Diatomaceous earth sprinkled like snow.... A beer trap for slugs...
Amy Gardner’s High Brix Dreams
- Thread starter Amy Gardner
- Start date
gee thx for the shout out ... you make me blushBode!
Eeeeiewww! Slugs
One of the most effective for them is a ring of broken/crushed eggshells around the bottom of the plant - they won’t cross them (ouchie to the slug!). Some folks say to use salt as it will apparently kill them as well, but I don’t want all that salt getting into my soil.
We have a great book on helpful garden bugs for our region but mostly I just use @Pterostychus if I’m stumped. After my outdoor run last year I’m pretty good at identifying the predators as predators now, even if I don’t know exactly what they are. Predator wasps for example share certain features.
My outdoor garden is literally crawling with pests and predators so all we do is try to keep the balance in check and get the Brix levels of our plants up. The higher the Brix, the less appealing to pests is the thinking there. My early mis outside has had lots of things on her but isn’t overrun by anything and looks fairly healthy.
It’s an ongoing negotiation that’s for sure. I’m checking every day!
great job ... keep it up ... i wish my BD auto would produce buds and trichs like yoursUpdate Blue Dream #1 - day 119 (44/33)
Things are getting fairly frosty...
The gnatty gnats may have stunted and slowed the growth at certain stages but true to DBHBB form, Big Blue is absolutely powering despite the array of challenges. It’s really charging right now - you can almost see it moving!
I’m very stoked to have a family of plants again. It’s been raining a lot and since I dont want the new seedlings to get wet at all right now, they’re spending some time inside. Yesterday I got to admire them as a group and can see that my next indoor grow will easily allow me to grow 2 medium sized plants, with maybe a third little one or auto. Plenty of room and enough light for that I think!
You’ll notice there’s been a rather extreme leaf pruning.
I’d been having trouble seeing if there had been any further gnat damage so 3days ago I decided to pull off the gnat affected fans. Bad time to trim fans I know but this is all about learning so I thought what the hey - if it slows things down, I’ll see that.
It turned out to be a shed-load of them
And exposed how I stripped too high up the stems - live n learn... wait till after stretch next time.
Regardless, this one is sooooo bushy bushy that there is still plenty of leaf action left!
And to be honest, I havent noticed it slow down, it seems to be powering... getting thick and adding a little height all the time.
Some folks may also have noticed that there is an obvious case of ‘the claw’ going on. Here’s my theory about that: I used the maximum recommended amount of worm castings and I think my mix is too heavy on the castings (my castings were super dry too, so maybe I added more than I really meant to).
The Claw definitely got worse after the recharge so the extra castings were probably not necessary at that time. I’m tempted to give another plain water at the next drench. It’s due for a Growth Ionic but that is rich in N i think so I’m wondering if maybe that’s something to avoid for a bit. I might head over to the DB Q&A and seek some input there.
I think the current batch of ready soil has maybe a bit less castings in the mix and I’ll just adjust the next cook accordingly, depending on how the grows go.
I had a lovely discovery while moving the babies one day. Check out this beauty that was crawling on their pots as soon as I put them out one morning.
@Pterostychus was able to identify it for me super quickly. The larvae of the fungus eating lady bug. We have seen those here a lot (which is great because, well, near a wetlands 2km inland from the sea...) and its lovely to know what their young ones look like!
Happy days!
Meantime, here is a little eyecandy... nice frost forming all the way down...
The Summer Kids
The new kids are coming along well. I was nervous about more gnat damage during germination like what happened before (with the first DDA seeds) but apart from a couple that needed help out of their shell, everyone emerged well and all are looking good.
Dope Seeds’ Critical Mass in particular was super vigorous and is a very sturdy specimen.
The two Auto Pounder bounced quickly out of the gate as well...
And the others are at various stages, all seem healthy
They’re coming in overnight because we’re having some cold temps (down to 10ºC) and if they’re inside while its still light out and the tent has gone to sleep, I’m putting them under this to keep them going another hour or 2 - kind of matching what’s happening outside.
Hopefully by next week they will be ok to stay out overnight. This is them just an hour or so ago - they get full sun here most of the day, then dappled and full through the mid-late afternoon.
Through the fence
Here’s something interesting. The Other day I was photographing some thrips in the garden for identification purposes. We have a chickpea plant that is just producing pods... and check out its trichs!
Pretty cool huh!? I had no idea
That’s it for this week - a little early as opposed to a little late this time, but really who’s counting? Not me! Especially not my number of tokes!
Afghani x Critical Mass mixed in the grinder with some CBD Critical Cure. Super relaxing on a Sunday afternoon ... and it’ll be lulling me into a blissful nap very soon I think.
I’m feeling very pleased with where I’ve got things too considering the BD was so compromised by the gnats. It’s really pushing out the bud growth. And i’m fairly sure The Claw is due to an overdose of castings - which means the herd will be a bit sluggish too. So all in all... it’s pretty damn good eh?
Hope all are having a great weekend, fun relaxing and restorative.
I saved this one for last
Update Blue Dream #1 - day 119 (44/33)
Things are getting fairly frosty...
The gnatty gnats may have stunted and slowed the growth at certain stages but true to DBHBB form, Big Blue is absolutely powering despite the array of challenges. It’s really charging right now - you can almost see it moving!
I’m very stoked to have a family of plants again. It’s been raining a lot and since I dont want the new seedlings to get wet at all right now, they’re spending some time inside. Yesterday I got to admire them as a group and can see that my next indoor grow will easily allow me to grow 2 medium sized plants, with maybe a third little one or auto. Plenty of room and enough light for that I think!
You’ll notice there’s been a rather extreme leaf pruning.
I’d been having trouble seeing if there had been any further gnat damage so 3days ago I decided to pull off the gnat affected fans. Bad time to trim fans I know but this is all about learning so I thought what the hey - if it slows things down, I’ll see that.
It turned out to be a shed-load of them
And exposed how I stripped too high up the stems - live n learn... wait till after stretch next time.
Regardless, this one is sooooo bushy bushy that there is still plenty of leaf action left!
And to be honest, I havent noticed it slow down, it seems to be powering... getting thick and adding a little height all the time.
Some folks may also have noticed that there is an obvious case of ‘the claw’ going on. Here’s my theory about that: I used the maximum recommended amount of worm castings and I think my mix is too heavy on the castings (my castings were super dry too, so maybe I added more than I really meant to).
The Claw definitely got worse after the recharge so the extra castings were probably not necessary at that time. I’m tempted to give another plain water at the next drench. It’s due for a Growth Ionic but that is rich in N i think so I’m wondering if maybe that’s something to avoid for a bit. I might head over to the DB Q&A and seek some input there.
I think the current batch of ready soil has maybe a bit less castings in the mix and I’ll just adjust the next cook accordingly, depending on how the grows go.
I had a lovely discovery while moving the babies one day. Check out this beauty that was crawling on their pots as soon as I put them out one morning.
@Pterostychus was able to identify it for me super quickly
Happy days!
Meantime, here is a little eyecandy... nice frost forming all the way down...
The Summer Kids
The new kids are coming along well. I was nervous about more gnat damage during germination like what happened before (with the first DDA seeds) but apart from a couple that needed help out of their shell, everyone emerged well and all are looking good.
Dope Seeds’ Critical Mass in particular was super vigorous and is a very sturdy specimen.
The two Auto Pounder bounced quickly out of the gate as well...
And the others are at various stages, all seem healthy
They’re coming in overnight because we’re having some cold temps (down to 10ºC) and if they’re inside while its still light out and the tent has gone to sleep, I’m putting them under this to keep them going another hour or 2 - kind of matching what’s happening outside.
Hopefully by next week they will be ok to stay out overnight. This is them just an hour or so ago - they get full sun here most of the day, then dappled and full through the mid-late afternoon.
Through the fence
Here’s something interesting. The Other day I was photographing some thrips in the garden for identification purposes. We have a chickpea plant that is just producing pods... and check out its trichs!
Pretty cool huh!? I had no idea
That’s it for this week - a little early as opposed to a little late this time, but really who’s counting? Not me! Especially not my number of tokes!
I’m feeling very pleased with where I’ve got things too considering the BD was so compromised by the gnats. It’s really pushing out the bud growth. And i’m fairly sure The Claw is due to an overdose of castings - which means the herd will be a bit sluggish too. So all in all... it’s pretty damn good eh?
Hope all are having a great weekend, fun relaxing and restorative.
I saved this one for last
Great update Amy! How are you? Hope your doing well the plants looks great nice and healthy. The blue dream is really looking beautiful! Keep it up!
- Thread starter
- #1,445
great job ... keep it up ... i wish my BD auto would produce buds and trichs like yours
Thanks Pt ... it is ....”POSSIBLE TODAY!”
Having a sale end of this month is the word
- Thread starter
- #1,446
Thanks Dutch.
I’m doing ok. I had a visit from a friend for the night on Friday night so that was lovely to share a meal and some social time. Spent the rest of the weekend recovering form that mostly so i was a bit crashed but very happy to have had the visit as i don’t get to see my friends and former colleagues very often at all, and I used to see some of them nearly every day.
I’m a little more mobile today and have a really nice carer staying with me atm (lovely other is away) who helped me by moving the babies inside when needed and then back out again.
Today i was up to doing that myself so I enjoyed a nice sit out in the growing enclosure surrounded by all our growing food, a few cannabis plants at various ages and the cacophony of bugs pests and predators, not to mention the fully alive soil in all our garden beds. Was both peaceful and raucous in there and i was joined by a beautiful damsel fly who came and sat wiht me in each spot
So I’ve had some Gnatnix arrive in the post.
Does anyone know if it’s ok to put it on when these plants are still so young? I better check that. I’m nervous to do it -but there are still gnats coming out of the 1gal pots these kids are in and I just want to stop them!
Beautiful stuff Amy! So nice to see all those babies
- Thread starter
- #1,448
I’ll say two things about nanners:
1. Once you know how to spot ‘em they become quite obvious
2. These Blue Dream really know how to pump ‘em out!
Folks warned me. Well Van Stank warned me, and I’ve seen SweetSue have to pluck nanners from them as well... and there are often murmurings amongs others.
That said, there’s a way of looking at it that indicates it’s persistence as a very, very popular strain is quite a testament to it’s superior quality. Because if this is just part of the genetics and not some light issue (which I doubt - but i guess it’s possible), then folks must think it’s worth it!
Anyhoo - I hadn’t had a chance to check for a couple of days, and i realise i must have missed some during the earlier checks too.
I spent some time plucking today before the drench. I counted about 42
When they’re very mature they’re easy to see as they’re quite yellow and sizeable. But they come out quite small and are a pale almost fluorescent green at that stage.
In this pic you can see the diff between mature ones (o the right) and fresh ones (left).
I should have staked some snaps of the mature ones actually on the plant but I got into a nanner frenzy and forgot to photograph.
As I was drenching though, a couple of the smaller ones I’d missed showed themselves. This one lower down, small, but developed enough to be an obvious cross shape from the front.
And this one, a very fresh one just emerging...
So anyone growing Blue Dream, eyes out! “Constant vigilance!”
I know they’re very often sterile, but still. I dont really want seeds at this stage so best to be as sure as possible. There will be very regular inspections going forward.
1. Once you know how to spot ‘em they become quite obvious
2. These Blue Dream really know how to pump ‘em out!
Folks warned me. Well Van Stank warned me, and I’ve seen SweetSue have to pluck nanners from them as well... and there are often murmurings amongs others.
That said, there’s a way of looking at it that indicates it’s persistence as a very, very popular strain is quite a testament to it’s superior quality. Because if this is just part of the genetics and not some light issue (which I doubt - but i guess it’s possible), then folks must think it’s worth it!
Anyhoo - I hadn’t had a chance to check for a couple of days, and i realise i must have missed some during the earlier checks too.
I spent some time plucking today before the drench. I counted about 42
When they’re very mature they’re easy to see as they’re quite yellow and sizeable. But they come out quite small and are a pale almost fluorescent green at that stage.
In this pic you can see the diff between mature ones (o the right) and fresh ones (left).
I should have staked some snaps of the mature ones actually on the plant but I got into a nanner frenzy and forgot to photograph.
As I was drenching though, a couple of the smaller ones I’d missed showed themselves. This one lower down, small, but developed enough to be an obvious cross shape from the front.
And this one, a very fresh one just emerging...
So anyone growing Blue Dream, eyes out! “Constant vigilance!”
I know they’re very often sterile, but still. I dont really want seeds at this stage so best to be as sure as possible. There will be very regular inspections going forward.Beautiful stuff Amy! So nice to see all those babies
Wow, that's a lot of nanners! How much longer? Really like that 1st pic! Save for the contest.
- Thread starter
- #1,450
IKR!?
Should be about 4-5 weeks depending on whether the breeder counts flower time from flip or from pistils (and if pistils, is that preflowers or pistils out the top... every one counts these things differntly).
When I’m outside, I count flower from when I see pistils start to emerge from the tops.
I’m today 45 days from flip and 35-36 days from the tops pushing out pistils. It’s supposed to be a 10-11 week strain (70-77 days HSO says).
Who knows, this pheno seems super Blueberry leaning so maybe this will be shorter (the Blueberry is a 50 day strain according to seedfinder).
Cheers ween! Hope your weekend has been good
For the boss
Should be about 4-5 weeks depending on whether the breeder counts flower time from flip or from pistils (and if pistils, is that preflowers or pistils out the top... every one counts these things differntly).
When I’m outside, I count flower from when I see pistils start to emerge from the tops.
I’m today 45 days from flip and 35-36 days from the tops pushing out pistils. It’s supposed to be a 10-11 week strain (70-77 days HSO says).
Who knows, this pheno seems super Blueberry leaning so maybe this will be shorter (the Blueberry is a 50 day strain according to seedfinder).
Cheers ween! Hope your weekend has been good
For the boss
Makes you feel you work in a banana farm???!!
God I hope the end result is all wort it.
Lovely to hear you had a wonderful time with friend
Friends that fill your soul are always worth recovering from after
God I hope the end result is all wort it.
Lovely to hear you had a wonderful time with friend
Friends that fill your soul are always worth recovering from after
- Thread starter
- #1,452
Friends that fill your soul are always worth recovering from after
Exactly Birdie! That’s it exactly
I remember Van thinking it was the stress from the split in the stem that caused the nanners until the clone did the same thing. It's obviously not stress on the plant, just stress on the grower!
Hope your weekend recovery went well. Always good to see old friends.
Ya...all you guys and your BD plants. Not for me...don't want seeds. Too many nanners...can really fu...k up a grow if you can't keep removing them. Lots of other strains out there without this problem. Over the last few yrs. i have witnessed a bunch of growers who battle nanners with that strain...bahhh.
Anyhow , enjoy the day gang!
Anyhow , enjoy the day gang!
Oh man! I just super cropped my BD, I best be on watch
My GG4 had nanners all over that I also kept plucking. I guess it’s common in clone only strains? I don’t think Ase’s BD had any so Ima hope mine follows his lead
Also wasn’t vans BD from 420?
My GG4 had nanners all over that I also kept plucking. I guess it’s common in clone only strains? I don’t think Ase’s BD had any so Ima hope mine follows his lead
Also wasn’t vans BD from 420?
- Thread starter
- #1,456
Yah newty! Eyes out. I think they started about week 4-5 after flip. Truly most folks say nanners are likely sterile though. I should be letting ‘em go to find out... ... nah!
If you have some time and can access your plants easily, plucking them off isn’t so bad.
If I had your time constraints and difficult to access cannabis jungle Duggs I reckon I’d say “bah!” as well!
Yes it was I think...
If you have some time and can access your plants easily, plucking them off isn’t so bad.
If I had your time constraints and difficult to access cannabis jungle Duggs I reckon I’d say “bah!” as well!
Yup...makes a huge difference to me , as i can't gain easy access all around my plants to monitor so closely.Yah newty! Eyes out. I think they started about week 4-5 after flip. Truly most folks say nanners are likely sterile though. I should be letting ‘em go to find out... ... nah!
Yes it was I think...
If you have some time and can access your plants easily, plucking them off isn’t so bad.
If I had your time constraints and difficult to access cannabis jungle Duggs I reckon I’d say “bah!” as well!
that late in flower, if fertile, wont do to much i guess also
- Thread starter
- #1,459
Yes of course! I hadn’t considered that.
Think I’ll still pluck them when I see them tho. I got time - and it’s nice being up close and personal.
Speaking of up close and personal, the Early Miss is giving off the most awesome aroma - fruity and sweet
I’ll get some pics of the outsiders later today I think.
Hi Amy, You're running a fabulous garden there. Love the Blue Dream and all the bud shots! Yum. Triches on a chick pea. Whoda thunk that? Glad you had fun away and hope the weather is perfect for the summer.