1st Tent For A BAG

[CherokeeJ]

I tried to get a mix. The IE is a pure Indica, the DQ is an Indica-dominant cross, and the GR is more on the Sativa-dom side. As I understand it, it's a Dream Queen by White Rhino cross. Hoping the buds will be fat and dense, like the DQ. Should be very tasty. 8^)

 

[CherokeeJ]

Well, looked in yesterday early afternoon, and things were looking a touch dry.

So, I watered. Just water, and enough pH Down to hit 5.8 for the soilless, and 6.5 for the supersoil.

I looked in again just before lights-out, and the nute burn on the DQ is getting worse. Everything else looks fine. Brought the DQ and the soilless GR out this morning and rinsed each with 3 full gallons of 5.8 pH water. Supposed to be relatively cool today, I think I'll leave them outside until their bed time, then I'll bring 'em back in.

I guess that puts the every-other-watering-@-1/2-strength feeding schedule out the door.

RW works fine for rooting clones, but soilless growing just doesn't seem to be my thing. I think from now on I'll just grow in good, old-fashioned dirt. Supersoil works well, and it's cheap.

Still pulling down on the two GR's in soil. I don't mind. Long as those spaces between nodes fill in with buds. 8^)

 

[Greenthumb J]

Ive read many articles and posts about the harm moving your plants inside then outside then back out. you run the risk of getting a bug infestation and ruining your whole grow room when you bring it back in. You also risk bringing attention to your grow by having plants outside that may be visible. Your plant is used to the artificial light it gets in its controlled environment and can be damaged by going into direct sunlight right away without given any time to adapt to its new environment, only to be taken back into a different environment later in the day.

to me, this seems like more stress on the plant than i want to put on it. I want the best yield possible with the least amount of moving, transplanting and stress possible. This will a controlled environment indoors should yield killer plants every time!

 

[CherokeeJ]

Well, when you're right, you're right. But I can't run 6 gallons thru the bedroom, and the plants came back in at 10 AM, cuz we had to leave at 10:15.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Went in this morning and things are looking better. Seems someone was more than heavy-handed with the nutes. Gonna drop that way back, and keep a close eye on the preferred pH for each medium.

Things are looking pretty sweet out on the patio today. Dream Queen is looking very royal.

And the resurrected Infinite Euphoria...

Looks like she might make a nice donation to the medicine jar this fall.

I can only imagine what she would look like had she not fallen victim to the pH problems. She was closer to dead than alive, and here she is just a few weeks later, doing her damnedest to perpetuate her DNA. Yay, DNA!

 

[CherokeeJ]

Had a peek into the dome this morning, and the DQ cuttings taken on the 11th are rooted. Nice beards. Usual conditions... 78°, 85%.

Still a dozen more cuttings in the dome that were taken on the 16th. Still on 18/6, spritz w/ weak FFGB solution about every other day. IIRC, pH of solution is 6.7. Think I'll change that out for some 5.8 today, since they're in more of a hydroponic type situation. I'll pour what I already have mixed on my pepper plants. They love Fox Farm.

Only thing I can say about the tent this morning is "Come on September."

 

[Greenthumb J]

Had a peek into the dome this morning, and the DQ cuttings taken on the 11th are rooted. Nice beards. Usual conditions... 78°, 85%.

Still a dozen more cuttings in the dome that were taken on the 16th. Still on 18/6, spritz w/ weak FFGB solution about every other day. IIRC, pH of solution is 6.7. Think I'll change that out for some 5.8 today, since they're in more of a hydroponic type situation. I'll pour what I already have mixed on my pepper plants. They love Fox Farm.

Only thing I can say about the tent this morning is "Come on September."

if you're cloning in rockwool, i would suggest a PH of 5.8 for soaking prior to putting cuttings in rockwool.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Yeah, I fed the stuff I had already mixed to the peppers. They love that stuff. And I love peppers. 8^)

Mixed up some new spray solution @ 5.8 pH, 1 tsp/G of FFGB. I'll spritz the cuttings this morning, when the lights come on.

Not much to report. Did a little bit of defoliation on the outside plants. Not much. The potted clones are doing well. Looks like they're getting in at least a little veg time.

Had a look in the tent yesterday, shortly before lights-out, and everything was looking pretty sweet. Buds growing, working to fill the gaps between nodes.

Gotta love it when it works.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Had a look in the tent, happy to report that all is well. One of the GR's was looking a tad dry, so the soil plants shared a gallon of 6.5pH water. The soilless plants are still damp from their rinse the other day.

Took another gallon of water out to the patio. Also took my loop. I see calyxes. On the DQ, on the IE, and on some of the potted clones. Bam! Goin' into bud.

Ain't it good to wake up alive?

 

[Greenthumb J]

Ain't it good to wake up alive?

And with a hoard of beautiful ladies waiting to bloom!

 

[CherokeeJ]

Yeah, ain't it great? They are beautiful.

The only problem is...

Weed, weed everywhere, but nary a nug to smoke. Come on September!

 

[CherokeeJ]

The question for today is...

How long can I leave rooted clones in a humidity dome?

All 3 of the DQ's cut on the 11th have beards, as does one DQ cutting taken on the 16th. Some of the beards are starting to get long.

The 4 DQ's on the far right are rooted, as are the three IE's on the far left. I expect to see roots on all the rest by Tuesday.

If I mix up some weak solution at 5.8pH and pour 1/4" of it into the tray, can I leave them in there for a couple of weeks without root rot, or some other nasty malady putting a hurt on 'em?



Weekly update, ala Nikon. Day 28 of 12/12.

Dream Queen, with Infinite Euphoria in the left background, and Green Ribbon hiding behind, on the right. All looking sweet.

Here's a closer look at Dream Queen. She's beautiful. I don't know how close this site will let you zoom in, but in the original image on my box, I can count the trichomes. They look sweet. 8^)

Green Ribbons, growing like weeds. Gee, how about that?

Out on the patio, we have a somewhat defoliated Infinite Euphoria...

and a really bushy Dream Queen...

Along with a few small potted clones.

The clones I brought home in April were smaller than these when they got put outside in 12 hours of light, and they produced a surprisingly nice yield. So I'm not too disappointed that they aren't bigger. Little bit, but not too much. I'll complain about it when I'm blazing up prior to my treatments in November.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Here's a cropped version of the DQ close-up. Little fuzzy, cuz a pro photog I'm not. But I'm learning.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Went in this morning and made some minor adjustments in the tent. Pulled down on the GR's 'til they were at about the same height as the rest of the grow. Then I lowered the lamp a couple of inches. Little less hi-lo in there. Looks to me like the GR's have finally finished their elongation. Now, the buds are growing. Sweet!

The plants are looking good. Healthy, green, and blooming. And the smell! Damn, but it smells good in there.

I'll ask again (although this may not be the right place to ask, but if not here, I don't know where...) How long can I leave clones, rooted in RW cubes, in a humidity dome? Is there some procedure I need to follow to get them to live OK in the dome for a few weeks, without potting them?

The inquiring mindless need to know...

 

[Greenthumb J]

Went in this morning and made some minor adjustments in the tent. Pulled down on the GR's 'til they were at about the same height as the rest of the grow. Then I lowered the lamp a couple of inches. Little less hi-lo in there. Looks to me like the GR's have finally finished their elongation. Now, the buds are growing. Sweet!

The plants are looking good. Healthy, green, and blooming. And the smell! Damn, but it smells good in there.

I'll ask again (although this may not be the right place to ask, but if not here, I don't know where...) How long can I leave clones, rooted in RW cubes, in a humidity dome? Is there some procedure I need to follow to get them to live OK in the dome for a few weeks, without potting them?

The inquiring mindless need to know...

If they are rooted, i would remove the humidity dome as the chance of mold and mildew outbreak increases with the humid environment you are providing for your clones.

Your best bet i think would be to construct some sort of Ebb and Flow system to feed the rockwool blocks to continue to grow the clones.

Or, Go to your local hydro store and inquire as to if they sell rockwool cubes. They look like croutons. get a bunch of 5" pots and soak the rockwool cubes in a light nutrient solution and pot your clones in the 5" pots with the rockwool grow cubes. Make sure they are packed down nicely around the rockwool so as not to create huge air pockets for algae and such to form. This will give them a couple more weeks before you can decided what to finally do with them.

If no course of action is taken, you're going to have roots exposed to light and undesirable conditions that may affect the health of your clones and affect overall yield in the end, or chance of clones turning hermaphroditic.

The clones look amazing tho! rooted so fast too.. Whats your method? i took a bunch of clones almost a month ago and they are barely rooted, or not rooting anymore and look to be dying off.. Might just stick to germinating seeds as i have better luck with that is seems!

 

[CherokeeJ]

My method... Hmmm... I use the RW starter cubes, the 1 1/2" size, with a small hole already in 'em. I deepen the little hole with a small, clean metal rod. Make it about 1" deep, not all the way thru. Soak well in weak, pH adjusted FFGB solution. Here's the trick my buddy recommended, and it seems to work well... Using the powdered rooting hormone (Bontone Rooting Powder, from Homey's Depot) I spoon a small amount into the hole. Then prep the cutting by making a second 45° cut on the end of the stem with it underwater in the soaking solution. Dip the end in the powder for several seconds, then insert into the cube. I make sure to dip at least one node. Spritz every other day... and hope for the best. Seems to be working.

I use another little trick. My halitosis. Every morning when I check on the dome, I exhale into the dome a few times thru one of the vents on top. Read somewhere that human breath is as high as 40000ppm CO2. I don't know how true that is, or if it even does any good at all, but I figure if my stinky breath doesn't kill 'em, the extra CO2 can't hurt.

Back in the 80's, I used vermiculite and RooTone to root cuttings. It worked well, too.

Yeah, I'm going to have to figure something out with these clones. I've got a 2 tube T8 out in the garage, but it gets awful hot out there, and that's a crappy little light. If I had the room, I'd buy another tent. Like to veg these for about two to three weeks, then hit 'em with 12/12. Do the Ounce-on-a-stick, with some small nugs at the bottom. Pretty much exactly what I expect from the potted clones currently out on the patio.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Picked up a used 24", 4 tube T5 and some 6400K tubes yesterday. Reasonable.

And some 3" grow blocks.

I'll set up a make-shift ebb-and-flo type thing with the blocks in the tray from the dome, and veg those clones for a month. Once the tent is harvested, I'll get it cleaned up, put 'em in some 6" pots, and then they can go in the tent. It's worth a shot.

This hydroponic-style soilless growing is new to me. A learning experience. It'll work, or it won't. But I'm gonna find out. Like I said, Murphy loves to kick my ass, but I'm a glutton for punishment. The worst that can happen... I learn how NOT to do it.

Got a gallon of 1 tsp Grow Big solution mixed up @ 5.8pH, and the blocks are soaking in it.

I'll post a pic once I get it all set up.

 

[CherokeeJ]

Okily-dokily, smokily. I did the deed. Had to snip the corners off the rooting blocks to fit 'em into the larger blocks. Unfortunately, I did wind up cutting a few small roots on a couple of them, but hopefully, the damage won't be too bad.

Here's a pic. Half a dozen Infinite Euphoria on the left, same for Dream Queen on the right. All 12 in the larger blocks have nice beards. Three DQ's in the middle. Pretty sure the two in front are rooted, just not showing their beards yet. The one in back didn't take. I re-dipped it in more rooting powder, but I doubt it's going to do much. Not going to lose any sleep over it.

And here's a really lousy pic of the set up. Timer on 18/6. Think I'll get some white foam-board at Wally World and put some front and back walls on this. I'll leave the ends open for air flow.

Wife's gonna beat me like a rented mule when she finds out I bought another light. Isn't the first time, damn sure won't be the last. But we'll both get over it come harvest of these sweethearts.

Checked the tent. The three soil plants got a drink of FFBB, 1 Tbl/G, 6.5pH. Those girls are getting thirsty lately. Probably their only feeding.

The soilless are still a tiny bit damp. I'll wait another day before I give them their first feeding since the rinse.

Some have said I'm over-doing it for a personal grow. I disagree. I smoke a lot of grass. A LOT of grass. If I've got it, it's lit. And I have every intention of being seriously baked for five weeks following my next series of treatments in November. Cuz those treatments are absolute Hell on Earth. And I've already told the wife, under no uncertain terms... No grass, no treatments.

Big buds and to all.

 

[Greenthumb J]

Okily-dokily, smokily. I did the deed. Had to snip the corners off the rooting blocks to fit 'em into the larger blocks. Unfortunately, I did wind up cutting a few small roots on a couple of them, but hopefully, the damage won't be too bad.

Here's a pic. Half a dozen Infinite Euphoria on the left, same for Dream Queen on the right. All 12 in the larger blocks have nice beards. Three DQ's in the middle. Pretty sure the two in front are rooted, just not showing their beards yet. The one in back didn't take. I re-dipped it in more rooting powder, but I doubt it's going to do much. Not going to lose any sleep over it.

And here's a really lousy pic of the set up. Timer on 18/6. Think I'll get some white foam-board at Wally World and put some front and back walls on this. I'll leave the ends open for air flow.

Wife's gonna beat me like a rented mule when she finds out I bought another light. Isn't the first time, damn sure won't be the last. But we'll both get over it come harvest of these sweethearts.

Checked the tent. The three soil plants got a drink of FFBB, 1 Tbl/G, 6.5pH. Those girls are getting thirsty lately. Probably their only feeding.

The soilless are still a tiny bit damp. I'll wait another day before I give them their first feeding since the rinse.

Some have said I'm over-doing it for a personal grow. I disagree. I smoke a lot of grass. A LOT of grass. If I've got it, it's lit. And I have every intention of being seriously baked for five weeks following my next series of treatments in November. Cuz those treatments are absolute Hell on Earth. And I've already told the wife, under no uncertain terms... No grass, no treatments.

Big buds and to all.

I'm digging it man!! +reps for your setup.

I just checked my first batch of clones i took. i started with 12 and by process of elimination as well as ones that didn't root, i am down to 4 from the original. 2 of those have finally popped some roots out the bottom of the 3" blocks, so i know they're established and ready to transplant and the other 2 should be doing the same by tomorrow or the next day. I started in the 1 1/4" blocks that are kinda tapered on the bottom so they fall over easily then put them in 3" blocks with a light bloom mixture as well as Aquashield and some mychorrizae.

My second attempt at taking clones has gone much better. In 1 gal of water i added 5ml of Gen Hydro's Flora Bloom, 10ml of Botanicare's Aquashield, 1.5ml of Gen Hydro's Rapid Start and 1/4tsp of Gen Hydro's Subculture-M mycorrhizal powder with an airstone in the bucket and let aerate for 24 hours before removing one cup of this mixture for the dipping the clones, then soaking the rockwool blocks for about 20 mins. Took cutting, cut at 45 degree angle further up from original cut. Trimmed nodes and placed cuttings in water for approximately 5-7 mins before coating in rooting gel and then into the rockwool blocks. I misted a humidity dome and placed it over the clones and put the tray under neath one of my large plants in veg underneath a 600w MH in my bathroom. Very indirect lighting.. after 2 days there, i moved them underneath a 125w CFL in my grow box. Within 7 days, my newer clones have rooted. No roots out the bottom, but i can see root knobs on the stem, as well as i can see roots when i pull back slightly on the rockwool to check progress and allow the roots some air, which i find to be quite beneficial.

I think i am going to try a different rooting gel/powder as many other brands seem to work a little faster, or maybe its just the environment the cuttings are in.

Either way, you seem to have cloning down pat!

Come check out my current journal if you like and see how my cloning is going haha Maybe you see something that i can do differently that would increase my success

 

[CherokeeJ]

Thank you, Greenthumb. Truth be told, I'm just winging it. I like to hedge my bet. If I need 6 clones, I take 8 or 9 cuttings, and keep the healthy ones. Basically, I cheat.

I set up the 24" light just as a stop-gap measure. Just delaying the inevitable. They're going to have to be potted, but the hard part is finding a place to put 'em once they are potted. You need an 8x4 tent, so do I! But in my itty-bitty little house, I don't have enough room to change my mind. (Need the daughter's boyfriend to marry her butt, and move her out. Bet ya can't guess what I'd do with her bedroom! Problem there is... He's a Marine, and the way things are going in the world, I think he's about to be deployed. So much for that idea.)

The problem with putting them on the patio is that yesterday there was 14 hours of sun, but the patio grow is showing calyxes on all the plants. I'm guessing it's because they're in shadow for a good portion of the day. They only get direct sun from about 8:30AM til 4PM. I can't put 'em where I'd like, where they'd get (a lot) more sun. Too viewable by prying teenage eyes. On the patio, only one neighbor could see them, but she's too old to climb the fence to look.

Read and subbed your journal. That is one seriously BAD-ASS grow box, man. I can't wait to follow that grow. I really hope you and LadyGreenthum enjoy the adventure of your grows. This is fun for me, I pray it's fun for you, too. And the best part comes when you're done. You get to enjoy what your efforts bring. Ain't it great? 8^)

As to cloning method... If you're getting roots exploding out of 3" blocks in a week or so, you're doing something right, brother. Keep it up!

It's early, and I need more coffee.