Emmie's Berry D'licious 2019 True Living Organic: No AACT, SCROG, COB, SuperSoil Production Grow & Seed Run

[SQl2kGuy]

Bloom Cycle! Day 1
I almost called it yesterday at day 9 of transition, but day 10 really started the blooming process in earnest. Please take special note that I have waited 10 full days of transition since the flip. I think I can pretty much guarantee that harvest will be when the breeder suggests it will be, and I predict right now that I will be pulling the weekend before Thanksgiving 8-9 weeks from today.

Great work @Emilya!

I have been confused a bit by the breeder dates ... and I have come to understand that when the breeder says 8 weeks of flowering time ... this means 8 weeks from first pistels ... and this is the "earliest possible harvest date".

The actual harvest may actually be later based on pheno right?

We would start checking the pistels at week 8 right?

 

[Emilya Green]

Great work @Emilya!

I have been confused a bit by the breeder dates ... and I have come to understand that when the breeder says 8 weeks of flowering time ... this means 8 weeks from first pistels ... and this is the "earliest possible harvest date".

The actual harvest may actually be later based on pheno right?

We would start checking the pistels at week 8 right?

yes, this is how I understand things to work, except that I am checking trichomes at that point, and know that is what you meant to say.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

yes, this is how I understand things to work, except that I am checking trichomes at that point, and know that is what you meant to say.

Okay ... I'm glad I got that part right

And I know we chatted a bit about this before ... but if the flowering time is 8 weeks for a photoperiod ... then should I go full-on bloom nutes at week 6 or maybe week 7?

And here is my real burden with dates ... autoflowers ... grrr ... to the point where I just don't want to grow them anymore.

Recently our family picked out Dark Devil Auto because we love purple. Well .. it turned out that 5 of the 7 seven seeds wouldn't germinate ... and the others ... well the tap root just kept spiraling like a pig's tail!

Then ... before the harvest date ... the two DDA plants just up and died .. they were so tiny ... the yield was so tiny ... it was a waste of time ... and a major disappointment for us.

The other autoflowers I grew ... they went to 42 days after getting pistels ... and the my friend's autoflowers went to 56 days after getting pistels ... and the trichomes and possible THC was low.

I just have no clue how to plan my garden with plants that are so unpredictable.

I wonder if it's the genetics?

Or if there is something very different from photoperiods and autoflowers because of cross breeding and disrupting the natural performance of the photoperiod?

Do you have any suggestions for autoflowers in general? Maybe I'm overreacting?

 

[Emilya Green]

Okay ... I'm glad I got that part right

And I know we chatted a bit about this before ... but if the flowering time is 8 weeks for a photoperiod ... then should I go full-on bloom nutes at week 6 or maybe week 7?

And here is my real burden with dates ... autoflowers ... grrr ... to the point where I just don't want to grow them anymore.

Recently our family picked out Dark Devil Auto because we love purple. Well .. it turned out that 5 of the 7 seven seeds wouldn't germinate ... and the others ... well the tap root just kept spiraling like a pig's tail!

Then ... before the harvest date ... the two DDA plants just up and died .. they were so tiny ... the yield was so tiny ... it was a waste of time ... and a major disappointment for us.

The other autoflowers I grew ... they went to 42 days after getting pistels ... and the my friend's autoflowers went to 56 days after getting pistels ... and the trichomes and possible THC was low.

I just have no clue how to plan my garden with plants that are so unpredictable.

I wonder if it's the genetics?

Or if there is something very different from photoperiods and autoflowers because of cross breeding and disrupting the natural performance of the photoperiod?

Do you have any suggestions for autoflowers in general? Maybe I'm overreacting?

then should I go full-on bloom nutes at week 6 or maybe week 7?

You should be at full on bloom nutes from week 4 to 7 already. Then you should do a 3x flush and immediately follow that up with more full on nutes until the end.
I am not a fan of autos. I have never had a need for that sort of speed while giving up quality. The only justification I can see for growing an auto is to run them outside during our short growing season so as to not have to worry about what the sun is doing. I have never given into the hype or the pretty pictures and never have minded the extra 2 weeks it takes to grow a photo to its quickest conclusion, nor minded the abilities to grow much bigger photo plants or to produce seeds if I want them.
So many people don't understand that autos are hyped to be such fast growing plants, but when they say 42 days, they are not talking from seed, they mean from the time it starts blooming. Lots of people don't understand and pull the autos way before they are finished, and get a bad growing experience as a result. I am not a fan of the whole thing.
Then as you say, there is something different. The Ruderalis gene that is added to a perfectly normal strain so as to produce an auto is inferior. You are cross breeding to ditch weed. Nope... not a fan. Give me the real strains please. I don't think you are overreacting.

 

[SQl2kGuy]

You should be at full on bloom nutes from week 4 to 7 already. Then you should do a 3x flush and immediately follow that up with more full on nutes until the end.
I am not a fan of autos. I have never had a need for that sort of speed while giving up quality. The only justification I can see for growing an auto is to run them outside during our short growing season so as to not have to worry about what the sun is doing. I have never given into the hype or the pretty pictures and never have minded the extra 2 weeks it takes to grow a photo to its quickest conclusion, nor minded the abilities to grow much bigger photo plants or to produce seeds if I want them.
So many people don't understand that autos are hyped to be such fast growing plants, but when they say 42 days, they are not talking from seed, they mean from the time it starts blooming. Lots of people don't understand and pull the autos way before they are finished, and get a bad growing experience as a result. I am not a fan of the whole thing.
Then as you say, there is something different. The Ruderalis gene that is added to a perfectly normal strain so as to produce an auto is inferior. You are cross breeding to ditch weed. Nope... not a fan. Give me the real strains please. I don't think you are overreacting.

I can't begin to thank you enough for that information!

I can honestly say I will never grow an autoflower again ... and now I understand how I was duped by a marketing campaign ... possibly based on a generation wanting everything really fast and now ... information now ... fast-food now ... maybe ...

Although ... if they keep putting research into it based on the demand for speed ... then maybe the quality will catch up.

For soil ... I will follow the Fox Farm schedules ...

Unfortunately, ... I didn't quite get what you meant by this ... "You should be at full on bloom nutes from week 4 to 7 already".

 

[Mr. Krip]

I also have yet to determine how the Vulx in the one container is going to change all of this. Right now I can see that this plant has caught up with the others in all ways except about an inch and a half in height and a bit of girth in the trunk. She has become as wide as the others with a large amount of buds and in many ways she seems stronger than the rest. Time will tell in this experiment, but so far the watering needs seem to be the same across all of the plants. I remember how the soil felt when I mixed it up, sort of slick, and how easy it would be for roots to move around in it. I still yet need to understand the benefits that Vulx has brought with it but so far I am not seeing a need to water less often, the plant uses what it uses. I don't use nutes, so I am not giving less of them either... but something is going on. Also, that soil does not appear to be holding any more water than the rest, as runoff happens at the same point as with the other containers. The plant is thriving though... for whatever reason... this can not be denied.

I'm seeing much of the same with two Dolatos (clones of the same mother plant) - one with Vulx and one without. Not much of a difference, so far, but the Vulxed Dolato is a couple inches shorter and I'm not noticing a difference in water retention, although, I see you started to see a difference in a later post. I'll be checking the brix levels on both again, soon, to see how the Vulxed Dolato compares to the non-Vulxed. They both started within one point of each other.

Everything is looking great here, Em!

 

[Emilya Green]

Unfortunately, ... I didn't quite get what you meant by this ... "You should be at full on bloom nutes from week 4 to 7 already".

Most nute programs really start hitting the plants hard around week 4 and then all the way through to the 7th week they have you throw everything but the kitchen sink at them... full and hard nutes all the way. This builds up a lot of salt and other debris in the soil, and a 3x flush is called for around week 7, prior to the final bud swell at the end. Once this flush is accomplished, there is no rational reason to not continue hitting the nutes hard, especially heavy PK finishing nutes for a strong finish, right up to the end.

 

[Emilya Green]

I'm seeing much of the same with two Dolatos (clones of the same mother plant) - one with Vulx and one without. Not much of a difference, so far, but the Vulxed Dolato is a couple inches shorter and I'm not noticing a difference in water retention, although, I see you started to see a difference in a later post. I'll be checking the brix levels on both again, soon, to see how the Vulxed Dolato compares to the non-Vulxed. They both started within one point of each other.

Everything is looking great here, Em!

Hi Mr. Krip! Hey, side note, but did you guys in admin notice that we just turned the 4 million message mark here at 420mag?!! A quick toast to the board and congratulations on a job well done!

I will be curious to hear about the brix levels comparison. I purposely started the Vulx in my smallest plant, hoping to see her catch up with the rest, and in all ways except time lost in topping out extra bud sites, she has done just that. The only differences I can see between the plants at this point is anecdotal, as I am only able to extrapolate what is happening at the roots by comparisons with her roommates in water usage. I don't see a big increase in water retention as compared to adding a known substance for doing just that, such as vermiculite, but there does seem to be a little bit of an added retention, maybe 10% or so. I was telling @Vulx that when I hand mixed the soil, it felt different... it felt slick. I got the impression as my hands were in this stuff that it was going to act like superglide for the roots... and that this soil would be the opposite of a soil that was tightly compacted and restricting to the roots. I envisioned the roots in that stuff to be able to be less constricted and probably able to grow in a more natural and efficient pattern. This of course is total conjecture, but something good is definitely happening down there.

 

[Mr. Krip]

did you guys in admin notice that we just turned the 4 million message mark

I did not notice that, but that's cool and I will pass it on to the team!

I don't see a big increase in water retention as compared to adding a known substance for doing just that, such as vermiculite, but there does seem to be a little bit of an added retention, maybe 10% or so

I'm not measuring input & run-off in any scientific way, so there may be some slight increase, just nothing I've really noticed. I'll let you know how we make out on the brix readings. I'm working up the motivation to take them since it's a little bit of a PITA!

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Most nute programs really start hitting the plants hard around week 4 and then all the way through to the 7th week they have you throw everything but the kitchen sink at them... full and hard nutes all the way. This builds up a lot of salt and other debris in the soil, and a 3x flush is called for around week 7, prior to the final bud swell at the end. Once this flush is accomplished, there is no rational reason to not continue hitting the nutes hard, especially heavy PK finishing nutes for a strong finish, right up to the end.

I must say this deep dive into cannabis cultivation has been both frustrating and rewarding!

Over the past three months I have come to understand the nutrient feed schedules and how it applies to the plant's growth cycle ... and what a cool process that is! I have even been able to draw parallels between the different major nutrient brand products. That's chemistry and biology ... simple facts to retain.

What I wasn't prepared for, was actually going "hands-on" with the plant ... how to feed ... when to feed ... what the plant is trying to tell us ... how to train the plant (topping, bending, quadline, ScrOG) ... and when to top ... which branch to top ... how to defoliate ... when to defoliate ... setting the light height ... managing temperature ... managing humidity ... responding to deficiencies ... pests ... reading pistels ... microscopes and trichomes ... cutting ... trimming ... drying ... managing the overwhelming smell at harvest ... etc ... !!!

Honestly ... going "hands-on" with the plant is a truly an art ... it must be learned ... we must be diligent ... careful ... and attentive.

In the beginning ... I had someone say growing cannabis is easy ... I call BS ... well maybe if you've been a farmer or a gardener before trying your first grow.

And with the help of you, @Mr. Krip , @Old Salt, @InTheShed and a few other fine folks ... I'm nearly there ... those light bulb moments are finally starting to happen.

I'm at the point where I can actually plan to make medicine ... specific THC/CBD/Terpene combinations for specific people ... and have the skill set to make sure it is high quality and solve problems on the fly.

Hmmm ... I guess I'm also at the point where I could just grow a Chemdawg plant packed with THC and ... well ... yep ... give it away as Christmas presents

You guys are awesome ... and never ever underestimate the importance of how you are helping real people like me and my girlfriend be pain free, have a good night's sleep, ... or just enjoy a Christmas present!

Alright back to my research on Rockwool and coco ... ttyl

PS ... I think I'll package some of this up for @Teddy Edwards later today ...

 

[Deketx]

Looking good!!

 

[Emilya Green]

Bloom, Day 4
Things are going well it seems, and so far no complaints about the light can be seen, even though everyone is edging up just a little bit here in the start of stretch. I have saved about an inch and a half by taking them out of the not very functional 16" drip trays, with river rocks and some cookie drying racks trying to keep them out of the water. I have taken the mess out of there and just set them on the floor of the tent, knowing that I am in the waterproof inner liner, and not too worried about a little bit of runoff. I will just water a little more slowly so as to not make a big mess. All this just to avoid unhanging the big air filter... so far I am getting away with it and I have about 20 inches before I get into the lights. Only a few of the main kolas look to be getting carried away at the moment, and maybe just supercropping them to go diagonally will be the best solution. I still need to see how bad it gets before the end of stretch.

About this time of the grow I give extra supplements, my favorites being my dandelion extract and @AngryBird 's banana juice, and having not done that yet, I now remember why I believed that to be important. Over the last week I have lost a few more leaves down low, big fan leaves turning yellow and clearly telling me that I have a mobile deficiency of some kind. Most everything and then some is in that soil... they have microbes working on it... what is the problem? Then it dawned on me. Potassium. It is so much more important than we give credit for all through the grow and that little bit of banana juice or dandelion extract here at the start of bloom filled in the gap between what is available in the soil and what the plant actually needs.

So, I cracked open my big prize of 3 lifetime supplies of Terpenator that I got for MOTM and used it. Pure soluble potash... big time K. This should fix the problem. I always wondered what that early and steady yellowing was in several of my organic grows, a problem that happened more often than not... and one that I knew was not just fading. We are on to a new leap in understanding here my friends... let's see how this works.

So things are looking great and I could see a little bit of drop in leaf angle across the lower half of all the girls this afternoon, indicating the water table is starting to get low. When I was lifting the containers out of the mess they were in I was struck by how light they were for me to be able to fairly easily lift them up and put them on the floor. These plants are already using a lot of water! Trunk sizes on all of them seem a bit larger, but that is subjective only, I have not measured any of them.

The buds are definitely going after it now and there are a lot of them. I will need to pollinate a few of the branches soon, probably tomorrow after work or Friday when I am home all day. It is supposedly going to become quite cool here in Missouri the next couple of days, and it will be a good time to shut all the fans down around the house to prepare for this delicate job.

 

[Vulx]

Will definitely need to look into this Banana Juice... Looks quite amazing!

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Bloom, Day 4
Things are going well it seems, and so far no complaints about the light can be seen, even though everyone is edging up just a little bit here in the start of stretch. I have saved about an inch and a half by taking them out of the not very functional 16" drip trays, with river rocks and some cookie drying racks trying to keep them out of the water. I have taken the mess out of there and just set them on the floor of the tent, knowing that I am in the waterproof inner liner, and not too worried about a little bit of runoff. I will just water a little more slowly so as to not make a big mess. All this just to avoid unhanging the big air filter... so far I am getting away with it and I have about 20 inches before I get into the lights. Only a few of the main kolas look to be getting carried away at the moment, and maybe just supercropping them to go diagonally will be the best solution. I still need to see how bad it gets before the end of stretch.

About this time of the grow I give extra supplements, my favorites being my dandelion extract and @AngryBird 's banana juice, and having not done that yet, I now remember why I believed that to be important. Over the last week I have lost a few more leaves down low, big fan leaves turning yellow and clearly telling me that I have a mobile deficiency of some kind. Most everything and then some is in that soil... they have microbes working on it... what is the problem? Then it dawned on me. Potassium. It is so much more important than we give credit for all through the grow and that little bit of banana juice or dandelion extract here at the start of bloom filled in the gap between what is available in the soil and what the plant actually needs.

So, I cracked open my big prize of 3 lifetime supplies of Terpenator that I got for MOTM and used it. Pure soluble potash... big time K. This should fix the problem. I always wondered what that early and steady yellowing was in several of my organic grows, a problem that happened more often than not... and one that I knew was not just fading. We are on to a new leap in understanding here my friends... let's see how this works.

So things are looking great and I could see a little bit of drop in leaf angle across the lower half of all the girls this afternoon, indicating the water table is starting to get low. When I was lifting the containers out of the mess they were in I was struck by how light they were for me to be able to fairly easily lift them up and put them on the floor. These plants are already using a lot of water! Trunk sizes on all of them seem a bit larger, but that is subjective only, I have not measured any of them.

The buds are definitely going after it now and there are a lot of them. I will need to pollinate a few of the branches soon, probably tomorrow after work or Friday when I am home all day. It is supposedly going to become quite cool here in Missouri the next couple of days, and it will be a good time to shut all the fans down around the house to prepare for this delicate job.

I agree with @Vulx ... banana juice and dandelion extract ... I have so much to learn still!

Looking incredible @Emilya!!!

 

[AngryBird]

Hi Emi
Can't promise to be in everyday, but I have always enjoyed your grows.
Your eggshell cal mag is still my favourite supplement

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Hi Emi
Can't promise to be in everyday, but I have always enjoyed your grows.
Your eggshell cal mag is still my favourite supplement

Nice ... banana juice, dandelion extract, eggshell ... how many more cool items in the list?

 

[AngryBird]

Follow the link in my signature, Emilya's turorials

 

[Vulx]

I use a link to her watering thread on my website as a primer on good soil watering etiquette. Will give the others a read as well.

Thanks @AngryBird !

 

[AngryBird]

She is a University of growing and a beautiful person , so enjoy reading

 

[SQl2kGuy]

Follow the link in my signature, Emilya's turorials

Hi @AngryBird ... nice to meet you ... although I think I may have complimented you once on one of your pictures you entered.

I will follow the link ..