Djackaell
Member
About 2 months ago, one of the dead coconut tree trunks in my backyard, had snapped in half, and broke apart when it hit the ground. The tree was killed by an invasive species of insect, Oryctes rhinoceros a.k.a. Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle. I went about the business of cleaning it up, and piled up the pieces neatly, to dispose of later on, knowing it was infested with CRB grubs. Fast forward to the present. I was doing lawn maintenance thinking. and thinking about my next grow plan for cannabis, I got to the tree trunk pile and noticed the explosive growth of weeds around the trunks, compared to the same species of weed that grew away from the pile, which was not as vigorous. I inspected the area, upon closer examination, I noticed the weed roots penetrating the trunk, and the area where breakdown had occurred. I also noticed the trunk exterior was completely dry, when I pushed against it, it sprung back. I cracked it open, peeling the bark back, and to my surprise the interior was incredibly moist, and fibrous, I peeled that layer away, and found it had the consistency of soil. I examined the bark, and noticed the fibers underneath were thicker. Then it hit me. Could I possibly use this as a growth medium, or as part of a mix. So I completed my yard work, and then set about harvesting the material from the tree trunk. I took all three layers to the horticulture dept. at a local university here on the island, and told them how I obtained it, I would like to use it as a grow medium, and if they could test it for anything harmful to plant growth. Two days later I get a call, they told me, the exterior fibers of the trunk were inert, and incredibly strong, the intermediate section was a much finer fiber, with very good water retention, and no harmful fungi or bacteria present that would harm plants, the inner section that was like soil, was even more interesting, it consisted of breakdown enzymes from the Rhino beetle, two bacterial strains were present breaking down the dead core, and would not be harmful to plant root development. The enzyme from the beetle, could only come from the grub feeding on the dead trunk, but was rendered inert as the grub moved on. Ideas started shooting off in my head.
So here I am, I have picked five auto strains to experiment with. Vision Seeds Lowryder, Delicious Seeds Dark Purple, Heavyweight Seeds Fruit Punch, Advanced Seeds NYC Diesel, 00 Seeds Bubblegum. I've scarified and started germination in peat pellets, when they start on the second node growth I will transplant into a mix of 50% fine coconut trunk fiber, 20% Fox Farm Ocean Grow, 20% coconut trunk soil, 10% medium course gravel, and utilize the bark fibers as soil surface cover to minimize evaporation . I hope it goes well, and will update progress.
So here I am, I have picked five auto strains to experiment with. Vision Seeds Lowryder, Delicious Seeds Dark Purple, Heavyweight Seeds Fruit Punch, Advanced Seeds NYC Diesel, 00 Seeds Bubblegum. I've scarified and started germination in peat pellets, when they start on the second node growth I will transplant into a mix of 50% fine coconut trunk fiber, 20% Fox Farm Ocean Grow, 20% coconut trunk soil, 10% medium course gravel, and utilize the bark fibers as soil surface cover to minimize evaporation . I hope it goes well, and will update progress.
