DobeWan's Spring Flowers

[DobeWan]

Welcome 420mag!

Some of you may remember me from my previous journals and presence around here. I injured my cervical spine back in June 2018 and had to take a break from everything - including growing and 420mag. In the fall, I did a small 2 plant grow that turned out great, and gave me the confidence to run a full tent again this winter. I'm still not back to where I need to be but I continue to make progress. But I'm finding it difficult to get reengaged with the old crew here. I thought perhaps starting a new journal could help keep me honest with checking in and interacting.

I'm not going to make any promises with this one. I'll aim for a weekly update on the weekend, but consider anything else a bonus.

I intend to run this journal for about 4 months - I'll wrap it up in June. I'm going to flower twice in that time. I am flipping my current plants to flower tomorrow, and I started seedlings this afternoon with the intention of vegging some monster plants for a second round of flower when this one is done. After my second round of flower I'll be taking an extended break, so I'm planning to knock this next one out of the park.

I grow in coco and use GH nutes in a custom schedule that borrows heavily from @Asesino85. I use a 2 tent perpetual setup. My veg tent is a 3x3 with a Viparspectra 900 "blurple". My flower tent is a 4x4 with 4 custom quantum boards of 312 Samsung LM561C diodes each.

I grow for medicine to treat my brutal stomach (I have IBS and several food sensitivities) and recreational bud because I enjoy it.

After my hiatus from growing I was low on meds, so the first round of flower is very Kush heavy, since anything Kush does me well. The lineup is Kosher Kush, Pink Kush, Kushy Kush, and Chocolope. Pink Kush in particular is an awesome medical strain for me.

The seeds I just put in to germinate, which will be my 2nd round of flower, are Pineapple Express, Gelato, Dosidos, and Blue Dream. The Pineapple Express was a freebie I suspect may not germinate, so the backup seed is Coco Bruce, which is effectively a Chocolope cross with Bruce Banner. This is more of a fun round than a med-making round.

Feel free to stop in and say hello, or to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[DobeWan]

The current lineup as of today, day 42 of veg, their last.

2019.02.15-all-42V.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

In the back is Kushy Kush on the left and Kosher Kush on the right. In the front is Pink Kush on the left and Chocolope on the right.

I had some temperature issues in veg that slowed things down, but I've resolved them and the plants are happy again. Chocolope was started a week later so it's a little behind, but all 4 have the same structure. I quadlined all 4, and trimmed all new growth except the first nodes that sprouted from the top branches of the quadline, so all plants have 8 good tops heading into flower.

 

[Orlando Scout]

Im in for this one, sounds like a fire line up!!

 

[Preston9mm]

I'll pull up a chair, if ya don't mind.

 

[420BudzFreak]

Dobe!!! I’m so sorry to hear about your injury. That’s terrible. Hopefully you’re healing up well. I’ll pull up a chair for this one most definitely. I hope your “extended” break won’t be too long!! I was away from 420 for a while as well and I completely agree regarding it being hard to re engage. Your lineup sounds fantastic and I can’t wait for the show!! Happy growing!

 

[InTheShed]

Count me in!

 

[Curiousnoob]

Im always up for a show, and some edumacating. Sounds like some cool strains, not that I know alot about them. Good luck mate!

 

[Derbybud]

I'm in

 

[Mr. Magoo]

I’m in for sure! The more I learn about some of the Kush strains the more I want to grow one. I have some king’s Kush seeds from greenhouse that I will probably grow at some point. I’m looking for something for creativity and keep coming across Kush strains.

 

[Derbybud]

I have a kush bomb from bomb seeds going now. Lopin is looking forward to trying it.

 

[Asesino85]

I’ve been waiting for you to get going on doing a journal again. I know you aren’t planning on it being as active but a weekly update is good enough! Glad to see my first Quadsquad OG back in action. The girls are looking like they are off to a great start.

 

[DobeWan]

Im in for this one, sounds like a fire line up!!

Thanks! I'll talk a little more about the lineup as we progress.

I'll pull up a chair, if ya don't mind.

Glad to have you along Preston!

Dobe!!! I’m so sorry to hear about your injury. That’s terrible. Hopefully you’re healing up well. I’ll pull up a chair for this one most definitely. I hope your “extended” break won’t be too long!! I was away from 420 for a while as well and I completely agree regarding it being hard to re engage. Your lineup sounds fantastic and I can’t wait for the show!! Happy growing!

Thanks! The injury definitely put a big damper on my 2018. But I'm determined to get my old life back as much as possible, and I continue to make progress. I'm way better lately than I was at any time in 2018 so I'm getting there.

Count me in!

Glad to have you Shed!

Im always up for a show, and some edumacating. Sounds like some cool strains, not that I know alot about them. Good luck mate!

Thanks! I'll fill in the gaps on the strains soon enough. If you have any questions about what I'm doing don't hesitate to ask.

I'm in

Welcome Derby, wouldn't be the same without you!

I’m in for sure! The more I learn about some of the Kush strains the more I want to grow one. I have some king’s Kush seeds from greenhouse that I will probably grow at some point. I’m looking for something for creativity and keep coming across Kush strains.

I'm a big lover of Kush strains. So many of them share characteristics that do well for me. Seems myrcene and limonene help me the most, and I've found those in Kush more than I have elsewhere. It seems the closer to landrace the strain is, the better it works for me.

I have a kush bomb from bomb seeds going now. Lopin is looking forward to trying it.

I've never done anything from Bomb - but it seems like folks around here have had good experiences. I think Lopin and I probably have some common tastes when it comes to indica.

I’ve been waiting for you to get going on doing a journal again. I know you aren’t planning on it being as active but a weekly update is good enough! Glad to see my first Quadsquad OG back in action. The girls are looking like they are off to a great start.

Thanks! I've thought about it previously but wanted to wait until I knew that even if the updates only really came on weekends, they'd have meaningful content. I thought at this point with flower underway and veg about to start it made sense.

They definitely didn't like me for a bit when the winter cold set in, and you can probably see some of it on the older leaves in the photos I'm about to post. But they're growing really well now. I always like introducing change when the plants are growing well, so I thought the time was right.

For anyone that doesn't know, Ase has essentially been my mentor around here. I'd give Pennywise a ton of credit for helping me get a handle on the basics of growing, and Ase for helping me take it to the next level.

 

[AKgramma]

The current lineup as of today, day 42 of veg, their last.

2019.02.15-all-42V.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

In the back is Kushy Kush on the left and Kosher Kush on the right. In the front is Pink Kush on the left and Chocolope on the right.

I had some temperature issues in veg that slowed things down, but I've resolved them and the plants are happy again. Chocolope was started a week later so it's a little behind, but all 4 have the same structure. I quadlined all 4, and trimmed all new growth except the first nodes that sprouted from the top branches of the quadline, so all plants have 8 good tops heading into flower.

Same kind of shelving I use!!!!!!! A LOT less $ than a tent. ;-)

 

[DobeWan]

Here's a bit of background on each of the plants I just moved into the flower tent, and some overhead shots so you can see the structure of each plant.

I went for a common shape for all 4 plants. I quadlined, and then trimmed the growth from the main stems to get the structure you see. The 2 branches from node 3 (the bottom pair) get all new growth trimmed off slowly as the plant develops, and are allowed to grow more vertically until the growth tip hits the same height as everything else. The 2 branches from node 4 (the top pair) get the nodes that form on top and bottom of the stem removed, but I leave the ones that grow to the sides.

At this point, the plants tend to have 8 strong tops - the 4 on the outside at the points of the quadline, and the 4 on the interior, 2 each on the upper pair of branches.

2019.02.15-PK-42V-001.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

Pink Kush is a strain that I've had through the Canadian medical system, and have had excellent results with. It gives a powerful body stone, which is excellent for settling my stomach and allowing me to sleep. I'm expecting a unique taste that is hard to describe, with a certain sweetness, and small dense buds. My seeds came from Old School Breeders Association, which sells them as Reeferman Seeds. Although if you dig around the web, it seems Reeferman has disavowed them in another forum. Regardless, I grew their Tuna Kush and it was excellent, so I have faith that this will be good as well. My Pink Kush has been a pretty steady grower since the start, with no real issues in veg. I've heard of Pink Kush going long in flower, and I'm prepared to let it get ambered up to maximize the effects I'm going for.

2019.02.15-CH-42V-001.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

This is my second time growing Chocolope. I didn't really know what I was doing my first time, but it's such a great strain that it still came out very nicely. I wanted to have a top notch sativa for summer and Chocolope is my first choice sativa, so I thought it made sense as my first 'regrow'. I had actually attempted to germinate a Skunk #1 seed, but it was a freebie that just wouldn't pop, so I started the Chocolope seed a week after everything else. It's not quite as ready for flower as the others but I'm sure it'll do fine. Chocolope is a clear headed, anxiety free sativa for me, that I can have at any time of day and not feel dragged out when it starts to fade. It has a great smell and taste, with complex flavours in the vapour, like a fine cigar. Some people say coffee and cocoa, but I find there's more of a fruity smell and taste. Either way, Chocolope is a fantastic choice for me. My seeds came from DNA Genetics.

2019.02.15-KU-42V-001.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

This is also my second time growing Kushy Kush - unexpectedly. I have just a couple of gs of Kushy Kush, which I grew way back in fall 2017, left and I've been hoarding them. I was down to the final few nugs and pulled some out, and when busting it up I found a fully formed seed. I didn't find a single seed, even an immature one, in the rest of the plant. I felt like this one must be special, and decided to take a shot on it. Sure enough, it grew an absolute beast of a plant that seems set to impress in flower. Kushy Kush is from Canuk Seeds, although mine is a bag seed technically. It was a pleasure to grow previously. It's the fastest finisher I've grown, truly done at 8 weeks. Buds don't get huge, but the bag appeal is fantastic with a ton of resin - mine rivaled my Gorilla Glue in stickiness. The smell and taste is gassy and grape, a really interesting flavour. The high is a clear headed indica. Strong but still more functional than other indicas. My old pal G2HM was a big fan.

2019.02.15-KO-42V-001.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 15, 2019

Kosher Kush is a strain I've been wanting to grow for quite some time. When I was initially researching indica that fit the profile I was looking for, it kept coming up. An early journal I checked out here was @Duggan's Kosher Kush grow, and he has spoken very highly of the Kosher Kush. I grew a Kosher Kush cross, 24K Gold, and was impressed at its potency, but I found the orange flavour got old, and wanted less of the hybrid high that it got when crossed with Tangie and more of a classic indica high. Kosher Kush is another from DNA Genetics. Mine had a rough time in early veg - it was really sensitive to the lower temperatures I had initially - but came along fine once I got that corrected, and looks happy now. I'm really excited for this one, more so than the others in this grow.

 

[InTheShed]

They look great and well structured! I was wondering if you were going to take any clones before (or shortly after) you flip for the second round? Or is there nothing left to take?

 

[DobeWan]

Same kind of shelving I use!!!!!!! A LOT less $ than a tent. ;-)

Welcome AKgramma! These shelves are awesome!

For anyone wondering why we like these - there are a few reasons. They're thick wire style, so they won't hurt the plant but will allow it to drain completely without ever sitting in water. They're wide enough to be perfect for a 3 gallon fabric pot, and to allow standard size hydro trays to fit underneath to catch runoff. They're height adjustable, giving more options to manipulate the tent and distance from lights. They're light and easy to move around.

One of the many ideas I stole from Ase! Although I went with individual stands to give me further flexibility.

 

[DobeWan]

They look great and well structured! I was wondering if you were going to take any clones before (or shortly after) you flip for the second round? Or is there nothing left to take?

No clones planned this time. I'm planning to shut things down for a few months after I flower round 2, and don't want to have the tents running over the summer. Round 2 will be vegged and ready to go once round 1 comes out, so I just won't have space for any clones.

I have extra seeds of all but the Kushy Kush from this round, and the Pineapple Express from next round, so i won't lose access to most of this.

 

[Lewydeville]

Hi Dobewan I’m going to tag along and watch if that’s ok. I’ve got a Pink kush seedling I’ve just started. Nice looking plants mate.

 

[Asesino85]

Welcome AKgramma! These shelves are awesome!

For anyone wondering why we like these - there are a few reasons. They're thick wire style, so they won't hurt the plant but will allow it to drain completely without ever sitting in water. They're wide enough to be perfect for a 3 gallon fabric pot, and to allow standard size hydro trays to fit underneath to catch runoff. They're height adjustable, giving more options to manipulate the tent and distance from lights. They're light and easy to move around.

One of the many ideas I stole from Ase! Although I went with individual stands to give me further flexibility.

I will say that I no longer use the racks and drain tables. However they were instrumental to me in learning how much water plants can take at different phases. I now just use just saucers and I pretty much know the whole way through how much water a plant needs each day to get very little runoff but enough to know the water/feed got all the way to the bottom of the pot. If by chance I over water a little I just suck it right out with my wet/dry vacuum but I rarely use it.

With all that being said I highly recommend the setup Dobe is running for plants in a coco. It's so hard to make errors because you can see the runoff and then you can see how much of it came out in the drain table to know if you are over watering or under watering. His is probably even better than mine was because it's all individual for each plant and can be moved around, whereas mine was one two big racks with just one whole flood table. But the racks and flood table were free so I can't complain.

Since Dobe keeps giving me credit, I'll throw a little credit back at him. I have been teaching in my journals about quadlining and how to grow in coco for a couple years now. Some people relate to just the training and others relate more to the feed schedule but Dobe jumped right in and decided to do it all. He was the first one to do that and it gave quadlining and the way I grow a ton of legitimacy because his plants were drop dead gorgeous. If they didn't turn out that way quadlining might not be a thing like it is today. He probably didn't know all that at the time but looking back he was instrumental in showing other people that this was a real thing and it works. Based on that confidence other people started to try it and now there is a small army of quadliners and I've even seen it on other forums. He is a great grower and I will forever be grateful for that. As everyone can see, the plants he has running now are looking spectacular and off to an incredible start and I expect this grow to be another awesome one.

 

[DobeWan]

I got all of the plants tied down tonight in an effort to keep the canopy in flower as even as possible. I'll likely keep them tied until the end of stretch in about 2.5 weeks. During that time I'll tweak the shape and defoliate gradually until each plant is hopefully in a good position to produce. Here's a quick look at how I have them trained. I'm especially happy with the structure of the Pink and Kushy although everything is in good shape.

2019.02.17-all-2F.jpg

• DobeWan
• Feb 17, 2019