Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero-DWC

[Sky Rocket]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

What kind of ppm meter pen did you get? Also try doing a side by side comparison on clones with no coco/perlite baskets vs clones with just a collar on them. Most people that I've seen including myself that clone via aeroponic just use a collar and no medium.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

The HM Digital TDS-EZ is a $16 blue pen-style meter. It works just fine, I just never calibrated it like I do with my pH pen.

I only clone w/a collar, too - the Perlite & coco basket is intended to simply give the plant a solid foundation in the net-cup/pot so it won't fall over. When the rootball & trunk expand, it will push the excess Perlite up along with the neoprene collar and I can vacuum up the excess & recover it - at least that is what I was thinking in planning it out. The Sog won't normally get that tall to be an issue, I guess, but in my current grow, since it got out of hand, there are several too-tall plants. Anothr reason is that if I ever have to be out of town for a few days or even a week at a time is that the Perlite will slowly release moisture over a few days if my timer, pump or power malfunctions.

The reason I had asked is because I saw a cloner growing some incredible roots by Mr Smith and wanted to know how he got them to be so thick, so fast - after only a few days, the roots were 3/16" thick at the base and they were only 5" long - thick roots impress me! Check-out the picture in the link below - aren't they THICK?:

clones_for_satelite_roots_day_12_2_ - 420 Magazine Photo Gallery

BYW, the concern about my moving has passed, so I am OK to start that new tent.

I am finishing up the new Aerocloners today - the sprinklers (all 100 of 'em) arrived via UPS and they are a lot taller than I thought they would be, so I have to place them very carefully to make sure the spray isn't blocked by or interfere with any of the net-pots. I could just use the short blue sprayers (I also have a 100 of these), which I will try just to compare the spray coverage patterns. The bottom line on mini-sprinkler heads is that I have more than enough to last me a lifetime of grows. It's too bad I can't resell them here to give members a good deal. Maybe I'll look into that.

Take care, my brudder buds.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey peeps, the clones have been vegging for two weeks now and almost all are very healthy. A few took the rooting in Perlite-filled cocotek cup liners badly, though and have never thrived like the others (sparse root & trunk growth); see the differences below; the strains are organized in the vertical rows (see red arrows).

From Left to Right:
Madonna - Shack F3 - Sannie's Jack F6 - Sour Neville x Jack Hammer - Maine Kush

So the little critter in the middle front below is the same strain as the 8" ones at the top end, cuttings taken the same day, but just different sized and it didn't root very well through the Perlite. I made some other cuttings to fill-in for the non-performers, so I have more than enough for this tent. If I get the other tent, I will need many more, for sure - up to 72. I certainly have plenty of re-vegged Female plants to take cuttings from - I just need another week before I know about the tent deal (whether I will rep the company here in New England), but the owner said yesterday that they are considering a national distributor instead, but he'll give me a deal on a new tent in any case.

Here's the shorty; I am going to open up the coco cup to see if it will stimulate root growth:

Root growth in the clones are looking great, but I need to transfer them to a grow box soon because this Aerocloner box is only designed for rooting cuttings:

The new cuttings are looking good too - 5th day after cutting:

I am replacing my current grow boxes this week for the replanted SoG garden; these are Rubbermaid Brute totes, which are by far the strongest units I have ever seen. My current boxes are just barely OK, but if I fill the reservoirs more than 1/2 full, they start bulging and I don't want them to pop a drain fitting again - although that was my stupid mistake for pulling on it.

These new Brutes are about the same size (within an inch) and are also "food grade" polypropylene; being pure white, it will help me see how healthy the solution and hanging roots are, as well as making it easy to determine that they are truly clean when that time comes. I just hope that they are indeed thick enough to keep the light out of the reservoir, 'cause I don't need my green coming from Algae growth.

I will be using the new spinning mini-sprinklers, probably mounted directly to the PVC in rubber grommets, maybe on the 1/4" riser extensions. The nice thing about my current mini-sprinkler setup is that it is very adjustable in terms of sprinkler height and placement, due to my use of the variable-height risers. The center feed section is not glued, too, so it should be easy to reconfigure if I want to change anything.

By the end of this weekend, I should have the tent cleaned out and the new boxes hooked up and loaded with new clones. The old plants will be disposed of, either by harvesting more cuttings, repotting them outdoors (which will again put them into a vegging state, something I really do not want) or allowing them to continue flowering indoors in tent that I don't have yet because I am using the current tent to restart the SoG. Fuck! It will be over $1,700 to set up the new tent with lights, controller & hydro gear.

It is my birthday tomorrow (57); maybe I should just splurge. OK, I did splurge a little on the Brutes - it was $130 for 3 (shipped). It is worth it in order to get the best and avoid issues later, I think.

This is the same 12-up SoG spacing that I designed the current setup with; it should be suitable for this crop now that I am using clones instead of seedlings; I just hope they don't grow in wildly differing heights again. I will be pruning any branch growth this time to make sure that only the cola grows:

I have started to move some rooted clones over to the grow tent where it is on a 12/12 photoperiod; I wanted them to be between 8" & 12" tall before going into flowering, so all I have in that category so far is 5 or 6 clones that are ready. That will leave me a few open slots in the Aerocloner for new cuttings, so I will try to fill it up with more robust cuttings. I took two plants down already, took 18 cuttings and am letting them soak in the refrigerator overnight in a tub of tapwater. That will give me 2 days to process them, once I decide which strains I want to proliferate.

Lessons Learned:

What I forgot:
Keep it simple on the first grow

Plan the grow and stick to the plan

Calibrate & double-check your TDS meter, too

 

[Aardvark]

Reboot: Aardvark's 1st Grow: 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

I'm Back! Aardvark's 1st Grow Journal Week #14:

Tent: Secret Jardin DR-150W; 60' x 32' x 79'; 87.77 Cubic Feet
Air Temp Range: 70°-84° (F)
Peak Air Temp: 86° (F)
Humidity: 45%-78%
PH: 5.2-5.9
TDS/PPM: 600 (change-over) - 1150 - 1300
Reservoir: 32 Gallons RO water change
Nutrients: Flora Duo A&B
Stimulants: Superthrive & Orca Mycorrhizae
Minerals: Cali-Magic
Nutrient temp: 72.5° (F)
Growth: Robust! Pollinated 2 strains and replanted 24 clones
Roots: Healthy, new white growth very quickly
Node level: 18-26 showing on the outdoor plants & 14-20 on the clones
Photoperiod: 12-on/12-off (Getting ready for flush & "Blackout")
Nutrient cycle: 15-on/15-off, 24x7
Mature Plants Age: 12 Weeks
Cloned Plants Age: 4-6 Weeks
​

These past 7 weeks:

Hey peeps, I apologize for not posting lately; the combination of resetting much of my grow, combined with stress over having to transfer my mom into fulltime nursing care last week has left me somewhat ragged. I am also trying to get a job for some extra cash too; I have not worked in over a year and need more than my SS check will provide.

The last post was a long time ago — mid August, just before my birthday. The grow had not been going very well because of some serious errors I had made which resulted in several healthy flowering plants being forced back into a vegetative growth mode (I took some bad advice; don't ask). The outcome was positive, however, because of some of the things that I did manage to do right.

I had moved several plants outdoors, replanting them into very small temporary pots. These were all healthy, but were not right for my SoG intentions because I had allowed them to grow tall with big cola-worthy branches and I did not want to trim them off, chancing that they would not take as clones because of their maturity. The flowers were still very small but had great potential, but I had not yet had enough experience cloning to want to risk it. Keeping these growing outside turned out to be a blessing, as they grew out healthy and will soon provide me with a decent amount of medicine.

Anyway, after culling the 2 males that popped up, the other 5 all grew in 90% shade all summer, except for the past 4 weeks, where they were moved to a spot that is in 50% sunlight. I just brought them in today to finish under the lights, alongside the plants that I had vegged 6 weeks from clones that I took before letting the pollen fly. It is getting wet & chilly this time of year here and these plants look too good to allow an early freeze to keep them from fully maturing.

They are my first plants and I ashamed to say it, but I had written them all off, not even bothering to repot them, even after finding them blown over several times. I just weighed them down with some rocks and fed them regularly from the nutrient mixture from my indoor grow that was "leftover" from reservoir changes. It is amazing, but these "trashcan babies" thrived and I will have several hand-grenade sized colas drying in a few weeks.

Dumb luck, I guess, because they all look great! Not even stringy-looking from growing up in the shade — I am amazed.

Pests:
Now that I have brought all 5 plants indoors, I hope I won't be bringing in any pests that could hurt the young ones. I would have no idea how to treat flowers against critters, as that is also new to me. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I had accidentally broken off a small 4" branch from a plant and tried to clone it, but after the roots came in, I saw a delicate web across the tiny plant that under my 'scope turned out to be tiny, transparent spiders that were about the size of a pinpoint. I freaked and disposed of it immediately and inspected the other indoor plants but saw nothing. They had apparently migrated over from a large web in the rock garden, so I doubt they are a threat to vegetation like mites would be. Actually, these spiders probably are beneficial in keeping mites away.

Hermies:
I cut down one of my flowering clone-plants today because it was developing pollen sacs right under its flowers — I hate it when that happens! It was a "Sannie's Jack", a strain that seems to always grow very quickly, but stretching out too far between nodes for my liking. I used this strain as a father to get the Seed Mothers to pick-up on the quick-growth aspect, so I hope they will not be Hermie-prone — I will be sowing these seeds all across New England come next spring!

Nutrient Problems:
I think it was a Calcium/Magnesium issue again; for two weeks all of the plants were showing the classic signs — brown spots on the leaves, edges and tips. I realized that using Epsom salts was only giving me half of what they needed so I broke down and got the real stuff. The new growth looks nice & green, so I hope that problem has passed.

Family Tree:
I used the aforementioned Sannie's Jack as the pollinating father to Madonna, Shack F3 and NYCD x Blueberry Sativa and today collected the latter two plants' seeds; the Madonna is a slow finisher and will probably take another 3 weeks to completely mature.

Seed Plants:
I have decided not to try and smoke any of the pollinated plants, so all of the sugary leavings will go towards Dry Ice Hash. I have a set of 1-gallon silkscreen bags that should work pretty well.

Cloning:
I am almost ready to trim the plants in the 2 SoG grow boxes and should have plenty of cuttings to start some new clones; I have room for 35 in one empty Aerocloner. In about 6 weeks, they should have vegged tall enough to put into 12/12 and can go back into the SoG, where the mature potted plants used to be. That's the plan; let's see if I can execute it this time.

Coming Week:
I have been manually adding CO2 to the tent 3-4 times a day. Once the mature plants dry up (soaked from the rain) I can see how close they are to finishing. I will probably insert a 48-hour "Blackout" period to stimulate bud growth in the mature plants and I hope it will have positive effects on the SoG plants, which were put onto 12/12 from 4-6 weeks ago.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Garden:

The Mature Plants:

The Clones — 4-6 Weeks into 12/12: Nice Flower Growth:

One Plant is Still Outdoors in the Shade:
It will be difficult to transplant into a smaller pot to come indoors because the roots are spread out so widely.

Great-Looking Roots:

The Hermie:

Thanks for keeping in touch!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero


I was inspecting the mature plants that I had brought in from the rain & cold to make sure they were drying out and found in only on bud tip on one plant what looks like mold, so I am going to assume that is a bad thing - maybe even some Bud Rot, I will do some research.

I snipped off the tip where the mold ended and will keep an eye out for it returning - as well as for any critters that may have hitch-hiked their way into the tent with the plants.

Is this "Bud Rot"? It could just be Mold I guess. The bud's tip was brown-colored under natural light:

I still think I was fortunate with these outdoor plants' progress; they are very sticky and I always have to clean my arms off with an Alcohol swab to remove the resin after reaching in to rearrange the plants. I will be taking some cuttings in a few days and harvesting the Madonna Seed Mother, so I am looking forward to harvesting the resin from my scissors & purple gloves and the seed buds should yield some nice dry ice hash next week.

 

[Aardvark]

HELP! Invasion of the Caterpillars is Happening Right Now!

Hey Peeps!

I just completed a 36-hour dark period for the tent to stimulate bud growth. I have a different problem now, though, and it was something I knew would be possible, but am completely in the dark as to the risk and potential remedies, so I am counting on getting help for this from the community. I am posting pictures of these little caterpillars below, asking my brother in-law the biologist what he thinks, and also posting this on the trouble-shooting forum.

I appreciate any help you might be able to give me on this - I brought in 5 plants from outside due to wanting them to finish up instead of letting them suffer an early freeze, but I have found about 6 tiny caterpillars suckling on my buds - I even found a "baby" worm coming out of a small flower, like it had been hatched in it. I don't want to ingest bugs of any type, by any means - whether it be Weed or Hash - Bugs are a no-no.

Any ideas?
For Scale:

Ugly Mother:

Where I found a Juvenile was Hiding; it was 1/3 the others' size:

It is Very Hard to See Unless Using a Bright Light Up-Close:

Here is the Juvenile Crawling Out of a Flower:

Another Angle of the Same Juvenile Critter:

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Here's an update on the caterpillar issue:

I have decided that the BT (Bacillus Thuringiensis) is how I am going to go with these beasties; Safer products' Caterpillar Killer (#5160), which comes in a liquid concentrate but is also available in a duster. I am trying to find it locally; so far, the local HD, L's or even small chain hardware stores or even Wally World don't carry it, so I'll keep up the search tomorrow.

Questions about using BT:
I am wondering whether it is OK to treat mature plants as well as mid-phase flowering plants with BT?

Will I need to rinse the plants at harvest time before hanging them up?

When I treat the plants, I'll take the potted mature ones outside to spray because they need heavier dosing than my hydro plants, which should be easier to treat because of their smaller size and less foliage. I have also separated the mature from the younger ones with a 24" x 30" white metal panel, although I now believe that a lone moth laid eggs all over the tent, so it may not make any difference. Today I found another 6 of the beasties, 2 of which were juveniles and with only one on the younger plants - and that one was probably touching the mature ones. They are hard enough to find when full size; it is essentially determination and luck that allows me to find the juveniles - they are all of .5mm thick by 3mm long. Every time I find a wee one, I consider myself lucky; I am recharging a lot of flashlight batteries doing these daily inspections.

I was unable to find the BT product I decided on. I could have used a dust, which is available at the local HD, but I don't like the idea of breathing bacterium from a moth's stomach in such concentrations. Yep, that's where it comes from - naturally.

I also got a refill of my 16 pound CO2 tank this afternoon and gave it a solid 30 minutes at 25 CF/M and it will soak all night starting at 12800 PPM. If I find dead caterpillars tomorrow, I will have avoided putting on the BT and I will repeat the CO2 soak in 4 days to catch any fresh hatchlings. If there are no longer any invading moths laying eggs, it should mean the end of this latest crisis and I will feel fortunate because the damage so far has been negligible to the plants, although my calm is definitely banged-up right now.

Lesson learned: Don't take moths for granted like I did! I feel pretty foolish but hope as always that my mistake will have limited impact on my crop.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Droopy Dog]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

BT is totally safe. I've used it for well over 30 years and have eaten a boatload of it since I spray it on my tomatoes and have a habit of eating them off the vine.

I've never used the dust, harder to get good coverage than with a liquid. The concentrate is what I get. Why pay $$$ for the water in premixed solutions? A 8oz bottle of the concentrate will last me a couple years.

I call those bud worms and they are a real bitch to get rid of once buds are well formed and they have a place to hide. I start early with the BT on outdoor plants. Indoor too, but the BT doesn't get washed off with rain.

Good luck with them.

DD

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Thanks for the advice & good wishes.

I was able to find some Bonide Thuricide liquid concentrate and will mix it with warm RO water and spray the mature plants outside on the porch in the morning - hopefully the rain will have stopped - plus, I'll be able to treat the lone remaining plant out there in the window box. A little sand on top of the soil and I should not have to worry about pests for awhile.

I did not see any caterpillars today, although I certainly was not remotely thorough like the past two days - I only looked at what I could see from the front of the tent, knowing that within 24 hours any hatched worm would be dying within days. I will read the instructions first, but I believe I will have to treat again in maybe 5 days to make sure I get any hatchlings, as I have read that the active ingredient BT only lasts 4 days under sunlight, which I'll have to assume my 3 x 600 watt CFLs will do just as well. I have heard that Neem should not be used on flowering plants, so I'll skip that; I guess using Neem is probably only advised during vegetative growth.

My mature plants' Trichomes are all in various stages of cloudiness, but none are amber yet - except he outdoor plant had 1% amber. I also had 7 lollypop plants alongside the driveway - I just stuck some extra scrawny plants in the dirt, having rooted them in some starter plugs with no soil prep except a coffee cup's worth of potting soil & Perlite, but I got 7 cute little lollypop buds, which are from some Maine Kush bag seed I had cloned.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[GreeenFingers]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey Aardvark

This thread has absolutely everything that I love to see in a great grow journal

I'm subbed and well deserved +Reps for you

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Hey back atcha, GreenFingers,

I think I can appeal to anyone who may have experienced being anal-retentive and passionate about their hobbies, as well as being able to admit to fumbling about from time to time, occasionally from information overload and at other times from the good buzz we all need to keep things in perspective!

I have learned a lot during this grow and hope I can show something worthy of the effort and multitude of discussion that has occurred herein. If you bother to start from the beginning, you will see that I really never got very popular in that only a few people contributed, but I learned that this was due to my not promoting my thread in my signature and adding comments to other threads where others would see it.

Now that I have restarted my journal's regular entries, I should be able to increase participation as I go through other growers' threads. I welcome you and look forward to your participation and enjoyment - and thanks for the reps (I am not really sure what that is all about yet).

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Caterpillar Update:

When I looked in on my plants this morning, I found one mature caterpillar and isolated it to see how it would react to the Thuricide (Bonide brand) BT treatment. I warmed a 1/2 gallon of RO water in the microwave oven for 2.5 minutes and added 1.5 teaspoons of the concentrated BT to it. The product smells pleasant enough; reminding me of a salt water bay just a little. I took the mature plants (in pots) outside and sprayed them up & down and rushed them back in right away because it was chilly & windy out there!

I also sprayed the younger cloned plants in the tent, but I forgot to pickup some sand to suppress the gnats in the soil pots, damnit!

This is a Male Pollen "Banana Sac" that I plucked from my Madonna plant, which is otherwise all flowering Female:

Identifying Moth/Caterpillar Infestation:
This is what to look for if you have allowed moths of any type on your plants - a very small, silky web-like fuzz covering a single flower; this is where the moth has laid egg(s) and where the juvenile(s) will emerge. I believe their is only room enough for a single egg for any flower, but it will always be damaged at the base of a flower so it dies without displacing the egge/caterpillar. Tha means you will have to look inside every bud with holes in it any bigger than a pencil lead! I found them by spotting the brown flower in the field of green ones, plucked it out and often found an emerging juvenile worm. They will all be dead within 2-3 days, and since I have not seen any moths since that one time last week, I probably will not have to respray again, like one would do with fleas (ugh!).

The pest in question:

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Day #2 After Treatment w/BT:

Yesterday I picked off 6 caterpillars and today only 2 - but I did not perform an exhaustive search, either. The two I picked off today were on the colas of two plants so they were easy to spot. It may be my imagination, but they don't seem to be as active as when I first found them. If the BT is working as expected, they will all have stopped eating almost immediately after having had their first meal of treated material.

Here's One Climbing Up to the Cola Before Being Intercepted:

Here's Another One, Just as it Was Beginning to Eat:

 

[Aardvark]

Harvest Time!?

Hey peeps, I hope everyone is doing well today. I harvested a few outdoor plants - little lollypops, really - that I had transplanted out in the yard early in the season when I had some clones that were stunted. They all grew one bud at the top - just one. They are from some Maine Kush bag seed from two summers ago - the Weed was pretty good, so I hope these will be a little treat - I also grew several to maturity and they look very healthy - the ones that I brought in from outdoors, and they are getting very close to harvest as well.

That is where I would appreciate your help - when to harvest? The Trichomes are all between 50% & 75% cloudy, but I really don't see them turning brown. What do I do about this? It is getting pretty cold up here now

Here are the lollypops; they are drying out in the open air in a dark cupboard and I will close them in a sealed jar in a few more days after the veggy smell dies down.

Not much to look at - but not too bad for being out on their own all summer w/o any care:

Here is the lone outdoor plant in my window box - grew in 90% shade and the Trichomes are 75% cloudy, but none are really turning brown - am I supposed to wait for the brown?

Sorry I don't have a microscope on my camera, but I have a close-up of one of the buds - what do you think - ready to harvest yet?

OOPS! My Bad - I forgot to mention the caterpillars:

Yesterday I found 4 tiny and juvenile caterpillars - dead and dying! One was only 2mm long, 2 were 6mm and 1 was 8mm; that one was just barely alive. Since I have only ever found one place where I found caterpillar poop, I believe I have overcome the problem - although I will treat one more time tomorrow, just to be sure.

The active ingredient (BT) becomes inert after 4 days in sunlight and that time is up. I want to make sure there are no new hatchlings because I found a dead moth on the floor outside the tent today - I have no clue about it as it was the first one I saw inside in weeks. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks for checking in!

 

[sunnyside58]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

OMG, You indoor growers make me feel like Mr. Douglas on Green Acres. Looking and reading the posts and pictures between you and Coco was like a science class. Wow what a set up you all have going on. I flunked science about 35 yrs ago and I just don't see myself ever attempting what you guys are doing. It is absolutly amazing. I WAS thinking of try some hydroponics on a lot smaller scale but I think I would fail. I am forced to stick with outdoor growing. I have to take my hat off to you guys. You are all fricken scientists. lol. WOW. Can I ask one question? What is the average yield per plant and what is the THC content. At an averge of your Sativa and Incia. ok 2 questions.

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

OMG, You indoor growers make me feel like Mr. Douglas on Green Acres. Looking and reading the posts and pictures between you and Coco was like a science class. Wow what a set up you all have going on. I flunked science about 35 yrs ago and I just don't see myself ever attempting what you guys are doing. It is absolutly amazing. I WAS thinking of try some hydroponics on a lot smaller scale but I think I would fail. I am forced to stick with outdoor growing. I have to take my hat off to you guys. You are all fricken scientists. lol. WOW. Can I ask one question? What is the average yield per plant and what is the THC content. At an averge of your Sativa and Incia. ok 2 questions.

LoL!

Out of the blue, welcome sunnyside! If you forgot, this is my first grow, so I can't give you any yield trends, but I can tell you that I harvested a small plant today and will post the details in a few minutes - I just processed the pictures. Hint: don't get your hopes up; this was a runt that grew in 90% shade in my window box! The plants I harvest in a couple weeks will be much better!

The usual yield will always use this formula, though: dried/cured weight is usually 25% of the wet trimmed weight. As for the THC content, same story - with me it is premature, but I saw frosty Trichomes on this runt plant like I haven't seen but once in my middle-aged life - I thought it was mold at first!

You can get started with a decent grow for about $100, including a WaterFarm bucket with air pump; another $35 gets you the growth media (hydroton), fertilizer, pH kit and a cheap CFL lamp that could let you start 5 seedlings; when you get a female, replant the healthiest one in the middle and cultivate. Add water and in 3 months you will have a mature plant full of buds. You did see it here, remember?

Thanks for stopping by!

 

[Aardvark]

Harvest Time - Sannie's Anesthesia F1

Hey Peeps!

I finally harvested this runt from the window box today because it wasn't going to get any more purple than it is now, although the buds could have gotten a little more sugary, I guess - but I could not risk a freeze.

The brief history of this is that Anesthesia F1 is one of the more potent seeds I got from Sannie's Seeds in Holland - a few years ago I ordered over a dozen different indoor strains and this one is Indica-dominant, with a 22% THC content (as tested). The father was Positronics Skunk Afghani with Herijuana as the mother.

I replanted this outside under 90% shade in a window box because it was a runt and did not fit well in the SoG I was trying to develop, although I did take 3 or 4 clones and hope they will thrive because the buds are really frosty on this strain and I had high hopes for some strong medicine from the line. Essentially, this was a throw-away plant that I fertilized faithfully but never had any expectations - that same as the other 5 that are now finishing up in my tent. Overall, the yield from these plant are a gift, as they did not really cost me anything because the nutrients were recycled, being leftover from the indoor grow boxes after every drain & flush. There are also some tiny runts that were put out there 6 weeks ago, but they never grew past 8" and have tiny little buds at best. Those 5 mature plants are much bigger and have multiple colas on each - I can't wait!

I hope you like the pictures for this one; please stay tuned as I have 5 other mature plants that are very close to harvest time; although only one of them got purple before I brought them in. Maybe I should take them back out during the day to chill them out? I would hate to forget about them and risk a freeze-out - plus, I could pick up some more pests, and just getting rid of those fricken' moth caterpillars was enough for me.

Enjoy and show your love - and remember, this is my first plant ever grown & harvested!

Before the cut:

Inside before trimming:

What remained post-trim:

Frosty delights - just think how nice my other fully-mature indoor plants are going to look like:

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Harvest Time - Sannie's Anesthesia F1 - Smoke Report

Smoke Report:

I scraped the little bit of sticky stuff from my trimming shears & rubber glove (put them in the freezer to make it easier to flake it off - there was not that much, only one heavy hit's worth (too heavy, as I could not hold it very long) and I put the pipe down to see what might happen - it was a very small amount.

That was two hours ago, just after I made the previous post. I just now remembered that I was supposed to judge how this plant turned out.

I am happy to report that the smoke was clean and smooth with no hint of vegetable matter or scratchiness in the throat. I got very high, very quickly, from literally a match-head's worth of scrapings and the buzz lasted a full 2 hours, allowing me to be highly functional throughout.

The Trichomes were 75% cloudy and there were plenty of them to go around - I can't wait until these little buds are cured in a few weeks, and the mature Anesthesia F1 plants will be mature very soon. See the white frost on the buds - I think that they may get that way all over the buds - if allowed to mature normally, and I intend to let them go all the way to the optimum stage - no matter what it takes.

It will be like growing ice cream cones under lights - or so I can fantasize!

 

[Aardvark]

Re: Harvest Time - Sannie's Anesthesia F1 - Smoke Report

Grow Report:

The specs are all pretty normal; the pH has been up to .5 too high at times, requiring me to level it out twice and the nutrient strength kept getting too strong as well, so I am taking care of that too.

Pests:
I have been keeping busy with the caterpillars - the few I have found the past 3 days have all been minuscule and under-developed, dead or dying. I feel confident they are past the crisis and as promised, today I did spray the garden down with another dose of the Thuricide with BT to make sure I don't see any more. Even with the New England temperatures getting down to the 30's, we still have tiny little moths flying around, especially on my front door when the lights are on. The are so small - 1/2 the size of a pot seed - so I assume that they can lay eggs that will turn into little caterpillars and I will keep up the regimen - because it works!

Harvest time:
I harvested a modest plant yesterday - it was the first time for that, as well as trimming the cute little purple buds. Anesthesia F1 isn't known for being colorful but it is potent. I have 3 or 4 of them in my garden right now as 6- and 3-week old clones and 2 more mature plants that were formerly outdoors and are 2+ weeks from harvest. I am going to try and keep the sugar trim in separate containers, specific to each strain so I can make dry ice hash and keep the "flavors" discretely separated. Loose buds & flowers of the same strains may also be used for this, as I believe there will be plenty of "A" buds to keep me happy for the foreseeable future - at least until we see another state in New England legalize MMJ in November.

The grow layout
Here is the physical layout; Mature plants on the left with a metal panel/caterpillar shield separating them from the younger cloned plants in the middle (6 weeks) and the youngest clones (3 weeks) on the right side. I hand-water the potted mature plants, allowing the runoff to rejoin the nutrient reservoir below.

Nutrient flush:
I flushed them today with straight RO water and also flushed 75% of the grow box reservoirs. That brought the TDS down to 350 PPM, where I will keep it for a while because I have been burning these poor girls up for far too long. I will run the reservoir at a low PPM for at least 4 days and see how they react, adding only CaliMag and Orca Mycorrhizae (beneficial bacteria for the roots).

Constant challenge of my own making:
Remember, I have some 8 different strains going, in 3 different age groups - making consistency an ongoing issue, no matter what methods I employ because they are growing at different rates and heights. I also did some experimenting with the potting method and the older plants have their roots embedded in Cocotek basket liners with Perlite and the other later plantings are simply rooted clones in plastic net cups. The bare roots grow freer and quicker, but the Cocotek roots will not dry out as quickly as bare roots in case of power or pump failure. I will decide after the grow progresses and I learn how each setup performs and whether they can withstand the weight without needing additional support.

Defoliation technique:
You will probably notice that there are no fan leaves anywhere - this is because I trim them unless they are directly feeding a flower site. I want to make sure the photosynthesis is only working on making medicine - not compost and getting light down to all of the flowering buds is a good thing - otherwise, I would trim the lower branches, re-vegg and clone them for the next rotation ... which is on my agenda right after this flush takes effect and I get a chance to fuel it up before taking the cuttings.

Photoperiod variations:
I gave the plants a blackout period of 36 hours a few weeks ago and immediately saw the buds start growing extra shoots off of the main colas and overall the smaller buds swelled about 20% in the mature plants and 15% in the younger ones, while the small juveniles only a 10% increase.

Last night I accidentally disrupted my light schedule by bumping the timer and didn't discover & fix the situation until 12:30 PM - 6-1/2 hours late, so I just gave the crop another extra-long night of 18-1/5 hours; I have no doubt that it will again increase production of bud mass to some degree.

Question - Help, please:

What is your preferred method of determining the time of harvest?
... Without referring to a farmer's almanac, of course.

I have read all kinds of passionate advice, including waiting until the Trichomes are amber-colored. That may be fine for some strains and climates, but it would seem from everyone's input that this just doesn't always happen in many cases, where it seems that the signs should be based on the overall cloudiness of their color, with the lighter, more active buzz coming from earlier harvest when CBD content is apparently present in higher ratios than THC content, while the reverse is true after the plant is aged until predominantly all Trichomes become cloudy and opaque.

So, how do You determine "When?" and are there any variables and/or observations you can share?

Mature Plants:
These are in these short pots, so sorry, no pics of their roots. I just sprayed them with the caterpillar treatment Thuricide.

Teen-Age plants:

Teen-age roots:

Juvenile plants:

Juvenile roots:

Here is one of the lock-top jars I got at the local Michael's Crafts for $10 each; they will hold 3.13L/106-ounces (I should be so fortunate!):

They are marked "not for canning" so they are probably not Pyrex-grade, but the rubber gasket and locking top look like they will be perfect for curing my crop. I also have access to several dozen regular Mason Jars & lids available if I need them.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to shout at me with questions, advice, critique, jokes or pictures of young clothing-topless female humans with appropriate protuberances prominently displayed.

 

[Buckshot]

Re: Aardvark's New Grow 12 Hybrid Dutch Strains - Seed-SoG-Tent - 600W CFL Hydro-Aero

Caterpillar Update:

Aardvark

That looks to me to be bud rot on your plant. The cobweb looking stuff is it ... if left untreated it can quickly take your whole crop.