Smacsidhe's Soil Mixed Strains Grow Journal - 2013

[trichifingers]

smacsidhe

Thought I'd check in on your journal since you checked in on mine, learned a few things to keep in mind.
Congrats on your harvest, good luck changing your room to rooms and system and strain changes for the next run's sounds like alot of work but will probably be worth it in the long run.
trichifingers

 

[smacsidhe]

Thanks trichifingers! I'm sure hoping that the super-crop works like the guy in the videos!

 

[smacsidhe]

Here are the plants with the lower buds still on to mature more. I expect to get about as much in total from the lower buds as I did off the tops, but a lot of them will be smaller.

Most of the trichomes are still clear coming into milky on these lower buds, so there's still lots of time for them to continue plumping up.
I've already got the starts picked out to take for the clones after I harvest the rest and revert back to veg.

 

[smacsidhe]

So today I took the rest of the WW buds, leaving enough on a couple lower branches to get a few good clones when I revert it to veg.
Everything is drying nicely, I think by tomorrow I can put the first batch of WW into jars. Tomorrow I will also take the rest of the PD, again leaving some on the bottom few branches to refoliate with and start some clones.
I likely won't post again until after the harvest is complete, and I have begun to work with the plants to revert. I'll post through that process, and of course, the requisite smoke reports on all four strains.
Now I know that the best way would be just to go buy some seeds or starts now, but I'm tapped out, thus the reversion to veg and cloning - if it works. I'll still get some new clones or seeds, after everything is cured and I know what I have for excess to sell. I figure I can run these through veg a little ahead of the clones I'll take from them, and right into bud while the second generation finishes veg and I start the new seeds or starts to veg right behind.
Ideally I want to get to the point where I am harvesting 6 aggressively super-cropped plants every month, starting with January. I'm hoping that I can veg these plants for 30 days after they are fully refoliated, and harvest by the end of January, with the first clones going into flower around the first of the year to harvest end of Feb, and the new starts going into flower the end of Jan to harvest around the end of March.
I now have the rest of my legal limit of caretaker cards lined up, and will have the paperwork in hand for the additional plants before they're needed. Frankly, I think they're putting a lot of faith in me as a new grower, I better not let them down - Sooo...
Please help me out with any advice you may have. I began this whole thing thinking I'd just be growing for me and one other friend who just wants an eighth oz a month for her insomnia, and being fairly sure I could handle keeping her and I in meds and still come out a few bucks ahead. Now two others want me to grow for them, and while I know I can do it, I'm still figuring out a lot of this stuff.

 

[pizzajedi]

thought i would pop by since youve been helping me out a lot, and i must say as one new grower to another i think that you are doing awesome for all the roadbumps you've hit. i just had another patient friend ask me to be their grower as well and here i was worrying about one. time to put on the game face! but your harvest looks good man, and you already seem to be getting a much better handle on things than i. im sub'd.

 

[smacsidhe]

Thanks Jedi, that's quite a compliment. I'm learning most of it right here, just exploring every nook and cranny of the forums, reading tons of grow journals, comparing what one person is doing with what someone else is growing the same strains, etc.
For instance, one sleepless night I searched for White Widow, and read every grow journal I found. I learned a lot about it, and am working on getting new genetics for that strain. Mine is at least 5 gens from the seed, and the mother had 4 or five sets of clones before mine. The genetics are breaking down, resulting in looser buds, less potent medication, lighter yields, and less robust plants in general than they should be.
In another thread I got sold on aggressive super-cropping, after seeing a video of this guys 2' tall 4' across super-cropped plant, with over a pound of bud on it's branches. In another I came across the idea of reverting my plants back to veg after harvest so I can get good clones, and run a quick crop of hash material on them while the clones mature.
My son taught me a lot about the basics, but the main thing he taught me was to read, read, and then read - and after that, read some more! He also taught me the importance of keeping track of everything that you do, so that you know what to never, ever, ever do again, lol.
I do have to say though, I really enjoy the 1st or 2nd crop grow journals the best. I know I have an excitement level that is starting to border on obsessive, lol. I enjoy seeing that new excitement in others, and I learn so much from what people say helping our fellow first-timers.

 

[shottafire]

^^^Well said.

On the genetics losing potency over time,,, I am going to beg to differ on that one. My Bubba has gone through close to forty generations and it never fails. But maybe from strain to strain It varies. I am on my fifth generation grape krush and it is still performing just learning what she likes. Minor tweaks from the feed to the light distance to the air temp all influence the plants in a huge way. But you got a sound knowledge so far and you will do good as long as you think things through without overthinking it. if that makes sense lol....


good job so far

 

[smacsidhe]

^^^Well said.

On the genetics losing potency over time,,, I am going to beg to differ on that one. My Bubba has gone through close to forty generations and it never fails. But maybe from strain to strain It varies. I am on my fifth generation grape krush and it is still performing just learning what she likes. Minor tweaks from the feed to the light distance to the air temp all influence the plants in a huge way. But you got a sound knowledge so far and you will do good as long as you think things through without overthinking it. if that makes sense lol....


good job so far

I can't argue with your results, lol, but I think some strains have weaker genetics that are more subject to genetic drift, or so I've been told. I do know that some growers I know limit the times a mother is used, and also limit the generations of mothers before they herm a plant and start over with seeds. These growers are ones who consistently produce better, more potent medicine. These are growers who are averaging 3/4 to a full pound per plant of top quality meds, with large (for the individual varieties) dense buds.

Now it may be that these growers are simply ones who are fanatical about every aspect of growing, and it's the fine details in the whole system they're working that produces those consistently superior results, but those results are hard to argue with. I only can take what I'm told and shown, and try to apply it with my limited expertise, seeking every advantage I can get, and what to copy and what to ignore in my search for the ultimate grow.

I do know that my nephew (where my mother came from to begin with, through my son) started with the WW mother I eventually got. He started over on the WW with new seeds from the same line and has better results this time in bud density, size, number of flowers and general plant robustness. My son, who had the mother between him and I, and used it to produce four crops, started over last crop with a clone from the nephews new from seed mother and saw the same improvement.

It's still all new to me, and I'll file your experience in the "Things To Keep In Mind" file under "Am I Over-Thinking?" list.

Anyone else want to weigh in on this one?

 

[shottafire]

I am a fanatic. hahaaha.

Honestly if it works better for you that way thats how you should do it. But it would be a pain to keep herming plants to go to seed and then start back up from bean again. I am lucky to have a stable cut that has only gotten better with generations I am now focusing on my second stable strain to see if it has any drift in its genetics never keeping a mother. Only time I am stressing anything to seed is when I shutdown my room completely.

Not trying to be a know it all here just stating my experience.

 

[smacsidhe]

Building a seed bank is actually part of the plan, for the other strains. I want to have some back up seeds in case of tragedy in the garden, but I intend to mostly go with taking sisters, no mother, like you are. If I never see signs of fading, and there is no tragedy to force me to start over again, then I'll never need the seeds, but I look at them as insurance. I'm not really planning when I'll build the seed bank, but other than the WW it will wait a while - after all, it's insurance, not an immediate need.

 

[smacsidhe]

Just an update on the reversion to veg... So far the flowering has stalled, and the plants seem to be in a holding state while changing over to vegetative growth. the buds I left, all small popcorn type stuff, have about 90% amber trichomes, half light yellow and half beginning to show some redishness. If I don't see signs of new vegetative growth within a few more days, I'll just take the rest of the bud and just get new clones.

 

[shottafire]

To reveg can take a while. Two weeks to see growth sometimes.

What lighting schedule and what have you fed them if anything?

I would give them a very light dose of some type of grow based nutrient. There is no leaves on the plant really to use what you give them so it must be a light dose like 1/8 strength or so which is next to nothing. I think if you can get clones of the same genetics I wouldn't waste any time revegging unless money is an issue or getting to where the clones are at is an issue.

Good Luck smac!!!

 

[smacsidhe]

Mostly it's that one or two of the strains I can't get clones of the same line. Then there's the time issue. My source of free clones of the other strains are a couple hundred miles away. I can't get up there until right before Thanksgiving, and hope to be able to take clones before then off these.
Growing them back out to bud again is just an experiment I'll do with the strongest of each strain, as they should be ready for budding again before the new clones, putting me more on track to begin my four stage crop rotation with a monthly harvest. Even if they don't produce much more than hash or concentrate material I'll be happy, any clean meds are good meds! Another advantage of re-veging these is that it will give me a chance to experiment with the bending and shaping for aggressive super-cropping a little ahead of when I'll be doing it on the new clones, which I want to super-crop without over stressing them like I did with last crop too many times. Also, I can move a couple of the ones I don't re-crop to another building and sex a couple branches to give me some seeds for future reserve.
I do realize that there is a very real chance that they will all herm from the combined stress of harvest and re-veg. If so, then I still learned something. I may end up not having any results that are usable at all, other than learning from what happens, and that's perfectly OK too.

 

[shottafire]

Ok then sounds like you got it sorted.

 

[smacsidhe]

Well, after taking a break for a couple days, I'm heading to visit my son. so far the plants are still in a holding phase while converting back to veg. I'm seeing some evidence that it is starting, hopefully by the time I get back on Wednesday they'll be going. I'm hoping to be able to get what I need to expand to a rotating continuous crop, harvesting about 6 plants a month.
Have a great weekend all... now off to wakey-bakey so I can level out before hitting the road..

 

[smacsidhe]

Yeah, new vegetative growth! Should be able to take clones an about two weeks. Suddenly this became a critical need, as my sons starts all got infested with spider mites, and he had to kill them off and clean his room. I had planned on getting clones from him if the reverting didn't work out.
About two months ago he asked me to bring him a couple starts from a friend. A few weeks later, he saw that they had mites, and he used several products to try to kill them off, but in the end he tossed them and cleaned his room with bleach. Unfortunately, he must have missed some eggs or something, because his new stats all got infested as well. Anyone know of a sure fire way to kill them off in a room? His veg room is a large closet in his bedroom.

 

[David Bowman]

How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial: Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

I am moving this to Abandoned Journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine.

 

[smacsidhe]

How did this grow turn out?

We would love to be updated with some pictures and info.

This has been a busy 9 months! Sorry about abandoning the journal, but my life got totally insane. My partner broke up with me and I had to move suddenly. Thankfully, I had just taken clones from all four strains. I lost the Jack Herer and the Dairy, those clones didn't take. I did not have a place to grow them though, so I was only able to keep them until they were ready for dixie cups, then I passed them onto a friend who had room in his rotation.
The White Widow and Purple Diesel are just going into bud.

So.. smoke reports on all four strains...
WW, exactly what you expect.
The Sour Diesel I cold stressed during bud, and it turned purple (never did get a good shot, but when I compared it to my son's SD, who gave me the starts, mine was purple compared to his, which had never experienced cold stressing). Mine was also much more potent, with a less heavy diesel aftertaste. The high was stony, with a medium couch-lock if you smoked too much.
The Dairy was a very nice balanced Sativa/Indica effect, with a rich creamy flavor and almost no harshness at all.
The JH was wonderful! an almost pure Sativa that makes for a great day-time med. I have to get more of this strain for my own use. I've never had such a good morning med!

The friend who took my plants into his grow is also now my housemate, so we get to work together on what is, for now, his garden. He already had BubbleGum, Train Wreck, Neville's Haze and Ace of Spades.
His TW is awesome! Smooth decent into complete oblivion if overdone, but wow!
The Bubblegum is a huge producer, with 7 or 8 " kola's, and branches that have to be supported by the middle of flowering. They are very resiny, and extreme care has to be taken to avoid bud-rot, as the resin traps moisture in the bud while the outside dries quickly. The HIgh is nicely balanced between body and head, with no couchlock. Taste is warm and smooth.
The Neville's Haze is almost as good for morning as the JH.
Ace of Spades is more of an Indica dominate, but without the couchlock until you are way past buzzed.

I am considering crossing the BG with the PD, and the NH with the WW just for the fun of it.

By the end of Autumn I should be moved again, this time out to a farm where I can grow for four cards. Which strains I keep will depend on the patients I recruit and their needs, but I know I'll keep at least one rotation that is a good blend of all for myself to use at different times for different needs.

I am curious, for those with seizure disorders. There are two types of seizure disorders, epilepsy, which is misfiring electrical impulses that cause seizures, and idiopathic, which is caused by a chemical imbalance. I know that some cannabinoids are very effective for epilepsy, but does anyone know about idiopathic seizures?