Newbie Grower, Carmen Auto x Diva, Outdoors

[CBDMed]

Hmm.... I downloaded Days Timer, but cannot seem to get it to work.
I fill out all of the fields, but it says I have to enter the Name and Date still???
I check every field, but the error persists.
What am I missing here?

 

[Emilya Green]

That is a different app... get the one by Mark Starikov

 

[CBDMed]

That is a different app... get the one by Mark Starikov

Thanks, @Emilya . Only, I am not seeing it.
Are you on Android, or Apple?

 

[Emilya Green]

android

 

[CBDMed]

Ahh, ok, thank you, @Emilya. It is not turning up in the Apple App Store, so I might need to see what else there is.

 

[CBDMed]

Well, this is off topic, but does anyone have any idea how similar cannabis soil is to soil made for hydrangeas, rhododendrons, or heather?
In other words, can hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and heather grow in cannabis soil already?
Or how could you modify cannabis soil to accommodate hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and heather?
Or is there a better thread to ask this?
Thank you.

My soil says it is:
Black Earth (Colombian topsoil loam)
Coconut Fiber
Peat Blonde
Humus of wormwood
Pearl
Mycorrhizas
Bat Guano
Trichoderma
Dolomite lime
Mammoth (whatever that is)
And the occasional piece of whatever.

 

[cbdhemp808]

Or how could you modify cannabis soil to accommodate hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and heather?

sounds like absolutely wonderful soil. funny, someone just gave me a hydrangea cutting!

 

[CBDMed]

sounds like absolutely wonderful soil. funny, someone just gave me a hydrangea cutting!

Hahahaha!
Happy "coincidences"!

 

[CBDMed]

Ohhhhh...... ok!
So this is what Colombian tierra negra (black soil) is really supposed to look like! It is very friable, and the tilth is pretty good also. You can get a great big gunny sack for about $10.00 US.
I am not sure what all they put in it (besides the rice hulls), but this is the standard potting soil that everyone uses to grow all their potted plants besides cannabis (and probably a lot of cannabis gets grown in this also).
Probably I just need to add some volcanic rock dust and some Leonardite to this, and I should be good to go for any potted plant that is not cannabis?
I am sure this is not an expensive mix to make, because they sell it cheap.

 

[Farmer Reading]

That is pretty sweet that you're picking up high quality soil for such a great price.

Do you know the source of the soil? Are there any soil analysis available for the soil?
If it is raw you may want to compost or simply let it set for a month.

There are a lot of things you could use to amend the soil like perlite for air flow (if it is available) or pine bark mulch (would recommend composting for a month).

Amending with volcanic rock dust and some leonardite seems to be a solid plan of action too.

One thing that concerns me is external pest like spider mites that could linger in some soil(s) blends.

Am guessing if everyone else is using the soil with success than the soil is reliable and ready to rock.

Excited to see what the soil does!!!

 

[CBDMed]

That is pretty sweet that you're picking up high quality soil for such a great price.

Do you know the source of the soil? Are there any soil analysis available for the soil?
If it is raw you may want to compost or simply let it set for a month.

There are a lot of things you could use to amend the soil like perlite for air flow (if it is available) or pine bark mulch (would recommend composting for a month).

Amending with volcanic rock dust and some leonardite seems to be a solid plan of action too.

One thing that concerns me is external pest like spider mites that could linger in some soil(s) blends.

Am guessing if everyone else is using the soil with success than the soil is reliable and ready to rock.

Excited to see what the soil does!!!

Farmer, you are asking good questions.
It is too bad, but I do not know anything about the soil (and I doubt that the people in the nursery really know much about it either).
I think you can do soil analysis here, but I am not sure who does it, or how much it costs.

I would think this would be great for an in-ground cannabis grow, but I am hesitant to move away from my boutique potting soil, just because I know it is designed for cannabis in pots.

I found out what the locals do for planting marihuana. They dig a big planting hole, and throw all of their garbage in it (egg shells, banana peels, etc), and then they let the worms go at it for a few months. Then they plant straight into it.
I think that soil probably looks a lot like this.

Probably when we get to our final destination, we will want to do a lot more with compost bins, worm bins, Bokashi, Jadam, the Rev, and all that. And probably we will make our own "black soil".
But this is actually intended for other food, culinary, medicinal, and ethnobotanical plants.

If I was growing in ground, I would probably mix this with volcano dust and Leonardite, put it straight in the hole.
(That will be a wonderful day!)

 

[CBDMed]

Hey @Azimuth , @Emilya ,
We cooked some fish. We tossed out the other half of the scraps yesterday, and then I just remembered today.
but I could start a small jar of fish fertilizer.
I do not have LAB, and don't have time for another learning curve right now.
Do I just barely cover the fish stuff with water that has been sitting out for 24+ hours, and then set it aside for six months? Or do I fill it to the top?
Also, should I rinse it first? Or not needed?
I will try to remember fish guts the next time we cook fish, and maybe we can make a big batch.
Thank you both for all of your wonderful help.

 

[CBDMed]

?

Or fill it to the top?

 

[Azimuth]

Or, you could weigh it and mix it thoroughly with the same weight of brown sugar, put it back in that jar with a sugar cap and make yourself some FAA (Fish Amino Acid).  Really good stuff.

Whichever way you go, and I see you went the water route, leave an air space of 1/3 in the jar.

If you stay with the water ferment, make sure you add some worm castings or leaf mold soil in with the fish. I did some experiments that showed adding castings was much more effective than straight rain water.

 

[CBDMed]

Hey @Azimuth . Thanks! Sorry, I was offline for a day.
I got busy, so I put some water on it and tucked it in the fridge for a day.

Or, you could weigh it and mix it thoroughly with the same weight of brown sugar, put it back in that jar with a sugar cap and make yourself some FAA (Fish Amino Acid).  Really good stuff.

Ok, great! We like "Really good stuff."
Tomorrow I will weigh it, and put the same weight of raw organic cane sugar.
What is a "sugar cap"?
And then put the lid on it, and set it in a shady place for six months?
And is it for veg? Or bloom? Or both? And what application rates?
Thank you!

Whichever way you go, and I see you went the water route, leave an air space of 1/3 in the jar.

Will do. Thanks!

If you stay with the water ferment, make sure you add some worm castings or leaf mold soil in with the fish. I did some experiments that showed adding castings was much more effective than straight rain water.

Ok, very good!
If I add the brown sugar, do I still add the worm castings?

 

[Azimuth]

What is a "sugar cap"?

It's a layer of sugar on the top to keep out air. Maybe a half inch thick?

And then put the lid on it, and set it in a shady place for six months?

Right.

And is it for veg? Or bloom? Or both? And what application rates?

Mostly veg as it has a high nitrogen content, but also loaded with most of the other macro and micronutrients in pretty high amounts. Use it diluted 1:1,000.

If I add the brown sugar, do I still add the worm castings?

Yes, a small amount to introduce microbes to help with the breakdown.

 

[CBDMed]

It's a layer of sugar on the top to keep out air. Maybe a half inch thick?

Hmm.....
I can try.
What I actually have are two big hard lumps of organic sugar paste. They look pretty hard. I was thinking I could smash them with a hammer to make fragments, and it will probably dissolve in water pretty well.
I am not sure if I can powder the sugar, but I can try my best.

Right.


Mostly veg as it has a high nitrogen content, but also loaded with most of the other macro and micronutrients in pretty high amounts. Use it diluted 1:1,000.

Wow, great!

Yes, a small amount to introduce microbes to help with the breakdown.

Ok, will do!
Thanks!

 

[CBDMed]

Ohhhhh...... ok!
So this is what Colombian tierra negra (black soil) is really supposed to look like! It is very friable, and the tilth is pretty good also. You can get a great big gunny sack for about $10.00 US.
I am not sure what all they put in it (besides the rice hulls), but this is the standard potting soil that everyone uses to grow all their potted plants besides cannabis (and probably a lot of cannabis gets grown in this also).
Probably I just need to add some volcanic rock dust and some Leonardite to this, and I should be good to go for any potted plant that is not cannabis?
I am sure this is not an expensive mix to make, because they sell it cheap.

Hi @Azimuth ,
May I please ask for some help in doctoring up this soil?
Like I say, this soil looks good, and was cheap.
I don't know, and this could be completely wrong, but if I had to guess, I might guess it is either (real) topsoil with rice hulls, or maybe straight kitchen compost with rice hulls, and maybe some other cheap components, but nothing very fancy.
If I want to doctor this up to make a quality generic medicinal and ethnobotanical potted plant mix (NOT for cannabis), what would I add?

I found instructions for some of the plants my friend will bring me tomorrow.
One website says:
"The soil must be rich in humus (brown or black decomposing plant matter), soil constituents (decomposed matter, living organisms, water, and air), minerals (such as magnesium and iron), and a high percentage of nitrates."

Another website says:
"...add 1tsp of lava meal (volcanic rock dust) per container per year to provide trace elements. Iron and magnesia deficiency is a known hazard."

I have rock dust, Leonardite (which I think is humic acid), Zeolyte (which I think acts like a buffer???), activated carbon, other humic acids, Epsom salts, and probably some other stuff hanging around out there in the storage room, also.
(I have everything it takes to make Subcool's supersoil, and then maybe a little more.)

So, here are my questions:
If I am supposed to add 1tsp volcanic rock dust per container per year, then do I only add 1tsp to the initial mix? Or should I "pre-load" the potted mix with more than that?
Also, I ask partly because... how does one add rock dust to a container that is already planted??? (Just sprinkle it on top???)

Also, how much Leonardite / Humic Acid?

How much Zeolyte (since it acts as a buffer)?

Do I add activated carbon? And if so, how much?

Do I add maybe 4-5% worm castings? (It looks pretty rich, I don't think it needs much.)

And probably most importantly, how to do I avoid iron and magnesia deficiency as a known hazard?

Probably the soil will work as is--I just want to doctor it up a little bit, and make it premium.
Thanks.

 

[CBDMed]

@Emilya , @Azimuth , @bluter , @Jon , thanks for your help!

Ok, whew!! It was a busy few days. Now I have a short time for a garden update.

First the good news! I have ten new arrivals (the cannabis stork visited ten times)! All were soaked about 10 hours and then were sown direct 1/2" down, and then I just sprayed with the hand sprayer 20-30 times, 'til everything looked like a damp moist cup that a cannabis seedling would like to live in (and now I will water only near the rim).
One little girl is missing her coties, and she is a little behind everyone else, but other than that, she looks healthy, so I will pray and try to help her catch up.

The newer girls all look healthy. The Kong Super Glue girls are still vegging along nicely! They were sown on 31 May, so jus a little over a month. I am glad they are still vegging! No pistils at all can be seen yet.

I wish I could say the same for the two Barney's Farm LSDAutos!
They were planted on 5 June (less than a month ago), and I noticed the first pistils on #2 on maybe 29 June. So that was 25 days to the first pistils.
I was really hoping to top her, but now it looks like my only option is some LST.
Most of the heat stress sign went away after the last watering with Veg, but they both still show some heat signs. (Doesn't look normal for an LSDA).

Here is a side view, if anyone is interested. She is a tall, leggy thing. I was not monitoring her for stretch because I did not think she would stretch until next week. I can LST her for a few colas, but I cannot top her now, to get the many colas I was hoping for.

And here is her sister (#1). It looks like she is just now getting ready to throw pistils.

In other pistil news, I have a couple of legacy LSDA plants that I have not been tracking for you all until now, because I thought just to let the old "pre-Emilya watering technique" to finish out (so I could get a taste).

Here are two smaller LSDA who are suffering from homemade soil, and my poor earlier watering and fertilizing techniques. I planted them on 3 April in wayyyyy too big of a pot! (Pre-Emmie's-Solo-Cup-Technique). I keep waiting for them to finish up, but they keep throwing new pistils.

So, here is from BF website:
Autoflowering Harvest Time From Seed (days): 65 - 70

Okayyyyyy.................. The two legacy LSDAs were planted on


Here is a Delicious Candy sown on 3 April. I am not so good at math since my brain injury, but maybe 27 days for April, 31 days for May, 30 days for June, and we are 3 days into July, so that is like what, 91 days or something? And they are still throwing new pistils?
I have not seen amber (and I like a lot of amber) so I have just let them go, but I kind of want to finish these girls up, to clear up the pot for something else. But if she is sideways and making new colas, do I let her keep going????
Advice????
(And is this perhaps related to the equatorial weather, and we are just now moving into summer?)
If she is still going I can hypothetically let her go, and then she will maybe finish up after the equinox???? I like BF LSDA, and won't mind, but I had thought to clear up the pot and plant something else.

And finally, in other weird pistil news, I also have a Delicious Candy Auto (love that strain!) that was planted on 11 April that has a pretty good LST in decent soil that I finally figured out how to water and fertilize. I was also hoping to get her pot back, but she also keep throwing new pistils.

My buddy is helping me get the weed I need, and she is in a big pot with decent soil, so if I fertilize her right, I could probably just let her keep going, but I do not know if that is better, or to harvest her, and plant fresh seeds.
I like a lot of amber, and I don't see amber.
Again my math isn't the best anymore, but that is like 84 days or something?
The sponsor' website says that the lifecycle is 60-65 days (2 months):

LIFE CYCLE

60-65 DAYS

Is all this because I am in the tropics, and we have moved into summer?
And just let them keep going? Or cut, wash, and hang.

The legacy (older) ones are grown without supersoil.
The GeoFlora Bloom and the Delicious Candy crystals just made it here. DynoMyco is not here, but I also have some banana-wc tea, thanks to Azimuth and Em.
I don't see any amber here yet, either. I still see pistils all over the plant, and especially down low.
Let her keep going? Or cut-wash-hang, and start over?
Thanks.

 

[Azimuth]

If I want to doctor this up to make a quality generic medicinal and ethnobotanical potted plant mix (NOT for cannabis), what would I add?

Without knowing what's in the mix you have and the mix properties the plants want that you want to grow you're really flying blind. There are some good rules of thumb and general potting mix standard practices that will likely serve you well, at least generally, but dialing it in to maximize the plants' potential takes either more knowledge of what you have vs what you need, or lots of rounds of trial and error, documenting successes and failures to help adjust future rounds.

A good organic mix with sufficient aeration and some live worms tunneling around can go a long way to a generally good harvest even if it's not the absolute ideal. Most of the micronutrients are needed in very small, trace amounts so as long as they are present the plant should have what it needs.

If I am supposed to add 1tsp volcanic rock dust per container per year, then do I only add 1tsp to the initial mix? Or should I "pre-load" the potted mix with more than that?
Also, I ask partly because... how does one add rock dust to a container that is already planted??? (Just sprinkle it on top???)

Most of the minerals we add to our mixes are very long lasting inputs which also take long periods of time to even start breaking down. That's one of the reason for letting an organic mix cook for a while (another being the initial heat that gets produced as the microbes begin their work).

So, amending them on some periodic basis, yearly in your case, is meant to supply another reserve of them that can replace the amount previously broken down and used. This is one reason why many organic soils get better with each subsequent round. Initially most of the mineral inputs are locked away in their rock form and not available to the plant, but over time the microbes release some of it and then more and more becomes available which allows for uptake from the plants. During the first round there is not much available but by reusing that soil, more is instantly available at the start of the next round than was at the start of the first.

So, most of whatever you add probably won't be used by the plants this round but you are really preparing for future rounds. Topdressing can help, but usually adding the booster into the mix for the next round is how its done unless you are doing a no-till approach.

Also, how much Leonardite / Humic Acid?

How much Zeolyte (since it acts as a buffer)?

Do I add activated carbon? And if so, how much?

Don't know but probably doesn't matter all that much as long as it's enough. Coot does 1/2 to 1 cup of many of his mineral inputs per 7 gallons of mix with the exception if basalt which is 4 times as much if I recall properly.

Do I add maybe 4-5% worm castings? (It looks pretty rich, I don't think it needs much.)

And probably most importantly, how to do I avoid iron and magnesia deficiency as a known hazard?

Probably the soil will work as is--I just want to doctor it up a little bit, and make it premium.
Thanks.

You can topdress to your hearts content with the worm castings. Just be sure to mulch over them to keep them from drying out. Or you can add some to your mix. They tend to be dense so be sure to add aeration along with the castings.

And, a good organic soil should provide most of what's needed. Some growers use epsom salts to add magnesium. I don't because I don't like to add salts to my soils, but there are ways to do it. I'd start with the mix as is and see if you even have to add additional inputs. The plants leaves will generally tell you if there is a problem.

Is all this because I am in the tropics, and we have moved into summer?
And just let them keep going? Or cut, wash, and hang.

I don't grow autos nor have I grown at your latitude so someone else will have to offer some thoughts about those. Maybe @cbdhemp808 could say if the tropics change the maturity schedule of the plants.