Look at this beauty! I'm looking for some tips :) I'm very anxious

[newfarmeragain]

Hey NFA,

Can you drop us a pic of the meter you are using to check soil ph

and do the same for the meter used to check feed water ph…

I measured the water that drained from the watering, and it had a pH of 6, EC of 4740 µS/cm, and 2370 ppm. This is the same value the soil meter showed after some time, once it stabilized. Before using the peat moss, I adjusted its pH by washing it several times with water at pH 8.5 to regulate it. I'm not sure if this makes sense.

I had forgotten to mention that I mixed some neem cake and bonsai bokashi with the peat moss. I added about half a cup of neem cake and approximately 100 ml of bokashi to the 5-gallon container. The high EC of 4740 µS/cm and 2370 ppm might be due to this, as these are the only factors that could have caused such high values.

I'm sending a photo of my two meters, as well as current photos of the girls. I watered the girls three days ago; on the first day, I didn’t do anything, but on the following two days, I performed foliar feeding with a solution at 350 ppm. Today, I'll water them again, and I'll be starting the seventh week.

 

[SmokingWings]

I measured the water that drained from the watering, and it had a pH of 6,

And you ended up getting the pH of the water that went in. Everything I have just read on measuring the pH of peat moss mentions that a sample of the peat moss has to sit in an equal amount of water for 4 or more hours. Have to give the water time to soak into and react to the peat.

It seems that the peat takes longer to act/react with the water than typical dirt or soil mix which contains decomposed organic material.

 

[newfarmeragain]

And you ended up getting the pH of the water that went in. Everything I have just read on measuring the pH of peat moss mentions that a sample of the peat moss has to sit in an equal amount of water for 4 or more hours. Have to give the water time to soak into and react to the peat.

It seems that the peat takes longer to act/react with the water than typical dirt or soil mix which contains decomposed organic material.

Okay, I will do this test to see the result, and I will post the results here soon.

I made new toppings and started removing the leaves from the bottom and some from the top that are blocking light from the main branches.
I might wait another 2 weeks to see if it's possible to take some clones before switching it to flower.

I'm not sure if two more weeks will be enough to take the clones, it seems I might need to do more toppings just to take the cuttings.
Is 12 colas enough, or should I do more toppings?

Thank you very much for all your help!

 

[newfarmeragain]

I'm pressed for time, but I will take the measurements in the next few days. I have another concern about the white stuff in my pot. It seems that my molasses mixed with algae created this thing. Is this something to be worried about?

Maybe it's the mycorrhizae from my bonsai fertilizer that I had added. It seems like I managed to proliferate them well because there's a lot of this stuff around the pot, but i'm not sure

 

[Sueet]

Yap, that is the problem with putting fungus inside of cloth pots It's ok tho, it doesn't hurt anything, just looks icky.

 

[SmokingWings]

I was thinking it was excess minerals building up. Have seen the same thing on other "cloth" pots and even around the drain holes on hard plastic pots.

 

[newfarmeragain]

I was thinking it was excess minerals building up. Have seen the same thing on other "cloth" pots and even around the drain holes on hard plastic pots.

I performed a flush, here is the data on the water runoff after the flush, and here is a photo of the plant as it is now. I removed some leaves, added a bit of oyster shell powder, and covered the surface with expanded clay.

Tomorrow marks the start of the eighth week.

I’m considering letting the plant grow for one more week, taking some cuttings, doing another round of leaf cleaning, waiting an additional two weeks, and then switching to the flowering phase. Does this sound like the right approach?

Do you have any additional tips or recommendations for the upcoming weeks?


Thank you very much for mentioning the pH meter. I took the opportunity to calibrate it today. It wasn’t too far off, but now it’s perfectly accurate.

 

[newfarmeragain]

Hey, how are you all doing?

After doing a few more flushes, the problem of salt accumulation was resolved, and now we're where we are.

1. Do you see any problems with these crystals on the leaf? I think they might be from silicate.
2. How do you know when it's time to switch to the flowering stage? Are there any specific signs?
3. Can I remove the lower branches to make new clones, or will it negatively impact the plant?

I plan to remove the branches at the end of this week to make the clones. Then, next week, I'll divide the fertilization between half vegetative and half flowering nutrients. The week after that, I will switch to a 12-hour light cycle for flowering.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This plant is thriving thanks to the amazing people on this forum! Thank you very much!

 

[013]

looks good to me!

1) Hmm me thinks crystal residue on foliage is perhaps from clay or top dress etc… any chance that rings true?? but your chick looks robust & leaf color is spot on

2) timing on flipping to flower… usually when it’s half as tall as you have room for… cuz it will stretch but yep anytime you are ready… with one consideration, you don’t want to get 3 weeks into flower and say oh crap wish I had a bigger bucket or grow bag of soil mix. First few weeks in flower the plant will still grow new roots but pretty quickly new root production will come to screeching halt… so yeah if you are good then we are good.

3) yeppers take a few lowers for clones is always smart move in my book,

but don’t jump just on my word let’s get more input from the home team…

salt schmalt… no biggie…. salt residue will appear on grow bags & buckets that are leached by minerals in soil… even if you don’t use bottle nutes, seriously it’s great you observed but don’t think it’s anything to worry about right now.

 

[Sueet]

Can you give us a better picture of what you are calling crystals on the leaves? Are you sure it is not insect damage ?

 

[013]

Good catch Sueet but see message #28 above, the ops first pic, zoom up on left side… white residue on foliage

never had pm so far and might have glazed over on identifying it…

Hey NFA what kind of silicate? and how was it applied, foliar or top dress?

 

[newfarmeragain]

Can you give us a better picture of what you are calling crystals on the leaves? Are you sure it is not insect damage ?

It seems that I was using too much potassium silicate. The other day, I noticed that the plant was transpiring, so I think it might have expelled the excess through this transpiration, and then it was left on the leaf when it dried.

I touched it to see, and it peels off and breaks apart like sugar.

 

[Sueet]

Thank you. I never knew a plant could sweat silica. Learn something new every day I guess.

 

[newfarmeragain]

Thank you. I never knew a plant could sweat silica. Learn something new every day I guess.

I’m not sure if that’s the case. I might be oversimplifying things since I don’t have formal studies in this area. It could be something else. I see the dry silica and linked it to possibly having used too much, but it's not accurate to make that assumption.

I’ve ruled out insects as a possibility because there are none here; I keep everything clean and always monitor the plants, and I’ve never seen any pests.
It remains a mystery. I read that it could be calcium or magnesium, but who knows.

It could be a residue from my foliar watering with water and aloe vera.

 

[Azimuth]

It could be a residue from my foliar watering with water and aloe vera.

Does it wipe off?

 

[newfarmeragain]

Does it wipe off?

Yes, it seems to be stuck, but with a little bit of force, it comes off.

 

[Azimuth]

Yes, it seems to be stuck, but with a little bit of force, it comes off.

So that sounds to me more like something wet hit the leaves and evaporated leaving behind the residue.

 

[newfarmeragain]

Hey everyone, can anyone tell me if I can water my plant with water mixed with 3% hydrogen peroxide, like 15 ml of hydrogen peroxide per liter? Could it cause any problems or could it be beneficial?

 

[Bill284]

Hey everyone, can anyone tell me if I can water my plant with water mixed with 3% hydrogen peroxide, like 15 ml of hydrogen peroxide per liter? Could it cause any problems or could it be beneficial?

I've used a 10% solution with success.
It increases oxygen and can be beneficial.
I can't see that small amount making things worse.


Stay safe
Bill284

 

[Azimuth]

H2O2 will react to anything organic in your soil and it will kill off microbes so if you're growing organic it will be counterproductive.

You're using bokashi which requires microbes in the mix, so know your risk. I know Bill uses bokashi so if he's using the peroxide together with it I'd follow his lead, but it depends on your grow style.