Thanks Doc! Can I use clones from my current nute grow?
Kit instructions pasted here for ease.
Re: In The Lab With Doc Bud
Updated Instructions: August 24th, 2015
The Kit:
The End User will need the following:
3.8 cu ft bale of ProMix HP myco, or Sunshine #4 or Promix BX myco. Perlite can be added to the BX in order increase porosity for indoor growing.
20-40 pounds of organic worm castings that show an NPK of zero K. (1-1-0)
A proper growing environment, basic gardening skills, 7 gallon pots and a sprayer capable of putting out a fine spray.
The Products:
Drenches
Growth Energy: This product increases soil energy and provides vegetative growth energy and bulking of fruit and flowers once formed.
Transplant: This product, being organic, slightly favors reproductive growth of seeds, flowers and fruit. It is used to feed the microbial colony in the soil mostly, but it also boosts reproductive growth to some extent.
Cat Drench: This product increases soil energy, highly favors reproductive growth and provides cations and the ammonia form of nitrogen, which strongly stimulate fruiting and flowering, as well as seed production.
All drenches are mixed at 1/2 to 1 1/2 ounce per 6 plants(30 sq. feet of garden space for those in raised beds) Applications up to 2.5 oz can be applied without harm, but very few plants require this much. Heavy feeders might try 1 oz before mixing stronger.
Another practice some container growers are finding helpful is to include 1/4 strength Transplant with every watering.
Foliar Sprays:
Brix: Sprayed every week to 10 days, this product encourages reproductive growth and essential oil and resin production. Brix foliar should not be skipped, even if the plants look perfect.
De-Stress: This product helps plants heal, deal with stress and provides a broad spectrum of trace minerals. This can be sprayed 1-2 times per week when there are signs of plant stress. If the plants look "perfect" there is no reason to spray with De-Stress. Also, mixed at 50% strength it helps high brix clones root much faster.
DeStress is mixed at .5oz per quart while Brix is mixed at 1oz per quart of RO. Use Brix immediately after mixing. De-stress can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Soil Amendments
Amendment: this product is mixed into the bale of Promix, watered, and allowed to "cook" in a barrel for a minimum of 30 days in order to get the soil ready for planting. Please note that the most recent version of amendment has the old "conditioner" added to it already!
Re-Charge: This product is similar to Amendment, but has a few additions and ommisions. It is designed to be top dressed during the 3rd week of the bloom cycle. Outdoors, apply re-charge when buds have set. It's best to scratch it into the top layer of soil and gently water it in to avoid soil compaction.
Roots!: This is a microbial inoculate. A light dusting on rootballs during transplanting and a small amount at the bottom of the hole where seeds are planted is the proper use for this product. 1 Tablespoon per transplanted cutting sprinkled in and around the hole is perfect. More can be used when transplanting from the Veg area to the Bloom containers. Water with 1/4 Transplant for the first application of Roots!.
Tea: This is a liquid humate product loaded with beneficials. It is mixed with each feeding at the rate of 2.5 mil per 6 plants (30 square feet)
So, how does all this work together?
Upon acquiring the Promix HP myco, the worm castings and enough plastic barrels to contain 60 gallons of soil:
Carefully and thoroughly mix the following:
Amendment
Promix
Worm castings.
Place the above dry mix into barrels and water with 3-5 gallons of water. Stir it, mix it, turn it over....and let it sit covered for one month. Temps must be no lower than 62 degrees and no higher than 85 degrees. Lower temps can take another week to "cook" while higher temps might be ready sooner. 1 month is usually spot on.
Once the soil has cooked, it's now time to plant!
Seeds:
Using a gallon sized container of newly cooked High Brix soil, make sure the soil is still slightly moist from the barrel. Not soaking wet....but moist.
Using a pencil, or chopstick or a non-functioning vape pen, make a divet in the soil about 1/4 inch deep. Add a small amount of ROOTS! in and around this hole, in which you deposit the seed and lightly cover with surrounding dirt. Gently water with 1/4 strength Transplant if needed to keep the soil moist, but not wet.
Clones:
Pretty much the same as seeds, but use enough ROOTS! to completely dust the roots and put a small amount at the bottom of the hole. Water with 1 pint of water, or 1/4 strength Transplant drench.
Watering Tech for Vegetative Growth
Try to let the containers go completely dry between waterings. What I mean by completely dry is that the first physical signs of "wilting" are present. Droopy leaves, loss of turgor, etc. When the containers are bone dry, do this:
Prepare a tub/bucket of water such that when you submerge a dry container from above, the water level is 3/4ths up to the level of the soil. If using a drench, mix it TWICE AS STRONG AS NORMAL.
Submerge the containers and let them soak and wick up the drench for 5 minutes or so. When removing the containers from the soaking bucket/tub, tilt them this way and that in order to drain as much liquid out as possible.
The draining will draw air in from above which the plants absolutely love. This method will result in stronger stems, much better roots, shorter internodal spacing and better leaf to calyx ratio.
Upcanning of larger plants:
Vertically score the roots, dust all roots with ROOTS!, place some in the bottom of the hole, gently position rootball and soak the medium with water and 1/4 strength Transplant.
Water All seeds, all newly transplanted clones and newly tranplanted vegging plants with 1/4 strength Tranpslant
Use of Foliar Sprays:
Spray Brix and De-Stress 1 time weekly, not on the same day! De-Stress can be sprayed twice a week if the plants continue to exhibit signs of stress.
Mix DeStress at 1/2 oz per quart of RO and Brix at 1 oz per quart of RO, using a fine mist try to get the underside of the leaves.
Using Drenches:
Tea: All drenches are "served" with 2.5 mils of Tea, with two exceptions.
In High Brix growing, drenches do far more than feed the plant. They signal the plant to grow or re-produce, and they keep the biology in the soil happy and productive. This is where the magic happens! Water with straight water plus 1/4 strength Transplant between drenches with one exception.*
Growth Energy: used nearly exclusively in veg. This is where strong stems and healthy leaves come from. It is also used during the latter half of the bloom cycle to bulk up fruit and flowers. Mix at 1/2 to 1 1/2 oz per 6 plants. Stronger doses can be used if needed, but generally you'll just waste product. Finishing the growing cycle on Growth Energy results in a sweeter produce.
Transplant Should be used during the bloom phase alternating with Growth Energy. It is used at 1/2 to 2 oz per 6 plants (30 square feet.) Some growers have found that essential oil and resin production can be increased by using 1/4 oz of Transplant evenly distributed to every plant with each and every watering....whether with a drench or with just plain water. Please note, this does not mean 1/4 TO EVERY PLANT, but 1/4 oz divided equally to all plants.
**Cat Drench: This is used right when buds set. It is strongly reproductive in effect and if used at the wrong time will result in stunted growth and lower yields. Used at the proper time, unprecedented resin formation takes place. It is used twice in a row (no water in between applications). Using Cat Drench late in bloom may increase certain flavors and smells, but it also results in a more "gamey" flavor in produce.
These are the basic instructions for using the kit! A few pointers:
When in doubt about which drench to use, use Growth Energy.
If the plants seem weak and need a boost---almost never happens unless you made a mistake or there has been some environmental issue or circumstances beyond your control---try this:
1 oz. Transplant per gallon of water with 6 mils of Tea. Feed a solution with this composition to all the plants. It will re-colonize the roots and get things back on track. Do not do this if you aren't having any problems.
For certain plants a Super Drench is beneficial in the middle part of the bloom cycle:
1 Cup (yes 8 oz) of Transplant plus 10 mils Tea per 5 gallons of water. Give each plant 1 gallon of this.
There is also the "OG Drench" for certain strains:
1 oz OG Drench plus 1 oz Transplant plus 2 tblspn Epsom salts plus 10 mil Tea per 5 gallons of water.
Recycling Soil
After the first crop is harvested, put the soil, including the roots, mixed with fresh EWC, perhaps 20 lbs worth along with another bag of amendment back into the barrel and cook it for another month, then use as always.
After the second crop is harvested, take that soil, and add the 3rd Run Amendment to this soil, along with some leaf scraps from recently harvested healthy plants and a light sprinkling of Roots! on the leaves. Let this cook for a month and then use as always.
After the 3rd crop has been harvested from the soil, add fresh, unused Promix along with leaves and a light dusting of roots and re-cook.
I personally do not use soil after the 4th run. Others do so with good success and I suggest seeking them out and seeing if their methods work in your garden. I get my best results with the 3rd run of soil.
But it could also be calcium def, which is lazy soil critters so that points to Trans again. Dunno. I think it's probably from the colder temps. It'll straighten out anyway with all the new dirt. I'd skip the Brix and give 'em a DeStress. And y'know ... if the pots aren't fully drenched, you could give 'em a Trans/Tea now.
