Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing
- Thread starter Hyena Merica
- Start date
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- #2,282
I made a scrog frame from PVC which I suspend from the tent ceiling. I lower it when the girls get to about 2 feet (the scrog is 24" high) and also top them around the 8-9th node so there's plenty of branches going everywhere. (Folks who do the Quadline thing are costing themselves well over 50% of any possible production no matter how big they get those four branches, however in fairness, growing hobby plants and growing for maximum production are two completely different things). I start to spread everything out as soon as stuff starts going above the scrog netting. I keep spreading it all out until I have branches going vertical in at least 80% of the overall area. If something is just getting too tall, I will supercrop it right over at 90 degrees...it will just keep growing horizontally. I work to get everything as even as possible within a 2-foot vertical zone from the scrog net up, then flip and let it all stretch up together for the next 3 weeks or so. There's a lot of touch to doing it right, practice and don't be afraid to muscle them a bit. They will survive it and be better for it most times.
Effectively using the scrog technique will easily double what any plant will produce indoors. I have a lot of pics of it throughout my journal and it wasn't too hard to make with a little planning.
Peace, Hyena
Thanks Hyena, Awesome info. I want to do a pvc frame scrog soon and will try that.
I train my plants heavily and tie them down quite a bit. I've gotten really good at quad lining but I'm glad you mentioned growing to node 8 or 9. I have such a hard time only going with 4 branches I often leave 6 sometimes 8 on a few plants as well and train them out. I've had a ton of success keeping my canopy super even with this method but I am always disappointed with the final heights, rarely stretching to or past 2', not sure why they stay so short but I'd like to try scrog out.
I train my plants heavily and tie them down quite a bit. I've gotten really good at quad lining but I'm glad you mentioned growing to node 8 or 9. I have such a hard time only going with 4 branches I often leave 6 sometimes 8 on a few plants as well and train them out. I've had a ton of success keeping my canopy super even with this method but I am always disappointed with the final heights, rarely stretching to or past 2', not sure why they stay so short but I'd like to try scrog out.
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- #2,284
One problem I have observed with topping plants is the lowest 4 branches on a cannabis plant are often inferior producers, when compared to later appearing branches on nodes 4-10. These lowest branches are most suited for cloning. If you use nodes 4-10 you get a lot of similar branches that all produce similarly. There is less issue with mainstem dominance (the tendency of a plant to concentrate much of its energy on the tallest branch and all others to get less) because the first four branches often tend to act like mainstems the minute you top the plant, and outgrow the rest. Just things I have been able to observe growing 12 at a time, over and over. So I either clone from the lower 4 or remove them after the canopy has formed at least any that haven't joined the party above the scrog line. Many smaller and lower-ceiling spaces will need to use the lower 4 to maximize space but if you have the additional 6 inches to spare it makes a better plant in my opinion.
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #2,285
It's about time for another
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
I have a store and lock unit that I have rented since July 2017. It contains a bunch of furniture that we always said we would give to our kids when they moved out/bought a house. Well, that time has come so I was looking through a desk in there and I found a huge bud...
This is from one of my first attic lab grows. Not quite sure what strain but whatever I harvested in May/June 2017 is what it is...a primo bud and a rare chance to see once and for all if there's still a buzz in a cola almost 4 years old.
There is. It definitely got me high. But it has the smell and taste of hay.
So at the grow house, I've been away for nine days...the longest ever. The reservoir in the clone tent was dry, (nine days is really pushing 50 gallons to the limit, even in Winter) but everybody looks great. The challenges of the recent few weeks have been met! With a broken light causing half my bloom tent to go haywire, and my clones experiencing a bit of a burn, things were a bit challenging for awhile a couple weeks back but today everything in both tents is back to hunky dory!
In the clone tent, all my girls are back to full speed and more!
They are all filling outward and upward like champs.
After a good defol and much love it was time to drop the scrog frame. It feels like putting them in jail but hey, they love it. My reusable scrog frames are the bomb and they make everything soooo easy.
All tidy...and now to grow, the next few weeks will be all about spreading them out. In a couple weeks I'll clone from them, the final cut to cement my new strain.
And meanwhile, in the blooming Tent #2...
The 4th week of bloom shows hot and heavy everywhere...
Other than the distinct lack of light from my one broken LED, everybody seems to be budding out pretty much as normal. It's really too early to tell if this problem will cost me or actually benefit me, as the plants with less light have grown much bigger. The blossoms in general are pretty good so far...
But the broken light has to be addressed. I communicated with HLG and when I informed them that I installed the replacement Quantum board and it still didn't fix the light, they offered to send me a brand-new light, and simply requested the old one be sent back. It came in one day! Now that is awesome customer service...I was prepared to have to buy another unit and these things are almost $800 each. But they stand behind their lights, that's for sure. Kudos to them. Their lights have certainly worked well for me.
Meantime, we need something so I built a six-socket light and got six red 20-watt lights. Doesn't sound like much but until my other light gets put up next week it is far better than nothing!
These things put out a narrow but intense enough cone of ruby light.
I ran them on a 220 v and they seemed to run fine. That will at least hold them over until the cavalry arrives next week!
So everything back on perfect, as perfect as possible anyway. I arrived home to see the delivered new light. So that thing I built will have to hold the fort until probably next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Until then I keep testing SATURN 5. It's amazing. Delicious. Stony as F. Like nothing else on Earth...
Or anywhere else.
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
I have a store and lock unit that I have rented since July 2017. It contains a bunch of furniture that we always said we would give to our kids when they moved out/bought a house. Well, that time has come so I was looking through a desk in there and I found a huge bud...
This is from one of my first attic lab grows. Not quite sure what strain but whatever I harvested in May/June 2017 is what it is...a primo bud and a rare chance to see once and for all if there's still a buzz in a cola almost 4 years old.
There is. It definitely got me high. But it has the smell and taste of hay.
So at the grow house, I've been away for nine days...the longest ever. The reservoir in the clone tent was dry, (nine days is really pushing 50 gallons to the limit, even in Winter) but everybody looks great. The challenges of the recent few weeks have been met! With a broken light causing half my bloom tent to go haywire, and my clones experiencing a bit of a burn, things were a bit challenging for awhile a couple weeks back but today everything in both tents is back to hunky dory!
In the clone tent, all my girls are back to full speed and more!
They are all filling outward and upward like champs.
After a good defol and much love it was time to drop the scrog frame. It feels like putting them in jail but hey, they love it. My reusable scrog frames are the bomb and they make everything soooo easy.
All tidy...and now to grow, the next few weeks will be all about spreading them out. In a couple weeks I'll clone from them, the final cut to cement my new strain.
And meanwhile, in the blooming Tent #2...
The 4th week of bloom shows hot and heavy everywhere...
Other than the distinct lack of light from my one broken LED, everybody seems to be budding out pretty much as normal. It's really too early to tell if this problem will cost me or actually benefit me, as the plants with less light have grown much bigger. The blossoms in general are pretty good so far...
But the broken light has to be addressed. I communicated with HLG and when I informed them that I installed the replacement Quantum board and it still didn't fix the light, they offered to send me a brand-new light, and simply requested the old one be sent back. It came in one day! Now that is awesome customer service...I was prepared to have to buy another unit and these things are almost $800 each. But they stand behind their lights, that's for sure. Kudos to them. Their lights have certainly worked well for me.
Meantime, we need something so I built a six-socket light and got six red 20-watt lights. Doesn't sound like much but until my other light gets put up next week it is far better than nothing!
These things put out a narrow but intense enough cone of ruby light.
I ran them on a 220 v and they seemed to run fine. That will at least hold them over until the cavalry arrives next week!
So everything back on perfect, as perfect as possible anyway. I arrived home to see the delivered new light. So that thing I built will have to hold the fort until probably next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Until then I keep testing SATURN 5. It's amazing. Delicious. Stony as F. Like nothing else on Earth...
Or anywhere else.
Peace, Hyena
425jesse
Well-Known Member
To the moon
- Thread starter
- #2,288
Another day, another dollar...
and another HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
There are always ups and downs with this growing weed thing...this week, mostly ups.
The blooming biomass in Tent #2 is starting to get serious!
Even with only 2/3 of the light they are used to everybody seems like they are really trying. I got the replacement light from HLG and installed it, not all that easy for just one person, hanging right above a big hedge of weed. I managed to do it, then...only one side came on. Shit. BUT, at least the half that's working is working at full power...that's like replacing half my bad light anyway. Half will get me there. I hope it's maybe a little connector problem that they can help me diagnose and fix myself. We'll see when I call them later today.
The beautiful buds are starting to appear...
Popping out everywhere...
I think we have a liftoff! Once to this point a grow is on automatic. I can't wait to watch the next 4 weeks, or something like that, as monster buds form.
So I removed half a zillion fan leaves to get more light to the interior of the massive hedge, stopping when I filled a small trash can...and it almost seemed like norhing had even been removed. The density of these plants is almost self-defeating...I hope I can duplicate the harvest of the last bunch.
Then turning to Tent #1...
These girls are growing like weeds. They are pushing up the scrog net everywhere and I did my first session with them, starting to spread everything out.
Then they needed a certain amount of fan leaves removed as well so after all ministrations the green group looked like this:
We will take clones from them soon, probably a week from now. I plan to use much larger branches this time than last, and see if we can take a few weeks off the annoyingly-long period that clones take to really get going. Let's face it, seeds so far have been a couple weeks to maybe even four weeks faster. I think I need to just cut bigger branches and maybe that will give me a head start that will offset the 3 weeks they sit in the cloner basically growing roots instead of branches. We'll see if that works beginning next week.
For now things are all on schedule in the Grow House. But I have another problem...about twenty pounds of freshly-frozen sugar trim and small buds from the last 4 grows. My freezer is stuffed, here and at home. I want to make the absolute most of this priceless stock of the freshest possible dank for concentrate use, making the holiest of all holies: HASH.
My Hyena Institute scientific team and I have been researching the most advanced hashmaking techniques in pursuit of the ultimate process. We feel we have finally found it...water/ice extraction, straining down to 25 microns, then freeze drying. So I am turning my attention this week to a new toy...
This freeze dryer will take all the yummy hash I am about to make and dry it with almost zero loss of the terpine profile of the weed...this method results in the most perfect possible hash, so pure it's a light gold color, almost white, retaining the taste and aroma of the parent plant material, with no detectable plant matter whatsoever. As pure as pressing...and even better. As I finish this update I am preparing to start with a pound of frozen dank and get two washing machines going. The dehydrator has been tested and is ready to go.
I will let you know what happens. Most likely, we will make a ton of frosty hash and get incredibly high. Powerfully, deleriously high. Impossibly high...
Yes. That high. See you next time!
Peace, Hyena
and another HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
There are always ups and downs with this growing weed thing...this week, mostly ups.
The blooming biomass in Tent #2 is starting to get serious!
Even with only 2/3 of the light they are used to everybody seems like they are really trying. I got the replacement light from HLG and installed it, not all that easy for just one person, hanging right above a big hedge of weed. I managed to do it, then...only one side came on. Shit. BUT, at least the half that's working is working at full power...that's like replacing half my bad light anyway. Half will get me there. I hope it's maybe a little connector problem that they can help me diagnose and fix myself. We'll see when I call them later today.
The beautiful buds are starting to appear...
Popping out everywhere...
I think we have a liftoff! Once to this point a grow is on automatic. I can't wait to watch the next 4 weeks, or something like that, as monster buds form.
So I removed half a zillion fan leaves to get more light to the interior of the massive hedge, stopping when I filled a small trash can...and it almost seemed like norhing had even been removed. The density of these plants is almost self-defeating...I hope I can duplicate the harvest of the last bunch.
Then turning to Tent #1...
These girls are growing like weeds. They are pushing up the scrog net everywhere and I did my first session with them, starting to spread everything out.
Then they needed a certain amount of fan leaves removed as well so after all ministrations the green group looked like this:
We will take clones from them soon, probably a week from now. I plan to use much larger branches this time than last, and see if we can take a few weeks off the annoyingly-long period that clones take to really get going. Let's face it, seeds so far have been a couple weeks to maybe even four weeks faster. I think I need to just cut bigger branches and maybe that will give me a head start that will offset the 3 weeks they sit in the cloner basically growing roots instead of branches. We'll see if that works beginning next week.
For now things are all on schedule in the Grow House. But I have another problem...about twenty pounds of freshly-frozen sugar trim and small buds from the last 4 grows. My freezer is stuffed, here and at home. I want to make the absolute most of this priceless stock of the freshest possible dank for concentrate use, making the holiest of all holies: HASH.
My Hyena Institute scientific team and I have been researching the most advanced hashmaking techniques in pursuit of the ultimate process. We feel we have finally found it...water/ice extraction, straining down to 25 microns, then freeze drying. So I am turning my attention this week to a new toy...
This freeze dryer will take all the yummy hash I am about to make and dry it with almost zero loss of the terpine profile of the weed...this method results in the most perfect possible hash, so pure it's a light gold color, almost white, retaining the taste and aroma of the parent plant material, with no detectable plant matter whatsoever. As pure as pressing...and even better. As I finish this update I am preparing to start with a pound of frozen dank and get two washing machines going. The dehydrator has been tested and is ready to go.
I will let you know what happens. Most likely, we will make a ton of frosty hash and get incredibly high. Powerfully, deleriously high. Impossibly high...
Yes. That high. See you next time!
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #2,290
Hello dere! For anyone still reading this journal, here's one of the (probably) final
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE updates!
I have been writing this kwaazy journal for coming up on 5 years...amazing in many ways. Amazing that the grows I have chronicled have turned out as fun and productive as they have, considering everyone that grows cannabis plants is constantly learning (especially me) PLUS it's not all that easy. I have learned it's a piece of cake to grow weed...but very rigorous and complex to grow top-quality weed. At this point...mission accomplished.
The last 5 years have been a fantastic voyage into the art and science of many aspects of indoor cannabis growing and I have shared what I have learned in this journal all along the way. From secretly growing in my attic 5 years ago, to today where I have an entire house and grow 30 pounds of my own dank a year, it's been a challenging and very fun ride and I appreciate everyone who has tuned in to share some or all of it throughout that time.
I'm thinking about ending it at the 5 year mark, that seems like a good place to finish a long journey. I feel like I have achieved my objectives, which were 1) learn to grow like a pro from everyone and everything on this 420 Mag site, and 2) share what I learn with others. At this point writing about my growing success feels more like bragging than reporting, frankly I'm just blessed it has all worked out so well. I don't really have a lot more to relate from a science perspective; if someone takes the time to read this journal they will learn enough to teach a class and leaving that body of information is something I am proud of. I truly hope others who come here to 420 Mag for knowledge will find my work, and gain skills from it.
August 25th is the 5-year point of the pointless rambling I call a journal. That will be the end.
Until then, for whomever still occasionally takes a peek, I will keep it going. I wish I could find a way to share what I write (and learn) with more people, but I don't know how so I will just keep posting until 8/25 and leave it at that.
Meanwhile, my new dimension of cannabis achievement is...HASH!
Figuring out what to do with all the amazing and fragrant trim I have accumulated has been a quest in itself...
It has been stacking up as I have tried different paths to using the trichomes contained within..
I've gone through every way you can try and get high, from Canna butter making, to pressing, to finally a really cool water extraction method and finally...freeze drying! So without further ado, I present...LUNAR SOIL!
The hash produced by the water extraction method (special small washing machine/bubble bags) combined with fresh frozen trim and buds, shredded cold, then agitated and run three times is AWESOME! Then the final piece of the puzzle is the freeze drying process which reduces the drying time from 5-6 days to 12 hours...and leaves the hash so pure, it's almost powder...a light golden color, with absolutely no chemical impurities whatsoever...just the purest trichomes ready to be smoked and enjoyed!
The buzz from this stuff is SO STRONG it's dab-like, but a MUCH smoother smoke, with better flavor...the buzz hits you RIGHT NOW and lasts a long time, too! All in all, it's the best hash I have ever smoked and the coolness of the powdery form makes it super easy to use, you just sprinkle some into a joint or do it by the bong hit, put a little on top of a bowl and it makes any weed into the best weed you ever smoked. It's like a THC additive for your reefer.
The consistency and color made it easy to decide on a name; LUNAR SOIL fits this out-of-this-world substance perfectly. It launches your mind into space and takes you on a tour of the galaxy...like Elon Musk's car you will orbit in weightless bliss until you gently re-enter after a surprisingly long and smooth buzz. 3 hits and I'm stoned. The Eagle has landed!
So tomorrow I roll beck up to the old Grow Haus and we'll have some more to relate. Until then, I have to watch that I don't become a hopeless addict of this new spacey substance...
Good advice, I would say. Little green dude has some fine shit!
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE updates!
I have been writing this kwaazy journal for coming up on 5 years...amazing in many ways. Amazing that the grows I have chronicled have turned out as fun and productive as they have, considering everyone that grows cannabis plants is constantly learning (especially me) PLUS it's not all that easy. I have learned it's a piece of cake to grow weed...but very rigorous and complex to grow top-quality weed. At this point...mission accomplished.
The last 5 years have been a fantastic voyage into the art and science of many aspects of indoor cannabis growing and I have shared what I have learned in this journal all along the way. From secretly growing in my attic 5 years ago, to today where I have an entire house and grow 30 pounds of my own dank a year, it's been a challenging and very fun ride and I appreciate everyone who has tuned in to share some or all of it throughout that time.
I'm thinking about ending it at the 5 year mark, that seems like a good place to finish a long journey. I feel like I have achieved my objectives, which were 1) learn to grow like a pro from everyone and everything on this 420 Mag site, and 2) share what I learn with others. At this point writing about my growing success feels more like bragging than reporting, frankly I'm just blessed it has all worked out so well. I don't really have a lot more to relate from a science perspective; if someone takes the time to read this journal they will learn enough to teach a class and leaving that body of information is something I am proud of. I truly hope others who come here to 420 Mag for knowledge will find my work, and gain skills from it.
August 25th is the 5-year point of the pointless rambling I call a journal. That will be the end.
Until then, for whomever still occasionally takes a peek, I will keep it going. I wish I could find a way to share what I write (and learn) with more people, but I don't know how so I will just keep posting until 8/25 and leave it at that.
Meanwhile, my new dimension of cannabis achievement is...HASH!
Figuring out what to do with all the amazing and fragrant trim I have accumulated has been a quest in itself...
It has been stacking up as I have tried different paths to using the trichomes contained within..
I've gone through every way you can try and get high, from Canna butter making, to pressing, to finally a really cool water extraction method and finally...freeze drying! So without further ado, I present...LUNAR SOIL!
The hash produced by the water extraction method (special small washing machine/bubble bags) combined with fresh frozen trim and buds, shredded cold, then agitated and run three times is AWESOME! Then the final piece of the puzzle is the freeze drying process which reduces the drying time from 5-6 days to 12 hours...and leaves the hash so pure, it's almost powder...a light golden color, with absolutely no chemical impurities whatsoever...just the purest trichomes ready to be smoked and enjoyed!
The buzz from this stuff is SO STRONG it's dab-like, but a MUCH smoother smoke, with better flavor...the buzz hits you RIGHT NOW and lasts a long time, too! All in all, it's the best hash I have ever smoked and the coolness of the powdery form makes it super easy to use, you just sprinkle some into a joint or do it by the bong hit, put a little on top of a bowl and it makes any weed into the best weed you ever smoked. It's like a THC additive for your reefer.
The consistency and color made it easy to decide on a name; LUNAR SOIL fits this out-of-this-world substance perfectly. It launches your mind into space and takes you on a tour of the galaxy...like Elon Musk's car you will orbit in weightless bliss until you gently re-enter after a surprisingly long and smooth buzz. 3 hits and I'm stoned. The Eagle has landed!
So tomorrow I roll beck up to the old Grow Haus and we'll have some more to relate. Until then, I have to watch that I don't become a hopeless addict of this new spacey substance...
Good advice, I would say. Little green dude has some fine shit!
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #2,293
Sure nice of you to say that mate and thanks for being there!
The freeze dryer is from Harvest Right, but it's sold all over including Home Depot. Got the medium size. Works like magic for drying the hash. Haven't tried freeze drying buds yet; it might be a good idea but the capacity of the freeze dryer is basically four narrow cookie trays...it would take as long to freeze dry my harvest as to air dry it!
I want to visit NZ someday...but I'm scared of being upside down.
Don't be a stranger.
Peace, Hyena
Hi HM,
Add me to the list of those who will miss your journaling. You may think of it as pointless rambling, I view it as priceless information gained from valuable experience. In a few months I'll be doing an expansion, and will finally get to put to use some of the great knowledge you've shared, and your starting techniques.
When I first stumbled into your journal, I was like "damn!! so this is where the experienced growers are"
It's been a pleasure to read your work, and I hope you do stick around 420, but I also understand...life goes on.
Until then, I too shall be following along till the end.
- Thread starter
- #2,295
Hi HM,
Add me to the list of those who will miss your journaling. You may think of it as pointless rambling, I view it as priceless information gained from valuable experience. In a few months I'll be doing an expansion, and will finally get to put to use some of the great knowledge you've shared, and your starting techniques.
When I first stumbled into your journal, I was like "damn!! so this is where the experienced growers are"
It's been a pleasure to read your work, and I hope you do stick around 420, but I also understand...life goes on.
Until then, I too shall be following along till the end.
Thanks for the kind words my friend. August is a long ways off...maybe I'll keep writing as I quite enjoy it but I also sometimes feel I'm just telling the same story again and again...I have had a few other occasions where I felt that way, thought I was going to quit it, then I have a bunch of people all of a sudden liking something and I realize there are more than a handful of folks out there that do stop by. So we'll see.
Glad you're here. I look forward to hearing how your next grow goes.
Peace, Hyena
Hey HM glad to see the grow house pumping! Loving the buds, the gifs, the bragadocious riffs.
I was wondering as I was catching up just what you were doing with all the trim. Hello! Your moon dust looks like the bomb!
Your calendar just arrived in NZ this week!
I’m glad to hear that you will keep with the photojournalism in one form or another HM.
Always a good read!
I was wondering as I was catching up just what you were doing with all the trim. Hello! Your moon dust looks like the bomb!
Your calendar just arrived in NZ this week!
Kiaora, cuz. Do you have a grow going?
I’m glad to hear that you will keep with the photojournalism in one form or another HM.
Always a good read!- Thread starter
- #2,297
Sunday morning and nothing to do except another
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
It wasn't the best visit this week. I anticipated having zero to worry about but life is always full of surprises.
I opened Tent #2 expecting to see a room full of budding ladies all standing proudly. What I saw was this...
It was very apparent they had not been watered for some time. The Bigfoot pheno looked the worst, with its large leaves all hanging limply, but every plant was stressed. Upon examination I found the reservoir pump had failed. From the full reservoir it was also obvious this happened right after I left last week...6 days without a fill.
As a nearly-mad scientist I always have a spare everything and so I changed out the pump for a new one, slightly smaller but still adequate for the task. I ran a test of the fill and drain pumps and everything was working again, then turned my attention to the other problem in this tent: the half-working light. I called up the tech at Horticulture Lighting Group and we examined the problem together, sort of.
I have a lot of electrical repair experience after working as a radar and electronics technician in the Air Force. So a little thing like only half a light working shouldn't be hard to fix, and fortunately I was correct. Turned out two of the boards had been mounted backwards, (plus to plus/minus to minus), and once we spotted that it only took a few minutes to remove and correctly replace the boards. Reconnect the wires, and boom! All working 100% once again. So everything back on track in there. Now make me some buds!
Then Tent #1, with the refined clone mix growing strong!
They all look fantastic and right on schedule. These are growing taller earlier than the other tent and I'm pretty sure it's because I took taller clones with more nodes. I am experimenting as we go to learn the best cloning technique, they all seem to work but to me it seems the bigger the branch you clone, the further along your plants are from the start. Is this actually true? So far it seems so.
Next visit I think I might clone the next bunch, and I might try even bigger clone cuttings. There may be a point where there's a problem with a larger cutting but if the cloner can hold them I feel like it will work. What I really want is to shorten the length of the total grow, it seems like cloning actually takes longer overall. We shall see probably next Wednesday. Stay tuned.
So back to smoking lots of tasty cannabis and thinking deeply about critical questions that need to be considered...
I doesn't know.
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
It wasn't the best visit this week. I anticipated having zero to worry about but life is always full of surprises.
I opened Tent #2 expecting to see a room full of budding ladies all standing proudly. What I saw was this...
It was very apparent they had not been watered for some time. The Bigfoot pheno looked the worst, with its large leaves all hanging limply, but every plant was stressed. Upon examination I found the reservoir pump had failed. From the full reservoir it was also obvious this happened right after I left last week...6 days without a fill.
As a nearly-mad scientist I always have a spare everything and so I changed out the pump for a new one, slightly smaller but still adequate for the task. I ran a test of the fill and drain pumps and everything was working again, then turned my attention to the other problem in this tent: the half-working light. I called up the tech at Horticulture Lighting Group and we examined the problem together, sort of.
I have a lot of electrical repair experience after working as a radar and electronics technician in the Air Force. So a little thing like only half a light working shouldn't be hard to fix, and fortunately I was correct. Turned out two of the boards had been mounted backwards, (plus to plus/minus to minus), and once we spotted that it only took a few minutes to remove and correctly replace the boards. Reconnect the wires, and boom! All working 100% once again. So everything back on track in there. Now make me some buds!
Then Tent #1, with the refined clone mix growing strong!
They all look fantastic and right on schedule. These are growing taller earlier than the other tent and I'm pretty sure it's because I took taller clones with more nodes. I am experimenting as we go to learn the best cloning technique, they all seem to work but to me it seems the bigger the branch you clone, the further along your plants are from the start. Is this actually true? So far it seems so.
Next visit I think I might clone the next bunch, and I might try even bigger clone cuttings. There may be a point where there's a problem with a larger cutting but if the cloner can hold them I feel like it will work. What I really want is to shorten the length of the total grow, it seems like cloning actually takes longer overall. We shall see probably next Wednesday. Stay tuned.
So back to smoking lots of tasty cannabis and thinking deeply about critical questions that need to be considered...
I doesn't know.
Peace, Hyena
- Thread starter
- #2,299
Hello and how about a
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
This trip to the Northern Grow Chalet proved to be about 6 hours of hard work. *sigh* This is almost like a freakin' job.
The lack of watering for 7 days took its toll, there were a LOT of dead and dying fan leaves everywhere that had to be addressed. When you stress a cannabis plant past a certain point (and a week without watering qualifies), there is inevitable damage. A plant is designed to adapt to such events (in the wild...things aren't exactly on a schedule) but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. A low-hydration stress event sacrifices a lot of the lower fan leaves as the plant goes into survival mode and pulls its vital energy inward to protect the core and extend its life. Combined with inadequate light (1/3 less for over three weeks) it has resulted in this grow being a couple weeks behind developmentally, and it especially hit the 4 plants on the left side pretty hard.
The good: the room is still in full bloom...
But upon close inspection the two shaggy ones on the far left lost maybe 25% of their leaves, and the two next to those are woefully thin. They only have wispy bud development, about what I would expect after 3 weeks in flower instead of seven. I hope all this will fill in as they now have full hydration and full light, and after a week back on that they all look a LOT better. But two hours of combing through the plants and removing dead and dying fan leaves was a bitch of a task.
Only then could I get to the main job this visit: the final cloning! This selection will end the evolutionary tree for all but one lucky winner...Pheno #10, the new mother plant of SATURN 5! Sadly, the other 5 remaining lines come to a close. All were worthy and delicious, but the quest for a new variety has to culminate in selecting only one...the best one...SATURN 5. I think Elon Musk would be proud!
But first, the 90-minute chore of building the cloner.
Since I can't be there every day I have to use a system with a big reservoir which pumps fresh water into the cloner four times a day automatically. It's a great setup, but it takes a while to set up.
Then, three nice plants to take clones from. Everyone in here is looking great and my 3 #10 phenos are ready to donate their limbs...
This time I'm going to try to short-circuit the lengthy process of clones needing 3 weeks to develop roots before they can start to develop branches. I'm taking MUCH larger and more developed branches, most already with many small branches already developing at the nodes.
I'm hoping this will cut about 3 weeks off the time needed since these are already in essence little bushes already. I have read some opinions that the more mature a branch, the harder it is to clone. Some say it may take longer to root. There might be some reasons for that but I have the time, especially since I estimate another 4 weeks will be required to get whatever I'm going to get out of tent #2...if the rooting gel and continuous gentle hydration works to promote root growth in some plant tissue, why not all?
I use CLONEX products and they are excellent.
It was a couple hours work to select, cut, trim, and secure 13 clones
Finally, everybody was in the cloner and everything was set, tested, and working properly. Of course, we always look pretty worn after a big trip or a major amputation. Our new SATURN 5 girls were no exception...
But I left them all to rest and redo their makeup. I expect to see a bevy of beauties in a week.
Back three hours to real life. On the drive I think a lot. Maybe too much. I just went in for a brain scan and my doctor said it didn't look good...
I told him, what the hell? Looks great to me! Have a green week!
Peace, Hyena
HYENA'S GROW HOUSE update!
This trip to the Northern Grow Chalet proved to be about 6 hours of hard work. *sigh* This is almost like a freakin' job.
The lack of watering for 7 days took its toll, there were a LOT of dead and dying fan leaves everywhere that had to be addressed. When you stress a cannabis plant past a certain point (and a week without watering qualifies), there is inevitable damage. A plant is designed to adapt to such events (in the wild...things aren't exactly on a schedule) but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. A low-hydration stress event sacrifices a lot of the lower fan leaves as the plant goes into survival mode and pulls its vital energy inward to protect the core and extend its life. Combined with inadequate light (1/3 less for over three weeks) it has resulted in this grow being a couple weeks behind developmentally, and it especially hit the 4 plants on the left side pretty hard.
The good: the room is still in full bloom...
But upon close inspection the two shaggy ones on the far left lost maybe 25% of their leaves, and the two next to those are woefully thin. They only have wispy bud development, about what I would expect after 3 weeks in flower instead of seven. I hope all this will fill in as they now have full hydration and full light, and after a week back on that they all look a LOT better. But two hours of combing through the plants and removing dead and dying fan leaves was a bitch of a task.
Only then could I get to the main job this visit: the final cloning! This selection will end the evolutionary tree for all but one lucky winner...Pheno #10, the new mother plant of SATURN 5! Sadly, the other 5 remaining lines come to a close. All were worthy and delicious, but the quest for a new variety has to culminate in selecting only one...the best one...SATURN 5. I think Elon Musk would be proud!
But first, the 90-minute chore of building the cloner.
Since I can't be there every day I have to use a system with a big reservoir which pumps fresh water into the cloner four times a day automatically. It's a great setup, but it takes a while to set up.
Then, three nice plants to take clones from. Everyone in here is looking great and my 3 #10 phenos are ready to donate their limbs...
This time I'm going to try to short-circuit the lengthy process of clones needing 3 weeks to develop roots before they can start to develop branches. I'm taking MUCH larger and more developed branches, most already with many small branches already developing at the nodes.
I'm hoping this will cut about 3 weeks off the time needed since these are already in essence little bushes already. I have read some opinions that the more mature a branch, the harder it is to clone. Some say it may take longer to root. There might be some reasons for that but I have the time, especially since I estimate another 4 weeks will be required to get whatever I'm going to get out of tent #2...if the rooting gel and continuous gentle hydration works to promote root growth in some plant tissue, why not all?
I use CLONEX products and they are excellent.
It was a couple hours work to select, cut, trim, and secure 13 clones
Finally, everybody was in the cloner and everything was set, tested, and working properly. Of course, we always look pretty worn after a big trip or a major amputation. Our new SATURN 5 girls were no exception...
But I left them all to rest and redo their makeup. I expect to see a bevy of beauties in a week.
Back three hours to real life. On the drive I think a lot. Maybe too much. I just went in for a brain scan and my doctor said it didn't look good...
I told him, what the hell? Looks great to me! Have a green week!
Peace, Hyena
Highya HM,
Great presentation as always!! I've been learning about the lack of water myself. Serious problem. Thanks for documenting the good with the bad (mostly good)! If we don't make mistakes, we're not doing anything!! Persistence and perseverence is what it takes!! Interesting experiment with the clones. Hope it saves you a week or so! Happy Smokin'
Great presentation as always!! I've been learning about the lack of water myself. Serious problem. Thanks for documenting the good with the bad (mostly good)! If we don't make mistakes, we're not doing anything!! Persistence and perseverence is what it takes!! Interesting experiment with the clones. Hope it saves you a week or so! Happy Smokin'