*** Ask Dr. VonDankenstine ***

Picasso345

Picasso345

Well-Known Member
Very interesting. I may try the topping next time and see if it works.

I appreciate it.

DR. VonDankenstine said:
Great question and here is the best straight forward answer I can get- the source comes from a plant botanist with over 20 years and a masters in plant biology-------As you know the first two weeks of growth from seeds goes into development of the primary root system-once the the primary root system has developed the plant switches it direction above the ground to rapid vegetative development-to answer your question---yes the loss of the first set of leaves is due to the deficiency caused by the rapid growth of vegetative development after the primary roots have developed-All mobile element are consumed from the lower Set's to maintain and support this growth-but the tricky part is that on would think that you could divert this loss by adding more of the mobile nutrients---(not true) because the plants genetics and hormones tell it to use the store of energy in the first Set's of leaves whether an extra dose of the mobile nutrients are added or not-hence an added dose of nutes will only stack on top of the mobile nutrients the plant is already using from the first set of leaves and would cause an overabundance and as you probley guessed already------nutrient burn. There is no productive way to change this function of the plant but if a plant is topped after the 3rd set of leaves are formed, the hormones within the plant will redirect toward the bottom and the lower leaves will be maintained----As far as production--this would slow all growth down. For practical purposes let the leaves run there corse-their will be plenty of leaves to follow.----hope this answers your question.
Click to expand...
 
T

TexasWild

Well-Known Member
Checking PH and PPM? Never done it! I think I understand. Water the girls, collect runoff water and check. . . . but with what? And then what do i want my levels at? I get ph should be around 6.3 but what's ppm (parts per million) I am 26 days in to flower and with a 60 day veg~! Have a few issues but you can see progress in my signature! The avatar is Now a HERMI! ALSo the other question if the Hermi (shim) has pollenated shimself does the trics and flower virtually stop growing? I have removed shim from the room but how do i know is he/she pollenated the other five girls? I have picts too!
 
D

DR. VonDankenstine

Well-Known Member
icurbyou said:
Why do I have my grow lights come on at 5PM?
Click to expand...
I can't help that I have all the answers--even to your easy question----you have your lights come on at 5pm for 2 reasons---1. You run your lights at night to keep the temps down in your grow-room and most importantly 2. you run you 12 hour cycle so that the lights kick off at 5AM because your electrical meter reader makes his rounds at 6AM:mrgreen:.
 
D

DR. VonDankenstine

Well-Known Member
TexasWild said:
Checking PH and PPM? Never done it! I think I understand. Water the girls, collect runoff water and check. . . . but with what? And then what do i want my levels at? I get ph should be around 6.3 but what's ppm (parts per million) I am 26 days in to flower and with a 60 day veg~! Have a few issues but you can see progress in my signature! The avatar is Now a HERMI! ALSo the other question if the Hermi (shim) has pollenated shimself does the trics and flower virtually stop growing? I have removed shim from the room but how do i know is he/she pollenated the other five girls? I have picts too!
Click to expand...
Do you have a ph meter? do you have a TDS/ppm/ec meter?--you can pick up one of those cheap at Lowe's in the soft-water section. Your soil can be anywhere from 6 to 7 with 6.5 being optimal. PPM's in the runoff will tell you if you have a high concentration of nutrients salts and need to lower your feeds or even flush with plain water-on the flip side it can also tell you if your ppm's are low and need to have your feed ppm's increased. Checking your runoff is a great tool for helping you to diagnose problems. If your hermi plant dropped pollin there is a good chance your other plants were pollinated---once a flower is pollinated all the energy and growth is directed toward making seeds.
 
pamaris

pamaris

Well-Known Member
2 Questions:

1) Should epsom salts always be added to all grows as a matter of course? At what stage, and how many times (is it just a one-off feed)?

2) Should the soil be routinely flushed in an organic grow? If so, how often? Or should it just be done to fix a problem? I ask because something doesn't seem right about it to me; seems like it would stress the plants, but everyone on this site loves to flush. I am not talking about the last 2 weeks of leaching/ starving, I am just talking about the general rinsing of the soil.

Thanks!
 
D

DR. VonDankenstine

Well-Known Member
pamaris said:
2 Questions:

1) Should epsom salts always be added to all grows as a matter of course? At what stage, and how many times (is it just a one-off feed)?

2) Should the soil be routinely flushed in an organic grow? If so, how often? Or should it just be done to fix a problem? I ask because something doesn't seem right about it to me; seems like it would stress the plants, but everyone on this site loves to flush. I am not talking about the last 2 weeks of leaching/ starving, I am just talking about the general rinsing of the soil.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
1. If you can get a-hold of it use cal/mag plus instead of Epsom salt--also--most ferts have ample sulphur so you really don't need it if that was what you were worried about.
2. It's a good idea to flush every 4 weeks to remove salt build-up---just use 2x/3x the volume of water/size of plant container. There is no law that you have to flush but it's a good idea.
 
D

drifter1978

Guest
hey doc can you please tell me the best time to harvest your pot,i mean what time of day in the light cycle and also do you suggest turning lights off for 24 - 48 hrs before harvest thank you for your help
 
D

DR. VonDankenstine

Well-Known Member
drifter1978 said:
hey doc can you please tell me the best time to harvest your pot,i mean what time of day in the light cycle and also do you suggest turning lights off for 24 - 48 hrs before harvest thank you for your help
Click to expand...
It's a personal opinion but I like to harvest when half of the trichomes are milky white and half are golden honey amber. I harvest after 12 hours of dark before the lights come on.
 
T

TexasWild

Well-Known Member
Can you give me any advice on my grow. One of the girls acts wierd right after she is watered and for about a day, another one does it too but no as long!

IT SHOULD BE THE LAST PAGE, Last comment or two left by me!


MY sig has LinK!

Thanks

DR!
 
D

DR. VonDankenstine

Well-Known Member
I took a look at your pics---things are not that bad- The slight droop immediately after feeding or watering is normal. There is a little sign of nute burn so I would try backing the ppm's down 100 and see if that clears up the slight burnt tips and ram horning. Are you feeding with every watering or every other watering? I also see in one of the pics a very slight PH problem(shown as ridges that are raised along the leaf margin from the stem out)---have you checked your run-off lately---have you flushed the soil at all?
 
T

TexasWild

Well-Known Member
Never checked ph, never flushed. I am on day 37 of flowering and 97 of total grow!

I am using rain water, 1 tbsp h2o2, 1 tbsp moleasse and 1 tbsp of Bloom MG.

I was using ph down with regular tap water after it sat out for two days to rid of chemicals. I gathered some rain water last time and have used it for the past 6 waterings about a gallon each time between all the girls (5). I was watering every two or three days. I watered yesterday and today the were dry and droopie again except for the lil one and she only gets watered about everyother day still. I am using a mostiure probe to check mostiure and in 3 different points in the pot and at two levels (so 6 diffetent points total) about 1.5 to 2 inches in the soil and about 7 or 9 inches down in the soil!

Anymore information would be wonderful! Would you like more photos as of currently! I will go take them now and post asap! Under my grow!
 
Da Kine 420

Da Kine 420

Well-Known Member
I keep hearing people flush 2 weeks before harvest, is this a must? I have a friend who has grown for 10+ years and smoked his bud and it was some nice smoke. He doesn't flush before harvest and said I didn't need to to, just use the ferts up until harvest.

How does flushing 2 weeks before harvest improve my yield/taste?

much appreciation for the thread.:blsmoke:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top