Mel's ViparSpectra XS 2000 Sponsored Grow - Blueberry & Northern Lights

Melville Hobbes · Jan 30, 2023

InTheShed said:
A little late is okay but some will go into flower with even a 2 hour reduction in light hours. @Archiweedies changed his tent schedule from 18/6 to 16/8 and his Durban Poison went into flower, but the other 3 in there were fine. Seems like some are more sensitive to changes than others.

I'm looking at his journal now. It'll be interesting to see what strains he had with it.
I have noticed that some strains would start to transition into flower when I moved them outdoors at the start of the season. That's why I grow my outdoor plants on 15/9 before I move them outside mid to late May. At the end of May we're at 15 hours of daylight here.

CaptainLucky said:
Very healthy looking roots are you using Myco?CL

Thanks Cap!
Yes, the promix is amended with myco spores by the company. Glomus intraradices. Most of their growing media are, but I like the soils better than the soilless media. I may try a coco grow in the future though.

SolutionLogic said:
I loved that blueberry from canuk so much, that I'm going to have to pop a seed of it. A year and a half later... I'm down to my last 7g in a Mason jar. I personally grow with Gaia Green, and continuously re-ammend my medium.. so I use blue labs pulse probe to show me where my ec/moisture/temp is at in my medium. And one of the things I remember, was that this strain required less nutrition than most of my other strains.

Welcome to my journal!
It's one of my favourite strains, and Canuk's version is a good one. I've been missing having some in my jars, but there are so many strains I want to try!
I've never used the Gaia Green products, although they are available here. If I recall correctly they're organic dry amendments?

Carmen Ray said:
They seem to have greened up really well Mel I also really like watching you place the hooks. They are always so neat and symmetrical. It must be cold there now.... how many degrees?

Thanks Carmen!
It's been up and down here lately. We got 20cm of snow recently, but a lot of it has melted now. Supposedly next weekend is going to be pretty cold though.
It's -4C right now, but next weekend it's supposed to get down to -16C during the day and -26C overnight. February is usually the coldest month here.

CaptainLucky · Jan 30, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
I'm looking at his journal now. It'll be interesting to see what strains he had with it.
I have noticed that some strains would start to transition into flower when I moved them outdoors at the start of the season. That's why I grow my outdoor plants on 15/9 before I move them outside mid to late May. At the end of May we're at 15 hours of daylight here.

Thanks Cap!
Yes, the promix is amended with myco spores by the company. Glomus intraradices. Most of their growing media are, but I like the soils better than the soilless media. I may try a coco grow in the future though.

Welcome to my journal!
It's one of my favourite strains, and Canuk's version is a good one. I've been missing having some in my jars, but there are so many strains I want to try!
I've never used the Gaia Green products, although they are available here. If I recall correctly they're organic dry amendments?

Thanks Carmen!
It's been up and down here lately. We got 20cm of snow recently, but a lot of it has melted now. Supposedly next weekend is going to be pretty cold though.
It's -4C right now, but next weekend it's supposed to get down to -16C during the day and -26C overnight. February is usually the coldest month here.

I’m with you on the soils it’s all I ever used and if it ain’t broke you know. CL

SolutionLogic · Jan 30, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
Welcome to my journal!
It's one of my favourite strains, and Canuk's version is a good one. I've been missing having some in my jars, but there are so many strains I want to try!
I've never used the Gaia Green products, although they are available here. If I recall correctly they're organic dry amendments?

Thanks for the warm welcome! And you are correct, they are basically "build your own living soil" made sooo easy... anyone can do it. I don't even pH my water anymore.

Melville Hobbes · Jan 30, 2023

I'm planning to put the dowel in on the Zkittlez tonight. Maybe two, looking at her upper growth.
I've also included the two best clones at the bottom of the first pic. Both have started putting out some nice new growth. The one on the left is Zkittlez, and on the right is the top of the Blueberry.
The other two Blueberry clones are putting out some new growth, but the very tops were burned by light focused through condensation on the inside of the dome while they were rooting.
The two remaining Zkittlez clones had roots reaching between the pods which were broken when I potted them, and they're not happy about it. One looks like it has a little new growth, but the other looks done for.
The two remaining cuttings haven't rooted yet.

ViparSpectra XS2000
@ViparSpectra

Viparspectra Grow 30 January 2023.jpg

@ViparSpectra XS2000

Blueberry
@Canuk Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 30 January 2023 Blueberry.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 30 January 2023 Blueberry 1.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Zkittlez
@Herbies Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 30 January 2023 Zkittlez.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 30 January 2023 Zkittlez 1.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

CaptainLucky said:
I’m with you on the soils it’s all I ever used and if it ain’t broke you know. CL

I like the way they grow in soil, and I think the slower growth has something to do with the differences in terpene profiles between hydro/coco and soil.

SolutionLogic said:
Thanks for the warm welcome! And you are correct, they are basically "build your own living soil" made sooo easy... anyone can do it. I don't even pH my water anymore.

I've been thinking of moving to a living soil, but I haven't made that leap yet.
I don't really have the room to store the amendments, like dolomitic lime, and bloodmeal, etc.
I do intend to get there one day though.

Grand Daddy Black · Jan 30, 2023

You're setting them up nicely Mel! :Rasta:

Melville Hobbes · Feb 1, 2023

I was planning on adding in a dowel for the Zkittlez, but when I was checking how it would fit, I found out that it wouldn't. At least not until the Blueberry can be moved further to the right. It shouldn't be much longer before I can do that.

ViparSpectra XS2000
@ViparSpectra

Viparspectra Grow 01 February 2023.jpg

@ViparSpectra XS2000

Blueberry
@Canuk Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 01 February 2023 Blueberry.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 01 February 2023 Blueberry 1.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Zkittlez
@Herbies Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 01 February 2023 Zkittlez.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 01 February 2023 Zkittlez 1.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Grand Daddy Black said:
You're setting them up nicely Mel!

Thanks GDB!
We're shooting for a flip date between the 15th and 28th of February!

Carmen Ray · Feb 2, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
I've been thinking of moving to a living soil, but I haven't made that leap yet.
I don't really have the room to store the amendments, like dolomitic lime, and bloodmeal, etc.
I do intend to get there one day though.

Mel, is it not possible to hunt down a suitable craft soil prepared and packaged? That's what I do now because I have nowhere to store / mix either.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 2, 2023

Carmen Ray said:
Mel, is it not possible to hunt down a suitable craft soil prepared and packaged? That's what I do now because I have nowhere to store / mix either.

I'm sure it is, but things like that had jumped to ridiculous prices last time I checked. Consequence of legalization.
I'm still happy with my current methods, but I'm curious to see how different a TLO/LOS grown plant would be.
I also like the idea of getting away from commercially prepared soil and nutes.
I'll get there, just not quite yet.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 2, 2023

I'm happy with how the canopy on the Blueberry is shaping up.
She's only about 10 or 15cm tall, but it's nice and flat.
Zkittlez needed to be watered, and I forgot to mention that I used a few carhooks to lay down some of her inner shoots down. 4 of them had started to outgrow the rest of the canopy. I also repositioned some of the carhooks on her main branches to get them a little more level.
The two best clones are also here. All 3 Blueberry clones have new growth, although two of them look almost like they were fimmed. As for the Zkittlez clones, one looks like it's starting to get better, and there may be some new growth starting on the worst one. The last two cuttings still don't have any roots showing.

ViparSpectra XS2000
@ViparSpectra

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023.jpg

@ViparSpectra XS2000

Blueberry
@Canuk Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Blueberry.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Blueberry 1.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Zkittlez
@Herbies Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Zkittlez.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Zkittlez 1.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Clones
Blueberry

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Blueberry clone.jpg

Melville Hobbes
Feb 2, 2023

Blueberry clone

Zkittlez

Viparspectra Grow 02 February 2023 Zkittlez clone.jpg

Melville Hobbes
Feb 2, 2023

Zkittlez clones

Melville Hobbes · Feb 3, 2023

It's a bit chilly out there!
-13C! It only got down to 19C in the tent though.

ViparSpectra
@ViparSpectra

Viparspectra Grow 03 February 2023.jpg

@ViparSpectra XS2000

Blueberry
@Canuk Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 03 February 2023 Blueberry.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 03 February 2023 Blueberry 2.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Zkittlez
@Herbies Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 03 February 2023 Zkittlez.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 03 February 2023 Zkittlez 1.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Nev · Feb 3, 2023

That’s a bit chilly @melville! I’m so ready for some warmer weather. Are you still going to use dowels on your plants? I was hoping to see the process you use when attaching them to the plant.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 3, 2023

Nev said:
That’s a bit chilly @melville! I’m so ready for some warmer weather. Are you still going to use dowels on your plants? I was hoping to see the process you use when attaching them to the plant.

I do intend to. I'll probably be harvesting one of my flowering plants in the next few days, at which point the other will be moved into the 60x60cm tent full time. At that point I'll have room for the dowel.
I've used the technique in both of my complete journals, though I didn't show the process in either.
I just remembered @Carmen Ray asked me to go into more detail about how I like to train plants!
I'll go into it in detail, with pics, in my next outdoor journal, but I just use gardening wire like I do with the carhooks.
I'll grab a pic from one of those journals and add it in here.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 3, 2023

Here's some pics of my last winter Grow where I used some sticks that have since disappeared, and one of this summer's stumps. The outdoor plants this year had more robust branches than usual, so they started to pull free of the bindings partway through the season, and they put a permanent bend in some of the dowels.

Carmen Ray · Feb 4, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
Here's some pics of my last winter Grow where I used some sticks that have since disappeared, and one of this summer's stumps. The outdoor plants this year had more robust branches than usual, so they started to pull free of the bindings partway through the season, and they put a permanent bend in some of the dowels.

Thank you Mel. It looks like it is something that requires steady hands. Is that metal bar you are using for the one? For me it is always easier to understand it when I see the bones like in your first pics. And the frame looks like something even I could knock up if I needed to one day.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 4, 2023

Carmen Ray said:
Thank you Mel. It looks like it is something that requires steady hands. Is that metal bar you are using for the one? For me it is always easier to understand it when I see the bones like in your first pics. And the frame looks like something even I could knock up if I needed to one day.

The frame in the first pic is repurposed from a cheap Chinese fabric wardrobe. It's made of metal tubing and plastic connectors.
I used it to steady the pots since they're on elevators. The winds we got in 2021 blew my plants over repeatedly, and I didn't want to go through that again.
Since I got them on there early enough I was able to use them to spread some of the branches too. You can see a couple of them going under the bars. I had to weigh it down with bricks to keep the branches from lifting it up, and to keep the wind from knocking the plants over after they got about 5 feet tall. They were pretty top heavy, and training them to grow wide gave them a lot of surface area.
The first pic also shows the dowels strapped to the branches with gardening wire, but it's just the top two nodes. The others were held down with carhooks until they could be trained under the frame.
I started designs of a wooden frame to go back there with wooden uprights instead of bamboo, and cooling rack type grids for the pots to sit on to maintain airflow underneath, but that plan is on hold for now.
It does take steady hands unless you have a helper. Someone to hold the dowel steady while you strap the plants to it would be a great help. I do it by myself, so taking pics of the process can be a bit tricky.
Actually, if you were starting in your final pots you could attach the dowel to the frame to hold it steady and then to the plant. If you used a longer frame with some uprights you could get two pots in there, and have a horizontal piece above to hang a light from, and uprights at the corners of the frame could support a tarp or blackout curtain for light dep, but my outdoor plants quickly get too wide for that.

Melville Hobbes · Feb 4, 2023

Hey everyone, here they are today. Did some leaf tucking after these pics, and I may trim some off later.

ViparSpectra XS2000
@ViparSpectra

Viparspectra Grow 04 February 2023.jpg

@ViparSpectra XS2000

Blueberry
@Canuk Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 04 February 2023 Blueberry.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 04 February 2023 Blueberry 1.jpg

Blueberry under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Zkittlez
@Herbies Seeds

Viparspectra Grow 04 February 2023 Zkittlez.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Viparspectra Grow 04 February 2023 Zkittlez 1.jpg

Zkittlez under the @ViparSpectra XS2000

Carmen Ray · Feb 4, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
The frame in the first pic is repurposed from a cheap Chinese fabric wardrobe. It's made of metal tubing and plastic connectors.
I used it to steady the pots since they're on elevators. The winds we got in 2021 blew my plants over repeatedly, and I didn't want to go through that again.
Since I got them on there early enough I was able to use them to spread some of the branches too. You can see a couple of them going under the bars. I had to weigh it down with bricks to keep the branches from lifting it up, and to keep the wind from knocking the plants over after they got about 5 feet tall. They were pretty top heavy, and training them to grow wide gave them a lot of surface area.

Mel would you choose a different build next season, or was it fine with the bricks?

Melville Hobbes said:
The first pic also shows the dowels strapped to the branches with gardening wire, but it's just the top two nodes. The others were held down with carhooks until they could be trained under the frame.

I was fascinated by the symmetry of it all at the time.

Melville Hobbes said:
I started designs of a wooden frame to go back there with wooden uprights instead of bamboo, and cooling rack type grids for the pots to sit on to maintain airflow underneath, but that plan is on hold for now.

Melville Hobbes said:
It does take steady hands unless you have a helper. Someone to hold the dowel steady while you strap the plants to it would be a great help. I do it by myself, so taking pics of the process can be a bit tricky.

I imagine! That's an idea, to have two people do it, much safer.

Melville Hobbes said:
Actually, if you were starting in your final pots you could attach the dowel to the frame to hold it steady and then to the plant. If you used a longer frame with some uprights you could get two pots in there, and have a horizontal piece above to hang a light from, and uprights at the corners of the frame could support a tarp or blackout curtain for light dep, but my outdoor plants quickly get too wide for that

This is doing my head in :laugh:

I'm too stoned, you'll have to get out the crayons.

Thanks Mel!

Melville Hobbes · Feb 4, 2023

It was fine with the bricks, but because of the size of the plants I did need to add more support later in the season, so for my next outdoor photoperiod grow I'll need something more stable.
Because I intend to make it in a way that it'll blend in with the furniture back there, and will have some utility outside of growing, I can't make it from 2x4s. I'll have to use quality wood, and I'll have to stain it. It's going to be a while before it fits into the budget.
My current plan is to grow 2 autos, 1 potted photo with light dep, and one photo in the ground next summer.
I have strains picked out, and the only decision left is which photo will be potted, and which in the ground.
When I finish the plans I'll post a pic of them in my off-topic thread and post a link here. I'll add in a quick sketch of what I mean with the frame, and the uprights.

Carmen Ray · Feb 4, 2023

Melville Hobbes said:
It was fine with the bricks, but because of the size of the plants I did need to add more support later in the season, so for my next outdoor photoperiod grow I'll need something more stable.

Yes thanks that I wondered about.

Melville Hobbes said:
Because I intend to make it in a way that it'll blend in with the furniture back there, and will have some utility outside of growing, I can't make it from 2x4s. I'll have to use quality wood, and I'll have to stain it. It's going to be a while before it fits into the budget.

I look forward to seeing your construction when it happens. It sounds like it will be aesthetically very pleasing.

Melville Hobbes said:
My current plan is to grow 2 autos, 1 potted photo with light dep, and one photo in the ground next summer.
I have strains picked out, and the only decision left is which photo will be potted, and which in the ground.

Ooooo, exciting!

Melville Hobbes said:
When I finish the plans I'll post a pic of them in my off-topic thread and post a link here. I'll add in a quick sketch of what I mean with the frame, and the uprights.

Thank you Mel!

Melville Hobbes · Feb 5, 2023

While the Zkittlez is growing faster than the Blueberry she doesn't look quite as happy. I think she wants a lower level of N in her feeds.
Looks like I need to set up separate feed jugs for them.

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@ViparSpectra

Mel's ViparSpectra XS 2000 Sponsored Grow - Blueberry & Northern Lights

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