420 Magazine's Official Girl Scout Cookies Comparative Grow By Emilya

[BarnacleBill]

Maybe I need to double my dunks in the 55 gal barrel. I am still seeing fungus gnats and my big Durbans in the bloom room have root aphids. I am pulling out the big guns... the bug problem must stop around here. You and I both need to stop them now... before they spread any more. I can hot shot the gnats in the veg room and along with yellow cards and dunk water, get them under control, but the bloom room is more delicate. This is where the beneficial nematodes come in... I am calling in an army... a very expensive but powerful army. I am not playing.

Have you tried a light top dressing of diatomaceous earth? That's what we used to use in the green house. It's all natural and nothing to us but to bugs it's razor blades. It won't hurt the roots either. Just an idea.

 

[Emilya Green]

Have you tried a light top dressing of diatomaceous earth? That's what we used to use in the green house. It's all natural and nothing to us but to bugs it's razor blades. It won't hurt the roots either. Just an idea.

It is a very good idea... thank you. I will apply some without mercy tomorrow.

 

[BakedARea]

It is a very good idea... thank you. I will apply some without mercy tomorrow.

And of course wearing proper PPE correct?!

 

[bluenoserjoe]

Veg, Day 11

I have to admit... this even surprised me. All of the plants except for 2 could have gotten watered this evening. These plants have achieved, almost all in unison, emptying their containers in 24 hours. I could have justified watering... but Im still going to hold out one more time for the slow ones and I will water in the morning, not tonight. These plants are ready to transplant to 1 gallon containers in the next day or so.

I predicted a growth spurt. What actually happened is ridiculous. Some of the plants are pushing up the 5th node already and by tomorrow I could snip it, if I were of a mind to.

The wet/dry cycle... it is incredibly effective when done right. Fast forward a second and see what we have here. If I topped tomorrow and at this speed, by week 4 I could have very capable plants ready to go into bloom in at least 3 gallon containers. We are going to do much better than that though, because although the plants may be in a hurry, we are not. My goal is 8oz dry per plant. The question is, how long will it take us?

I would think your wet/dry cycle timing is a direct result of the surrounding relative humidity The rh around here can be anywhere between 20% and 90% which would change the timing drastically. Hence the weight is the only proper way to tell. As the pots get larger a scale would be a bit more accurate, not so much in the solo cups. Is your aged cow manure straight up or mixed in with a little soil? I would think you would see some tip burn when the roots come across it, especially at this tender age. I grow hydro so am trying to learn all I can about dirt farming. Only way to grow around here in the summer without a huge AC. bill as well.

 

[XiwsX561]

root aphids do not go to a larvae stage that will be affected by the poison in dunks. Aphids require a much more focused approach and they are very hard to get rid of. I am currently fighting them naturally with a mycoinscecticide containing Beauveria bassiana Strain GHA spores. The stuff is not cheap, but it does seem to be working.

I tried 2:1 ratio of 3% h2o2 so basically 1.5% I think that works out to be and oh boy did that soil fizz even could see what looked like gas coming from the soil. So that's SNS 203, Root Cleaner, and weakened h2o2, I believe the hp may have got the the eggs if that's what all the white things are but the aphids no. Next up beneficial nematodes. Guy at hydro store said he had same issue and a 30 yr organic vet said you have root aphids and he didn't wanna believe him, but he finally gave in. He said I know you wanna keep everything organic as do I but it's not going to work, and your not going to like my answer (guess because it's a chemical) he told him go to Lowe's and get a 10 dollar bottle of Bayer 3-n-1 believe he said it was called tree and shrub and it's pretty nasty gotta glove up and everything. But I'll try the todes first. Then I bought Liquid Oxygen 34% hydrogen peroxide food grade. I'll try a stronger ratio before I call him and decide to try the Bayer. From what I found on the internet the best and quickest is probably what you have it's a bateria strain and pyrethrin botanigard 22wp I think not the es. AzaMAXX is supposed to be second only due to its slow acting and not for infestations. But let me know how ur battle is going.

 

[XiwsX561]

Veg, Day 12
Today is one of those days where nothing much needs to be done, if I am not ready to transplant... and I am not. Tomorrow is a short day at work heading into a glorious 4 day weekend, and I will do it then. Tonight, just a couple of the plants were able to use a significant amount of water during these daylight hours, but I held tight to my resolve and did not water. I am saving that for the morning again, when the mosquito dunk that I put in the 5 gallon water container in the veg room this evening can gain full strength. This evening I noticed a lot fewer gnats than I did yesterday and a few of them did get captured by the yellow sticky card and I suspect that a lot more of them succumbed to the hot shot.

Tomorrow or the next day the nematodes show up, and then I will put this nasty poison away again. I keep these two in a shipping box sealed up till I need them, and yesterday my friends, I needed them.

Most of the plants are now rising the 5th node. I suspect that we will transplant on one day and top on the next, sometime this weekend.

Remember those who didn't come home this holiday weekend... Memorial Day is to honor those Veterans who died to give us our freedoms today, and they deserve our thanks. Anyone doing anything special this weekend? I am planning a BBQ with lots of adult beverages, and Poison Daddy.

Oh I got todes too yesterday from hydro store . Have a selection of all kinds of bugs, lady bugs, praying mantis, some other for white flies and more I cannot even name. I also usually top at 5th remove 1 and 2 train 3 and 4.

 

[XiwsX561]

Oh and note to self 29-35% h2o2 isn't the stuff mom put on your cuts and said don't worry it won't burn it's not rubbing alcohol, it does say WARNING CORROSIVE on label. I didn't glove up just used a syringe without needle available at local tractor supply from 3 ml to 60ml. Just added 3 ml to a gallon of soaking grodan cubes and figured hey it's all empty none left on tip, which there wasn't but I had t rinsed it yet so I touched it about 10-15 seconds later yes I could definitely feel where ever it touched, and guessing it burned the top layer of skin because every place was white lol, Crash Dummy.

Anyways wanted to ask after doing something like SNS 203, or Root Cleaner and h2o2 even tho not chemicals supposed to inoculate again. Bc it kills all ur bennies as well, do you know the waiting period? Before I drop todes in? I've gotten after a flush 24 hours few different answers. I would trust yours first being ur doing the same thing.

 

[Emilya Green]

I would think your wet/dry cycle timing is a direct result of the surrounding relative humidity The rh around here can be anywhere between 20% and 90% which would change the timing drastically. Hence the weight is the only proper way to tell. As the pots get larger a scale would be a bit more accurate, not so much in the solo cups. Is your aged cow manure straight up or mixed in with a little soil? I would think you would see some tip burn when the roots come across it, especially at this tender age. I grow hydro so am trying to learn all I can about dirt farming. Only way to grow around here in the summer without a huge AC. bill as well.

Yes, a high humidity can alter the plant's ability to shed water from the leaves, but that is why I always have a lot of fan action going on in the grow rooms, so that RH doesn't affect me so much. Do an experiment sometime and see how much water actually evaporates from the cups by watering a plain cup of soil and doing the lift test each day. You will find that the vast majority of the water that leaves the cups, is due to the plants themselves using that water. It takes some practice I guess to determine if there is water weight in the cups, but after using a postal scale for a while to double check myself, I got pretty good at determining what is just light and what is actually so light that it indicates time to water.

The aged cow manure is not mixed in with the soil or it surely could burn the plants, but mine is in a special layer about a quarter to half inch deep in the cups, right at the very bottom. The difference here and the reason it doesn't burn is because the roots have a choice whether to go into that area or not and if they do, they specialize in order to be able to handle it and take better advantage of what is there.

 

[Emilya Green]

do you know the waiting period? Before I drop todes in? I've gotten after a flush 24 hours few different answers. I would trust yours first being ur doing the same thing.

I have always heard that h202 turns into plain water in about 24 hours.

 

[Mdlroad]

I have always heard that h202 turns into plain water in about 24 hours.

Depends on the surface area exposed to the air. If you pour it into a container with wide bottom it will turn to water much faster than a bottle with lid off

 

[VetSmoke85]

Remember those who didn't come home this holiday weekend... Memorial Day is to honor those Veterans who died to give us our freedoms today, and they deserve our thanks.

I'm an allied Vet but for reminding people to take a moment to remember. Over the pond you seem to do a much better job of that than we do here. We have Remembrance Sunday in November and a few years ago they started Armed Forces Day in the summer but that's ended up a fun time for civilians and a working weekend for half the military personnel, putting on displays and parades etc.

Plants look tickity boo!

 

[ChronicTrees]

I’m aiming for at least 300 grams a plant In dry weight for my outdoor grow... so harvest will be a large one for having almost 10 plants.

 

[XiwsX561]

I have always heard that h202 turns into plain water in about 24 hours.

Breaks down over 4 days usually why rdwc or dwc add once per rez change but wasn't sure about something like soapasides or how ever it's spelt like SNS or Root Cleaner. But 24 hours after treatment I could still find them just below the surface not sure if it's because I sprayed green clean on all surfaces or because topsoil dried out more or treatment actually worked but I watered early this morning or late last night with a bit of Anzo, some terp tea direct feed via mix n serve hi brix and some recharge. Did a light watering as I was hoping to introduce todes today and believe it says to water after. Not sure how yours come, mine either I haven't actually opened the container but supposed to be this block or sack u put into 2-5gal of water said amount doesn't matter for 30 mins let it it break down skim the floating material what's left is your todes soultion said may add the floating material if you want as there still maybe some inside. It's a container of 10 million todes. Supposed to work on over 200 insects. They are microscopic now but I've been told they get big enough to see? Well see how mother nature war and science works today, at least deploy the first troops lol probably won't see anything but hopefully results. I guess it's good thing food genetics because it seems too only affect younger new growth on lower parts. Although in mist of all of them I have one plant that seems unscathed. Surprising it was a clone from the breeder that arrived snapped had one little small side shoot it was behind for months but eventually grew over the main stalk and has now just finally is the same size as the others. Let me know how ut todes work on the gnats (I think was the easy fix) and the root aphids ( roaches of the soil just die!)

 

[Emilya Green]

Veg, Day 13

This morning I made an error by watering the plants to runoff. Transplanting would been a bit easier if the plants were not so waterlogged, but we made it happen anyway.

In 1 gallon cloth containers, we did just as we did in the cups, with one addition. First we added 1/4 of a solo cup of aged cow manure as a bottom layer. Next, 2 solo cups of Purple Cow supersoil. When setting a solo cup on top of what is in there so far, the lip of the cup came to just under the top lip of the cloth bag, so this is the layer the old rootball will be sitting on. 1 large tablespoon of @GeoFlora Nutrients VEG was sprinkled on this layer along with 1 tablespoon of @DYNOMYCO.

An empty solo cup was placed in the middle of the container and we built up the rest of the container around it, so as to leave a perfect hole for the rootball to be placed. 2 solo cups of our special soil and amendment mix that has been cooking with Soil Activator for this last two weeks was added in around the solo cup and packed in. A thin 1/8 solo cup layer of worm castings was added next and on top of that, 2 more solo cups of special mix with Vulx to complete the middle layer. Then Happy Frog was used to fill up the top third of the container and really pack that solo cup down into the container.

All 11 were then taken upstairs to Veg Room #1 to do the actual transplant. Each of the girls were eased out of their solo starter cups and plopped down into the holes specially made for them. Other than the little bit of water given to the containers before transplant just to hold the hole in place, no additional water was given this evening. Tomorrow, feeding day #1 seems like a more logical time to do this first full watering in the new containers and tonight I will just let them dry out a little bit. Today after watering they barely used any water at all, so the containers were almost too wet to transplant, but I did it anyway.

Tomorrow after I water more properly, I will add a tablespoon of diatomaceous earth to the top of the soil too, to further frustrate the fungus gnats. A few gnats were noted as we worked with the girls, but many fewer than a couple of nights ago... we are on top of them. With the watering tomorrow, we will also be doing a preventative against our current most evil pest, root aphids, and we will be applying the spores in the water.

In the next 48 hours, we should see another tremendous growth spurt... maybe sooner.

Oh, you might notice a little sprig of a plant in a solo cup in these pictures... It is a bag seed gelato brought to me as a rescue plant. I will not be centering in on this plant... I just wanted to mention it was there in case one of you very observant followers noticed it and wondered what was up.

 

[ChronicTrees]

Looking great. They just look so healthy, and happy. Definitely going to follow your tips, and go ahead, and make my next batch of seedlings done the way you have been doing with these girls. Great job! I love It!

 

[Azimuth]

An empty solo cup was placed in the middle of the container and we built up the rest of the container around it, so as to leave a perfect hole for the rootball to be placed.

Why do it this way rather than simply placing the rootball on your base and then adding soil around it? I've seen other growers do it this way too. Are you trying to protect the roots, or something else?

 

[BakedARea]

Chugging along nicely! I need to figure out my uppot strategy soon. Do you find it detrimental if they are uppotted too soon?

 

[Emilya Green]

Why do it this way rather than simply placing the rootball on your base and then adding soil around it? I've seen other growers do it this way too. Are you trying to protect the roots, or something else?

A couple of reasons. First, this is known as zero stress transplanting. Even the most finicky of Auto's could be transplanted in this way, and they wouldn't feel a thing. It is just a good way to get a perfect transplant each time without skipping a beat while waiting for a stressed out plant to recover. Instead of packing soil in around the old rootball and causing undo stress while I poke and push, I can do all of this in an empty container using the solo cup as a mold, while never stressing the plant or taking any risk of hurting it.

Second, it is the ease that this gives you in the whole process. Instead of having to hold a plant in place with one hand while pouring and packing soil in around it, I can use both hands to pack the soil in neatly around the empty solo cup. This allows me to easily create neat and accurate layers as I build up vertically around the cup.

 

[Emilya Green]

Chugging along nicely! I need to figure out my uppot strategy soon. Do you find it detrimental if they are uppotted too soon?

Definitely. A plant uppotted too soon never develops a rootball out laterally from the main vertical core... most of the roots head in a downward direction and the entire middle of the container out to the edges ends up going mostly unused. The trick to filling that space with roots is to constrain the roots for a just a little while, forcing them to fill up that entire cup before they start getting in each other's way. Rootballs do not happen naturally, you have to force the plant to create them.

 

[Diatomacious]

Poison Daddy

What kind of pills are those?