AKGramma's Perpetual Grow

[AKgramma]

I got about 270 seeds that have matured to the hard-coat stage, but I'm estimating at least 20% are too small to sprout. As they finish drying, I'm finding a few that are cracked, too soft, etc. But, since seeds cost about $6 each when you factor in the postage and the free seeds, I won't have to buy Sativa seeds for a very long time. Even if only 200 of them are viable, I saved $1200.

And this is just one of two seeded mystery Sativas. I should get a better set of seeds from Lady #2, if I wait another week or two before taking her seeds.

With all the Sativa pollen I have collected, and having a small assortment of Fem strains, I have something to experiment with.

 

[AKgramma]

When I checked the second seeded lady, I saw some seeds with split calyxes and some just barely hanging on. So I harvested those seeds to day, and shut down the 3rd unit until I can give it a good disinfecting. I got even more seeds from the second lady, and I took the time to pinch each one and toss those that were not seeds, but plump calyxes. No, there weren't enough of those to save for other uses. Just the tips of a few clusters. All the rest were seeds, and the lady was 99% dry on the stalks.

Now I have some breathing room, if I want to start some seeds. Now would be a good time to do so, as my youngest rooted clones are a month old, and I have used up the last of the gifted and mystery seeds. I'll pop a couple from each of the new strains I received last month: Jock Horror Fem and Auto Berry, both out of Canada.

 

[NorCaliwood]

Drive by,,, I use a ten foot pole to handle pollen. I've been stupid with it in the past and had a nightmare.. You want one of them big colas, grow a plant, untopped, from seed. Of Course genetics. That White Siberian is known for a large main cola. I've grown in before,,, btw, nice plant'. So I got another stashed for a future grow. Hope you had a Great Holidays. Keepem Green

 

[Sypherz]

Hi Ak.. I took ur advice and entered both contests.. potm and nug of the month.. last time my plant got 0 votes.. lol

 

[AKgramma]

Hi Ak.. I took ur advice and entered both contests.. potm and nug of the month.. last time my plant got 0 votes.. lol

Voting begins on the 14th, so I must remember to cast my votes for you!

 

[AKgramma]

I trimmed out some lower buds on the ladies in flower and came up with some stray seeds. They are separated into separate beading containers by strain of mother. So I have containers for BBL x mystery Sativa, AK48 x Mystery Sativa, and two Mystery sativax Mystery sativa containers.

The pollen I collected is also in a couple of these little containers. Here is my little collection in 1-1/2" round beading containers. The pollen is mixed with dried male flowers, which gave it a lot of bulk, but that is what went through the kitchen strainer.

 

[Lady G2HM]

Yes, I finally made it! Totally subbed in and ready to be schooled. Sits up straight. Amazing journal .to learn from. .

 

[AKgramma]

Yes, I finally made it! Totally subbed in and ready to be schooled. Sits up straight. Amazing journal .to learn from. .

, grow! I am glad my journal is of some help! I grow cheaply because I gain no return on the costs of the grow except as barter for yard work. And I make a lot of mistakes. So you should feel right at home! LOL!

 

[AKgramma]

I really goofed this week. I got really busy elsewhere and totally missed a few days visiting the ladies. When I took some time to check on the ladies in flower, they were totally wilted, and my prized Mama BBL was practically dead. (SOB!)

I watered them to runoff, and checked on them a few hours later. The lower 2/3 of Mama BBL did not recover, so I harvested all the small dried buds and seeds. Judging from the number of seeds hidden in her small flowers, she MUST have been pollenated by my first attempt from a BBL male. Because I had to take them early, only about half the seeds are mature, but at least I am assured that the strain won't die out on me any time soon.

One AK48 was totally dessicated, so I harvested her, too. She was full of seeds from a mystery male. her small larfy buds will be saved for cannibudder. Both the BBL and the AK48 were VERY sticky, and I scraped the stuff off my fingers and saved them in a special little jar I save for resin and trics.

So maybe they weren't all that early after all.

The Polar Express recovered, except for some lower small buds, which I'll put in the buds saved for cannabudder. So, I have the Polar Express still in flower, and the tips of Mama BBL, which still have green and flowers with pistils. I might get some sensimilla buds from what's left of the BBL and the top of the Polar Express.

What I learned from this batch in flower, you have to choose between nice buds or seeds. You can't have both, unless you have a separate grow area for breeding, preferably in another room. I am sure I tracked pollen on my clothing from the breeding unit into the flower unit, because I KNOW I did not deliberately let a male do his thing unattended in the flower unit!

So It will be some time before I entertain another male. I have plenty of stored pollen, and I can chop the leaves, pods, and stray pollen for the cannabudder and other cooking. Male parts, esp the open pods and pollen covered leaves, can make some good edibles. I hear they smoke well, too, when dried and sprinkled on buds.

I have three strains of seeds, enough to start fresh when cloning fails me. AK48 x mystery sativa, BBL x BBL male (possibly some mystery Sativa), and Mystery Sativa x Mystery Sstiva. Then I have a decent batch of purchased seeds. So plenty to play with this next grow.

The juveniles in veg fared much better, as I water them more frequently.

I have quite a variety of juveniles, some of which I can up-pot into the 3 gallon bins, and a 5 gallon pot with 2 BBL clones that will become my new mother, until she puts out flowers, like my last mother did. The previous mother was a year old, and she put out flowers under veg. She is the one I nearly killed.

 

[AKgramma]

the grow is so sad, since I accidentally let them wilt a few days ago to the point of death. I'm cutting off more and more desiccated mini-buds and seeds of mama BBL. She is a mass of twigs topped by living, growing tips, which show some promise, if they don't mature too fast.

The Polar Express is the only other plant left in flower, and she is not ready yet. 4 months from seed and still in mid flower. * sigh * and this was supposed to be an Auto. But, as long as she stays relatively green, I'm giving her a chance, as I battle mites every couple days.

At the worst, the rest of the batch in flower will end up in the bin for edibles. I don't have ANY real nugs, because the seeds sucked them dry.

The one good thing that came from this experiment is having a huge stash of home-grown seeds. Whether or not they actually sprout, well that is the question. Next generation of seedlings will be 6 of the store-bought seeds. I need a fresh start and a good harvest to make up for this grow, which came out all seeds and larfy, dry buds. And a universe of spider mites.

It's time to move some of the larger juveniles under the LEDs so they fill out some before the switch. They started to get lanky under the CFLs, so I have been pinching them back, which is helping them fill out. I now have 3 harvested ladies still in their 3 gallon trash bins, hoping for some sign of reveg. But I'm not going to give them a lot of time, since I want to reuse the soil and bins for the juveniles.

Now, some growers wait till their plants are totally rootbound before up-potting, but I wonder if this is counter-productive. What do you think? They are in 1/2 gallon, cut-down juice jugs. Maybe I should go ahead and up-pot to the 3 gallon now instead of waiting?

 

[NorCaliwood]

Cut everything off looking dead................ B-1 vitamin in the water,,, or superthrive.... I've done all his before, more than once,,, and I don't have to say,,, but chances are plants are they are going to act funny. You can hope,, but I'd trim off all that looks fucked and really looked bad. If they recover they'll probably be f'ed too. BIG chance of hermies. BIG. I've been there.. Can't no one kick ya as hard as you can you self............ Give them a try,, I could be wrong,, and sorry to say,,, a good learning. Just to see what wood happen. Bummer my friend............ Mites and all.... Time to start some new plants FRESH,,,,, when they hit seedling stage,,,, acouple doses of either azamax or GC,,, and your off again.
Let them puppies grow you got going,, but start what you need for fresh ones.... Keepem Green

 

[AKgramma]

I appreciate the advice, Wood! I am an eternal optimist, even when discouraged, but I realize when it's near time to cut my losses. Even the dried stuff was unbelievably sticky with rosen, so will make kick-ass cannabudder! I have a LOT of dried bud scraps, pollen and male pods in one container (the good stuff) and another with even more dried leaves of all the strains I'm growing. This is good stuff, too, just have to use twice as much in the recipe.

I really have to accept that they are beyond the Great Divide and let them go, wash down the units, move the juveniles in, and start a new batch of seedlings.

 

[NorCaliwood]

Just want to say,,, all the problems can be over come. But Daddy always said, when you find yourself in a hole,,, stop digging... Start afresh,,,, with a good soil and fertilizer regiment, and fresh plants. You have the jist, and the next won't have problems learnt past. Salt based can be a problem, needing a good flow of water, when watering.. Why I love my little tables. Organics have their set of problems.
Start a new flip now....... Let these girls continue for awhile,,, I'd imagine that your thoughts,,, unless totally fried. Once your seedlings get up about,,, 2-3 weeks do a easy spray regiment, clean,,,, clean the tent and every other place you have plants growing and have had any reasonable exposure to you or your infected girls.,,, don't take but one mite to kill a crop 8 weeks down the road..and you want a fresh grow.... Start from seed if possible. I get more bugs from clones from breeders'. Can't get a mite from a seed...... And if you take care, you won't introduce them... All good on paper.... WHY them MFer's find my grow every few years????????? I wish I knew... I'd kill the snitch............ JK ofcourse,,, NOT.... GL and Keepem Green

 

[AKgramma]

I so appreciate your kind encouragement and sympathy, Wood!

Once I get some real free time, I will def take your advice. The flower unit is almost empty now with just the two plants left. I have all the seeds and dead buds trimmed off and what is left looks healthy. I might get a few good buds out of what's left, because the males are now gone, and there's nothing to track in.

I have enough seeds to start fresh. I just have to rejuvenate the soil. I know there are microbes in it, because I left the roots from the previous plants that had been treated with MYKOS. Maybe a really dilute nute water soak to feed the microbes, then plant the seeds in bottomless solo cups in their Big Girl bins. This works for autos, and should also work for fems. This method doesn't restrict the taproot.

The best I can do for any pest eggs in the soil is diluted neem oil, like for spray. I really won't sterilize the soil and kill the microbes.

I'll work it out.

 

[AKgramma]

I'm gradually harvesting what is left of my poor ladies in flower. I dont foresee any further growth in buds, even with a few white hairs, tho. After plucking out the seeds, I pressed the larfy buds into nugs and left them to dry.

The stems on those fully harvested are still green and flexible, so I tucked them in the back of the closet under the CFLs to see if any reveg.

The larger juveniles got moved into their own veg area under an LED. I cut them way back, cause they stretched out too much under just CFL's. The sativas seem to need more light than the Indicas. And I up-potted one BBL clone whose roots had grown out of the holes. I had to cut away the container to save the roots!

In veg I have a mix of an Arjan's Haze and its clone, a couple Bubblelicious clones, a couple AK 48 clones and a couple mystery sativa clones.

The flower unit will most likely be empty within a week, and I can give it a good cleaning. I'll reset the timer for Veg, do one more rearrangement of plants, then start some seeds from this last order.

It's nice to finally see an end to the seeding project gone wild. LOL!

Unfortunately, there are no pics for this, other than those already posted, cause you do'nt want to see what is left of the larfy buds.

 

[AKgramma]

I harvested the rest of the Polar Express and got a few 1 inch nugs from the tips and lots of tiny to medium-sized flower clusters, some with seeds. So, with what i have harvested this week, I have a couple bins lying around to get them dry. They were too small to hang, so a semi-open flat tupperware that gets mixed up every day works well for me, esp when some hidden seeds fall out during the drying. I like it better than a paper bag, cause I can see them better.

I might press some of the tiny buds into nugs, too. Everything is sticky and they have trics, so the finger pressing will go well.

I have the tips of Mama BBL and one more half/harvested AK 48 to chop, then the "tent" will be empty for cleaning and reuse.

Looking forward to getting them all done, so I can concentrate on popping some Autos!

 

[Kai420Fowler]

I wish I had a seed Colection like yours

The only thing to fear is bad weed

 

[AKgramma]

I wish I had a seed Colection like yours

The only thing to fear is bad weed

All it takes is a female and a male, (any male, if you dont mind growing mongrels). Many grows in the70's were from bag seed, and, where I lived, I don't remember anyone caring much about strain, just getting a buzz.

One pollination session will give you all the seeds you want, and then some. All my seeds are from an unknown male sativa.

If you DO embark on such a project, you have to be VERY CAREFUL not to track pollen on all your ladies, like I did. Cause you wont get good nugs.

 

[Kai420Fowler]

All it takes is a female and a male, (any male, if you dont mind growing mongrels). Many grows in the70's were from bag seed, and, where I lived, I don't remember anyone caring much about strain, just getting a buzz.

One pollination session will give you all the seeds you want, and then some. All my seeds are from an unknown male sativa.

If you DO embark on such a project, you have to be VERY CAREFUL not to track pollen on all your ladies, like I did. Cause you wont get good nugs.

Well I think I have a male sour disel but I don't know yet and I ordered some Afghan Kush regular seeds 3 of then so I can hopefully get a male

The only thing to fear is bad weed

 

[AKgramma]

Yesterday I moved my plants in veg from the CFLs to under the LEDs (with CFL supplementals.) This morning there were brand new, bright green leaves at the tips! I have not seen a quicker response to a change in lighting.

I didn't get to completing the harvest of Mama BBL, but she is more than ready. I'll have to try tomorrow. Not sure about the last AK48, however. The top half seems to be doing all right, altho, because it is seedy, I won't get the big buds. But they ARE sticky and covered with adequate trics.

That's all I have time for tonight.