Amy Gardner Of Eden: Perpetually Organic

[Amy Gardner]

Reading Sy’s post earlier, over at his escape hatch, about genetics and genetic history and the journeys into this world made me think about some Real Seed Co blogs I read earlier this year so I thought I’d share some here.
I may have posted it then, can’t remember - no harm in repeating .

This blog post is basically the reason I started to use the terminology sativa-type and indica-type a while back. It’s long, I’ll just drop some excerpts here and if anyone wants to look further.

ON INDICAS & AFGHANICAS​

[NOTE: A week or so before I posted this to the blog, John McPartland and Ernest Small’s new taxonomy for Cannabis was published, so although much here is still pertinent to understanding the ‘species controversy’, some is also redundant.
…sativa… indica… ruderalis… afghanica… americana… chinensis… gigantea…
Those are just a few of the names proposed for species—yes, species—of Cannabis.
But the prevailing consensus among botanists, universities, authoritative floras, botanical gardens, and national and international legislation is that Cannabis is a monospecific genus. In other words, most experts agree that the genus Cannabis is comprised of one highly varied species, C. sativa L.
Proponents of multispecies classifications fight on—most popularly, Mark Merlin and Robert Clarke, who have proposed a classification based on just four studies by Karl Hillig. No central authority or academy presides over the discipline of taxonomy. Indeed, it’s both a practical art and a theoretical science. But it’s the “lumpers” who continue to prevail over the “splitters” in the Cannabis species debate.
As Ettiene DeMeijer puts it: “A monospecific concept… has implicitly been adopted in virtually all, nontaxonomic, publications on Cannabis… The current pattern of Cannabisdiversity is primarily due to intentional actions of humans and reflects a long, intense, and divergent process of domestication which has blurred any natural evolutionary pattern of diversity. It is even questionable if truly wild Cannabis still exists.”
Questionable is an understatement. No truly wild populations of Cannabis have ever been identified, and it’s unlikely any will be. “No persuasive evidence has been documented that there are truly wild populations of C. sativa (pristine genetically, never having been altered by human selection, and having natural distributions)”, writes Ernest Small, adding that “wild-growing plants of Cannabis sativa, insofar as has been determined, are either escapes from domesticated forms or the results of thousands of years of widespread genetic exchange with domesticated plants, making it virtually impossible to determine if unaltered primeval or ancestral populations still exist. Moreover, because the species has been spread and modified by humans for millennia, there does not seem to be a reliable means of accurately determining its original geographical range [though see McPartland] or even whether a plant collected in nature represents a primeval wild type or has been influenced by domestication.”
In other words, Cannabis is a cultigen, in the sense of a crop for which there is no known wild ancestor. There are hundreds of other examples, including the avocado, aubergine, onion, and peanut. In its broadest sense, the term cultigen refers to a plant that’s resulted from artificial selection. Fundamentally, our plant is a creation of humankind—a domesticate.

Quoted from “On Indicas and Afganicas”

Another excerpt - they’re out of context, as mere snippets, but still hold some interest I think (they pique mine in any case).

Where Hillig’s studies have value is in identifying genetic relationships. But it’s essential to grasp that with a creature of domestication such as Cannabis, conclusions concerning heredity are not straightforwardly transferable to taxonomy. Hillig (2005a,b) has applied multivariate statistical similarities of allozyme frequency to differentiate European fibre plants from the three eastern domesticated groups, namely the two marijuana cultigens (Indicas and Sativas) and Chinese fibre plants. Weaker support for this divergence was provided by terpene chemistry (Hillig 2004a) and cannabinoid chemistry (Hillig and Mahlberg 2004), and the evidence was clearer for cultivated accessions than for ruderals. Hillig assigned European fibre plants to C. sativa and the three eastern groups to C. indica. This combined within C. indica the two marijuana groups and Chinese hemp. Hillig’s data indicate an ancient trend of genetic differentiation between the plants of western Eurasia (and consequently Europe) and those of eastern Eurasia. European hemp appears to have undergone a genetic bottleneck when being selected from eastern populations. McPartland examined pollen data which could support this, suggesting widespread Cannabis cultivation was introduced to eastern Europe by the Scythians in the late Bronze and early Iron Ages.

But Ernest Small comments as follows:

“…by evolutionary standards, this trend seems very minor, since not a single reliable character has been found to distinguish the western (European) and eastern kinds collectively, nor has a combination of morphological characters been suggested that could serve to separate them reliably, as is necessary in conventional plant taxonomic identification keys. Recent DNA evidence does indicate that at the molecular level, combined genetic loci may be usable to discriminate European hemp strains, Indica type plants, and Sativa type plants (Lynch et al. 2015; Sawler et al. 2015). The situation is perhaps analogous to human blood group geography, thought to have resulted from a combination of random drift and selection for disease resistance (Anstee 2010), and certainly not warranting formal taxonomic recognition. The information is, however, useful for tracing genetic relationships and identifying strains and cultivars.”

Quoted from “On Indicas and Afganicas”

You’ll notice his NOTE at the top saying that the week after he wrote the blog, a paper presenting new taxonomic description of cannabis was published by some eminent botanists... published April 3rd 2020 and entitled A classification of endangered high-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa subsp. indica) domesticates and their wild relatives, it is available for download here.

I read most of it back then and have forgotten more than half of it I’m sure. It’s good stuff if you’re so inclined.

Grow well!

 

[The Celt]

Yes it is I use seperate plant sources for my blended meds so often I’m taking it alongside an equivalent amount of CBD. But THC also works for pain all by itself and sometimes I don’t want my high to be muted by the CBD. Also - I don’t take CBD at night, it keeps me awake. So for nighttime pain relief and sleep I use THC only. Nighttime medibles with the BH are my most effective ones so far.

ANd nothing i said there is a rule. I haven’t tried putting CBD in my nighttime edibles so that might not keep me up - I dont know. I do that vaping or smoking or using under-tongue dosing of CBD late in the day or evening gives me a restless night, and Dr Sulak has noted this effect with other patients so clinically it is something many folks experience. Others get sleep assistance from CBD, just ‘horses for courses’.


‘Horses for courses’.... surely we, this 420 brains trust we have here, can come up with a canna version of this concept - seeing as it’s soooo relevant! Discuss...




...could say ‘different tokes for different folks’ ... but not everyone is a toker!

This is one bit of advice I was given when I started growing and smoking for pain control...experiment, experiment, experiment, until you find what works for you...I believe it may have been CajunCelt brother.

 

[Amy Gardner]

MidLate-week photo drop! ​

Loosely an update, we have houseguests so there won’t be much Mag time this weekend, which will probably be similar for many. I snapped some pics of my budding flowers a few days ago, for the records.

About a week ago I wound back the lights a bit more, as light-stress was continuing to show at the 2’ distance, and things seem to have settled since. There is more to document about that so I will hope to come back to it with some more time.

But for some mere ‘proof of life’... the bunch!

Group-26Nov2020.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

you can kind of see there the light stress fade on the Candida’s (top-left of photo) upper fan leaves (interestingly only on the main cola fans ) and also the clawing and foxtailing on the top of the CBD #1 (top-right). Both of those plants’ are fine and green in the lower regions so I’m pretty confident it was light stress.

CBD#1 is about a week away from harvest. The top looks pretty haggard in the leaf department but the buds are swelling nicely - albeit with some foxtails.

CBD#1 day 111(+62/49).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Light stress up top

And the lower buds look decidedly normal. You’l notice the deep deep green, some leaf curl and some burnt tips. All of those facts make me think this plant doesnt like how rich this soil is so that’s a contributor to the claw as well i think.

CBD#1 day 111(+62/49).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Being close to harvest time and seeing the ripening and the foxtailing made me snap some quick macros to check the trichomes. Close. About a week seems right.

CBD#1 113(+64/51).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Lower bud

CBD#1 113(+64/51).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Lower bud

I may do a staggered harvest on this one - will see where I am at on the day.

On the other side of the tent, the current Candida CD-1 is producing some beautiful sativa-type flowers.

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

And not to be left out, the top flower of the NJxKC

Nepal Jam x Kali China.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

I realise the Early Miss did get left out - I pulled it out if the veg box a week ago and shut that down for a bit as I cant manage it right now. SO EM is finishing off in the big tent and doing fine. More next time.

I wanted to come back to something I left a few weeks ago, that @HashGirl asked me about.

How do you get the dark background? It really makes the plant pop.

Sometimes I do a lot to set up a background (either textured or black) but those particular photos you mentioned there I didn't do anything special. It was dark in my room and the tent light was bright!

If you have some bright light in an otherwise dark space, fast shutter speeds can give the effect of blackness in the dark/unlit background. So in those particular pics you noticed, it was the middle of the night (about 4am so very dark outside) and the only light on in the room was the tent light. The plant was just outside the front of the tent so bathed in its light but the rest of the room was dark and my camera shutterspeed was set fast from photographIng flying things the last time I’d used it. Fast shutter speeds will capture the brightly lit subject well and not really capture much in the dark areas. This is just something new I’ve been trying out a bit lately - working with faster shutter speeds. I’m not super technical with my photograhpy, I understand some basic technical concepts and then I just wing it and learn as I go.

I can show a good example by making my dancing butterflies the critter of the week. This is in bright afternoon sunshine that was filtered though the trees. There is lots of shaded forest behind them and points of light hitting things here n there and the butterflies were dancing in and out of the sunlight. I used 1250 shutter speed and a wide aperture and it almost looks like they are dancing in the dark.

View media item 1803660
So to answer your question - various ways, but those ones you commented on were a happy accident of the dark room and bright light of the tent and a fast shutter speed.

I don’t know what phone camera you have but I know there are some out there that you can adjust things like shutter speed etc.

Can’t resist another - this one had the aperture set a bit smaller. It absolutely wasnt dark. To teh naked eye there is a fully visible forest in the background.

Stay safe and well lit over the weekend everyone!

 

[Dan Dark]

It’s time

Welcome to my first perpetual journal and my first perpetual grow. “First perpetual” sounds odd to me but when you’re just starting out, what else can you say I wonder!

This first foray into a perpetual grow is an experiment with timing as I don’t have 2 seperate grow spaces yet. I’ll get back to the plan for that in a minute, but for starters;

Why do I grow:
I’ve been a friend and lover of cannabis since my very early years.

A few years ago the progression of a genetic condition I hadn’t known that I had, precipitated a fairly severe physical disability. During a dark moment somewhere in the first 6 to 8 months I decided to smoke a joint and found, to the surprise of nobody here I’m sure, that not only did my mood improve instantly but many of the physical symptoms did so a well. And so it began.

I grow to manage this condition (which includes chronic and acute pain, severe fatigue, BP regulation problems, emotional regulation problems, musculoskeletal problems, Gastro problems, neurological problems and other etceteras.) and things are well managed now, with cannabis and diet for the most part (and a few vitamins, mineral and mitochondrial supplementation the mix too.)

Growing is absolutely an equally important part of the therapeutic aspects of cannabis whether you grow purely recreationally or also for specific medicinal needs like I do. I know that nearly every grower here would absolutely agree with me about that and many medical cannabis doctors do so as well. Dr Dustin Sulak recommends it. Before I became ill, I always used to joke that my alter ego would live in the bush and grow pot until I was an old woman, so here she is! And while I never envisaged the physical restrictions I have now, I couldn’t be happier about this aspect of my life. Growing and using cannabis to manage my health situation has been life changing physically and life–saving on the psycho-emotional level. The community of growers, friends, mentors and meanderers here has had an absolutely fundamental role in all of that.

Since being here on 420Mag I have learnt to make all the medicinal oils I can possibly need. I grow both CBD and THC dominant varieties and I make custom blends for my particular needs and the needs of my partner, who uses CBD to manage anxiety and depression and tiny amounts of THC alongside it at times. So this journal will include oil making and edible making at times alongside the growing.

I get lots of support to grow, physically from friends and helpers and emotionally from my partner who is not a recreational user of cannabis but has never had a problem with my use of it. I am very blessed and very grateful

On with the practicalities!

Grow space:
Currently a 3x3 Gorilla Tent
Over the next 6-12months, I expect to build 2 seperate indoor spaces for veg and flower.
From about December onwards the grow will move outside until Late March 2021.

Meanwhile, the tent was completely emptied last week and thoroughly cleaned with combinations of vinegar and bi-carb and then sprayed with a clove concoction. It’s beautifully clean and ready to go.

Environment:
The tent lives in the room where I spend most of my time, including to sleep, so it is easy to climate control manually, for the most part. It’s been OK in past grows but not exactly plain sailing in terms of not needing to tweak it so I’m trying some new adaptations again this time and we shall see.

This is my 3rd run inside.

My main challenge in the past has been keeping things warm enough during early veg and at night and last year I tried venting out the bottom, to draw warmer air in from up high and to also let the heat from the light help warm the space. That was kind of successful, but of course I had to change it once things were in late veg and into flower because lights get hotter, plants get bigger and things get warmer!

This year I have the Cloudline T4 on top of the tent again and will install a carbon filter above the light down the track - so that part is pretty standard.

For the intake, I have ductIng run from up high to behind the circulation fan in an attempt to get the warmest air in the room into the tent, while still venting out the top of the tent, like so;

Airflow experiments.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

Airflow experiment.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

I know its a number of degrees warmer up where the intake is and so far this seems to be working well, espcially for helping keep a bit warmer during lights off . Once things heat up, if needed i can easily close off the to vent and open a bottom one.

Every longtime successful indoor grower says it, often many times over: environment is the silver bullet when growing inside (outside too to an extent but we can’t control that!). Many improvements I’ve seen in my indoor work have been because of improvement in the environment, including keeping it fairly stable. Slowly but surely I’m getting there. Lights-on is currently 77º-79ºF and 65%. Overnight it stayed nice and warm at 70º with humidity a bit highter than ideal in the 70% zone - I’m working on that . The trick is to keeping it stable.

Medium and plant food:
Organic soil, usually some kind of ‘living soil’. Currently and to start-off this grow I am using the undeniably superb High Brix kit developed by Doc Bud, which I absolutely adore and using it has enhanced my knowledge of living soils immeasurably and introduced me so some of the most stellar folks I know around here to whom I now feel quite bonded. These plants will be in second run kit soil. I am almost out if Tea, but Doc has given me a few helpful suggestions for substitution so I expect things will go just fine (I’ll cover that when the time comes that I need it).

For a myriad of practical reasons, including the fact that shipping grow stuff like that across the globe now seems just a bit silly to me as well as unsustainable and totally in tension w my commitment to local food and produce security etc. I decided this back in January, during the apocalypse here. It just isn’t really a practical or responsible thing for me to do. To that end, I had planned to go back to mixing my own soil mixes seeing as I have access to more physical help now. Then there was a global shutdown and doing that kind of stuff as a group project also became impractical.

Thankfully, I then discovered a soil builder here who is based fairly close to me and makes water-only mixes ready to go . He also has heaps of other great living-soil products and teas and some drenches for later runs in the soil. This will be what I transition into for now and then slowly add in own-made home-made things over time, as life allows.

I am also incredibly blessed to have rain water, which is only fitting for a garden of Eden. It’s our only water source here.

Okay!

The Lineup!

TheStartingLineup.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

Early Miss (Crop KIng, prize from 3 years ago) - auto. This one is because I want some more variety as soon as possible and it’s the fastest one I have - which could turn out to be not tru of course (I remember Dutchman’s first Early Miss Auto turned out to be a photoperiod!). I grew it once before outside, at kind of the wrong part of the season and it succumbed to rot during a very wet and humid early summer. Before it did it had the most wonderful terpene profile that included kiwi fruit and papaya so I’m keen to see what happens with it. CK list it as a cross of White Widow and Big Bud (and ruderalis for the AF traits). They say it is indica-dominant at 60% indica, 30% sativa, and 10% ruderalis and should be done in 7weeks. If that turns out true, it should be some quick fun.

Northern Lights (@SeedsMan, recent prize) - auto. I‘ve had some NL plants that didnt make it and have just been wanting to sample it as it’s such an infamous variety. I’ve of course smoked stuff here that was sold as NL and maybe it was, maybe it wasnt. In any case, this auto version from Seedsman gets a pretty good rap from all folks who grow it so I’m keen to give it a run. Seedsman list it as mostly indica with up to 23% THC and finishing in 55-60 days from seed.

Dark Devil (Sweet Seeds, also recent prize from Seedsman) - auto. This one almost needs no introduction around here these days but everyone is new at sometime so it’s always worth it . DDA is a fairly balanced (40%-55%-5% Indica-sativa-ruderalis) auto-flowerIng hybrid that can run anywhere from 60 to 100 days seed to harvest. This is my last original Sweet Seeds seed for now, I had 3, gifted one and lost the other as a vegling to the smoke in mid summer. Fingers crossed for this one! (I have many seeds left from a friends breeding project though, so never fear!). I’ve been toking on DDA all the while building this introduction, so, it’s chatty!

Sour Bubba (@katsubluebird, purchased from Neptune seedbank) - photoperiod. The star forward! I have been chomping at the bit for this one since I bought it late last year. SB is a cross of katsu’s Pre ‘98 cut of Bubba Kush and an equally refined cut of East Coast Sour Diesel. Katsu says that unlike his other Bubba crosses where the Bubba usually dominates, this one nearly always comes out slightly ECSD leaning. I have never knowingly had a Diesel and certainly never grown one and this one sounded like an exceptional cross to me and Katsu’s photos of it spoke to me loudly. I am fully stoked to have it heading up the pack. A few other members have them going now too and everyone’s have looked wonderful.

All seeds are feminised. They were soaked for about 12-15 hours before being planted into peat pucks and placed straight into their pots. They were all happily sinking in the water before planting and Sour Bubba had already cracked a bit.

On the bench:
This run, I will also try to fit in along the way a Panama (Ace Seeds, prize choice from 2 years ago, I been waiting for this one!!) and a CBD variety, which will be either MMG’s Candida, which I’m already a big fan of, or Ace’s CBD#1 which i am yet to try - it’s new. More on those when it happens in a few months. Depending on what happens, there is also a Nepal Jam x Kali China (Ace) in the wings for much later, but it very much depends.

The plan:
Graytail is already familiar with my liking for having scale drawings with to-scale movable pieces from when he first helped me with my light design. I like having physical pieces that represent something clearly to me, to move around and help visualise things. I always keep old cardboard lids or large pieces etc. for these purposes and I built myself this ‘grow planner’. It’s really rough, I have a physical disability so be kind! I cutout coloured strips representing the different plants I want to grow and roughly what their timelines might look like - which I know can vary but I will learn a lot about that over time - and then played around with how it might work, based on what I learned last year about fitting things in.

Week 1-4 I will run lights at 16/8 (they’re already running in fact).
At week 4-5 I will switch to 11/13 lights for the duration.

The planner gives about 1cm to each month, it’s very loose and I have estimated time windows on the coloured cards for veg and flower. Autos and maybes below the line, photos above.

The sketch.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020
• 1

A flexible plan...

The Sour Bubba will have a small pot to start and go into a 7gal when ready. The CBD plant will start and finish in a 6gal. Panama will be my attempt to keep a small one. I’ll start it in a tiny pot and slowly up can as far as 3gal - that will be the first one in the new soil and I plan to dilute that soil a bit for it because it‘s a pure sativa and likely doesn’t need much at all. That will be a learning curve in more than one department.
All plans subject to change! That’s why we have ‘em right?

To finish the intro, I’ll also say that I am, loosely speaking, a moon gardener - and a moon Gardner too . I aim to plant during the new moon, ideally when the moon is in a fertile sign. Here is an excerpt from my moon gardening wall-chart, covering the 1st and 2nd qtr moon phases

Moon planting.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

...for leafy greens, fruiting and flowering annuals etc.

We discussed this in the DDA thread recently and Cannabis could fall into either category, being a flowering annual, an oil seed producing plant and also an herb and a leafy green (to some extent). So planting later and closer towards the full moon might be just as good - according to the lore. But for me, I like the rhythm of planting sometime in the first week of the new moon, then hopefully within 10 days you have a little seedling, which then has some cosmic support from the waning moon for 2 weeks to get some roots going, and so the cycle between root growth and foliage growth begins. I always doubly mark out the moon planting wall calendar to make the best canna planting windows most obvious, so I can see at a glance if one is approaching.

Planting times.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

*southern hemisphere and AEST

Planting times.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

*southern hemisphere and AEST

Working with moon cycles isn’t limited to planting either. If I want new growth, I prune during the new moon.

If we are pruning in the garden here to reduce something or keep it small, we do it on the waning moon and weeding the garden or removing plants is best done in last few days leading up to the dark moon.

I’m not a zealot about it by any stretch, but I do believe it makes a difference (and ther is some modern science to support some of it). At the very least I like working to that rhythm and that’s what counts the most. Happy Gardner, happy plants.

Last but not at all least, Light!
It‘s the sun when outdoors obviously, but indoors I have my DIY samsung LED build. Its 5 x QBs (128 diodes each) at 3500k and 6 x LED strips (72 diodes each) at 3000K, each powered by a seperate driver. I run just the QBs for veg and then add the strips once needed. Here it is below, above the newly planted seeds, waiting for them to show.

A blank canvas.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Apr 28, 2020

A clean slate, a fresh start and lots of potential!

I have decided that as the critters of the forest here are like my socially-distanced pets, lol!, I will import the ‘critter of the week’ tradition from my outdoor grows to the perpetual. The tent is 4 steps away from the door to outside where the forest is twenty steps away - I’m always outside.

During the winter months it might not be quite weekly, depending on critter activity (including this critter!) but, this week as we get started, the ones who have been making themselves seen and heard are these They are absolutely tiny! And don’t seem to mind at all when I lie down next to them in the grass and put my camera all up in their face - I swear one even jumped up to me the other day!

View media item 1768905
It literally measures about 1/2 an inch, that’s the knuckle of a shoot from some grass just above its head and some out-of-focus chicken-wire fencing in the background.

Well, that’s about the start of things !

Thanks for joining and for any amount of that introduction you read or didn’t read. However you come, I will be honoured to have you here and ask only that we act within the scope of the community guidelines and treat each other and the forum that houses us with love and respect regardless of any differences we may have or discover.

We are all friends of cannabis. Welcome to my virtual garden

I am so happy I found your journal! It is written as if you are an engineer and I appreciate the detail. No wonder this was the journal of the month for November, amazing work. Unfortunately, for me, you have set a new standard - one I hope to match someday. Thank you for sharing.

 

[InTheShed]

Between the light stress and the new soil testing I'd say they are are overcoming challenges very nicely! The top on the CBD #1 has some serious chunk going on, and I happen to like foxtails (even it they're stress induced ).

things seem to have settled since.

‘proof of life’

they are dancing in the dark.

Can’t resist another

What photography concepts you don't yet understand, you obviously intuit. Gorgeous.

My daughter brought home a borrowed Canon Rebel this week for a stop-motion movie she has to do for class, so I've been playing with it. So very different from my old SLRs from the 70's and 80's!

 

[syenite]

Bloody gorgeous plants and pics, Amy!

Love the Candida morphology.

Cool account of some of the physics of photography!

 

[Amy Gardner]

Thank you for sharing.

And thank you for sharing that Welcome to my Eden, DRey I appreciate your contributions already (of course, seeing as they’re so complimentary)

intuit. Gorgeous.

Bloody gorgeous ... morphology.

Cool account!

thanks Sy. I totally agree on the candida flower. It’s very much like the one i grew outside -with some differences, which i will manage to document at some stage, i promise myself.

 

[HashGirl]

Thanks, Amy for the explanation of your wonderful photos. I was hoping to take a course on photography at the library but the pandemic put a stop to that. In the meantime, I'll do my best with my phone camera. I've ordered a clip-on macro lens for it so that should help a bit.

We own a nice Nikon but I've always found it heavy and harder to hold still.

 

[Amy Gardner]

happen to like foxtails (even it they're stress induced )

I Ike them too - but I like them better when they‘re just the genetic expression of the plant! these i know are because I still haven’t dialled in my light properly

stop-motion movie

That’s a super-fun project actually. Wish her well from me! (Hey, that’s a little stop-motion movie right there!)

 

[Weaselcracker]

stress

lawing and foxtailing

haggard

burnt

Uhh... what? I saw that pic and thought ‘Wow I wish my plants looked that good!’

You’re crazy....

 

[Amy Gardner]

crazy....

well when you put it like that... seriously tho - I’m certainly not complaining (mot meaning to) it’s cause I’ve been tracking the spot where light burn happens with this DIY rig so i am definitely noticIng some more subtle things ... and I did also say...

beautiful

Good to see you ‘cracker!

plants looked that good!’

 

[Trala]

Fuck me dead Amy!

You grow like a boss!

Not sure how or why I always seem to miss your updates.

When I grow up I want to be able to not only grow like you, but take pictures like you. Your skills leave me in awe. Xo

 

[dynamo1]

 

[Dan Dark]

MidLate-week photo drop! ​

Loosely an update, we have houseguests so there won’t be much Mag time this weekend, which will probably be similar for many. I snapped some pics of my budding flowers a few days ago, for the records.

About a week ago I wound back the lights a bit more, as light-stress was continuing to show at the 2’ distance, and things seem to have settled since. There is more to document about that so I will hope to come back to it with some more time.

But for some mere ‘proof of life’... the bunch!

Group-26Nov2020.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

you can kind of see there the light stress fade on the Candida’s (top-left of photo) upper fan leaves (interestingly only on the main cola fans ) and also the clawing and foxtailing on the top of the CBD #1 (top-right). Both of those plants’ are fine and green in the lower regions so I’m pretty confident it was light stress.

CBD#1 is about a week away from harvest. The top looks pretty haggard in the leaf department but the buds are swelling nicely - albeit with some foxtails.

CBD#1 day 111(+62/49).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Light stress up top

And the lower buds look decidedly normal. You’l notice the deep deep green, some leaf curl and some burnt tips. All of those facts make me think this plant doesnt like how rich this soil is so that’s a contributor to the claw as well i think.

CBD#1 day 111(+62/49).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Being close to harvest time and seeing the ripening and the foxtailing made me snap some quick macros to check the trichomes. Close. About a week seems right.

CBD#1 113(+64/51).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Lower bud

CBD#1 113(+64/51).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Lower bud

I may do a staggered harvest on this one - will see where I am at on the day.

On the other side of the tent, the current Candida CD-1 is producing some beautiful sativa-type flowers.

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

Candida CD-1 day 89(+39/29).jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

And not to be left out, the top flower of the NJxKC

Nepal Jam x Kali China.jpeg

• Amy Gardner
• Nov 26, 2020

I realise the Early Miss did get left out - I pulled it out if the veg box a week ago and shut that down for a bit as I cant manage it right now. SO EM is finishing off in the big tent and doing fine. More next time.

I wanted to come back to something I left a few weeks ago, that @HashGirl asked me about.


Sometimes I do a lot to set up a background (either textured or black) but those particular photos you mentioned there I didn't do anything special. It was dark in my room and the tent light was bright!

If you have some bright light in an otherwise dark space, fast shutter speeds can give the effect of blackness in the dark/unlit background. So in those particular pics you noticed, it was the middle of the night (about 4am so very dark outside) and the only light on in the room was the tent light. The plant was just outside the front of the tent so bathed in its light but the rest of the room was dark and my camera shutterspeed was set fast from photographIng flying things the last time I’d used it. Fast shutter speeds will capture the brightly lit subject well and not really capture much in the dark areas. This is just something new I’ve been trying out a bit lately - working with faster shutter speeds. I’m not super technical with my photograhpy, I understand some basic technical concepts and then I just wing it and learn as I go.

I can show a good example by making my dancing butterflies the critter of the week. This is in bright afternoon sunshine that was filtered though the trees. There is lots of shaded forest behind them and points of light hitting things here n there and the butterflies were dancing in and out of the sunlight. I used 1250 shutter speed and a wide aperture and it almost looks like they are dancing in the dark.

View media item 1803660
So to answer your question - various ways, but those ones you commented on were a happy accident of the dark room and bright light of the tent and a fast shutter speed.

I don’t know what phone camera you have but I know there are some out there that you can adjust things like shutter speed etc.

Can’t resist another - this one had the aperture set a bit smaller. It absolutely wasnt dark. To teh naked eye there is a fully visible forest in the background.

Stay safe and well lit over the weekend everyone!

Wow, beautiful photos, lovely ladies too!

 

[Amy Gardner]

You grow like a boss

When I grow up I want to be able to not only grow like you, but take pictures like you. Your skills leave me in awe. Xo

Thanks Tra! Much appreciated m’dear I hope you’re doing well this fine day.

Wow, beautiful photos, lovely ladies too!

Thanks D
And thanks for stopping by!

hope everyone is doing ok
I’m a happy and almost-drooling mess at the end of a really hectic (for me) 6-7 days. It’s Wednesday evening here and we’ve had a houseguest since this time last week. I am super medicated already with some bedtime medibles, some Panama in the pipe about an hour ago and I’m about add some Kush to that party, expecting to be asleep very very soon.

I’m just sneaking a midweek check-in as all those canna ministrations get into gear ...

 

[HashGirl]

I hope you're having a lovely sleep, Amy. I'm about to head out into the sub-zero temps for a hike with my 90-year old dad. Not only do I have to get up earlier than normal to hike with him but now, it's super cold, too. He should be flattered. I wouldn't do this for just anybody.

 

[syenite]

I run out of descriptors/comparatives/superlatives for your work, Amy!

So here's an emoji party, instead.





What's the Nepali Jam x Kali China like? Have you run/smoked it before?

 

[Amy Gardner]

emoji party, instead.

I love emoji parties

What's the Nepali Jam x Kali China like? Have you run/smoked it before?

I have not. I believe it was one @Radogast used to grow and he always gave wonderful reviews. I’ll see if he ever wrote about it. I feel like @Graytail might’ve grown it, but I may be mistaken. It caught my eye early on in my time here.

 

[Amy Gardner]

I hope you're having a lovely sleep, Amy. I'm about to head out into the sub-zero temps for a hike with my 90-year old dad. Not only do I have to get up earlier than normal to hike with him but now, it's super cold, too. He should be flattered. I wouldn't do this for just anybody.

10 hours straight I’m pretty sure. #winning! Unheard of these last 4-5years so that’s obviously the ticket. *Lots of meds!!

I hope the walking kept you warm then and that you both enjoyed the get together!

 

[Amy Gardner]

I found this only. It was Haze x Kali China he grew...

family likes Haze x Kali China from Ace seeds a little better. Feeling more stoned, high functioning, and happy to be there.

Sounds about right... NJ x KC should be similar