I'll take the baby bears colas which are juuuuust rrrriigggghhttt (which is what I hope to achieve with this scrog)! Mama bears and papa bears colas were a bit too short and a bit too tall ;). Can't wait to get this thing started soon. Most seeds have cracked but the taproot is barely out so likely looking at tomorrow for getting them all planted. Got my wood at home depot to build the net tomorrow.
You got the Goldylocks Syndrome brother. Don't need no doctor.
 
I like to give credit where credit is due. I was looking through someone else's journal and I remember seeing people saying that @Grandpa Tokin presses some really nice wax. I decided to go straight to the source and send a couple emails asking for a bit of guidance. In the past I had a pretty mediocre experience with pressing. It made good wax to smoke through a vape pen or something but the yield was not great. It seemed like more work than it was reward. Tried it in some dabs and it wasn't that great. I wanted to rectify that experience because I knew I had the proper equipment.

I also noobishly never looked at his signatures before I did this and he kindly pointed me in the direction of his new thread which is in his signature! Go figure. Anyways if you are interested in a fairly easy DIY method and setup for squishing wax: CLICK HERE. I have the same setup but a 12 ton press. The moral of the story I discovered is that I was doing everything pretty much the same way. I didn't use the squish bags which make some of the highest quality looking rosin for sure. I'm going to experiment a bit more on yield vs quality with and without the bags but I think they are worth it and likely don't decrease yield much at all.

The main difference (and I am kicking myself for this because my main thing is always doing things right) is that I was using inferior product for the whole thing. I had bought cheap parchment paper and it tore easily and wax burned right on the hot plates. This time I used the name brand parchment paper and it was a breeze. He recommends the RAW ones that are made for this and I won't disagree. The whole thing goes down the drain if the parchment is cheap and rips. I also had pressed Amnesiac and the Purple Trainwreck (I think) and both were ones that were sub par plants for me. He states right in the tutorial that YOU HAVE TO USE GOOD STUFF TO GET GOOD STUFF. Duh! That's the part I'm kicking myself a little about. I know as I keep growing the stuff just gets a little better every grow so naturally it would be a little better this time around but I used Super Iced Grapefruit, Blue Dream and Crown Royale and it came out so much better. Anyways just wanted to say thanks to Grandpa Glue for your tutorial. I squished 5g and got 1g each for all 3. I'm not sure what a good ratio even is but I'll take 20% for my first retry. Such great quality too.

 
Wassup Ase!

Looking forward to hearing your final yield from the last run! I bet there where some incredible smells kicking out those colas!!!
Even if mine turn out half as good as yours I’ll be stoked. :)
I’m gonna flip mine to flower in the next few days and I was wondering if you left your stakes in or released the plant during flower to stretch up?

Peace
 
Wassup Ase!

Looking forward to hearing your final yield from the last run! I bet there where some incredible smells kicking out those colas!!!
Even if mine turn out half as good as yours I’ll be stoked. :)
I’m gonna flip mine to flower in the next few days and I was wondering if you left your stakes in or released the plant during flower to stretch up?

Peace

I leave the stakes in until after the stretch is over. After that the plant will begin to harden up and support itself. Basically it is done growing and the stakes can come off because the plant is in the shape it is and it will stay that way. Think of it as mold-able clay when you are doing pottery. Once its shaped you just let it dry and after that no more shaping needs to be done.
 
Yer Im gonna be using pops's alcohol extraction method. Guy knows his stuff!.

I did 1/5th of everclear and two ounces of bud. For the last year it has just slowly evaporated and I am left with like a half of a small mason jar. I am almost too afraid to use it knowing how potent it is going to be. I forget about it from time to time and find it when I'm cleaning. I keep telling myself I will try it, maybe i'll bring it on my first big camping trip of the year.

Never looked at Grandpa's method of extraction for alcohol but he knows his extracts for sure and you can't go wrong following anything @Grandpa Tokin does with that stuff.
 
That’s nice of you to say @Asesino85, @Bilbobudkin420, and @SamSmith!

Sounds like some killer tincture...

We will see someday! Lol. Thanks for making your posts on extracts and for continually trying experiments so that we don't have to! I'm not sure if you saw a few posts ago but I got some pretty good results after I read your stuff! I'm just going to send people you your extract threads now if anyone asks ;). Thanks for continuing to be a great member of these forums Grandpa Glue!
 
I had to take a few smoke breaks but I’m all caught up!! Lol 50 seeds!! Looks like ol newty is rubbing off on ya;)

That quad-squad will be brilliant:high-five:

Beautiful harvest and great #sag picture! You should enter it in a contest and and send me the lighter when you win:D

I decided for 420 I'd roll up a J for each of the flower that I have. That means 12 J's...

Lemon Venom - will be gone today
Jock Horror
Purple Kush
Purple Envy - will be gone today
Lost Coast OG - will be gone today
ICE
Cinderella 99
Blue Dream
Crown Royale
Green Crack
Super Iced Grapefruit
Skywalker Kush (exchanged with a buddy that grows).

I will also be busting out my press and squeezing some dabs of Crown Royale and Super Iced Grapefruit. I've got some Ayahuasca Purple Canna Oil for anyone that wants to include it in their drinks or whatnot. I also made some Ayahuasca Purple White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookies for dessert. I'm sure there will be some oil pens and bong rips happening too.

This all wouldn't be complete without a nice meal and I probably cook as good (if not better) than I grow. I am a fairly humble grower but I am kind of a cocky cook;). So I'll be grilling up some ribeye steaks, corn, salad, crescent rolls and making my famous cheesy bacon mashed potatoes for a few of my homies. I'm sure they will be bringing lots of fun goodies over as well! Anyone salivating yet? We do it right at my house.

I really hope everyone is safe and has a Happy 4/20. What a blessing that we can all share it together, even if it's just through these forums. I appreciate every one of you that makes growing so much fun. The people on these forums are flat out the best.

HAPPY 4/20 EVERYONE!
12 J’s!! Daaaaang sounds like a great day! I can’t believe I missed this!! Yummmmm!! And dang I need to grow that AP!

Happy 420!! :D:D:D


Also, nice dabs! Great yield, I’ll take a pic of my juicy dab I got pressed at my pals house, he has one of those fancy ones!! I got him to squish a big ol Peggy nug! #dabsfordays

@Grandpa Tokin knows what’s up! I don’t have any interest in DWC or blowing myself up:D:D but can’t get enough gramps!! Lol I’m subbed to the #allgrampschannel

Hitting all my journals, #mainmentor was my first stop! Boom!

Smoke break! :passitleft:
 
LOL.... on your smoke report. Funny when that lost an hour or so laughing session hits.

I can't wait to grow the BD out either although I doubt mine will compare to what Ase grew but it should be fun.
Haha I bet yours will be fire too! One thing I can say is that this mentees weed is just as good as her mentors weed and this makes me feel very happy and successful! Ase really helped groom my skills and in quick time! He’s a great teacher so anything you can learn and grow while also using good genetics will be fire, I have no doubt now:D

Also I have a few seshie vids from my trip while high on Ase’s best chronic;) I’ll upload at some point;) #seshieswithnewty
 
Hey Everyone! About 10 months ago I started a journal with the intention of it being a long, ongoing journal. Even to the point that I thought it would be the last one that I would do no matter if it was one year or ten years later. I was finding doing journals on every grow that I did made for a lot of different journals so I decided to put it all into one. When I made that journal I never anticipated how big it would get. With the 420 Magazine Forums upgrade it switched pages numbers around and it would be very tough for new followers to find the key information that I had listed in the past. Since the forum did a revamp, I decided to do one too. I needed to update some small tweaks in my feed schedule and the way I do things now anyways so this new journal will reflect all that! Not a ton has changed so if you followed me before it will probably be along the same lines. I'm always thankful for the people that follow me and I look forward to seeing some new faces around here. I have always said that if you have any questions, please ask them. Chances are other people have the same questions as you and just wont speak up.

My History
I have been growing now for just under 2 years total. I started with 2 Mars Hydro Reflector 96s and one tent. I grew in soil and I grew all the same strain, Nirvana Aurora Indica. After this grow I decided to give coco a shot because I really liked what @TheBlaze did in his grows. I had a few hiccups to start but nothing drastic and was using a very basic feed formula, the Lucas Formula. I had good results for my first coco grow but was not thrilled with the quality of the bud. It was good but I felt like I could do better than the Lucas Formula was giving and I was right. I did some research on coco feed schedules and really learned about nutrients and put together my very own schedule. It seems to really work and a few people like @DobeWan are using it and having really gorgeous plants. I also came up with my own training method called Quadlining. This training method has quite a few people trying it out and having great results. It has landed me 3 Plant of the Months in a row here on 420Magazine. The best part is I was a total rookie when I started growing. Everything I have learned has come from this website and I'm thankful to be able to give back to this awesome community.

Feed Schedule
One of the most frequently asked questions in growing is about nutrients. You could constantly chase your tail trying to find the right way to use nutrients. In my opinion nutrients are necessary but not as important as environment or light. Both environment and light can change the amount of nutrients your plant needs but the nutrients can't say the same about effecting the other two. It is still important to get the nutrients schedule correct but the hard part is everyone's grow area is different, requiring different needs for the plants. Learning about nutrients is something worth doing. It's eye opening. I tried to follow people's schedules and realized I never fully understood what I was giving my plants and at what stages they needed boosts or decreases in certain nutrients.

With that being said I use GH products for now. It's the 3 part series as a base with cal-mag. I run a few additives as well. I might add one or two more to the lineup but am really happy with all these. They are affordable and I get very good results.


Here is my feed schedule. If I decide to veg longer then I will just follow week 5's veg nutrients until ready. With that being said, you have to learn how to read your plants. different strains use different levels of each nutrient. Some of them drink more than others. This is just my rough guide. Currently I really don't use exact measurements anymore to get the perfect ratios. I kind of know if I put certain amounts in what my end PPM will be and I haven't had to use PH up or down in a long time with this schedule. It is almost always right at 6.0.


I also pre-treat any coco that I use with a soaking of 1-1-1 N-P-K and a PPM of around 350 with cal-mag being about 150. Aways pretreat your coco and soak it. Coco is a medium with nothing in it. If you give your plant nothing it will not like it! This is one of the most common problems when transplanting or even from growing the seed from the beginning. The plant needs calcium and it can't get any unless the coco has some sort of nutes loaded into it. I also sprinkle Great White on the roots when I transplant to help the roots not miss a beat and hopefully causing very little stress when transplanting.

I water with nutes everyday and I usually mix up 5 gallons each time and then use that to water for a couple days. In the beginning I try to keep the coco relatively damp and not saturated. I am a firm believer that roots want to go exploring and if they are have enough water then they won't. A larger root mass means a larger plant and more bud potential. I run a drain to waste system by hand feeding but I don't always want to see runoff, in fact most of the time I don't want runoff. In the first weeks of veg I get very little runoff ever. As the plants get larger and enter vigorous veg I start to get runoff every few waterings. After stretch in flower I begin watering twice a day. The first watering I don't want runoff and usually if I give the same amount a while later it will cause just a little runoff or none at all. This happens daily, by now the roots have filled the pot and the plant should be focusing on bud swelling. The biggest key to watering is knowing how heavy your pots are when full saturated and how light they are when dry. You can judge how much each plant is drinking according to that and it's the best way to do so.

Once a week I water to runoff of about 30% just to flush out any buildup of salts. I usually will only water once the next day to keep things from over-saturating. You will not kill your plants by overwatering in coco but you can do damage to the roots if they are constantly soaked. It can also cause algae buildup and bugs love that. The very last two-ish weeks I flush the plants (about 12 days before I want to pull them) and use Florakleen and ph to 6.0. I measure runoff until it is the same as what is coming out and then from there on I water as needed with regular, unPH'd water until the end. The Florakleen breaks down any remaining salts and the water flushes them out. By PH'ing to 6.0 it allows the plant to grab anything else it needs before I lock it out with regular water so it can finish.

The best way to determine how much to water is to pick your whole plant up right after you give it a full watering (with some drainage coming out the bottom). Use that as your gauge for how much the plant needs. I like to keep my plants to where they are asking for water a little bit everyday. The pots are usually pretty light when I pick them up. I noticed in my last grow the saturation of roots happened at the bottom of the pots mainly. I am use Hydroton now to prevent that. My water is a ppm of 34, which is great. I make beer as well and we are known for having some of the best water. In coco it is essential to always keep cal-mag levels at a certain base. Plants in coco use a lot of both. I fill my 5 gallon bucket with water and then add cal-mag until my PPM is 200. After that I add nutes to hit the PPM for the week using the N-P-K ratios listed in the table. These ratios are based on what the plant needs at given points in the 10 week flower lifecycle.

I will focus a lot on quadlining and training when the time comes. The girls I will be training are Chemdawg, Purple Envy, Super Iced Grapefruit and White Rhino. All plants who either won me an award or I've had great results from. I will do a separate post on those later. Thanks to all that come along for the ride this time! To all newer people, please ask questions if you have any!
Hello Asesino85 I have read your grow but still a little confused on how you came to calculate the npk ratio and ppm for them. As in your feeding schedule flower week 1 N-P-K og 1-1-1 but the ppm is 600 for the GH 3 part system. I’m on my second grow still learning but these values are the hardest point to comprehend so far. Sorry if this question is around the same as all others that ask. Thank you for your time.
 
Hello Asesino85 I have read your grow but still a little confused on how you came to calculate the npk ratio and ppm for them. As in your feeding schedule flower week 1 N-P-K og 1-1-1 but the ppm is 600 for the GH 3 part system. I’m on my second grow still learning but these values are the hardest point to comprehend so far. Sorry if this question is around the same as all others that ask. Thank you for your time.

A lot of research and some trial and error. In my first grow I did what the bottles recommend and I got ok buds with ok frost and a little nute burn. My next grow I did the Lucas Formula (which is another pretty basic routine) and had a little bettter results. After doing a bunch of research on nutrients I learned what the plant needs and when. I bought my additives for times the plants need boosts and I developed a schedule based on all my notes. I’ve adjusted it 3 times now but the one in this journal is my final schedule.

I have a theory that seed companies and nutrient companies are very similar. In the end it is a business and nutrient companies want you to over use nutrients so then you have to buy more. That’s why my PPMs are not that high. Seed companies are always short on their flowering times and they want you to pull plants down early and start more seeds. Maybe just a conspiracy theory in my head but I’m a business guy and this just seems like a way to get more business.

It’s not that easy to comprehend all this stuff but when you do figure it out it’s like a lightbulb going off in your head.
 
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