MotherLode Gardens 2016

[Shcrews]

hey shrews looking great again this year. i was going to ask you since you run lots of bodhi gear if youve ran the GOJI og or know anyone that has? got a nice cut of it debating on running it outdoors

hey dude, i havent grown the goji but i think a guy from here, (i think it was Mr Chocolate) ran it last year and said it did very well. i sprouted some goji seeds so might try growing it this season

Yes very true.

@Screws Have you ever tried mainlining? I was thinking of trying it out on a lady or two this year to compare.

maybe ive done it but i'm not sure what mainlining is

 

[orechron]

guys if you want to grow huge plants then dont top them!

my big full season plants usually finish around 10-12 ft tall. they are never topped or bent. i'm not really sure what you are asking though

maybe true for you in norcal, but at my place last year we had a couple rains before harvest and i didnt lose any tops
to mold except one which was the biggest cola i've ever seen, size of a basketball. should have chopped that one sooner though, i got greedy tryin to see for how long it would keep growing.

yeppp i definitely dont miss growing weed in santa cruz , 200 ft from the ocean. i lost 50% of my full season harvest to mold one year, although 25% or so is normal around that area

byf and others have said if your plants are healthy they are more resistant to botrytis. But that coastal fog is a motherfucker no matter what its gonna cause some problems

You can still grow monsters if you top. Butte, Fisher, Fillthepotmore, BYF all top if I remember correctly. I think once you get into the heat of summer its hard to keep them small in that much soil no matter what you do to the canopy.

Shcrews, on the mold issue, man I remember the gut wrenching feeling when you have such a huge loss like that. The place I was at the last few years is basically a temperate rainforest and even on days without rainfall my plants were wet for half the day with dew. I used to think I could control botrytis by spraying actinovate and the first year I used that product I saw a drastic reduction in rot, but what I didn't acknowledge was that the soil was just better balanced that year. Specifically, I had a better Ca:K ratio and was using less Nitrogen. The year after that I started to get micronutrients (Cu and Zn mainly) closer to target range and things got easier.

Your soil is better this year and I'm predicting you'll meet or exceed yields from last year. Theres a ton of organic N already there and I suspect part of your success is the uptake of some NH4+ by your plants because that's the first mineralization product. Keep feeding those microbes in the soil and spray some photomag foliars and watch what happens...

 

[milkyjoe]

It is kind of about how many branches you get into the sunshine...the more the better for yield. And that comes down to hormone control. If topping means your cytokinins are made dominant over auxins then topping can actually produce higher yields. But if you already have that (and the kelp meal in Cootz goes a long way to making it so) then letting the plant get as tall as it wants will produce more, cause more branches fit on a taller plant.

So it depends is my definitive answer.

 

[megayields]

guys if you want to grow huge plants then dont top them!

yeppp i definitely dont miss growing weed in santa cruz , 200 ft from the ocean. i lost 50% of my full season harvest to mold one year, although 25% or so is normal around that area /QUOTE]

Schrews I totally agree.....OMG I lost MANY crops in Ben Lomond indoor to mold and PM.....I am SOOO done with that and currently I'm less than a mile in a straight line from the coast...screw that...I'm headed to the desert........

 

[xmobotx]

"it depends" is almost always the *right* answer. for what i'm doing here, option A is effective ~this doesn't mean option B might be better for your location/method/circumstances/timing/season/weather/skillset/container size/et al

 

[calisun]

for me it depends on the strain. Some strains I top some I don't, pending on how they grow. I run the same clones every year mostly witch makes it easy for me to know what works best for each variety.

 

[Shcrews]

couple days ago:

 

[Robrites]

couple days ago:

Looking pretty fine, Sir. Pretty Fine.

 

[ApolloAK]

Looking good man

 

[Shcrews]

might order some stuff today, im tryin to make a list of what i want. probably forgetting stuff

-cover crop 12seed mix from buildasoil
-borax
-AEA micropak, Photomag. Tainio pepzyme
-reverse osmosis system. (whats a good one?) need pure water for foliar sprays..

also i'm looking at sap meters.... those Horiba ones are expensive! probably worth it though

need to order my new soil soon. also need to weedwack the hill, clean out the old smartpots (weeds, t-posts, dripline).

I'm still not totally clear on how to amend my old soil. from what leadslead said, i think it just needs B, K, S, maybe N... i am ordering borax but what about the others. milkyjoe mentioned some kind of potassium sulfate but idk what kind or how much to use

 

[xmobotx]

i like the spectrum extra/pepzyme clear combo. i did some experiments w/ it & it does make a difference

 

[Shcrews]

spectrum extra is designed to "prevent mineral salt contamination", why would that help me? just wondering..

 

[plantingplants]

Shcrews, how are you using your cover crop? Will it be a living mulch or are you growing and tilling it in all before transplanting? I definitely would like some mulch so I was thinking of keeping dutch white clover growing in the container since it has a shallow root system and shouldn't compete.

 

[blue_tick]

shcrews

amazon sells a meter called the wizard for 65 bucks that is suppose to be a good one. there was a thread in the outdoor grows can't remember who but i think he is a cali grower that recommends the meter (he has one)

 

[xmobotx]

spectrum extra is designed to "prevent mineral salt contamination", why would that help me? just wondering..

yeah, i read that too. where I came from when I tried it {a couple years ago} was the advice " if you;re going to try anything from tainio, try these 2 items"

i think of it like a compost tea alternative. "make sure the biology is in there" type thinking.

one of the experiments i did was isolating a particular dandelion in my yard. it was turning red from some form of soil issue which was also affecting the general area. I figured it was done for & what could it hurt. today, that dandelion is lush, dense green & keeps coming back. i cut back some dogbane that has also begun to thrive in that spot. just to make sure my dandelion experiment is the focus but, no more imbalance/soil issue ~ high health & vigor. all w/ doing nothing else.

 

[plantingplants]

xmobotx, one of the explanations for that dandelion is that salts had built up and the spectrum ate 'em. Irrigation water will leave salts in the soil so I imagine it's good to have bacteria that will eat salts, but I can't imagine shcrews' soil has much built up salt in there after one year? But I don't know...

 

[milkyjoe]

might order some stuff today, im tryin to make a list of what i want. probably forgetting stuff

-cover crop 12seed mix from buildasoil
-borax
-AEA micropak, Photomag. Tainio pepzyme
-reverse osmosis system. (whats a good one?) need pure water for foliar sprays..

also i'm looking at sap meters.... those Horiba ones are expensive! probably worth it though

need to order my new soil soon. also need to weedwack the hill, clean out the old smartpots (weeds, t-posts, dripline).

I'm still not totally clear on how to amend my old soil. from what leadslead said, i think it just needs B, K, S, maybe N... i am ordering borax but what about the others. milkyjoe mentioned some kind of potassium sulfate but idk what kind or how much to use

Shrews...that potassium sulfate would be to fix your K shortage. You were going to get a plan for your amending your soil. You don't don't want to go messing up a plan by adding additional K that is already covered in your plan.

As far as the Horiba meters...and those are the ones to get...say they cost $500 a piece or so. If you can use them to increase your yield by 1/3-1/2 pound they have paid for themselves. But that depends on what you are planning to do with the info.

I would start with a sap pH meter. If that pH holds at 6.4 you are getting enough base cations into the plant, and unless you are way out of balance you are good to go without any corrective foliars.

Beyond that a nitrate meter takes the guesswork out of do I need more N or not 1/2 way through the season. The others you can get are sap EC, Ca and K...but you might want to start with just the pH meter and see if it is worthwhile to you.

Spectrum Extra is basically an ACT in a mylar bag...it supplies microbes. Allegedly, some of those microbes transmute Na into K. Unless you have high Na you can use teas or Spectrum which is the same basic microbes minus the ones that possibly make me sound insane for saying it out loud.

If you want better explanations or any help just let me know. You look like you are off to a great start on your own though

 

[xmobotx]

thanks planting plants but i'm organic to the core & there were no salts built up ~more likely something peed there or someone poured the grease out of a pan from cooking

 

[leadsled]

might order some stuff today, im tryin to make a list of what i want. probably forgetting stuff

-cover crop 12seed mix from buildasoil
-borax
-AEA micropak, Photomag. Tainio pepzyme
-reverse osmosis system. (whats a good one?) need pure water for foliar sprays..

also i'm looking at sap meters.... those Horiba ones are expensive! probably worth it though

need to order my new soil soon. also need to weedwack the hill, clean out the old smartpots (weeds, t-posts, dripline).

I'm still not totally clear on how to amend my old soil. from what leadslead said, i think it just needs B, K, S, maybe N... i am ordering borax but what about the others. milkyjoe mentioned some kind of potassium sulfate but idk what kind or how much to use

12 seed mix. That is a good cover crop blend.
Borax can be had from the hardware store. 20 mule team borax,
Tainio: Pepzyme-c + Spectrum extra.

AEA lineup, sea stim, sea shield, rejuvenate, photomag, micropak, pht calcium, pht phosphorus. pht potassium.

Minimum, would get sea stim, sea shield and rejuvenate.
Can substitute with kelp, pacific gro oceanic fertilizer, and molasses.

Water: I been using a water general 5 stage reverse osmosis. www.watergeneral.com or www.filtersdirect.com
Cheaper than the dro shop stuff. Does not flow the quickest but works well with a float valve or to make small amount of h20 for foliars.

Sap meter: horiba laqua twin PH, + refractometer is bare minimum. $250 + $30.00 on amazon.

If you want to spend more $$, get the K meter next. $330.00

Calcium and nitrate meters are not going to give an accurate number, but can be used as a baseline. If you got the $$ great, if not better spent elsewhere before getting more meters.

If you get the meter, you should get the sap press as well. Is frustrating to keep breaking garlic presses and then not get the sap out as easily as the press.

Also good to be able to monitor the EC of the soil. If you got a ph/ec meter can do a test with a slurry. Otherwise good to purchase the EC meter. Monitor the soil and the plant for the best results.

Amending soil. You need boron + silica + calcium to kick off the biochemical sequence in the soil. You do not have the minimum needed. Adding 11 grams per yard of 20 mule team borax will usually add 1 ppm to the test. Can mix w h20 and irrigate in. If you get solubor boron cut the rate in half.

IMHO, Best bet is to hire someone to take the time and triple check the math and then give you a recommendation of all the minerals needed at the exact amounts. Get the AEA base plus Co,Mo,EC Si + N test from logan. If you can spare an little bit more $$. Get the solvita c02 test from logan.
IMHo, Best off if you do that sooner than later.

That ensures you get the attention you deserve and then you do it right. Planning for success. Can also dial in your new soil mix.

spectrum extra is designed to "prevent mineral salt contamination", why would that help me? just wondering..

Sodium is easily uptaken by the plant and does not have any nutritional value. The sodium can inhibit the uptake of other cations. Cal, Mg, K.
When sodium levels get higher than potassium plants die or start to "shit the bed".

When it is cold this is not as much a problem. Add some heat and humidity and that is when the sodium can be easily uptaken.

Spectrum extra, Will help to reduce the sodium levels in the soil.
The compost tends to add an excess of sodium.
Sometimes the source of the excess sodium is the water source.

You are much better off than most when it comes to sodium levels. when the sodium gets above 70ppm or 140lbs per acre. Then is good idea to use spectrum extra.

Hope that helps.

 

[plantingplants]

re: sap pH meters, is there some reason I can't drop sap onto a cheap Hydrion pH paper, accurate to 0.2?

Xmo- salt can build without chemical salt fertilizer use.