Climate:
The plants are growing at 35 degrees North. The altitude is roughly 5200 feet. The climate is very dry in the late spring and early summer. Relative humidity is mostly in the low teens right now. High temperatures are generally in the mid 90's currently with lows in the mid 60's. In July and August we can expect some monsoonal moisture, higher humidity, and lower high temperatures in the upper 80's. We will have multiple days over 100 before the monsoons arrive. 20-30 degree variations between the daytime highs and overnight lows will persist throughout the grow with highs in the 60's and lows in the high 40's in the middle of October.
Where the plants sit on the deck the plants are shaded almost all the time now. They are under a two and a half foot overhang on a South facing deck. The deck is also shaded by some crappy, mess-making locust trees. As the sun moves towards the southern horizon after the solstice the overhang will no longer shade the plants. They will get quite a bit of direct sun while they flower even though they'll still get some shade from the trees. Even in the shade it is pretty bright in these parts due to the elevation, dry climate, and relative lack of pollution. If the plants were not in the shade they would take a real, parching, sun pounding in June and July. The shady situation is not a bad thing right now.
Medium and feeding:
I'm growing in complete organic soil mixes. I use three slightly different mixes; one for seedlings, one for vegetative growth, and one for flowering. The plants are in a ten gallon and a seven gallon fabric pot. When I transplanted them into those pots they were put into flowering soil even though it ain't flowering time quite yet. I would have rather moved them into flower soil after the solstice but that would have been inconvenient. Here are the details on the soil:
For the seedling mix I combined 3 gallons of Sunshine #4, 1 gallon of FFOF, one gallon of chunky perlite, and 1/2 cup of granulated mixed mycorrizial inoculate. There is plenty of food in the FFOF to feed the seedlings, the Sunshine is not nutrient rich at all, and the perlite improves drainage. Seedlings like this lean, well draining soil.
The base for both the veg and flower soils is the same. Nine gallons of Sunshine #4, three gallons of FFOF, three gallons of worm castings, one and a half gallons of chunky perlite, six cups of Yum-Yum mix, and two cups of Excelerite. Here is a blurb from the Excellerite web-site about this product:
"U.S. Rare Earth Minerals has been blessed with the rights to mine what is widely considered the rarest source of ancient lake bed sediments in Panaca Nevada found to date. A host of scientists recognize it as the richest known source in the world for natural occurring macro, micro and nano nutrients. These minerals and trace elements have been naturally chelated in the presence of Humic and Fulvic acids to produce the powerful combination of Panaca minerals that we call Excelerite; Excelerite is approved by the Organic Materials Review Institude (OMRI) listed, and may be used in certified organic production or food processing and handling according to the USDA National Organic Program Rule."
Here is a picture of some Yum-Yum mix followed by a list of ingredients and what nutrients it provides.
Yum-Yum mix contains:
Alfalfa Meal: Nitrogen; Vitamins-A, B, E, carotene, thiamine, biotin, pantothenic acid, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, choline; 16 amino acids, co-enzymes, sugars, starches, protein fiber.
Cottonseed Meal: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium.
Kelp Meal: Nitrogen; Potassium; Vitamins-A, B, B2 , C, calcium, pantothenate, niacin, folic acid; minerals-barium, boron, calcium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, sodium, strontium, sulfur, zinc; 17 amino acids.
Greensand: Iron, Potassium, Silicate, Phosphorus, 30 trace elements.
Rock Dust: Calcium, Sulfur, Magnesium, Boron, Cobalt.
Rock Phosphate: Phosphorus, Calcium, Trace Elements.
Humate: Salts of Humic Acid - improve soil characteristics and aids in releasing other nutrients to plants in usable forms.
Dry Molasses: Carbohydrates, Sugars, Trace Elements - feeds and attracts beneficial soil organisms.
Guaranteed Analysis -Total Nitrogen (N) - 2.0% - Available Phosphate (P2O5) - 1.0%. Soluble Potash (K2O) - 1.0%.
The Yum-Yum is great stuff - a well balanced amendment. It won't burn plants. I've actually put the stuff in my mouth and tasted it - not bad at all.
The only other thing the veg soil gets is 1 cup of 10-1-1 Mexican bat guano.
The flower soil has no Mexican guano. It gets 1 cup of 0.5-13-0.2 Indonesian bat guano, and 1 cup of soft rock phosphate.
Over the course of a couple of grows I've never seen a deficiency or lockout in these mediums. I don't feed the plants anything else. They just get RO water. Well, I have done some minor top-dressing with a little Yum-Yum once or twice but for the most part just RO water. The current plants have had no top dressing or anything as of yet. Two previous grows in these soils has produced solid brix readings - harvests at 17.5 and 16.
I haven't brixed the current plants. As you'll see when I detail the history of these plants they are probably not very high-brix at this point. I'll get a reading from them in the next day or two.
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