New Grower Advanced Biodiesel Mass - Basic Setup

[Ottopilotti]

To LST or not to LST? That is the next question!

I don't have a lot of space and I have always LST'd (low stress training) to create a
nice even canopy. My taller girl is starting to really stretch after getting out of the infirmary
and because I have all my light overhead it does make sense. I also can't really get more
side lights in there.

I like this method because it means the lower bud sites get plenty of light too -
the side branching is looking well formed so after the initial problems it seems to
make sense to me.

I've always done it and I think it increases my yield because my grow is really
miniscule compared to some of you out there.

It also keeps the chop/don't chop questions to a minimum later on...

My other girl is a lot shorter and stockier but is catching up.

The stems are nice an flexible and I actually like doing it - used to be
a Bonsai tree grower - in winter I love the close contact with the plants -
helps with my S.A.D

Any thoughts?

Otto

 

[Ottopilotti]

LSTed and New Beans - Update 29 11 13

Well I have gone for the LSTing - these two plants are just not
liking the compost/gnats - so I'm using my usual method to create
a canopy - which means I can get what I have got real close to
the lights.

Still fighting the gnats - once you got 'em you got 'em -
but they are not a plague. Just damn annoying...
The compost I bought was also way too waterlogged and I didn't
let it stand and dry out long enough. I also noticed there were far
too many large pieces of bio mass in there - roots and such like...



Not very attractive at this stage but they will hopefully bush out over
the next few weeks - flowering has started but way off switch to bloom
nutes. Boosted the N levels so I think they should begin to fill out.
No prize plants here though - this is not a judgement about the strain -
grown it before with no problems.

I made a bad choice with my soil mix - speaking of which...

The two other beans are coming along very nicely...they look like the two
diesels after 2/3 weeks and are only seven days old...all I have changed was
adding my usual coir component to the mix (33%) - the gnats also don't
seem to like it because the top layer drys really fast...
Accidentally splashed a little seaweed tea over them - so the spots are
not disease just a slight leaf burn...



candy kush........delicious il diavolo - at 7 days looking fine!

Otto

 

[UHF]

Hi Otto. Just read through and your is coming along nice even with the bumps you have had along the way. I see your having the reoccurring gnat problem. I went through this with some very wet soil I bought last year. Here is how I solved the problem. For the crazy flying adults I hung some old school fly strips. Hang one or two depending on room. Also take a small lid or contained and add cider vinegar and they will get stuck on the strips and drown in the vinegar/wine. As for killing the babies in the soil I used mosquito dunks. They can be ordered online or found at w-mart or similar places. Just put on some gloves and crumble a 1/4 to a 1/2 in a gallon of water, add nutes, check and adjust ph, water away I used it every time I watered. For the rest of the bag of soil i had, before i used any more i pre filled my next pots a few weeks before i used them and gave them treating every few days for a month. It worked well and I still give my soil a pre water and a few more while growing with the mosquito dunks. Hope this helps and i got you subbed to follow along on your journey. Peace friend

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Love the LST, Otto! Your gals are looking good
Still with the gnats? X2 what UHF said about fly strips and vinegar.
Were you able to find any DE to topdress with?

 

[Ottopilotti]

Love the LST, Otto! Your gals are looking good
Still with the gnats? X2 what UHF said about fly strips and vinegar.
Were you able to find any DE to topdress with?

Hey Red!
I have just replaced my old fly strips with some funky little flag strips I made (there were a lot of black,
dead splodges on the old ones) - trying the sliced potato in soil method to draw the larvae -
not very hopeful about that - and they look peculiar already - the spuds I mean.
I thought I might try the vinegar in a jar lid method - also add a dollop of set honey - a little attractive
island in a toxic lake. Will look strange - flags, islands and potato rafts...

Haven't got to the farm shop yet - tomorrow is sunny - so I may get there on my wire donkey...

The gnats seem really averse to the coir mix - so I going to try a really dry pure coir top dressing...
I really have had to give these plants a hammering - compared to the usual way things go...
I'm going to be as kind as possible to them - before a do the radical DE topdressing...

I love Fischli/Weiss...so this video is dedicated to all us closet DIY growers - it's all about testing, learning and invention...free the power! I think a bit of entertainment is always a good idea...
(they did this before the multitude of ads we now see all over the place.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTobV-Gnv-8

Otto

ps. my summer PS plants are helping me through

If the law permitted it would be outdoor PS girls all the way...

pps. that chicken looks dangerous - sort of - nice hair cut.

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

I dig the Rube Goldberg gadgets!

 

[Ottopilotti]

Were you able to find any DE to topdress with?

Hi Red,
Went to the farm shop today - it is a pretty good one - real farmers go there!
Unfortunately they didn't have any DE (also called Fossil Shell Flour I learned) but
the sales assistant was really helpful - started googling on his smart phone right away -
told him my gran had a fungus gnat problem in her conservatory garden - he was
intrigued because I told him about a friend that uses it for his chickens but that I wanted
it for top dressing...I like a bit of subterfuge!

Did some research and there are two types - fresh water and salt water - for the girls
we'd be needing the fresh water stuff I think. Be good if we could get this down pat and
have a real solid recommendation for AFNers. The human food grade stuff - that we
can eat for healthy bowels apparently - has sometimes got molasses in it - makes it clump
it seems...not sure about that.

Can get it online - but the less I get delivered to my door the better...

Bet they'll have it in store soon!

They had lots of really interesting things though - like oyster shell fragments -
generally bags of all sorts of stuff I'd never thought about before - things with
lots of yummy minerals in them (they have a gardening section too but it is
full of prefabricated products that don't give you any real info) - so I think that was
a real good lead for me - will be needing a big mortar and pestle to deal with some of
the stuff in there. Will be looking at the horse section next...

Thanks everyone one for taking the time to chip in with advice here - I don't have a
major problem but I'm a tenacious bastard...

Girls are coming along - the gnats don't like the coir - the top dries real quick which is
what is really needed in my current situation methinks. The larvae are embedded in the
soil mix - gnashing away at the roots in the lousy compost I originally used.

That's my main lesson here - pay more attention to the soil mix.

Otto

This is interesting - another thing the pharma corps don't want us to know...
But how is it mined? Questions...questions...

http://www.fossilshellflour.net/

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Welcome to the wonderful world of feed stores, Otto!
Not sure about molasses content... the DE we use is 100% pure (and can get a bit dusty.
I love the oyster shells, it's a great way to neutralize soil acidity and add trace elements. I think I paid 7 bucks or less for a 50 lb bag. We use a wide faced hammer to crush it , the finer the crush the better it works.
SODIUM WARNING!!!! Oyster shell fragments can have a high sodium level (salt water residue). If you ever use it as a soil amendment, rinse the heck out of it, then rinse it some more, or you run a good risk of high sodium lockout.

 

[wwwillie]

Should be able to get DE from a pool supply store. Use it in pool filters. Least ways i used to.

Edit:
Please see Red's post following, I used it for my tomatoes... Looks like it is not good for use in this instance.

 

[Renaissance Redneck]

Should be able to get DE from a pool supply store. Use it in pool filters. Least ways i used to.

I would recommend against the DE used for filtration for any other purpose than filtering.
Pool grade DE is calcined, and can cause long term respiratory problems from the crystaline silica.