How not to be a salt farmer or a wasteful grower tips

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Another rainy evening for momma and clones.

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budnoob3 said:
As for dispelling myths, let’s also mention light stress with photoperiods. Not totally a myth because there are definite consequences of radically changing lighting schedules and intensities and some photos are more sensitive than others. However, there are purists that will go to extent of making sure power strips have no illumination on the power switch and other such extreme measures. I for one can tell you in my experience that is BS. I’ve opened my tents during lights out briefly on many occasions without any perceivable issues. I’ve also switched from LED to HPS or Ceramic Halide abruptly either due to bulb failure or some other problem and put some girls through undo stress but they all managed to survive and produce for me.
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🙏 Yeah i just learned my lesson on this.
 
Bean bonanza surprise lol. On occasion I like to grab a few beans and just throw them into a pot outdoors and see what I get. Typically, I follow the common practice of soak, paper towel, and heat pad method with great success. However, sometimes I use my stash of unknowns that got mixed up at one time or another to do this. Usually only 1 or 2 actually sprout but when they do I know they’re viable and strong. In this case all three have sprouted so we’lll see how it goes. Then it will be a game of name that cultivar :) Cheers

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Probably too soon to mention but another amendment that I started in compost about a year ago is bat guano. Fortunate to know a family that has a child studying environmental sciences that works for a nature preserve. On that preserve there is a very large post and beam barn structure with a fairly large and active population. Being environmentalists they are more than happy to share that poop with me so I’ve been amending with it. Granted, by the time I get to using it, it will be 2025 or 2026 at the soonest. I’d love for anyone with experience with bat guano to chime in with their knowledge and tips please!!!
 
Clarification for soil mix ratios I use:
3.8 cu ft (28.42 ga) HP Pro BX Organic at 50%
1.42 cu ft or 8.52 ga of perlite at 30%
.38 cu ft or 2.84 ga of worm castings at 10%
.38 cu ft of 2.84 ga of compost at 10%
Then I’ll add about 250-300 worms, 1 ga of tea and a couple ga or more of rain or stream water to get a moist but not drenched mixture in bins that I store in a 80° min heated area to cook for at least 60 days.
Then I add to existing leftover soils in gardens and pots after removing root balls etc and mix.
 
Top Dressing
I typically do top dressing every 4-6 weeks which is alternated with tea feedings. As in, I do 1st tea feeding at wk 4-5 from sprout or clone rooting, then wait 2-3 weeks to do top dressing and so on. For top dressing I include about 2 cups of worm castings and a sprinkling of flour as well as about a tsp of molasses diluted in a quart of water per plant.
 
electroculture gardening
Another thing I started experimenting with this year yet not necessarily organic in nature is electroculture. A friend turned me onto it and I started experimentation in the vegetable garden area and definitely noticed improvements for the one row I added it to vs the other rows. I don’t know if anyone noticed but if you look closely at mama she has 2 rods like the one shown below on 2 sides of the pot. She is the first MJ to ever have these added for me. Therefore, alongside my test of picking one clone not to feed I’m gonna leave the rods out of the non-tea feeding one as well as one of the fed clones and just add them to the other fed clone for comparison. Excited for the results :) Cheers

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Fenderbender said:
You always say this :) but well okay in this case there is a lot of space... but I do like a little rim on the top of the pot, keeps things from spilling out as when it's filled to the top just bumping the pot makes things jump out, and well I think they should make the top few inches of fabric waterproof (hmm maybe I can try with some scotchguard) so you can pool water on top and it directs it all downward.
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I would only add that I also like to leave a little room for top dressing, not as much as I have here but a little.
 
Impatience is killing me. Dying to see more questions, comments and feedback :) especially the 1 question I’ve expected ever since the first picture of momma!
 
Bat Guano generally comes in two flavors, that from insect eating bats which is high in N, and the other from flower nectar sipping bats high in P.

Any idea what your bats prefer?
 
Azimuth said:
Bat Guano generally comes in two flavors, that from insect eating bats which is high in N, and the other from flower nectar sipping bats high in P.

Any idea what your bats prefer?
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That’s a great question, I’m thinking the insect eating variety but will confirm. If so I will continue to keep the amendments to a minimum.
 
another day

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budnoob3 said:
electroculture gardening
Another thing I started experimenting with this year yet not necessarily organic in nature is electroculture. A friend turned me onto it and I started experimentation in the vegetable garden area and definitely noticed improvements for the one row I added it to vs the other rows. I don’t know if anyone noticed but if you look closely at mama she has 2 rods like the one shown below on 2 sides of the pot. She is the first MJ to ever have these added for me. Therefore, alongside my test of picking one clone not to feed I’m gonna leave the rods out of the non-tea feeding one as well as one of the fed clones and just add them to the other fed clone for comparison. Excited for the results :) Cheers

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Here’s what I used to make rods

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Azimuth said:
Bat Guano generally comes in two flavors, that from insect eating bats which is high in N, and the other from flower nectar sipping bats high in P.

Any idea what your bats prefer?
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They are confirmed to be the bug eaters
 
Recap:
Clone 1 with electroculture will be fed and top dressed normally
Clone 2 with the dowel stake will not be fed or dressed or electro - at least to the point it’s health and survival will allow - testing to see how long and how far she gets based solely on soil mix and rain/stream water intake
Clone 3 without stake will be fed and dressed normally with no electro to be compared to momma and other clones at the end

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budnoob3 said:
As for dispelling myths, let’s also mention light stress with photoperiods. Not totally a myth because there are definite consequences of radically changing lighting schedules and intensities and some photos are more sensitive than others. However, there are purists that will go to extent of making sure power strips have no illumination on the power switch and other such extreme measures. I for one can tell you in my experience that is BS. I’ve opened my tents during lights out briefly on many occasions without any perceivable issues. I’ve also switched from LED to HPS or Ceramic Halide abruptly either due to bulb failure or some other problem and put some girls through undo stress but they all managed to survive and produce for me.
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Yeah most photos aren’t that sensitive. Otherwise far off streetlights and things would never let them flower.
Now I did have a CapJunky photo last year that never flowered right because of outdoor solar motion lights. They came on all night long here and there, it was enough to disrupt it completely.
On the flip side, I grew the same variety in a tent that sits in my living room. It got light pollution here and there all the time but nothing drastic. It finished just fine. I even moved it to 13/11 to squeeze in that little extra hour (60-80 extra hours of light by the end of it’s life)
Once they actually make the hormonal change into flower, it takes a huge amount of light to send them back to veg. So that 7-10 days where they are deciding to flower is arguably the real time you need to worry about uninterrupted darkness.
 
Just a little info on filling containers to the top. I always fill my containers to the top, however, I NEVER tamp them down or try to get extra in. I fill the container to the top and after a transplant and watering it settles slightly giving enough room to mulch.

Cannabis roots love an oxygen rich environment and love a nice airy soil to cut through with ease. When you tamp the containers down you start the compaction process.

If you’re growing organically there’s a HIGH probability rapid decomposition is also going to occur in your containers as well. Also leading to compaction. Together, both of these can choke out the roots, preventing it from utilizing as much of the soil as it could potentially use.

I say all of that to say, while I do fill my containers to the top, by the time a plant is in and settled, the soil drops by an inch or two. Once the plant fills the container it will drop the soil another inch or so as well. Oftentimes you will see organic containers that appear not fully filled but it’s just a natural part of the process. Especially if you’re using a recycled soil.
 
Yes, never tamp and don’t be afraid of perlite. Perlite makes up at least 30% of my volume
 
Also note that my soil is rarely if ever 100% recycled. Every season I add new to the old and mix. And every season I rotate crops randomly.
 
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