First Journal, third grow

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

She's just a seed thrown there for fun. 
Of course i'll transplant her, planned to do it tomorrow. I have reserved her 2 cubic meters of soil in my greenhouse.
I actually repotted her from a 3 gal to this small bottle. She was growing very slowly, but when i repotted her (probably giving her less space, but more air) she grew faster.
Could be luck. Probably is. Almost certainly.
I was just surprised that being at canopy height, she just decided to lst a bit and "get up, stand up". 

Anyway, i'm deciding which subject to cut off.
They're all recovering very well, both from the PH problems and the infestations. Mites are almost gone.
Problem is they're getting big, and smelly. I wanted them to begin flowering at 20cm, but given the problems i had to resolve first, they took some more height, and are just showing buds now. I'll probably end up with S1 being at least 50cm, S2 about 40 (which is what i aim for) and S3 about 60-70cm, too much. 
Problem is:
S3 looks really good. She's the one who started bad, but now she's the healthiest of them all.
S1 is the one with the most even canopy, but is the one who suffered the most.
S2 has already good sized nuggets growing, would be a pity..

Any tips? :3

Peace
 

[Cannabissapean]

Sounds like it is time to flush S3 and set her in the flower tent.  Let S1 and S2 go one or two weeks longer before their flush and switch.

 

Oh shucks.  You have only one tent, right? 

OK, flush all 3 plants, then set S3 out of the light in a dark closet for 2 or 3 days to blitz her into flowering mode.  Then when you bring her back to the light, switch all 3 plants to 12/12.  Feeding is now flowering-feeding.

[LedCherryBerry]

Uhh, i'm sorry, i think i didn't have my point cleared..
I need to kill one of them for space reasons. Which one would you chose? 
I have a problem keeping 3 of them alive. I know it is a pain in my heart, and in yours, but one really has to go.
They are all flowering, and they're already all under 12/12 since last week. I just need to decide who lives and who dies.

[Cannabissapean]

Here's a thought.  It is now Autumn.  I think that nature's photoperiod is close to 12/12 now.  Consider setting the big S3 near a window.  It doesn't have to be direct sunlight.  If she is now in flower, then she doesn't need really intensive lighting to continue to mature.  Set her there and let her mature toward am early harvest after another 3 or 4 weeks (maybe you'll get a minimal yield, but at least you'll get a nice taste of her).  If persons from outside can see too easily into that window, consider hanging sheer white drapes or a clear plastic at that window, that at least a little daylight can get in.  Of course, you know your situation better than I do.

 

I do something similar with my flowering plants.  When a plant has produced sufficient flowers and trichomes, and I need the space in the flowering tent for a plant that has begun to pre-flower, I simply remove the nearly finished plant from the tent and I set her on a table in the grow-room where I have no lights except the normal room lighting.  There, I allow her to mature; the large fanleaves continue to turn colors, and with just one more feeding of water, the flowers continue to expand just a little.  Day after day, I also remove dead or dieing leaves until I finally declare the day of final cut and hang.

 

Of course, you have to understand, I am a perpetual optimist when it comes to cannabis.

 

If you do decide to chop her down without sufficient flowering or trichomes for a decent smoke, then please do enjoy a cannabis smoothie: 

In a blender, 1 quartered and cored apple, 1 peeled orange (seeds removed), 1 banana, nice handful of green, healthy cannabis leaves (fresh or dried), maybe a bit of water to help the blender, maybe a little bit of ice if you wish.  Blend and enjoy.  It's THC is not activated so you won't get high, but a cannabis smoothie is good for the digestion, calms an upset stomach.  You can also sit on your front porch and enjoy your smoothie in full public view.  Hahahahaaaa!  And if you do smoke a doobie an hour or two later, the non-activated THC already in your blood will act as a catalyst to intensify the high of your smoke or vape.

 

Also do not throw away all those remaining healthy green leaves.  Simply hang them and let them dry.  After they are dry, I bag them and keep them in my kitchen just like dried Rosemary or other dried herbs.  I use them as toppings over baked potatoes or pizzas or whatever.  Obviously you don't want to keep yellowing or brown or diseased leaves.  Only the healthy green ones.

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

I think i was misunderstood, twice.
I don't have the possibility to bring out the plants. Weed is illegal here, so the more they are hidden, the better for me.
And i have not decided yet, but i need to because i really need space, and the smell is growing too strong. 
I am not going to smoke a plant without thc, nor i planned to kill one of my plants just for a smoke. By that means, i am very patient. 

I should've done this long time ago, when they were seedlings, but i wanted to see their sex before chopping one down.
UNfortunately, i beat the probabilities and all 3 came out to be females, so now i really am nervous about choosing one. 
I worry i might hear them scream :'(

But i thank you for the recipes. I'll keep them when i chop down the true product
 

[Cannabissapean]

I just editted it again.  Read again.  The smoothie can intensify your smoke or vape.

[LedCherryBerry]

Oh well, i guess i'll keep some leaves after all..
Sorry if i sounded rude, just woke up

Anyway, i truly have to thank you and the other guys for your support these days.
I killed 90% of the mites in a week, and the plants are recovering super fast. 
Today or tomorrow i'll post some pics along with the smallest buds i've ever seen (or at least remember seeing.. hehe).

 

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

I'm sorry if this update came out late, yesterday ended up being not as relaxing as i thought and had no chanche to update the journal.

Anyway, here i am.

I KILLED S1.
Did it for 3 main reasons:
- I needed space;
- The smell was growing too strong;
- She was the sickest of the 3.

Rest in peace, Viktoria. May your leaves blend well in my tobacco mixture.

Anyway, we're left with S2 (Rebecca) and S3 (Cindy) which are the healthiest of the group. 
A couple pics below:

REBECCA S2:

I am deeply sorry for the blurred image, my Canon today wasn't feeling well. Stupid ass camera.
Yet, the trichome tips are actually RED, and it's NOT a camera effect.
I suspect it's NeemOil's fault, yet i still need to spray this girl cause mites are still infesting the lower area.

CINDY S3:

That's the smallest flower i've ever seen! It's about half a centimeter long, maybe 0.3cm wide. 

Do not worry though, i've saved Viktoria's leaves and early-flowers for joints and teas. 
I think i heard Viktoria screaming when i chopped her down..

Till the next update.. Peace!

EDIT:
I forgot to add one important thing. I flushed them with 200% water. ROs are quite interesting.
S3, aka Cindy, had a final runoff of about 6.4PH. She lies in a 6L pot and has been fed with 12L water at 6.8PH.
S2, aka Rebecca, had a final runoff of about 6.1PH, like the previous one. She lies in a 11L pot and has been fed with 22L water.

I cannot explain why S2 is still having a low-ish PH. Last runoff before flushing measured 6.1, and this runoff after flushing measured the same 6.1. What the hell is going on there?! 
Not that i'm concerned about it: the plant doesn't seem to give 3 shits. She loves super acidic water, she loves neutral water, as she didn't show any problem on her leaves (YET).
 

[Cannabissapean]

Chopping the sick plant is the right choice.

 

Now I have spider mites for the first time in over 2 years.  Darn it!

 

I found them on one of my Money-Makers on the second day after putting her in the flower tent; she had just sprouted her first female hairs.  I had to virtually rape her, removing heavily infested bud-sites and stems covered with webs.  Then I mixed a heavy dose of pyrethrin and sprayed and sprayed and sprayed until she was sopping wet.  I sprayed all the other plants in the flower tent too (a Hawaiian Snow and a Trainwreck).  Thankfully, they had only just begun to start their flowers.  Four hours later, I sprayed her again along with another companion Money-Maker (not yet infested) until both were sopping wet.  We'll see what happens.

 

I had put those 2 Money-Makers into the flower tent 2 days ago.  Just before they entered the flower tent, I had removed and harvested 2 other Money-Makers.  They were so sticky and stinky that the smell remained on me and IN me for a couple days.  During the harvest, whenever I had accidently removed a fanleaf that had trichomes, I would eat the frosty base of those fanleaves.  That is what surprizingly stayed in my body-taste for so long.  It was sooo delicious, made for some good sleeping.  I am really looking forward to trying these Money-Makers after they are cured.

[LedCherryBerry]

Damn man! I'm sorry to hear you got mites..
Those motherfuckers never give up!
Hopefully (and much more probably) you'll come out of this

Last weekend i went to my greenhouse, and i found a TON of jumping spiders. I'll see this weekend if i'm able to catch at least one or two to release in my grow box.
I've also seen some red and yellow ladybugs here and there, but i don't think i want them inside my bedroom flying around allover the place hehehe..

Little insight:
S2 started to smell strong, and she's just at the beginning of her 3rd week of flowering. Her main bud is 2cm wide.
She smells really, really sweet, and the tip of her hairs are becoming red. I think she's Irish! haha

 

[Cannabissapean]

Oh, man, get as many as possible, both the spiders and the ladybugs!

The ladybugs don't hurt when they bite.  LOL 

I wish I could have them here.  I would definitely try to breed them.

 

If they get out of your tent, most of the ladybugs will wind-up at the sunny window. 

Some of them will crawl into cracks in the walls, ceilings, and baseboards. 

If you're lucky, they'll lay some eggs so you can have a new batch next Spring.

 

 

S3:  Are the red tips dried out? (Look with a lupe or digital microscope.) 

If they are drying out, then the plant might be heading into early shut-down.

Hopefully you are also seeing new white hairs that remain moist and supple.

 

If you want to help the trichome production, you can add to each liter of feeding solution a teaspoon (not Tablespoon) of unsulphered molasses (~1ml).

The molasses will also act to feed the beneficial bacteria and fungus in the soil.

[Cannabissapean]

LedCherryBerry,

I guess I owe you an apology.

It appears that my advice regarding defeating mites is exactly wrong.

According to the following link, mites like it moist and have difficulties in the dry.  (But my infestation occurred in the dry.  I am a bit confused now.)

But maybe it is the "wild humidity swings" that works.  I just don't know.

 

Anyway, here is the link I found.  It seems to have lots of good information about identifying and battling pests. 

 

 

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

Well, since my average humidity conditions range between 40-60%, i guess they would've formed either in dry, or wet conditions.
Don't be sorry with me, i'm nobody. We all make mistakes, we're humans, duh
I have to say i live in a very humid zone of Italy, so it actually makes sense they formed "outta nowhere". 
It'll be my next challenge to REDUCE humidity. Increasing it is one simple thing (you just got so many options), but i can't use grandma methods to reduce it: i could create a rotting disaster (rice, salt, and other food ((bad, bad idea)) that might absorb it).
I can turn on my air conditioner and put it on dehumidifier, BUT this a.c. sucks up to 1100 watts, and it's not really an option to keep it on 24/7 for 2 main reasons:
electricity bills, random check by police. Also, it's noisy as fuck.

I'll try to catch as many as i can. I guess some ladybugs wont be a pain in the ass. 
I just don't like insects. AND i hate them when they're in my bedroom. 

Unfortunately i don't have a microscope or something similar. But i can describe it as if they were starting to produce thc. They're getting brown, not just the tips.
It seems like 5% of the trichomes are getting amber-brown. This accounts for all the buds. 
Another thing is the smell. Too fruity or strong for a 26cm plant in her 3-4th week of blooming. Smells resembles the 8th or 9th week.
Not that i'm complaining about the smell, i like it. It just seems weird she's browning at such a young "age".
BUT, as i said earlier, this could be cause by the neem oil frying my buds a bit. 
As you mentioned, yes, i am seeing new trichomes production, and it seems to be proceeding fast.
I truly am wondering if my S2 (aka rebecca) seed was an automatic one. She started flowering a day before i switched to pre-bloom (17-7 instead of 12/12), she looks like that at week 4 is at half of her life. And she looks perfectly healthy (xcept for the mites).

I am a bit concerned about the use of spraying. Some of my fellow italians prefer to smoke the pests, instead of pesticides. 
But, i guess i've smoked much, much worse than pesticides.. so yeah.. fuck it.

Peace!

 

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

So, first of all, i wanted to shout to the world (well, this at least) that i might have defeated spider mites! Big YAY!
I've checked with a small light under each leaf, and havent's seen a single mite crawling. Ha! Motherfuckers.
I'll continue the neem oil + soap treatment for at least another time, then will only spray as a soil drench. 
In conclusion, a clean enviroment, humidity spikes, and neem oil + soap worked against spider mites.

Haven't worked for fungus gnats. They're back. I am scratching my head, i can't seem to figure out how the fuck they're forming. 
I've treated my soil with H202, Neem Oil; I've cleaned my bedroom, i've cleaned the grow room; I keep removing specs of soil or other things to prevent formation; I never open the windows (i have an extractor on the roof). How the fuck are they forming? 

Anyway, i decided to rest the pots after the flush for an entire week, and today i started using nutes again.
I used 0.25ml BioBizz Grow per LT for both Strains, while i used 1ML/LT BioBizz Bloom for S3, and 1.5ML/LT BioBizz Bloom for S2. 
I fed S2 with 3 Liters, S3 with 2 liters. Runoff was 30% S2, 25% S3.
S2 got a RO PH of about 6.3 (previous was 6.1 without nutes).
S3 got a RO PH of about 6.5 (previous was 6.5 without nutes).
Since the buildup is drastically decreasing, I'll keep using this low-nute solution until the plants show signs of deficiencies, like @Cannabissapean tipped me to. 
You can always increase nutes, but decreasing is a pain in the ass

And now... Some photos!
I took a photo of S2 outside the tent because i wanted to show you the color of her leaves. They're so Dark Green i'm wondering what could it be. I am also convinced now that S2 is an automatic. She started flowering on her own, and.. well, you'll see in the picture! 

S3:

 

S2:

 

And her main bud:


She's so sticky and fruity.. This is gonna wreck me.

[ShaggyGrower]

Fungus gnats like humidity, so a nice moist top 1-2 inches of soil in a pot is perfect for them.

 

Perhaps try bottom-watering your plants for a couple of weeks?  That could dry out the top 1-2 inches of soil halting the fungus gnats.  Additionally, they allegedly like yellow, so some yellow traps (sticky tape with some yellow in the middle sticky side up in your posts?

https://www.planetnatural.com/pest-problem-solver/houseplant-pests/fungus-gnat-control/

[LedCherryBerry]

Bottom watering for weed is BAD as far as i know: it drowns the roots, and causes root rot. If there's no air underneath, they will drown.
Can also cause fungi, mold, or other diseases. Not to mention mosquitoes love to hatch eggs in water. 

I'll buy a 30 bucks dehumidifier, and leave it on all day. I don't think it'll suck all the enviroment in half an hour, since the grow box isn't fully sealed.

I believe i have my soil infected from the beginning, so that's why i drench the top 1-2 cm (not inches) with neem oil diluted in water and soap (on a very low concentration).

Thanks for the thought, tho. Appreciate it :3


Anyway, may i ask you guys what distance do you keep LED lights from the flowers? My lights aren't that powerful, so if i place my hand directly underneath (almost touching) it doesn't even burn (it's on average 35 true watts per lamp). 15-20 cm is a good distance? I always left them at 40cm, but want to give the canopy more light.

[Cannabissapean]

I am running two 270-Watt multi-wavelength LED lamps, each with ninety 3-Watt LEDs.  My average distance to canopy is 30 to 40 cm.  But the plants have grown even closer (within 20 cm) without any problems.  If the buds stretch within 10 cm, that's when I begin to notice drying problems on the buds.

 

It seems that I too have defeated my spider mites.  However, I had sprayed using pyrethrine, and I had used every day or two the humidity spike technique as I had used successfully before.  I am convinced that this humidity spike technique works well.

 

Of course, it can only be spikes in humidity because long duration of high humidity will certainly lead to bud rot.

[Cannabissapean]

Bottom-watering is often used for mediums like Mapito or Rockwool or coco, (ebb-N-flow techniques).  Depending on how you have filled your soil pots, it may or may not be appropriate in your case, so you are right to be careful.

 

The main thing about bottom-watering soil pots is understanding that the pot of soil should sit in the water for only a limited amount of time, thereafter, it must be allowed to drain away completely and then partially dry-out before the next watering session. 

 

To avoid such problems, the botttom 10 to 20% of the pot could be lined with a substrate that sheds water, such as coarse lava-rock.  Such a lining allows water to drain away much more quickly, and oxygen can reach the lower root areas more quickly.

[LedCherryBerry]

1 hour ago, Cannabissapean said:

Bottom-watering is often used for mediums like Mapito or Rockwool or coco, (ebb-N-flow techniques).  Depending on how you have filled your soil pots, it may or may not be appropriate in your case, so you are right to be careful.

 

The main thing about bottom-watering soil pots is understanding that the pot of soil should sit in the water for only a limited amount of time, thereafter, it must be allowed to drain away completely and then partially dry-out before the next watering session. 

 

To avoid such problems, the botttom 10 to 20% of the pot could be lined with a substrate that sheds water, such as coarse lava-rock.  Such a lining allows water to drain away much more quickly, and oxygen can reach the lower root areas more quickly.

You know, now that i think about it, i've used a hybrid technique in my second grow:
Instead doing what you did, i prepare my pot before planting. Let me explain.
Through the bottom holes, i let some pieces of cloth go from one hole to the other.
In this way, when you put soil in the pot, you will have a part of the cloths in contact with the soil, and the other ends loosing underneath. 
I'd then put some pieces on the underpot to keep the pot elevated, and filled the underpot with water. 
In this way, i had cloth sucking directly up water to the soil, and kept it moisty, but not wet. 

I used this technique when i left for holidays. Instead of auto-watering with droppers and such, i used that for 3 weeks.
I transplanted the babies, did it on the pot, replanted them in the same pot. No stress was seen on the plant, it took something like 2 minutes to setup.
When i came back, i removed the cloths (paying attention not to be too violent) and resumed watering normally.

It is important to understand that it has to be TEMPORARY.
You'll otherwise grow algae and other shit on the cloth, that will transmit the diseases directly to the root zone. 

In any case, my babies didn't die, or dry out. My second grow produced 1.2 kg of dry buds heheheh

[LedCherryBerry]

I also need to specify that the enviroment i grew my second grow was nearly sterile, compared to what i'm doing now.
I don't even want to imagine how many species could develop in my room if i did this now

[LedCherryBerry]

Heyo,

Small update.
Cindy started to show some deficiency sign. 
Well, started is a big word, she has shown the signs since the PH problem, but now that PH has been fixed i think i understand what that is.
I am betting on an Iron Deficiency.
I know, it's rare, but please take a look at the picture below:

As you can see the stem stays green, while the body is completely yellow, and show little to no sign of necrosis (which was present during the spider mite attack).

I resumed feeding on Sunday, with 1ML BBGrow and 2ML BBBloom.

Do you guys see what i'm seeing? (Mag-Fe deficiency)
I am going to invest tonight in a bottle of SensiSeeds Cal-Mag-Fe, am i doing the right thing?
Flower growth on this plant seems stunted for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Cannabissapean]

Haha, at first I thought you were talking about @Cindy.  Then I remembered that you named your plants.  LOL

 

Yes, I agree.  It appears that your plant has iron deficiency.  You will not go wrong adding a little Cal-Mag with iron.  Just don't overdo.

 

I noticed that you haven't posted into the following thread created by @BlackMagickGenetics.  BMG had posted some excellent charts in that thread, to include a deficiency chart.

 

Enjoy:

 

 

[LedCherryBerry]

Thank you man, I found a good deficiency chart too (not too hard to find, it's like the third image), Link over here.
I'll check his post as soon as i finish working

Thanks for the confirm! I'll buy it now, i should receive it on Monday.. :/

[Cannabissapean]

And thank you for posting Jose Cervante's chart.  That's one of the best I've ever seen.

[LedCherryBerry]

Truly is one of the best. It helped me to recognize that deficiency almost instantly.
I guess one of this week-end jobs will be translating it, or printing it as a poster.
Anyway, do you think the red tips in the trichomes are caused by this deficiency? 
It's showing up on S3 too.
I'm almost convinced that S2 is showing red tips because she's getting ready to harvest. Her harvest range should stand between 15 Nov to 30 Nov.
S3 instead should be ready from 5 Dec to 20 Dec, yet is showing red trichomes in early flowers. 
How do i prevent the shutdown? By simply fixing the deficiency? Or is it something related to its genetics? (Or something i completely fucked up?)