Tabba's Best Soil-Growing Tips

[Tabbatha]

Tabbatip #2 (what is organic soil growing and what it isn't.. in simplish terms):



There are endless different types of composts and ways to mix our own soil and the range we have to work within is very broad, so it's easy to make something suitable. There are also various soil nutrients available. But do they constitute growing organically because we use them?

This Tabbatip is about identifying a clear distinction between organic soil growing vs normal soil growing.

An oft made assumption is that cannabis grown in any soil is organically grown weed, and equates to the same quality as organic weed.
This soil weed is then compared to hydro weed and no noticeable difference is seen between hydro and organically grown weed. Then organically grown weed is slated before it's actually been tried because it was never really organically grown.

I think it's a bit unfair to blame organics if it wasn't an organic grow, so I'm going to try and make the distinction:


- We can have hydro grown.

- We can have soil grown.

- We can have organic hydro grown.

- We can have organic soil grown.


All are different from the other in their own right and all have pros and cons in their own right.


For example.. if a plant is grown in John Innes soil (a decreasingly popular choice here).. it isn't being grown organically because the soil itself isn't organic, doesn't contain organically certified nutrients and isn't designed primarily to support a microherd. It's designed more to feed the plants and anchor its roots.

This isn't the case with organic growing. Organic principals state that we feed the soil (the microherd) not the plant and only use nutrients, additives and soil that's organic and who's primary focus is to support the microlife and give them what they need to support the plant (in that order).

The basic explanation of the science behind why there's a huge difference in quality and flavour between organics and non-organics is because of the way in which the microherd work in sync with a plant to produce specific ratios of essential oils, hormones and enzymes within the plant. These biological responses to the micro-activity cannot be produced in the same way without the microherd being in good health and in abundance. Without those biological responses, the weed can never taste or smoke as well as weed grown without that focus. That's what it would get being grown in the wild.


We need to be very clear about what organic weed is because it gets a lot of bad press based largely on a misunderstanding about what constitutes organically grown weed and what doesn't.

If we grow two clones, one in JI soil and one in Biobizz soil.. both with mineral nutrients.. then the organic soil won't make much difference, if any, because the mineral nutrients act to feed a plant directly with a little focus on the microherd, and they're absorbed without biological processing.

However, if they were both fed organically using the microherd principal.. the biobizz grow will win because its designed to support the microlife first. JI or garden compost is not designed to do this and its primary goal is to feed the plant directly as well as support a basic microherd.

Another thing that can affect the organic flavour is chlorinated water. Why? Because that kills the microherd, not the plant. Yes plants WILL grow in non-organic soil, but they won't grow in the same way. I'm not saying they won't grow bigger or have bigger buds or be bad quality weed.... I'm saying that the quality won't be the same because the real component behind that quality (the microherd) won't be fully present in a non-organic grow.

Another way we render our grow non-organic is to use mineral nutrients. Another is to use acid ph adjusters or boosters. Or even sulfured molasses.

All these upset or kill the microherd in the soil. We can use them once in a while and then repopulate the microherd afterwards and not lose too much of the quality.. but it's really best to stay fully organic start > finish for the very best results in terms of quality.


For a proper organic grow, everything we do must be to support the little fellas and keep em topped-up so that they do what's best for the plant and give us that rich flavour we're after, so anything we do that harms them (including using non-organic soil) will affect the end quality.


To recap that includes:

- Using non-organic soil
- Using non-organic nutrients and/or additives of any kind
- Using acid ph adjusters
- Using chlorinated water
- Failing to maintain a soil populated with microherd (occasional compost tea is the best route)



I promise you that if grown properly start > finish, truly organic soil-grown weed is in another league in terms of flavour and quality, but it won't be fully realised unless the proper organic principals are applied and followed throughout.

Putting it simply.. if you grew a plant in JI#2 and compared it to a hydro grow.. there won't be much of a difference to notice because, believe it or not, the method of feeding the roots isn't that different between the two methods (direct).

But, truly organic weed is like the difference between a bottle of Moet (still really really nice bubbly) to a bottle of Bollinger 79. Or a BMW to a Rolls Royce.

Savvy?

[Toking Tom]

What a valuable resource thank you very much Tabbatha, a great help to those a little scared when it comes to compost haha

[Tabbatha]

Cheers, Tom.


I'm not currently doing a main organic grow because I'm cheating a bit with Nitrate fertilisers and non-organic tomato compost, but my aim is to get as close as possible and still manage with my shitty water.

Currently smoking one that was fully organic and it's clearly SOOOO much better tasting than my mineral-fed plants grown alongside it (same strain). Don' get me wrong the mineral-fed is still better than any street weed I've ever had, but it's not what hooked me to growing my own in the first place and ever since I've been trying to recreate that first 100% organic taste.

This joint is halfway there but god damn it.. I want that specific flavour back

If it is possible to get the same yields using organics (don't think it's practical) I don't know how it's done.

[doobi]

Many thanks Tabs m8.

[sivadavi]

Very informative! I feel learned!

[Tabbatha]

I get a lot of questions about LST so I've compiled this Tabbatip to give [what I believe is] a good overview of what LST is and how / why / when to do it.

By no means is this a comprehensive be-all-and-end-all LST guide nor does it cover the myriad of excellent techniques that some of the members here have developed. But, it will introduce you in a comprehensive way to what it's all about.


First of all let's start off with a post I found a long time ago on another forum, so all due credit to its author:

First off I want to thank the creator of the mighty LST thread started by Caprichoso (LST training in detail. Why bushes are better) as it is highly informative and a wonderful collection of pictures of the LST process.

Not too long ago I did not even know what LST was until I started researching it. Now, however, it is apparent from some of the more recent comments (and some of the older comments) in the LST training thread, that there is a basic lack of understanding when it comes to LST. More than a few people are just imitating pictures and going "WOW! That worked really well!"

Hopefully this post (along with the research I've done) will help some people understand a few things when it comes to LST. There is a lot of information out there on how to LST but it is mostly comprised of diagrams and pictures. If you understand what LST is and what you are doing by tying down the stems of your plants, then you will know when and how to LST your plants. If you understood why and how LST worked, then you would not even need the pictures to help you in the first place.

So here we go ladies and gentleman, gonna drop a bit of info and science here from various sources and readings:

The Art of LST
What LST is
Why LST Works
How LST Works

Armed with this information, you should be able to LST until your hearts are content or learn about how to better your LST practices. Instead of looking to pictures to learn about LST, you'll be using pictures as examples of how to LST.



What LST Is: LST stands for low stress training.

When it comes to marijuana growing, LST refers to a particular type of low stress training. It appears on the outside (and to the untrained eye) that the training of a plant is simply teaching a plant to be short and grow lots of buds. It is much more important and involved than that.

Topping the plants (or chopping as it is also referred to) is actually done for similar reasons that LST is done. Even though it is a completely different method. It, too, is a form of training (a high stress one).

A lot of you might be thinking: "Topping and LST aren't even close to the same. You're full of crap. I'm done reading this post."

Well, stay with me here and you'll understand.

Why LST Works
One of the #1 things you need to understand about LST: auxins.

If you don't understand them, then you are just putting strings on your plant so they look like other plants in pictures.

Auxins are plant hormones that interact with other plant hormones to form the "plant nervous system" in the most simplest terms. Auxins are used to help stimulate nearly all facets of plant growth.

Auxins are used to help promote new root growth and is often part of what is used in rooting compounds or rooting hormones that are so popular in marijuana horticulture. There has also been research (in the 50s I believe) that indicates that levels of auxins also influence the sex of a marijuana plant. Some research has also indicated that levels of auxins also play a role in the ways flowers mature on a plant.

Most of all, auxins, in marijuana plants, are known for producing adventitious buds along the stem and in the roots. Adventitious is sort of like it sounds: it's the "adventurous" part of the plant that sprouts when the plant is wounded or trained.

With LST, it is not as simple as: "Make more auxins. Plant grow big."

So why did we learn about auxins if we're not going to be making more of them? I mean, more is good when it comes to marijuana right?!

Well: no, not in this case. This part is important so pay attention: auxins are most concentrated (and synthesized) at the apical bud or the tip of the plant closest to the light. The rest of the plant has the ability to produce auxins, but the cells must be triggered to do so. Now, although auxins are hormones essential for many facets of growth, it is also an inhibiting hormone for the other buds further down the stem. This is to prevent the plant from producing buds which may compete with the apical bud.

In other words:
The plant is very happy having one bud that it tries to stretch as close as possible to its source of energy. It will do what it can to inhibit other sprouts below it from becoming that bud as it would require the plant to push those sprouts up to that level again.

If you are still a bit confused, think of images of trees and picture the growth that they have in a cone-shaped fashion. They are working to push the apical bud up to the sky.

Now that you understand what auxins are and how they are important for growth in marijuana, you can begin to understand how LST works.

How LST Works
This is where I get to those people who were saying "Topping and LST aren't even close. You're full of crap."

When you top a plant, you are removing the apical bud (the bud closest to the light) where most of the auxin is concentrated and synthesized. The plant stresses itself out (high stress training) and eventually produces new sprouts along the stem that will form new growth so that it can get a new apical bud and send it soaring towards the heavens.

LST is helping to stimulate that growth near the bottom but by tricking the plant instead of chopping it. In nature, if something happens to a plant and the bud that is closest to the light gets blocked, it will try to move around that something. If it can't, then eventually new growth will form lower along the stem to try and send a new shoot out to head towards the light.

When you LST, the reason that you are tying the tip of the plant down is so that the plant gets confused. It is used to producing the auxins in the tip of the plant close to the light. However, because the tip of the plant is pulled down to such a degree, it is not receiving light at the very tip like it used to so it sends the auxins down the stem to produce new sprouts to become new apical buds (or so the plant hopes).

This is why some people continue training as the plant gets older, but like to start when the plant is new as auxin development starts with roots and continues through all stages of the plant. Continued training of the plant is helpful because, as you can imagine, each apical tip can be brought down to promote new growth further down the stem. Every time you bring the tip down, the plant will be fooled. As new tips of the plant are reaching towards the light, pulling them back down below 90 degrees (or close to it) will make those auxins start to flow again. This can continue on and on.

Now that you know how LST works, you don't even need a picture to look at. You just know that you need to trick the plant into thinking it's highest tip is no longer its highest tip. It's as simple as that, but it is also as complex as you want it to be.



So, what did we learn here?
1) LST can be done for all strains of marijuana
2) LST is another way of altering/stimulating the auxin hormone to produce additional growth just like other training methods
3) LST is not just for training height
4) Understanding auxins will help you understand LST
5) There is a lot of material available about this but most of it is in books which means if you really want to understand how auxins affect marijuana, you should look further than Wikipedia

I hope this information is helpful to everyone looking to figure out how to LST or why it works or when is the best time.

^^ That's what LST is and why and how it works.



Here are some visual examples of bends and how they progressed in a plant:







- Adding the first (lowest) restraint first prevents the plant from leaning over once we start bending it higher up the stalk.








- Removal of fan leaves that block light early on pays dividends in multiple colas later on.










- Adding support spikes helps prevent the stalks snapping on tight bends and allows far greater control of direction.














Spikes are shaped like this to get anchorage in the soil (otherwise they come right out again):






After a few days the plant starts looking more like this:






Then again later on you can see the stalks fattening:





And eventually it starts looking more like this instead of a single tall cola:







^^ This is just a basic example but if you want to see that plant develop as it was trained further, you can visit the diary here.


All the meat n potatoes you need are explained here and the only limitation you have now is your imagination and natural abilities to apply it to the task.

You can adopt the methods of others. Use my ones. Invent your own LST methods. Anything you like so long as you remember what it is we're doing and why, and that's really what this Tabbatip is about. And also.. share what you've learned along the way.



Happy training and happy learning as-you-go.

[Axeman]

Thanks i will be undertaking a lst on my scrog that helped me understand :-)

[Broon_Troot]

nice thread. very informative........

[Skunky.]

Thanks i will be undertaking a lst on my scrog that helped me understand :-)

+1 on that axeman he make it so simples lol !!!!

I get a lot of questions about LST so I've compiled this Tabbatip to give [what I believe is] a good overview of what LST is and how / why / when to do it.

By no means is this a comprehensive be-all-and-end-all LST guide nor does it cover the myriad of excellent techniques that some of the members here have developed. But, it will introduce you in a comprehensive way to what it's all about.


First of all let's start off with a post I found a long time ago on another forum, so all due credit to its author:





^^ That's what LST is and why and how it works.



Here are some visual examples of bends and how they progressed in a plant:







- Adding the first (lowest) restraint first prevents the plant from leaning over once we start bending it higher up the stalk.








- Removal of fan leaves that block light early on pays dividends in multiple colas later on.










- Adding support spikes helps prevent the stalks snapping on tight bends and allows far greater control of direction.














Spikes are shaped like this to get anchorage in the soil (otherwise they come right out again):






After a few days the plant starts looking more like this:






Then again later on you can see the stalks fattening:





And eventually it starts looking more like this instead of a single tall cola:







^^ This is just a basic example but if you want to see that plant develop as it was trained further, you can visit the diary here.


All the meat n potatoes you need are explained here and the only limitation you have now is your imagination and natural abilities to apply it to the task.

You can adopt the methods of others. Use my ones. Invent your own LST methods. Anything you like so long as you remember what it is we're doing and why, and that's really what this Tabbatip is about. And also.. share what you've learned along the way.



Happy training and happy learning as-you-go.

SUPER WRITE UP "STICKY"

nice thread. very informative........

+1 This need to be a sticky !! alot of info for grower starting out again all thanks to Tabbatha

[TIKTOK]

I'm loving this thread Tabba, especially Tabbatip #2 explaining the true meaning of organic. I was using Bio Bizz nutes for two years and having problems every grow, I read volumes about BB and loads of peeps were having the same problems. I was using organic nutes with a compost that had been steam cleaned/sterilized then rejuvenated with chemical ferts. Then when the yellowing started I was making it worse by adding epsoms when it wasn't needed and using ph up and down and pk1314 and torturing the micro dudes.

It wasn't until I started using Plant Magic muck that things got better and better, I was still damaging the micro herd with chemical but the plants were happier. Then about a year ago I had a clear out and got rid of the lotions and potions and stopped using pk1314 cos it was always after adding it that the problems got worse. Then I changed to PM organic nutes with the PM muck and my grows stay green and healthy to the end. I'm now using a cheaper brand of organic muck and it works just as well as the PM stuff, which I can only order from the internet and works out expensive.



This thread should be stickied in the organic section, nice one Tabs