The growing large plants, outdoors, thread...

[osoloco69]

Hi again Yankee, I was expecting to see a difference in perhaps Na levels but didn't see anything at all with field meters in comparison to the controls. I don't know man, I'm much more inclined to go to available native sources of "almost" humus. Manzanita compost has worked outstanding for me for decades - and does show a more measurable activity/ties-up/complexes sodium more.

What's your H20 lookin like Tom? Does it have any mineral contents that are higher than normal?

 

[Tom Hill]

TJO,

A clone is ready to flower, if you let it, it will. A seed start is not sexually mature, it doesn't even "know" what sex it is let alone how to flower. A seed start can be put out much earlier without lighting because of this. It will "note" the days are getting longer as it matures and have a much better grasp of what time of year it is by the time it sexes and be off to the races on the full season. Also, regarding the clone, the larger it is the more problematic it can be due to more material containing more flowering hormones. I reckon the folks who report no probs putting out clones early are putting out very small clones, in addition to the genetic factor.

 

[Private Joker]

Tom-
Now that I am throughly hooked on reading these boards, figured I would join in. Amazing view you have, my office has no windows at all.

 

[Ganja D]

Hey Yankee good to see ya! I was wondering when youd be in here

So butte or Tom or anybody else i also had a quick question going back to supplemental lighting and genetics. II was wondering if plants from seed are sensitive to going outside and flowering early like some clones are?

I think it depends on the strain. Some can be more sensitive based on there geographical origin. I've had early strains bred to withstand cold rain, mold and finish early-mid September start flowering after being put out in late May early June where other strains were fine.
Only other factors were I had were endless days of clouds and rain and the seed plants that flowered early on me were quite root bound and stressed from it.
Hope it's ok for me to chime in.

 

[HerbGlaze]

Hey guys, just saying this is a great tool for extended weather forecasts
www.almanac.com
I'm in Nevada County, it says it will be rainier in may here but september and october its going to be drier and sunnier.
Perfect year for me!

 

[osoloco69]

osoloco69, nobody can see your posts but me and admin, I do not know what happened, but I advise you start a new account and try to piss fewer folks off, .

I have a range of H2O sources from 50ppm liquid gold 7.0, to 400ppm iron infested nightmare pH8.5. I try to deal with it all on a case by case basis. -T

I wonder if I will become a senior member while invisible? I surely won't give $250 to have stuff like this happen.

 

[Yankee Grower]

Hi again Yankee, I suppose I expected to see a difference in perhaps Na levels but didn't see anything at all with field meters in comparison to the controls. I don't know man, I'm much more inclined to go to available native sources of "almost" humus. Manzanita compost has worked outstanding for me for decades - and does show a more measurable activity/ties-up/complexes sodium more.

Interesting...now I gotta do more research...thx...lol. I know sodium is typically very soluble and can understand how there's a need to get it tied up. What input do you rely on for sodium? By field testing I assume you're using something like a Cardy meter? From your perspective what's the importance of sodium in your overall program, plant health and productivity?

Thx

 

[Tom Hill]

IE, the addition of readily available humus is certainly valuable. Worms, humates, etc. But, the action of matter breaking down into humus and the rate at which that occurs is equally or even more valuable.

A hard working soil is more productive than one that has shit (eg, humates etc) handed to it - that's the basic thought.

All breaking down of these organic inputs results in salts, period. When salts are high we get false (high) readings on our meters. H3ad and I have been yacking about this for years to pretty much zero avail. A ppm/ec/ergs measurement is fairly worthless without knowing how salts are affecting said reading. The effect of salts needs to be diminished/tied-up/complexed so that we can more accurately feed our organic mediums. My meters of choice are energy released per gram of soil (ergs), pH, Sodium (Na), Oxygen reduction potential (ORP), and refractometer. Pretty good idea of what's happening with these. Many here a bit further north on this board may like to believe that these things don't matter at all, or even exist, but they do, ime. -T

 

[osoloco69]

Have Tom have you ever thought of getting one of those commercial distillers that are used for hotels and whatnot in mexico for getting clean distilled water in bulk? I bet it would eliminate your iron problems.

 

[Guest423]

Another thing to consider for people using all this stuff and building awesome organic soil make sure not to use water that has alot of chlorine in it like some city water. It will kill all your friendly's.

 

[phate]

quick question, how do i mix dirt without breaking my back? i rented a 3 cubic foot concrete mixer, and that was a waste of time. i then ended up mixing 2 pallets of dirt by hand. i have 10 more pallets to mix. any ideas?

 

[osoloco69]

A tarp will work well if you have more than one person to help you flip the soil over and over.

 

[localhero]

Phate,

you can call any nursery suppliers in your area, ask if they can mix your ingredients. My guy even bagged my mix. huge time and back saver. for me it was a delivery issue more than bein adverse to hard work, as im not. I live on a block straight out of the 1950's with a catching up with the jones' vibe to it. Besides the attention a giant delivery truck of dirt would bring, the access driveway to my back yard barely fits an f150. bagged soil was the best solution.

 

[Yankee Grower]

Ha ha...whoa! That'll give me something to chew on for awhile.

 

[Tom Hill]

I love Elaine and the organic soils forum, I truly do, but yeah.. -T

 

[osoloco69]

I love Elaine and the organic soils forum, I truly do, but, er, um, yeah... -T

I'll try posting there and see if I'm still invisible.

 

[Yankee Grower]

My meters of choice are energy released per gram of soil (ergs), pH, Sodium (Na), Oxygen reduction potential (ORP), and refractometer.

I assume the only sap tester you have is the refractometer and the rest are for soil or liquids like your teas? I know people are working more with sap pH, EC, NO3, K and Na testing these days and looked into it a bit awhile back.

I also checked into the sodium thing a bit more so I understand better and seems if soil ergs are low due to lack of primary electrolytes then it plays a more important role. Obviously if too high then affects nutrient/water uptake. Guess it's also important for electron/energy transfer between cells just like people with the sodium/potassium cellular 'pump'.

 

[mr-natural78]

Why's everybody so worried about snow? Just throw one of these things up real quick...


Finished the new 30X40 yesterday, just in time for today's 60mph gusts. I'm like a nervous father watching the plastic today. Start building planters tomorrow, bought all my supplemental lighting today. Hoping to have all my seed starts in by May 10. Cuts go in as fast as possible after that....

Stay tuned, will get my thread going soon, gotta get some more work done first....a few more pics in my album "Ranching With Rootwise" FYI

Thanks for all the input and info here Tom, Butte, Humboldtlocal, etc....

Keep your nose on that grindstone fellas, busy times ahead...

Right on. Looking forward to your thread bro. Loved the pics from last year!

 

[osoloco69]

Hey Tom, have you ever added chlorella to the pots to help give a boost when the plants are starting off?

 

[theJointedOne]

So I have bunch of huge mothers and a lot of clones that have been getting supp lighting all season but i missed them for 3 nights this week and im gonna not be around for a few nights in a couple weeks, I worried they are getting confused by the lighting. are they screwed or can i salvage them?