Total Noob using teas and I am a believer

I think those are really good points. I also think the flavor can be really strain, and pheno dependent. I've had Skunk fade out really nice, and have a very nice taste after cure. I've also had a Skunk from a different breeder only go 41 days with hardly any fade, and it was also a very marvelous smoke in the end. I would assume some strains would be alot sweeter with a good fade on a plant to make sure of lees nutes retained within the plant matter. On the other hand some strains have such a strong flavor profle to them that you're gonna get a nice taste from them regardless of how much you flush, and they fade. I always think that a little fade is better than none, but it doesn't seem to affect the end result as long as it's cured correctly, and the strain was grown correctly for what it needs, you know. After you grow some genetics a couple of times you get alot better idea of what it needs at all levels including what it needs to cure correctly, and be of quality for your meds. I like the question, but think it's too strain dependent to be answered on a 100% correct level, LOL. Gandalf can shove plants in a dang corner, and then take some pics, and they look healthy, and glossy like they were in an exotic greenhouse somewhere. Lookin beautiful brother. Take er easy folks. Peace and love.

I never flush either. I see much more harm than any good in it. I too am starting to wonder why I chase the green all the time.

Another question......how is water uptake by a plant different as it approaches its last week or two of life? I am noticing less water intake as the plants get ready to chop. Seem normal? It's sad how I never paid attention to this before.

Hmmm... That's an interesting question. I have Blumats attached so I keep constant moisture but not sure about consumption at that time.

Plants do uptake half as much water in the last 7-10 days. In somas book,eds hand book, jorges videos and books, and DJ shorts book. They all say the same thing. I kinda flush. I water with molasses water the 3rd and 2nd to last watering. Then just water the last. Then let them dry out almost completely. To get a nice fade. Imo it tastes better and is smoother but through whole grow. Lately I've been doing teas every other watering. Just water the others. Can't find the barley flour after moving. To broke to buy anything right now. So no enzyme teas. But there's enzymes in the compost teas anyway.
also I'm still doing rols. I'm completely out of nutes. I got some dr earth tomato & vegetable and kelp meal. Top dressing with that. Its working really good to my surprise. The dr. Earth stuff has all kinds of bennies in it too.

GandalfdaGreen said:

I think this is a huge point. Why does early fade happen? Is it normal? Are the plants that stay green up to harvest as desirable or even more so to smoke? I have been wondering this myself. I have been thinking, without any science to back this up, that a full on green plant at harvest must contain an excessive amount of nutes still within the plants. Taste may be of lower quality. What do you guys think?

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I think it would totally fuck with the way the elders taught me to discern ripening flowers...i.e when the flowers start to pull the chlorophyll outa the fans its in an attempt to get everything she can before the final phase of ripening. If they stayed green the whole time it'd would throw me off fer sure.

GandalfdaGreen said:

I never flush either. I see much more harm than any good in it. I too am starting to wonder why I chase the green all the time.

Another question......how is water uptake by a plant different as it approaches its last week or two of life? I am noticing less water intake as the plants get ready to chop. Seem normal? It's sad how I never paid attention to this before.

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Mycos is right strain dependent in regards to this also maybe? I usually just let the ladies tell me what they want from week 6 of flower on. Less uptake during chop date is a good thang!

The only plants that are still sucking water up like normal are the Kali Mists and the Kali Bubba. Everything close to chop is shutting it down considerably.

GandalfdaGreen said:

I am noticing less water intake as the plants get ready to chop. Seem normal? It's sad how I never paid attention to this before.

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Hey stop talkin yourself down before I take the next flight over with express purpose to kick you in the NUTS LOL... Nah bro, you can't take notice of everything from the get-go eh. The road to mastery is walked in baby steps, one fascinating detail at a time. You've got a lot on your plate and you explore more things than anybody I know. There are MANY little details that are still off your radar that you will be discovering and paying attention to as time passes. I think learning about reefer can be a lifetime journey. And you seem to really enjoy new discoveries!

Sad my ass LOL. You're one amazing cat, you know that bro? We all respect you for your humble approach to this beautiful ally we have in Ganja mate. Keep rockin', the rest of us will be doing our best to keep up with you!

Lemme know when you fly in for the nut flattening

Rrog said:

Lemme know when you fly in for the nut flattening

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I no longer really water the plants. I water the microlife and the soil. I don't run the blumats yet so I worry about walking that line of letting my soil dry out enough without killing the beneficials within. It is a strange balance. I used to let my soil dry out so that the roots would seek out water and grow. I guess I am wondering how dry can it get before the herd suffers? Nature has wet-dry cycles.

I hear you on the wet-dry cycles. The blumats are not actually a constant-moisture. They fluctuate across a range, from like 5kPa to 10.

One of the near-universal comments from blumat users is increased growth when you maintain that moisture zone.

GandalfdaGreen said:

I no longer really water the plants. I water the microlife and the soil. I don't run the blumats yet so I worry about walking that line of letting my soil dry out enough without killing the beneficials within. It is a strange balance. I used to let my soil dry out so that the roots would seek out water and grow. I guess I am wondering how dry can it get before the herd suffers? Nature has wet-dry cycles.

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I'd say you can safely continue this practice mate. Remember that your bennies live in HYDROSCOPIC water which is a THIN layer of only a few molecules, adhering to soil particles via static charge. One has to heat the soil to boil this off most of the time. But I know that you know this mate, you're thinking not blinking Page 32, Teaming With Microbes...

EDIT: I'm not even going to look up blumats, I just know I'll have to import them, sigh... Then again one quick googling won't hurt...

Gandalf, will try the Mother Mary's Tea Recipes

Thanks!

I use a small airstone and next batch I think I will run the pump 15 minutes on then 15 minutes off.
What do you think?

st0wandgrow said:

Hey guys. Just thought I'd pop in and share what I'm working on right now....

My organic runs have been going great, but the one thing I'm noticing is a bit of an early fade. I suspect that this is due to a lot of my organic inputs being leached out of the soil when I water. I think that's the case anyway. To combat this, I have been looking in to something Rrog has turned me on to. Biochar.

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I use airpots and have low RH and am noticing the same thing on one nute hungry plant. I will amend my soil mix for the next run.
That sounds like it may fix it.

Thanks!

Gandalf so i looked into the vortex brewer yesterday and just now my phone rings and someone asks for me by name..strange as i am a herit and don't like talking to many.So anyway long story short it's the guy from the vortex brewer company just calling to answer any questions i may have.
Must say i was impressed that they would go that far to give me a call just to satisfy any curiosities i had.

Trousers man you've got the best avatar of ALL TIME. Did you photoshop a Bin Laden beard onto a pic of yourself as a kid? It's EPIC man, gives me a laugh every time.

You guys aren't watering to the point it drains, are you? How is the water removing nutrients unless it drains?

urban1026835 said:

Gandalf so i looked into the vortex brewer yesterday and just now my phone rings and someone asks for me by name..strange as i am a herit and don't like talking to many.So anyway long story short it's the guy from the vortex brewer company just calling to answer any questions i may have.
Must say i was impressed that they would go that far to give me a call just to satisfy any curiosities i had.

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Wow. Just.. wow. Give the man your money! THAT is service. You just know if anything goes wrong he's there to back you up. Is this Microbeman? I am buying one of his scopes soon, just saving the last bucks.

Rrog said:

You guys aren't watering to the point it drains, are you? How is the water removing nutrients unless it drains?

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My gods this thread's on fire! Good point Rrog. Never thought of that simple little thing myself. I come from coco growing where ten percent runoff is required most of the time to do exactly that and avoid salt build-up. Now I'm just watering not feeding yet no need to feed these lush organic babies so far, but the water-till-runoff habit hasn't been broken. So top up to BEFORE runoff is the way forward in Living Soil then? Good to know.

Got my Deep Blue in the first week of feeding. The one has been slow and colourless but seems to be coming to life.


Here is my first go at cloning, 4 clones from my Herijuana.


Have all 6 plants started on the Go Organics line up.

Hamish- I use a sphagnum peat base. In a fabric Geopot. I really love it and always have the soil dialed in the way I think (opinion time) is best. This is a slight fluctuation in soil moisture level (kPa) I also use these to actually measure this kPa: Tensiometer

So I avoid runoff altogether