Random Thoughts: Plants & Genetics

The day is here. Came back from my fishing trip with a totally full canopy. 3 days before I planned but close enough. Any longer and some of these plants could be a problem. I have to rework the hose on one side but the air cooled reflector is working great. Because if it I was comfortable letting the plants get this tall. Usually in the tent I like to keep plants shorter to stay away from the heat in the top of the tent. 74 to 82 degrees is the best temps I have run for a while. I am still spraying but not having temps in the 50's and 60's at night might help keep the PM at bay.
Here's a pic of the plants after I have trimmed short branches and lolloped what is staying. Still going to be a thick canopy so I am going to put a couple more fans in.
thumbnail_0604180811.jpg

thumbnail_0604180811.jpg


The plant being reverse is starting to bud but has not showed any sign of changing yet. Still early yet for anything major.
thumbnail_0604180914.jpg

thumbnail_0604180914.jpg

The only problem that will arise if things go longer then planned. The C-99 might be to fast to pollinate. That would suck because those plants are looking great. As long as I can self the Purple Betty and pollinate one of the Blueberry Headband I will be happy. Afgooie and M.O.B. are still under consideration. Both plants have good plant structure.
 
The only plant that is getting that much pollen is the Purple Betty. I want some feminized seeds of this strain. All the others will just be a branch or 2. Most times I get from 10 to 100 seeds with the branch thing. This way if it works out I can self any plants I like. I like variety so multiple strains are a must. Nothing should end up where I won't at least grow a few for one reason or the other.
 
Here are a few more pics and info. Things going great. I think I have everything trimmed down to where I want them. I'm sure I will have to take another branch or 2. Canopy is doing really well. It the picture of the tent only one plant is on a booster seat. Looks like the M.O.B. will get one soon. All the others look to be stretching at close to the same rate. lucky me.
thumbnail_0610180627.jpg

thumbnail_0610180627.jpg


Here is one of the major problem child's. It is the Crown Royal. I have had to trim more branches off then I planned but she will do fine and still produce. Tallest plant but the C-99's are catching up.
thumbnail_0610180629a.jpg

thumbnail_0610180629a.jpg


And that takes us to our little sex change project. The Purple Betty "male" is doing great just starting to form balls. Isn't HeShe cute.
thumbnail_0610180632.jpg

thumbnail_0610180632.jpg


thumbnail_0610180631a.jpg

thumbnail_0610180631a.jpg

 
Another thing I thought I would mention. I have given these plants nothing but water as of yet. Everything is in the Miracle Grow soil. Forgot how well that stuff works. It has been 3 years since I have used it. There was a time when I could get nothing else. Never made it this long without supplements with the Fox Farm products. When too much growth, is your biggest problem and you are only using water then things are good. Just the fact that they have made it to this point with out any deficiencies is a win. I will take happy plants over totally organic anytime.
 
These damn things just keep growing. After putting half cinder blocks under 2 brought them up to the same level as the others. Still a pretty good canopy for 6 different strains with not much persuasion. 2 were topped early one because I knew it wasn't going to bush out. The Crown Royal because it was getting to damn tall. It still is LMAO. Its been 10 days now so most of the stretch should be over. Or at least I keep thinking like that. The plants in the pic were taller this morning then they were the day before.
Here are a couple of photo updates.
thumbnail_0612180914.jpg

thumbnail_0612180914.jpg

The 2 plants that have been raised up are the first 2 in the middle. Like I mentioned everything is pretty level right now. Going to have to try a different way of staking plants this time. The center stake is going to have a hard time keeping all the branches standing this time. Already installed half of a tomato cage on one of the Blueberry Headbands.

thumbnail_0612180904a.jpg

thumbnail_0612180904a.jpg

Only have about 6 more inches of adjustment left above the plants. It should work. If not I will have to bend the colas over. If it wasn't for the air cooled fixture I wouldn't be able to have the light as close as it is now. Another thing I can change late in flower if the plants get to tall. Not a big problem dropping the light down to 75% at this time. Light intensity is normally lower for a plant at this time. Most of the growth will be done by then also. Just a slight change in wattage does a lot when it comes how close the plants can be. I never jumped the light up to 110%. A 1000 watt HPS is pushing it in a 4 x 4 x 8 tent.

Now onto why a light needs a switch to 110%. Why not make a light perform right at 100%. I know it is all advertising and making people think they are getting something special. Businesses think costumers will respond to it and some do which makes them both wrong.
 
The garden is looking good Jack! I have a 1000 watt digital ballast with the extra 10% mode. That's where I run mine later in flower. It does appear to be brighter than at 100%. Not sure if it really makes a difference or not. Have a great day bro
 
It goes to eleven..... (Spinaltap)
 
Here are a few more pics that I got today. Looks like stretch has finally slowed down. The M.O.B. is catching up to the Crown Royal now. At least the CR is going to be alright. One of the C-99's is still stretching but I expect it to stop anytime. Here is a look at the tent.
thumbnail_0616180720.jpg

thumbnail_0616180720.jpg

Here is the back row that you can only see the tops of in most pics.. I took one of the second row but it didn't come out.
thumbnail_0616180702.jpg

thumbnail_0616180702.jpg


I added a bunch more stakes to the bushiest plants. Now 5 of them have 4 stakes instead of one. The others I will be able to control with pipe cleaners like I normally do. All the plants have little buds now. Now that I have sprayed for powdery mildew for the last time I will start watching them for signs of crystals. Right now any signs of early trichomes will give a plant a edge for being pollinated. Lots will go into my choices that is just one. Smell is the next indicator I will watch for. Plant growth style has already been a factor.
One plant made the choice for me. One of the Blueberry Headband is getting really freaky. It has always had weird leaves and now the branches are freaking out too. This plant because of that was my favorite for pollen before. There are some freaks out there that are damn good. Purple Erkle is proof of that. Now it has turned into what people are calling a poly. I have always thought poly's just had 3 or 4 leaves at each junction. Not what this plant is doing. I took a picture of the main stem about 4 inches from the top. It is as wide as my finger. At least 3 branches are going to have wide poly buds on them. It is already starting at the tops. Picture didn't come out very well yet I will post them as they grow bigger.
thumbnail_0616180654.jpg

thumbnail_0616180654.jpg


The problem child Crown Royal. Is the first to show any signs of nutrient deficiencies. 2 days ago this plant was fine now it needs nitrogen. Up to this point the plants have just been given water. That's a lot of growth with no added nuits. With FF soil I would have already had to add guano's.
thumbnail_0616180710.jpg

thumbnail_0616180710.jpg

I am going to just use MG when I water next. I was going to go back to my old ways and just add quano. Now I have decided to complete this grow the way it started. Old School. Or at least old school for me. I was happy when I switched to FF soils. I wanted complete organic for better flavor. I can't say I got that or any improvement when I switched. I thought it was better because they say organic is better. I am not one to give a F*#K what others think so I am going into this with open eyes. If MG continues to do this well all the way through then there is no way I am going back to FF. Price was not a issue for years but now it is. So that needs to be considered. Happy plants are my only concern. I am not going to cut my own throat because Monsanto's got a bad reputation.
 
More pics today. Always nice to photograph pretty plants. I really missed it with the powdery mildew. I cannot spray any more so I really hope it does not show up in flower. Like I said here are some pics.
thumbnail_0617180637.jpg

thumbnail_0617180637.jpg


thumbnail_0617180646.jpg

thumbnail_0617180646.jpg

Everything is budding now. Starting to look like a flower room. The second pic is how I access the plants. Move 2 and I can get to everything. Trying not to move plants much now. Too easy to break branches. I wrapped string around the 3 stakes to keep all branches upright but no use pushing it.
thumbnail_0617180649.jpg

thumbnail_0617180649.jpg

While the canopy looks thick there is plenty of light getting through. Figure I would give the bottom of the plants a little love.
Here are 3 plant pics
thumbnail_0617180637a.jpg

thumbnail_0617180637a.jpg

Crown Royal in all her glory

thumbnail_0617180637b.jpg

thumbnail_0617180637b.jpg

C-99. Both plants look almost exactly the same here is one

thumbnail_0617180637c.jpg

thumbnail_0617180637c.jpg

Here is the first pic of the poly cola. We shall see how it forms.
 
Forgot to mention. I measured some of the plants today. 32" for the little Blueberry Headband in the middle. The tallest is of course the Crown Royal at 42". Most are in the 38 to 40" range. It has been a while since I have had to worry about finished height. With early finish times for most of them I don't think I am going to have a problem. Still it is going to be interesting.
 
Spend a few hours working on the old grow area. Its going to take some doing but I hope to have it totally cleaned out and free of powdery mildew. So nice to see healthy plants again. Got all the wood hauled out. Working on selling all the old woodworking tools I never use. Once I can get everything out I can try and sweep and vacuum up 30 years of dust and saw dust. Knowing that PM is carried by tiny little spores that cannot be seen I truly wonder if it is going to work.
 
Stretch has stopped. With all things considered everything is going great.
thumbnail_0620180555.jpg

thumbnail_0620180555.jpg


The Crown Royal is no longer the tallest plant in the tent. The Purple Betty female is the tallest by a couple inches now. It will stop soon so it looks like everything is going to be fine.
The first plant to show any crystal was the PB. That might have something to do with it being a clone. It always shows crystal early so who knows. One of the C-99's and a Blueberry Headband started show crystal also. These would be great plants for hybrids but I am not getting very much pollen as of yet. I am going to shake the male over the female PB so any pollen available will go towards a selfed PB
 
Here are a couple more pictures. This is the tent photographed from both sides.
thumbnail_0624180615.jpg

thumbnail_0624180615.jpg


thumbnail_0624180616.jpg

thumbnail_0624180616.jpg

Nothing is going to be a problem height wise. They all seem to have topped out going up. Good thing because I am at the end of my rope. Literally! As in there is no more adjustment going up. In the end I will have to take the ratchet hanger out. That will gain me the 2 inches I will need to finish out. Everything is doing great. Some plants after the first feeding with MG show they are still want more nitrogen. This can create problems when they use up all the nitrogen and have not taken in all the P & K. It would be easy to over fertilize in this situation. I added some guano that is 10-3-1 hopefully this will help and not over due the P & K
Here is the happy couple. These clones are from the same plant.
thumbnail_0624180616a.jpg

thumbnail_0624180616a.jpg


thumbnail_0624180553b.jpg

thumbnail_0624180553b.jpg

Pretty sure most people can tell which one is which LOL.
Last pic for the day is our little Poly. There are at least 3 poly buds at this level. 3 more branches are putting out poly buds.
 
It seems the Blueberry Headband is going to be a pain in the ass. Looks to be a potassium problem but could be other things.
thumbnail_0626180556a.jpg

thumbnail_0626180556a.jpg

I just gave her some guano yesterday and will see if that stops the problem or makes it worse. I didn't trust the strength of the MG for this plant. Might be a mistake but I had to try some thing. These plants are almost a month into flower. In just a couple more weeks any deficiencies will be ignored. I would rather have smaller buds or less of them then risk doing real harm by over fertilizing.
 
I have a auto that looks like that. I loaded up on calmag. Starting to look better. But I totally agree about over fertilizing. Better to let it go if it's almost finished anyway
 

Similar threads

Hozona
2016 All B.I.D. Genetics Grow
30 31 32 33 34 35
Replies
688
Views
47K
Hozona
Hozona
db003
Db003's Auto Grow - Advanced Seeds Auto Somango - Mars II 400 Veg Tent
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
121
Views
21K
db003
db003
Webuilt
Webuilt Indoor Grow
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
Amadeus Forzin
Amadeus Forzin
db003
Db003's Auto Grow - Tyrone Special - Sour Bubblin' Crack - MASSassin - Mars II 700
8 9 10 11 12 13
Replies
254
Views
32K
David Bowman
David Bowman
Magnus8
Magnus Grows Black, Original Genetics White, Widows With Remo Nutes
2 3
Replies
41
Views
2K
Magnus8
Magnus8
Back
Top Bottom