SOIL Grow journal 📓 2021

[amy24]

I posted a pic of the grow but forgot to add it to my journal. I’m still adding mulch/meal mix/diatomaceous earth/meal cake meal as a layer once a month or so. It also added a layer of compost from my compost tumbler (adding only garden waste, coffee, browns like paper bags, banana, egg shells, worm poo, etc). I thought I should add a comment about compost tea…. Never worked for me, I’d always whip up some overzealous concoction. This year I decided to it add a layer of compost as it’s ready, every 6 weeks or so. Now they are healthy and thriving with NO nute burn! Woo hoo!!

Just switched the liquid fertilizer from high nitrogen to the same brand’s “blooms” variety which is 3-10-12. Will keep doing once a week.

I’m noticing the ones in the totes are verrrry thirsty these days, if I miss a morning, they are droopy by the evening. I only water when I can lift/move the totes and it seems like every time I check, they’ve sucked up the water I’ve given them when they used to only need water every second day.

I’m going to do a bit more training as they are allllmost at fence level then hoping to leave them alone for the rest of flowering. Lower fan leaves are starting to yellow and die, just leaving them and taking them off about once a week.

Also found a plant I never trimmed up in my attic! Bonus! 😉 Think I might make it until this harvest now, was just on my last jar from last year! It will be very close.

 

[amy24]

Haha “meal cake meal” is supposed to say neam cake meal

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Mine also drooped with only 1x day watering, i should of took a photo after nearly 2days without water because my jaw dropped when i saw them. I left for 2 days kinda figured they would not be happy. Left a message with a neighbor she did not get it i guess LOL but gal those things looked really bad. But now all is good. I have removed alot of largest fans blocking bud sites. And i got into each one removing lower growths and small branches. Amy that is a good NPK for bloom i think. Your plants look outstanding. Are you prepared for rain or whatever comes your way in fall? Gal you are gonna have a trimming marathon come harvest time, best be lining up a crew LOL

 

[TOKABIGONE]

Hi Amy, You just caught my attention as you mentioned Neem cake. I just started reading about it yesterday as well as Karanja cake, also a pressed seed waste with similar properties to Neem. Just wondering where and how you discovered it. I found both in a soil recipe on Dark Heart Nursery website which is worth checking out. Then I found a 2.5 lb bag of 50/50 mix pellets at BuildASoil.com for 24 bucks but you add only 1/2 cup per 7.5 gal of soil. Thought I'd share ;o)

Just ordered a bag!

 

[amy24]

Thanks SoOrbudgal! I’m so glad your plants rebounded, seriously that’s the worst when you see them like that, hopefully it just made them stronger! I think I’ll take a good run at some lower fan leaves and small branches when I bend them back for the final time - I agree after a couple years of trimming, I am getting rid of those annoying small branches for sure this year!

 

[amy24]

Aw thanks for the info!!! I got it from a local shop, 16.99 for 1.5kg. They didn’t have the oil so I thought I would get the meal! I had read about neem in the past and wanted to use it in a preventative way this year.

 

[Floopydoop]

There should be other stages.........Green Thumb should advance to Sticky Thumb at some point...? Think Amy's got a sticky thumb

 

[amy24]

😂 LOL! Thank you!!!! ❤️

 

[amy24]

Well it hasn’t been very long but did a little walk by the yard and decided I better stretch them out one more time to keep them below the fence. The massive one was getting so big I was looking up at it - it is going to have the funniest looking skeleton it has been twisted and turned in so many directions.

Thought I’d send some pics if anyone wants to see how far I’m bending them, like I said before, just gently and slowly bending them to see what they can handle. I put the soft Velcro around the plant then tie twine through the Velcro to wherever it reaches. Some of the tote branches could bend almost horizontal! That three branched horizontal one looks like it’s own plant! 😂

Hoping this is the last time because it’s a big job! Started yesterday then did more today. You can see one of the branches from yesterday had already popped right back up to the sky with all those little branches reaching up too. When I first bent it, it looked just like it’s fresh sagging counterparts from today.

 

[amy24]

DEVASTATION!!!!! 😭🥵😭 My giant plant is male!!!! I swear it came from a feminized seed so I’m soooo angry. Must have gotten pollinated or something? I’m not sure. Buds started to form and now they look like little pollen sacs. I’m going to post the pic right now and do another post on the other plants later…

 

[amy24]

Ok so waiting for someone to tell me to chop it down cus I’m going to need the encouragement 😭🥵

I will post pics of the other plants… have noticed some white splotches on the plants that don’t turn into mold, I’m guessing it’s some splashed on fertilizer or something? Anyone know what causes these? Also saw a big spider building a web… might sound dumb but does this cause spider mites? Or are big spiders good cus they will kill other bugs?

The other plant in the ground looks to be just starting flowering, and looks happy and healthy!

 

[PLreef]

Sorry Amy. It's a male. Remove it from the others asap.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Yes cut it down and take it far away from the females even put a large trash bag on it saying so cause those look ready to burst open...once they get that large it's dang close to bursting an spreading pollen....i've had to many times.

 

[amy24]

Such a bummer! I went camping and came back to some rain so didn’t look at it up close. Good warning, that happened FAST!

 

[Puglover1]

I enlarged the last pic. All the way to the left, mid-screen, there's a leaf with a few black things on it. Not sure if mites or dirt.

 

[amy24]

I’ve accepted the loss haha a friend said they’ve heard of lots of males too, maybe the heat wave? I’m trying to focus on the magic of growing such an amazing plant even if I don’t get to reap the rewards. Instead of the first picture of this grow journal that shows I literally worked on that plant’s grow spot for soooo long. Oh well! Moving on…

My two plants in the totes are looking great, lots of buds growing! I still love the stretched out branches that you can see growing buds up to the sun all along the branch. Still seeing some white splotches, took a close up so you can see them…

The one left in the ground is going into flowering now too, I need to go put some time in to stretching it out now that I have all that room.

I got a new meal mix, same brand as before but went from 4-4-4 to 2-8-4. It says apply once a month but I think I’ll just add some every 2-3 weeks since it’s all organic and the plants are so big I think they can handle it at this point, plus the season is coming to an end.

 

[Rwise]

IDK if the heat was the cause of all these damn males, I killed 14 this year.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Hi Amy i feed bloom as often as i see them taking it up an not causing issues. Like you it's been so dang hot here that i feel like l'm washing out the food needing to water so frequent. I think we've hit the lower end of the heat now not getting much warmer than mid to lower 80's f so now i can wait an water 1x day i hope. So what i'm saying is i feed my plants 5-10-5 but i want more of the K so i'm changing to 3-12-6 for bloom not now but in future grows. I just think i rinshed out most food having to water so much?

 

[Catfish22]

I think the rush to bring seed to market caused a lot of mistakes at the breeder packaging level.

 

[billyboy]

Cool read. Thanks @amy24
Bummer about the Boyz. Was your soil a recipe? Or were you just pinching and dashing from your experience ?