Oooo how exciting!
Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs
- Thread starter SweetSue
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- auto cfls closet growing
Oooo how exciting!
Dchannn
New Member
Absolutely amazing grow.
Got me some organic popcorn sprouting sue. I am doing what you showed with the paper towel and lid. That's smart, thanks for that.
- Thread starter
- #564
Welcome to the ride Dchannn and thank you for the compliment. It's been so easy to get this far I'm amazed myself. I hope you enjoy the end run.
CO, you're welcome.
Off to run chores before I put the daily post up. See you all later.
CO, you're welcome.
Off to run chores before I put the daily post up. See you all later.
- Thread starter
- #565
Finally home, although exhausted. The company that supplies dialysis solution for my husband is experiencing a nation-wide shortage and this week's delivery came by UPS in two batches. Nice to have this life-sustaining supply delivered, but unlike the company we contract with, UPS doesn't carry it up those 40 stairs to the third floor. Yours truly got the joy of trucking up 15 trips with a 25# box on my shoulder. This is why I returned to Callanetics, the fitness program I'm so passionate about. My entire body is shaking right now. Part of me is so pleased that I was capable of pulling that off. The rest of me is pissed off! 
On to better times today.
Daily Update: Day 56 (THC Bomb Auto) & Day 55 (Buddha Magnum Auto)
Things continue to click along smoothly. Today I was admiring the girls from above. The Bomb is looking and smelling absolutely luscious.
Buddha reminds me of a stealth bloomer. Most of her blossoms are protected by her fan leaves.
I realize a lot of conventional wisdom says to pull those leaves off to expose the blossoms to the light, but to be honest - and I know this sounds strange as I type it - Buddha has asked me to let her be. Even the popcorn buds deep inside her cover of leaves are frosting up nicely, so I'll pay attention to that request.
I love looking down the branches of the Bomb and seeing the blossoms covering the entire length of them.
And I never tire of watching Buddha's main cola expand in size. Amazing!
I haven't given you all a look at these hearty main stalks in a while, so why don't we take a peek? Here's the Buddha's.....
..... and the Bomb. I like to compare the differences between the strains. Buddha is a beefier girl all around. Sturdy, dependable, strong. I also love the way those lowest branches on both come off right above the soil level. Beautiful structure.
Buds are filling out and beginning to swell. Buddha has a lovely, soft curl to the edges of her leaves that soften her look.
Trichomes are beginning to develop on the stems of fan leaves and on the undersides of the leaves, as in this dancing leaf on Buddha.
The Bomb is busy beefing up her own buds. Look at all that frosting becoming more intense!
This little popcorn bud on the Bomb is slated for sacrifice before harvest to test potency. I warned Dale that there will be one - and only one - from each plant tested. The rest of the harvest will remain unmolested until properly cured. The foot is firmly down!!!
The very first indication of pistils beginning the change from white to rust. This one is on the Bomb. Buddha has one as well (how interesting that there's only one blossom on each of them beginning to change) but it wouldn't photograph clearly with all the light glare.
On the home stretch now. WooHoo!!!!
I'm going to enjoy a well-earned cup of coffee. You all have a wonderful day.
On to better times today. Daily Update: Day 56 (THC Bomb Auto) & Day 55 (Buddha Magnum Auto)
Things continue to click along smoothly. Today I was admiring the girls from above. The Bomb is looking and smelling absolutely luscious.
Buddha reminds me of a stealth bloomer. Most of her blossoms are protected by her fan leaves.
I realize a lot of conventional wisdom says to pull those leaves off to expose the blossoms to the light, but to be honest - and I know this sounds strange as I type it - Buddha has asked me to let her be. Even the popcorn buds deep inside her cover of leaves are frosting up nicely, so I'll pay attention to that request.
I love looking down the branches of the Bomb and seeing the blossoms covering the entire length of them.
And I never tire of watching Buddha's main cola expand in size. Amazing!
I haven't given you all a look at these hearty main stalks in a while, so why don't we take a peek? Here's the Buddha's.....
..... and the Bomb. I like to compare the differences between the strains. Buddha is a beefier girl all around. Sturdy, dependable, strong. I also love the way those lowest branches on both come off right above the soil level. Beautiful structure.
Buds are filling out and beginning to swell. Buddha has a lovely, soft curl to the edges of her leaves that soften her look.
Trichomes are beginning to develop on the stems of fan leaves and on the undersides of the leaves, as in this dancing leaf on Buddha.
The Bomb is busy beefing up her own buds. Look at all that frosting becoming more intense!
This little popcorn bud on the Bomb is slated for sacrifice before harvest to test potency. I warned Dale that there will be one - and only one - from each plant tested. The rest of the harvest will remain unmolested until properly cured. The foot is firmly down!!!
The very first indication of pistils beginning the change from white to rust. This one is on the Bomb. Buddha has one as well (how interesting that there's only one blossom on each of them beginning to change) but it wouldn't photograph clearly with all the light glare.
On the home stretch now. WooHoo!!!!
I'm going to enjoy a well-earned cup of coffee. You all have a wonderful day.
- Thread starter
- #566
Worm Bin Update
I fed the kitchen worm bin two days ago, blending up a mix of rotting veggies I had tossed into the freezer to rupture the cells and some crushed eggshells added in for roughage. I dug a trench and sprinkled a bit of neem/kelp/crustacean meal into it before adding the puréed mix and then covered it all back up with some moist newspaper strips on top for extra bedding. That should hold them for about a week.
When I went to check on the Geo Pot bin under the stairs I discovered I had lost all of the worms to neglect. The Geo Pot lets the leaves dry more quickly than I'd anticipated. Bummer! Poor little earthlings.
I immediately wet the entire pot down, carefully mixing to get even hydration. Digging a few more worms out of the kitchen bin I tossed them in and promised them I'd check on them every other day. Today I went out and watered it all down again. The leaves dry quickly from the edges and bottom, so I made sure to get those edges nicely moistened.
In time I'll learn to do this with minimal disturbance of the community and less loss of life. It's a shame that these innocent worms had to pay the price for my learning curve.
When the weather breaks I'll order another pound of wrigglers and toss them into this pot.
I fed the kitchen worm bin two days ago, blending up a mix of rotting veggies I had tossed into the freezer to rupture the cells and some crushed eggshells added in for roughage. I dug a trench and sprinkled a bit of neem/kelp/crustacean meal into it before adding the puréed mix and then covered it all back up with some moist newspaper strips on top for extra bedding. That should hold them for about a week.
When I went to check on the Geo Pot bin under the stairs I discovered I had lost all of the worms to neglect. The Geo Pot lets the leaves dry more quickly than I'd anticipated. Bummer! Poor little earthlings.
I immediately wet the entire pot down, carefully mixing to get even hydration. Digging a few more worms out of the kitchen bin I tossed them in and promised them I'd check on them every other day. Today I went out and watered it all down again. The leaves dry quickly from the edges and bottom, so I made sure to get those edges nicely moistened.
In time I'll learn to do this with minimal disturbance of the community and less loss of life. It's a shame that these innocent worms had to pay the price for my learning curve.
When the weather breaks I'll order another pound of wrigglers and toss them into this pot.
ClosedCircuit
New Member
I've given this some thought, so let's give it a try. You don't discontinue adding fulvic acid or silica, but you can cut down on how much you add because the soil reaches a point of balance and you maintain that balance with a regulated scheduling of drenches and foliar feedings. I'll be touching on that in more depth next week. The soil community is a vibrant, active thing that is constantly pulling upon the available nutrients found in the soil matrix according to the stated needs of the plants. Your job is to assure that the basic nutrients are continuously replenished. That actually turns out to be fairly straightforward with cannabis. Other, bigger brains have already worked it all out and we need only follow their bread crumbs and reap the rewards.
I went looking for more I depth info on fulvic acid, because it's an indispensable factor in a healthy organic soil. Turns out that is makes nutrients bio-chemically available as well as transporting nutrients. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The link below was a fascinating read. What follows is a bit of copy and paste on some finer points. I recommend taking the time to read through the link. This was a small part. I now have a deeper respect of fulvic acid and am pleased that I'll be adding it to my soil maintenance program next week.
https://https://www.supremefulvic.com/documents/html/fulvic_acid.php
As created by nature, organic fulvic acids are created by soil-based micro-organisms("SBO's") to make minerals and other nutrients assimilable by plants. ( The SBO's consume decayed prehistoric plant matter in humate deposits and excrete the substance known as "fulvic acid", or "fulvic acids".)
Fulvic acid is a derivative of microbial degradation of humic substances. Microorganisms are essential to the process. Each gram of healthy top soil has in excess of four billion microorganisms that participate in manufacturing bio-chemicals essential to healthy plants and animals. If they were to fail our lives would cease. A better perspective of their importance can be gained by looking at the work they do. Microorganism activity in preparing one acre of top soil, expends the equivalent energy of 10,000 people doing the same amount of work in the same amount of time.
What Humic Substances Do in the Soil
Scientists claim organic substances stimulate plant cellular growth and division, including auxin type reactions. They enhance plant circulatory systems and promote optimum plant respiration and transportation systems. They decrease plant stress and premature deterioration. They dramatically improve seed germination and promote greater fibrous root growth. They increase the size and numbers of legume root nodules and increase resistance to drought and insect infestation.
The Fulvic Plant Miracle
In addition to duplicating many of the positive functions of humic acid, fulvic acid will:
Stimulate plant metabolism
Give positive effect on plant RNA & DNA
Act as a catalyst in plant respiration
Increase metabolism of proteins
Increase activity of multiple enzymes
Enhances the permeability of cell membranes
Enhance cell division and cell elongation
Aid Chlorophyll synthesis
Increase drought tolerance, and prevent wilting
Increase crop yields
Assist denitrification by microbes
Buffer soil pH
Contribute electrochemical balance as a donor or an acceptor
Synthesize new minerals
Chemically weather inorganic substances
Decompose silica to release essential mineral nutrients
Detoxify various pollutants (pesticides, herbicides, etc.)
The Energy Continuum
Sunlight >>> Plants (Photosyntiesis*) >>> Animals - Bio Mass >>> Coal (Stored energy for future use), Oil and Gas, Peat >>> Microbes (Humification* – microbial decomposition) >>> Humic and Fulvic Acids (Final energy product sustaining both plants and animals)
Note: THE TWO MAJOR LIFE FUNCTIONS WHICH CANNOT BE DUPLICATED BY MAN ARE PHOTOSYNTHESIS AND HUMIFICATION.
I didn't realize I was entering a continuous student mode when I started on this path.
Hope that helped ClosedCircuit.
Thank you!
You really expanded my basic understanding and I will have to read through your comment a couple more times as well as your shared reading to get a solid understanding.
I can't stress enough how great it is to have people like you and COorganics around to answer every question...and most importantly that you all aren't afraid to admit you don't always know the best answer!
Your plants are looking amazing. I've come to recognize (or maybe its just in my head) a distinct deep green hue many of our LSO plant have and yours are not exception in this round. They look rich and like they are loving life. Its almost a shame they are destined for the guillotine.
I can't wait for you next grow so I can follow you from the beginning.
ClosedCircuit
New Member
Oh ya, and what exactly and where do you get your cover crop from? I'm still up in the air with what I want to use for my next grow.
Clover is pretty widely accepted as a good one. Dutch white clover is mostly what we're using. Play around with it. We'd love to see you try some new things. I almost did a pot with a cover crop of chives only, then I got worried my buds may smell like onions. Maybe not a valid concern but it made me reconsider. Many brassica should be good, although when I did arugula some outdoor aphids got in and loved the stuff.
Those aphids were a breeze to completely get rid of though, don't be afraid to try something like that. The only other thing I can add is that cover crops aren't meant to be harvested and eaten. Keep them growing or chop and drop them back into the soil.
akisunni
New Member
What about Chia seeds?
ClosedCircuit
New Member
I think ill stick with the tried and true clover, but its funny you mention arugula because I was trying to decide between the two.
- Thread starter
- #573
I don't know of anyone using chia seeds, but I also don't know why they wouldn't work. I would think a variety of seeds, similar to what SoilGirl uses (from Build A Soil), would be most beneficial.
I do know borage is an excellent addition. That might work well for your outdoor grow aki.
I do know borage is an excellent addition. That might work well for your outdoor grow aki.
White Clover is a favorite Permaculture cover crop worldwide.
Probably because of how Larry Korn spoke of Masanobu Fukuoka
"This is not to say that Fukuoka did not experiment. For example, he tried more than twenty different ground covers before noticing that white clover was the only one which held back weeds effectively. It also fixes nitrogen so it improves the soil. He tried spreading the straw neatly over the fields but found the rice seeds could not make their way through. In one corner of the field, however, where the straw had scattered every which way, the seedlings emerged. The next year he scattered the straw across the entire field. There were years when his experiments resulted in almost a total crop loss, but in small areas things worked out well. He closely observed what was different in that part of the field and next year the results were better. The point is, he had no preconceived idea of what would work the best. He tried many things and took the direction nature revealed. As far as possible, Fukuoka was trying to take the human intellect out of the decision making process."
Probably because of how Larry Korn spoke of Masanobu Fukuoka
"This is not to say that Fukuoka did not experiment. For example, he tried more than twenty different ground covers before noticing that white clover was the only one which held back weeds effectively. It also fixes nitrogen so it improves the soil. He tried spreading the straw neatly over the fields but found the rice seeds could not make their way through. In one corner of the field, however, where the straw had scattered every which way, the seedlings emerged. The next year he scattered the straw across the entire field. There were years when his experiments resulted in almost a total crop loss, but in small areas things worked out well. He closely observed what was different in that part of the field and next year the results were better. The point is, he had no preconceived idea of what would work the best. He tried many things and took the direction nature revealed. As far as possible, Fukuoka was trying to take the human intellect out of the decision making process."
ClosedCircuit
New Member
Korn was in total admiration of Fukuoka...I've seen some of his other interviews about the Fukuoka and he truly makes him sound like an amazing man. So if clover is good enough for Fukuoka its good enough for me!
ClosedCircuit
New Member
That's the mix I was primarily looking at because some of the plant varieties (like barley) get alot taller...Hence, I can trim them and continuously use the cuttings for mulch. Would that be worth it?
I guess I'll just have to experiment regardless.
- Thread starter
- #577
Daily Update: Day 57 (THC Bomb Auto) & Day 56 (Buddha Magnum Auto)
Peeking over the screen everything looks good.
Surprisingly, the Bomb took on more water today - 7 cups to Buddha's 5. It must be all those flowers.
I just loved this play of color and texture looking down on to the Bomb.
Her side branches are a thing of sheer beauty.
The girls are hard at work growing and maturing those lovely trichomes.
If you zoom in on this twinkling shot you can see the maturing mushroom caps of the trichomes marching their way up and down stalks and leaves.
Sad testimony of how easy it is to get careless when one plays with CFLs. Let me assure you that the lights are away from all walls and surfaces. It's just that every once in a while a leaf moves in too close when I'm not hovering. I found myself wondering if the mild shock wouldn't cause more trichome production. I have no basis of fact to back that thought up. It just crossed my mind today.
I assume everyone is having a wonderful day. Spread the joy!
Peeking over the screen everything looks good.
Surprisingly, the Bomb took on more water today - 7 cups to Buddha's 5. It must be all those flowers.
I just loved this play of color and texture looking down on to the Bomb.
Her side branches are a thing of sheer beauty.
The girls are hard at work growing and maturing those lovely trichomes.
If you zoom in on this twinkling shot you can see the maturing mushroom caps of the trichomes marching their way up and down stalks and leaves.
Sad testimony of how easy it is to get careless when one plays with CFLs. Let me assure you that the lights are away from all walls and surfaces. It's just that every once in a while a leaf moves in too close when I'm not hovering. I found myself wondering if the mild shock wouldn't cause more trichome production. I have no basis of fact to back that thought up. It just crossed my mind today.
I assume everyone is having a wonderful day. Spread the joy!
- Thread starter
- #578
If you ask SoilGirl she would answer a hearty "Yes!" It adds variety and bio mass all at once. Win-win.
I agree with you about the vibrant color of LOS plants. I believe it's strongly tied to the mineralization of the soil mix. I can feel them embracing life.
Mine absolutely love being able to water themselves. I noticed today that Buddha has finally sent roots through the walls of the pot - little tiny hairs along the bottom edge where it's always wet. WooHoo!! Right on schedule.
I'm excited about next week when I can introduce aloe vera, malted Barley grain and fulvic acid.
This is all so fascinating.
ClosedCircuit
New Member
Now, you might have answered this
But did you do any layering of perlite at the bottom of your pots so they take up water better? Or is just adding more perlite in general enough to increase the wicking capability of the soil. I was thinking you would have to do a little of both.
But did you do any layering of perlite at the bottom of your pots so they take up water better? Or is just adding more perlite in general enough to increase the wicking capability of the soil. I was thinking you would have to do a little of both.
just super looking plants, wow,, i talked soil all night with my wife last night. hmmmm