GreenThumb J's Perpetual Multi-Strain Journal!

[Greenthumb J]

Thanks guys..

Canalchemist, BC, its like 16 degrees here this week with the crazy tropical weather system.

Hey Cronic, you didn't send the tropical weather over did you?? haha

the h2o2 bath is what i'm going to do.. all those other steps are great but not necessary, plus, nothing is here for longer than 3 weeks after jars being sealed for a week, as patients require medicine! They get trimmed and hung for 4-5 days at 60% rh, then put into air tight containers to sweat the moisture from the stems for 1-3 days. They get sealed for 6-10 hours at a time and are left to air out for 2-4 hours at a time. You will be able to tell when the buds are ready for jars, the stems will snap nicely, and the buds will have a nice stickiness to them, yet slightly dry on the outside. Then into mason jars for a week, burped each day for 15 mins. After that week, they are sealed with a boveda pack and put into a cool dark cupboard for at least 2 weeks before they are ready for patients.

The mildewy buds will be shaken of excess water after the h2o2 bath, then left in the flower tent with a fan directly on them. I'm even contemplating turning the lights on to help evaporate the water. they will then be trimmed when they are dry enough, and then hung to finish drying. Half will be hung in the veg tent receiving indirect light from a 600w MH, and the other half in the 4x4 tent with no light.

HN.. This is what i'm thinking... Cannabis naturally cures itself in nature, no? When the buds are ripening and such, theres still light hitting the plants.. Think about thousands of years ago, before civilization when farmers were cultivating it, i'm sure there were many people who used the daylight and the sun to help dry the buds and continue the ripening process. once the branch has been cut, it isn't completely dead yet, and what you said about the chlorophyll being removed afterwards with light, i kind of agree with this. Buds i dried in darkness in the 4x4 tent with not as much air circulation as the veg tent had a hay smell and a dry taste to it. All the buds i've dried in the veg tent so far with indirect light, has had absolutely zero plant or chlorophyll taste to it, and that Purple OG i pictured above is the most amazing and smooth tasting smoke ever.. Highly suggest that strain to people by the way, Dinafem OG kush.

Anyways, we will see how it goes with the drying. I gotta get some sleep.. been up all night working on the garden.. took 2 flood table stands apart, transplanted the Blueberry Headband and the Pink Kush plant. Man time for sleep! Long day tomorrow! Gotta get 4 wittbagger totes for my DWC plants to flower in, i'm completely out of Cal/Mag, so i need some more of that, and i need another GH dual diaphragm air pump.

Tomorrow i am taking an army of clones from my Pink Kush plants, so maybe i'll do a video tomorrow on that? We'll see!

Happy growing everyone!

 

[Greenthumb J]

I may have to change my name to "Question Guy" or "Info Ho"

knowledge slut works too.. haha

The PM wash has a video already out there by Jorge, but i guess i can do one. I need to get a tripod or something to hold my camera up.. maybe a GoPro? I DOOOO need a new camera lol

 

[Greenthumb J]

Congrats on your recent harvests J. looking forward to the rest of the Cookie chop.



So there you have it.

Thanks Reg!

I got 3 huge ass colas left to trim and about a zip of popcorn buds and thats it!!

The real fun will be harvesting the last OG.. shes a beast of a plant, and got a decent amount of mildew on her, so i'm interested to see how this h2o2 bath works!

 

[CCOiler]

GT you are a PRO so GO.

I haven't been called a slut since my teens, I wonder what they meant by that?

 

[GoodLuck]

Where I am all the steps I mentioned are required for me the RH is so low here I have to take measures, Either way the whole idea of curing is to leave enough moisture in the buds (65%RH) to allow the "Bacteria in the Buds" to consume the chlorophyll. To much moisture and you will get that ammonia smell from to much moisture and rot, not enough and you will never cure your buds. The Bacteria need enough moisture and air to do the cure and then die off.

Minimum cure two to three weeks in a jar. Best is a few months, I had some weed that was a one year cure when I was in Switzerland, that was ridiculous, like smoking perfection.

 

[CronicHempHog]

I don't think I sent anything your way
might be someone else bad weather usually follows people

 

[Greenthumb J]

Hey guys. I had a huge reply typed out for all your questions, but it seems that my draft is no longer saved, and i accidentally closed the window moments ago as my laptop screen decided it wanted to break.

The screen is still stupidly broken, and most likely i need a new laptop now as it will probably cost about $400 to get the fucking screen replaced through best buy.

Anyways, in light of this, i transplanted my Blueberry Headband last night, or i guess early this morning technically into a 1gal round pot. She's been tipped for a second time this morning as well, and looking good!!

so heres some shots of her:

These two shoots were tipped last night:

Roots baby!!

Now c526, keep it in your pants, she's a young'n still!!!

 

[GoodLuck]

So would you break apart the bound up roots before the transplant?

 

[Greenthumb J]

No, why would i do that?

 

[GoodLuck]

Looks root bound

 

[Greenthumb J]

not even close.. if i couldn't see any rockwool around the sides or bottom, I might think it was root bound.

the plant could go another week at least in here before being root bound and growing straight up due to having no horizontal space for roots to grow. keep in mind that a plant will only grow as wide as its roots will support it, plus these roots will start growing downwards now that they get more space to grow.

The problem people have when transplanting their plants, is they do it WAY too soon. as soon as they see roots at the bottom of their pots, they move the plants up a size. And this is wasting a pot size because you dont allow the roots to grow into a solid root mass.. You'll have a much more compact and bushy plant. Also having so much extra medium in the pot, holding moisture in is a good way to promote algae growth, as well as fungus gnats and other moisture-bound issues. Root growth is promoted as the medium dries out, as the plant sends the fine feeder roots outwards in search of more hospitable conditions.

 

[GoodLuck]

Okay sounds good.

Just always found that when the roots bunch up next to each other like that they have a hard time taking up anything because of the lack of medium, promotes root death and rot. That's why Airpots are great cause they prune the roots as the grow preventing them from running down the sides of the pot and in and around the profile of the pot and bunching up together. I can already see in your pictures the roots are turning colour in the middle of the bunch at the bottom.

When you harvest, break apart that bunch that big chunk of root will be brown and dead if not rotten. But maybe not I never grew anything in Rockwool.

 

[CronicHempHog]

the difference is hes not growing in soil and its almost like an rdwc
if its anything like the style hes modified
the roots go through and go into the res and keep growing
that is if im not mistaken

 

[GoodLuck]

I can't see how its even close to an RDWC where the roots literally float in oxygenated water, the roots don't know the difference between Rockwool and soil, it is the same criteria. If you take a roots and bunch them together like that they will suffocate and starve and die... Everyone who knows gardening knows what a rootbound plant looks like and knows that it is a bad thing whether it is expanded clay, coco coir, Soil, Perlite, doesn't matter root binding will have the same effect. Eventually, along the way stunting the plant and limiting its performance.

But if that's a normal thing and it doesn't affect rockwool then go for it, like I said I never grew a thing in Rockwool likely never will.

 

[Greenthumb J]

no dead or brown roots in my medium when i harvest.

Why would it be dead and rotten? The only reason you are seeing any discolouration in those roots are from lack of watering. i have been quite neglectful to my plants as of late. I normally water everyday with a nutrient solution in the morning and a Root Drench of either Subculture-M or Subculture-B in the afternoon/evening

The bunched up roots like that do not promote root death and rot, i'm not sure where you heard this.

Air pots aren't as great as you might think.. Sure they keep the plants roots from circling, but they amount of air that enters the growing medium stunts growth.. Air pruning roots stunts growth period. TheCapn and i are switching back to standard nursery pots because we are getting faster growth rates as the roots dont air prune. He's already switched back actually, and he's yielding even more per plant now using #7 pots rather than 7gal air pots, as the first few weeks of flower when the root mass explodes, the roots aren't being air pruned

This particular method of growing mocks soil growing, but the medium dries exponentially faster, and is an inert medium. Its also pH neutral, meaning the rockwool wont change the pH of the nutrient solution or the root zone itself. Rockwool is impossible to overwater, and i think its much more forgiving than soil is, as its much easier to flush the medium.

Plus.. come on.. dirt doesn't belong in the house!!! lol I can only imagine how many angry wives are out there vacuuming up soil and perlite everywhere haha

 

[Greenthumb J]

the key is to constantly transplant your plant up container size until the final flowering pot, this way you dont let your roots get a chance to actually get root bound.

I try to do it every 2 weeks, but the roots will tell ya when its time! sometimes 3 weeks is needed, sometimes i can transplant in 10 days.. depends on the strain and the growing conditions you provide!!

 

[Greenthumb J]

Cronic is close tho, as the nutrient solution DOES recirculate within the growing medium via a water pump and drip ring, then it returns to the reservoir for the next watering.

The roots do not grow through the pots. When i used AirPots however, they grew through the bottom piece of the AirPot and into the reservoir and thus became a DWC/top feed hybrid. With roots exposed to the elements like that is when you will suffer root rot and death.

With this particular method of hydroponics, you dont need to worry about water temps or even need to have an air stone in your reservoir as the roots do not sit submerged in water, so theres no need to aerate the water, plus you dont need to chill the water to maintain high levels of DO in the water as again, the roots get their oxygen from the air that enters the growing medium.

I do like DWC, however, its so much easier for something to go wrong in DWC if you dont pay attention to water quality, and if you grow in a room or tent that has high temps, you'll be battling pythium, as well as low levels of DO for your plants, which will perform poorly!

Growing in a Recirculating top feed system, i feel safe leaving my plants for up to a week, providing the reservoir is large enough, whereas, i would feel uneasy leaving my plants in any other growing method for longer than 3 days at a time.. And that works for me cause i go to Vegas at least once a year for a minimum of 7 days at a time!!

 

[shanker65]

Thats always frustrating when you have a good reply typed and you loose it.

On the brighter side your freebee HeadBand seedling couldn't be looking better! Looks like you caught her the perfect time for transplanting. She has a nice little root mass built up.

It takes balls to whip out pearly roots in public!

 

[Greenthumb J]

Thanks brother! She's coming along nicely. Not sure how long I will veg for, as these hybrids can be such terrible performers or straight up mutants lol.

Definitely not going to veg for 2 months. Shes been vegging now for 3 weeks and is about to really take off. I'll probably let her go another 3-4 weeks maybe before i put her in the final flowering pot and into the flower tent. If it performs well in flower, you can be sure i'll have at least 4-6 cuts of her ready to get a full 2 month veg and proper training.

 

[GoodLuck]

The bunched up roots like that do not promote root death and rot, i'm not sure where you heard this.

Bunched up roots, (Root Bound Roots) are not healthy because they are growing next to themselves and growing feeder roots around themselves, they consume everything in the immediate area to quickly, leaving them starving for oxygen moisture and food, that is why roots grow through mediums in search of food they were never meant to spiral around the bottom of a pot.

Every plant must have a healthy root system. Pathogens can attack and damage the roots of one plant, then rapidly infect other plants in the garden. Fusarium, Verticillium and Pythium are common and destructive root diseases that are attracted to unhealthy roots.

Air pruning roots stunts growth period.

Whaaaaaat? seriously? We need to expose the smart pot for what it really does... Stunt growth, is this what your suggesting?

Air pots aren't as great as you might think.. Sure they keep the plants roots from circling, but they amount of air that enters the growing medium stunts growth.. Air pruning roots stunts growth period.

I like them a lot and so do the folks in the links we are many

Nice tread OB Glad to see someone championing these great pots.
So far I couldn't be happier with mine. Looks like I'll have 4 more filled within a week. I watered my one girl today and the water ran right through her.
I think, your right, this is about as close to Hydro in soil as you can get. Lets see what we can do with these beautiful pots.

Smart pots blows the doors off of a bucket.... They do make a different root structure which is what makes them superior to the buckets.... the root mass from smart pots and air pots can support bigger and healthier plants... But hey, we all have our different experience and opinions, and that's what makes this a great place.. What works for some, may not work for others....

I can barely push my soil moisture probe thru the soil now, very dense root structure vs last time where the roots were thin, less fiberous and much less quantity. I can't wait until harvest so I can take a look at the roots on these babies and really see the difference. So far I prefer the smartpots...

theyre amazing. best root systems youll get out of soil (best ive seen at least)
you'll be pleased =]
using them currently and have used them in the past. they really promote great root structure

They work great, basically impossible to overwater with them. Like driftme said, you get some killer root systems and never have to worry about root bound issues.

I have used super roots plastic airpots and smart pots, love em both. I have wanted to try that blumat system, thats for auto watering right? If you get a chance please let us know how that turns out for you

air pots are great. they can be a little messy mate lol. water out of holes but they are much better than regular pots. i had a mother going nearly 4 years in a 40 litre air pot, was a beauty till the filth got their hands on it!

Ha Cultivator, I've had one crop through with the airpots now and I'm in love. Just got 6more. The root structure is fantastic.

Can you find the common thread, all these and many more love air pots cause of all the reasons they mentioned. No one mentioned air pruning stunts growth, and no one said the amount of air entering the medium stunts growth, Actually air in the medium promotes a healthy rhizosphere by promoting miro life that will support the roots.

This particular method of growing mocks soil growing

In what way does this mock organically grown buds specifically for medicinal purposes, there has been a very large migration from hydro to soil specifically because getting back to nature means far superior medication.

I can only imagine how many angry wives are out there vacuuming up soil and perlite everywhere haha

Your the belief that angry wives clean up after there messy husbands reminds me of old infomercials from the '60's. I won't show that post to my wife, she would have a pretty solid laugh at it.

Ah to late she laughed.

I have never grown in rockwool so I can't really speak to it.

Canal