Here we go with side by side grow off 2 clones from the same mum to compare these two composts .

Clones have been rooted in 5" round pots , and transplanted today to 6.5l sq pots with each respective compost for comparison. due to space constraints , i m unable to allow these to root out the final pots before flowering , they will be placed in the flower chamber this evening at lights on .

Clones are Sour Mist (old Cali Mist x Sour Diesel from Reservoir Seeds) , my flower chamber is 5' x 3.3' x 5' , lit by a 600w and ventilated by a 4" fan intake and 6" fan exhausting.

if anybody has any q's please don t hesitate to ask .

some pics of the Westlands Advanced bag for those unfamiliar with this new compost.......

few more from the Adv+ bag

last one from back of Adv+bag , plus a side by side of both bags i m using for comparison

what this new stuff looks like................

feels much lighter in texture than the MP , and contains much less lumps , twigs and stones , making it easier to sieve .

the MP also now contains a little West+ ( the light coloured woody fibres) . you can see how much more West+ the new advanced contains by the pic above .

i use a big dustbin , with a smaller 25 litre bucket inside that the sieve rests nicely on.......

and finally some pics of the freshly transplanted clones

Advanced on the right , MP with added JI on the left

i ll update weekly with pics and comments . the advanced+ claims to have enough food for 5-6 weeks , whereas the MP states it has enough for 3-4 weeks , be interesting to see if there is any obvious difference between the 2 .
this strain takes 11-12 weeks , so will provide a good test on how the adv+ reacts to feeding with BioBizz for 5-6 weeks .
wish me luck !
peace jb

nice one JB,
this looks like its gonna be a very interesting, and well detailed thread, ill be following closely
thanks mate,

redgrotto

Hi johnyblaze

clones look nice and heathy
pity you cant let em root for a bit longer

I've got some of that west advance +. cracked the bag open a few weeks ago.. doing a few clones in it now.

best of luck to you

Being a quite recent convert to Westlands with added JI i shall be joining you for the ride johnyblaze , if you don't mind . How much did the new bag cost johny ?
And good luck my mate hope it goes well for you.
Peace to all .

i just paid £6.99 a bag but it's 76 litres. I got some Afghans to be re-potted and i'm using the new westlands next to westlands w/ added JI .
Would you mind me posting on this thread me mate , comparisons like you .

yeah il definatly stay tuned for this itll take alot to budge me of the hanging basket and container stuff now though
good luck with the grow

appreciate the comments rd , chewitts , r-n and scarface , cheers for stopping by .

it sure is a pity i cant let them root out the final pot before i flowered em, 99% i v learnt about growing in pots with compost i v learnt here , it goes against the grain , height in the veg box is the main reason . could ve topped em for more time,not long started some seeds though ,so needed the space . noticed roots at the holes on some off em(other clones potted on at same time , different strain though) after a couple days anyway so be interesting to see how the rootballs look at the end . only the one pictured here in advanced , rest are in mp . small trials make sense .

please do post your pics and findings here r-n , more the merrier ,adv+ same price here mate.

3 x Westlands MP + JI 65l bags (195 l) = £10

3 x Westlands Advanced+ 76l bags(228) = £23.97

from an envoirnmental point the more expensive compost claims to be better by using 50% less peat , but at approx double the price , it would need to be far superior to the mp for me to consider using it all the time.

weekly update pics the morn

peace

how are those girls doing? i managed to grab a bag of this stuff on the 10% off day at homebase

I've got 2 identical clones in 4" pots of Westlands W/ added JI . I've only got them under 110w flouros at the moment . When i re-pot it will be side by side comparisons . I'll post pics tomorrow .
I've got some Hashberry's through cheers uk420 , but thats another thread.
Found a place doing 2 bags for £12 , good deal i thought, a farm shop of all places , imagine that eh....a farm shop selling compost.. When i need more thats where i be going IF advance is as good as they say.

im in canada and have never seen either but now im curious to give this stuff ago i usaly use a brand a local garden shop makes it pre mixed all i do is put in my pots and plant , when your useing this brand do you need to add any soil at all , is it costly ? im still pretty new to growing i had gotten off a few crops 5 r 6 yrs ago roughly but had to stop cause i was busted thanks to my partener now im going solo ,only person who knows is my granny she usaly plants a few in her garden every yr just for a hobby any way any help with getting me started useing this stuff would be great
kush69

pics update.......

edit......mp+JI on left

advanced+.............

mp+ji............

I will be following this thread with interest as I am also a Westlands with JI convert.

I had awful trouble with the hanging basket variant though scarface - may have been a rogue bag or two - sod's law it was only the girlies which were affected

(I'm off now to check your grows )

well, as you can see from last pics the leaves are looking a bit pale and yellow , i think this is due to low pH . i usually add dolomite lime and calcified seaweed to the westlands mp+JI .

with our soft tap water seems i d need to add lime to the advanced+ as well. not adding it this time has affected the sour mist used for the side x side more than any other ,pic below shows a dif strain in same bag of mp +JI (without added lime or cs).

i ll top dress some dol/lime to help raise the pH and se if things improve .

peace

couple of pics showing the yellowing better .............

any side x side pics , i ll keep the mp +ji on left ................

last side by side first, and a pic of 2 clones from same mum, both in advanced+ which i added lime and calcified seaweed to before planting.

peace

Really interesting thread.

Couple of questions about your soil additives if I may. Calcified seaweed what kind of proportions do you use this in? Dolomite lime, is this the same as the Garden Lime you find in garden centres, although ground much finer?

interesting posst looking similar so far...keep up the good work fella

thanks Bg , following ot1s guidlines i add 3-4 grams / litre of compost Calcified Seaweed and the same Dolomite Lime and mix thoroughly . Garden Lime is Hydrated Lime , which is faster acting than Dol/Lime and much easier to overdo . i got both the Dol/Lime and Cal/Sweed online , delivered next day , much cheapness . pm me if you need a link mate.

thanks adddw .

peace

Thanks for your reply jb, really appreciate it. Now I'm more confused than I was before though! On the JAB site, for Garden Lime it says it's 'Ground Limestone' -
http://www.william-sinclair.co.uk/Horticul...mp;AutoFramed#8

When I looked up ground limestone on google I found this -

Ground Limestone - this is slightly better than slaked lime because it lasts longer in the soil (three years or more) and also contains magnesium. Often called 'Dolomite Lime'. More expensive than Slaked Lime.
http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/techniques/a...kaline_soil.htm

So, should I get dolomite lime or simply use the JAB Garden Lime instead?

Sincere apologies for moving your thread off at a tangent.

hi Bg ,

no apologises needed mate , we re all here to learn

in the words off ot1 when i asked him about this a while ago.................

"garden lime is the last thing you want"

i ll pm you the link to where i get the dol / lime and cal/s-weed .

peace mate

Cheers jb, appreciate the advice. With a bit of luck ot1 might pop in and clear this one up

any updates?

Sorry for the lack of updates with this thread . those clones have gone to the compost heap in the sky i m afraid . weren t looking to good , one in avanced+ was stretchy and yellowing , one in mp looked a bit greener but smaller and stunted . not rooting out final pots , and going straight from fluros to under 600 hps wasnt ideal .

hopefully continue the next time there's 2 spare clones from same mum .

new plants from seed in W/land MP + JI below . probably the healthiest i v grown from seed , all down to knowledge and advice shared here .

In the USA garden lime is often generic term for ground dolomite lime but not here in the uk..

There are several forms of ground limestone used in uk horticulture but mainly two types the first is ground or crushed limestone or common chalk, this is “Calcium carbonate” CaCO3. The second and IMHO the best for both cannabis and general garden use is fine ground dolomitic limestone [the most expensive form] this is “Calcium-magnesium carbonate” CaCO3, MgCO3 good samples contain natural magnesium at about 10-12% in a form that is readily available to plants.

Again in the uk, up to a few years ago “garden/horticultural lime” was a generic term for hydrated or slaked lime Ca(OH)2, today the best ‘garden limes’ [the names the same the content a bit different] are usually made up of a blend of limes, and can include very fine hydrated lime, plus multiple size graded ground limestone or chalk, these products contains virtually no Mg only Ca, they are specifically made for raising ph or neutralising acidic garden/farm soil, acting in the fast, medium and long term, ie its formulated to work constantly over a long period.

If you are interested the whole coast line of Wales where a ship could beach had lime kilns, lots are still standing in the Cardigan bay area, Wales being a country short of sedimentary deposits containing calcium. Chalk was brought in and burnt in the lime kilns to make quick lime CaO then carted to farms, not something I would want to do on a windy day. It was a very precious commodity, making the acid farm land fertile.

The west advanced packaging says not suitable for lime hating plants, doesnt that mean it has a high pH?

All normal plants need lime, ericaceous or lime hating plants don’t.

cheers ot1 . they used a fair bit up as here as well. mined vast amounts off limestone for use in mortar and plaster in 1800/1900s , then council built house on top .
major subsidence in 2000 and some houses had to be demolished . the council had sold the houses by then under right to buy , and billed the residents for demolision!! hows that for a scam .

what calcified seaweed pack saying..

cs is a lot more coarse than the dol/lime which is very fine , like casting plaster(of paris).

any one used this to pot on

have brought this and need to pot on

any help

i d go with the w/land mp + ji , or w/land container and hanging basket compost if you can get it . my plants don t seem to like the advanced+ .

trying this out again with some recently sexed sk#1s and chronic f2s . still having probs with lsf , so i aint risked germing any prized seeds till it s under control .

so far so good . new growth is lush , and i had roots at the bottom of the 6.5l pots in 4 days . the newer version of Westlands MP + JI was taking up to 2 weeks to show roots . really don t know why they messed with such a good formula . all i can think off is to make us try this newer and more expensive advanced-plus .

i really like the feel and texture off the advanced-plus . a breeze to sieve compared to the mp + ji . it reminds me of the "professional" types of compost plants are grown in when purchased from a garden centre . light and airy , slightly coarse , with no stones !! last few bags of MP + JI i bought were utter crap , with a load of grit sized pebbles , no perlite and had a powdery , fine texture when sieved . it was more like a cake mix than a compost

one thing i noticed though was the misleading "75l when packed" on the bag of advanced-plus. i sieve the compost into an 80l plastic dustbin which i v marked off every 10 litres . a 75l bag of advanced plus , fully sieved only contains 45l approx !!!

i ll update with pics as the grow progresses .

to anybody i v put off buying the advanced-plus with this thread , i m sorry if my initial findings and opinions were premature .

interested to here how your getting on with west +mate , giving it a go myself adding a handfull of rockdust , some mycroryzal fungi and a nip of cana tricodema ( spelling never was my strong point ) mostly clones ( looking very healthy ) but also 10 odd seeds, the 9 that made it are now sprouting their second set of leaves and are problem free so far .

hi s & n

here s some pics from y'day of the seed plants in adv+ . they ve been in their final 6.5l pots for 17days approx . they re getting another week on 22/2 before flower . added 40ml epsom salts and 400ml seer rock dust to the sieved compost .

also no signs of the yellow tips i used to see occasionally after watering the old and new w/land mp + ji . perhaps the adv+ is more suited to my water .

top view , chronic f2s , gf x chronic

sensi sk#1s ..

1 + 2- chronic f2 females . 3 - chronic f2 male.