(Sorry for the delay, it’s been a busy time!)
The cover crop started awesome, but I feel like we didn’t give it quite enough time to flourish, plus the veg plants we put in were simply too big and shaded the cover too early. We learned that a nice bit of covercrop time would have yielded a better start and that smaller plants (that are allowed more time to root into these big beds) would have been much easier to train into the space.
Another thing, almost immediately noticeable, was that two plants (in opposite corners) in the Black Triangle Kush bed were stunted. One began showing heavy signs of FUBAR’ng and with a little advice we realized that it was over-watering on that side. Not surprisingly, the other corner was very underwatered because we hadn’t leveled the beds and the water was pooling to one corner! Derp. Easy fix but it did cost us two plants of 8.
In the other bed, we had two phenos of Lilly from Delicatessen Seeds… One pheno was very manageable, with even growth and a pleasant smell from go… The other pheno (the ’emo cut’ I call it) was lanky and sad from go and the smell wasn’t there. But that’s popping seeds for you! We tried being nice to them, we tried being stern… they gave zero shits and continued to be grumpy. In the end, it turns out they were the sativa-ish pheno and were leggy and late bloomers. The smell came on way down the line, but sativa dominant traits don’t account for the funk they seemed to be in so we’re still a bit stumped. Hopefully the finished flower comes through in the effect! (We’ll keep you posted).
In Veg, they got a weekly sprinkling of COM Stonington Dry Blend and Gro-Kashi and were watered in with a compost tea which was made as follows.
Compost Tea (per 4 Gallons):
4 Gallons of Water
1/8 cup BAS Craft Blend
Thrive.N 1 TBS
BAS Build-a-Flower Topdress 1.5 Cups
Bubble 24 Hours…
Immediately before using we add 5ml powedered aloe filet / 20ml EM-1 / 1/8th tsp RAW Yucca powder / 20ml Hydrated Kelp / 1 Cup Alfalfa SST (Sprouted Seed Tea)
A quick note on sprouted seed teas… Basically, certain plants have huge numbers in certain hormones and generally their highest content/weight is when the seed has sprouted a tail appx as long as the seed itself… Alfalfa is high (among the highest) in triacontanol which is an unbelievably potent growth hormone for plants in their vegetative state. So, we soak alfalfa seed in water and strain them, let them sprout, and blend together into a blender with equal parts water. Next, strain the goop through a fine mesh strainer and what passes through is Alfalfa SST. Use around 1 cup diluted into 5 gallons of water (or 1 cup to 4 gallons in our schedule).
Look up Corn SST yourselves! Or wait till later when I explain, if you’re an indica-dominant…
To be continued…