The Gee Spot - You Finally Found It

[Gee64]

Regardless, the plant looks great and pretty darn healthy when seen in natural light. I wouldn’t sweat it too much. If it starts to progress more that’s different.

Jon is right here, don't sweat it, she looks good. Just dial back the calmag a bit.

 

[Gee64]

Day 16 of Flower.

Stretch is slowly winning. I purposely lowered veg inputs in these pots hoping to reduce stretch and it seems to be working. Almost too good.

Next grow I think I will use 4 flower spikes again but add 1 veg spike to the pot to see if I can increase stretch a bit (can't believe I just said that).

Still no complaints about the extra calcium. These pots are 72 days old and the tops haven't gone crusty yet. 72 days in, the oyster shell flour should be breaking down now too, so maybe a whole grow without a calcium issue?

lol I doubt that, but so far so good. Fingers crossed.

I keep waking up and expecting yellow leaves but none yet. Still got all my flower batteries.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but this cola is spectacular. It will be very photogenic at harvest. Oddly enough it's on Shorty.

Wake 'N Bake time. 6 months off Yay me!. My stash is too big anyways. Time to downsize it.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Good Morning Carmen. Sorry I crashed early last night. That looks like nute burn from a calmag dose. Autos do wierd things from my limited exposure to them, but if that were a photo I would dial back the calcium liquids. Try every 2nd or 3rd watering. Or when the plant starts to look light green like it needs nitrogen.

I'm watering every two days, so maybe every third watering and at a lower dose?

Calcium is food but its also an electrolyte, so it drives the soil electrically. If it builds up in your soil its very similar to feeding plants with a solution that has too high of an EC.

When calcium gets too high other things can get locked out. I would try plain water to runoff for a few waterings. Don't flush or you could lose nutrients, just to full saturation so the plant has to eat and the excess calcium moves down and eventually out.

Ok it's done.

It's also a soil conditioner, so when its in balance with magnesium your soil fluffs perfectly. If its low you get a crusty pot when it dries, and if its high your soil is dusty when it dries.

You want it somewhere in the middle.

I've got good tilth going here.

The crustiness of low calcium is caused by excess magnesium locking out nitrogen.

Every molecule of excess magnesium locks 1 molecule of nitrogen. I don't think low calcium is your immediate problem as other than the tips the plant looks really healthy. I tell you about excess magnesium (low calcium) so you know what to watch for if you dial the calmag back.

As soon as the plant looks a wee bit light in color, check the soil for crustiness. You should be able to easily stick a finger in anywhere, even around the pot edges. As long as the soil is fluffy your good.

If its just starting to get crusty, time for a weak dose of calmag and some EWC across the whole top of the pot just barely deep enough to cover. Don't choke the surface with EWC. Lighter layers more often work way better.

If you ever topdress a mineral mix, like bat guano or whatever, putting it on and the ewc right over top of it works really well.

I poke fingers into my pots every day. Caking is different. Caking just under the surface can be gently broken up, its just EWC clumping up before it really starts to work. The crusty stuff that didn't appear after using EWC, thats the calcium isdue. 1st watering after EWC has been topdressed you usually see crustiness, but again thats EWC starting to work so crumble it, but its not a calcium issue.

If you haven't topdressed for a few waterings and things go crusty, thats a calcium issue.

So here is some logic on that, as calcium can be dangerous.

When the soil needs calcium, which is the majority of the calcium issues, and it goes crusty, calmag will fix that ON CONTACT.

Thats important to remember.

It has an electrical charge and tames excess magnesium on contact, so don't mix it too strong.

If a light dose doesn't fix it, you can always do another light dose. Go too strong and plants fry.

A light dose is the weakest mixture from the instructions. Calmag instructions usually have 3 strengths on the mixing instructions.

The light mix is to maintain current levels, or fix minor things. The medium is to fix minor things and feed and maintain, the heavy is to rescue. Try to feed light and maintain but never need a rescue.

If the plant doesn't eat the calcium and it is only being used to condition the soil, which is what most need it for, it can build up and tips start to burn.

Ok thank you. I have given the plant water to a light runoff.

This looks like any other Bud Candy, for the most part. Once a month will help.

If you use it too often the microbes will start relying on you for sugar instead of taking exudate bribes from myco. Once a month though, and its just a freebee pick-me-up and everything runs a bit better.

If brix are low, this will jumpstart them into climbing. The extra carbon in it revitalizes the microbes, they produce more food, the plant eats more, then it can exudate more, and everything bumps up a notch.

Interesting. I've only used it the once and it is scheduled again for 29th Oct. Do you think I should use it fortnightly or will that be too much do you think?

She's a big-boned girl! She will treat you well. Beautiful shape on your canopy.

Thank you Gee Now to keep the leaves from burning up.

 

[Gee64]

I'm watering every two days, so maybe every third watering and at a lower dose?

Yes, whatever the lowest mix on the bottle is, and far less frequently. Watch the plants, they will tell you. If thats in six days from now then plan on giving it every 5 days, and maybe even more frequently as flower thickens.

Ok it's done.

I've got good tilth going here.

Thats the big one. Right before you water, every time, run your fingers through it. It should be on the dry side so feel it, gently, and all around the edges. Then gently smooth it all out and water. When it needs calcium you will start to feel the difference. Low calcium isn't surprising on a commercial mix. Adding extra next time might fix a lot. It will hold that tilth without calmag.

Ok thank you. I have given the plant water to a light runoff.

Interesting. I've only used it the once and it is scheduled again for 29th Oct. Do you think I should use it fortnightly or will that be too much do you think?

Do you mean the candy? Once a month will only help. If you use it and see a big difference, then what you really need is a good microbe tea to boost properly, and put this in the tea instead of molasses.

Use ewc to get the microbes. 1 cup ewc for 5 gallons of tea is a good ratio. Any good tea recipe will work, just sub this in for molasses and add ewc to the recipe. Only make half the tea you need, and then mix it with equal parts water to double it. Weak tea more often is better than strong tea less often.

Thank you Gee Now to keep the leaves from burning up.

Fingers in the dirt. Once you can feel calcium out everything else gets a lot easier.

If calcium is your only issue this grow, then I would use that same brand of soil again and add some dolomite.

Your plants look good. Other than the tips they look really healthy.

 

[Gee64]

Tomorrow every plant gets untied, spun 180 degrees, and retied. Maybe some fish water if they behave.

 

[Jon]

Morning @Gee64 - all this light talk has me wondering how higher or lower light levels might affect Brix. Never occurred to me before (how could it have, lol), and maybe it’s crazy. But everything else seems to affect it. I wonder if one could devise an experiment to test that. My guess would be that more light, as long as it’s not too much, would increase the processing rates all around, and thus in theory the plant would be healthier and have a higher Brix.

Just thinking out loud.

 

[Gee64]

Morning @Gee64 - all this light talk has me wondering how higher or lower light levels might affect Brix. Never occurred to me before (how could it have, lol), and maybe it’s crazy. But everything else seems to affect it. I wonder if one could devise an experiment to test that. My guess would be that more light, as long as it’s not too much, would increase the processing rates all around, and thus in theory the plant would be healthier and have a higher Brix.

Just thinking out loud.

I agree. Brix is really just a measurement of photosynthesis.

As long as you have enough nutrients going in to keep up to the higher photosynthetic rates your good.

Thats how I got thrips when my 1st light crashed. My photosynthesis dropped by 50 percent and brix crashed.

 

[Jon]

Tomorrow every plant gets untied, spun 180 degrees, and retied. Maybe some fish water if they behave.

If you do develop a calcium issue at some point in this grow, would you still think the oyster shells are the key to the calcium issue free grow and adjust accordingly? And, how will you fix it if it rears its head well into flower? Calmag?

 

[Gee64]

If you do develop a calcium issue at some point in this grow, would you still think the oyster shells are the key to the calcium issue free grow and adjust accordingly? And, how will you fix it if it rears its head well into flower? Calmag?

In my mix I use dolomite, gypsum, and oyster shell flour.

The dolomite and gypsum are prilled and start working pretty quick. The oyster shell takes a lot longer to break down so it holds in the soil better.

I use EWC regularly to stay ahead of calcium, but if a deficiency were to arise, yeah, straight to calmag. It works.

 

[Jon]

In my mix I use dolomite, gypsum, and oyster shell flour.

The dolomite and gypsum are prilled and start working pretty quick. The oyster shell takes a lot longer to break down so it holds in the soil better.

I use EWC regularly to stay ahead of calcium, but if a deficiency were to arise, yeah, straight to calmag. It works.

Thanks. Prilled?

 

[Gee64]

Its powdered lime formed into pellets that disolve in water, so it cooks in quickly.

 

[Gee64]

It makes powdered substances almost dustless.

 

[Gidorah]

Tomorrow every plant gets untied, spun 180 degrees, and retied. Maybe some fish water if they behave.

Looking good Gee, really showing the stretch!

 

[Gee64]

Looking good Gee, really showing the stretch!

Thanks G, they are. Today even more so. Hope they have enough food

 

[Gee64]

Day 17 of Flower. 34 to senescence.

Random canopy and cola shots.

Everyone gets turned 180 later today. And some fish water.

I will also dig around in the mulch while I'm under there. See whats going on.

Nodes are stretching nicely.

 

[Gee64]

A few more.

Row crops

 

[Jon]

A few more.

Row crops

Spectacular. You’re allowed one teensy tiny blemish in the way underside of the bottommost point at least. But no…all we get to see is this goddamn perfect green that just pisses everyone off.



I joke. For real?

 

[Gee64]

Jon your eloquance is astounding!

 

[Jon]

Jon your eloquance is astounding!

Can’t help myself. It’s impressive man. So I’m beginning to see the beauty of the manifold. With manifolding, you get these perfectly spaced, and perfectly lined up, lines of colas, that in a several plant scenario ends up in a perfectly spaced full canopy in the entirety of the space. Wowee.

 

[Gee64]

Can’t help myself. It’s impressive man. So I’m beginning to see the beauty of the manifold. With manifolding, you get these perfectly spaced, and perfectly lined up, lines of colas, that in a several plant scenario ends up in a perfectly spaced full canopy in the entirety of the space. Wowee.

Bingo

But if you want to test things you can on 1 plant, or like today, I turned all 4.

You can take a plant out and set it on a bench any time you want.

I have wire running around the edges of the tent at manifold height and across the center. Then I can strap and unstrap the colas to the wires.

It's 4 pots, but really its 32 colas. Do 16 on 4 per plant and wow you get big colas.

Really evenly spaced too, but 32 really gives a ton of grade A yield.

The light fiasco really tossed training out, this is actually a shoddy grow. Usually they are positioned better.

But the plants are happy so....