Keffkas Coast Of Maine Line, TLO/LOS Style, Bagseed, Indoor Grow

[johnehazeharvester]

I didn’t like the radiator because it dried out my soil too much on the sides before my plants even broke ground. To fix that would require me to dome it or spray the soil before they break ground, both of which I don’t want to do. Airflow is so so so important to plants young and old.. I will take a couple losses if it means good airflow. Spraying the soil before the plants break ground also throws off my timing and makes the root growth slightly lazier since they don’t need to aggressively search out water. I want my roots driving hard and fast for the first 14 days so I can get them out of the solos asap.

Although I do think I could stand to spray the top a little more during seedling because when I transplanted I had very little of the top feeder roots. You can see in these images the roots started branching out about halfway down the cup.. Cannabis can throw out more roots up top to hold the soil together better but I think my lack of spraying prevented that.

Very interesting, thanks! Sorry I just got around to reading this

 

[Keffka]

Hey Keffka,

Got room for 1 more? I’m looking for spot in back corner and promise I won’t fart much. I really appreciate your deep dive here, it won’t happen all at once but I can dig my teeth in here to help improve my own poor patch of garden

I noticed a few pages in you mentioned sustainability of peat and how you maybe looking for a replacement. Recently I snagged a 50# bale of rice hulls at my local grow shop for $55 bones, from what I’ve read- hulls can be used as grow media same as coco but I guess they need buffering too. I’m using them instead of perlite in my soil mix, also as mulch layer and for the wick foot in one of my SIPs. But from what I’ve experienced using rice hulls is that mine appears to spawn the shite out of hypoapsis miles soil mites, but good news is- they don’t attack the plant.

As you know hulls are chocked with silica… since you are feeding the soil I’m sure with your knowledge you can easily figure out how to make it fly… if it fits within your other parameters of course. Enough yakking from me but wanted to say keep up the great work.

Thank You Sir for serving the United Sates of America, that goes for you, Bode and any others!!! Our military is the bedrock of our nation and freedoms, we would not be here without you all.

back to page 10…

Hey @013 the more the merrier! I’ve had my eye on rice hulls and will eventually get to trying them myself. They seem to have a range of benefits and would fit my style well. Incremental changes keep me from making too many changes at once but I do have them on my list of things to try.

I had concerns about the sustainability of peat, however I learned about Canadian Sphagnum peat as well as CSPMA and how they’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the responsible and sustainable harvesting of peat. I just have to ensure that the peat I get my hands on is CSPMA approved and it will be good for my concerns.

As far as soil mites go, I’m all about any sort of critter we can get going on in our soils. Heck I’ve stopped trying to limit fungus gnats as it is. Most soil critters bring excellent advantages to the medium. They aerate the soil constantly. They move bacteria all over the container, giving it a ride to places it can’t get on its own. They also help to break down larger bits of organic matter for microbe processing. Plus, just like bacteria, when critters die, they leave behind resources for the plant to use. I’ve taken an all life in the soil is welcome approach.

My favorite critter so far is the springtail. There’s so many and they keep the soil breathing in those hard to reach places.

When using a soil food web method, all parts of the web need to exist, not just the ones I like. The first time I saw nematodes in my soil it grossed me out. I don’t like worms that are smaller than your average earthworm, they creep me out with their movements and their ability to get inside of stuff. However, nematodes are incredibly useful and a major part of the soil food web so I’ve grown accustomed to em.

The way I view it is, if a critter is trying to get itself into my soil, I’ve done something right. I’ve got an environment that is attractive to life. Now attacking my plants is different. I haven’t had any pests attacking my plants, however I grow indoors and only I ever step into my grow room, and I don’t bring in clones from other people. I also keep my brix levels raised in my plants. When your brix levels are high enough your plant is almost invisible to pests looking for a cheap meal.

If I was growing outside I would add neem meal to my grows and ensure my brix levels were up. That way anything I did see I would know is beneficial.

 

[Keffka]

Very interesting, thanks! Sorry I just got around to reading this

No worries! I’ve actually gotten a seedling heat mat since that post. I’ll be trying that moving forward. I was using a regular old heating pad meant for humans for a while and that did a pretty good job too

 

[Keffka]

Looks like a little calcium call.. @Gee64 this look like calcium to you? I was thinking about upping my PPMs from 55 to 70 since we’re in flower.. if this spreads at all or appears elsewhere I’ll push em up a bit

 

[Gee64]

Looks like a little calcium call.. @Gee64 this look like calcium to you? I was thinking about upping my PPMs from 55 to 70 since we’re in flower.. if this spreads at all or appears elsewhere I’ll push em up a bit

It does. If it was my plant I would give it a shot of cal-mag 1st, just to get a proper cal to mag ratio for sure, then try a higher ppm.

I would go 75-90 ppm if the plant still looks good, but no higher for sure, and do it once 3 days after calmag, then reassess.

Is the soil tight right under the mulch?

Pinch it and rub your fingers just a bit. Do they get dirty or muddy?

If its muddy its too high in mag so you need cal. If its dirty you probably need both in balance.

 

[Keffka]

It does. If it was my plant I would give it a shot of cal-mag 1st, just to get a proper cal to mag ratio for sure, then try a higher ppm.

I would go 75-90 ppm if the plant still looks good, but no higher for sure, and do it once 3 days after calmag, then reassess.

Is the soil tight right under the mulch?

Pinch it and rub your fingers just a bit. Do they get dirty or muddy?

If its muddy its too high in mag so you need cal. If its dirty you probably need both in balance.

I’ll check the soil.. what are some signs the plant gives when they’ve been given too much calmag?

 

[Gee64]

I’ll check the soil.. what are some signs the plant gives when they’ve been given too much calmag?

It usually results in burnt tips.

 

[Keffka]

It usually results in burnt tips.

Soil feels good.. light and fluffy, no dirtiness or muddiness. Sounds like I may just be under feeding for it’s stage

 

[johnehazeharvester]

No worries! I’ve actually gotten a seedling heat mat since that post. I’ll be trying that moving forward. I was using a regular old heating pad meant for humans for a while and that did a pretty good job too

The pineapple express that I am growing I planted directly into 1 gallon pots from seed with small taproot, and there was a noticeable delay in how long it took the seedling to start. I sprouted them in my grow room and didn’t do the same procedure with the radiator under my granite top in my bathroom. In the future I probably will go back to the radiator under the granite top. I guess those early roots like a little extra warmth.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

Quick observation post.. First here’s an image of one of my pots.. you can see I just drop the leaves right on to the surface. Oftentimes I will crumble the leaves once they’ve dried a bit. The roots will come up and drag the leaves down ensuring the resources stay in the system.

The observation I’ve noted is water consumption. Since I’m watering daily I have a good idea how much water the plant is going through daily. During stretch the water consumption increased quite a bit however, I’ve noticed as we get to the end of stretch, water consumption has slowed slightly. This is an indicator the plant is shifting out of stretch and root growth and moving into full on bud, and resin production. Once this shift is complete I expect water consumption to increase dramatically signaling its in full blown flower production.

Here’s an image of the plant cannibalizing for P and a little bit of K.

By this point last grow the plant was already in a bad way. K deficiency was all over the plant eating its way from the bottom up. The plant was lime in color overall. P deficiency was spreading throughout as well. Currently in this grow it is only these bottom leaves showing these signs. These are the leaves that were damaged earlier in the grow. I’ve found that plant will cannibalize leaves that were damaged once they’re too shaded to provide photosynthesis.

Do you usually leave damaged leaves on the plant? I was taking some of them off. Some of the bottom leaves are quite close to my mulch and often touch so these go bad. I add them to my fermented plant juice mix that I’ve been experimenting with. Maybe I should leave them on in case the plant needs to cannibalize something in the future. This is the reason I don’t lollipop. I have a fan blowing on them which should help keep mold to a minimum.

 

[Keffka]

The pineapple express that I am growing I planted directly into 1 gallon pots from seed with small taproot, and there was a noticeable delay in how long it took the seedling to start. I sprouted them in my grow room and didn’t do the same procedure with the radiator under my granite top in my bathroom. In the future I probably will go back to the radiator under the granite top. I guess those early roots like a little extra warmth.

Part of the delay you experienced was due to the larger container you sprouted in. When a seed germinates the tap root shoots out and heads downward to anchor the plant. In a larger container this take a little bit longer to happen. The same for the lateral feeder roots that come out. In a larger container it takes the roots longer to reach their end point.

This is why people sprout in jiffy pods, 4 inch pots, etc. smaller space leads to the plant sprouting faster.

Do you usually leave damaged leaves on the plant? I was taking some of them off. Some of the bottom leaves are quite close to my mulch and often touch so these go bad. I add them to my fermented plant juice mix that I’ve been experimenting with. Maybe I should leave them on in case the plant needs to cannibalize something in the future. This is the reason I don’t lollipop. I have a fan blowing on them which should help keep mold to a minimum.

I do leave the damaged leaves. When the plant wants to access a resource that isn’t readily available it will go for the damaged leaves first. I also don’t remove it because I view it as an early warning system. These leaves will show me what the plant wants and if it’s not too far gone, I’ll have enough time to react before any other part of the plant takes a hit.

You’ve gotta balance it though.. if the leaves are attracting pests or are causing poor airflow, they’re not worth keeping around.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

So the smell is already ridiculously strong. Interestingly though I don’t smell cannabis. I smell a swampy smell like damp vegetation. This is the same smell I was smelling last grow that I thought was due to watering but it turns out it’s actually the cannabis itself. I find this intriguing because my wife can smell the cannabis scent perfectly fine, just like last time. This isn’t the first thing that I’ve had trouble smelling accurately. I think it’s my medication messing with my sense of smell.

Anyway.. Everyone is glorious.. We did have a problem show itself. One of the plants showed true herm. It was growing both male and female parts at almost every node. It’s apical bud was also looking very suspicious, almost like a male.. here’s some images

I caught it before they had a chance to begin pollinating so there should be no issues. This also made it so I could open up the space a bit for the two taller plants and give them a decent amount of room to grow. They’re growing like sativas but they’re budding like indicas.. hybrids are such silly gooses

I top dressed again and saw some really cool stuff.. these roots are growing like animals and you can see them hunting down the bands of nutrients.. you can also see myco coming from the roots.. mulching the top of my pots is something I will always do from now on after seeing this

It’s incredibly really.. This grow has been ridiculously easy.. and I’m in a 3 gallon pushing these plants hard. This bodes extremely well for going forward in larger pots. The plants started cannibalizing their lower leaves looking for P and K so I gave them a little extra in the top dress. I’m not concerned with left over NPK or any of the micronutrients. With this grow style the plant is only taking what it needs. I could top dress all the way until harvest and have a bunch of N leftover in the pot and that would still be fine. There will be no residual or lingering effects as the plant has made the food choices as opposed to me shoving it down their throats.


I am extremely pleased with what I’ve seen during this grow and can’t wait to watch these bad ladies start strutting their stuff.

I’m only a month into veg, but I noticed a swamp smell after top dressing and watering. Top dressed with one tablespoon Dr. Earth homegrown, one tablespoon of crab meal, one tablespoon of kelp, 1 tablespoon of alfalfa, one tablespoon of gypsum and a half tablespoon of chicken manure. Maybe it was the chickenshit and kelp mixed together that gave me the smell, but the plants seem to like it

 

[Gee64]

Soil feels good.. light and fluffy, no dirtiness or muddiness. Sounds like I may just be under feeding for it’s stage

Then I would consider both cal and mag. Keep it balanced and slightly increase its dosage until you catch up to her.

Maybe start with the manufacturer's light feeding, then move to medium, and even high if needed, but feed at least twice at medium, it might just need to catch up a bit.

Also get some ewc up top to help it long term. Then in a few days some fish ferts to destress her.

 

[johnehazeharvester]

Learn something new everyday and that makes sense about the bacteria but I like I said before if it ain’t broke.lol CL

I saw a you tube video from Chris aka Mr Grow it. If I remember correctly He tried paper towel method, shot glass and direct planting in the medium and to his astonishment the direct method resulted in the fastest sprout. He documents this side by side.
My first trial was w paper towel method got 3/4 to pop. I think towel dried out.

Since then I have 6/6 success with shot glass although the last 2 I had to pry the seed helmet off with tweezers after it sprouted. Shot glass was way easier. Just needed a warm dark environment. They also pop faster. Next time I will directly plant and see what happens.

 

[Keffka]

Then I would consider both cal and mag. Keep it balanced and slightly increase its dosage until you catch up to her.

Maybe start with the manufacturer's light feeding, then move to medium, and even high if needed, but feed at least twice at medium, it might just need to catch up a bit.

Also get some ewc up top to help it long term. Then in a few days some fish ferts to destress her.

I’ve been running the grow at 55 ppms of organic non chelated calmag every watering. This is about 1-2 ml per gallon of pure water. I’ve tried to go higher a couple times but got clawing and slightly burnt tips so I brought it back down.

The manufacturer recommends 5 ml per gallon once a week in flower which comes out to about 175-200 ppms. That’s a bit high for my taste since I’m watering more often and would prefer to keep them steady.

The plant flashing the calcium is the tall one with indica leaves so she may just be getting hungrier with flower occurring. I’ll try pushing them a little higher today. The problem isn’t widespread at all, just one or two tiny circles on one or two leaves. You can see here without being zoomed in how tiny it actually is

 

[Gee64]

I’ve been running the grow at 55 ppms of organic non chelated calmag every watering. This is about 1-2 ml per gallon of pure water. I’ve tried to go higher a couple times but got clawing and slightly burnt tips so I brought it back down.

The manufacturer recommends 5 ml per gallon once a week in flower which comes out to about 175-200 ppms. That’s a bit high for my taste since I’m watering more often and would prefer to keep them steady.

The plant flashing the calcium is the tall one with indica leaves so she may just be getting hungrier with flower occurring. I’ll try pushing them a little higher today. The problem isn’t widespread at all, just one or two tiny circles on one or two leaves. You can see here without being zoomed in how tiny it actually is

If its not spreading I wouldn't worry about it. Are you topdressing regularly with ewc?

 

[Keffka]

If its not spreading I wouldn't worry about it. Are you topdressing regularly with ewc?

Yeah, first day of flip, then 2 weeks later, and I’ll do it again in one week. She’s starting to cannibalize her damaged leaves for P and K so she’s about to start budding heavily.

The plants all look strong and healthy. Tomorrow is +21. Trichomes are appearing everywhere and buds are beginning to fatten. Stretching has ceased. I finished defoliating 2 of 3 plants today. I’ll snap pictures in the morning.

I cut the tips of each branch I planned on defoliating which was the bottom 2 nodes on the tall plants, then removed all of the buds leaving just the leaves. Airflow is already decent so I left the extra leaves for photosynthesis and cannibalism. I went from bottom to top of each plant removing all buds that were below the 3rd node from the tip of each branch. The top cola and the 4-6 branches beneath it have the majority of their buds left intact since these get a lot of light.

We’re now settling into the fun part. Watching to see how fat and stinky these plants get. Judging by the size of the buds already we should have a decent yield on our hands.

 

[Gee64]

I like you being out east lol. I get pictures at 6am my time with my coffee.

 

[Gee64]

Azi your biggest challenge with leaves is their water holding ability. Too much leaf carbon may be too wet, so you may have to adjust with perlite.

 

[Keffka]

Here’s everyone right before being manicured. Just waiting for lights on to get their reaction