Footsteps In Becoming an Expert Grower

[Biosystem]

WEEK 9 OF FLOWER (The rest of the plants)

Oh, by the way, does anyone know if some of the white pistils remaining look like foxtailing? There's one pheno that's just going to go long, and I'm not asking about that one. But there are two of the phenos that are still going, and I'm curious if that's foxtailing (bad) or just the strain finishing out the last bit of work (good).

 

[OZZ_]

Hey, Ozz, good to see ya. You been off for a while or just not posting? I came back after recovering from when Satan's personally cultivated spider mite strain tore through my life, and I couldn't find any recent posts of yours so I thought you'd moved on. Made me sad. Throw a link of your current grow my way if you've got one going, 'cause your grows are candy to watch.

Always open to grow log links from anyone else too. This site's a little deficient on mobile, so I don't see any links in signatures, so if anyone has a grow going, pm me a link or post it here.

He he Im never …. “Gone” …. Usually it just means I’m not growing any satties so I don’t have anything to post at that particular moment but I’ve been here trying n IC for around 15 years now and that’ll continue

I only have hybrids going atm but will be running some satties soon and will be posting again over in the ACE section

 

[Biosystem]

Bonus Pics

I was quite unprepared for the inevitability of storing the bugs for drying without hanging the whole plant - which is stupid because I had planned to do just so for weeks now. So I rigged up some seriously shoddy drying racks to hang from the ceiling. The grow bed looks so empty without her.

Also some photos of the gals after they were plundered and repotted for reveg.

 

[Biosystem]

He he Im never …. “Gone” …. Usually it just means I’m not growing any satties so I don’t have anything to post at that particular moment but I’ve been here trying n IC for around 15 years now and that’ll continue

I only have hybrids going atm but will be running some satties soon and will be posting again over in the ACE section

You should, y'know, post your hybrid grow. . . Give us a show, Ozz!

 

[OZZ_]

You should, y'know, post your hybrid grow. . . Give us a show, Ozz!

Man I can barely keep up as it is. New baby in the house… well 6 months old now anyway and teething.

Most I’ll be able to keep up on here is my satties over in the ACE section, which speaking of I need to post a smoke report. But keep up the good work dude … practice makes perfect

 

[Bona Fortuna]

Looking nice!
One outta four down!
Is that a strawberry start in your planter?

 

[Biosystem]

Yes haha. It's a seascape strawberry! I bought a pack of 8 seeds from an online seller - thought I'd get like 10-12 since they're tiny and cheap to produce. They sent what I'm guessing was 8 but most got crushed in shipping so I ended up with like 3 seeds and only one sprouted after a couple weeks, so. . . But hey, I have one which means I can propagate to my heart's content!
Not that I'd use strawberries for cover crop, but I have been thinking of what cover crop to put down on my baby pool garden bed. Probably a nice clover.

 

[Bona Fortuna]

That’s pretty cool!
Why not use strawberries as a living ground cover?

 

[Biosystem]

My line of reasoning for NOT using Strawberries as a cover crop is that for strawberries
•Their roots are deep so I fear they'll compete for root space
•they produce lots of flowers and fruit, so I worry they'll use precious Phosphates
• They don't desire to be growing all up on each other
• Their ability to fix nitrogen is unknown to me


I wish I had a more knowledgeable plant nerd to ask about potentially using them, but thus far I AM the plant nerd in my circle, so I just have to do research online and try to figure stuff out. Maybe strawberries would make a decent cover crop. But I doubt it. I still need to learn more about what EXACTLY nitrogen fixation is and what species are best at doing that.

 

[Bona Fortuna]

That’s fair. Cover cropping/intercropping is mostly an outdoor thing. It would be a lot of foliage in an indoor space right at soil level.

Why not clover and strawberries?
The clover has a deeper root system and has to be inoculated with certain microbes to fix the nitrogen, nodules form on the root system which provide nitrogen mostly to the living clover plant. The nodules become readily available to other plants once the clover has been terminated and the roots start their decay process.

The strawberries have a much shallower running root system. Any berries and leaves that drop or decay would provide good food for the microbes in the soil. Plus you get some food production along with the herb. I don’t think strawberries fix nitrogen at all though.

I’ve used strawberries, lemon verbena, lemon balm, mints and more as interplanted living cover crops outdoors to decent success. You’re right about needing more fertilization at certain points, the deeper rooting herbs tended to compete for nutrition a little more than the shallower rooters.

 

[Biosystem]

I just wonder if it's a good plant for an indoor space like this. If I find anything in my research I'll be sure to let you know. . . Or if I try some experimentation. . .

 

[Biosystem]

WEEK 10 OF FLOWER (for Homegrown Cannabis Co's 6-8 week strain, Bruce Banner Fast Version)


QUESTION: These plants are acting weird, and I need advice. One looks like it's actually done (gonna check trichs tonight), one looks like it's going to go another 2 weeks or more if I let it, and one looks like it is SUPPOSED to be done, but is starting to foxtail. OR maybe it's just not entirely done? I don't have enough experience with foxtailing to know though, and from what I've read, foxtailing is a usually a pure Sativa problem. Please let me know what you think of the development on the plant that appears to be foxtailing (you'll know it when you see it).


QUESTION: My veg tent and cloning operation is falling into disarray, so I need to pick up a soil testing kit to reliably analyze my soil progress rather than guessing. Can anyone recommend one that they have good experience with or one they've done a lot of research on? I'll be doing some searching of my own, but y'all already know how different product reviews can be from reality! Thanks so much!

@OZZ_
@Bona Fortuna
@chilliwilli
@swampthing
@JanKowalski
@Mars Hydro Led

Tagging some folks who may have some ideas about my questions for the grow. If it's bothersome to be tagged, please let me know and I'll leave you be from here on. Thank you for your time and consideration.


Trich pics for possibly harvestable plants and probably some dried nuggy-boy pics coming later tonight!

 

[Biosystem]

Oh, and Bona Fortuna, I did some scratching of the surface on Nitrogen Fixation. It appears that Strawberries are not prominent nitrogen fixers. However, I might plants some interspersed and just see how it goes for funsies. I will be getting clover as it turns out they are legumes and that is why they are such excellent nitrogen fixers.

I don't buy nutrients, so it's cheap to add more if the strawberries gobble some phosphorus to make delicious strawberries. And as you said, any that don't get picked just go back into the soil to redistribute their phosphorous and provide food for the earthworms.

 

[Bona Fortuna]

Howdy bio!
Feel free to tag me as you wish!

Oh man, that fast version wasn’t so fast, ehh?
That brings me back to when Sweet Seeds started releasing fast versions. ‘Fast versions’ were decently quick to flower indoors, not anything nearly as quick as advertised. Outdoors however, they were indeed faster to flower and quicker to finish. Some breeders are more detailed and realistic in their descriptions than others. Ace gives exceptionally accurate variety details.

Looks like two of the girls are going through a new flush of flowering. It’s somewhat common with longer flowering specimen. Looks like they’d be good yielders if you let it ride for a bit. It’s pretty much personal preference at this point. Resin maturity versus yield. Either way, they are looking good.

As far as soil testing, I’ve used my local Ag department and a trusted arborist before. Sometimes the local colleges will analyze your soil, too. There appears to be a pretty good selection of mail-in testers available. The home kits won’t be as extensive or detailed, but can give you a decent starting point.

I’d recommend red/crimson clover if you end up using clover. Generally has a shorter lifespan than white clovers and a slightly shallower, more manageable root system.

 

[Biosystem]

I won't be using a local ag department as I feel that I need to start gearing my operation up for self sufficiency. And other reasons, but those are undisclosable. As to the clover, I will do some research into white vs red clover. Not sure what I can collect naturally (for expense and expedience, not for any ecological desire)

Yeah, these things are slow as hell for a fast version. 3 of these 4 phenos look like they'll make awesome flower, but I was really shooting for a quick flowering plant. And if this breeder doesn't provide accurate strain information, then their THC % estimates are probably inaccurate as well. So I think I'll be getting some Ace Seeds soon since they're more likely to have better plants that run the 9-10 week range. They post multiple lab tests for their sample flowers, and people review that what they claim for their plants is real rather than marketing magic.

I guess now all that's left for me is to figure out which route to take. Malawi? Or Zamaldelica? Sounds like Malawi is stronger, faster flowering and higher yielding. But some say Zamaldelica is more "fun." That's a tough decision. Maybe Dubi has some thoughts on this. I'll have to introduce myself at some point and pick his brain.

 

[chilliwilli]

Your plants looking good .

I stopped listening on the breeders info for flowertime. Most of the time it's to low. Enviroment plays a big roll on how long they need to finish. I noticed that growing with my leds(kingbrite) takes longer to finish.
So it's checking trichomes and waiting till everything is nice swollen for me.

I try to counteract reflowering of longflowering sativas with turning down the light on time. I normally run 11/13, about half way through i give them 10,5/13,5 and when necessary 10/14 at the last quarter.

 

[Biosystem]

I see. That's interesting. This strain seems like it's a little on the Sativa side, but is a hybrid. They've been on 12/12, ~45-50% humidity, and 72-76F the whole time.

I reckon I'll check trichs on both of the ones that "look done" aside from some possible foxtailing, and I'll pull them if they're showing up ~25% amber. I need to get plants out of the veg tent and into more soil for the next round, and I worry these ladies will sit there making small calyxes until I just decide to cut them down.

 

[Mars Hydro Led]

WEEK 10 OF FLOWER (for Homegrown Cannabis Co's 6-8 week strain, Bruce Banner Fast Version)

Well, y'all. I'm kinda pissed off haha. This strain just keeps going and going. If I had wanted a 10+ flowering strain, I would have purchased Ace Seeds's Malawi Gold or Zamaldelica. But oh well. I really do think I'm going to pull the trigger on swapping genetics soon, so I'll be DMing some people about strain selection.

QUESTION: Anyway, guys, these plants are acting weird, and I need advice. One looks like it's actually done (gonna check trichs tonight), one looks like it's going to go another 2 weeks or more if I let it, and one looks like it is SUPPOSED to be done, but is starting to foxtail. OR maybe it's just not entirely done? I don't have enough experience with foxtailing to know though, and from what I've read, foxtailing is a usually a pure Sativa problem. Please let me know what you think of the development on the plant that appears to be foxtailing (you'll know it when you see it).


QUESTION: My veg tent and cloning operation is falling into disarray, so I need to pick up a soil testing kit to reliably analyze my soil progress rather than guessing. Can anyone recommend one that they have good experience with or one they've done a lot of research on? I'll be doing some searching of my own, but y'all already know how different product reviews can be from reality! Thanks so much!

@OZZ_
@Bona Fortuna
@chilliwilli
@swampthing
@JanKowalski
@Mars Hydro Led

Tagging some folks who may have some ideas about my questions for the grow. If it's bothersome to be tagged, please let me know and I'll leave you be from here on. Thank you for your time and consideration.


Trich pics for possibly harvestable plants and probably some dried nuggy-boy pics coming later tonight!

Of course you are welcome to ask us if you have any questions, but we're sorry that we can't help you with this question. Maybe one day we will also plan to produce soil testing kits.

 

[Biosystem]

Does anyone have any guesses as to what is pissing thee veg plants off so much? I fear I might have nutrient burned them at this point, since my caution against under fertilization led me to use a LOT of fish poop and PK fert. But now I'm just unsure. I don't know whether to flush or try adding something else. . . Good air flow, 75F, ~60% humidity. Lots of light.

 

[Biosystem]

By the way, I decided since I still have one plant that's just cruising at low speeds to the finish line, I'll just let the other two do their little reflowering tantrum. I figure I might as well let them do it so I get more bud since the tent is dedicated to at least one actively flowering plant anyway.