STONINGTON BLEND- It doesn't get any easier than this- I HOPE

[PLreef]

I had a bit of nitrogen toxicity in my last run with Coast of Maine during veg when I wasn't adding nutes. This soil is full of goodies, maybe too much? Regardless I have 5 bags ready to go for my next run. Lol

[Weed Pharma]

Taking the plants temperature: a tool to assess light and/or general stress- As the plant should be below the current ambient temperature (all else being equal).


No need for expensive light meters to determine if your lights are too close.
She has responded well to no water for the week- watered today.
It looks like the stretch has begun!

Plan- do nothing: except water.

[SoOrbudgal]

Crewzzzzzzz on and grow strong looks great

[Weed Pharma]

The plant has begun the flowering stretch and showing white pistils.



Doing well, @ 18" from LED- which is the minimum distance for flowering.
While it can be moved to 14" -I do not stress autos especially sativa's- the plant temp closest to the lights is 76f- so not stressed at all.

Eight (8) cola's are starting to raise above the foliage and may need a little LST to keep them all at the same height.

Mexican Airline strain has a 10 week flowering duration- so I will only post any problems or milestones going forward.

So far' this plant has done as well, if not better in veg than "fully attended" to grows.

Watering is very different for Stonington Blend from the "wet/dry" routine of coco based soil.
You have to keep the soil from drying out without drowning the plant or having run off, but the high peet amount helps retain moiture and along with that the nutrients for the whole grow.

Plan: just water it

[SoOrbudgal]

Thanks for the update with this soil.

[Puglover1]

Weed Pharma Did you start using the drip rings because of SB soil? Use them for watering throughout entire grow? Any advice for me watering? I have a small watering vessel with a narrow diameter metal spout that can water more slowly than using a cup or bigger watering can. Go by feel, bag feels barely damp but no runoff? Other than feeling the bottoms, mine are feeling dry if I slide my hand down the inside of a bag. TY.

[Weed Pharma]

I have used drip rings for years with all kinds of grow medium-
I have a bad back so I don't have to bend over to get even watering throughout the grow when I use the rings.

[Weed Pharma]

And-a deficiency surfaces-

I have a Calcium deficiency showing 2/3 way up the plant- the reasons may not be the soil, as the TDS was 36pm which indicates not much Calcium- and I have always supplimented my water, as if it was reverse osmosis water-
Another cause could be from using low pH water of 6.0 for the plant in the beginning and Calcium is only available to the plant above 6.2 pH. (root zone)


The lowest leaves have started to yellow and the new growth looks normal at this point.

I had already increased the pH of water going in, to 6.5 pH

I'm torn with adding the Calcium or continue the grow and perhaps increase the water pH again- in an attempt to get the root pH to 6.2 pH.

If I add calcium I don't think it would negate the "just water it" mantra.
At the same time, I'm not sure how much Calcium is needed at this point of the grow and will do some research.

Plan: increase water pH closer to 7.0pH along with research of when the plant no longer needs much Calcium.

[SoOrbudgal]

I think you answered yourself Weed Pharma, crossing my fingers for you.

[Puglover1]

Jay1245 look at this!

[Weed Pharma]

OK, I looked up when I usually stop Cal/Mag- 5th week of flower.

Since Calcium is a partially mobile nutrient- I'm not going to add Calcium to this grow-

I had a little bit of Stonington Blend- so I topped dressed and watered it in with increased pH water.


I'm really looking for the raw results of "just water it" and not trying to get massive gains/quality.

[Jay1245]

Well I already ready flushed my plant with 3 gallons of water ph run off was 6.29 and my ppm was at a 766 don’t know if that’s good or not being it’s in week 2 of flower I’m using Natures super soil and roots organic soil mix my last grow was smooth I am going to raise my ph and see if it helps I added a little cal- Meg to it after I flushed it and let it sit for a hour and only watered it with about 2 cups of water so I guess we will find out if I can get it back to looking good or not

[Weed Pharma]

A sign of Caclium deficiency is branches that break easy.
I was doing a very light LST and it began to seperate from the stem- purple duck tape to the rescue!


New growth however. not showing any Calcum issues- so far.
We won't really know the extent of Calcium related damage (if any) untl a post-mortum of the main stem- a hollow stem would indicate the problem.

That said, the main stem is large and plants in Stonington Blend are taking up more water than any other 5 gallon grow I've done.

Plan: leave it alone (no more LST, etc) and "just water it"

[3Berries]

I like to pluck a couple leaves off, if easy it needs calcium if hard then it's OK.

[PLreef]

Love the plan. Keep it simple.
Sometimes I'm amazed with how tough these plants really are. I've broken branches a bunch of time, some severely. After a week or so of being taped up they are as good as new!

[Weed Pharma]

Looks like the stretch is coming to an end. The bud length should be about 8"-9" , if they stack well. Broken stem (purple tape) is keeping up very well.


I removed the dry leaves.
It's noticable, the top 6" is very pale--Nitrogen issue or light stress?

I raised the LED to 18" (from 16") and will see iif anything changes.

Plan: "Just water it"


Of interest, the other plant (Inidca/CBD) yellowed early and completely- but buds look good and harvest is soon.

[Weed Pharma]

The buds are stacking and developing well. Most of the large fan leaves have turned mostly yellow and been removed.



Plan: "just water it"


Of interest: the indica/CBD plant was harvested and produced 81g. 15g more than usual with Stonington Blend.

The main stem was not hollow until I got to the area where the stretch began and then turned hollow - effecting possible maximum yield
I will add CAL/MAG to each watering the next grow with Stonington Blend, as my tap water has low TDS.

[Weed Pharma]

Will she make it another 4+ weeks to estimated harvest?- She's mellow yellow now.



Still has white hairs, but I suspect they will turn amber this week and the count down will begin.

Plan: just water it

[SoOrbudgal]

She sure is using all her energy up great looking colas.

[Weed Pharma]

A ragged looking plant- especially under the LED- that said- the buds are filling in and are hard as a rock.



The trichomes are mostly cloudy with little clear or amber showing.
To be checked over the weekend.

plan: Just water it

[Weed Pharma]

It's still alive- drinking usual amounts 3 times a week, approaching the 10 weeks of flower time mentioned by seedbank.



Very few white hairs of new growth.
The trichomes are cloudy and hint of amber in some spots- maybe another week.

Plan: "Just water it"

[Puglover1]

Nice buds. Question - I was in the hospital for 10 days unexpectedly, I was 2 weeks from flipping to 12's, they all died due to lack of pH'd water. Need to start over as soon as I'm up to it, got a new bag of SB today. Did you add 20 or 25% perlite? Are you adding cal-mag next grow or staying with KISS? Thanks.

[Weed Pharma]

I did not add anything to the Stonington Blend but, I will be adding Cal/Mag to the water.

[Puglover1]

OK, Thank you for replying.

[Weed Pharma]

Harvest Success!! with "Just water it" grow.



Yield looks OK- we will see when it drys. I will post the dried weight.

Ragged looking buds- discolored- but trichomes were all cloudy. This plant is for making oil and loose leaf capsules-so OK.

It started drinking less.

Stem does not show Calcium issue (not hollow).

[Puglover1]

Are the buds still tight, hard? Looks like a nice auto yield. Because of the lost grow and low inventory I'm going to grow two autos in the SB that never made it to flip. I might be a total copycat and buy two drip rings, no more legs going numb while sitting cross-legged on the floor. If I got a taller faucet for the guest bathroom sink I wouldn't need to carry gallons of water from one end of the house to the other. Might as well put a faucet on my 'holiday deals' shopping list - K.I.S.S. as possible.

[Weed Pharma]

The yield was 63.7g - lower than the usual 85-90g.
The buds were dried fast, as they will be decarboxylated this weekend. (the humidity of the jarred buds is running @ 57-59% and will be burped daily until then).

The buds structure was more like an outdoor grow, larfy.
The aroma from the buds was simply amazing. (a bit of a surprise!)





The next grow- I'll add Cal/Mag to each watering and provide nutrients begining week #4.

TO BE FAIR- Coast of Maine recommends feeding - before flowering approaches and plants did show nutrient issues, at that time during the grow.

For a" just water it" grow- I'm pleased with the results.