Sweetsue's First Grow - Stealthy Trio of Autos Under CFLs

Sweet. In essence the plant tells you when it's thirsty. I love that it alerts you by smart phone.
 
I'm thinking about how cool I would feel exporting all those sexy graphs and data to my PC and saving them along side the photos from that grow.

*shiver*

But on a more serious note you could confirm how effective your swick is, Sue. Who knows, maybe you plants could take up even more water but you don't know it yet!
 
Dropping in... I love the topic of building a hidden grow space... Hmmm:volcano-smiley:

It'll be interesting to see what we end up with. Dale wants it to be a piece of furniture, but we don't have the wood shop anymore, so it's going to be rustic-style furniture, which we are quite ok with. The table that sits behind our couch was fabricated from the wood from our old waterbed frame and the "entertainment center" used up what was left. We have sheets and cuts of plywood, pegboard and pine leaning up against walls, just waiting for the right need. We have an eclectic, museum-style decorating energy. Just about anything will fit in. Making it look good is always my job.
 
I can't wait to see what you decide on sue, for your stealth grow space. it will be good I bet though. I have used up just about every piece of scrap wood around this place so far. I might have to actually buy something yet, or find it, or....
 
Daily Update: Day 68 (THC Bomb Auto) & Day 67 (Buddha Magnum Auto

Let's begin with an Enzyme Tea. Gathering our supplies, we have kelp meal (I'll be adding 1 Tablespoon), Ful-Power fulvic acid (we'll need 1/2 tsp), aloe vera juice (just a 1/4 cup), the strainer and the watering can.

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One ounce of malted barley grain (powdered in the coffee mill) has been bubbling overnight in about 5 cups of water (I just add, I never measure here). When I turn the pump off and remove the lid I'm always pleased to see how frothy it is. This stuff is amazing!

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After giving it a stir the bubbles recede, but they're still popping away. Cool.

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The kelp meal, aloe vera juice and Ful-Power get added to the strained tea and it gets topped off with water to make a half gallon. I use a long wooden chopstick to stir everything up initially and then carefully swish before each drenching pour. I fed a bit to the soil in the Aloe Vera pot and then split the difference between the girls.

I'm hoping DocBud was right about having another month to go with the Bomb. It'll mean more chances for her to benefit from the enzyme teas and Coconut/Aloe waterings. All those will only make her frostier and frostier. WooHoo!!

So, here they are this morning, all snug in their little closet. Smelling intoxicating.

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The days are getting longer and the sun comes up earlier, so there's more opportunity to see them in natural light before the timer sets off the CFLs. The Bomb is looking stunning. It's like she's sugar coated. :laughtwo:

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Let's take a closer look at that cola. This is sooooo cool.

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This one in the back wanted to be photographed too, so I happily obliged.

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Buddha is still dancing away, still actively pushing out buds and sugar leaves.

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I took advantage at the rare early daylight (it's usually cloudy here at this time of year) to get a good shot of the main colas. The Bomb is still putting out white pistils at the top. I'm assuming that when she's really done with her dance these should all be amber?

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The ever-lovely Buddha shows no signs of slowing down yet. As far as I can see there's not a single pistil beginning to change and her buds on the main cola look big enough to be growing seeds. She's definitely going to please at harvest.

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Everything is very good in the closet. I waited half an hour after the drench to top off the reservoirs. They both still took 1 quart apiece. No signs of dying or necrotic leaves to speak of. They are both in the peak of health.

Dale is sick today. Something intestinal. I don't think a trip to that clinic appointment will happen today, so I may have a rare quiet day while he sleeps it off. It's tricky keeping an insulin-dependent diabetic in balance with intestinal issues, so this can stop right here. Maybe I'll have the time to get back into danishoes21's journal. That's some deep reading, but I'm learning so much.

You all have a splendid day filled with little joyful moments of gratitude. I insist on it. :laughtwo::green_heart:
 
I'm thinking about how cool I would feel exporting all those sexy graphs and data to my PC and saving them along side the photos from that grow.

*shiver*

But on a more serious note you could confirm how effective your swick is, Sue. Who knows, maybe you plants could take up even more water but you don't know it yet!

The effectiveness of the SWICK is documented in the daily watering. It's been interesting that even on days following a drench they still take within a cup of a quart. Very consistent drinkers, these two. I see the real value of that device as alerting the grower who lets the pots dry between waterings or someone who must be away from the garden and must rely on another person to keep up with the water demands. No matter where you travel this would eliminate the "I didn't notice they were thirsty" excuse. It would take a lot of the pressure off your friendly assistant. That's always a good thing.
 
I can't wait to see what you decide on sue, for your stealth grow space. it will be good I bet though. I have used up just about every piece of scrap wood around this place so far. I might have to actually buy something yet, or find it, or....

Hahaha! I'm with you nivek. We're good at repurposing and finding just what we need. Well built and with a nice coat of paint and some decorative features (wood burning, colored stains, paints) anything can be made to look like a part of our little home/museum.

We've done some interesting things together over the years, this man of mine and I. Much of it was working with wood and color. We once did aquarium stands for a local pet store , some of which had elaborate wood burning and staining. At one point we created a line of beautiful wooden jigsaw puzzles using 3/4" appleply plywood that I designed, Dale wood burned and cut and I finished with colored stains.

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The boatman in the picture was our very first puzzle and the little train one was designed by our daughter when she was 8. The quilt square was done by my mother right before she passed away. Like I said, we're eclectic interior decorators. My daughter says it's aging hippy. :laughtwo:
 
The effectiveness of the SWICK is documented in the daily watering. It's been interesting that even on days following a drench they still take within a cup of a quart. Very consistent drinkers, these two. I see the real value of that device as alerting the grower who lets the pots dry between waterings or someone who must be away from the garden and must rely on another person to keep up with the water demands. No matter where you travel this would eliminate the "I didn't notice they were thirsty" excuse. It would take a lot of the pressure off your friendly assistant. That's always a good thing.

True. Its not as necessary with swick since you can more easily monitor water levels, but I imagine it would still be useful to keep track of water consumption with a device like that so you have a better idea of when exactly you can start feeding more water. If you grow the same strains all the time then it would help you with achieving more consistent results since you can track trends.
 
Worm Bin Update

Time to feed the worm bin again. Today's puréed mix included:
- rice
- banana peel
- green pepper cuts
- carrot skins
- sweet potato skins
- leftover malted barley grain from today's enzyme tea
- a bit of corn meal
- egg shell

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Worms feed off tiny particles of food as well as the bacteria, fungi and Protozoa that live on the surface of the decomposing food. You want small bits of food with lots of surface area - puréed lightly instead of blended. Blending releases the water too fast and can throw the bin into ecological turmoil. I now keep bags of kitchen waste in the freezer to break the cells down faster. If you had told me a year ago that I would be keeping garbage in my freezer and that the kitchen ninja's biggest use would be to feed the worm bin, I'd have laughed and asked you what you were smoking. :laughtwo:

Out comes the worm bin. First we make a trench. I started using this little silicon spatula because I feel it does the least amount of damage to the worms. The bin is filled with the little wrigglers.

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Dump the puréed mix into the trench.

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Cover it all over in a mound. This step significantly diminishes the number of gnats.

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Toss on all the used mint medley tea bags and strings (but NO staples!). I find this lends a sweet smell to the entire bin. The mint is a wonderful addition to the soil community also, made that much more valuable by the enzyme action in the guts of the worms. Give it all a quick spritz of water.

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Cover it all over with the shredded paper and spritz with water again.-I think it might benefit the bin if I checked this in about four days to spritz again. Most of it was dry when I opened it all up. You want moist, not wet. Moist can be a challenge to get right and keep it there, mostly because I want to give them total privacy.

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Cardboard cover over the whole thing. This helps to keep things dark and dank.

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All ready to go back under the sink.

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Almost forgot. I had processed some comfrey root last week to use in an experimental treatment for Dale's diabetic ulcer. That experiment didn't go as well as I'd hoped and I forgot that I had more left over in a small container. It grew some very interesting fungi that I thought might be nice for the worms, so I tossed that in too. Can't you just hear them? "Mmmmmm. Fresh fungi." :laughtwo:

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There's some nice vermicompost going in this bin. The next grow will be powerfully affected by this addition. I never expected that raising worms could be so much fun. This bin is good for another week. The care is becoming routine.

Yesterday I checked on the Geo Pot worm bin of leaf matter under the stairs and watered throughly. Two to three days seems to be the key spacing for that responsibility. I can't wait for cold temps to break so I can safely order more worms.

:Namaste:
 
Catman12 shared this on his journal today. I was so impressed I wanted to share it here as well.

https://https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B4GUkzTnFG0

This country needs to get its shit together and allow the open study of cannabis for medicinal use. Those of us who grow for medicinal purposes know how beneficial the plant is. Until the government agencies stop trying to force their primitive views (many, I suspect, to keep their funding) on the rest of us the researchers can't do proper studies.
 
Beautiful compost. I love it. I do the same thing but directly on the soil of the plants. The last thing I did was boiled all my banana skins, liquify then using blender and then watered all my plants. After they dry out removed all the left over fibres from the top soil. You can practically boil everything and later liquify it and water your plant directly, the boiling effect will kill all harmful Bacteria but at the same time in liquid form all the nutrients are easy to breakdown.

As for the medical use of Cannabis, I do use it to control my bipolar disorder and anxiety, insomnia caused by anxiety. In my line of work I suffer from constant stress, Cannabis is a mayor contributor to my mental and physical state. Back pain relief. Many other things. Now I grow for medical purposes, and when I buy from outside is for recreational purpose. Two different worlds.

:peace:
 
Puzzles: Love them, good colors and quilt. What are your stones Lapis Lazuli and ?

Worms: You spoil them so well.

Dale: Have you looked into fresh cannabis leaves? Reports are half a dozen leaves, even veg leaves, are anti-oxidant and CBD rich.
I have no personal knowledge, or even really studied, so I don't know how effective it is for which symptoms.
I think GFcollective had a thread about juicing leaves.
 
Puzzles: Love them, good colors and quilt. What are your stones Lapis Lazuli and ?

Worms: You spoil them so well.

Dale: Have you looked into fresh cannabis leaves? Reports are half a dozen leaves, even veg leaves, are anti-oxidant and CBD rich.
I have no personal knowledge, or even really studied, so I don't know how effective it is for which symptoms.
I think GFcollective had a thread about juicing leaves.

The lapis is a gift from my dear sister-in-law who is slowly dying in hospice right now. That piece has been therapeutic for me as she struggles with dying. She's retired Airforce and once had a stint commanding an air base in Afghanistan. She wanted to bring us a raw specimen, but Afghani law prohibited it. The rock beside it was picked up on a walk through South Park, CO when Dale and I were part of a fossil-hunting team for the museum we worked for at the time. Well, he was part of the team. I went along as camp cook. What a trip! Wide open spaces for miles and miles surrounded by the peaks of the Rockies. We took long walks when there was free time and always brought back some rocks. That was in 1988 and we still have a box of those rocks that I can't let go of. We have no idea what kind it is, but is is exquisite and wanted to share that display.

Any rockhounds out there who might know?

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I hadn't thought of using raw cannabis leaves for Dale. I'll check out GFCollective's thread. Thank you for that. SoilGirl is doing that for her dad right now. I wonder if juicing cannabis leaves would relieve our daughter's anxiety? Hmmm. Now you have me thinking.

Thanks for the reps. You know I posted that with you in mind. :laughtwo::green_heart:
 
Heya sue,, i think I mentioned before about your surgical skills, well apparently hubby has some of his own. incredible cutting there. I can just imagine the sanding involved, bet you did some of it. beautiful work indeed, from head to toe. does not surprise me though. passion is not an easy thing to disguise, and there's not enough around these days, imo. except for pop music, crammed full of passion that stuff, oh ya
 
Heya sue,, i think I mentioned before about your surgical skills, well apparently hubby has some of his own. incredible cutting there. I can just imagine the sanding involved, bet you did some of it. beautiful work indeed, from head to toe. does not surprise me though. passion is not an easy thing to disguise, and there's not enough around these days, imo. except for pop music, crammed full of passion that stuff, oh ya

I'm humbled nivek. Actually, it took very little sanding. The appleply is a high-grade 11 plys of alder with maple facing and absolutely no voids and he cut that 3/4" thickness with a blade rated to cut 1/8". Yeah, he was pretty amazing. All sanding and finish was my responsibility. There isn't a surface on them that isn't stained, front, back and internal cuts. I used specialized sanding tools to get into the tight spaces. Those puzzles were a delight to work on. We did that for about two years, but never could build a market for them. Went straight away into tattooing, something Dale was destined to do. I was artist and studio manager for that enterprise. Dale just had to tattoo. That was great fun too, for ten years until his health forced retirement. Everything we did was filled with passion. Marrying him was one of the smartest moves I ever made. :laughtwo:
 
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