Footsteps In Becoming an Expert Grower

[Bona Fortuna]

You kept at least one tomato!
Things are coming along nicely. The front left plant is getting pretty big.

I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s a saprophytic fungus or mycelium since you’ve got a bit of organic material to be broken down, it doesn’t look quite like white mold.

Nothing to worry about unless it spreads too much. Might be worth a little bit of a dry out/drought cycle.

 

[Biosystem]

I think now that I've chopped and dropped that it's going to calm down. It should be all good. I can't wait for these plants to get a bit bigger so I can flower! Getting new Ace seeds soon!

 

[Biosystem]

It's late, and not much to report for now. The spider mites are here, but they are weak. Crushing them with azamaxx before they have to go into flower.

Chopped the tomatoes since they weren't producing and we're taking up a lot of root space.

Things are actually looking great, and things are so much easier with the cover crop this time! I love this! I hope to see the smaller ones shoot up straight to catch up with the larger one before I top the big one. Or maybe I should just find a way to tie it down. . . . I should probably just tie it down. But I also don't want to many main branches off of the central stem. There are already probably 10-12 counting the tiny ones forming up top.

You there! Any input on that debate? What have you had success with?


Also, a shot of some flowers for one of the covercrop plants.

 

[JanKowalski]

Hello Bio,
I would bend her down toward the center, then select best branches. Meanwhile the smaller ones will have time for growing.

 

[Biosystem]

Thanks, Jan!
In your experience, do you get better quality flowers off of the lower branches that are larger or from the higher branches that are newer? I could see it tipping either way, but I haven't done tie-down before, so I have no personal experience aside from super cropping, but my plants always seem to just straighten out almost completely regardless despite being seriously bent over (floppy top).

 

[JanKowalski]

In my short experience, you will gain more weight on higher branches. Lower buds receive less light. And sometimes they are in the shade of bigger leaves.
Let the plant dry out for a day, then pinch or bend it. She will have a softer stem.
Then, i would choose wisely the best branches, removing those one who can't compete with the others. Hope it can help you

 

[Biosystem]

I appreciate it. I plan to tie it down to save the material already grown and then when necessary trim the branches underneath the "new canopy shape" it has to limit it to 8-10 branches coming off the main stem. Though, I never was sure why plants were supposed to actually perform better with smaller numbers of branches. I understand that the idea less branches are supposed to yield larger colas since it isn't diverting more energy to many, many branches - but given strong light, how true is this really?
I wonder if it's really all about how the branches have access to light in relation to apical dominance. Would a long-ass plant with 15 branches growing "flat" against the ground have similar sized colas as a shorter plant with 8 branches growing in the same fashion?

I'm unconvinced on this. I don't DISbelieve it, but I'm not convinced either way. Anyone with input on this?

 

[Biosystem]

It's been brought to my attention that there is quite a lot of square footage going to waste in my big-ass tent. To remedy this I'll be experimenting with both new growing styles (short veg, flowering shortly after seeding) and new genes. Or perhaps I should say old genes.
Tonight I put 4 strains into a bag (separated) to germinate. Some of these seeds are 4 years old, and others closer to 6 years old. They're all the seeds I have left until my new ones arrive. Let's flush out the old and go in with the new!

The strains germinating are as follows:

~8 x Longbottom Fighter F2
LBL Phenp

2 x GH Nevill's Haze Fem (Assumed Green House)

2 x Liberty Haze (no actual breeder listed)

5 x "Ortiga x 3 Head Dragon" (Great lakes genetics freebie)

I really don't know much about the actual strains these come from. I had read about some a long time ago, but you also never know which breeder's version it is and all that mess. So, for all intents and purposes I'll just be treating these plants as relative mystery seeds until I see what they do. They're just extra filler until new seeds come in anyway.

 

[Biosystem]

Update: So far, no tails. These seeds are old. Here's hoping they come around!

 

[Biosystem]

These suckers are getting BIG! I'm going to let them go a couple weeks more, I reckon so they become monstrous. Then I'll flower them for a big-ass crop.

 

[Bona Fortuna]

Wow! Those babies are getting big!
Looking damn fine!

 

[Bona Fortuna]

Looks like you got a couple little clones trying to root in there too, that from the big lady?

 

[Biosystem]

Yes they are from the larger lady. I am excited to see how big they all get before I throw them into flower. This is my first time experimenting with tying down branches. I will probably do more of that as this grow goes on.

I broke a couple of the branches on the bigger plant since it had gotten more brittle. Very worrying, but hopefully tying the branch back into place will allow it to scar over and heal. We'll see. I don't want to waste growth time by just ruining branches. Anyway, this yield should be badass once they get to full size. I want them to get to "that's a big damn plant" size. If I can get these other seeds to sprout, I want to let them have even a small amount of veg time before flowering, so just imagine how big these beasts will be. The covercrops will get choked out, which will be badass.

 

[Biosystem]

Hey, by the way- for next flowering, does anyone have any experience running 11/13 rather than 12/12? What downsides have you actually noticed when running 11/13, or are they negligible and you get a noticably faster flower?

 

[JanKowalski]

I wouldn't be worried about the broken branches, happens. Also outdoor happens. They will be fine soon.
11/13 it's a good way for flowering sativas and avoid revegging. You could switch to 11/13 after stretching. Downside are negligible imo. Not so faster compared to 12/12.

 

[Biosystem]

I see. So in your experience it is mostly useful to avoid reflowering/foxtailing?

 

[JanKowalski]

Sativa will love 11-13 and you won't have any revegging. Foxtailing i think it's more strain depending. And i see it as a plus, i like foxtails.

 

[Biosystem]

That's odd. I suppose it's just "extra," but I found myself putting off harvest a bit longer than I might should have because it was foxtailing. That's a "me" problem I guess haha.

I'm growing sativa's next, so I'm wondering about photoperiod. I reckon I'll go 12/12 until the stretch ends and then 11/13 it the rest of the way to see if it's chill. Hell, maybe that will just become my standard practice even for regulars. I reckon I ought to try that on this run.

 

[Biosystem]

Just some recovery photos.

 

[Bona Fortuna]

It’s like a jungle in there, it’s awesome!
Looking really nice!

Did any of your older seeds pop up?