Photoperiod Death's Ceaseless Cycle

[Death The Cultivator]

Things are going well, accomplishing a third cycle is incredible from where everything started. At this point the thread is going to get boring until I get more genetics(Ace seeds!) but in the mean time I may germinate some Bangi Congo x Panama seeds I have as I do love Panama

Here is the way my cycle is going at this point

A=Odd number
B=Even number

Any cycle with an odd number is in the 5x5 tent under the 500w bridgelux 3000k fixture. Conversely, want cycle with an even number is related to the 4x4 using two 315w CMH fixtures. So in the future I may begin formatting with the following

Breeder/Strain(s): La Buena Hierba/Panama Haze+Copacabana
Cycle: 3
Day: 1
Light cycle: 12/12
EC/pH: 1.5/5.8
Temp/Humidity: 84f/65%

I'm actually two weeks early because I couldn't let that Diesel Deluxe in the middle get any taller but did not want to kill her. No issues being early as I have plenty of plants I can veg.

Diesel Deluxe

Copacabana Haze


I hate hand watering but it really doesn't get any easier than this so the hope is I can bring in around 6-10oz per plant for a total of 24-40oz in the B cycle. In the A cycle, this one, I'm hoping for 54-90oz with 9x 5 gallon pots.

Copacabana left and right rear, Diesel Deluxe middle and front right

Copacabana Haze

Now I do hope to reach the point that I'm only running one strain per tent aside from when I'm introducing something new. I do need to transition into creating bonsai mom's or at least not accidentally moving them to 5 gallons. My pot game is trash but I'll probably stick to plastic pots for moms with around 3 of each strain. I also started distributed the mites but I'm waiting to do the nematodes.

Copacabana Haze

 

[Death The Cultivator]

It has been a long time! The work garden has kept me busy and away from the home grow with long hours. So there are some updates but I'm happy to report that the spider mites are just about eradicated.

First, these spider mites have become such a nuisance with Cycle two being subpar and the death of two Copacabana Haze plants. At this point I am alternating between Neem and Castile every two days with temps in the mid 70's. I don't foresee having to kill anything this cycle as I'm seeing a positive reduction in leaf damage overall. So with less stippling I am also observing less red and early flowering in addition to improved vigor. I'll keep on this regimen until bud development really gets going as I believe these are closer to 11 week finishers.

In regards to the cycle itself I see room for improvement in several areas. With the best cycle I will be increasing plant could a bit to really capitalize on canopy. In the 5x5, I will increase the could to 9x 5 gallon plants and 6x 5 gallons in the 4x4. Hopefully I'll reach a point where I can do homogenous cycles of the same cultivar as the Copacabana Haze bushes very well but the Diesel deluxe would be better with 12x 5 gallons. Not sure on what proper yields look like with any of these strains but I'm hoping for 6-10oz per plant when everything goes well.

Everything is doing very well on this cycle despite some hiccups though I believe I need to do a final prune, I probably won't. I have 6x Panama Haze to transplant for Cycle 4 that is finishing in about two weeks. Cycle 5 is going to be 9x Panama Haze as it has a pretty potent smoke/cob experience despite all the issues. However this could be the final run of the Diesel Deluxe and Copacabana Haze if the smoke doesn't end up being good.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the state of my veg and youngest flower space but I want to see my yields return to 2018 2+lbs per run. The hunt for incredible sativas will continue as I have some Ace Bangi Congo x Panama that I'm itching to germinate.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

This cycle went to shit lol. Have no clue where anything really wrong but I can't assume it was the frequency of irrigation and maybe spider mites but they have budded beyond this point. The images are from about a week ago, they are still alive and getting fuller while drinking every other day. Been incredibly busy with the grow at work and I wouldn't say these were neglected but the overall situation was bad. I did kill those two Copacabana Haze to knock down a massive spider mites infestation but these probably were affected to a lesser degree.

It's nice to think about what could have been better for this run but in the mean time I have been making micro adjustments. I've switched back to General Hydroponics MaxiGro and MaxiBloom as I truly prefer A+B formulations for nitrogen control in flower. Plus this is much simpler with a 1-2g per liter feeding and no crossing between stages of growth, also going to change the pH range in veg to 6.0 and 6.3 in flower as there is much more nutrients availability. I just don't like Mega Crop every time I've used it, my veg is never impressive and flower is just okay.

I'm also switching to TerraGrow to replace the Growpito Beneficials as it is a much better price - 8oz of GB is $40 vs $110 for TG at 64oz with everything GB has aside from mycorrhizae, trichoderma, and yucca. The price is much better with it being almost triple the price for GB compared to TG. Another pain point I need to work through is getting a wetting agent but I'm not decided on what I want yet otherwise slowly working on getting to a true SOG in both spaces with hand watering. I really need an aerocloner but it has been a tragic tale of failure as it seems the universe doesn't want me doing 100 clones in a 5x5 and 64 in the 4x4.

I also retained some Ace Seeds Bangi Congo x Panama that I will probably germinate soon while I determine if any of these LBH strains are worth keeping. Anyways, I believe this Panama is a 10 week cultivar so there are around 13 days left. With sativas, I routinely adjust the light cycle from

12/12 - week 1-5
11/13 - week 6-8
10-14 - week 9-11

Though I have my eye on some 16 week cultivars but only if I have everything perfect the way I want it.

They ugly as fuck btw. TLDR: I'm getting my shit together

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Finally cycle 2 is done with some murder happening but done nonetheless. Looked like around 8oz overall but we'll see when it dries. Terps are pretty good with a mix of sweet, nutmeg, and something else. All the leaves pretty much died though I am off the believe that these were about 9 weeks to finish anyway. I also lowered the light scheduled down to 10/14 in the last two weeks where I saw the plants reflower.

I will say this, Mega Crop never works super well for me but I am loving Sweet Candy and I have a 7lb bag on the way. Very impressed by the MaxiGro considering the ammonium nitrate seems to be truly impressive. Beautiful new shoot growth that is a vibrant green started occurring when I switched and now I'm hooked though I sort of fucked myself. MaxiGro and Bloom are $130 a piece for 16lbs. More expensive than mega Crop but I'm past worrying about the cost of nutrients especially when each container would make over 2800 gallons.

Otherwise, harvest went well and I've moved 6 Panama Haze in 5 gallon pots to the 4x4 space. The veg area is pretty empty now but I have clones of Panama Haze that will fill the 5x5 when the next cycle finishes at the end of February. I need to transplant a lot of plants and get some more Coco prepped but I think this perpetual is off to a good start.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Here we go again. Mothafuckas always growing some shit...

6x Panama Haze in 5 gallons of Coco running

MaxiGro - until week 3 at a 1.8ec/6.0ph
MaxiBloom - week 4 to harvest at 1.8-2.4ec/6.3ph
Greenleaf Nutrients Sweet Candy
2x 315 CMH lights
Growpito Beneficials - bi weekly drench
Weekly Castile soap foliar
82f/60% rh
9-10 weeks seems fair for a finishing time so the middle of April it is.

Plants were bottom pruned prior to entering the 4x4 and maybe receive another in three weeks. They are gorgeous and lush already.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Just a quick update. I also found root aphids on some clones, apparently these and fungus gnats are common in Coco. I will be purchasing some
Beauveria bassiana - (1.0 lb) Amazon product ASIN B08YQRK2K4 to treat the problem

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Getting near that time to start pruning the lower branches but I'll give it a week. 7lb bag of Greenleaf Nutrients Sweet Candy came today and I believe I will order a bag of Koolbloom soon to complement the GH Maxi Series. Thinking about transitioning back to Growpito as I believe I can restore all of it with a heavy dose of nematodes and Bassiana - of the opinion it was filled with root aphids. It will be a slow transition as Coco is so easy I don't want to have anymore mistakes but I do prefer Growpito.

The ladies look amazing, lush greeny looking all around. Being hit with MaxiGro until about week 4 and just gave them a foliar of Castile as I found some young clones with stippling and eggs on some leaves. I'd like to invest in an ozone machine as I could kill everything in the Growpito and sterilize equipment much better. Have 9 more Panama to go into the 5x5 but I'm out of 5 gallon pots so only 2/9 are in them already.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

An excellent miscalculation on my end but with the clones I cut out 15% time to harvest - so I was on time lol. It has been awhile since my last update, long work hours and a car accident have created some delays. Pretty excited with the way the Copacabana Haze turned out but I absolutely hate the structure of the Diesel Deluxe cut I kept. It's taken me awhile to get everything growing well but I'm finally getting back there.

The Diesel Deluxe just has a bad structure and smells like a locker room. I'm keeping cuts just in case but I'm hard pressed to not kill this off. Copacabana Haze turned out well and I'm sure I could do it even better without root aphids but not a bad grow overall, smells great and I love the overall structure.

Not much else to say but thanks for following.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

This was some bullshit that I overcame lol. So a few weeks ago I was watering in at a 4.7ph for who knows how long until I discovered my meter had went out of calibration. I fixed it with a strong flush but the damage was already done. Now I have a great hate for defoliation under the common belief that the plant doesn't need all the leaves or that it improves yield. I don't think it is necessary unless there is a concern for mold and or pest. So, when all this happened with my pH I was actually very happy to have not removed any leaves or branches because my the time the plants recovered from the issues I still had more than enough leaves left.

About day 21 I switched over to a 2.4ec 6.3ph solution of the MaxiBloom along with Sweet Candy. Today they'll be receiving a treatment or Bassiana to deal with the root. They are doing very well and I'm pleased the with current bud development, I believe we're on track for another decent harvest. I do wish I had put 9 plants in instead of 6 but I think we're all good.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Glad to be here at this point. This was an excellent veg with the smallest plants being late transplants. Many delays presented themselves due to the spider mites and root aphids I've finally exterminated. This run involves 8 Panama Haze and 1 Diesel Deluxe in the left corner. She is mother and because my life circumstances could change I withheld some Panama Haze from this cycle.

Everything was already in 5 gallons or freshly transplanted so I'm giving everything Week to transition. They're all treated with nematodes and Bassiana in 100% Coco using 2.4ec and 6.2ph MaxiGro with Sweet Candy. I can't gush enough about how much I love GLN's SC.