DFG Outdoor

Seed was placed in a solo cup with Happy Frog soil. Plant broke surface on 5/9/20. Misted as needed.

She flourished very well and was probably the biggest in the garden despite being slightly behind. Watered with apporx 2 tbsp water as needed and misted as needed.

Transplanted on 5/23/20 into 3 gallons of Great Lakes Water Only Soil. Lightly watered after transplant. As I was putting up the fencing to keep the dogs out, one of them just had to get in there to see what we were doing. As we yelled in a panic to try and get him out, he romped through the garden before making a final step right on the plant before leaving. I had to unearth several of the leaves. Her stem does not appear to be injured so I am hoping she will make it. Her placement was way too low and she is basically sitting on the dirt which is now indented from the step. I hope to be able to build a mound up under it once it grows a bit taller and gets off the ground. Heavy rainfall evening of 5/23/20 and 5/25/20. She seems that she will recover from her stomping. I realized she was still missing a leaf so I found it and unburied it and I hope I did not disturb it too much. She is finally starting to raise herself off the ground so hopefully soon she will not be so low! Neem oil sprayed on 5/26/20.

Plant seemed to take well to the transplant and recovered from being trampled pretty nicely! Heavy rainfall in the evening began the week on 5/25/20 and was what I believe was the beginning of bad things. My rain water pH sits at about 5.5 and the plants had been accustomed to the 6.5 pH I was providing indoors. I do not believe the Great Lakes Water Only soil contained enough buffer to accommodate that. 1/4 cup of lime raked in as a top feed on 6/3/20. You can see some spotting on old and new growth. She seems to show signs of calcium deficiency (likely caused by soil pH and not the soil content mixture). Being that I am new to this brand soil, I am going to give the plant some time to adjust and hope that things will even out a bit with that lime. I can say the soil on the indoor plants is looking perfect. I sprayed the plants with Neem oil on 5/26/20 due to some actual holes I was seeing in the leaves. Plant was topped on 5/31/20 at the 5th node. Growth was slightly slowed. More heavy rainfall during most of the day on 5/29/20. The weather has not been very kind and is 100% a contributing factor to upcoming issues. Next week I will also introduce the first inoculation tea which is my first ever AACT I will brew. Water and the occasional tea once every 2 weeks is all this is supposedly need to take.

So during week 5 is when we continue to see what appears to be either some type of deficiency, lockout, pests, etc and as the week progresses, the issues continue to get worse, not better. The source is still unclear as there is no improvement with any new growth. The new growth starts to come in (in a very strange way I might add. the new growth is abnormally small) and then that new growth starts beginning to show signs of issues within a few days. Notably, the size of the growth and the curling under of the new growth. Plant was treated with neem during the week in an effort to curb any potential pest issues. All garden mates are showing the exact same signs. I do not have notes as to when they were sprayed because my grow software with my notes has stopped functioning. Plant was given an inoculation tea on 6/9/20 consisting on 2 cups great lakes worm castings and 2 tbsp unsulfured molasses in 5 gallons of water brewed for 24 hours with air stones and ph'd to 6.0. For the record, this diary is be updated from many week into the future. I continued to document the downfall and will slowly beginning to update the weeks but, I stopped journaling it because I truly did not think anything would come from the plants. I mean the downfall gets REALLY bad over the coming weeks while I search for any and every answer. We are now a month off into the future and they are just now starting to make a comeback which is why I decided to revisit. I think many will enjoy seeing not only the downfall but the absolute

The new growth appears to be a little healthier this week but also continues to curl down pretty heavily after coming in. The growth size has not really improved at all. Still sprayed again with neem because during this week I became more convinced that it was pests. Plant has been given nothing but rainwater since transplant so there has been very little pH fluctuation. Put dichotomous earth down on 6/18/20. You can see in one of the photos that there has been an animal in there despite the fence that is around it. Two places this week they dug holes beside the plants. I worried they were gnawing on my roots! Watered with rain water on 6/13/20 and again on 6/18/20. For the record, this diary is be updated from many week into the future. I continued to document the downfall and will slowly beginning to update the weeks but, I stopped journaling it because I truly did not think anything would come from the plants. I mean the downfall gets REALLY bad over the coming weeks while I search for any and every answer. We are now a month off into the future and they are just now starting to make a comeback which is why I decided to revisit. I think many will enjoy seeing not only the downfall but the absolute comeback.

Ok now we are actually starting to see a little bit of normalcy. Leaves are starting to grow to a typical size for the plant and height shot up a little. We are starting to see some actual green that appears to be unaffected by whatever issues it was having. Her first tea application looked to be very beneficial. Sprayed one last time with neem before the days started getting shorter. I don't know if it is the lime, DE, tea or just mother nature but I think I may actually get something from this plant! In retrospect, transplant + pH change + another topping never even gave her a fair shake at recovery. Too much too soon. Plant was watered on 6/22 rain water. A second tea was brewed on 6/25/20 and applied 6/26/20. Tea consisted of 2 cups castings and 2 tbsp molasses in 5 gallons distilled water. Castings that were used to brew the tea were put around the stalk. Big big error during tea time on 6/26/20. I did not pH the tea. I was freaking out once I realized but I do not believe it was any significant high end pH. Tea does a body good apparently! For the record, this diary is be updated from a couple into the future. I continued to document the downfall and will slowly beginning to update the weeks but, I stopped journaling it because I truly did not think anything would come from the plants. We are now a month off into the future and they are just now starting to make a comeback which is why I decided to revisit. I think many will enjoy seeing not only the downfall but the absolute comeback.

*Week 4 of flower is 8/15/20 - 8/21/20* *Week 5 of flower is 8/22/20 to 8/28/20 so we will finish off the week a little later.* September finish but 8 weeks indoor = 56 Watered plain water on 8/15/20. Fed 1/4 cup organic bloom blend (all the same products that are in the tea and a few more) on 8/17/20 via top feed . I was told without a 7-17 gallon pot, the living soil can not sustain itself. Followed up with a cup of worm castings on 8/18/20 also via top feed. Watered with plain water on 8/21/20. Plants had gone 5 days hoping for rain and needed the pick me up right then with this heat. *Bloom tea feed recipe is 1 cup worm casting, 5 tbsp organic unsulfered black strap molasses, 5 tbsp liquid kelp & fish, 1/2 cup alfalfa meal, 2/3 cup Peruvian sea bird guano and 2/3 cup high phosphorous bat guano fed on 8/22/20*. Belongs on week 5.