Uncle Benny's outdoor introduction. Never throw in the towel :)

Your lovely feet would have gotten really muddy if you were out here Buzz. We had like 5 straight days of rain.

Per your request, I've uploaded a picture of the stoned immaculate and the K-train. The K-Train will probably have to make it to November.

 

Sorry Mugzy, I don't have a recent pic of the whole S.I. It's about 4 to 5 feet tall, nothing huge. The S.I. was one of two surviving first plantings, and when I planted those I was more worried about detection than sunlight so for a good portion of its life it did not get great sunlight till later in the growing season when I started clearing some of the surrounding foliage. Also, both the PE and KTrain are in Smart Pots with Roots Organic soil, while the SI was planted in the ground. The P.E. is much bigger at about 7 or 8 feet, and the K-train is bigger than S.I. and a lot more bushy.

 

Buzz, thank you so much. I got a Red-banded Leafhopper (Graphocephala coccinea) problem. I'll have to start spraying for them earlier in the year, probably too late to spray for them now.

"Sharpshooter" is one common name for the leafhopper subfamily Cicadellinae, which includes Paraulacizes, Oncometopia, Cuerna, Draeculacephala, Graphocephala and many other genera. They get this name from their habit of feeding on the watery sap of xylem tissue, which conducts moisture from the roots up to the leaves. Excess water droplets are forced out the tip of the abdomen with an audible popping noise, hence the common name."

From Safer Brand web site:
"Symptoms of Leafhopper Damage

Because they drink the juices of fruits and vegetable plantings, they can cause a variety of symptoms and problems. Leaves may appear yellowed and curled or have brown tips."

Here is a close up of the little thing off the net

 

Today I went out to visit the girls in the woods. This past week has been beautiful weather - no rain just nice warm weather in the 70's and 80's.

Again I found more leafhoppers on my plants. Gave the girls a feeding of molasses and a little bit of Botanicare bloom nutes. I pulled a small bud sample from the S.I. and P.E. and placed them under the microscope. Both showed an amazing amount of trichome development which still appeared clear. I'm thinking at least another week for the S.I. and P.E. and early November for the K-Train.

 

Buzz, I took down the SI today along with a sample of the PE. I got her hanging up in my shed as we speak. I'm thinking of taking down the PE on Wednesday the 19th, which is supposed be a flowering day according to the lunar calendar.

Corto, I couldn't agree more with more about the sun. The PE and K-train have a lot more sun than the other plants and I could see a big difference. Thanks for the kind words!

Some updated pics.

 

Harvested the Pineapple Express today and took a sample of the K-train. Damn it looks like I could also harvest the K-train when I look through the microscope.

The weather has turned a lot wetter and colder, but no signs of mold.

 

Ok, I got some pictures. Last pictures of Pineapple express standing and some trimmed buds from the plant. I still got about 2/3 of the plant still in the shed untrimmed. While the quantity is not terrific, the quality looks pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

I've still got to harvest the K-Train soon.

 

Just finished making some QWISO.

I say it's f'ing martian time.

This was a little before my time, but pretty far out for the day -1976.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHGeCF1aS-o]Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Here Come The Martian Martians - YouTube[/ame]

 

Carlo, big thanks! I wish I had a little bigger yield, but next year I'll do some fimming/topping.

Ok, I have not seen this in any other QWISO thread, but I really improved both the yield, and quality of my QWISO by doing the following (it also cut out all the razor blade scraping).

Steps:
1- do your normal 91% iso. alcohol wash, I froze the trim before the wash. Cover the trim with ISO in a jar, cover the jar and shake for 30 seconds.
2 - Strain this trim/iso mix through a coffee filter onto a large plate to evaporate(see 4 below), I used a 13x9x2 glass pan. (you can do more than 1 wash)
3 - I sped up the drying time by using a hair dryer.
4 - Evaporate till the iso mix is really thick - Sorta like a thin milk shake.
5 - now transfer this milk shake mix to small bowl, but line the bowl with plastic. Take a spoon and swirl the milk shake mix around the bowl to help pick up product that was dried to the side of the pan, before you transfer onto the plastic. (after you transfer the mix, you can also use a cotton swab to quickly clean the plan and then rinse the swab onto the plastic - to really pick up any last bits)
6 - now just let that mix evaporate and your finished product is on a plastic sheet which you can roll together to make a ball, or freeze and crack off the plastic sheet.

NOTE: Getting the stuff of the plastic can be tough, freezing the plastic so that it sticks to a plate works best.

Here's a picture of the final drying.

 

Alrighty, well today I took down my last plant, the K-Train. We had a light frost this morning and the weather is again turning colder and we are expecting some heavy rain, so I decided to take the plant. It was probably too early to harvest the plant as trichomes while good did appear as abundant as with the other plants.

Also the yield while it was better than the S.I., it was less than the P.E.

I haven't really tried the smoke, but I don't have high hopes for it.

Regarding the P.E., the smoke is very good. It has a good long lasting high, and is motivational. I did some awesome cooking stoned my P.E. I made this chinese dish I called drunken governor's chicken. The chicken was soaked in beer, battered and fried, then served with grilled vegetables, in a spicy brown honey sauce.

I'll have to let it cure some more, but I think the P.E. is a solid 8, which might improve with a little time.

 

^^^ Thanks Buzz, all your input throughout this grow was really appreciated.

Guerrilla growing was tougher than I thought, it really helped to have the access of the GC committee to call on for ideas. The amount of knowledge I gained was tremendous, and the fact that I got a harvest out of this first year grow is kinda amazing, considering all the things that could have gone wrong.