Blackberry Kush 400W MH/HPS 4x4 & Maybe More

[TheFertilizer]

Well, the CS generator seems to be working, but I was a little concerned at first because it is not a very clean process. There's a lot of oxidation and scaling taking place, with silver tarnish occurring, so the fluid is actually getting very dark and seems almost burnt. There's no heat, or smoke, and I have read this is pretty normal with pure silver. Glad I wasn't planning on drinking this stuff.

It's pretty slow going though, and I'm not sure what the transfer rate of 1 gram of silver into colloidal silver will be given that some of it appears to be oxidizing off. Or how long it will take to actually dissolve the entire gram... However, over night I have been able to generate a CS solution of 65 ppm. Though this is only in about 5 teaspoons of water, so that's not saying very much.

My biggest concern is that the silver electrodes are so small that the alligator clips are getting exposed to the water as well, so I think some of this is probably tainted with steel, or whatever the alligator clips are made out of. This morning when I looked there was literally scales of silver floating on the top of the water. From what I've read it's best to try to stir the solution up with a chopstick ( not metal or plastic ) or something to keep the oxidation from accumulating too much, and to promote smaller silver particles.

Anyway, there's quite a bit of silver left, and so far the ppm is up to 65, but I don't know how long or high how it will end up going.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Thought I would add some pictures of the process. I think getting some .9999 silver rods would be a good investment, and from what I've read, a higher voltage helps in making smaller silver particles. I think having the electrodes being such shallow depth, and so small, leads to more oxidation, and I guess a higher or smaller concentration of water also causes this. I've seen it recommended to simply strain this stuff out with a coffee filter, but I don't know how much that will drop the potency. So far I have been generating about 5 teaspoons of 60 ppm CS each night, and my silver electrodes are mostly in tact. I don't think that a 100% transfer of silver into the water occurs, there is some significant loss to oxidation and scaling. I guess it's a proof of concept, but it really doesn't speak to the cost effectiveness of generating it like this versus just buying some of the Silver Mountain Minerals stuff. Relatively speaking I think when it comes time to filter this stuff off, I will find that the SMM stuff is going to be just a bit above cost in terms of materials and stuff to make it. I mean, the cost of .9999 silver rods, the difference in potency once you filter it to get a product similar in cleanliness to theirs, not to mention just the time it takes to generate, it doesn't seem like a huge money-saver.

On the other hand, so far I can use the 4-5 teaspoons of 60 PPM dirty-CS to treat an entire plant using a paint brush and still have some to spare, and that's ready every morning, so it actually seems to match the real need pretty sufficiently. I think perhaps the guides that insist on not using bud after it's been treated with this stuff do so because the silver oxidation is not appealing and looks pretty nasty. it might not be "toxic", but it sure looks pretty vomit inducing.

I think that if I had some rods of proper length in more depth of water, I wouldn't be getting as much of this oxidation build up. This is somewhat problematic, because this buildup can become so large as to cross the elctrodes and create a bit of a short circuit between the two electrodes--I woke up the other morning to hear it slightly sizzling. So overnight generations just seem to make more sense for this volume and setup, as it will reduce the amount of oxidation built up. It seems like in this amount of water it hits a wall at about 80 ppm, and then all that really gets added to the water is scale and oxidation. I have simply been emptying this 60 ppm solution into my old CS bottle, and I'm not worrying about filtering it out since it's just going right onto the plant that's already had a failed reversal attempt. Later down the line if I were to actually try to apply this method, I would strain it through a coffee filter so that only the smallest particles would be applied to the plant.

Oh, and here is my flower plant after a super defoliation.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy...

Literally on the lowest flower on the plant, and the only one I can find, but I'm pretttttty sure that there is a pollen sac forming!

I don't know if I can really attribute it to my homemade CS, considering I haven't really been treating it with any of that for a while, so I think this must be from the previous treatments. I'm thinking I will back off of painting my homemade CS onto the pistills for now. I'm wondering if it just took a while for it to flip since it's getting so close to late flower with the buds being so small. It put up a valiant effort, now it's just going, "Well, guess I'll just go screw myself."

 

[electro gypsy]

 

[TheFertilizer]

I think I spotted another, it's almost like the calyxes transform into pollen sacs.

So, I decided to filter out the home-made colloidal silver, and it looks a lot better, though it still has a brown color to it. More importantly, it measured out to 60 ppm. I found a hairspray bottom that happened to be black, but who knows what kind of plastic it is. I've read some plastics can change the charge of the silver particles. Well, I figure I'll keep some ready-to-spray in this bottle, and keep the rest in the bottle that the SMM stuff came in. Apparently the cobalt blue in the plastic in that bottle filters out the UV rays.

 

[Icemud]

I think I spotted another, it's almost like the calyxes transform into pollen sacs.

So, I decided to filter out the home-made colloidal silver, and it looks a lot better, though it still has a brown color to it. More importantly, it measured out to 60 ppm. I found a hairspray bottom that happened to be black, but who knows what kind of plastic it is. I've read some plastics can change the charge of the silver particles. Well, I figure I'll keep some ready-to-spray in this bottle, and keep the rest in the bottle that the SMM stuff came in. Apparently the cobalt blue in the plastic in that bottle filters out the UV rays.

Thats awesome that your plant is transforming! and even more cool that you are making your own CS... I started looking into it one day and then looked at making a generator vs buying one and it was too much for me to take on learning new at the time so I just bought some but its awesome you are making your own. I definitely will be taking notes as eventually I will probably give it a go and make my own too

I'm stoked for you that you will soon have pollen! woo hoo!

 

[TheFertilizer]

Thats awesome that your plant is transforming! and even more cool that you are making your own CS... I started looking into it one day and then looked at making a generator vs buying one and it was too much for me to take on learning new at the time so I just bought some but its awesome you are making your own. I definitely will be taking notes as eventually I will probably give it a go and make my own too

I'm stoked for you that you will soon have pollen! woo hoo!

Yeah, the funny thing is I pretty much already had everything but the silver around to do it. I might build something a little more robust down the line. They have a lot of cool little universal power supplies where you can set voltage and amperage specifically. From what I've read 36 volts and about .5 A is the best.

I'm trying not to count my pollen before they burst lol I am actually a little worried now about where I'm going to dry my bud at. I was going to use the tent as a dark room, but the flower will be done in about 2-3 weeks, and I'm not sure how fast the sacs are going to form.

 

[Twox]

Look at cha go Fert... This is probably the first time I've ever told a member congrats on the male flowers.. lol Awesome seeing you make your own CS and Itseems like you did a lot of research. Good sh!t my friend.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Look at cha go Fert... This is probably the first time I've ever told a member congrats on the male flowers.. lol Awesome seeing you make your own CS and Itseems like you did a lot of research. Good sh!t my friend.

Well, someone did a lot of research for me, and I just found their article on Google lol Very well researched information though, the guy who put it together does a good job citing sources so you can go learn more as well. The only thing is that they're more geared toward making the colloidal silver for health reasons, so I'm not sure just how pertinent the information is for making colloidal silver for our purposes.

 

[Icemud]

Yeah, the funny thing is I pretty much already had everything but the silver around to do it. I might build something a little more robust down the line. They have a lot of cool little universal power supplies where you can set voltage and amperage specifically. From what I've read 36 volts and about .5 A is the best.

I'm trying not to count my pollen before they burst lol I am actually a little worried now about where I'm going to dry my bud at. I was going to use the tent as a dark room, but the flower will be done in about 2-3 weeks, and I'm not sure how fast the sacs are going to form.

Dude... check this out..

DIY drying box with odor control

I made one of these and it works pretty well I think I even posted photos in this thread. I still use my drying box when I harvest indiviual plants early and have nowhere else to dry them. I hooked up an old beat up carbon scrubber and small 6" duct fan to the box top so it slowly draws air through and keeps the smell down... I think the box and string cost like $10 at the local uhaul store...

 

[Twox]

Dude... check this out..

DIY drying box with odor control

I made one of these and it works pretty well I think I even posted photos in this thread. I still use my drying box when I harvest indiviual plants early and have nowhere else to dry them. I hooked up an old beat up carbon scrubber and small 6" duct fan to the box top so it slowly draws air through and keeps the smell down... I think the box and string cost like $10 at the local uhaul store...

That post was my inspiration to build my own drying box. That had to be more than a year ago.

This one uses the negative pressure from my tents and is filtered by the flowering tent..

 

[TheFertilizer]

That's what I was thinking of doing. Only problem is I'm out of ducting, can't find it anywhere in town for less than 14 bucks so that sucks. Might cut a length out of the land going to my fan since there is a lot of slack in there.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Started some clones today. The ones on the left are from right before I started to flower the mother plant, they were pretty yellow to begin with and they've been in "stasis" for 6 weeks. Stasis being a tupperware bin in my vegetable crisper. I'm basically seeing how long I can store cuts like that and still have them root.

The ones on the right are cuts I took today. Some are super small because I didn't want to sacrifice too many nice branches, but a couple are some larger branches off the lower part of the plants. So we're going to see what happens, and if they all root, I'll probably just select my limit of ones that are relatively the same size, so that way I don't have to struggle with canopy height.

 

[TheFertilizer]

I don't remember this strain being so dang frosty before! This thing is looking like a hash plant with those leaves. *drools*

Trying not to guess at yield, but I think I'll at least get an ounce. Bearing in mind I also trim the hell out of my flower when it's finished, so will probably have almost a half ounce of trim haha I like the scrog though, I mean granted I didn't really do everything I could to do it right this time around ( like actually filling the net ), but the way it has kept the canopy height more even has helped those lower buds fill out. I can tell that if I had just let it grow up more vertically that some of those buds from the very lowest branches would have just been total fluff, they'll at least be some pretty nice popcorn buds now. Then meanwhile, the mid branches that would have been popcorn are now pretty chunky nugs. On the other hand, the tops don't seem as big as they could be... So maybe it all just evens out in other areas, but I'd rather have better size distribution than some big ass tops and a bunch of fluff on the bottom. I might do a staggered harvest on this one since I'm wanting to keep my flower tent running for the CS plant.

Speaking of the CS plant... I think I'm seeing why people who have generated their own CS are saying not to use any bud that's been touched with it. Look at all these silver stains from the unfiltered stuff I basically painted on to it. I'm kind of wondering if I should continue spraying with the spray I made, or just let it sit. I think it was showing sacs before I applied my home-made stuff, but on the other hand if that's what did it, I don't want to let off of it and have it stop.

Meanwhile, the veg tent is also looking real busy. I need to get a better fan. I decided to forgo Twox's method of putting the dome on the light, pretty much since I have the floor space, don't want to risk tipping it and I think it will get enough light down there anyway. But I DO like the idea of the T5 heating the tray instead of the heating pad, so I might try that out if I can find a little CFL to hang up above it. That shit was just genius

Be real interested to see how many of these old cuts take root. I will probably forego using them if the newer ones take root, but it would be useful to know if I can viably store cuts like that. I'm starting to think in terms of redundancy. If something goes wrong with fresh cuts, you'd want some backups, and sense I plan on trying a scrog again I think I will have cuts that will just otherwise be thrown out.

Meanwhile, I think I'm going to transplant the veg girls into 5 gallons next week. I just think it would be a waste not to since I'm going to have to delay their trip to the flower tent a little more. I'm not sure how much more they'll be able to root into them, but it will just be beneficial all around. Either they get more roots, get bigger, or they have more leg room and I don't have to worry so much about rootbind or buildup issues. Plus I think if I'm going to be running 3 flowering by 3 veg, I'm going to need bigger than 3 gallon pots. However, I'm also thinking about running one plant in the 7 gallon smart pot in the scrog net, and flowering other plants in the 3 gallon buckets off to the side. If they stay smaller, that's fine, because then they can just grow up in the space between the scrog plant and the tent walls. I just think things might get a little weird with trying to keep the light the right distance.

 

[electro gypsy]

No worries. Once she's a he, there's no going back. It's just time from here on out. The next nail biter is waiting for actual pollen. It's not uncommon in M/F breeding to have the first few flowers release nothing or close to. Reversals seem to follow the same pattern. Right about the time you are going to tear your hair out you bump a branch and there's a cloud.

 

[TheFertilizer]

No worries. Once she's a he, there's no going back. It's just time from here on out. The next nail biter is waiting for actual pollen. It's not uncommon in M/F breeding to have the first few flowers release nothing or close to. Reversals seem to follow the same pattern. Right about the time you are going to tear your hair out you bump a branch and there's a cloud.

Hmm I wonder if I need to find it it's own little space then, I kind of assumed the sacs would all forms and open st the same time like buds would. I guess I could just open pollinate my next crop, but I mean... That's a lot of weed to seed up.

 

[Fullyspectrum]

I'm following. Fullyspectrum in the house!!!

 

[TheFertilizer]

I'm following. Fullyspectrum in the house!!!

Welcome to Narnia! I mean, my grow journal...

Ducks foot breeding program huh? Sounds like you've got some interesting stuff happening *clicks*

 

[Twox]

What's up Fert... Just playing a little catch up and your right,she's frosty
Your veg area is looking lush too. Look at them go...

I'm wondering how fine pollen is? In once pondered building a micro scene cage around a male, kinda like what's used for bubble hash bags. Something with a real high micron count. I guess a bubble hash bag could work too. You would still get light and air but if pollen is to fine it won't work. You could always paper bag her. She'll get air but no light...

 

[TheFertilizer]

What's up Fert... Just playing a little catch up and your right,she's frosty
Your veg area is looking lush too. Look at them go...

I'm wondering how fine pollen is? In once pondered building a micro scene cage around a male, kinda like what's used for bubble hash bags. Something with a real high micron count. I guess a bubble hash bag could work too. You would still get light and air but if pollen is to fine it won't work. You could always paper bag her. She'll get air but no light...

Hmm yeah I was wondering about that too, but never thought about a screen. I was thinking that I could use a plastic painter's drop sheet I have to kind of partition the side of my tent that has my carbon filter on it. That way if the plant sheds pollen, it should be sucked up by the filter before it has reason to cross the plastic barrier. It's about the most I can do with what I got, other than just being real careful to check, which I do everyday. Got 3 sacks forming now, but the thing is I know from personal experience that even these ones that haven't "burst" can still drop pollen. The pollen sacks I got my Cherry OG pollen from were pretty premature, I just had to squish 'em, kind of flick 'em a bit, and pollen dropped. I mean, I figure the plastic drop sheet is probably better than nothing but I don't know how effective it would really be. I'd have to try to duct tape it all to the sides of the tent to get it really sealed and then that would impede air flow through the rest of it.... If I just leave it loose around the sides, that should at least create air flow in the right direction so any pollen that gets shaken up will get blown away from those cracks as the exhaust pulls air in from the rest of the tent into the partition. So then you know, 90% of the tent area will be shielded, and the rest will have that air flow preventing pollen to escaping to the flower side. I think it could work.

Edit:

Now that I think about it, I swear I remember reading about someone selectively pollinating a whole plant like that. Which might be something I want to do.