Weekend Update! • Sunday, August 21st, 2011
Trouble in the Bloom Room • Harvest Time Coming Soon! • Trichome Photos!
Things have been rather hectic around here lately, and as a result I have not had as much time to monitor my grows as normal. This is usually when disaster strikes!
Sudden Trouble in the Bloom Room!
Early yesterday morning as I was in the Bloom Room preparing some bud photos for this update, I ducked down low so I could take some good shots of GDP #2 which was really starting to ripen fast.
That is when I saw it… POWDERY MILDEW!! Since this plant is on the floor and only comes up to my knees and is obscured by the 2x2 T5 fixture, I hadn't been paying much attention to it over the last week.
Here is what PM looks like. Notice the patches of White Powdery Material on the lower fan leaves. Contrast Enhanced for Detail
As soon as I noticed the fungi on GDP #2's leaves, I checked GDP #1 which had only been in there for a week, and its lower leaves had powder splotches too! Arrrgh! Closer inspection of the back branches of the BBK revealed even MORE mildew!
I quickly clipped off an infected GDP leaf and put it under the microscope to confirm.
With the naked eye, the organism resembles fine shavings of a white substance on the sufrace of your fan leaves. Usually starts on lower portions of the plant where there is less light and heat
Under extreme magnification the fungus is easily identified by its classic appearance of little transparent "beads" connected together to form a chain or stalk
Unfortunately... A Classic Case of Powdery Mildew Fungus!
Although this fungi is not extremely harmful to the Cannabis plant itself, this organism is still a form of mold and you definitely DO NOT want to be smoking or vaping any buds that were allowed to be infected/harvested and cured with this stuff on the or in the bud material. The fact that it bears a close resemblance to trichomes when covering the same portions of a bud, makes confirming under exterme magnification the surest way to know for sure.
Even though I didn't see any powder on the actual buds, there was only one thing to do! EVERYTHING HAD TO GO OUTSIDE for a thorough spraying of anti-fungal mixtures! I had this problem once before during the winter, so I already knew what to do, but this time I had the added power of some 90 degree heat and the summer sun!
After trimming off as many infected fan leaves as possible without hurting the plant, the next step involves some homemade fungus killers and a spray bottle.
The next step was to mix a tablespoon of Baking Soda with a gallon of water. Fill the spray bottle and go to town on all the remaining fan leaves that show any sign of the powdery residue while taking care NOT to get this on the actual flower buds.
Any contact with the hairs of a flower top will cause them to turn red or orange within a few hours regardless of the age of the flower top.
Unfortunately, GDP 1 got hit in a few spots, but it was unavoidable at the time. The flowers should recover without any serious damage to growth or development. Any time you bruise a Cannabis flower in some form or another, it will turn color like this. Polination can also cause this if there was no other physical or chemical damage done to the flower tops.
Let it sit on the plant for 15-20 minutes and then wash off with another spray bottle of distilled water.
Next mix up a batch of Milk Water using 1 part Skim Milk (non-fat) to 9 parts of water. Spray the entire plant INCLUDING the buds with this solution and leave it on for 24 hours. Substances in the milk kill the fungus and the spores. The milk actually foliar feeds your plant as a free bonus. The next day as soon as the sun is shining on the plants, spray them one more time with distilled water and leave to dry.
This should take care of the problem, but you need to remain vigilant for at least a week in case the mildew returns. It is a royal pain in the ass when this happens this close to a harvest, so I am still not a happy camper!
After all the plants had been moved outside, I decided to leave the other BBK and GDP #2 outback on the deck. Since I already committed to flowering one of my BBKs outside, I decided to go for broke and leave two more out there too. I am pretty sure I mentioned this somewhere in my previous entries but THIS is the FIRST time I will be flowering plants outdoors! Up till now I have always flowered exclusively indoors to avoid pests, pollen from rogue forest males and the like, so this is all going to be just as new to me as it might be to you!
Blueberry Kush Week 7
Have a look at these last indoor shots of both BBK #1 and GDP #2 before the move outside
Blueberry Kush #1 Week 7
Grand Daddy Purple #2 Week 6
Grand Daddy Purple #2 Week 6 Outdoors After Move and Fungal Treatment
BBK #1 • Week 7 Outdoors After Move and Fungal Treatment
Purple Urkle Week 4.5 Moved Into the Tub Next to GDP 1!
Notice that I had to tie the thing down to tame it from growing too far into the light fixture before it got moved yesterday
Two BBK clones and a Purple Urkle Clone under second light station
iGS-15 Flex-Timer System Set to 14/13 Light Cycle (27 Hour Day)
I figured after the radical swap of plants in the Bloom Room it was time to resume my 14/13 light cycle experiment with new subjects. The display is indicating how many more hours and minutes remain before the lights go off. It does the same thing during the night cycle. This thing is probably the most advanced horticultrual timer on the market right now.
Now on to MORE FUN STUFF!
One of my FAVORITE parts of growing this stuff is all the scientific kinds of things you get to do at the end. And nothing is more fun for me than checking out the Trichomes of my soon to be harvested plants! Although I also use a Jewlers Loupe daily to check after Week #6, only a quality Microscope can deliver images like these!
Blueberry Kush #1 - Indoors
Sample taken from top of main cola
One of the "Hairs" from the top of the bud
Grand Daddy Purple #2 - Indoors
Some of the areas of this main cola sample already have cloudy and amber tops, but the plant needs to go beyond week 6 if I want it to turn purple, so I am going to hold off chopping this one until I get closer to week 8.
Notice the PURPLE substance entering the trichome stalks?
So there ya have it! With all the commotion around here the last few days, I wasn't sure if I was even going to get a chance to post this one considering how big it turned out to be, but here it is, better late than never! I hope that you enjoyed all the photos and the microscope shots!
Next week will likely be one of our best updates yet since we will be ready to harvest the BBKs! Will keep you posted on the Mildew issue too!
Talk to ya soon, and I welcome your comments!
Have a great week!