Soil testing my cannabis plants
If you want good cannabis, you must feed them well. Twice a week my plants get fed with liquid fertilizer. Though I had no idea if it was enough, all I can do is follow the bottles instructions and judge by the quality of finished product. Or if I overfeed them nutrients they get something called "nute burn" meaning the leaves change colors showing stress from too much of one or another nutrients.
I will test the PH of the soil, along with the NPK. Nitrogen (N) / Phosphorus (P) / Potassium (K).
For the PH test it is quite easy, just put a tiny bit of soil at the bottom of the vial.
I selected a little bit from each of the four planters.
For this test I did not take out much. But for the nutrient test I will collect more soil.
Filling up the soil to the required level I then add water.
My lab for testing and seed tray production... haha very high tech.
After adding the water to the PH test kit I shake it up and wait a few minutes.
Soon we will know if the soil is too much to one end of the other. Which can cause nutrient lockout. Meaning even if I feed my plants all the needed fertilizer, if the PH is off too much the plants cannot absorb it. So its very important to have the PH within a certain range.
I dip the test strips in the soil water mix and wait a minute.
Wiping off the dirt we can now compare to the reference chart on the bottle the test strips came in. Looks like to me that is around the 6.75 level.. maybe even 6.5 being a little lighter green. Perfect it should be between 6 and 7.
Next we read the directions for the nutrient test, its a little more in depth but I think we can get through this.
Basically we make a water solution soaked in the dirt again. But this time we let the dirt and sediment fall to the bottom so it does not affect the coloring too much of the next tests.
More dirt is collected, I was very careful not to damage roots when taking my samples.
From four planters each gave me around 2 oz of dirt from each. Giving me a cup of soil to test.
Next we soak the dirt in water for a few hours.
We must wait for the dirt to fall to the bottom.
I was expecting to have some nutrient issues, so I bought some slow release fertilizer to help balance out if they need it. Though first I will test and see if they indeed even need more nutrients. If they do adding this Marine Cuisine will help along with dolomite lime to help balance out the acidity the slow release fertilizer will add.
Checking back a few hours later the water has mostly settled. Now I have to take some liquid without getting much dirt in it.
I retest the PH, this one does not require me to be careful with soil being added. It actually suggests I do. But the other three NPK tests will be more clear. Looks like my PH is around 6 so again right where it should be. Glad my well water is sufficient for their waterings. My other home has a more acidic well and may need that dolomite lime if I ever started using it for watering.
After carefully adding soil water to each I then break open these capsules which change the color for each chemical depending on its parts per million in the water.
The results:
Nitrogen is in surplus, I had to look up why this may be. My research shows its normal right now for my flowering plants. If they were in veg, growing leaves and not buds more nitrogen would be used. But very little is needed during the flowering cycle.
Phosphorus is more important during flowering along with potassium. Looks like it is adequate to sufficient.
The potash or potassium looks to be adequate to sufficient.
And finally the PH looks like its around 6.
The plants:
Well it would seem the soil is quite nutritious, and they should be happy plants. Getting everything they need is key to good cannabis.
By the looks of it they are doing great, but the tests help me know for sure even better.
Really curious if I test again during their vegetative growing state they will be using more nitrogen and less potassium and phosphorus. Looking forward to testing them.
Also planning on testing my fields soil and my pond so more lab results on the way.
Tagging @alejandro1799 here let me know what you think of these results.
Having a lot of fun growing in Virginia, its only been legal a few years with home grow here and glad I get to enjoy in the fun.
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Greetings brother, you have an excellent laboratory, if it is practical to work with all these elements necessary to carry a good control, I was in love with those containers I congratulate you again, I love your dedication.
Hah thank you, yeah knowing what I am working with is quite important.
Nice one man. I could only aspire to do it so well. I was really winging it the last time tbh! lol
Thanks bud, hopefully you can grow some good plants using these kits.. I got mine from amazon.
How are you dear friend @solominer good afternoon
You are very professional in what you do, having an evaluation kit is great, and I am happy to know that your land is fertile and the plants grow in good soil.
The plants look good and healthy.
Successes
Ah much appreciated, they seem to be quite happy. Thanks!
Using liquid fertilizer is an excellent idea to fertilize plants. I wish you many successes. You like an excellent coffee with milk, today I present a publication about it.
Yeah it works great, love the stuff.
Moving forward dear @solominer , those who pay attention to what they do always do well, especially if they use the best products. I wish you success from Venezuela
I like your scientific approach to growing. I need to pay better attention to these things. Your grows definitely show off the care that you are giving.
Indeed they do seem to be happy with what I am giving them. Good to see the results of their tests too.
If you ever try your hand at hemp the folks that operate this farm are awesome.
https://rushhempfarms.com/
Oh okay, well hopefully the laws will be more open about hemp. Here in Virginia Id have to register and test it to make sure it does not have too much THC. For now I think I will stick with my tents and maybe a green house soon.
I hear ya but the regulations and testing only apply if you are growing it for commercial purposes. As far as I know the states with 'legal weed' treat it as just another cannabis plant... which is all that it really is.
Ah okay.. well I can only grow four plants legally so id want them to be all high THC strains. But if they ever just allow me to grow hemp like any other plants I'd give it a try.
Ah I get it! I did not know that it was so limited there. Sounds like it is time for growing four 15 foot tall plants!
Seriously though, I find some of the Delta-9 and THC-A (CBD) strains to be way more enjoyable than traditional THC strains.
Hehe yeah looking into growing them taller, but my tent is only so big so I may need to build a room for them.
I am not really sure CBD has much of a positive effect on me, so I find going for high THC the way to go. Though I like to grow my favorite strains and sometimes they are not as high can I can buy.. There are strains pushing 30% but I would rather grow the famous ones like Blue Dream and Sour Diesel which are closer to the 20% range.
Its obvously giving you great results. Your cannabis looks better each grow bro, great work!
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I think so too, this scrog grow is looking even better than the last.
Hahaha, just like the professor, you put everything to the test, man. You did a great job! If you're doing something, you have to do it in the best way possible, right?
Hah you can call me Dr. Greenthumb :-P
So true, I only want the best for my plants.
Alright Dr. Greenthumb. Good luck to you in your experiments and looking forward to see you in my show today!
Your cannabis cultivation has been next level lately bro, great work.
I think nutrient testing is pretty vital when it comes to this, and is something I've been slacking on personally.
This test kit takes the guess work away, and the plants are responding accordingly!
Thanks man yeah I am glad I did this testing, helps me ease my mind in case I did something wrong.
Beautiful plants
Thanks much :-)
I've always heard about liquid fertilizer but never seen it before
I'm seeing it for the first time and your plants are looking very good
Ah yeah its some great stuff... much appreciated.
Hi @solominer, my friend, I see that you did the experiments. The first thing I must say is that I love the laboratory you have set up; it's simply amazing to see. Regarding the results, I noticed that the pH is within its range, which is excellent as it will help with nutrient absorption. As for phosphorus and potassium, very good news that they are in sufficient amounts, as these will aid in flowering, energy transfer, and water regulation. Concerning nitrogen, I see that it is in excess, and I agree with you that it is somewhat normal. However, consider a few things: First, take a look at the liquid fertilizer you are using; it could have an excess of nitrogen. If so, reduce the frequency of use or change it. Also, make sure the soil has good drainage; you can increase it by adjusting the watering, which may help to flush out some nitrogen. Another crucial aspect is to add organic matter, such as manure or animal remains. This can help balance nutrients, especially nitrogen. But, my friend, you're definitely a crack at what you do. I loved the photos and the pH meter. It's a bit different from what we use in Cuba, but the same principle. How beautiful everything is, how beautiful science is. Well, friend, you know you can count on me for anything. Let me know if you need anything.
I was pretty happy with the setup and I think it gave me some solid results.
Ah true, I need to see if I can find a lower nitrogen for my flowering plants. Normally I feed them a nitrogen rich fertilizer when they are growing their leaves. And then switch to a lower nitrogen level for their flowering.
As for watering I use a moisture meter and they get around a gallon of water just about every day at this point in their grow.
Glad you liked the photos and my equipment. Will do more posts as I test my outdoor soil and my pond alkalinity.
Perfect friend, I look forward to the publications with the other experiments, you know that I love chemistry and your publications. Check out the fertilizer and tell me how it went. Thank you for sharing that valuable information with me, I am happy about that.
Yay! 🤗
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this sounds really good, i used to measure the pH in the high school laboratory i really love know more about chemistry, i would like recomend you slow down the pH with more water but that is not a good idea so you can use a salt neutral alkaline , but the origin of that low pH it begin from the water because in the treatment plant they use Clorum to kill every possible microorganism in the water.
Oh cool nice to hear you have measured PH as well.. seems like something that is really important.
My water comes from a well so there is no treatment here. I am not using city water.
Dude, I am so jealous. I can barely keep an aloe plant alive. It seems like a real science growing cannabis properly.
I have known so many people over the years who grow it, and it's funny because these people can barely form a coherent sentence until they talk about growing pot, then all of a sudden their glasses go on and they turn into a professor with a doctorate in horticulture or something.
At any rate it is pretty awesome. Your plants look amazing!
Hehe thanks man, yeah anything that fruits or produces something we can eat can surely benefit from more nutrients.
Lol I know what you mean, much appreciated. I do try to put a good amount of effort into growing these plants. If I can do the same for the rest of the garden they should be winners too.