In The Lab

Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Doc Bud said:
No, you'll probably be fine with that nice tap water. My water is HORRIBLE right now. I wish I could use tap water. I've got to buy new memranes and filters already....damn.
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That sucks Doc. Too bad about your tap water. When I first started growing, I almost got sucked into the hype and bought an RO unit before I even got plants. Luckily a grower friend talked some sense into me and said just try the tap water. About that time, I pulled the water report for my community (Your advice a year and a half ago) and the tap water was really good. TA was about 75 if I remember correctly. All my plants have never had an issue with the tap water. Guess I lucked out.
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Steppenwolf said:
That sucks Doc. Too bad about your tap water. When I first started growing, I almost got sucked into the hype and bought an RO unit before I even got plants. Luckily a grower friend talked some sense into me and said just try the tap water. About that time, I pulled the water report for my community (Your advice a year and a half ago) and the tap water was really good. TA was about 75 if I remember correctly. All my plants have never had an issue with the tap water. Guess I lucked out.
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Water like what you're talking about is much better than RO if you're in soil. Hydro guys might still prefer RO, but for us soil growers, something like your water is ideal. Good job not falling for the hype!
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Today is payday and with one experiment wrapping up and summers warm days preventing me from running dwc again for a while I'm thinking the tike has come for super soil vs high brix. Shoot me a message mate?
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Hey Doc,
is there a link somewhere on how to use your kit? I have not been able to find it, only what you have on page 1 steps 1-5. thanks...
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

goldilocks said:
Hey Doc,
is there a link somewhere on how to use your kit? I have not been able to find it, only what you have on page 1 steps 1-5. thanks...
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Page 5 of this very journal has it.

Short cut in my signature.
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

A Brief Word About Soil "Cooking"

So far, the only problem I've seen or heard about with the kit is when the soil isn't cooked properly.

Briefly, it takes about a month.

Temps can't be lower than about 65 degrees. Warmer is better, to a point. Anything below 60 and the soil life will go dormant and no composting (cooking) will occur.

When cooking the soil, put the container somewhere warm (or cool if temps are above 90).

Here's what to look for:

soil stays moist for weeks on end. I haven't looked at this soil, other than a brief glance on 4/20, for about 45 days. I watered once. It's still moist. This is normal and shows that things are alive in the soil.

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Try to make a dirt clod. The soil should compress and then spring right back. No clods or balls should be able to form.

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Open the hand and all the dirt should just fall out of your hand loosely.

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A wave your hand around and it should be almost clean, if the soil has the right properties.
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Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Doc,

It is finally getting above 60 during the days outdoors, but in the mid to high 30's at night. Would outdoor storage of the bin be OK with a temp swing like that? I hate to set it outside and have some rogue mite make it's way in to the bin. I am guessing the garage it is stored in now is 50-60 range these days.

When one starts a plant in lets say a 7 gal pot with non cooked or under cooked soil, does it start cooking when it is in a grow room with 70-80 degree temps? Or is it to late? as may have been the case in my grow.?

And is there an alternate method if one doesn't have the time or opportunity to cook soil?
 
Re: "In the Lab" with Doc Bud

Hash Hound said:
Doc,

It is finally getting above 60 during the days outdoors, but in the mid to high 30's at night. Would outdoor storage of the bin be OK with a temp swing like that? I hate to set it outside and have some rogue mite make it's way in to the bin. I am guessing the garage it is stored in now is 50-60 range these days.

When one starts a plant in lets say a 7 gal pot with non cooked or under cooked soil, does it start cooking when it is in a grow room with 70-80 degree temps? Or is it to late? as may have been the case in my grow.?

And is there an alternate method if one doesn't have the time or opportunity to cook soil?
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It starts cooking in the grow room....but unfortunately lots of stuff has leeched out and the plants don't have so much of what they need available.

You're not supposed to plant anything for two weeks after a broadcast in a farming application. The soil is actually toxic when the phosphorus and calcium are reacting to each other.

I'd put that barrel indoors in the living room. You can drape a nice table cloth or blanket over it.
 
Since we are in the soil mode Doc.

Let me pose this situation to you.

I am using 2/3 of the kit ingredients for the current 4 plant gorw. However I still have one tub of STARTED soil equal to the first grow left over. Since I added the perlite and worm castings at the beginning, I assume I stretched it a bit and there is still enough soil for 4 more plants.

Lets say I use the remaining 1/3 of the kit for 2 more plants in the STARTED soil.

I might want to experiment with the remaing 2 pots of STARTED soil with some other ferts just to see how well that already ammended soil plays with other nutes. Would a few tea feedings be OK? Or even a decent liquid flowering nute like Dynagro? And of course the infamous Stump Tea that my partner loves.

Heck, I'd even try a light dose of OC+ it that is all it would need. I know it might not be high brix, but it would still be some dank bud wouldn't it?

I'm sure I could buy more ENERGY and TEA from you to complete the grow, but I was just wondering how well using something else would turn out. Any other suggestions are welcome also.
 
Hash Hound said:
Since we are in the soil mode Doc.

Let me pose this situation to you.

I am using 2/3 of the kit ingredients for the current 4 plant gorw. However I still have one tub of STARTED soil equal to the first grow left over. Since I added the perlite and worm castings at the beginning, I assume I stretched it a bit and there is still enough soil for 4 more plants.

Lets say I use the remaining 1/3 of the kit for 2 more plants in the STARTED soil.

I might want to experiment with the remaing 2 pots of STARTED soil with some other ferts just to see how well that already ammended soil plays with other nutes. Would a few tea feedings be OK? Or even a decent liquid flowering nute like Dynagro? And of course the infamous Stump Tea that my partner loves.

Heck, I'd even try a light dose of OC+ it that is all it would need. I know it might not be high brix, but it would still be some dank bud wouldn't it?

I'm sure I could buy more ENERGY and TEA from you to complete the grow, but I was just wondering how well using something else would turn out. Any other suggestions are welcome also.
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Hey, knock yourself out. Have fun with it. All of those ideas sound good. The amended soil will work extremely well with other nutes...fabulously well for a short time. Then salts will build up and the magic will be gone. So if you were careful you could probably even coax a high brixish grow from "conventional" stuff.

As far as sending you stuff, I'll send you whatever you need or want You're the only person the kit isn't performing for that I know of at this moment. I've got some ideas for you if you want to try to resurrect a truely high brix grow. Let me know.
 
Hash Hound said:
Well Doc, it was week 5 flowering today.

If you think there is still time left to make adjustments that will benefit this grow I'll give it a shot.
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You're kinda gonna chock this grow up to learning. You'll get some good produce.....a few weeks late. I was thinking more about your next grow.
 
Hi Doc. Like so many others I have been following your work for a while now and all I can say is Thank You! Finding this gardening style, and having someone willing to invest their time and energy sharing knowledge freely has made my gardening experience more rewarding and my plants a lot healthier.
I am currently in next best practice soil with a lot of IAL products and getting great results, but I'm still not close to your yield and quality. I would definitely like to order a kit. I think you posted a cannapharms e-mail address somewhere, should I send you a message there?
Also I thought I'd mention that I recently sent in some Pro-mix for testing. My results were very similar to yours except my nitrates were 10x the desired level. I spoke with John and he said there's no way peat would have those nitrates; it had to have been exposed to nitrogen and bacteria to break it down. This could have been contaminated from me, but I took it straight from the bale. I'm sure this is just one of those things that will never be explained, so I'm sending in another sample of Pro-Mix. Just thought this might be of interest in light of Hash Hound's troubles. My bale was from Sunlight in Vancouver, WA. Thanks again Doc. Keep up the good work.
 
twitch123 said:
Hi Doc. Like so many others I have been following your work for a while now and all I can say is Thank You! Finding this gardening style, and having someone willing to invest their time and energy sharing knowledge freely has made my gardening experience more rewarding and my plants a lot healthier.
I am currently in next best practice soil with a lot of IAL products and getting great results, but I'm still not close to your yield and quality. I would definitely like to order a kit. I think you posted a cannapharms e-mail address somewhere, should I send you a message there?
Also I thought I'd mention that I recently sent in some Pro-mix for testing. My results were very similar to yours except my nitrates were 10x the desired level. I spoke with John and he said there's no way peat would have those nitrates; it had to have been exposed to nitrogen and bacteria to break it down. This could have been contaminated from me, but I took it straight from the bale. I'm sure this is just one of those things that will never be explained, so I'm sending in another sample of Pro-Mix. Just thought this might be of interest in light of Hash Hound's troubles. My bale was from Sunlight in Vancouver, WA. Thanks again Doc. Keep up the good work.
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Did you have ProMix HP Mycorhyzza tested? It doesn't have the "starter" charge.
 
twitch123 said:
Yes HP Mycorhizae. Ingredients: Sphagnum Peat moss, dolomitic and calcitic limestone, wetting agent, mycorhizae.
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Strange it would have high nitrates.

Not to worry! Nitrates leech quickly.
 
It is strange, which is why I decided not to order the amendment based on that sample. I would like to order a kit from you if possible. Not sure if I need to search for the e-mail you posted or if you need to send me a pm. Thanks for your quick responses Doc. Its a great teacher and leader who takes time from their own schedule to help others.
 
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