Vegan4life
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Love Ganja's DIY Medicine Indoor Soil With Strain TBD - Virgin Grow Nov 2023
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loVE GANja
420 Member
Week 7 – Back From the Brink of Death
Overfeeding
My life was hard in week seven and the stress showed on the plants. Leading into the week, I overfed the ladies by dosing 1/3 strength Sierra Natural Science nutrition with yarrow/blackstrap molasses tea in the same feeding. They choked. Overnight, symptoms of nutrient lockout started showing- dead leaf tips and vitamin deficiency. In response, I drenched the roots with water mixed with a stalk of aloe vera puree. All plants recovered well and started stretching again, looking gorgeous but ravenous.Overfeeding
Starvation and Overwatering
The hunger hit hard, and my babies started draining color quickly out of starvation. I faced a dilemma because I needed to give liquid nutrients when the soil was already drenched. Top dressing, soil supplementation, and foliar feeding are unfeasible at this stage. So, I watered them some more with the feed.I did not expect my roots to drown. Afterall, grow bag companies tout their air-pruning and water controlling properties. Indeed, fabric pot overwatering is possible when the soil stays wet and the ambient humidity level is high because of rain. Also, older cannabis plants seem to prefer dryer soil than when they were young.
Root Rot
Second Chances
This time, I stuck wooden BBQ skewers deep into the soil and waited until all signs of moisture were gone. Then, I squirted between 2-3 cups of thick aloe vera goo mixed with 2 parts of water to the top of each pot. The liquid absorbed immediately then sucked the aloe slime down with it. After a couple of days, the aloe healed the root damage. Now every plant looks fertile again.
Perfectly Imperfect
Now, we are back on track and focusing on the finish line. The stereotype that autoflowers are delicate and unable to tolerate pressure is unwarranted. Their breed survived long brutal winters and evolved without much night. My plants endured extreme daily stress and are still flowering. Is it possible for rough environmental conditions to enhance the flavor profile in cannabis like the wine grape?
Excitement In Week Eight
Week 8 will be big because it features a High Brix cat tea drench. As I type, the drip irrigation system is aerating a mixture of 1 cup worm castings, 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses, 1 tsp seaweed concentrate, and 1/4 cup dried yarrow to prepare. When the soil completely dries out again, which should happen within the next 12-24 hours, we shall see how the babies respond.Coco for Colas – Close Up Pics
I’m working to improve my trichome close-ups. The grow lights oversaturate the white, so I started tipping them back to reflect light off the mylar wall onto the plants. However, I still have many obstacles to overcome: a cheap burner phone camera, a shaky building that sits on cables, and still too harsh lighting. So, I will continue practicing for when the girls are ready for centerfolds.
Enjoy the dark devil auto flowers because the Dosidos are not ready yet:
Week 7, Day 53 Photoshoot
Betty (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Carmella (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Junior (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Mariah (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Queen (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Samantha (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Spike (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
The Family
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- #23
loVE GANja
420 Member
Week 8 - Dark Devil Comparative and Brix Drenching
Kudos to the Genetics: A Dark Devil Auto Comparative
Kudos to the Genetics: A Dark Devil Auto Comparative
420 Magazine’s community loves Dark Devil Auto with plenty of documentation for benchmarking. Comparatively, my plants are short, but maybe because the pots do not top 3 gallons of soil. However, I anticipate a competitive yield size and quality, especially considering the weekly mishaps that my plants have endured. Here is a sampling of the community's work:
- November 2023 - @Justin Goody posts photos of a Dark Devil Auto for PotM. Reportedly, its taste matches its beauty.
- November 2023 - @Schnookie posts photos of a Dark Devil Auto on chop day. The yield was decent for an easy grow that ended with bugs. It delivered a good high with strong pain-relief.
- November 2023 - @Dkmg01 posts a Dark Devil Auto for NotM.
- August 2023 - @Melville Hobbes documents photos of a Dark Devil Auto on day 91 after an unfortunate aphid infestation and a touch of bud rot. The 12/4/23 strain review cites an invigorating, but short lasting body high with an unpleasant heart rate acceleration. Overall, worth a repeat.
- September 2022 - @Listersmeghead shares a Dark Devil Auto on day 52, reporting an aroma that overpowers neighboring plants.
- April 2021 - @HashGirl posts Dark Devil Auto photos before chop. The strain is on HashGirls’ regular rotation, yielding up to 16 grams per plant.
- November 2018 - @Ganjagrowergu showcases Dark Devil Autos 11 weeks from seed.
- October 2016- @SmokeGent displays a 48-day old Dark Devil Auto.
- September 2015 - @SweetSue starts a 240 page Dark Devil community grow, celebrating the strain with many photo contributions.
- May 2015 - @james dBong posts nug pics and a strain review, describing a sweet aroma with a smooth cerebral high that is easy on the lungs but doesn't last long.
- July 2015 - @SweetSue shares a plant shot and praises the Dark Devil Auto as a pleasing strain with an intense, zippy, long lasting high.
Get High Brix
This week, my plants are on a special high brix diet for the short period after stretching ends before the trichomes become cloudy. High brix means boosting the plant’s feed with carbohydrates to reach peak health. Some of high brix’s benefits include disease and pest resistance as well as tastier, more bountiful crops. Although produce farmers have been brixing for centuries, Doc Bud recently facilitated the crossover into cannabis cultivation. Early brix trichome experiments are well documented in the threads of 420 Magazine.
The Doc Bud brix cationic mixture, which is NOT vegan, opens up the plant’s root system with active, highly digestible essential elements. Cationic drench is mixed with compost tea made of decaying plants, worm castings, blackstrap molasses, and seaweed extract. Always serve brix with tea to stimulate digestion when aroused.
The Tea
I home brewed tea instead of using the Doc Bud formula because it is better fresh. Plants prefer whole foods but cannot digest it on their own. They need microorganisms to break down organic matter into digestible bits. Nutritional supplements are a fast and easy alternative that risks imbalance and overfeeding. Compost tea feeds the soil instead of the plant, offering richer nutrients.
My girls drink bubbling tea that looks like living swamp sludge. I reversed a drip irrigator to aerate the tea mixture for a few days before feeding. Any slime left in the bucket after feeding becomes the starter base for the next brew. For the last serving, I added blended decomposing brussel sprout stubs, a splash of Sierra Natural Science bloom formula (for the Cal-Mag), and aloe vera puree. The taste of molasses from the tea is palatable in the air, and aeration transforms its flavor from saccharine to earthy. Next grow, I will drop the nute bottle and reach for the tea instead.
Guess who?
Do you know why bud on the right look so much younger than the others?
Answer- Follow the stem. It is a larf from the very bottom.
Week 8, Day 60 Photoshoot
Week 8, Day 60 Photoshoot
Betty (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Carmella (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Junior (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Mariah (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Queen (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Samantha (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Spike (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
The Family
You've got some unorthodox methods there.
I'm interested in seeing how these turn out.
I'm interested in seeing how these turn out.
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loVE GANja
420 Member
Weeks 9 & 10: Brix, Trich Comparison, and Chop
Happy New Year, everyone! I pray that peace will be easier to find in 2024. May prosperity and health bless us all.
High Brix
In week 8, I treated my plants to High Brix tea, meaning that I doused them with a root opening formula to deliver sugar to the leaves. Even though my plants were recovering from near fatal root damage, and I have no idea what I’m doing, the experiment was a success. Every plant looked sugar coated by the weeks’ end.Dark Devil vs. Dosidos Trichome Comparison
The Dark Devils started flowering first and have big fat trichomes that are visible from across the room. The Dosidos, on the other hand, matured slower with trichs barely perceptible to the eye. It turns out that trichomes come in many varieties, shapes, and sizes – each with its own resin producing properties.The Chop
I cut two plants in half first to test the graduated harvest method. First, I trimmed off the mature upper nodes. Then, I returned the plant bottoms to the tent for a couple of weeks, and they continued growing. This technique seems effective because the final yield was heavier than if I had chopped once. The thin lower limbs bulked up with the increased exposure to light.Likely, I waited too long to harvest from Betty because some of her flowers popped open. I smelled and squeezed them to find no unusual odor and a firm density with moist, oozy excretions. Because the blown flowers aren’t moldy or rotten, I will process them with the rest of the plant. We shall see what happens when lit in the bowl.
A couple of disappointments during harvest are the cannabis aroma and trimming commitment. Instead of the grinder ready smell that I’m used to, this cannabis has an overwhelming smell that is hard to describe – maybe a mixture of grass, ammonia, and astringent. After researching online, it seems common for wet cannabis not to smell shelf ready. And that drying and curing will be vital to release the plant’s natural gases for a milder flavor profile.
I also did not expect trimming to take so long. Manual leaf removal is tedious and impossible because so many are packed between the flowers. For the next grow, I will investigate one of Amazon’s many highly reviewed trimming devices in the $50-$100 range.
Final round of the stress experiment: Do you think this stem will survive?
Week 9 & 10 Photoshoot
Betty (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Carmella (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Junior (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Mariah (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Queen (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
Samantha (Dosidos auto by Royal Queen)
Spike (Dark Devil auto by Sweet Seeds)
The Family
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- #26
loVE GANja
420 Member
While this journal does not have a happy ending. I figure it's better to share my experience for other first time growers as a word of caution. Cannabis growing is exciting, with doubling sizes, sweet aromas, and shiny trichomes. When deciding to grow, I did not realize how much work is necessary afterward.
After chopping the plants, the smell turns grassy and ammonia-like because of the gasses offset by the dying plant. The buds will shrivel down to half of the size when wet. And trimming the sugar leaves is so time consuming when the stickiness keeps everything stuck together. Also, I read that curing and burping can take months. So, I got a little turned off and mismanaged the drying process. I left the buds too close hanging cramped in the closet. And they developed mold so I chucked everything out of fear of contamination.
Next time, I will put more thought and effort into the process after the chop. I'm composting and getting ready for my next grow. This was a great learning experience and I definitely encourage anyone who is interested to try it.
After chopping the plants, the smell turns grassy and ammonia-like because of the gasses offset by the dying plant. The buds will shrivel down to half of the size when wet. And trimming the sugar leaves is so time consuming when the stickiness keeps everything stuck together. Also, I read that curing and burping can take months. So, I got a little turned off and mismanaged the drying process. I left the buds too close hanging cramped in the closet. And they developed mold so I chucked everything out of fear of contamination.
Next time, I will put more thought and effort into the process after the chop. I'm composting and getting ready for my next grow. This was a great learning experience and I definitely encourage anyone who is interested to try it.
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