Un-Lucky Queen 12/12 Hempy

[slimm]

We are on the same page. Keep the plants happy and without stress by using TR nutes and then add the minimum that is needed to improve yield and potency. And as you say Doc, it's a hell of a lot easier to dial in the more esoteric qualities if you get the basics right.

BTW, I use beneficials in my perlite/coco mix. Canna coco actually comes pre-loaded with Myco. It's a prevalent myth that a micro herd is not compatible with hydro - it's only the anaerobics that don't have a place in my garden. For me at least, the humic/fulvic are needed as well as some carbs and other organic compounds.

 

[Doc Bud]

We are on the same page. Keep the plants happy and without stress by using TR nutes and then add the minimum that is needed to improve yield and potency. And as you say Doc, it's a hell of a lot easier to dial in the more esoteric qualities if you get the basics right.

BTW, I use beneficials in my perlite/coco mix. Canna coco actually comes pre-loaded with Myco. It's a prevalent myth that a micro herd is not compatible with hydro - it's only the anaerobics that don't have a place in my garden. For me at least, the humic/fulvic are needed as well as some carbs and other organic compounds.

I'm going to do some more research regarding aerobics in sterile medium. Thanks for the info!

 

[Doc Bud]

Well, my light cycle just started.

I went in and checked....2 more females, bringing the total to 10!

what is very interesting is that the males still aren't showing themselves.....with the Un-lucky Queens, the pollen sacs were obvious, but nothing of the sort is showing for the Skunk/Sour diesel.....could it be that all of them are female? Not likely....but the environment they were sprouted in was tailor made to produce females. We shall see!

There is no sign of transplant shock. In fact, the plants that have been upcanned are obviously happy.

A couple other notes:
I watered the cups and the hempy's with tap water, PH'd to 5.9 with the following:

Hygrozyme 10mil per gallon
Superthrive 10 drops per gallon.

The cups got 400 ppm of AN's Sensi Grow A+B. The buckets just got the water, because they were already charged with nutes.

For those who are thinking about using hempy buckets, I highly recommend thoroughly soaking the perlite in PH'd, nutrient charged solution prior to planting.

I didn't do this on my first grow, and the plants looked ragged before the roots found the bottom. On my second Hempy grow I charged and soaked the perlite and the plants never suffered.

 

[Setting Sun]

thanks for the tip on soaking the perlite.

I think there's a very good chance they're all females as males tend to show sex first.

 

[Doc Bud]

thanks for the tip on soaking the perlite.

I think there's a very good chance they're all females as males tend to show sex first.

That would be pretty insane if they all turn out to be female.....17/17 female?
I was just in there and re-checked.....yep, I haven't missed a male, and I found another female, bringing the total to 10 confirmed females.

So, I've some more work to do. I really want to get all of these gals into their final pots and turn on the HPS.

However, this New Wave T5 could easily finish several plants....not 15 plants....but 3 or 4, no problem.

 

[MountainHigh]

My provider talks things like germing your seeds a certain way...blah, blah, blah and it will give you a better chance at a female from seed....now with my limited grasp of genetics...this sounds like FUD.

Now there is an off chance they sent femmed seeds? I mean they seem sometimes send non-femmed, maybe you got lucky (unlucky if you wanted to breed) and they ran out of non-femmed so you got femmed maybe.

Either way I am subscribed.

my friend.

 

[Doc Bud]

My provider talks things like germing your seeds a certain way...blah, blah, blah and it will give you a better chance at a female from seed....now with my limited grasp of genetics...this sounds like FUD.

Now there is an off chance they sent femmed seeds? I mean they seem sometimes send non-femmed, maybe you got lucky (unlucky if you wanted to breed) and they ran out of non-femmed so you got femmed maybe.

Either way I am subscribed.

my friend.

No, these are not femmed seeds. They were bred by my friend, right here locally. Not only does he not have the set up to make femmed seeds, like many other breeders, he doesn't like them due to their tendency to hermie.

These are just good old seeds.

I spoke with him about his breeding and this is basically what he does:

Sprout 40, choose the 10-15 best. Cull the rest.

Of the males, choose the few that are slowest to flower.
Of those, choose the one that smokes the best.

Breed the latest flowering, most potent male to the desired female.

Repeat with each generation.
---------------------------------------

I've had such bad luck with seedbanks, I'm going to avoid them in the future. I can get all the seeds I need for free......just not every strain I want. I'll figure out a way to get those too.....but I'm not cool with Internet seed banks anymore. I'm 0 for 3 as far as quality and getting what I ordered.

 

[Doc Bud]

Update:

We're almost there! I found two more males and two more females last night. Here is what it looked like after transplanting last night.

Then, this morning, I discovered that 2 of the 3 Solo cups you see above are indeed female....leaving one plant in the "undetermined" category.

The "control" group in soil is in the upper left, the control group in Hempy is the lower middle, meaning closest to the camera. If anyone has question on which is which, I suppose I could mark them on the picture, but they are marked with tape.

In summary, I have 9 in soil, 5 in Hempy and one TBA. One of the soil does not have Osmocote and one of the Hempy does not have Osmocote. I'll be feeding each of those with Advanced Nutrients. The others will get PH'd tap water. I will address deficiencies if they should arise.

So, one more plant to go and we're off to the races!

I do have a bit more work to do in the grow room.....I've got to raise my trays up a bit more.....gonna need 4 more cinder blocks or a pair of saw horses.....I lean towards the latter. The it's a simple thing to hook up the pump for auto watering.

I'm in no hurry to do that, watering with my wand is really no problem for me, and helps me give the plants a "once over" examination each time I water. I've caught plenty of problems by taking time to admire my plants while watering.

 

[Setting Sun]

yep, off and runnin'!!!

I think I'm just as excited about this grow as I am about my next, lol.

 

[Doc Bud]

yep, off and runnin'!!!

I think I'm just as excited about this grow as I am about my next, lol.

thanks bro, I hope I don't disappoint.

 

[Setting Sun]

Things can go belly-up even if we do everything right

 

[Doc Bud]

Things can go belly-up even if we do everything right

Well, that's a fact. There are certain things we have no control over.
As long as I've got electricity, I can control the environment in my grow room.

I planted 18 Skunk/Sour D....17 sprouted. There are 14 females of those original 17. I just checked the last one and saw the little white hairs....lady bits.

So, from all the research I did reading Cervantes and what Cees, from Rip Off Seed co. (No Mercy), had to say about sprouting seeds in order to get more females.

For whatever it's worth this is what they and others agreed on:

The first 24 hours after sprouting are the most critical, and the first 3 days are next in importance. If you want females do the following:

1.) No stress. This means the paper towell method is a bad idea, as the light on the roots, the handling of the roots and the confusion of geotropism all add up to stress. Seeds must germinate in the dark, the roots should never see light.

2.) High nitrogen. Don't burn them....just make sure there's a good amount of nitrogen available. This is why my germination cups used dirt on the top layer, where the seeds were planted.

3.) High humidity....around 60-70 % favor females. Low humidity favors males.

4.) Lower temperatures favor females....around 70 degrees. Higher temps favor males

5.) High light the moment the cotyledon emerges. Get your T5's and CFL's out and put them an inch...no more than 3 inches above the emerging seedlings. Don't be afraid of the light....the plants love it. Low light = stretch....which causes stress and favors males.

I took all this into account in designing my germination cups and the environment for the seedlings and the females happened. I didn't make this stuff up....the information is out there and I merely did everything I could to reproduce the environment that favors females.

It seems to have worked.

These plants are the healthiest I've grown yet....a nice deep green, perfectly formed leaves, perky, bending to the light.

Now we get to see how the TR nutes work. Again, I've done my homework....there are several studies I've read that show TR nutes increase yield in commercial crops. The clone I grew last grow is superior to the other plants I grew.....now we'll see how these perform.

Let the games begin!

 

[slimm]

Doc, I'm still on the fence about whether or not to ph when watering TR nute fed plants. My tap water comes out at low to mid 7's and I have been using straight tap on my TR plants. What are your thoughts on ph'ing with TR nutes?

 

[Doc Bud]

Doc, I'm still on the fence about whether or not to ph when watering TR nute fed plants. My tap water comes out at low to mid 7's and I have been using straight tap on my TR plants. What are your thoughts on ph'ing with TR nutes?

Well, it sure can't do any harm.
I personally don't think it's necessary to PH water in soil, unless your water is really obtuse, like 8.9 PH with 500ppm.
However, in a Hempy, I think it's important. (others say PH'ing isn't needed in Hempys) The reason is that it's a hydroponic growing method.

On my grow, since it's a comparison between Hempy and soil, I'm going to PH the water to optimize each medium. 6.5-7 for soil and 5.8 to 6.2 for Hempy.

I'm in the happy zone right now....Jack Herer buds.....so if I'm not making any sense, that's why. But I think you'd probably be OK with PH 7.....but why not PH one bucket and see if it makes a difference?

 

[Setting Sun]

14/17 is outstanding!

In addition to your list, I read somewhere that there was a Russian study that demonstrated that using blue spectrum bulbs on seedlings produced more females than using red.

Good reason to not veg with HPS.

Do you think the small amount of soil in the top layer of your cups would cause any PH issues down the line in the hempy buckets?

 

[Doc Bud]

14/17 is outstanding!

In addition to your list, I read somewhere that there was a Russian study that demonstrated that using blue spectrum bulbs on seedlings produced more females than using red.

Good reason to not veg with HPS.

Do you think the small amount of soil in the top layer of your cups would cause any PH issues down the line in the hempy buckets?

Hmmmm.....I don't think so, regarding the PH being thrown off by the dirt. First of all, that dirt is going to stay very dry, I don't water around the stem. Second, I am under the impression that the dirt acts as a buffer, and actually stabilizes PH. My last 2 grows featured transplanting dirt into hempy's and I didn't have a problem.

Update: Day 33 from seed, Day 33 12/12.

I have one plant that is less than perfect....and that's the AN control Hempy. All the Hempy's except this one have perfect leaves....and are on Osmocote. This one was fed a weak schedule from AN's calculator and I have the "claw." It'll be fine.....I'll back off on the feeding, but I find it interesting that already, the AN plants are causing a bit of trouble. Here's a pic:

By contrast, here's an Osmocote plant, bending, reaching for the light:

Random shots

 

[CadillacMike]

Man doc, your setup looks so clean bro!

Wish mine was that systematic. I was reading your interesting list of things to do when trying to produce females. would have been nice to come across like 2 month ago,lol.

So if you dont mind me asking, why do you put half perlite in the bottom of the cups? Was that just because your are transing to hempy? Just curious because my next grow is going to be soil. Bubbles is very labor intensive as i have learned.

Looks amazing man, i will definately be in tune!

 

[Doc Bud]

Man doc, your setup looks so clean bro!

Wish mine was that systematic. I was reading your interesting list of things to do when trying to produce females. would have been nice to come across like 2 month ago,lol.

So if you dont mind me asking, why do you put half perlite in the bottom of the cups? Was that just because your are transing to hempy? Just curious because my next grow is going to be soil. Bubbles is very labor intensive as i have learned.

Looks amazing man, i will definately be in tune!

What's up bro!
Thanks for visiting my journal.

I germ'd all but one in the bi-medium cups. Even the nine I put into soil were germed in perlite, with a soil top. I tried one in straight soil just to see how it worked. It did just fine, but the root structure was not as developed.

The reasoning behind it at first was simply to facilitate going into hempy buckets. However, as I learned more, and bounced my ideas off some really smart, really experienced people, I decided that this is a good method regardless of the media....unless it's something like pure hydro.

The reason being that with perlite your chances of rot, damping off and all that are minimized. Also, the plant doesn't have to labor as much to produce roots in perlite AND the plant will send the tap root down pronto to seek the moisture at the bottom of the cups.

All of that translates into a healthy root system early in the plant's life, which means reduced veg time, larger yields, etc. On my last grow, I grew some monsters with only 1 week of veg in the large cups.
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Update: Day 34 from seed, Day 34 on 12/12

We've got obvious white hairs forming on all plants. These girls are stretching and they're looking really good.

Here are some quick facts for those who are following:

1.) the hempy plants are all taller and fatter than the soil plants
2.) The sickliest plant in the bunch is the Hempy Skunk/Diesel that is being given Advanced Nutrients....but it's not bad, just not as big or healthy as the others.
3.) The next most sickly plant is the Un-lucky Queen. (don't buy from No Mercy. Their stuff is inconsistent and their customer disservice sets a new low.) It's also not bad, but for being a week older than the rest, it is definitely lagging behind in size and vigor.
4.) All of the Osmocote plants are friggin' perfect. No problems at all.

So far, as far as vegetative growth goes, the Osmocote is performing in a spectacular manner.....and the 1 or 2 dollars worth that I'll use on this grow doesn't compare to the cost of the full line of Advanced Nutrients...or any other popular nutrient line.

The soil plants look healthier, but they aren't as large as their Hempy sisters. I know from experience that the Hempy's will be fine in a couple days when their root system develops more.

There are no signs of deficiencies yet.....but if there are going to be some it will be soon, as these plants are stretching.

Temps, RH, C02....all perfect.

Now, pictures.

The Advanced Hempy. See the claw? Look at her sisters who have the Home Depot Osmocote Plus.

The soil Advanced:

The whole convent: No men allowed

UnLucky Queen.

AN Hempy from top

Osmocote Hempy

New, explosive growth, as good as I've gotten.

How much did I spend on this fantastic nutrient line?

19.27

Now, how will the buds look? We shall see!

One thing we know for sure....Osmocote vegges as good as any other product out there with the following benefits:

1.)Cost
2.)Stoner proof. Can't burn plants
3.)Minimal work and maintenence. Add the prills to the medium, water, forget.

 

[Setting Sun]

Thanks for the update!

Love the osmocote veg results!

I'm sure you've mentioned this somewhere, but on the hempy/osmocote and soil/osmocote plants, are you PH'ing your tap water before using it?

 

[slimm]

A little issue to report on my TR nutes experiment. Placing them in the try beneath the smart pot was a bad idea. I started to see a little nutrient burn so I picked up the pot. Many of the prills ended up being crushed and split open.