Well Im back from my trip. The plants fared pretty well in my absence; they didnt get any drenches or sprays but DID get regular waterings.
The good news: All of the ladies are showing their flowers really strongly!
The bad news: Im fighting spider mites throughout. They even started building a tent on the MTF.
Here are shots of Jane Holmes (Vanilla Kush)
These little spider mites are pissing me off!!! The only way they got this far was that I was out of town for 10 days. I hate spraying during flower, but I dont know what else to do. Any suggestions?
Anyway.. glad to be back. I did the catatonic drench for the 1st time today. I think we an all agree that pistils are showing now! PS - I learned something really cool about my DLSR today.. The white balance can be custom set for the HPS light by aiming it at grey concrete and "setting" it to the way the light hits the grey. From then on I had nearly perfect white balance in the shots.
Hey there BA,
Subbed if ya don't mind, ill follow along. I find myself intrigued by the HB kit grows. Your plants look great. Hopefully the mites don't cause to much issue for you.
Sierra Natural Sciences makes 2 products to kill spider mites and thrips SNS-217C Concentrate and SNS-209 Systemic Insect Control. I add 3-5 drops of Ivory Liquid Soap per gallon as a surfactant to help the spray stick to leaves and stems better. I would spray every 3 days for 2 weeks to kill adults and larvae as they hatch.
Welcome, CO and BD!! Happy to have you tagging along.
@Bud Diamond: Search for "in the lab with Doc Bud" for all details about the kit. @king John: Thanks for the recommendation. Ill get on that right away so the need to spray in late flower will diminish. Reps.
One question I need help answering has to do with lighting levels. I had always heard "50W per square foot" as a rule. Clearly, running 400W in a 4x4 puts me at 1/2 of that mark. What are the tells that my lighting is too low? Barring the damn mites, this appears to be a very healthy grow. Im willing to drop some cash on a 600W setup if there is good return on investment, but honestly I dont know how to determine that by looking at the plants. Is 50W the rule for top lights? Is there a different standard for vertical grows?
I'm getting by on just over 30 watts/sqft of hps and I get about one oz/sqft yield. I find it's primarily my canopy that suffers. I have 12-14 inches deep, max. 50 watts should get you closer to an 18-20 inch canopy.
Ok but what are the signs if the plants not getting enough light. Are there any differences in look and vigor, or you just can't really tell until you see the buds at the end?
When I came back from my trip abroad my ladies were doing okay but looking a little limp and the dam spider mites had starting pitching a tent over a couple of colas. The pistils were forming and buds were taking shape. I performed the catatonic drench and top-dressed the soil with recharge. I also sprayed with Safer mite killer and procured SNS (thanks King for the suggestion).
After a defoliation tonight, here are the perky ladies strutting their stuff:
Cannatonic:
Vanilla Kush ( Jane Holmes )
Cherry Berry
MTF - I have to say.. it is environment first, nutrition second, and genetics third. They all matter, and dialing out any one will leave a grower disappointed. The genetics with this strain surpasses all; it will be with me forever if I can keep it. The smell, resin production, flower sites, and just overall amazing ability this plant has is beyond words. It is the benchmark against all other strains are judged. As you will see, it does not disappoint. Absolutely amazing resin production at this early stage in the bloom. It is hard to imagine that we nearly lost it
The whole crew -
Here are the Girl Scout cookies which will be featured in an upcoming journal
The remainder of clones which are not doing so well but Im working to recover them
DS/AW
White Widow
Tangerine Dream
The kiddos (cuttings from all four moms)
I upgraded the grow cellar adding in a 2' x 4' x 5'h tent. It fit my 6 bulb T5 perfectly. Works pretty well with the air flow running from one tent to another, and then all the air getting filtered out through the charcoal filter for the exit.
It is strange to be growing in soil and not dumping salts or chemicals on to the plants. Stranger even still not using Snow Storm but seeing such great resin buildup so early into flower. Im still interested to know what consequences I may face with running 400W instead of 600W. Best I can tell, it means that Ill have some airier buds. However my last run the buds were so incredibly solid I could have fixed a wobbly table with them. So for this run Ill stick with 400w. My last go was .92GPW.. maybe I can beat that this time?
PS - here is a shot of the MTF and Tijuana from my last run:
MTF -
Tijuana:
All for now.. thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts on how things are going.
Final pic.. this was from my trip last week. All work and no play makes this Alaskan a dull boy. I took some time to visit the amazing castles across England. I never knew seeing ruins was on my bucket list, but after a weekend touring it made me realize how big the world is and how much there is left to see.
Things got kinda wacky this weekend. I was out of town (AGAIN), and arrived back in late Friday night. Saturday morning I checked on the ladies and the lights were not on. Long story short, a fuse blew in the ballast. It caused the lights to be off for about 3 or 4 days. I'm not sure what damage the blackout caused, but the ladies perked up when the light came back on.
I drenched tonight, and went back over to growth energy. Since Im spraying the SNS to get the mites down, my choice for a leaf spray was DE-Stress.
First, some of the cuttings and seeds
A Cherry Berry clone
The DS/Flav seed. This one may be a male.
White Widow
Tangerine Dream
A group shot
Now on to the big gals!!!
Cherry berry -
MTF -
Cannatonic -
Vanilla Kush -
Im a bit uncomfortable with the yield. They should plump up over the next few weeks, but still they dont seem to be growing at the same pace Im used to seeing. That said, of these three strains only the MTF is the only one I have history with growing, and it is clearly the best producer of the bunch with VK coming in second.
The quality of the flowers is really impressive though. This is my first run without using SnowStorm. Frankly, I cant tell any difference between the resin production of this run and the last; they both are showing spectacular sticky flowers.
My next hard decision will be to determine which plants have to go from the veg tent. I have a pretty good selection going for the next round. Ill assume that the DS/Flav/Albert Walker is a male for now.. and he will not stay. That leaves the following choices:
Tangerine Dream
White Widow
Girl Scout Cookies
MTF
Vanilla Kush
Cannatonic
Cherry Berry
There is one more I cant remember. It is possible that I could put 8 plants into the 4x4 using fabric pots and screens. Either way, I have to cull the veg tent to make room. Time to reach out to my network and see who wants the MTF/BVK/BCB/Cannatonic extras.
Good morning 420Magazine! Just a small update from tending the girls last night.
It is fair to say that the flowers are plumping up, and the little ones are taking root
Here is a shot of the clones. MTF and Cherry Berry in the foreground:
Here is Vanilla Kush. Jane Holmes continues to increase her girth!
MTF is doing really well too. Terrific smell and sticky resin!
Im beating the mites back and hopefully in a couple of weeks they will be gone for good. After this run everything gets sterilized and NOTHING goes into the tent unless Im absolutely sure it is mite free.
The bad news:
Despite my efforts the mites are wreaking havoc. I use SNS17 and worked to keep my temps and humidity in line, but still the mites are putting up a fight. They seem to be attacking Jane Holmes more than the other three. I see a few mites on the others here and there, but there was a tent on Jane when I returned from another trip for 5 days.
The good news:
The ladies are plumping up! Cherry Berry is lagging, but even she is catching up. It makes me wonder how much better production would be had I not had mites running hither and yon.
Lessons learned:
Never... NEVER let mites into your grow. If you see them, then eradicate FULLY before flower.
The drain table is a great start, but needs some revisions. Ill handle those before the next flower cycle
Vertical grows work best with well pruned or screened plants
Large pots and less veg time is better than smaller pots and more veg time. Next grow will be 7-10 gal smart bags instead of 5gal.
One charcoal filter isnt enough. It smells like our cat killed a skunk in the back yard.
Basements are a terrific grow location! I'm having no heat issues in the middle of summer.
Killing clones sucks, but I cant grow out everything. Its a bummer we are still fighting mites or I would donate them to friends. But no mites=no bueno. I wont be "that guy".
For the 2.0 version of the table Ill replace the center fan with a compact charcoal filter and a centrifugal fan. This will be supplemented by a larger filter / fan on the exit. I think there is merit to out-venting less and recirculating the internal air more through a filter. Oh.. and a real gutter and not a ripped section of pipe. Im tired of drips on the tent floor! It is hard to control humidity with water leaks.
Since this is my 1st time using Doc's kit and I had mites I don't think I'm giving it a fair shake. Ill run the kit again next round too. It takes more time than hempys and considerable more time than just soil. That said, Im learning a lot and all things considered in the mite department the plants seem fairly happy. I just hope the SNS17 spray which is keeping them at bay will rinse off in the wash. It would royally suck to lose the "brix" flavor because of it.
On to the pictures.. Up first: Vanilla Kush (Jane Holmes)
It is clear that her leaves got really chewed up by the dam mites. Otherwise, Im really impressed with the thick cola and all the perimeter buds are getting hard.
I tore off a nug a week ago and slowly cured it. The wife tried it last night during her daily headache bouts. It cleared away the pain and she said that it was extremely relaxing. Her comment on the flavor was "citrus". So looks like Jane turned out okay.
MTF
Wow.. I love the smell of this one! Her branches are needing some support now. She is performing well.
Cannatonic
She is finally fattening up. I think she will run an extra week or two considering the sativa dominance.
Cherry Berry
she is doing better, but I still want to see more production out of her. If she doesnt wow me with tasty smoke, chances are we will not be growing her again.
The veg tent didnt make the update today, but Ill say that the seeds are all doing well. I have a ton of clones which are well rooted and growing like.. well.. weeds The tough part now is that with 3-4 weeks remaining Ill need to get the next round into the final pots now and that means a full veg tent for the select four. I hope the AW/Flav/DS seed is a female.
Oh.. it looks like today was the first day for recreational MJ sales. The reception in the press was muted. Even more so for the medical community. Without getting too tall on the political soapbox, Washington is in serious risk of handing over cannabis to large corps only; both recreational and medicinal. The state barely rejected seriously restrictive legislation last session which would have gutted the MMJ side. I loathe the idea of a Monsanto / ConAgra dominated market with GMO weed. So please.. in whatever state you reside.. be politically active! We are nearing a tipping point of legality across the US; and if we are not careful the demise of prohibition will come along with Corporatism.
okay.. Im off my soapbox now.
Thanks for reading; I hope you are enjoying the journal.
subbed! In my experience, basements tend to increase possibilities of mite infestation. I don't know why, but this is my experience. Prevention is key, which I'm sure you know! Looking foward to seeing how this turns out for you. hope i can hang out and learn from your grow?
The ladies are looking ready for harvest. I have one week on a couple and 2-3 weeks on the others. Things have been improving on the mite front. I was pretty vigilant with the SNS spray, and supplemented it with NEEM oil sprays too. I cut a nug off of the Vanilla Kush and the MTF. Both didnt have any (live) mites as examined through a 60x lens. I did see a couple of dead ones though. Following the bud wash, all remants disappeared
Cannatonic
I really hope this one cures headaches without too much "stoniness". She produced decently, but more of a concern is that Im seeing some hermaphrodite signs in some of the nugs. While that is typically a sign of poor genetics, the 3 day light outage a few weeks back can also be a contributing factor. The other three strains show no signs of similar behavior, so I am tending to lean toward weak genetics. If it is a medicinal winner, then Ill grow out some of the cuttings once more to see. However, any additional signs of male traits and he/she has to go.
Vanilla Kush
Jane Holmes is clearly interested in strutting her stuff and impressing. This is the 3rd seed I grew from the same breeder's pack, and the 1st one to exhibit such clear purple tones. The others would get a touch of purple and that was it. The sample nug from last week really impressed the Mrs. both on taste and effect. Im excited to keep this one around! She was going to be in the POTM contest, but I just dont feel right about submitting something fighting mites. Next time round, we will be sterile and controlled. Then, LOOKOUT!!
MTF
Old' Faithful is coming through again! Ill be sure to screen the next round; the colas were literally horizontal from weight. She continues to smell amazing and producing thick nugs on nearly every branch. The trics are clear, so I'm predicting two more weeks until harvest.
Cherry Berry
Probably the worst bud performer of the bunch, CB began to make a comeback in the last couple of weeks. Every branch shows nugs forming and not just little popcorn stuff. She isnt as dense on the branches as the others, but with more and longer branches, I think she can make up the difference.
I drenched the ladies with Growth and Tea last night. Next drench will be Transplant and Tea, with a Brix spray. My temps are holding in a great range considering the heat wave. Clearly this is one of the major advantages of basement grows. However, my humidity is in the 50-70% range. It is possible to arrange a dehumidifier in that space, but it would require bringing in power from another breaker. Im going to play with some venting changes and see if I can get drier air into it, otherwise Im gambling with Powdery Mildew and bud rot.
Thanks to all of the new folks who joined me for this ride over the last couple of weeks. I hope the journal help to show what to do and more importantly what NOT to do.