Grow #2: Outdoor/CFL Auto 420 Blueberry & AK-47 Smart Pots With Dr Earth Soil

[InTheShed]

Any gardening center/hardware store should have diatomaceous earth. Get the food grade stuff and not the stuff used for pools. Rour tablespoons of DE per gallon of water. Shake before every spray because it doesn't dissolve.

Also, spray up from the bottom because the underside of the leaves is where the bugs are .

 

[Ripe1]

Shed, I saw a video that Jorge did at an outdoor grow in Cali. It looked like dude was just sending a good bit of water from a hose to the bugs and removing them manually. It seemed like just enough pressure to not rip the leaves. The way you have them tilted on the rock should make getting at them easier. Maybe put the plants on the concrete, spray the concrete with Neem and DE, when the bugs fall off of the plant, they land in it and DIE a horrible death like they deserve. Just a thought. Everything is looking REALLY nice though! BTW, Happy New Year to you and your Subs! You have been more helpful to me than any other person on here. I don't know why you find time to help me with all the other cool and non-problem filled journals here, but I really appreciate you taking time to help me. By the way, I've got some Mykos that was given to me at a hydro store if you want it.
YouTube

 

[InTheShed]

Shed, I saw a video that Jorge did at an outdoor grow in Cali. It looked like dude was just sending a good bit of water from a hose to the bugs and removing them manually. It seemed like just enough pressure to not rip the leaves. The way you have them tilted on the rock should make getting at them easier. Maybe put the plants on the concrete, spray the concrete with Neem and DE, when the bugs fall off of the plant, they land in it and DIE a horrible death like they deserve. Just a thought. Everything is looking REALLY nice though! BTW, Happy New Year to you and your Subs! You have been more helpful to me than any other person on here. I don't know why you find time to help me with all the other cool and non-problem filled journals here, but I really appreciate you taking time to help me. By the way, I've got some Mykos that was given to me at a hydro store if you want it.

Thanks Ripe! I jumped on your journal because it wasn't that long ago when I was looking for someone to sub to mine and it was crickets for what seemed like forever. Also, there was specific advice I could offer you given my limited expertise. There are a couple of journals where I'm practically the only one subbed, or at least the only one chiming in with advice and comments. We can't all be everywhere but it's always nice when someone is where you are .

If my plants weren't in flower I would hit them with the spray, but the idea of soaking them with water at this stage makes me nervous. I had bud rot on my summer grows (high RH in LA) and don't want to risk that now. I did use the bud rot buds for massage oil using a cleaning method I worked out (blogged here) so those buds weren't a total loss.

Now...here's the Saturday update! The sun is playing hide and seek today so I had them on the table, but then it started drizzling and I put them back in the shed. Sun's out again, so I may be getting a lot of exercise moving them today .

Still seeing enough clear trichomes to make me wait to chop. I considered taking them down this weekend but I think I'll let them go another week. I may take the ripest buds off Blue 4 during the week though...I don't want them crispy.

Blue 4 day 99:

AK 7 day 97:

And if you are curious as to what day 2 looks like with the bugs, here are today's pics >>>

DE:

Neem:

Assuming that the dark brown bugs are dead, it looks like neem is working better after two days than it did after one, so if you're ok spraying your buds with neem oil, it looks like a good bet. Me? I'm not so sure this close to harvest. What if I used neem but then washed with H2O2 and a few drops of Dawn to dissolve the oil when I chop?

 

[bignstrange]

Gross lol

But yea I think washing with h2o2 and using soap to dissolve the oil is what I've seen too.

Just scary doing that to your trichs but I suppose bugs consuming your crop is scarier :S

Terrifying yet beautiful Lol, knockem out man!

 

[Ripe1]

It looks like the Neem has pretty much taken care of your problem. Pretty much only carcasses now. Even the few that are still going to hatch are being born into the bug world equivalent of my tent to plants. It is going to be a hostile environment. With you chopping next weekend I'd lean towards letting the residual/decaying Neem do what it has left in and do a bud wash after you harvest. Treat your hanging lines and wait to taste only goodness, not Neem.

 

[Ripe1]

Also, aren't your RH%s outdoor like in the single digits most of the time? One week left?...just saying. You'll probably be O.K.

 

[InTheShed]

Gross lol. But yea I think washing with h2o2 and using soap to dissolve the oil is what I've seen too. Just scary doing that to your trichs but I suppose bugs consuming your crop is scarier :S Terrifying yet beautiful Lol, knockem out man!

It looks like the Neem has pretty much taken care of your problem. Pretty much only carcasses now. Even the few that are still going to hatch are being born into the bug world equivalent of my tent to plants. It is going to be a hostile environment. With you chopping next weekend I'd lean towards letting the residual/decaying Neem do what it has left in and do a bud wash after you harvest. Treat your hanging lines and wait to taste only goodness, not Neem.

I haven't sprayed the plants with anything after the 3x spinosad mixture. The neem vs. DE was just a test on the leaves I plucked. I think I'm going to let the buggers feast because I don't think they will have an effect this late in the grow. They're just after the fans. Last grow they really ate most of the leaves before I chopped.

But now that I know neem will work I've done some research. The half-life on leaves is 2.47 days in sunlight, so a week before harvest seems safe with a wash of H2O2 and Dawn. I'll note that for my next flowering period when DE is no longer an option.

 

[Ripe1]

Is this done by hand or spray?

a wash of H2O2 and Dawn.

 

[InTheShed]

Is this done by hand or spray?

Bucket, tub, or tray of some sort. I did my taller plants in a tray and the smaller ones in a 3 gallon plastic tub. I didn't use Dawn for those, just about 16 ounces hydrogen peroxide in about 4 gallons of water. I'll probably up that ratio for this grow. Then you hose it off, spin it dry, and hang it up with a fan for a while.

YouTube

 

[InTheShed]

Also, aren't your RH%s outdoor like in the single digits most of the time? One week left?...just saying. You'll probably be O.K.

Nah that was just the crazy time when the Santa Anas were kicking up fires all over SoCal! We're in the 60s most of the time.

 

[InTheShed]

Sunday and the bugs were taking over this morning: on the bottoms of the leaves, on the tops of the leaves, on the freaking buds, so drastic times demand drastic measures. NEEM! If these plants are going to last another week they had to be dealt with.

I sprayed the undersides of the leaves as well as the tops, while trying to avoid the buds as much as possible. A few buds did get wet, so I've taken pictures of those white pistils to see if there's a rapid change in their color. Let the documentation begin!

Wash water will have a good deal of Dawn in it to wash the oil away.

Also, I watered today with a gallon each of:
3 ml cal/mag+
½ tsp Open Sesame
2 1/8th tsp Tiger Bloom
Nute PPM was ~870, pH was 6.1. Runoff was 20 ounces at +50 for Blue 4 and +80 for AK 7. Next water (probably the last) will be plain pH'd water.

May all you indoor growers continue to lead a bug-free existence!

 

[Derbybud]

Sunday and the bugs were taking over this morning: on the bottoms of the leaves, on the tops of the leaves, on the freaking buds, so drastic times demand drastic measures. NEEM! If these plants are going to last another week they had to be dealt with.

I sprayed the undersides of the leaves as well as the tops, while trying to avoid the buds as much as possible. A few buds did get wet, so I've taken pictures of those white pistils to see if there's a rapid change in their color. Let the documentation begin!

Wash water will have a good deal of Dawn in it to wash the oil away.

Also, I watered today with a gallon each of:
3 ml cal/mag+
½ tsp Open Sesame
2 1/8th tsp Tiger Bloom
Nute PPM was ~870, pH was 6.1. Runoff was 20 ounces at +50 for Blue 4 and +80 for AK 7. Next water (probably the last) will be plain pH'd water.

May all you indoor growers continue to lead a bug-free existence!

Man shed that just sucks

 

[InTheShed]

Man shed that just sucks

Thanks Derby! I got lucky this time that they struck late and didn't defoliate the plant before harvest. I sprayed to make sure they didn't start eating the buds and that nobody ended up smoking mites!

 

[bignstrange]

Hopefully it works out, hope those little suckers die n come off easy in the wash

At least they aren't getting trapped in the bud as it grows XD I keep finding fan leaves stuck in buds, they get all wierd n gross XD

Good luck ITS ! Maybe there's a nuclear button on a desk somewhere you could use on em XD

 

[InTheShed]

Hopefully it works out, hope those little suckers die n come off easy in the wash
At least they aren't getting trapped in the bud as it grows XD I keep finding fan leaves stuck in buds, they get all wierd n gross XD
Good luck ITS ! Maybe there's a nuclear button on a desk somewhere you could use on em XD

I get fans in the middle of my buds too! I assumed it was strain-related (chemovar-related...thanks SweetSue!). PITA to get them out during trim.

My nuclear button could never compare to the one in the White House .

 

[Pterostychus]

does it work ?

 

[InTheShed]

does it work ?

The nuclear button? That's a chance you may or may not be willing to take.

 

[bignstrange]

I get fans in the middle of my buds too! I assumed it was strain-related (chemovar-related...thanks SweetSue!). PITA to get them out during trim.

My nuclear button could never compare to the one in the White House .

I just hope the leaves don't go gross and moldy from within my buds :S

I have 3 fans agitating the canopy constantly and I go in there all the time breaking the cat fights up but well see I guess .

 

[InTheShed]

I just hope the leaves don't go gross and moldy from within my buds :S
I have 3 fans agitating the canopy constantly and I go in there all the time breaking the cat fights up but well see I guess .

Nah, you should be good. Your RH is under control and with the fans moving everything around I don't think you'll have a problem.

 

[bignstrange]

I'll still be crossing my fingers but I trust you .