JerryInDFWs Perpetual Grow - DWC + LED + HPS

1-25-2015

Snipped a bud from the Kaliman Cheese #1 to dry out and test. I doubt she's anywhere near ready to harvest, but fuck me she's dank as hell and super sticky already. Really beautiful bouquet! [Edit: I decided it's kind of citrusy]

I'm on the phone, but I'll try and attach a photo...

 

 
Holy crap! I let that KC #1 bud dry out a bit overnight, and I just chopped it up and dd a few miniscule hits of the green weed. Holy shit! VERY, very nice already! I mean a beautiful buzz, and I havent even smoked 20% of that bud. I went from zero to buzzed very fast. Dunno if it's the Terpinator making a difference, but it's already some sweet weed!
 
I did look at trichomes last night. Less than 5% were even thinking of getting cloudy, so this has a way to go, but I'm really looking forward to smoking some of this when she's cured out. Gonna be hard to keep my hands off of her while she's bulding bud, since I'm running desperately low. I'm smoking roach dope and skunk and keeping what few real good buds I have left just for vaping to try and stretch it out.
 
Decided to do the same thing today with a Pineapple Chunk bud. Here's a bit of bottom fluff: 
 

 

 
It sucks being dry. I'd drive to Colorado if I wasn't so damned lazy. I know a guy there who would sell me a few oz's cheap, or maybe just give me a few. I'm only about 40 days in on the big girls, and that PC is gonna take a while. The babies in the veg/flower tent are with pistil, but I won't even start the clock until about the first. So much easier to calculate that way, and it gives them a good two weeks to get flipped and flowering properly.

Anyhow, I'm hoping you'll get some awesome buds off the F35/BB's for you and your lady. It puts a LOT of bud out, and as we discussed, should become a monster outside. I'd put in in at least a 10 gal pot if you're growing in dirt. If you can chip through the permafrost to actually transplant, it'd probably love the cool soil!
 
Hang in there!

 

 
Only about 20% have the auto pheno, I estimate. The rest react perfectly to photoperiod manipulation from my experience, but some of them seemed to take an extra few days to flip. Dunno if I'd start them before mid-March if you can't put them out until late May/early June at the earliest. But since you have higher (ahem) latitude outdoor experience, I'll defer to you.
 

 

1-27-2015
 
Busy day! Parked fresh pails under the big girls, and clipped a few annoying suckers off the KC #1 that were just in the way. Also snagged one off the PC since I accidentally broke it while trying to tie it up. They all have bud on them, and I know the KC is already getting potent, so it isn't going to go to waste. Close ups:
 
Pineapple Chunk:                  Kaliman Cheese #1:
 
I mentioned clipping a PC bud last night. Tried it earlier, and it worked, but not in the class of that KC #1 yet. Speaking of the KC, I got in and looked closely, and there are some frosty-ass buds in there. Even the ones I clipped are pretty frosty for being on suckers. I should take some pics. I expect it'll be pretty white once the trics cloud up.
 
In the small tent, still no joy on male bits with the treated clones. I fully expect that if they fail to express male, it's my fault for forgetting to change the photoperiod soon enough. However, the good news is that the branch of the big Pineapple Chunk finally has some tiny nanners starting up!            Took a full 3 weeks from the time I stopped spraying, but then that PC took a while to even show pistils, so WTF do I really know? Still hoping that I saturated those two clones enough that the lag in the photoperiod will still have an effect. That was done with the real deal colloidal silver @50ppm for exactly two weeks. However, the ionic colloidal silver (The clear stuff) seems to work just as well. I guess it's important to treat at the right time. I think after about a week into flowering is probably best window to start, or at least a week after the 12/12 starts, but I'm gonna do some more digging on this topic. Doubt it will be much of a pollen harvest, and it's tempting to just let the nanners rip when they get ripe and make some PC fem beans and some PC/KC #1 frankenbeans with no more effort on my part other than keeping the buds straight when I get around to smoking them and come across them.
 
While I was in there I lollipopped the KC and PC clones, and supercropped a branch that was way too tall. I also pretty much lollipopped the fuck out of that Northern Lights/Big Bud auto, and none of those girls should need much of any more attention unless they just get ridiculous.  I've decided that if the treated clones don't produce after a couple more weeks, I'll just make some GG out of them with the freezer full of trim I've been hoarding.  That CS is safe to consume if you're not combusting it.
 
As I was clipping the big KC clone, I grabbed a couple of nice ends there and used them to start clones. That KC #1 is fucking awesome already as I mentioned, and I want to keep one going even though I have more beans, and I still want some pollen from one of them. So clones from clones! The citrusy bouquet makes my knees weak. A close trichome inspection shows essentially all clear trichs so far, and I'm betting the PC will want every bit of 90 days and possibly more. The KC I'm guesstimating at 6 more weeks till chop, but again, WTF do I really know? I'm much more upbeat than I was before I started today once I saw just how heavy the buds were beginning to get. Still using the Terpinator as directed, and adding the carboload stuff too. As slowly as the small tent's plants will grow over the next 10 days, I shouldn't need to do much with them for a while other than make sure they don't get too stretched.
 

 

1-28-2015
 
An acquaintence just asked me what my favorite strain was. I had to think about that for a minute, and decided it's whatevr I'm smoking at that moment.
 

 

1-30-2014
 
My order of nutes arrived today! Not bad for the free 2-day shipping. Still cheaper than the local hydro stores, so WTF. Plus I dont have to drive and fetch it. The local hydro stores seem to be going downhill lately, so I'm not tripping about not buying local.
 
The price of the FloraSeries 3-pack was $39.95 w/free shipping. The Armor Si was $15.75, but still cheaper than the stores. The Cal-Mag was outrageous @ $18.99, IMO, but it's like at least 20 bucks locally I believe, if you can even find it. These should hold me for a while. I might have saved 3-4 bucks ordering individual bottles, but meh. I'll get gallons next time.
 
I know many people who use the FloraSeries say you only need the FloraMicro and FloraBloom and just do the Lucas Formula. I've tried it that way since I was out of FloraGro anyhow, and the plants just do not look as good as when I used the trio. It's no sweat either way, but either way you're buying one or the other, and I figure General Hydroponics probably knows what they're doing with that set. The Armor Si works almost as well as that S.O.S., but I can't use that with the Terpinator. I also use the <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">Liquid KoolBloom in bud stage, but I'm gtg atm with that.</span></span>
 

 
<span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"> </span></span>

 

1-31-2015
 
Crappy as all hell outside.
 
Looks like the 4" fan in the veg tent is getting a little wonky. I guess I need to think about a replacement, and I was thinking of just a 4" inline, since it doesn't really get that hot in there.  But as I have plants going into flower, I'm going to need to move some air. It's settled down for now, and I raised the LED as high as I could, but those clones in there are going to need some supercropping in a bit.
 
In case you've never seen it before, these are buds that's been treated with colloidal silver and are putting out pollen pods. This is on the big Pineapple Chunk. Still no joy on the treated clones, but I might be seeing something on the little PC.
 

 
And here's a little bud porn:
 
PC:         KC #1: 
 

 

 
Gettin' there. That KC #1 is going to be supurb. I remembered I had those suckers hanging, and I snagged one. I'm trying to cut it up with a pair of little bonsai clippers, and the shit is all stuck to my fingers. Boy howdy, the smell is beautiful. Even the PC is starting to get decently frosty, but I'd be surprised if it catches the KC. The KC has a nice hashish finish without being annoying about it. Very smooth, and it hasn't been cured.
 
 

 

2-1-2015
 
Well that 4" fan was acting wonky enough yesterday to be a cause for concern fo me, so I ordered a new one. This time, I still went "Cheap," but selected a model with a 6 year warranty. I figure WTF, and I can keep the one I'm running in that veg tent as a spare.
 
Went to the bay for a Hydrofarm ACDF4 Active Air Hydroponic In-Line Fan 165 CFM w/ Brackets. Typical setup for $64.85 with shipping, warranty, etc. I've seen these in the stores locally much higher, but I'm told they're much better than the Ven-Tech crap I have now. Didn't get a filter package as I still have a spare 4" filter.
 

 
 

 

2-3-2015
 
I clipped a couple of the suckers off the big KC #1 that had some decent bud and some popcorn. The top colas of that plant are starting to get milky trichomes, but not so much down below. That girl might get a sequential harvesting. Still quite a way to go, but getting there. Crappy pics:
 

 
 
Set the fan in the veg tent to intermittent. It's not really necessary for cooling, but it's definitely needed for a while during the night cycle to keep the humidity down. It'll shoot up to 100% RH if I leave it off all night. Those plants really respire! Think I'll run the replacement like that as well and save a few clicks on the electric meter.
 
Some of the sucker buds:
 

 
 
Absolutely nothing much new.
 

 

2-4-2015
 
The new ActiveAir fan arrived at a decent hour (For a change). Installed it straightaway. Much quieter than the cheaper VenTec one I'm keeping as a spare. So no more cheap mechanicals. Plus a 6 year warranty. I'm in. Still gonna run it like 30 on, 30 off. As I mentioned, the tent doesn't get above about 82 without the exhaust, but I gotta run it some to keep the humidity managable.
 
I bent the tallest cola on the KC #1 in the big tent so I could lower the LED about 14". It was too heavy to do a proper supercrop with it, and I had to tie it up. But I wanted to get some more of that upper cola frostiness on some of the lower bud sites. Going to top up the liquids later. Otherwise it's just a waiting game. I expect the KC will finish first. Really not seeing any signs of finishing up with the PC.
 
Ordering a fan got me thinking about filters. Mine are getting about a year on them. So far, odor control is fine, but I'm thinking that isn't going to last forever. I do try to get at them and shake them a bit once in a while to shift the charcoal.
 
Anyhow, I was wondering if anyone has had experience trying to refill your own? My are riveted closed, but that's no sweat. Just drill them out and replace them with some screws. Charcoal is pretty cheap - certainly cheaper than new filters. Guess I should do some googling.
 

 

Sometimes I'm so fucking stupid I want to cry.
 
Thinking on that wonky VenTech fan, and looked up when I ordered it. I bought a fan/filter set in March and one in April from the same place on eBay. Turns out there's a one year warranty I completely forgot about. So I called them up, and I'm just waiting on the email with the RMA label. They said the new ones have better bearings, and once they get the squeaky one back, they'll shoot me a new one. So all I have to do is eat the shipping out there. So my used spare will go to being a new in the box spare. Could be worse!
 

 

 
Well, I thought about that, but that veg tent is a small one and only has 4" holes, and I'm far too lazy to try and modify that arrangement. As it turns out, the crappy fan is under warranty, and they're going to ship me an improved replacement once they get the bad one back, so I'll have a spare 4" fan and filter.
 
I have a 6" exhaust and a 4" inch intake fan in the bloom tent which blows right into the cooltube. No filter on the intake, and the 6" is attached right to the cool tube and is ducted out to the filter. I don't even need to run that full speed top do the job. Works okay. I did borrow a 6' to try and balance the two, but it wasn't any better than the 6-4 setup. Unfortunately my flower tent is setup for max of a 6" duct, so it's no go with anything bigger until I relocate to bigger digs.