Kali China and Applenaught indoor soil

[gedLang]

This is my first grow log here and only my second grow. Mostly I'm excited to try out Kali China, so I've started two seeds and have two five gallon fabric pots set up to receive them. I have to do some traveling in mid-August, so I'm looking to finish these up by then; as a result I plan on doing a 2 week veg before flipping. With a short veg I expect to have some extra space in the 2x4 tent, so I also started a freebie seed from Multiverse to put in a 3 gallon pot as well - Applenaught. There's little to no info on this strain - the description says "Dirty Sanchez x Wedding Cake" but offers no advice on the length of flowering or anything. I'm assuming it will come out as an unremarkable American hybrid thing.

The seeds were soaked for 12 hours and put into small pots and have poked up after five days. I'm keeping the tent at around 70 F, 60% humidity for this phase, with lights on a low setting. Surprisingly one pot has two sprouts in it - a rare double?

By the looks of it I'm guessing that I just screwed up and accidentally put both seeds in the same pot. We'll see if anything comes up in the remaining pot and proves me wrong.

 

[Creeperpark]

This is my first grow log here and only my second grow. Mostly I'm excited to try out Kali China, so I've started two seeds and have two five gallon fabric pots set up to receive them. I have to do some traveling in mid-August, so I'm looking to finish these up by then; as a result I plan on doing a 2 week veg before flipping. With a short veg I expect to have some extra space in the 2x4 tent, so I also started a freebie seed from Multiverse to put in a 3 gallon pot as well - Applenaught. There's little to no info on this strain - the description says "Dirty Sanchez x Wedding Cake" but offers no advice on the length of flowering or anything. I'm assuming it will come out as an unremarkable American hybrid thing.


View attachment 19004590

The seeds were soaked for 12 hours and put into small pots and have poked up after five days. I'm keeping the tent at around 70 F, 60% humidity for this phase, with lights on a low setting. Surprisingly one pot has two sprouts in it - a rare double?
View attachment 19004588

By the looks of it I'm guessing that I just screwed up and accidentally put both seeds in the same pot. We'll see if anything comes up in the remaining pot and proves me wrong.

Thanks for posting friend. I'm going to ride with you for a while. I love all of Ace's stuff.

 

[gedLang]

The seedlings made good progress over the past week, and are just starting in on their third set of leaves. They also had nice root growth, with all three putting some feelers out of the bottom of their small starter pots. The leaves of the Applenaught have longer fingers, looking more tomato-plant-like than the Kali China.

Applenaught:

Kali China:

I carefully separated the roots of the two Kali China seedlings and transplanted everything to their own pots.

This is earlier than I would like to have them in their final pots, but I'm trying to cut some corners to get a harvest in time.

In my last grow I used Roots Organic basic soil and top dressed with compost and Down to Earth amendments. I found it difficult to get the balance of feeding correct; after a month the plants started to need more nutrients but it was easy to go too far and burn the tips. Top dressing had a delayed reaction of a week or two for the nutrients to get used by the plant, which made it challenging to get the amounts right. So this round I mixed in EWC at around 15-20% and also some Down to Earth Biolive. I hope it is not too hot for these little guys and that it gives more leeway in feeding.

To speed up growth as much as possible I've been keeping the VPD low and the temp/humidity high by using the exhaust fan only intermittently. It's been around 80 F during the day and 70F at night with ~70% humidity and ~.9 VPD. I'll continue that as they get established in their new pots, but will have to increase the air exchange soon.

 

[dubi]

Thanks for choosing Kali China for your second grow and first on ICMag @gedLang
Glad you managed to separate both KC seedlings early on.
Feel free to tag me or pm me in case of any doubt.
Have a great grow ahead!

 

[Artie]

I carefully separated the roots of the two Kali China seedlings and transplanted everything to their own pots.

Here is full review how I spend my free time

This is earlier than I would like to have them in their final pots, but I'm trying to cut some corners to get a harvest in time.

In my last grow I used Roots Organic basic soil and top dressed with compost and Down to Earth amendments. I found it difficult to get the balance of feeding correct; after a month the plants started to need more nutrients but it was easy to go too far and burn the tips. Top dressing had a delayed reaction of a week or two for the nutrients to get used by the plant, which made it challenging to get the amounts right. So this round I mixed in EWC at around 15-20% and also some Down to Earth Biolive. I hope it is not too hot for these little guys and that it gives more leeway in feeding.

Great! The seedlings look very healthy.

 

[gedLang]

Thanks to you both! The Applenaught is displaying an unusual leaf pattern:

Instead of two leaf shoots on either side of a junction, it has a single asymmetrical leaf coming from the base of the larger leaf. If anyone knows the name of this or has experience, let me know.

 

[gedLang]

I'm dealing with a fungus gnat population in the tent right now. It's tough because I've been keeping the soil moist to promote "cooking" and biological activity after mixing in the worm castings and nutrients. Moist peat-based soil like that is very nice for gnat breeding. I know that they are not the worst pest but I also know from my previous grow that I have to start early to keep them under control.

Of all the various things I've tried to combat fungus gnats, BTI was the most effective. However, it only affects the gnat larva, not the eggs or mature adults (flyers). And in containers it tends to disappear quickly - it is effective for the first day maybe, but after that new eggs hatch and the BTI is no longer around to stop the new larva.

Anecdotally, I found that growing a BTI culture in the same fashion as a compost tea seemed to increase its effectiveness. I mix the BTI drops into a couple of gallons of water and add a tablespoon of molasses, then aerate with a pump for a day. Watering with this ferment seems much more effective to me. Because I don't want to overwater, this morning I put this ferment into a spray bottle and sprayed down the top couple inches of soil.

 

[Creeperpark]

I'm dealing with a fungus gnat population in the tent right now. It's tough because I've been keeping the soil moist to promote "cooking" and biological activity after mixing in the worm castings and nutrients. Moist peat-based soil like that is very nice for gnat breeding. I know that they are not the worst pest but I also know from my previous grow that I have to start early to keep them under control.

Of all the various things I've tried to combat fungus gnats, BTI was the most effective. However, it only affects the gnat larva, not the eggs or mature adults (flyers). And in containers it tends to disappear quickly - it is effective for the first day maybe, but after that new eggs hatch and the BTI is no longer around to stop the new larva.

Anecdotally, I found that growing a BTI culture in the same fashion as a compost tea seemed to increase its effectiveness. I mix the BTI drops into a couple of gallons of water and add a tablespoon of molasses, then aerate with a pump for a day. Watering with this ferment seems much more effective to me. Because I don't want to overwater, this morning I put this ferment into a spray bottle and sprayed down the top couple inches of soil.

Keep yellow stickies in the garden to help catch the flying adults.

 

[gedLang]

I've got one in there but I should add a couple more, thanks!

When I first got fungus gnats, I figured I could just put some sticky traps up and call it a day. Didn't work out like that.

It's been tough keeping them in check during the start of gardening season because I always have moist soil around germinating seeds. But now that the seedlings have moved outside I've got it more under control.

 

[Podenco]

Like Creeperpark wrote, yellow stickies. A good amount. You can also "bait" them, make a little pot/tray with potting mix, add 1 dog or cat kibble and make the soil nicely wet. Improvise and put the traps on/across/above this pot.

P.

 

[gedLang]

Still dealing with fungus gnats, unfortunately. I added diatomaceous earth to the tops of the soil and they are waltzing around on it like linoleum.

I think part of the problem is that this soil is still very wet. The top couple of inches is quite dry, as I've been raking it to disrupt the gnats. But the containers are still too heavy to water again, and that means I can't really do a BTI drench. I have a feeling that adding EWC has increased the moisture retention a lot. I'm considering pulling the plants out and adding additional perlite to the mix.

The growth of all three plants has slowed but continues. Kali China is looking fine:

And Applenaught is looking weirder and weirder:

It's growing faster than Kali China but what it's going to wind up as I have no idea.

Hoping to let these veg for another week and then flip.

 

[dubi]

Hi @gedLang, sorry to hear about the fungus gnats. To combat them, make sure the soil is dry before watering again and avoid overwatering. Use yellow stickies and nematodes, and alternate with neem for a stronger treatment.

 

[gedLang]

I've managed to get the pots to a drier state and they feel like they are on a good watering cycle now. Fungus gnats are present but under control. Today I'm flipping to 12/12 - normally I would let them grow more for a better harvest but I have a deadline for the grow so I'm doing it a bit early. The Kali China plants are doing good, one is a bit lighter in color but I don't think it is a big deal. I've given them an EWC tea and will start feeding small amounts if needed in flowering.

Kali China from the left front:

Kali China from the right front - this one is light in color on the new leaves:

And then the Applenaught continues to be strange in its branching. I have not topped it, but it seems to be creating multiple branches on its own in an asymmetrical fashion:

 

[gedLang]

Today makes one week since the flip to 12/12. Growth has been solid, I've top dressed with some neem seed meal to provide an extra N boost during the stretch. No sign of fungus gnats anymore. I'll be regularly feeding small amounts of Biolive or build-a-flower top dress during the stretch and early flower.

Kali China #1 (left)

Kali China #2 (right)

Applenaught (rear)

 

[gedLang]

Week 2 since flip, continued growth and just starting to see the first pistils. I'm raising the vpd from here on out. Noticed some discoloration on a couple of Applenaught's lower leaves. I took a look under a magnifier and it doesn't seem to be fungal or pest related so I'm guessing it is something nutritional.

Not bad yet so I'm just giving some compost/ewc and keeping an eye on it.

Applenaught:

Kali China 1:

Kali China 2

 

[gedLang]

I noticed that Kali China #2 had some leaves up top that were twisting and turning over:

I took that as a sign that it was receiving too much light, and backed the LEDs off some, which seemed to help. All three plants shot up a few inches after that. Unfortunately that same KC #2 plant seems to be showing signs of hermaphrodism, with pollen sacs appearing this week:

I'm considering removing them and continuing, but I'm open to advice. Haven't seen this in a grow yet. Aside from that the plant seems healthy and no signs on the other two.
KC #2:

KC #1:

Applenaught:

 

[gedLang]

I went ahead and removed all the pollen sacs from Kali China #2. There were about 16 of them, but none had any pollen in them. Will keep an eye on that plant. I'm assuming it was reacting to the excess light and I don't think I'll have more problems.

 

[gedLang]

Another week of growth, gave some more EWC but they don't seem to need much. Stretch is over and buds are developing; probably about halfway done with flower at this point. Seeing a lot of sugar on the leaves, hashplant style.

KC #1:

Applenaught:

KC #2:

 

[gedLang]

Another week and more fattening of buds. Applenaught (middle plant) had couple of bottom leaves yellow, so I've increased feeding. It also has very taco-ed upper leaves, but seemed to respond well to feeding so I'm just going to continue with a higher level and hope it doesn't cause issues.

KC #1:

KC #2:

 

[gedLang]

Getting towards the end with these plants. Today is six weeks since flip and the Kali China look like they will be done in a week or two. KC #2 is lankier and slightly behind KC #1, to me they look like a more sativa-ish and more hashplant-ish pheno respectively. The Applenaught is still working on fattening buds and may be a couple of weeks behind that.

Cola on KC #1:

Applenaught:

Cola on Applenaught:

KC #2:

All three: