Tugafox 1st Indoor Grow - Soiless Mix- Money Maker - Grow Journal 2014

[Tamir]

Let me get some of those trichs!!!!! Lookin great Fox

 

[Tugafox]

Hi Tamir,
You´re back, hope you had a good vacation.
Sure, grab some! I don´t mind sharing

Cheers

 

[Tugafox]

This week´s update of my "Prayer Lady" - "Quick One Auto Fem":

She completed 8 weeks (since hit dirt) in May 27th.

1- Feedings and Water:
May 23, I feed her 1/4 strengh Biobizz Bloom + 1/4 strengh Topmax. After that & until today, I only gave her Ph 6.7 water. I´m watering her every 5 days (she drinks 1.3 liters) as I like to let all my Ladies dry a bit between waterings.

2 - Light Schedules:
As I said in my previous update, I moved her to the bloom tent in May 20th. She´s getting less hours of light than autos are known for needing. So far, she hasn´t shown any ill affects by this change so I´m letting her finish her life cycle in the bloom tent.
After I harvest MM, I will set the tent to 12/12 again. I´m aware that this reduced light schedule might delay her finishing and even effect yield but I don´t mind, it´ll be a part of my auto experiences.

3 -Resistence and Quality:
She lost her 2 lower leafs (as shown in the pictures below). She outgrew my expectations - 72 cm measured today. Has some minor leaf tip burn from previous feedings. Her hairs are thick and some of them are already turning colour. She has more bud sites than I expected. Strech finished and fattening is visible. She has now some visible trichs production, but nothing spectacular of note.

Pics:

Flowers close views:

Top part:

Lower part where you can see the pot, lost & burned leafs damage:

Under the skirts e other bud sites:

I preview she will take a few more weeks to finish. I intend to keep posting weekly updates of her in this journal.

Happy Growing & thanks for watching!

 

[Antics]

72cm is nice, you've passed me! My oldest MG1 topped out around 71.5 last I measured it. So nice going!

 

[Tugafox]

Hi Antics, good night

Yeah But yours was a different strain. I never thought she could grow so much in tall and wide considering the pot size I used and breeder´s info. Now, she and my Royal Medic are taking up almost half the space of my tent!
I wish I could be as impressed by frostiness as I am by her size and healthy good looks though.

 

[Tugafox]

Hello fellows,
An update of my grow with both good and not so good news:

Early this week, I rearranged lights and did a good cleaning in the tent (including fans) with a solution of water and vinegar.
I rotate pots every day but I also change their positions and carefully inspect the ladies every few days. I also keep a journal where I take notes of everything important in the grow like waterings, feedings, transplants, training, light cycles, etc.

The good news:
Yesterday, after light cycle started, I took a look at trichs and found that MMA & B are ready to be harvested while MMC (the smallest) needs some more time to finish. I think the extended dark cycle I´ve been giving them contributed to this result.
I´ll harvest one at the time so, after yesterday´s light cycle, I removed MMB from the tent and placed her in a separate room for her last dark period. MMA will follow her tonight and MMC will stay in the tent until she´s ready.

I´m making a DIY hanging drying rack using a fan metal frame and strings. "Necessity is the mother of all inventions" - I like this saying.
I´ll also use cardboard boxes with strings for the drying process and glass jars to cure.

Now, the not so good news:
In last night´s inspection, I also found that some of the lower leafs of Quick One Auto & Royal Medic had some white spots on them. It looks like I have some type of spores/fungi going on in my other girls
I know how Powder Mildew damage is, I already had to deal with it plus Aphids and Black Flies in some of my other herbs. The thing is I live near a park with big trees, bushes, grass, flowers, birds, etc. There´s all sorts of bugs & I like to leave some windows open during the day. Having many plants in windowsills is like having an open invitation for bugs to party.

So, having found this I had to think of an action plan:

MM inpection: They look all clean but if I leave them inside the tent along with other infected plants I´m putting my small harvest at risk.

1 - Research to diagnose and look for a "natural" treatment.
I´m very grateful for 420 Magazine Forums and the people here I type in the search tool box and I find grower´s advice for everything Cannabis related.

2 - Apply treatment: I started This Treatment.
I removed 5 lower infected leafs from Quick One and 3 from Royal Medic and sprayed the girls. Because of this, yesterday night these ladies didn´t get a full light cycle. I´d rather have that than spraying and put them under the lights without them drying.

3 - Observe results: on the making.

Right before today´s light cycle, I have to spray the 2 infected girls with destilled water and let them dry in order to complete the 1st treatment. I´ll surely be keeping a close eye.

I was a bit worried about the high RH % we´ve been having here in the past couple weeks, I even refered it in one of my updates. The lower temps along with rain were a blessing but the high RH% during flowering without a dehumidifier was not. I´ve been extremely careful with waterings & airflow inside the tent but that´s not enough.
Yesterday, the weather started changing again. Today´s peak temps were 30º C and 23% RH outside and the forecast for next week has an everage peak of 26ºC, low RH and no rain. High temps will be on the menu here for the next 3 or 4 months.

On a very positive note, the rest of MM harvest is about to start
As I said in a comment, I´m already enjoying what I got from MM lower branches harvest. I quick dried some, manicured and hanged the remainder to dry. Knowing me & being one full month without buying, it won´t even have the chance to cure properly...
I will try my best to finish MM journal reporting a final dry weight.
Meanwhile, I will post Quick One updates & try to sort out the issue I´m having.

 

[Tugafox]

I want to buy Neem Oil. I found these brands: Azaprot, Aingrow, Mighty Neem from Plagron, Protect Killer and Proneem which is neem extract flour.
Do you guys have experience with any of these brands? Which one should I go for?

Plus, is it safe to spray in flowering? Spray buds or not?
I´ve read it can effect bud´s smell and taste.

 

[Bubba Zanetti]

Hey TugaFox hope the girls hare good, could you post some pics of the white spots, about the brands sry never used, about spray the buds i do not advise spray buds in late stage even with water it can induce some mold issues and if you already have hr prob careful with late stage buds

 

[Green Closet]

I agree, it can induce bud rot by spraying your buds with anything during flower. I don't know much about neem oil but I don't know if its something you would want to ingest into your body either by smoking it..

 

[Tugafox]

Hi Fr3d & Green Closet,
Thanks!
When I noticed the problem I had to do something cause they´re inside the bloom tent along with MM.
I applied this Treatment, and for the final step I used Alkaline water. They dried well before exposure to light and, at least, the white spots aren´t spreading. I just took a pic to post.

 

[Tugafox]

Here´s a pic of the white spots I´ve mentioned:

 

[GardenFaerie]

If you want, you can take a piece of white paper and put it directly under the leaves and shake the leaves. If you have great eyesight you may be able to see almost microscopic spider mites. Sometimes they are red, sometimes white with two spots on their backs, all are almost invisible to the naked eye unless you know what you are looking for. An eye loop is ultimately the best way to see them. They will move around (little dust specs) on the white paper. If you have them, you can use any number of things, but first see if that is what is causing the stippling on the leaves. Truth be told, it doesn't look like much of anything wrong with the plant at all. IMO

 

[Tugafox]

Thank you Gardenfaerie, much appriciated!
I do have a loop and will inspect them better as you suggest.
I did inpected them but with naked eye and saw nothing moving. The kind of dusty white stuff I saw on some of the leafs really does remind me Powdery Mildew but the other spots more kind of sprinkled aren´t the same. I think it´s 2 different things. I noticed the problem early on, not much damaged can be seen yet. Just don´t want to let it progress and get it spread to the other girls finishing flowering.

 

[Antics]

I love when I search google, and the best result comes back to this forum...

I don't have your answer, but google did!

White spots
There seem to be some great suggestions there to try, so I thought I'd share

 

[Tugafox]

Hi Antics,
Amen to Google too thanks for the link
I have applied a homemade tea, after "washed them" well with pure water, removed some leafs and things are looking under control, so far.
Time for an update

 

[Tugafox]

Money Maker update:

Before the "final cut"

Saturday´s night fun

Ready to dry after a minor trim job:

Smaller buds, still fresh

Drying process:

After three days inside the box, placed in a spot with good ventilation, I checked the buds. The smaller buds were ready to be put in a paper bag before the final curing process in a glass jar. The bigger ones needed more days inside the box.
One plant chopped at a time: First was MMB, than A and last was C. All 3 plants had the same age but the smallest one took more time to finish.

Final weight for the dry 3 MM plants is 16 grams.

Curing is still on the making but I want to complete this part of the journal.
Here´s my attempt at a short smoking report and experience growing this strain:

Good plant to train. It´s short, compact, leafy and can get even more bushier if trained.
The smell and taste of the buds, as well as the plant itself in late flowering, is complex but it fits Strain Hunter´s description of Money Maker.
The name itself does not say much about the plant, I wonder where it came from
In my opinion the buds are small as described by breeder but also compact. They are army green with thin hairs that turn orange and remain in a bright tone even after drying. Tiny and resinous sugar leafs form around each cluster of green flowers.
I found the bud´s smell a mix. of 3 things: wild rose dried flowers like with a fruity sweet smell and also the clear presence of a earthy, vegetal smell.
Sticky flowers with strong smell in late flowering. The smell intensifies as you touch buds or move the plant and also in some parts of the lights off cycle.
The smoke is smooth, a sweet flowery taste at first that turns into a bitter salty like taste in the mouth. Get some water around you cause it drys the mouth a bit, like when you ate something too salty or spicy.
Fast hitter, potent but not a total knock out. More meditative and couch-lock at first. It´s got a somewhat Sativa presence in the kind of high for the second part when the first effects are fading. Interesting mix of effect for me.
Besides thirst, it also gives the munchies.
The taste part of this weed is a new experience for me as I´ve tried weed with sour tastes but had never tried a salty, garlic type like Money Maker is.

Money Maker journal is completed now, i´m happy i reached my goal
It was a fun experience that resulted in some good homegrown meds. along with the company of the fellow growers here at that made part of this fun.
My next updates updates will be about the Quick One Auto.


&

 

[Tamir]

Congrats fox... Look forward to ur next run.

 

[Green Closet]

Good job Fox! I'm impressed with your first grow.. Your plants were happy and healthy the whole time. I've had more nutrient issues with my first grow. Can't quite pin down exactly how to use my nutes yet I guess, I'm getting there though. Congrats!

 

[B A R]

Congrats Fox...

 

[Antics]

Over half an ounce for 'free'. All it took was a little spare time from you

I look forward to a smoke update as well! Well done mate!