lol, this is the first thing I thought of when I saw the sun!
Mintiger suggested I hit the tanning bed, but might have to just lay in the grow tent!
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Finding a beam of sunlight in like March or April is like find a pot of gold! I don’t think people in the PNW would do well if it wasn’t rainy and 40-50s all the time. They long for jeans, fleece and Chacos!
I did go to the tanning bed one time, but that was only because I was going to Thailand in like March and didn’t want to fry. An old girlfriend of mine when we lived together had happy lights to get our Vitamin D and a sunrise light to mimic the rising sun. Sounds depressing when you say it out loud, but I do miss the PNW!
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Yeah, probably. I dunno if I ever mentioned this to you, but I moved there with a chick I met in Salt Lake City who was born and raised in Portland, I think it was right around this time of year, actually. We stayed with her parents and her “uncle” when we first got there. She already had a job lined up, so she was working from day one, but I wasn’t. The first few days, I was just sitting around the house, not doing anything, and finally, on the third afternoon, her mom was like,”So, uh, are you gonna start looking for a job?” and I was like,”Yeah, of course, I’m just waiting for it to stop raining,” and my girl’s entire family laughed out loud at me haha.
I didn’t know that it just, like, rained nonstop there for nine months straight. We had actually visited her family for Christmas for a few days before we moved there and it didn’t rain at all, so I thought all that talk about,”Uggghhh, it rains in the PNW constantly,” was like how it is in Florida in the summer, where it pours down rain for 20 minutes every afternoon and that’s it.
So the sulfur can be used as a preventative? Like maybe I should just hit my vegging plants with it twice in two weeks moving forward?
I think the plants are gonna be alright now that I’ve defoliated and removed the effected leaves. I forgot to mention that I watered with OG Biowar Foliar and Root packs (and Gantrol, too) a few days ago, just to make sure the fungus gnats stayed gone (I haven’t seen any in weeks, but I did it just to be safe), before I noticed the PM. That Biowar Foliar stuff is supposed to, uh… I dunno haha. It’s supposed to do something, though.
We’ll see.
I don’t think it’s a “recipe for disaster” exactly. Like I said, I grew for years and never had an issue with anything (except fungus gnats, which, I mean, gimme a break haha) until two summers ago, when I got aphids. And then the thrips. And now the PM. But yeah, I mean, I feel like all of this Dr. Zymes/sulfur/IPM shit really shouldn’t be necessary. Maybe that’s just me, though. I definitely never did weekly foliars or anything until a couple grows-ago, simply because I never needed to. My plants were always fine.
Dude, it fucking works if you’re living in Portland (or any grey-ass, overcast, cold and rainy city). It never would’ve occurred to me to do that, but a lot of my friends up there were dancers and escorts and shit and all of them went to the tanning booths on a regular basis. They did it because, you know, they’re gonna be naked on stage tomorrow night haha, but it really does improve your state of mind in the wintertime. Or it did for me, anyway…
I love that bit from Portlandia, btw. That show is soooooo fucking “Portland” haha. They got everything right.
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It’s supposed to make you think you got a deal on it when you buy during the annual Black Friday sale. But when you consider it’s like 99% talc…who got the deal?
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Everytime I read OG Biowar in a post I think of the ODA findings they published when testing microbial claims of various products.
That’s their root pack though, I’m sure their Foliar formula is extra dank. At least there’s no gasmask required!
The foliar pack was designed as a 100% safe, non chemical spray or drench composed of several species of microbes that may help plants deal with environmental stress! We understand that the name FOLIAR PACK can be a little misleading, because you can also use it as a root drench. If you are having issues in your garden and you are tired of using harsh chemicals this is the product for you. Although it is not “certified organic”, the only ingredients are pharmaceudical grade talc, and microbes. It is the safe alternative when it comes to dealing with the little hiccups nature sometimes throws our way. Use nature to fight nature!
NO GASMASK REQUIRED!
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Yeah yeah yeah, I’m aware of all of that stuff.
And also, I have a code that knocks off almost 50 percent! Haha.
The code is “farmer” in case anybody’s interested haha…
I will say, though, that that OG Biowar does seem to work. How it’s supposed to work, I really don’t know haha, but I’ve noticed that when I used the BioAg Vam innoculent for a couple grows (as opposed to the Biowar shit) that my plants didn’t really react as, uh, explosively. Or whatever.
I’m not schilling for OG Biowar here, just so everybody knows haha. I actually think that CAP’s a total fucking dickhead (have you seen his IG posts? He’s an idiot)(Plus, MAC 1 isn’t good weed), but I do think that OG Biowar is one of the better innoculents out there.
What do you guys use? If anything, I mean.
Yeah, I remember you posting that, totally made me think, like,”Pssshhhh, okay, I guess I’ll quit using OG Biowar now…” haha.
For real, though, what do y’all use? Nothing?
I mean, I’m fine with just making compost teas with, like, EWC or Bu’s, but it gets annoying buying a huge bag of castings or compost and then only using like three cups of it for a couple compost teas and watching the rest of the bag sit there in the garage haha…
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Use for what? Bio-stimulants or pesticides?
I don’t use too many microbial products these days other than stuff like Bacillus Thuringensis for gnat eradication indoors. For pests outdoors in vegetable or landscape plants I gravitate towards attracting beneficials & predators and would buy predatory insects if necessary. Thankfully I don’t really ever see any mildews other than some years on cucurbit crops (zucchini, cucumbers), and by then they’re ready to come down anyways. Have no objections to the treatments people are doing, I just seem to be pretty lucky (so far) when it comes to mildews.
I’ve seen and used the bio-ag VAM years ago and it’s just a mycorrhizal inoculant (vascular arbuscular mycorrhizae). Not surprised you didn’t notice anything after applying that. I am able to get a date stamped bag of Mycorrhizal Applications powder at cost, and trust the numbers from that company a lot more, but honestly half the time I still don’t even use it. My view of mycorrhizae is basically that of a safety net or insurance and is probably most useful in a no-till setup. Can help the plants deal with environmental stresses and deficiencies but to get established and be most effective it may take poorer soil conditions than we tend to use in our mixes. If interested for more information going down a rabbit hole with “Strigolactones” may provide more insight. A one time application seems like a good idea in a no-till setup with some form of poly-culture going on.
I’ve used home-made compost teas on and off since at least 2006 and just stopped using them about 8-10 years ago. It’s annoying to adequately clean any components involved and I don’t notice any real differences over the course of a cycle when using them. Just more needless work and inputs in my eyes but harmless if you need something to do. If the humus/compost source of your soil mix is the same as what you’re brewing it seems especially a waste of time. Top dressing with vermi-compost mid-flower does actually seem to help a lot and gets filled with feeder roots very quickly.
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Most recently I’ve been using a combination of Billions from TPS nutrients and Bio Harmonic Tonic from the defunct Happy Tree Microbes (they shut down permanently as of December).
I tried the og biowar stuff and wasn’t really impressed. I also tried Rootwise Soil Dynamics, which was pretty good but I can’t justify the premium price they charge.
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I collect my own IMO but I’m pretty sure you already knew that 
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I dont use compost teas. I make a tea with fresh cut green new growth from Willow trees and Dandelions, roots and all. This tea seems to work for me for my flowers, vegetable garden and my medical garden.
I have not done any scientific study that is why I say it seems to work for me. It is easy to make and I use it as my regular water. Fill up five gallon buckets with the cut up green willow growth and dandelions, fill it up with water put a lid on it and let it set in the sun.
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The bark of Willow trees is rich in salicylic acid, a phenolic chemical which benefits the plant in multiple way’s . It has antibiotic and antifungal properties, so protects against infection.
Dandelions are rich in potassium, a must-have for many plants. The extremely long taproot uptakes valuable minerals and other nutrients from the soil.
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Yeah the popular permaculture plants of choice are great for sure. In summer and fall when they’re abundant I’ve just been chopping them (comfrey, nettles) up and using them as a mulch / green manure but the “teas” are definitely cool also. Sometimes I’ll also throw them up in the blender and just water them in also. Seem way more impactful and useful than a compost tea (assuming your soil is already biologically active).
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There is a tree in a swamp right by my place that has been there for decades. It has completely broken down into a nice dark material that is shot through with fungi. I add three gallons to 2 cubic feet of my base material. Which is some version of Pro Mix usually the general all purpose blend.
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Here is some informative stuff on the powdery mildew. Ill be upfront and say i did not care for some of the beans released by Todd but I feel he is on the money when it comes to this.
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As a mycorrhizal stimulant, like you mentioned.
Really? Hm. I definitely notice pretty explosive growth in the day or two following a compost tea. In fact, I took some before/after pics and posted them on one of my grow logs here a while back, can’t remember which one it was right now. But yeah, the plants pretty much doubled in size and looked much healthier, too, 48 hours after I watered with a compost tea.
I always water with one at some point in veg and one when I transplant into the seven-gallons. I’ll never not do that. I don’t care what y’all say haha.
It is definitely annoying to clean my brewer components afterwards, though haha.
Again, I’m gonna say,”Really???” haha. Man, I dunno. I think it’s pretty good. My plants are definitely looking bulkier than they were a couple days ago, but obviously that could just be because they’re a little further along than they were two days ago haha.
Yeah, those are fermented plant extracts, right? I’ve read about those on all of Coot’s no-till thread things, but I’ve never made one myself. It always sounded like a hassle haha. Plus, I don’t really have access to dandelions and willow trees and shit… Or maybe I do and I just haven’t been looking hard enough haha, I dunno. Maybe there’s dandelions all around my neighborhood…
This sounds easier haha. That was the thing that I was always like,”Fucking what? Soak comfrey in a five-gallon with a brick on top for three weeks? Fuck that…” haha.
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Confirmation bias is definitely a thing. People want to believe the product they’re using makes a difference and so they take any non-negative change as proof the product works. (I’m guilty of it myself.) That’s one reason why the diet & nutritional supplement markets are such big business. Some of that stuff is legit, but other stuff is total snake oil. Figuring out which is which is a full time job. 
That said, I can’t recall if I ever used the foliar pack, but I didn’t notice any positive change from trying root pack or veg pack. But if it uses a talc carrier, I’m gonna say I probably won’t ever try it because I just don’t want to deal with straining off the talc.
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Terrible article that contains nothing of value.
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Yeah, straining the talc is for sure like,”Psssshhhh…. Okay, I guess I’ll do this…” haha, but it really does only take about thirty seconds. That’s one thing where I’m really willing to put in the “work” haha.
Although last time, a couple days ago, I forgot to pour it slowly from the one-gallon bucket I mix it in into the five-gallon bucket with the rest of the plants’ water and dumped a shitload of the talc into the five-gallon haha. I just said,”Fuck it,” and watered with it anyway haha.
Maybe it’s the talc that’s making my plants look a little bulkier now haha…
Dude, please. Do I strike you as someone who would say something’s good just because that’s what I use? Gimme a break haha. If I thought the OG Biowar didn’t do shit, I’d readily admit it. Ain’t no confirmation bias happening in my grow room haha.
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Yep, similar experience with ogbio microbes. Did not notice a difference at all.
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Okay, well… I have, so fuck all of y’all haha!
Just kidding around, but for real, it really doesn’t matter to me if you guys don’t like using it. I do. And I’m the one smoking my weed, so…
I really didn’t think this would become a discussion about OG Biowar (for real, I can’t stand CAP, definitely don’t wanna appear like I’m schilling for him). I thought we’d just be talking about the plants that’re getting grown right now haha, but either way… Whatever. Y’all don’t like OG Biowar and I do. I can accept that.
Moving on…
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