Second Grow - Both mixed media and hydro schizophrenic grow

3-13-2014
 
New mail arrivals today included a box of 4' bamboo plant stakes, colloidal silver, and another pair of nippers for comparison, and real-deal Wasabi powder from Japan.
 

 
Naturally, the plastic cased pair is slightly easier to use. Both cut equally well, but the GRO1 would be a bitch to clean properly, since any cleaning solvent you might use would get under the handles and tend to stick around. There are screws there, so they probably can be disassembled, but I don't want to fuck with that, so they'll be reserved as a last resort for trimming buds. I have a 10-pack of the others on the way for like .87 cents apiece, shipping included.
 

 
I mentioned back in the thread that I wasn't able to make 50ppm colloidal silver, so I ordered some. Turned out to be like 86 ppm, and I wonder if I should dilute it some or use it as is. I'm told that stuff can be hard on a plant, and everyone seems to recommend that 50 ppm strength. Stuff is cheap enough, so cost isn't an issue. I plan on spraying small clones, and I don't wanna kill 'em.
 
One of the things I was hesitating to buy was better output air compressors. I knew I'd need 'em, and since the guy at the hydro store was in a haggling mood, I got him to match the best internet price I could find in a hurry for a couple of Hydrofarm AAPA45L's 45 LPM pumps @ 40 bucks a pop. These are the ones that come with the 6 outlet manifold. Very nice! I like how it puts out to those crappy air stones. I'm getting that rolling boil I was looking for.
 

 
Clones doing well - Still sprouting and growing. No sex yet.
 

 
The 32x32 tent:
 

 
The 2x4 tent. Moved the F35B in there, since it outgrew the cloner. It's back on 18/6, but I figure WTF, it's expressing auto tendencies anyhow. The bag seed plant is in there in a Solo cup too.
 

 
 
 

 

3-14-20114
 
Of six clones, one of the hydro BB's are definitely female. Three more I think are female, but need a couple more days to be sure.
 
Diluted the CS to 50 ppm and started spraying the BB clone. It occurs to me that I can just spray those females until they flip (Or croak), and avoid another clone making cycle. I'll still have to veg for a while longer, but that will let me do another FIM. If I can make seeds, I don't need to keep a plant going, and I want to try some different strains next grow. I'll clone the two real F35's (From feminized seeds) tomorrow, and hit a branch from the best plant later with pollen later.
 
Nothing else new weed-related.
 
 

 

3-15-2014
 
I was checking my clones carefully in an effort to become more familiar with the very early characteristics of male/female plants. Then I got to thinking (Always a risk!).
 
From a bidness standpoint, it occurs to me that for seed breeders, it's just as easy or easier to create only feminized seeds instead of regular AND feminized. So far, I haven't had a fem seed not germinate, and I'm suspicious that all of my clones might very well be female, going by what I believe is calyx starting to develop. I noticed that the “10 free seeds” I got from Nirvana are on the smallish side – Just like most fem seeds seem to be in general.
 
Hmmm…
 
I know that if I were breeding for profit, virtually everything I would create would be feminized. This leaves the males out of the loop, and if your strain is stable, you can propagate a good plant forever. If I had for example a dozen clones of whatever same female plant, and I sprayed just one completely with CS or your minerals of choice, which would create a LOT of pollen after it took. Correctly matured and collected, that pollen would be plenty for the other 11 plants with lots left over, yielding a whole buncha seeds, which if they weren't rushed, should essentially all be viable.
 
Now, where's the point in fucking with regular seeds too? That's an investment in grow space, nutes, power, labor and so on. I'm now theoretically sitting on a couple thousand fem seeds! So, is it cheaper to get a whole slew of other plants going to blow on making regular seeds, or just print different labels? This is a no-brainer! I don't have any stats, but I'd bet that the majority of the seed banks and breeders sell mostly fem seeds for the premium price. If anyone wants regular seeds, they slap a different label on that little zip-lock or whatever. If you're going to go through the trouble of making fem seeds, it makes little sense to me to breed regular seeds as well for say 20% of your sales? Nobody is gonna know they got a pack of 10 fem seeds when they ordered regulars, and certainly aren't gonna bitch about the results.
 
I don't know anyone who deliberately orders regular seeds, so I might be full of shit, but I have a hunch that the percentage of females they get is closer to 100% than 50%. The average home grower isn't into a lot of cloning, making their own seeds, or selective breeding and crossing plants. Most buyers just order more seeds when they need ‘em, and fem seeds make it easy to be sure you'll get a female plant every time. And I don't care how good your favorite strain might be, everyone wants a taste of something different once in a while.
 
If I had the time and space, it would be an interesting experiment to order a couple of “Regular” 10 seed packs from different breeders and run ‘em. I'll be keeping a close eye on my freebies when I put them in the rotation. I'd ask breeders if that's really what they do, but I doubt any of them would admit to it, since the demand would shift radically if the word got out, and they would have to go back to breeding regular seeds just to support the demand for fem seeds. Now that I think some more, I believe I've been to a couple of online stores where there are very few regular seeds available, but only fem and autos.
 
Just a thought.
 

 

 
Well, I was thinking in the realm of carefully doing this. I'm pretty sure they have their breeding stock down pat, and are breeding for stability. There's a lot of bad information out there clones and feminized seeds in general. Your reasons for actually wanting regular seeds are sure valid. Like those F35's I bought. Out of the 8 I did of 10 pack, I think I had maybe three proper 35's, a couple of autos, and a few variants. So sometimes fem seeds ain't all that.
 
Still, if I had a "Big" grow operation, I'd sure want to have repeatable results, and to me, that would include making sure I was controlling the genetics.

 

2-16-2014
 
Nothing much to update. Attached pics are from yesterday. Not real happy with the rate of growth in the coco, so I lowered the lights about 6" in both tents to see if that upsets any of the plants. If things stay looking good, I'll sneak 'em
down a little more mid-week. Right now, everyone is looking beautiful, with no new signs of stress.
 
Here the BB's are on the right, Widows on the left. F35V in the middle. Bagseed hanging out on the floor.
 

 
Here are the coco's
 

 
 

 

3-16-2014 - 2
 
That F35B started expressing pistils probably 2-26, which makes it 18 days of flower for this plant, and that it autoed in call it 4 weeks. Only had like 4 days of 12/12 under the T5.
 
Anyway, this plant doesn't look anything like a proper F35, which I believe is mainly supposed to be more like an indica.This plant has slimmer leaves almost dark green enough, but not quite as dark as a real 35. Darker than the WW's and BB's for sure.
 
Wondering if anyone lurking thought they might recognize or even take a guess at what this might be. It's back to 18/6 at the moment.
 

 
Scratching my head over what reasoning I used to germ 4 F35's at once. I guess I was thinking it was an unreliable strain, and I just wanted to burn 'em up. Not even sure I want to bother making more F35 seeds.
 
I'm still waiting on more positive signs of gender in the clones. As soon as I'm sure, I can start spraying. Once I see I'm getting fem pollen sacs, I'm going to flip both tents about a week later. This will hopefully be good timing to have mature pollen and some decent flowers to pollenate. Will do a little more reading up on this. Anyhow, looking at more than a 8 week veg this time. I'm going to top the other 35's today and add a couple more hours of light while I'm waiting on the clones to do their thing.
 
The endgame is that I'll be starting over with two empty tents. After I get the small tent empty, I'll add a new seed every 2-3 weeks, still shooting for a perpetual harvest. Most of my stock is at least 8 weeks or longer.for flowering. Need to order another timer to get the co2 back online.

 

3-16-2014 - 3
 
Pulled the plants to get a good look and do some FIMing. Never did top any of the 35's. I did discover two more (F35-2 & F35V) had started to show a pistil or two. I threw them into 24/0, since their breeder says they'll veg indefinitely under 24 hours of light.
 
 


 
I did some very light trimming, mostly low level crap and a few of thr biggest fan leaves.
 

 

3-19-2014 - Update
 
Two of the other F35's had started to auto, so I decided that since they're supposedly fast finishers (The '35' in F35) I'd get on with it and let them flower. Now the three F35's are in the big tent, and I'm easing them down to probably 12/12. Currently on 15/9, and on inverted buckets. Really want to get things moving along to fewer plants.
 

 
The plant I referred to as F35B is coming along in spite of the longer photoperiod. Beautiful shade of green! Starting to smell great as well. Be happy to see it properly flowering
 

 
Everything else is on 24/0 in the small tent, and it's crowded as hell. Be very happy when I can get the perpetual cycle started.
 

 
I look at other grows, and I've seen some fucking packed tents, but with somewhat taller plants which have been lollipopped and had some training, so there's a ton of buds, Seriously, at least for the flowering stage, I can't see more than 3 good plants in that 4x2 tent, and even just two really well-done LST'd plants.
 
That fucking hydro BB1 is showing calcuim deficiency again. The ph and ppm is fine, so I guess I just need to keep the dosage up. 
 

 
Got a roll of that velcro tape plant tie. Stuff if good for lightly securing things that don't need the strength of a plastic tie-down.
 

 
Clones are all alive, but only one definitely showing sex. Might knock off a couple hours of light to see if that helps.

 

 
Here's the thing about that F35 strain. The breeder says they'll veg indefinitely under 24/0, but doesn't actually state that they're auto's. But reading between the lines, that tells me that they're liable to auto on a shorter photoperiod. Kinda crappy deal.
 
But there's certainly an auto in the genetic woodpile. You can see how far along the F35B is, which did that under 18/6. The other two were just starting to put a few pistils out under 18/6 as well when I put them under 24/0, which seemed to stop 'em. I don't believe they're pure auto's, which is why I wanted to kick start them, hoping to speed the process up. I'll nudge the hours up after they get going.
 
The F35B's been trying to flower for 21 days now mostly under 18/6, and should be much further along for a 35 day finisher, so I'm gonna roll with the 12/12 for a while for those three. The B is stretching pretty well at the moment. Looks great, and as it's not FIMed or topped, is going to be a big single cola and some popcorn unless I do a little LST. Those three in there are going to be crowded when they fill out. All of the others are under 24/0.
 
Really not sure what a pre-flower looks like. I just went by the few psitil I saw.

 

3-19-2014/2
 
Checked out the clones. 5/6 have begun roots. Basically just tidied things up and shortened the hours to 10/14. Still spraying the 1 that I thought was female. That happens to be the one without roots. I trimmed the bottom and reapplied hormones. I wish they would get on with it too.

 

3-20-2014
 
Fuck all to do today cannabis related except to CS spray one clone. Mostly thinking on the future grows, bemoaning my limited space, and a steady supply of choice buds. Trying to get my head around finite space, all the variables regarding a grow schedule, number of plants, reasonable expectations, and the desire to play mad plant scientist. Very, very tempted to say fuck it, grab a few F35 clones, back burner making any seeds this grow, and just throw everything into flower and start over properly with different strains when everything is cleared out. In fact, that really does sound like the best way to clear the screwup of starting waaaay too many plants. I think I may eventually end up on a 4-5 week cycle, running two (Good) plants in flower at a time.
 
So damned indecisive. Can't even decide on which bean I want to pop next when the time comes. I'm thinking that Pineapple Chunk might be cool.
 
I went traipsing around the web yesterday to make sure I understood the difference between a pre-flower and actual flowers. As I thought, the pistil I see are as good as it gets. While I believe I can mostly tell the pre-flowers apart, I'm still going to wait on pistil appearance to definitely determine sex.
 
Whilst traipsing, I came across something they're calling "Monster Cropping."  Looks easy enough, and going by what I've seen on the tube, it can seriously improve yields. In a nutshell, you get a favorite plant flowering at about 4 weeks, and cut some clones off the lowest branches. You're supposed to do several, since the process doesn't always take. You throw them in a cloner or whatever under 24/0, in an attempt to get them to revert to veg. After that, I guess you just veg and <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">LST these now-monster clones to what ever point you like, and get ready to begin some scrogging, and trim out anything below not receiving light.</span></span>
 
It'd be something to do with that Crap Cop box, since you apparently don't need a lot of light, but constant light to revert. In line with this, I'm now going to veg closer to 24/0 in the future, or very close to it. At least 20/4.
 
At any rate, my flowering tent is at 15/9 for a couple more days, then down to 12/12. The F35-V is already responding to the change with more pistil, and the F35-2 is right behind it. The F35-B that's been in surpressed flowering has taken off in a matter of a couple days. The center cola has filled in visibly. Probably only going to feed it tomorrow and next week, and that's it. I'll have to watch this and try to compensate for the three weeks of fucked up photoperiod. I need to pull it to get a better look at the trics.
 

 
Tried to show some trichomes with just the phone camera:
 

 
Nice color!
 

 

3-20-2014 - 2
 
Looked at the plants closely, and found a few pistil on the coco BB. So I went nuts and did some defoliation on all those in the small tent. Haven't done the ones in the big tent yet, but will get to them later on. Took a couple of clones from the F35-1. Will start spraying them tomorrow.
 
Pretty much decided to flip the small tent after the plants catch their breath. Screw it. I want to get on with a cycly and a correct number of plants.

 

3-21-2014
 
This is likely the last entry for about a week or so. Reasons being I trimmed the fuck out of all but the F35B. Knocked the hours down in the small tent to 16/8, big tent still at 15/9, and I don't expect any action for at least a week. Also, I need to do a solid week of work to finish up the degree I'm working on. After this week, I'll only have one school project remaining to work on. Piece of cake.
 
Pulled two of the coco plants at random, flushed and checked the runoffs. Everything was spot on. Still had that one hydro BB1 showing calcium deficiency. Fucker. Trimmed the shit out of her. Checked the hydros. Both ph and ppm were also spot on. Dropped the ppm to about 650, and only watered with cal-mag. Same with the coco plants, only added very light nutes maybe 15% of recommended. Anyway, as I mentioned they're all seriously defoliated, and are just going to sit there and recover for a few days, so I expect little to add to the blog here unless something goes south. I did scrap that one very small Widow. The remaining three are still being coy about their gender.
 
BEFORE: View attachment 1403186     AFTER:   THE BIG TENT: 
 
And that's pretty much it for the week. Spraying two of the earlier clones, and fixin' to start on the two F35-1 clones.
 
Considered cleaning the bong, but opted to smoke a bowl and think about it first.
 
 
 
 
 

 

3-25-2014 - Casual update
 
After a few days of recovering from the big snip, all the plants and even the clones are looking wonderful! I need to break out the tripod to get some better pics. Everyone is down to 12/12 at the moment except the clones @ 10/14, and I've learned my lesson about keeping coco wet. The plants are responding so well, with no signs of any deficiencies in the new or remaining old growth. Excellent!
 
The F35"B" I now believe is as close to the archtype F35 that I have. The smell literally makes me weak in the knees! The "Plan" at the moment is to let that one go for another week or so, grab a couple of clones and put them in a bubbler under 24/0 in that crap crop box and see if I can get one of them to revert. I saw a really shit-hot LST technique I want to try, and I think it's better suited to indica strains. If anyone wants a preview before I do it, PM me for a link. If what I'm reading about reverted clones is even partially correct, a very bushy F35 would be perfect for the try. I just need to remember to keep it under 24/0 light, which is where I'm likely going with all my future vegging, I believe.
 
F35B - About 21 days of flowering: 
 
So the three 35's in the big tent are all in definite flower stage.
 
The other tent is doing well too! I swear the Widows are more uptight about flashing gender that a catholic schoolgirl at a biker rally. But judging by all the white hair and the trichs starting on the leaves already, my money's on that coco WW being a female. The hydro WW's are 1 & 1 I think. The hydro BB's are 1 & ?. Should know more in a few days since the photoperiod flip is now complete.
 

 
 

 
 

 

3-25-2014 – 2
 
Okay! I bought a little insurance today and ordered a 400w HPS cool tube rig with the dimmable ballast and all that. Pretty sure I can squeeze it and an LED panel in the 2x4 tent. I haven't lost confidence in the LED's, and I'm definitely finishing at least 3 plants on straight LED, but if the quality/quantity isn't there, I'm going to run some HPS in the flower stage down the road. I want to try using the LED's more aggressively next round. I think I should have started out a lot closer than I did this time out.
 
Anyway, the idea was, as I said, insurance, as well as giving me a couple more options. I didn't order the MH bulb with that package, since as far as I'm concerned the plants all veg fine under the LED. The only slowdowns were due to my incompetence with the hydration. As the pics in my last couple of posts show, the plants came back up quite noticeably and immediately,  in a couple of days. Unfortunately, I don't have the space or time to do a true side by side grow. Maybe after I get a few kilos stashed away.   
 
Rechecked, and found my lights are only configured with 1% UV.
 
Looking in other places in the self-medication world, there are some well-documented LED grows out there in places besides Utoob. Some fantastic looking colas! But so many factors to consider. I just watched a condensed clip from 2012 with a prototype 5x50 chipset switchable light, and the guy killed it with some spare plants he had running under a smaller LED light.
 
So don't hate on me for having the gear to take it a step sideways. I just figure what with all I've already spent, another hundred bucks would take care of any potential quality issues. If I don't need it I can always sell it. Fuck. When I go to the DWC buckets, I need to figure out which hydro additives I need to use. Some people don't use any. The next guy uses everything they make.
 
Was reading up on organics & DWC, but there's the space issue again. Brewing up nutes takes space and time I don't have. Still haven't decided on which brand to use. I've had good luck with the GH sutff.
 
 

 

3-26-2014
 
I had a long natter last night with a friend of mine in S.E. Asia who's growing indoors because you just can't hardly find any locally grown outdoor stuff without some seeds in it. Anyhow, we got on the discussion of nutes, and I though this might be a good oportunity to repost what I'm using at the moment.
 
 I basically started out last year wth a General Hydroponice FloraSeries "Performance Pack." Since then, I've added a few things.
 
I start out mixing @ full strength per the tables on the box, depending on whether for hydro or soil. Not much difference really. I dilute as necessary before feeding. I had stopped using the FloraGro component, but have gone back to it in half strength, since I seem to get fewer issues with the plants when I do use it. It's very high in K, so ya gotta watch that.
 
To that I add the following stuff per recommendation on the bottle:
 
GH ArmorSi (This goes in before anything else - MINISCULE AMOUNTS NEEDED! BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SHIT!)
GH Diamond Nectar humic additive
Botanicare Cal-Mag (Even in the plain water feedings)
Advanced Nutrients Liquid CarboLoad in the flowering stage
 
I still haven't settled on what, if anything else I need for DWC. I see a lot of anti-slime, root innoculants, and this and that. Some use 'em, others don't. Organic teas don't seem that difficult to use, but my problem with organics is space and time. I'd like to see a reasonably priced two bottle solution - One for veg and one for grow, but I know that ain't happening unless I start manufacturing it myself.
 
Also samples! I grab anything that's offered!
 
DWC Plan (Subject to change)
 
Still unsure whether to plan on 3 or 4 buckets in the 2x4. I want yield, but I don't want to overcrowd the tent either. If that new (To me) LST technique works, I can get by with 4 no problem. Going with the 8" net lids. I can shoot in short drywall screws around the rim for tie down points. Seed starts will be in GroDan cubes for easy xfer to the buckets. I hope to be more aggressive in using the LED's when I start the DWC cycle.
 
Depending on how well the end product turns out under LED, I may evolve to having an HPS light in there as well in subsequent grows (Got one on the way). It'll be a lot of light, but MIH/LED grows are becomming more common every day.
 
Regardless, I'm having fun and the satisfaction of growing my own buds. And hell, everyone needs at least ONE black hole to throw money into. Be so wonderful to be like some of these guys who have a nicely cured archive of 10 different kinds of buds thay can access.

 

3-26-2014 - 2
 
Here's a pic of my latest El Cheapo hardware acquisition!
 

 
I know that my stuff is cheap/ghetto compared to many of the experienced, long time growers out there, but I'm still in the learning mode, wishing to gain experience, and, if push come to shove, just abandon all this crap on short notice. I see some superb results obtained with much, much less. Part of the problem is exactly WHERE to focus the big money. Nutes? Lights? "Systems" like ebb & flow, aeroponics? Supplements? Automation? Organics? Witch Doctors? HID? LED? Strains?
 
Hell, it was even difficult to decide on what fucking kind of legacy light to buy! MH? Nah... Girls veg fine under LED. Bare/open bulb? Not a chance!! I'm 6'2" and a klutz at times. I want something between that bulb and my head. Big ass reflector? Nope. No room. "Brand" name? Let's try brand-X first. Wattage? Very difficult! I wanted to stay comparable to the 300w LED, so I went with the 400. I may end up regretting not getting the 600 this go round. A 400w is very adequate for my small tents, and coupled with one of the LED's, should be generally awesome.
 
Details: (MH not ordered)
 

 
There's not a whole lot you can do in a 1 BR apartment, and I think 6-8 good plants in various stages will be doing well. Down the road, I'll be back in a house, and it will definitely have a basement, and by then I'll hopefully know exactly what things I need to produce killer bud. Then I'll drop the major money on the bells and whistles if I can justify it in output.
 
TBC...    <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);"> </span></span>