Winging It In Winter By The Window: Soil Auto Grow

[Carmen Ray]

No worries, Carmen- the plant is going to grow wider, so there will be enough room for all the branches...
but, for a little while, things are going to be a little crowded- as @StoneOtter said, given a little time, she will get out of her own way.
In the meantime, you'll have to do some leaf-tucking.

*There are a few leaves on the BB that I suggest removing now, to let more light through - I can show you which ones, if you'd like.
But, I don't want to force my methods on you, if you've got your own training regimen, then I'll just follow along and see how things turn out...

Ah Carcass, thank you sooo much! I would be extremely grateful if you would guide me BB is quite a leafy little gal and I've been tempted but didn't want to do the wrong thing

 

[Carcass]

Cool!
Right now, if you remove these 6 leaves, a lot more light will get to the nodes....There'll still be some leaves that need tucking- removing these will make that a little easier too...

You can do the same to the Wedding Cake, but I'd let her grow for a couple more days before you start on her...

 

[Trala]

I found following carcasses nip light blocking leaves direction completely changed the structure of my plant and allowed a CarCanopy to form.

From joining and for the most part I have been advised not to nip leaves ie the fuel growth/its where the plants nutrients are held etc. and these points are fair, however, when every other garden plant really benefits from a leaf nip or a good prune, I continued to wonder why wouldn’t my weed?

I think the answer is in your plants foliage. If you have a lot of healthy leaves to work with (which you do) you can totally thin growth with super beneficial benefits. I cut between 10-20 leaves per day, and when I update today you’ll see I still have HEAPS for my plant to use.

And I have a question, two actually. How close is your plant to your light and do you have airflow?

 

[Jon]

Carcass has you covered well there @Carmen Ray, although he missed the one at around 5 o’clock which is big and browning. Lmao! Nice work, and wow the nodes are tight on Bruce for sure!

 

[Carcass]

although he missed the one at around 5 o’clock which is big and browning.

Good eye, Jon! I saw that one after I posted the pic..figured someone might mention it...

 

[Carmen Ray]

Cool!
Right now, if you remove these 6 leaves, a lot more light will get to the nodes....There'll still be some leaves that need tucking- removing these will make that a little easier too...

You can do the same to the Wedding Cake, but I'd let her grow for a couple more days before you start on her...

Thank you Carcass! This is so much appreciated. I think I took off the ones you suggested. I took off 8 in total (and then another few brown ones). I initially left the browning leaf because I'd rather that one goes brown than for the browning to creep upwards. @Jon It was a conscious decision on my part but maybe it does need to go. (I removed three brown leaves subsequent to making that comment lol). I spread the branches out a bit more too. Carcass, what do you think? They need the bigger pots but hopefully they will be ok for another week or so?

Tra, I have just moved the books out from under the vegging plants to entice them to stretch more. The light is at an angle so that I can optimize its use so the distance varies between 45 to 50 cm ( 17.5 to 19 inches), and I move them around to make sure that they get a fair shot at each spot because the lux varies considerably in the placement of the pots. I am at 30 000 lux in the one spot and 24 000 lux in the other spot, so I rotate them. I have a fan blowing on them, which jiggles their leaves.

I think the answer is in your plants foliage. If you have a lot of healthy leaves to work with (which you do) you can totally thin growth with super beneficial benefits. I cut between 10-20 leaves per day, and when I update today you’ll see I still have HEAPS for my plant to use.

Thank you for telling me this. It will give me courage when I snip That's a lot of foliage that you remove every day!

 

[Carmen Ray]

So inspired by that trim job was I, that I got stuck into Lavender Best. I tried to get into the CK but it was a dense no go zone.

 

[Jon]

So inspired by that trim job was I, that I got stuck into Lavender Best. I tried to get into the CK but it was a dense no go zone.

What’s wrong with that? It looks great!

 

[Carmen Ray]

What’s wrong with that? It looks great!

Thank you, I'm rather pleased with myself. That nudged me onto action. I am wondering if it is worth getting rid of the larf at this stage of the game, or whether to just leave it alone now. What would you suggest, given it's an auto and 32 days into flower?

 

[Carcass]

Carcass, what do you think? They need the bigger pots but hopefully they will be ok for another week or so?

They should be fine in there for another week- If you need to train past the edge of the pot, you could just hang some rocks or weights from the branches, like @Trala does, until you get them into their new pots..
Nice work on the leaf snipping, Carmen- that opened things up nicely!

 

[Carmen Ray]

Oh Hell... Monday morning trichome watch hurry up and wait moments! I actually loathe this waiting, especially when I do the calculations in my head and realize what I have spent on this miniscule soon to be harvest (I have to think of it as an entertainment and hobby expense, not just a recreational / medicinal substance ). According to the strain info I am in the harvest window ... 7 to 14 July. However this doesn't look ready to me. This is supposed to put me to sleep and I see no amber yet, or only the odd one. It looks like another week or maybe more, and I don't have the space for that. My Wedding Cake and Bruce Banner #2 need an up-pot soon! What do you think folks? These buds are not bulking anymore. Also, the flowers are at different stages of maturity. I wonder about a gradual harvest but then I can't really get into that bush to separate the colas. I think it is easier to chop the whole plant and take it from there.

 

[Azimuth]

Pistils look ready. Now it's just a matter of personal preference.

Beautiful bud shots!

 

[BubbaKush909]

Morning @carmen! She looks beautiful! Like you said your expenses need to be looked at as entertainment and also education. Plus I'm sure some of the stuff can be used every grow. I could have probably bought a few years worth of weed with what I've spent. I'm not sure I'll ever come out ahead lol... but I've never bought anything like what we can grow ourselves

Yesterday I ordered a new laptop because the x and z keys stopped working on this one for 2 days in a row. Today they work great. With my luck if I send it back they'll stop working again. If I keep it this one will continue working just fine.

I know you''ve harvested before so I'm sure you know this, but don't undo all those months of growing by getting impatient now. The others can wait a few more days.... good luck!

 

[HashGirl]

Oh Hell... Monday morning trichome watch hurry up and wait moments! I actually loathe this waiting, especially when I do the calculations in my head and realize what I have spent on this miniscule soon to be harvest (I have to think of it as an entertainment and hobby expense, not just a recreational / medicinal substance ). According to the strain info I am in the harvest window ... 7 to 14 July. However this doesn't look ready to me. This is supposed to put me to sleep and I see no amber yet, or only the odd one. It looks like another week or maybe more, and I don't have the space for that. My Wedding Cake and Bruce Banner #2 need an up-pot soon! What do you think folks? These buds are not bulking anymore. Also, the flowers are at different stages of maturity. I wonder about a gradual harvest but then I can't really get into that bush to separate the colas. I think it is easier to chop the whole plant and take it from there.

Hi Carmen.

If you're looking for amber then I think you should wait. The breeder's harvest window is just an estimate. I've found that most plants finish later than the estimate.

Also, don't forget that Caramel King (and Lavender Best) is an autoflower so the importance of it being under certain light conditions isn't as important as it would be a photoperiod. So uppot your Bruce Banner and your Wedding Cake and move the CK (and LB) where they were.

 

[Carmen Ray]

They should be fine in there for another week- If you need to train past the edge of the pot, you could just hang some rocks or weights from the branches, like @Trala does, until you get them into their new pots..
Nice work on the leaf snipping, Carmen- that opened things up nicely!

Thank you Carcass. It is nice to have the constructive feedback. In some respects I look forward to rearranging the hooks in a bigger pot but it worries me a bit the unhooking and up-pot part of the process

Pistils look ready. Now it's just a matter of personal preference.

Beautiful bud shots!

Thanks Azi. I read a blog by Subcool on pistil readiness. He suggests taking hybrids at this point but I want to go for couch lock, so I'm going to wait another weekish and check again.

Morning @carmen! She looks beautiful! Like you said your expenses need to be looked at as entertainment and also education. Plus I'm sure some of the stuff can be used every grow. I could have probably bought a few years worth of weed with what I've spent. I'm not sure I'll ever come out ahead lol... but I've never bought anything like what we can grow ourselves

Yesterday I ordered a new laptop because the x and z keys stopped working on this one for 2 days in a row. Today they work great. With my luck if I send it back they'll stop working again. If I keep it this one will continue working just fine.

I know you''ve harvested before so I'm sure you know this, but don't undo all those months of growing by getting impatient now. The others can wait a few more days.... good luck!

You are so right BK, the last thing I want is to regret the timing. It sucks having computer problems. I know what you mean about intermittent faults. I had an IT guy on a screen share yesterday and we were trying to reproduce a crash from Photoshop and Lightroom and we messed about for half an hour and nothing... then as soon as I'm offline it crashed

Hi Carmen.

If you're looking for amber then I think you should wait. The breeder's harvest window is just an estimate. I've found that most plants finish later than the estimate.

Also, don't forget that Caramel King (and Lavender Best) is an autoflower so the importance of it being under certain light conditions isn't as important as it would be a photoperiod. So uppot your Bruce Banner and your Wedding Cake and move the CK (and LB) where they were.

Thanks HG, it's good to know that about the breeder's harvest window. I'm going to give the CK another week and check again, and the photos I'll up-pot as soon as she is done. What you suggest makes sense but I can't get them all under the light if they are in 20L pots so CK has to go first

Update to follow

 

[Jon]

Oh Hell... Monday morning trichome watch hurry up and wait moments! I actually loathe this waiting, especially when I do the calculations in my head and realize what I have spent on this miniscule soon to be harvest (I have to think of it as an entertainment and hobby expense, not just a recreational / medicinal substance ). According to the strain info I am in the harvest window ... 7 to 14 July. However this doesn't look ready to me. This is supposed to put me to sleep and I see no amber yet, or only the odd one. It looks like another week or maybe more, and I don't have the space for that. My Wedding Cake and Bruce Banner #2 need an up-pot soon! What do you think folks? These buds are not bulking anymore. Also, the flowers are at different stages of maturity. I wonder about a gradual harvest but then I can't really get into that bush to separate the colas. I think it is easier to chop the whole plant and take it from there.

Totally get the patience sucks part! But as others have said, it’s almost there just wait til she’s ready. Great trichome pics, and you want those gorgeous red hairs to curl in to and become part of the actual bud. I’m sure you know this, just saying. If you like a good bit of amber you likely have days yet, the trichome window stays open a lot longer than we think sometimes. You got this.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Tuesday 12 July UPDATE

AUTOS

Caramel King 72 Days AG, 53 Days In Flower

2 L Water with mosquito bits 10 July
Next feed will be tomorrow or should I drought?

Lavender Best 57 Days AG, 34 Days In Flower

2 L Water with mosquito bits 10 July
Next feed will be cal mag and “nutes”

PHOTOS

Bruce Banner 2 36 Days AG

750 ml Water with mosquito bits 10 July

Next feed will be cal mag and “nutes”

I don’t think this plant is presenting as a Sativa dominant hybrid…?

Wedding Cake 36 Days AG

750 ml Water with mosquito bits and 10 July

Next feed will be cal mag and “nutes”

I don’t want to take off the shabby leaves because I think it spreads the problem to higher leaves if those aren’t taking the hit. I might be wrong who knows.

Thank you for your company, comments and encouragement and have a wonderful day

 

[Carmen Ray]

Totally get the patience sucks part! But as others have said, it’s almost there just wait til she’s ready. Great trichome pics, and you want those gorgeous red hairs to curl in to and become part of the actual bud. I’m sure you know this, just saying. If you like a good bit of amber you likely have days yet, the trichome window stays open a lot longer than we think sometimes. You got this.

Thank you Jon Do you think another week will do it? I hope so because that's my deadline for the up-pot. I want them to settle into their pots and veg a bit before they flower and I'm on deadline with that so... I have guests arriving in early Nov so I have to have decommissioned the grow by then and everything must be in stink proof containers lol.

 

[Jon]

Thank you Jon Do you think another week will do it? I hope so because that's my deadline for the up-pot. I want them to settle into their pots and veg a bit before they flower and I'm on deadline with that so... I have guests arriving in early Nov so I have to have decommissioned the grow by then and everything must be in stink proof containers lol.

I was going to say about a week! Regardless in a week they’ll be ready, just maybe not as much amber as you want in a perfect world. But who knows? Every plant is different. She might get there in three days. About the yellowing leaves, I’m with you. I keep them as long as they are viable. This still are a bit to my eyes.

 

[DV8]

They never seem to do what we would like.

Theres two harvest windows. When they are ready, and when we are. Occasionally they correlate.

When you say couch lock, to me at least, it means you will need to run harvests a lot deeper than you would to minimise it. Or select target strains and genetics, to get there faster.

In my view those breeder supplied harvest days are only a guide, and a bit of an unreliable one. Great for comparing which ones will finish earlier, or later, terrible for accuracy.

Cold climate and couch lock will make them even more unreliable.

Tickles me to count the times I and others have thought 1 to 2 weeks to go, and then in 1 to 2 weeks looks like it still going to be another fortnight.

Sometimes you have time to wait, some times not. Dont be too hard on yourself if you miss the " ideal" window being a bit early.