Hello and Welcome
This will be the proper update I've been wanting to get to!
I have my bong packed full of last harvest, "good kid maad city" on vinyl playing in the background and nothing needing my attention for hours.
Let's get into it!
Yesterday we started
Week 6 from the flip. From the looks of things we seem to be right on track.
The buds are swelling much more than both the previous grows SIP or otherwise! The string that I tied up after supercropping has as expected helped to support branches that are starting to have issue doing so for themselves.
In order to keep the moisture content of the soil constant between 10-15 on the irrometer, I am having to water about 3 gallons of water a day.
In an effort to ensure the best results for this grow and next I have been "feeding" more than what is probably necessary. Considering the fact that the soil should have more than enough in itself to get them to harvest as is.
Being that it's the first run I figure why not just throw the cupboard at it and see what happens, but there's also some forward thinking in that I don't want these plants to deplete the bed too much before the next run.
"Feeding the Soil" ensures that we're replacing what the plants take out as they take it.
Besides the couple of teaspoons worth of powders I water in every other watering or so.
I've top dressed with worm castings as well as sprinkled bokashi and craft blend throughout the top dressing and the mulch layer.
Some waterings get much less than "feedings".
For example during these we'll call waterings as opposed to feedings I only add
The saponin gets added anytime I water. It makes the water soapy and well makes your water wet.
Because I don't have a tray underneath my bed it really helps to make sure my water is slowly absorbed into the soil and avoid it running straight through then soaking back up into the medium as runoff I can't easily remove.
I shoot for a FWF.
When I do feed it is a mixture of a couple of products
- Big 6 Micros
- Buildabloom (vegan bloom booster)
- Soy aminos (which going forward I won't be using the rest of this grow as its a 16-0-0 nitrogen source and that's obviously not needed at this stage.)
- aloe
- freeze dried coconut water
Speaking to the aminos and not using them going forward the same logic applies as not wanting to not have enough of something available now and in the future I don't want to overdue it either and load the soil with more of something that could cause an issue later in future runs.
Since were on the topic of water I did check my PPM my R/o water and the PPM was still under 20.
According to the r/o manufacturer I should have to change after 6 months... I suspect they want me to buy more filters tho
It's been since November and it hasn't changed. I checked it against multiple pens too so I know Im pretty accurate there.
I haven't checked PH Since my Return journal. I don't even think about it anymore.
Since switching to this method time giving the plants the necessities is a breeze.
Fixing any water for them watering or feed takes maybe 3 minutes.
I have measuring spoons and try to be as accurate as possible and it still doesn't take longer than 5 minutes.
This method has really made growing much simpler.
I have been staying consistent in my spraying for bugs and the results speak for themselves they really do fall back in numbers when I hit them daily.
Keep in mind I'm only spraying the top of the soil and maybe the lower branches where there are no flower or leaf material.
As far as beneficial insects go, if you look closely at the soil before disturbing it its crazy to see the little ecosystem of bugs all at work under the mulch layer.
I have noticed a couple of things this grow vs the previous 2 while running this strain.
The first 2 times I grew this strain it started purpling very early on. It also had a much sweeter smell compared to the other plants it grew next to.
Even in the jars now the buds are sugary sweet smelling and taste sweet as well with hints of cinnamon.
I shit you not its been confirmed by everyone who's smelled smoked it.
So across 2 grows its been pretty consistent. A couple of differences tho that I think may be playing a factor here.
- Method of growing is drastically different
- Feeding method is much different resulting in no deficiency to cause purpling mistaken for color expression
- Temperature outside is much warmer now so the garage stays a consistent 78* - 82*. This causes there to be no nighttime temperature swings.
It will be interesting to see how these buds mature in comparison to the last 2 grows.
So far these
- Have yet to purple (at least for now).
- Have put on much more weight, much faster (this was to be expected I knew it was a big yielder before)
- Smell much more of fuel and funk VS the sweet sugary smell they've had before
I'm also very anxious to get back to fall and winter!
I can't wait to see what these beds can do when temps and humidity stay perfect with no added effort but my oil radiator.
It's far easier and cheaper to heat the garage than cooling it!
I am aiming for another 5 weeks of flower at least. That will bring the total flower time to around 11 weeks.
It's also perfect as I have to be going out of town briefly and upon coming back will be putting a brief hold on growing for the rest of the summer, finishing up whatever grows I have going and at most vegging for the next run.
Speaking of Veg, the mother tent has had some action recently.
The PBK mother Ive been keeping was getting out of control and was SUPER tall. So a couple weeks ago I chopped her down to size and put all of her cuttings in a cup of water to save for cloning later.
I never got around to putting them in the Ghetto cloner I just left them in the cup as is and my dad maintained keeping them refilled with fresh water.
Well right as I was looking at what the future grows are going to be I worried that I only have that mother of PBK and if I lose her the strain dies with it.
I decided ok I may want to bust out the cloner just to get another cut or 2 going for insurance.
I checked on the cup and lo and behold 5 had roots!
Granted not nearly as much as I would have gotten from a rapid rooter (and that's very debatable). But with absolutely no effort at all I was able to get clones rooted and transplanted in to solo cups.
The mother by the way has bounced back from me chopping her back to nothing and looks to be ready to give another round of clones in another couple of days or so.
I had a little bit of Lush soil left in a bag so I threw in a handful of buildabloom castings, craft and kasha blend into the bag and mixed it up.
I dipped the root tips directly into root wise myco and planted them into the cups. I watered them in and placed them back into the tent to begin their journey.
After seeing these results I decided that at 2 weeks in the 4x3 it was time to trim them back a bit and take what clones I could while I could.
I do not need clones of these I have 2 mothers of each strain in the veg tent already but I figured why not put this method to the test again for S&G and see what happens.
I had to cut the plants back anyway so it was perfect timing.
Considering the break I mentioned earlier most of these will probably not be used and donated if possible.
That leads me to my final thoughts about clones and keeping of mothers. I would very much like to try my hand at chucking some pollen and backcrossing this PBK so that I can grow it again from seed instead of having to keep a mother of it.
That is planned for this winter. Gives me time to really read up on it and not go into it too blindly. I am not sure which route I want to go as of yet but I do know I need to make it happen.
I would like to transition to growing from seed but really don't want to lose this cut of the PBK that I found so this is what's next on the horizon to accomplish.
I have seen a couple of people do it successfully and will be diving back into those journals as my guide and crash course.
Other than that the garden has become a place of excitement and amazement. We're opening the tent every day and with the buds getting bigger so our our smiles!
I must say these XS1500 Pro are really surprising me in how effective they are and how well the fill this space!
For what looks to be such small lights they pack a serious punch!
I've come to expect nothing less from Vipar tho! The XS2000 in the 4x3 are out of this world bright and do an amazing job of filling the space with more than enough par. I think I'm running those at 75%
The XS1500 I have running at 100% and since super cropping to get them from practically touching the lights.
Ive noticed no burn or discoloration bleaching etc on any of the plants.
These lights have established themselves as my lights for this tent going forward!
The results speak for themselves so far!
I think that's all for now Im sure I could ramble some more about other little details here and there but as I collect those thoughts I'll detail them throughout the week given enough time.
What do you all think? How is this grow looking so far?
What would you change? What would you have done differently?
What are your opinions and feedback on reversing a plant for pollen?
How would you go about it and what would you do?
Are there any strains you're currently reversing if so how and why?
Most importantly what are your opinions on the XS 1500 Pro?
How do they stack up to your current lighting situation?
And what do you think could be improved OR is improved vs other lights out there?
Thank you for stopping by and giving me your time as always I truly appreciate it!
