The Gee Spot - You Finally Found It

[Azimuth]

I love tearing off the bandaid and jumping right in so heck yeah I would do both, but one at a time has merits too, as you know which change had what effect.

I want to get to a drier mix as quickly as I can to see the results. I can always go back a step in subsequent rounds, but with so few plants per year I have to try to get to the good stuff more quickly.

I kind of see it like bracketing, go a little too far vs what you think you need and then if it  is too far reduce next round, but sometimes you find that what you think is too far is actually not far enough, so bigger chunks can actually save steps over all.

I would still do both tho so the volume of your mix doesn't change and it fills all your pots.

That's not really a big deal as I make my mix with parts (10 of them), so I can easily adjust the part size using a bigger/smaller container. I start with final amount needed, divide that by ten and then find a container that's that size or slightly larger.

Any signs of detriment yet? You are getting into your regular window of when it shows up.

Not yet but this next week will be the first real test of that as I just finished week 3 and my deficiencies typically start week 3 or 4.

I'm kind of disappointed that my brix level hasn't crossed above 12 which I think is the level you said is where the cycle of excess carbon starts. I went back and reread our 1x flushing discussion and I see you recommended flushing and then immediately giving a tea before the first dry down which I didn't do and now wish I had.

I've got a tea brewing now and everyone gets some tonight. I'll give them all some water first as I recall that's your SOP.

 

[Gee64]

@cbdhemp808

There was a video posted in here a few months back claiming that if you start a plant from seed and treat it as poorly as possible, so crappy soil, barely any water, that sort of thing, for the 1st 60 days, it will program itself to flourish under those bad conditions, then if you suddenly uppot it to good soil and give it the royal treatment it will be extremely exceptional because it can survive on almost nothing.

As luck had it, I had a plant that had been very mistreated for 60 days and uppotting did make it grow very well.

I cut some clones from it into a zero nutrient medium and let them root in, but left them in that medium in solos for 60 days and almost never watered them. They were almost dead.

Then I uppotted them to some flower soil and a week later this is them.

Just before transplant.

8 days later.

So the clones of a programmed seed seem to carry the survival programming, or clones can be programmed too, or they would have grown that much in a week anyways. I need more data.

I like the outcome so if opportunity knocks I will definitely try it again.

 

[Gee64]

I've got a tea brewing now and everyone gets some tonight. I'll give them all some water first as I recall that's your SOP.

I agree, go big or go home. You can always back up.

I like a full drenching before a tea, then administer the tea while the hallways are still draining to get it evenly absorbed into all the soil carbon so all microlife can benefit, otherwise it will leave dry spots that got no tea.

I pour it in while the pot is still dripping out from the drench.

 

[Gee64]

Whoever nominated me for MOTM Thank You. I appreciate the appreciation.

 

[Azimuth]

Ok, let's talk teas.

It seems like nearly everyone who uses them sees noticeably good/great results right after using them, but I've always been a bit wary and have preferred to go with top dressing instead.

It seems to me that the microbe population in a pot is self regulating much like worms in a worm bin are, specifically that their numbers adjust up or down depending on the environment (temp, available food supply, pH, etc.)

So, when you brew a tea and dump a bunch into a pot it would seem like you would totally disrupt the current environment. Add to that that you really have no idea of what mix of microbes you added unless you're skilled in microscopy since the brew is constantly changing based on environmental temps, time spent brewing, food sources, etc. Go too long and apparently you actually start brewing bad stuff you  don't want to be adding to your soil.

Still, results seems to be almost universally positive so maybe there's just a really big window for great results.

Thoughts?

 

[Azimuth]

I like a full drenching before a tea, then administer the tea while the hallways are still draining to get it evenly absorbed into all the soil carbon so all microlife can benefit, otherwise it will leave dry spots that got no tea.

I pour it in while the pot is still dripping out from the drench.

Do you still go with 12.5% of pot size for the tea? I'd imagine that since you just drenched the pot that you'd get runoff pretty quickly, and long before 12.5%.

 

[Gee64]

Do you still go with 12.5% of pot size for the tea? I'd imagine that since you just drenched the pot that you'd get runoff pretty quickly, and long before 12.5%.

I go with 12.5%. You may want to drain your reservoir 1st or not, but it may overflow. The water is really just a primer for a more even distribution of the tea.

 

[Gee64]

Ok, let's talk teas.

It seems like nearly everyone who uses them sees noticeably good/great results right after using them, but I've always been a bit wary and have preferred to go with top dressing instead.

It seems to me that the microbe population in a pot is self regulating much like worms in a worm bin are, specifically that their numbers adjust up or down depending on the environment (temp, available food supply, pH, etc.)

So, when you brew a tea and dump a bunch into a pot it would seem like you would totally disrupt the current environment. Add to that that you really have no idea of what mix of microbes you added unless you're skilled in microscopy since the brew is constantly changing based on environmental temps, time spent brewing, food sources, etc. Go too long and apparently you actually start brewing bad stuff you  don't want to be adding to your soil.

Still, results seems to be almost universally positive so maybe there's just a really big window for great results.

Thoughts?

It's all in the tea.

If you use your own EWC to innoculate the tea, it's the same strains of microbes that have indigenized your pots. If you feed the tea with your topdressing it's just a quick release dose of what is already being fed. Balance is maintained.

The pots will self regulate the microbial population, so some in the tea will survive, some will go dormant in the soil, and some will get eaten and pooped out.

The remaining molasses and other ingredients that aren't consumed will also feed the pots, but what you really want is all that tea that is full of microbe poop from brewing, to saturate into your carbon and get drank over the next few days.

 

[Gee64]

Similar to pre-charging biochar.

 

[Gee64]

The presoaking of the pot to prime it gets calcium revving which ups the soil EC in preparation for the coming meal.

 

[Gee64]

You may see some tip burn as yours has calcium in it, but it should be mild. Cut your tea 50/50 with rain water before administering. Or not. Your call. I always do but I already run pretty powerful soil.

 

[Gee64]

From everything I have read, those microbes that get eaten with bellies full of nutes are the creme de la creme of bug poop.

 

[Azimuth]

I'm hoping it'll Jumpstart the brix level and get me over the 12 hump. I'll take a reading before I give the tea.

Took one this morning of the on-deck batter and got 11 with a pretty defined calcium line. That kind of surprised me since that one is in a mix with the calcium amendments in it. But it's first run soil so maybe those inputs need more time for the microbes to make them available while old soil likely has had more of it become freed up.

 

[Gee64]

I'm hoping it'll Jumpstart the brix level and get me over the 12 hump. I'll take a reading before I give the tea.

Took one this morning of the on-deck batter and got 11 with a pretty defined calcium line. That kind of surprised me since that one is in a mix with the calcium amendments in it. But it's first run soil so maybe those inputs need more time for the microbes to make them available while old soil likely has had more of it become freed up.

Your old soil may have been low in calcium. As you tweak and recycle, the old soil gets better and better. It's more the innoculants from the last grow that you use it for, and it's balanced (ish until a good batch of soil becomes used soil) so P is available to the new sprouts on day 1 if they choose to use it. That is the best brix jumpstarter I have found so far. It gets them ahead on dumptrucks right from the start.

The new mix with the added calcium, was it dolomite? and has it been fully root drenched to homogenize that dolomite?

 

[Azimuth]

The new mix with the added calcium, was it dolomite? and has it been fully root drenched to homogenize that dolomite?

The Big Four; Dolomite, Oyster shell, Gypsum, and Crustacean.

It has not been fully root drenched as I thought that was a rescue trick we used on a plant needing some help. That'll be easy enough to do with the tea since I'm making much more than I'll need.

So, sounds like this should be standard procedure, so when is it ideally done? This is about the earliest I'd want to do it with this plant as it's just now catching in the SIP and a full pot of wet soil earlier than now likely would've stunted it.

 

[Gee64]

The Big Four; Dolomite, Oyster shell, Gypsum, and Crustacean.

It has not been fully root drenched as I thought that was a rescue trick we used on a plant needing some help. That'll be easy enough to do with the tea since I'm making much more than I'll need.

So, sounds like this should be standard procedure, so when is it ideally done? This is about the earliest I'd want to do it with this plant as it's just now catching in the SIP and a full pot of wet soil earlier than now likely would've stunted it.

In cloth pots I usually drench around the 3 and 5.5 week marks, and the final drench right before flip. That usually gets calcium in good shape and releases any locked up nitrogen, which also unlocks magnesium. Once in flower it's a rescue only option as it can set off a nitro bomb, but better that than detriment to the end.

 

[Azimuth]

In cloth pots I usually drench around the 3 and 5.5 week marks, and the final drench right before flip. That usually gets calcium in good shape and releases any locked up nitrogen, whic also unlocks magnesium. Once in flower it's a resue only option as it can set off a nitro bomb, but better that than detriment to the end.

Ok, perfect. This is week three in the SIP and about a week from flip with a tea ready to deliver. I'll probably just do the drench with the tea.

Sounds like the universe aligning, lol.

 

[Gee64]

Ok, perfect. This is week three in the SIP and about a week from flip with a tea ready to deliver. I'll probably just do the drench with the tea.

Sounds like the universe aligning, lol.

If you are doing the drench with the tea then I highly recommend cutting the tea 50/50 with water. But if you have 2 plants at the same stage, do a side-by- side and see which works out better. One at 50/50 and 1 at full strength.

 

[Gee64]

Make sure to stir the tea vigorously right before every application, you want the chunkies evenly distributed throughout all the plants.

 

[Gee64]

Ok, perfect. This is week three in the SIP and about a week from flip with a tea ready to deliver. I'll probably just do the drench with the tea.

Sounds like the universe aligning, lol.

If you flip in a week, then doing another root drench 2 weeks from this one will release any pent up nitrogen during stretch when the plant can use it. Any later and you may effect flower.