1st-ish Grow, California Snow Auto, Help Needed, Day 19

[Digger3691]

My loupe doesn’t have focussing although it does have a small LED Light.
I can see the trichomes but with unsteady hands, having to get real close with leaves tickling my nose, it will be very hard to judge their Color when the time comes.

Ive just ordered a 60x magnifier which clamps onto your phone.

Also my humidity is real high for flowering so I’ve just ordered a cheap de-humidifier.

wow, using Fiji spring water!! We have that locally too, I’ve never really looked at the price till the other day.
But the water ive been using, I’ve stopped buying the single bottles and am buying 10 litres, in basically a plastic jerry can. 10ltrs for $3.85 AUD, so about 29c US a litre.

 

[Digger3691]

Wowzer! that sure is too late to top! Also fantastic work! It's fun to watch you grow.
Its liking the new light without a doubt.
I had some good spring water from PA I brought home from camping..
It was delicious and the plants absolutely loved it. Super cold in the hottest of summer and tasted like it was from the Gods
I dont mean to sound religious LOL
But the plants grew very well indeed long story short about spring water.
I knew a guy that only grew with Fiji bottled water... Talk about a bill. It does have the highest content of fecal matter for all bottled waters. So it definitely works good for gardening but it is so pricey. I find it is the best water to sprout my seeds thus far except a couple landraces from India have had bad luck with a few methods on unfortunately.
I find the earlier the better to be topping auto you kind of want them to be of decent size but not into flower this far I have made some mistakes and lost some good autos to my elf bending too hard they are especially fragile to that and disrupts the whole flowering system to the plant like a transplant if it has buds like yours does now and its in a small container you better keep watering it and nurturing it in the same small container lol I tried transplanting autos this far they give up almost completely and produce rather sad yield so they have a bad rep since ppl wanna do too much to them and we didn't know they require less food then our beloved photo's
Handle differently under conditions photos can tolerate stress too like transplant and back to the food.. That rant over we all know how autos are now lol

Your 40x if its the telescoping type that you adjust to focus. Those are good but the ol' faithful jewelers loupe is what I like best when you can sit back your eye judt a few inches like your looking into a scope ona rifle. Then pull the loupe away from the piece or object you are looking at. I enjoy using the one I just picked up for 10 bucks it id only 15x but you can see the heads largely when you use it just right.
You want to get closer you need a microscope. They are pretty affordable for ones you can connect wirelessly to your device's. Or wired to the computer.
Some pretty cool ones out there with the screen already on a stand with them and not too heavy or expensive like the real lab scopes.
I sadly just lost one of my purple diesel to being too rough so dont worry we are all plant killers my friend purple diesel was a year old and I just threw her into 12 and 12.. Broke that bitch sad day yes but her sister is quite the specimen now so it's ok just a plant.
To the naked eye you miss the 3 white fly aphids hiding on this little sprout. Even got through the tube cap with it on loose.
Another good thing to have a loop handy is being an avid pest controller
I let a jumping spider go months ago in the veg she is still doing her thang.
Great Job so far Digger that is gonna be one happy plant.
To the question about the buds growing together you never know but it is how it appears she wants to be so a fat thicket of bud a football I like to say it will be mighty it looks it! Try to make it a rugby!
Kudos!

it’s all been a real up and down learning curve.
When I decided to give growing a go I had basically read that you can buy an auto, just make sure it’s hardy strain, drop it in any medium with some lights, add some ready made nutes, set the timer, and in exactly 90 days open the tent and it’s all ready to go. All you had to do was roll it!

lol

its been an enjoyable ride though, even for someone as impatient as me.
Im glad it looks like you’re enjoying watching it too, it’s great to have you along!

 

[ChocolatChunk]

She is turning out good it sounds like she will double in height.
I too have unsteady hands it helps to rest the piece you are viewing still on. A flat surface be steady and pull away from it and tap the trichomes heads let the camera focus when you can almost see them. But having a dark background may also help or white might work better to brighten the light. Rest your hand on your other hand on the table/ dresser or counter that should help you get a more steady bigger better focused view on the trichies.
I think if it doesnt help you need to get one of them electronic scopes that can go to at least 400x for the phone or computer they are fun to use and fairly affordable.
It sure is tough without a dehumidifier or an a/c to keep humidity under control you are almost always going to need one or the other or both LOl so good move
Thats what I did too we have some high times for humidity it can get up to 90% where I am here at times.
The plus is clean water for the plants right out of the air and they add some heat but some air too which is a good thing.
That should help you cut cost on water but trade off is its costing you some juice with the power company oh well the plant it will enjoy it. Important to provide some minerals especially calcium and magnesium if you use that water but can use it straight right out the machine if you wanted to.
Rain dont have calmag in it LOL
believe me I am still learning all the time and been into cannabis learning to grow by reading all night sometimes looking at different strains and reading different journals seeing what other have done and applied myself. I still like I said kill plants time to time LOL
I took unto gardening long before my passion for the mystic herb so my playing in dirt all those younger years payed off and I love what I do now.
Good autos are like that though set forget and can bang out a few ounces on a plant like that with some experience. I grew pink grapefruit autos they were beasts big yielders for being in 1 gallon pots I was surprised at the quality so it is pretty much a set and forget type of plant loves to routinely fed the perfect amount of nutrients and will keep getting bigger and bigger so as long as vpd and temperatures and other climate criteria are optimized.
Which you are doing so it will be neat to see how old it will get for you bc she is pushing half way now I reckon.
Had the pink grapefruit autos take a long time too wish I would have f fed them a little more they were a bit light but I think drying the flower too soon is what had caused that.
The clipping you took is most likely not going to cause any effect and would end up in a bucket with other leafs and suckers. Or in my belly. That is where it most likely would be LOL
The psycho activeness happens as the molecules age the chain becomes complete to delta-9-tetrahydrocanabinnol
Or delta 9 thc
8 and 10 are from hemp as well as thc o which is claimed to be 300% stronger thsn normal regular stuff and theres another big one on the uprise the thc v which gets you stoned but leaves you without hunger.
THCA is the crystal in its raw active live acid form on the plant as we can see it as a crystal it is actually classified as an acid before it turns into what we know as what gets us stoned or the thc d-9.
Lesson adjourned
You can make a hot tea with the clipping if you like it will be soothing with some honey and lemon. Its not a lot but will be good for your soul.
It sure does feel a lot longer for the cycle to complete when its your first few It sometimes still feels like a very long time to get some buds from the garden but its always enjoyable and worth the wait!.
Keep keeping her happy its good to be here with you and Bill and the others!
One love!

 

[Digger3691]

She is turning out good it sounds like she will double in height.
I too have unsteady hands it helps to rest the piece you are viewing still on. A flat surface be steady and pull away from it and tap the trichomes heads let the camera focus when you can almost see them. But having a dark background may also help or white might work better to brighten the light. Rest your hand on your other hand on the table/ dresser or counter that should help you get a more steady bigger better focused view on the trichies.
I think if it doesnt help you need to get one of them electronic scopes that can go to at least 400x for the phone or computer they are fun to use and fairly affordable.
It sure is tough without a dehumidifier or an a/c to keep humidity under control you are almost always going to need one or the other or both LOl so good move
Thats what I did too we have some high times for humidity it can get up to 90% where I am here at times.
The plus is clean water for the plants right out of the air and they add some heat but some air too which is a good thing.
That should help you cut cost on water but trade off is its costing you some juice with the power company oh well the plant it will enjoy it. Important to provide some minerals especially calcium and magnesium if you use that water but can use it straight right out the machine if you wanted to.
Rain dont have calmag in it LOL
believe me I am still learning all the time and been into cannabis learning to grow by reading all night sometimes looking at different strains and reading different journals seeing what other have done and applied myself. I still like I said kill plants time to time LOL
I took unto gardening long before my passion for the mystic herb so my playing in dirt all those younger years payed off and I love what I do now.
Good autos are like that though set forget and can bang out a few ounces on a plant like that with some experience. I grew pink grapefruit autos they were beasts big yielders for being in 1 gallon pots I was surprised at the quality so it is pretty much a set and forget type of plant loves to routinely fed the perfect amount of nutrients and will keep getting bigger and bigger so as long as vpd and temperatures and other climate criteria are optimized.
Which you are doing so it will be neat to see how old it will get for you bc she is pushing half way now I reckon.
Had the pink grapefruit autos take a long time too wish I would have f fed them a little more they were a bit light but I think drying the flower too soon is what had caused that.
The clipping you took is most likely not going to cause any effect and would end up in a bucket with other leafs and suckers. Or in my belly. That is where it most likely would be LOL
The psycho activeness happens as the molecules age the chain becomes complete to delta-9-tetrahydrocanabinnol
Or delta 9 thc
8 and 10 are from hemp as well as thc o which is claimed to be 300% stronger thsn normal regular stuff and theres another big one on the uprise the thc v which gets you stoned but leaves you without hunger.
THCA is the crystal in its raw active live acid form on the plant as we can see it as a crystal it is actually classified as an acid before it turns into what we know as what gets us stoned or the thc d-9.
Lesson adjourned
You can make a hot tea with the clipping if you like it will be soothing with some honey and lemon. Its not a lot but will be good for your soul.
It sure does feel a lot longer for the cycle to complete when its your first few It sometimes still feels like a very long time to get some buds from the garden but its always enjoyable and worth the wait!.
Keep keeping her happy its good to be here with you and Bill and the others!
One love!

So my baby is now approx 28 days into flower.
The, many, buds she has are growing up and down into each other, but not really fattening up.
There’s also new buds popping up all the time.
I’m just wondering if that’s normal at this time?

She seems healthy, a limp or discoloured leaf here and there. Not sure if she stopped stretching or just slowed down.

The cheap dehumidifier is pulling about nearly a cup a day, especially overnight, or that may be where I don’t check on her so much. But the RH is around low 50s, much better than what it was, still high I think though.

I’ve never done any type of gardening stuff ever but I’m totally transfixed by this plant, just watching her move from one stage to another, and after a tuff start at my hands maturing into a beautiful lady.!

 

[Digger3691]

Also, I dried and tried that little nugget. I thought I got a slight reaction, then wifey came down and asked me what I was smiling about. I then realised I was smiling non stop! So much my check muscles ached.

I deffo wasn’t stoned, smashed etc but for some reason I couldn’t stop smiling, haha, I was just feeling good!

May have just been in my mind, but it felt good so I don’t really care.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Hey Digger it sounds like a normal thing for them to not be getting fatter right now. After about 5 to 6 weeks into full bloom will they begin the "swell" phase.
That is one happy plant you have there and is probably why you felt happy trying a little of her flower.
Sounds crazy lol but thats my thought process
Normal for some dicoloring here and there or leafs that kind of fall off easy usually in healthy plants because they are cannibalizing themselves. All the plants in the world do it. Its a survival mechanism of plants.trees up north in the fall is a good example how the leafs continuously change the later into the season it gets bulking up for winter. I feel is a calcium related thing but can also be due to other micro nutrients like iron will encourage green growth. Maybe magnesium iron or both and a little more phosphorus can help now when you see a blueing in the leaf its a sure sign for phosphorus, and reddening in stem can be from iron def. Or mag or is just a natural part of the strains genetics.
But have you ever tried using some epsom salts? Its a good way to boost magnesium and cheap at that also its magnesium sulfate so its a double whammy cannabis loves sulfur and magnesium.
But I always use epsom salt it helps in all stages. For autos they really dont need much more than in the middle of their lifes in my opinion because they really do better with less. You seem to be getting her feeding down good looks very healthy!
Your RH level seems to be good my mini dehumidifier hermied a couple of my plants not too bad bud few nanners here and there.. Not a bad thing per say but they need that total darkness that really is the ticker for a great flower pure darkness

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Hey Digger, was just trolling through the journal and seen Bills recommendation about using a silicate or silica. I recently was able to get a good deal for a new Chitsan formula from Hygrozyme called hyshield and works well but is not listed as silica. A good cheap one I am using though is GH armorsi. It is not silicic acid like the pricey bottles but if you invested into a more higher dollar bottle it reaps or say wreaks the benefits. Plagron has been a go to for a lot of people and now mammoth makes a silicic acid base silicate and the original protekt is not the acid form but is the industry original. It will help with mold and pest resistance and drought and cold or heat tolerance as well as strengthening your plant by making more nutrients available and hardening the cells. It also if pushed in flower will really help those resins or terpenes be more productive. It stiffens plants to be moee robust so they can break if you super crop too hard when you get into that.

 

[Digger3691]

Yes I think you’re correct, I think I was just happy as it felt good that everything seems to be going well. Still, I really believe that even if you force a smile it can help you feel better.

Interesting what you said, some of the top fan leaves have a reddening stem, I didn’t think much of it as the actual leaves look real healthy.

Will check out some Epsom. Like most things in life a bit of variation is good, that why I do stuff like a wee bit of molasses now and then, even though I’m not real sure what it offers haha.

So I’ll try a bit of Epsom Salts.

Here’s a couple of photos from yesterday.

 

[Digger3691]

Hey Digger, was just trolling through the journal and seen Bills recommendation about using a silicate or silica. I recently was able to get a good deal for a new Chitsan formula from Hygrozyme called hyshield and works well but is not listed as silica. A good cheap one I am using though is GH armorsi. It is not silicic acid like the pricey bottles but if you invested into a more higher dollar bottle it reaps or say wreaks the benefits. Plagron has been a go to for a lot of people and now mammoth makes a silicic acid base silicate and the original protekt is not the acid form but is the industry original. It will help with mold and pest resistance and drought and cold or heat tolerance as well as strengthening your plant by making more nutrients available and hardening the cells. It also if pushed in flower will really help those resins or terpenes be more productive. It stiffens plants to be moee robust so they can break if you super crop too hard when you get into that.

Being real nes at this I’m looking at the amount of trichomes on leaves.
I think I’ll being using that for hash, the iced water method.

I come from London originally. Obviously outdoorgrow is almost impossible. But when kids etc got to breeding, hydro etc They were always saying stuff like “you ain’t tried this skunk dude” I tried it, yeah very good. But they thought all we got in the old days was rubbish!

I then mentioned stuff like Durban Poison (the original from SA), Sensei from the Caribbean, Thai Sticks etc.

But what I always loved, plus it’s easier way to transport, was Hashish.
Man, Afghan Black (although I think the Red Seal Black was actually from Pakistan). This stuff was so fresh and oily you’d just pull a tiny bit and roll it into a thin sausage shape to lay in a J. Nepalese Temple Balls, oily Red Leb that moved hard and more yellowish as you moved south of that country, Gold Leb, round the Med to similar Morrocan.
All so strong, but importantly smooth also.

So with all them trichomes on the leaves of my gal I’m actually looking into do the iced water hashy thing.

Have you tried this?

 

[ChocolatChunk]

She is looking frosty indeed! Can't go wrong with a little epsom though. And interesting to hear what you have tried. We get most of our oil from the west coast and other legal states. Im in New York and we just started getting into it here. I always wanted to try some charas from India and the Morrocan stuff but I can see why it was around for you being closer to all them territories.
My friend has some Durban going now and we really like it I might have a cut or 2 of it took like 50 cuts from his plants before they started flower and have some survivors but dont know who is who just yet.
I want to add some orange pollen to one of the Durbans to make orange poison.
They are stretchy girls them Durbans and if I can make it a shorter plant with some more citrus note that would be killer.
Its funny how smooth good hash is though. My finger hash has been super tasty and smooth.
I have done ice water extraction before a couple times and for a small scale you can get small bubble bags.
I used a food container and stayed up for hours adding more ice and used a spoon and stirred till i was tired of stirring. Basically on and off stirring. Give a rest and beat the leafs up again more ice. Repeat until no visible crystal is left on the plant material and then I basically removed the plant matter.. Let it all settle and collected in a paper coffee filter over a jar with a rubberband to hold it... And if you can put a straw down through the side you can suck the water through the filter faster but I would do a double filter.
Then when the water is gone you can get a toothpick to get the finer matter out.
I like to smack it on a clean plate and rub the air bubbles out and peel it off slowly should all stick to the plate for a easy collection. Its time consuming but works.
And I believe that too if you can fake a smile it still helps you feel better the endorphins a smile releases are good for healing and bring pain relief .

 

[Digger3691]

She is looking frosty indeed! Can't go wrong with a little epsom though. And interesting to hear what you have tried. We get most of our oil from the west coast and other legal states. Im in New York and we just started getting into it here. I always wanted to try some charas from India and the Morrocan stuff but I can see why it was around for you being closer to all them territories.
My friend has some Durban going now and we really like it I might have a cut or 2 of it took like 50 cuts from his plants before they started flower and have some survivors but dont know who is who just yet.
I want to add some orange pollen to one of the Durbans to make orange poison.
They are stretchy girls them Durbans and if I can make it a shorter plant with some more citrus note that would be killer.
Its funny how smooth good hash is though. My finger hash has been super tasty and smooth.
I have done ice water extraction before a couple times and for a small scale you can get small bubble bags.
I used a food container and stayed up for hours adding more ice and used a spoon and stirred till i was tired of stirring. Basically on and off stirring. Give a rest and beat the leafs up again more ice. Repeat until no visible crystal is left on the plant material and then I basically removed the plant matter.. Let it all settle and collected in a paper coffee filter over a jar with a rubberband to hold it... And if you can put a straw down through the side you can suck the water through the filter faster but I would do a double filter.
Then when the water is gone you can get a toothpick to get the finer matter out.
I like to smack it on a clean plate and rub the air bubbles out and peel it off slowly should all stick to the plate for a easy collection. Its time consuming but works.
And I believe that too if you can fake a smile it still helps you feel better the endorphins a smile releases are good for healing and bring pain relief .

Hello my friend, hope the world is good for you today.

I had a tiny flash of inspiration today.

Remember how I added the old blurple light on red only?

Well something came to me in my sleep, as often does, there’s alot of overflow light ther going nowhere.

ive left the main light above, but have now hung Mr Blurple, end up, perpendicular to the main light. Hopefully this will get more light into the canopy, as I rotate the plant once or twice a day.

Does this seem a reasonable assumption?

But whether or not it does, is it safe to have a light made for a horizontal positioning hanging in a vertical state?

Thanks man, hope all is good in CChunk world.

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Hey there Digger! Thank you thank you yes the world is good to me today I hope the same for you!
That is an excellant idea! That is common as a vertical farm is always running vertical.
Some of the fattest plants I have seen people grow were the results of photoronning the plants I call it... The old photoron was a grow module with flourescent tubes going up the sides.
Very old tech. Im sure you remember the photorons hehehe.
There was a video of a massive pineapple express on youtube a guy had 2 8 light t5s angled down in at it from both sides. Massive yield.
If theres any thing I can suggest it would be to have the light on any other side but that one bc the light is escaping your tent if you leave it open and not bouncing back in as concentrated as it was.
Funny fact though, reflected light is stronger than the direct light. Which can be contradicting bc everything directly under the big bulb always superior.
~CChunk

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Plant is looking good she will be happy you put the other light on the side lol she is gonna get thick

 

[ChocolatChunk]

A thicken

 

[Digger3691]

Ah

 

[Digger3691]

Ah yes, I didn’t even think about the reflected lighted till you mentioned!

I’m growing in a fabric pot. I’ve seen many others do this this with signs of algae and white patches from salt build up

I thought I had algae on the outside (there was a few bits on the white perlite too), and some salts. So I made some extra holes in the fabric to help the roots “breathe”.

I’ve looked closely today and have found this. I’m really, really hoping these are roots!

 

[Digger3691]

This is the product description for the pots I’m using:

“Rhizo Pots are breathable fabric plant containers "air prune" your plants' roots when they reach the end of the container. The air root pruning process forces the roots to branch out with more fibrous feeder roots which are much more efficient in taking up water and nutrients. The very durable geotextile fabric is porous, allowing air into the root zone and provides great drainage creating a healthy environment for the roots.”

 

[ChocolatChunk]

Not a bad idea to poke holes... They only time algae can become a problem is in a hydro system but it doesn't really do any harm just more an eye sore than anything..
I find it beneficial if it is growing on the top it can provide some nutrients if it gets broken down into the soil.
There is a microbe that specifically likes to eat algae.
I use a product called microbial algae clean in my tanks and it helps but doesn't completely eat all the algae it just grows a lot slower.
Theres a company just started here in the US cultured biologix and dudes stuff is right on and he has this microbe in his product.
I have put the microbial algae clean in a pump sprayer with things like silica and epsom salts and basically a light pressure spray I clean the Algae off the surface of soil or rockwool and it gets uptaken by the plant and it seems to have helped roots be thicker and healthier too.
Them sure look like fine root hairs hard to say but if you have a saucer under the pot thats usually where they will start to come out a lot if theres some residual water they will search for it.
My friend and I had planted these into earth box garden containers and had them somewhat burried to an extent and the plants grew to greatproportions from their 5 gallon bags to a 10 gallon earthbox.
A lot of people just plant them but i seen people cut the bottom off with razor leave sides then plant and probably works better that way but I dont like cutting my stuff lol

 

[Digger3691]

I have the pot in a saucer but it’s elevated so the pot doesn’t sit in excess water that might contain salts.

I’ll try to get a look underneath before next feed otherwise it’s quite hefty.
I’m not sure what the product description means by auto-pruning roots. I took it to mean that if roots poke out it would prune them. I’m thinking (fekking hoping) that’s these are fine roots as they are the only ones that could get through the fabric.

This has been a real up and down grow considering it’s really my first (I don’t count the actual first as it was aborted very early due to my mistakes), the poor girl has been through it and I’d hate to lose her now.

It’s just so damn humid where I live.

I can leave for work at 6am after just having a shower. It’s a 3 minute walk to the bus stop but by the time I get there I’m wringing wet.
I’m from London originally, I’m used to getting wet from rain not the heat and humidity lol

Thanks man!

 

[ChocolatChunk]

They look like little rot tips.. They will dry and then force more spider webbed roots I would say to people when I would try selling them the fabric pots vs plastic.
Had a guy come back for more saying he really liked how well they were working.
My first thread I actually had a tape going around the pots at the top to hold more water but in your climate that might be overkill.
I always looked at Australia as a dry place but that is wrong from what you're telling me.
From what I know there is some good cannabis being bred on the Island and I almost got some of the beans yrs ago regret not getting them now hearing its a similar climate.
Of course youre surrounded by open water all around the land that might be part of why its so muggy there.
The old Norfolk Island though eh
im sure you know, that's where they sent all the worst criminals as punishment.
It is no secret that its a brutal environment.
I have a baby Norfolk Island Pine growing in my house she likes being misted everyday. When I dont she doesn't look happy.
Can grow up to 200 ft. One of my favorite pines for sure very soft has this shaggy look.
You see a lot of them?.