaching into the low to mid 70% range, but was told I was having P issues (deficiency) due to the elevated Calcium, despite having lots of sources of P in there already. Did you find you had to up the P to compensate for the Ca?

I increased the P this last time around, quite notably, and it seemed to pay off.... quite well, in fact.

Re. the Boron presence, I can attest to my broccoli plants showing symptoms with too little Boron that are nearly identical to the symptoms of too much Boron. Similar outcomes in cannabis?

I'd have to look at my 'recipe' to tell you the amounts added, and the more recent soil tests, to tell you the ppm presence of the Boron.

 

[Chunkypigs]

I was told by someone years ago to use Borax, rather than the Boric Acid I also have here, and I can't remember why, but that's what I've been using routinely in mixing my soilless mixes since then.

Question re. the 87% Calcium. I had been pursuing similar levels, ultimately reaching into the low to mid 70% range, but was told I was having P issues (deficiency) due to the elevated Calcium, despite having lots of sources of P in there already. Did you find you had to up the P to compensate for the Ca?

I increased the P this last time around, quite notably, and it seemed to pay off.... quite well, in fact.

Re. the Boron presence, I can attest to my broccoli plants showing symptoms with too little Boron that are nearly identical to the symptoms of too much Boron. Similar outcomes in cannabis?

I'd have to look at my 'recipe' to tell you the amounts added, and the more recent soil tests, to tell you the ppm presence of the Boron.

this article is a good one about Ca and P interactions. https://www.spectrumanalytic.com/sup.../Ca_Basics.htm

I aimed for even levels of K, P and S in ppms. 1000ppm K in my soil was the target. I was in mid 500's for K and P on my test and had 81% Ca already.

Slow was saying he hadn't seen the upper limit of Boron in Cannabis, I already had 3.2 ppms in my plot and aimed for 6.

I boosted my manganese hard in the search for sweet sugary buds this year...

this article says research says 8-10 ppms B for canna. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.c...-fertilization-nutrition-deficiency-toxicity/

 

[moose eater]

this article is a good one about Ca and P interactions. https://www.spectrumanalytic.com/sup.../Ca_Basics.htm

I aimed for even levels of K, P and S in ppms. 1000ppm K in my soil was the target. I was in mid 500's for K and P on my test and had 81% Ca already.

Slow was saying he hadn't seen the upper limit of Boron in Cannabis, I already had 3.2 ppms in my plot and aimed for 6.

I boosted my manganese hard in the search for sweet sugary buds this year...

this article says research says 8-10 ppms B for canna. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.c...-fertilization-nutrition-deficiency-toxicity/

Thanks.

I assume that with those fairly high numbers, you're running some stout buffering/CEC?

I'll need to dig out my last soilless mix analysis and see where I was at.

Are your numbers the result of H2O extraction, Mehlich III extraction, or something else?

 

[Goodherb]

this article is a good one about Ca and P interactions. https://www.spectrumanalytic.com/sup.../Ca_Basics.htm

I aimed for even levels of K, P and S in ppms. 1000ppm K in my soil was the target. I was in mid 500's for K and P on my test and had 81% Ca already.

Slow was saying he hadn't seen the upper limit of Boron in Cannabis, I already had 3.2 ppms in my plot and aimed for 6.

I boosted my manganese hard in the search for sweet sugary buds this year...

this article says research says 8-10 ppms B for canna. https://www.cannabisbusinesstimes.c...-fertilization-nutrition-deficiency-toxicity/

Blessings Chunkypigs.

What does you use to boost your manganese !?

 

[moose eater]

Blessings Chunkypigs.

What does you use to boost your manganese !?

I know the question was to Chunky, but I use manganese sulfate, which can be purchased in an organic label, as well.

 

[Goodherb]

I know the question was to Chunky, but I use manganese sulfate, which can be purchased in an organic label, as well.

Moose eater, I give thanks nevertheless. Each one , teach one !

 

[Chunkypigs]

Thanks.

I assume that with those fairly high numbers, you're running some stout buffering/CEC?

I'll need to dig out my last soilless mix analysis and see where I was at.

Are your numbers the result of H2O extraction, Mehlich III extraction, or something else?

my cec is in the high 20's depending on whose formulas you use. big part of my soil is wood chip compost so plenty of buffering with that in the mix.
I use AA8.2 extraction for C and M3 for the rest per Slownickle.

I used Manganese oxy sulfate to amend my MN.

 

[moose eater]

my cec is in the high 20's depending on whose formulas you use. big part of my soil is wood chip compost so plenty of buffering with that in the mix.
I use AA8.2 extraction for C and M3 for the rest per Slownickle.

I used Manganese oxy sulfate to amend my MN.

My issue with Mehlich III is that I'd get some pretty stout numbers, or at least somewhat present, then use an H2O extraction test, and end up with considerably different numbers, even after letting the mix 'cook' for 3 to 6 months.

P has been the elusive critter, mostly, and with diluting the mix with 25% more Pro-Mix/Sunshine Mix #4 Organic, then adding a slight amount of low magnesium garden lime, and another whopper dose of P by way of 0-11-0 seabird guano and 0-7-0 bat guano, I was starting to get better results than previously.

Another trouble has been excess sulfur and salt, and a lot of what I've used in organic-world has both on-board to some extent. I wanted sufficiently high sulfur to aid in resin production (per anther member), and know that both salt and sulfur are relatively water soluble, therefore mobile, but I was sometimes ending up with some whopper numbers.

Contrary to Slow's advice, I've been using a scant amount of zeolite, though he had disdain for the stuff.

At some point I cut back on gypsum, due to elevated sulfur numbers, and trying to find 'sulfur sanity'.

My Ca is currently likely about mid-60s at best, and my CEC HAD previously been similar to yours; somewhere in the upper mid- to upper 20's.

I know the flowers this last time around, while not quite as sticky as 20-some years ago, with better/more legitimate organic amendments and feeding bat shit tea with good kelp extract, were closer to what I fondly remembered.

The boron, manganese, zinc, and copper sulfates tend to show predictable movement in either direction with each fine-tuning change. They're less impacted by the increased Calcium, or at least on my tests they have been. We'll see when/if I get a follow-up test of the mix, per these recent adjustments... though again, the outcomes looked more than acceptable, though not idyllic.

 

[moose eater]

Re. the OP's original inquiry, this last harvest, I saw what appeared as a zinc and/or manganese deficiency, and instead of getting specific and addressing it with sulfates of that limited sort, I used a more broad spectrum micro-nutrient solution that incorporated an array of micro-nutrients, to include Boron. It was likely too late in the game to address the deficiencies, but they weren't catastrophic.

As to any negative effects from a late addition of the micro-nutes, hard to say what would've been there without them, but the overall quality of the harvest was pretty nice. Though admittedly, the more broad array of micro-nutes came with a 1-0-0 value, so there was an addition of a fairly small dose of N at the end, which I typically try to avoid.

 

[Chunkypigs]

Boron FTW!

 

[Three Berries]

Anyone use Acetate (vinegar derived) based mineral supplements? I'm using calcium acetate this time around. Quite water soluble in water. And when I use vinegar to pH down that's what happens with the hard water I read.