MotherLode Gardens 2016

[Shcrews]

Looking good dude, i was gonna ask you about walking on the mounds. I see you already answered it. i wondered how they would hold up if walked on, like if you have to do maintnance on plants and what not. Keep up the good work bud

I've walked on them. i'm only 145lb and still it leaves a footprint a couple inches deep, not too bad but i try to avoid it, i have a big flat board that i step on.

Screws - did you know redwood trees when they fall can create shoots, or in grower talk, clones, of it self? Some of those redwoods in the forest which are hundreds of years old, may actually be tens of thousands of years old, genetically. Trippy stuff.

You went to big trees above Arnold right?

nelder grove. The trees there are really old, i think some over 4000yrs

Thats interesting that they can reproduce like that. Really makes you wonder. those giant trees have existed for over 100 million years, maybe there are some million yr old cuts growing heh

lol-screws. thats cute, it is easier the shcrews. rep ya when i can

i originally wanted my name to be screws but thatwas taken so i made it what it is.

 

[Shcrews]

i love looking down on that dripline and imagine walking down it from the house, going through all the plants to go checkout the sunset, good stuff man...

best of luck this season

yah thats probably my favorite part of the day, or maybe the early morning when i do the same thing

T-posts.... my mortal enemy... i hate pounding posts ... hows everyone doing it? post pounder? old fashioned sledge hammer? lol

I have a post pounder and some work gloves. still get a couple blisters after pounding 100 posts though, but its not a bad workout.

Most fun I've ever had reading over 900 posts. Learned a lot from this thread I appreciate it. Really enjoyed the pics of your view as well that is a majestic looking place. Hoping for an amazing year for you!

thanks!

Shcrews!!! That hike looked freaking AwESOME! its going to be a totally amazing season for you. Its great to see you in the mountains with all that beauty around and thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures of the hikes and your garden and the majestic sunsets. You always know how to brighten up my day!

 

[Shcrews]

So there's leafhoppers all over my plants today. I've never seen them much before. Wonder why they're so bad this year. I was thinking maybe spraying neem oil would help keep them away?

 

[milkyjoe]

First off nicely, nicely brah. You have an excellent grow.

Leaf Hoppers are an imbalance in nutrients. Get that straightened out and no mo leaf hoppers. Can I ask how you amended the mounds.

 

[Shcrews]

First off nicely, nicely brah. You have an excellent grow.

Leaf Hoppers are an imbalance in nutrients. Get that straightened out and no mo leaf hoppers. Can I ask how you amended the mounds.

i'm surprised there is an imbalance in every mound. they are even on the plants in my new soil which is supposed to be balanced. how do you recommend i assess the problem and fix it? Neem oil wont deter them?

i amended the old soil with gypsum, kelp meal, and borax. couldnt get the other things Leadsled recommmended in time for planting so i hope to figure that out. i've been foliar feeding too with some AEA stuff that byf recommended. I am trying to get everything on point this year. the plants seem very healthy besides the hoppers. they are tracking the sun so hard right now the big leaves are standing up at 90 degree angle, and very rich green. My cover crop is sprouting quickly as well, and looks nice and green

 

[milkyjoe]

what did Lead and BYF recommend

 

[Shcrews]

besides what i mentioned, Lead also recommended potassium sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt sulfate, and sodium molybdate, none of which i was able to source before my planting deadline.

BYF recommended i spray with AEA Special Blend A&B , plus pepzyme and spectrum extra. . he also recommended sea-stim once for my starts that were having issues.

 

[orechron]

Maybe I'm not remembering right but wasn't your soil high in Calcium already? Gypsum wouldn't be a good idea if so. That would make sense if lead recommended K sulfate. Maybe high Ca is preventing K and Mg uptake, couple that with low micros and your plants can't make complex sugars and other compounds to defend themselves.

It is not too late to add micro sulfates. You can take whatever soil Rx lead gave you and apply @ 1/4 the rate every 2 weeks. Mix with a humic product and you shouldn't see toxicity issues or hurt microbes that bad. Doing this will be worth your time, most farm supply places carry micronutrient sulfates...

 

[redlaser]

Peaceful Valley has most things if you can't find them local and they have an online store that ships pretty reasonable last time I was looking for calcium carbonate.

 

[EastBayGrower]

Peaceful Valley has most things if you can't find them local and they have an online store that ships pretty reasonable last time I was looking for calcium carbonate.

yeah i cashed out on peaceful valley, they got fish hydrosylate powder for $30 for 5pds or 50# for $200, really good deal imo...

got alot of liquid nutes from em this year... great place imo


they got your sulfates too, and there close by, so shi[[ing is really quick or do a free i store pick up.. grow organic . com...

it looksl ike you got alot of eggs i nthis basket so i wouldnt skimp out on adding the sulfates like orch said, i know how it is trying to hurry to get plants in the ground but you want the best right? Lead knows his shit... can only help///

its funny, you will drop some serious knowledge and then the next post you ask some simple beginner shit.. shows we all got alot to learn... keep at it brother

100+ T posts, UGH!! i got blisters after 10... FUCK THAT, im still using bamboo to stake cages or else it woulda been another 40+ t-posts... i salute you sir... my tri's and shoulders are dead right now lol, thank god its only once a year am i right

 

[milkyjoe]

besides what i mentioned, Lead also recommended potassium sulfate, manganese sulfate, cobalt sulfate, and sodium molybdate, none of which i was able to source before my planting deadline.

BYF recommended i spray with AEA Special Blend A&B , plus pepzyme and spectrum extra. . he also recommended sea-stim once for my starts that were having issues.

So I am a little baffled on the gypsum also. Chances are it has bumped Mg and K off the cec sites. I don't remember the Mg % but as I recall the K was very low. You definitely want to get some 200 mesh K2SO4...and you may need to fertigate it weekly until the Ca gets back down to 70% or so.


So if you look at John Kempf explaining the crop health pyramid the are two imbalances which bring the leafhoppers. The first is excess nitrate...but you aint that grower that just keeps piling on N so that is not the problem. The second problem would be a lack of photosynthesis.


So the elements to be concerned about are Mg, N, Fe, Mn and to a lesser extent P. Chances are the Ca is blocking Mg and you are just short on Mn.


Special Blend A and B...aka Nutralive A and B...provide all of the needed elements, A being the major elements and B being the micros and ultra traces.


AEAs formula for using Nutralive for a 1000 sq ft of garden (and do measure how big your garden is) is:


Part A...3 ounces
Part B...2 ounces
you can also add micro 5000/pz 1000 and pepzyme if you want to work on the microbes on your leaves.
and because I know you need them add to that get some rebound (organic) or salute (not organic but better imo) Mn and Mo from AEA.
Mn...0.75 ounces
Mo...0.1 ounces


Use at least a gallon of water. but the truth is I use 4-5 gallons to cover a 1000 sq ft.


This will get you through the yr without a lot of problems.


Plus you can do what Orech said to get some micros in your soil.


Your worst problem is gonna be that K. You can do the same thing with it. Take Leads recommendation and add maybe a tenth of it a week to the soil, just water it in.


edit...also get you some Accelerate from AEA. It is a bud booster made from Mn, Sea Stim and Sea Shield. The Shield provides the extra energy needed to set bud, the stim guarantees cytokinin dominance so you do not get stupid stretching and the Mn boost is about reproduction. Not exactly your PK booster but this one works. There is a minimum amount of Mn needed to really start stacking.

 

[FoothillFarming]

Soil tests are very important, same with getting your old soil balanced. However, if you can't get recommendations of the tests you already have, then waiting another two weeks would be devastating.

I am about to take my second round of tests for the season. Plants have been growing for over 6 weeks now, so I will get a saturated paste test also.

 

[plantingplants]

IME, leafhoppers don't really do much damage unless there are massive amounts of them.

You know leadsled sells those sulfates? I got them from him and he got them to me super quick. Maybe he's still ironing out prices or something. Ask him. I'm watering mine in slowly.

Orechron, why does mixing humic acid with sulfates make them more friendly to microbes?

Are there any micros you can't mix together?

 

[Shcrews]

Maybe I'm not remembering right but wasn't your soil high in Calcium already? Gypsum wouldn't be a good idea if so. That would make sense if lead recommended K sulfate. Maybe high Ca is preventing K and Mg uptake, couple that with low micros and your plants can't make complex sugars and other compounds to defend themselves.

I'm not exactly sure if my calcium was too high. I'm still learning this stuff. I just bought Michael Astera's book, hoping to not be so ignorant soon.


This is what Leadsled recommended I amend with per yard:

-125g kelp meal

-119g gypsum

-5g boron

-42g manganese sulfate

-96g potassium sulfate

-2g cobalt sulfate

-0.25g sodium molybdate




and here is my soil test results from both FGL and Logan Lab:

 

[Shcrews]

It is not too late to add micro sulfates. You can take whatever soil Rx lead gave you and apply @ 1/4 the rate every 2 weeks. Mix with a humic product and you shouldn't see toxicity issues or hurt microbes that bad. Doing this will be worth your time, most farm supply places carry micronutrient sulfates...

Thats what i was hoping, but i dont want to fuck anything up by doing adding too much of the wrong thing.

here's is what mj said about it earlier in this thread:

There is no way for me to tell about N. But the rest of the stuff you will need is water soluble, you can simply water it in. No need hold up on planting.

that's what i figured, but theres one problem.. If i pile the new good soil on top of the old soil and then water in the amendments won't that throw the new soil out of balance?

The new soil will be high in K...but we know that K leaches very easily once the Ca from oyster shell kicks it off the cec sites. When it leaches if there is room in the old soil the K will attach to cec sites. The question for Lead will be how much? I would kinda wait until you see a sap K difference in reading from top to bottom in the plant before adding any k.

The sulfate micros will also leach down into the old soil, although we know you are gonna be missing a couple in the new soil also.

You will be fine watering them in. That AOG is taking off right...why wouldn't everything else.

 

[Shcrews]

So I am a little baffled on the gypsum also. Chances are it has bumped Mg and K off the cec sites. I don't remember the Mg % but as I recall the K was very low. You definitely want to get some 200 mesh K2SO4...and you may need to fertigate it weekly until the Ca gets back down to 70% or so.


So if you look at John Kempf explaining the crop health pyramid the are two imbalances which bring the leafhoppers. The first is excess nitrate...but you aint that grower that just keeps piling on N so that is not the problem. The second problem would be a lack of photosynthesis.


So the elements to be concerned about are Mg, N, Fe, Mn and to a lesser extent P. Chances are the Ca is blocking Mg and you are just short on Mn.


Special Blend A and B...aka Nutralive A and B...provide all of the needed elements, A being the major elements and B being the micros and ultra traces.


AEAs formula for using Nutralive for a 1000 sq ft of garden (and do measure how big your garden is) is:


Part A...3 ounces
Part B...2 ounces
you can also add micro 5000/pz 1000 and pepzyme if you want to work on the microbes on your leaves.
and because I know you need them add to that get some rebound (organic) or salute (not organic but better imo) Mn and Mo from AEA.
Mn...0.75 ounces
Mo...0.1 ounces


Use at least a gallon of water. but the truth is I use 4-5 gallons to cover a 1000 sq ft.


This will get you through the yr without a lot of problems.


Plus you can do what Orech said to get some micros in your soil.


Your worst problem is gonna be that K. You can do the same thing with it. Take Leads recommendation and add maybe a tenth of it a week to the soil, just water it in.


edit...also get you some Accelerate from AEA. It is a bud booster made from Mn, Sea Stim and Sea Shield. The Shield provides the extra energy needed to set bud, the stim guarantees cytokinin dominance so you do not get stupid stretching and the Mn boost is about reproduction. Not exactly your PK booster but this one works. There is a minimum amount of Mn needed to really start stacking.

great info thanks. check two posts above this, i put my test results and lead's recs

 

[Shcrews]

yeah i cashed out on peaceful valley, they got fish hydrosylate powder for $30 for 5pds or 50# for $200, really good deal imo...

got alot of liquid nutes from em this year... great place imo


they got your sulfates too, and there close by, so shi[[ing is really quick or do a free i store pick up.. grow organic . com...

great to know, thanks.

it looksl ike you got alot of eggs i nthis basket so i wouldnt skimp out on adding the sulfates like orch said, i know how it is trying to hurry to get plants in the ground but you want the best right? Lead knows his shit... can only help///

well the plants are in the ground now so i am trying to figure out the best course of action. Been foliar feeding a lot and the plants look great

its funny, you will drop some serious knowledge and then the next post you ask some simple beginner shit.. shows we all got alot to learn... keep at it brother

ego is a killer. everyone is always learning.

100+ T posts, UGH!! i got blisters after 10... FUCK THAT, im still using bamboo to stake cages or else it woulda been another 40+ t-posts... i salute you sir... my tri's and shoulders are dead right now lol, thank god its only once a year am i right

I kind of like doing work like that. I work out a lot anyway. I think i have a lot of pent up energy probably from not havin a girlfriend in years

 

[Shcrews]

You know leadsled sells those sulfates? I got them from him and he got them to me super quick. Maybe he's still ironing out prices or something. Ask him. I'm watering mine in slowly.

I wanted to plant everything asap so i didnt have time to wait for the minerals from Lead before planting but now everything's in the ground and i want to figure out a gameplan. watering the amendments into the old soil sounds good but like i said i dont want to mess up my new soil that is piled on top of it

Orechron, why does mixing humic acid with sulfates make them more friendly to microbes?

Are there any micros you can't mix together?

good questions. this stuff still is so over my head

 

[CentralValley05]

Milky,
On the Accelerate from AEA, what do you recommend as the mix rate per gallon? Label has mixing instructions in acres. Are you applying only one application?

 

[booghy]

Sorry for off topic.....but can anyone point me to some Bodhi gear online? Some of these crosses sound amazing but I'm east coast.