To Build Or Not To Build

[KatoRica]

Day 28 week 4 of flower. These ones seem to be growing faster than my summer grow. At week 4 they are definately bigger. I do have alot of popcorn on the lower branches from all of the heat damage during veg. I want to pull these right at the end of week 9. The smell reminds me of a strain I grew back in the mid 80's like vanilla and orange. I'm having alot of problems with branch weekness. The flowers are too heavy for the branches to support. I bought a bunch of bamboo and will prop the branches up today.
I had to throw the pic of the bannanas up they are my other babbies. They will be ready in early January. They are the best bannanas I ever had.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Comin along nicely. I was just thinkin about u yesterday wonderin what was going on and here u are. Nice bananas. Never seen them grow up close b4. THose are some leafy buds. Ur gonna have some work on ur hands come harvest.

 

[KatoRica]

grow up close b4. THose are some leafy buds. Ur gonna have some work on ur hands come harvest.

Is this a strain or light issue? I had the same problem with my summer grow. Whats the trick in getting more meaty less leafy flowers?

 

[BWC BayArea]

It has to do with the calyx to leaf ratio. The strain, it has more to do with the strain.

 

[KatoRica]

It has to do with the calyx to leaf ratio. The strain, it has more to do with the strain.

Here are some pics of the Skywalker from my summer grow. They were pretty leafy. I ended up with 47 grms off my 18" tall plant. The buds did come out fairly compact. Very good smoke.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Nice lookin buds. I notice more sativas or sativa dominant hybrids are leafy (ie more work.) Had some Thunderfuck that was a mofo to trim. Took some days. Had a lot of trim too. I felt bad cutting all of the leaf material from the bud, it made them so much smaller. I have read that Hazeseeker (another member here) sometimes doesn't trim/manicure his buds and his name says it all "Haze (sativa)- Seeker", lol.

 

[KatoRica]

My haze strains came out less leafy. My iindica dominant strains came out more leafy. The haze is curing now but after sampeling some from the caterpillar damage it's way too strong a head high for me. I was trippin after one hit. The Trainwreck camoe out with a nice very long lasting up high, the Skywalker came out with a fruity very couchlock high great for sleep but it gives you a weed hangover the next morning. Some of my plants had a higher clayx to leaf ratio but the caterpillars eat all the meat of the buds and ruining over 40% of my harvest.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Damn it. How did u treat the caterpillars? My statement about the sativas being more leafy was based on my limited experience and pictures in books. I'm sure there are some leafy indica varieties, but indica is known for compact, dense buds. The fluffy, spear shaped ones are more likely to be sativa or heat stressed (or both). Indicas that I'm familiar with are easy as hell to manicure for the most part, but then again I am biased (I favor indica).

 

[Munki]

Oh, that Skywalker looks good Katorica. Great job on the manicure. I would have bought that at a dispensary.

 

[CocoJoe]

Great job on the manicure. I would have bought that at a dispensary.

Yes very nice!

 

[KatoRica]

Damn it. How did u treat the caterpillars? My statement about the sativas being more leafy was based on my limited experience and pictures in books. I'm sure there are some leafy indica varieties, but indica is known for compact, dense buds. The fluffy, spear shaped ones are more likely to be sativa or heat stressed (or both). Indicas that I'm familiar with are easy as hell to manicure for the most part, but then again I am biased (I favor indica).

I've tried everything and it's hard to spray the plants with anything strong at the end. The problem is the little ones hatch and you never see them untill it's too late. I had some haze curing on the stem and noticed some black moldy spots and ended up having to trim them a week early. I pulled about 20 caterpillars of again turning once dence buds into fluff. Next time I pull I'm going to take the whole plant after I cut it down and hang it in an airtight trash bag and hit them with a few hours of dry ice in water to knock them out. I had a football size top w/ bannana size colas reduced ove 60% from the caterpillar induced mold. It was going to be my nug of the month entry. The buds in the previous pics I posted were the top 1/4 of the colas that were about a foot long and dence & around 3/4 an oz each. I ended up tossing the majority of the colas. Here's a pic of the little bud destroyers I found while trimming.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Damn. They blend right in. How does something that big go unnoticed in such large numbers? Where do they lay their eggs? Thanks for the pics.

Next time I pull I'm going to take the whole plant after I cut it down and hang it in an airtight trash bag and hit them with a few hours of dry ice in water to knock them out.

Ever try this b4?

 

[KatoRica]

Damn. They blend right in. How does something that big go unnoticed in such large numbers? Where do they lay their eggs? Thanks for the pics.
Ever try this b4?

They hatch inside the bud, some are less than 1/4 inch long and you have to look for the dark moldy areas and pull the bud apart to find them. I havent tried the dry ice yet but I'm tired of loosing good nugs to these freekin things. I've also read about using dry ice to do quick cures so at this point I'm willing to try anything.

 

[ozric420]

Nice grow,sorry to see those caterpillars,damn that would piss me off.

 

[BWC BayArea]

I asked because anytime I've ever put any plant material in a plastic (garbage bag) it molded. Cardboard boxes and paper bags work good because the plant matter can breath. I was wondering if the dry Ice would prevent that from happening. But even if it kill em, U'd still have to break the buds up and pull out the dead ones so u don't smoke em. Ughh. So to make sure I understand, these things eat ur crop and mold pops up where they starting eating when they're done?

 

[Munki]

Ouch Kato! With all the creepy crawlers out there, it is amazing any outdoor grows make it. Props to all that can. Really sorry to see that happen at the very end of a grow. Condolences.

 

[KatoRica]

I asked because anytime I've ever put any plant material in a plastic (garbage bag) it molded. Cardboard boxes and paper bags work good because the plant matter can breath. I was wondering if the dry Ice would prevent that from happening. But even if it kill em, U'd still have to break the buds up and pull out the dead ones so u don't smoke em. Ughh. So to make sure I understand, these things eat ur crop and mold pops up where they starting eating when they're done?

You only leave the plant in the bag for a few hours hanging upside down. When you cut the branches to hang for curing you shake them and the stunned or dead caterpillars should fall off. I was told to shake my plants after treating with pyrethrum as well because it knocks them out. I've been using Ed Rosenthls Zero Tolerance every three days trying to stay on top of things. It's suppose to protect against mold and PM as well.

I'm going to put a few chrysanthemum flowers in my greenhouse next spring. I was told by an old time grower that it helps to detour the bugs. Also I'll use Azmax every three days in my tea to build up the toxins in my plant before flowering.

 

[BWC BayArea]

Never heard of zero tolerance. I'll have to look it up. How's the Azamax work for u? OK, I looked it up. Looks cool, a little pricey to me. As long as it does what they claim is what matters.

 

[MI-grower]

I just was reading through ur journal and 47 grams off of 18". Thats sweet..

& Love from the Glove



My 1st grow

 

[KatoRica]

Never heard of zero tolerance. I'll have to look it up. How's the Azamax work for u? OK, I looked it up. Looks cool, a little pricey to me. As long as it does what they claim is what matters.

The thing with Azmax is you have to use it early in veg via watering so it builds up in the plant, then use it every three days untill you have to worry about mold. The Zero Tolerance is a mixture of herbs and spices that kill and detour bugs but again it's a three day window. Smells good though.

I just was reading through ur journal and 47 grams off of 18". Thats sweet...

It was a very solid strain. Everyone loved it but it gave you a good weed hangover. Great for sleep and pain. i'm looking for more clones right now so I can veg them untill Febuary and put them in the ground to try to get some real yeild. Sad thing is I had a dence ft long cola that looked perfict, was going to be my nug o th' month entry. It had a little curing left and I pulled it out of the jar to take pics and noticed mold from the freekin caterpillars and pulled the bud apart to salvage it. Should have taken a pic first. Oh well, no bragging rights untill the next good grow.