Plantingplants' Flower Farm 2017

[plantingplants]

Recalculated base cation sat. with AA8.2 ca numbers:
Ca 61.6%
K 6.9
Mg 29.4
Na 2
Cec 24.9

So just got this today- this soil is the coots i got in the beginning of the year (the one limed with vansil). It's half of the garden and the plants are turning an overall sort of dull, matte yellowish green. And a number of the plants in the old soil are doing it too but its more progressed on more plants in this soil. Here is a photo. If you look close you'll see a gnarly white spider eating a bug.

Today I top dressed 5 lbs gyp per pot along with 5 lbs 4-3-2 chicken pellets. Watering in tomorrow a maintenance dose of zn, cu, mn, co, and mo along with citric. Ive been watering with 5.8-6.2 pHed water.

Here are some plant sap readings i took, all taken halfway down a large lower branch:

Yellowish plant

K 380
N 1700
pH 6.3
Ca 55
Brix 8 fuzzy

Different yellowish plant

K 300
N 1900
pH 6.4
Ca 54
Brix 7 fuzzy

Nice plant 1 (old soil)

K 290
N 2200
pH 6.6
Ca 47
Brix 6 fuzzy

Another nice plant (old soil)

K 290
N 2600
pH 6.5
Ca 48

Looks like N is the difference but the plants seem like something is more wrong than just N..

 

[reppin2c]

What's the old vs new readings? They look hungry to me

 

[plantingplants]

Reppin, the second yellowish reading is from the old soil, the first yellowish is from new.
Edit: you mean old vs new leaves not soil i guess? I only took thos readings to compare plants so i didnt compare top to bottom leaves. Its kind of a bitch to clean out the pollen press garlic screen and cap after pressing.

You think they look hungry? I agree but idk why. Most of the yellowing ones are flipping. I need to double check but maybe all. I felt pretty strongly about feeding the chicken and i have a hunch that since they need a lot of nutrients at flower theyre probably just hungry since its been a minute since i fed them.

On another note, i got a vole problem. Noticed my stalks are getting gnawed. Gettin steel wool to wrap then tonight.

Here are some nice plants:

lemon thai kush, flowering maybe a month now!

purple aog f2. love this plant

aog f2 3x

blue dream s1. actually has less soil than most of the pots

 

[slownickel]

Call the lab and ask them where are the nitrogen numbers? That was supposed to be part of the K-3 process to my understanding.

I agree with Rep, they are hungry. N and K. With that low Ca against that high Mg, I think you are getting P blockage. This medium staying pretty wet?

You gotta stay on the aminos big time. The meter is talking, listen.

Is that a purple variety in that photo?

Looks like you need B.

 

[cbcool]

Call the lab and ask them where are the nitrogen numbers? That was supposed to be part of the K-3 process to my understanding.

I was wondering the same thing?

With estimated N release based on OM without bacterial breakdown your short on N.

I ran your numbers through my spreadsheet, this is what I came up with for additions in lbs/cubic yards of soil,

Gypsum 14 KSo4 1.1 Ag Sulfur 0.17 Sodium Borate 0.02 MnSo4 1.2 CuSo4 0.07
But since your flowering I'd wait a couple weeks to start raising K until you get Ca back up and Mg pushed down and keep that B up to drive Ca.

 

[plantingplants]

SlowN, thanks. I got K1 weighed so no N. The soil has actually been on the dry side. Not a purple variety so yea, P blockage. I fed some B with the micros today.

Cbcoool thanks for runnin the #s. What percent cec saturation for Ca and K is that calculated for? And what bulk soil density?

14 lb gyp per yard would be 9.45 meq. I already have 15.35 meq. 15.35 + 9.45 is 24.8. My cec is 24.9... so 14 lb comes out to 99% Ca saturation. Unless you add the 9.45 meq to the total estimated cec, then it would be 72% ca, but why would we add it? The ca should replace equivalent meqs of other cations, and wont increase cec. Although free ca will erroneously inflate estimated cec on soil tests.

 

[reppin2c]

Cbcool ran your numbers bruh

I was talking old vs new leaves. I couldn't imagine using a garlic press.

What kind of microbes you using? Need to get the life up

 

[Whoscottgreen]

Following. good luck, they are huge

 

[FunkBomb]

Your plants are looking really good so far. Indoors with soil in containers I've found that top dressing with blood meal (12-0-0) helps when plants fade from the darker green color.

Keep up the good work,

-Funk

 

[growingcrazy]

Boron, zinc and 4.5-5.0 pH for the next few irrigation's.

I would bet your petioles would start to green up.

 

[CrushnYuba]

Looking good and big. They do look hungry. Get em green before flower. I think you got some good suggestions on microbes. When you do your soil samples does it tell you how much n is soluble? I know the chicken i use is a 3 for n but only half of that is soluble. Maybe they need a little a little more soluble n. Just a guess. What is your water schedule like?

Overall i think they look good. Clean out those lower branches, get them green, flower time is here! Yay

 

[Shcrews]

your plants look good to me. might hit them with some ferti-nitro if some of them are fading already , that's what ive been doin

 

[plantingplants]

Thanks dudes. I got so fed up the other day with dry pot edges (i havent had the time to wrap pots with straw flakes) and difficulty in positioning sprayers to hit the edges right that i went out and bought 1/4" 12" spacing drip emitter line and started putting outer rings on all the pots. The outside edges will get 6-7 gph from the drip ring and there are also two ~12 gph sprayers on each pot.

You guys think 12" spacing is ok or is there going to be dry spots between? I could try 6" but im worried my pump might not pump enough gph but ill check. Edit: pump cant manage 6" spaced rings. Not trying to upgrade and redo my whole mainline.... Maybe if i at least mulch under the driplines?

Also is there any way to clear clogs out of these emitters just in case?


Reppin- i dumped some pond enzymes in twice... Thats it for microbes.

Growincrazy- is it safe to water at that pH? Slownickel scared me about Al.

Crushn, yea it tells you soluble N. My stutzman pellets are 4-3-2 but maybe 1% Soluble, cant remember, but it greened them nice when i topdressed last. I just dressed again so they should really get goin for flower. Almost everything has flipped now.

Shcrews thanks. The big ones i posted are all the healthy nice ones. Most of them are kind of pale-ish but theyll come around. I might foliar calnit depebding on sap readings.

 

[Surfgimp]

Also is there any way to clear clogs out of these emitters just in case?

I'm happy with the brown 6" emitter line, use 25' per 3 yard bed. Each Winter I coil/soak each strand in a 5 gal bucket with white vinegar. I let them soak in it all Winter then blow them out with compressed air, flush with water, re-install. The acidic vinegar breaks down the mineral build up from our hard well water.

 

[Shcrews]

i got dripline with 9-inch emitter spacing, 1gph.

 

[plantingplants]

Man there are big dry gaps between the emitters. I need 6" spacing but my pump cant handle it. They are drinking a lot now. Idk if i should even add the rest of the drip rings. I could adjust the rings 6" over every watering but that is such a waste of time...

So frustrated with watering. So over adjusting sprayers. And they keep getting partially clogged because i cant use a real inline filter because it reduces flow too much. And i dont want to get a bigger pump because i dont want to bother the neighbors. Fuck...

 

[Noonin NorCal]

Get some reservoirs, throw your pump in there. Go old school and hand water it. maybe once a week?

 

[CrushnYuba]

The plants will be ok even if you have some dry spots. Not ideal but they will still rock. Are they bone dry or just not soaked like under the sprayers?
The problem with sprayers is we use airy potting soil with lots of perlite and water just runs down. The more dense the soil is, the slower it absorbs the water and the more it spreads out.
Having a fat mulch layer with straw and then some type of dense compost on top helps spread the water before it hits the soil. If you didn't get a fat enough layer on top of the straw with the chicken manure, you can use+ some regular compost. The denser the better.

I haven't had good luck getting even water distribution in big pots with sprayers. I do still use in my depp. The 1/4" drip line with emitters every 6" can be had pretty cheap and can work off low pressure. 500 ft rolls for 45$ with free shipping online. 30ft in 300 gallon pots is max you will need. Can hook right into the micro tube that currently feed your sprayers.

 

[growingcrazy]

Growincrazy- is it safe to water at that pH? Slownickel scared me about Al.

With your mediums pH being in the high 6's, watering at a low ph will bring your run off numbers into the 5.8-6.0 range and allow your solution pH to rise to your mediums pH.

As soon as the low pH solution hits your medium it begins to rise. Al is a problem in soils with low pH. I prefer 1 low pH irrigation to every 2 6.2-6.5 irrigation's.

What is the pH on rain water in your area?

I would like to hear what pH Slownickel sets that big pond of his at.

 

[plantingplants]

Noonin, my pots are stuffed (no rim to hold water in) and unlevel. Hard to hand water! I use a pool to store water, and a gas powered water pump. Usually i just use a disposable paint strainer as an intake filter but for some reason its not working. Maybe ill layer three of them.

Crushn, mostly dry on sides. The centers arewhere all overlap occurs so they get soaked. Wordto the wise, when triple planting pots equidistant from eachother, the main roots of each plant are that much closer to the dry edge. Really should have wrapped these pots. And youre right about the dripper spread in this soil. I will mulch high at least under the drippers. That should spread thewater a lot. Asfar as switching to 1/4 drip- do you think 30 ft would cover a 300gal? My outer rings are 13 ft so that only leaves 17 to cover the rest...


Growingcrazy, no idea the rain ph.. We definitely dont get any until fall. SlowN posted some info about Al toxicity in alkaline soil but icmag wont let me search two letter words. Ive been watering with ph of 6 and seeing a lot of new feeder roots so no al toxicity there. Ill find it when im on a computer and its not so annoying to search. SlowN also swings his pH for metals but idk what ph he goes to.