Prof's Lab: Diary Of A Bedroom Farmer

[Pennywise]

Plant that clone and let’s see what she does.

 

[Preston9mm]

I still use a top-dressing of Perlite and Diatomaceous Earth to combat fungus gnats. Only need about a 1" layer. Keeps the surface dry so they don't come back.

I can generally wipe out a moderate infestation within a week.

Easy & cheap. I mix around 75% perlite to 25% DE. A fan blowing over the top of the pots, and every pot top-dressed... they disappear quick.

 

[Virgin Ground]

Have you considered going back to soil? A well inoculated rizosphere with a healthy herd will keep some of the pathogens at bay. That and some mosquito dunks.

 

[Camaro1691]

I saw the foam. I gave up trying to flush it out and let it evaporate instead.

Jack Herer is on my "yet to grow" list but I have done a few Blue Dreams which were some nice plants. Good to hear the GMO is going well.

I gave up on trying to flush it too, I scooped out as much as I could, would turn the pump off and scoop more out when it would foam out again, live and learn, we now know bleach acts like hand dish soap in a dishwasher I’m bummed about the CG as I was personally looking forward to growing that strain, but I loved the GMO just as much, soo I can’t complain. Blue Dream has always been a fave soo glad to hear those were good ones for you. The jack herer was extremely dense, and gave a VERY nice all around high with a more uplifting side to it, it gave me tons of energy during the day and helped me sleep at night, the first and only strain I’ve had so both. I need to find a new supply for the JH though because the ones I grew out were bred by Franko before he had passed, soo hoping to keep that lineage alive. This was the Jack Herer

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Plant that clone and let’s see what she does.

It's a deal.

I still use a top-dressing of Perlite and Diatomaceous Earth to combat fungus gnats. Only need about a 1" layer. Keeps the surface dry so they don't come back.

I can generally wipe out a moderate infestation within a week.

Easy & cheap. I mix around 75% perlite to 25% DE. A fan blowing over the top of the pots, and every pot top-dressed... they disappear quick.

Great idea though I would have to do it with the fabric pots as the gnats can and are climbing in and out of the holes in the bottom of the pots. Would ditching the coco for pure perlite be a good idea? My main problems have been caused by pests and I think most bugs don't like perlite

Have you considered going back to soil? A well inoculated rizosphere with a healthy herd will keep some of the pathogens at bay. That and some mosquito dunks.

I decided that I would be going back to soil and have already put some plants outdoors in my homemade potting soil. I was hoping that the micro-herd could combat them in some way. There should be plenty of nematodes in my compost.

It always comes back to the dunks lol. I would love to get some but they are just extortionate. The most greedy seller on the Zon is offering 2 dunks for over £120! There are less offensive offers on there but they are still in the £30 range for
very few. I'm hoping they become more popular because there are a lot of people in the UK who would like to use them.

I gave up on trying to flush it too, I scooped out as much as I could, would turn the pump off and scoop more out when it would foam out again, live and learn, we now know bleach acts like hand dish soap in a dishwasher I’m bummed about the CG as I was personally looking forward to growing that strain, but I loved the GMO just as much, soo I can’t complain. Blue Dream has always been a fave soo glad to hear those were good ones for you. The jack herer was extremely dense, and gave a VERY nice all around high with a more uplifting side to it, it gave me tons of energy during the day and helped me sleep at night, the first and only strain I’ve had so both. I need to find a new supply for the JH though because the ones I grew out were bred by Franko before he had passed, soo hoping to keep that lineage alive. This was the Jack Herer

I didn't water the plants the next day but the following day when I did water them they foamed up again lol. They've stopped doing it now.

That Jack sounds good and the nug in pic looks great. Nice frosty glass look

 

[Preston9mm]

Great idea though I would have to do it with the fabric pots as the gnats can and are climbing in and out of the holes in the bottom of the pots. Would ditching the coco for pure perlite be a good idea? My main problems have been caused by pests and I think most bugs don't like perlite

Is transplant to fabric pots out of the question?
I absolutely love coco growing, I've just found that the frequency we water causes a permanently damp area on top of our pots. Pests love that shit.

I like my coco to retain a lil moisture still... just not the top 1-2".

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Is transplant to fabric pots out of the question?
I absolutely love coco growing, I've just found that the frequency we water causes a permanently damp area on top of our pots. Pests love that shit.

I like my coco to retain a lil moisture still... just not the top 1-2".

I don't mind going back to fabric. I still have plenty of bags but I was liking the idea of going back to soil for a little while. I want to see how my homemade mix performs indoors. I could still use those tips to protect the soil though

 

[Lewydeville]

Hey P great review of the Crumbled Lime. It really does have a quality feel and your buds look crazy frosty. Can’t wait to try it unseeded. How are the Chocolatina seeds coming along?

 

[syenite]

So....

Where's the content at??

I kid, I kid..

Hope you are well, Prof!

 

[TriangleCheese]

Hey Prof. latecomer here

Congratz on your harvest

At least you're honest. I know that plants grow roots very rapidly for the first few weeks during the flowering stretch but I'm wondering if roots will grow from the main stem during that time. She is going to drink a lot I think so maybe they won't rot at all. I only fill the tray up about an inch at a time so its not like it will be fully submerging the root mass. I feel an experiment coming on.

How did this plant turn out? I know its a bit late but I'll share my latest transplanting experience. I had this BG41 vegging for a while and I transplanted her from a 2 gal. to a 10 gal. fabric pot. I watered from the outer edge of the pot and flipped a week after transplant. Now, it's almost three and a half weeks from the transplant and this plant filled the new pot nicely. I can see some roots coming out from the fabric. Last week of veg. is a nice week to do the transplant. Most of my plants increase their root masses and main stem girth for two weeks after the flip. I flipped 13 days ago and I am expecting some bud introduction in a few days.

I was going to advise a thick perlite layer topping for a deeper transplant. This way, you will get enough air to your main stem even if it is buried. But since you have %80 humidity these days, perlite can promote algea and mould grow. If you can blow some air on perlite topping as well, it will work nicely.

It's a deal.

Great idea though I would have to do it with the fabric pots as the gnats can and are climbing in and out of the holes in the bottom of the pots. Would ditching the coco for pure perlite be a good idea? My main problems have been caused by pests and I think most bugs don't like perlite

I decided that I would be going back to soil and have already put some plants outdoors in my homemade potting soil. I was hoping that the micro-herd could combat them in some way. There should be plenty of nematodes in my compost.

It always comes back to the dunks lol. I would love to get some but they are just extortionate. The most greedy seller on the Zon is offering 2 dunks for over £120! There are less offensive offers on there but they are still in the £30 range for
very few. I'm hoping they become more popular because there are a lot of people in the UK who would like to use them.

I didn't water the plants the next day but the following day when I did water them they foamed up again lol. They've stopped doing it now.

That Jack sounds good and the nug in pic looks great. Nice frosty glass look

Like Preston said, perlite topping helps a lot with fungus gnats. I couldn't find Diat. earth where I live so I am just going with a thick layer of perlite. Swapping to perlite completely, won't make sense for you because you have high humidity. Perlite has less pest problems but coco works better in high RH for me. But you should combine coco, perlite and wind on top of your perlite to be safe by all means. Wind also makes these gnats very annoyed. And definately add sticky yellow traps.

My fungus gnat problem is also still going on but they are very few in numbers. I got a thick layer of perlite, sticky yellow traps, fungus gnat predators and H2O2 but just can't stop them from laying eggs. Still, I've been trying to find a way to eliminate them completely. Here is what I'll do;

I won't do anything for my flowering plant because I have to leave her dry for at least ten days to apply this method. I just increased the number of sticky traps in that tent and adding some mild amounts of H2O2 to my regular feeding. My BG#41 doesn't seem like giving a sh*t about these fungus gnats.

I'll wash the medium of my vegging plants with H2O2. Then, I'll cover the surface of the pot with black nylon bag. It's called mulching and a friend of mine used to use this technique on his strawberries. Covering a wet medium for ten days is not a good idea so it would be nice to wait for at least a day before mulching. Let the H2O2 sit in there. I am using 16ml/l of %35 H2O2 and observed no negative effect on my plants. After drying your medium out for a couple of days, you probably get rid of %40 of the larvae and most of the eggs but still, adults continue to lay more eggs. Thats the compromise part but I think H2O2 wash before mulching is a good idea.

After mulching, I won't feed my plants but if they get too thirsty, I will bottom feed them with very few amounts. These adults won't be able to find a proper place to lay their eggs on. They would be caught on the yellow traps and say goodbye forever. I am expecting to get rid of these gnats in my veg. tent in two weeks. I can't say the same thing about my flowering tent though I am sure that they won't be able to hurt any of my plants and their numbers will totally be in control.

You can always visit my journal to check how the process is moving forward. Happy growing

 

[curls2cute]

The cherry garcia seed turned black after 4 days, I took some tweezers and gently peeled back the seed casing, there was a small plant looking like it wanted to break thru the seed but just wasn’t strong enough, I put it back on the pebbles after removing the seed, we’ll see if it lives or dies. The GMO however, is alive and very well, hell, I already have it in my cloner it’s doing soo well. I was digging thru my seed bank and came across some old blue dream seeds, I threw in 2 of those, and then I found seeds from my Jack Herer run that I did a few years back, I’d love to get that strain back as it was my best grow yet by far. Time will tell with those on if they live and if they’re female, fingers crossed!!

Cherry Garcia?!!! As a deadhead, I need that strain!! Lol!! I'm writing it on my def buy list. I'm getting ready to start indoors once the fall comes as it's too cold in new England. Although, it has been hot as Hades up here lately. It's either 90+ degrees or thunderstorms. The humidity has been quite high. My weedbaby had some drooping on 2 lowers which I attributed to the massive heat. Shoot, I'm wilting myself! I'm getting ready to do a peroxide flush myself after reading several articles about it boosting oxygen to the roots. I've not sexed my plant yet so I too am hoping for a female

 

[Camaro1691]

Cherry Garcia?!!! As a deadhead, I need that strain!! Lol!! I'm writing it on my def buy list. I'm getting ready to start indoors once the fall comes as it's too cold in new England. Although, it has been hot as Hades up here lately. It's either 90+ degrees or thunderstorms. The humidity has been quite high. My weedbaby had some drooping on 2 lowers which I attributed to the massive heat. Shoot, I'm wilting myself! I'm getting ready to do a peroxide flush myself after reading several articles about it boosting oxygen to the roots. I've not sexed my plant yet so I too am hoping for a female

Yeahh, the Cherry Garcia seed died unfortunately, the gmo is living strong though with its third set of leaves starting to show, it got moved into the veg tent. The Blue Dream got transplanted to a solo cup 3-4 days ago and is being a little slow showing her(hopefully a her) first set of real leaves but there starting. I hear ya on the heat and thunderstorms. Northern New England here. We got hit really hard last week and almost had a tornado startup, could see it forming on the news. Thankfully my outdoor plants held thru it like champs cause I didn’t do a damn thing for them before hand

 

[Ganjagrandaddy]

what about steeping tobacco and using the juice with a little washing up liquid and water as a spray ?. Soak top layer for the emerging babies and mist plant for flyers. Always had some gnats around in coxo but spotted a nice hunting spider all over my FFT9. Made my day seeing it. No time to scratch my arse at moment but sounds like your killing it as per usual prof.

 

[Virgin Ground]

Where you at?

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Hey 420. Apologies for the absence. I've had some time off to sort my head out. Mr's F is back to work full time and I'm in charge of the kids and the house.
It has been a while but you've not actually missed all that much. I have finally managed to get some plants in good enough shape to flower and we will be doing that either later or tomorrow.
I will do an update of the grow room shortly and try to explain what has happened over the last couple of weeks.

Hope you've all been well and staying out of trouble.

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Back again. So after a couple of weeks here is what we have to play with now that the plants have all stopped dying....

These 8 are healthy enough to flower now so I will do that tomorrow....

We are back in soil and I'm using my own mix which is a little concerning. I have used compost, coco and wood chips though I have removed most of the larger pieces. The compost was also sieved this time to remove any large bones or wood. I checked the soil ph and it came in at 5.9 so I have added a tablespoon of dolomite lime for every 10ltrs of soil. It is now reading about 6.6 which is better.

Here are the next contenders.

The Balkh.

I have revived the Balkh and cured it of root rot. Not only that but we have 2 successful clones to play with as well. One will be kept back as a potential mother/father and the other will be planted outdoors tomorrow to face the British weather....

The Tashkurgan.

I saved this one as well. I had pretty much given up on it but decided to try and clone it. The branches were tiny so I just cut the plant off at the base and cloned it that way. It took a while but it worked. This plant is one of the smaller of this round and its sex is still undetermined....

Unknown Afghan.

Not much is known about this one other than it's an indica from one of 4 places in northern Afghanistan. It is starting to show some beautiful leaves....

Unknown Afghan #2.

Same as before but this one is a female. It is starting to grow bushy like the Balkh did before I cleaned it up....

Pineapple Express #2.

I nearly didn't enter this one as I thought that it needed a little more time to recover. I discovered that the 3rd unknown Afghan was a male so needed a replacement. This one is a fem....

Chocolatina x Chocolatina.

A cross created by @Lewydeville. It was starting to get a bit root bound in the previous pot but is moving ahead again since the transplant. Fingers crossed for a female as sex is undetermined. Looks like a nice little plant so far though....

Unknown Fem.

Not quite unknown and is in fact one of 3 strains. I mixed up some beans so it should be fun trying to guess which one it could be. The options are Sativa Dream, Flowerbomb Kush or Blue Cindy....

Unknown Fem #2.

The second fem from the previously mentioned mix-up. The 3rd fem didn't make it which makes guessing more fun....

 

[MrSauga]

Welcome back Professor. You were missed. I love the way you made the older growth on the Chocolatina look like there's a problem so the new growth doesn't try anything stupid.

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Here are the rest which were too slow to recover....

The Malana's were beaten by the Afghanis so I went with those first. They just ended up getting worse and worse until I removed them from coco and put them into soil. Now their colour is returning and some leaves have uncurled. Some are better than others but for now we still have them all and none have root rot. I removed all of the bad looking growth as it was beyond the point of saving. They should be good for the next round....

The Miami Heat male screams high quality so I am keeping it around. Throughout the whole gnat and rot episode he barely flinched. It grows incredibly well with little care and is a good looker. I have taken a clone for flowering in the near future....

The 2 new Balkh clones. I would most certainly prefer a female and I'm still not sure of what it is....

Crumbled Lime x Unknown. Another cross from Lewydeville. This one looks pretty good and I should know its gender before it is needed....

The male Afghan. I can't decide whether to keep it around or not....

 

[ProfessorFlora]

Welcome back Professor. You were missed. I love the way you made the older growth on the Chocolatina look like there's a problem so the new growth doesn't try anything stupid.

Hey Sauga. I was just trying to make it look like the rest.

Missed you too Pork Chop

 

[syenite]

Welcome back Prof!

Great comeback from the major extinction event. I do love that first unknown Afghan especially.

Onto more important matters - where's the slime barrel update??