Please help me with this girl

[DarkSpark]

That's a good one. "the hairiness" lol :)

 

[brand7778]

One last thing; Rosenthal mentions in his books that during vegetative growth, 24 H - 24 H light is better than 18 H - 24 H light, and that the plant will grow faster this way.

Do you people agree ?

 

[deathband]

For the first 2 weeks of the plants life it's ok , but the plants did darkness this is roots r being made , more roots means better plants most of the time ,

 

[william76]

One last thing; Rosenthal mentions in his books that during vegetative growth, 24 H - 24 H light is better than 18 H - 24 H light, and that the plant will grow faster this way.

Do you people agree ?

I don't think he meant it like that,plants need sleep to,you can run 24 hour veg with no probs,but it's not nessecary,i feel you get a better. Veg and all round vigour,plants are living things,givin them no rest ain't beneficial,but that's just my opinion,I know it can be used without probs,hell iv done it a few times myself,i know it can cause the plant to go into prem flower,but it's rare,76

 

[deathband]

Well with my personal experience , every time I leave my plants in 24 hour cycle they look to me that they get stressed , just look wimpy , when I go back to 18^6 they blow right up so I'm not to sure ,

 

[deathband]

But I'm a landscaper , so I believe just like the trees outside a tree that has a big crown will also have massive roots system , plants r about building the root system first , if your roots system is good grow will be great

 

[Seamaiden]

One last thing; Rosenthal mentions in his books that during vegetative growth, 24 H - 24 H light is better than 18 H - 24 H light, and that the plant will grow faster this way.

Do you people agree ?

No. Furthermore, I think it's a HUGE waste of electricity.

 

[Mr_GreenGenes]

One last thing; Rosenthal mentions in his books that during vegetative growth, 24 H - 24 H light is better than 18 H - 24 H light, and that the plant will grow faster this way.

Do you people agree ?

Yep. One of the few things I agree with him on LOL. Heres a 6 week veg under HO T5's with the lights blazin 24/7. The containers are 35L Hercules pots, so that gives you a better idea of just how big these girls are....about 4.5 foot tall right now and about the same wide. I've run both 24 on and 18/6 and found early on that for me, 18/6 makes for weaker branches and lankier plants with more distance between nodes. If I were using MH (which I would never use in veg) I would most likely run an 18/6 schedule but with T5's 24hr light really makes for some compact bushes. MGG

 

[deathband]

Yea with high output5 u can run 24 hours with good results

 

[brand7778]

No. Furthermore, I think it's a HUGE waste of electricity.

Forum seems split on that one.
Guess i will have to experiment myself.

This is important, because if Rosenthal is right, i could speed up growth by one third.
In Belgium, you get half the price for night electricity.

By the way, Seamaiden, since it's obvious to me now Rosenthal mixes the very good with the very bad (), is there a book you would recommend for new growers like me ?

 

[Seamaiden]

Honestly, I would start looking at the better organic cultivation books, that's what I've been using. Eliot Coleman is one I really like because he focuses on energy and labor involved along with best practices.

I'm in California, which I believe has some of the highest power rates in the continental US. Hawai'i and places like Puerto Rico and Guam are more expensive because they're islands.

 

[canadaseed]

Soak egg shells in apple cider vinegar = calcium acetate.

I think your planting medium is what caused your issues. The garden top soil in combination with vermiculite created an over active microbial environment or perhaps too much water content. This is just an opinion tho. There may be anaerobic conditions in your soil causing nutrient uptake blockage. you can try to amend with enzymes.

 

[brand7778]

Soak egg shells in apple cider vinegar = calcium acetate.

I think your planting medium is what caused your issues. The garden top soil in combination with vermiculite created an over active microbial environment or perhaps too much water content. This is just an opinion tho. There may be anaerobic conditions in your soil causing nutrient uptake blockage. you can try to amend with enzymes.

I have lime paste, epsom salts, if that does the job ?

I thought vermiculite helps aerating the soil, while allowing efficient drainage ?
Would perlite have been better ?

 

[canadaseed]

I have lime paste, epsom salts, if that does the job ?

I thought vermiculite helps aerating the soil, while allowing efficient drainage ?
Would perlite have been better ?

Well some vermiculite isn't going to hurt but 33% with a soil/soil combo could be problematic. Vermiculite really holds water... imo your soil has a lot of micro life eating up all the nutrients.. perlite may have been a better choice but don't worry about that you can amend/adjust to create ideal conditions in most soil mixes!

you could have early stage fungi in the soil destroying the roots or even feeding off them. I would flush with epsom salts and lime paste those are actually great.. You might have to do flushing through-out your whole grow to keep things balanced. What's your ph you can try adjusting to discourage certain microbiological activity. i would try to research into what nutes/solution mixes can help with overactive soil microbiology. Maybe also try putting some clay rocks on the top layer of soil in the pots... how long do you find you have to wait between waterings... is your container very heavy after watering, are you getting run off?

 

[brand7778]

My soil PH is between 6.20 and 6.60, which i believe is ideal (?).

I did have damping off with some seedlings, and general stunted growth with those less affected.
When watering, i do get good run off (or so it seems to me).

Considering my soil drains up well, and if i was to use it in containers, what would be the best amendment ?
How much vermiculite and perlite max ?

 

[brand7778]

Considering my soil drains up well

I meant to say the soil from my garden, that i mixed afterwards with vermiculite.

 

[Seamaiden]

Personally, I say don't add so much of those types of products to the mix, unless you really want to be feeding all the time. I no longer even use perlite, I've gone to rice hulls.

I have lime paste, epsom salts, if that does the job ?

I thought vermiculite helps aerating the soil, while allowing efficient drainage ?
Would perlite have been better ?

Vermiculite grabs onto water, and if there's too much it becomes a sludge. What is lime paste (chemically speaking)? I thought we figured out that your girl was just a bit beaten up, but otherwise ok.

Well some vermiculite isn't going to hurt but 33% with a soil/soil combo could be problematic. Vermiculite really holds water... imo your soil has a lot of micro life eating up all the nutrients.. perlite may have been a better choice but don't worry about that you can amend/adjust to create ideal conditions in most soil mixes!

you could have early stage fungi in the soil destroying the roots or even feeding off them. I would flush with epsom salts and lime paste those are actually great.. You might have to do flushing through-out your whole grow to keep things balanced. What's your ph you can try adjusting to discourage certain microbiological activity. i would try to research into what nutes/solution mixes can help with overactive soil microbiology. Maybe also try putting some clay rocks on the top layer of soil in the pots... how long do you find you have to wait between waterings... is your container very heavy after watering, are you getting run off?

On one hand, your theory makes sense. However, once those microbes die or shit, they are releasing, or demineralizing, those nutrients. There's really no way the microbes can actually remove nutrients from the system and thus the plant in any way other than temporarily, it's essentially closed as far as they're concerned. If you haven't read Teaming With Microbes, consider giving it a try, it will help you understand how the soil biology behaves.

Agreed 100% on the vermiculite, and I don't use it normally but with the drought... I may reconsider adding it to my potting mixes.



I personally cannot advise watering soil that's got a good bit of vermiculite to the point of run-off, I feel it will waterlog the soil and thus leave the plant overwatered.

 

[canadaseed]

Personally, I say don't add so much of those types of products to the mix, unless you really want to be feeding all the time. I no longer even use perlite, I've gone to rice hulls.
Vermiculite grabs onto water, and if there's too much it becomes a sludge. What is lime paste (chemically speaking)? I thought we figured out that your girl was just a bit beaten up, but otherwise ok.

On one hand, your theory makes sense. However, once those microbes die or shit, they are releasing, or demineralizing, those nutrients. There's really no way the microbes can actually remove nutrients from the system and thus the plant in any way other than temporarily, it's essentially closed as far as they're concerned. If you haven't read Teaming With Microbes, consider giving it a try, it will help you understand how the soil biology behaves.

Agreed 100% on the vermiculite, and I don't use it normally but with the drought... I may reconsider adding it to my potting mixes.



I personally cannot advise watering soil that's got a good bit of vermiculite to the point of run-off, I feel it will waterlog the soil and thus leave the plant overwatered.

Hey Sea, thanks for pointing this out my knowledge is limited in botany i'm really still learning.. i'm in a very beginner phase. I am gonna take a look at that book, it's actually perfect cause thats what i'm trying to learn about know, soil biology. And i know because i don't know a lot about botany any of my tips or suggestions would only be 'possible' solutions. I believe vermiculite has its place in planting mix but when using it gotta consider its nature. Just made me think of something...for sun-scorched land mix top soil and vermiculite... place a layer on top of your garden bed. You're absolutely right about over watering in a vermiculite mix causing waterlog! I actually didn't really think of that, thank you for pointing this out and teaching me something. Here i am telling the op to flush his buckets. My bad for that op.. thanks again Sea for chiming in and for your invaluable information!!

Peace

 

[brand7778]

Speaking of watering, what do you people think of self - watering pots ?
Like this one:

Would it allow the soil in the container to clogg less between each watering, and thus provide roots with more oxygen ?

 

[Seamaiden]

Hey Sea, thanks for pointing this out my knowledge is limited in botany i'm really still learning.. i'm in a very beginner phase. I am gonna take a look at that book, it's actually perfect cause thats what i'm trying to learn about know, soil biology. And i know because i don't know a lot about botany any of my tips or suggestions would only be 'possible' solutions. I believe vermiculite has its place in planting mix but when using it gotta consider its nature. Just made me think of something...for sun-scorched land mix top soil and vermiculite... place a layer on top of your garden bed. You're absolutely right about over watering in a vermiculite mix causing waterlog! I actually didn't really think of that, thank you for pointing this out and teaching me something. Here i am telling the op to flush his buckets. My bad for that op.. thanks again Sea for chiming in and for your invaluable information!!

Peace

For sun-scorched land, the answer is more plants (cover crops). Perlite blows away, IME. I appreciate that my correction didn't upset you, sometimes people get upset about that.

Speaking of watering, what do you people think of self - watering pots ?
Like this one:

Would it allow the soil in the container to clogg less between each watering, and thus provide roots with more oxygen ?

I'm not sure what you mean about clog less between each watering, but... if you're talking about how it makes a crust, yes, that's almost eliminated. My neighbors grow tomatoes in their Earthboxes.