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Thanks Hillbilly, they're shaping up very nicely this year! I'm so glad I didn't use the March planted seed, they would be so big before preflower, when the males are selected. It may work out, but would want to plant much fewer plants I think. The sky is the limit. I will stick with Mid to late April. Some of them in the shade could have used a couple more weeks.
Smaller plants are easier to manage. Less weight and may be less prone to breaking. I don't top anymore so they are stronger in the wind with the heavy flowers.
I think I found a pretty good fertilizer regimen. I like the cottonseed meal. I would almost use that alone as a fertilizer, but the chicken manure has some quick release N that works in a powerful way. Chicken manure also has pretty good amount of P and K as well as 8% calcium for stronger plants. I just need to back off the chicken manure, either make sure its an accurate rate application and if it continues to burn, reduce the rate and supplement with another amendment.
Chicken manure is prone to burn a little if top dressing, but will likely try it again next year with a more accurate reduced rate. When worked into the soil in the spring, it is no problem, but there is always the risk of burn, so the soil must be worked to mix it in well.
I think if you are doing guerilla plots that are not watered, be careful, because a burn could be a major issue for plants if they don't get regular rains to wash it in. So top dress with caution.
Good stuff, and agreed about smaller plants being easier to manage. Hence the reason I like the auto affie so much.
I use some soybean meal in my organic mix, I think it's pretty similar to cottonseed meal eh? Alfalfa meal is some real good stuff too if you can get your hands on it.
I use hen manure also, great stuff, i actually found a local product thats great. Little pellets made of hen manure, feather meal and bone meal
Weather is hard to predict this time of year. Wasn't supposed to rain all week, very low rain probablility, but storms kept popping up. Thank you God! Not going to have to water this week! Been pretty hot every day with temperatures in the mid 80's to lower 90's, but we've been getting a little rain every day or 2. Yesterday got about 3/4-1 inch rain and today got another dose!
Went out to check and stood up a few that were leaning yesterday. They were watered deep if they are leaning like that! Going to be maximum velocity growth now!
Saw one of the males is dropping pollen and a couple others are very close. Hoping to see pistil stacking on all the plants soon, some of them have started to look that way. I think the Champion 1 will drop pollen on time, we will have to see.
Looks like a great product! I misspoke a couple days ago, I didn't use straight chicken manure compost this year, it was a product like yours called Dave Thompson's Healthy Grow which has chicken manure with feather meal and potash for a 3-3-3. I think thats a good idea to use, gives a more well rounded, longer lasting fertilizer and hopefully minimizes the risk of burn being supplimented with other fertilizers.
Yeah I think rainwater is the best. Its hard to distribute the water like that over time. God's doing some heavy lifting work for me, so I need to take care of other stuff now before I get truly busy with flower inspections later on.
Rainwater I was told, has a higher energy in the outside electrons, and its ionized so it may more benefit. You can see the results.
Going to be using up a lot of the nitrogen with these frequent rains and fast growth. Leaves are looking good and doing a great job fighting off disease for the most part.
Went through and verified a few times, they are all females except the breeding males now. Pollen has dropped on 2 of the 4 males. Hoping the Champion male releases pollen soon. Females are just starting to think about stacking, so expect them to be close next weekend for males to be culled. Will have to evaluate all the plants, some will be behind and won't have much to pollinate.
The chicken manure is the best I think but I would be very careful using it this time of year. Could use it for part of your nitrogen needs, but I like the cottonseed meal because its all slow release so its much lower risk burn. It seems to be working well, not getting any signs of N deficiency, plants are robust and growing fast.
Had another storm this morning with a 40 mph gust so went to check and get some work done. Culled the last Sterling skunk mutant, cleaned out some diseased leaves, and burped the jars. Can any one help with this smoke testing? Need to get it done before harvest!
121 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve[d] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
Hebrews 3 NKJV
The Son Was Faithful
3 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, 2 who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. 3 For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. 5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, 6 but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope [a]firm to the end.
Be Faithful
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,
And saw My works forty years.
10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they have not known My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but [b]exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers
16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Enjoying the extra time off not having to water this weekend! Had a little incidence of some leaf spot here and there a few diseases, but thankfully weather has dried out and pressure has reduced. Also the spacing is better now with the males gone and a lot of the lower fans have been removed because of disease, so there is good airflow now. Have had an assortment of insect pests, and some significant damage to a few plants, but seems to be within the threshold, and plants haven't skipped a beat. Finding a few inchworm caterpillars, leaf hopppers crickets, japanese beetles, aphids. Trying to get them whenever i see them.
Lots of ladybugs on my plants probably because of the aphids. Saw some lady bugs mating, so expecting to see more in the future. That's why I don't spray insecticide, the beneficials take care of the infestations most of the time. The rain also helps reduce the aphids and they were less noticeable this weekend.
Finding out about the different expressions in cannabis, which can make early sex identification difficult when working with new varieties. I think I mentioned it the other day, there was a secondary growth similar to a stamen next to a female preflower on a plant. I had noticed this on the champion male, and I have seen it before on other plants that were female mostly. Well one of the DC x Las Vegas PK x Hindu Kush had one of these growths that was a visible shoot developing, and it even had a leaf. I examined it as well as other similar growths on that plant and the champion male SCC and determined them to be just a shoot. It doesn't appear to have any stamen development, but its compact small developing leaves which resembles a stamen preflower.
I have culled plants in the past as well as this year when I saw these little growths because i thought they were stamen preflowers or otherwise a mutation. But I had waited this year to cull when I saw them because i suspected it may not be stamen, and after allowing it to grow, it appears its just an abnormality or just a natural variation. Could be a mutation, but since its not throughout the plant and its not deleterious (damaging) its probably not a mutated genotype, just an unusual type of expression.
I think what caused this DC x LVPK x HK to have one open up like this was the growing point was pruned a couple weeks in the past because of disease and it promoted lateral branching and got this little micro-shoot expression to grow.
Deep Chunk X Las Vegas Purple Kush x Hindu Kush--Small adventitious micro-shoot by female preflower
Sativa Candy Chunk Champion male #1 adventitious shoot near staminate preflower
SCC- Speaking of Champion Male #1, picked these leaves off him because they were beginning to get diseased. They are some of the largest I have seen at about 1 ft long and wide!
Sativa Candy Chunk male #4 (most developed) dropping plenty of pollen for us already!
Under the canopy
Lots of surface roots visible, the whole garden is a thick mat of roots! Helps soak up the water and holds the soil. The roots tips when exposed are red.
Thanks, yeah I spend a lot of time there to make sure the plants get taken care of. I try not to be on the rootzone area as much as possible and I stick to designated spots and spread out my weight to minimize stress or damage to the roots. When its dry its not too big of a deal though, its a great place to get a break from the heat.
Made lunch the other day beside the garden. Nice view to enjoy while you eat!
I have seen some of those bumps on a couple of my plants, I think that is a mutation if its irregular growth of the stem. I recommend not breeding with that individual, but it will probably still grow out to produce some good flower.
Cooled off quite a bit this week to 80-85F with lots of sunshine. Potential storms this weekend saturday night to sunday, but still going to water to make sure they get watered deep enough. Hoping to see the females approaching pollination maturity, so males can be culled. Culling males once female flowers reach about 1/4 inch width, or similar size to a pencil eraser, usually is ready to be done a week into August more or less.
Some plants won't be developed enough, and will produce little seed, others which are more developed will have much seed. Still plenty of time for the majority of flower to develop seedless, so will be a crop of good medicine!
Deep Chunk x Las Vegas Purple Kush x Hindu Kush--a couple of these plants caught a foliar disease and had to have some pruning. Pretty usual, although these were the only varieties to get some of the tip necrosis on growing point tissues. After cutting out disease a couple times, they are clear now and disease free. Will continue to monitor especially with near 90F and humid conditions returning this weekend.
DC x LVPK x HK--very branchy and short internodes. May be more so because its at the south side front of the garden.
DC x LVPK x HK
DC x LVPK x HK
DC x LVPK x HK 3 tall ones on left and possibly the short one on R
SCC Champion Male on Saturday. The other males are all SCC 'Medical Indica', but this one is from SCC original phenotype seed, hoping it drops pollen on time. If its like the ones in the past with this structure, it will drop pollen, but it won't be near the amount of the other males since its behind in development.
SCC--another more developed male, I think its Male #2 on Front L corner of garden
Got them watered well with about 114 gallons for the first time in about 2 weeks. Last week we had several good rains, and it was adequate. Starting to see some yellowing on lower fan leaves. Plan on fertilizing with cotton seed meal next week anyway, it will have been a month since the last application.
All the males have opened up and dropped pollen! Also, the Paradise Cheese x Hindu Kush is building well with 3/4 inch flowers and some sharp skunky sweet terpenes going on there! Makes me want to take a tester already, but I can wait!