scottreid1966
Well-Known Member
Thanks but it's currently unavailable. I visit my outdoor girls daily and I do have Safer's Insecticidal soap in case.
Thanks for the help.
Gorilla Glue Gets Going
- Thread starter Delps8
- Start date
Thanks for the help.
- Thread starter
- #42
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Weird, I can get it here tomorrow (SoCal).
Glad that I took a moment to take some pictures — I checked in the tent and the infestation level looks like it has dropped. I pulled off two leaves and took the attached photos. Both of those little bastards are dead so I might have caught it early enough to kill them.
When I pulled a leaf yesterday, right after I saw the symptoms, the thrip that I found was alive and was a light green color.
I would be quite pleased to find out that the Spinosad has taken care of this ("quite pleased" = ec-fucking-static!).
- Thread starter
- #43
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 91 above ground.
Getting near the end of the "10 to 14 week" grow period from the seed seller's site but I won't be chopping these plants any time soon. Based on the pictures from my Gelato grow, these plants look like they could take up to another month. Yikes.
The thrip issue hasn't resolved but their progress has been significantly degraded. Last summer, there were a lot of damaged leaves by the time I figured out what was going on and the damage spread even though I hit it with Spinosad. This time, I might have caught it early enough that it won't do too much harm. I have to wait a few days before I can use Spinosad again but I will definitely soak everything ASAP. And, of course, I had the blinding flash of the obvious that I could probably have avoided this if I'd been thinking ahead and sprayed prophylactically.
The other dumbshit move was to not set up the trellis. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I held it up in front of the tent and thought, "Nah, I won't need it this time." Famous last words. The colas are so heavy that they're flopping over on one another. I have set up some paracord to move them toward the center of the tent but, yeh, not using the trellis was a mistake. Check the last picture and you'll see them held up with black cord.
The main light is running at 313 watts, 95% of max power, and the XS-1500 is at 124/150 which is pretty high, too. I took some self-convincing to run the lights at these levels. I think the fox tailing of the one plant in the last grow really threw me off but I recently went through pictures from that grow and I could see that the plant fox tailed before it started growing at its insane pace. Until I looked at those pictures, I thought that I had caused the plant to foxtail because of my crazy lighting set up. As best I can tell, it was funky genetics that made it fox tail and pouring on the light contributed to the height.
The tent is getting a lot of photons and no sign of any issues with the plants. I just checked and I've got a few colas at 910-920 but most of the colas are 700 to 900 µmols. I'll do a light check in the AM.
There are amber trichs on the sugar leaves but few and far in between. A couple of weeks on the inside.
The sidecar is coming along nicely, as well. A lot of that foliage is > 800 µmols and the plant is responding very positively. Colas are stacking really nicely. That's just two branches from Chris and it will make a nice addition to the harvest.
The sidecar light is one of the reasons why the garage was getting so warm. With > 400 watts of lights + the dehu + the water chiller, there is a lot of heat being generated in there. Temp and RH are rock steady - an incredible change from having to futz with opening doors, running fans, etc. Lesson learned about that, as well. Thank you Jacks and thank you @FelipeBlu.
ATM, I'm using the little Viper Spectra to light up a branch that, for want of a better descriptor, fell out of the front of the tent. Rather than hack something together to hang a little 2' light, why not change my grow set up so that I can use the X3 as well as the Mars?
That setup solve the issue that light intensity falls off at the edges. I can't do much for the the sides of the res but I can do somehing about the light along the front and back. My thinking is to pull the res forward so that the back of the res is further forward, into the heavily lighted area of the X3. The front of the cab be in front of the tent, I've got some room there, and the area out from will be covered by the SP 3000, in the same way that I'm using the XS 1500. I'll have to hang the Mars from the garage ceiling or from a frame that sits on the roof/top of the tent. It's worth some thinktime about how to do that.
The colas aren't "Holy smokes it's as big as his forearm!" type so no Bud of the Month entries from this grow. When I sample with the Apogee, I take 18 to 20 readings so I know that there's at least 20 good-sized colas in the main tent. Glad to see that. It took three grows and two thrip infestations but I think this will turn out pretty well.
Lots of pictures. The last photo is a panoramic that I shot on my iPhone and it weighs in at just under 10 MB. The first picture shows some thrip damage and if you zoom in on the panoramic you can see where they've been munching away, as well.
Getting near the end of the "10 to 14 week" grow period from the seed seller's site but I won't be chopping these plants any time soon. Based on the pictures from my Gelato grow, these plants look like they could take up to another month. Yikes.
The thrip issue hasn't resolved but their progress has been significantly degraded. Last summer, there were a lot of damaged leaves by the time I figured out what was going on and the damage spread even though I hit it with Spinosad. This time, I might have caught it early enough that it won't do too much harm. I have to wait a few days before I can use Spinosad again but I will definitely soak everything ASAP. And, of course, I had the blinding flash of the obvious that I could probably have avoided this if I'd been thinking ahead and sprayed prophylactically.
The other dumbshit move was to not set up the trellis. It was just a couple of weeks ago that I held it up in front of the tent and thought, "Nah, I won't need it this time." Famous last words. The colas are so heavy that they're flopping over on one another. I have set up some paracord to move them toward the center of the tent but, yeh, not using the trellis was a mistake. Check the last picture and you'll see them held up with black cord.
The main light is running at 313 watts, 95% of max power, and the XS-1500 is at 124/150 which is pretty high, too. I took some self-convincing to run the lights at these levels. I think the fox tailing of the one plant in the last grow really threw me off but I recently went through pictures from that grow and I could see that the plant fox tailed before it started growing at its insane pace. Until I looked at those pictures, I thought that I had caused the plant to foxtail because of my crazy lighting set up. As best I can tell, it was funky genetics that made it fox tail and pouring on the light contributed to the height.
The tent is getting a lot of photons and no sign of any issues with the plants. I just checked and I've got a few colas at 910-920 but most of the colas are 700 to 900 µmols. I'll do a light check in the AM.
There are amber trichs on the sugar leaves but few and far in between. A couple of weeks on the inside.
The sidecar is coming along nicely, as well. A lot of that foliage is > 800 µmols and the plant is responding very positively. Colas are stacking really nicely. That's just two branches from Chris and it will make a nice addition to the harvest.
The sidecar light is one of the reasons why the garage was getting so warm. With > 400 watts of lights + the dehu + the water chiller, there is a lot of heat being generated in there. Temp and RH are rock steady - an incredible change from having to futz with opening doors, running fans, etc. Lesson learned about that, as well. Thank you Jacks and thank you @FelipeBlu.
ATM, I'm using the little Viper Spectra to light up a branch that, for want of a better descriptor, fell out of the front of the tent. Rather than hack something together to hang a little 2' light, why not change my grow set up so that I can use the X3 as well as the Mars?
That setup solve the issue that light intensity falls off at the edges. I can't do much for the the sides of the res but I can do somehing about the light along the front and back. My thinking is to pull the res forward so that the back of the res is further forward, into the heavily lighted area of the X3. The front of the cab be in front of the tent, I've got some room there, and the area out from will be covered by the SP 3000, in the same way that I'm using the XS 1500. I'll have to hang the Mars from the garage ceiling or from a frame that sits on the roof/top of the tent. It's worth some thinktime about how to do that.
The colas aren't "Holy smokes it's as big as his forearm!" type so no Bud of the Month entries from this grow. When I sample with the Apogee, I take 18 to 20 readings so I know that there's at least 20 good-sized colas in the main tent. Glad to see that. It took three grows and two thrip infestations but I think this will turn out pretty well.
Lots of pictures. The last photo is a panoramic that I shot on my iPhone and it weighs in at just under 10 MB. The first picture shows some thrip damage and if you zoom in on the panoramic you can see where they've been munching away, as well.
- Thread starter
- #44
Delps8
Well-Known Member
So much for uploading a big image - it looks like the site downsizes the uploads. That's sorta bogus - I though server space and bandwidth was free!? 
Listersmeghead
Well-Known Member
Lookout Delps, I think that rogue branch is trying to escape and take over your house. 
- Thread starter
- #46
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 93 above ground.
Did my morning checks - look over the tent, check water levels, check canopy ("Prepare to land, land" - any landing you walk away from is a good landing) and found two colas that were demonstrating light avoidance.
Here's my lighting info from yesterday. It was the two hotspots were the ones that were shying away from the light. I moved them around a but and got their PPFD into the mid-800's.
For one cola, it's just the top few cm's that moved away from the light. In the second picture, there's an inch or two that's turned to one side.
Something similar happened early in the grow when Wilma was hit with > 700 µmols. The Pulse indicated that the tent temp had gone out of range, so I checked the tent and found that I had reset the Mars incorrectly. There are two toggle switches on the SP 3000. One of them turn the light on; the other sets the light to 100% power. Don't use "the other". I reset the light level and, within about 30 minutes, the two leaves that had rotated to turn sideways to the light had almost completely reverted to a normal attitude. Nature at work.
Nature at work, sorta like the zoo keeper who went to pet the tiger that he was feeding. The tiger ate his arm and the worker died (I assume he bled out). "Nature at work!" or perhaps "Darwin vindicated once again!". Another good example of the power of "and".
Did my morning checks - look over the tent, check water levels, check canopy ("Prepare to land, land" - any landing you walk away from is a good landing) and found two colas that were demonstrating light avoidance.
Here's my lighting info from yesterday. It was the two hotspots were the ones that were shying away from the light. I moved them around a but and got their PPFD into the mid-800's.
For one cola, it's just the top few cm's that moved away from the light. In the second picture, there's an inch or two that's turned to one side.
Something similar happened early in the grow when Wilma was hit with > 700 µmols. The Pulse indicated that the tent temp had gone out of range, so I checked the tent and found that I had reset the Mars incorrectly. There are two toggle switches on the SP 3000. One of them turn the light on; the other sets the light to 100% power. Don't use "the other". I reset the light level and, within about 30 minutes, the two leaves that had rotated to turn sideways to the light had almost completely reverted to a normal attitude. Nature at work.
Nature at work, sorta like the zoo keeper who went to pet the tiger that he was feeding. The tiger ate his arm and the worker died (I assume he bled out). "Nature at work!" or perhaps "Darwin vindicated once again!". Another good example of the power of "and".
- Thread starter
- #48
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Well, thank you but I didn't mean for it to turn out that way but I am really looking forward to the harvest!
Re. airflow - I understand the question and it's not an issue, for the reasons below.
The plants were topped, so the the stems/stalks/branches are, essentially, growing in a circle around the main stem. Yeh, there's sort of a hole in the canopy and you can see the res top through the leaves. While that helps avoid airflow issues, it also means that the colas are where the light isn't and I've taken steps to deal with that (and I need a better approach for my next grow).
To keep air moving under the canopy, I have one USB fan on the res top for each plant. At the top of the canopy, there's a variable speed fan blowing across the tent. That helps to distribute the mist when the humidifier kicks in and it also increases transpiration somewhat. ATM, the plants are taking up > 1 gallon per day, though some of that might be because there might be some thrips in the plants that are still alive.
Per the screenshot below, RH has varied from 45% to 56%, with very rare exceptions, since I started using a VPD of 1.4 on May 6. The line in blue is RH - high for seedlings and then dropped for veg and flower. One of my goals has been to maintain a VPD of 1.0 for veg and 1.4 in flower. The PulseOne is the brains of it all.
And, as you've seen me bang on about in this journal, the AC unit is making life a lot easier. Check the temperature and RH values in the last week or so. Very nice!
- Thread starter
- #50
Delps8
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #51
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 97 above ground.
Not much happening…
I'm seeing some damage from thrips but nothing like it was last year. The lady bugs I ordered will be here on Wednesday and I'll release them most tik.
Over the past few days, the leaves have started yellowing so we're getting to the end game. Nutes are still 3-2-0 and TDS has been 630 - 660 (EC 1.3±) for the past few weeks. I'm using a combination of RO and nutes when I top off, nutes being added at about ⅓ strength. I skipped a week for a res change but will do one this weekend and that should take care of it.
No paean to Jack's today.
I checked some of the photos from my previous grow, Gelato autos, and, if that guide is accurate, this grow could take another 18 days. With the AC cranking, there's really very little for me to do. No more controlling temp by opening the garage doors and all I'm doing with the res is topping off with mostly water and some nutes. The best news is that I'll have lady bugs to help get rid of the thrips.
So what's next? How about a power blackout, compliments of SoCal Edison. Or maybe the water chiller will fail?
The Whynter is great. It's set to 79° and keep the tent right at 79°, as well. Happiest garage in SoCal!
Some of the stems are being raised by S hooks that are hanging up and over the light bars. It's crude but it does get the plants closer to the light. I haven't measured PPFD in a few days. The latest data is below. I've changed the color scheme, with > 45 DLI in red. There's no real reason to do that. I got the value for 45 DLI from the programmer at Photone so I used that for a few weeks and then I revisited Bugbee and De Bacco (who draws on Bugbee and Chandra) on YouTube. It's easy - 900µmols for non-CO2.
The two colas that I bent a few days ago are doing just fine. One straightened back up, the other's still got a hook in it. Based on this (very limited) experience, I'm going to keep plants <= 900 µmols…just like the good Doctors have recommended.
Not much happening…
I'm seeing some damage from thrips but nothing like it was last year. The lady bugs I ordered will be here on Wednesday and I'll release them most tik.
Over the past few days, the leaves have started yellowing so we're getting to the end game. Nutes are still 3-2-0 and TDS has been 630 - 660 (EC 1.3±) for the past few weeks. I'm using a combination of RO and nutes when I top off, nutes being added at about ⅓ strength. I skipped a week for a res change but will do one this weekend and that should take care of it.
No paean to Jack's today.
I checked some of the photos from my previous grow, Gelato autos, and, if that guide is accurate, this grow could take another 18 days. With the AC cranking, there's really very little for me to do. No more controlling temp by opening the garage doors and all I'm doing with the res is topping off with mostly water and some nutes. The best news is that I'll have lady bugs to help get rid of the thrips.
So what's next? How about a power blackout, compliments of SoCal Edison. Or maybe the water chiller will fail?
The Whynter is great. It's set to 79° and keep the tent right at 79°, as well. Happiest garage in SoCal!
Some of the stems are being raised by S hooks that are hanging up and over the light bars. It's crude but it does get the plants closer to the light. I haven't measured PPFD in a few days. The latest data is below. I've changed the color scheme, with > 45 DLI in red. There's no real reason to do that. I got the value for 45 DLI from the programmer at Photone so I used that for a few weeks and then I revisited Bugbee and De Bacco (who draws on Bugbee and Chandra) on YouTube. It's easy - 900µmols for non-CO2.
The two colas that I bent a few days ago are doing just fine. One straightened back up, the other's still got a hook in it. Based on this (very limited) experience, I'm going to keep plants <= 900 µmols…just like the good Doctors have recommended.
- Thread starter
- #52
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 106 above ground.
And all it going well.
Res - I didn't do a res change last week. With harvest coming up in the next few days to a week, I didn't see the point. Water consumption is > 1 gallon a day. pH has been 5.8 to 6.0. EC is 1.3, 1.2, 1.15, etc. I have added water and nutes at about 3:1 ratio but, for the past few days, it's been just RO so EC is down below 1.2 now.
Interesting insight from an article by Dr. Bugbee about replenishing nutrients in a recirculating system. I'm not looking to keep one res through an entire grow but the info about how quickly which nutes were taken up was a good insight. It certainly blew out the idea that I have to swap a res every week. Another insight on that was watching a video on the Jack's web site about how often to change nutes. One of the people in the video causally said "Oh, maybe two weeks, maybe four." Very big change from "No soup for you if your res is more than a week old!".
Thrips - I think the Spinosad did a lot to control them. It's not easy to tell because the plants are senescing so there's a lot of yellow in the tent. The other issue is that I'm not concerned about it. I think it's under control and there's about 1 week to go so no es nada.
I did buy some lady bugs for the tent. I ordered a package of 1500 and paid for expedited shipping because my plant was under attack. I got a box with what looked to be a couple of hundred lady bugs so put about half of them in the tent. It was clear that I hadn't received the 1500 that I ordered so I contacted the seller on Friday and they offered to send me a box with 1500 lady bugs. I told them that they had completed failed - my plants were being devoured and they shorted me. On that basis, I asked them to ship it for Saturday delivery. I got the box today, 5 days later instead of the next day. I'll make sure to mention that when I post a review on Amazon.
Oh, yes. I'm returning the lady bug for a full refund. The company (on Amazon) is "Clark&Co Organic Live Ladybugs" if you're in the market for lady bugs.
Some of the colas has very few white stigmas, some are still sprouting them. Overall, not many clear trichs but no many amber, either.
"Wilma is further along than Chris and is a much smaller plant. There aren't many white pistils - red and crinkled instead. Mostly cloudy and 10% amber. Wilma could go this weekend. Chris is still growing white pistils - at least another week. "
Big news is that I'm going to dry the harvest in the spare fridge in the garage. I've been reading through this thread and it's a gold mine of info. I just don't have a place in the house where I can get the temps into low 70's, much less the 60's. The AC unit might be able to do it but why bother? From all I can see, people are getting excellent results, I've got a spare fridge, and I won't have to run that infernally noisy AC so it's a win all around.
My plan is to bud wash, hang the stalks to let them dry off, trim them (I've got a salad spinner trim machine), drop the colas in paper bags, and into the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Interesting reading in that thread - I've only gotten up to 9/2019 and there is no discussion of using a wood moisture meter. That's just under three years ago and not a peep. Amazing how quickly we adopt technology for grow. It will be interesting to me to see where that's first mentioned.
I might chop Wilma this weekend and I'd be really happy of Chris were to, miraculously, be ready then, as well.
These are pretty big plants. I don't know that they've grown that much, if at all height wise in the past few weeks but the buds a surprisingly…extensive. The light is leaning against the body of one cola and the ruler I'm holding is a 14" ruler. In the third photo, you can see the paracord holding up the colas. Lacking a trellis, that was the only thing I could think of.
That's not much but that's all for now.
And all it going well.
Res - I didn't do a res change last week. With harvest coming up in the next few days to a week, I didn't see the point. Water consumption is > 1 gallon a day. pH has been 5.8 to 6.0. EC is 1.3, 1.2, 1.15, etc. I have added water and nutes at about 3:1 ratio but, for the past few days, it's been just RO so EC is down below 1.2 now.
Interesting insight from an article by Dr. Bugbee about replenishing nutrients in a recirculating system. I'm not looking to keep one res through an entire grow but the info about how quickly which nutes were taken up was a good insight. It certainly blew out the idea that I have to swap a res every week. Another insight on that was watching a video on the Jack's web site about how often to change nutes. One of the people in the video causally said "Oh, maybe two weeks, maybe four." Very big change from "No soup for you if your res is more than a week old!".
Thrips - I think the Spinosad did a lot to control them. It's not easy to tell because the plants are senescing so there's a lot of yellow in the tent. The other issue is that I'm not concerned about it. I think it's under control and there's about 1 week to go so no es nada.
I did buy some lady bugs for the tent. I ordered a package of 1500 and paid for expedited shipping because my plant was under attack. I got a box with what looked to be a couple of hundred lady bugs so put about half of them in the tent. It was clear that I hadn't received the 1500 that I ordered so I contacted the seller on Friday and they offered to send me a box with 1500 lady bugs. I told them that they had completed failed - my plants were being devoured and they shorted me. On that basis, I asked them to ship it for Saturday delivery. I got the box today, 5 days later instead of the next day. I'll make sure to mention that when I post a review on Amazon.
Oh, yes. I'm returning the lady bug for a full refund. The company (on Amazon) is "Clark&Co Organic Live Ladybugs" if you're in the market for lady bugs.
Some of the colas has very few white stigmas, some are still sprouting them. Overall, not many clear trichs but no many amber, either.
"Wilma is further along than Chris and is a much smaller plant. There aren't many white pistils - red and crinkled instead. Mostly cloudy and 10% amber. Wilma could go this weekend. Chris is still growing white pistils - at least another week. "
Big news is that I'm going to dry the harvest in the spare fridge in the garage. I've been reading through this thread and it's a gold mine of info. I just don't have a place in the house where I can get the temps into low 70's, much less the 60's. The AC unit might be able to do it but why bother? From all I can see, people are getting excellent results, I've got a spare fridge, and I won't have to run that infernally noisy AC so it's a win all around.
My plan is to bud wash, hang the stalks to let them dry off, trim them (I've got a salad spinner trim machine), drop the colas in paper bags, and into the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Interesting reading in that thread - I've only gotten up to 9/2019 and there is no discussion of using a wood moisture meter. That's just under three years ago and not a peep. Amazing how quickly we adopt technology for grow. It will be interesting to me to see where that's first mentioned.
I might chop Wilma this weekend and I'd be really happy of Chris were to, miraculously, be ready then, as well.
These are pretty big plants. I don't know that they've grown that much, if at all height wise in the past few weeks but the buds a surprisingly…extensive. The light is leaning against the body of one cola and the ruler I'm holding is a 14" ruler. In the third photo, you can see the paracord holding up the colas. Lacking a trellis, that was the only thing I could think of.
That's not much but that's all for now.
- Thread starter
- #54
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I think there should be enough herb to tide me over for quite a while. The irony being that I don't smoke that much…
If you're running into heat issues, LED will definitely take that out of the equation.
"get growing again" - What's your grow setup like?
- Thread starter
- #55
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 109 above ground.
Written yesterday (7/2/22)
Water uptake a bit lower than in previous days. I'm taking that as a sign that the plants are almost ready. I'm getting frustrated that they're taking so long.
The thrips appear to have been defeated. I see a few lady bugs on the canopy and none lying dead on the top of the res so I'm surmising that quite a few lady bugs have found a happy home in the foliage of the plants. Bon appetite!
I moved some colas around so that I was able to see into the center of the plant. One item - Wilma is about 1/4 the width of the tent, Chris occupies the rest.
During my reconnaissance, I found that some of Chris' branches are hidden away in the bowels down there and they have colas that are a light green. I didn't check the trichs but, based on the color of the buds, I'm assuming that they're very immature. This pretty much means I'll need to do a sequential harvest. I'm right where I didn't want to be - it's July and I'm running the AC, waiting for the grow to finish.
Wilma has some colas that where the trichs are all cloudy with a good percentage of amber. I intend to harvest those tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's only the top parts of the branches where those colas have reached that level of maturity so, like the lime green buds on Chris, I'll be harvesting them in mid-July.
Funny, the first journal entry has this text - "The seller lists a "grow time" of 10 - 13 weeks which would be 5/23/22 to 6/20/22. So, mid-July, right[?]" I was kidding when I wrote that.
While I won't be harvesting Chris for about a week, I did end up harvesting something yesterday. While reaching into the tent to check the trichs on one of the big colas in the back, I snapped a small branch in the front row. I took that as a chance to do "beta test" harvest run.
After cutting off the branch and weighing it (18 gm), I ran it through the bowl trimmer (10 spins in each direction), weighed it again (13 gm), checked water content (22%), dropped it into a lunch bag, closed it with a clothes pin, and then onto a shelf in the fridge (36° and 30% RH). Yes, it was just a tiny amount but it's obvious that the bowl trimmer is going to be a big help.
Question - what are my options for the trimmings that fall into the bowl?
One of the reasons why I went with drying in the fridge is that method makes it easy to do a sequential harvest. That really makes things a lot easier than trying to run the AC to keep the garage cool.
I used a wood moisture meter when I harvested Jeff, the humongous plant from my last grow. It was all foxtails so the moisture meter wasn't much help. A Google search turned up a good number of forums and sites that have info about using a WMM. Interestingly, even the Triminator site sells one. The clearest statment I've seen is on a site where Grove Bags is a sponsor and they state "For best results please use a moisture meter and insert the probes through a large top cola and into the stem any reading over 12% before storing in the Grove Bags may resulting in having to burp the bags." That works for me.
The nugs in the bag were 22%±, varying by parts of a percent, and, according to some of the articles I've, the drying process reduces moisture at about 1% per day, so my little harvest should be ready in about 10 days. That comports with the numbers I've seen about drying so I think I'm on the right track.
Written yesterday (7/2/22)
Water uptake a bit lower than in previous days. I'm taking that as a sign that the plants are almost ready. I'm getting frustrated that they're taking so long.
The thrips appear to have been defeated. I see a few lady bugs on the canopy and none lying dead on the top of the res so I'm surmising that quite a few lady bugs have found a happy home in the foliage of the plants. Bon appetite!
I moved some colas around so that I was able to see into the center of the plant. One item - Wilma is about 1/4 the width of the tent, Chris occupies the rest.
During my reconnaissance, I found that some of Chris' branches are hidden away in the bowels down there and they have colas that are a light green. I didn't check the trichs but, based on the color of the buds, I'm assuming that they're very immature. This pretty much means I'll need to do a sequential harvest. I'm right where I didn't want to be - it's July and I'm running the AC, waiting for the grow to finish.
Wilma has some colas that where the trichs are all cloudy with a good percentage of amber. I intend to harvest those tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's only the top parts of the branches where those colas have reached that level of maturity so, like the lime green buds on Chris, I'll be harvesting them in mid-July.
Funny, the first journal entry has this text - "The seller lists a "grow time" of 10 - 13 weeks which would be 5/23/22 to 6/20/22. So, mid-July, right[?]" I was kidding when I wrote that.
While I won't be harvesting Chris for about a week, I did end up harvesting something yesterday. While reaching into the tent to check the trichs on one of the big colas in the back, I snapped a small branch in the front row. I took that as a chance to do "beta test" harvest run.
After cutting off the branch and weighing it (18 gm), I ran it through the bowl trimmer (10 spins in each direction), weighed it again (13 gm), checked water content (22%), dropped it into a lunch bag, closed it with a clothes pin, and then onto a shelf in the fridge (36° and 30% RH). Yes, it was just a tiny amount but it's obvious that the bowl trimmer is going to be a big help.
Question - what are my options for the trimmings that fall into the bowl?
One of the reasons why I went with drying in the fridge is that method makes it easy to do a sequential harvest. That really makes things a lot easier than trying to run the AC to keep the garage cool.
I used a wood moisture meter when I harvested Jeff, the humongous plant from my last grow. It was all foxtails so the moisture meter wasn't much help. A Google search turned up a good number of forums and sites that have info about using a WMM. Interestingly, even the Triminator site sells one. The clearest statment I've seen is on a site where Grove Bags is a sponsor and they state "For best results please use a moisture meter and insert the probes through a large top cola and into the stem any reading over 12% before storing in the Grove Bags may resulting in having to burp the bags." That works for me.
The nugs in the bag were 22%±, varying by parts of a percent, and, according to some of the articles I've, the drying process reduces moisture at about 1% per day, so my little harvest should be ready in about 10 days. That comports with the numbers I've seen about drying so I think I'm on the right track.
- Thread starter
- #56
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 110 above ground.
The colas on Wilma are not ready yet. There are some amber trichs but, the more I look, the more I see that there are clear trichs, as well, so I'll wait a bit more. It's strange because there are very few/no white pistils on Wilma but there are still clear trichs.
Over the Chris and there's tons of colas but they have white pistils and not much amber. Same situation under the main light and under the sidecar. Next weekend maybe?
Seeing that the plants are going to be around for another week, or so, I swapped the res. Maybe that'll encourage them to finish? (if only!)
BTW, the res has been very stable at EC 1.2. pH has been rising, interestingly. The pattern with a new res has been that pH drops for the first few days. I wonder if that will happen now that the plants are in very late flower.
The first three photos are from Wilma, the last one, the one with the white pistils, is from Chris.
One issue I need to resolve — how do I grow plants so that the don't look like a rave? Will a trellis take care of that?
I'm thinking about my "one plant" rule. This is my second grow of GG autos and they will grow to about 130 cm/50". At that size, one plant in a 2' x 4' is plenty. However, I have some Northern Cheese Haze seeds that grow to 60 to 90 cm (up to about 36") and yield 100 to 160 gm. If I follow my one plant rule, it would totally suck if they did actually stop at 36" and yield of only 160 gm.
What's best way to hedge my bets? I'm used to plants growing really tall - how protect myself against the seller's numbers being correct and I end up with only 160 gm?
The colas on Wilma are not ready yet. There are some amber trichs but, the more I look, the more I see that there are clear trichs, as well, so I'll wait a bit more. It's strange because there are very few/no white pistils on Wilma but there are still clear trichs.
Over the Chris and there's tons of colas but they have white pistils and not much amber. Same situation under the main light and under the sidecar. Next weekend maybe?
Seeing that the plants are going to be around for another week, or so, I swapped the res. Maybe that'll encourage them to finish? (if only!)
BTW, the res has been very stable at EC 1.2. pH has been rising, interestingly. The pattern with a new res has been that pH drops for the first few days. I wonder if that will happen now that the plants are in very late flower.
The first three photos are from Wilma, the last one, the one with the white pistils, is from Chris.
One issue I need to resolve — how do I grow plants so that the don't look like a rave? Will a trellis take care of that?
I'm thinking about my "one plant" rule. This is my second grow of GG autos and they will grow to about 130 cm/50". At that size, one plant in a 2' x 4' is plenty. However, I have some Northern Cheese Haze seeds that grow to 60 to 90 cm (up to about 36") and yield 100 to 160 gm. If I follow my one plant rule, it would totally suck if they did actually stop at 36" and yield of only 160 gm.
What's best way to hedge my bets? I'm used to plants growing really tall - how protect myself against the seller's numbers being correct and I end up with only 160 gm?
- Thread starter
- #57
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 111 above ground.
I'm seeing, or I think I'm seeing, a significant change in about 20 hours. There seems to be quite a bit more amber in Chris today than at 5 PM last night.
When I checked my notes from the previous grow, Gelatos, the plants are in the same timeframe as that grow. What throws me off is that Chris has some amber but so many white pistils. Will those change color in the next few days? I guess I'll find out.
It's clear that not using a trellis was a bad decision.
Also, if there's an "ugly plant of the month" award, I've got it locked up.
The photo I've attached is at max quality. If some kind soul could zoom in on the plants and give me some feedback on status, I'd appreciate it.
I'm seeing, or I think I'm seeing, a significant change in about 20 hours. There seems to be quite a bit more amber in Chris today than at 5 PM last night.
When I checked my notes from the previous grow, Gelatos, the plants are in the same timeframe as that grow. What throws me off is that Chris has some amber but so many white pistils. Will those change color in the next few days? I guess I'll find out.
It's clear that not using a trellis was a bad decision.
Also, if there's an "ugly plant of the month" award, I've got it locked up.
The photo I've attached is at max quality. If some kind soul could zoom in on the plants and give me some feedback on status, I'd appreciate it.
Listersmeghead
Well-Known Member
Hiya delps8.
I'm in the same boat as you..waiting for a lemon ak auto to finish. 81 days for me though. The sativa genetics are showing in mine so she keeps throwing out new pistils even though she's pretty much stopped drinking....mines coming down this Friday.
Looking good...home stretch now.
I'm in the same boat as you..waiting for a lemon ak auto to finish. 81 days for me though. The sativa genetics are showing in mine so she keeps throwing out new pistils even though she's pretty much stopped drinking....mines coming down this Friday.
Looking good...home stretch now.
- Thread starter
- #59
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the encouragement! They're still taking up water and Chris, the big one, has plenty of white pistils. :-(Hiya delps8.
I'm in the same boat as you..waiting for a lemon ak auto to finish. 81 days for me though. The sativa genetics are showing in mine so she keeps throwing out new pistils even though she's pretty much stopped drinking....mines coming down this Friday.
Looking good...home stretch now.
It's great that you're at 81± days. I'll have to check out your journal.
- Thread starter
- #60
Delps8
Well-Known Member
Day 113 above ground.
I poked my nose into this thread and @Bill284 nailed it when he replied, in part:
"When she is finished flowering and building for you their white pistols turn red and crinkle in.
Never harvest white pistils.
Then check your tric's.
Clear / cloudy energetic feeling.
Cloudy / amber relaxed feeling."
Wilma is very close to being ready to go - she looks ready to chop now, in fact. That's ironic since Wilma was "about four days behind" Chris in terms of growth. Even now, she about ¼ the size of Chris.
I put off swapping the res for a couple of weeks, thinking that I'd be harvesting RSN. I'm glad I did the res swap on Sunday (it does take over an hour) because at least they'll have a nice fresh buffet to dine on.
I poked my nose into this thread and @Bill284 nailed it when he replied, in part:
"When she is finished flowering and building for you their white pistols turn red and crinkle in.
Never harvest white pistils.
Then check your tric's.
Clear / cloudy energetic feeling.
Cloudy / amber relaxed feeling."
Wilma is very close to being ready to go - she looks ready to chop now, in fact. That's ironic since Wilma was "about four days behind" Chris in terms of growth. Even now, she about ¼ the size of Chris.
I put off swapping the res for a couple of weeks, thinking that I'd be harvesting RSN. I'm glad I did the res swap on Sunday (it does take over an hour) because at least they'll have a nice fresh buffet to dine on.