QB, MH, HPS, T5, LED New Fast Hybrids, BBxC99xFast, WhiteWidowxFast, #1SkunkxFast, FastChilly Perpetual Tent City, Clone To Harvest

[Metal Halide]

Meanwhile in the Large Veg tent

Spent most of the night measuring, cutting and installing poly for the feeders, outtake and drip system. Finally finished now. Just need to set up the rez.

Plants are ridiculously healthy and sooooo thirsty. I love it when plants are that thirsty, it means they are super happy.

 

[Metal Halide]

SkyOG

Just started my molasses and sweetaz feed with %20 runoff before letting the substrate get its first drying out before the first PH flush. Things are looking mental. Soooooo much frost. All hairs gone red. No new bud growth just putting on tons and tons of weight. i gotta be careful of mould so letting substrate get a really good drying out with a low humidity environment and lots of air movement. It's dank as I tell yas....DANKKKK

The 5 of em are happy as under a 266 QB and a 600w HPS for heat.

 

[Metal Halide]

Meanwhile in the small veg tent

The girls are doing very well. With everything on the same rez, including mothers and large veg tent, i can rely on some uniformity and general well being across all the plants. In saying that, If something does go wrong with the rez it can wreak havoc since all plants are on the same feed. Only for experienced growers. if your unsure at any stage, have diff rezez in case something goes wrong, last thing you need is to lose countless generations and crops all at once.

The mothers

I doubt you'll see healthier plants like this ranging from these sizes across multiple strains all doing this well while on the same rez. Including my biggens in the large veg tent from the post earlier today.

 

[Metal Halide]

Propagation day 8

Root nodes have well and truly established themselves now. Did a rez clean out, including pump, filters, air stone and all parts like I did last time. Refer to that for more info.

Now that we have prolific root nodes and extremely healthy tops its time to lower the rez temp. All i do is put a wire tray between the heat mat and rez. This can drop it by as much as 5 degrees celcius. From 28 to around 23 id say, A much more stable temp with less chance for pathogens and therefore my reliance on H2o and drying up periods.

I'll dry the clones less frequently and for shorter periods untill i stop it all together. Less H2o from now on aswell. Down from 1.5ml to 1ml per 10 litre.
Im now adding Cyco - Ryzofuel cause roots are forming


Keeping clean and organised

 

[Metal Halide]

Money Maker yields

400grams
3x3 area
600w hps & 130w 6400k cfl
Looks like we'll get around 400 grams after the cure from the 4 plants which got about a 3x3 growing space within the 8x4 under a 600w hps with a 130w 6400k cfl for blue supplemental. They also got a bit of side lighting from the LEDs in the middle of the tent.

I'll cure for 2 weeks minimum, in a big tub checking it every few days.
Was hoping to get a pound but I'll let ya's in on a little secret.
Just before this journal, I lost a MoneyMaker to the TMV and then I left the lights on for 36 hours overnight during week 4 of flowering. Both of which I persevered through.

The TMV was from an infected seed from an overseas bank. I've since stopped using that supplier and only use locally sourced seeds.
I offset the extended interruption of my dark photoperiod by giving the plants the exact same amount of darkness they got in light before bringing them back to their normal schedule. After which they got less daylight each day until they were at 11.5/12.5 light schedule. Both were done to induce more sleep hormones, reduce re-vegging and hermies. Neither of which i got.
It helps to have the experience and knowledge to deal with such disasters since its most likely such things can and will happen to you so best learn from my mistakes and resolutions.

 

[Metal Halide]

Processing of the trimmings and waste

As most are aware there's tons of plant materials besides the buds to contend with. From stem to root, it all adds up. Since i only smoke my trimmings instead of the buds, I process my leaf through a series of strainers. The age-old method works perfectly for me and is able to turn vast amounts of leaf into nice little small packages that ( if processed stored correctly) can last years.

First i push it through the large white strainer, whats left ont top is used for compost, tea or extracts.

What's left on the bottom is pushed through the fine green strainer with a ladle or hand. Once again the top stuff is used for other stuff and the processed stuff is left in the bottom of the bucket

It's then put into bags with as much air pushed out as possible and then stored in a dry cool place until its time to smoke.
I love this stuff. Gets me stoned as plus I've always got a mix chopped and ready to go any time, any place. Works great in bongs, scoobs and vapes but can also be used for extraction at a later time if I have excess.

My Massive party bowl

I'm off to bed. zzzzzzzz

Upcoming work schedule :
Getting Large veg tent ready for the transition
Propagation day 9
Switching out T5s for LEDs in the small veg tent
Re-poting Small veg
Setting up DTW rez with 100ltres of Veg nutes
Culling and replacing Mothers
Defoliating Large veg tent

 

[Metal Halide]

Setting up Large tent for transition

I've switched out my 2 blurples from the large veg tent and increased the HiDs to 2 MH 600w each respectively. Total old school power in there now, mainly for the heat and humidity they create for the final few days of veg.

Super healthy and vibrant

Nothing like raw HiD power to bring some much-needed warmth, reduce stretching and increase foliage during a cold wet winter.

 

[Metal Halide]

Meanwhile in the small veg tent

So just to recap in here we have the fast strains and Skywalker OG
C99 x blueberry x fast - Two plants
White Widow x fast - Three plants
Fast Chilly - Two plants
1#Skunk x Fast - One plant (and one new gen mother)
Skywalker OG - Three plants.

I'll cull this back down to 8 plants at some stage, depending on how they perform after transplant and into mid veg.


I've switched out the T5's and replaced them with some old, low power LEDs to allow the plants to have more room to grow. Draw power is around 250w

 

[Metal Halide]

Propagation day 9

Not much to say here. Rinse and repeat day. Only thing ive noticed is that the Small amount of WhiteWidowxF I took haven't rooted like the others

 

[irie lion]

MH your grow is running so smoothly! How long have you been running your operation?
The plants are extremely healthy, i'm blown away Howcome you never smoke your bud? I understand the less you smoke the more product you turn, but i can't imagine not grabbin' a couple nugs per harvest!

 

[Metal Halide]

MH your grow is running so smoothly! How long have you been running your operation?
The plants are extremely healthy, i'm blown away Howcome you never smoke your bud? I understand the less you smoke the more product you turn, but i can't imagine not grabbin' a couple nugs per harvest!

For many many years i just ran an oldschool high powered HPS/MH system with mass plants under a scrog with long veg times,big yields and big electristy bills. Problem is, it takes forever to veg and train, When we would harvest, it was a friggen nightmare, soooo much work, then after all that, the product isn't as good a month or two later when your used to that strain and you want something different plus it can dry out a bit in summer even if its stored well.

Ive been at this perpetual setup for about 6 months but with just money maker, white lemon and Gorilla glue.

I don't smoke the bud cause I get just as stoned from the offcuts. Only thing is the taste and I might have an extra cone instead of the bud. TBH it's not a cost thing. it's more of a convenience thing, I make a few weeks/ months worth of mixes in one day and I never need to chop again, just fill a bowl and off I go. Also this isn't as harsh as smoking straight bud so I don't cough at all. I love it. plus im not a huge fan of oils and extractions or cookies n stuff.

Man i hope your grow is doing well. i'll stop bye and check it out cuz. Once again ty for stoping by to check out the journal. ive got tons to post from today

 

[Metal Halide]

Defoliating the clones

Had a good look at the clones and decided they had become too crowded with some re-growth. Took a good 10-20% leaf off with clean sharp scissors to allow for the light to penetrate onto all the clones.

They have more room to breathe now.

 

[Metal Halide]

Setting up of the rez and testing out my newly built DTW setup

Took me long enough but i finally got the rez finished after spending days nutting out blueprints of my setup before plunging into many nights of measuring, poly cutting and fitting. Stoked that it all worked perfectly with individual taps for each plant.

Im about to switch to a 100 litre flexi tank but atm im still using a 100 litre tub which i DIY'd into a rez.

I have a big pump in there which is my outlet, a small pump which flows water around the rez, 2 air stones to oxygenate the water and a water heater to keep temps at 20-22 degrees.

i run a hose into the side of the rez from my bathtub

I run the outlet straight under my door and into the back yard.

Air pump, seconds timer, minutes timer and my water heater are all sticky taped to the table so they dont fall or get wet plus i always have the lid on the rez just incase.

I usually fill the rez up to 80 litres or so and give them two or three feeds a day with a minutes timer or since im home a lot atm i just flick the switch myself depending on how thristy they are.

 

[Metal Halide]

Large veg tent training, pinching and LST

Now that im close to transition i can't top or do much HST anymore besides defoliating so im pinching and training the plants to fill in gaps within the space instead. This will increase the number of nodes and help to increase overall yields.

I'll do a trim of the bottom tommorow before a good defoliate

 

[Metal Halide]

Small veg tent environment

After having switched out the T5's I'm now having some temp issues. The T5s were keeping them nice and warm due to the plants being so close to the lights themselves and the fixtures trapping the heat in. With the LEDs however, they are much further away and therefore not trapping the heat in so I've added a heat mat attached to a thermostat set to cut off after 28 degrees.

I still don't feel they are quite ready for transplant as of yet, soon though.

 

[Metal Halide]

Bloom tent

Skywalker OG is on PH water now and will continue with that for a few days to use up any of the nutes within the substrate and plant before a final flush.

Its like a frosty fruit party

Foxtail much....my bad. Those QBs are crazy bright

Gonna be a good smoke

They are well and truly ready with a few ambers here and there on the buds.

Cutting at the end if the week

I've got a few quiet days ahead until the harvest of the Skywalker. Super busy after that as I start blueprints for another 8 pot DTW drip feed system which will be going into the other large tent that Skywalker is currently in to cater for the new fast strains that this journal is specifically dedicated to.

Up next :

Trimming under the canopy in the large veg tent
propagation day 10
Possible transplanting of small veg tent (fast strains)
defoliating large veg
Post a thread about my environment monitoring plus my handling of the cold, heat and humidity during all four seasons. I'm currently in winter

 

[Metal Halide]

Big night of trimming

Trimmed up all the nute suckers under the canopy in the large veg tent, defoliated about %20 and did some more pinching and training to fill in some more gaps.

 

[Metal Halide]

Small Veg tent

Did a defoliate of the larger and heavier feeders out of this bunch to continue to allow the smaller ones to catch up. They are def becoming more uniform. holding off on the transplant cause once Skywalker is done then i can transplant straight into the pro-pots for their final resting place before being placed in that tent aswell.

 

[Metal Halide]

Skywalker OG

You do not know the power of the dark side.

That's some impressive tric production. She holds up her legendary status as the previous worlds strongest strain.
I wonder if i'll green out

 

[Metal Halide]

Meanwhile in the large veg tent
StrainHunters: Moneymaker
At a quick count ive seen aprox 28 main stems and counting.
18 inch tall and 14 inch wide
coco/perlite
partly organic
28 degrees celcius
70% humidity
T5 early to LEDs mid to 400w MH growth to 600w MH late

I top as early as possible without stressing it and without removing so much that it ceases to uptake. Sometimes i cut 2-3 nodes down depending on multiple factors like how much is it stretching, how far is it from the smaller branches below, How far the branches below have grown, how healthy she is and many other small factors. Sometimes i don't need to for ages or just top a single node. If the strain is really bushy and grows wide instead of tall i may not even need to top at all. White lemon comes to mind as one strain a rarely toped early.
After it has plenty new regrowth, i then very lightly begin to push the new stems apart a bit, opening up spots for light to penetrate. Once its fully healthy and growing lots of new stems i then defoliate about 20% to allow for more light to penetrate the nodes below. Continuing to top any stem that decides to shoot while gently training and trimming.

Heres some snaps of that done early with white widow and #1 skunk

Notice i keep lots of foliage on the bottom since it wont be hindering any bud sites but will help it grow quick.

After a couple of weeks of that, they should look something like this

When getting close to transition, cease all topping but continue to pinch, train and defoliate. When you stop these things is totally up to your discretion and experience but beware, too much stress just before transition all the way into bloom can cause many irreparable problems with your plants including hermies, reduced yields, stunted plants and even death.