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Winter Indicas, some STS and a few testers

Rgd

Well-known member
Veteran
Yes it is!
I moved him to the kitchen two weeks ago: the shape of the leaves made it hard to spray for spider mites. I found a few ones hidden in there.

Basil in winter is pure luxury!
soaked some basil seed yesterday..growing romaine hydro float bed now

make pizza once a week need basil..yours looks good

watching your lambs bread grow with interest
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Weekly update

Most plants are now at F+10. Stretching nicely.
Some of them may be a bit hungry, but my biggest issue is with temperatures.
My heater broke in the middle of a cold wave. Temps went as low as 12°C!
I managed to stabilized it to min. 14,5°C, and I'm now waiting for a new tube heater I ordered...

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The Pe4xNJ testers are unexpectedly very pungent. Contrary to what I said last week, I now feel my Pe4's profile is dominating. Very sweet, fruity, a bit of pineapple, a bit of mango, a bit of honey.
My initial plant was to guerilla-run it outdoors if it "passed the test". Now I'm worried the smell would get me busted!
I defoliated them a bit, because of the tent being a bit too crowded already.

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Thai Chi is progressively growing some narrower leaves.
She is rootbound, drinking almost every day. I forgot one watering last week, I'm sorry for her.
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The Jamaicans are taking off. All 3 of them started stretching a lot. Haven't been able to sex them yet. They are a bit more than 1 month old, 12/12 from seed.
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Lastly, I don't have photos of it, but I'm seing some balls on the STS'ed plants.

The protocol that worked best is 1 spray at F+0, another one at F+10 and a last one at F+15, without dilution. Getting lots of balls from these ones. Now we'll soon see if the pollen is viable!
I'm setting up a new, minimalist, flower room for these.

Applying at 1:8 every 5 days doesn't seem to bring anything more than one or two bananas.

I also think that, although convenient, applying it with a pipette is not as effective as spraying. Or it would require a better wetting agent.
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Weekly update

The main crop is now at F+17. Stretch is almost over and they are puting out their first pistils.

The temperatures are getting better, no sign of pests.

I'm only worried I find them a bit more pale than I'd like. I think it's a comination of cold inhibiting uptake, and the additional 150W LED I set up, which might make them more hungry than I'm used to.

I'm feeding relatively high N (2ml/L bbiz Fish Mix or Bio Grow, + 3ml/L Bio Bloom max.)

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The big girl in the back right corner is my beloved Pineapple Express 4. Here is a closeup:

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The PE4XNJ testers bulked up a lot in the last few days. They reek!
They look like they will be quick finishers. Not surprising: both of their parents were. 2 or 3 more weeks, I'm guessing.
Don't look like they're going to be very productive, but the smell is intoxicating: super fruity, sweet, ripe mango, pineapple, a bit of citrus in the background.

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Actually they have a lot of features that should be good for outdoor growing, not so important for indoor: early finishers, good airflow around the buds, strong structure, relative resistance to drought, main colas not being too big (=less loss to botrytis).
Well, that was the initial plan!

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One of them turned purple with the cold nights. She's lovely, but I like the smell of the green one better, as is often the case.
I noticed I generaly also tend to prefer the effects of the green phenos over the purple ones.

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The Jamaican Lambsbreads really took off. There are 2 lanky phenos and a (rather) squat one (the one I'm mainly portraiting since the beginning of this diary). I couldn't sex the lanky ones, but I think I saw some tiny balls on the squat pheno.

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They are still in 1 liter pots. I'm watering daily, with pure tap water.

Here, the 2 lanky individuals alongside a kush bush, for scale:

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Hope you enjoyed this update, see you in 7 days for the next one!​
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Hola a todos,

I'll start this update with the reversed plants, as I never showed photos of them.
I've got 2 plants full of male sacks, that may open soon.
I went with 3 sprays, I hope it was not too much and I'll get viable pollen out of it. The first sacks may be empty, have I read. Anyway, the reversal looks perfect.

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Just for the joke... I already said I experimented with injecting STS, and it didn't work out well (couldn't inject anything, the syringe burst open with the pressure, spilled some STS on myself...).

Well, after that happened, I looked everywhere for the lost needle, couldn't find it...
...And a few days later, here it was:

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I'm leaving it in there as a reminder to not try this again! 😅

Now let's head to the main tent:
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It's starting to look interesting!
I'd have liked them to be a bit darker. I think the cold wave + additional 150W LED messed a bit with nutrient intake/availability, and I didn't take care of it on time. Won't be my best harvest ever...

The most deficient one is my Super Skunk. She was right under the LED, and I'm interpreting it as CalMag deficiency (I may be wrong-don't hesitate to correct me).
She already lost a few leaves (dark spots + yellowing and becoming crispy).
Additional CalMag in the feedings + a few CalMag sprays seem to have stabilized the situation. Fingers crossed. 🤞
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I also skipped a few feedings with her in early flowering as I know she is generally sensitive to nute burn.
But being under the additional light, she was actually hungrier than usual.

Now here is my Pe4, getting frosty:
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And as you can see, this Space Monkey N°7 is already sticky enough to act as a bug trap:
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@Roms ' Jamaicans are showing microscopical preflowers: most probably two lanky gyals and a squat bwoy:
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The male is the most impressive one to me (stem rub + structure).
They are in tiny less-than-1L pots, and already measuring about 50cm.

Let's end this weekly visit with a quick look at the Pe4xNJ testers, at week 7:
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(bottom left green pheno is not a looker, but has the best terps IMO - full pineapple)

And a glance at the Thai Chi bonsai, doing its pretty narrow-leafed thing:
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See you next week!
 

BC LONE WOLF

Well-known member
Beautiful purple pheno PExNJ, that should be interesting cross.

Big up with LambsB. you are in for a while with them. Have you grown them before?
I find they never stop stretching so a training method of your preference is a great tool.
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Have you grown them before?

No, first time with the Lambsbread, and most tropical plant I've grown!
I recently started pinching/supercropping, might even top... At first I wanted to keep them One-budded and simply control the size with rootbinding, but it will probably not be enough.

I would love to have some bud to sample by the end of June/early July. Jumping on what you said on your thread regarding patience, I like the idea of these long-flowering plants being a generous gift from my hibernating winter-self to my busy summer-self!
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Hola a todos,

A quick update.
Everything is growing fine. Here are some photos taken at F+32:

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Pe4xNJ at week 8. Could be harvested already if I were in a hurry, but they should be better with a bit more time to mature (cloudy trichomes mostly, very few ambers, and still a good amount of clear ones). I think I'll harvest at the end of week 9.

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The purple pheno is a pleasure to look at, but quite unproductive compared to the green one, that is also fading with a bit of purple/red:
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Now let me introduce my Bomba N°3:
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I'm happy with its training. Hexagonal, and flat as can be!
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It may actually be Wedding cake x Jet fuel Gelato, I don't remember.
The plan was to pollinate her with her sister LB#1, but the timing will not be good for this time. I'll freeze some pollen and pollinate her next run.

3 STS sprays was too much (as expected...). I'm having lots of balls, but they're not dropping anything. On the other hand, I sprayed a Space Monkey n°6 only twice, and it's showing both pistils and balls. She should start dropping next week, so it should be good for my Space Monkey F2 project.

Oh, and a last photo:
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The Space Monkey is a bit yellowish but at this point there's not much I can do.
I'm feeding Biobizz nutrients:
0,5ml/L Cal Mag
1ml/L Fish Mix
3ml/L Bio Bloom
3ml/L Top Max

6-7L every 2-3 days.

Saw a few spider mites making a comeback, so I'm spraying the lower fan leaves with diluted citric acid when I water.

See you next week!
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Hi everybody,

We are now at F+40.
Though silly it may sound, I always feel that "F+40" as an important milestone in my grows. If I had to rationalize it, I'd say that's about half flowering, and that's the moment buds begin to look like buds.

I'm fighting another cold wave right now, and rather than "fighting", I think the correct term would be "surrendering" to the cold wave... The cost of energy is too high for me to fight that battle. I just try to not drop lower than 14,5°C.

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That means lots of them are turning slightly purple. Such as my Thai Chi, with its earthy, funky, 'dry' smell:

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This one is more Kali China dominant than the one I grew before: more hungry for nutrients, wider leaves, and a bit smellier.

Talking about purple leaves, I'm harvesting the Pe x NJ 's. They have lost the fruity smell, now it's more like cheese/dirty socks/baby vomit. (😋)

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We'll see how they cure.

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The last two photos are from the green/gold pheno, which is the smellier one, and the one I'll be revegging "just in case".

Space Monkey #7 is very pale, but still bulking up quite fast. Smell is complex: gassy, berry...
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Skywalker Kush still waiting to fatten, but already giving that earthy/hash/swimming pool/chlore smell:
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Pineapple Express (Pe4 x NJ's mother) is such a quick plant! Trichomes are already milky, no more white pistils... Last time I harvested her at F+56. Two more weeks sounds appropriate.
G13 Labs advertize it as "ready to chop in 47 days". Sounds too good to be true but well... This individual plant could!
Smells of dough/lemon, with a bit of pepper. Quite a "dry" smell, but not as much as Tai Chi. (don't know if that "dry smell" thing makes sense)
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And now, one that stands absolutely no chance to ever be ready to chop in 47 days 😁:
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albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Update
Photos taken a few days ago, at F+48 for the indicas. About 10 more days for the Thai Chi and the Jamaicans.

Not much news on the STS side of things: I'm still not getting any viable pollen...

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Very happy with the smells on that Thai Chi.
Seems more Kali China leaning than the previous one I grew.

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Same bud, from a different angle:
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Almost there!
Closeup:
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Of the two JLB females, #3 is my favorite for now. More vigorous and branchy.
I uppotted them slightly, as they haven't been stretching for the last 2 weeks. They are now in 1,7L pots. Hard to keep them healthy in such small pots, but at least they didn't grow too big, which was the initial goal.
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
JLB #2 (male):
JLB2.JPG

Grown in about 0,7L soil, 12/12 from seed, zero training, and 130cm tall at the end of its stretch.
Quite manageable actually!
Nutrition is a bit harder to dial, though: this one is overfed, and the females are a bit underfed.

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Used it to pollinate one lower branch of each JLB females, for preservation.
Couldn't resist the temptation to massage a Thai Chi bud with it as well. :giggle:
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Update - F+61
Everything is fine, I'm getting fall colors as they are finishing, plus a lot of purple because of the low temps. Pleasure for the eye, and for the nose.

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The super dark one in the foreground is my keeper La Bomba (Compound Genetics). Last time it had one male sack, this time none. Smells fruity-creamy. Super dense buds.
Here is a closeup:
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I'm harvesting the Pineapple Express today, at peak ripeness:
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...This one is so reliable!
By the way, I vaped a little almost-dry bud of my Pineapple x Nepal Jam last night. Of course, it needs curing, but I was happily surprised by the sweet aftertaste and the nice body high. Thought provoking/creative at first, and then more stoney 1.5 hours later.

Space Monkey #7 should be the next one to be harvested. Nice looks and smells as well. Covered in resin. Fruity-gassy.
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Thai Chi is close as well, probably 10 more days as I want her to show some amber. She must be at about 70 flowerdays, I didn't count. I'm happy with its vigour and production in such a small pot (1,5L):
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The smallest bud on the let has been pollinated with the Jamaican male.
Closeup of one of the main colas:
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albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Now, here is my Super Skunk.
It took a bad start, but after a good flushing she came back to normal and is actually doing quite well.
Nice fruity skunk smells.
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And then there's my Skywalker Kush.
This one is greasy-sticky, and smells like an earthy swimming pool. A reliable plant as well, but very sensitive to spider mites.
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I'm expecting to harvest these two in about 15 days, as I usually do.
I sometimes push them longer, but I'm really excited by the next run...

I'll take a few pics of the Lambsbread girls in the days to come. They've been pollinated with the male's pollen.
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Here is some lambsbread:
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I've pinched and supercropped them hard several times. They took it well. In the end they're not as tough to manage as I had expected, I feel rootbinding is the key. They were in 0,7L until the end of stretch, and I transplanted them in 2L last week.
The problem with small pots is you need to water them a lot. Much more comfortable now, they drink once every 3-4 days.
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They sprouted exactly 3 months ago.
When rubbing the buds, I get a strong wild carrot/parsnip smell.
A pleasure to grow!
 
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albertgriffiths

Well-known member
F+70
Here we are, getting close to the finish line:
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Spring outside, autumn inside!

I harvested the Thai Chi, at F+83
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One bud will be cobbed. We'll see how it goes.
The seeded budlet went to reveg, just to let more time for the seeds to mature.
Very happy with that specimen. Smells good, stronger than the last one I grew but in the same terpene category.

The others are close to harvest, too. I harvested most of them around F+80 last time. I'd like to try picking them a bit sooner this time.
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La Bomba (compound genetics): delicious smells and taste on this one. The effect, tough, could be boring to some, as it is very relaxing, and ot very cerebral/trippy/giggly. Good for late evening or medicinal use IMO.

Skywalker Kush and Space Monkey #7 are getting along well:
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Skywalker Kush is super sticky, Space Monkey super smelly.
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And I'm finishing this update with my two giants:
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I'm preparing the next session: clones of the same mothers are rooting, and I've popped 6 AfroBubble F3 (Power Malawi x Sour Bubble), by Atao Genetics.
I'm unsure if I shall start a new diary, on continue updating this one.

Any opinions welcome!
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
It's been a long time since the last update.
Everything is harvested, dry, and jared. About 220grams for this round. Less than what I'd have hoped for as I know I can pull up to 300W with this light, but OK given the harsh cold they suffered most of their life.

I'll post here a few pics of my Jamaicans.
They have been quite neglected lastly, as I didn't have much free time to look after them. Spider mites, drought... They suffered it all (and survived).
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I sprouted them about 130 days ago, 12/12 from seed.

JLB#1 (on the left), has wheaty, pearly buds. She suffered from spider mites a lot more than the other
Here is a closeup:

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I like #3 better:
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They smell similar: carrot, parsnip. Nice smell. Not super loud, but pleasurable and original.
Trichomes are starting to turn cloudy. I guess the harvesting window is open, at least for the top buds, but I think I'll be waiting 15-20 days more at least, to really let them get fully ripe.

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I'm debating wether I should cob them all...

Oh, and y the way, I've got a few AfroBubble in the veg room, almost ready to flip. It's a cross between Sour Bubble and Power Malawi. Should be fun. 100% success on germination. I have 6 of them. One is a mutant, the other ones are very vigorous, with a nice stem rub already.

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--------------------------------------------------------------
Smoke report: Pineapple express x Nepal Jam
Dry and cured 2 months, a mix of the 3 plants, vaped at 180°C.

The taste is deceiving, which is surprising regarding how loud the living plants were. There isn't much. A bit of honey, a little floral something. Maybe a faint bubblegum aftertaste.

Lack of taste was the main drawback of Ace's Nepal Jam, in my opinion. I have pollinated and grown 2 hybrids of it so far, and both deceived me in the smell/taste department. So I would tend to consider that unfortunate trait to be dominant...
The buds were leafy and a pain to trim. The end product is not very dense, and has low bag apeal for what it's worth.

However, the high is both strong and pleasurable. It's more trippy than Pineapple Express, and stronger than Nepal Jam. Laugh-inducing, creative, forgetful, with a couch-lock component to it, but not particularly sleepy. Makes you want to geek, read, watch movies, go walk the dog, and delay sleeping... "Active resting" could be an appropriate term.

I was surprised by the sativa dominance of the high, as both the lineage and the general aspect of the plants had led me to expect something more narcotic and less playful.

Overall, given the low smell/taste, I don't think I'll be growing it again nor working the line further, unless maybe as an openfield hashplant (as the airy structure, early harvest and fair amout of resin could make it good for both extractions and mold resistance). Unfortunately that is not an option right now.
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That Thai Chi #2 however... Mmmmmmh! I'm waiting for here to cure a bit more before I do a proper smoke report, but the first sessions were promising, and the smell is out of this world! Much better than the first one I grew!
 

kordo

Active member
Thanks for sharing, interesting reading.
I think about grafting since a time and it's nice to see that it seems to work even with cannabis.

Are you able to say if each branch still produce like its parent strain?

edit: jlb#3 looks much better
 

albertgriffiths

Well-known member
Thank you!

Are you able to say if each branch still produce like its parent strain?
Yes they do, as with apples, pears, tomatoes...
I actually flowered the grafted super-mother I showed, but in a shady part of the box as it was just meant to produce seeds.
Each branch stretched differently, smelled differently... But I couldn't get any viable pollen, so I culled it before it finished.

To me the biggest benefit of the technique would be grafting a good clone to a sturdy rootstock, for outdoor growing. So as to get all the vigour from a tap root + drought and pest resistance.

I sprouted a few nepal jams last week to use as rootstock... We'll see how it goes!
There are several ways of grafting 2 young plants (as they do commerically with tomatoes or eggplants, for instance). But I'm worried it might be hard to match a grown, woody cutting with a tiny, soft, seedling.

I'd love to try ACE's Lebanese or Morrocan as rootstock, as they're said to be very drought and heat resistant, but I'm afraid their semi-autoflowering traits would be problematic for the grafting process.
 
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