Hi again - here are the photos to go with the commentary above.
First, here is my new seed germination incubator, a very high-tech ;) piece of equipment:


Actually, I couldn't find the bottom tray for my incubator, so I improvised. Later, I found it: in the refrigerator full of fan leaves.

And now for the clones:


One died and was removed. Two more look headed for 86. Roots have not fully developed but three of them have micro roots forming. I've never seen anything like this grow and these clones. Let's hope the seeds pop. LOL.

Here is a look at the flowering tent at the moment. Much fading of big (but not all and only fans) leaves; I didn't fully defoliate it because the plants were so bonsai. Tops are developing well - have about three weeks left. There is a lot of popcorn under the screen. I'm going to have a lot of weed to use in capsules and oil. I hope I get a good harvest, but I'll be surprised if it is over five ounces.




 
Harvest Reveal and a Philosophical Note About Accepting Failures
I've been telling myself that even experienced growers sometimes have a crop that is less than perfect. And I've been consoling myself by pointing out that It's been a strange season here, with temps not all that low enough to warm up the basement with our furnace, but cold enough to require auxiliary heat. And astrologically, the world is in pain at the moment. So, I'm not that bummed in only getting a bit over 4 ounces with the last grow.
The plants were bonzai-ed. They never grew as usual. The buds were nice and fully formed and tiny as heck. I didn't do the usual trim job - left them shaggy on purpose. Regardless of size, they are sticky and ripe.

Here are some photos:







So my seeds didn't sprout and I decided to revegg my grow:


I've got three beans sprouted now and put in incubation. These are Peppermint Kush from Barney's farm:
"Peppermint Kush Feminised Seeds is a Very High THC and High (5-10%) CBD strain with Stella Blue X Nepali Kush genetics of the Feminized variety brought to you by Barneys Farm."

I'll be back. :thumb:
 
Status Report
Hallelujah! Three peppermint kush seeds are now seedlings, hanging out in the propagation tent with lights at 1 percent. And two little clones, clinging to life. I'm going to plant one of them in soil and place it on the porch to grow a bit (back porch) before giving it to a friend who wants to grow it outside on his/her farm. The other one is going 86 soon. No real roots yet.
I think the drought is over. The revegging plants are sprouting leaves all over the branches, tiny leaves that are now growing exponentially daily. I'm going to up-pot these plants in five-gallon fabric pots and use up my bag of coco/perlite. I'm going to stay with hydroton, I think - depending on how the up-potting works.

Meanwhile, hunkering down and staying home so I don't expose myself to the virus. Hope everyone here is staying safe.
 
Back in Business and Smoke Report
Please meet my new grow: three Peppermint Kush plants, potted in coco/coir and hydroton (on top).



The growth of these plants has been very fast; this is what I'm used to. I planted them in 8-inch pots this time, so the root ball can get large. I'm struck by the difference in size between plants from seed and those that are clones. Especially clones more than three generations away. I've now got lots of seeds, and plan to plant seeds for a few grows and have fun growing different strains.

Smoke Report
The latest harvest from March was small; the buds were small. But the smoke is great. Very strong kush (Mazari Grape) and top notes of lemon, sage and mint. Mellow flavor in the smoke, with fruity accents that come out better in the smoke than in the sniffing. This is also stronger than my last grow. I think because I let it get a little past what I usually do: there was about 40 percent amber in the trichs.
 
Explaining changes and a discussion on growing methods
March 2020 I had three plants in the big tent, flowering and finishing. However, the plants were very small. The harvest on March 8 produced four and a half dry ounces. Nice buds, but a disappointing finish.
Why? I asked. Because I potted them in six-inch pots with coco coir. The plants' roots were being air-pruned by the net pots, and the root balls were stymied. This is a bonzai effect. Not necessarily what you want in a cannabis plant.
So, this time I potted them in 8-inch net pots. I like the air-pruning. I also like the cleaner media; the hydroton by itself was full of dust and dirt, even after washing. But hydroton has a lot of good things going for it; it is porous and doesn't hold water, so you have to hydrate several times a day. This means a lot of nutrient is forced into the plants constantly. The plants grow fast and large. The good thing about coco coir is that it does hold water, so the watering schedule is different; I am starting with every 12 hours, but may go to every six, just to encourage growth. Follow along, if you will, and see how this goes.
Coco coir is an excellent medium for clones and seedlings. Because it does hold water, you can put unrooted clones in a net pot in DWC (deep water culture) and they root fast. I add cloning gel to the clone before planting. A seedling that has been sprouted in distilled water takes off like a herd of buffalo once placed in a net pot in coco coir. So I will be using this medium a great deal.

Changes
After harvest on March 8, I tried to reveg the three plants, but they wouldn't grow. Probably because I waited 24 hours before putting them back in the tent. (Duh). So I tossed them.
 
The plants look great and congrats on taking quickly to coco! I was confused by this:
I'm struck by the difference in size between plants from seed and those that are clones. Especially clones more than three generations away.
Once they have roots, my clones take off faster than most of my seeds. And that doesn't change even seven generations removed from the original seed.
 
The plants look great and congrats on taking quickly to coco! I was confused by this:

Once they have roots, my clones take off faster than most of my seeds. And that doesn't change even seven generations removed from the original seed.
Well, you are correct of course; but I have noticed a change in the plants after awhile. They are different than they were at the beginning and some of them seem less vital. But it could be me. I expect a lot from a clone. LOL. Right now with the three new plants from seed, I see a big difference in the vitality of these compared to my clones of late.
One of things I'm learning about working with coco is, watering schedules need to be different from what I was doing with hydroton. I water them four times a day now, instead of six. This is because the coco and perlite retain moisture after the water drains off. This is going to be fun, watching these grow.
 
Update Time
My three plants are now four, as I added a Mazari Grape clone to the mix. This morning I put the scrog screen and trellis in, to give me an idea of where we are, growth-wise. The last few days my plants have taken off. One is bigger than the others, and two are a bit behind, but I'm not concerned. Usually these level off as they grow. I'm happy at the moment with how things are.



 
Update on new grow room:
I'm still working on getting my daughter out of her bedroom and into the new bedroom. This week I should make progress on that. We have to move the cabinetry out of her new bedroom so we can put it in the new grow space (the former bedroom.) I have a good friend who is going to help us with this; he will also lay flooring in the new bedroom, as the cabinets will expose the old flooring. And curtains. LOL. It's always something.
The main problem is the yarn. My daughter is a knitter, very talented. She has about 30 totes full of yarn. We have to find a place for those.

I'm still working out the details, but the new grow space will have water and a sink, as well as a counter and lots of storage for nutes, etc. Once I have it planned, I will provide a schematic.
I want to put a 4 x 4 Gorilla tent in there, along with my 2X2 1/2 by 5' 7" Gorilla lite line and the small cloning tent. When I do that, I will be in business. Also, I have another seed order that came. Here's what I got:

Bruce Banner #3 Feminized - 5 seeds
Purple Strawberry Bliss - Feminized - 5 seeds
Expert Haze - Feminized - 1 seed
Green Crack Feminized - 1 seed
and
Six free seeds, 4 are OG Kush Fem, and 2 are Skywalker Ghost Triangle Kush

These were from Seedsupreme, and I was able to get a good discount as well as free seeds.
Again, they came from California, even though I ordered them from the UK. Even with the Coronavirus, I received them in a week.
 
OK, I've made a change in my tent size because the reservoir wouldn't fit in a 4 X 4, so I'm sacrificing space for a 5 X 5.
We are getting closer to getting this finished. The big issue is moving my daughter from her bedroom to the room across the hall, which is larger and brighter than the room I'm going to use for my grow.
The plants in the grow tent are really taking off now, with the 8-inch pots. I'm stoked.
 
You got lucky with your seed purchase. I can’t get seeds from Europe shipped at this time. It’s got me bummed out.
I checked the web site for the company I went through, and they are still shipping.
You might check with them.
 
Pictures of Plants Today
I want to show the plants this past week, and how they grew. This is what I'm used to. The last grow was really weird. But these are doing fine. First, see the plants early in the week, and compare with later. The one in the right hand rear corner is a Mazari Grape clone that I threw in to see how it would do in the coco. It is growing slow, but I expect it to catch up soon. The plant in the front left is a bit behind the others, but it is catching up.




 
Back
Top Bottom