dr gives up

and the doctor is out

mayors to the feds

leave us alone!

kind of a gimme

1%... yeah you...

if you did not know already

things we should know

it only takes one endangered animal

just what they have been waiting for...

going deeper

We are coming to a time in the rehabbing girls lives that I will be starting some proprietary techniques and different nutrient regiments. I would love to share with you what my experience and knowledge can bring to them and I would love to be able to go into detail about what it is I am doing, perhaps also allowing you to ask me any questions or give some tips! I really cannot do this kind of detail and have my blog be completely public. So that is why it will soon be member only. There are a lot of things I have learned and techniques I do that are not quite the norm and I would love to be able to share them with you. Becoming a member lets me know just how serious you take growing, or how serious you are about learning. It also keep the riffraff from tormenting and trolling the blog. Let's keep this smart, comfortable, and fun. I truly hope you join and become more involved in the nursery blog. Any comments, tips, or just hellos are always welcomed and I hope to provide a safe place to share and come together. 

roots

I had to do it! Look at this mass!! This is not a mother. This is just one of the girls. That is what you want to see. Roots just swallowing hydroton pushing their way through every cranny they can get through if the buckets could budge they probably would! if they didn't improve the plastic the buckets would have too! This is beautiful. I will be sure to post more of these as they will continue to get better and I will be able to point some things out on the not so healthy girls. All in all I would have to say this one was very healthy you can see the root system remained white and solid throughout. No rot, breakage, or anything really. This is a prime example of a great established root system. 

 

instabummer

My phone was blowing up my inboxes flooded this morning. Instagram took down my account. It says I violated terms of service to which I did not. I have a sneaky feeling it is my ex boyfriend being oh so adult with his games. But liars do as they do unfortunately. So I suppose instagram is no more for the nursery. All well and good really. You can find me on tumblr and here of course. I will soon be going member only so if you would like to keep up please join when the time comes. I want to be able to go farther in depth with what I do nutrient, water, and rehab wise. I am not comfortable giving such details to the masses but for those willing to join the blog it might be beneficial to all those involved! I hope to get some conversation going but we shall see! So until further notice, if I hear back from instagram (I am on there as goherbal, yet I am not sure how much I will be putting up), merriejayne is not on instagram. Sad as it is to say.

update

So happy with the ladies in rehab, they are responding well!! You can see with the new growth they are now coming out of some sort of toxicity. They seem to have grown out if their previous issues deficient wise and now we are dealing with residual toxicities left behind in the plant. Hopefully with enough patience and the right balance I can get them to where they should have been in the first place, well hopefully pretty close to it. I had expected the older root system to be discolored and more sickly looking if not close to dead and wilted but I am happy to see they are white and seem to have regained some of their vigor. Since they locked up so early in their growth they will not plump more than they have but it seems they have developed new fingers along their sides which is a great happening. There  is new growth starting to peek out you can see has the characteristic fuzz and is plumper as it goes closer to the stalk. The new development is sturdy and healthy and should be on it's way to a true stage of establishment. Transfer should be no problem at this point and they will be encouraged to go further into establishment once in their home bucket. Not anticipating residual toxicity it seems I will have to wait on diagnoses of any possible genetic disorders. Perhaps they won't even show up until later in their lives. Perhaps they will show themselves soon. We'll see. 

I am gradually raising the strength of their nutrients allowing them enough time to adjust to the raise. They should be up to full strength soon so the transfer with the rest of them will be good as the entire system will be on full strength. I am considering holding them back a bit more as further establishment in the containment they are in would not hurt them in the least. 

where do I start?

The question has been asked of me a lot as of late. What system to get, which way should I go? There are few things to cover before deciding which system you want to start. There is always some amount of work to any system regardless of soil or not. The question is just how much work do you want to do? How in depth do you want to go? How much control do you want over what is going on? how much flexibility or forgiveness does the system require for your knowledge and or education of growing in general? What is your main goal for the grow? Where do you intend to be in a few years in regards to the grow? What results are you looking for? How much space do you have to work with? What is your budget? How much time do you really consistently want to put into the grow? What is your time worth? There is a lot to think about when deciding on a system and these questions presented as simple as they seem can go even farther in depth. No matter what system you choose you will have over head, i.e. water, electricity, nutrients, growing mediums, supplies of any sort, your time among other things. These things are not one time payments only. If you bring in a consultant they deserve payment for any time or knowledge given as they are not only taking time from their grow but they are saving you hours of research and many harvests of experimentation, not to mention thousands of dollars on bad rounds. One suggestion from a consultant can bring in thousands of dollars for you if executed. These are things to keep in mind when asking others for consult. Budget is a big part of system choice. Can you afford the initial set up of the system you want to do? If you are working with an investor, a contract is highly suggested if only for peace of mind for you both. There is no shame in starting small and working your way up to your desired system once you have raised the capital you need. If you can find a grower to apprentice with and earn it that way it is one way to go if you lack the funds needed to start up. Be sure you bring something to the table even if it is just eagerness and honest work ethic, discipline is extremely important when working certain systems. Once you have figured out where you are knowledge, budget, and situation wise then choosing a system may be quite easy. Having a plan is the best way to start anything. Following through is the hard part. 

a video that works..?

So this is a little video I did. It is a little insight as to how I have started experimenting with bho. I am far from a master or anything close I am just playing around right now to see what happens when I do different things. I will post more videos now that I have my YouTube account for the nursery up and going. Videos will only be available to subscribers so feel free to join in and see the goofball I really am! I know I come off a little goofy so ya never know you just might enjoy yourself too! 

ooooooklahoma

where the wind comes sweeping down to zero tolerance

review

After buying two cases of Newport butane I had a good time experimenting and I was able to come to some conclusions. I will be needed the vacuum chamber to purge as it just takes far too long to dry even with the tiny batches I am doing. So time to start the price war...roor!!! 
Pink - Shaman Genetics - goherbal! nursery
I used the square pan to run the pink. she turned out a shatter even after shoving her into the food saver bag, which seemed to speed up the process some and really isn't too bad of a technique when one is cheap like I can be sometimes. Some of her was crumbly but I dunno I think I am just not allowing it to dry enough or purging it completely...I'm just not sure so I will keep trying. The high, as expected, was just great, bright and uppie but she could easily take you under with one too many hits, even concentrated function is still possible. One or two shoots you right up there and she has nice long legs, which is something I look for in my meds. She was a little harsh which tells me she still had some moisture and I should have been more patient. She was earthy and a little piney with a sweet molasses like undertone.
Shaman - c/o Shaman Genetics - goherbal! nursery
I used the Pyrex pie pan to run the shaman. No food saver bag on this one just a few hot water bath purges and letting it sit. She came out crumbly in texture and I think I left it alone long enough to allow her to dry. Every time gets better I suppose so I can only keep trying. Trial and error. She is smooth and tasty, floral with citrus high notes. There is a flavor to her reminiscent of a Japanese fruit candy I had as a child, the jelly ones in the mini cups. The high is bright and very sativa, a giggly happy front of your head numbness almost like a headband effect. Her legs aren't bad, curvy but lasts pretty well. She has no harshness you can continuously smoke on her without hurting if you can hang with the high! 

micronutrients

Most people involved in crop production understand the importance of micronutrients in achieving higher and more profitable yields. However, simply applying a needed micronutrient to the soil does not mean that the crop yield will increase. The true benefit of any fertilizer nutrient is in the amount that is actually taken up by the crop. Yield gains come from the nutrients being in the correct chemical form, place, time, and amount that the crop requires.

Crops take up only those nutrients that are dissolved in the soil solution. Therefore, the solubility of fertilizer sources equates to their availability and is critical to properly feeding a crop. An application of low solubility micronutrients does little good for the following crop. Farmers and fertilizer dealers can choose from many different sources for each micronutrient. These sources have different levels of water-solubility. Some, such as chelates also have additional characteristics that resist fixation or "tie-up" by the soil for extended periods of time.

Among the inorganic (non-chelate) sources in the market, the more common sources are sulfates, oxides, and oxysulfates. Sulfates such as zinc sulfate (ZnSO4) and manganese sulfate (MnSO4), are assumed to be 100% soluble. Because of the high solubility of sulfate forms, the associated micronutrients are highly available to the crop and are often considered the "benchmark" against which other sources are compared. Sulfate forms are produced by completely reacting the target nutrient with sulfuric acid, until there is only the sulfate form remaining.

Some micronutrient sources, such as zinc oxide (ZnO) are completely in the oxide form. Oxides are essentially insoluble in a single crop season, therefore unavailable to the following crop. There are some exceptions to this, such as when oxides are ground to an exceptionally fine powder and impregnated on fertilizer granules. Oxides are normally the lowest cost materials. However, because they are essentially insoluble, most agronomists consider them to be ineffective as a fertilizer source.

Oxysulfates are a combination of oxides and sulfates. They are produced similarly to sulfates, except that the acidulation is not complete. Oxysulfates contain variable proportions of oxide and sulfate forms of the micronutrient. The amount of each depends on how far the reaction is permitted to proceed toward completion. Their effectiveness falls between oxides and sulfates and can be highly variable. Oxysulfates that contain higher amounts of the sulfate form will be more effective. The price of oxysulfates normally falls between sulfates and oxides and is typically proportional to the amount of sulfate in the product. It is in this area of balancing the cost vs. effectiveness of oxysulfates that most confusion and problems can occur.

A 1999 study conducted by researchers at Colorado State University and Alberta Agriculture illustrates the relationship of solubility and effectiveness of different sources of micronutrients. They looked at the growth response of young corn to various sources and rates of Zn fertilizer grown in Zn deficient soils. The study included zinc sulfate (99.9% water soluble) and zinc oxysulfate sources with various solubility (0.7% to 98.3%). They found at a constant application rate, growth increased as the solubility of the Zn source increased. Also, in order to obtain equal growth from a low solubility source, up to 4 times as much fertilizer was needed, and sometimes even that was not enough. They concluded that in order to be effective, a Zn fertilizer must be at least 50% water-soluble.

The results of this work were consistent enough that the researchers were able to develop mathematical equations to reliably predict the Zn uptake from a given rate of Zn application, based on the solubility of the fertilizer. 

When first evaluating the data we could conclude that applying 10 lb./A of a 5% soluble material would get about 2/3 the result of applying the same rate of a 100% soluble material. Therefore, we should apply 33% more of the 5% soluble source to equal the 100% soluble source. However, the goal of fertilization is to get optimum growth response. Looking at the data in this way we see that in order to achieve more than 90% growth response.

This data indicates that we should apply twice the amount of a 70% soluble material, and 4 times the amount of a 30% soluble material, to achieve the same goal as the 5.0 lb./A rate of the 95% soluble source. Based on this evaluation, the 95% soluble source is twice as effective as the 70% soluble source, and 4 times as effective as the 30% soluble source.

This relationship between solubility and effectiveness applies to other nutrients as well. In 1986, researchers at North Carolina State University, looking at manganese (Mn) sources used in row fertilizer, reported that "Manganese deficiency symptoms occurred with the least acid-forming starter fertilizer and decreased with increasing water solubility of the accompanying Mn materials. Application of Mn materials with water solubility <100% would require proportionally higher rates of application of Mn to maintain Mn in the leaf. The required Mn rate increases dramatically with decreasing water solubility of Mn material in the presence of a non-acid starter fertilizer." Stated simply, the higher the solubility of the Mn source, the better it worked. It also confirmed that Mn is more available in acidic conditions created by some formulations of row fertilizer.

In "Micronutrients in Agriculture", Soil Science Society of America, Dr. John Mortvedt states that the " Use of granular oxysulfates with bulk blends will require that close attention be given to the level of water-soluble micronutrients in these by-products to ensure that sufficient amounts of micronutrients are immediately available to plants."

A complicating factor in using and selling micronutrients is that there are no Federal, and few State laws regulating the definition of materials that may be labeled as sulfates or oxysulfates. For example, a zinc fertilizer may be primarily in the sulfate form, but have a significant amount of the oxide form as well. Such a fertilizer may legally be labeled as zinc sulfate. These fertilizers would not be expected to have as much zinc in soil solution early in the season as a product that was 100% in the sulfate form. At this time, the only option available to dealers and growers questioning the solubility of a fertilizer is to have the fertilizer tested for water solubility.

Logic would dictate that the cost of micronutrient sources should be proportional to their effectiveness. However, this is not always the case. Where fertilizer supplier, consultants, or farmers must choose between various sources of micronutrients, one of the major factors in making that choice should be the solubility of each material. Low solubility materials may have some value in a long-term soil build up program, but when immediate results are the goal, highly soluble fertilizers are the best choice. If the fertilizer producer cannot provide information on the solubility of their product, you can send samples out for that analysis.

blasting

So here are my latest batches. I am using Newport Butane. It is pretty clean and seems to purge well. I am a little unsure though. Not quite stumped, just not sure which way to go. I think I am going to have to break down and buy that vac chamber... suck it up! The mustard looking one was run from shaman,  it came out smooth and a good high of course I think I just need to tinker with my finish. The other was run with pink, she always comes out tasty and strong. Tone will be around this weekend so I will have him run a few with me and we shall see what we get. one more case and units and units of sugar to do so why not. When I scrap it out of the pan and into containment I will post some pics of them as well. I am missing something though. It seems to purge well but it is possible I am forgoing a step unknowingly. 

cannabinoids endocannabinoids and you

Our bodies create their own endocannabinoids on their own. we have receptors for the chemical all over our bodies concentrated in the groin and brain areas. this research is nothing new but it is pleasing to see it finally coming out.

cannabinoids


endocannabinoids and food


introduction

morning wax

This little container, so pretty and little, holds about an oz of bho. The photo below is a batch I ran a couple days ago from the bubba kush (circa 1995) sugar leaf. The container was a gift to me and I had filled it previously with bho I ran with the shaman. I had intended it as a gift to someone but he decided he can't be an adult so it's mine and I burned through the bho quite quickly! But I digress....this run still has some moisture in it, I would have allowed it to dry completely on the silpat I use but this time I needed to use the pat before I could allow it to dry. I went ahead and stuffed it all in the pretty container, it should be dry in a little while as it is drying quite quickly now. Soon enough I will test this batch of 'The Fear' and see how potent she really is!

roots of old

Here are a few photos of the root system of the current girls in rehab. As you can see the older roots are circling nicely there doesn't seem to be signs of rot and they are fairly plump. On healthier plants the main root will finger off and fuzz up these are not doing that as of yet. Although deep inside it looks as if the root growth is starting to carry this characteristics. These roots obviously locked up early in their lives. If they were not saved when they were It is doubtful they would have ever been able to get to a healthy state. Since they have been in my care they have begun repair and been able to grow a new root system to strengthen their establishment. It seems rehab has been beneficial in promoting healthier roots hopefully we will be able to see genetic issues, if any, arise in the next few weeks. These will pull through and we just might be able to push them along sooner than expected if their results remain positive. They have come out of their deficiencies for now. 

these guys

in it's infancy still but growing fast

dirty pool

corruption runs deep

what is going on

mmj updates

update

The four ladies are doing quite well. .their new growth is beautiful and has remained for more than a week in this condition. They have all responded well to my gentle rehab and environmental conditions. It is almost as if this is the first time they have been able to be plants. They seem to be able to maintain their health at this point so I think after a few more days they will be strong enough to transfer. Tomorrow I will be checking their root systems to ensure establishment and decide from there on the transfer date. Please look forward to their root pictures and further information on my different versions of rehab. 

clones

There are many advantages to cloning as well as disadvantages, a lot depends on how the clone was obtained. It is important to be aware of the condition of the original mother, her generation, and how she herself was taken. If you are buying from a nursery be sure you ask these questions. Ask them how she has been cared for, what issues she may have, and what treatments, if any, were used on her. They should be able to tell you what generation cutting she is as well. This is important to maintain potency of the strain and you always want a cutting as close to generation one as possible. Some nurseries will keep strains in genetic stasis. If this is done you are more likely guaranteed a cutting close to generation one. In my own nursery I keep strains in stasis. Each new mother is pulled out of stasis instead of opting for the top of the last, which promotes degeneration. This maintains my strains original potency and genetics with little to no degradation. Some nurseries do not know which generation their cuttings are in, if this is the case I suggest opting for a nursery who knows what is going within their own gardens. 

Many growers will top their plants just before flipping them into flower. This gives them a very nice beautiful clone to work with as well as keeping the plant left short and bushy, allowing it to develop many top colas instead of just one. Never top a plant more than twice and never top when they are in flowering. This will put the plant and the cutting into a state of shock. This technique of taking clones, while efficient in many ways, allows for great degeneration and degradation of the strain. It is suggested, if possible, to start fresh from seed or cutting after a couple rounds of topped clones. 

It is possible to maintain potency, genetics in stasis keeping the plant at or near generation one. Keep in mind if you are going to be using clones you want to get as much information about the mother as possible if you have not raised and kept her yourself. 

phytotoxicity

Growers are routinely applying a wide variety of materials as foliar sprays for pest control, nutritional supplementation, or a variety of other purposes. We know the benefits of these materials, but there is a general lack of information concerning phytotoxicity.

The term phytotoxicity is roughly equivalent to spray injury. We have probably all applied sprays at one time or another that inadvertently resulted in plant injury in contrast to a positive response and many times we don’t know exactly why it occurred, and therefore do not know what we can do to prevent it in the future.

Often, a grower will apply a particular spray mixture on a regular basis without incident; then suddenly the same mixture results in injury. There are several different types of phytotoxicity.

Fundamental Phototoxicity

Is simply when a plant variety is sensitive to a particular chemical. Examples would be the sensitivity of Aralia to Vydate or Hibiscus to Malathion. There are simply situations where a plant and a chemical just don’t get along. The activity of selective herbicides can also fall under the category of Fundamental Phytotoxicity.

Overload Phototoxicity

A second type of phytotoxicity I have identified, where an excessive rate of a chemical that is otherwise safe, is applied, and therefore causes injury.

You may also cause Overload Phytotoxicity by mixing too many elements in your spray tank. I have seen growers mix six or eight different chemicals in a tank, all at proper and safe rates. By themselves, these materials should not cause phytotoxicity. Bear in mind however, anytime you mix three or four different materials in a spray tank, the potential for Overload Phytotoxicity increases.

Cumulative Phototoxicity

When individual applications are not the problem, but that phytotoxicity occurs via build-up from regular applications of the same type. I have seen Spathiphyllum sprayed regularly with iron to the point of inducing iron toxicity. And while individual applications of Subdue fungicide may not cause a problem, applied too many times in succession, and at too close an interval, phytotoxicity can occur.

Combination Phototoxicity

This occurs when a chemical or set of chemicals may be applied without injury, but when mixed with incompatible material, results in crop injury.

For example, Daconil and Vendex are safe by themselves on numerous crops, but, when you mix them together, which you should not do, the risk of spray injury is great. Aliette mixed with copper fungicides also presents great risks, whereas individually the materials are quite safe.

Placement Phototoxicity

A somewhat rare type of phytotoxicity, which occurs when a material applied in the correct fashion is perfectly safe, but is placed where it shouldn’t. A good example would be applying Ronstar to a soil for preemergent weed control. That in itself is normally very safe, but if the Ronstar granules end up in the whorl of a sensitive plant phytotoxicity can damage that plant.

Episodic Phototoxicity

This refers to an episode where a common spray, for some unknown reason, and where it has never occurred before, suddenly causes plant injury. Usually in this type of situation weather conditions are a factor. Some sprays are safe in cooler weather whereas they can become very dangerous in high heat conditions.

Water-stressed plants can be very sensitive to otherwise safe spray applications. Improper cleaning of the spray tank from a previous application can cause Episodic Phytotoxicity. Sometimes, the causes of Episodic Phytotoxicity remain unknown.

Preventing Phototoxicity

What can a grower do to prevent all these potential problems?

First, it is important to note that phytotoxicity is a relatively rare event, occurring perhaps only once in every 500 applications on average.

To reduce those odds even more, the rules are simple:

Clean your spray tank thoroughly between each application

Use a separate, and marked accordingly, sprayer for herbicides only

Watch your application rates carefully, and try not to mix more than three or four items in the tank

Do not apply a tank mix unless your experience or chemical labels indicate a mixture is safe

Read the chemical labels

Don’t spray in excessive heat, or when plants are stressed or wilted

Finally, when you are unsure about a spray mixture, there are a number of sources for useful information you can tap into, such as consultants, extension agents, other growers, chemical companies, ag sales people or the Internet

If you pay attention to what you are doing regarding the application of agricultural sprays and are reasonably diligent, phytotoxicity can be avoided almost all of the time.

just wrong

profiling of any kind is disgusting

Mendocino County Sheriff

sheriff's log June 5

seeking reform

ACLU seeking reform!

will congress be an ally?

3 bills in congress

regulations still in the air

another read on a bill that did not pass

emancipation

loopholes of bills

us vs state

Davies to serve a minimum of 5 years

ca legislature stalls bill

California bill denied