Hyena's Never-Ending Adventures In Growing

[Hyena Merica]

Happy Thursday!

It's the 5-week mark from flipping to 12/12...and the Project 25 ladies are flipping beautiful!

There's still at least 5 or 6 weeks to go and yet the flower show is rocking. I'm getting the dense, fast, second-wave buddation I am looking for.

They are finally getting nice enough to start doing real pictures. I love when the sugar starts to accumulate.

Hyenas are mainly sativa but very sugary. A strong sativa influence shows in the flower structure. They take 3 or 4 weeks longer to flower so we have a ways to go yet and it's going to be a task to keep the temps even in the mid-80s in the grow lab but the A/C I installed has, so far, not let me down.

I have snapped over almost all the major branches at some point. Lots of nice horizontal racks of cute buds, all growing, growing...

You will see some of the most beautiful bud porn ever over the next 4 weeks if all goes according to plan. Which it has so far.

But there are still miles to go...that's the exciting part.

Teen sativa beauty...ahhhh. The fruity, sweet essence of Blue Hyena is not really skunky, rather it's a syrupy floral scent that is really pleasant in the grow room. At this stage I like to gently pinch a bud just to reload the atmosphere when I'm in there, though soon enough they will be so stinky I almost won't be able to take it.

We are going out of town for almost a week up to the 4th of July. This will be the ultimate test of my setup. Going away during winter is easy because I can precisely regulate the temperature and the lights and other heat-producing devices are my friend at that time of year. But leaving in the heat of summer is a much greater risk, especially since a failure of the A/C unit any time during my absence will probably ruin my project. I have had the thing on full automatic for over a month now with perfect results...I will trust technology, and my own design, and try not to think too much about it since there's nothing I could do anyway... I won't be leaving for another week but it's on my mind.

Have a groovy day! Smoke one for me, and know I wish I could pass a fatty to you my friends!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Verbal Kint]

What's happening with the pollen sacks buddy?

 

[pino0911]

Look good as always my friend Hyena! Ive been drying some in the fridge via Dr.Ziggys Low N Slow methid and cant wait to seel wgat the outcome will be. How is the seed project going? I wouldnt worry to much bout going out if town due to your lab performing on all cylinders so far. Great update will look forward to the next one. Great work as always!!

 

[Hyena Merica]

What's happening with the pollen sacks buddy?

Well...not much.

There are still a couple nice little clusters of "male" flowers developing, but I can't imagine that tiny amount will give me the pollen I need, not even close.

By now I have realized my idea of treating a couple lower branches on the chosen plant was not sufficient to produce the volume of pollen required. Next time I think I will treat an entire plant and make enough for sure to complete the project. The pollen I get from this round I will simply save for next time. Same genetics so probably okay.

I can wait to do it right.

Meanwhile, the harvest, hopefully, will still be great.

Peace, Hyena

 

[NorCaliwood]

Plants are looking great..... Keepem Green

 

[Hyena Merica]

Thank you Norcal!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Happy Saturday! SO much to report!

First, to whomever is out there reading this journal, thank you and what's wrong with you? Seriously, I always imagine I'm talking to a lot of folks or it could be just a few, but you are here and for that I am very grateful!

WELLLLLLLLL.......

Things can change very quickly in the realm of nature! And changes are happening here in the secret hidden attic grow lab...

Here's how we look:

The third flowering wave is starting, with improvements over the last grow. The buds my last crop produced were a little on the thin side...still full potency but an airy structure, almost like they were chopped early. My strong suspicion is that I interrupted the budding cycle sufficiently to set the plants back a few weeks, resulting in full plant maturity (amber trichomes, etc.) but lagging bud density. I realized the problem only at the end when the stuff was ripe but the buds just hadn't packed fully.

It was a simple mistake, the result of intrusion into the room to plant my seedlings in the nursery only once for about 15 minutes (but it had to be done or I would have lost them, long story) resulting in enough light splashing on them that they came out of aggressive bloom and never really got back on track. It's like they missed 25-30% of their growth. I still love the herb but it definitely cost me half the weight, and that will never happen again. The price of knowledge can sometimes be measured, and this lesson cost me a pound of buds.

We live, we learn. I wasn't absolutely 100% sure that's what caused it but smoking some Plush Berry from that grow, I noticed this in one of the nugs. Aha! That provides more evidence that I caused the problem...Plush Berry is a stabilized commercial strain, unlikely to hermie on its own, but a light issue during flowering can trigger bananas and there they are.

The fact that they were still immature at harvest indicates they were triggered by some event late into the flowering phase instead of being a natural hermie where the flowers more likely would have formed from the beginning. It's all circumstantial but I'm trying to learn more every time.

So now I look at the slow-to-flower pollen mother, and WOW! There it suddenly is...loads of pollen sacs! Almost overnight, a sudden burst of results after thinking it wasn't going to happen!

NOW it's on like Donkey Kong! It suddenly looks like I might actually have enough pollen to do the seed project. That doesn't mean I will be able to contain it, manipulate it with precision, successfully fertilize enough buds, etc...so many steps still remain but at least the first requirement seems like it will materialize...lots of Blue Hyena pollen!

My limited experience with male flowers is they swell and burst annoyingly fast and that must be addressed. My idea is that cleaner bags will contain the stuff while allowing the branch to still receive light. I'm not fooling myself that I am probably about to contaminate my grow room to some extent with this pollen because there's no way I can prevent zillions of little pollen grains from becoming airborne no matter how careful I am. But initially I need to contain it as much as I can so I will strive to minimize it escaping from the branch by enclosing it in the thin plastic bag.

My plan is to wait until these swell and burst, keeping the bag sealed, then cut these branches at the base keeping it all sealed, and remove it from the grow room. I have several grow tents I have never used (I explored a lot of ideas before deciding on building an entire secret hidden grow lab) and I'm thinking about using one of them as a "fertilization chamber" outside the lab. That way, I will hopefully really reduce the amount of pollen that ends up remaining in my grow lab when Project 25 is all done. That's the real problem, I don't want generations of unavoidably seedy buds. Though a few are unavoidable and I can always live with that since they each represent a new cross with known genetics.

I think if I take them in there one by one and fertilize there, I can do it by air with a fan blowing pollen everywhere and thet seems to me the only way to maximize distribution and really get a lot of seeds. The Q-tip method and such manual methods seem inefficient compared to natures method...the wind. And I want a lot of seeds!

So that's where things are...the seed project still has hope. Who knew. Never give up I guess!

I will leave you with some teen pot porn.

The Hyenas are coming!

Peace, Hyena

 

[mouser]

..The Spice must flow............

 

[Skybound]

It was a simple mistake, the result of intrusion into the room to plant my seedlings in the nursery only once for about 15 minutes (but it had to be done or I would have lost them, long story) resulting in enough light splashing on them that they came out of aggressive bloom and never really got back on track. It's like they missed 25-30% of their growth. I still love the herb but it definitely cost me half the weight, and that will never happen again. The price of knowledge can sometimes be measured, and this lesson cost me a pound of buds.

Same story, different circumstances. I just ground up a sampled lower branch last night, and low and behold, a shiny almost developed seed on the top of the pile
My mistakeS were two brutal defoliation sessions that I should've gotten done in veg, plus a design flaw in my ventilation has allowed the heat to get upwards of 90º for consecutive days. Granted, my sensor may be subjected to some radiant energy, but I can't see the difference being more than 5º, so that still leaves me with a daytime low of 85º. I grow 1 large plant per light, and each gets their own room, so when I harvest before/on Wednesday, my plan is to unplug all electrical in the room, peel back the corner of my door, stick a spray bottle in and spray the whole plant till it's drenched to hopefully prevent any loose pollen from escaping that room. I wash my crops anyways, so the prerinse will just help that further anyways. Then once it's out, bleach wash all walls, fixtures everything, then fix my vent situation, make other desired mods, and try again with another plant from veg!

I gotta admit, I'm more of a self abusive character when I realize my mistakes, but watching you handle your mistakes with elegance and class is showing me there's a better way to deal with shit.

So THANK YOU!!!!

 

[Hyena Merica]

Same story, different circumstances. I just ground up a sampled lower branch last night, and low and behold, a shiny almost developed seed on the top of the pile
My mistakeS were two brutal defoliation sessions that I should've gotten done in veg, plus a design flaw in my ventilation has allowed the heat to get upwards of 90º for consecutive days. Granted, my sensor may be subjected to some radiant energy, but I can't see the difference being more than 5º, so that still leaves me with a daytime low of 85º. I grow 1 large plant per light, and each gets their own room, so when I harvest before/on Wednesday, my plan is to unplug all electrical in the room, peel back the corner of my door, stick a spray bottle in and spray the whole plant till it's drenched to hopefully prevent any loose pollen from escaping that room. I wash my crops anyways, so the prerinse will just help that further anyways. Then once it's out, bleach wash all walls, fixtures everything, then fix my vent situation, make other desired mods, and try again with another plant from veg!

I gotta admit, I'm more of a self abusive character when I realize my mistakes, but watching you handle your mistakes with elegance and class is showing me there's a better way to deal with shit.

So THANK YOU!!!!

Thanks for the nice post bro.

Hey I read your 1st blog entry regarding automation, from 2014...where are you at with that? Did you ever fully automate a grow?

There were some interesting things discussed there and I was just curious where it went.

Personally I have always felt automation is only so useful. Best scenario is being able to be no-touch for up to a week and the closed, gravity-return Dutch Bucket setup I employ achieves that. I don't precisely measure nutes and I use FAR less than "recommended" (which reduces nute burn etc.) which makes my method of using one central reservoir and refilling/adjusting once a week ideal. Maybe I would benefit from a more automated nute dosing approach but when you play by feel and you're scoring okay you hesitate to change.

Peace, Hyena

 

[HoneyGirl420]

Wow! Your work IS awesome sauce

 

[Skybound]

That automation thing is a bit of a funny story. I've stuck with it ever since the end of my last grow, and had to pretty much teach myself both circuit building and coding from information and coding forums on the interwebs. Fast forward to the first of this year when I cracked some beans at a new growcation and the beginning of my journal. Doing my best to subdue my passion for where I want to go with this project, I did my best to explain on my journal my current state of the build, and all the problems I still had that needed to be debugged prior to moving onto other facets of the overall project. People subbed, some commented, but really most if it just goes over people's heads which is fine, because a lot of it still goes over mine. Anyways, someone that has many years of coding experience, precisely in the language I'm trying to learn, offered to help me debug and clean up my code. Of course I happily took the offer and we exchanged some info in the PMs, and he also got me onto a web hosted chat room where we can communicate quicker and more efficiently. In the course of the following days, we get to talking about growing, problems etc, and he tells me of his desire to embrace Dutch Buckets, and he linked me to one of your journals. So it seems my automation quest has lead me here.

As to where I'm at currently, we're still trying to work out a few bugs in my code, aqnd when I harvest, I will bring the controller home to update the circuitry and upload the newer more efficient code. That aside, right now the controller has been running strong for about 3 weeks, but previously, it would crash every once in a while and freeze relays in their current states. However, right now I can monitor time and both room temps and humidities. When at the grow, I don't ever need to remove buckets of water as everything is pumped out into the building's waste line. When adding RO to a bloom tank, I can program the pump to produce RO in 1/4 gallon increments, but I need to manually operate valves to select the destination reservoir. I also built an 8 head peristaltic dosing pump module that is riddled with bug, but I have a few ideas to work it all out. I expect to have that stuff ironed out in a month, just need funds to proceed with some stuff. I know my feed schedules and how to augment them to combat any issue I see, but when growing hydroponically, I find there's a lot to remember, and usually being thoroughly stoned, I frequently forget things such as remembering to reopen the feed valves after swapping out some RO in my flush. 2 days with no food or drink, probably why I have some hermie stuff. With complete automation, I will be able to monitor and control everything via a free app on my cell phone. (Our mutual friend Latitude17) will likely put together a more advanced level of control with slightly different better quality hardware. My grow is remote to where I live and I need to also be able to work full time with over time with rapidly aging joints, I seriously need to make this much much easier, to the point I can devote the little time I have each visit to the grow to plant stuff only and not have to worry about anything else at all, ever. All I need to do now is debug what I have, make electric valves and add PH and EC measuring into the circuit and I will be able to manage my grow totally remotely, or via programmed events and only need to spend 15-20 minutes per week (more or less) at the growcation.

Edit - Here's a video update from a few weeks back so you can get quickly acquainted.
[video=youtube;GfTond6pa5g]

[/video]

 

[Hyena Merica]

Wow! Your work IS awesome sauce  

TYVM HoneyG!

I truly enjoy writing about my hobby and sharing pot photography and pot philosophy. Makes me happy when folks are entertained and I can maybe share a growing tip now and again.

Stop by more often!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

That automation thing is a bit of a funny story. .. So it seems my automation quest has lead me here.

Interesting story Skybound.

Obviously there are a lot of ways to control and manage every aspect of the growing environment. Some more labor-intensive than others for sure.

Seems to me it is worth evaluating everything you do, or are considering doing, through the filters of:

-Is there already a proven version of whatever I'm doing/building/inventing in the marketplace? If so, it's almost always better to use it. Re-inventing things is a lot of work and sometimes risk, without the benefit of the proving process that existing products have already gone through.

-Will my method/solution result in more complexity/work/maintenance than existing methods? A lot of folks in these forums love to fiddle and we are almost all hobby growers so that's fine, but the best grow system with the least time required/touches to maintain it is the goal of the pro grower.

I have personally found a closed Dutch bucket system to be nearly maintenance-free for large stretches of every grow, needing only 1 or 2 touches a week to keep going perfectly. It only needs a few timers and a pump. My heater in winter and my A/C in summer have a thermostat and keep things in range automatically. Then I top off and add nutes to the reservoir about twice a week and I could get away with once.

So, my setup is as close to automatic as I can get. But that suits me because I'm also very very lazy....

However, I will be interested to see what processes you streamline with your innovations. I love idea people! I look forward to your progress!

Peace, Hyena

 

[Gbmore Grow]

Happy Saturday...question for any and all....pls don't judge:

When smoking fruity strains...berry, lemon, strawberry..etc...Can you taste a flavor of sort???? I've NEVER smoked a fruit named strain and I'm curious as to if in fact you do????

 

[pino0911]

Hey Hyena!! Great work and happy to see your seed project going in the right direction. Love how you post always a great read. My first two girls one of them threw bananas also i believe it was due to heat and light intensity. Your Hyenas are looking fantastic as always. Seems like you have your secret grow room dialed in very well. As far as full automation on a grow i believe it would take from the experience ir hobby. But if your a cash cropper it would be priceless. I love being wit my girls and watching them flourish from seed to harvest. Great update and will be looking forward to the next one as always. Happy Growing!!

Oh how is the LED doing threw bloom? How is it doing compares to the rest of the room with HPS? With the AC i guess your good but if that wasnt available would the LEDs solve the heat issues? Thanks in advance!!

Today is a great day gonna harvest my first girl ever!! Thanks for the educational chapters in your grow journeys!!

 

[Hyena Merica]

Hey Hyena!! Great work and happy to see your seed project going in the right direction. Love how you post always a great read. My first two girls one of them threw bananas also i believe it was due to heat and light intensity. Your Hyenas are looking fantastic as always. Seems like you have your secret grow room dialed in very well. As far as full automation on a grow i believe it would take from the experience ir hobby. But if your a cash cropper it would be priceless. I love being wit my girls and watching them flourish from seed to harvest. Great update and will be looking forward to the next one as always. Happy Growing!!

Oh how is the LED doing threw bloom? How is it doing compares to the rest of the room with HPS? With the AC i guess your good but if that wasnt available would the LEDs solve the heat issues? Thanks in advance!!

Today is a great day gonna harvest my first girl ever!! Thanks for the educational chapters in your grow journeys!!

CONGRATS brother, the real reward is when you smoke that first really good herb you grew. Nothing like it!

I agree, full automation might be more than you need...the level of automation that actually helps is the goal, whatever that is for your setup. But everyone's grow is different so everyone's view of that need is unique.

The GROWSTAR GS1000 LED is still producing just as solid and thick flowers as the 600 W HPS next to it...and I only have it on the 200W BLOOM setting! I'm not kidding, that light rocks. It does NOT have as wide a footprint as a 600W HID hood produces, but I have figured out the trick...since the LEDs each have a little added lens that narrows and focuses the light, they are more effective within their footprint. Because of the lenses the footprint is about 1/3 narrower so there's the trade-off.

Heat wise, they aren't nearly as hot as a vented HID but I would still need A/C with any lights since right now my attic grow room would be 100-120 F without A/C intervention.

Seriously, though, I cannot say enough good things about this light!

Keep it going. Every day I learn something new (seriously, at least every week).

And don't worry if it doesn't go perfect every time...

They say GOOD judgement comes from experience...unfortunately, experience comes from BAD judgement.

Peace, Hyena

 

[coolanddeadly]

Howdy Hyena and all. BK here. I stumbled across this thread 3 days ago and haven't slept since! I am inspired and blown away all at the same time. I have read each and every word in between planning and taking notes and can't decide if reading your adventures or the planning is more fun. I laughed at times, was jaw dropped at other times by the perfect bud porn and had the inspirational quotes ringing in my brain for days. I think that I searched "dutch bucket scrog" and found this thread, btw. Anyhow, this post is to lavish the necessary and much deserved praise you deserve, kind sir, for elevating all of our games to another level. The light hearted and clear language that you use is addicting. Two of your gifts in this life are most definetly writing and growing. Thanks again for the mind numbing inspiration. Sean, I'll be needing that coupon code...I can see a 1000w Growstar LED dancing in my head.

 

[Hyena Merica]

Howdy Hyena and all. BK here. I stumbled across this thread 3 days ago and haven't slept since! I am inspired and blown away all at the same time. I have read each and every word in between planning and taking notes and can't decide if reading your adventures or the planning is more fun. I laughed at times, was jaw dropped at other times by the perfect bud porn and had the inspirational quotes ringing in my brain for days. I think that I searched "dutch bucket scrog" and found this thread, btw. Anyhow, this post is to lavish the necessary and much deserved praise you deserve, kind sir, for elevating all of our games to another level. The light hearted and clear language that you use is addicting. Two of your gifts in this life are most definetly writing and growing. Thanks again for the mind numbing inspiration. Sean, I'll be needing that coupon code...I can see a 1000w Growstar LED dancing in my head.

Wow, Brian...thanks. I sincerely appreciate that.

It's the occasional confirmation that I have inspired others, as others have inspired me, that makes the hours spent documenting, journaling and opining worthwhile. It's mainly a brag anyway since I can't tell my friends.
Stay tuned okay?

Peace, Hyena

 

[Hyena Merica]

Happy Saturday...question for any and all....pls don't judge:

When smoking fruity strains...berry, lemon, strawberry..etc...Can you taste a flavor of sort???? I've NEVER smoked a fruit named strain and I'm curious as to if in fact you do????

That would be YES my friend!

Try some Blueberry or Strawberry Cough and you will certainly taste the fruit...or try some Chernobyl for a lemony-licious experience.

Blue Dream is fruity I think. But not gay. I think.

Though taste is in the eye of the bowlholder...

Peace, Hyena