Please help cursed guy change his luck!

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HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

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Hello everyone,
I'm new here, searching for a good online resource for help from experienced farmers/gardeners. In the last 6 years, I've gone from not being able to grow(living situation), to being able to grow in a nice greenhouse.
A little background-Our first year was basically nothing, 2nd was clones only in mainly root 707 chicken compost, rock dust, and cascade mineral soil booster in 45 gal. That was a good year.
The following year was regular seeds only, and I sifted my own compost and added dry amendments in 6 100 gallons(lots of work). I thought I was adding good drainage with 30% 5/16" lava rock. Wrong, the soil was so dense I could not flush it without killing the plants. Total full term harvest was less than 8 oz :'(. I was pretty depressed, what a far cry from walking in my mini forest the year prior.
Really trying to set myself up for success this year since I don't think my herb reserves will stretch another year.
I've got fem seedlings at about 6-7 weeks currently in 2-5 gallon pots. I bought all bagged soil this year and this is what I have to mix currently: hp promix mychorizae(6x), black gold with fertilizer(12x 1.5 cubic), peletized chicken poop, glacial rock dust, fish bone meal, kelzyne, chicken compost, and a soil booster(~50% biochar I believe).
I learned how important light soil is last year, and have already noticed the pelitized chicken poop making things heavier and siltier than seems ideal in the smaller pots.
I need some guidance on a good balance of high porosity soil to amendments. Greenhouse has a concrete pad so I'm somewhat limited in options.
I'm currently spraying neem everyday to deal with some early bugs(thrips) and innoculating with nematodes in case I have any mites. Should I wait until I don't see any more bugs before making final selection and transplanting? Or am I wasting time letting the soil sit in bags?
Please don't hold back on criticism or advice. I can take it and appreciate any help. Thank you.
Photo is one of my probable picks, stoopid fruits by HSC. Notice the damage on leaves that I attribute to thrips or nitrogen burn from going from bare soil to rich soil 2 weeks ago.
 
Please help cursed guy change his luck
MassiveGreen

MassiveGreen

8
3
Hey, in my many years of growing, i never found a good way to battle thrips, nothing seems to really kill the, but on the other hand, part from the marks they leave on the leaves, and the fact that i hate seeing them, they don't seem to cause that much damage. whenever i had an infestation ( mites or aphids) i did the 3 time spray cycle, that is i sprayed every 3 days, 3 times, and that seem to help, especially when using azatrol or azamax, rather than neem oil. Never sprayed daily, as always recommended to spray hydrated plants, and growing in Coir based, its good to let the top inch get bone dry. If your plants are rootbound, transplant them - stressed plants are much more attractive to pests, and are less capable of defending themselves.
I dont like soil, prefer a more soil less medium, with feed or added organic matter. Also, prefer guano & worm castings to manures. not sure what soil you got and what/ why you want to add amendments to it, also what amendments?
i think that the plant in the pics looks good. the leaf claw (where the tip of the leaf curls down) is a sign of overferlizing, so go easy on the feed..
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
Hey, in my many years of growing, i never found a good way to battle thrips, nothing seems to really kill the, but on the other hand, part from the marks they leave on the leaves, and the fact that i hate seeing them, they don't seem to cause that much damage. whenever i had an infestation ( mites or aphids) i did the 3 time spray cycle, that is i sprayed every 3 days, 3 times, and that seem to help, especially when using azatrol or azamax, rather than neem oil. Never sprayed daily, as always recommended to spray hydrated plants, and growing in Coir based, its good to let the top inch get bone dry. If your plants are rootbound, transplant them - stressed plants are much more attractive to pests, and are less capable of defending themselves.
I dont like soil, prefer a more soil less medium, with feed or added organic matter. Also, prefer guano & worm castings to manures. not sure what soil you got and what/ why you want to add amendments to it, also what amendments?
i think that the plant in the pics looks good. the leaf claw (where the tip of the leaf curls down) is a sign of overferlizing, so go easy on the feed..
Thats a trek, but those blue dreams produce so much it's insane. One year we got 2# off each plant in 45 gallons.

Thanks man! Maybe the damage I'm seeing is more related to the over feeding than the thrips. Yeah I'm lightening it up a lot more now. The runoff was looking black.
Current ratio is 75% pro mix to 25% black gold. Main N source is chicken manure just for economical reasons, but I do like the idea of using bat castings since the soil would probably get less silty and less salt buildup. Amendments are glacial rock dust, kelzyne, and fish bone meal.

I thought about using coco and perlite this year, but don't know anybody doing it in large containers. Hard to make the leap of faith!
 
freezeland2

freezeland2

3,421
263
Thats a trek, but those blue dreams produce so much it's insane. One year we got 2# off each plant in 45 gallons.

Thanks man! Maybe the damage I'm seeing is more related to the over feeding than the thrips. Yeah I'm lightening it up a lot more now. The runoff was looking black.
Current ratio is 75% pro mix to 25% black gold. Main N source is chicken manure just for economical reasons, but I do like the idea of using bat castings since the soil would probably get less silty and less salt buildup. Amendments are glacial rock dust, kelzyne, and fish bone meal.

I thought about using coco and perlite this year, but don't know anybody doing it in large containers. Hard to make the leap of faith!

I’d try the perlite. Make sure it’s sterilized and with no nutrients added to it like the miracle grow brand perlite has.
 
MassiveGreen

MassiveGreen

8
3
Thats a trek, but those blue dreams produce so much it's insane. One year we got 2# off each plant in 45 gallons.

Thanks man! Maybe the damage I'm seeing is more related to the over feeding than the thrips. Yeah I'm lightening it up a lot more now. The runoff was looking black.
Current ratio is 75% pro mix to 25% black gold. Main N source is chicken manure just for economical reasons, but I do like the idea of using bat castings since the soil would probably get less silty and less salt buildup. Amendments are glacial rock dust, kelzyne, and fish bone meal.

I thought about using coco and perlite this year, but don't know anybody doing it in large containers. Hard to make the leap of faith!
Yeah, Blue dreams are heavy yielders. also finish relatively early.
lots of people grow outdoors in Coco perlite based mix, there are commercial mixes like empire builder, or the subcool recipe that will help you see what to mix in. Got to watch the Cal & Mag, add Dolomite Lime etc to the mix, but roots love it, and its all in the roots. Your mix is soil less based, and if you are adding fish bone meal, maybe skip the manure and go for Fish emulsion instead..? just a thouht, as you can find the fish emulsion in walmart etc, and its not expensive.
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
Yeah, Blue dreams are heavy yielders. also finish relatively early.
lots of people grow outdoors in Coco perlite based mix, there are commercial mixes like empire builder, or the subcool recipe that will help you see what to mix in. Got to watch the Cal & Mag, add Dolomite Lime etc to the mix, but roots love it, and its all in the roots. Your mix is soil less based, and if you are adding fish bone meal, maybe skip the manure and go for Fish emulsion instead..? just a thouht, as you can find the fish emulsion in walmart etc, and its not expensive.
Great info! Thank you đź‘Ť
 
TSD

TSD

2,795
263
I would just buy pearlite and peat to lighten up what you already bought. Also look up how to make super soil, which is basically what you're doing... it needs to sit for at least a couple weeks to blend and become less hot. Be careful with chicken poop, that is hot as hell... I'd only use like a quarter ratio wise... if that even...
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
I would just buy pearlite and peat to lighten up what you already bought. Also look up how to make super soil, which is basically what you're doing... it needs to sit for at least a couple weeks to blend and become less hot. Be careful with chicken poop, that is hot as hell... I'd only use like a quarter ratio wise... if that even...
Thanks! Yeah I was considering adding some perlite into it. I had mixed 50% hp/50% black gold and 25% by volume chicken compost for my second transplant. That's when I started seeing signs that I messed up. Flushing it, I saw how rich it really was. Black gold has way more in it than I accounted for! Rough start, but I'd rather learn it now than in july.
 
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HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

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After mixing one of my pots and transplanting from a 1 gal, I noticed the longest roots were dark and dead looking. It wasn't rootbound, and still had a couple inches to go. Hoping the root health on my other plants is better. Is it best to just get rid of this plant at this point?
 
MassiveGreen

MassiveGreen

8
3
if you like this plant, remove and dispose of the dead roots, leave only the white healthy roots. i think that 25% composted
chicken manure is a sure way to kill roots.
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
if you like this plant, remove and dispose of the dead roots, leave only the white healthy roots. i think that 25% composted
chicken manure is a sure way to kill roots.
Thanks man, I'm glad I didn't do that with all of them, but I'm worried the majority are going to be like that. This one looked better. I'll take a close look tomorrow.
 
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520Gthumb

520Gthumb

39
18
I agree with the perlite (I use 30/70 perlite/soil) and that the chicken poo is super hot I did the same thing and my leaves were dark blue and burnt from the excessive nitrogen. I am a BIG believer in organic soil after I started using White Shark (mycorrhizae or beneficial microbes) it has the endo and ecto and trichoderma. With ur microbial system in place I then add Molasses (blackstrap and unsulfured) and watch out I was amazed after the first week. You can use the molasses as a foliar feed but I only feed foliar at half dose 2X week in first and third week of flower cuz of mold. It is known to be a pest repellent which I was surprised. Sorry to babble on hope u the best success.
 
Like2Grow

Like2Grow

233
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Thanks man, I'm glad I didn't do that with all of them, but I'm worried the majority are going to be like that. This one looked better. I'll take a close look tomorrow.

Coco/ perlite in Autopots which make watering a breeze gives good results without a lot of hassle. No poo !!!

DSC00527



Current grow in 2 different sizes of autopots. Plants on the left are regular seed with the biggest leaf on the top left 12 inches wide. Pineapple Poundcake (why POUNDcake ? ;-0) by Lucky 13 Seeds. A Sweet God lower right, Black Bomb top right. There is a water/nutes resevoir outside the tent that gets refilled every few days at this point. LED's on a timer for light. Dark period during the day to keep heat down in the day and up at night.

DSC00538
 
520Gthumb

520Gthumb

39
18
Which strain is in lower left? Just curious, looks a lot like pineapple pound in top left. On avg. per u getting? The best I found is seed fair @ 5 per for 8 fems. Looks good, are u doing/going to do any low stress training or topping? I used to top and then low stress train, but stopped topping due to odd leaf structures and delayed growth.
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
Things are looking much better as far as growth goes, but I've been spraying with neem or plant therapy every single night. I manually remove as many thrips as I can see throughout the day, maybe 10 everyday. I just noticed them in my soil unfortunately so I now I need to figure out how to kill them since foliar spraying isn't really going to effect them from thriving in the soil, then crawling up the plant stem which is exactly what they do. At least I know how the damage to individual leaves occurs so rapidly though.
I have a feeling maybe I'm over watering and giving them the perfect environment. Do you guys find that having a regular dry cycle for your soil is beneficial at keeping the thrips from hanging around?
 
freezeland2

freezeland2

3,421
263
Things are looking much better as far as growth goes, but I've been spraying with neem or plant therapy every single night. I manually remove as many thrips as I can see throughout the day, maybe 10 everyday. I just noticed them in my soil unfortunately so I now I need to figure out how to kill them since foliar spraying isn't really going to effect them from thriving in the soil, then crawling up the plant stem which is exactly what they do. At least I know how the damage to individual leaves occurs so rapidly though.
I have a feeling maybe I'm over watering and giving them the perfect environment. Do you guys find that having a regular dry cycle for your soil is beneficial at keeping the thrips from hanging around?
Try some DE applied to the grow medium surface. That should kill whatever is in the medium.
 
HerbCyclone

HerbCyclone

40
8
Some of the ladies yesterday. Most are pretty recent transplants. The last photo is the plant that is struggling the most, but still putting out healthy new growth.
 
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Like2Grow

Like2Grow

233
63
Which strain is in lower left? Just curious, looks a lot like pineapple pound in top left. On avg. per u getting? The best I found is seed fair @ 5 per for 8 fems. Looks good, are u doing/going to do any low stress training or topping? I used to top and then low stress train, but stopped topping due to odd leaf structures and delayed growth.

Both plants on the left are Pineapple Poundcake. I've been going though Lucky13 strains (which are all regular seeds - no fem) and I've been lucky. 2 Love bud, 2 Hawaiian, and 1 male out of 4. I'm wondering if the plant in the lower left is male. Time will tell. First time growing the pineapple so I don't know what I'll get yet.

No low stress or topping. A little over a month of growth. Not a single leaf off in this pic. The plants on the left they are supposed to be 50/50 sativa/indica, the plants on the right 80 percent indica. With leggy sativa's topping makes sense. The Hawaiian Puff from Lucky 13 stopped a foot short of the ceiling of the tent even after they were topped. For this grow when close to start of flowering I'm planning to open up the middle and clean up bottoms.
 
Like2Grow

Like2Grow

233
63
Things are looking much better as far as growth goes, but I've been spraying with neem or plant therapy every single night. I manually remove as many thrips as I can see throughout the day, maybe 10 everyday. I just noticed them in my soil unfortunately so I now I need to figure out how to kill them since foliar spraying isn't really going to effect them from thriving in the soil, then crawling up the plant stem which is exactly what they do. At least I know how the damage to individual leaves occurs so rapidly though.
I have a feeling maybe I'm over watering and giving them the perfect environment. Do you guys find that having a regular dry cycle for your soil is beneficial at keeping the thrips from hanging around?

Could you throw a layer of small gravel on top and take away the humid top layer?
 

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