Total Noob using teas and I am a believer

[Mad Hamish]

Good Morning Sir!

Looking AMAZING and lush as always! I see the recovery from the pH problem went really well too, very nicely done there bro, very nicely done indeed. Just goes to show you're right on top of this game, all over every parameter like a friggin spider, fingers on all the dials tweaking the machine to perfection at all times. Once again, very inspiring stuff to look at.
Kali Bubba looks MONSTROUS bud. I still reckon it's one of the most clever crosses I ever heard of.
I recently caught wind of another I really want to try, it's called Southern Lights, NYCD x Sensi Star, one of my oldschool faves married to my undisputed newschool fave, and it's a verified Soma cut for the Diesel so it can only end well
Take care and have a wonderful week mate, you still owe me pics of how the ebb and flow girls are doing... Any hiccups there yet or all still smooth sailing? If you nail it first time you deserve a standing ovation indeed!!!

MH

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

Thanks Hamish. I will post some pictures of the very healthy organic ebb and flow tonight. Things are going really good with them. No hiccups yet. Have a great day with your family.

 

[prosperian]

Nice job Gandalf. Enjoyed looking at the pics. Bummer about the RO ph. I'm lucky that my tap water comes in at 6.7

I haven't checked ph since my last grow. Keeping my fingers crossed and in search of plant issues, none so far.

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

Nice job Gandalf. Enjoyed looking at the pics. Bummer about the RO ph. I'm lucky that my tap water comes in at 6.7

I haven't checked ph since my last grow. Keeping my fingers crossed and in search of plant issues, none so far.

That is awesome Pros. I have really deep well water at 300 feet. My well water's ph is 6.4-6.6 and it's ppm is 60. I may scrap the RO and go back to it. The Rev's True Living Organics call for the use of RO, distilled, or rain water. I am trying to go along with it for now. I have the ph adjustment down with the Earth Juice crystals. I may run a few plants with the well water to compare. I think I'll run some males with it for as long as I can to get an idea. It's 100% on me about the ph. I assumed that the RO water would be the same ph as my tap or distilled. Also the advice of not phing your water with organics was a bust for me. You can't run 5.6 water of any type into your plants. That's just too far out there for a soil grow. Just my opinion though.

 

[prosperian]

That is awesome Pros. I have really deep well water at 300 feet. My well water's ph is 6.4-6.6 and it's ppm is 60. I may scrap the RO and go back to it. The Rev's True Living Organics call for the use of RO, distilled, or rain water. I am trying to go along with it for now. I have the ph adjustment down with the Earth Juice crystals. I may run a few plants with the well water to compare. I think I'll run some males with it for as long as I can to get an idea. It's 100% on me about the ph. I assumed that the RO water would be the same ph as my tap or distilled. Also the advice of not phing your water with organics was a bust for me. You can't run 5.6 water of any type into your plants. That's just too far out there for a soil grow. Just my opinion though.

Yeah, you're right. It's the most difficult thing for most growers to grasp. Advice given blindly on forums, videos, or books cannot take into account all the variables of each individual's garden. I try to be so cautious throwing out advice because there is high likelihood of what works for me, won't work for you.

I succeed only because I've acquired the skills of gardening and an ability to read plants over decades of practice and failure. Marijuana is nothing special other than it's harvest is prized more than others. Beyond that, it's no different to me than a tomato, cucumber, basil, you name it, they're just plants to me and I treat them as such. Well, except for the excessive mj pictures and discussions, that's pure entertainment.

 

[Mad Hamish]

Also the advice of not phing your water with organics was a bust for me. You can't run 5.6 water of any type into your plants. That's just too far out there for a soil grow. Just my opinion though.

I am also not going to fall for that bit mate... I believe in water as being alive too, RO water... not for me man. If I was living in a place with unsafe amounts of heavy metals in the water, then sure, or if the water around is too saline, then RO is your only way.
All my permaculture buds believe in groundwater being the best. Stick to your well mate.
Rain water is also a far second to well water... I've seen direct comparisons in practice and the difference is really astounding. You do get exceptions where wells simply do not deliver good water, but yours seems great.

Rain water can be a real hassle: Your pH will change every time it rains. It's not dead water like RO, so you've got bits of harlmess algae growing on the sides of the tanks soon enough, great for drinking because they make it go a bit more alkaline with time so it's good for the human body. But I test the pH EVERY time I draw some out the tanks and here are some observations I have made:
Sometimes, the rain is CLEARLY acidic, my tanks can drop to a pH of 6.8 down from 8.2 in a single day. When the wind is right, it is a perfect 7.0 (measured) in which case the pH will only drop a little.
Hot days with lots of sun, pH can go as high as 9.0 sometimes. It's all got to do with the algae. Regular cleans of the tanks are essential, but sometimes are out of the question as you have to DRAIN the tank before cleaning it. PPM's hardly ever change, I get a consistent EC of 0.135 out of my tanks so it's not dissolved solids causing the changes.

Stay right on top of it the way you do with every other aspect. You'll feel better for it, and quite frankly ALL indoor growing is scientific. Nothing wrong with measuring and adjusting, as you are the one creating the environment AND ecology. Shit's BOUND to get out of whack if we do not consistently keep our fingers on all the dials and eyes on the displays.

Even organic, indoor growing is a bit like flying a fighter jet... Let your attention slip for a bit, and you'll regret it.

Besides, I think you enjoy keeping an eye on every aspect so might as well have fun with the pH too bro!

MH

 

[CoreyATX420]

Here is an update from the last week or so. As reported earlier I incurred some ph problems with my seedlings and other plants due to a very low ph. It was 100% on me. I overlooked the ph of my water coming out of a new RO system. I was dumb enough to have had some misconception that the water would have a ph of 7 like distilled water. I have moved past that now and the seedlings are healthy and growing well again. I will be placing them all under the 400W MH in a day or two. My SunMaiden, Alexander Kush, and Daybreaker crew go into the flowing room in a day or two. They are doing well overall. Some are having a bit of leaf curl from the Rev mix I put them into a week or so ago. I also hit them with the 5.6ish RO water before I realized what the hell I was doing. That has caused a very minor and brief canoe trip for the leaves.

I took several shots of the Kali Bubba but none that will truly show how big she is. She really is a beast. I found specs for her budding time to be 73-77 days. I plan on going at least 90 if she wants. The Kali Mists I have are all doing very well. I seem to have 2 or 3 phenotypes. Some are shorter. The Pineapple Express are all doing well. Two have some CaMg issues that I am dealing with. There are two phenos with the PE also. Some short and some taller. I have healthy clones of all strains in bloom to select the best mother(s). I will let any plant go unless she is just about perfect. I have to mention a few I never bring up. I have a TGA Jack the Ripper seedling, a TGA Chernobyl seedling, and an OG Raskal White Fire OG seedling up running. I am excited to see if one of those is dank.

Here are a bunch of recent pictures. I have to water the seedlings tonight so forgive the dryness of the soil.

Starlet Kush

Super Blue Dream x Freedom Baby

Starlet Kush

OB Rippers, SBD X FBs, Starlet Kushes

Kali Mist Clones,White Fire OG, etc

SunMaidens, Alex Kushes, DayBreakers

Blue OG

Kali Bubba...All tall branches in the back

Kali Bubba...All tall branches in the middle and the left. The main cola is not in the picture. It goes down low and to the right. I promise better pictures in the near future.

stop it bro. youre blue OG looks so good youre making me want to go germ now and I do not have room for more shit right now hahaha. well done friend. Upgrading wattage this week so things are hella busy.

 

[Steelheader3430]

Hey everybody, my plants are coming along very nicely and I'm itching to switch to 12/12. I have a couple power outages coming tonight during my lights on time. How concerned should I be? 11:30-midnight and 6:00-6:30 roughly.

 

[Mad Hamish]

Hey everybody, my plants are coming along very nicely and I'm itching to switch to 12/12. I have a couple power outages coming tonight during my lights on time. How concerned should I be? 11:30-midnight and 6:00-6:30 roughly.

In veg, two half-hour outages won't be all that bad as long as you've got no fems in there. If you do have fems, also not too worry too much. Do you have a camping lantern, battery not gas? They don't need many lumens to stay in 'awake' mode. A battery-powered lantern will do the trick just fine.
What I personally use (we have a shortage of electricity in South Africa and 'load shedding' is a common occurrence) is a normal UPS for a PC connected to a CFL. I set it up when I know there will be power outages coming and it is good for a few hours, I've never had it run down completely on me before.

 

[mycomaster]

I don't know how I missed that update, but wholley shnikeys batman. All your girls are looking amazing. The Kali Bubba's are friggin huge man. I can tell by the big wire in the pic how big the stems are kinda, and they look pretty big man. If I'm thinking right about the dimensions of that plant, yeah she's a big one for sure. I couldn't imagine the racy high off of her after a 90 day flowering period, the smoke would be epic. All the Gage gear looks great too bro. I was studying your Blue O.G. shot, and our phenos are looking quite different to me. It really seems yours, Pros, and mine look different from each others. I wonder how many phenos that strain has? I'd like a more indica dom version myself. You really have quite the array of ladies, I hope you get some real winners from all those. It would almost be hard not too, you know. I don't know why, but I'm completely captivated by the O.B. Ripper. For some reason I have a strong feeling that's gonna be really good meds for people. Hard not to be with it's lineage. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and get some more pics up of all that man, can't wait! LOL. Take er easy bro. Peace and Love.

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

Load shedding is something that I have never dealt with before. We have the power go out in storms all the time and I use battery powered fluorescent lights to keep them awake if the lights are on at the time. It has worked for me so far as Hamish's way has helped him. They can be used for cloning and seedlings too in a pinch.

Not much to update. The testers are going strong. The more I read about the Super Blue Dream x Freedom Baby and the Starlet Kush, the more excited I am getting. I can't wait to see what these produce. Did anyone see the CNN and Sanjay Gupta's report on weed? It's nice to have such a "household" name support the use of cannabis on national tv over and over. I will take small victories. Our time is coming guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqWxys3P_nI

All the plants in the flower room are happy. I have pulled a couple through a CaMg def and they are doing better. It was 3 plants. 2 PE phenos and the Bubblegummer. The Bubblegummer looks nice as does one of the 2 PE's that had the def, but 1 of the PE phenos is so ugly I though about offering her as a sacrifice to the powers that be. I am very impressed with the looks of the Blue OG, Green Poison, Kali Mists, Kali Bubba, Engineers' Dream, Lemon Kush, Power Skunk, etc. The teas are keeping things so healthy. I have to mix two teas today, a flowering tea and a seedling/clone tea. It only takes 5 mins to do. I have not used a bottle for nutes other than the GO CaMg+ this time around. It has been all teas and organic soil. The Kali Mists seem to love this. I have never had them so healthy from the bottom up. I have to restake the Kali Bubba tonight. She is putting on weight and leaning to the left. It is very interesting to note she is behind even the Kali Mist in flower development. I think she is going to put out massive buds though. She looks like she is getting ready to do something big.

I am still waiting on the final sexing of the Sun Maiden, Alex Kush, and the Daybreakers. They are in the fourth day of flowering and are looking perfect. My seedlings of OB Ripper and LA Haze look strong now too. Their growth should be exponential now that their leaves are getting bigger. I am sorry for the lack of pictures today. Trying to squeeze in the last few weeks of summer with the kids has been excellent but has left only time to care for the plants these days. Big photo drop coming soon. Thanks for looking everyone. I will post up some seedling pictures later. Have a great Sunday.

 

[Steelheader3430]

The outages turned out to be less than 15 min. each so I think they're fine. Thanks Hamish. My other two babies are inside now I just topped as per Uncle Bens topping for 4 main colas. Just waiting for my older girls to respond from the last topping before switching to 12/12. They sure don't stretch under that 1000 watt mh, but fill with nodes like crazy.

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

I love the avatar bro. Glad to hear the outages were less. Post up some topping pictures.

 

[Steelheader3430]

So here are the babies that I topped Uncle Ben style


And here are the two I have been working on for a while now. These are pics of the side growth one I topped and the other one I fimmed just to see what the difference is. Fimming sure is strange. I'm just waiting for the side growth to reach out a little further before switching and for the last topping of the 2 main stems to pick up some growth. They are both showing pistils and alternating nodes so the time is coming. heres a side shot of the one I fimmed and a shot of the top of one of the main's that I'm waiting to develop a bit more.

 

[Steelheader3430]

If these things double in size during flower I'll be fine if they triple like I've heard they could i might need to do some management.

 

[Mad Hamish]

This is one of the best threads of all time... Steelheader your plants are looking great, sure both me and you have a while to go before getting to Gandalf's level of absolute mastery, but you are well on your way there. Good job mate.

Gandalf, have you noticed an overall increase of Mg needs in today's strains? I've resigned to mixing some into all of my feeds now, pretty much. Low consistent doses and it is seeming to help out a lot. I am almost starting to feel that extra CalMag in every feed is a good plan, regardless if a def is showing or not, because I almost feel like it is absolutely certain to turn up at some point.
Keeping it low so we'll see how it goes, my big 'fear' is over-dosing slowly over time, so I am being vigilant about the odd flushes in my coco in particular. Upping the dolomite lime in my soil mix too, just a little but leaning towards the safe side is usually a good plan...

 

[mycomaster]

One of my biggest fears is a slow over-dose as well Hamish. With the friggin CaMg needs of the strains lately it's hard not to give them what they seem to need, but a build-up over time in the substrate would seem inevitable. Like i said before I'm not a big flusher, but really deem it necessary to make sure my soil ph is good, and stays stable. I've found that you can either flush your soil once in a while or fight off problems as they pop up. I'd rather take a little time, and effort, and just flush out my soil, and avoid future B.S., you know. Enjoy these times with your family Gandalf, the end of summer going into fall is always an enchanting time of year, especially in the north-eat with all the autumn colors coming up. Anticipation of those photos will only make them better, not that they need to be. I can't wait to see those Kali's, both strains! I really think this is one of the better threads on R.I.U. as well. Great info on all kinds of organics, hydro & soil, and strains to boggle the brains man, pretty friggin awesome. Take er easy everyone. Peace and Love.

 

[dlftmyers]

Load shedding is something that I have never dealt with before. We have the power go out in storms all the time and I use battery powered fluorescent lights to keep them awake if the lights are on at the time. It has worked for me so far as Hamish's way has helped him. They can be used for cloning and seedlings too in a pinch.

Not much to update. The testers are going strong. The more I read about the Super Blue Dream x Freedom Baby and the Starlet Kush, the more excited I am getting. I can't wait to see what these produce. Did anyone see the CNN and Sanjay Gupta's report on weed? It's nice to have such a "household" name support the use of cannabis on national tv over and over. I will take small victories. Our time is coming guys.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqWxys3P_nI

All the plants in the flower room are happy. I have pulled a couple through a CaMg def and they are doing better. It was 3 plants. 2 PE phenos and the Bubblegummer. The Bubblegummer looks nice as does one of the 2 PE's that had the def, but 1 of the PE phenos is so ugly I though about offering her as a sacrifice to the powers that be. I am very impressed with the looks of the Blue OG, Green Poison, Kali Mists, Kali Bubba, Engineers' Dream, Lemon Kush, Power Skunk, etc. The teas are keeping things so healthy. I have to mix two teas today, a flowering tea and a seedling/clone tea. It only takes 5 mins to do. I have not used a bottle for nutes other than the GO CaMg+ this time around. It has been all teas and organic soil. The Kali Mists seem to love this. I have never had them so healthy from the bottom up. I have to restake the Kali Bubba tonight. She is putting on weight and leaning to the left. It is very interesting to note she is behind even the Kali Mist in flower development. I think she is going to put out massive buds though. She looks like she is getting ready to do something big.

I am still waiting on the final sexing of the Sun Maiden, Alex Kush, and the Daybreakers. They are in the fourth day of flowering and are looking perfect. My seedlings of OB Ripper and LA Haze look strong now too. Their growth should be exponential now that their leaves are getting bigger. I am sorry for the lack of pictures today. Trying to squeeze in the last few weeks of summer with the kids has been excellent but has left only time to care for the plants these days. Big photo drop coming soon. Thanks for looking everyone. I will post up some seedling pictures later. Have a great Sunday.

check this out:http://www.salon.com/2013/08/17/science_for_stoners_heres_how_pot_works/singleton/

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

You guys are what makes this thread nice. I have some Rev tips on CaMg. First off if you are using more than a tbs of molasses do not use CaMg+ at the same time. You only want about 60 ppm of the CaMg's additive effect. Mg is very important mostly during flowering.

Ca and K deficiencies usually go together. If you are running a lower humidity in your room, say 45%, your plants and microbeasties will eat up Ca like crazy. Also K. Good air movement helps this consumption also. Plants absorb K and Ca slowly and steadily. If you let your containers dry out too much, as I do, you will experience a K deficiency which will almost always become a Ca issue. This is straight from the Rev.

 

[GandalfdaGreen]

This is one of the best threads of all time... Steelheader your plants are looking great, sure both me and you have a while to go before getting to Gandalf's level of absolute mastery, but you are well on your way there. Good job mate.

Gandalf, have you noticed an overall increase of Mg needs in today's strains? I've resigned to mixing some into all of my feeds now, pretty much. Low consistent doses and it is seeming to help out a lot. I am almost starting to feel that extra CalMag in every feed is a good plan, regardless if a def is showing or not, because I almost feel like it is absolutely certain to turn up at some point.
Keeping it low so we'll see how it goes, my big 'fear' is over-dosing slowly over time, so I am being vigilant about the odd flushes in my coco in particular. Upping the dolomite lime in my soil mix too, just a little but leaning towards the safe side is usually a good plan...

I know you know this, cook the additional dolomite in your soil before using it. Pros even cooks his bagged organic soil for a month now. I like that a ton.