First try at a no dig soil mix

[itchybromusic]

thanks mate 

 

as long as your all good , it's all good 

just don't want to alarm people if there's nothing to be alarmed at , but if you don't tell'em........

 

spider mite are hard to fuck off , they reproduce quickly , molt 3 times (i think) leaving there left over shit 

to mould ya buds up in the quite place they chose to molt , " ya buds "

 

" When your cannabis plant detects that it is under insect attack I would expect it to react by trying to make its

foliage less attractive to the pest. Perhaps by producing more resin or making the foliage more bitter. "

 

i've looked at a couple of things over the years 

 

terpenes that are found on lots of plants & possibly even in root systems have been considered by many as part of a

plants pest defense , sorry can't remember who or where there was a good read on that , i'll see what i can find otherwise google

Cornell in the US i'm sure should have some studies on plant terpenes 

 

this might be of interest possibly , SAR Systemic Acquired Resistance 

 

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a "whole-plant" resistance response that occurs following

an earlier localized exposure to a pathogen. SAR is analogous to the innate immune system found

in animals, and there is evidence that SAR in plants and innate immunity in animals may be evolutionarily conserved.

 

some people use crab or prawn shell or insect frass in soil mixes because all of those contain a substance called chitin , "From Memory" it gets converted 

a couple of times , chitin to chitosan to chitinase & it's the chitinase that triggers a SAR response , the plant believes it's about to be under attack 

by the presents of chitinase around the root system , which is also produced by pathogens 

this chitin producing biology attack plants so a plant will bolster it's defenses that it ultimately never uses , loads the weapon but never fires

the grower gets the benefit in yield from a bigger stronger healthier plant , ( chitinase also found in malted barley )

 

to be honest all of that is great but if you don't have your watering correct all that SAR building will possibly go to shit from the onslaught the plant will get 

from over or under watering , i would suggest everyone have a go at growing in SIP's or use a blumat drip system , the step up in plant health when 

the plant & soil biology have a constant moisture supply is pretty big imho & solves allot of pest & pathogen problems , not all but allot 

Edited March 18, 2020 by itchybromusic

[itchybromusic]

the other i forgot to mention to have a look into is Potassium Silicate 

& what benefits the plant gets when sprayed on it's leaves

 

" Produces an armour-like layer in the outer cell wall resulting in stronger, more resilient plants. "

https://www.nutri-tech.com.au/factsheets/potassium-silicate.pdf

 

ps i'm not totally convinced that high humidity alone will mould up buds , but i can't say i've ever 

grown in that type of tropical environment to have an opinion worth listening too 

Edited March 18, 2020 by itchybromusic

[ozraptorismine]

to be honest all of that is great but if you don't have your watering correct all that SAR building will possibly go to shit from the onslaught the plant will get 

from over or under watering , i would suggest everyone have a go at growing in SIP's or use a blumat drip system , the step up in plant health when 

the plant & soil biology have a constant moisture supply is pretty big imho & solves allot of pest & pathogen problems , not all but allot 

 

Yes correct watering is an eternal challenge. I was hoping to use a blumat drip system this year but didn't get it organised in time due to the distance from my tank that I wanted to place my plants for stealth purposes.

 

I bought a couple of the blumat digital sensors instead but all they do is confuse me. I just checked the readings and one was at 170, the other was at 150. Blumat says that the acceptable range for pots is 50-120 (low numbers wet, high numbers dry) so  the pots should need watering.

 

However, when I poke my finger in to the soil the top of the pot has plenty of moisture and when I feel the bottom of the fabric pot the bottom third is moist to the touch. WTF? No way can I accept the pot is short of water; could 15cm down be so different to the rest of the pot?

 

Practically what I am doing is using their in ground recommendations and watering when the number exceeds 250 (according to blumat for a pot 200+ is water urgently needed) and I'm seeing no sign of wilting through underwatering.

 

Surely a no-till soil mix shouldn't be so different from a standard potting mix.

[ozraptorismine]

the other i forgot to mention to have a look into is Potassium Silicate 

& what benefits the plant gets when sprayed on it's leaves

 

" Produces an armour-like layer in the outer cell wall resulting in stronger, more resilient plants. "

https://www.nutri-tech.com.au/factsheets/potassium-silicate.pdf

 

ps i'm not totally convinced that high humidity alone will mould up buds , but i can't say i've ever 

grown in that type of tropical environment to have an opinion worth listening too 

 

I bought some of their pot sil but didn't realise that it was only supposed to be used as a foliar spray (it isn't specific on the bottle) so I was adding it to my watering once a month. I'll know better next time.

 

I generally don't have worries about mould yet even though I check the plants each morning, cold and moist is what I hate.

 

At this time of the year I feel like making the chant from Woodstock during the storm on Sunday:  NO RAIN NO RAIN NO RAIN

 

I have had some problems with the rain events we have had over Feb/Mar. 4 times I've had 30ml+ in 6 hours so naturally I had run-off. It is obvious that I also had nutrient leaching at the same time as the bottoms of the pots are severely stained. Doesn't seem to have affected the plants though; I did make the soil mix very rich when I made it up.

[pug1010]

hiya mate:)

 

i'm not an expert in watering ... still working on it, but i usually water with a bit of pot silicate every 3rd or 4th water  ... usually when i add powdered malted barley - ratios are from blue/mountain organics/coot: MBP top-dress, with 1/8-1/4 cup per 10 gal container watered in with Aloe/Fulvic/Silica.

 

per 1L of water, this roughly ends up about:

4ml of fulvic acid

1.25ml of Potassium Silicate

1.25ml of Aloe vera Powder (x200) - just note that I use an amount closer to itchy's weight measurement for aloe, instead of the 0.65ml measurement suggested by blue/coot.

 

also note ... my maths should always be checked ...

[ozraptorismine]

I'll have to do a search on itchy's advice for watering additions.

 

I had intended to make this a water only grow but with nutrient run-off like this I changed my mind.

 

I just took a photo of a blumat: you can see the soil alongside it is dark (moist) and the bottom of the pot is moist but blumat says water.

 

I've got a couple of poor photos of insects/spiders that I saw but haven't identified yet.

 

 

I was given a couple of small samples of Dr. Greenthumbs' fruitroids which I have used in a nutrient tea with the OCP eco seaweed and OCP eco aminogro and some of Dr. G's fish hydrolasate. The plants seemed to like it.

Edited March 21, 2020 by ozraptorismine

[pug1010]

ozzyR ... just wondering mate ... have you tried to reset the reader?

 

this link might help:

https://www.eurolux-australia.com.au/assets/files/blumat-digital-en%20instructions.pdf

 

this seems to be the main bit:

 

 

 

if that doesn't work ... i'd be tempted to take them both out ... unscrew the top (which would be needed for the above reset), remove the water and let them dry out. get some very smooth sandpaper and very lightly just rub on the clay part of the reader. then re-soak them in water for an hour or two, screw on the top and screw them back into a different part of the soil.

 

you probably got this sorted ... but due to my messy watering, i cover them with a cap to prevent any water getting into the top of the reader ...

 

not sure if it will help, but at this stage, probably can't hurt ... especially as after you pay the cash for these things ... they should be accurate.

 

[ozraptorismine]

ozzyR ... just wondering mate ... have you tried to reset the reader?

 

this link might help:

https://www.eurolux-australia.com.au/assets/files/blumat-digital-en%20instructions.pdf

 

this seems to be the main bit:

 

blumat digital info.jpg

 

 

if that doesn't work ... i'd be tempted to take them both out ... unscrew the top (which would be needed for the above reset), remove the water and let them dry out. get some very smooth sandpaper and very lightly just rub on the clay part of the reader. then re-soak them in water for an hour or two, screw on the top and screw them back into a different part of the soil.

 

you probably got this sorted ... but due to my messy watering, i cover them with a cap to prevent any water getting into the top of the reader ...

 

not sure if it will help, but at this stage, probably can't hurt ... especially as after you pay the cash for these things ... they should be accurate.

 

I have pulled them out and done what you suggested but nothing changed unfortunately. I do have one that seems to have some liquid in the head (misty in part of the display) but it doesn't seem to affect the reading.

 

In the photos above bug 1 was a spider husk I later noticed.

[itchybromusic]

handy , tips & tricks for blumat drippers https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1149/6312/files/TipsAndTricks_v5_2.pdf

 

Air in Potting Mix – Sometimes big chunks of perlite, hydroton, or small rocks touching the ceramic cone

can confuse the sensor making it “think” the mix is dry when it’s not. You can prevent this by putting some

moist peat moss or coco in the hole before pushing the Blumat in.

 

you can def use NTS pot sil as a soil drench even though the bottle only talks about foliar spraying 

 

side wall build up on fabric pots is a problem i haven't been able to solve , apart from cleaning them which defeats 

the purpose of no till & reusing them if you have to empty them to clean , not sure all of the build up is only 

nutrient leaching though , think there's a bit of algae & some microbial output as well , honestly my interest 

in using fabric pots outdoor is waning a little currently  

 

if your seeing meter condensation on the inside cover of the LCD readout , then it's got moisture in it at some point 

i don't own one but would like to think it could stand up to getting "a little" wet considering it's a " Moisture " meter  

Edited March 21, 2020 by itchybromusic

[ozraptorismine]

handy , tips & tricks for blumat drippers https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1149/6312/files/TipsAndTricks_v5_2.pdf

 

Air in Potting Mix – Sometimes big chunks of perlite, hydroton, or small rocks touching the ceramic cone

can confuse the sensor making it “think” the mix is dry when it’s not. You can prevent this by putting some

moist peat moss or coco in the hole before pushing the Blumat in.

 

you can def use NTS pot sil as a soil drench even though the bottle only talks about foliar spraying 

 

side wall build up on fabric pots is a problem i haven't been able to solve , apart from cleaning them which defeats 

the purpose of no till & reusing them if you have to empty them to clean , not sure all of the build up is only 

nutrient leaching though , think there's a bit of algae & some microbial output as well , honestly my interest 

in using fabric pots outdoor is waning a little currently  

 

if your seeing meter condensation on the inside cover of the LCD readout , then it's got moisture in it at some point 

i don't own one but would like to think it could stand up to getting "a little" wet considering it's a " Moisture " meter  

 

I'll pull the blumats out tomorrow morning and add some peat moss to see if that makes a difference. I do have lots of scoria in the pots so that could be the reason.

 

I haven't used any pot sil for a few weeks as I was a little concerned about how alkaline it is.

 

The green does look like algae, the bottom of the pot is just moist on the outside but even when it is dry the green colour remains. If not fabric pots then what? I must say the Geopots seem well made but even with the handles they are difficult for me to move. I've decided that in future for pots I'll use perlite rather than scoria: in a 76 litre pot I've got about 20 litres of scoria which with an SG>1 probably weighs about 25kg by itself.

 

The pots being so heavy has had another consequence. Previously, using 50 litre plastic pots with quality potting mix on windy days the pots would be blown over. With the fabric pot/no till mix the pots don't move but the plants blow over. The plants have felt no need to produce buttress roots and it is showing. It must have slowed flower growth as the plant repairs the root damage but the plants don't seem to be suffering.

 

I was intending to empty 1 or 2 of the pots after harvest; I will use it as topdressing for two no-till vegie beds I created this year and I want to see how extensive the root system is. At this stage there is no sign of air pruning so I'd like to see how much of the pot is being used. Can I get away with a smaller pot which would be easier to handle. I'll give the pots a scrub although I suspect the problem is more cosmetic than practical.