Jon's Dedicated Fruity Pebble Cookies Grow Plus The Mystery Plant

[Jon]

Hey I understood just fine....and I can't read....good thing for the photos lol and nah I don't think the cuts were brutal... You left them long which is a good brace to keep stem from splitting. "never did it like this before", how do you usually do it?

Thanks, and to answer your question, far fewer topped branches and far more pulled to the side and anchored out like a quad or whatever. I have always done flat canopies. The exception is my last coco plants in this tent, but those started outdoors and I thought they were staying there, so I don't count them.

 

[InTheShed]

Nice explanation of the topping reasoning and the pics to show it off!

Any branch that looked like this I did not top and just let go.

So you only topped the stems with symmetrical nodes rather than the alternating one. Gotcha!

This is the equation

LOL! All addition? Easy peasy!

Thanks @InTheShed. The reason I was thinking other than 12/12 was because I had it in my head that if they're basically growing up on 12/12 to say 14/10, maybe 12/12 wouldn't be enough of a change to signal them to bud. Is the 12 hours the "thing?" I thought it was the days shortening, ie, light cycle being shorter on light than it was when they were outside in veg. So my thought was, if they grew on 12/12, they need less than 12/12 to prompt to flower.

No?

Oh I see where you're coming from. I was worried about the flower loss with so few light hours, but if you can get the DLI up into the mid 30s that would be ideal.

They would still eventually flower at 12/12, but with a slower transition like outside plants have generally. A lot would depend on when you "flip" it. I think in June you would be fine at 12/12.

far more pulled to the side and anchored out like a quad or whatever.

if you're working on fewer tops, will you be taking off the lower growth that comes up when you pull your branches flat? Y'know, the stuff that normally fills in the center of a quad?

 

[Jon]

Nice explanation of the topping reasoning and the pics to show it off!

So you only topped the stems with symmetrical nodes rather than the alternating one. Gotcha!

LOL! All addition? Easy peasy!

Oh I see where you're coming from. I was worried about the flower loss with so few light hours, but if you can get the DLI up into the mid 30s that would be ideal.

They would still eventually flower at 12/12, but with a slower transition like outside plants have generally. A lot would depend on when you "flip" it. I think in June you would be fine at 12/12.


if you're working on fewer tops, will you be taking off the lower growth that comes up when you pull your branches flat? Y'know, the stuff that normally fills in the center of a quad?

Thanks Shed! To answer your last question....I don't know yet. Lol. I'm going to let them go for around a week or ten days right now and let the toppings grow out a little then reassess. I can always supercrop some stuff into there if I want.

And yeah, for some reason I'm just never sure of the alternating ones. I prefer to top the symmetrical ones.

 

[InTheShed]

When alternating nodes show up we consider that to be a sexually mature plant. Though pistils (on a female) would really indicate it would able to flower immediately if flipped.

 

[Jon]

When alternating nodes show up we consider that to be a sexually mature plant. Though pistils (on a female) would really indicate it would able to flower immediately if flipped.

Ah, thanks Shed, I didn't know that. Okay, cool. Well she ain't getting flipped just yet we have a ways to go yet. I'm in no hurry whatsoever.

 

[Jon]

Ah, thanks Shed, I didn't know that. Okay, cool. Well she ain't getting flipped just yet we have a ways to go yet. I'm in no hurry whatsoever.

So I can top those branches if I want, the two shoots just won't be exactly side by side, yes? Or once they're alternating if you top you won't get two?

 

[InTheShed]

RIght, you just get better growth from below where you cut, which is really all you get when you top generally!

 

[Jon]

RIght, you just get better growth from below where you cut.

Gotcha. Thanks so much, that's significant information I did not know that has an immediate impact on my actions. I'm going to leave them.

 

[Azimuth]

Most of my plants are clones from sexually mature (alternating nodes) plants. The upper node will want to become dominant after you top so to train the plant, quadlining, manifolding, etc, I tie that upper branch down below the second one down so it can catch up.

Once it has I try to keep them as even as possible with either LST or super cropping, or something.

Easier to do with seedlings with opposite nodes of course, but it works with the alternating ones as well. It's just a little more work fun.

 

[Jon]

Fruity Pebble Cookies
Elora Training Step Two

Topping was the first step. Now we spread branches out and see what we have going on in the middle.

All I really did was attempt to evenly space the main branches to begin an outer ring. I didn't make them near flat, despite how it may look in the pictures. More like maybe 20 degree angles on the top two mains and 45 degrees on the lowers. This exposes everything else that's going on, and I now have tons of options in terms of filling in the middle effectively. We're going to see which of all that middle growth seems to be feeling more jiggy than others, and the top growers will make the cut potentially. There will also be a lot of side branching coming from nodes now that will give me further options. This was all done with still not taking a leaf, although I did accidentally break off a really small one at the bottom.

So now I'll let the toppings grow out and gradually even out the outer ring, while likely taking some of the nodal growth to begin to fill the center. Much of the really low middle growth may go depending on what happens up top.

I've never really done it quite this way before, so I have no idea what's going to happen. But I do think I have enough to work with that I'll be able to make something even-ish and well spread out from it.

You gotta make her ugly before you can make her pretty, right?

Here's the plant from overhead post training.

overview.jpg

• Jon
• Apr 5, 2022

Here's a closeup of the middle growth. Damn.

middle.jpg

• Jon
• Apr 5, 2022

And here's a side shot of her post training.

got to make her ugly before she's pretty.jpg

• Jon
• Apr 5, 2022

There it is for a while. Not going nuts really. I don't think. Lol. Okay guys, please feel free to begin pointing out everything I'm doing wrong here. Thanks very much too. I mean it. If by some miracle this is okay, feel free to let me know why that is too if you like. All input greatly appreciated.

 

[Jon]

Watermelon WeddingCake
Day 30
Final Training

A full month into her life. Today I did her final, and pretty much her only, training. Basically just evened out the branches the best I could in some semblance of a ring and tried to create some semblance of a canopy. The main topping bends are just bends, I did not break the cell walls. They will come back up, but they're pretty pliable considering this girl has had her share of MSA, so I will keep working on those two bends to get them to stay as they are pretty much.

I believe that at day 23 when I thought she was beginning to flower, and then subsequently the day she was standing up super straight a couple days later and I thought she was beginning to stretch - were both misreads. I believe I got thrown by those little few "pre-pistils" or whatever they are that precede the actual start of pistil development. As a result, she has given me much more time than I thought. A whole week now! And now it does look like she's about to go. She's close enough anyway that I won't do anything else now to her.

The adjunct result is that if the above is true, then I began the bloom nutes of the PB chart a week early. Lol. Well, she doesn't seem to mind and it's too late now to change course and go back to veg week 4 laugh. She would have begun bloom week 1 nutes yesterday, and instead she began week 2. Her color is good and she's firing on all cylinders, so we're just going to go with it from here and stick to the chart.

She's actually created many more bud sites than I thought she had. This plant appears that she's actually going to yield a little bit. Can't wait to see what she does in the *actual* stretch.

Here's what I did to her, with an overhead, then closer, then closer still.

 

[Jon]

Final Training Piece of the Puzzle

Did I say the two centers will come back up and I'd keep working on the bends? Yeah, I thought so. Nope. I forgot, @InTheShed taught me a super cool trick. Here it is, and now I really am done. Lol.

 

[Jon]

Gorillatown
April 6th

Here's a shot of the garden today.

 

[Jon]

The things you find growing in your yard...

EDIT: That big ugly plant in Gorillatown in the back in the previous picture started out exactly like this plant in exactly the same spot. Lol. That was enough for saving mystery sprouts.

 

[Jon]

Oops, I did it again.

Ambient and a PR seed.jpg

• Jon
• Apr 6, 2022

Here's a picture that shows two things: the ambient temperature and RH in the garage that houses the tents (and this computer and everything else, lol), and a Pluto Runtz auto seed I just dropped.

The gauge is to show you what I contend with in terms of keeping both tents in the mid 70s and around 50% RH.

The seed is another addition to this grow. Pluto Runtz Auto is a pre-release from Ethos. It's Pluto Kush X Runtz. We all know what Runtz is and looks like. Since there's no other information available on this strain (pre release, even the website has nothing), here's a picture of what Pluto Kush looks like:

Pluto Kush example bud.jpg

• Jon
• Apr 6, 2022

I'm thinking that, mixed with Runtz, can't be all that bad.

But where to grow it? Ah, we have a plan for that too.

I will be unveiling the return of the single plant, used cheap piece of furniture, self contained, plant stand unit. It will be armed with blurples. It's going to live out back on the lennai in the corner. The plant will grow in the outside climate on 24/0 until pistils, then 20/4. I'll put her in a seven of Fox Farms blend (OF/HF) and use @GeoFlora Nutrients on her. Along with some bokashi and frass and whatever else we end up using. During sunlight hours she'll go out of the setup and experience sunlight for as many hours a day as possible.

By the time this seeds sprouts I'll have it set up and if you haven't seen the ugly but effective thing before you'll likely laugh.



I'm bored. Needed another plant obviously.

 

[Rexer]

Final Training Piece of the Puzzle

Did I say the two centers will come back up and I'd keep working on the bends? Yeah, I thought so. Nope. I forgot, @InTheShed taught me a super cool trick. Here it is, and now I really am done. Lol.

Another good trick is to use a pencil, or a ruler, peice of bamboo, (anything straight) and tie the branch to it.
Same principle as Shed's trick, just it puts the pressure on the straight edge vs lower branches.

 

[Jon]

Another good trick is to use a pencil, or a ruler, peice of bamboo, (anything straight) and tie the branch to it.
Same principle as Shed's trick, just it puts the pressure on the straight edge vs lower branches.

Ah!! I like it Rex, thanks! I'll bank any trick I can get my hands on. Lol.

 

[Jon]

Auto Rig As Promised

Allow me to present the new and improved, one-plant only, autoflower outdoor rig!

This structure is made entirely from repurposed materials. The main structure is an old plant stand. All I did was take the glass shelves out. The silver reflective wrap is the old, shot floor of my 5x5 which I saved for some reason. The poles supporting the light are used tent poles from my original and now dead 5x5, which I also kept. Other than that it's duct tape and a paint blanket on top. I have a large piece of carboard that completely covers the front of the rig, which will get put in place at night so as to not disturb the neighbors.

The light is one of my original blurples. The oldest school Maxsisun 1200 watt LED that's not even sold anymore. Two buttons, no dimmer, no nothing. But two of them did the job on my first grow and powered six plants in 8s that got 7 feet tall. The actual wattage draw is 256 watts, which is plenty of wattage for one plant. I can get as close as 12" to the light, which gives me plenty of room to play with an auto, and the light can be repositioned up to the top level if necessary.

Only other thing that goes in here are a couple small fans to keep the air moving at night when the tent is sealed. And hopefully the Pluto Runtz auto, assuming she pops for me.

Done and done. No time like the present. This is about as pared down a rig as I can make.

 

[InTheShed]

Excellent upcycle on that plant stand Jon!

 

[Jon]

Excellent upcycle on that plant stand Jon!

Thanks Shed! Upcycle. I like that. Opposite of recycle, yes? Cool. You know how rare it is to learn a word you never heard before when you're 56 and reasonably well educated? Awesome.