That's funny shit right there lol
Celt’s 2020 Grows
- Thread starter The Celt
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Smeegol
Well-Known Member
Very interesting cheers....Good day all,
As promised, today I start the process of self pollination of my 1 remaining Pineapple Chunk using gibberellic acid.
Note: for those that don’t know, gibberellic acid (GA3) is a natural plant hormone (gibberellin). It has many functions in plant growth but the one that concerns us in this process is gender expression. Depending on the concentration, it can cause male flowers on a female plant, turn male flowers into female flowers or prevent flowering all together. It’s is also safe for human consumption (within reason), it is what produce growers use to produce “seedless” fruits.
To produce pollen sacs on a female plant, we want a concentration of 100 - 200 ppm, at this concentration, it blocks the production of ethylene (another hormone) required to produce female flowers.
10g package of GA3
Mixing:
I aim for a concentration of between 150 and 180 ppm which means I need to dissolve 150 to 180 mg per litre of water (distilled), but first it needs to be dissolved into alcohol as it does not ready dissolve well in water.
As it requires very little spray to initiate the change, I only mix 500ml at a time.
0.08g or 80mg GA3
As you can see, 80 mg is not much sitting on a paper beside a 10ml bottle.
After weighing, add the powder to 5 - 10ml of isopropyl or ethanol and shake. It will dissolve slowly, mine took about an hour as my iso is kept in the freezer. Add this to 500ml of distilled water and shake to thoroughly mix. You now have 500ml of 160ppm GA3 solution.
You will only use about 30ml of this solution but not sure yet how well it keeps, can’t find a definitive answer, but I still have the last batch I mixed and will be using it on a few tops to see if it is still active.
IMPORTANT: store in the fridge in a dark container, light and heat does degrade GA3 solutions.
That was the hard part of the process, next, the easy part -
Using GA3 to promote male flowers and self pollination
- pick and mark the tops you want to convert - those tops will stretch madly so pick shorter tops if able
- for 5 consecutive days, spray the marked tops LIGHTLY - do not drench
- after the 5 days, switch to your flowering schedule
Pretty simple really, just keep in mind that GA3 causes major stretching in the tops it is applied to.
Within 2 wks, you should start to see pollen sacs form and they will continue to form on the sprayed tops throughout flowering. You will also have female flowers and seeds develop on those tops, but the sacs will only form on the tops sprayed.
Just as an aside about the other uses of GA3 that may be of interest to other growers:
GA3 solutions can also break dormancy in old seed or hard to sprout seed.
Use a concentration of 500ppm and soak the seed for about 12hrs in the solution, if they are still viable, this will break the dormancy, just remember GA3 causes massive stretch, even in seedlings. Be prepared to support the young stems and when repotting, sink them deeper and cover much of the stem.
RC
Smeegol
Well-Known Member
Ok, as motivation struck, time for a quick update on plants and plans going forward, then back to drywall and painting lol
First up, the seed tent with the PC momma/daddy
As the pictures show, the treated tops way out stretch the untreated, just like they were on steroids and will continue to do so although at a slower pace now.
Now that the major stretch is over, I have turned the light up to 430w, the max I will drive it. This gives us about 26500 Lux. With conversion to PPFD, we get 464 PPFD and a DLI of 20. This is actually low for what I would like in flower but we can increase the DLI (more important than PPFD) by now increasing the day length, quite safe after the initial 2 weeks of 12/12.
By increasing the day length to 14hrs, the DLI goes up to 23.4, still not optimal but will grow nice bud, or in this case seed.
As the plants flower, and get closer to the light, those numbers will near double, giving us more usable light than most outdoor grown plants receive in sept/oct here in North America.
I know many will have no idea where I got these numbers, and may not even know what some of them mean, have no fear, in the near future, I will give a full rundown of how to determine what your plants are receiving for light. And you don’t need an expensive Quantum meter to measure it, a cheap simple light meter that goes to a minimum of 100k Lux will work just fine. My light meter on my multimeter only goes to 40000 Lux, so I bought a cheapie on Amazon for $25 that goes to 200000 Lux, doubtful I will ever max it out.
Next up, the 20 Blue Dream girls.
These girls are near ready to be potted up but are going to be in these pots for, hopefully, not over a week more. Aside from finding time to finish building the new pots, the soil still needs about a week to cook, as well as , the parts for the auto watering system are still lost at sea somewhere. Damn slow boat from China. Parts are cheap from China, but don’t expect timely delivery.
Speaking of pots, I had been saying I was using 14g pots, that had been my plan, but had decided to shorten them by 3” (75mm) making them about 11.5gallon. Every inch counts in tent grows lol.
And lastly, the soil.
Last time I posted the temps, it’s above somewhere, I believe they were in the 40s C 110s F. Since then I put a temp probe in the centre so I wouldn’t have to keep turning it, something I avoid while it’s cooking hot.
For the past week, the internal temps have held about 38 C (100 F). The micro herd were feasting like Romans. Yesterday the temp had dropped about 10 degrees C and this morning we are at :
That’s about 70 F.
The feast is nearing its end and the soil will be ready to use in a few days. Once the temperature holds stable at ambient temperature, the gluttonous feast is over, some of the micro herd have died and gave up their lives to make nutrients available to our plants, others have gone for a nap and will wake and feed more as needed by the soil, yet others just continue munching away.
Point to remember, once established, the micro herd is always there, feeding, crapping, sleeping and dying, all the while feeding your plants. No need for additional nutrients, and many commercial fertilizers will actually kill off your micro herd.
At some point during this Journal, I will show you have to make organic liquid feeds for your micro herd and plants. ACCTs are one way and help to increase the micro herd population, but there are others that you can easily make at home with nothing more than a few bottles and organic matter and can be tailored to the plant stage.
That’s it for today guys, keep it green
I actually grow mostly in coco mr.Celt but I do enjoy organic just the physical part to organic growing kills my bad back so I stick to coco for ease of growing.....
- Thread starter
- #124
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Making organic soil is a LOT of work, but if your body can handle it, it is easy as pie and the rewards are awesome.
Don’t really have problems with my back, but suffer nerve issues with my neck and lower spin that cause pain an numbness elsewhere, and is the reason I started growing/using initially
Smeegol
Well-Known Member
I got sucky discs in my spine......
, nah I've got degenerative disc disease unfortunately and osteoporosis in the lower spine l5-s1 and that's my reason for growing and keeping myself sane...hahaYa the physical work is a total killer for me, 5kg is my carry limit after that my back makes its protests known so I cart the girls round in a wheelbarrow...
- Thread starter
- #126
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Not sure what part of SA you and some of the others are in, but sometime in the next few years, I will be visiting SA with my sis-in-law and may try to hunt you guys there up
Strainyourbrain
Well-Known Member
Morning all
Another day of lockdown due to the Corona virus.
I am keeping tabs on your process with gibberellic acid, although I intend to use Coloidial Silver.
I am still looking for a viable strong female plant to treat
As soon as I feel I have one I will start posting progress in my thread
Your nursery is jam packed (jealous me)
Apart from my space issues, this would put me in a permanent state facility if found at my place of residence.
Hehe
Have an awesome day friends
Another day of lockdown due to the Corona virus.
I am keeping tabs on your process with gibberellic acid, although I intend to use Coloidial Silver.
I am still looking for a viable strong female plant to treat
As soon as I feel I have one I will start posting progress in my thread
Your nursery is jam packed (jealous me)
Apart from my space issues, this would put me in a permanent state facility if found at my place of residence.
Hehe
Have an awesome day friends
I got DDD myself amongst a ton of other shit, now it is in my neck alot .I got sucky discs in my spine......
Ya the physical work is a total killer for me, 5kg is my carry limit after that my back makes its protests known so I cart the girls round in a wheelbarrow...
Hey Celt great journal you have a lot going on on multiple fronts A good way to keep busy in a beautiful garden! Should be lots to pick up here, I’m pulling up a chair!
- Thread starter
- #130
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Welcome @DeeCee112 ,
Always lots going on in my gardens, but definitely no expert, I just like to try new ways to push these girls and see how far I can push them when I have time to play lol and lately, I have more time than I need lol
Always lots going on in my gardens, but definitely no expert, I just like to try new ways to push these girls and see how far I can push them when I have time to play lol and lately, I have more time than I need lol
Growing cannabis is a great way to make use of that extra time!
- Thread starter
- #132
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Hey all, time for an update
Its day 21 post flip and the BD girls are doing well despite the on going battle with gnats and thrips. I am gaining the upper hand in that battle but the war is still ongoing.
Here they are waking up
As you know, I use a home brewed organic super soil where the girls get nothing but water start to finish aside from the rare times I can find the time and motivate my lazy ass into making AACTs which is not likely to happen this grow as soon I will be prepping beds for my outside grow and I am still in renovation mode on the house. I wanted to show that even in highly rich LOS soils you can get slight nute burn which can be seen in this next picture.
Just the very tips of the leaves, but this tells me they are pushing the limits of nutrient uptake which is great.
Next up, the seed tent which is not likely to see seed production this round as I have my Gorrila Shizzle Auto in there to see what she does.
Nursery is full so there are BD seedlings everywhere, here, in the nursery and in front of my living room window lol
Nursery
That’s all for now folks, tune in next week for more
Its day 21 post flip and the BD girls are doing well despite the on going battle with gnats and thrips. I am gaining the upper hand in that battle but the war is still ongoing.
Here they are waking up
As you know, I use a home brewed organic super soil where the girls get nothing but water start to finish aside from the rare times I can find the time and motivate my lazy ass into making AACTs which is not likely to happen this grow as soon I will be prepping beds for my outside grow and I am still in renovation mode on the house. I wanted to show that even in highly rich LOS soils you can get slight nute burn which can be seen in this next picture.
Just the very tips of the leaves, but this tells me they are pushing the limits of nutrient uptake which is great.
Next up, the seed tent which is not likely to see seed production this round as I have my Gorrila Shizzle Auto in there to see what she does.
Nursery is full so there are BD seedlings everywhere, here, in the nursery and in front of my living room window lol
Nursery
That’s all for now folks, tune in next week for more
WOW! that is all I have to say Hell yeah brotherHey all, time for an update
Its day 21 post flip and the BD girls are doing well despite the on going battle with gnats and thrips. I am gaining the upper hand in that battle but the war is still ongoing.
Here they are waking up
As you know, I use a home brewed organic super soil where the girls get nothing but water start to finish aside from the rare times I can find the time and motivate my lazy ass into making AACTs which is not likely to happen this grow as soon I will be prepping beds for my outside grow and I am still in renovation mode on the house. I wanted to show that even in highly rich LOS soils you can get slight nute burn which can be seen in this next picture.
Just the very tips of the leaves, but this tells me they are pushing the limits of nutrient uptake which is great.
Next up, the seed tent which is not likely to see seed production this round as I have my Gorrila Shizzle Auto in there to see what she does.
Nursery is full so there are BD seedlings everywhere, here, in the nursery and in front of my living room window lol
Nursery
That’s all for now folks, tune in next week for more
- Thread starter
- #134
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Ok, so a little update on the PC that was in the seed tent. After drying her and hunting for seed, I have only found 9 and only a couple I would say were actually mature.
I have sent 6 to my friend who gave me the original plant and kept the 3 poorest looking ones and trying to germinate them. The bud was then turned into some beautiful hash
As to why this run with Ms PC was a failure and the previous run with Blue Dream was a success, at this point, the reason is beyond me. You’ve probably seen a few conversations between @Weaselcracker and I about Pineapple Chunk phenos and how they are contrary to work with but we keep them because the smoke is awesome. It may be strain/pheno related as to why she didn’t produce, not sure. She was an odd one in that the pistils retracted like she was being pollinated and the bud structure changed from normal, but no seed developed. She also took longer to show sacs compared to the Blue Dream, 4wks compared to 2 for the Blue Dream. Then at 11 weeks in, she started to act as thought she was trying to reveg, which struck me odd.
Now as she showed signs of wanting to reveg, I cut the biggest bud and left some smaller bud, put her on the floor in the nursery under 24hr light to she if she will survive.
My hope is that she will either reveg, or one of these seeds will crack so I can keep the lineage going and give her another shot at seed production. I will however, do things differently with her and other strains going forward because of this failure.
Next run, rather than try and self a single plant, I will take clones and have the one that I treat for pollen production, in flower for 3 weeks before I introduce the seed bearers. My guess is that although she was producing pollen sacs, the pollen wasn’t viable earlier on. I can think of no other reason she didn’t produce for me.
I do have some pollen saved from her and am testing it’s viability on a Blue Dream bud that is 3 weeks into flower. If it was viable, then I will get some BD x PC fem cross in a few weeks lol
For now, that is about all I can say about Ms PC. If she revegs, or a seed pops, there WILL be another run of her in the seed tent, fingers crossed.
I have sent 6 to my friend who gave me the original plant and kept the 3 poorest looking ones and trying to germinate them. The bud was then turned into some beautiful hash
As to why this run with Ms PC was a failure and the previous run with Blue Dream was a success, at this point, the reason is beyond me. You’ve probably seen a few conversations between @Weaselcracker and I about Pineapple Chunk phenos and how they are contrary to work with but we keep them because the smoke is awesome. It may be strain/pheno related as to why she didn’t produce, not sure. She was an odd one in that the pistils retracted like she was being pollinated and the bud structure changed from normal, but no seed developed. She also took longer to show sacs compared to the Blue Dream, 4wks compared to 2 for the Blue Dream. Then at 11 weeks in, she started to act as thought she was trying to reveg, which struck me odd.
Now as she showed signs of wanting to reveg, I cut the biggest bud and left some smaller bud, put her on the floor in the nursery under 24hr light to she if she will survive.
My hope is that she will either reveg, or one of these seeds will crack so I can keep the lineage going and give her another shot at seed production. I will however, do things differently with her and other strains going forward because of this failure.
Next run, rather than try and self a single plant, I will take clones and have the one that I treat for pollen production, in flower for 3 weeks before I introduce the seed bearers. My guess is that although she was producing pollen sacs, the pollen wasn’t viable earlier on. I can think of no other reason she didn’t produce for me.
I do have some pollen saved from her and am testing it’s viability on a Blue Dream bud that is 3 weeks into flower. If it was viable, then I will get some BD x PC fem cross in a few weeks lol
For now, that is about all I can say about Ms PC. If she revegs, or a seed pops, there WILL be another run of her in the seed tent, fingers crossed.
- Thread starter
- #135
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Well I just received a nice surprise. I ordered some high end heatsink paste for the nursery LED I am building. Ordered it weeks ago. It arrived at the Purolator depot about 45 miles from my house 2 weeks ago today, the day it was supposed to be delivered here. Wednesday pas, still having not received it or any updates on its whereabouts, I talked to Amazon and told them that was unacceptable and they refunded my money. Then just a few minutes ago, I received my package by another courier lol
Macdaddy420
Well-Known Member
Hey Celt, I just finished reading through your journal! I’ve just started a pheno hunt myself with some seeds I got last season. I’d love your advice on it. I haven’t got anything above ground yet but hopefully in the next few days.
- Thread starter
- #137
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Do you know a specific pheno you are looking for, and what strain?
Macdaddy420
Well-Known Member
I have about 25 seeds from a clone from last outdoor season I crossed with a male from an autoflower. I have a journal outlining the strains involved.
I don’t really know to much about pheno hunting to say I have exact things in mind.
- Thread starter
- #139
The Celt
Well-Known Member
Ah ok, that makes hunting harder but not impossible.
Since papa was an auto, 1 in 4 seeds are likely to be autos as well while the other 3 will be photos. If you are lucky, the autos will grow faster then their photo siblings making them easy to identify.
Gonna go have a look at your last year’s grow and see what they looked like, might be able to give you better ideas than just generalized guesses lol
Since papa was an auto, 1 in 4 seeds are likely to be autos as well while the other 3 will be photos. If you are lucky, the autos will grow faster then their photo siblings making them easy to identify.
Gonna go have a look at your last year’s grow and see what they looked like, might be able to give you better ideas than just generalized guesses lol
- Thread starter
- #140
The Celt
Well-Known Member
OK, so we are dealing with 4 known strains, one of which is of unknown parentage.
Therefore we can work with the known parentage of Gorilla Glue, Blueberry and what little I could find on Sputnik (I know spelling lol)
So now, you need to think back to how each parent grew last year, unless you are searching for breeding purposes, then the main factors that will concern you are smell and effect.
As a starting point, watch them in weeks 3 and 4 to see which ones are the most vigorous as these tend to be the best producers. If you intend to breed some, this will apply to males as well, and be sure to have well labelled clones of each because you are going to have to grow them out to see what ones truly interest you.
For me this round, the pheno hunt is more to see if I get all phenos from self breed seed and I am wanting/hoping I will find the Sativa dominate one I had from the first round of boughten seed.
There were 3 that round and all were good, but the Sativa dom one was outstanding
Therefore we can work with the known parentage of Gorilla Glue, Blueberry and what little I could find on Sputnik (I know spelling lol)
So now, you need to think back to how each parent grew last year, unless you are searching for breeding purposes, then the main factors that will concern you are smell and effect.
As a starting point, watch them in weeks 3 and 4 to see which ones are the most vigorous as these tend to be the best producers. If you intend to breed some, this will apply to males as well, and be sure to have well labelled clones of each because you are going to have to grow them out to see what ones truly interest you.
For me this round, the pheno hunt is more to see if I get all phenos from self breed seed and I am wanting/hoping I will find the Sativa dominate one I had from the first round of boughten seed.
There were 3 that round and all were good, but the Sativa dom one was outstanding