Kalashnikova, up on the roof

[dirty-joe]

Day 49, 7 weeks today (June 24).

Growth starting to speed up now.

Plants, topped above 5th node, bottom 2 branches removed (a couple of which may be growing roots right now..?), so 8 main branches each.
Size, 2 feet tall, 2 feet wide. Looking pretty good in my opinion

Soil, 6 to 7 gallons, 50/50 composted cow manure, and composted maple leaves. This seems to work well for me, I add very minimal generic ferts. to this during the grow. I do add 1 heaped teaspoon of pure nitro (ammonium nitrate) when the plants are 1 month old, or when the stalk is "pencil sized". Note, or warning, that may burn some plants, but it puts them into gear.

Location, climate, 45°N, east coast. Very humid. 80% RH seems to be the minimum humidity (most days) during harvest season around here.

Being on a roof I get quite a lot of direct sun, 12 hours I'm guessing . ( EDIT, I'll double check and correct this is necessary) but because of a tree, and some evening shade right now, I'll actually get more direct sun a little later on.

And while I guess this is not offically a journal, I will update this thread from time to time, when it is worth it.

 

[dirty-joe]

Update July 10.
O Oh, Big wind, big damage.
I went out at midnight, the plants were waving around, but I didn't think it was that bad...next morning this is what I saw.
One plant I though might be repairable so I wrapped on some electrical tape, the other had to be snipped off, I covered the open wound with some electrical tape.
Will keep my fingers crossed that the one does heal...we'll see.

 

[dirty-joe]

Update July 23, day 78

13 days since the wind storm, the broken plant doesn't seem healed, but it still holding together and growing, though they all seem to have slowed down, only grew about 20 inches in the last 30 days (since my first post).

The kalasnikova are now 45" high on average, and about the same in width. The little plant on the left is Mighty mite 30" high (and wide), and at least a couple weeks into flower. It is quite a little bush, and I have removed a lot of vegetation from it.

Think I'll add a little fert. and some top dress before the day is over.

The first group shot don't show one to the right, the broken one, but it is there.

second pic far right is the one with the tape on it.
last pic. is the mighty mite.

 

[St. Phatty]

I suggest sticking your hand in the dirt at the end of the Sunny part of the day.

It probably gets very hot.

I ended up covering my black pots in burlap.

Also it helps to put a layer of leaves on top of the dirt to help keep it cool.

Sometimes I water just to cool the soil.

 

[dirty-joe]

Day 98
Kalashnikoa starting to bud, (a week or more) except for the one that got severly damaged (wind topped).
They were advertised to finish end of September, and looks like that will be about right.
Vertical growth is done at 45-50 inches.
They have a bit more yellow in them than I like to see, and don't think it's lack of ferts ?
The Mighty Mite is getting heavy, and starting to put out some resin. It's still 30 inches tall. I know it don't look heavy, but I think it will surprise.
Comparing the broken plant pic from 20 days ago to today, it has filled in a lot. Funny when you see them everyday or even twice a day ( they are drinking a lot in the August heat (32 C today)) you don't notice the growth so much.

 

[dirty-joe]

Well I guess it's time to finish this up.

I ended up with a little over a kilo, and lost at least 6 oz. to rot.

The Kalashnikova averaged a half pound each. They didn't all finish at the same time, I won't grow it again. I won't pinch off the tops ever again either.

First picture is from Sept 11, just before I cut down 2 of them
Next is some (+/- half of it) of it drying in the shed.

Last is a picture of some bubble made Jan 15 this year. The "peanut butter" colored stuff is 73-160 micron, and is full melt, very tasty, but sticky, and hard to handle. The darker stuff is 45-73 micron, not quite as sticky.
I'm going to do another batch tomorrow, and I will keep everything in one batch so it won't be so damn sticky. Just going to use 190 micron, and settle everything. It will be dark, but at least I'll be able to touch it. I still have a piece from a couple of years ago made that way

 

[Creeperpark]

Man, you did good with that grow friend. Thank you for sharing with us. Something that caught my eye was during the veg stage you use pure nitro, nitrate-nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen will raise the pH of the potting mix when used for an extended time. Did you have a problem with that going into flowering? By the looks of the bubble hash probably not, just wondering. .

 

[St. Phatty]

Did you try drying the moldy bud anyway ?

I find the un-molded bud, next to the moldy bud, cures faster and often tastes really good.

 

[dirty-joe]

Man, you did good with that grow friend. Thank you for sharing with us. Something that caught my eye was during the veg stage you use pure nitro, nitrate-nitrogen. Nitrate nitrogen will raise the pH of the potting mix when used for an extended time. Did you have a problem with that going into flowering? By the looks of the bubble hash probably not, just wondering. .

Thank you very much Creeper.
I don't think PH was any issue. To be honest I only ever tested the soil once, I know compost tends to be neutral. For many years when doing guerrilla in the woods we never checked the soil for PH, but again using composted manure, native soil, and river water.
Now that we can do it in the back yard, I did check the well water for PH, and it is way too high, so when watering the plants in pots I will only use rain, or river water, which averages about 5.5 around here.

 

[dirty-joe]

Did you try drying the moldy bud anyway ?

I find the un-molded bud, next to the moldy bud, cures faster and often tastes really good.

No, I have a real aversion to the slightest taste of mold. I had 3 particularly large buds my brother wanted to soak in alcohol...they are still where he left them in Sept.
I may try in the future to save what is "next to" the mold, but again I have a dislike of that stuff, so usually cut well around it, and clean tools before continuing.

 

[Creeperpark]

Thank you very much Creeper.
I don't think PH was any issue. To be honest I only ever tested the soil once, I know compost tends to be neutral. For many years when doing guerrilla in the woods we never checked the soil for PH, but again using composted manure, native soil, and river water.
Now that we can do it in the back yard, I did check the well water for PH, and it is way too high, so when watering the plants in pots I will only use rain, or river water, which averages about 5.5 around here.

You did good man! River water will hold the same pH as the land it moves on or rests on. The best rainwater is water that never touched the ground. I use 45-gallon trash cans under an eve and harvest all I need all year long. There's a big difference between the two. Pure rainwater is about 10 ppm and rain that hit the ground will be 500 ppm

 

[St. Phatty]

No, I have a real aversion to the slightest taste of mold. I had 3 particularly large buds my brother wanted to soak in alcohol...they are still where he left them in Sept.
I may try in the future to save what is "next to" the mold, but again I have a dislike of that stuff, so usually cut well around it, and clean tools before continuing.

I love smoking un-moldy bud from a bud that has mold on it.

Using a water-pipe.

Without a water pipe ... I would not want to inhale that.

 

[XLNordic]

Well I guess it's time to finish this up.

I ended up with a little over a kilo, and lost at least 6 oz. to rot.

The Kalashnikova averaged a half pound each. They didn't all finish at the same time, I won't grow it again. I won't pinch off the tops ever again either.

First picture is from Sept 11, just before I cut down 2 of them
Next is some (+/- half of it) of it drying in the shed.

Last is a picture of some bubble made Jan 15 this year. The "peanut butter" colored stuff is 73-160 micron, and is full melt, very tasty, but sticky, and hard to handle. The darker stuff is 45-73 micron, not quite as sticky.
I'm going to do another batch tomorrow, and I will keep everything in one batch so it won't be so damn sticky. Just going to use 190 micron, and settle everything. It will be dark, but at least I'll be able to touch it. I still have a piece from a couple of years ago made that way
View attachment 18049412
View attachment 18049414
View attachment 18049415

looks great

how was the Mighty Mite regarding yield, potency and taste ?

 

[dirty-joe]

looks great

how was the Mighty Mite regarding yield, potency and taste ?

Yield was pretty good for it's size (height), but a fair amount of it was moldy, even though it finished early.
I'm not a good one to ask about potency, as I'm almost never satisfied. So I'll just say OK/average.

"They" say how weed is so much better today than it was 20 or more years ago, well, I say tell that to someone who was not there. We used to grow this stuff know to me only as "early weed", it was two puff weed I never got immune to. I've tried countless strains since, and I can't get back that quality