Stanks Go Perpetual In 2018!

[Van Stank]

Awesome info!

Great stuff Van and congrats on the harvest. Tangie was a fav for me from the beginning, what does she smell like?

Also what do you use these bottles for?? I keep noticing and forget to ask

Hey Newty , the Tangie is a mix of kerosene and tangerines. She was all fuel early on but the tangie smell crept in the last 10 days or so.

The water bottles were from when I ran a SCROG on our first grow. Made watering much easier. I ran irrigation lines from the cap of the water bottle down to the pot and transitioned into soaker hoses in two rings for good coverage of watering. I had 8 bottles up for the 8 plants I had in there at the time.

I am going to switch to an automated watering system when we get everything set up in the bigger tent eventually.

 

[StoneOtter]

Hey Stone, welcome to our little slice of heaven here on 420. Pull up a chair....just watch out for Scorpio, he is the prankster.

Thanks for the kind words brother. If ya have any questions, let us know. We run everything indoors in our own homemade soil, use rain water only with occasional splashes of Kelp, top dressings and foliar sprays if looks like anything is off. We like bigger pots, 8-10 gallons most of the time but we will go up to 15s on the big girls.

Thanks Van, I've been lurking for a while and love what you're doing. I'll be around.

 

[MiOutdoorsman]

I'm really enjoying my Chernobyl I harvested month or so ago. Hopefully the meltdown will take some from that side of the gene pool. Mine has a lime taste and a perfect Mello long lasting euphoric high. I'm really digging it

 

[InTheShed]

the prescribed ratio

Is there a prescribed ratio of distilled water to clonex liquid for rooters? What is it so I can make sure it won't work for me!

I know how to super crop brother.....I am hoping to keep her pretty for a POTM entry (along with that BCP). Speaking of BCP, how about your girl? You loved her from the beginning.....and she is impressing the hell out of me Gotta go water her in a bit. She is so frosty and smelly! I catch Ms Stank sniffin on her all the time!

Of course you know how to supercrop Van...that's what the winky face was for! I bet the BCP smells great. Some plants just grab you by the nostrils and don't let go .

I am going to switch to an automated watering system when we get everything set up in the bigger tent eventually.

How long can you keep the rainwater in barrels before it goes grey?

 

[Van Stank]

Hey Shed.....the prescribed ratio of the Clonex Solution (not gel) is 5-10 ml per liter. When I mix mine I make at smaller batches...and generally mix half a liter (16 oz water bottle) with about 5 ml. From there I use some of it to soak to the plugs and the rest go into a spray bottle that I use to spray the underside of the leaves 1-2x day.

I don't generally get any discoloration on my leaves and I generally see roots in about 8-10 days that way in the plugs.

If I plant the clone cutting directly into soil instead of the plugs, I do everything the same except there is no soaking of the rooter plug. I dip the cutting in clonex GEL and sprinkle some mycos in the hole and backfill it an inch or two into the solo cup and throw it in a dome. Roots usually show up visible in the solo cup in about 12-18 days.

As for the rainwater collection, I can't answer that question. I go through it long before there is any risk of it going back. I only have capacity to collect about 70 gallons at this point and I go through about 15+ gallons a week. As soon as I empty any of the 5 gallon buckets, I set them back outside to collect on the next rain fall. Not working right now makes it easy to stay on top of it. Once we get settled in the new house, I will focus on more capacity and a more automated capture system. I really think the rain water has been key to me being able to keep the plants in smaller containers with no bad side effects. I have a Tangie Ghost Train cutting that has been in a half gallon pot for almost 2 months now without a single spot on it. Its the same one that I had in the solo cup for a month. Prior to switching to the rain water, you know how much I struggled to keep plants in the container size I wanted. Since switching, no more issues at all with the plants. I hate that over used expression of a "game changer", but for me the rain water has truly been just that. And luckily, It rains often enough that I collect every couple weeks or after each rain fall.

 

[SamSmith]

So living in a northern climate what are you going to do for a water source come winter?

 

[Van Stank]

We still get rain in the winter......sometimes as rain, sometimes as snow. The snow will be easy but a bit more work. Just scoop up buckets of snow, bring them into the basement and let them melt. Strain it as I pour into the storage container. For the time it rains and doesn't snow, the process will be the same as during the summer assuming there aren't ice dams blocking the flow. I will work it out as we go along brother. Right now its just a theory in my mind.....I will test it this winter. I think snow is generally about a 10:1 ratio compared to water......so I will need 10 buckets of snow to melt down to 1 bucket of water. The benefit of the snow is that I can still harvest it after it stops snowing.

 

[bobrown14]

Hey there Van, congrats on the harvests! hat NL is a beast and I loved the GTH x Tangie that one looks like some mighty fine weed.

Your not missing a step with the BCP either, she's gonna be a big plant.

You running no-till in soil nothing but water?



For the record and correct me if I'm wrong, noting but water maybe a few teas is all your doing right??

We collect rain water into 55gal barrels from our down spouts. Check out Azon of your local horticultural center it's gonna beat buckets.

Our barrels fill up pretty quick when it rains. There's a valve that once the barrel is full it bypasses the barrel and then the water goes where ever your down spout normally puts it. The barrels are not too spendy under a hundy. Suggest getting or making a base for it. Makes it easier to drain into buckets or whatever. We have hoses connected to the barrels so we can put the water where ever we need it.

IF you were say growing in the basement - it'd be golden. valve on valve off, water for the win.

You're killing it with soil. Not enough of us doing it. Good job buddy.

Gotta love the floppy ladies. Cant take em out, just gotta keep em in the barn and keep em happy. Yeah u right!

I didn't grow much this summer and glad I didn't. It was soooo rainy and humid and still is. But I'm making up for lost time. Gots me a few beasts going already.

Just gettin started and gettin things done.

 

[SamSmith]

We still get rain in the winter......sometimes as rain, sometimes as snow. The snow will be easy but a bit more work. Just scoop up buckets of snow, bring them into the basement and let them melt. Strain it as I pour into the storage container. For the time it rains and doesn't snow, the process will be the same as during the summer assuming there aren't ice dams blocking the flow. I will work it out as we go along brother. Right now its just a theory in my mind.....I will test it this winter. I think snow is generally about a 10:1 ratio compared to water......so I will need 10 buckets of snow to melt down to 1 bucket of water. The benefit of the snow is that I can still harvest it after it stops snowing.

I was just wondering because of the snow vs actual water volume and how you were going to swing that. We don't get much rain in the winter here. Mainly just snow. If you get rain that would melt any snow on the roof so you are probably golden. Either that or switch to HID on the top floor and melt your own that way... LOL J/K

 

[Van Stank]

Hey there Van, congrats on the harvests! hat NL is a beast and I loved the GTH x Tangie that one looks like some mighty fine weed.

Your not missing a step with the BCP either, she's gonna be a big plant.

You running no-till in soil nothing but water?



For the record and correct me if I'm wrong, noting but water maybe a few teas is all your doing right??

We collect rain water into 55gal barrels from our down spouts. Check out Azon of your local horticultural center it's gonna beat buckets.

Our barrels fill up pretty quick when it rains. There's a valve that once the barrel is full it bypasses the barrel and then the water goes where ever your down spout normally puts it. The barrels are not too spendy under a hundy. Suggest getting or making a base for it. Makes it easier to drain into buckets or whatever. We have hoses connected to the barrels so we can put the water where ever we need it.

IF you were say growing in the basement - it'd be golden. valve on valve off, water for the win.

You're killing it with soil. Not enough of us doing it. Good job buddy.

Gotta love the floppy ladies. Cant take em out, just gotta keep em in the barn and keep em happy. Yeah u right!

I didn't grow much this summer and glad I didn't. It was soooo rainy and humid and still is. But I'm making up for lost time. Gots me a few beasts going already.

Just gettin started and gettin things done.

Hey Bob, good to see ya brother. Thanks for the info on the rain collection. We won't be upgrading in that department until we are fully settled and even then that probably won't happen until the spring.

You are correct sir, just good organic soil and water. I have almost eliminated the teas all together cause I was seeing signs of it being too hot for the plants when I used it with rain water. The leaf tips did some crazy little curly q thing on a couple of the plants. Think those old dudes with the handlebar mustaches.....thats what the leaf tips did twice on me after brewing some ACT and watering them. So for the last 4-5 months since switching to the rain water, I haven't done anything except top dress some minerals in (Glacial rock dust, Basalt), some gypsum (this light puts a demand for lots of calcium and have since increased my calcium in my base soil recipe), some EWC, and some Kelp Meal. I generally do that 2 or 3 times during the grow with the last time being about the 3-4 week mark of flower. I find that gives it anything it needs to maximize its yield and anything not used this round, will be used up the next time. I will also add in a little liquid kelp every few waterings in flower (I generally water every other day through out most of flower.....maybe a little less the first 3 weeks of flower). Essentially I have gone to rain water only. Each plant might see 4 tablespoons of liquid kelp its entire grow. Everything else is in the soil. Seriously man, this is the easiest freaking way to grow (other than dealing with these big ass monsters in the big pots.....carrying a 15 gallon pot down a flight of stairs to harvest was an adventure).

I was talking with Ms Stank about how easy this style of growing has become with the rain water addition. I am able to keep plants in smaller containers for much longer times without any ill effects. I wasn't able to do that with tap water. Plants would throw a hissy fit after a certain amount of time. I haven't seen a spot on a plant that I didn't like since switching to the rain water. My yields are going up, while my efforts are going down. My plants in veg are a breeze. I rarely go into the flower tent other than to water or take pics or chop them down. Once I automate the rain water system, I will be living in the world I wanted when I started growing. Doing it in my own soil, getting killer buds, great flavor (its getting better), great smells, incredible feedback from those that enjoy my goods. Life is good brother. Good soil, good lights, good water.....hard to go wrong brother. In all honesty brother, we are exceeding our expectations and then some. We were hoping to average 5 zips a plant, we are hitting that and then some. Like you said a long time ago, get that soil dialed in and its easy! The rain water has just been icing on the cake for us.

 

[bobrown14]

Right on.. Ditto that when I switched to RO water. I haven't (yet) figured out a rain water collection for my grow (on the top floor). Never give up tho... was afraid to put a barrel 45' in the air on the roof (flat roof). I could see it blowing off and landing prolly on my pickup. hehehe

We use rain water in our outdoor gardens... this year sadly we haven't needed any. I just opened the valves and let it run out onto the yard. Been too rainy here.

We live in a City and they actually installed one of our barrels for us free. How I know about it. Next home definitely do it. You'd be surprised how much water you can catch. The preppers have this down to a science for sure. I've seen like 10 barrels in a rack all hooked together hooked to a down spout with an electric pump too.. crazy shit out there. Off grid folks take it pretty serious.

You carried that plant down the stairs in the container?? Dood.. loppers are your friend. I Chop on the 3rd floor carry plant down the stairs.

Glad to see you sticking with the soil thing and killing it!

I've been saying its the easiest way to grow. I guess learning curve a little bit but figuring out all those bottles and feed schedules... I have a short attention span. I cant do it.

I like your log cabin up in the mtns idea. I'm about ready to get my party outta the city. It's nice and all being close to everything but man people are getting crazier.

Shit's getting real here. Shootings everyday, cops killing black kids daily, crazy white people (I'm a white guy) its just daily insanity. Taking my own life in my hands just walking the dog across the street. One good thing, cops dont care about weed.

We are thinking ADK - lots of places just gotta pack it up GTF outta here.

 

[LaquerHead]

What kind of liquid kelp do you use Van? Do you find it adds some benefit over and beyond just the top dressings?

 

[Van Stank]

Well I just finished one brand and now I have switched to Remo version as I was sent their box of nutes from the POTM award. As long as its just liquefied kelp, it should be good.

The liquid kelp is more immediately available than from the top dressing. Kelp has 70+ micro nutrients and minerals in it and along with EWC might just be one of, if not the best amendments you can add to your plants. The top dressing of kelp gives my plants a longer term source for those 70+ micro nutes and minerals, and I use the liquid kelp maybe 6 times total throughout the life of a plant for more instantaneous utilization by the plant (doesn't have to go through breakdown like the top dressed stuff). I like to give a little bit in veg when they really hit their growth spurt. I give some right before flip. I give them more about 2 weeks into flower as the stretch is really in full effect (I want to maximize the stretch for increased yield). I also give some about every 2 weeks after that as they are building flowers. Thats it. Never back to back. In all it might be 4-5 tablespoons of the liquid kelp.

 

[Orlando Scout]

How are yourself and Mrs.Stank doing today? Just swinging by to say hi.

 

[Van Stank]

Right on.. Ditto that when I switched to RO water. I haven't (yet) figured out a rain water collection for my grow (on the top floor). Never give up tho... was afraid to put a barrel 45' in the air on the roof (flat roof). I could see it blowing off and landing prolly on my pickup. hehehe

We use rain water in our outdoor gardens... this year sadly we haven't needed any. I just opened the valves and let it run out onto the yard. Been too rainy here.

We live in a City and they actually installed one of our barrels for us free. How I know about it. Next home definitely do it. You'd be surprised how much water you can catch. The preppers have this down to a science for sure. I've seen like 10 barrels in a rack all hooked together hooked to a down spout with an electric pump too.. crazy shit out there. Off grid folks take it pretty serious.

You carried that plant down the stairs in the container?? Dood.. loppers are your friend. I Chop on the 3rd floor carry plant down the stairs.

Glad to see you sticking with the soil thing and killing it!

I've been saying its the easiest way to grow. I guess learning curve a little bit but figuring out all those bottles and feed schedules... I have a short attention span. I cant do it.

I like your log cabin up in the mtns idea. I'm about ready to get my party outta the city. It's nice and all being close to everything but man people are getting crazier.

Shit's getting real here. Shootings everyday, cops killing black kids daily, crazy white people (I'm a white guy) its just daily insanity. Taking my own life in my hands just walking the dog across the street. One good thing, cops dont care about weed.

We are thinking ADK - lots of places just gotta pack it up GTF outta here.

Yeah soil is definitely where my heart is Bob. I love my hands in it. I love the smells of it. I love sweating as I mix it up. I know we don't create the soil per say, but there is something magical about making the growing medium and watching plants grow and produce top shelp buds. I am not knocking any other grow methods out there.....but I just can't see it being anywhere near as satisfying as making your own soil (especially since this was my own recipe that a lot of research went into with a hiccup or two thrown in for fun). Good stuff man. It can't get any easier than throwing some rain water on a plant a every few days and let them do their thing!

You are right man, its a crazy world out. The craziness is everywhere man. It Knows no boundries. You got people ambushing cops. Cops shooting people. People beating people, people raping people, people stealing. No respect. Humanity within humans is waning and quite frankly its disturbing beyond description. People would much rather pull out a phone and record a crime so they can post it on social media. I remember a time when people helped others instead of filming them getting beat, stabbed, raped or shot. And people question why I carry everywhere I go. A victim we will not become.....but dead you might if you try to take from me or mine and or hurt any of us. Just leave us alone and we will happily do the same for you! I find I am happier with the TV on less, growing more plants, and hanging out with you fine folks if I want interaction with the outside world. There is a degree of respect and warmth found here that is missing in the world. Crazy crazy world. I don't know how you city folks do it.

 

[Van Stank]

How are yourself and Mrs.Stank doing today? Just swinging by to say hi.

Hey Cav, hope you are doing well.

Doing good here. Enjoyed our Columbus day together. Been outside working in the outdoor garden emptying and tearing down more of the raised beds. Its a bitch getting rid of all that dirt.

The foliage is really starting to change up here so its about time to get out and do some leaf peeping. One of my favorite times of the year!

 

[Pterostychus]

Yeah soil is definitely where my heart is Bob. I love my hands in it. I love the smells of it. I love sweating as I mix it up. I know we don't create the soil per say, but there is something magical about making the growing medium and watching plants grow and produce top shelp buds. I am not knocking any other grow methods out there.....but I just can't see it being anywhere near as satisfying as making your own soil (especially since this was my own recipe that a lot of research went into with a hiccup or two thrown in for fun). Good stuff man. It can't get any easier than throwing some rain water on a plant a every few days and let them do their thing!

You are right man, its a crazy world out. The craziness is everywhere man. It Knows no boundries. You got people ambushing cops. Cops shooting people. People beating people, people raping people, people stealing. No respect. Humanity within humans is waning and quite frankly its disturbing beyond description. People would much rather pull out a phone and record a crime so they can post it on social media. I remember a time when people helped others instead of filming them getting beat, stabbed, raped or shot. And people question why I carry everywhere I go. A victim we will not become.....but dead you might if you try to take from me or mine and or hurt any of us. Just leave us alone and we will happily do the same for you! I find I am happier with the TV on less, growing more plants, and hanging out with you fine folks if I want interaction with the outside world. There is a degree of respect and warmth found here that is missing in the world. Crazy crazy world. I don't know how you city folks do it.

its a US thing ... right to carry guns makes its so .... here in europe there are far far less guns in circulation and as a result we get far far less gunshot victims ... dont get me wrong i dont wanna diss on US, we have criminals to but its much tougher to get an illegal/legal gun where i live ... a gun murder is very very rare around here .... also the heroin epidemic in US isnt helping ... last i wanna point out that i know via WWW a lot of good decent americans and in general USA is one of the best countries in the world in terms of freedoms but atm ... America's image isnt that great in the rest of the world there are issues that prevent that like gunviolence, policeviolence, gangviolence, extreme poverty, greedy politicians, opioids ( prescribed and other !), racism, debt economy ...

depressing really ... but at least in some parts u can grow and smoke weed without risking jailtime lol ...

im sorry if i offended someone, it isnt on purpose

now let's have the pushback

 

[beez0404]

@Pterostychus you didn't mention in which country you live for comparison purposes.

 

[Graytail]

I'm getting very concerned about the media and their motivations. They need excitement to keep eyes on the screen, and coincidentally, everything seems to be getting more and more exciting. Meanwhile, nothing much changes in real life.

I've lived right here in the good ol US of A all my life, and I don't see any of that stuff. I don't see it my own town and I don't see it when I travel. I see it in the media ...

Mostly, I see fat people with their heads down, doing something on their phones. I'm sure it must be constructive and meaningful, because they're always doing it. I don't see violence. In the media I see violence.

But I also have the advantage of having lived during the 60s. I have something to compare to.

 

[Van Stank]

A gun is an inanimate object. The guns don't kill anyone.....people do. I have had guns in my house for decades and not a single gun has ever harmed anyone. I leave it right next to me on the couch and guess what.....that gun has never ever jumped up and fired at me or anyone else in my house!

The right to defend ones self is not something I would ever give up. The USA doesn't have a gun problem. It has a people problem. Gun population has more than tripled in the USA over the last 30 years and gun violence has dropped more than 50% during that time. If the logic that more guns equals more gun crimes were true, things would be drastically different.

Evil has always existed in this world. But at least here in the USA, if a guy my size (6'3" 230 lbs.....lost some more ) decides I am going to attack a woman Ms Stanks size (not giving details...she would beat me up...but safe to say she is much smaller than me!), she has a fighting chance to neutralize that threat. My mom is on equal ground to a guy my size with a gun. My niece, a gorgeous blonde college girl can with defense of a gun, neutralize three guys my size trying to break into her apartment. Firearms makes everything a level playing field.

We see what knives, trucks, bats, and any other object can do when used with evil intention. The so called 'assault rifles' (which lets be honest most people don't know what a real 'assault rifle' is) that are responsible for killing so many in this country "supposedly", pales in comparison to the numbers of people that are killed by people wielding sharp object.

It only seems like more people are killed now. That is because we have instant access to anything that happens anywhere at any time. 25 years ago when there was a shooting, you only heard about if it was on your local news or if it happened to make national news. Now adays, if there is a shooting in Macomb Mississippi, anyone and everyone including all our children with social media accounts have heard about it in less than 24 hours. The deaths are down drastically (again over 50% over the last 30 years) but the coverage of them is through the roof.

Firearms are a polarizing subject.....I understand that. To each their own. I never try to convince someone that they should own or carry a firearm. Thats a personal decision.....but I will be damned if I will give up my right to decide that choice on my own. If you don't want to own a firearm, don't own one. Criminals don't obey laws, and sure it might be a little harder for them to get them....but the bottom line is that they will get them. Making them illegal won't stop it from happening......cause if that was the case, no one would have cocaine or heroine or meth. I mean they are illegal right?

And no worries, you didn't offend me. Just offering my take on guns and their current situation. Don't always trust the picture the media is painting for you. They have an agenda and it isn't always a true one. Violence is an issue....I don't know the solution but stick to my comment that I think we have a people issue, not a gun issue. Cars and cigarettes, and sugar kill far more people in the USA than firearms.

I used to be very involved with social discussions on guns and violence and breaking down statistics to many of the uninformed and misinformed. The reality is that when you exclude gang violence from the firearm casualty numbers and suicides, out of more than 325 million people in the USA......you are left with about 2500 firearm deaths per year. That is far lower than most think. About 8k of the murders are gang violence related and 30k or so (give or take a thousand or two per year) are suicides.