THE WoW THREAD.

[dank.frank]

Have you confirmed root aphids, 100% at this point???

If not, take a slice of potato and put it on top of your soil. They will congregate directly under it after a couple days of it sitting there...EASIEST way to check for aphids....



dank.Frank

 

[Marlo]

Got my potato ready. Gonna put slices on the dirt as soon as the lights come on.
I'll try and snap pics of the crawlers on the pots too..

 

[Relentless]

marlo, really sorry to hear this.. damn pests.. sounds like u def have root aphids, if u see those blk crab lookin crawlers.. bayers and spectracide in veg works well.

 

[tleaf jr.]

sorry to hear this news Marlo, I have been battleing what I thought were root aphids but ive discovered they were fungas gnats....the DE did help with reducing soil larva

 

[brotherindica]

Damn. Sorry to hear about the aphids, Marlo! Hope the grow turns around.

 

[dank.frank]

@tea leaf jr - If all you are battling is fungus gnats, it's likely due to having too much moisture in the soil in the first place. First step is to work on your wet / dry cycling a bit better and getting your watering habits on point.

Secondly, if you want to get rid of them faster - put a layer of any highly porous material on the surface of your soil....perlite, lava rocks, etc, etc. Something that drains quickly and doesn't retain much moisture. Given the gnats lay their eggs on the soil surface and it requires high moisture for them to survive - if you cut out moisture retention from the top 2 inches of the soil - the gnats eggs cannot survive...effectively putting a halt on their ability to make a new generation. Then all you have to battle is what you have flying around and the larvae that have already hatched...



dank.Frank

 

[SmellyFlorist]

Howzit Marlo...... Hope you dont mind a little minion butting into your thread here..... Hope you got that pest problem under raps.....??
Waiting patiently here for more pics, coz I neeeeeeeeed them....!!
All the best...

Smelly

 

[oceangrownkush]

HOMIE MARLO!!!! I too suffered root aphids in 2013 trying to grow myself some damn flowers to smoke! I was definitely upset at the lack of jar dankness at the end of things, but looking back I am really glad that I had to battle something I hadn't previously known about because it spurred a complete overhaul of my IPM practices which before this point were totally absent, or only employed as a response to a visible level of infestation.

What worked for me against the root aphids was a two pronged attack ; KONTOS applied @ 1ml/gallon to the roots of all veg plants followed by BOTANIGARD WP applied to the foliage and roots @ 4.5grams/gallon a week or so later. If you strictly adhere to organic inputs in the garden, then try the Botanigard on its own but from one farmer to another I CANNOT STRESS how valuable the Kontos has been in keeping my garden free of pests and the awful afflictions they carry with them into our plants. I wouldn't flower anything treated with Kontos recently but as a control to get things rolling again it is indispensable. The Botanigard will also serve as a preventative, it lives amongst the roots and protects against reinfestation.

I hope that your gardens ailments are quickly diagnosed with certainty and the controls employed successfully!

 

[710Chef]

Vert grow looks pretty awesome

 

[v1ru5]

As many before me, I came into this thread waiting for some warcrap shit but....

MY MIND WAS EXPANDED

omg

What a blast

Dat dankness

Almost too much to handle!

 

[RetroGrow]

pwdered DE to your soil mixes & it'll help kill off any soil bound larva , plus its a silica source .....
This is an urban myth that deserves to die. DE is not a source of silica. It is not water soluble. It is the skeletons of diatoms, a type of hard shelled algae. It kills all type of bugs, and is used in food grain for that purpose, and as anti-caking agent. It is also a de-wormer. You can eat it to kill parasites. Some people eat it every day. It can't hurt you, except if you breathe it in. It can be used as a growing medium, just like coco.
It's like microscopic shards of glass. This is why it kills insects. It gets on them, piercing their bodies, and then they dry out and die.
But, it is NOT a source of silica. Just wanted to clear that up, as I have seen it posted many times.

OG Biowar, "root" for the RAs....

 

[dank.frank]

Retro...it DOES have SOME soluble silica...not ALL of it...but there is SOME of it that is...that leaches. It's not a myth. Hydrolytic enzymes can release/break the bonds of the silica in DE, making it available for plant uptake over time.

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Hydrolytic_enzymes

I wouldn't use or recommend other people use a product that DIDN'T work. Have you ever used it in your soil? Tried it at differing rates of application while also having a control medium? (I have.) If not, how can you so assuredly make that statement?

Then research EC 3 enzymes (hydrolases) in soil...

I appreciate you taking a step forward and speaking out on something that you feel is a myth - because it happens a lot in cannabis growing - that myth based application - so please don't feel like I'm attacking you in stating that you are incorrect, thus the reason I am sharing further information to back my statements and not just standing on a post that comes of as opinion.

You can also do some reading on "hydrolysis dissolution of diatoms" - I had to pull out my old notes to find the exact wording of when I studied that topic when researching DE as a possible beneficial soil amendment...albeit there are other search phases that you could use to pull up the same type of scholarly works.

Anyway - do some more research and I think you might be inclined to change your opinion on the matter.



dank.Frank

 

[RetroGrow]

Retro...it DOES have SOME soluble silica...not ALL of it...but there is SOME of it that is...that leaches. It's not a myth. Hydrolytic enzymes can release/break the bonds of the silica in DE, making it available for plant uptake over time.

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Hydrolytic_enzymes

I wouldn't use or recommend other people use a product that DIDN'T work. Have you ever used it in your soil? Tried it at differing rates of application while also having a control medium? (I have.) If not, how can you so assuredly make that statement?

Then research EC 3 enzymes (hydrolases) in soil...

I appreciate you taking a step forward and speaking out on something that you feel is a myth - because it happens a lot in cannabis growing - that myth based application - so please don't feel like I'm attacking you in stating that you are incorrect, thus the reason I am sharing further information to back my statements and not just standing on a post that comes of as opinion.

You can also do some reading on "hydrolysis dissolution of diatoms" - I had to pull out my old notes to find the exact wording of when I studied that topic when researching DE as a possible beneficial soil amendment...albeit there are other search phases that you could use to pull up the same type of scholarly works.

Anyway - do some more research and I think you might be inclined to change your opinion on the matter.



dank.Frank

I don't consider it an attack at all, any more than my post was an attack. Science is skepticism. I don't grow in soil, but rather coco, like Dansbuds. I always use liquid silica which is readily absorbed, so no need for another source. I did a lot of Googling which says DE is not water soluble.

I did find this, though:
Not all silica products are the same, some are high quality, some are low quality and some can have a negative effect in agriculture. In order to be beneficial in agriculture any amorphous silica product must:

1. Provide a high level of water-soluble silica
2. Have a high level of residual silica.
3. Contain beneficial trace elements.
4. Contain no toxic levels of any element, pollutants or heavy metals.
5. A high level of plant available amorphous silica, if the silica you are currently buying or are considering has low solubility then it is going to have little or no benefit to the plant at all.

Many Diatomaceous Earth amorphous silica products meet some of these requirements however, very few meet them all. Some products have high levels of silica but the silica is low in plant availability. Other products have high levels of plant available silica but it is contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins.

http://www.usesfordiatomaceousearth.com/agriculture/

However, these guys are selling a product, so I take it with a grain of salt.
From Wiki:
"It is unclear in what ways silica is important in the nutrition of animals. This field of research is challenging because silica is ubiquitous and in most circumstances dissolves in trace quantities only. All the same it certainly does occur in the living body, leaving us with the problem that it is hard to create proper silica-free controls for purposes of research. This makes it difficult to be sure when the silica present has had operative beneficial effects, and when its presence is coincidental, or even harmful. The current consensus is that it certainly seems important in the growth, strength, and management of many connective tissues. This is true not only for hard connective tissues such as bone and tooth but possibly in the biochemistry of the subcellular enzyme-containing structures as well."

Dangers of DE (Important):
Silica ingested orally is essentially nontoxic, with an LD50 of 5000 mg/kg. On the other hand, inhaling finely divided crystalline silica dust can lead to silicosis, bronchitis, or cancer, as the dust becomes lodged in the lungs and continuously irritates them, reducing lung capacities. Studies of workers with exposure to crystalline silica have shown 10-fold higher than expected rates of lupus and other systemic autoimmune diseases compared to expected rates in the general population. Prior to new rules issued in 2013, OSHA allowed 100 µg per cubic meter of air. The new regulations reduce the amount to 50 µg/m3 down from 100 µg/m3. The exposure limit for the construction industry is also set at 50 µg/m3 down from 250 µg/m3.

In the body crystalline silica particles do not dissolve over clinically relevant periods. Silica crystals can activate the NLRP3 inflammasome inside macrophages and dendritic cells and thereby result in processing of pro-Interleukin 1 beta into its mature form. Chronic exposure to silica may thereby account for some of its health hazards, as interleukin-1 is a highly pro-inflammatory cytokine in the immune system. This effect can create an occupational hazard for people working with sandblasting equipment, products that contain powdered crystalline silica and so on. Children, asthmatics of any age, allergy sufferers, and the elderly (all of whom have reduced lung capacity) can be affected in much less time. Amorphous silica, such as fumed silica is not associated with development of silicosis, but may cause irreversible lung damage in some cases. Laws restricting silica exposure with respect to the silicosis hazard specify that they are concerned only with silica that is both crystalline and dust-forming.

A study that followed subjects for 15 years found that higher levels of silica in water appeared to decrease the risk of dementia. The study found an association between an increase of 10 milligram-per-day of the intake of silica in drinking water with a decreased risk of dementia of 11%.
Moral is: wear breathing apparatus/mask when using this stuff, as it can be very harmful.
If you've opened a bag of it, you know how the dust immediately rises in the air around you.

Occupational exposure to crystalline silica dust is associated with an increased risk for pulmonary diseases such as silicosis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the health effects of amorphous (non-crystalline) forms of silica. The major problem in the assessment of health effects of amorphous silica is its contamination with crystalline silica. This applies particularly to well-documented pneumoconiosis among diatomaceous earth workers.

Articles which maintain it's insoluble in water:
http://www.fao.org/ag/agn/jecfa-additives/specs/Monograph1/Additive-151.pdf

Lots of conflicting information on DE. I tend to believe it's not water soluble, however, one thing to consider if adding it to kill insects and arthropods, is that it kills beneficial arthropods also, so that is a negative.
I will stick to the liquid....

 

[TheDank23]

Hey Marlo,

Bummer to hear about the RA's I was hyped to see another killer round. Sounds like its time to get your preventatives back in check, and thanks for reminding me to do the same. If you haven't already heard of/used OGbiowar like retro said, seriously do yourself a favor and order some packs. It's the one product, even though I'm no expert, I can say will most definitely do you some good.

Happy turkey day!

 

[dewdewlips]

very impressive

very impressive

Impressive stuff... taught me a few things. Can anybody point me towards other threads that using this rail/reflectorless method to light walls or cages? Has anybody tried to work the optimum spread on a two 600 w grow? I imagine there is a horizontal and vertical limitation due to light and rail travel, but it appears to have a lot more room to expand. Has anybody ever tied a plant down horizontally and trained it up the wall?

 

[dank.frank]

His rails doesn't move lights left to right on a horizontal plane - but rather up and down on a vertical plane...



dank.Frank

 

[b00m]

dewdewlips have a look through the threads in the Vertical Growing Section you may find something your wanting to try out
https://www.icmag.com/ic/forumdisplay.php?f=65628

 

[Marlo]

Ok Ok Ok... Happy New Year all!

So this next run is under way. Of course I changed a couple things, and kept a bunch of shit the same. First off, CC's top dressing method with smallish pots didn't work for me. I think its not a good match up for growing with blumats... So I've decided to go back to the big pots, but not as big as before.
This time I made some knock off Geo pots. They don't sell the size I would need, so DIY it is! I have no idea how much soil these babies hold, but I'm going to guess around 10-12 gallons. There is about an inch or 2 of Turface at the bottom of each pot for drainage. These plants have been transplanted up from 1.5 gals, and have been in these pots for 2 1/2 weeks.


Going to be a very crowded run. I have 4 big Fire Cookies and 1 Karma OG in these big pots. And 3 more Karma OG's will be in 3.5 gal airpots. I also have some unsexed Strawberry Bubba x Biker that will run in some 1.5 gal airpots.

I've been watering periodically with Mycotrol at medium strength as a preventative measure. Probably going to use it for a few consecutive waterings going into flower. No sign of any RA's.



Fire Cookies

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[Marlo]

More Karma's OG


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And something from Karma's limited edition stash... Strawberry Bubba x Biker OG


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[SmellyFlorist]