Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

[Antics]

What soil did you go with?

In a fun, ironic, yet vengeful twist of fate, I will be using the identical soil I initially blamed for my plant problems which caused me to switch to coco near the beginning of this journal. Determination.

The soil isn't anything special, or expensive. Purchased locally at a department store, it has a fantastic, rich smell, drained ok, but I have some more perlite added to improve that. There is a higher concentration of wood chips/mulch in the soil, but it worked well until my PH went out of whack due to a cheap combination PH, light, moisture meter.

*AND A CLONE SUPPLEMENTAL UPDATE!*

I was curious, and yes, I know curiosity killed the cat, but I did a little poking around with the clones. 2 out of 4 now have roots growing out of the stems.
Specifically, these two:

This one has no roots, and she still has a small chance, but the chances of her taking root decrease with each passing day, as she's starting to use the nutes stored in the few leaves she has left. I'm going to guess about a 20% chance of taking root:

This one has no roots, leaves are virtually dead, but the petioles are still firmly attached. I'm guessing 2% or less chance of her taking root:

But overall, considering I just conducted just about the worst cloning experiment ever, using the absolute laziest versions of two techniques (willow, followed by rooting powder), I still ended up with a 50% success rate as of right now. Since I only have room for flowering 2 plants in my pots, the results are perfectly fine by me.

As the next two seedlings grow, Cotton Candy, and Big Bang, I will take 2 cuttings from each, in Veg this time, I plan to use only the rooting powder next time around, and the strongest clone from each strain will go into the large pots for flowering. If all 4 clones survive, I will likely put the weakest grower from each strain into smaller 1 gallon pots, and flower them just for shits and giggles, and for a little extra yield. I figure each plant flowered in a 1 gallon pot should be good for at least 7-14 grams, or maybe a little more if I'm lucky.

Cheers to everyone

 

[SBG]

Yes, curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back

 

[Antics]

Quick picture update after all the defoliation I did today in preparation for the harvest soon.

7 days left until 4/20. We may, or may not make it that far. Or maybe a little longer, we'll know more in the next few days since I'm on trichome watch now.

 

[Koqstorm]

You better check your chomes before you wreck them chomes!

It's the best job in the world, trichome watcher!

 

[Weaselcracker]

I cloned my last bunch in straight coco. I'm going to keep doing this for a while because the results were so good. Coco stays so nice and aerated and I just watered it once - with maybe a touch up sprinkle of water a few days on, and had roots a week later. I've tried in potting soil but didn't have much luck. I thought part of the problem, besides the fact that it can be overwatered, was that it generally contains small amounts of nutrients which interfere with the rooting process.
Looking good Antics
Last time I bumped into you, you were being abused by some newbie or other that you were trying to help out. Again!...lol. I give you full points for trying man. Personally I never bother answering posts if the OP sounds obnoxious, or if I have to wade through a 1000 word run-on sentence and work to try to decipher their problem. Just because I'm posting something doesn't mean I am right, but I don't feel like taking punishment for trying to help either.

 

[Cruizer]

"The soil isn't anything special, or expensive. Purchased locally at a department store, it has a fantastic, rich smell, drained ok, but I have some more perlite added to improve that. There is a higher concentration of wood chips/mulch in the soil, but it worked well until my PH went out of whack due to a cheap combination PH, light, moisture meter."

Antics, from what I've learned with soil high in mulch/sticks/twigs/leaves that when they break down they turn acidic and mess with your ph. Now i'm not sure how long the process takes but we also don't know how long the mulch has been mixed and put in the bag purchased from the store. If the company didn't add any limestone to their mix you may want to add some. I have that same 3 way meter, the ph doesn't work anymore, but i use the ligh and moisture meter. I usually wait until between the 3-4 before watering on my peat base mix.

 

[SweetSue]

"The soil isn't anything special, or expensive. Purchased locally at a department store, it has a fantastic, rich smell, drained ok, but I have some more perlite added to improve that. There is a higher concentration of wood chips/mulch in the soil, but it worked well until my PH went out of whack due to a cheap combination PH, light, moisture meter."

Antics, from what I've learned with soil high in mulch/sticks/twigs/leaves that when they break down they turn acidic and mess with your ph. Now i'm not sure how long the process takes but we also don't know how long the mulch has been mixed and put in the bag purchased from the store. If the company didn't add any limestone to their mix you may want to add some. I have that same 3 way meter, the ph doesn't work anymore, but i use the ligh and moisture meter. I usually wait until between the 3-4 before watering on my peat base mix.

In my research yesterday I actually came across a link that I shared on my journal that discounts this idea about the acidity levels rising from decomposing wood chips. You might want to read through this. It was not what I was expecting to find. Having said that, the wood chips featured in the link were finely chipped, which may have contributed to the success this grower had with his piles of chipped Christmas trees.

Making your own soil

If you're going to add limestone, consider using Calcium Carbonate. Easier for the plants to access.

 

[Antics]

I cloned my last bunch in straight coco. I'm going to keep doing this for a while because the results were so good. Coco stays so nice and aerated and I just watered it once - with maybe a touch up sprinkle of water a few days on, and had roots a week later. I've tried in potting soil but didn't have much luck. I thought part of the problem, besides the fact that it can be overwatered, was that it generally contains small amounts of nutrients which interfere with the rooting process.
Looking good Antics
Last time I bumped into you, you were being abused by some newbie or other that you were trying to help out. Again!...lol. I give you full points for trying man. Personally I never bother answering posts if the OP sounds obnoxious, or if I have to wade through a 1000 word run-on sentence and work to try to decipher their problem. Just because I'm posting something doesn't mean I am right, but I don't feel like taking punishment for trying to help either.

Yeah the coco seems to have worked well for me too for cloning. I'm at 50% so far, and I seriously did everything half assed.
Yeah, I have the same feeling man, I think the fact that people want to help, even if they aren't always correct, counts for more.

"The soil isn't anything special, or expensive. Purchased locally at a department store, it has a fantastic, rich smell, drained ok, but I have some more perlite added to improve that. There is a higher concentration of wood chips/mulch in the soil, but it worked well until my PH went out of whack due to a cheap combination PH, light, moisture meter."

Antics, from what I've learned with soil high in mulch/sticks/twigs/leaves that when they break down they turn acidic and mess with your ph. Now i'm not sure how long the process takes but we also don't know how long the mulch has been mixed and put in the bag purchased from the store. If the company didn't add any limestone to their mix you may want to add some. I have that same 3 way meter, the ph doesn't work anymore, but i use the ligh and moisture meter. I usually wait until between the 3-4 before watering on my peat base mix.

So far it's been ok. But that's so far. My water also has a higher PH, coming in usually around 7.8-8.2, but I've also seen it as low as 7.2. If the soil is more acidic, It might be counteracted by the higher PH of my water. But it works so far, so I'm not going to fix what's broken since seedlings can be pretty sensitive. However, once I have the seedlings transplanted into their final pots, I'll be checking runoff numbers to get a better idea of what's going on in the soil.

In my research yesterday I actually came across a link that I shared on my journal that discounts this idea about the acidity levels rising from decomposing wood chips. You might want to read through this. It was not what I was expecting to find. Having said that, the wood chips featured in the link were finely chipped, which may have contributed to the success this grower had with his piles of chipped Christmas trees.

Making your own soil

If you're going to add limestone, consider using Calcium Carbonate. Easier for the plants to access.

I've also heard the same thing, that wood chips can lower PH. As for now, I won't be adding anything, as I think the seedlings are doing pretty good, especially Cotton Candy, this is her at just day 17:

You better check your chomes before you wreck them chomes!

It's the best job in the world, trichome watcher!

You got that right man, but it's also the part where I'm most impatient, just counting the days one by one until I can harvest. Sometimes it seems to take forever, especially since today is day 68 now, and she still isn't ready lol.

 

[Kola320]

Looking nice buddy hope your day is going good

 

[Antics]

Looking nice buddy hope your day is going good

Thanks brother, my day is going fantastic. I kept the domes off my 2 clones that were showing roots for around 6 hours now, and no signs of wilting.

One flowering, two Vegging, plus 2 rooting clones = 3 happy patients who won't go without their Cannabis to help them function, and enjoy life.

I hope you're having a great day as well!

 

[Dan Ultra]

Thanks brother, my day is going fantastic. I kept the domes off my 2 clones that were showing roots for around 6 hours now, and no signs of wilting.

One flowering, two Vegging, plus 2 rooting clones = 3 happy patients who won't go without their Cannabis to help them function, and enjoy life.

I hope you're having a great day as well!

Can't ask for much better than that!

 

[SBG]

That cotton candy is looking great for 17 days.

 

[Antics]

Time for an update.

Day 69, Strawberry Blue. Found some nanners today, and I don't really care. She should be finishing in under a week or so, so I'm not too concerned. Flushing continues with 5.8PH plain water. Trichomes are maybe 70% cloudy, 25%+ clear, and a few ambers, with some more starting to turn. I also noticed a few new pistils scattered around the various buds.

21 days Cotton Candy:

14 days Big Bang: (She had a slow start)

I'm giving up on the other big bang, still no growth, so she's just sitting in the pot doing nothing.

And the two rooted clones, that I couldn't take a good picture of today:

 

[SBG]

The seedlings are looking great and as for the clones you can never tell I've made a few clones that looked awful in the begining but once the roots get a footing they seem to go nuts in the growth dept.

 

[Tomster420]

That cotton candy is looking so good bro

 

[Surf420This]

Looking amazing. Adding the second LED has done you wonders! Got me drooling over here. Excited for your harvest. For a beginner on clones, I'd say you heading in the right direction. Keep it up. We are all learning a lot flowing your excursion.

 

[Mars Hydro]

Looking good Antics.

 

[Dan Ultra]

Making me really want to switch out my HPS for an LED panel now. damn.. lol

 

[Antics]

Making me really want to switch out my HPS for an LED panel now. damn.. lol

LED Panels*

The one panel wasn't enough for my closet size, which is a little over 7 square feet, and left me with something like 20 watts per square foot. So that was probably a big part of why I have a bunch of smaller buds, but I'm still guessing about an ounce on the harvest. But the trichomes, man oh man, that's where I'm excited. She's got a lot of frost, and I'm looking forward to my potency experiment that I always do. One tiny, tiny popcorn bud, about the size of the letter O on a keyboard, in the bowl, and seeing how strong it is.

I'm guessing it's going to be my strongest yet

As for the next grow, the Cotton Candy and Big Bang, I'm going to be using several product samples that came in today from Humboldt Countys Own.

For .02 cents, plus $15 flat rate shipping gave me a feeding schedule, 1 Quart of Killer Tea, Magnum (Magnesium supplement), Then some Grow, Micro and Bloom in looks like about 8oz bottles for the last 4 items..

Then we get some serious fun supplements from them..

Deep Breath 0.1-0-1 4oz
G10 0-0-.6 4oz
Purple Haze Snowstorm 2oz, and Snowstorm Ultra 4oz

Crystal Burst 0-15-15 4oz
Sonic Bloom 0-51-34 (This one is going to be a beast)

Some of the items are designed to use one or the other, like Crystal Burst OR Sonic Bloom, not both. Other items, like Purple Maxx Snowstorm is designed to intensify final color in susceptible strains, but can be used for any strains if desired, it just doesn't make everything magically turn purple.

I should have just enough of the base nutrients to complete a grow with a 6 week Veg time, give or take a couple weeks, and should have enough of the additional supplements as well to complete the grow.

 

[sillymoose1]

Making me really want to switch out my HPS for an LED panel now. damn.. lol

I was extremely skeptical over making switch to led, and no offense to mars but even more skeptical to their price to quality ratio, but I must say these things from Mars-hydro work!!! And not only do they work, they feel of quality. And when I did have a small issue Sara and Lucy were on top of it! Fixed my issue with lightning speed! They have definitely won my business and my recommendation.