Orloff's bean graveyard

[Orloff]

Here we are 19 days from sprout. Both plants are doing good, #1 is just beasting while #2 continues its moodiness. The difference is becoming apparent in size now as well, with #1 being a day or two ahead on node development and leaf size. I am pushing them both at this point - I increased feed EC from 1400 EC to 1600 EC over the last week, and have bumped light output from 20k lux to 40k today. BTW, I am using the lux app on my phone. It’s not a “real” measurement, but it’s useful as a general guideline.

Here is #1 before and after topping:

And the same for #2:

I topped them both at 4th node and removed branches from 1st and 2nd. Hoping for 4 main branches.

Sorry for the funky white balance, but I’m no photo-editing wizard. My new LED (3000K) is much better in that regard than the old blurple, but yellow dominates photos more than I was expecting. Not HPS-level bad, but still a far cry from neutral white.

[Joshj]

Can I just say; I’m not drunk, I own my own business and (you) don’t use dessicants. Just put the seeds in the freezer. PleAse?!.

[Orloff]

Thanks for your concern, I definitely plan to improve my seed storage. And use proper dessicant .

[OleReynard]

I freeze and dessicant

[Orloff]

Hello OG friends, here we are with a little update from my garden. First let me wish you a happy new year, many bountiful harvests, good fortune and lots of love all around. I think we all need a positive year after the last few. Fingers crossed that 2021 is the magical number!

I feel fortunate for many things in my life, and my little garden is definitely among them. Opening the tent brings me a feeling of peace and balance every single time. The plants are great teachers and the more I look at them, the more I feel they actually communicate with us, just non-verbaly.

Saying that, my young ladies could definitely be doing better. Overall, I am still happy with their progress, but the grow isn’t without issues. General grumpyness from #2 seems to have spread on #1 as well, at least for a few days. On top of that, I found tell-tale signs of calcium deficiency on both plants.

#1, less affected:

#2, more affected, some older blemishes:

Looking back on my grow notes, I have a working theory of what happened. As I increased intensity of my LED, I failed to follow with appropriate increase in nutrient density. I was still watering with less than full strength mix of Masterblend, and my runoff EC kept dropping. First I reacted by lowering the light intensity, and only then by increasing nutrients. I will definitely try Green Gene’s dogma of watering the plants with full-strength from early on on my next coco grows! LED-grown plants indeed seem to require more Cal, especially in coco. I implemented regular CalNit foliars for past two days, I hope the spots don’t progress.

Please take a look at my notes (only since my last update) and see if you find any other clues.

Anyway, yesterday I transplanted #1 to my autopot. Looking back at it, I should’ve definitelly buffered the coco/perlite mix beforehand because the runoff came out at 400 EC. I will give them a big watering today, hoping to raise the EC to appropriate levels. After a few days, I will finally connect the reservoir. Can’t wait. Here are some pics.

#1 rootball at transplant. Looks good to me:

#1 in here new home:

Beautiful, stout structure on #1, look at those fat petioles:

#2 looking as grumpy as ever:

Her chassis looks sturdy as well:

Both girls this morning, #1 looking better since transplant, can coco plants be root-bound?

Thanks for looking!

[George]

I think if those are fabric pots you will not have any root bound problems at all as they get air pruned, you may try hempy buckets someday. Looking really beautiful so far …

[Orloff]

Thanks for the kind words George .

The autopot is of fabric variety, but the previous 1-gallon containers were plastic. The #2 is still in hers. Look at the root mass from #1 on transplant!

[George]

I saw it , that’s why now I use starter pots that vanish, then 1 gallon fabric pots and finally 3 gallon fabric, roots doesn’t torsion like that an just keep their natural structure, much easier to transplant …

[Orloff]

I’ve been oogling those seedling coco pots for a while now, definitely interested in them. Actually went to a gardening centre once to buy them, but they looked so tiny in person, nowhere close to 0,5L / 1 pint that I prefer for early vegging. Probably just need to find larger ones…

I was also looking into chinese fabric seedling bags like these, but read some negative experiences about them not disappearing after more than a year in ground. And if I’m using plastic I might as well use proper pots that I can reuse many times!

Thanks for your insights!

[Swe-can]

I use those as starters in my veg garden outside for my autos !! Then out in the woods late April directly in the ground !
They do the work

[Comacus]

@Orloff

I was also looking into chinese fabric seedling bags like these, but read some negative experiences about them not disappearing after more than a year in ground.

A buddy has used the reusable grocery bags. They are usually about $1 each for a high quality one.

[Shadey]

@Comacus

A buddy has used the reusable grocery bags. They are usually about $1 each for a high quality one

I have just made up 2 pots out of 4 grocery bags to make sure the handles don’t tear off as they hold about ten gal of soil.

[Orloff]

@Swe-can

I use those as starters in my veg garden outside for my autos !! Then out in the woods late April directly in the ground !
They do the work

Do you mean the little coco pots or the white fabric pots I linked? Probably the later? I have some plans for outdoor this year (for the first time!), I’ll pick your brains about it if you don’t mind .

@Comacus

A buddy has used the reusable grocery bags. They are usually about $1 each for a high quality one.

Big fabric grocery bags indeed look like a great growing tool. Do you guys get small ones that could be used for seedlings as well? We only get huge ones…

[Swe-can]

The fabric pots are the one I use @Orloff

I’m all mr

[Herbie]

I have seen this in a SSDD on that second set of leaves. @allotment in his Hibernate. In that particular pic both sides are not showing separate fingers so perhaps … otoh I have seen the same thing in a ssdd on both f2 and f3 at one in 8 and one in 9 seedlings. They all had the same soil. Could be some plants are more sensitive early to a lack of calcium but I would have to see more than one claim this diagnosis. In those cases one side had fingers the other side a webbed leaf on the second set only.

[Orloff]

@Swe-can

The fabric pots are the one I use @Orloff

Great to have first hand experience! So, do you find they break down and disappear after a grow season? Or are they still there when you dig up the plant? I don’t like the idea of putting more plastic into ground…

@Herbie

I have seen this in a SSDD on that second set of leaves. @allotment in his Hibernate. In that particular pic both sides are not showing separate fingers so perhaps … otoh I have seen the same thing in a ssdd on both f2 and f3 at one in 8 and one in 9 seedlings. They all had the same soil. Could be some plants are more sensitive early to a lack of calcium but I would have to see more than one claim this diagnosis. In those cases one side had fingers the other side a webbed leaf on the second set only.

Hey, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! I am far from sure myself. It could be genetic like you describe or some other factor. But at least in my case, the twisting continued to new growth and larger leaves as well, which leads me to believe it is some kind of unhappyness or deficiency related to environment or feed.

We have many visual guides for nutrient deficiencies, I’d love to have one for leaf “expressions”. We all know about the nitrogen clawing, but there are many more - tacoing, serration curl, twisting into a particular direction, “balooning”, …

[Orloff]

Love me some good bondage . First pic from yesterday evening after a feed and some LST, and second from this morning. I need to get my trellis up pronto!

Sidenote, #2 finally seems to be getting in the groove!

[Swe-can]

Usually they get ripped apart from the roots while the plants grow, and slowly dissolves.

But i won’t lie ! Some are still out there but those I pick up after I replant for the new season, I grow autos in the woods and they’re perfect size to plant in the ground and to carry around ( I use fruit cage )

[dequilo]

@Swe-can “I grow autos in the woods and they’re perfect size to plant in the ground and to carry around ( I use fruit cage )”

my thoughts also but I am doing a fence line in the middle of my property

short plant 3 feet or so in a line close together is not going to like weed

the smell that could be a problem

I did one year put a five gallon pail in my car, a coal shovel and rubber gloves

and picked up road killed skunk and dropped them on the road in front of my barn

can’t hide smell cover it up

all the best and be safe

Dequilo

[Orloff]

@Swe-can

Usually they get ripped apart from the roots while the plants grow, and slowly dissolves.

But i won’t lie ! Some are still out there but those I pick up after I replant for the new season, I grow autos in the woods and they’re perfect size to plant in the ground and to carry around ( I use fruit cage )

I can just picture you, merrily carrying a crate of new seedlings into the woods… happy times . I need to read up on outdoor growing for sure, I have so many questions, most of them probably answered by any beginner guide. Like when to put them out, how to harden plants to outdoor sun, how often to water then, do you need to fertigate them at all, how to regulate their size, how do you know when they start to bloom (summer solstice?), how to choose strains suitable to my lattitude, etc…