All Organic High Brix

gittergreen said:
wow garden looks great doc! How do you think this grow compares so far to an oc+ grow?
:tokin:
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Well, I've never grown this strain in OC+ so I can't say. However, last grow I did one plant OC+ as a control, the others were organic soil, which I added rock powders to in mid-bloom.

The OC+ start fast out of the gate and grow very healthy. But the organics caught up, edged out the OC+ on the yield, and tasted noticeably better...which is another way of saying the OC+ tasted great and the organics superb.

OC+ is fool proof. You've got to be a real fuck-up to blow and OC+ grow.

Organics are more expensive, much more work and much more difficult. It took me 3 trys to get the organic soil to grow Jack Herer better than OC+.

If I was on a budget, I'd use OC+. Nothing gets more bang for the buck.

But if you want the very, very best, proper organics are the way to go.
 
thanks doc! I think I might give oc+ a shot this summer outside.
 
gittergreen said:
thanks doc! I think I might give oc+ a shot this summer outside.
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Mineralize the soil, add OC+ and water with microbe teas as often as possible and you'll have a superb product.
 
Hi Doc,
Its been a while since I have run into you, I was browsing through the "journals in progress" and saw your handle. I am truly inspired by your dedication and research into growing the "best" (I also care about taste/effect more than potency/yield.) I am really happy I clicked on your journal and started reading, I left my hydroponic adventures 2 years ago, and I have switched to chunky thick organics, and it seems my next step is going your direction. I am currently running "roots organics" soil and nutes, along with aerated compost teas. After reading up on High Brix, I am seeing the direction I should be heading. Thanks for doing so much of the leg work for us at home, If i still lived down in Central heaven, I would bake you a cake.
 
slosmokin said:
Hi Doc,
Its been a while since I have run into you, I was browsing through the "journals in progress" and saw your handle. I am truly inspired by your dedication and research into growing the "best" (I also care about taste/effect more than potency/yield.) I am really happy I clicked on your journal and started reading, I left my hydroponic adventures 2 years ago, and I have switched to chunky thick organics, and it seems my next step is going your direction. I am currently running "roots organics" soil and nutes, along with aerated compost teas. After reading up on High Brix, I am seeing the direction I should be heading. Thanks for doing so much of the leg work for us at home, If i still lived down in Central heaven, I would bake you a cake.
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Cool Bro!

This approach is looking real good.....and it will be better next run. I'm transplanting some smaller females today, and they should be even healthier than the big ones you see on the journal.

I've never seen leaves like I have now. Zero bug pressure. I haven't checked for bugs in weeks. Nothing flying around the room, no signs of damage.

Literally 10 feet away my buddy is stuggling with powdery mildew AND mites. He's an expert hydro grower.

I've had bugs on every grow, until I went high brix. Zero bugs. The mites literally choke to death on all the sugar in the leaves.
 
sounds like you found the holy grail to the borg plague all of us growers face in our lives. I'm definitely not at your level just yet, but with the mineral/organic approach I've been adopting have already made a huge difference in the amount of bugs in my grow room.

Thanks again for the wisdom Doc. I'm here to vouch for how well my garden is doing thanks to these principles
 
I use a 2 gal hand pump sprayer with a wand for all of my spraying.. I turn the nozzle down to a pretty fine mist and it gets the leaves covered really easy. Got it from the local hardware store. Home depot and lowes typically carry them for around $20
 
OrganicTreees said:
I use a 2 gal hand pump sprayer with a wand for all of my spraying.. I turn the nozzle down to a pretty fine mist and it gets the leaves covered really easy. Got it from the local hardware store. Home depot and lowes typically carry them for around $20
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I have read: "The best nozzles for ACT application are minimum 400 microns, to allow large fungal hyphae to pass unobstructed, and distribute big fat drops of ACT. If your sprayer is putting out a fine mist you're shredding the microbes as they pass through the diffuser. An impellor pump actually does far less damage to the microbes than using the wrong application nozzle." also : 90 degree nozzles beat up the organisms a bit. Causing some shredding of the bacteria and hyphae. This is from greenjeans a memeber of "gardenweb".
This is totally just what I have read, I can't claim it as gospel. Thoughts??
 
slosmokin said:
I have read: "The best nozzles for ACT application are minimum 400 microns, to allow large fungal hyphae to pass unobstructed, and distribute big fat drops of ACT. If your sprayer is putting out a fine mist you're shredding the microbes as they pass through the diffuser. An impellor pump actually does far less damage to the microbes than using the wrong application nozzle." also : 90 degree nozzles beat up the organisms a bit. Causing some shredding of the bacteria and hyphae. This is from greenjeans a memeber of "gardenweb".
This is totally just what I have read, I can't claim it as gospel. Thoughts??
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I agree. With ACT, I like a sprayer like you would spray water with, not a fine mist, but a stream of water. The CEO of Bu's Blend compost told me to get a very large paintbrush and flick big raindrops of ACT on the crop.

As of right now, I'm not spraying ACT. I'm using these foliar sprays, which are really powerful.

I did a water/feed and foliar spray today. Also transplanted 7 Blue Dreams. Tomorrow I'll do the Purple Jack's and the Lemon Thai, then we'll have a full room again.
 
slosmokin said:
I have read: "The best nozzles for ACT application are minimum 400 microns, to allow large fungal hyphae to pass unobstructed, and distribute big fat drops of ACT. If your sprayer is putting out a fine mist you're shredding the microbes as they pass through the diffuser. An impellor pump actually does far less damage to the microbes than using the wrong application nozzle." also : 90 degree nozzles beat up the organisms a bit. Causing some shredding of the bacteria and hyphae. This is from greenjeans a memeber of "gardenweb".
This is totally just what I have read, I can't claim it as gospel. Thoughts??
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I've read the same thing, it definitely makes sense. My wand is straight and I guess it didn't come across properly, but I was just referring to the nozzles ability to adjust to different streams, so you can spray anything from a mist to a stream. when I would spray oils, or when I just spray plain water, I make it pretty fine, more like a mist shower, but with teas and anything with organic matter in it, I adjust the nozzle to be a more powerful stream. I'm not sure how fine 400 microns is, but I'll have to experiment with letting it spray unobstructed vs what I'm doing now and see if there is a difference.

Doc, I like that idea of the paint brush. It would be more like rain drops that way
 
Sprayers for the concrete industry will also pass larger solids since the nozzles are bigger....probably don't have to even filter the tea.
 
Hey Doc..... great thread of information here!!!

So I'm getting ready for garden #3....and wondering if I am leaving anything out or forgetting anything essential...

Here is what I'm working with
Nutrients will be combo of earthjuice/advanced nutrients/general organics...(all organic nutrients)

Soil base materials..

FFOF potting soil
Happy Frog potting soil
greensand
epsoma salt
perlite
mexican bat guano
gardening lime (dolomic lime)
peruvian seabird guano
worm casings with added mycos and kelp meal
humboldt mycos maximum

still need to get:
plant based organic compost

What else would you recommend for this soil base? I am trying to achieve a high CEC as well as cover all macro/micro nutrients and prepare for high BRIX...
 
Icemud said:
Hey Doc..... great thread of information here!!!

So I'm getting ready for garden #3....and wondering if I am leaving anything out or forgetting anything essential...

Here is what I'm working with
Nutrients will be combo of earthjuice/advanced nutrients/general organics...(all organic nutrients)

Soil base materials..

FFOF potting soil
Happy Frog potting soil
greensand
epsoma salt
perlite
mexican bat guano
gardening lime (dolomic lime)
peruvian seabird guano
worm casings with added mycos and kelp meal
humboldt mycos maximum

still need to get:
plant based organic compost

What else would you recommend for this soil base? I am trying to achieve a high CEC as well as cover all macro/micro nutrients and prepare for high BRIX...
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I'd definitely add some Azomite and maybe some humus.

Make sure this is the bottom 1/3 of the pot and DON"T use any nutes!!! You won't need them for weeks. Maybe no more than one or two feedings.

Feed with RO and CalMag....don't pH.

When you do feed, I'd suggest just the kelp mostly. No more than one or two light feedings with the other stuff.
 
Hey Doc will these products work to mineralize the soil with the oc+? I will be using happy frog soil in 5 gallon buckets.
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gittergreen said:
Hey Doc will these products work to mineralize the soil with the oc+? I will be using happy frog soil in 5 .gallon buckets.
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NO!

The superphosphate will kill every living thing your soil, and the dolomite does not have the right balance of minerals.

If you want to mineralize the soil, do this:

1. Obtain high calcium limestone, 90% CaCO3, Soft Rock Phosphate, Gypsum.

2. Mix them together, 6 parts limestone, 5 parts Soft Rock Phosphate, 3 parts Gypsum

3. add 1 cup of the above per bag of soil (1.5 cubic feet)

4. add 1/2 cup Azomite per bag of soil

That will get you close. About halfway through the grow top dress another 1/2 cup of rock powders. About 1/4 cup azomite too......this can be added to the tea when you brew it.

When you water, please don't pH or anything like that. Also, if you can brew some microbial tea and water weekly with just the tea, no nutes, organic matter etc. just the tea......

think about maybe adding some kelp once or twice to the tea you brew.

The OC+ will keep the soil energy up, the tea will go to work on the organic matter in the soil, and the minerals will make the microbes happy.

I am thinking about doing a grow just like this, comparing OC+ to the organic fertilizer I'm using to see what happens.
 
OK, I had a friend over to see the garden today and he was trippin' over the leaves. After taking about 40 pics, I got a couple that show what the leaves look like. Depending on the angle you view them, they can appear deep, shiny green, or neon greenish yellow.

Resin formation is very nice. It's stickier than usual, and appears to be quite extensive on the leaves. The next few weeks we should really see the resin production ramp up.

I gave them a light follow up feeding today, following up on the light feeding yesterday. Today's feeding included a bit more Yucca extract and some kelp meal.....very light.

I also transplanted the purple jacks and a lemon thai. The other Lemon Thai ladies are going to the breeding factory. I'm hoping for 1000 seeds.

Anyway, here they are:

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Root Scoring, top to bottom before transplant.
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Hey gittergreen... not sure what part of the country you're in, but I'm in the Northeast. The only limestone you can find here that's over 90% CaCO3 is marketed as Fast Acting Lime with AST under the Pennington, Agway, or other brand names. They pelletize it with polymers and claim:
"AST (Advanced Soil Technology) is a highly researched, patented control agent that acts like a magnet to hold calcium from lime in place."
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...um...No thanks...

Anyway found out after 3 days of driving to farm/feed supply stores and garden centers that plain old high calcium powdered limestone just isn't available here, I broke down and bought it online...

Didn't want you to go crazy looking if you're in this part of the country.

:Namaste:
 
Doc, I think I would hang my air-chair in there, put on some chill music, and just sit back stare at those leaves while I vaped!

:allgood:
 
Thanks doc I guess I will have to shop at an agriculture store. Your plants out grew my plants by a mile already so much frost!
 
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