Aberration Goes Ker Bloom! - Perpetual

[Keith Lake]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Seems pretty efficient to me geometrically speaking. You only have to move one plant to get the other 5 and you've got a space reserved for the temporarily moved plant.

Since I understand you limit your flowering to 6 plants per your recommendation, this seems pretty optimal to me. Will be interesting to see if anyone else has any other ideas where you wouldn't have to move the plant

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Argh! Spider mites! A lot of them on the lower and interior leaves. No webs as far as I can see yet. I borrowed the fogger and blasted them with 1.5 gallons of water containing 6 tsp Azatrol and 1.5 oz. yucca. I'll do it again every 2-3 days until I stop freaking out.

It's a lucky thing I saw them when I have all veg and no bloom. I can attack full force and not hold anything back.

So now I know that mature (6 mos old) garlic chives alone aren't going to do the trick. Time to find more seeds and restart them. I can also trim these back, which should trigger new shoots and give off a heck of a lot of smell.

No feeding tonight.

Thanks for the comments, Soniq420. That's the conclusion I had, but i am hoping someone will surprise us.

 

[darkpiece]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Well, it sounds like to me you just need to start doing some naked gardening there Abb....

No more clothes in the room!

You could always leave a nice lab coat in there to wear when you come in!

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Well, it sounds like to me you just need to start doing some naked gardening there Abb....

No more clothes in the room!

You could always leave a nice lab coat in there to wear when you come in!

I actually intend to get a lab coat later. Maybe sooner now.

I am calmer about the spider mites, but no less resolute. I will defeat and destroy them. It just started staying wet outdoors recently, and they like low humidity. It makes sense they would invade now.

I'm subbing Bioactive for the normal veg food this time. They could use a bit of the rare metals etc. I may do some soil nute next time. We will see.

--> MTO2, KK1, MTO3, OC6, OC7, MTN3:
1. Feed: 1 gal for MTO2 &  KK1, 1/2 gal for rest
   Per gal:
	 4  T  Bioactive (1-5-1)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
	 .5 t  Companion
   Natural at 850 ppm
   Bring up with liquid lime to pH 6.31 @ 21.5 C

--> SchB:
1. Feed: 1/2 gal
   Per gal:
	 3  T  Bioactive (1-5-1)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
	 .5 t  Companion
   Dilute to 710 ppm
   Bring up with liquid lime to pH 6.21 @ 21.2 C

 

[The Butcher]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

gotta agree with soniq on this one. the plannng is there and your well within your limits so time to go kerbloom!!

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

I think you are right Butcher.

I picked up a couple more girls that I will grow as moms: 1 Oregon Trainwreck, and 1 Crystal Locomotive. Later, when I feed, I hope to take some pictures.

I also got the last of the drying bud back from last round. It needs another few days before the weight stabilizes, so I haven't weighed it, but it looks to be almost a lb. for OC1 and around 5-6 oz. for MTO1. It's a spectacular 5-6 oz. though. I hope to take pictures of that later as well.

If I have the time later, I also plan to do some transplanting. We shall see. Right now I need to go eat dinner with my wife.

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

So here are some pics from last night. First, here are the six girls that will go into bloom next. I put a 5 gallon bucket beside each to help with scale.

MTO2:

KK1:

OC6:

OC7:

MTO3:

MTN3:

---

Then the three that are going to be mothers for a while.

SchB:

CryLo:

ORTW:

---

Finally, here is the fogger I'm using. I borrowed it. I want to buy one, but it's $250, so it'll have to wait for now. I put a gallon of warm water with Azatrol and yucca in it and turn it all the way up. It blasts a fine mist out and this makes it very easy to saturate every surface of the plants without any significant damage (some leaves get blasted off, but very few):

 

[Doctor Dread]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

MTO2:

ORTW:

Those were my favs man! The Matty looks like shes gonna be a giant! The ORTW looks very healthy and will be a perfect mom for your garden. Thanks for the photos man I'm lovin em!

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Thanks, man. They are looking good indeed.

However, the four in white bags are actually looking real good too. I think it's a combination of them being un-staked, and the camera not really showing them like they are, but those four don't look too shabby at all in person. They look like hell in the pics though. I need to work on my framing.

MTO2, though, really is incredibly promising. She is ready to bloom as soon as she's certified bug-free. They will probably all six go into bloom at once though. I'll only hold back if necessary at this stage. They all already fall into the 30-36" range (just the plants, not the pots), so I need to get on with it. I only have a 9' ceiling, and one HPS can't go much higher already. Wow.

Transplant tomorrow, I hope. I should have help and no feeding to do. Then as soon as I see a growth surge, I think I'll flip 'em.

--> MTO2, KK1, MTO3, OC6, OC7, MTN3:
1. Feed: 1 gal for MTO2 & KK1, 1/2 gal for rest
   Per gal:
	 2  t  Soil nute (3-7-3)
	 1  t  Big Foot (kelp & humics)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
	 1  t  Companion
   Natural at 850 ppm
   Bring up with liquid lime to pH 6.26 @ 21.3 C

--> SchB:
1. Feed: 1/2 gal
   Per gal:
	 2  t  Soil nute (3-7-3)
	 1  t  Big Foot (kelp & humics)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
	 .5 t  Companion
   Dilute to 740 ppm
   Bring up with liquid lime to pH 6.29 @ 21.0 C

--> ORTW, CryLo:
1. Light water (distilled) only

 

[WeedyMcWeedWeed]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

that MTO2 is gonna be a GIANT!

 

[WarBux79]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

I am still on the first page of this journal but before I forget I wanted to ask about this automation software your developing. I used to do software development and am curious how it worked out. Its a good idea I really never thought about building something like that. I was looking at the intellaclimate/intelladose because it does the same things. Did you finish it, and if so would you do it again?

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

I'm still working on it. I don't get to it very often these days. I'm using phidgets (www dot phidgets dot com) because that means I can write it in Java get it done sooner.

Now to transplant...

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Transplanted SchB, ORTW, and CryLo. Each went up an incremental pot size. Watered in with mycorrhizae and Big Foot (kelp extract and humics).

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

--> MTO2, KK1, MTO3, OC6, OC7, MTN3:
1. Fed: 1 gal for MTO2 & KK1, 1/2 gal for rest
   Per gal:
	 2  t  Soil nute (3-7-3)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
	 1  t  Companion
   Brought up with Bioactive to 900 ppm
   Brought up with liquid lime to pH 6.26 @ 21.5 C

I moved the senior six into their positions in the room and all the lights are on now. MTO2 is looking curled under a bit right now. I just fed her, so if she's still like that tomorrow, it's probably stress. If it keeps up she might want a good flush. We will see.

I need to move one of the wall-mounted oscillating fans, and I still need to transplant four of the girls.

I have some pictures. First, a couple of bud shots from MTO1. Very nice:

Here's a shot into the bloom room There are three plants along the back wall, and two more make a column along the left wall, with KK1 out on the middle. MTO2 (the big one) is in the corner:

Here's a shot of the nice big leaves KK1 has. She really is healthy:

Next, just in case someone has never seen spider mite damage, here it is. If you see this, scope it with a pocket scope. Look for black specks on the underside of leaves well inside the canopy, and use a cheap 60x scope to look for them. They look like fat little spiders with mouth tentacles. The solution to active Tetranychus urticae is Azatrol.

Here is a shot of what a floro tube can do when a plant grow right up against it. Ouch. Luckily they are recovering nicely:

I know all of that looks terrible, but the plants are thriving, as far as I can tell, there are no live mites on the plants. I've even been Azatrol-fogging the garlic chives every 3-4 days right along with the cannabis. I don't think chives are doing much anymore. I should try trimming them and see if they get more pungent or grow new stalks. In any case, the 6 big girls are looking quite good in there.

Finally, here is a test shot I took down the barrel of a 60x scope with a Samsung S850 digital in macro mode:

You can make out the main leaf vein going top center to bottom right, and a secondary coming off toward the lower left. This is the backside of the leaf of course. I just thought I'd give it a try. Better than nothing I guess.

Speaking of that Samsung camera, that's what I use to take most of my pics. I also have an old Olympus UZ700C (I think it is) as a backup, but it can't cope with the HPS at all and it is kinda beat up, so I avoid using it. At the moment, I can't even find it. I can't wait to get a D90. I have a great F100, but I need digital for this.

The Lavender from a few months ago is really really good. I'm really stoned and can't remember the other thing I was going to say.

I put a fan speed controller on the fan/carbon filter combo in the bloom room. Odors are removed by activated carbon because the molecules get stuck on the carbon. They can't do that if they fly past too quickly. I turned it way down to a whisper. It still puts out a good strong breeze, but it'll be better filtered and it still flows fast enough to keep the room under control. I think.

But that wasn't it. I can't remember the last thing I had to say. Damnit.

 

[Doctor Dread]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Whats up Aberration? Nice update man.

Killer nugs off that Matty!! Wish I could smoke one with ya!

The bloom room looks great. Looks like your layout worked out rather nicely. Now I cant wait to see em get huge!

Thanks for showing the spider mite damage. Very helpful to those who have not had mites!

 

[HerbInGrower]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

AH nice work man they are looking gorgeous

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

--> MTO2:
1. Fed: 1 gal
   Per gal:
	 1  T  Liquid bone meal
   Brought up with liquid lime to pH 6.29 @ 21.8 C

 

[Setting Sun]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

Nice buds!

thanks for the update and cool photography!

thanks for the pest pics too, I just ordered some Azatrol as a part of my anti-pest arsenal.

your journal continues to rock!

 

[Keith Lake]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

thanks for the pest pics too, I just ordered some Azatrol as a part of my anti-pest arsenal.

Now that's the grow-fever mindset we like to see.

I don't need it, but I'm buying it anyway

Props

 

[Aberration]

Re: Aberration Goes ker Bloom! - 2009

--> MTO3, OC6, OC7, MTN3:
1. Transplanted to 10 gal pots (except OC7, I ran out of soil - I
                                           gave her the same watering though)
2. Watered in 
   Per gal:
	 1  t  Big Foot
   Brought up with liquid lime to pH 6.23 @ 21.5 C
	 1  T  Wonder Dust (myco)

--> MTO2, KK1:
1. Fed: 1 gal ea.
   Per gal:
	 2  t  Soil nute (3-7-3)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
   Brought up with Bioactive to 1000 ppm
   Brought up with liquid lime to pH 6.28 @ 20.7 C
	 1  t  Companion

--> ORTW, CryLo, SchB:
1. Fed to saturation
   Per gal:
	1.5 T  Bioactive (1-5-1)
	 1  t  Cal-Mag
   Diluted to 450 ppm
   Brought up with liquid lime to pH 6.25 @ 19.8 C
	 1  t  Companion
  
--> All:
1. Fog for spider mites; in hot water:
   Per gal:
	 4  t  Azatrol
	 1 oz. yucca

Nice buds!

thanks for the update and cool photography!

thanks for the pest pics too, I just ordered some Azatrol as a part of my anti-pest arsenal.

your journal continues to rock!

My mentor swears by it. He uses the same fogger on the whole veg operation twice a week or so. With warm water and yucca, Azatrol will stop the spider mites if you stay on top of them.

And thanks. I try to share anything that might be of use.

Now that's the grow-fever mindset we like to see.

I don't need it, but I'm buying it anyway

Props

I was a boy scout, so I think 'Be Prepared' is a pretty good idea. Because it is. Thanks for dropping in.

I was wondering if you could direct me to a thread to teaches how to tie down plants, or if you could tell me? what about cropping the tops?

Not off the top of my head.

If you cleanly cut the top off, all the branches below that point will get a lot bigger and the plant will spread out. Work it carefully and you get a bunch of heads, like MTO2 (9 heads atm).

I've tied and staked.

I tie them down to spread them out. If you use a plastic pot, you can put a screw thru the rim and tie some plant tape (green plastic, no stick-um, get 1/2" wide) to it and to a branch. Or make a big loop.

With grow bags, put duct tape on the top edge of the bag under the branch you want to tie down, bend a paper clip to be an eye with a hook, hook thru duct tape, and tie the branch to the eye in the paper clip with plant tape.

Without plant tape, use a piece of plastic sheet to go around the branch like it was plant tape, then tie string or whatever to the plastic. Tie down as needed.

Don't bend to hard. Be careful of splitting 'V's. You can tie them back into shape with plant tape, just be careful. Sometimes, if you supercrop, you can tie one up or down. Some people put a stake in and hang the branch from the stake.

These days, I try to put a stake in to hold what I expect to be the base of a cola structure. I bind the plant to the stake so that it can expand, but not move. That's how MTO2 is staked out.

The whole point is to lay the top over. Each side branch will go up and act like a top. Control them all and you get nice concentrated activity building a bunch of big buds. That's the theory anyway.