My secrets of success with True AFs.

[Roortokeage]

Hey ICe can you take a look at my Journal and let me know how my babies are doing thanks.

 

[Capt. Sunshine]

Couple of questions regarding using the fruit and flower tea mix.
1. Can leftover tea be saved for use for the next feeding?
2. You mentioned not using water that is too hot, but can the water be too cold? For instance...if the tea is bubbled overnight in an unheated area that could get as low as 50 degrees would this affect the tea?

Thanks for any input. Newb here.

 

[IceColdCrickets]

Couple of questions regarding using the fruit and flower tea mix.
1. Can leftover tea be saved for use for the next feeding?
2. You mentioned not using water that is too hot, but can the water be too cold? For instance...if the tea is bubbled overnight in an unheated area that could get as low as 50 degrees would this affect the tea?

Thanks for any input. Newb here.

Thanks for the interest in the TEA method.

No, you can't store TEA, it is organic and active it will begin to rot. Not a big deal tho just make as much as you need for the feeding.

Ya cold temps seem to slow down the brewing. But overnight at 50degrees should be ok. I always brew at room TEMP around 70degrees tho.

 

[Capt. Sunshine]

Thanks! Rep given.

 

[RexRegis]

Thanks for this thread, it is very inspiring and informative! Hopefully I'll set up my first grow early in the new year using your organic tea method. I just have to check if I can find the right soil/nutrients around here…

 

[tokerofdakill]

ICC, hey man im using ur method on mandzig bs and jd d ryder..have a ?..when i brewed the tea, i put fox farm in first then water, bubbled for like 8 hrs..mixed several times good with whisk..then applied tea to plants and got good runoff..this was 5 days ago.. some plants are now kinda light green at tops and 2 of the 16 the bottom leaves are turning yellowish (not the round seed leaves).have watered once since then.however b4 i change the 600 watt it was kinda hot on em.like up to 84.u think this is light burn or nute def? could this be a bad box of peace of mind? manufactor date is 4/20/09.. u wud think this wud be a rocking box..lol thanks...

 

[IceColdCrickets]

ICC, hey man im using ur method on mandzig bs and jd d ryder..have a ?..when i brewed the tea, i put fox farm in first then water, bubbled for like 8 hrs..mixed several times good with whisk..then applied tea to plants and got good runoff..this was 5 days ago.. some plants are now kinda light green at tops and 2 of the 16 the bottom leaves are turning yellowish (not the round seed leaves).have watered once since then.however b4 i change the 600 watt it was kinda hot on em.like up to 84.u think this is light burn or nute def? could this be a bad box of peace of mind? manufactor date is 4/20/09.. u wud think this wud be a rocking box..lol thanks...

thanks for trying the method.

It sound like to me you have a hot spot,, a picture would help figure it out.

What soil are you using? If you are not using the Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil Mix then your soil might be low on food and you should have mixed some of the FoxFarm POM fertilizer into the soil before planting. But if you are using the Ocean Forest soil then you shouldn't having any newt problems.

The way you made TEA is fine. And your box of Peace of Mind is fine. So that leads me to think it was hotter under that light at the tops of the plants they you may think. If it was 84 degress in the space under the light at the tops would have been much higer around 90+ which may be causing heat stress. I have 2 tall LR#2 suffering from the same thing when they stretch to tall overnight and got to close to the hot spot from the 400watt HPS. Try to keep your 600watt at least 15 inches away or more do you have a fan on them? Get a pic!

ICC

 

[tokerofdakill]

thanks for trying the method.

It sound like to me you have a hot spot,, a picture would help figure it out.

What soil are you using? If you are not using the Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil Mix then your soil might be low on food and you should have mixed some of the FoxFarm POM fertilizer into the soil before planting. But if you are using the Ocean Forest soil then you shouldn't having any newt problems.

The way you made TEA is fine. And your box of Peace of Mind is fine. So that leads me to think it was hotter under that light at the tops of the plants they you may think. If it was 84 degress in the space under the light at the tops would have been much higer around 90+ which may be causing heat stress. I have 2 tall LR#2 suffering from the same thing when they stretch to tall overnight and got to close to the hot spot from the 400watt HPS. Try to keep your 600watt at least 15 inches away or more do you have a fan on them? Get a pic!

ICC

hello ICC and ty for ur quick reply..yes im using Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil Mix,here is a pic of the worst plant of the two.. i now have stable temps of 77-80.. yes i have a 4" growbrite fan/filter cooling thru the euro reflector, out 6" exhaust. and a 3 speed fan on low, not counting the 4" intake fan.now running a 400 watt MH.. will be changing to 400 watt HPS..the 400 watt is 20" from the tops,.. i keep temp gauge at top of plants..they are looking alot better when i just opend door...thanks

 

[Mr.Meds]

Did you pour the tea over the leafs of the plant? If the tea came in contact directly with those leafs then it could have discolored them.

 

[tokerofdakill]

Did you pour the tea over the leafs of the plant? If the tea came in contact directly with those leafs then it could have discolored them.

whats up mr meds.. no was very careful not to get any on leaves at all..is there anything that can be done or will they be ok u think? i forgot to add that there was not really alot of foam when i bubbled the tea, is this normal? i know ferts i use outdoor make some foam, but they are chemical...

 

[IceColdCrickets]

OK thanks for the PIC,, that is moisture stress, well the lack of. How often are you watering your plants??, you need to keep the Ocean Forest nice and moist. you see that is the thing with OF soil mix, it drains very well so it is very hard to over water as long as you don't let it sit in the run off. You said you only watered once in 5 days. I would check them every other day. And top them off to ensure moisture levels remain at a good level. You will find your happy medium,, you don't want to keep them soaked but you dont want to dry them out to much... it really is easy once you figure out where you need to keep your soil moisture level.

They should come out of it soon if you fix your watering schedule. Check them everyday to figure it out.

what strain are you growing?

ICC

 

[tokerofdakill]

your welcome, and ty, i watered once since i feed the tea 5 days ago, and that was yesterday am... was watering every 2 days before tea, and they would be real dry after that 48 hrs. but that was under the 600, i will keep them moist from now on..yes i see this dirt drains better then anything ive ever seen.. im running mandzig blue streak and joint doc. d. ryder..they seem to be a little looking better now, a bit darker green and not so peakish.. with temps staying at 77-80 now.. maybe they wont suffer anymore thanks ICC how many oz's of water shud i be giving them? i only been doing 3/4 cup.. and get plenty of runoff..thanks

 

[ronbo51]

I didn't follow the ICC method exactly. I used Espoma Plant Tone in my soil. Once the plants were really running and flowering I had to water every 2 days. At the very end I watered almost every day, and the soil was dry when I watered.

 

[the.rise]

what kind, if any, of deficiencies have you found using this method icc? im 99% sure 2-3 of my white russian x hindu kush girls have a big time N def. which i cant quite account for. ill update pictures soon.

 

[IceColdCrickets]

what kind, if any, of deficiencies have you found using this method icc? im 99% sure 2-3 of my white russian x hindu kush girls have a big time N def. which i cant quite account for. ill update pictures soon.

a big time N def. Is NOT possible, The amount of N in this TEA and in the OF soil is more then enough to keep your plants healthy, I have never had an N def. because there are fast release and slower releasing forms of N in The TEA. it has to be something else in your space bro.

PLEASE Get the pics so I can help you out.

ICC

 

[the.rise]

well, im not using black and gold rose and lower, im using happy frog fruit and flower. i just read the back and it said the 5.00% nitrogen is NON SOLUBLE, grr i wish my hydro store didnt sell out of the peace of mind stuff.

i dunno if you experienced burning with your run or just some minor chlorosis from a deficiency early on?


EDIT: pics are in my thread so i dont clutter yours

 

[GlassHoler]

-ICC

I'm a beginning grower and I have a few quick questions about my final setup plans. My box size and bulb size are pretty fixed for the moment as we are growing in an extra bathroom that has a very small stand up shower in it. Our grow area is going to be around 17"x30"x6'. All of the walls will be semi-reflective material. We are going to use a 150w HPS light fixture, and plan to stick pretty closely to your grow medium and nutrient cycle. Our one limitation will be the number of plants we will have the first time around. We were given 7 DieselRyder seeds (not fem'd) so that will limit us to a hopeful total of 4 females. After a hopefully productive run of this DR we will change to a 10-12 plant SOG setup using your method.

My questions:
Can we germinate and run through the seedling state under the 150 HPS? I realize this isn't the idea light spectrum for the seedling state, but I am hoping that it wont affect the beginning state enough to effect final yield.

How high should we keep the HPS from the plants, from seedling to harvest? I was planning on 12-18" from the tops throughout the grow cycle.

I assume for maximum yield on this small # of plants will mean I will have to allow the plants to bush slightly and grow larger than in a SOG setup. Will this require any changes to the nutrient cycle?

That's all that I can remember currently, tee hee

Thanks again for a fantastic thread! I'm super happy I found these forums and I plan to start a thread when I can w/ a few shots of our box setup/beginning growth!

 

[the.rise]

^ make sure your pot size is as large as you can go once you cull your males so that your root system can grow. AF's love root space! Also, dont count on all your seeds to turn female, or any for that matter.. i just did a run of 10 hindu kush AF and only 2 were female. so id say do what you can to get yourself a larger batch of seeds for your first run.

to compare, i had 30 seeds sewn on 11/19 and i currently have 12 girls.

 

[GlassHoler]

^ make sure your pot size is as large as you can go once you cull your males so that your root system can grow. AF's love root space! Also, dont count on all your seeds to turn female, or any for that matter.. i just did a run of 10 hindu kush AF and only 2 were female. so id say do what you can to get yourself a larger batch of seeds for your first run.

to compare, i had 30 seeds sewn on 11/19 and i currently have 12 girls.

Well, I knew we were hopeful looking for 4 ladies. I will add to the list an order of 10 Sour 60 seeds. Hopefully they will plant shortly after the DR's and finish up around the same time. I guess we will hope for around 6 ladies total running under the 150W. I plan on using 1-2 gallon tree pots for the plants.

Rise!

 

[IceColdCrickets]

-ICC

I'm a beginning grower and I have a few quick questions about my final setup plans. My box size and bulb size are pretty fixed for the moment as we are growing in an extra bathroom that has a very small stand up shower in it. Our grow area is going to be around 17"x30"x6'. All of the walls will be semi-reflective material. We are going to use a 150w HPS light fixture, and plan to stick pretty closely to your grow medium and nutrient cycle. Our one limitation will be the number of plants we will have the first time around. We were given 7 DieselRyder seeds (not fem'd) so that will limit us to a hopeful total of 4 females. After a hopefully productive run of this DR we will change to a 10-12 plant SOG setup using your method.

Hey thanks for looking at the TEA it is a great easy way to grow.
Your box would be better off with a 250watt. that 150watt is really going to struggle to reach the sides of 30 inches. Even with the best reflector. A 150watt is never used for more then 20 x 20in MAX. So if i was you i would put some CFLs in there on the sides of the 30 inches. that way it would cover everything with a nice even light. So it would go CFL-, HPS=, CFL-, -=-.
Your plants will thank you for it. Just be sure to have enough fresh air flow with HPS lights, they get very hot.

My questions:
Can we germinate and run through the seedling state under the 150 HPS? I realize this isn't the idea light spectrum for the seedling state, but I am hoping that it wont affect the beginning state enough to effect final yield.

You can run AF using only HPS light througout the entire grow no problem. Im doing a AF SOG now that just used a HPS this time around as my MH bulb burned out. I use a switchable ballast and give them MH light for the first 3-4 weeks then switch to HPS. But i have done both ways and there isn't that much difference. The only thing I notice is the plants are slightly more compact when using the HPS only.

How high should we keep the HPS from the plants, from seedling to harvest? I was planning on 12-18" from the tops throughout the grow cycle.

You keep it far enough away so it doesnt burn the plants or dry out the soil to fast on young seedlings, yes 12-18 is ok. but it is a 150watter so, you might get it closer when they get older. Just put you hand under the light and see how hot it feel,, to hot to your hand means to hot for a plants leaves.

I assume for maximum yield on this small # of plants will mean I will have to allow the plants to bush slightly and grow larger than in a SOG setup. Will this require any changes to the nutrient cycle?

You can use this system for every type of growing, AFs or NON AFs, big pots or small. It doesnt matter as long as you watch your plants and feed accordingly. Your plants will tell you when they need food. Just watch them, it takes time to learn what I mean but just follow the directions as they are writen with those slightly larger pots you are going to use.

That's all that I can remember currently, tee hee



Thanks again for a fantastic thread! I'm super happy I found these forums and I plan to start a thread when I can w/ a few shots of our box setup/beginning growth!

Your welcome, glad you found it to help you out.
ICC