No joke Stone. That weed damn near destroyed Japan!
MicroGrowerMan's GroLab: Chasing Godzilla Under The ViparSpectra Sun
- Thread starter MicroGrowerMan
- Start date
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- #22
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- #23
Mildred the Bell Cow Gets a Trim
November 15, 2023
November 15, 2023
Project Name: Mildred, the Bell Cow (Do-Si-Dos)
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 85, Week 2.6 Since Flip
Here are some more bushy Mildred photos.
You may have noticed there looks like a bit of nute burn there. I ran a gallon of nutes at 1100 PPM and that might have been too hot, then followed up with a very dilute solution around 650 PPM. After noticing how quickly the leaves turned, I flushed with 2-gallons of pH-adjusted water to get some of the salts washed out of the system.
I then mixed up a new batch of nutes at 900 PPM, which is where I think it should be. Godzilla was ugly and suffered some burn and crispiness, so I want to keep an eye on this.
Using Mildred as a Bell Cow helps me dial things in for the comparative grow.
After the trim, you can see the Seven Sisters prominently, along with their little cousins coming up. Very bushy plant.
Even though she is short, and we're early here, this is looking like a 3-, 4-ounce harvest.
Nutes:
Adjusted Early Flowering Mix
1/2-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
950 ppm
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
16-inches above plants
That's about it for today. The Little Sisters of Mildred have not changed much, nor has the tag-along Amnesia Trance. I'll report on those later in the week.
Thank you for following!
MGM
burdok420
Well-Known Member
Yeah, unfortunately stealth is key in my current situation. But micro grows are fun, too!
Feel free to critique my set up and give me any tips over on my journal. You've obviously got these micro shenanigans down to a fine art, any input from your fine self would be greatly appreciated
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- #25
I can appreciate that. Even when medical growing was legal here, law enforcement was hauling in growers, taking their weed, their equipment, and homes and making folks prove their grow was legal.
We corrected that in the new law, but the paranoia lingers.
I'm trying to get a thread started over in the Grower's Lounge to discuss all things micro. I'd love to see you participate. Go over there sometime and discuss the challenges you have with stealth and setting up a grow. Show some pics of your space.
Here is the link:
The Micro Space
The Micro Space There was a robust thread hijack over in the November Photo of the Month contest regarding how some trends in the law, increasing social acceptance, and market overproduction of weed was driving grows in smaller spaces. Not the place for it over there. And a suggestion was made...
www.420magazine.com
I think you did a good job upgrading your light from your first grow journal. I think you'll be impressed with it in your micro space.
You're very kind, thank you. And thanks for following!You've obviously got these micro shenanigans down to a fine art, any input from your fine self would be greatly appreciated
MGM
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- #26
The Plot Thickens -- And So Do The Buds.
A Do-Si-Dos Comparative Grow Journal
November 20, 2023
A Do-Si-Dos Comparative Grow Journal
November 20, 2023
It's Been a Big week at El Rancho MGM.We are one step closer to closing up the MicroGrowerMan's Grow Laboratory Journal with the drying and bottling of Seed Queen's upper canopy. Still another week before I harvest seeds from the lower buds.
Also kicked of a new thread for those of you who grow in smaller spaces, mini spaces, micro spaces and ultra-micro-mini-spaces. If that's you, check it out. Hope to discuss trends, laws, products, cultivation techniques and other issues facing those who grow in smaller spaces. Check it out. Say hello. And if you have 'em share your journal or reviews.
The Micro Space
The Micro Space There was a robust thread hijack over in the November Photo of the Month contest regarding how some trends in the law, increasing social acceptance, and market overproduction of weed was driving grows in smaller spaces. Not the place for it over there. And a suggestion was made...
www.420magazine.com
On To the Grow!
Do-Si-Dos Clones of Plant from Pyramid seeds,
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred (LSOM)
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred (LSOM)
Project Name: Little Sisters of Mildred, (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Into Cloner: October 21
Removed from Cloner & Planted: November, 8; Day 18,
Day 12
Things looked bleak and chlorotic up until day 10, likely transplant shock going from the cloner to the pots. On day 10 they seemed to green up and start to grow up.
Top two Little Sisters will be selected for the comparative grow.
I am a bit concerned that these plants are growing bushy and not up. Godzilla grew up nicely. I'm wondering if it is the age of the mother plant when I took the clones, which was 10 weeks.
I also upped the nutes to around 950 ppm, turned the lights up and got the plants a bit closer to the lights.
Nutes:
Adjusted to Full Veg Mix
1/2-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/4-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted
950 ppm
Lights:
@ViparSpectra XS 1000
50%
24-inches above plants
Project Name: Mildred, the Bell Cow (Do-Si-Dos)
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 94, Week 3,4 Since Flip
Mildred has continued to thicken, including developing some nice side shoots to the main cola. I had boosted the nutes to 1050 ppm the week before, did a flush and brought them down to 950 ppm. Still seeing some burn on select upper leaves.Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 94, Week 3,4 Since Flip
Could be these things are a bit light shy. This nute mix has worked before in my peat/perlite grows, but, of course pure perlite is much different.
Nutes:
Adjusted Early Flowering Mix
1/2-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
950 ppm
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
16-inches above plants
Amnesia Trance by non-sponsoring breeder.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 31
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 31
This is a tag-along to the journal. She is in the system, but is not the focus of the journal. If something goes horribly wrong with this grow, this plant may end up the subject of my next journal. Currently she is being dwarfed by withholding intense light. As you can see, she is under the blurple light.
Nutes:
Adjusted to Full Veg Mix
1/2-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/4-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted
950 ppm
Lights:
Cheap blurple
24-inches above plant.
That is the update for this week. Sorry for publishing a draft a bit early!
MGM
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- #27
Bud by Any Other Name Would Still Smell As Sweet.
November 26, 2023
November 26, 2023
Open the door to my flowering cabinet, and the scents of grape, pine and great weed can overwhelm you. Walk into the entrance of my home and the sweet smell will greet you. My lead Do-Si-Dos plant is at that stage And the clones? They have finally taken root and we've come to an agreement on water and nutes.
Here we go.
Do-Si-Dos Clones of Plant from Pyramid seeds,
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Project Name: Mildred, the Bell Cow (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 95, Week 4.1 Since Flip
Mildred is thickening up very nicely. She is short and fat. Did not have much stretch on her, which again is duly noted for dealing with the clones coming up in the system.
Holding nutes steady at 900 PPM
Nutes:
Early Flowering Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
900 ppm
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
16-inches above plants
Project Name: Little Sisters of Mildred, (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Into Cloner: October 21
Removed from Cloner & Planted: November, 8
Day 18
The Little Sisters of Mildred have begun to take off and node spacing is quit distant. I will need to top these this week and get one plant ready to transplant into the 12-gallon pot with its mixture of peat and perlite.
A bit of burn is present in the plant, which I attribute to extreme transplant shock from the clone bucket. I've also been reconsidering my use of cal-mag since I have hard water and this whole Lake Michigan, from which the water is drawn, sits on a big slab of limestone. Maybe the addition of cal-mag to the last few grows is what is giving me some minor problems
Nutes:
Seedlings and Early Veg Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
1/2-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted
800 ppm
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1000
25%-50%
32-24 inches above plants
Amnesia Trance by non-sponsoring breeder.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 37
This is a bit of a straggler that came from a bad batch of seed. She is thriving now, but will have to wait under blurple light until a place in the grow queue opens up.Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 37
Nutes:
Seedlings and Early Veg Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
1/2-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted
800 ppm
Lights:
Mix of cheap blurple flat panels and household LEDs
16" off plant.
That is it for now.
Thank you for following!
MGM
Mildred looks beautiful MGM! The little sisters all seem to be coming along nicely and the calcium question is an interesting one. Your pics are stunning!
- Thread starter
- #29
Thank you Carmen.
I do think I found Mildred's good side. There is a balance there between the buds I like. Now it's time for the trichomes to light up the place! Four more weeks to go & if I tend her well she should only get prettier.
You mentioned something how you like to patch things together to create your studio and effects. I had to patch things together to get that understory properly lit: I took one of those hog lights, clamped it to the back of a chair for a light stand, then pointed it to the floor, using the concrete floor for bounce fill. I will post a photo of the setup later today.
I thought, if you're not already doing it, you could point a light or your SB600 (Was that it?) used off camera and pointed down toward a card or tablecloth. Use your on-camera flash as the trigger, and for bringing out the sparklies the way we learned the other day from @Roy Growin .
Just a thought.
As for the cal-mag,
I wasn't really using it when I was growing perlite/peat and got some good-looking grows out of that. I added cal-mag after an ugly harvest with a big yield , got me thinking that under the new, more powerful @ViparSpectra XS1500 lights she was underfed and may need more calcium. Now, I'm doubting that. It seems to be taking away the amount of other nutes I feed while keeping EC/PPM at levels that won't burn the plants. It's a nute/balance issue and I wonder if I already have a good amount in my water already,
Thank you, again.
MGM
- Thread starter
- #31
You are welcome, Roy. That is a beautiful plant.Thanks MGM - I dug out another example
If only I had a black background...
For black backgrounds on smaller plants you might pick up a sheet of black foam core at a local crafts or hobby store.
I believe it comes in different colors so you can experiment with that, too.
MGM
- Thread starter
- #32
Here is a photo of the "Studio" set up in my work room.
The black background is made from landscape fabric, which I found useless for keeping weeds down outdoors.
Reflector on the right is a Lastolite photo reflector, the one on the left I built from reflective bubble wrap.
Hog lamp is clamped on my Detroit Lions fan chair and bounced off floor to give a bit of illumination to the understory.
Thanks for following. I hope this helps people take better photos.
MGM
- Thread starter
- #33
Mildred the Bell Cow is Filling Out Nicely.
December 2, 2023
December 2, 2023
Things are getting interesting this week. We have decisions to make, Lawrence and I. Of course any input from the audience is appreciated.
Do-Si-Dos Clones of Plant from Pyramid seeds,
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Project Name: Mildred, the Bell Cow (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 101, Week 5.0 Since Flip
Mildred is looking fat and happy. I have a few leaves on her showing something that looks like pH variation shock. Just these brown splotches. Something that happened to the plant weeks ago just showing up.
Nutes:
Early Flowering Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
900 ppm
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
16-inches above plants
Project Name: Little Sisters of Mildred, (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Into Cloner: October 21
Removed from Cloner & Planted: November, 8
Day 24
The clones are growing fast. One is bushy and a bit yellow. Getting the same nutes as everyone else. Likely go to the breed chamber and I'll see what I can fix. I like short and bushy.
Amnesia Trance by non-sponsoring breeder.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 31
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated October 20, 2023
Day 31
The Amnesia Trance I had problems with finally took off nicely. Only she's getting flipped in the breed box. We have no room for her elsewhere. That's what she gets for being a punky little thing: life in blurple. She be leggy and pretty, though.
Nutes:
Adjusted to Full Veg Mix
1/2-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/4-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted
950 ppm
Lights:
Cheap blurple
24-inches above plant.
That is the update for this week.
MGM
- Thread starter
- #34
Big Changes in the Little Boxes.
December 2, 2023
Lawrence of Cannabis came over this past Tuesday to begin the competitive portion of our comparative grow.December 2, 2023
He has chosen to grow with what could be called our traditional method of growing using 12-gallon pots with 70% perlite and 30% peat. The peat is used to buffer the alkalinity of our hard water. We have not used pH Down with this method. It usually works and has provided large harvests once we changed to the @ViparSpectra 1500 light for flowering. But sometimes it doesn't. However, we may use what Lawrence calls my "Science" to adjust things if we see anything grow wrong.
Lawrence will be trying to break our record with Godzilla, which is 10 ounces. Although Lawrence insists it was closer to 12. All I know is we split the harvest and I'm still enjoying the weed a year later.
For plant support, Lawrence has a bit of advantage because the larger pot can support more stakes than my perennial cage in a 3-gallon pot.
For moving and photo purposes we keep both plants portable, so we don't use any SOG technique or yo-yo-s.
I will be growing with the newer growing method of High-Frequency Fertigation (HFF) in 100% perlite, and offsetting alkalinity with pH Down.
I am shooting for what I call Maximum Consistent Harvest, which will be around 8 ounces of harvest, give or take a couple. We'll see if that happens. This is the maximum amount of weed I can grow using my perennial cages for support.
Do-Si-Dos Clones of Plant from Pyramid seeds,
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Sold through current sponsor Seedsman.
Feminized Photoperiod.
Five Plants: Mildred, and her four clones, The Little Sisters of Mildred
Project Name: Little Sisters of Mildred, Lawerence (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Into Cloner: October 21
Removed from Cloner & Planted: November, 8
Day 29
She doesn't look like much now, but you wouldn't be your best if you had your head chopped off and your arms and legs split out six ways. This is just the beginning of the training. She will improve over the next few days.
Lawrence is shooting for a total of 12 colas. One at the end of the six colas growing at the edge of the pot, and an additional 6 colas grown from the sub-branches on the radial lattice. The theory is that the inner colas, while sub-branches off each of the six main ones will get more light at the center using the @ViparSpectra 1500 lights.
The pots were moved from the Veg box to the Flowering box, which we will be using as a Veg box for the next few weeks. There simply was not room for the two sisters in the Veg box any more with Lawrence's plant in the large, 12-gallon pot.
Possible pH issue: Lawrence has transitioned from a 3-gallon pot that had 100% perlite and was pH adjusted to an average value of 6.0, to a 12-gallon pot with 30% peat/70% perlite that was not pH adjusted because of the peat buffer.
Previous root-topsies have shown that when the peat and perlite is mixed in roughly that the roots seek their own micro-climate within the pot. We hope to use this to our advantage as we slowly migrate from a ph-adjusted nute mix of 6.5 up to 7.0 and above as the acidity in the peat buffers the acid in the tap water. It is our hope that as the roots migrate out from the pure perlite we will reduce the acidity of the nutes. We'll see how that works.
Nutes:
Mid-Veg Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/4-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted to 6.5
900 ppm
Auto Watered 4x a day.
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
24-inches above plants
Project Name: Little Sisters of Mildred, MGM (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Into Cloner: October 21
Removed from Cloner & Planted: November, 8
Day 29
I have started to get comfortable with this new technique of fertigation, monitoring water, nute concentrations and pH levels.
Plant was spread six ways on the six-arm radial lattice with two middle branches left -- one will be selected as the seventh sister cola once the plant establishes itself. It resides with its sister clone in the flower-box-turned-veg.
Nutes:
Mid-Veg Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/4-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
pH Adjusted to 6.0
900 ppm
Auto Watered 1x an hour.
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1500
100%
24-inches above plants
Project Name: Mildred, the Bell Cow (Do-Si-Dos)
Feminized Photoperiod.
Germinated: August 23, 2023
Flipped: October 28, 2023
Day 104, Week 5.4 Since Flip
Mildred becomes a shady lady this week. After more than five weeks under maximum power of my @ViparSpectra XS 1500 lights, and close-canopy lighting, she was moved to the Veg box to make room for her little sisters in the Flower Box. The Veg box only has a @ViparSpectra XS1000, and I'm growing farther away from the light to avoid the heat.
Make sense? Only to Lawrence and I.
The box is convection ventilated and works quite well in deep winter, but right now, 12" from the canopy is 85ĀŗF and 35% humidity. Too hot and crispy for us up there. Anyway, as days get shorter they also get darker, so maybe this darker last 3-4 weeks this will work. We'll see
One special note is that I'm starting to get browned pistils, a sure sign she has entered a new phase of maturity.
Nutes:
Early Flowering Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
900 ppm
Auto Watered 1x an hour.
Lights:
ViparSpectra XS 1000
100%
24-inches above plants
The Blurple Gang
Another Reason to Upgrade Lights & Improve Ventilation
Basically, I've run out of room. I never thought the Amnesia Trance would ever get out of its funk and now I only have room in the seed-production box. She's such a pretty plant I'm thinking of dumping doing the clones for seed. I still have more Do-Si-Dos seeds in storage, so I could clone and breed those later.Another Reason to Upgrade Lights & Improve Ventilation
Anyway three's a crowd under 130W of old-fashioned, cheap blurple lights. They do grow light and airy plants that are pretty to photograph, and I have gotten decent bud. Not much, but OK for what they are.
When I go to summer mode there will be some remodeling of the boxes to handle new lighting and ventilation, so in the future I have additional flexibility to deal with surprises.
Nutes:
Early Flowering Mix
1/4-tsp Cal Mag/Gallon
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Vegetable & Herbs/Gallon (18-18-21)
3/8-tsp Miracle Gro Bloom Booster (10-50-10)
pH Adjusted
900 ppm
Hand watered 1x a day.
Lights:
Blurple wonders.
Well, that's it for now. Thanks for following!
MGM
- Thread starter
- #35
A Little Saturday Bud Porn
December 11, 2023
December 11, 2023
Oops!
I made a little mistake on the date of my last journal entry. It Indicates December 2, when it should have been December 6th. It kinda messed up my day count. I've been very weak, and suffered severe brain fog for the past few days. I apologize. I'll try to avoid the confusion here.
I'll try a little photo lesson.
With the photo above I was experimenting with my Nikon D810 and a 20mm lens shot at f2.5, 1/100th shutter speed and ISO 100. As we will see I probably could have shot at base ISO of 64 to increase dynamic range -- the shot shows no camera shake at this crop so I could have reduced shutter speed and shot base ISO. Just a brain fart on my part because my other cameras have base ISO of 100.
I get the best dynamic range when I shoot at base ISO on any camera. Any increase in ISO setting reduces dynamic range, something particularly important when shooting very bright lenses we know as trichomes.
Just for giggles and experiments here is a crop of that photo showing the bud.
It's a bud. Nice little bit of purple and green. The trichomes are shiny, but not sparkly. @Roy Growin if you are here. This starts a good discussion of why we are shooting the photo, and just how much overexposure we are willing to tolerate for the sparkly, frosty effect -- in essence the amount of trichomes we are willing to overexpose -- or how much exposure we want to keep for informational purposes.
We see this in the 100% crop of the original photo.
While it has lost some sharpness on the upload we do get some critical information from this photo.
- No visible camera shake blur. 1/100 is more than fast enough shooting with a 20mm lens.*
- Pistils turning brown, trichomes are partly cloudy to clear with a hint of amber.
- This plant is six weeks old and begging for an earlier-than-expected harvest!
* The general rule on when to hand hold is when shutter speed is lower than the inverse of the focal length of the lens. The the case of the 20mm lens the rule of thumb would be 1/20th of shutter speed.
Then there are nugget photos. Stuff that's been harvested. We need no more information. Sooooo...
Is using @Roy Growin's technique something I need to practice to make this proof-of-concept nugget shot from my last harvest pop?
I think so. I think I might steal it. Ummm ... if I haven't smoked the bud, yet.
I hope this has been educational for those who follow my photo tips.
Thank you for following.
MGM
Now I would probably try adding a very weak, possibly diffused fill-flash to add the sparkle, and 'lift' the image off the page - be interesting to see the same shot with a fill-in if you're still set up
- Thread starter
- #37
Oh, I can get set up. You're saying to use my on camera flash for this?
I have a Nikon SB-910 and a Nikon SB-600 for flash. Light stands, too. Diffusers ... Umbrella ... That stuff is kept upstairs away from the denizens of the basement. Plus, I'm not sure I have all that much room for the light stands and umbrellas down there. Although I promised myself to try.
MGM
Yes, there is a sweet spot where the flash provides enough single-point light source for the shiny parts to reflect without interfering too much with exposure/shadows, that's what I'm looking for
- Thread starter
- #39
So far, this is the best I have. I still have a lot of work to do with the flash.
MGM
I've been trying this too and I keep getting that flash shadow on the bud from the lens. It really isn't easy. I suppose once you find the sweet spot you can make a note of the settings to use again. I would also like to experiment with a speedlight and that's going to be hard to position with the bud still attached to the plant. Idk, it's super challenging.
Note to self - I must get the speedlight out and try to remember how it works! I've been reading a few cannabis photography blogs and they recommend 3 point lighting, and using diffused lighting. I must buy the foamcore.