How fun to be making seeds! I hope it turns out that your pollen is viable. 
Your balcony is looking gorgeous!
Your balcony is looking gorgeous!
Outdoor Organic Balcony Stealth Quadlining: White Widow/Gorgonzola
- Thread starter Stunger
- Start date
DD is right! Those plants are gorgeous. 
In terms of pollen, most people store just the pollen rather than the pollen in the pollen sacs, which will contain moisture (to start anyway if they eventually dried in the jar). That might put a bit of a damper on the viability, but I'm not ruling anything out!
In terms of pollen, most people store just the pollen rather than the pollen in the pollen sacs, which will contain moisture (to start anyway if they eventually dried in the jar). That might put a bit of a damper on the viability, but I'm not ruling anything out!
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- #283
The pollen chucking is not critical, I still have a few hundred seeds (regular) from the same batch as my current Quad girls. Initially it was my intention to attempt to reverse sex out a female to produce female pollen and from there harvest female seeds. But that doesn't matter now, I have enough on my hands with my current balcony grow. The girls have now got such substantial canopies that it is really hard to move between them. Last season's grow was a doddle compared to this. Just opening the balcony doors this week now releases a dank stench into the house. But the attempt to pollinate will at least tell me something.How fun to be making seeds! I hope it turns out that your pollen is viable.
Your balcony is looking gorgeous!
Thanks Shed! They have grown to become quite cumbersome, just thinking about maneuvering them around to take a photo of one plant by itself is not easy. I'll would no doubt get the vulcan death stare from my wife if I park them inside to make space and even if I manage to do so when she is out, then my neighbors are often fecking about just below the balcony which makes me nervous about making any noises that causes them to look up and study the scene!DD is right! Those plants are gorgeous.
In terms of pollen, most people store just the pollen rather than the pollen in the pollen sacs, which will contain moisture (to start anyway if they eventually dried in the jar). That might put a bit of a damper on the viability, but I'm not ruling anything out!
Re the pollen I left it out to dry during the peak of the last summer, it sat high of a shelf where I felt the air would be warmer and drier before I tightly screwed the lid on after a few weeks. I feel all the pollen sacs 'should' be dry, but I take your point. I did notice pollen dust was freely falling from the herb infuser which I used to shake over the chosen buds. Luckily it is more of an experiment of long term non fridge stored viability. Next season I have some 420 seeds to grow and with those I intend to try my hand to reverse one and pollinate another in an attempt to make feminized seeds. Altho since having that intention I have read of the experience of some growers who feel regular seeds can sometimes provide better stability, I don't know, but it does make some sense to me as well.
Cheers
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- #284
Today, I top dressed more Blood n Bone to the 2 Quad girls (about 2.5 - 3 tablespoons each) and 1.5 tablespoons to the Gorilla Glue Auto. I think that should be enough now until harvest. I included in todays diluted worm wee, some Fish Hydrolysate, Humic/Fulvic acids, Seasol kelp extract concentrate, Molasses and probably the last addition of half strength Canna PK 13/14.
I am now all out of last season's harvest to vape, so yesterday I started on a suitable popcorn bud from 2-WW, it seemed to be pretty good, altho it was speed dried by holding it above the toaster, it had a nice fragrance and was a decent lifting high, I think it bodes well for possibly another 4 or 5 weeks flowering.
I had another go while I was amongst the Quad girls canopies to photograph the Auto which is hard to get to being 'jammed in' behind the Quad girls. With the light coming from the front it is challenging to get a decent picture but I have posted one below with a couple of trichome closeups which are looking lovely, especially more so after waiting 6 months from seed to get to this trichome stage.
I am now all out of last season's harvest to vape, so yesterday I started on a suitable popcorn bud from 2-WW, it seemed to be pretty good, altho it was speed dried by holding it above the toaster, it had a nice fragrance and was a decent lifting high, I think it bodes well for possibly another 4 or 5 weeks flowering.
I had another go while I was amongst the Quad girls canopies to photograph the Auto which is hard to get to being 'jammed in' behind the Quad girls. With the light coming from the front it is challenging to get a decent picture but I have posted one below with a couple of trichome closeups which are looking lovely, especially more so after waiting 6 months from seed to get to this trichome stage.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
Wow, great photos, Stunger! Maybe another month, what do you think?
Or are you thinking of trying the Gorilla auto as is, like right now?
Hmm, if your stash is gone you might as well start harvesting.
Or are you thinking of trying the Gorilla auto as is, like right now?
Hmm, if your stash is gone you might as well start harvesting.
- Thread starter
- #286
Thanks Emeraldo!
With the Gorilla I have no idea when it will be ready, I will determine that by it's appearance and trichomes as she develops, but I am guessing it will be ready in 2 or 3 weeks, somewhere around the end of March. I am surprised and pleased how this week the Gorilla's buds seem to have doubled in size, and as you can see from the closeup pics there is a nice layer of very appealing frosty trichomes on the buds. I may try some of it soon but will probably wait until harvest for her. My growing friend who is growing out a plant from the same seed batch, his plant is ahead of mine, possibly because mine's development was either slowed from the LST training I performed on her, or because my container is 3 times the volume of his. But he gave me a piece of bud from his plant to try a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was good altho still seemed immature so very promising. I am looking forward to testing some at full maturity.
Now my stash is gone, I will just pick off the lower popcorn buds which I purposely left on the plants just for this eventuality. I have tried popcorn from the Widow (2-WW) yesterday and today and it was already very good, it shows a lot of promise for it's future development over the next few weeks.
Last season, I believe my plants were lacking nourishment, this year the same soil was amended more generously and allowed to settle in the 'off season', plus you helped 'nudge' me to topdress with additional amendments when the plant's leaves began showing it needed more.
So to me, that has kept the momentum of bud formation growing, whereas in hindsight, last year the plants were starving and as a consequence were unable to grow and flourish, and instead their bud development stunted off somewhat.I'll pop a pic up from today, there is a lot of bud going vertical now. This week the aroma has become apparent and today the 'dank' factor seems to be double what it was yesterday, it is pretty heavy in the air of the balcony, I can only hope it dissipates upwards! Check them out.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
So it seems you'll harvest in 2 or 3 weeks. Looks like a plentiful harvest! Let's hope for breezes!
- Thread starter
- #288
Probably 2 or 3 weeks for the auto - around end of March. But I am thinking mid April for the 2 Quad girls unless their development indicates otherwise.
Besides, I was rather late in my attempt to do some selective pollen chucking, so another reason to go closer to mid April as it will give the seeds time to mature, if indeed the pollen was viable and there are seeds developing.
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- #289
As I am all out of last season's stash. I have started strategically taking a popcorn bud from the still growing plants and chopping it up so overnight it becomes dry enough for vaping the following day. Altho it is tempting to remove a bunch of the popcorn buds, I am only doing so day by day with the view that each day longer the buds remain, the stronger they become.
This morning I sprayed the plants with another dosing of BT to ensure no caterpillars see my canopy of buds as a free lunch.
This morning I sprayed the plants with another dosing of BT to ensure no caterpillars see my canopy of buds as a free lunch.
Nice choices on the popcorn! Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Plants are looking terrific, and I'm sure there is no question that you are growing up there no matter which way the air is moving
. That is not a stealthy grow! I have a tiny flowering plant in a 32 ounce cup that smells up my whole backyard when it's outside.
.
Plants are looking terrific, and I'm sure there is no question that you are growing up there no matter which way the air is moving
. That is not a stealthy grow! I have a tiny flowering plant in a 32 ounce cup that smells up my whole backyard when it's outside.Of course it did...everyone loves the smell of toast
.
I’ve found a piece of tin foil on a light bulb good for a quick dry.
The trichs on her look to be ripening nicely!
The trichs on her look to be ripening nicely!
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- #292
Usually planning forward we go on past experience. These girls are the daughters of last season's grow, and they are growing in the same pots and same soil that was re-amended. Last year from 2 of them I got about 4oz, at the beginning of this season I was hoping for more if possible, but at this point in flowering the apparent increase in yield is substantially more than I was expecting. For my neighbors, I turned around the reclaimed capsicum plant that has 4 capsicums at the top so they are now showing prominently thru the balcony corner gap in the vague hope if they look up they'll see the vegetable and assume I'm growing some other smelly vegetables. Still, there is not much more that can be done so I'll just have to ride that wave out and hope whatever they notice remains unrecognizable.Nice choices on the popcorn! Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Plants are looking terrific, and I'm sure there is no question that you are growing up there no matter which way the air is moving
I am hoping their grandson doesn't visit too much in the coming month as he looks a bit of a dodgy fecker, like he probably smokes pot on the university campus when he should be studying! And if so, he may recognize the smell, but I can't change that, so I can only hope he's got a heavy cold when he next visits them.
Hi DD, yeah they are coming along well, thanks. If I wanted to go early, I could harvest anytime now really, but I intend to hold off for a few weeks more as long as I can keep them happy and developing further.I’ve found a piece of tin foil on a light bulb good for a quick dry.
The trichs on her look to be ripening nicely!
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
..... I'm sure there is no question that you are growing up there no matter which way the air is moving
Of course it did...everyone loves the smell of toast
Well Shed, imho it is as stealthy as was possible. Heck, those turds down below the balcony only hang out and talk when they are leaving the general apartment area, getting into their cars and driving off. Party party party. And they never said a thing! So that's a sign of stealth. If it wasn't a stealth grow, we'd a knowed it by now... right?
Where I've heard it, "toast" means the jig is up. Wow, you really know how to scare a guy!
Stunger don't listen to this guy.
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- #294
Cheers Emeraldo, That's alright Shed, what you can't change you might as laugh about it, it's better than crying!Well Shed, imho it is as stealthy as was possible. Heck, those turds down below the balcony only hang out and talk when they are leaving the general apartment area, getting into their cars and driving off. Party party party. And they never said a thing! So that's a sign of stealth. If it wasn't a stealth grow, we'd a knowed it by now... right?
Where I've heard it, "toast" means the jig is up. Wow, you really know how to scare a guy!
Stunger don't listen to this guy.
Height wise the girls sit low, just level with the balcony glass. The bigger one is about 26 inches high, the smaller about 21 inches, from the pot rim. The good thing is where I am isn't an apartment block but freestanding houses, it is far enough back from the street to avoid pedestrian interest, being on the balcony it requires a low height to be stealthy but it is also presumably safer from some neighborhood kid stealing it from the garden. It is closest to one set of neighbors, but in several grows I feel they have not been aware of it, nor their visitors, just my guess. But this time, right now, there might be 15oz - 20oz of buds growing? Just perhaps 6 or 7 meters away from where sometimes they stand talking when their visitors are leaving. I really don't know how accurate that possible yield is, but whatever it ends up amounting to, it is presumably going to generate proportionally more 'fragrance' than previous grows. But hey, fingers crossed that I get to grow them for another month without any hickups, and then the smell of those nasty vegetables with be gone ...for another year.
- Thread starter
- #295
Scale Mealybugs spotted on 3-WWG
I noticed some ants have been hanging around 2 or 3 stems and I managed to get a closeup picture of what they doing. I found what I believe are Scale Mealybugs on some isolated stems, a few ants seem to be busy tending them. The mealybugs secrete some sort of honeydew from their back which the ants collect. I am guessing that I am somewhere close to 3-4 weeks to harvest. Overall the plant seems to look reasonably good (see below) and not obviously suffering from these pests (to my eye). I have read they can be difficult to get rid of, sometimes hand squashing is said to be the last course of action. Because they are only on one small area I think I will try the squashing method too, and then 'wipe down' those parts of the stems that hosted them with Neem oil to discourage their return, at this point I don't want to spray with Neem unless absolutely necessary as I prefer not to get it on the buds at this late stage. I am happy for anyone to chime in who has dealt with these before.
The plant as pictured from above seems unaffected so far, it is one small stem/node area. 3-WWG pictured below.
Gorilla Glue Auto day 75
This girl is filling out quite nicely. She looks small after viewing the bigger girl but she is growing in a 50 liter container. I am guessing she will contribute at least 3oz to the harvest, a not unwelcome contribution, maybe a bit more, it depends how much further she fills out. This is the first Auto I have grown so I have nothing to compare it to.
And another couple of Gorilla Glue bud closeups showing the lovely trichome development that has quietly been going on in the far corner of the balcony. They're beginning to look
frosty and tasty.
I noticed some ants have been hanging around 2 or 3 stems and I managed to get a closeup picture of what they doing. I found what I believe are Scale Mealybugs on some isolated stems, a few ants seem to be busy tending them. The mealybugs secrete some sort of honeydew from their back which the ants collect. I am guessing that I am somewhere close to 3-4 weeks to harvest. Overall the plant seems to look reasonably good (see below) and not obviously suffering from these pests (to my eye). I have read they can be difficult to get rid of, sometimes hand squashing is said to be the last course of action. Because they are only on one small area I think I will try the squashing method too, and then 'wipe down' those parts of the stems that hosted them with Neem oil to discourage their return, at this point I don't want to spray with Neem unless absolutely necessary as I prefer not to get it on the buds at this late stage. I am happy for anyone to chime in who has dealt with these before.
The plant as pictured from above seems unaffected so far, it is one small stem/node area. 3-WWG pictured below.
Gorilla Glue Auto day 75
This girl is filling out quite nicely. She looks small after viewing the bigger girl but she is growing in a 50 liter container. I am guessing she will contribute at least 3oz to the harvest, a not unwelcome contribution, maybe a bit more, it depends how much further she fills out. This is the first Auto I have grown so I have nothing to compare it to.
And another couple of Gorilla Glue bud closeups showing the lovely trichome development that has quietly been going on in the far corner of the balcony. They're beginning to look
frosty and tasty.
Love the sharpness of those frosty trichome shots!
Rather than try spraying those scale mealybugs at this stage, I would take a physical approach and use a scrubby sponge to gently dislodge them from the stems. Then treat the ant problem. If they're living in the pots it's harder to deal with them, but if the colony is somewhere else you can surround the pots with a thin line of food grade diatomaceous earth or boric acid (both available in hardware stores here). If they're living in the pots, I use this, and I'm sure you can find something equivalent in NZ.
Rather than try spraying those scale mealybugs at this stage, I would take a physical approach and use a scrubby sponge to gently dislodge them from the stems. Then treat the ant problem. If they're living in the pots it's harder to deal with them, but if the colony is somewhere else you can surround the pots with a thin line of food grade diatomaceous earth or boric acid (both available in hardware stores here). If they're living in the pots, I use this, and I'm sure you can find something equivalent in NZ.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
Beautiful trichs, Stunger! 
I had those mealeybugs on my blueberry plants last summer. I neemed em, and then still had to scrape their flat bods off off the canes. Really slimey, but no harm suffered. It's a real honey-pot symbiosis.
I had those mealeybugs on my blueberry plants last summer. I neemed em, and then still had to scrape their flat bods off off the canes. Really slimey, but no harm suffered. It's a real honey-pot symbiosis.
Emeraldo
Well-Known Member
Good step by step approach. By physically removing the mealeybugs, the ants are left holding an empty honeypot and can be blocked with diatomaceous earth. I often spread that on the topsoil in my pots to keep crawling bugs away, and it works very well.
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- #299
Well that was the darnedest thing! 
I had taken some photos, and came inside and uploaded them and posted about it on the thread above. As soon as the Missus went I out, I mixed up some Neem and Insecticidal Soap and went out to confront the scaly buggers with the mind to physically crush/remove them and wipe the areas they hung out on with the Neem/Insecticide Soap mixture. But low and behold, there were none to be seen, and no ants either.
The Scale Mealybugs I had noticed previously at this one patch that I thought initially they were some sort of scaly growth from the plant itself not realizing they were insects, I thought they were fixed there, so now I am very surprised to find them all gone. I still wiped the area that they hung out on before with the Neem/Soap mixture, and I will look out for them in future as I presume they will be back and I'll crush/remove them if they reappear. Hopefully because it was only a small location it'll be fine either way at this late stage of flowering (they are in about week 8 of flowering). The ants have never been a lot like an ant nest would have, just a few scurrying around now and then. I meant to dust a bit of Cinnamon which I'd used on them before, as it is said to be helpful against ants. I don't have any Diatomaceous Earth on hand otherwise I would put a bit of that around too. I'll grab a pack of it when I am next in the Garden shop, another handy thing to have on the shelf.
I had taken some photos, and came inside and uploaded them and posted about it on the thread above. As soon as the Missus went I out, I mixed up some Neem and Insecticidal Soap and went out to confront the scaly buggers with the mind to physically crush/remove them and wipe the areas they hung out on with the Neem/Insecticide Soap mixture. But low and behold, there were none to be seen, and no ants either.
The Scale Mealybugs I had noticed previously at this one patch that I thought initially they were some sort of scaly growth from the plant itself not realizing they were insects, I thought they were fixed there, so now I am very surprised to find them all gone. I still wiped the area that they hung out on before with the Neem/Soap mixture, and I will look out for them in future as I presume they will be back and I'll crush/remove them if they reappear. Hopefully because it was only a small location it'll be fine either way at this late stage of flowering (they are in about week 8 of flowering). The ants have never been a lot like an ant nest would have, just a few scurrying around now and then. I meant to dust a bit of Cinnamon which I'd used on them before, as it is said to be helpful against ants. I don't have any Diatomaceous Earth on hand otherwise I would put a bit of that around too. I'll grab a pack of it when I am next in the Garden shop, another handy thing to have on the shelf.
Great news! And when you get the DE, make sure it's food grade and not the stuff used for pool filters.
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