Balls to the Wall grow, Riddleme Gets Serious

[gumball]

I use apple cider vinegar to ph down, it is an old hippie favorite

i used some distilled white vinegar last watering, but it is not very stable so i want to pick something up that is meant for it. i am thinking of trying to grow a tomato plant DWC in the window this winter to try and learn the technique, so the equipment will be needed. thanks though

 

[cowboylogic]

The apple cider vinegar besides bringing ph down also gives your plants B vitamins, amino acids and also releases iron in the medium. Its just all around good stuff for our plants and ourselves.

 

[riddleme]

I do too! What do you use to up your ph?

have never had to up it, but the dynaGro ProtK will do it has a PH of 10

what about the stability of using apple cider vinegar as a PH modifier? I've read here on RIU and other garden forums that lemon juice, vinegar, etc.. are not stable for long term. Like, if you were going to aerate your reservoir for a few hours, and you had applied the vinegar after nutes in order to adjust PH, that coming back later the PH could've changed drastically. thoughts from your experience?

You would be right in hydro, but not in soil and folks I AM A SOIL GROWER and an old hippie

The apple cider vinegar besides bringing ph down also gives your plants B vitamins, amino acids and also releases iron in the medium. Its just all around good stuff for our plants and ourselves.

touche brother, great thirst quencher as well

 

[purplecream]

Had my first rain today riddleme i'll let you know how it goes!

 

[riddleme]

cool beans! lookin forward to it, I'm pretty sure you'll never go back once you get it going

 

[Tarkfu]

Wow, that helped me understand making it rain a lot better. I understood the basics of it, but now I could probably even explain it to another person! lol

 

[gumball]

Wow, that helped me understand making it rain a lot better. I understood the basics of it, but now I could probably even explain it to another person! lol

I am with u tarkfu! I thought I understood it, but I knew I was wrong once I read the last post.

 

[riddleme]

Wow, that helped me understand making it rain a lot better. I understood the basics of it, but now I could probably even explain it to another person! lol

what are you waiting for spread the word

 

[riddleme]

So I have now documented growth on plant 2 for the week 3 period, 1st pic was last Sat, 2nd pic was Mon, 3rd pic was Thur (I know you have already seen these 3) and last pic was this morning. I think I have now proven that makin it rain works, that CMH light is the bomb and that I have a bit of clue as to what I'm doing

remember that back a bit I said it was about to get interesting

 

[gumball]

i didnt think we could sell seeds on RIU, i thought it was unauthorized.

 

[riddleme]

Yeah I PM'd him and gave him a friendly warning, was gonna let it go but he comes back as a dick and says,,,

I would normally say sorry but I am not,

I want to buy my seeds from someone like this,,,,,,,,,NOT

 

[SensiStan]

This is also the reason that I use chemical nutes as they are readily available to the plant right away as the wicking process goes through the various PH ranges getting back to neutral, it is a slower process with organic nutes as the rain activates and the little mico critters eat and poop processing the nutes so the plant can use them.

now you must also understand that adding chem nutes lowers the PH of your soil with accumulated salt build ups, when you make it rain everytime you are basically doing what we call the flush (though in the other than MJ world it is most commonly reffered as leeching the soil) and washing unused nutes (salts) out of the soil thus allowing you to repeat the process all over again without having to worry about salt building up. Yet another reason that it is slower when going organic cause you are washing mico's out as well and then waiting for them to multiply back up and this is why I use Jack's because it is one of the best chem nutes available on the market today. JR Peters has a very good reputation and has been one of the best nutes for agriculture and gardening for many years.

So Riddleme this.... As i have my heart so set on organics , i think i found a way around the micronute problem as i was aware of the above when i made it rain.

When watering nutes after the rain i overwatered a little, the plants were hardy little bastards and i left some runoff in the tray after watering for the plant to wick up. This allowed me to let the plant wick nutes for 1.5-2 days . Now i'm not sure how many micronutes can build up over 2 days but i thought it would be better than one giving me more efficiency with my nute uptake .

Maybe i'm pissing on the theory behind the method in doing that but it worked well for me

SensiStans 2c....

 

[riddleme]

So Riddleme this.... As i have my heart so set on organics , i think i found a way around the micronute problem as i was aware of the above when i made it rain.

When watering nutes after the rain i overwatered a little, the plants were hardy little bastards and i left some runoff in the tray after watering for the plant to wick up. This allowed me to let the plant wick nutes for 1.5-2 days . Now i'm not sure how many micronutes can build up over 2 days but i thought it would be better than one giving me more efficiency with my nute uptake .

Maybe i'm pissing on the theory behind the method in doing that but it worked well for me

SensiStans 2c....

I was gonna suggest that organic growers could experiment with adding the little mico critters back in after raining I know there are suppliments for doing this but don't really know how it would work out???

 

[riddleme]

Now at the end of week 3, I have shown you the last weeks growth of plant #2 now it is time to look at all of them, and they are now on 18/6 (final switch thrown last night)

getting rain every 3 days and have had two feedings of Jack's Classic All Purpose 20-20-20, light is still at 32 inches from the top of the pot, but of course the top of the plant is closer as they grow Note they will grow to get what they want/need

Also note a bit of stretching on plant #4 totally my fault because it was put in a week later from the others and not a problem since I can bury the stem when I upcan them

 

[bigman4270]

Looking great my friend. Those bad boys(girls) are gonna explode when you up-can them.

 

[SensiStan]

Those are some happy looking plants

Turns out he's not just a crazy hippie guy .... ,

i'm gonna look into micronute suppliments and see if theres any way i can stop them washing away all the time , possibly treat the rainwater with a suppliment ? what are your thoughts on that ?

 

[riddleme]

Those are some happy looking plants

Turns out he's not just a crazy hippie guy .... ,

i'm gonna look into micronute suppliments and see if theres any way i can stop them washing away all the time , possibly treat the rainwater with a suppliment ? what are your thoughts on that ?

Think I would be more inclined to add them at feeding time, not sure they would not just drain out when you rain on em?

 

[SensiStan]

Think I would be more inclined to add them at feeding time, not sure they would not just drain out when you rain on em?

Perhaps... at least now i'll be occupied for the rest of the day pondering this. i'm really trying to get the best possible results in the shortest possible time and this might make all the difference

 

[cowboylogic]

So I have now documented growth on plant 2 for the week 3 period, 1st pic was last Sat, 2nd pic was Mon, 3rd pic was Thur (I know you have already seen these 3) and last pic was this morning. I think I have now proven that makin it rain works, that CMH light is the bomb and that I have a bit of clue as to what I'm doing

remember that back a bit I said it was about to get interesting

Talk about being tuned in. Gotta tip my hat too ya Riddle. Very, very well done.

 

[riddleme]

Talk about being tuned in. Gotta tip my hat too ya Riddle. Very, very well done.

Thank you my friend! and nice point for those reading this (lurking) that a great grow is the sum of ALL parts, that every element MUST be properly dialed in to achieve good results. While it is true that makin it rain causes explosive growth, it won't happen right if the lights, temps, humidity, nutes etc are not dialed in as they should be