Hecno's on going organics

[BCBudlady]

Ok . here we go guys . Both plants at 6 1/2 weeks old and have only had one watering with Coconut water and the rest plain water , now , I am very happy with this due to the stuff up I did , I will have at least enough to last me till the end of my next grow . Also there is a silver lining , What I have learnt ,
Carbon , which I had known a bit about but I know a lot more now , Like correct C/N ratio , A optimal C:N ratio of around 24:1 provides for higher microbial activity. Composted wood chip is 600/1 - opps - there is a lot more to it but you get the idea , Now to the plants , they are smaller than they should be but I am seeing a strength about them , the buds a rock solid , even all the lower ones ,and I will continue down this path - 6 1/2 weeks is the longest I have gone without adding NPK , For you new soil builders who may read this , do not give up . make mistakes as it is how you will get a better under standing of what makes soil , I have no training in soil composition I am just a average old bugger that wants to have weed that is grown a natural as I can , Going by the comments I get from friends I share with I am on the right path with flavour , smoothness , and quality of high , which is also due to the breeders I grow for , Which I thank for giving me the opportunity to grow . anyway Plant , First up is - @Tobe - Orange Assault .
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Next is from @BCBudlady who gave me some Anvil for sleep and pain - Thank you .

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There we go guys , ----- Now if any of you guys can help out AFN can you please donate to the fund to keep the site going , as we are getting low , even 5 dollars would be great , I would miss all you guys if we had to close down .

Looks great @hecno ! One of the lightest colored Anvil I’ve seen. FD has F9s dropping shortly. Pretty amazing plants.

 

[KIS]

@Waira It is local frass , I have been using it in my non cannabis plants too [ a lot less ] , in small amounts , I did put a lot more in the cannabis soil , it is the only thing I can think of - to much - as it is the only new input that I have added to the soil , As I stated it is not a issue for me as what I have learnt trying to figure it out opened up a lot of info on soil building for me , so onward and up ward .

Insect Frass is my favorite amendment. I use it with all my formulations now. You can overdo it but a cup per cubic foot is a good rate in general depending on other NPK inputs. One thing to note, you can add a fair bit of gypsum without risk of overdoing it and Ca and S are both so important with cannabis. I'd start at a cup per cubic foot and potentially go up from there (assuming pH is 6.6-7.2 range).

 

[WildBill]

@Waira It is local frass , I have been using it in my non cannabis plants too [ a lot less ] , in small amounts , I did put a lot more in the cannabis soil , it is the only thing I can think of - to much - as it is the only new input that I have added to the soil , As I stated it is not a issue for me as what I have learnt trying to figure it out opened up a lot of info on soil building for me , so onward and up ward .

First off I'm trying to figure out the frass hiccup that @Waira was referring to???


I guess the difference between local versus commercial would be quality of feed.
That's my whole reasoning with my feeding methods to my worms. Quality in means quality out.
Since I'm not doing beds and a no till setup, all my defoliation is chopped up and fed to the worms directly. After I dry ice shake for hash and then work the material for infused oil, I take that worked material and combine it with chicken laying mash and the material from making FFJ. If avocado's are on sale or I get some Bad free ones from the produce manager, I'll add that. I mix it all together with a bit of water. I use what I need and freeze the rest and freeze bags.

Maybe that guano that you get is pretty potent?

And that brings up an interesting question. The biggest reason I use insect frass is for the the plants reaction to it and not necessarily the nutritional value. The immune response or whatever you want to call it.
Insect frass is also a good source of Chitin. Now here's the question, which is a better source of Chitin, insect frass or bat Guano? Since they don't/can't collect guano from fruit bats, You can assume that the bat's diet is full of insects. So, exactly how much Chitin is leftover after the insect's digestive process?
That just come into my head and I have done any research before posting this.

I imagine that would be one of the benefits of you using the bat guano is with it helping the strength of the structure of your girls and buds. We know that the insect frass will have Chitin.

If the problem was too much nitrogen, Maybe backing off of the guano would be beneficial. Or maybe utilizing the insect frass in a different form. I haven't made my own yet, but I've been using fermented insect frass and then adding that to my water. I'm not using it specifically for the nutritional value, although I do take it into account. I'm mainly using it for the plant's response to it.

I definitely think the frass should be incorporated into your Soil program. I definitely highly believe in diversity and sources of nutrients!

Maybe you're to the point where you might need to get some soil samples. With me I would have to do it with a large amount of media. Just my financial thoughts process kicking in! At least you'll know kind of in what direction to go.

I know you come up with some creative method to solve what you're trying to get to. I think it'd be interesting to see you delve more into ferments. They can be extremely cost-effective and relatively inexpensive.

Anyway, I'm off to mix up some top dressings for my crazy Earthbox Jrs. Judging by the root intrusion into the nutrient mounds, especially by Asian Haze, I'm definitely going to have to stay on top of that nutrient mound I have built in all of them. The one change I made to this grow is the more use of Rootwise from BAS. I also added their enzymes from the same line . The feeder roots going into the nutrient man that you can see on top are just hairy as hell! Definitely have a great symbiosis going along with the mycorrhizal activity!

 

[KIS]

Guanos bring in a bunch of ecological issues, such as their impact on local ecology as well as health of workers harvesting the guanos. It also can contain a fungus that causes a lung disease called histoplasmosis. Typically has a higher fossil fuel cost in transportation as well, at least for those of us in the United States. I try to avoid it if possible.

I haven't heard of anything related to chitin levels in guanos but I see your logic WildBill. I think it may get broken down in the digestive process.

If you like microbial products, I'd suggest trying Miicrobial Mass and doing a comparison. Sounds like your plants are doing well though with your current setup!

 

[WildBill]

Guanos bring in a bunch of ecological issues, such as their impact on local ecology as well as health of workers harvesting the guanos. It also can contain a fungus that causes a lung disease called histoplasmosis. Typically has a higher fossil fuel cost in transportation as well, at least for those of us in the United States. I try to avoid it if possible.

I haven't heard of anything related to chitin levels in guanos but I see your logic WildBill. I think it may get broken down in the digestive process.

If you like microbial products, I'd suggest trying Miicrobial Mass and doing a comparison. Sounds like your plants are doing well though with your current setup!

I had used the RootWise inoculate, but not with the Companion enzymes that they make. I think that is the difference. I'm very happy with the results, but we're not here to grow leaves. We are here to grow flowers! But the best thing about a nice root system and Scotty stole this from me, "Bigger the roots better the fruits!"
I've heard of microbial mass. I'm always up to organic experimentation!

Yeah I'll definitely follow you on the environmental/human impact of bat guano. I've really only used it many many decades ago on my old farm when I had the opportunity to get it very inexpensively. I always used it very sparingly, mainly for economic reasons. I was always under the impression that Bat Guano was pretty hot. I never did burn anything.
I pretty much use it the same way in growing cannabis. I use it sparingly as another source of nutrients. It's just part of my diversity mindset. My diversity is all encompassing. That's just like nature!

It's just all part of the journey of growing cannabis. It's a constant learning experience and that's what I like! Maybe one of these days I will actually have a tent with just one strain. I don't know when that will be because I like trying new strains!

I tend not to do conventional. I didn't at my farm, so why would growing cannabis be any different? I'm slowly but surely dipping my toes into various things. I'm definitely liking ferments! With my last top dressing concoction that I applied yesterday and still need to finish up today, I hope to see it interesting results from the FAA specifically that I added to this concoction. Specifically the reaction of the Mycorrhiza. From what I understand they love it! It kind of might be a little difficult to see, since the roots I see on the top or Hairy as hell now!
But you see that I am not using KNF in the conventional manner. With Earthboxes, it has to be modified in use. In conventional KNF, you would dose by the gallon and then apply that in your regular watering routine. You can't really afford to apply that much water and risk the chance of washing and down into the reservoir . While there are some ferments I will add to my water in the reservoir, they are of extreme minimal nutritional value.......... EM1 and insect frass. FPJ or FFA washed into the reservoir can possibly flip in biological activity and go acidic. It's also not with the mindset of the reservoir is only for clean water. The plant will use that mainly for makeup through transpiration and growth. This allows feeder roots to go to the areas and collect what nutrients the plant needs and not what you think it needs . In the conventional pot, With the higher VPD, the plant is forced to take up nutrients along with the water, at least mainly water-soluble nutrients.
And what that means to me is that I have to make a slurry with all the other top dressings so that I can add the liquid ferments. I dose by plant. I mix of all my dry ingredients, Mix in my ferments in some water, add that to the mixture and then add plain water to get the consistency that I want. I can then apply equal amounts to each plant.

Anyway, I've rabbit holed the subject Long enough! I guess my live medical CBD/THC test was a success this morning!

 

[Waira]

First off I'm trying to figure out the frass hiccup that @Waira was referring to???

It was to what Hec mentioned about too much C load in his soil...? He's deeper into this topic than I have delved, so I can't do anything but go to school here!
I was hoping maybe @KIS Tad could expand on that, maybe diagnose the situation and tell if that was actually the case or not.
It's all so dynamic and interwoven just in the soil itself, but mix in the plant-to-plant variables and it becomes well nigh impossible to finger the causation culprit except in the most glaring of errors,... and Hecno isn't in that part of the learning curve anymore!
His soil is so fizzing with Life that it's hard to believe that the C input from the frass alone wasn't well buffered enough into the breakdown<->release cycle?

 

[WildBill]

It was to what Hec mentioned about too much C load in his soil...? He's deeper into this topic than I have delved, so I can't do anything but go to school here!
I was hoping maybe @KIS Tad could expand on that, maybe diagnose the situation and tell if that was actually the case or not.
It's all so dynamic and interwoven just in the soil itself, but mix in the plant-to-plant variables and it becomes well nigh impossible to finger the causation culprit except in t he most glaring of errors,... and Hecno isn't in that part of the learning curve anymore!
His soil is so fizzing with Life that it's hard to believe that the C input from the frass alone wasn't well buffered enough into the breakdown<->release cycle?

I got ya.

Well, with him knowing his methods and inputs, he would be the one to know about his carbon ratio and the expected results.
You know Earthboxes are kind of a different animal. The magic with them is the nutrient bound. That's where they Derive their crazy power. My base media is far from being out of the bag and I don't think it's really over complicated. Kind of the only downside to Earth boxes, other than the hassle of taking all the training off to Top dress, Is that you can't really just replant. You might be able to with a small girl like Sour Stomper, but it's just not really feasible with any decent size photo or large auto. All these photo girls in this grow are going to be nothing but a rectangular root ball when I chop.
Now the good thing about that is that when you bust all that up and re amend then let it sit in a tote, it heats up quick and gets very hot. This last batch I did within a day of chopping. I did it in the afternoon and by the next morning you could walk by and feel the heat coming off of it and that was when we still had cold temps. The best thing about it was all those microbes were still really active. They went absolutely nuts! The only bad thing it kills my good bugs. That's why I have a worm bin to reintroduce all that stuff. I play around with some of the media from my active growing pots and introduce it to the worm bin. That way some of the microbes and stuff that I got commercially might become part of my bio here. I still Have to go out and collect some stuff locally.
There's that diversity thing again!

I think I've come upon some interesting results out of my 2X4 tent with the additional Mars Supplemental Far Red Light. I'm already seeing little hairs from flipping them to flower. Still nothing on the 4x4 tent. Now that could be strain dependent, but it does seem RUCU CUCU to be a little earlier than did in the past grow. Dutch Passion Seed CBD Skunk Haze is almost at the exact same stage. I do find that a bit significant since the girls in the 4x4 tent are actually raging harder than the other girls. Jean-Os Crazy S1 is really living up to her name!

 

[hecno]

Guano , I use Indonesian Sea Bird ,
Typical analysis – Nitrogen 0.11%, - [ Phosphorus 11.17%, ] - Potassium 0.25%, Sulphur 0.12%, Calcium 34.79%. Silica 8.80%
Fish frames [ Nitrogen ] Un know , what I think and go by weight , then see results --- Potassium [ Kelp ]

Alginic Acid	18%
Total Nitrogen (N) (as organic)	0.89%
Total Potassium (K) (as organic)	15.03%
Iron (Fe)	1.07%
Sulfur (S)	1.05%
Calcium (Ca)	0.45%
Magnesium (Mg)	0.17%
Silicon (Si)	445 ppm
Manganese (Mn)	92 ppm
Zinc (Zn)	48 ppm
Boron (B)	46 ppm
Copper (Cu)	34 ppm
Cobalt (Co)	8 ppm
Molybdenum (Mo)	5 ppm

Molasses [ microbe feed ] - Worms [ in the soi; ] - Millipede Frass - Soil volume 300 liter give of take , Age of soil before potting up no less than 3 months old - Water [ Fish pond ] - sits at Ph 6.6 to 7 - There will be 2 new inputs this round , Volcanic pumice , which I can get plenty of and Mico gypsum . Now with microbes I gather different soil from rainforest to open country and reused soil from previous grows . And guys I am trying to get to water only grows , Well that is my aim , we will see , Costs to make the soil very low , A hell of a lot less than other growers I know in my area . All I do is right or wrong , if I get it wrong then I try to figure it out , That is when the fun begins .

 

[KIS]

It was to what Hec mentioned about too much C load in his soil...? He's deeper into this topic than I have delved, so I can't do anything but go to school here!
I was hoping maybe @KIS Tad could expand on that, maybe diagnose the situation and tell if that was actually the case or not.
It's all so dynamic and interwoven just in the soil itself, but mix in the plant-to-plant variables and it becomes well nigh impossible to finger the causation culprit except in the most glaring of errors,... and Hecno isn't in that part of the learning curve anymore!
His soil is so fizzing with Life that it's hard to believe that the C input from the frass alone wasn't well buffered enough into the breakdown<->release cycle?

Too much Carbon or Calcium? Too much Ca will fizz when vinegar is applied or something acidic. If you C:N ration is way off in soil or compost that can cause other issues, but not sure how it would cause fizzing.

 

[Waira]

Too much Carbon or Calcium? Too much Ca will fizz when vinegar is applied or something acidic. If you C:N ration is way off in soil or compost that can cause other issues, but not sure how it would cause fizzing.

No mate, by "fizzing with life" I meant it's rich with it!
it Carbon load I was curious about, and if it really was the culprit behind what Hecno thinks was the hiccup with this batch of soil?