2nd Grow - Exotic Genetics Citrus Berry, Organic, Mainlined, 300W CXB3590

Aruanda

Well-Known Member
Actually not so worried about the zinc. Perhaps the zinc would be beneficial for a certain consideration about iron interacting with soil. This has been discussed in a group regarding regenerative agriculture and its been hovering around in my mind for some time. I've been considering posting a thread or contributing this knowledge to one of the Organics threads. Here is what I wrote in one such thread:

"...Someone there chimed in with some insightful and fascinating information regarding the work of Viktor Schauberger. In the thread, the discussion about his work on soils where he discovered that iron implements changed the polarity of the water molecules and made it more difficult for plants to interact with the water. Someone else made the comment that iron can block access to phosphor. I'll post here what I've been able to find thus far relating to the subject and for your consideration: http://www.energeticforum.com/agriculture/3977-iron-tools-defertilize-soil.html "

Just thought I'd share that for your consideration. Not sure if the zinc coating would help.
 

Six9

Well-Known Member
I'll post here what I've been able to find thus far relating to the subject and for your consideration: http://www.energeticforum.com/agriculture/3977-iron-tools-defertilize-soil.html "

Just thought I'd share that for your consideration. Not sure if the zinc coating would help.
Interesting I'll have to check in detail. sounds like copper's the way to go though. I would imagine as long as the cage remains rust free (for the most part) below soil, the zinc is a barrier. The weld points visible in pics shows rust, def iron under there
 

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Interesting, I believe they are galvanized steel. We got them at lowes and I just checked the website and all uncoated versions they carry on the site are galvanized steel so I bet these are too. That said, they suck. The welds are very brittle and as you see very prone to rust so I'll certainly be going with either coated versions or more robust plastic next time. Either that or something I fabricate up myself, who knows.
 

Yodaweed

Well-Known Member
Ok so I'm onto my second grow. This time I'm going to go with an organic mainline based grow with some exotic genetics citrus berry. I've moved to 5G RootTrapper II soft pots (used 3G smart pots last round) and amended my used foxfarm ocean forest soil with buildasoil's craft blend which contains the following:
  1. Thorvin Premium Kelp Meal
  2. Ahimsa Neem/Karanja Cake
  3. Alfalfa Meal
  4. CalPhos
  5. Camelina Meal
  6. Crustacean Meal
  7. Fish Meal
  8. 3x Fish Bone Meal
  9. Soybean Meal
  10. Sul-Po-Mag (Also Known as K-Mag or Langbeinite)
  11. Malted Barley Grains (3 Varieties)
  12. Azomite
  13. Basalt - Local Colorado
  14. Gypsum
  15. Oyster Flour
Basically you just mix 1 to 2 cups of the craft blend with each cubic foot of soil that you want to re-amend. I also added 30lbs of EWC and about 1 cubic foot of large chunk perlite. Here is a picture of everything being mixed together. Aside from adding EWC down the road I've got enough craft blend to last me at least 2 years of re-amending and best of all my soil will be so much healthier. I'm so stoked. In the grand scheme of things I'd like to move to a no-till setup and never have to mess with bottled nutes, ph measuring, etc. again. I grow for my wife and I only so quality over quantity is key for us. I realize that I'm cheating by buying buildasoil's craft blend but over time I'll build up my own recipe as I learn more. I've also got some live comfrey root cuttings on the way. I'm hoping to top-dress with EWC mixed with some comfrey cuttings along the way next grow. I don't think I'll have any comfrey ready this grow though.

I've got 4 seedlings currently going. They are reg seeds and I'll mainline them all for practice even though I'm sure I'll end up with at least 1 male. I'll try to sex them in pre-flower with your help.

I love these RootTrapper pots. They breath like smart pots but have a perforated white soft shell around them that gives them a structural advantage while also reflecting light to keep the root system cooler. They also have 1" of exposed fabric at the bottom for extra drainage. Rather than air prune like traditional fabric pots, they trap roots in the inside facing fabric forcing the root to branch. Lastly, their 5G is truly 5 gallons.

Also attached are the 5G pots cooking a bit in addition to my 4 seedlings, all of which are doing well. This 300W timber kit runs so cool that I'm hitting high 60s in tent at night so I've got an oscillating heater in there which kicks on at 70°. Obviously not a long term solution but I'll have something much more appropriate in place in the coming weeks.

Cheers guys and thanks again for all your help during my last grow!
When you do no till organics you should be using containers at least 7 gallons.
 

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Quick shot of the plants today. I feel like the manifolds are established enough to where I can more or less sit back and allow the 8 colas on each plant to rock on. I've got a few soft wire ties still in place here and there but I haven't really had to do much this past week. I accidentally snapped a cola while trying to twist/bend it down a bit to slow it down. It was more of a crack and I taped it immediately. That makes two breaks total since this grow started. I feel like I'm getting a better sense of what they can take before snapping but I keep asking myself, is it really worth it? I'm hoping this all pays off. I feel like I'm imposing so much will on my plants, maybe too much. The results are really fascinating though to watch, here is a top down shot of one of the manifolds. My comfrey is actually blooming, I wasn't expecting that so soon.

I haven't really touched on these RootTrapper II pots. These things kick ass. My first grow was in 3G smart pots. These:

- Hold their shape far better than smart pots
- They breath well. It's hard to see in the photos but there are perforations all through the external white layer.
- Unlike my smart pots, if I'm a little over zealous when watering it doesn't piss out the sides. It's like there is exactly enough perforations to allow it to breath without so many that water simply drips from the sides. Drain-off occurs at the bottom 1" of exposed fabric. The entire bottom is also exposed fabric. The moment some drain-off occurs it is sucked back in at some other point. I have yet to see any water stand for more than 10 seconds.
- They reflect light/heat with their white exterior later.
- Their measurements abide by industry standards. 5G is truly 5G unlike smart pots.
- They are a hair cheaper.
 

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Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
Quick shot of the plants today. I feel like the manifolds are established enough to where I can more or less sit back and allow the 8 colas on each plant to rock on. I've got a few soft wire ties still in place here and there but I haven't really had to do much this past week. I accidentally snapped a cola while trying to twist/bend it down a bit to slow it down. It was more of a crack and I taped it immediately. That makes two breaks total since this grow started. I feel like I'm getting a better sense of what they can take before snapping but I keep asking myself, is it really worth it? I'm hoping this all pays off. I feel like I'm imposing so much will on my plants, maybe too much. The results are really fascinating though to watch, here is a top down shot of one of the manifolds. My comfrey is actually blooming, I wasn't expecting that so soon.

I haven't really touched on these RootTrapper II pots. These things kick ass. My first grow was in 3G smart pots. These:

- Hold their shape far better than smart pots
- They breath well. It's hard to see in the photos but there are perforations all through the external white layer.
- Unlike my smart pots, if I'm a little over zealous when watering it doesn't piss out the sides. It's like there is exactly enough perforations to allow it to breath without so many that water simply drips from the sides. Drain-off occurs at the bottom 1" of exposed fabric. The entire bottom is also exposed fabric. The moment some drain-off occurs it is sucked back in at some other point. I have yet to see any water stand for more than 10 seconds.
- They reflect light/heat with their white exterior later.
- Their measurements abide by industry standards. 5G is truly 5G unlike smart pots.
- They are a hair cheaper.
Dude looking super nice
 

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
Some pretty big updates. We ended up with a male, my first ever actually since my initial grow leveraged femmed autos. Once I got confirmation, he was cut. I was thinking that pre-flower sexing would be very hard but this was pretty obvious, maybe I got lucky. Here are some shots. This also happened to be the plant that was going to receive a feeding due to it being much lighter in color. As it stands though the rest are doing good so I'm holding off on any feedings. I do have jack's citrus ready to go and have abandoned my original plan of using organic fertilizer stakes.

Now that we are (hopefully) past sexing I've moved the comfrey out and spaced them so each have two COBs above them. They are pretty thick so I might thin them out in the coming days. What do you say?

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slow_grow

Well-Known Member
I completed a round of defoliating to clean the lower branches up. It was a good opportunity to take some shots of the manifold structures, pretty neat. In general the plants seem to be doing good although my tallest is acting odd. I usually wait until the pots are light and a slight drooping occurs before watering. This one droops first so I watered them all and expected her to perk up a few hours later like normal but it has been two days and she's still all droopy looking. Heat shouldn't be an issue, my highs right now are mid 70s. The other weird thing is she has some curled and lightened leaf tips however I've applied zero nutes the entire grow and they are all sharing the same soil.


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Looks really good man! l am interested in trying out the main line technique as well. This has been very helpful. My 3 girls are a few weeks behind yours so this is perfect. Keep it coming!!
 

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
The plants have filled out quite a bit and have passed the second rung on the tomato cages. The manifolds are holding their shape although I've got a few suckers that need to go. I'll probably defoliate one more time before flipping. One of them is a good 6" taller than the rest so I've got the others raised a few inches. Still haven't applied any nutes, I'm hoping to give them 1/4 TSP of jack's citrus once or twice before the flip but who knows, the amended soil seems to be carrying them nicely as is. My 25lb bag of jack's aquagold finisher came in. The droopy one on the far left is going through lots of water so I've shifted waterings so she has her own schedule. She seems to want about an extra half gallon per week.

I'm hoping they'll be ready to flip in 2 weeks once they have another foot or so of height. I think within the next day or so I'll start tying the colas to the second rung to encourage them to grow straight up. My lights are such that they aren't directly over their centers so they seem to want to spread out a bit.

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Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
The plants have filled out quite a bit and have passed the second rung on the tomato cages. The manifolds are holding their shape although I've got a few suckers that need to go. I'll probably defoliate one more time before flipping. One of them is a good 6" taller than the rest so I've got the others raised a few inches. Still haven't applied any nutes, I'm hoping to give them 1/4 TSP of jack's citrus once or twice before the flip but who knows, the amended soil seems to be carrying them nicely as is. My 25lb bag of jack's aquagold finisher came in. The droopy one on the far left is going through lots of water so I've shifted waterings so she has her own schedule. She seems to want about an extra half gallon per week.

I'm hoping they'll be ready to flip in 2 weeks once they have another foot or so of height. I think within the next day or so I'll start tying the colas to the second rung to encourage them to grow straight up. My lights are such that they aren't directly over their centers so they seem to want to spread out a bit.

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View attachment 3847925
Looking nice . My cookies and cream are coming along nicely.
 

slow_grow

Well-Known Member
They are about a week away from flip. I'm waiting for a few more colas to catch up. Things appear to be a mess in this photo because of the tie-downs, I actually didn't really want to post it but I guess it's just part of the process. I also raised the tomato cages a few inches because I noticed a few colas became somewhat stuck on the lower ring. The two on the right are on crates, all but one of the colas on the far left plant have been tied down facing outward.

Aside from them looking totally disheveled they appear to be pretty happy : o )

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