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Interesting video from BAS on their KNF and Jadam Extracts .
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Interesting results on the cutting mix. The ALM heavy mix is substantially outperforming the mostly sand mix, although that might be attributable to operator error. The sand mix itself is much heavier than the ALM mix and therefore harder to tell when it has dried out, while the ALM holds much more moisture for longer and is therefore more forgiving. So I may have let the sand based clones get too dry, affecting the outcome.Day 15 and the cuts still look great, just like the day I took them. Still no roots though, although this should be the week I see some.
Today I'm going to conduct a new experiment to try to speed up the rooting process. Instead of the mixed mix in the cup strategy I mentioned in the above attached post, I'm going to try three different things. And I know that's not following appropriate scientific methods. I should be trying one different variable at a time. I know that, so don't @ me. )
The three changes will be temperature, cup mix, and aloe. I'm going to take 4 cuts of the ACDC CBD plant today, and 2 cuts tomorrow from each of the two The Black seedlings that are just starting to throw alternating nodes which means they are sexually mature and I'll be able to sex them in the flower box once they root.
-Temperature. I've seemed to have had faster results with temperatures around 80*F. Currently my cab sits in the high 60's-low 70's. I have the cups on a heat mat but the taller cups mean the temperatures are not as warm in the rooting zone as they are at the base. So, for this round I made up a whole new batch of cups that are only 4oz and about half as tall as the 9oz cups. This should keep the overall mix closer to the temps I want.
-Cup mix. My last round was 2:1 ALM (aged leaf mold)/sand and it works pretty good. Wicks water well, drains well, and holds moisture well. All attributes I want in a rooting mix. The challenge is the sand makes it heavy and difficult to tell when it dries out and needs some water. So for this round, I'm going to do half the cuts in this sand mix, and the other half in a 2:1 ALM perlite mix which should have all the positive attributes of the sand mix but be easier to judge moisture levels by lifting the cup to check the weight.
-Aloe. I've used it in the past and haven't for the last few rounds, and they have taken a week or so longer than usual to root. Is it the lack of aloe? Don't know, so I'm going to test it this round. Like the cup mix, half the cuts get dunked in fresh aloe before sticking, half go au natural.
All cuts will go through the graduated vented dome process that seems to work very well. By taking the cuts on two successive days I only have to have one set of each of the different domes. Each set consists of 5 covers. The first is no holes, the second has one level of holes, the next two levels and so on. I have 5 different levels of domes which makes the venting and hardening off process as simple as replacing one dome with the next in the series, but really, how many of these things do I want to keep track of? Since each cup gets the next dome one day later, I can have one set that does double duty if I space the taking of half of the cuts on successive days.
All of the cuts will first get a soak in my KNF cutting solution which has aloe, kelp and willow extracts added to water. And, since I don't know yet as to whether or not the top dressing of my worm castings and ALM helps the process in any way, I'm going to leave it off this round to not complicate things any more than they are.
So, that's the plan, Stan. Once I see which of the variables I prefer, I'll use those as a base for future experiments because, you know, there's always something new to learn.
Cheers, NTH. Lots of treasures spread around the interwebs.Thanks Az!
NTH
Hope you had a great weekend my friend.The rabbit holes are the main attraction. I've really enjoyed and benefitted from your process, successes and failures in this thread thus far. I'm new to Jadam and its forbear, KNF, which I discovered while researching the fermenting compost method this winter when another member mentioned it in passing (thnx again @Bill284). The history is fascinating. Reading that one family reinvented farming, twice... well, I was hooked right there. That each was seeking to solve his generation's primary farming challenge, Senior who wished to end hunger, and Junior to decouple the farmer from the Agricultural Industrial Complex and its consequent financial burden... I mean, wow. I should think a Nobel prize is in the offing at some point, provided the agri-conglomerates don't work to torpedo the idea, which of course they will.
A few weeks later I found myself in a grocery store staring, slack-jawed, at a price sign for romaine lettuce: "$10.00/head". On the spot, I decided to completely redevelop my SW-facing, level, front yard and focus totally on food production. Screw curb appeal. I just have had enough of this insanity. I'm 48 but ended my career already 10 years ago due to MS and consequent issues, and so I don't have the money to be a part of consumer-culture. OK, I loathed it even when I was working. Anyway, after immediately slashing out all of the pretty shrubs and flowers in my front yard, I've been building 3+ foot -waist-high, 5 foot wide beds. Thankfully, over the last 3-5 years I've been burying leaf mulch and a shovel full of dirt in garbage bags for later retrieval -sheerly out of an inability to do much else with it and an appreciation of its potential. My backyard is on a steep grade falling to a creek/intertidal thingy and over the last few years I've built a whole terrace from these leaf bags buried under whetted shredded paper and planted with salal. So I unbuilt the terrace and my new beds are being topped with a serious layer of this leaf mould and a few years worth of worm castings that have been piling up.
I've started my indiv. nitrogen and phosphorous pails but wasn't expecting to be able to use them until next year... I don't have the Jadam book, and have been taking my JMS, JMF fertilizer brewing and Lactus bacillus husbandry how-tos from Bare Mountain Farms youtube channel. I am eager to understand better what these short-turnaround concoctions are that you are making. I'm going to go to the park today and see if the comfrey is strong enough for me to take some transplants, and take some harvest to start a new bucket. Thanks for your efforts, and I'll be happy to share anything I can but I'm really just building my foundation at the moment. Really love your thread. Best regards.
The book is great, it's just written with the small farmer in mind and I've had to scale down most things for my use as you've seen throughout the thread.I don't have the Jadam book, and have been taking my JMS, JMF fertilizer brewing and Lactus bacillus husbandry how-tos from Bare Mountain Farms youtube channel. I am eager to understand better what these short-turnaround concoctions are that you are making. I'm going to go to the park today and see if the comfrey is strong enough for me to take some transplants, and take some harvest to start a new bucket.