Indica Hybrid Grow

[BadBradBlu]

So this is your Spring season when all of the critters are starting to feast on fresh foliage. Good on ya' for keeping a diligent watch. Do you turn the leaves over and look for eggs...and do you know that lady bug eggs are yellow cigar shaped units all packed together vertically?

I'm hoping for the best there Brad, really looking forward to another season of outdoor beauties. Once those babies get traction they'll outgrow the bug's potential to harm them.

Welcome FreakNature! Yep springs in - I love this time of the year - it is so temperate and perfect growing weather.

I have not let up on the watch but the critters are relentless - there were two more leaves completely eaten off the swazi - and the malawi is still being nimbled but is outgrowing the risk - getting traction as you say...

I did not know that about the lady bug eggs - yes I turn the leaves over and sometime shine the light on my lighter through the leaves and I can spot any 'dots' on them and I usually brush anything I see on there off - but I will be on the lookout for yellow cigar shaped eggs stacked vertically. Respect for that valueble advice - Cheers!

 

[BadBradBlu]

Damn double post - lucky you get a while to change it or a lot of the material would be ilegiable & tripple posts would probably take up most of the thread! lol

 

[Bee23]

Hey Badbrad how's it going

 

[BadBradBlu]

Get one of those plastic collars they put around dogs to keep them from chewing themselvs up.....

Damn good idea IRIE!

 

[BadBradBlu]

^^ hahaha my white lab is neurotic and has a constant itch in her leg joints and bites them to the point of an open wound, so she basically lives in one of those plastic "cones"... We call her Cone head! sorry that was so off topic...

And brad, ill notify you when i get plane tickets...

Nice Doc'!

 

[BadBradBlu]

Hey Badbrad how's it going

Hey Bee23! Great! Sorry I missed you earlier - Busy busy busy...

Now I am taking some time to chill / sparking up a fat one and browsing.

 

[BadBradBlu]

Damn Brad thats gettin a bit deep matey makes me wana start chatting about stuff i find hard to chat about when im stoned and im stoned i.e everett's theory and such and i get a bit lost trying to do that stoned
best regards...creamm

I hear you mate - but this weed is strong! Hard to look at the world in the same way after a blaze if you know what I mean

 

[BadBradBlu]

Wassup everyone!

My camera batteries should be arriving tommorrow or the next day so I will have some pics up then.

Still fighting pests - found spider mites on them last night - just a few which I removed with my thumb - but I also used a weak solution of washing powder and water as it was all I had onhand and it should work as I put it under the leaves aswell. I hope it does anyway.

Still chucking snails and I found a shrew on my plant last night - my cat must be too lazy from being hit by the crossfire to do anything about it. And there are these two toads hoping around everywhere eating the flying ants, a family of geckos, giant moths amoung other weird insects, glow worms and bats - it is like a Disney cartoon I am telling you.

I tied down the malawi which is getting huge - it was planted at the same time as the male which is about to come out after capturing pollen. The plant in square pot - the smaller plant - is looking very indica and is smelling good already - I am so pleased!

 

[BadBradBlu]

The weather has been sooo nice as of late - it rained for about an hour early in the morning yesterday and has been sunny ever since! It is so beautiful with everything sparkling clean, green and flowers opening all over the place and the plants are in their element!

The soap solution has helped and I saw no spider mites or anything else on or under the leaves this morning.

I turned the soil a bit to create air spaces within it and give the roots a new boost in the soft soil - It had been packed down a bit by the rain and I am sure the plants prefer soft, fluffy soil rather than a solid mass.

The malawi has turned back upwards to the light and is looking like a compact little bush now.

The Indicas are filling out nicely and gaining mass.

Now for a much deserved blunt!

 

[creamm]

Hiyas Brad, did you manage to sort out ya batterys mate ? sorry im a picaholick and you do put some lovely grow pics up
best regards..creamm

 

[BadBradBlu]

Hiyas Brad, did you manage to sort out ya batterys mate ? sorry im a picaholick and you do put some lovely grow pics up
best regards..creamm

Just on the way to check now mate! Hopefully I will have some up tommorrow.

 

[creamm]

Nice one matey i cant wait I should have my predatory mites "Amblyseius cucumeris" tommorow so im going to try and film some under me microscope eating them damn thrips
best regards...creamm

 

[creamm]

Only me again I forgot to ask if you have ever tried to monitor or check beneficial insects or mites on your outdoor plants Brad or have you tried to encourage them ? or used compost(fresh) tea to introduce live good mites to your grows?
best regards..creamm

 

[BadBradBlu]

Nice one matey i cant wait I should have my predatory mites "Amblyseius cucumeris" tommorow so im going to try and film some under me microscope eating them damn thrips
best regards...creamm

That sounds really interesting! I would love to watch a 'documentary' like that - it would be awesome! unfortunately I either have to wait for some to naturally appear or go hunting for them and bring them back. FreakNature gave me some really good advive on how to spot lady bug eggs earlier on in the grow - how do you encourage lady bug investation?

 

[BadBradBlu]

Only me again I forgot to ask if you have ever tried to monitor or check beneficial insects or mites on your outdoor plants Brad or have you tried to encourage them ? or used compost(fresh) tea to introduce live good mites to your grows?
best regards..creamm

I have seen quite a few praying mantis around and wall spiders. There was a lady bug ontop of the large swazi yesterday morning - I was thoroughly chuffed

Any ideas to improve the situation? I am not entirely experienced at lady bug hunting - it is still a new concept to me - I have always likes those things though, now I have a VERY good reason to aswel!

 

[creamm]

Yea Brad i have an idea mate go read the post i put up regarding compost tea in my blue berry grow for mr Fish My 1st grow journal/5fem bb from seed. that should give you some good information,i wanted to use it on my bb grow but the only compost i could get would be from my fathers at this time and i dont want to sound bad but his compost is shite lol,so im makeing my own and will use in future grows,i hope this helps some m8 maybee i should have also posted it in the " Indoor Soil Cultivation" sub forum.
best regards..creamm

 

[BadBradBlu]

Yea Brad i have an idea mate go read the post i put up regarding compost tea in my blue berry grow for mr Fish My 1st grow journal/5fem bb from seed. that should give you some good information,i wanted to use it on my bb grow but the only compost i could get would be from my fathers at this time and i dont want to sound bad but his compost is shite lol,so im makeing my own and will use in future grows,i hope this helps some m8 maybee i should have also posted it in the " Indoor Soil Cultivation" sub forum.
best regards..creamm

That WAS an interesting read! Could I post some of that info in here on behalf of you? Oh I searched on the predators you ordered aswell - interesting!

I just happen to have 2 litres of ready liquid compost onhand - which I assume is the same thing? Now I need a spray/atomiser and I am going to spray ALL the plants in my garden with it - I hope this will result in an abundance of beneficial organisms in the garden.

 

[BadBradBlu]

Some info on Amblyseius cucumeris - which creamm introduced and will be using to control thrips in his grow - Creamm thought I would throw this in for informative value as I found it very interesring...

This thrips predator feeds on the young stages of thrips primarily, as the adults are too large for them to kill. Therefore, release cucumeris when thrips populations are low (monitor thrips population with sticky blue traps), and allow several weeks for the predators to be effective.
Ideal conditions are 66-80 degrees F and a relative humidity of 65-72 percent. These predators are most effective from March to November. Cucumeris are shipped as adults in a bran formulation. Use in conjunction with thrips pupae predator Hypoaspis for improved control.
At 75° F, cucumeris eggs mature to adult in 6-9 days. First and second stage nymphs and adults are predacious. Adults are beige-pink in color and live approximately 20 days.
To release, gently tumble the container to mix the contents and shake the predators onto leaves or growing media in contact with the plant stem close to thirps infestations.

 

[creamm]

Hi Brad, the liquid compost your talking about mate isnt the same thing,compost tea needs to be used straight away or the beneficial bugs (the whole point to useing compost tea) will be dead. so if you can get some good fresh compost i think it would be well worth the 3 days it will take for you to ferment it into a good living tea,well thats the root i would take anyways Brad.
Best regards...creamm

 

[BadBradBlu]

Hi Brad, the liquid compost your talking about mate isnt the same thing,compost tea needs to be used straight away or the beneficial bugs (the whole point to useing compost tea) will be dead. so if you can get some good fresh compost i think it would be well worth the 3 days it will take for you to ferment it into a good living tea,well thats the root i would take anyways Brad.
Best regards...creamm

Oh OK! Cool! Thanks for the tip - will look into this!