Ocean Forest Problems (pics)

Tim,
It was actually the government that distributed the arsenic. Back in the last century...the 1930s...there was a massive drought in the mid-west totally messing with the environment. One result was a huge influx of locusts which destroy crops. The government, in it's wisdom, distributed huge amounts of arsenic for locust control.

Pan forward a few decades and the farmers just dumped the stockpiled arsenic in landfills where it leached into groundwater. Huge amounts of soil and groundwater are still contaminated even now...and I'm sure Iowa isn't the only place. Impractical to correct.

So Tim, I read that Au has issues with alkalines in water and soil. Is that improving?

Very cool that Sydney has such good water. We are a little weak in that regard...but it varies by city and state.
Cheers,
JD

JohnDee said:

It was actually the government that distributed the arsenic. Back in the last century...the 1930s...there was a massive fraught in the mid-west totally messing with the environment. One result was a huge influx of locusts which destroy crops. The government, in it's wisdom, distributed huge amounts of arsenic for locust control.

Pan forward 20 or 30 years and farmers just dumped the stockpiled arsenic in landfills where it leached into groundwater. Huge amounts of soil and groundwater are still contaminated even now...and I'm sure Iowa isn't the only place. Impractical to correct.

So Tim, I read that Au has issues with alkalines in water and soil. Is that improving?

Very cool that Sydney has such good water. We are a little weak in that regard...but it varies by city and state.
Cheers,
JD

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Admittedly the ph does tend to be a little high, and their buffers tend to make it stubborn. But its definitely manageable.
Tends to be a fair amount of lime and calcium carbonate.
But other than that, pretty good really.

Amazing the way Government does things sometimes.
Similar things happening to our Murray River. Even the whole Murray Darling Basin. Its at a bit of a crisis stage. Because its the majority of agricultural land in Australia. But every farmer is taking loads of water for their pasture, and what little water gets put back into the river is completely contaminated with fertilizer, effluent from cattle etc.
Not only are the farmers sucking the rivers dry, but their polluting them as well. Irony is, its the very same water they have to use, for their land. But they have no choice. If you're an Aussie farmer down the end of the river you're screwed.
Things like Blue Green Algae are running rampant. Salinity is getting higher, and higher to the point it isnt sustainable for farming land.

I think next major drout here, is going to be one great big mess.
Have no idea what the solution is either. Besides less farms, and that would be an economic nightmare in itself.
Its a little worrying here tbh.

1weedz4 said:

You don't have to PH the water even for indoor? I've fed them bottled nutes, Earth Juice organic line N, PK, and microblast, CalMag, and hummus.

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You don't in a good organic soil.

Why feed all those different things?

Less is more and keep it super simple.

This was grown without a pH meter. Never used one. Not for cannabis or my vegetables.

As long as I follow the same setup they all look like that. Green and healthy to the end.

Looking nice! I'll try it next time around. I've only had a few crops stay green throughout. My yield is no where near where it should be. The bud is top shelf quality we give to patients thru our delivery service in Bay Area but I should be pulling at least 6-8lbs.

whitebb2727 said:

You don't in a good organic soil.

Why feed all those different things?

Less is more and keep it super simple.

This was grown without a pH meter. Never used one. Not for cannabis or my vegetables.
View attachment 4147922
As long as I follow the same setup they all look like that. Green and healthy to the end.

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Can you give us your soil recipe

straight Ocean Forest is crap (did side by side...I even added perlite)

the soil is crap because Foxfarm wants you to buy (and feed on schedule) those expensive additive bottles

1weedz4 said:

You don't have to PH the water even for indoor? I've fed them bottled nutes, Earth Juice organic line N, PK, and microblast, CalMag, and hummus.

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I respectfully disagree with the non pHing camp. I believe indoor plants should be pH properly and consistently for best results

I suspect those who don't pH have tap water that's pretty close to 7.0 ? Mines 8.9 so it's not an option

Beachwalker said:

I respectfully disagree with the non pHing camp. I believe indoor plants should be pH properly and consistently for best results

I suspect those who don't pH have tap water that's pretty close to 7.0 ? Mines 8.9 so it's not an option

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My tap water PH last year was 7.5 consistently now it’s over 8

Go go n chill said:

My tap water PH last year was 7.5 consistently now it’s over 8

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That's a good argument for RO. Also, cities have to open up the water system for repair, pipe bursts and new construction and usually follow with some sort of chemical "shock" procedure to kill bacteria after the repairs are finished. Not good to use on plants at that point.
JD

JohnDee said:

That's a good argument for RO. Also, cities have to open up the water system for repair, pipe bursts and new construction and usually follow with some sort of chemical "shock" procedure to kill bacteria after the repairs are finished. Not good to use on plants at that point.
JD

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Ya man I check my jugged water every time...... I do enough things wrong I try to narrow my mistakes down. Lol. Our city water has definitely changed and we get “a smell” from the water every time they work in the neighborhood

Go go n chill said:

Can you give us your soil recipe

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Beachwalker said:

I respectfully disagree with the non pHing camp. I believe indoor plants should be pH properly and consistently for best results

I suspect those who don't pH have tap water that's pretty close to 7.0 ? Mines 8.9 so it's not an option

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Only in hydro and coco. Maybe in solid peat mixes.

In soil it doesn't do anything to pH the water. The soil does it. As the soil dries the pH swings.

I don't use tap. I use rain. I've used tap in the past on no till and living type soils.

Go go n chill said:

Can you give us your soil recipe

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Yea sure.

A third each. 1. Base, either peat or potting type soils with no nutes added. 2. Compost. I have my own compost piles that I add everything from leaves to manure from chickens and cows. Fresh is best but bagged works. 3. Worm castings. I feed them a varied diet. Bagged will work but most commercial worm farms are fed cardboard. Less nutritional value.

From there I vary sometimes. It can be as simple as adding a bit of espoma garden tone to a few more amendments.

I also like down to earth all purpose.

I add a bit of sea kelp. I use fresh rabbit manure at times.

Mainly stick to simple and it works best.

Oh. I use crushed oyster shell. Also a bit of lime if I notice it needs it after a run.

Grow a plant in straight compost and see what happens.

1weedz4 said:

Thank you. It is a pain in the ass to fill those waters up once/twice a week. So you fill your jugs up with hose water and let it sit overnight? Then PH it to 6.5?

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With very hard water you can mix it with RO water to lower hardness.

Always check ph after all nutes etc. are added. And keep in mind, it tends to drift up over time.

I believe it's difficult to accurately measure the pH of RO or distilled water since most of the ions have been removed.

I just found this...

"Don't worry about the pH of RO water; it is very difficult to accurately measure the pH of high-purity water, particularly with inexpensive, consumer-grade pH meters. They simply don't work well without some ions in the water.

Furthermore, the low concentration of dissolved solids means the pH can swing wildly when anything is added to it: there's no buffering capacity. Once you add nutrients to the water, the pH probe will work better, and an accurate measurement can be made; the pH can then be adjusted to optimize growth."
https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/what-does-your-ro-water-ph-at.48785/

An interesting artificial! https://www.aqualiv.com/reverse-osmosis-water-filter-health/

Forsure thanks. I always PH up to 6.5 after adding nutes. I’m done with Fox Farm as of now.

We had a good rain and everything has rigjted itself. Vibrant green and the brown is done. Good luck.

I used straight Ocean Forest with Perlite and no ph. Used Happy Frog for final transplant pot. Had no problems all through veg but a little dark leaves I thought so I added some Dolomite Lime which helps with not needing to pH water. I watered with Spring Bottled Water during seedling now with water from 55 Gallon fish tank. I'm in week 1 of Flowering.

This thread is old but for anyone stopping in not a single post here mentioned the fairly clear evidence of thrip damage on a lot of OP's leaves. Most likely was the cause of the problems. Not saying it wasn't pH but if your seeing a ton of white chunks taken out of your leaves like that good chance it's thrips or mites. Everyone should have a 30-60x scope to check leaves top and bottom for pests.