A Brew Guide for Essence

[twigs]

thanks for your reply bluepixie..

i understand that you have to bubble both sets of water to remove the chlorine

can i do it all in one bucket though,

both sets of water end up together in the sprayer bottle any way..

also which guide do i follow? the leaflet in the box essence box or this thread?..they're different!

cheers

twigs

[BluePixie]

thanks for your reply bluepixie..

i understand that you have to bubble both sets of water to remove the chlorine

can i do it all in one bucket though,

both sets of water end up together in the sprayer bottle any way..

also which guide do i follow? the leaflet in the box essence box or this thread?..they're different!

cheers

twigs

Don't see why not - 3ltrs in one container, bubble with mollases for an hour then add the essense should be OK.

I haven't seen the official instructions as I got mine from Webby, but I doubt it matters that much.

[twigs]

thanks bp

its on the brew, bubbling away..

just as i've started to see the dreaded lsf

i stuck to the info in the leaflet

i bubbled 2litres for over an hour to get rid of chlorine

stuck in 2 teaspoons of molasses and bubbled for 30mins 'ish

then 3 teaspoons of essence (it says 1 per litre, but i chucked in a bit more because i can see lsf on leaves)

and im using an eco detergent for a wetting agent when its ready

and it should be ready in 6-7 hours!

im undecided about putting seaweed juice in because i gave them a spray with seaweed a few days ago..

cheers

[oldtimer1]

Twigs most washing up liquids chem and environmentally friendly are bactericidal ie have some bacterial killing properties. I would suggest not using them, better to just spray without, the essence will still work but the cover is not so good.

If you want cheap, chempak peatwetter works well as a none destructive spreader, google for it., but yucca is much better.

Brewing is not that critical as I've said before, I put 4 litres of water in a 5 litre ex biobizz fertiliser container, add seaweed and sugar, bubble for a bit then add a couple of level teaspoons of essence, bubble until foaming well then use, it works!

[grooving]

I am about to do a foliar application of essence. I don't have a fancy sprayer.

If I use a bog standard Hozelock mister (holds 550ml and is adjusted by screwing and unscrewing the nozzle) will this shred the beneficial fungi? There is a small margin between a single 'line' of water and a fine mist.

Anyone have positive experiences using this type?

Cheers.

[grooving]

OK, after further reading in the PM forum on a thread between Sticky Russian and Oldtimer1 I can now answer my own question!

Use a pump sprayer not a trigger sprayer since the latter will shred our inoculating friends. Also useful was the bit about cutting back all infected leaves 5mm above the infection.

[Guest Mr P]

Hi,

For anyone who's interested. I've been using essence for a while, I don't use any wetting agent at all, just essence, maxicrop,and molasses. And its always worked just fine! You don't need a wetting agent, just make sure you apply well, tops and bottoms of leaf,branches and stem.

Its not rocket science, so stop making it sound as complicated.

[Guest Robert Plant]

have to say though, with the yucca extract it works much better and you use less as its actually not rolling off the plants. I had used no wetting agents before with it untill the other week and i wont be using it without again, used the yucca ectract and ive never seen it put such a nice coating on the leaves.

im a convert

edit: coz i was shouting by accident

Edited May 4, 2009 by Robert Plant

[Guest Mr P]

have to say though, with the yucca extract it works much better and you use less as its actually not rolling off the plants. I had used no wetting agents before with it untill the other week and i wont be using it without again, used the yucca ectract and ive never seen it put such a nice coating on the leaves.

im a convert

edit: coz i was shouting by accident

But doesnt Yucca have natural antibacterial and antiviral properties?

[oldtimer1]

It depends on the bacteria, it works in harmony with all the micro heard species in essence in fact it boosts some of them making them more effective, it boosts the organic matter breakdown and N fixing bacteria in granules when used as a soil drench.

It works in both humans and plants as a natural steroidal stimulant, some body builders use it, it helps with arthritis and rheumatic joint pains in humans and animals as a anti inflammatory.

I don't know about it being anti viral, even if it is, I doubt it would have much effect against an internally infected plant.

Some cannabis has very waxy leaves, water just forms into drops, so spraying gives minimal cover, adding a spreader will give an even coating over the entire leaf surface, that in turn gives protection to all the leaf surface.

[twigs]

Twigs most washing up liquids chem and environmentally friendly are bactericidal ie have some bacterial killing properties. I would suggest not using them, better to just spray without, the essence will still work but the cover is not so good.

If you want cheap, chempak peatwetter works well as a none destructive spreader, google for it., but yucca is much better.

Brewing is not that critical as I've said before, I put 4 litres of water in a 5 litre ex biobizz fertiliser container, add seaweed and sugar, bubble for a bit then add a couple of level teaspoons of essence, bubble until foaming well then use, it works!

thanks for your help mate

this essence stuff is fast becoming my most valued grow essential..

[CptSmash]

I have a box of grannys original soap flakes which i usually use as a pesticide in the garden, very effective at controlling aphids etc, but what is making me nervous about using it, is that the soap flakes when mixed with water form a waxy shield and its this that kills the aphids etc as they simply can't breathe and explode, have read OT1's comments about soapnut shells and wonder if my soap flakes will be okay? 80% pure soap and 20% water.. maybe a weaker mix for a wetting agent? 1 teaspoon per litre perhaps?

I looked everywhere for a wetting agent today and drew a blank.. i dont like the run off or the spread when not using a wetting agent.

in a catch 22 situation but would still recommend the plant magic to anyone, the clones are looking well perky.

[churead]

What can I use to heat the brew? Do I need to buy a thermometre? How much more will I need to get after I have the plant magic complete pack?

Edited May 26, 2009 by churead

[Randalizer]

I heat with a plastic, submersible aquarium heater. It has a temp dial on it so i can set it well. I use to use a reptile heating mat under my glass vessel that I activated my bacteria in, but spillage from the frothing caused a short and a heavy meltdown of the heating pad. Picture included.

A heating mat meant for germinating seeds would probably work well.

[tseuG]

... jumping in a bit late here and admittedly I've only read the first page now (I read all 3 pages before, can't remember this being answered).

First off thanks for the guide, but I've got a few questions for you or anyone else reading this. I think I know the answers already (except the last question) but I just wanted to check.

I haven't got any maxicrop but I have got plant magic catalyst which is seaweed extract. I assume it's fine to substitute the maxicrop with catalyst and use the dosage on the catalyst bottle label, right?

Second, the molasses I got with the starter kit is a powder (sort of looks like sticky brown sugar) not a liquid/syrup which is not what I was expecting. Since it came with the kit I'm guessing it's fine to use, but I just wanted to see if any of you guys have anything to say about it. Like maybe it works but not as well as the liquid/syrup?

And lastly, but most importantly (because I'm not sure about the answer to this), I've also got some plant magic boost and bio-silicon and both labels have foliar spray dosage rates but I'm not sure if there would be an issues with adding this to my essence brew. I'd rather not put those two if there's an uncertainty about it perhaps interfering with the essence. So, anyone here know for sure if it's okay to add it? and if so, I'm guessing I'd add them the same time as the catalyst, right?

I've got lsf on my plants and from what I've heard this is a guaranteed "cure" (or at least a good way to control the infection) so I'll be brewing this up today. I'm going with a slightly different technique tho, I'll be brewing with 500ml of mineral water (I hope that's enough for 10 plants once diluted to 1.5 litres) in a brown beer bottle (sterilized of course, wouldn't want yeast feeding off the molasses and making alcohol. brown glass also doesn't let as much UV light in as green so my bacterial/fungal babies should be safer) which I'll place in a bucket of tap water that has an 25 watt thermostatic aquarium heater in it. That way the heater doesn't get coated in gunk and there won't be any high heat in the brewing bottle. Another bonus is any bubbly overflow will be coming from a small hole and overflowing into water so hopefully less mess.