Kingston's Perpetual Grow & Juice Bar - LED - 11 Strains

[Lady G2HM]

Hi KR, I've been keeping up with your journals, but not keeping up with the pace you're growing at, wowzers. You are an overachiever and that's clear to see. Keep Going!

(My humble new journal if you have the time - The Lonely Mountain Seeking Great Heights - Indoor Organic Grow - G2HM)

 

[AngryBird]

HI Kingston
I am curious too about the 12/12. mono is doing that too ( if I am not mistaken)

 

[KingstonRabbi]

HI Kingston
I am curious too about the 12/12. mono is doing that too ( if I am not mistaken)

I've seen a lot of growers that do it. I don't know if it's mainly for faster harvest, or if it's supposed to improve growth in veg, or if it attracts fairies to my garden. I hope it's all three!

Actually I just wanted to be able to see roots as they develop, get an idea of how far roots reach in early stages of top growth, etc. Right now veg area gets to cold at night for germination, so I have to do this experiment in the flower tent. Bingo! 2 experiments in one.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Hi KR, I've been keeping up with your journals, but not keeping up with the pace you're growing at, wowzers. You are an overachiever and that's clear to see. Keep Going!

(My humble new journal if you have the time - The Lonely Mountain Seeking Great Heights - Indoor Organic Grow - G2HM)

Thanks for the kind words. I've surprised myself this grow, mostly by avoiding the big mistakes I made last time, also by sticking to schedule better. Last time around I only had 2 grows going but it felt like 7! This time with 2 grows I'm able to keep better track of each even though they're different systems, one completely new.

Good to see you're back in action.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Junior Scientist update

Pineapple Kush seedling after 1 week of growth. Not much up top, just the 1st true leaves, 2nd pair just opening.
But down below you can already see roots reaching side of pot and deeper than I expected. Need to bookmark this to share with next noob fretting that seedling isn't growing. And this is just the beginning! (and look at me, here all of 6 months and strutting like I'm an expert! )

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Harvest update

This is White Widow in SOG pot. Nearly all trichs are cloudy. No amber yet, but close enough. I've decided that I prefer less sedative stone both for medicinal and recreational, so all cloudy is good for me. I'll give them 48 hr dark treatment and harvest later this week.

Hash Bomb #4. So many mixed feelings on this one. I still see some clear trichs, but there's a bigger issue. I see several white spots too large to be trichomes, almost definitely baby mites. I also see black dots, most likely the droppings of larger mites unseen. I've suspected that she's been harboring mites deep in her twisted leafy colas. So ready or not she's out of tent. Odor is changing again from sour to what I assume is hashy smell, hence the name. Overall she looks ready. 48 hrs of dark, then chop.

 

[Iguana Man]

That WW looks incredible with all those trichs.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

The Hash Bomb Pheno Hunt update, sort of

Can't really call it a pheno hunt with only 5 female plants from seed. Really just an exploration of variations within this strain. I've gotten a little absorbed in analyzing the Hash Bombs and other strains, having a lot of fun, and getting distracted from what I really need from these plants. In all that distraction I've learned a lot about what I need to look for in this strain with the plants I have and the ones I'll eventually grow from the seeds I've made.

HB4 has had her run and finally run out of time. For one thing she takes too long. The last strike against her is showing up in her clone below. This is one of the seed projects. I was hoping that her curly leafy buds were triggered by the environment (heat from growing too close to lights). But this clone is starting to show the same curl. Any of the good features I wanted to keep from this plant should be present in the seeds I've already made, so no need to even make seeds from this one.

HB2 was the one I expected to be 'the one'. She consistently grows big fast and stretches well. The buds on her first run were skinny, but I attributed that to losing most her fan leaves to mites and underwatering. I'm hoping to see fatter buds develop this time around, but so far I'm not seeing it. Tray 1 is at 6 weeks but buds are still small and separated. Tray 2 is week behind, caught up on stretch but same skinny buds. Tray 3 (solo plant) is growing strong at 4 weeks but same story. I'm still keeping one in my brix grow and I'll keep a clone going in veg until that grow is complete.

HB8 stood out initially as the most indica-like of the group. I re-read breeder's description and this one is closest to that. She has broader leaves like indica hybrid, is more compact, and in first grow her buds fused together and started to fatten up before the mites and other mishaps stopped her development early. This time around she's hanging on to her fan leaves (although I need to address yellowing on one, weird that it's only one), had a moderate stretch, and most importantly her buds are fatter and fusing unlike HB2. Final test will be to see if she keeps fattening and finishes in the 8-10 week period. I have 30+ seeds from the original grow. Even if this plant doesn't quite meet expectations I've got 15 tries (assuming half male) to improve genes in the F1 generation, and who knows how many more tries in F2, etc. I'm fairly certain I've got the right base to start from. This is now officially a breeding project. Junior Scientist at play.

Of course I still have HB10 to grow out. She's a lot like HB8 in veg, a little more sativa-like. I still have an HB male I could use to pollinate a branch to expand the breeding project. She's definitely a vigorous grower that can tolerate a lot of abuse. She's just starting her stretch, but soon we'll have an idea of what kind of plant she really is.

And the last pheno, HB6 has one clone producing seeds. She was a slow grower compared to others, narrow leafed like HB2 and HB4 but smaller. Her unique trait was her very dense cone shaped buds, and she was ready sooner than HB2. For that it's worth keeping her genetics through seeds.

Have I mentioned how much fun I've had with this? I loved having opportunity to observe and test plants with such clear variations, make guesses about how they'll perform, and finally choose a clear winner. I just took a look at HB8 clone I have in the brix grow again and am convinced that I am on the right track.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Love Shack update

The seed project appears to be a bust. I had these plants actually growing inside the flowering male plants' branches, brushed the male branches all over the females. I saw calyxes forming and swelling, but more than a month later I'm not finding any seeds inside the few calyxes I see. I don't know if I tried to pollinate too early in flower, or if the cold in tent stopped seed development, or what. The only one I'm disappointed about is HB6 (dark one on left). The White Widow x Hash Bomb crosses were just a curiosity, but I was really hoping to use HB6's genetics to breed denser buds. I may try pollinating her again, the rest will have to go to make room for new plants this weekend.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Scrog update

Just like with Hash Bombs, I've spent a lot of time trying to discover the best plant, more than is warranted by number of seedlings I had.

White Widow #2 was unusually short as seedling among her leggy siblings. At first I thought she was just a slow grower, but she took off the same time the others did, she just stayed more compact, a trait I wanted for scrog. Her clones are just as compact, maybe a little too compact. Dense growth and lack of stretching means less light for developing buds. I still see potential with proper training, but my enthusiasm has waned a little. There is absolutely no chance that I won't keep growing White Widow. I'll keep WW2 and WW3 for now and when I have room order some new WW seeds to try in another grow.
Not a lot of buds showing compared to others. These are short enough that I got rid of screen. I've done some defol but these still need more. Buds that had stretch are developing nicely.

Critical impressed me as a strain last grow and has started out strong in both this grow and the brix grow. However, I only had 1 seedling and I'm realizing there is nothing special about this particular specimen. Also noticing that buds are a little smaller than WW or BCS. If I grow this strain again (and I probably will) I'll start over with new seeds from different breeder.

Black Cherry Soda is the one plant I can count on to be a long term keeper. She's a clone only strain so should have same genetics as plants I've seen tested at 25%. These clones are developing well in spite of being smaller and not quite filling screen when flipped. She was best performer of last grow. This time around she's got more competition but appears to be in lead again both in number and size of buds.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Harvest update

HB4 and the WWs in SOG are hanging tonight.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say right now that these WW's are the best weed I've grown to date. No prediction on weight, but these 4 stems are as heavy as the 6-7 colas on HB4., maybe heavier. Not bad for salvage plants. I trimmed the buds as well as I could. I'm not used to trimming, haven't had many harvests with this many leaves left. Something I'm going to have to get used to.

I don't know where I would start trimming HB4. It would be like giving a hair cut to a sheep dog and ending up with a yorkshire terrier! There are buds in there among all the leaf, but not much to them. Still happy to have the harvest.

 

[Dwight Monk]

Nice, got quite a bit hanging up to dry. That Black Cherry Soda (or a Black Cherry Cheesecake, or probably anything Cherry I have tried I have liked) would be one I would like to find someday as have always liked that when it is at the Dispensaries, along with a Grand Daddy Purple, but I hear the GDP is for more advanced growers (it's more picky/fickle).

 

[Iguana Man]

That WW seems to be a really popular strain. I may give that a shot in the near future.

 

[AngryBird]

White Widow is an old time classic. Well worth the try

Nice harvest Kingston

 

[Iguana Man]

White Widow is an old time classic. Well worth the try

Nice harvest Kingston

Yeah, the Bianca I'm dealing with is a cross of WW, Afghan & White Queen. Maybe I'll have better luck with a non hybrid.

 

[KingstonRabbi]

ScrOG Update - It's a Race!

Exciting weekend of watering, feeding and spraying, with a little LST for good measure.

First a little drama. I thought I'd done it again by waiting a day too long to water. HB2s had leaves hanging straight down, but they bounced right back with watering (except for a few crispy leaves underneath.) I bought a moisture meter to test the depth of the water table yesterday. Actually used it today. Most of the pots were right at the bottom inch, perfect timing for watering those ones. HB2s were a little past perfect.
HB2 tray 1, 6 or 7 weeks into flower. I've decided not to keep any more clones of this. They veg and stretch great, but still not seeing swelling on buds like others, and these are 2 weeks ahead of others.

On the other hand, HB8 may have taken lead over BCS. She has a good stretch and fattening buds. After posting about how I've been overdoing the pheno hunt last week I'm now thinking HB8 will turn out to be exactly what I hoped for when I ordered these seeds.

Criticals also got pushed to the brink. 2 of the remaining 3 are fine, one may need to be "re-purposed". She's alive but not enough fan leaves to produce any more. The HB4 that replaced the 4th Critical that is no more is not long for this world either. She's growing great, but clone in the seed project already confirmed the foxtailing is probably genetic. I'll try to combine the 2 good ones into same tray to make a little more room in tent.

Black Cherry Soda is still keeping up pace. She's shorter than HB8 but buds are jsut as heavy and frostier.

Posting on someone else's journal made me remember that White Widows needed spreading out. I removed the screen last week because they were too short for it. Ended up as dense bushes blocking most of light.

With just a few branches pulled down and out they are completely different plants.

Top now looks like a canopy and not a green soccer ball. Also, I can now see...

...this...

...and this. I was completely surprised by size of buds when I opened the plants up. It's now a 3 way race!

Hard to overstate how much I'm loving this grow right now. Not only are plants doing so much better than last time, but I can really see the potential and shortfalls of each. It's clear now which clones to preserve, which strains to try new seeds, and which to drop. 5 more weeks to my best harvest ever (in less than 1 year of growing lol).

 

[Dwight Monk]

5 more weeks to my best harvest ever (in less than 1 year of growing lol).

Nice looking buds.....you now know enough to be "officially dangerous" to your plants

 

[AngryBird]

Nice looking buds.....you now know enough to be "officially dangerous" to your plants

yeah..but he was armed with a water bottle

 

[KingstonRabbi]

Love Shack update - Baby It's Cold Outside

I brought my last male plant inside just in time. He did fine in the snow (twice) when it only dropped to 30 degrees. Moved him to the basement last week just before it dropped to low 20's. He's acclimated to warmer temps (60's in basement) and moved into tent this morning for one last attempt to make seeds. I have an LED unit freed up and more Panda plastic to make a small tent for the actual pollination chamber, but for now he's safe in tent with the girls.

This is HB6 clone that I was sure had been pollinated before. White pistils shriveled up and I know I saw calyxes that looked to be swelling. Over a month later and all I've found on any of the pollinated clones is empty calyxes. HB6 is producing white pistils again so as soon as male is ready I'll try again with her and also one branch of HB10. Warmer temps, further into flower, better work this time or else, or else ... why does love hve to be so complicated?!

 

[KingstonRabbi]

SOG Harvest - WW

One plant without training or even time to veg to size in half the space of plants in last scrog grow produced nearly as much. The WWs averaged 1 oz / 28 gr in first scrog. This was 24 gr after removing from stem. Top nugs are solid and strong smelling. Total harvest of 4 plants in 5 gal pot was 44 gr. Two plants were only 6 inches, other two less than 12 inches when started flower. This is a small success with a big future. I can fit 3-4 of these per sq.ft. I see future harvest of 3 oz. per sq.ft. with WW SOG.