DesignatedDave

On 3/15/2024 at 2:23 PM, Prom said:

Check your pH.. if you always run into Calcium issues I would bet my left arm you run a pH below 6.2.. that is to low to absorb calcium in soil. Raise it and you should have zero issues. I grew over 1500 plants in freedom farm premium classic with no issues at all. The adding of CalMag most likely just raised your pH to make things work again.

My Ph is usually between 6.3 - 6.6, I don’t go below 6.2 with organics

So I have a similar issue with Freedom Farm Classic, except with Calcium.

There is little to no calcium in their mix and if I don't use a calmag supplement, my plants suddenly have calcium deficiencies. 

I've experienced this with pretty much every grow I've done, I now just account for it.

On 2/9/2024 at 5:34 PM, Spaidan said:

I was looking at the nutrients feeding guide you posted above. At the bottom of the programme it says topdressing onset of flower. I see Jamie included kelp meal as one of the amendments? If it takes so long to become available to the plant why would he include it in the mix? So to my understanding he top-dresses once in the beginning of flower along with his liquid nutrient feed throughout flower?

I was thinking maybe leave out the bone meal and use his Bio-Phos (liquid-Phos) to add phosphorus needed through flower. And then then potassium can be provided by the kelp meal I top-dress in the beginning. Along with the worm castings. Thank you for your help and input. Whenever you have time I would like your input on a few things I am still unsure of.

- When it comes to feeding with microbes (Environoc 401) do you suggest using it through flower or not? Some websites I have come across suggest you stop using Environoc 2 weeks into flower. But when I look at Jamie's nutrient schedule that you provided, he gives the plants microbes throughout flower until about week 6 if I am not mistaken. I personally don't see why it would be a bad idea to continue adding microbes to the soil during its flowering stage?

-Another question...Aerated Compost teas are essentially brewing microbes to give to your plant. However if I am using Environoc to add microbes is the compost teas necessary or a waste of time? 

Sorry for all the questions. I have dialled down my veg stage perfectly however I am still indecisive on a few things during flower.

 - I've never been a fan of top dressing for this reason, unless you top dressing with a fertilizer that can be broken down by water and leech into the soil (dry amendment fertilizer). When it comes to things like Kelp meal, bone meal and crushed Malted barley, they take time for the microbes to break them down. So I would add them to the soil in the beginning when I was mixing the soil for the plant. I find the trick to organics is to work 2 weeks ahead of where your plant are. So if I'm going to flip to flower in two weeks time, I already start with the organic material needed for Phosphorous and Potassium to give it 2 weeks to at least start breaking down. However, keep in mind, just because the raw material exist in the soil, doesn't mean the plant will use it or it will affect the plant. An example of this is the kelp and bone meal, you can add it to the soil in the beginning and let the microbes do their thing, When you flip to flower, those broken down nutrients will then be instantly available to the plant when it wants it. Crushed Barley needs to be worked into the soil in the beginning, when it gets wet it will build out a mycelium network throughout your soil and feed your microbes.

 - I answered your Environoc question in the other thread. It won't hard the plant if you do it throughout flower, it's just not needed as it's a waste.

 - I have never found a use for a compost tea, I prefer to use VermiPure Tea (https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/umoja-organics-vermipure-worm-tea/) and Environoc 401 instead for the microbe loading. Then normal nutrients for the other NPK stuff.

If you looking to do organics on the cheap, try out the Bud Juice nutrient range, I'm busy using it at the moment on a grow and its seems really good for something you only give once a week.

17 hours ago, Spaidan said:

So from your experience I can mix Environoc 401 with my molasses before feeding the plant? Also I have read on a lot of websites that you should stop applying Environoc 2 weeks into flower??? I don't see how the soil and plant wont benefit from the product during its flowering phase. Please let me know if you recommend I use Environoc throughout flowering phase and if I can mix it with molasses before the feeding. Online they also say you shouldn't brew Environoc because it is already a complex formula..so much info online you dont know who to trust'.

 

Just add it in with your nutrient / molasses mix once a week and give it to the plants until the 2nd week of flower, by this point you should have enough of a microbe army that you dont need to add anymore (remember they are reproducing themselves as well).

16 hours ago, Stinger96 said:

Very nice bud. Tell me is that a Sunplus 650?

Hey, yeah it is the 700w Sunplus LED light, however don't buy one, they shit.

On one of my lights, 3 out of 8 bars have had the 3000k diodes die on it, but like the entire bars.
Sunplus hasn't responded to any of my support request about how do I get replacements. The after sale service is pretty much null and void. I've done 3 grows with these lights.

For a R14 000 light, I would class it as pretty shitty quality.
It puts down the ppfd for sure, but in my own testing, the Lummi 720W LED which costs half the price puts down exactly the same ppfd as this sunplus light with 301H diodes with almost identical heat output.

Luckily I have so many bar grow lights, I just replace it with another one, but still annoying.

On 2/4/2024 at 10:41 PM, CannabisKid said:

Greetings, n00b Grower here, trying to learn the fundamentals, looking to do another grow in soil again, my question is DIRTY HANDS INC. ORGASOILUX claims enough nutrients for 3-6 months. This being said, is it then not needed to add fertilizers along the way if using this soil?

Thank you

 

So it can be used throughout the grow, but also depends on how long you vegging your plant for.

However, Dirty Hands do have a nutrient feeding schedule for Orgasoilux soil if you want to add nutrients, which I have attached for you.
The feeding works out really cheap as you don't use very much of the nutrients at all. You buy these nutrients here -  https://jamiesgardenshop.co.za/product-category/organic-garden-products/organic-fertilisers/liquid-organic-fertilizers/

I've grown using their nutrients before and have had great results.

Organic Liquid Feeding Program (3).pdf

On 2/4/2024 at 10:00 PM, CannabisKid said:

Good day Peeps, its been awhile since i've last been active here the itch to grow again has hit hard and this time i would like to look into using the proper equipment. my only concern is how much of an affect loadshedding has on the plants.

Are people having to make use of back up power solutions as an necessity or is it still viable to proceed as i won't have the type of finances to purchase a proper backup power solution.

My main concern not having back up power would be any stress that loss of power to the indoor grow may cause, particularly the females turning hermie.

Someone at a local grow shop pointed out that auto flowers don't tend to hermie from disruptions to the photo periods, I'm assuming the dark period never has light interruptions but during light periods there will be these intermittent 2 hour stretches of darkness .

Are people with indoor grows having any notable issues caused by Loadshedding?

Is it still worth proceeding on to grow if no backup power is secured for the grow.

Thank you

The short answers to this is yes, you are going to need some form of backup power for the fans / extractors, your concern here is heat and humidity, not light. You have to keep the air moving.

Autoflowers are the best for load shedding, (if you don't have backup power for your lights).

Put your lights on 24/7 and let load shedding be your dark periods. So 2x 2H load sheddings a day = 20 hours of light for the plant, which is spot on perfect. Even at stage 6, you plants will still be happy.
Autoflowers will not care about the broken up light periods either.

Also autos don't need the lights to be as "higher wattage" as photoperiods due to DLI (Daily Light Integral).

So to explain this briefly. a Plant can only take is so much light in a 24 hour period and the rest is just wasted light, this is called the DLI of the plant.
A cannabis plant needs between 30 - 45 mol/m² of light per day. Generally you would aim for abouts 40 DLI a day for cannabis.

When you have a photoperiod plant in flower, it can only have 12 hours of light, so to hit 40 DLI a day, we use higher watt lights like (for example purposes) a 650watt / 1.2m² tent.
When using auto's, your lights are on for 18 - 20 hours, so that 650watt can be dropped down to say 400w to achieve the same 40 DLI in that period. If you have extreme load shedding (stage 16), you can turn up the power of your lights for the available hours you have power to meet the same 40 DLI.

You will also find a lot more mould and mildew resistant autoflower strains than you do photoperiod strains as this resistance has been bred into the strains, this helps with the humidity issues that can occur.

Generally speaking, a small'ish inverter + 2x 100Ah 12v batteries can hold small oscillating fans and extractor fans for a relatively long period of time.

19 hours ago, madgiant said:

Overgrown ships same day for orders over R600 they actually gave me some free cbd seeds with my purchase too

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yeah I got the same Fruit Pastilles and the CBD seeds with my order from them, gave the CBD seeds away, but I'm keen to pop these fruit pastilles.

As for the OP, overgrow, groen seeds, trophy seeds are all reputable and have pretty quick shipping, it really depends on what you looking for as each of these places carries different genetics.

If you looking to do a run with Ethos Genetics, In house Genetics, Dutch Passion or Fast buds, trophy seeds is for you, they are slightly higher price than the other seeds banks, but they carry very good genetics

If you want to do a Seedstockers, Delicious Seeds or Seedsman, then Groen seed is the way to go.

For everything else, there is Overgrow.

All three do also carry similar genetics like Barney's Farm, in cases like this, pick the website with the best price.

As for best freebies, both Overgrow and Groen Seed are very good with this, there is always some free stuff with your orders.

its looking good in there, the bug screens are a winner.

Hey,

So this grow is done and dusted, thought I would add it here as a start-to-finish diary.

Substrate : Freedom Farm Premium Classic, amended with Dirty Hands Elemental Blend at 1L per 20L soil and a rooibos mulch on top.

Nutrients : Biobizz (Grow, Bloom, Top-Max, Acta-Vera). Kushy Amino Acids, CalMag and Bud Juice Symbiotics.

Genetics : Mandarin Cookies V2 from Ethos Genetics.

There isn't many pics of Veg, because a cannabis plants looks like a cannabis plant, lets get onto the good stuff.

I harvested just over 600 grams in dry weight in total, 400 grams of decent smokable buds and 200 odd grams of bud and offcuts to go towards some bubble hash.

Well that's that, cheers for now.
 

17 hours ago, madgiant said:

These aren't that strong I think like 100m³/hr per fan, so 300m³/hr in total is atleast something. I'm planning to place these quite high so they can suck out heat and humidity and dumb it though the little windows on the side, what do you think?

Also I'd love to keep the doors open but my neighbors grows all kinds of funky crops like grapes and figs I'm scared of insects. I'll probably opt for a insect net as a door.

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Yeah any venting out of the heat and humidity will be good, even through the side windows. 

Regarding the pests, I use a magnetic insect screen for my grow room door and it works great (https://www.makro.co.za/home-garden/home-d-cor/decor/home-decor/4-magnetic-door-screens-black/p/004e3273-96d9-4d49-8e4b-9642e7b00aea for two), you could put them up on both sides of your tunnel.

Also, for pests, I highly recommend getting a bottle of BioNeem (Organically Certified) (https://www.growfolk.co.za/product/bioneem/ - You can also get it from builders or any garden shop). You mix it up into a spray bottle and spray your plants once a week during Veg. Basically the neem absorbs into the plants and pests don't like it, and if they happen to take a bite and eat it, it completely fucks them up and they can't walk, jump, fly or breed, essentially knocking down an entire pest population in about a week or so.

You can spray this all the way up to about 2 weeks into flower and then you need to stop, it will then slowly work its way out of the plant, so by harvest, you have no taste of it in the bud. I used this on my outdoor plants cannabis plants last season and noticed less pests in my entire garden as a whole, this shit is great and doesn't affect beneficial insects. With this stuff, you will even solve your neighbours pest problem and it helps with preventing Powdery Mildew as well (I should be their sales rep).

21 hours ago, madgiant said:

Edit 2: Airflow and ventilation is on it's way, for now I ordered 3 100m inline fans that were on sale, they aren't very strong but I think they should help a little bit...

Any greenhouse growers willing to chip in in regards fo humidity control in a small greenhouse

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I found humidity and heat to be my biggest enemy when I had my greenhouse tunnel, however the back of my greenhouse was up against a wall, so i couldn't unzip the door.

So my advice is get two large fans (like normal regular fans from builders or makro) and open the front door and back door of your greenhouse and have the fans constantly pushing air through the tunnel and out the back door.

This should stop the 100% humidity and 40+ degrees temperatures that these tunnels can get up to.
Keep at least one door open at night if you can, humidity sky rockets in a tunnel at night / early morning, especially in the summer months, winter it's a lot better (at least in JHB, dunno about the coast).

one day when I grow up, I wanna be able to grow like you 

Welcome and thanks for sharing the awesome pics.

Looks like you got a good setup going there, good luck! 

Count me in for R500, just please PM me your bank details so I can send it to you

Welcome dude

16 hours ago, Gugu said:

I bought two of the these lights I don’t know if they good I’m on budget  I still wanna add 2 more 

Ah... the LED light boxes that lie, when I first started growing, these confused the shit out of me because they say 600w, but they only like 60w.

I use these 60w led boards for small clones and when popping new seeds. 

You could try using two of them for 120w, however you are never going to see the growth and yield you would get from say an actual 600w light.

Download an app onto your phone called "Photone" - it will need you to cut a strip of white paper and tape it over your front camera on your phone as a diffuser.
It will then turn your phone into a PAR meter and allow you to measure the amount of PPFD the light it putting out onto your plants (The actual light power being put down on the leaves).
So hold the phone at the height of your plants and take the reading. These are the values you want for ideal growth (outside of co2 supplementation):

Seedling / Clone : 100 - 300 PPFD

Vegetative : 250 - 600 PPFD

Flowering : 500 - 1100 PPFD

I tend to aim for 500 PPFD on veg and around 950 PPFD in flower (although my lights can easily hit around 1500 PPFD on full).

If you are getting below these PPFD levels, you can bring your light closer to increase it, but if it remains below the above ppfd levels, then your plant isn't going to grow very well or produce any decent buds.

You probably going to want an LED light with higher wattage.

Usually the "standard" when using LED is 400w per 1.2m x 1.2m tent, however I find a lot of people (including myself) running around 600w led's in that space.

As far as LED lights go, they come in different "builds" so call it, based on the led chips used.
Ideally you want to aim for lights with Samsung 301H leds and Osram Red leds. This seems to be the current gold standard.
On a slightly cheaper light, but will still get the job done well, you could go with Samsung LM281B with Epistar 660nm led's. these lights are usually cheaper.

To save you the research on lights.

R6 995 Lummi Black 720W bar light - (https://www.gohydro.co.za/products/lumii-black-led-720w-6-bar-fixture). They don't specify what led chips they using, but a lot of people have had great success with them, I have one, but have never used it, so cant comment here.

R8 000 - Meijiu Samsung 301H 480W Quantum Board - ( https://www.gohydro.co.za/collections/lighting/products/meijiu-samsung-301h-full-spectrum-480w-quantum-board )

R8 999 - 650W KingBrite X55 - ( https://plantliving.co.za/products/650w-kingbrite-x55-bar-grow-light ) - Uses Samsung SM281B and Epistar 660nm led's.

R17 900 - Meijiu 650W Samsung 301H LED - ( https://www.gohydro.co.za/products/meijiu-samsung-301h-full-spectrum-650w-bar-fixture-1 )

I think I have maybe over-answered your question here, but yeah, you going to need like 400w of lighting, be it HID or LED. LED runs cooler and provides more brightness for the same wattage.

16 hours ago, SHiNi said:

Sorry to jack the thread but is this TA Organics really fully organic like BioBizz?

https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/terra-aquatica-pro-organic-starter-kit/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA1MCrBhAoEiwAC2d64X2d5Ep6HEdNCIsNi73bHnFvt6f3vroYSXhGvV0T497Nqqe8-6SyWBoCCO4QAvD_BwE

Yup, it's completely organic and they even make mention that you need lots of microbes in order to break it down.

Depends if I'm growing organic or not at the time.

If non-organic, my preferred nutrients are the Gold Label nutrients, but they are wack expensive. Alternative to this is the TA Tri-part, I'm had fairly ok success with the TA nutrients, but overall, my success with synthetic nutrients has been "questionable" in general.

If organic, I amend Dirty Hands Elemental Blend into the green bag of freedom farms (1L Elemental Blend to 20L of FF soil) and then I feed with around 50% of the bio-bizz recommended nutrients (depending on stage of growth, I use more around week 4  - week 6 of flower), this method has worked the best for me.

The only "catch" being that you probably need to give CalMag for the first few weeks of veg. I don't know why, but every plant I stick into freedom farms has an immediate Calmag deficiency, but is easily combatted with one dose of Calmag a week for the first 3 / 4 weeks of veg, then its fine after that. If you anticipate this, its great easy growing.

With organic I find you just need to work 2 weeks ahead of where your plant is in development. For example, if you going to flip to flower, start pre-loading your soil with the nutrients the plant is going to need in a week or two's time. This gives the microbes time to break it down into a form the plant can uptake when it needs it.

So take a bloom booster for example, it's basically just Potassium, so in week 4 of flower, I start pre-loading the soil with lots of potassium so that by the end of week 5 or start of week 6 the plant is able to absorb as much potassium as it wants.
The same happens at the end of the grow, from week 7 I start feeding water only so that in week 9 I can harvest. 

On 12/2/2023 at 5:14 PM, AK-47 Gold Arabesque said:

What is the lifetime of the batteries in your setup?  Have you had to replace them yet?

Probably around 10 years, I put them in last year and have been working like a boss ever since

I run a 3kva inverter connected to 4 x 12V lithium batteries, its able to hold two tents running at a total of 1600 watts for about 3 and a half hours (along with some lights for the house and our PC's and TV).

The unit itself cost me around R45000, but worth every cent. 

15 hours ago, Totemic said:

Those look like springtails which are considered beneficial insects, although you seem to have a quite a herd there

Thank you sir, I your spot on the money from my reading up on these.

Yeah, a herd doesn't even describe how many there are...

Hey y'all,

So the first time I ever saw these bugs was in the pot trays for my autopots and I figured it was some water bourn bug/pest, but when I was done with the harvest and checked the roots, it was teaming with these things.

Now in one of my organic pots, these little fuckers are back and I have no idea what they are.

They are coming out in my run off and are tiny, I assume they feeding on the roots, but I have no idea how to get rid of them or if its even worth trying.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My vote is for Blueberry Muffin or Orange Kush Cake