Arjan's Haze #3 - Original Cheese - 220W PL-L

[grasbauer]

So here we have the sativa dominant AH#3 from Greenhouse Seeds and the Indica dominant Original Cheese (IBL) from Paradise Seeds.
Changes to the setup compared to the first AH3 grow I posted: 60x60x160cm tent instead of 120 height. 4x55W PL-L instead of 2x80, 6400K for veg and 2700K for flower instead of 4000K/3000K.
9l pots, Biobizz fert and Light Mix soil. Plants topped once early, hence the V shape - seeds popped 24/10/2015, plants topped 19/11.
Pics are 1 week apart. Last two are from today.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Looking very good, i would imagine you are not to far off from flowering or flipping to 12/12 soon ?

 

[grasbauer]

I flipped to 12/12 on 03/12 (note the different light color on the later pics). Plants are stretching and use a lot of water right now.
This time, I'm trying not to get in the way too much with pruning. It's just slowing down growth. Did none in veg, and only once after. The 6400K light has made the plants grow very stocky.

 

[grasbauer]

3 weeks now after flipping to 12/12. The Cheese plant started resin production. Took some leaves from the AH3 (front) to slow down its stretch a bit, as it's getting too far ahead of the shorter Indica-dominant Cheese.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Girls are looking real healthy, ye most of the stretch should be normally done by now.

 

[grasbauer]

Here are some photos from 31/12 (incorrectly named, they were copied 01/02).
The AH3 is now close to 60 cm high and started resin production. The Cheese's flowers are growing quickly. Check out how much more mature they are, compared to the Haze. Direct comparison in pic 2+3.

Wondering if I should remove lower bud sites. They are not getting any usable light. Those 4x55W tubes are better than the old 2x80, but a HPS it isn't...

 

[grasbauer]

Another week has passed. Side view shows how lanky the AH3 is, compared to the Cheese. 61 vs. 50 cm.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Wow you are doing really well for cfl lighting

The cheese is more likely a shorter flowering time hence the maturity so far when compared to the AH3 which is likely to be more sativa dominate which can be longer to reach maturity.

As for the lower pop corn sites & removal, well it is entirely up to you !


I use to lollipop my girls back in the early days by removing lower limbs or popcorn sites which is said to increase more energy/growth to the upper bud sites to gain more yield... i really didn't think it made much difference ?

To increase light penetration to the lower sites lower stress training can be used & can help pack on more mass to the lower sites other wise i may suggest looking at defoliation method by removing x % of the major fan leafs which is normally done twice whilst in flower... just some examples for you think over.


I save my popcorn bud by the way, which be used to make canna butter or bubble bag hash & just freeze it down in till i got enough to play with

 

[grasbauer]

The "V" shape of the AH3 was made with topping & LST. I also trained the Cheese a bit, but not much, as it's very short and dense anyway (might try warmer light than 6400K for its veg phase next time).
I defoliated a lot during the first AH3 run, but it seemed to slow down everything, not sure if it was worth it (I just compared with photos of the first run, and in fact, the maturity is about the same - interesting). This time, I was more careful, only taking away a few fan leaves. Light is still almost completely blocked out from the lower half of the plants, which is why many leaves die and fall off there. Topping & LST was good enough though I think, most bud sites are in the light.

Cheese buds are growing nicely. Stems are no longer growing, height did not change since last week.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Excellent still looking very good.

 

[KidGrow420]

 

[grasbauer]

Thursday is photo day...
I changed to 12/12 six weeks ago. I used to think flowing periods specified by seedbanks excluded the ~1 week where plants build up the hormes to start flowering, but clearly, the Cheese - specified for 56 days - is pretty much ready after 7 weeks since flipping. The closeup below is from 01/16, and even there, most trichomes are already cloudy, some amber. So it's harvest time in a week at most.
The AH3 builds up its flowers nicely. It will need another 3 (minimum period specified including the week after 12/12) to 5 weeks (time it actually took during the first run).

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Looking great grasbauer

Most of the time i don't count the first week mainly when waiting for pre flowers to show when growing from seed but female clones will show pre flowers through out the veg period.

I've grown seeds from a few breeders by now some suggest in weeks etc & others by days...

One particular strain suggested 7 to 9 weeks to which i cloned a lot for several grows & routinely harvested at week 7 with vastly cloudy tric's with a touch of amber... others where around 8 weeks mostly cloudy whilst some off the longer flowering ones could of been better off with the full length for flowering.


A fine line to draw to how you like your tric's but each & every strain is slightly different from the last !

 

[grasbauer]

The plants were already showing preflowers when I flipped the lights. Haven't figured out yet how to speed up the veg phase, I keep needing about 40 days.

Anyway, yesterday was harvest day, 55 days after switching to 12/12, so 1 day early.
I took precautions to contain the smell this time; as you all know, Cheese is one serious stinker. Connected the tent's air inlet to a cardboard box I turned into a drying chamber. Separate carbon filter + PK100 standing on the table. Power transformed down to 150V, still quite loud. Additionally, I taped the front door shut.

These soon turned out not be exaggerated measures - the odor was so enormous, my eyes actually started to burn after a while . And I hardly notice anything when cutting onions. I really cannot imagine harvesting more than 1 such plant.
Never grow this variety without good air filtering if your neighbors are closer than a mile away!

Due to the massive thicket, manicuring took more than 3 hours, plus an additional hour to clean it all up and place the buds in the drying chamber. Wet weight 260g including stems, should result in 50-60g dry (~2 oz).

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Ye the slow air dry & the first few weeks of curing can be a little smelly !

Most of the time i do the slow air dry in the flowering tent, lights off & just the carbon filter with exhaust fan running to which i back up with odor removing jells etc... out side of the tent placed around the house & works pretty well

Ye i'm working at a sole tent for the slow air dry tho...

 

[grasbauer]

I set up this separate drying box because the AH3 is still flowering, and I want to be independent of its light cycle.
Original Cheese is one of the most smelly cultivars ever... it is a good test for any carbon filter setup.

The AH3 now has a lot more space. When finished in 2-3 weeks, the now 2 weeks old Nebula, growing in the old tent, will move in. And that will be the last run for the near future, as I don't have use for that much weed.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I would agree that some strains smell a lot during drying & curing but a wise idea is to use carbon filter/fan.

The grows looks very healthy through out & expected yield is promising, very good for cfl, soil & organic nutrients

 

[grasbauer]

The Cheese only yielded about 45g. It would've needed a longer veg phase for more.

Photo from Thursday 02/11


Ready for harvest


4 hours later...



Another half hour later..



Wet weight about 410g, so I expect 70-80g dry. Could've gotten more, most epistels were still white, probably some more growth to come, but I don't need more, and most trichomes were cloudy.

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

Ya doing just fine & i would be quite happy with the yield myself with the set up you have got going


For your 2nd grow with out problems you are doing very well indeed & must have green fingers or an angel looking over your shoulder...

I take my hat off for your success of skills

 

[grasbauer]

Thanks man. This new 4x55W panel does give better results than the old one with the overdriven 2x80 and limited selection of light colors (3000 & 4000K). Using 2700/6400 now.
Colas have much more resin than with the old lights, I can directly compare this now with the AH#3. The Cheese is extremely sticky.
The only open issue remains the slow vegging here. After a full month, the plants are still no more than 20 cm high.

I will report dry weight next week. And I will try iso extraction on the leaves and stems. Apart from that.. Nebula report coming up, plants are 32 days old.