Ask Us Anything: Sharing Knowledge 420 Style

[Stinky Snid]

Welcome Everyone​

I am going to start this thread up now, but will be continually adding questions posed to me on various threads or pm's. There have been many great questions asked and I've tried to answer them with the best of my knowledge. I've got to go through all my threads and find these questions to repost here, so I've got allot of reading to do, please bare with me.

I would like to keep the casual banter to a minimum and information to a maximum within this thread. Please Feel free to answer any questions that arise or comment on my own answers. But let's keep this thread as an encyclopedia of FAQs for the many new growers to come.

POSE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE
​

I'll try my best to keep up and have understandable responses Thank you for visiting the Ask me anything thread. Hope you all take advantage of these upcoming pages and add what you can. I will try to find one question a day from my past year here and this thread will be chalk full of information.

*Disclaimer : All answers are strictly my self educated opinions*

Here's my first instalment, it's is in regards to defoliation. Please remember these are only my opinion and are welcomed to any scrutiny and/or supplementation.

Do you lollipop your ladies or defoiliate them during flower, i am only 6 days in the stretch is going on like crazy but i know they are bushy as hell. I usually trim some leaves off but don't lollipop bc my popcorn goes for oils, but if I'll get better top colas then i will. My plant training is topping and lst.

I barely do either, I try to keep as much foliage as possible to get the most amount of trichome and resin production as possible. If jorge Cervantes says you should refrain from defoliation then I am 100% in agreement. I don't lollipop unless I have to because yields up top would be even smaller, my recent felicity is a good example of that. But right beside her was my Marylou was filled topped to bottom with buds and the yield was significantly greater. Although she had a much healthier up bringing. Since I consume it all, I will keep the popcorn on as much as i can. My rule of thumb is... If it's on the vertical part of the stem it stays and if it on the horizontal part under the canopy it gets removed. I'm more or less against lollipoping in general unless circumstances allow for a better a yield. As far as defoliation goes, I only remove leaves that dying leading up to about mid flower. Then once buds are pronounced I'll take a few fans here and there to give them the light they need, And/ or spread out the Colas to achieve the same ends. This goes for autos especially but is also the way I do my photoperiods.
Does that help your thought processes on those topics?

Stinky Snid
Cheers

 

[Stinky Snid]

Here's a second one I found, I'm realizing that I've way more reading than unimagined.
This one is concerning curing processes..

hi snid ! hope your are doing well
the summer time seem to have ended here in portugal and rain is starting to pour hard today ! im a little worried about losing my trichomes due to heavy rain , or even worse , a mould infection
im gona harvest a few buds from lower plant parts and give it a quick dry for two or three days to test the product im aware it wont be near as good as a ready to harvest bud , but i can get some info on what i have .. my question is , how do you sugest i do my dry/cure process ? hope you can help
best regards <3

If your taking about quick drying the few buds you've clipped. Then you just stick them in a paper bag for a couple days opening it up for fresh air every now and then. Taste won't be what you want it but it's smoke nonetheless.

If we're taking dull on harvest drying process, then once you've clipped them and trimmed it up. I hang them up on a string by the stems or clothespin. Ideal Humidity is 60%, anything below 50% and you'll dry too fast and get poor taste and aroma. Over 70% you're running the risk of getting mold. So if you have a way of controlling Humidity then you're golden. It should take at least 5 days to dry enough to where you can hear the "snap" of the stems when you bend it to break it. This is when you know it's time for the jars. Once in the jars, simply burp the jars everyday and enjoy the cured buds at your leisure.
Hope that helps...

Stinky Snid
Cheers

 

[Stinky Snid]

Here's one about general feeding schedules for autos but also applies to photos.

Quick question for you please if you could.....Regarding my autos, what feed Schedual should I follow? I was under the impression that those plants go directly into the flower state from seedling. That is about where my two autos are now maybe even a little past. 8/25 they sprouted and they're getting big fast. Thank you for any insight my friend.

As it goes for photoperiods the same goes for autos. You just have to watch for the right signs. I feed 1/4 strength veg nutes to my seedlings that are over a week old. Then it's straight veg nutes until I see the first pistils/preflowers. At which point I continue veg nutes and add a touch of bloom to help later in the flower phase. Veg nutes stop and bloom nutes start when the vertical growth had stopped. Once preflowers show it will stretch just like a photoperiod plant, once that stretch is done it's bloom nutes all the way. If you want a faster change over you can start bloom nutes as soon as you see pistils, this may reduce the amount of stretch and therefore overall size if that what your space requires. But I go with bigger is better... Right? Hope that helps, don't be shy to ask this type of question in my journal, that way others will benefit from the discussion too.

And also one about pre harvest flushing, when to do it...

hi bro , how do i know when to start my two week flush to clean the flowers ?

I go by trichomes. Once I see 10% amber trichomes then I flush and give water only till I see maybe 30%-50% amber. For photoperiods is easier you can more or less predict when they're two weeks from scheduled harvest. Autos however I go stritcly by checking trichs. If you've got no loupe or Microscope I would do it when you see nearly no white pistils, all brown/orange and retracting into the buds. That's my best description, hope that helps.

Stinky Snid
Cheers

 

[Stinky Snid]

Hi, thank you for the post about the water buckets. I did take a look at your journal. So one bucket has water you keep in it for 24 hours and then after 24 you put it in the second bucket with airstones that keep bubbling the water. Then you take the water from the bucket you have the airstones in and you use that water to make you nutrient water?

How do you get the water from the bucket to your gallon water jug? Or do you somehow mix the nutes into the bucket then pour on plants? I'm just trying to understand each step.
How long is the water allowed to be mixed with nutes and set aside before you can feed your plants? While it's set aside does it still have oxygen in the water even though it's no longer being bubbled with an airstone? How quickly does the bubbled airstoned water has to be used after removing it from the airstone?

Thank you for your help

From the airstone bucket I use a smaller bucket or pitcher depending on the pants intake. If you want to keep the nutrient solution for a couple days and mix more at a time to be more efficient. Then it's advisable to put an air stone in the solution aswell. This will keep the the solution stirred and oxygenated.
But if your like me, I just use a pitcher to transfer to a smaller bucket, mix my solution and feed my plants immediately. This way all the oxygen is still in the water. (putting an stone in the solution will dirty the Stone and require cleaning to prevent algae)
I'm not sure how fast the oxygen escapes the water naturally. Hope that was sufficient info to get my point across. Glad to help, let me know if there's anything else...

Stinky Snid
Cheers

 

[Stinky Snid]

Here's a little question I had posed to Sweet sue regarding CBD plant harvests.

Hey Sue, wasn't sure who to ask but I figured I'd get a quick and educated response. I'm about to chop my cbd plant, is there anything special that needs to be done? Is it worth trimming and all that if it's going to be made into butter or oil? Or can I just dry the whole plant on the stalk and mince it up before the butter/oil process begins.

Thank you for everything you do around here, my dear.

You'll get the best cannabinoid profile if you use the whole plant. Remove the necrotic fans and let everything else hang to dry for at least five days. It takes a bit longer for the plant to dry like this because air movement around the buds is restricted by the leaves, but it will dry. You want 15% moisture or less when you begin processing.
I strip the bark off the thicker stem and branches to keep the bulk out and make the ratio more bud than chunky stem, but the branches I keep in get chopped loosely. I don't stress much about it. Small but not powdery. You want mostly bud, so if you're weighing it out shoot for 80-90% bud and 10-20% everything else. Use all the sugar leaves. The trichomes on the sugar leaves are actually more potent than those on the buds in many cases, or at least that's what Doc keeps telling us, and he should know.
You're welcome. How could I do any less?

Stinky Snid
Cheers

 

[Lady G2HM]

Wow amazing thread, I need this kind of reminder. Most excellent job!..

 

[Pennywise]

Subbed


Keep em frosty ya'll

 

[Stinky Snid]

Wow amazing thread, I need this kind of reminder. Most excellent job!

My first and brightest student. Glad you have subscribed my dear, I'll be posting more and more as I find questions from throughout my journey here. Enjoy all the brain tingling info to come...

Subbed
Keep em frosty ya'll

Pennywise, thanks for joining

KiG cheers

 

[OldSchool 64]

I like it..things lookin good for ya snid !!
Good luck ☆

 

[Integrum Stultus]

Ask Stinky Snid Anything - Sharing Knowledge 420Style

Hey Stinky, what can I do to pack on more weight and have more full fruit at harvest time instead of small nugs spaced out on a long stem? Or is it in the genetics and/or strain? This is my Cherry girl:

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[Stinky Snid]

I like it..things lookin good for ya snid !!
Good luck ☆

oldschool I do hope you could be a part of this thread, because I know I'm not up to the challenge of the vast array of questions that may arise. If you see anything that I've missed and that you could add please do. I'd be grateful for all the knowledge brother

Hey Stinky, what can I do to pack on more weight and have more full fruit at harvest time instead of small nugs spaced out on a long stem? Or is it in the genetics and/or strain? This is my Cherry girl:

At this point in the grow, you could try some back building. This a technique where you clip a minuscule amount from the top of the buds. Usually around mid flower. This helps the buds to bulk up and stack together in many cases. Below is a link to Light Addict's thread that shows the specifics on how to do it.
Light Addict's back building guude
Strains grown will surely have they're characteristics to their genealogy. Sativas will have much more spacing between nodes and result in tall and nug filled Colas.

Controlling the Stretch is probably the most important way to keep things in check. Even with a sativa dominant strain you can keep things rather compact. As you can see with my current Haze plant below. She's approaching week 5 since flip, week 3 of flower. Most of the Stretch is complete now and any vertical growth is elongating stems rather than new growth. I anticipate only a few more inches of additional height for her.

By controlling the Stretch, I mean that you have to keep things levelled as best you can. For example, if you have a couple Colas that are stretching more for whatever reason. You will need to raise your light to compensate. Thus leaving less light for the lower Colas and buds, resulting in more stretch in those. So adequate lighting is also a factor... But it's all about vegetation training practices and the controlling the Stretch.
You can also use a method called tip spreading. This is where you are manually opening up growth tips to expose the next leaf set to light and therefore signalling for the next one to commence . Light addict has a guide for that aswell. Check it out too...
LA's really quick guide to Tip Spreading for node stacking!

Also introduction of bloom nutes early in preflower is a good way to tighten up node production... I'm sure I'll think of more but that's it for now. Hope it tantalized your training thoughts.

Stinky Snid
cheers

 

[Integrum Stultus]

230a local time, lights just came on 20 minutes ago. Im stoned layin here thinking bout getting in the tent. Thanks. .....


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[ohioboy]

Can I add these to my normal 3 part General hydroponics nutes or would it be to much?

Ohioboy can't stop!! Ohioboy With Fast Buds - Let's See How Fast Exactly

 

[Stinky Snid]

Can I add these to my normal 3 part General hydroponics nutes or would it be to much?

Since you're GO line covers all the required elements needed for you plants to thrive. I don't think it'll result In any extra benefits in the end. The concentrations are very very light in NPK, although it does have lots of micronutrients and microbes. My advice would be to hold off with SnS stuff. You can use for a project plant, outdoors or in, to see how well this stuff works. The only down side in see from that package is that you're feeding daily. How are the pest and disease control products from SnS doing. That was the main reason I "suggested" that for you. But with minuscule concentration levels in that powder I'd maybe top dress a few times in flower at most, and same for veg. Just enough to add the micronutes and microbes.

I remember when you had miracle grow, this stuff would have definitely been beneficial then. Or this stuff could have used supplementation too...

But I have faith in the general organics/hydro line. They've got all the bases covered. So save that SnS stuff for a special project, imo

Stinky Snid
cheers

 

[HigherTheHigh]

hi snid

just wondering what you class as first weeks of flowering, switched these northern lights over 30/12/16 to 12/12

im classing these 4 weeks old tomorrow, am i right for putting that age on them? sorry the photos are not good but the pre-fruits are around 15-20mm in diameter.

thank you

 

[ohioboy]

Since you're GO line covers all the required elements needed for you plants to thrive. I don't think it'll result In any extra benefits in the end. The concentrations are very very light in NPK, although it does have lots of micronutrients and microbes. My advice would be to hold off with SnS stuff. You can use for a project plant, outdoors or in, to see how well this stuff works. The only down side in see from that package is that you're feeding daily. How are the pest and disease control products from SnS doing. That was the main reason I "suggested" that for you. But with minuscule concentration levels in that powder I'd maybe top dress a few times in flower at most, and same for veg. Just enough to add the micronutes and microbes.

I remember when you had miracle grow, this stuff would have definitely been beneficial then. Or this stuff could have used supplementation too...

But I have faith in the general organics/hydro line. They've got all the bases covered. So save that SnS stuff for a special project, imo

Stinky Snid
cheers

Thank you brother and ya know what after the miracle grow before the gh I bought that same exact jacks your showing lmao great minds right? Lol thanks for the advice one thing it's a liquid not a powder does that change things?


Ohioboy can't stop!! Ohioboy With Fast Buds - Let's See How Fast Exactly

 

[MiOutdoorsman]

Hi snid, I have some photos that are starting to show some Amber trichomes so I'm going to start my flush. I've been using r.o. water with calmag as I had issues without it early on. I assume I can drop the calmag during flush? Thanks in advance

 

[Stinky Snid]

Hi snid, I have some photos that are starting to show some Amber trichomes so I'm going to start my flush. I've been using r.o. water with calmag as I had issues without it early on. I assume I can drop the calmag during flush? Thanks in advance

For flushing any plants for pre harvest, you want to use straight water. You can use whatever water you have at your disposal. RO or distilled water will help draw out the some of the nutrients and stuff. But tap water is much cheaper and works just fine. Make sure to use 3 times the amount of water as your pots volume. I like to go until I get 150% runoff, where I fill a bucket the same size as my pot 1.5 times. There are also clearing solutions on the market that will augment the flushing by removing more of the nutes (florakleen, final phase etc..) simply add these to your flush water and it's a big benefit. As for Ph, it's not important. At this point you want your plants to not suck up anymore nutes and if the Ph is off them you've technically blocked the nutrient uptake. So in the end there's no need for calmag...
Mid flower or veg flushing is a totally different animal. Thanks for the question Mi, hope my answer is adequate.

Stinky Snid
cheers

 

[Stinky Snid]

hi snid

just wondering what you class as first weeks of flowering, switched these northern lights over 30/12/16 to 12/12

im classing these 4 weeks old tomorrow, am i right for putting that age on them? sorry the photos are not good but the pre-fruits are around 15-20mm in diameter.

thank you

Two things determine flower phase commencement. They are bud formation and vertical growth. Once you flip to 12/12 it's going to take a while for them to switch their "mojo" to producing pistils enough to form buds. In my records I put down day I flipped, then I watch for bud formation at the very tops and Mark that day too. Usually after 10-14 days of 12/12 they will be formed and the flower process begins. But for ease of entry I only use the flip day to count my flowering time and I'll go over the seedbank harvest window by 2 weeks.
This undoubtedly coincides with the vertical stretch. As soon as they are flipped they will begin to stretch. This stretch is probably your main indicator that official flowering has begun. This stretch will last about two weeks aswell and is dependent on your environmental conditions. (light, temps and humidity) it's fairly obvious when they stop rising up, this is what your looking for. Once vertical growth has peaked and small little buds like the ones you have are formed you are officially in flower phase.
So in your case I'd put you more like week two of flower according to seedbank harvest windows. But honestly it doesn't matter much, the important thing is checking trichomes for certainty. It's the only way to be sure...

Stinky Snid
cheers

 

[HigherTheHigh]

Two things determine flower phase commencement. They are bud formation and vertical growth. Once you flip to 12/12 it's going to take a while for them to switch their "mojo" to producing pistils enough to form buds. In my records I put down day I flipped, then I watch for bud formation at the very tops and Mark that day too. Usually after 10-14 days of 12/12 they will be formed and the flower process begins. But for ease of entry I only use the flip day to count my flowering time and I'll go over the seedbank harvest window by 2 weeks.
This undoubtedly coincides with the vertical stretch. As soon as they are flipped they will begin to stretch. This stretch is probably your main indicator that official flowering has begun. This stretch will last about two weeks aswell and is dependent on your environmental conditions. (light, temps and humidity) it's fairly obvious when they stop rising up, this is what your looking for. Once vertical growth has peaked and small little buds like the ones you have are formed you are officially in flower phase.
So in your case I'd put you more like week two of flower according to seedbank harvest windows. But honestly it doesn't matter much, the important thing is checking trichomes for certainty. It's the only way to be sure...

Stinky Snid
cheers

thank you, so am i looking good for 2 weeks in flower do you think? this is my 3rd grow, LST trained them, well tried.

had no dead leaves or mould throughout growth.

my feed schedule is to 1L (3.2ml each a+b) (2ml B-52) (2ml big bud) am i right for doing that & is there anything i can top up on ML to 1L to get a better yield? i also have overdrive

thanks snid!