Pics and experiences from random past grows

EastCoastGambit · Feb 1, 2022

Hi there. So I'm new here but wanted to throw some photos up. Backstory I've been growing for maybe about 3 years with a small indoor tent and have thrown a few plants outdoors as well (MA) Anyways all have turned out fairly successful but I've had some issues here and there and would at least like to show some of the things I've tried and learned along the way as I continue to dial in my skills.

So here goes. These are just random photos I found on my phone and I'm sure I've lost a bunch. I will try to put them in order and remember the exact genetics I was working with any why.

I believe this is from my 1st grow but to be honest I'm not sure. At the time I was recovering from some sort of PTSD and I was looking for strains that were actually light on TCH and equal with CBD. I had taken a break from Cannabis as I was having some mental health issues that I was working though. I couldn't really find these strains available and recreational shops weren't even open yet in MA so I figured the only way to get this stuff was to grow my own, hence the start of this journey. I wanted something that was akin to old school brick weed in terms of potency but with much better quality and taste. Me and my buddy coined it "Dad Weed" because you could smoke and enjoy it, yet still function, have some beers, and get through domestic life, LOL. I remember opening a Coinbase account and ordering the beans from Canada which was kind of a PITA (too bad I didn't hold on to those extra crypto coins) Anyways the 2 strains that successfully germinated for me were Black Jack and Chem Beyond Diesel (CBD) Both from Sweet Seeds. I recall that I was waiting what seemed like forever for the Trichs to turn milky, but in actuality one of them was foxtailing and stacking calyxes late in bloom (too hot and close to lights likely) which is probably why it wasn't finishing up. Still both cured up nicely and it served its purpose. The terps were strong enough that if you left some in the car on a warm day in an hour the whole care would be quite dank. I was hunting for Sour D. flavor in my selection as going to school in Syracuse (SUNY ESF) and lingering there for awhile, the NYC Sour D. on the scene at that time was excellent. This Chem Beyond Diesel had a little of that, but not so much when you puffed it, but more like when you walked back into the room you toked in? Strange. I put some of these same plants outside in June that year which were already vegged up quite a bit. More to follow in next posts on that...

EastCoastGambit · Feb 1, 2022

So as I mentioned I threw four plants outside from my 1st grow - 4 to be exact. These things really liked the sun and the big ass fabric pots. It got a little out of hand. It was cool having huge plants but there was no hiding them, LOL. Then of course as fall started I thought I had some PM so I started defoliating leaves and pruning. Spraying with raw milk that I had to get like 25 minuted from my house at a farm and then to some BC to try and keep it in check, which I think worked. I had to pull them inside a couple nights because the town was spraying insecticide for mosquitos or some shit and I didn't want that on my girls, that kind of put it in perspective when the plants were hitting my ceiling and bigger than the fridge in my basement.

So everything looked great, I went away over the weekend for a conference. It was fall and getting cold and wet and I came back to little areas of bud rot. Obviously I didn't plan this outdoor thing out and source genetics that either finish up early or were resistant to that happening. So turned into emergency harvest mode. Had to take days off of work. I very carefully cut out the bad sections. I actually did the whole 3 bucket cleanse thing with peroxide and lemon juice, baking soda, and clean water rinse. Dried and trimmed with fans going. All in all - lots of work. It was outdoor quality of the "Dad weed" a little over dried to prevent bud rot from coming back and trimmed in a rush. Needless to say it was way more end product than I needed. Still have a big sack of it that is many years old and since I moved on to different genetics its like just kind of a wasted effort, though some people do prefer it and I give it away to those in need.

Oh what caused the bud rot - freakin little inchworm fuckers. I saw them and didn't realize they were that big an issue. I didn't have a huge infestation but I also didn't do anything to prevent it not knowing any better. Just thought they were little cute nature doing its thing. Well they poop in your buds and when it gets damp (morning dew) and cold, that shit turns into bud rot quick. You can see the sugar leaves curl back and die and its a tell tale sign. I went through each bud with a fine tooth comb so to speak and found all the infested areas and threw them away. I found one big caterpillar in one of the jars so I guess one got through LOL - never told anyone about that. Don't smoke caterpillars folks lookout - Alice in Wonderland shit right there.

I took a bunch and dry ice bubble bagged it and sorter the kif by sift quality. I pressed a bunch into some crude hash by heating up some flat plates in my oven 180 degrees Fahrenheit, and squishing in in parchment paper on a heavy bench vice. Still puff that, and the kif burns like incense (especially the blonde stuff) so that is good. Get some of that CBD in me from time to time. Whatever is left of the indoor bud from those strains smells like it past its prime (kind of like it fermented a little or something) time to ditch that stuff.

So in closing - while its really cool to grow these big trees outside - its too much work and risk and end product for my needs. It was cool - my friends do it - Taking advantage of the sun is also cool. But I'll pass. I did another outdoor with just two smaller plants the next season and that was better for me, I would consider doing that again. Just something to grow alongside my tomatoes.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 1, 2022

I'll keep working on this thread this week. More indoor work and experiences to share.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

OK - back to this. For my second grow I wanted to grow some headier gear, as in more THC and terps. and grabbed beans (The Get Down) from Solfire, don't remember the exact distributor I copped them from but they came with freebies. A pack of Mendo cookies from Twenty20 and "Why u Jelly" which was Solfire's freebie pack.

I germinated them up and grew out one female of each. The Mendo Cookies ended up being my favorite but The Get Down really had a nice Grapefruit citrus flavor. At the time I added another light to by tent so I had 2 LED's going here. Fabric pots. Buds still on the airy side but they turned out well for grow 2. As I said I'm still learning. Basically all my gear is Amazon stuff. Viparspectra lights, the tent (probably Vivo) the fan is not Vivo I know that much. My little dehumidifier (I'm planning to double up on those actually) Got a humidity and temp sensor in there. And my exhaust fan is a cloudline I beleive. Charcoal filter on the outside.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

I think this one is from grow 2 as well.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

So I kept "The Get Down" going so I needed to build one of these. Just got H20 quality PVC inside with the screw in jets/nozzles and a small pond pump. Works good, took a little awhile to see 1st roots so I was sweating that a bit thinking all the cuttings were going to die - but they came through

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

So with my rooted cuttings I ran 2 more plants of "the get down" indoor and threw 2 outside for fun. The outdoor I intentionally kept smaller so I could manage them better and it actually turned out pretty nice for outdoor (nothing against outdoor y'all) Maybe this is when I added the 2nd light - this is a 2 x 4 tent. Oh - and I attempted to scrog these - I think that turned out pretty good for the 1st go. As you can see my scrog net was made with simple PVC and a bunch of eyelet screws. Stringing it up is fun (not) but not really bad just tedious. This 1st time I used this yellow poly or nylon string which I changed out on the next go to cotton, because who would want little plastic fibers possibly accidentally getting into the buds as the little hairs fray with use or when cutting the plants out.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

Looks like I upgraded the intake air tunnel there as well (larger size and more lightproof) Now with the scrog- watering is a little tricky. The pots be stuck where they are. You can see the little platforms I built and there are big green saucers underneath. Well the issue was I couldn't clear the bottom zipper of the tent on the right hand side because I didn't give myself enough height. Luckily I was able to slide that one to the left and barely could get those out. At the time I was testing runoff pH and everything was just kind of messy and tight. Also flushing is a pain because of trying to empty all the saucers to get any qty. of water through the pots.

I would think a SCROG in a 4 x 4 would be tricky to manage

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

Here is the outdoor from the other 2 plants.

No caterpillars this time

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

Some more photos of that SCROG filling out.

This one should have been the 1st photo in the earlier post - whoops

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

And this looks almost finished up -

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

More to follow...

growsjoe1 · Feb 3, 2022

Proper looking scrog....plants look like they had all the proper nutrition and never suffered from any deficiency. Very healthy. Great job.

So what are using to fill up those fabric pots?

Peace joe

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

Pretty much some bagged soil. I've used several brands from Ocean Forest to whatever the camouflaged one is Roots Organic. I used to add coco and worm casting now I pretty much use the stiff straight up and use light organic feedings through flower with advanced nutrients line. I had some issues with fungus gnats but finally found a good product for those. I am trying Michigan Blend Soil currently. At some point I may attempt a switch to straight Coir but I know that will require a watering setup which I don't have time to work on right now.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

I forgot to mention on my propagator I have a quick cycle timer, pretty cool actually. I believe I set it to like 40 seconds on and 60 seconds off or something like that. Otherwise the pump might run too much and therefore heat the water up encouraging nasty bacteria to grow. I use clonex in the water for nuted and also put in a tiny amount of bleach to keep things sterile. I have to check and adjust the pH of that water every 5 days or so. I usually swap it out after a week and usually by 2 weeks I have decent roots formed.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

So for my next grow I took clones off the flowering plant, still "the get down" strain. This time I made adjustments to the SCROG setup by putting bigger risers on my platforms so I can get the saucers out easier. I changed out the string to cotton twine on the netting. Since I grew the clones from the flowering cuttings I had nice "monster cropped" plants with many branches. I think I got a more even canopy on this second go and was able to drop the screen earlier. I also added a couple small UVB reptile lights in bloom to supplement that spectrum. I moved those around here and there. Oh and I mentioned I tried out those air pots. I'm not sold that they made a huge difference and watering them is a little trickier.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

Here are a few more shots of them growing up.You can see how they are trained underneath here for a nice manifold of branches and good airflow.

EastCoastGambit · Feb 3, 2022

I think I may have had mites on this one (humidity maybe a little high) and I recall buying some predator mites to clear them up. That and increasing the fans seemed to keep it in check.