Diary White Rhino & Friends. Fall 2021 Grow.

[zif]

Graft list

• BB07: BB10
• GG: BSGxJ
• MM: MW1; MW2
• SQA1: SQA2; BSGA3; BSGA2; MM
• SQA2: MM; GG; PB; WR; SQA1
• WR: MW3; BB07

Trying to keep tabs on these is going to be complicated. Will need better tags as the joints heal and the tape falls off.

Some beautiful growth on your grafts! It's handy, right?!

If you make the tape clips/flags long enough, and the tape has a decent adhesive, they'll stay on the stem even if the graft union itself sheds them. Indoors, anyway.

A great labeling strategy is really helpful, though.... I have a good baker's dozen of apple grafts that will be mysteries thanks to my enthusiasm for grafting getting ahead of my, ah, organizational impulses.

 

[aliceklar]

Some beautiful growth on your grafts! It's handy, right?!

If you make the tape clips/flags long enough, and the tape has a decent adhesive, they'll stay on the stem even if the graft union itself sheds them. Indoors, anyway.

A great labeling strategy is really helpful, though.... I have a good baker's dozen of apple grafts that will be mysteries thanks to my enthusiasm for grafting getting ahead of my, ah, organizational impulses.

Thanks zif It's SO handy. I cant imagine why I wouldnt carry on with grafting as my #1 backup tool. Tiny footprint, win. For backing-up trial grows from seed its the business. And I've only really started - can see that I'm going to have fun with this, especially when combined with other kinds of training (LST, scrog, etc). Next grow will factor this in as an assumption from the start.

My enthusiasm a day or two ago led me to proudly look at my latest graft and then re-read the labels and realise that I had accidentally taken a top off one plant and put it back... on the same plant. Doh. Perils of having multiple bits of plants flying around.

 

[PCBuds]

...I had accidentally taken a top off one plant and put it back... on the same plant. Doh.

Lol

I can relate.
My dad used to say, "You'd lose your head if it wasn't attached !!"

It's a good thing my head is attached.
I'd have to graft a new head on my shoulders every week otherwise. Lol

 

[aliceklar]

Potted on two cuttings of SQA2 and one BSG3. Would be nice to know which way they are going to swing. Have got cuttings in a jam jar in flower, but cant make out sex yet. Out of coco now, so used a blend of 2 different peat-free compost mixes with 20% perlite. 1/2 tsp neem meal top-dressing per plant, & mycorrhizal inoculant. Watered in with tap pH- to 6.5

 

[goingrey]

Grafting! That's fascinating. Is it just for fun or is there some benefit over just rooting the cutting? When growing cannabis that will grow roots quite fast that is.

 

[aliceklar]

Grafting! That's fascinating. Is it just for fun or is there some benefit over just rooting the cutting? When growing cannabis that will grow roots quite fast that is.

It is fun, for sure... but mostly I'm doing this because I have limited space and am trying to back up multiple phenos with a small footprint. Its also a little quicker & cleaner than cloning, and for me at least seems to have a better success rate (19 grafts made this month - one failure so far, whereas my success at cloning is more like 70%-80%) - no cloning medium to deal with, no humidity adjustments or daily misting, and scions will generally take or fail within a few days, rather than having to wait a couple of weeks to tell.

Just taken a second scion off Blueberry 7 (broad leaf), which is stand out the healthiest plant in veg with strong vigour, leaf colour and symmetry > onto Green Gelato (and vice versa).

Backed up the last of the Medical Mass x White Rhino F2s (MW4) onto White Rhino. I've now got everything important backed up, with the ones I really want to hang on to backed up multiple times.

Raised the lights in veg a little (now 45cm above the tallest tops) and reduced intensity from 70% to 60%. Lots of plants waiting to go, but the flower space is rammed. May have to reconsider the flower/veg space division here, or reinstate my little "mums" area in the spare room with a couple of low-power LED floodlights.

In other news, my water butt is installed and filling up. 250 litres. Should do me Will start experimenting with using 50/50 rainwater/tap.

 

[aliceklar]

Happy new year all!

Looks like the remaining cuttings have rooted, so I have taken them all out of their nursery. Things getting busy in veg now.

Would still like to get the MMWR F2s to green up a bit. Not sure why they are still looking so pale. Watered the 4 plants this morning with a 50/50 mix of rainwater and tap water, 1.5ml @ of Canna A+B (so 3ml total), .5ml calmag, .5ml maxicrop, to the litre. pH 5.4, 800ppm. Runoff pH 6.5, 750ppm. Root growth emerging from the drain holes already.

 

[goingrey]

It is fun, for sure... but mostly I'm doing this because I have limited space and am trying to back up multiple phenos with a small footprint. Its also a little quicker & cleaner than cloning, and for me at least seems to have a better success rate (19 grafts made this month - one failure so far, whereas my success at cloning is more like 70%-80%) - no cloning medium to deal with, no humidity adjustments or daily misting, and scions will generally take or fail within a few days, rather than having to wait a couple of weeks to tell.

Wow, never would have guessed that the success rate could actually be better. Makes perfect sense when you think about it, though. More energy available for other growth than rooting..

 

[aliceklar]

F1 MM x Johaar 1, 2 & 3 are all showing female. MMJ#4 is stretching like crazy and still not showing sex. Suspect its male. As MMJ#5 has already declared its colours and is waiting in the boys room (aka my bathroom), and space in flower is at a premium, I've also removed MMJ#4. This was a test grow, and I've already got plenty to evaluate.

Also pondering whether to cull the Bagseed Gelato x Johaar seed plant that is currently in flower. Problem is its huge, and stretching vigorously - but not putting on much flower. I want to hang on to the genetics for this one, but I have it backed up as both clone and graft, so can afford to lose the seed plant.

In other exciting news, the F1 Sherbet Queen x Afghan #1 (the most vigorous) is showing female, according to the cutting in a jam-jar in flower. So the SQA1 seed plant will be going into flower soon. This one is host to SQA2, BSGA3, BSGA2, and - most recently - Medical Mass. I'll give the MM scion a few more days to settle in, then put it into flower. Pruned a few branches that were threatening to swamp the grafts (the SQA1 is feisty) and did a little U-bend super-cropping and tying to get her ready.

 

[.............]

Yo AK. Im using H&G which is 1/3 more concentrated then Canna.. at about 2ml/L i get 850ppm with 5ml power Si and 120ppm Tap water... so Canna would be more like 2.6ml/L of each a+b..

 

[aliceklar]

Yo AK. Im using H&G which is 1/3 more concentrated then Canna.. at about 2ml/L i get 850ppm with 5ml power Si and 120ppm Tap water... so Canna would be more like 2.6ml/L of each a+b..

Hey Dots! Thanks for stopping by

850ppm sounds good.

I think my tapwater is the problem - its c350ppm pH 7.8, and has about 265ppm calcium carbonate. I only rigged up my rainwater collection system a few days ago & am still figuring out the best proportion of rainwater to tapwater. I'm using nitric acid as pH down, which increases the ppm of the tapwater even more - I'm guessing by converting some of the calcium carbonate in the water to calcium nitrate. The canna feeding schedule goes from c2ml/L in veg to 3.8ml/L each of A+B at peak flowering, so I know I'm on the light side according to the guide, but am trying to keep overall ppm below 1000. I've been using a 50/50 tap/rain water split, but am going to try reducing the amount of tap-water next time and increasing the amount of Canna A+B, & see what that does.

...

Decided to keep the BSGxJohaar in flower for now - but I've pruned off some of the branches that were shading other plants, and tied it in on itself with string. Not pretty, but taking up a better space now.

Moved MMxWR#3 into flower.

 

[aliceklar]

30% pH'd tapwater / 70% rainwater, with 2ml/L @ of Canna A+B, 1ml/L Biobizz bloom, and 0.5ml/L calmag, gives 850ppm on the nose - and only needed a v slight adjustment to get it down to pH 5.7. Nice. Lets see how that goes.

Here's whats going on in flower at the moment:

C6 is at the back right. Filling in nicely and just starting to get its first visible trichomes. Cute. Really like the form of this plant.
Roughly pruned and bound at front right is the Bagseed Gelato x Johaar F1.
Centre front is the F2 Medical Mass x White Rhino #3
The tall ones at the back and left are the F1 Medical Mass x Johaars - stretching....... May need to take drastic action soon. The Johaar sure adds a lot of height. I'm planning on using pollen from the MMJ F1 male back again to Medical Mass, aiming eventually for a stouter plant with the happy high quality of the Johaar and some of the honey musk terps and high CBD from the MM. Pretty narrow leaves would be a bonus, but not important.

And here's a closeup of the MMWR#4, still in veg - the interveinal yellowing is quite pronounced on this one - tho hard to see under the LED lights. I still reckon its Mg deficiency. Hoping that increasing the amount of Canna A+B with the new water mix will sort it out (as this contains Mg) - if not I'll either use calmag or epsom salts. Maybe 0.5ml of calmag in the feed, and foliar with epsom?

 

[.............]

30% pH'd tapwater / 70% rainwater, with 2ml/L @ of Canna A+B, 1ml/L Biobizz bloom, and 0.5ml/L calmag, gives 850ppm on the nose - and only needed a v slight adjustment to get it down to pH 5.7. Nice. Lets see how that goes.


And here's a closeup of the MMWR#4, still in veg - the interveinal yellowing is quite pronounced on this one - tho hard to see under the LED lights. I still reckon its Mg deficiency. Hoping that increasing the amount of Canna A+B with the new water mix will sort it out (as this contains Mg) - if not I'll either use calmag or epsom salts. Maybe 0.5ml of calmag in the feed, and foliar with epsom?

Is the coco you're using in veg new or do you pre-buffer? What brand?

If the coco is new it may be the cation exchange taking place:

Buffering coco is accomplished by soaking it in Ca and Mg. This allows the cation exchanges to take place prior to adding plants. Simply soak your coco in a solution of Cal/Mag water and the exchange sites will release their K and Na cations and lock onto the Ca and Mg. When the cation exchange sites bond with Ca and Mg rather than Na and K, it is “buffered”. The bonds that hold the Ca and Mg to the sites are very strong and cation exchange will largely stop. This means that all of the nutrients that you add to the water will be available to the plant at the ratios that you provide them.

Or if it is the LED putting more demand on magnesium as has been suggested, then that may be the route.. personally I use bio-stimulants to cover the gamut of nutrients/micronutrients and improved uptake.. as opposed to just adding magnesium or calcium alone etc.. as a foliar and drench.

Increasing to 2ml/L is a good idea but won't fix the issue on its own..
Try the magnesium and see how it goes..?

 

[exploziv]

That plant should be back on track in a few days if she gets its Mg fast, via spray, while you also up the usual Mg feed a bit, to make sure problem is solved.

 

[aliceklar]

Is the coco you're using in veg new or do you pre-buffer? What brand?

If the coco is new it may be the cation exchange taking place.

Its new - "Coco&coir Coco Grow Compost", a UK brand. I made it up with my hard-as-nails tapwater, which hopefully buffered it as far as calcium goes - tho it probably lacked magnesium.

Or if it is the LED putting more demand on magnesium as has been suggested, then that may be the route.. personally I use bio-stimulants to cover the gamut of nutrients/micronutrients and improved uptake.. as opposed to just adding magnesium or calcium alone etc.. as a foliar and drench.

Increasing to 2ml/L is a good idea but won't fix the issue on its own..
Try the magnesium and see how it goes..?

Yeah, am using foliar spray with epsom now, and will add more in the next watering. What kind of bio-stimulants do you use? I have some maxicrop seaweed extract.

 

[aliceklar]

Anyone have any advice on how much epsom salt I should be using in terms of g/L in a foliar spray? At the moment I'm totally guessing...

 

[44:86N]

Anyone have any advice on how much epsom salt I should be using in terms of g/L in a foliar spray? At the moment I'm totally guessing...

1 gram per liter will get you a 100ppm solution, which is both a decent amount, and safe. Not sure of the frequency on a foliage spray, but I have used that amount as a fertilizer supplement with good results.You could probably do 1.5g to 2g per liter, alone as a one time soil drench, along with a one time spray at 1g to correct. Then resume normal fertilizing, with 1g/liter epsom salts as a supplement.

If you are already high in calcium, skip the cal-mag. Otherwise, I do like using a cal-mag formula during veg, and switch to a cal-mag supplement during flowering.

 

[aliceklar]

1 gram per liter will get you a 100ppm solution, which is both a decent amount, and safe. Not sure of the frequency on a foliage spray, but I have used that amount as a fertilizer supplement with good results.You could probably do 1.5g to 2g per liter, alone as a one time soil drench, along with a one time spray at 1g to correct. Then resume normal fertilizing, with 1g/liter epsom salts as a supplement.

If you are already high in calcium, skip the cal-mag. Otherwise, I do like using a cal-mag formula during veg, and switch to a cal-mag supplement during flowering.

Thank you 44

That's not far off what I was thinking. My tapwater is c350ppm with high calcium, & I amend it with nitric acid pH down, but I'm now cutting it with 70% rainwater (rainwater is c60ppm - I assume from guano on the roof or compost in my ancient guttering). The mix comes out at about 170ppm, and some of that will be calcium, but unsure exactly how much. Will skip the calmag unless I start seeing Ca deficiency symptoms.

 

[exploziv]

1 gr a liter seems about right. But if you can check ppm.. go for like 300-400 ppm total. On the spray.

 

[aliceklar]

Well I am stoked about this. The two surviving Bagseed Gelato x Afghans are one each female and male. Perfect will be able to carry the line on, and will have at least one "gelato" type to cross with the RQS Green Gelato (fem) and the Sherbet Queen x Afghans.

Blueberry 10 is male, as is the White Rhino. Sigh. Was hoping to actually get to smoke some White Rhino this time, but might Bx to the best of the Medical Mass x White Rhino F2s. As I also have another Medical Mass (fem) on the go, I could replicate the previous cross with another line of MMxWR - this combination made tasty offspring last time, so a parallel line would be good. Blueberry 10 is a sickly looking plant - I've got a graft of it on another plant, but the seed plant is going in the compost.

First time I've tried the "take a cutting, put it in a jam jar with some water and stick it under 12/12" trick for sexing - works a treat.

This also bumps "get some decent white rhino seeds" up my list!

Of the plants already in flower, Medical Mass x Johaar 1, 2 & 3 are all female. I dont need that many, and MMJ3 is HUGE, and was slow to even start flowering, so will be culled, and I'm moving the (female) BSGxA#2 into flower in its place.