Aspen's Alaskan Purple In Soil - 2022

AspenCultivator said:
@OGpapa you said you used Happy Frog all the way to harvest, right? I'll take a look through your journals, but can you tell me if you use calmag and how often? I actually thought HF was a soil that didn't need it, but I must be wrong.
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Yes I only use happy frog. From germ to chop. I do recycle the soil also. I slightly perk the soil each run 50% fresh happy frog 50% used soil with dynomyco perlite and geoflora. I am a firm believer of dynomyco. But it will not save a Bad plant. I had mad issues with Papa Bear that I just harvested. He was stunted and well behind his siblings.

I do use botanicare calmag plus. As labeled on the bottle. I do use well water. I have not had an official test done. I know I have some calcium and lime deposit.



20230204_173558.jpg




You have seen me push high ph water in my plants. 😂 I am now also a believer of 6.3ph. The plants can't absorb needed nutrients if your pH is high or low.

I also added tps nitrogen lately. For a boost. The Geo Flora is on a schedule I didn't want to interrupt. Looks like your plants are lacking nitrogen also.

Next run I will make several tweak's
 
OGpapa said:
Yes I only use happy frog. From germ to chop. I do recycle the soil also. I slightly perk the soil each run 50% fresh happy frog 50% used soil with dynomyco perlite and geoflora. I am a firm believer of dynomyco. But it will not save a Bad plant. I had mad issues with Papa Bear that I just harvested. He was stunted and well behind his siblings.

I do use botanicare calmag plus. As labeled on the bottle. I do use well water. I have not had an official test done. I know I have some calcium and lime deposit.



20230204_173558.jpg




You have seen me push high ph water in my plants. 😂 I am now also a believer of 6.3ph. The plants can't absorb needed nutrients if your pH is high or low.

I also added tps nitrogen lately. For a boost. The Geo Flora is on a schedule I didn't want to interrupt. Looks like your plants are lacking nitrogen also.

Next run I will make several tweak's
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Thank you OG for your insight...I think this confirms that I was definitely wrong in thinking happy frog didn't need calmag. I have the exact same product, same bottle, and have only fed it twice the entire grow so far.

So, first order of business was to top-water them PH 6.3, 403 ppm cal/mag water (week 3). They both got 4 cups each before I heard water trickling down into the res. No pics this update, because they look the same as when I posted yesterday. Let's see how they look in a few days.
 
Hey everyone! The AP is doing really, really well. I'm suspecting she'll need water in a day or two, and today she also needed to be tied down further. I laid the 4 mains down to the right along the rim of the pot. This gives all the internal shoots a chance to catch up to the outer ones.

Alaskan Purple Day 72

Alaskan Purple Day 72


She was up-potted to her current 1 gallon pot 9 days ago, and has some massive roots coming out of the drainage holes already. Really cool to see.

As for the blueberries, #1 seems to be getting lighter in her new growth when the opposite should be occurring. They were both fed via the res 5 days ago and received cal/mag water from the top yesterday morning. I'm liking the development and color of #2, so I think we're good on that one. It's #1 that seems a bit off to me. Few more days should tell me more information on what's going on. Both reservoirs are still 3/4 full.

Blueberry #1 Day 40

Blueberry #1 Day 40


Blueberry #2 Day 40

Blueberry #2 Day 40


Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries


I'm really not understanding why #1 is getting so pale. The reservoir is full of feed, not just plain water, so the nutes are there for her. Hopefully she'll start to darken up here soon.

Thanks for reading!
 
Hey everyone! I want to thank @Melville Hobbes for the calmag tip (and @OGpapa as well). I can see the deficiency has stopped spreading in the blueberries and there's noticeable growth in these last two days. Their reservoirs are STILL at 3/4 full. @Azimuth or any SIPers in the thread, what are your thoughts on draining the res and only providing 1/4 gal water so they can work on soaking that up before adding more?

Because the res' have stayed full this long, the media is staying moist up to the top inch. I can pull some media away at the edge of the bucket and I see roots. All the way to the edge. This leads me to believe the SIP pot isn't operating at 100% efficiency because the plants are getting their moisture from the top of the media column (if you'll call it that.) I thought the whole point was to get its water from the bottom? This theory would also make sense to say she's not drinking her water from the bottom like she needs to because that's where all the nutrients are. If the media has remained moist this entire time, the nutes wouldn't have made their way to the roots yet? Maybe? I don't know. Could also explain why #1 is still so pale, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, here they are.

Blueberry #1 Day 42

Blueberry #1 Day 42


Blueberry #2 Day 42

Blueberry #2 Day 42


The top two nodes have been tied for more than a week now and I've been adjusting them down as they grow out. The bottom two nodes haven't needed to be tied as twice a day I go in and bend the stems down and they've been staying and growing out that way. Perfect.

As for the AP everything looks perfect honestly. She needed water this morning, after 11 days, so she got PH 6.3 PPM 393 calmag water. I've been training her mains around the edge of the pot and adjusting ties here and there. It's a nice addition considering it's been 74 days to get to this point.

Alaskan Purple Day 74

Alaskan Purple Day 74


I appreciate everyone's input and advice while I journey through this interesting grow! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
 
AspenCultivator said:
@Azimuth or any SIPers in the thread, what are your thoughts on draining the res and only providing 1/4 gal water so they can work on soaking that up before adding more?
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If one is willing to water everyday, I don't see a lot of value in keeping the reservoir full unless the plant is drinking it aggressively. I usually monitor and give them only what they will drink in a day or two. Like you implied, that gives you a chance to change up the feed to address any issues that might crop up.
 
AspenCultivator said:
Hey everyone! I want to thank @Melville Hobbes for the calmag tip (and @OGpapa as well). I can see the deficiency has stopped spreading in the blueberries and there's noticeable growth in these last two days. Their reservoirs are STILL at 3/4 full. @Azimuth or any SIPers in the thread, what are your thoughts on draining the res and only providing 1/4 gal water so they can work on soaking that up before adding more?

Because the res' have stayed full this long, the media is staying moist up to the top inch. I can pull some media away at the edge of the bucket and I see roots. All the way to the edge. This leads me to believe the SIP pot isn't operating at 100% efficiency because the plants are getting their moisture from the top of the media column (if you'll call it that.) I thought the whole point was to get its water from the bottom? This theory would also make sense to say she's not drinking her water from the bottom like she needs to because that's where all the nutrients are. If the media has remained moist this entire time, the nutes wouldn't have made their way to the roots yet? Maybe? I don't know. Could also explain why #1 is still so pale, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, here they are.

Blueberry #1 Day 42

Blueberry #1 Day 42


Blueberry #2 Day 42

Blueberry #2 Day 42


The top two nodes have been tied for more than a week now and I've been adjusting them down as they grow out. The bottom two nodes haven't needed to be tied as twice a day I go in and bend the stems down and they've been staying and growing out that way. Perfect.

As for the AP everything looks perfect honestly. She needed water this morning, after 11 days, so she got PH 6.3 PPM 393 calmag water. I've been training her mains around the edge of the pot and adjusting ties here and there. It's a nice addition considering it's been 74 days to get to this point.

Alaskan Purple Day 74

Alaskan Purple Day 74


I appreciate everyone's input and advice while I journey through this interesting grow! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
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I know when I put a new plant in the pot once the soil is moist my res stays full for like 2 weeks and my pots are a bit smaller than yours. This is what I've noticed..
 
Thanks everyone for the input! Definitely helpful.

Azimuth said:
If one is willing to water everyday, I don't see a lot of value in keeping the reservoir full unless the plant is drinking it aggressively. I usually monitor and give them only what they will drink in a day or two. Like you implied, that gives you a chance to change up the feed to address any issues that might crop up.
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This is the conclusion I've been leaning towards as well, and I can make that happen every day. I've fed the res only one time in the last 23 days! That's what is crazy. I prepped them with a gallon of water 24 hours before, and noted the res' were at 1/2 full after 24 hours which is why I transplanted when I did. They barely drank before showing severe signs of hunger, so I fed 1/4 gallon thru the res 20 days ago, then cal/mag from the top 3 days ago. This leaves their res' at 3/4 full still as of this morning, and it's barely falling.

I think that's why I'm not seeing as aggressive growth either. They have all the water they could want at whatever level the roots are sitting at, so I'm not sure they're actually growing their roots towards the res like they're supposed to. I'm definitely thinking it's time to drain the res' and start going to a daily watering of a very small amount.
 
I want to give a huge shout out to @VIVOSUN for the nice gift box I received as being picked for filling out their survey! I sincerely appreciate the sweet swag (and stickers! Everyone loves stickers!) Thank you again!

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Quick update but I managed to pull 3/4 gallon from both, and there's still about half an inch on the dipstick. So I want to see that last little bit gone in the next 4-5 days, if not earlier, and once I see they're super low (not dry) I'll probably give both 1/8 gallon or so and then monitor how long it takes to disappear.

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Hey everyone! The AP is looking to be on track in terms of color and development. Not quite sure how it's taken 79 days to get to this point, but now I need her to slow the heck down so the blueberries can catch up.

Alaskan Purple Day 79

Alaskan Purple Day 79


She was last watered 5 days ago so I'm expecting in another couple of days she'll be fed.

As for the blueberries, 5 days ago I took out 3/4 of a gallon from both reservoirs. I've been watching the little bit that was leftover get smaller and smaller on my dip stick each day, and today I couldn't bear to look at their pale green anymore. I can't seem to get their feeding figured out since they've been in their 5 gallon sips...so hopefully now that the res isn't so full they'll drain much faster and can get the nutrients they need. Both were fed this morning 1/4 gallon of fox farms week 4, which is the last week before flower transition. I'll just be repeating week 4 now until flip. PH 6.3 and PPM 1550.

Blueberry #1 Day 47

Blueberry #1 Day 47


Blueberry #2 Day 47

Blueberry #2 Day 47


Over the last few days I've been lightly pulling all nodes down and exposing as many sites as I can to as much light as I can. I haven't really defoled yet other than taking some sick leaves (residual calmag deficiency) from #2. I'm hoping since they were just fed via res, and with only 1/4 gallon each, in 4-5 days they'll be ready for water.

And finally group shot of everything.

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries

Alaskan Purple & Blueberries


I'm concerned the AP isn't going to slow down enough for the blueberries to catch up so I can flip everything at once. I'm still laying everything down around the rim of the pot so she's still flat. But I'm running out of horizontal room now and I don't even have the blueberries to the rim yet. This should be interesting in the next couple of weeks before flower.

Thanks for reading! :)
 
You can always stretch veg on the one that's larger so they go into flower together. She will produce a larger yield, that's the idea anyway larger plants=larger yield
 
OGpapa said:
You can always stretch veg on the one that's larger so they go into flower together. She will produce a larger yield, that's the idea anyway larger plants=larger yield
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Yeah this is definitely the main goal for the AP now. I was expecting the blueberries to be faster, but I don't think the SIP has been the most efficient because of the amount of water that's been in the res' this whole time. Definitely a bit of a learning curve, at least for me it seems.
 
AspenCultivator said:
Yeah this is definitely the main goal for the AP now. I was expecting the blueberries to be faster, but I don't think the SIP has been the most efficient because of the amount of water that's been in the res' this whole time. Definitely a bit of a learning curve, at least for me it seems.
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I've seen it a few times. It happens. All new grows come with a learning curve. I like soil. Have I been interested in others.... Sure. But soil, seems consistent.
 
OGpapa said:
I've seen it a few times. It happens. All new grows come with a learning curve. I like soil. Have I been interested in others.... Sure. But soil, seems consistent.
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I think I came into it with the wrong mind-set if I'm being honest. My first grow a few years ago was RDWC and while yes there were problems and challenges, I got it to a point after a few weeks where it grew itself. I've read all over the place hydro is harder than soil and my experience just isn't the same. I loved hydro, and may go back to it...or maybe compare SIP to hydro and see what I like more. That's for another time though.

The AP was fed 2 days ago and she's looking great. A bit lighter in color but that's fine. I'm just letting her develop while pulling nodes down and removing shoots that are aimed towards the floor as they won't grow to the canopy before flip. She's growing scarily good actually. To the point where I'm thinking I might top a few nodes just to slow her down. In another week or so I won't have room to lay her down laterally...so a plan needs to be put into motion soon.

Alaskan Purple Day 82

Alaskan Purple Day 82


The blueberries are doing better than I expected as we're still coming off of the too-full-res issue. I can see a clear difference in water level every day, so giving them a bit of a drought seems to have woken them up and they're drinking more than they have been. This puts my mind at ease as the calmag deficiency looks to have cleared right up and they're getting darker in the new growth. All nodes are tied down on both now. I'm going to let them get to the edge of the pot then grow up a couple of inches, then flip. Might be looking at 2 weeks to flip? Maybe sooner? We'll see.

Blueberry #1 Day 50

Blueberry #1 Day 50


Blueberry #2 Day 50

Blueberry #2 Day 50


Slow and steady wins the race, right? Thanks for coming by!
 
Hey everyone! Happy Friday to all, another week coming to a close. No updates today as they seem exactly like they were yesterday (groovy right?!) but, I was pondering something. One reason I believe I'm not 'getting it' in soil (and SIP it seems so far!) is because I'm locking myself into what I've read everywhere else when it comes to feeding. Feed, water, feed, water, etc. etc.

Can I feed twice in a row and it be fine? The AP was getting lighter and was on schedule to be fed so I fed her. The problem now is she's either getting lighter or not darkening up...ie, still not fed the way she wants. I'm supposed to water her in the coming days according to feed, water, feed. If I give her plain water, she's going to be in the wet cycle and will need to dry out, thus emptying her nute reserves even more. This might be so incredibly obvious to everyone that reads this, but for whatever reason I'm stuck thinking they HAVE to have feed water feed.

This is also why the blueberries are so light right now. With them sitting in water for forever because they were just up-potted (at the time), I was waiting to feed so they went pale. I just gave their res feed a few days ago and either tomorrow or the next day will be ready for water. However, they're also not the dark green I see around these forums so they're not growing as well as they could be. Couldn't I just throw another feed in there and then if they're darkening up give plain water after that?

I'm literally laughing at posting this question because it seems obvious I should be able to feed twice if I want. But, I'm new to growing weed, and don't want to waste the 80 something days I've already spent on the AP by causing more harm than good. I appreciate anyone's advice!
 
AspenCultivator said:
Hey everyone! Happy Friday to all, another week coming to a close. No updates today as they seem exactly like they were yesterday (groovy right?!) but, I was pondering something. One reason I believe I'm not 'getting it' in soil (and SIP it seems so far!) is because I'm locking myself into what I've read everywhere else when it comes to feeding. Feed, water, feed, water, etc. etc.

Can I feed twice in a row and it be fine? The AP was getting lighter and was on schedule to be fed so I fed her. The problem now is she's either getting lighter or not darkening up...ie, still not fed the way she wants. I'm supposed to water her in the coming days according to feed, water, feed. If I give her plain water, she's going to be in the wet cycle and will need to dry out, thus emptying her nute reserves even more. This might be so incredibly obvious to everyone that reads this, but for whatever reason I'm stuck thinking they HAVE to have feed water feed.

This is also why the blueberries are so light right now. With them sitting in water for forever because they were just up-potted (at the time), I was waiting to feed so they went pale. I just gave their res feed a few days ago and either tomorrow or the next day will be ready for water. However, they're also not the dark green I see around these forums so they're not growing as well as they could be. Couldn't I just throw another feed in there and then if they're darkening up give plain water after that?

I'm literally laughing at posting this question because it seems obvious I should be able to feed twice if I want. But, I'm new to growing weed, and don't want to waste the 80 something days I've already spent on the AP by causing more harm than good. I appreciate anyone's advice!
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I feed with every watering, but I use MC, and it's meant to be used that way.
 
I've seen MC posted around before, what does it stand for? Or rather, what is it so I can view a product page or something?

I think I'm going to be switching away from Fox Farms full lineup once what I have is gone. They draw really pretty pictures but it's been a pain so far trying to learn and observe the plants when there are so many inputs.
 
AspenCultivator said:
I've seen MC posted around before, what does it stand for? Or rather, what is it so I can view a product page or something?

I think I'm going to be switching away from Fox Farms full lineup once what I have is gone. They draw really pretty pictures but it's been a pain so far trying to learn and observe the plants when there are so many inputs.
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They're not a sponsor, so the site often changes the name to "420" when you type it out. Trala calls it Tega Brop.
 
Hi everyone, and happy Sunday. Opened the tent this morning and the AP was signalling she wants water, so she got PH 6.4 water with calmag PPM 330. I took the pics of her while I'm in the middle of watering her, which is why she's so droopy. In an hour or two she'll be right back and at 'em. She has some internal nodes that seem to have taken off, and I'm leaning towards topping those. If I didn't have the blueberries, she'd be flipped right now. So topping her a few times should allow the blues to catch up some more.

Alaskan Purple Day 85

Alaskan Purple Day 85


As for the blues every couple of days I'll go in and readjust their ties, such as what happened this morning. Her 4th node shoots are just about to the edge of the bucket, so I tied them down as horizontal as I could get them while letting her 3rd node shoots come up at a greater angle. This should get all 4 shoots to the edge at the same time, or close to it. Once they're to the edge and have grown up 2 inches or so, they'll be flipped.

Blueberry #1 Day 53

Blueberry #1 Day 53


Blueberry #2 Day 53

Blueberry #2 Day 53


Alaskan Purple and Blueberries

Alaskan Purple and Blueberries


Thanks for stopping in! Shouldn't be too long now before we're flowering.
 
Hi everyone! Standard update incoming. All 3 plants needed fed so they got week 4 on the FF nute schedule. PH 6.2, 1495 PPM. I've been letting the AP grow out while still defoling here and there, and taking nodes that won't make it in time for flip. Since she's draining her 1 gallon pot every 3 days now I'm pretty sure 3-4 days before flip I'm going to up-pot into a 3 gallon fabric. I believe I'll have enough room. Famous last words though, right?

Alaskan Purple Day 88

Alaskan Purple Day 88


The blueberries have recovered from their calmag deficiency and are now draining the 1/4 gallon I give them in 3-4 days. I fully believe having the reservoirs at 1/2 full gave them too much water and they got comfortable where they were and didn't show any aggressive growth. With less water, there's more of a moisture gradient in the container which would force roots to seek the water further below. These are now at the edge of the pots so I'm not going to tie them down further and just let them grow up a few inches. Then flip.

Blueberry #1 Day 56

Blueberry #1 Day 56


Blueberry #2 Day 56

Blueberry #2 Day 56


The new growth is a nice green color and not showing any calmag defs, so I think we're set for the flip. I'm going out of town for the next 5 days so the current plan is to up-pot the AP when I'm back, then flip 3-4 days after that. See everyone next week!
 
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