AKGramma's Perpetual Grow

The stink from the over-ripe nutes/molasses concoction went away after I lightly watered the soil and it sank in. The ladies seemed to like it, BTW!

One of my almost-dead, seeded mystery girls is trying to reveg! There are clusters of new leaves at her lower nodes, and I actually see one flower cluster putting out more pistils! Sticky MIssy, who I WANT to reveg, is greening up behind her seed pods.... so maybe, just maybe, I have happened on some trigger, even under 12/12 at subdued (50%) light. The molasses, maybe? or maybe the reduced temps in the breeding unit.

Found a couple small mites in the flower unit, so gave the ladies another neem spray-down. One AK 48 looks rather careworn, bare, and 5" smaller compared to her sister. I won't get much out of her, it seems. No hope in revegging, that I can see.

I had to adjust the height of the ladies in flower, as I saw some leaf burn. So even CFL's can burn leaves, even if it's a momentary touch when moving them around.

HEAT CONTROL:

Before it got so very cold, I had a double window fan pulling air out, with a box fan on the floor pulling new air from under the grow room door. When temps dropped to the single digits, I had to close the window and prop the door open to allow the heat to escape into the house. When I close the door, the temps jump right up to 85 to 95 F, even tho I have the units on alternate schedule and the heat vent in the room closed. So, it is an adjustment of door and window that keep the temps within norms.

ODOR CONTROL:

I try not to grow stank strains, but those that are berry, citrus, piney, or earthy. And there is hardly any scent unless the flowers start putting out, mostly after their watering and spritzing with water. I'm getting more of that lately, so know I'm in mid-flower, and have a couple months to go.

It's educational to analyze the scents they put out, to determine ancestry and maturity, long before the trics start showing up.:green_heart:
 
Hope you don't mind if I take a peek and see whats growing on. I'm not much for reading,, I like centerfolds,, but I did read your battling mites. Man I hate them MFER's. It sounds like your getting it under control, but I just want to throw out something I just used. Worked great. Product called old stage green cleaner, I've used all the neem based products, and just about every other one, over the past years,, and still do in certain uses. I found acouple sprays with neem at like 3/4 strength, hurt or even fried leafage. Making some leafs brittle and clog the plants stoma up with oils. This stuff flashes off better and leave less residual oils on the leaves. More like a insecticidal soap. It even washes off the oils of the neem products at low doses. And it works.I had a bad go with Russet Hemp Mites this year. Scary mites,, a spider mite is 10X the size of a hemp mite and I never saw it coming. This green cleaner saved some harvest for me. Just a thought,,
It will take me awhile to catch up, that is if ya'll don't mind me looking in here and there? Did look at the girls,, Looking good,,,
Keepem Green
 
Norcaliwood said:
Hope you don't mind if I take a peek and see whats growing on. I'm not much for reading,, I like centerfolds,, but I did read your battling mites. Man I hate them MFER's. It sounds like your getting it under control, but I just want to throw out something I just used. Worked great. Product called old stage green cleaner, I've used all the neem based products, and just about every other one, over the past years,, and still do in certain uses. I found acouple sprays with neem at like 3/4 strength, hurt or even fried leafage. Making some leafs brittle and clog the plants stoma up with oils. This stuff flashes off better and leave less residual oils on the leaves. More like a insecticidal soap. It even washes off the oils of the neem products at low doses. And it works.I had a bad go with Russet Hemp Mites this year. Scary mites,, a spider mite is 10X the size of a hemp mite and I never saw it coming. This green cleaner saved some harvest for me. Just a thought,,
It will take me awhile to catch up, that is if ya'll don't mind me looking in here and there? Did look at the girls,, Looking good,,,
Keepem Green
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Welcome, Nor! I have seen your posts here and there and appreciate any suggestions and comments you have! I will check out your Journal and see what you are up to!

:welcome: to the :party: Well, more like a small, cheap grow, but u know what I mean!
 
It's time for some pics!

First, in the breeding tent:

A look at the Mystery Sativa ladies coming into the homestretch, as their seeded calyxes mature.

Pollinated_sativas.JPG


A closeup of one of the bud clusters, full of seed.

Sativaxsativa_seeds.JPG


And male #2, who is set up for collecting pollen. This one has a diesel background, as indicated from his scent. I will cross him with one or two of the Mystery sativa clones in veg, when they are ready.

Male_2_with_pods.JPG


Now, to my pride and joy, Mama Bubblelicious in mid flower. She is a clone that is 1 year and 2 weeks old, who started to flower under gaslight in November. I flipped her on 11-30-2016. She is 34" wide, 24" deep, and 30" tall now, with flower clusters in all of her nodes!

Mama_BBL.JPG


A close-up of one of her branches.

BBL_mama_in_flower.JPG


And two in the back of the flower unit: Polar Express on the rt with one branch (was supposed to be an Auto) and a multi-branched AK-48 on the left.

In_flower.JPG


Nothing worth writing home about in the veg unit.
 
Your male #2 sure looks to have a damn near 100% sativa genetics to it. Cross that with a diesel and you'll have your own satvia for sure. I played with making seeds afew times in the past. Not that I ever did anything more than just crossing plants and having seeds for afew years. Back then wasn't any place to buy seeds. Unless you knew a generous grower,, and all them were way underground, you were at the mercy of picking thru 10$ lids of mexican looking for afew 'tiger striped' seeds in the mix. I use to buy seeds from trustworthy friends outta the bags of Lumbo that you could find every once in awhile for 30$ a oz. And every once in awhile you'd find acouple seeds in a real thai stick. They were prized. Hopefully you'll get a shit pot of dark seeds.
If you get into doing alittle breeding you might want to read a book by Greg Green called The Cannabis Breeder's Bible. To me, it was a great entry book about breeding. I learned quite abit from it. It also goes into the marketing of seeds whats crosses play out best,and alot more. Is a good read... Keepem Green
 
Norcaliwood said:
Your male #2 sure looks to have a damn near 100% sativa genetics to it. Cross that with a diesel and you'll have your own satvia for sure. I played with making seeds afew times in the past. Not that I ever did anything more than just crossing plants and having seeds for afew years. Back then wasn't any place to buy seeds. Unless you knew a generous grower,, and all them were way underground, you were at the mercy of picking thru 10$ lids of mexican looking for afew 'tiger striped' seeds in the mix. I use to buy seeds from trustworthy friends outta the bags of Lumbo that you could find every once in awhile for 30$ a oz. And every once in awhile you'd find acouple seeds in a real thai stick. They were prized. Hopefully you'll get a shit pot of dark seeds.
If you get into doing alittle breeding you might want to read a book by Greg Green called The Cannabis Breeder's Bible. To me, it was a great entry book about breeding. I learned quite abit from it. It also goes into the marketing of seeds whats crosses play out best,and alot more. Is a good read... Keepem Green
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I also think my mystery seeds are very close to pure Sativa. Researching the strains that Nirvana Seeds have up (where I got the mystery seeds from ) The scent profiles are very close. and the fronds about 3/16" on the bigger leaves. Growth of the ladies was what I would expect from Sativas. And VERY vigorous roots, even on the clones! I may have lucked out!

Male #2 smells like a Diesel mix. Not really strong yet. Male #1, who is revegging after he pollinated the mystery ladies, did not have any Diesel scent, but much more subtle mix. I'll have to keep notes as he grows back. I posted a lovely turpene chart I found on someone's journal in the grow room. So I can rub leaves and try to ID their terpene profiles.
 
They have some really nice terpene charts around. A Little search and... Alot more in depth,, those just work for me as simple as they are.
What packages get mixed up? I know I've got afew that got mixed, and I have some I repacked and the markers worn off. Then was one vendor that gave a whole bunch of unknowns as freebies. I got 40 or so of them. Not that I put alot of stock in free unknowns. Hell I have no faith in what we get as true to form from some breeders. Scary when they say she expresses a whole bunch of pheno. I know by now vendors and breeders have become,, err more honest. Early in this seed market there was alot of really sad breeders. Least it seemed strains were all over the place. Now that laws have gotten more lenient,, breeders can do what they wanted, to and produce and market stable genetics,, with their names on them. Keepem Green
 
Norcaliwood said:
They have some really nice terpene charts around. A Little search and... Alot more in depth,, those just work for me as simple as they are.
What packages get mixed up? I know I've got afew that got mixed, and I have some I repacked and the markers worn off. Then was one vendor that gave a whole bunch of unknowns as freebies. I got 40 or so of them. Not that I put alot of stock in free unknowns. Hell I have no faith in what we get as true to form from some breeders. Scary when they say she expresses a whole bunch of pheno. I know by now vendors and breeders have become,, err more honest. Early in this seed market there was alot of really sad breeders. Least it seemed strains were all over the place. Now that laws have gotten more lenient,, breeders can do what they wanted, to and produce and market stable genetics,, with their names on them. Keepem Green
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I highly suspect that my first packet of seeds from a vendor for my first grow was NOT OGK (Sativa), because the pics from other OGK growers didn't resemble mine at all. Plus there was some confusion with the label. And I am positive that the Auto Polar Express that a grower gifted me, was no auto, even tho the seed bank is all about autos. (possibly didn't get it's share of Ruderalis genes).

One can never tell with seeds till you grow them out. I expect to get at least 4 phenotypes from the Sativa seeds I'm developing. I just have a couple hurdles to get through: waiting till they dry and pop out of their calyxes, and getting a good supply of fully-mature seeds to choose from.
 
Like said before,, why is it everyone has a white widow strain? I think the only true genetics for the original white widow is Greenhouse Seeds. The guy who breed the strain lost the rights to it,, so now he's calling his, which is true white widow, he's calling it black widow.
Here's a read on it;


White Widow was originally bred by Shantibaba, the original founder, owner and head breeder of The Green House Seed Company (GHSC). The variety known as White Widow immediately catapulted itself into rock star status upon introduction to the public in 1994. Within a year of its initial release, White Widow took first place at the High Times Cannabis Cup in 1995 and a wave of copy cat White Widow varieties hit the market soon after. In 1996, both Nirvana and Dutch Passion seed companies purchased a single pack of White Widow seeds respectively from Shantibaba himself at the GHSC and within a year released their own versions of Widow. It wasn’t long before one would be hard pressed to find varieties of cannabis seed available from Holland that weren’t hybrids of the original White Widow released in 1994, literally breathing life into the Dutch cannabis breeding scene that had lagged in the time prior to White Widows release. For many years in Holland varieties such as Northern Lights, Skunk, Afghani and Haze were staples of the Dutch breeding community and with the introduction of White Widow came a renewed vigor in breeding top of the line, commercial and medicinal quality strains of cannabis. With success my friends, breeds greed and contempt for ones fellow man. A wave of White Widow varieties were available to the public by the late 1990’s, all of which were either hybrids a selected White Widow variety from a commercially available pack of F1 White Widow seeds from the GHSC, backcrosses from the original Widow or in some cases out right fraudulent lines to begin with. Having no true relation to the original Widow through hybridization or backcrossing. Imposters! To add to the growing complicated Widow landscape of the time, unscrupulous characters such as Ingemar, a former employee of the GHSC and self described breeder emerged claiming to be the true breeder of White Widow, offering their own version of the now legendary strain of cannabis. As if the whirlwind of disinformation wasn’t enough, along with Ingemar, yet another man who calls himself “Ecotronics” has laid claim to being the true breeder of White Widow and has been insistent everybody else is making money off of his line. While nothing is ever as black and white as it would seem from the outside looking in, it’s this kind of success and ultimately, confusion, that leads to the eventual name change of the original White Widow to the now proverbial Black Widow.
To me there are 4 kinds of weed. shitty pot, good pot, better pot, and mine... Well three kinds anyways, bad, good, and better. I'm still looking for the best......... I take the plant as face value,, names mean nothing. People will tell you it's 100% haze,, and you end with a short stocky fat plant... Happened to me before. I thought better when I looked at the seed, it was a tiger striper. Well I'm offfor some night time meds and maybe sleep...... Keepem Green
 
An interesting read, Wood! Do you have a reliable URL to the article? Something this controversial should have a posted source, so newbies don't think it is just your or my opinion.

But, point taken. I certainly won't try to claim anything coming out of my mystery seeds is a particular strain. I have already warned my family that the future plants will be unknown Sativas, but that is all I can guarantee. It will be up to them to determine their potency, flavor, and day or night time use. And they will be a steady supply for edibles.
 
I'm taking a couple of clones today: the Arjan's Haze Fem, and the Polar Express Fem Auto, which did not perform as an auto should. So by trying to clone the Polar Express, I will find out if it is an auto Fem or a photo fem. Since Autos are supposed to be a one-time-deal, the clone should either not root or not thrive.

Both of these were gifted to me, but only 1 seed sprouted. By cloning, I may get a second chance to get a feel for these strains.

Comments?
 
You want to read more just search 'The Real White Widow' and it will come up.... It's on some other forum so I can't link ya to it.. About the clone of the Haze,,, if you have room,, why not. Might turn out to be the 'one'. Then if you didn't clone,,, you'd be pissed. I've never cloned a auto myself. I'd imagine someone on here has.. GL Keepem Green
 
I took some of clones today: 2 of the Arjan's Haze Fem, and 1 of the Polar Express Fem Auto, which did not perform as an auto should. So by trying to clone the Polar Express, I will find out if it is an auto Fem or a photo fem. Since Autos are supposed to be a one-time-deal, the clone should either not root or not thrive.

Both of these were gifted to me, but only 1 seed sprouted. By cloning, I may get a second chance to get a feel for these strains.

When searching for a suitable lower tip off the "Auto" Polar Express, I found a full calyx starting to split. I either tracked in pollen from Male #1, or male #2 did the Dirty Deed before I saw it's pods and removed it from the flower unit. Either way I may end up with at least one seed to experiment with!

If the latter happened, I'm going to have some pregnant AK 48's, too.
 
I found a marvelous excerpt on this site of a Marijuana Botany book.

Marijuana Botany - An Advanced Study - Propagation and Breeding of Cannabis

It is approx 87 pages when copied into a Word Doc, and it is worth the time it takes to read. it is a bit technical in spots, but it doesn't use a lot of $100 words.

The section on production and storage of seed was very informative. The most important concept I got from that section was that seeds should be sprouted within 3 year of collection, if you want maximum germination. Stored properly, the seed will last for years, but over time, the percentage of germination drops.

As much as I have read from the growers on this site, I learned some important facts I did not know, or from the science of Botany that can be applied to large or small grows.

I urge you to copy this post down to your PC, as an excellent, scientific reference on growth, preparation, and uses of Cannabis.
 
I was in a mood to organize the two spaces I spend the most waking hours in, at my PC and in the grow room.

In the grow room I found what was left of the Bubblelicious pollen I collected earlier this year. I'm hoping for a miracle, as I had collected the pollen in plastic baggies, and had moisture issues. I took a new craft brush and brushed the pollen on one branch of mama BBL. There was some dried male flowers in the pollen, too, so I'm hoping there was some viable pollen grains in there.

This is my last chance to get any seed, since the BBL males are long gone. I really like the BBL strain, and have a low clone success rate. Hoping to improve that, as the days get longer. Once the few clones I have now grow out some, I'm going to take lots of clones, to ensure I don't lose the BBLs.
 
Spitz said:
Hope she makes some seeds for you! Have you thought about reversing one of your females and making some fem pollen? I couldn't take it... I dropped a fem Nirv Bubblicious. Love those unknown sativas!
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I don't want to go the CS route, unless I absolutely have no other choice. I want to try natural methods first. ;-)
 
AKgramma said:
I don't want to go the CS route, unless I absolutely have no other choice. I want to try natural methods first. ;-)
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When I purchased the BBL's, they were photos. The last time I checked Nirvana Seeds, they were only offering BBL Fem. I guess there were too many complaints of poor gender ratio.
 
90 days from seed the "auto" Polar Express is full of flowers. She finally found her stride! I tagged the one seeded calyx on a lower branch, so I don't forget where it is.

All four ladies in flower got cleaned of drying and crowded leaves, and I trimmed some mini-buds that were drying to a crisp. They went in the edibles bin for drying, to be either brewed as a tincture or cooked up as cannabudder. Three out of the four are heavy with flowers. The weak AK48 will be a small yield, as she is 1/3 smaller than her sister and Polar Express.

I wish I had the room to tie down Mama BBL's branches, but then she would need the whole 3 x 3 unit to herself. I might be able to move the smaller AK48 into the breeding unit, just to free up some real estate. No matter how I figure it, I need more space!

I wonder if I can take the seeded ladies out from under 12/12 entirely to free up some more space? or will that cause the seeds to fail?
 
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