Ase's Perpetual Fun With Coco

[Asesino85]

Day 23 Flower Tent B

Once again not much new in Flower Tent A so onto the Tent that has some excitement. This is my favorite post to do in every grow. You get to see the structure of the plants, When the plants are pretty much done stretching and I finally get to defoliate. At this time I lollipop and take away a ton of leaves. I also remove any weak colas that won't amount to anything. From here on out I will only pluck a big fan leaf here and there so this is the time to make sure the plants look exactly how I want. I only recommend doing this hard of defoliation if your plants are healthy. My goal was to have 4 girls going into flower that had 12-16 good colas a piece and I really think I did the best job I have ever done. All the plants had the same structure and all of them had about 16 main colas. I couldn't be happier. The lights are the perfect distance away from them and the plants are pretty much exactly what I wanted.

Before the trimming. Well actually the Jock Horror got defoliated and then I remembered I should take a before picture. Good side by side of a before and after though.

Blurple canopy shot.

Sideshot after all girls were defoliated.

Different angle of the plants.

Also a tip I learned a while ago but if you do a massive defoliation like this, cut your current ppms in half and water with that for a watering or two. There is far less plant material to absorb the nutrients and you will end up burning your plants if you keep it the same.

 

[SwAggNiFiCeNt]

Day 23 Flower Tent B

Once again not much new in Flower Tent A so onto the Tent that has some excitement. This is my favorite post to do in every grow. You get to see the structure of the plants, When the plants are pretty much done stretching and I finally get to defoliate. At this time I lollipop and take away a ton of leaves. I also remove any weak colas that won't amount to anything. From here on out I will only pluck a big fan leaf here and there so this is the time to make sure the plants look exactly how I want. I only recommend doing this hard of defoliation if your plants are healthy. My goal was to have 4 girls going into flower that had 12-16 good colas a piece and I really think I did the best job I have ever done. All the plants had the same structure and all of them had about 16 main colas. I couldn't be happier. The lights are the perfect distance away from them and the plants are pretty much exactly what I wanted.

Before the trimming. Well actually the Jock Horror got defoliated and then I remembered I should take a before picture. Good side by side of a before and after though.

Blurple canopy shot.

Sideshot after all girls were defoliated.

Different angle of the plants.

Also a tip I learned a while ago but if you do a massive defoliation like this, cut your current ppms in half and water with that for a watering or two. There is far less plant material to absorb the nutrients and you will end up burning your plants if you keep it the same.

Great tip. Thanks brother. I'm gonna be doing one soon so I'm glad I read this.

 

[TheMadDabber]

Hey ase! It's so nuts how those big sticks will end up head to toe in frosty fire.... great info on the defol. Never had thought of that befoe, but make so much sense!

Is the purple envy curing up? I'd kill for a taste! Amazing plants as always. The one stop shop for bud porn!

 

[Asesino85]

Nice, I have always given Gorilla lots of credit for being the best sponsor. Glad they are holding true to form. I'd recommend anyone who follows my thread to take a look at that contest.

 

[Asesino85]

Hey ase! It's so nuts how those big sticks will end up head to toe in frosty fire.... great info on the defol. Never had thought of that befoe, but make so much sense!

Is the purple envy curing up? I'd kill for a taste! Amazing plants as always. The one stop shop for bud porn!

Thanks TMD. It is pretty nuts. The next few weeks will be fun watching them stack. I love the beginning of flower. The Purple Envy is curing up. I've learned that weed is best about 6-8 weeks after jarring and by burping the jars everyday for a couple weeks. Then I just let them sit and pop them open for a smell once in a while. I'll be sampling it soon though just to get a feel for the effects early on so I can compare to later, likely in the next day or two. I'll make sure to note it in one of my updates.

 

[TheMadDabber]

Thanks TMD. It is pretty nuts. The next few weeks will be fun watching them stack. I love the beginning of flower. The Purple Envy is curing up. I've learned that weed is best about 6-8 weeks after jarring and by burping the jars everyday for a couple weeks. Then I just let them sit and pop them open for a smell once in a while. I'll be sampling it soon though just to get a feel for the effects early on so I can compare to later, likely in the next day or two. I'll make sure to note it in one of my updates.

Awesome! I'm not sure if I'll be a or to wait 6 to 8 weeks . Hopefully I harvest enough so some makes it that far. Hope your Fridays going great and look forward to the smoke report!

 

[Asesino85]

Day 80 Flower Tent A - Day 26 Flower Tent B

I'll forewarn everyone right now, you might want to smoke a bowl of your favorite stuff before reading this. I have had a lot happen since the last update and a couple stories. I'm going to pause right now to take my hit and I'll be back shortly.

Ok! I'm back. First off I've made some upgrades to my grow area. I basically took everything down and out and redid the whole thing. My first tent I ever bought was an apollo horticulture tent. It is good tent but when I bought my Vivosun tent I liked it a little better. It seemed a little sturdier and it has a window to peer into and a couple more bells and whistles. Because I am giving my girlfriend my extra setup, all I pretty much needed was a new tent, carbon filter and inline fan and I had everything she needed. This last week all that stuff came and I got all Vivosun stuff and I set it up. I took everything out of the apollo tent and moved it and re-strung it. It was a lot of work but she will inherit my first setup that I had (apollo tent - apollo intake fan and carbon filter and 2 of my mars hydro 96s). I now have two 4'x4' Vivosuns. One with two Mary Hydro Reflector 144s (Tent A) and one with two Mars Hydro Pro II Epistar 160s (Tent B).

I also bought a Vivosun 2'x4' which will be used for cloning and a mars hydro 96 in it. Lastly I have a 2'x4' tent that is some generic brand and I use it for drying. At some point I might turn the Vivosun 2'x4' for breeding but that's down the road a ways. The cool part I realized is that I pretty much have the flexibility to try anything I want at this point and still have normal grows going. The research part of my brain in tingling at the thought of what I should look into now. Breeding seems the obvious choice though and is likely where I am headed. For now it allows me to do some cloning or get a jumpstart on vegging. Tomorrow will be day one for these new girls.

During all this tent buying I decided to also pull the trigger on a press to make waxes and concentrates. Well the package arrived and the bundle had clearly been broken and only one of the three pieces made it to my door. I was pretty pissed because I know Harbor Freight knew that it was sent correctly. Fed Ex showed it as delivered so this was not going to be a fun fight. I let myself cool off for a day and low and behold the next day they were at my door. So I put that together with my aluminum plates and gave it a shot. I can't wait to use this wax in edibles and in food. It retains so much more of the terpene profile I am going to have so much fun pairing it with different foods.

New Press

Result. I don't know how much a squished up. It was a couple nugs. This was some of the Jack Herer. I balled it up and stuck it in the VaporBrothers (sponsor) pen I won. Took it down to the Ducks football game yesterday and it worked brilliantly.

I had taken home a couple of racks from work where the bottom was broken and they were just going to throw them out and I fixed them and put them back together and moved all my equipment on them. Took out a couple tables and a couch and now I have a nice wide open grow area. I also have a sore back but that will be fixed tonight because the girlfriend has to massage me for school. Darn!

Now onto the real life of the party. The girls in Tent A will be coming down this week. I was going to do the Lost Coast OG tonight but I will do it tomorrow. My back wouldn't be able to take it anyways. It looks incredible though and I can't wait to try this one again, hopefully without it being stunted.

Cola

The Purple Kush's leaves are turning a dark purple color since it's flush and it's trying to finish. It's likely some phosphorous deficiency and I'm starting to think I should have given her some special feedings with high phosphorous that the others didn't need. When they are huge like this one was I think that would have been the right thing to do. Maybe it's just how it's finishing but either way she will be coming down soon as well. Maybe in a few more days.

Cola

A couple of the colas that were closest to the lights ended up looking crazy. It looks like multiple foxtails. I thought I might see a seed or two on them but so far there isn't.

Lastly there is Tent B. They are looking really good and I am really happy with everything going on in here. They are starting to get hairy and watching them stack is always one of my favorite times in a grow.

Lemon Venom

Cinderella99

Jock Horror

Ice

I think I covered it all. Time to smoke another one and get my massage! Thanks to everyone for stopping by.

 

[pino0911]

Looking great Ase! Man ur gonna love that press!! M gonna make one also. So m ready to learn wit u on the press thing. Ur plants are looking fantastic as always. Man she must b a keeper giving her ur old set up!! Lol!! Naw its cool she has the same intrest as u!! Keep up the great work!!

 

[Asesino85]

Looking great Ase! Man ur gonna love that press!! M gonna make one also. So m ready to learn wit u on the press thing. Ur plants are looking fantastic as always. Man she must b a keeper giving her ur old set up!! Lol!! Naw its cool she has the same intrest as u!! Keep up the great work!!

Thanks Pino! I have used it 3 times and I really like it already and i'm not even dialed in yet. I sandbagged buying one for quite a while. I'm already glad I made the purchase and went with what I did. I think it costed about $400 total which is not bad at all!

I'm really excited for my girl to start growing CBD strains, she is proving to be a keeper so far! It will give me a chance to play with all the medical possibilities CBD has to offer. That whole setup would really just be lying around so better to put it to use.

 

[Jgrowlove]

Awesome update Ase and thanks for advising to get medicated before reading it was impressive. I know your gonna love the extra space. We always do!! Growing is such great therapy especially when u can grow amazing plants like you. Have u always used Mars Hydro or have u tried other types of lights?

 

[PE636]

That's a pretty sweet upgrade to your setup! I am dying to get another small tent for veg, just have to find a way to make the wife think it's a great idea too lol.. I'll be interested interested to hear what cbd strains your gf grows, I would like to crank out a couple myself as I have tried a couple and found it helpful for relaxing/sleeping/pain when my back is going through a rough spell..... What kind of plates do you have on your press? That unit is going to end up getting used a lot I bet! Another item on my wish list lol

 

[newty]

Greeeeeeaaaaaat update Ase! Lucky girl you got, I wish my hubs was more interested but I'm at least lucky he ignores my Grow room lol! I use him as my guinea pig when he's interested. I've been meaning to ask you about lights. I was thinking about getting the mars hydro LED 600 to match my 300 and then be able to separate for Veg and flower eventually in two tents. Do you think this light will be good enough for 4ish plants or should I check out bigger lights? Here is a couple pics of what I'm talking about

 

[Asesino85]

Awesome update Ase and thanks for advising to get medicated before reading it was impressive. I know your gonna love the extra space. We always do!! Growing is such great therapy especially when u can grow amazing plants like you. Have u always used Mars Hydro or have u tried other types of lights?

Lol! I watch a lot of videos where people smoke before they start and I always think it's cheesy. This was an especially long post though so it needed a good rip before reading! I have always used Mars Hydro and I would love to try other lights but they've done me pretty good. At some point I will spoil myself and buy a super high end light. Until then though I'll stick with what I've got. Two contest wins and a very little increase in the power bill and I am pretty happy with Mars Hydro for now. I've only been growing about a year and a half so I don't have a ton of experience with lights.

 

[Asesino85]

Greeeeeeaaaaaat update Ase! Lucky girl you got, I wish my hubs was more interested but I'm at least lucky he ignores my Grow room lol! I use him as my guinea pig when he's interested. I've been meaning to ask you about lights. I was thinking about getting the mars hydro LED 600 to match my 300 and then be able to separate for Veg and flower eventually in two tents. Do you think this light will be good enough for 4ish plants or should I check out bigger lights?

Lucky girl I got is right! She is not into it like I am but she is really into massage. I will not be buying CBD creams and topicals from the dispensary and high prices so I figured why not learn to make it. She has the basics down and knows who to call if she needs help. I've taught her how to feed and train the plants properly so all she really needs to know is nutrients (and actually I will probably just text that info to her to make it easy on what to mix up every week). Once she's done I'll help her take it all down and turn it into creams. I'm very excited about high CBD strains though. It'd be very cool to be able to help someone out like a cancer patient or something and that opens up a lot of possibilities.

Unfortunately I'm no expert on lights. I did a number of grows with just two Mars Hydro 96s. Their coverage area is 2'3' and it was noticeable that in my 4'x4' tent that they couldn't get the corners and some of the sides. If you have a 4'x4' tent, 2 Mars Hydro 144s are the way to go for coverage. I'd rather get 2 of them so I can adjust them up and down (and put taller plants on one side or the other) rather than one of the big square lights. I like to have the adjust-ability.

Truth be told the reflectors 96s which are the 480w you had pictures did a great job and are affordable. I really like the reflector series and one of my friends bought some right out of the gate for growing because he saw mine and the results. There are better lights out there for sure but these are some of the best "bang for your buck" lights. They allow to grow some great plants as without increasing the electric bill hardly at all. If I had to do it again though I would have gotten the reflector 144s which are the 720w. Might be a little out of people's price range though. If they aren't I'd go with 2 of them ideally for a 4'x4'. Any smaller of a tent the 96s should work just fine.

 

[Asesino85]

That's a pretty sweet upgrade to your setup! I am dying to get another small tent for veg, just have to find a way to make the wife think it's a great idea too lol.. I'll be interested interested to hear what cbd strains your gf grows, I would like to crank out a couple myself as I have tried a couple and found it helpful for relaxing/sleeping/pain when my back is going through a rough spell..... What kind of plates do you have on your press? That unit is going to end up getting used a lot I bet! Another item on my wish list lol

Yeah my setup is right where I want it now. I don't want to dabble into anything more or I think it will start feeling more like a chore. I would have never guessed that a year and a half ago this is where I would be. I've been very fortunate with my luck and winning those contests helped because I don't think I would have purchased a whole new setup from scratch. I've also been lucky from work since they let me take home broken things and fix them. I'm just pretty fortunate all around that it's all come together to this point. The press was something I went back and forth getting but I really like the wax pen from VaporBrothers and it's great for being out and about. At dispensary prices for wax it's already saved me about $80 (what I would have spent retail). In my books that means it's about 1/4 paid for in it's first week.

I bought two 3"x5" plates for the press. They are aluminum and they heat up from a digital box. They heat up pretty quick too. I can't remember the brand and didn't do much research but they seem to work pretty good. I bought them off of Amazon. I do think I remember reading that aluminum is the way to go. There were smaller plates as well but I figured why not just buy the bigger ones, especially if it going to get used a lot! And you guessed right, I'm sure it will be getting used a lot. Easy way to smoke around family without them knowing and the holidays are just around the corner.

 

[PE636]

Yeah my setup is right where I want it now. I don't want to dabble into anything more or I think it will start feeling more like a chore. I would have never guessed that a year and a half ago this is where I would be. I've been very fortunate with my luck and winning those contests helped because I don't think I would have purchased a whole new setup from scratch. I've also been lucky from work since they let me take home broken things and fix them. I'm just pretty fortunate all around that it's all come together to this point. The press was something I went back and forth getting but I really like the wax pen from VaporBrothers and it's great for being out and about. At dispensary prices for wax it's already saved me about $80 (what I would have spent retail). In my books that means it's about 1/4 paid for in it's first week.

I bought two 3"x5" plates for the press. They are aluminum and they heat up from a digital box. They heat up pretty quick too. I can't remember the brand and didn't do much research but they seem to work pretty good. I bought them off of Amazon. I do think I remember reading that aluminum is the way to go. There were smaller plates as well but I figured why not just buy the bigger ones, especially if it going to get used a lot! And you guessed right, I'm sure it will be getting used a lot. Easy way to smoke around family without them knowing and the holidays are just around the corner.

Cool so how many tons is your press? I like the concentrates too, just got a nice dab rig the other day and have an arizer vaporizer too.. The press is soooo much quicker and cleaner than the whole iso process! Watched some vids online, it's unreal what squeezes out of some of them!

 

[Asesino85]

Cool so how many tons is your press? I like the concentrates too, just got a nice dab rig the other day and have an arizer vaporizer too.. The press is soooo much quicker and cleaner than the whole iso process! Watched some vids online, it's unreal what squeezes out of some of them!

12 ton hydraulic press. Some people go with the 20 ton but in my little research most people said that unless you are going to be using it all the time commercially, a 12 ton press is a good way to start and does everything you need. The nice part is I can always keep the plates and switch presses of I need a bigger one but in the little I've used it so far, it's done a great job. I'll have to start seeing what my yield% is soon so I can actually put that "great job" into real numbers.

Harbor Freight is a great spot to buy presses at a decent price.

 

[PE636]

12 ton hydraulic press. Some people go with the 20 ton but in my little research most people said that unless you are going to be using it all the time commercially, a 12 ton press is a good way to start and does everything you need. The nice part is I can always keep the plates and switch presses of I need a bigger one but in the little I've used it so far, it's done a great job. I'll have to start seeing what my yield% is soon so I can actually put that "great job" into real numbers.

Nice ya I would love to hear your percents if you ever do track it.. I have been mulling over buying or making one and have heard anything from 10-20.. Maybe 20 would be more for larger plates.

 

[Pennywise]

Thanks for all the info on presses Ase, Bho and Qwiso is a pita.

 

[PE636]

Thanks for all the info on presses Ase, Bho and Qwiso is a pita.

Yes thanks is right. My wife tells me I am going to have to get my own Pyrex dishes for qwiso! I think a press is a much better investment!