Stunger's Last Stand: Banned To The Balcony!

[Stunger]

Plants are looking great!
I abandoned my supercropping clips too- within a couple of days, the plant got stronger than the wire...so if I need to bend anything else, I'll just do it the old fashioned way...
I too broke a bud off, but there was still enough "skin" connected, that taping it up actually worked. That branch hasn't grown much since I patched it up, but it"s still alive and flowering fine...
The one I broke off on my last plant fell right on the ground, so I didn't get quite so lucky that time ..

The previous roll of garden wire I used was 'softer' and more rubbery coated. This one is really quite strong wire, but same as you I found it is a little more hassle than it is worth. When I snapped that one stem, it initially got snapped maybe 85%, but then I screwed up a second time which snapped it further to about 99%. The only thing was, with calm hindsight, I thought I should have used a couple of longitudinal strips of tape as splints and then wound some more around the splints and stem and that may have then kept the 2 piece together stable enough to rejoin. But anyway, feck it, doing LST just takes a bit of time but it works too.

Both girls are looking beautiful brother and are very happy with your tending. Mmmmmm buds can’t be far off starting soon..... goodtimes

You're right there BC good times indeed.
I tell you, when your outdoor grow's finished and you wait another year for the next outdoor grow season to begin, at this point it starts getting really exciting (altho I'm still not sure about the Strawberry Cough as she's been a bit pale and slow). Over Winter I pretty extensively re-amended the soil of the containers and I added some new ingredients too, so until the plants started kicking off I couldn't be confident that I hadn't screwed the pooch and messed the soil up. But now, they look promising and they are actually close to being better looking than at the same point last year, which was a good year for me.

 

[Emeraldo]

General Update
Summer's here, every day is now warm and balmy, so we're coming into great growing weather.
Which is great because the photo girls will be flowering next month and altho the Godfather OG is putting on some weight the other 2, the Mango Sherbert and Strawberry Cough are still yet to really get motoring. Hopefully they put on a bit of bulk before flowering starts.

The Balcony girls

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

Godfather OG
She's about 6 weeks and is starting to take off, she appears vigorous with good leaf colour

Godfather OG

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

Mango Sherbert
She's about 5 weeks and starting to show signs of picking up the growth, which is good because flowering will next month.

Mango Sherbert

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

Strawberry Cough
She is a tiny bit younger than her step sister the Mango Sherbert, about 4 weeks. In spite of being in a nice 50L container of organic soil that was freshly amended over winter she is a little light but probably looks a bit better live than in the picture. She seems to be improving in recent days. I gave them all a watering this morning with worm wee, fish hydrolysate and kelp extract. Hopefully that will give the Strawberry Cough a gentle boost. I'll see how she looks in the coming days. Hopefully her appearance and vigor will pick up the pace as she develops her root base.

Strawberry Cough

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

CBD Express auto (1)
This girl is a real dwarf, like a 2/3 size of a feather duster, no side branching just a stumpy short trunk. I put this down to kicking her off probably too early before the warm weather came on, and secondly her position on the balcony only gets direct sun from after 1-1:30pm, which is a bit dismal. I'd be surprised if I got quarter of an ounce off her. A buddy who is growing the same strain outdoors but in an all day sun location, his plant is looking a reasonable size compared to mine where in comparison to mine I'd go so far to suggest he may get 3 ounces from his, so I blame the limitations of available sunlight.

She should be ready for harvest in 3 or 4 weeks, and is getting quite pungent for such a little stump. She is developing quite a dank fuel smell. Perhaps not as intense as last year's Glue Gorilla Auto, but then again she is so small in comparison but already her smell is pouring into the house. Strains with a fuel/diesel terpenes are probably not so ideal for my stealth needs. I almost regret as soon as this one is ready for harvest in 3 or 4 weeks that the second one will be starting to smell, as the possibility that they are broadcasting their odour to the neighbourhood tends to be a bit of a stress stimulant.

I have been spraying her for the last 15 days usually twice a day with Colloidal Silver in an attempt to reverse her sex. Obviously I will fail to get any real harvest from her but if I got some female seeds instead then I'd be rapt. I have been spraying her top to bottom but only on one side. We'll see how she goes in another week or two. As well as being pungent she is also quite frosty with trichomes but very small. I am looking forward to checking out the high CBD nature of her bud when she's ready.

CBD Express auto (1)

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

CBD Express auto (1)

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

CBD Express auto (1)

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

CBD Express auto (1)

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

CBD Express auto (2)
Still a little seeding. I am very impressed with the large size and vigorous growth of these seeds. If her bigger sister grows any female pollen buds then I'll try to make use of it and partially pollinate her. But given how stunted her older sister grew, I may change this one's location from the balcony to somewhere on the ground where she'll get more sun but hopefully away from neighbouring eyes, and noses, as this strain seems reasonably pungent.

CBD Express auto (2)

• Stunger
• Dec 15, 2020

Hope everyone's grows are going well. Stay safe and well everybody!

Stunger I wondered about your Mango Sherbert. Not too much info in your general description about her, but she's doing very nicely now. The seedfinder.eu lists only one breeder for this strain, Humbug Seed Organization, is that the one? Mango Sherbert (Humboldt Seed Company) :: Cannabis Strain Info

 

[Stunger]

Stunger I wondered about your Mango Sherbert. Not too much info in your general description about her, but she's doing very nicely now. The seedfinder.eu lists only one breeder for this strain, Humbug Seed Organization, is that the one? Mango Sherbert (Humboldt Seed Company) :: Cannabis Strain Info

Yes that's the one. But as a strain, just like the Godfather it is all new to me. Such big leaves and very open compared to the Godfather which has a lot more flower heads, I'm hoping that maybe she will compensate by growing bigger colas perhaps. It is going to be really interesting comparing these when it gets to that stage, aside from the Gorilla Glue Auto last year, the 2 photo girls I grew had very thin bladed Sativa like leaves, whereas these 2 are looking a lot more typically Indica as far as the leaf shape and size goes, so I am very curious as to the Mango Sherbert's effects. If anything, I'd think that because Humbug Seed Company does such extensive selection for their breeding, that makes the Mango Sherbert very interesting as in it should be good, they did something like a 10,000 plant phenohunt for one their breeding projects, so when go they go big. But having said that, I couldn't find much about the Mango Sherbert strain either, it seems maybe a more recent release. I hadn't initially ordered them but was fortunate to be able to share the order.

I've was really taken with your praise of the Super Lemon Haze which on that basis sounds really special, and too, your previous year's favourite G13 Haze (something about the Hazes eh). It sounded like they were all good but when there is a choice we probably tend to reach for whatever our favourite is most of the time over the rest. The Acapulco Gold was a looker, and the Blackberry was very intriguing for it's insect resistance, such an awesome quality for growing. I had seen some real bagging done about Greenhorse Seeds which had put me off them but your experiences have been very positive and makes me think those people were either trolls or perhaps they had been genuinely ripped off by a middle man seed bank, whose knows. It is certainly reassuring to have first person smoke reports to draw upon when making strain decisions. It is funny to think all these years that I have smoked/vaped/consumed and never having had any idea of what the strain was, just it being either good shit or bad shit basically, and there was a lot of the later. But now with named strains, wow it opens up a whole world of promise and bugger all time left to make a dent in the selection, so to help cut to the chase I'll add SLH to the shortcut list, and in 3 months I know what the Godfather OG and Mango Sherbert is like, plus a grow buddy is doing a bunch of different strains so all going well I should get to taste test sample of those too, and that way further cut to the chase of the best strains. Altho there was an article I read a little while ago that tested a bunch of people on strains from 12% to 30% THC, where they seemed to suggest that, at least THC wise, that the stoned/high effect was all quite similar regardless of THC%. I dunno what the answer is, perplexing, I am sure the entourage effect has a lot more do with it than THC%, but at the end the day, I'd still like to cut to chase and find the best strains to go for sooner than later.

 

[Emeraldo]

Yes that's the one. But as a strain, just like the Godfather it is all new to me. Such big leaves and very open compared to the Godfather which has a lot more flower heads, I'm hoping that maybe she will compensate by growing bigger colas perhaps. It is going to be really interesting comparing these when it gets to that stage, aside from the Gorilla Glue Auto last year, the 2 photo girls I grew had very thin bladed Sativa like leaves, whereas these 2 are looking a lot more typically Indica as far as the leaf shape and size goes, so I am very curious as to the Mango Sherbert's effects. If anything, I'd think that because Humbug Seed Company does such extensive selection for their breeding, that makes the Mango Sherbert very interesting as in it should be good, they did something like a 10,000 plant phenohunt for one their breeding projects, so when go they go big. But having said that, I couldn't find much about the Mango Sherbert strain either, it seems maybe a more recent release. I hadn't initially ordered them but was fortunate to be able to share the order.

I've was really taken with your praise of the Super Lemon Haze which on that basis sounds really special, and too, your previous year's favourite G13 Haze (something about the Hazes eh). It sounded like they were all good but when there is a choice we probably tend to reach for whatever our favourite is most of the time over the rest. The Acapulco Gold was a looker, and the Blackberry was very intriguing for it's insect resistance, such an awesome quality for growing. I had seen some real bagging done about Greenhorse Seeds which had put me off them but your experiences have been very positive and makes me think those people were either trolls or perhaps they had been genuinely ripped off by a middle man seed bank, whose knows. It is certainly reassuring to have first person smoke reports to draw upon when making strain decisions. It is funny to think all these years that I have smoked/vaped/consumed and never having had any idea of what the strain was, just it being either good shit or bad shit basically, and there was a lot of the later. But now with named strains, wow it opens up a whole world of promise and bugger all time left to make a dent in the selection, so to help cut to the chase I'll add SLH to the shortcut list, and in 3 months I know what the Godfather OG and Mango Sherbert is like, plus a grow buddy is doing a bunch of different strains so all going well I should get to taste test sample of those too, and that way further cut to the chase of the best strains. Altho there was an article I read a little while ago that tested a bunch of people on strains from 12% to 30% THC, where they seemed to suggest that, at least THC wise, that the stoned/high effect was all quite similar regardless of THC%. I dunno what the answer is, perplexing, I am sure the entourage effect has a lot more do with it than THC%, but at the end the day, I'd still like to cut to chase and find the best strains to go for sooner than later.

Yeah, exactly.

I've grown lots of thinner-looking sativa-like leafed plants, and they grow similarly, put out buds similarly, flower similarly, etc. But then you get an exotic-looking thing that is obviously from a different planet. Or maybe just from a different climate. And you wonder, what will it look like in flowering?

Maybe Mango Sherbert is one of those. Green House does have quite a few, they claim to go out hunting the strains, as in Strain Hunter Seeds (their subsidiary, hee hee). I grew a Humboldt bugger seed called Blueberry Headband. About three years ago. Strong headstone with the feeling of a band around your head.

So, yeah, put SLH on the short list. Next time I grow it I'll give it the position Acapulco Gold had this past year.

Cheers

 

[InTheShed]

Nice looking balcony...wish I lived next door! Sorry about the breakage though.

I still think a paper clip with a weight hanging from it is a lot safer and easier, and you can just put a piece of electrical tape on top to hold it in place if it's windy!

 

[Stunger]

I still think a paper clip with a weight hanging from it is a lot safer and easier, and you can just put a piece of electrical tape on top to hold it in place if it's windy!

Thanks, I think you're probably right. The gardening wire I used is pretty strong, and hard to easily bend which makes it easy to inadvertently damage a stem. LST does work quite well if you put the time into it, altho the downside is that you end up with a lot of training wires returning to the pot rim which makes access a little restricting, this time I made a wire loop around the base of the quad line which I used to secure many of the central LST training wires to. But next time, I will investigate a bag of paper clips and some light weights.

 

[syenite]

Loving the updates, Stunger!

Oddly these days I see supercropping (with pliers) to be less of a snap-risk than LST, lol.

Your two big plants are going to be exciting to follow towards harvest. Hope that the Strawberry Cough can come up too!

Stunger I wondered about your Mango Sherbert. Not too much info in your general description about her, but she's doing very nicely now. The seedfinder.eu lists only one breeder for this strain, Humbug Seed Organization, is that the one? Mango Sherbert (Humboldt Seed Company) :: Cannabis Strain Info

Just to point out that Humboldt Seed Organisation is not the same as Humboldt Seed Company. The former is actually an EU company based in Spain. The latter is properly based in Humboldt.

Here is the breeder page: MANGO SHERBERT - Humboldt Seed Company

 

[Stunger]

Oddly these days I see supercropping (with pliers) to be less of a snap-risk than LST, lol.

Your two big plants are going to be exciting to follow towards harvest. Hope that the Strawberry Cough can come up too!

You are probably right about the pliers, when I did the supercropping I usually have a pair on hand but I'd been fishing and left them my fishing bag, but I am quite comfortable with crushing between thumb and finger until I feel a 'pop'.

Re the Strawberry Cough; she's a bit perplexing, a much paler, frailer, and slower growing plant than the others, at first I thought the container that had been re-amended over Winter was somehow lacking, but after a light top dressing she got a little leaf tip burn, so since then I have only watered her, albeit with a bit of worm wee included, and new leaves have no more burn showing, they only got a light burn fortunately. I shared the SC seeds with my brother who started his in a pot then into the ground in good soil, his is only half the size of mine apparently, so I don't know if our 2 soils are both not good for her, or more likely that our growing latitude/environment is not to her liking, or can some seeds just be missing something and produce runts when in their ideal environment? I feel that is unlikely, that after all her strain is x and only has x genetics so I assume that her slow/pale/frail is more probably because she'd much prefer an environment different from the one I'm providing, which is understandable as all plants and strains will have an ideal range that is their sweet spot. She is showing signs of picking up the pace lately, but there's not much time left with the switch to outdoor flowering any day now over the next 2 weeks. But as long as I can get enough to smoke test the strain that's the main thing, as I really want quickly as possible to narrow down a few strains that really rock it for me and build my personal triple AAA seed selection to go forward with. I am looking forward to when budset and flowering starts on these girls to see what sort of shape they take, and really wondering if the Strawberry Cough will actually turn out looking like a runt plant or turn out looking perhaps modest in size but still eminently attractive and bud laden. Well what can I say, Summer's a good time for dreaming!
Nice to have you back by the way.

 

[Stunger]

Strawberry Cough update

Just to bring the grow up to date for the Strawberry Cough. She has been noticeably pale from the beginning, especially next to her balcony step sisters which are growing in the same soil and are a pretty lush green so she stands out pale compared to them, however she is not too bad when looked at directly. It is possible that the soil may be a little rich for her, if not the environment/climate is maybe not her cup of tea. Or as Donkeydick suggested she is in a big 50L pot and may be doing extra root base building. I have done no training to her whatsoever and she is now 42cm tall.

A close up on her crown where the new leaf tips are now growing fine.

Strawberry Cough seems over some minor leaf tip burn - 13/Jan/21

• Stunger
• Jan 13, 2021

This is her a week ago..

Strawberry Cough a week ago - 7/Jan/21

• Stunger
• Jan 13, 2021

And a picture taken a few minutes ago, not the best in the late afternoon sun but she does appear to be picking up the pace a little bit. Some Sativa dominant plants can start very late so is this one of them? I still think she may prefer a more sparingly amended soil. But I'll be rapt if she does indeed start to motor.

Strawberry Cough a moment ago in the late afternoon sun - 14/Jan/21

• Stunger
• Jan 13, 2021

Whatever she produces, I'll be happy to check her out as a strain.

 

[Bionic Chronic NZ]

The previous roll of garden wire I used was 'softer' and more rubbery coated. This one is really quite strong wire, but same as you I found it is a little more hassle than it is worth. When I snapped that one stem, it initially got snapped maybe 85%, but then I screwed up a second time which snapped it further to about 99%. The only thing was, with calm hindsight, I thought I should have used a couple of longitudinal strips of tape as splints and then wound some more around the splints and stem and that may have then kept the 2 piece together stable enough to rejoin. But anyway, feck it, doing LST just takes a bit of time but it works too.


You're right there BC good times indeed.
I tell you, when your outdoor grow's finished and you wait another year for the next outdoor grow season to begin, at this point it starts getting really exciting (altho I'm still not sure about the Strawberry Cough as she's been a bit pale and slow). Over Winter I pretty extensively re-amended the soil of the containers and I added some new ingredients too, so until the plants started kicking off I couldn't be confident that I hadn't screwed the pooch and messed the soil up. But now, they look promising and they are actually close to being better looking than at the same point last year, which was a good year for me.

That’s interesting she’s doing that.... she may be a late finisher and have a big stretch come flowering so I wouldn’t rule her out just yet

 

[Emeraldo]

Just to point out that Humboldt Seed Organisation is not the same as Humboldt Seed Company. The former is actually an EU company based in Spain. The latter is properly based in Humboldt.

Here is the breeder page: MANGO SHERBERT - Humboldt Seed Company

I think you are right. But apart from location, it seems the two are the same group. In 2017 I ordered seeds from Humboldt Seed Organisation, Blueberry Headband and Sour Diesel #2. The online sales receipt is from HS Organisation. The seeds were actually sent from Spain, however. The seeds came in a unique little wooden box with a clear window, something I've not seen before or since. Hardern heck to open the thing. I guess it serves stealth if the postal x-ray machines can't see what's in there. Or maybe that is a standard way to ship "samples" of stuff. Anyway, since it was illegal at the time, the post office delivery person looked at me rather strangely...

 

[Emeraldo]

Your Strawberry Cough looks fine to me, Stunger. Some strains are lighter than others in leaf color. There is certainly nothing about her color that should cause alarm, but you are a lot closer so you must have your reasons for being concerned. I take it she was slow to get going, and again some strains are slower than others. I'd be hopeful that she'll be fine, and she certainly looks ok.

 

[Stunger]

Your Strawberry Cough looks fine to me, Stunger. Some strains are lighter than others in leaf color. There is certainly nothing about her color that should cause alarm, but you are a lot closer so you must have your reasons for being concerned. I take it she was slow to get going, and again some strains are slower than others. I'd be hopeful that she'll be fine, and she certainly looks ok.

My thoughts on her being pale are because her balcony step sisters (in the same soil) are looking greener. You could be right and that she may be/probably is a paler strain naturally, altho I have a suspicion that my container soil may be a tad rich for her. Weedseedexpress have currently stopped selling her, I presume out of stock, and there are no reviews on her on their site so I am unsure on how other's experiences have been for the same strain. She does seem to be picking up her growth a little now and I may end up having to bend her over if she starts appearing to want to breach height regulations!

Yesterday I compared my plants to pics of last year's grow at the same point. I was surprised with how much lighter they were (at the time I felt they were good because the plants from the year previous were yet paler again). Plus last year, I did several top dressings of Blood and Bone to boost them a bit. For this grow in the off season I more generously amended the pots and included a layer of chicken compost in the bottom. I am trying to keep a watchful eye out for them turning pale to indicate they need a boost but so far they seem to be humming along in a fairly lush fashion.

 

[Emeraldo]

My thoughts on her being pale are because her balcony step sisters (in the same soil) are looking greener. You could be right and that she may be/probably is a paler strain naturally, altho I have a suspicion that my container soil may be a tad rich for her.

I it was too much N, you would see pale and browning, curling leaftips. There was some of that in your first photo, the tips a bit paler and burned, maybe too much N, I would've thought. I don't know what else it could be too much of that would make her pale. But then, to me, she doesn't look pale now. Her leaves look good now. So maybe she's happy.

 

[Stunger]

Here's an overhead pic of the Strawberry Cough taken a few minutes ago. She does look like she is picking up a bit altho if so, it seems rather darn late if she's making a run for it. I may have to bend her over with some LST if she does.

Strawberry Cough - 15/Jan/21

• Stunger
• Jan 14, 2021

And while I'm on overhead pics, here's a couple more, this time of the Godfather OG. The first one taken yesterday in the late afternoon sunshine.

Godfather OG - 14/Jan21

• Stunger
• Jan 14, 2021

And this one, taken this morning. Quite different in appearance from the lighting at different times of the day

Godfather OG - 15/Jan21

• Stunger
• Jan 14, 2021

 

[Bionic Chronic NZ]

OMG that godfather og looks wicked brother. Perfecto

 

[InTheShed]

Stawberry Cough looks okay to me, and I agree with Emeraldo that some strains are lighter than others.

If the whole plant is pale would it be nitrogen deficient? Maybe it's just a paler plant.

And the Godfather is really expanding his territory!

Perfecto

"Perfecto" is something my dad started saying as he got deeper into dementia, never having used it before! It's nice to hear someone else say it now.

 

[Emeraldo]

Now that photo of Strawberyy Cough does show something is going on. The new growth at the very tips in the center looks good. But the older leaves a few nodes down are pale, cream-colored at the ends in a funny little semi-circle. And the older you go, the worse it was. You might want to check out the self-diagnosis photos on growweedeasy. The might be a deficiency of some kind there. Probably not N, which has more of a burn on the very tippy tip. This is broader and less destructive. What, potassium?

 

[Bionic Chronic NZ]

Stawberry Cough looks okay to me, and I agree with Emeraldo that some strains are lighter than others.


And the Godfather is really expanding his territory!


"Perfecto" is something my dad started saying as he got deeper into dementia, never having used it before! It's nice to hear someone else say it now.

Hey my man, have a great day brother and keep well

 

[Stunger]

OMG that godfather og looks wicked brother. Perfecto

And the Godfather is really expanding his territory!

Just 3 weeks ago I was thinking I'd perhaps started her too late, but as the weather heated up she's started galloping.

Now that photo of Strawberyy Cough does show something is going on. The new growth at the very tips in the center looks good. But the older leaves a few nodes down are pale, cream-colored at the ends in a funny little semi-circle.

She's in a 50L pot that was well amended over winter and has alway been a uniform pale. Going back about 3 or 4 weeks ago I mistakenly tried to remedy that by further top dressing her, to which she responded with some root tip burn and rounding to her middle leaf tips on her then latest new node, and the same on her subsequent couple of nodes, but since then she seems to have gotten over my impetuous blunder and her leaves seem to be growing back as they were. I am curious as to how she progresses from here.