Emeraldo's 2020 West-Facing Balcony Grow

[Emeraldo]

Good spotting, Koro

Timing it is the trick. I’ve been doing this deliberately for the last few I felled. When you get the timing right you can see trichomes proliferate and swell.
Watching the ‘leaf wilt angle’ to gauge turgidity is one of a few cues. At 50% droop is about where the magic happens.
Our mate @Maritimer has a whole thread of developing some of these ideas. I’ll post a link when the farrier has next been.

We are only the ones lucky enough to live contemporaneously with the now legendary Acapulco Gold. You know the future is already full of a slack jawed readership come to see where the beginnings of modern mythology were made. No doubt many will be electrocuted by dribbling into their keyboards. Research like this full of such hazards.


I wonder what the effects on your flowers will be from a foliar feed of potash?
I‘ve heard of fertigating this as a bloom booster.

Hey DD, had some leaf wilt angle yesterday. Almost was electrocuted by drooling into my bass amp.

Temps had been cooler, but yesterday it hit 93 F again, and since I have cut back on the water (heading into harvest) for White Widow and G13-Haze, they were sensitive to the heat. (Blackberry and Super Lemon Haze continue to get a good watering as they are not yet ripe.)

So anyway I looked up at the balcony from below in mid-afternoon and saw the droopy leaves on G13Hz and White widow. I hurried upstairs and gave them water, which had the effect of reviving the leaves on both plants after about 30 min. Then I remembered your post above. Maybe this lapse will intensify the G13 Haze and White Widow...

@Stunger Btw, I saw on weedexpress.com that they have the Acapulco Gold! Hee Yaw. I wonder if it is the same or similar to Barney's Farm's AG. From the write up it sounds like it may be. Does WSE sell off label seeds that are from the big names? Here's the link Acapulco Gold seeds (feminized) | FREE SHIPPING | Weedseedsexpress

 

[Stunger]

Gold Leaf has now been curing in the jars for about 10 days. The buds were an easy harvest, they are compact keep their shape even after drying. I ground up two smaller buds and rolled a fat long doobie.

The smoke last night was oddly a bit harsher than the pre-cured smoke we had off the water heater quick-drying. But the effect is immense, so strong, my wife and I were both plastered and had only smoked about 1/4 of a nicely endowed joint. This is the freshest it gets. Aroma is a wonderful citrus, earth, with a spritz of turpentine, a mouthwatering aroma. The heavy buzz does wear off in an hour or so, but if used in the evening, this is a weed that will help you sleep all night long...

That's encouraging, so having toke tested it, did you reach any conclusion on what your guess of what possible genetics the Gold Leaf could be?

 

[Stunger]

@Stunger Btw, I saw on weedexpress.com that they have the Acapulco Gold! Hee Yaw. I wonder if it is the same or similar to Barney's Farm's AG. From the write up it sounds like it may be. Does WSE sell off label seeds that are from the big names? Here's the link Acapulco Gold seeds (feminized) | FREE SHIPPING | Weedseedsexpress

I gather that they do source their's from other breeders but unless stated in their strain descriptions it usually isn't divulged. Yes I wondered that with Acapulco Gold whether they would be the same or sourced from somewhere else. Altho for you with coming up to the 'end-game' of your fantastic looking grow I am also interested in the overall comparison between the strains you've grown so nicely and what has shined and stood out the most.

 

[Emeraldo]

That's encouraging, so having toke tested it, did you reach any conclusion on what your guess of what Gold Leaf genetics could be?

Well, actually, I signed a non-disclosure agreement with I Love Growing Robert Bergman's Strains, lol.

I am tempted to write Robert and ask. He certainly write to me all the time, asking if I read his many informative emails, many of which end up in my spam and don't get read. Lately he even threatened to take me off his mailing list because his special deal emails didn't get read. Maybe he would tell me, particularly if I told him how much I liked it.

But since you ask, I can't say for sure what the cross is, but there is a lemon terpene and a zingy gasoliney-turpentiney terpene in it. It grows like a sativa, bud structure is very much like your haze, long branches with a nice round bud at each node. Maybe there is a bit of lemon skunk in there...

But with that deep relaxing effect, it is definitely 60% indica, as he said. The other thing, the Gold Leaf was also a fairly early harvest, on Oct 7, so two weeks before the mostly sativas. Again, this points to its indica heritage.

 

[DonkeyDick]

Almost was electrocuted by drooling into my bass amp.

You are multitalented.
I didn’t know that you are also a drummer.

Maybe this lapse will intensify the G13 Haze and White Widow...

Maybe..

Lately he even threatened to take me off his mailing list because his special deal emails didn't get read.

He’s a rotten spammer.

That balcony is still looking delicious. It sounds like it’s been a very successful season for you.

I’m with Koro. It seems like only yesterday..
(I hope your amp is ok now?)

 

[Emeraldo]

Today I will harvest White Widow and G13 x Haze. Blackberry and Super Lemon Haze will have another week or so. How did the referendum go?

 

[DonkeyDick]

Thanks Em’o. We won’t know for two weeks!
They’ll be waiting for special votes to come in and be counted. These are the votes cast away from your home electorate or overseas.
There’ll be some last minute jostling of candidates too as the specials come in.

This is the first time I’ve been optimistic about the referendum outcome since it was announced.
Nail biting stuff now.

That white widow sounds like a good one. I have a bean or two to try when/if I manage to get some clearance from my veg situation.

 

[Emeraldo]

I'll be biting my nails and crossing my fingers waiting on the referendum result.

Harvested three plants today: White Widow, G13 x Haze, and Blackberry. Through the digital microscope the trichomes looked mostly cloudy, whitish, with a tad of amber here and there. Blackberry still has some clear even now but it was time to chop, mostly cloudy. Inevitably, there was some bud rot on the Blackberry too because the nugs are so dense and packed in close on the branch, some individual buds dry up and turn crumbly, but I just cut those out; a good 90% was fine. Now trimmed, washed and hanging in the darkened shower with fan running.

 

[Emeraldo]

...
I didn’t know that you are also a drummer.

Ha ha. Not a drummer, but playing bass requires keeping time. In jazz, at least, the bass player is the time-keeper. The drummer has freedom to become a percussionist. In rock, the drummer is like Charlie Watts of the Stones.

That balcony is still looking delicious. It sounds like it’s been a very successful season for you.

I’m with Koro. It seems like only yesterday..
(I hope your amp is ok now?)

DD, this has been my best grow ever. Yes, it turned out very well compared with past grows, despite the heat, wind, and smoke from wildfires. I'll not forget that Acapulco Gold grow, the legend came alive. That plant was fantasic, will have to grow that one again. White Widow from Spliffs, my second year in a row growing that. A mostly indica, my wife's favorite. Has a wonderful aroma. So far, I like all the strains I've sampled from this year. Only Super Lemon Haze remains to be harvested next week, and I haven't even had a chance to try her, I didn't think she was ripe. Now it is starting to look that way. Will post a photo of SLH soon.

 

[Stunger]

I was thinking that this grow must have been up there amongst your best grows going from the significant balcony forest you had cultured this year. Funny how the mind ticks away in the off season and comes up with yet more ways to wedge more plants in and train them to maximize the available sunshine. It certainly looked like a job well done! I look forward to the smoke reports and comparisons between the strains, and overall yield number.

 

[Emeraldo]

I was thinking that this grow must have been up there amongst your best grows going from the significant balcony forest you had cultured this year. Funny how the mind ticks away in the off season and comes up with yet more ways to wedge more plants in and train them to maximize the available sunshine. It certainly looked like a job well done! I look forward to the smoke reports and comparisons between the strains, and overall yield number.

It's one of those, "you know you're a grower when..." your mind does that on the off-season. Mine certainly does.

Finally harvested my last two plants: Super Lemon Haze and the final colas from Blackberry that were hanging over the railing (most of the Blackberry was harvested Oct 17, so these colas had an extra 6 days).

I figured SLH would have quite a bit of crumbly bud from insect damage and exposure. And about 25% of the bud ended up on the compost heap, it was just too much unappetizing dried crumbly crud, plus I saw at least 3 worms. That white fly always settles on the highest colas in the grow and this year that was SLH (especially after Acapulco Gold was harvested). If I don't spray neem oil + safer soap often enough, there are even more worms. This year I stopped spraying neem about 4 weeks before harvest. Most affected by worms were Dream Berry and SLH, but the wash with a second bath of hydrogen peroxide + fresh lemon juice seemed to make them want to get out of the bud, lowering themselves down from the bud to the bathtub floor in the shower where they bud is drying.

The SLH has a wonderful lemon-skunky aroma. The trichomes looked perfect, mostly cloudy.

The surpize bonus of the grow came after SLH was cut, washed and drying. I went back to the balcony and cut down the Blackberry branch that hung out up and over the railing. I had hardly ever inspected her, given her odd location, but did spray a few times during August, but not much. I really did not expect much. Hence my great surprize to see, on chopping that branch, that the quality of her trichomes was the best of that whole plant. Mostly cloudy, a bit of clear and amber. So I harvested all that was left.

I noticed that these Blackberry colas were totally free of crumbly bud and I saw no worms. I remembered reading that Nirvana Blackberry is said to be bug resistant.

Makes sense that cannabis strains can be insect resistant. After all, isn't THC primarily "intended" as a repellent to protect the egg from attack by bugs?

 

[DonkeyDick]

Congratulations on concluding a fantastic season on your balcony, Em’o.

You had a dream run. (The alarm will go in a minute. With a sinking feeling and a rising panic you will soon fall awake and remember you are really a trombonist) JK
Yuck to bugs. I’m copacetic with cannabis on that score. And yes, resin is expensive for the plant to produce, so an infestation will likely increase production as she tries to protect her precious flowers. Well done on the wash!

 

[Emeraldo]

Congratulations on concluding a fantastic season on your balcony, Em’o.

You had a dream run. (The alarm will go in a minute. With a sinking feeling and a rising panic you will soon fall awake and remember you are really a trombonist) JK
Yuck to bugs. I’m copacetic with cannabis on that score. And yes, resin is expensive for the plant to produce, so an infestation will likely increase production as she tries to protect her precious flowers. Well done on the wash!

Thanks a bunch, DD. It has been a dream run.

Washing the bud this year has been a very positive improvement. The bud is cleaner, tastier, and as far as I can tell just as strong as unwashed. Last night we partook of a freshly cured G13 x Haze joint, our first toke of that this year. We only smoked about 1/4 of it, and both of us were pretty smashed and slept all night.

Bugs inside must be a nightmare. Bugs outside were relatively few this season, mainly it's the strong wind that keeps them away from the balcony for most of the summer. In the end, however, toward the finish of flowering, the worms came out more in some strains and less in others. Maybe Koro can add "insect infestation" to "heat stress" therapy to intensify THC production, lol.

 

[DonkeyDick]

Koro can have some of his heavy lifting done for him already. Methyl jasmonate applied to the plant at the right time, in the right way, mimics an infestation to the plant’s immune system and triggers increased resin production.

 

[Stunger]

Well that sounds a pretty satisfying conclusion to a great grow in challenging circumstances, with sky turned red from bushfires and ash. The Super Lemon Haze sounds amazing for it having a lemon skunk smell, I have never smelt a lemon smelling strain so it sounds quite amazing, a shame about the insect damage to it. A real bonus with the Blackberry proving to have a good level of insect resistance.

The bud washing does sound a good thing to do, especially when plants are getting insect infestations and in your case the ash particles landing on them from bush fires made it more desirable to do. Last grow I was quite taken with whole plant drying as it worked well for me but the size made it tricky to bud wash when taken into account that I was having to keep it all furtive and low key. But it is at the back on my mind for trying in the future.

I have added crustacea meal in the form of dried shrimp to my soil this year, the Chitin in it is supposed to help trigger some sort insect resistance in the plant and was a favored ingredient of Clackamas Coot's soil recipe altho I don't know if there is any sort of increased resin production like the the Methyl Jasmonate that DD mentioned. I will probably just stick with a bit of drought stress treatment near the end!

 

[Emeraldo]

Koro can have some of his heavy lifting done for him already. Methyl jasmonate applied to the plant at the right time, in the right way, mimics an infestation to the plant’s immune system and triggers increased resin production.

Is that still safe to consume? Do humans react to that in some way? Let's not encourage Koro to get carried away, lol.

 

[Emeraldo]

Well that sounds a pretty satisfying conclusion to a great grow in challenging circumstances, with sky turned red from bushfires and ash. The Super Lemon Haze sounds amazing for it having a lemon skunk smell, I have never smelt a lemon smelling strain so it sounds quite amazing, a shame about the insect damage to it. A real bonus with the Blackberry proving to have a good level of insect resistance.

The bud washing does sound a good thing to do, especially when plants are getting insect infestations and in your case the ash particles landing on them from bush fires made it more desirable to do. Last grow I was quite taken with whole plant drying as it worked well for me but the size made it tricky to bud wash when taken into account that I was having to keep it all furtive and low key. But it is at the back on my mind for trying in the future.

I have added crustacea meal in the form of dried shrimp to my soil this year, the Chitin in it is supposed to help trigger some sort insect resistance in the plant and was a favored ingredient of Clackamas Coot's soil recipe altho I don't know if there is any sort of increased resin production like the the Methyl Jasmonate that DD mentioned. I will probably just stick with a bit of drought stress treatment near the end!

Yes, it is interesting to learn there are strains that resist bugs. Actually, most of my strains this year seem to have suffered less from insect damage than in prior years. The spraying of neem oil + insecticidal soap mixture is part of that, I'm sure. But interestingly, only the SLH and Dream Berry got hit by bugs in a noticeable way, and those were among the tallest plants I grew, I still have a theory that the whitefly likes to land and lay her eggs on the tallest colas. I remember zapping quite a few of those as they fluttered around the DB. Even so, those two strains are a good 95% consumable, as I threw almost none of the Dream Berry out. Blackberry, Gold Leaf, White widow, G13 Haze, and Acapulco Gold were all basically free of bugs. But they had plenty of dirt, ash, webs, etc.

Bud washing will be a standard thing for me, there is "no going back" to not washing. I got three 5 gallon buckets at Lowe's, the big box home improvement store.
1. 35 gr baking soda in the 5 gallons water @ 20 C
2. 190 ml hydrogen peroxide + juice from one large lemon (or 2 limes) in 5 gallons
3. 5 gallons plain water
You need buckets that are deep enough so that you don't have to push too hard to get the whole branch under the bath's surface. Buckets 18 inches deep is all I could find; it will work if you can't find deeper. On some of the longer branches, I bent them in the middle so they would fit without pushing their tip against the bottom of the bucket. Trying to avoid damaging the trichomes. The trichomes can take the plunging into the water, and in fact you need to swish your branch around a bit to get the dirt off. But all in all, it is a good thing to do, just 30 seconds in each bucket. As you suggest, you do need to cut your branches shorter so they'll fit well in the bucket. The whole plant approach might work in a swimming pool...

 

[Stunger]

2. 190 ml hydrogen peroxide + juice from one large lemon (or 2 limes) in 5 gallons

Of the 190 ml of hydrogen peroxide you used, what percentage strength was it, 3%, 5% ?

The whole plant approach might work in a swimming pool...

Yes the trouble with trying to accommodate a big whole plant is not just needing a large volume to hold the wash/es, like a kid's paddling pool, but also need huge increases in the H2O2 to keep the correct ratios. If I had your circumstances of the bush fires and ash laden air then I imagine I would be bud washing too. In the future I may try bud washing on a small sample just to be able to compare the improvement.

Drying can be problematic, everyone's situation is different with different environmental humidities etc. With my last grow the whole plant drying followed by a dry trim worked really painlessly well for me. Whereas the previous year I had cut and wet trimmed the buds and found I had over dried and then I tried to correct that by rehydrating which was a pain. I really liked the slow steady dry that whole plant drying allowed for me in my circumstances/environment.

 

[Emeraldo]

I bought 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide. I calculated 190 ml for 5 gallons of water, based on info that told me 10ml per liter. Five gallons being 19 liters.

Yes! to the slow dry. I am happy the set up this year has the room temperature in the drying set up (hanging in the shower with light blocked to a large part) was 70-75 F, humidity at 50%+ immediately following the washing but within a few hours had dropped to below 50% and not going lower than 42%. I discovered I can raise the humidity slightly if needed by closing the door, which with the fan running inside pulls in a bit of fresh air under the door and from the window, which is only loosely covered with the black plastic bag. I let the buds hang for about 4 days and they are ready to jar.

 

[Emeraldo]

I guess it's time to close this grow journal, I'll start a new one in a few months. A big hearty thanks to all who stopped by and helped me get through the issues I ran into, and to those who made me laugh about my sometimes funny situation. Or not so funny. It was a grow I'll remember as one of the best. I'll forget how much work it was.

Now, almost three months on, I do have some news or maybe it's just perspective, on each of the strains.

Blackberry (Nirvana's): Definitely a close-to-favorite. Good body, a nice head buzz. Grows dense bud, and the surprize was this strain is resistant to the bugs that stop by during flowering. It's got a good CBD as well as THC. I made several jars of strong Blackberry canna-cream for topical use for a friend with pain from a botched knee replacement operation. Me I like smoking or edibles on this one. Evening use is fine.

Super Lemon Haze (Greenhouse): I was not impressed with the beauty of the plant, and for the longest time I couldn't see any flowering going on (maybe that's because most of the plant was "somewhere, over the raingutter"), though there was a lemon scent. As it turns out, smoked or edible, this strain is fantasic, my wife's absolute favorite. I made a strong cannabutter with coco oil and it has an intense body with an exhilarating high, which fades after a time so that sleep can set in.

Acapulco Gold has a nice easy, not too strong, head high and a smooth smoke. The crop was huge, and I harvested the plant three times before it was over. It was a beautiful plant to grow, as maybe some of the photos show.

Dream Berry -- very much a head high with little body effect. Pleasant, easy daytime use. Stimulating.

Gold Leaf: As per a few of the October posts discussed. Extremely relaxing 60% indica with a zingy lemony aroma and a bit of turpentine. Nice plant to grow, an indica that grows like a sativa. Easy to harvest.

G13-Haze: My favorite from 2019, I let her go a bit longer this year and wow it is a strong one, another world!

White Widow (Spliff's): A very nice relaxing weed for before bedtime. Grew this for the second time this year and let her go about two weeks longer.

Thanks again everyone, and I look forward to seeing you all here later this year. Be well and enjoy your time!

Journal may now be archived, thanks 420