Boron: The secret to getting more flowers

[Strike99]

ok, well since there is so much hype over this.... possibly sproutco you could do a test and post pics...

do a couple using different levels of "Borax" and one control? i think that would be much more beneficial to the users trying to see if they are going to incorporate this into their feeding schedual. Personally i would like to see this, and im sure many others will back me up.

hopefully ure down for testing this out

S99

 

[mtnjohn]

did somebody say ...moron hahahahahahahahahahah

if i aint broken dont fix it

 

[southpaw]

did somebody say ...moron hahahahahahahahahahah

if i aint broken dont fix it

Cmon that's taking it a little far. Its not the worst idea in the world, but its pretty clear that good quality organic soil and a strong microherd ought to guarantee you never see a deficiency. I'd suggest a new grower learn about all purpose organics like kelp, compost, and castings before he or she dumps borax into the water, but I'm not calling anyone with grows under their belt looking to tweak plant performance a moron.

My feeling here is that by the time you are seeing a boron deficiency, you'd do better to foliar spray with teas or repot into fresh soil than drench with a borax solution, simply because the odds are you are on the verge of other deficiencies also.

 

[pontiac]

Very interesting...Thanks sprout!

 

[Guest]

Cmon that's taking it a little far. Its not the worst idea in the world, but its pretty clear that good quality organic soil and a strong microherd ought to guarantee you never see a deficiency. I'd suggest a new grower learn about all purpose organics like kelp, compost, and castings before he or she dumps borax into the water, but I'm not calling anyone with grows under their belt looking to tweak plant performance a moron.

My feeling here is that by the time you are seeing a boron deficiency, you'd do better to foliar spray with teas or repot into fresh soil than drench with a borax solution, simply because the odds are you are on the verge of other deficiencies also.

I isn't think this thread was started to help with a boron deficiency...I thought it was advice as a booster at the beginning of flower. Maybe I need to reread things.

Cheers,
SH

 

[mtnjohn]

did somebody say ...moron hahahahahahahahahahah

if i aint broken dont fix it

btw
directed at nobody , just joking

just wanted to remind folks to keep it simple, simple is your friend

 

[Ganico]

Yeah compost, EWC, and kelp apparently all have boron. So if you're growing organic you most likely don't have to worry about boron at all.

 

[Mackawber]

Boron! The Secret of toxically poisoning your plants!

Seems a deficiency would be rare. I would suspect that this trace mineral is found in alkaline tap water and nutrient/catalyst formulas containing kelp.

 

[inflorescence]

Seems a deficiency would be rare. I would suspect that this trace mineral is found in alkaline tap water...

Oddly enough, I thought the same thing but when I looked at my water analysis from the district there was no mention of boron. I don't know if they are just not required to test for and list it or whether there was no boron present at all. There were other metals like arsenic and lead and even if there was 0 ppm detected they still listed the 0 ppm for those metals.

 

[Mackawber]

I'm not sure, but I believe plants need Boron to manufacture THC too. I remember in college chemistry that a chemical called boron trifloride etherate was used to synthesize THC in the lab.

 

[sproutco]

Foliar spray using Borax

Foliar spray using Borax

Just for interest I sprayed some clones with a .05% solution of borax. This would be 58 ppm boron. This is 1/2 strength of the low rate Howard Resh, the hydro guru, suggests for deficiency. This works out to be 1/2 teaspoon borax per gallon of water and spray both sides of the leaves if possible. Use very hot water to disolve. You could see the leaves begin moving and expanding right before your eyes as long as the leaf remained wet. Amazing! Remember, only spray once and add no other drenches of boron.

 

[kokua]

Why did you apply to clones, and why a foliar? I thought the instructions were to use as soon as flowers began to appear... and to only drench the soil once with the rate you gave us, which was 2.8 ppm boron to be safe..1/8 teaspoon borax (.5 grams) in 5 gallons (19L) of water This stuff is considered "hot".

What kind of plants did you apply this boron foliar to? Care to share pics?

 

[sproutco]

I sprayed small rooting mj clones in the name of science. The leaves began moving in front of my eyes as long as the leaf was wet. I sprayed a crop of corn that was going into flower. Looked like it was struggling. Next day, all the flowers at the top of the corn (male) had stood erect. Feel free to experiment. Just only make 1 application in a blue moon...

Boron sprays benefit tomato fruit:

Improving nutrition through spraying calcium and boron at the green fruit stage is another promising method for enhancing fruit quality. Calcium sprays have often shown inconsistent benefits in our studies, but the increase in fruit quality with a supplemental boron spray (weekly over the fruit filling period) has shown consistent results at the Southwest Research and Extension Center near Benton Harbor (Snapp and Huang, 2004). The economic net benefits have been calculated to be $230 to $340 per acre, comparing the increase in yield of high quality tomatoes to the cost of applying boron (Table 1). Boron is a micronutrient that should not be over applied. Applied in excess, it can cause physiological defects. Do not apply more than 0.25 pounds per acre of actual boron per foliar spray and be cautious of multiple applications of boron. There are a large number of fertilizer sources of boron on the market, such as Borax.

http://www.ipm.msu.edu/CAT05_veg/V07-20-05.htm

 

[The Bling]

sproutco you're not smoking weed are you?

 

[inflorescence]

Sproutco, that talked about the green fruit stage of tomatoes, not MJ.

I've heard tomatoes need foliar Ca to prevent blossum end rot but I'm not aware that MJ suffers from blossum end rot so it would appear MJ doesn't need foliar Ca and I would also deduce it wouldn't need folair (or drenched) boron.

I'm all for experimentation, and it does appear boron is an extremely powerful micronute compared to the other micronutes but I just don't know if this is really what MJ needs.

 

[sproutco]

I'm all for experimentation, and it does appear boron is an extremely powerful micronute compared to the other micronutes but I just don't know if this is really what MJ needs.

Flowering plants have a higher boron requirement than just growing leaves. Boron will increase flowering in plants that are low in B. Drench once as an insurance policy. It will not harm the plant at the rate I gave.

 

[kokua]

I'v got some plants that are just showing flower clusters...I'd say they are 14 days into a 70 day flower cycle....is now the time or what? I am going to get some boron as we speak. I'll test this with pics for everyone.

 

[stretchpuppy]

I love the smell of Borax in the morning... smells like... Victory.

Extra flowers and a clean bathroom... gotta love it!

 

[sproutco]

Interesting tid bit

Interesting tid bit

1/2 teaspoon borax per gallon of water increases rooting of cuttings. (50ppm) I guess you would dip their stem in the boron water before dipping in the hormone. Boron may serve to transport the rooting hormone into the plant. Use caution because I have not tried this.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Here is a link that quotes a old Russian source concerning the Boron levels needed by Hemp(Cannabis)Link-The World's Major Fibre Crops - their Cultivation and Manuring

And the quote in question-"The need for micronutrients is very closely linked with the type of soil. Copper deficiency is often to be found in peat soils, which in the case of hemp shows itself among other things in the breaking of stems. Manganese and boron deficiencies have also been reported (Gorschkov, 1959; Olofsson, 1956). According to Russian sources, the boron requirement of hemp is 270 grams per hectare (Zhukov and Bedek, 1963). Russian experiments on peat-humus soils (Getmanov, 1967) have further shown that where hemp is already fertilized with sufficient amounts of P and K, both yields and quality of fibre and seeds can be significantly increased by the additional application of 1 kg boron (as boric acid, H3BO3), 1 kg of copper (as copper sulphate, CuSO4 and 10 kg of manganese (as manganese sulphate, MnSO4) per hectare."

According to wikpedia, a hectare is 10,000 square meters, or 107,639 square feet.

107,639 feet divided by 270 grams, equals 1 gram of Boric acid per 398.66 square feet?? A area approx 20'x20'??

Is my math right?