RootFarmer's 2024 Outdoor Organic Grow Journal

[Organic13]

cinnamon is an old trick us cacti and succulent growers picked up for keeping mold and bacteria off just about any plant wound lol. Very handy stuff

Every time i take a column cutting from my cacti i always hit the cut with cinnamon. Helps it callus cleaner and faster for rooting.

Speaking of cacti, I recently stumbled upon some prickly pears, which are native to here and medicinal. I plucked 7 off. They callused properly. They are medicinal. Honored to add them to my collection, but I'm going in blind. I love succulents, but they don't like to be loved Elmyra, from Tiny Toons, style. What's the best soil mixture for them? If you happen to know. If not, no biggie. I see a lot of people using peat gravel at the top of the container or even their beds, but I feel like they wouldn't want just soil. I've read conflicting information on line. I know, shocking.

 

[RootFarmer]

We had thunderstorms today. It was a really hard rain. The broken branch is still holding up.

 

[Oldchucky]

Good thing, it rained! From the fire aspect!

 

[RootFarmer]

Good thing, it rained! From the fire aspect!

So far not nearly as bad as last year. We get some hazy days.

 

[RootFarmer]

Hopefully this isn't the last round of pics. Discovered a large WPM outbreak on the property. A patch about 20' x 5' or so and a small patch less than 5' from my space. It's that time of year again ffs. I've treated with H202 and also potassium bicarbonate. But so far nothing is taking it down. I did discover than a specific, creeping weed seems to act as a host carrier and spreads from there. I spotted some on one of the girls a few weeks ago and treated all of them. Don't think I'll use potassium bicarbonate again. This was the first time.Turned them all into giant bananas. Has taken a couple weeks to green them up again and many leaves never recovered. This has slowed them all down.

A cloudy cool August and the girls have been in no hurry to start flowering. They seem to be lagging, in general. The Guinea Pig didn't start flowering until a few days ago. Granted she and the other Blueberry Cupcake won't finish until late Oct but they just seem a little off. All have been feeding heavy, about 2.5# each over the month and still seem like they can't get enough. One Blueberry Cupcake got sogged out by a few days of rain and has been struggling. Ironically the Giinea Pig was intentionally kept continuously soaked up until August but she and the rest faired ok. Go figure.

 

[RootFarmer]

Some random pics

 

[RootFarmer]

Just enough Secret Sauce for one more application. Since some of the girls seem to be lagging today might be the day to use it up. Really awful smelling stuff (hafta wear a mask and gloves) but man is it an amazing growth booster. It actually smells worse than it looks. Lol

It's alive!

 

[Oldchucky]

Just enough Secret Sauce for one more application. Since some of the girls seem to be lagging today might be the day to use it up. Really awful smelling stuff (hafta wear a mask and gloves) but man is it an amazing growth booster. It actually smells worse than it looks. LolView attachment 2263774It's alive!

You sure it doesn’t smell like it used to be alive? I’ve done it with recharge! Couple of days of sitting out in the hot sun!

 

[Novaracer69]

Just enough Secret Sauce for one more application. Since some of the girls seem to be lagging today might be the day to use it up. Really awful smelling stuff (hafta wear a mask and gloves) but man is it an amazing growth booster. It actually smells worse than it looks. LolView attachment 2263774It's alive!

Sounds like my JLF last year but it will make the ladies pray and you know what they say stink in =stank out

 

[RootFarmer]

Lol Nope nothing "anaerobic" going on in there or at least no bad anaerobes. I'm very familiar with THAT smell. Sitting out in the heat (but not direct sunlight) is key to the process. The smell comes from some of the ingredients. It takes about 60 days to finish. Imagine low tide in the middle of an alfalfa field with nuances of rosemary. Lol

The basis is alfalfa, kelp, a little fishbone meal, a touch of fish protein hydrolysate and EWC. It also has rice bran extract, trace minerals, humic acids, unsulfered molasses, rosemary extract and a pinch of sea salt. It is inoculated with a variety bacteria (Lactobacillus, Rhodobacters, Bacillus), Yeasts, Mycorrhizae them fermented for 45 days. During that time the calcium aggregates. Next I add this.

It sits for another 15 days until the calcium solubilizes. After 60 days it is stabilized with phosphoric acid. It gets a regular inoculation and a touch of molasses every couple of weeks to keep it vital.

It was thoroughly tested on regular plants before using it for my weed plants. But I appreciate the concern and the heads up. Good looking out.

 

[RootFarmer]

Latest update.......
WPM has spread all along the west side of the property. Who knows what's going on up in the blackberry jungle. Can't get the area I've already been treating completely under control.

 

[cpurola]

Not all PM is the same. I had it in my zinnias a couple years ago and it was pretty bad. The weed right next to it didn't get it.
You might not need to treat all the other plants. JMHO

 

[RootFarmer]

Thanks for that. My plants did ok last year until late September and everybody around me started losing their crops so i was forced to harvest a little early. Quality was good. Yield was not. This stuff I'm dealing with seems resistant to everything I've tried. It is spread by a very prolific weed that seems to act as a host or something. But you could be right because the Blackberries seem to be mostly unaffected.

 

[RootFarmer]

I treated my girls with potassium bicarbonate awhile ago when it looked like they might be getting it. Some didn't not react well to it. One that I treated is not developing trichs. I can smell terps but not much to be seen. I think it could be a phenotype. She grows quite differently from her sister so i wonder if that could be a factor.

 

[Organic13]

Thank you for posting this. I have some being delivered here in the next few days. Guess I'm going back to whey and dealing with the residue.

 

[RootFarmer]

Thank you for posting this. I have some being delivered here in the next few days. Guess I'm going back to whey and dealing with the residue.

I don't think I'll use it again. I was real careful about following the directions since I hadn't used it before. It said to apply before rain but it didn't until a day after it was forecasted. So I think the sun exposure exacerbated the situation. All had some degree of potassium burn. They turned a funky yellow shade. Like giant bananas. Lol Took me two weeks to green them up and some leaves just won't all the way. To make matters worse I think the potassium may have been rained into the soil leading to an N, Ca, Mg lockout. That led to an over correction and a K lockout....really bad timing for that. The pH was jacked up thru all this and that didn't help. I finally got everything back in balance but it's sure to have an affect. Especially given the cool cloudy weather that followed.

 

[RootFarmer]

Hard rain started around 3 a.m. and lasted until around 7 or so. Went out to look. Most look ok. Shook off as much water as i could. One is about to snap in two and most of the weight has shifted to one side. Tried my best to secure it but the support poles are shifting with the weight of the plant. The Mutant has pretty much fallen over.

I'll be spending my day going out between rains and shaking plants.

 

[RootFarmer]

Not sure what there is to love about that but w/e

The thunderstorms finally came. The Mutant is toast. Split 4 ways. Too heavy to stand upright again. Got a heavy solid steel post and even that won't support it. The really tall Airheadz got blown over and was out there laying on her side idk how long. Its windy so wont be surprised if it hsppens again.The root mass is so solid virtually no soil was lost. At least there's that. The leaning Airheadz now has broken branches and will likely fall over too eventually. All the weight has shifted with branches drooping everywhere. Added a few extra support poles and secured it the best i could. They are really bowed from the weight.

We still have two more days of rain and more coming in a few days. The 2024 season isn't looking too hopeful at this point. I still have about 4-6 weeks to go, depending on the plant. More rain this month and next plus an early frost in October. Then there is the PM and bud rot to contend with.

 

[RootFarmer]

Tried to work on the Mutant some more. Idk if it will be a wasted effort but had to try something.
After morning rain before the storm.

After the storm and a weak attempt to get her upright. Broke even more branches and slit it even more in the process. Not gonna hold my breath on this one.

 

[Mikedin]

Tried to work on the Mutant some more. Idk if it will be a wasted effort but had to try something.
After morning rain before the storm.
View attachment 2272471
After the storm and a weak attempt to get her upright. Broke even more branches and slit it even more in the process. Not gonna hold my breath on this one.
View attachment 2272466View attachment 2272467View attachment 2272468

never know! Give her a nice tea and she may reward you well!

Well.. once the rain stops