Larry Bird and Bruce Banner, growing plants and inane rants.

Discussion in 'Indoor Grow Journals' started by Misanthropevet, Jan 12, 2023.

  1. Here we go again, Bruce Banner autos and gelato-33 (Larry bird) photos, few things different this time around.

    I upgraded some 4x4s to 4x8s, and my state is starting a legislative session in the next few weeks to finalize (hopefully) cannabis regulations.

    As the situation is fluid there won't be a lot of specifics regarding the overall grow, more of just a place for me to fuck around, post notes, problems, and answer any questions anyone may have on my grow.

    Again, I'm not striving for massive yield or competition winning buds, but the bar is 3-4 ounces from each auto plant, and 6-8 ounces for the photos, the goal is see how much better I can do than that spending no more than 15 minutes a day tending plants (excepting setup, transplant, and harvest days).

    I use dirt, bag soil and the occasional bottled nute, as once again, I'm lazy as hell, and I tend to place a higher value on things that can save me time as opposed to money (obviously everyone is different in that regard, just being upfront).

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    Lets see which of these beasts ends up growing the densest trich patterns and nicest buds!
     
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  2. So quick rundown for those who may or may not be interested.

    Dirt grow for both plants (5 gals for the autos and 7-gals for the photos)

    Both strains set to their own tents, the gelatos I'll probably top around 4-6 weeks of veg then screen. The autos I may do some small LST, but after topping them last grow, I'm going to just let them run more or less natural apical dominance to see what the yield difference is (last crop of banner autos yielded approx 4 ounces per plant after a 7 day hang before jarring)

    I generally don't trim up the plants much (other than to remove some late bottom buds that don't have a chance at really being anything) and if I get too lazy and forget the cal-mag, I occasionally trim off some fan leaves that get too far gone, or once I'm solidly in flower and the lower fans start to subsume, I'll trim them before they get too pathetic (I'm talking yellow / brown, once the plant has sucked most of the N back in)

    So here is where we start; some new 4x8 spaces to fill.

    Each 4x8 has 2 SF-4000 lights as mains, and a couple of smaller burps, cowls, or led strips I occasionally move around to juice up lower bud sites that show promise.

    Right now I'm using 2-3 smaller clip fans, but I'll probably just move a short oscillating 14-18 inch fan in a corner eventually, as I hope to fill most of the space per tent with vegetation.

    One big ass dehu per tent run straight to the floor drains so my lazy ass doesn't have to empty tanks.
    20230112_135153.jpg

    Don't forget the random jars of harvests past on the floor (never in my life thought I'd be tripping over quart jars of bud in my own home).

    Anyway the banner autos were off to the races from day 1, showing tails, on day 2 I dropped them in rooter cubes, and now 10 days in are nearing transplant (possibly this weekend or early next week) so the big tents should start filling soon.
    20230110_063402.jpg

    Meanwhile the ancient (well at least 2 years) old gelato seeds are taking their sweet ass time, should probably have pre-soaked them a bit more, but I poked into the cubes some and they are split and growing, just very hard, old shells, I have a feeling I'll end up killing one of them removing the "helmet" as all of them that have sprouted so far have needed some outside assistance in shedding the final shell tip to unfurl the cotydelons.
    20230112_135609.jpg

    Either way, looking like a 95% germ rate so far, can't complain about that!
     
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  3. For those of you interested in how I got this far from seed to germ, I used the same methods from my prior grows here
    Bruce Banner / Gorillia Glue scrog dirt grow for octogenarians and more!

    If your too lazy to click a link, it boils down to this basically.

    buy some undyed paper towels, fold it 4 layers thick, soak and wring gently, set yours seeds approx 2 inches part on the towels, the fold another paper towel 2 layers thick, soak and wring, and place on top.

    At this point you can just sandwich it between some plates, but I put mine on a little $15 heated rooter cube tray, typically 1-2 days later, you got decent tails.

    This early in the game I keep the tents around 82F / 27C and 70% RH, actually having to add some supplemental heat to the germ stations as the basement ambient temp is around 68 and my unsupported observation has been that the germ rate (for me) goes up drastically once the soil temp can be brought to around 70F

    No nutes (1 mil 2xweek of silica on the plants that have their second set of leaves)

    water varies between 45ml (roughly a shot glass) for the small girls, to 100-200ml for the larger autos

    Other than that lets see what the coming weeks bring!
    [​IMG]
     
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  4. Pulls up a chair.

    BNW
     
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  5. [​IMG]
     
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  6. [​IMG]

    Gotta run up the interstate to the Northernmost office today on the MD border (2 ladies and 3 guys up there are doing some yearly continuing education classes and I might as well get a head start on my license required training hours for 2023).

    Plus its an excuse to just show up at one of the offices without warning, buy everyone lunch, and provide the gentleman conducting the training with a tip, of some of my nicer colas. (Hes an old bluegrass hippy I've known for 30+ years, pretty much the human analogue of Towlie from South Park)

    The office up there is taking bets, training is supposed to be from 10am to 2pm, but the earliest he's ever gotten there (its like a 2.5 hour drive for him) is 1130.

    Imo its a bullshit class (I'm qualified to train it myself but it looks bad conflict of interest wise to not have a 3rd party train your folks) so if I got to spend the money to have my people take it, (all of whom are also generally more knowledgeable than the average "trainer" in my field, as most firms take their shittiest site workers (or guys too old, disabled etc) and make them "trainers". In this field its typically the job you "run out the clock till retirement" on.

    So yeah if I gotta drop $500 an hour for a guy to teach my folks what they already know, I'm going to give that money to the chillest, laziest, most unabashed teaching the class while high trainer I can find imo, at least its entertaining.

    I believe we are doing fire safety and fall protection today
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    Hoping the rest of the gelatos will have tails by this evening, and maybe a few more break the surface.

    All the Banners are out now with at least 2 sets of leaves, so little victories.
     
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  7. My Biggest girl next to my littlest, both started germ the same day.
    20230113_143827.jpg
    I think the big difference is the gelato seeds are old as hell, and I should have done a peroxide soak on them first before shoving them in paper towels, the shells are thick and hard as hell.

    The banners are up and unfurled in 1-2 days from putting them in dirt, while the gelatos are taking up to a week from getting tails to breaking surface (and most of them still need some assistance peeling off the last bits of shell casing)

    They are all up though, only lost one (and I'm not really counting it because on closer inspection the seed was cracked and hollow inside, it would have never germed anyway, but I'll not bitch about 1 seed from many, even the best breeders have bad days.)

    Sometime this weekend I'll move the big girls to their new pots and various tents, probably let the babies stay in the germ tent another week. Fortunate, because I think the biggest banner autos are probably going to start stretch in the next 2 weeks or so

    My half-ass rule is at least 2 sets of serrated leaves to leave the germ tent for a proper veg, and transplant to final pots once the leaves reach the edges of the 1-liter starter pots.
     
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  8. Fuck it, I'm packing in the grading till spring, close enough.

    How it started
    20220924_083404.jpg

    How its going

    (decided I'll do new trees and landscaping in the spring and cut a 3 level terrace all the way up to the homes on the subdivision side of my property.

    (Pool framed by retaining walls on bottom, mid track another 20K of solar panels above, very top most level where the gazebo with electric, bathroom, small kitchen etc will hopefully )
    20230115_134712.jpg

    Not my best work, but decent for 1 person, one excavator, and based off the timer about 90 hours of machine time.

    Throwing out some straw and sorgum just to hold the dirt in till I can get a pump truck in here for spring to do the hardscaping.

    Time to get my ass back underground growing!

    Damn I'll be glad to confine most of my remaining winter projects to indoor ones!

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Damn that flaming shirt had me laughing out loud and I hope I didn't wake old grumpy. She isn't a happy camper when that happens.
    Ahh I well remember sitting in a safety class and wanting to correct the "Trainer " on a few points. "No you'll get electrocuted doing it that way"
     
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  10. To this day I am still fighting with Virginia DPOR (and several other state agencies on unrelated matters) to change the stupid licensing requirement.

    Why do I need to sit through an 8 hour class and then pass a test every year for shit that hasn't changed. Could I not just take the test first and if I can get a 70 or above (the minimum passing score) then its pretty obvious I don't need to sit through the 8 hour class.

    I'd still pay the "trainer" full price, its worth it for me just to not have to listen to the same shit I already know year after year...

    [​IMG]

    In plant related news, I might pop a few more Gelatos, maybe a few more Banners, I think there might be room in the tents for another few.

    Also some random lime bushes my sister in law brought up from SC have been thriving in the larger tents while the cannabis is still in veg, starting to relocate them around the house to make more tent room. You can see the breaks where my brother in law tagged them with a weed eater, but I think they will all be fine.
    20230117_080518.jpg
     
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  11. Not much new going into the weekend, got quite the 3 ring circus going atm though literally
    20230120_132322.jpg
    (quick note I just photo the meters so folks who care can see the general temp and RH in the veg tents)

    The banner autos in general are now starting stretch, The gelatos are slowly catching up now that most of them have established but are in general still mostly seedlings

    Top left I said fuck it, and threw unplanted GG4 seeds from my last run into some pots, they are looking to be just a squat and dense as the prior run!

    Also, we had 3 beans that turned out to be total duds (cracked and empty or just never opened) so since I have so many different life stages of plants going on, I'd throw in a few more seedings of gelato and banner. (on this one the RH is low as I had the tent open for a bit pre hanging lights and other gear, typically the cube area is closer to 50%-60% RH I do like to keep it slightly cooler than the veg tents, they seem to pop up faster, but I base that on absolutely nothing but random anecdotal experience.

    20230119_065351.jpg

    Looks like this grow my span multiple harvests over the next 4-5 months as the autos finish and the photos start coming in.

    Also because unless I can get some decent help, I'll have to split harvest as trimming more than 4 plants at a time is just no fun on my knuckles.
     
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  12. Saturday morning, 2 more of the lazy girls finally decided to wake up, as soon as I can get the last two up (or I kill them, 50/50) I think I'll have enough vegetation to fill my spaces.
    upload_2023-1-21_9-41-2.png
     
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  13. Have you ever tried a bowl trimmer?
     
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  14. Not yet, but I'm considering just for shits and giggles adding one to my order of a 2 gram electric grinder, both items look pretty useful but like most things I suspect they may function less effectively than advertised.

    My brother has one he uses for the bud he turns into edibles, because hes not too concerned with the shape so long as he gets most of the bulk trim off, its all getting baked down for him anyway.

    Like most things he buys though, I suspect it was the cheapest shittiest thing he could buy, borrow or steal, so I'm wondering if a nicer, new one might perform better.

    Even as a lazy man, I understand that a few minutes of oil, grease, wipedown and basic equipment maintenace saves way more time down the road for me.

    MY brother is the opposite, I won't even smoke out of his bong when I visit anymore, I bring my own.

    this is not his, but his bong usually about this nasty, I don't think hes ever cleaned it in over a year.
    [​IMG]
     
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  15. That is one dirty bong. I'm ready to cough just looking at it.
     
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  16. The second panel was less than half full on December 1st, I've been busy underground as well.
    upload_2023-1-30_12-50-7.png

    Without revealing too much I added 4 new 15-amp circuits to an unused 20x20 section of the building, plus the big 50 amp on the bottom for the mini split for that area. (All those new shiny orange romex wires exiting panel 2 on upper right)

    For the electrically minded in there, that means you bet you sweet ass I'm running 10 gauge wire capable of handling 30 amps for 15 amp circuits, I build shit to last, not to be cheap!

    I knew having a second 200-amp panel would eventually come in handy one day!

    As always, there is that one auto that wants to stretch way before the others and just go nuts about it, but there are worse problems to have. at least I got the main stem bending before it gets too hard to do so.
    20230130_090340.jpg

    Found my wife had thrown some hitchhikers into the tent, already started to break surface
    20230130_085321.jpg

    More soon, but its freakishly 55 today, then possibly below freezing the rest of the week, hoping I'll ge the rest of the grass seed and straw down this afternoon from my grading, or worst case pressure wash out the truck bed and exterior.

    Fuck, and also bring in some more firewood, and probably 20 other things the wife told me that I've already forgot.
     
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  17. The babies are finally standing up on their own. (the problem with having so many different sized plants in the same tent atm, the fan speed needed to move the larger bushes will lay the little girls right over, usually I take some cheap bamboo rods and lay them across as gaurdrails for the little ones to lean against some and not get pushed down into the dirt.)
    20230130_090125.jpg

    Probably be another 2 weeks before the smallest ones like this go into their final 5 or 7 gallon homes (5 gallon or sometimes 3 for the autos, 5 min or preferably 7 gallon pots for my photos.)

    As I have quite a spread, the bigger gelatos will probably do a 6-7 week veg, while the little girls I'll probably only veg for 4-5 weeks before flipping the lights and trying to get them all presentable as they stretch.

    The autos are kind of like stray cats around the grow area, I feed them and keep them running, tend to any serious problems, but otherwise plan to let them just kind of do their own thing, if for no reason to a harvest prior to all the photos coming in.

    Tech notes, This crop I've moved more towards a 6-3-3 NPK mix in veg, slowly planning to transition all the plants to an eventual 1-6-4 NPK feedings as they enter flower, possibly 1-7-5 ratio if they look like they can handle the extra by that time.

    If I screw it up, I literally have gallons of cal mag on standby (course that stuffs not cheap, hopefully I'll keep this circus together)

    Side notes for the lazy. FF grow big and the most of the advance nutes etc equivilents are 6-4-4

    The tiger bloom or equiv is roughly 2-8-4 NPK so those will probably do you just fine if you are are following along or trying to replicate, but don't feel confident yet mixing your own soil.

    Also, getting antsy at home, probably going to go back to work part time for a bit after next week, but by then everything should be fully established and transplanted, so the garden will be more of a place of relaxation, nute mixing and watering (hopefully) for at least the next 6 weeks till the first autos are ready.

    We've got two new guys starting next month, so I'm coming out to help get them straight on the basics before I turn them over to one of my office managers so they can go out and start making me money instead of costing it.
     
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  18. My next event day is March 15th so I get to just laze along and juice the veg plants now and then. In-ground flower plants need nothing from the look of it.
    <-- Puts feet up on desk.
     
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  19. The first Autos I'm anticipating to be ready towards the end of march

    the second germ event autos probably be ready around mid to late april

    The gelatos and other photos I'm trying to time to have a few plants every week for trimming for basically all of May, setup myself up right in time that the cure should be done around my bday in June.

    Hopefully the cannabis regs in my state get finalized in the next month or 2 with the laws coming to effect in early 2024.

    So I'll probably bust my ass on the plants for most of the spring, then bust my ass making as much money as I can June-sept when the contracting work is heaviest and the money the biggest.

    I told the wife and the #2 man this is my last year, I'm turning it over to him to run the day to day and my CPA wife will be running the back end and keeping him honest.

    However, for the next week to 10 days, I think I'm going to also just do a whole lot of jack shit before all this starts up.

    Just replace the classic Bruce Campbell line of "Your leading 2 things" with "your doing 2 things right now, jack and shit"
    [​IMG]
     
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  20. The wife has added some peas into the grow areas without my knowledge, so I have begun filling the various furniture pieces she has in storage (she does upholstery and light carpentry furniture repair for fun.....I know right) with my own plants, gonna see how long it takes her to notice
    20230203_134827.jpg
    One of her bucket list goals as a woman growing up in the 70s and 80s to learn all of the "forbidden" industrial arts.

    To her and my understanding, The five (5) original industrial arts are:
    1.) woodworking and all other carpentry and joinery;
    2.) masonry and all other stonecraft and pottery;
    3.) upholstery and all other needlecraft;
    4.) all Metallurgy and all "smithing" (up to, and ceasing with, the Renaissance), and;
    5.) glass making.

    Shes got joinery down and makes a decent vase on the pottery wheel, and could probably re-upholster her entire car even given the time and materials.

    Says she wants to try glass blowing in the next year or two, and I'm not gonna lie, if she makes it to metallurgy I'd be stoked to install a small forge in the shop.
    [​IMG]
     
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