Insightful Interview with Harley Smith

[LitItGrown]

I found this is really insightful, especially how certain amino acids increases a plant's natural resistance to powdery mildew and botrytis at a cellular level.

 

[Naughty.Psychonaut]

Hell yeah bud, nice to see you studying the right stuff remember not to take 1 bit of info and neglect all the rest, everything has to be in balance with everything else, you need to consider the given. The given being the given amino acids inside the soil, because perhaps the most important part you mentioned is "at a cellular level" - the higher up you move in science the more you realise how little you can witness the cells with the naked eye, you need lab equipment to do soil analytics to read the given compounds in the soil. then based on what that info tells you, you can then see if the soil is in need of more amino acids or not. the plant will react accordingly. 

Hope this video does not give you insentive to run to the nearest grow shop and grab some aminos just to go add it to your regime. 

If anything, all these soil science videos should start off by saying "If you don't know what's going on in your soil, get it lab tested before watching this video, because there will never be a video that can accuratly cover all bases of soil science"

that being said, experience will bring you closer and closer to be able to guage these things with the naked eye and less and less need to have soil tested. Some old soil gurus I've worked with smell the soil and tell you very very close to what lab results will give you. Fact is, the longer you work with soil the more you realise how important lab results are, even if you're able to tell from smelling it it's still a shot in the dark. 

Best of the best growers get their soil lab tested, cause they have put their egos aside and accepted the fact that they can't see at the cellular level. 

[Prom]

10 minutes ago, Naughty.Psychonaut said:

Hell yeah bud, nice to see you studying the right stuff remember not to take 1 bit of info and neglect all the rest, everything has to be in balance with everything else, you need to consider the given. The given being the given amino acids inside the soil, because perhaps the most important part you mentioned is "at a cellular level" - the higher up you move in science the more you realise how little you can witness the cells with the naked eye, you need lab equipment to do soil analytics to read the given compounds in the soil. then based on what that info tells you, you can then see if the soil is in need of more amino acids or not. the plant will react accordingly. 

Hope this video does not give you insentive to run to the nearest grow shop and grab some aminos just to go add it to your regime. 

If anything, all these soil science videos should start off by saying "If you don't know what's going on in your soil, get it lab tested before watching this video, because there will never be a video that can accuratly cover all bases of soil science"

that being said, experience will bring you closer and closer to be able to guage these things with the naked eye and less and less need to have soil tested. Some old soil gurus I've worked with smell the soil and tell you very very close to what lab results will give you. Fact is, the longer you work with soil the more you realise how important lab results are, even if you're able to tell from smelling it it's still a shot in the dark. 

Best of the best growers get their soil lab tested, cause they have put their egos aside and accepted the fact that they can't see at the cellular level. 

 with weed... many ways lead to Rome. When you go to a certain level of detail, you come to the level where the strain even counts. Not all strains are exactly the same and need a little different treatment. 

PM is no real rocket science.. if you have a crap ventilation you will get PM (spores are simply EVERYWHERE and just wait for the right condition to bloom) or have the super ventilation that gets shut down in 4 hours blocks.. and turned into crappy ventilation. You see more as 68% humidity in your tent, PM is blooming and you can't do anything against it. 

Also want to point out.. resistance doesn't mean immune  If you constantly have issues with PM... you have to put more thought into your ventilation setup.. and look for a backup for the ventilation when Eskom shuts you down. Normal flower tent get shut down for 4 hours and you don't open up the tent, you will have 99% humidity in that tent at the end of that power out. Spores will have gone into bloom... good ventilation just makes their life much harder. Bad ventilation and you will run into a serious PM issue, there are just limits you shouldn't pass at any time. If you get the idea to use filters... you face another challenge, PM spores are 1-3 micron in size. With you working inside the tent.. they will enter. Your ONLY chance is to keep humidity between 30-50% during flower. Germination the plants love and need over 80% humidity, Veg I keep em 60-80%. So yes, there is a high chance that you have PM starting to bloom during Veg.. conditions are just perfect... but Veg you can also unpack potent cleaners like Copper Soap. Spray all your plants top to pot when you put them in Flower and they are squeaky clean for the tent it matters. Your flower tent runs between 30-40%.. you will never have any PM issues... never...

The Kushy Amino Acids I highly recommend any grower who as nothing similar. Dirt cheap and brings 10-20% more harvest and potency (tested) just by using it correctly.. wouldn't say helps with PM ^^ or didn't notice anything in that direction. 

All those 'science' clips you get on Youtube... they are more for the freaks. As a normal grower looking to grow his own stash, go to a grow shop and let the dude tell you what to do. Keep it simple, way easier to find the error. The moment you use 20 products instead of 4-6.. you have also a bigger range to debug your mistake. Honestly, keep it simple 

I use BioBizz Fish-Mix / Bloom, Kushy Amino Acids, Kelp Extract, Molasses (de-suphurized) and Fulvic/Humic Acids (BB Top Max, 5:2,.. check what your grow shop has) (6 products and rain water). As i grow biological in soil, i do not use any pH UPs or DOWNs. Keep it simple ^^ less debugging stress.

[LitItGrown]

"Hope this video does not give you incentive to run to the nearest grow shop and grab some aminos just to go add it to your regime" - Actually, that's what I am trying to avoid.

"Hell yeah bud, nice to see you studying the right stuff" - I like to dig deeper into rabbit holes to see where and how they all connect and correlate, there are so many ways that "lead to roam" that I would watch multiple videos, read articles, etc on the same subject and as they branch out to what I feel is relevant to what I want to or in some cases, need to know. 

I never knew that terpenes in plants 'communicate' to each other through all the processes happening in soil, the balance of bacteria and fungus etc. So, thanks for directing me deeper into that direction. Still very much into the rabbit hole, I just wish I had more time., lol don't we all, but I am truly fascinated with this micro universe in the soil. 

"All those 'science' clips you get on YouTube... they are more for the freaks." Information is everywhere and when a person is looking for direction, information is where to start, verifying the info is second. Multiple sources has always worked for me. I know not everything you hear is factual and sometimes not relevant, or even applicable, but I try to learn from others' experience and discoveries, mistakes and successes, the dynamics of most scenarios are so interchangeable, so I understand to take most advice with some salt. 

As always, your inputs are appreciated. Happy Growing.