The Joy Of Growing - SweetSue Goes Perpetual

[Shawnee]

Oh yes, elaborate on your first thought where nobody's opinion matters...that's when you begin living with no apologies and boy, is that absolutely grand and stress free...

the first half of my life I lived what society expected of me and excelled in every way...but was not happy....the second half I decided would be for me...a lot grittier, but closer to the earth and back to my soul roots....and I have found happiness....in the growing and being a caregiver....

 

[SweetSue]

I think that's where I'm headed Shawnee. This is my schooling, my starting point. I'm planning on living to be an old woman, up into my 90s. I have plenty of time to get there. For now, I'm going to revel in my new-found freedom. Maybe take up painting again. Take that unused guitar my daughter has collecting dust and work on the fingerlings again. Sing more. Sing more. Yeah. More than that.

How did I ever stop singing?

Deep breath, move away from there. Hahaha! It gets tricky sometimes. Hahaha!

Feels kind of like a reveg Shawnee. Big roots suggesting explosive growth. Should be interesting.

I'm giving myself one more day to be absolutely carefree and then it's time to get serious about this tent I have taking up 1/4 of my bedroom. Time to transplant and see what happens. Pick up another light or two. Get some seeds going. The blood is beginning to thrum again. I'm ready to get on with it. One more day.

 

[Shawnee]

take the time you need but you know what you have and don't have to address...my first patient is a painter and a really great one....I am very musical and lover of music, for sure...it's our generation, we grew up with it...and I saw the Beatles live so that set me on my way at a very young age....

I'm sure you will have good and bad days....I have only lost animals, of which I am an advocate, and have good and bad days over...so god bless and god speed, my dear....g'nite....

 

[SweetSue]

That sense of having no responsibility. It feels decadent. Like I'm not playing fair. Does that make any sense to anyone else?

 

[MysterySeeds]

(Brief pause to take a Buddha hit and admire the storm roaring up the river and coming right at me. Cool!)

On to Cheese Candy. This one gives me the most pause. Way too lanky for my taste, but were going to ride it out and learn all I can from the experience. I have much to learn about LED light placement, about germinating, about just about everything. Good thing learning excites me, and now I have no serious distractions to pull me away. After I get these initial few rough days behind me and hit that inevitable wall we all know is ahead of me, despite my current euphoria at finding freedom, I'm going to just explode in gardening joy.

This lanky beauty is now 44 days old.

You already know my day is filled with joy. Let's see if you can match me. Hahaha! That's a tough challenge. I haven't felt this good in quite a looooong time. Pretty joyful here today.

I always follow the 4 P's before doing anything in my tent.
(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass)

In my pretentious opinion, I'd LST the shit out of that main stem and drop the LED to under 20". Make her stem look like a croquet wicket. (Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass) Ms. Cheese Candy will hate you at first, but she'll recover and the added light intensity will bulk up her nether regions.

(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass)

Might start thinking about some LST for your other ladies, too. And more light! If there is room under the LED, get a couple growing under the more intense LED light.

(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass)

With your next update, could you include a zoomed out shot of the inside of your tent? I want to see how it's all set-up. Also, what lights are you currently running?

(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass) The rest is all you.

 

[MysterySeeds]

That sense of having no responsibility. It feels decadent. Like I'm not playing fair. Does that make any sense to anyone else?

Makes total sense. As my dear, departed friend Janis once said, "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. Nothing don't mean nothing if it ain't free. And feeling good was easy, Lord."

 

[SweetSue]

(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass) we can share. I'm already stoned.

The tent is getting ready to undergo another change. I'm transplanting everything into 7 gallon minimum, including three 10 gallons pots, so a look at the interior would be worthless right now.

That was a lot of helpful information. I meant to ask today if it was safe to bend her over, because I started to do so two days in a row. Sounds like I should (puff) ....... start to listen to my instincts again, eh? (Puff, Pass) I wasn't sure if it was safe to start playing around with a plant already into flowering.

Think I'll break out the bonsai wire and see how she likes that. Might be less stressful than Velcro.

More light. I've been considering the wisdom of two more of the Mars Hydro 100x3, one to hang and one in reserve. Need to look into that tomorrow. Lighting has to be completely reconfigured again. LOL! All about change here it seems. Part of my down time tomorrow is going to be a casual look at redesigning the tent. Geez, I should write a book someday on living with chaos.

Nice to share. Thanks for speaking up and saying what needed said.

 

[SweetSue]

3:02 AM - the countdown begins. Bet I'm asleep in five minutes.

Good night.

 

[SweetSue]

Softened up the stem, but not quite as long as I should have, so she kinked a bit on me. She's a learning experience. Hell, this entire grow has been a learning experience. Deep breath.

Anyhow, confronted with more supercrop than LST, I fabricated a quick, flexible splinter for her, and we'll see if she can survive.

Didn't I mention somewhere lately that this grow is about survival now? Yeah, this one is feeling that a bit more today. I reminded her that she's from a hearty breed. The soil is strong. Let's see what happens. I just knew I couldn't open that tent one more day and see that without bending it.

This was why I had Dale. *sigh* I wanted to use bonsai wire, but the daughter has it and they keep crazy hours, so who knows when we'll make contact and I wanted it done NOW!!! Can you hear the frustration ramping up as it goes on? This was the point where he'd pull me aside and just hold me.

How do I live without that tempering of my evil side?


I'm going to go power walking, cry it out and think about what's going on in this tent and what I can do to change it.

I think this is one of those walls I'm going to run into now and then. Ouch! I'll be out walking, so I'll imagine the hugs.

 

[Duggan]

Morning Sweetsue....girl...what did you do? When you SC ....don't wait so long next time....that's not a good SCing practice. You should have just LST'd her and not tried to SC her sooo far down like that. Try to SC right at the top...just down one or two nodes next time. Remember ...the reason we SC is to encourage young branches to start to grow and compete with the "main" Ya gotta do it where the growth is still young and green...that way you won't break her like that. What could have done in your situation would have been to gently tie the main all the way down while pulling her the opposite way...know what I mean? That way all the lil side branches would start to compete with the main...and that is what we want to see.
No worries....she will repair and be strong...just don't touch her for a while now...she's gonna need some time (a week) to get stronger there now.Have a great day SS, and hope I wasn't too harsh on ya! Cheers eh!

 

[Pigeons420]

It's difficult to see in that picture but any kind of molestation in any direction will assist with gettin some energy to the lower branches. Short of breaking it in half, I don't think you can do much wrong with what I see here.

 

[Duggan]

Pigeons420.... The purpose of SCing is to encourage side branches to get going ,period. After these lil side branches get moving ,then the practice of LST'ing or "tieing down " further encourages this. What Sue did here was far too damaging ....trying to SC an older plant like that ,at that location will ALWAYS result in breakage or close to it cuz the stalk just cannot hold up the heavy top branches...without her repair job she did, that whole top section may not have recovered properly.
I will repeat ....the time to SC a plant ...or should I say the BEST time to , is when they are between 4 and 6 inches tall...they are small and young and will benefit from it the most. I know what SS was trying to do there and should have been just LST'd and not SC'd at that location on the plant. I have been practicing these methods for over 25 yrs. ....so.... remember for taller or older plants LSTing is preferred over SCing....which should be started when they are very young and small! Cheers P420.

 

[B A R]

Oh yes, elaborate on your first thought where nobody's opinion matters...that's when you begin living with no apologies and boy, is that absolutely grand and stress free...

Ditto Shawnee! I've been living like that nearly my whole adult life. When I say "no-one's opinions matter" I mean opinions of me.

(Pause, Puff, Puff, Pass) we can share. I'm already stoned.

The tent is getting ready to undergo another change. I'm transplanting everything into 7 gallon minimum, including three 10 gallons pots, so a look at the interior would be worthless right now.

Will all that fit in the tent?

 

[SweetSue]

Morning Sweetsue....girl...what did you do? When you SC ....don't wait so long next time....that's not a good SCing practice. You should have just LST'd her and not tried to SC her sooo far down like that. Try to SC right at the top...just down one or two nodes next time. Remember ...the reason we SC is to encourage young branches to start to grow and compete with the "main" Ya gotta do it where the growth is still young and green...that way you won't break her like that. What could have done in your situation would have been to gently tie the main all the way down while pulling her the opposite way...know what I mean? That way all the lil side branches would start to compete with the main...and that is what we want to see.
No worries....she will repair and be strong...just don't touch her for a while now...she's gonna need some time (a week) to get stronger there now.Have a great day SS, and hope I wasn't too harsh on ya! Cheers eh!

I knew all that going in Duggan and it didn't slow me down a twit! I know. Exasperating. I'm going to believe she'll survive. This is not a practice I recommend anyone else do, but it's done now, isn't it? I assure you this won't be repeated in any future grow.

You weren't too harsh Duggan. You're the Master of this technique and I understand how difficult it can be to watch someone do it wrong like that. I'd have been surprised if you didn't yell. I have no plans to do anything else to her for at least a week. I have no plans to do other than water her anyhow.

I should have been smart and asked your advice about two weeks ago. Life got in the way. A quick consult over morning coffee would have spared this carnage. I think we'll all survive.

Thanks for caring Duggan. I promise I'll be good from now on. You notice I didn't molest any of the other girls?

 

[Duggan]

I knew all that going in Duggan and it didn't slow me down a twit! I know. Exasperating. I'm going to believe she'll survive. This is not a practice I recommend anyone else do, but it's done now, isn't it? I assure you this won't be repeated in any future grow.

You weren't too harsh Duggan. You're the Master of this technique and I understand how difficult it can be to watch someone do it wrong like that. I'd have been surprised if you didn't yell. I have no plans to do anything else to her for at least a week. I have no plans to do other than water her anyhow.

I should have been smart and asked your advice about two weeks ago. Life got in the way. A quick consult over morning coffee would have spared this carnage. I think we'll all survive.

Thanks for caring Duggan. I promise I'll be good from now on. You notice I didn't molest any of the other girls?

It's all cool Sue. Those other lil plants you have there....are they Sc'd yet? Remember to do it when they are very small...and you'le see how much of a positive effect it has on the plant as a whole.Just sc them about one or two nodes down...and gently bend to around 90 degrees to the main...they recover very fast and you will see the profound effect just a lil SC'ing can have on those lil side branches. Remember SC while young ,then LST or tie down after to achieve the "bush" we all covet! Cheers Sue and keep your chin up eh!

 

[UncleCannabis]

I see that you've been busy while I've been away. I'm subbed and will be riding shotgun on this one. Best of luck!.

 

[Pigeons420]

Pigeons420.... The purpose of SCing is to encourage side branches to get going ,period. After these lil side branches get moving ,then the practice of LST'ing or "tieing down " further encourages this. What Sue did here was far too damaging ....trying to SC an older plant like that ,at that location will ALWAYS result in breakage or close to it cuz the stalk just cannot hold up the heavy top branches...without her repair job she did, that whole top section may not have recovered properly.
I will repeat ....the time to SC a plant ...or should I say the BEST time to , is when they are between 4 and 6 inches tall...they are small and young and will benefit from it the most. I know what SS was trying to do there and should have been just LST'd and not SC'd at that location on the plant. I have been practicing these methods for over 25 yrs. ....so.... remember for taller or older plants LSTing is preferred over SCing....which should be started when they are very young and small! Cheers P420.

Cheers Duggan!

Appreciate you explaining that to me. I'm by no means an expert by any stretch of the definition. Your patients and professionalism to take the time and share you knowledge is admirable.

Hats off Duggan!

 

[SweetSue]

Ditto Shawnee! I've been living like that nearly my whole adult life. When I say "no-one's opinions matter" I mean opinions of me.

Will all that fit in the tent?

It probably would, BAR, but after mulling it over on my walk I think it's lunacy to think about it. Everything about these plants is off. Too stretchy, not enough growth inside. Probably deficient in roots. I've decided to let them ride it out just the way they are. This is the 7th week, so next week they should be under the big lights from there on out. I'm going to go with CFLs for germination and early veg, the way I'd initially planned, so I'll get that equipment together while I wait for seeds, which should be here today or tomorrow. I'll run down to the big box hardware later today.

I'll get another Mars Hydro panel and move both over into the other side of the tent with the Dorm Grow, and that just might be all I need.

If I do any transplanting it will be the Cheese Candy into a 15 gallon to better facilitate using it as a perpetual pot, but that won't happen for a couple weeks now because I wounded her. I need to be more aware. I can't go around indiscriminately hurting things like that.

It's time to start all over and get it right this time.

 

[SweetSue]

It's all cool Sue. Those other lil plants you have there....are they Sc'd yet? Remember to do it when they are very small...and you'le see how much of a positive effect it has on the plant as a whole.Just sc them about one or two nodes down...and gently bend to around 90 degrees to the main...they recover very fast and you will see the profound effect just a lil SC'ing can have on those lil side branches. Remember SC while young ,then LST or tie down after to achieve the "bush" we all covet! Cheers Sue and keep your chin up eh!

Their window of opportunity passed long ago too Duggan. They weren't in my face when grief and exasperation smashed into each other and I lost my patience with her. Thank goodness for them. I won't be doing any messing with them at all. Just drenches and foliars and more light. They're like little lost children, sad little things. I'll do my best with them, but I'll lose no sleep over them regardless.

 

[SweetSue]

I see that you've been busy while I've been away. I'm subbed and will be riding shotgun on this one. Best of luck!.

Welcome back. I see you're in a rebuild phase too. Not as much fun having one go flat as you'd think, eh?