T
TheKalyxKid
Guest
Blue Himalaya 9 Weeks / 63 Days
"Palo Alto"
I trimmed out the bottom branches, got some popcorn buds to smoke.This is the only time I've really taken any leaves or buds that had a fighting chance. I'm convinced this sped things up and got better buds, but then my light is more intense now, and that is always the key in fast grows, ample light e.g. HPS.
I think this shows comparable results to a 250W light, I'm sure I can get more yield through more thorough cultivation, this is just decent potting soil, a few organic nutes like fish and seaweed applied lightly, and not too much flowering ferts either, lots of plain water, and once flowers are really going, I recycle the runoff with a plastic pipette, but I think a regular turkey baster would be faster.
This kind of fast draining organic medium and multiple waterings is tedious, but actually pretty easy, and you interact with the plants more often. This is probably one thing I do which may or may not be typical. The plants seems to grow a little after each mini-watering.
And I feel the draining action draws air down, I can hear the snap, crackle and pop while it happens, and more than the water or ferts, the air is getting to the roots. I am also trying to remember to aerate my water for a while before watering. I water a little to enthusiastically sometimes, but I never seem to get overwatering. I water sparingly every few days until they start to take off after week 3. No nutes, just let them be.
And here you can see the next crop, at 5 weeks. I tried to bend the main tip on the plant on the right, and it snapped. The stems are very brittle on these plants, not sure if that is normal. So I bent the taller tips and on that plant I have many tips in a flat canopy. This plant has very nice branching, and they all stretched to near the main power zone of the light. This made this 'happy accident' not so bad, but since this probably should have been done 1-2 weeks ago, not sure if I did a bad thing.
So I ended up supercropping by accident, so we'll see if that works with this strain. That's OK, they are big plants for some reason, and seem to be nearing the hump where the plants just don't care what happens, the point of no return. Anything before that will stunt flowering, I believe.
The one on the left I successfully bent twice, this plant is just one column of indica with big leaves. I kind of like that. You ccan see the main tip flaring up on the left. She is in a new pot that I will use, probably the same volume, but taller.
Edit: I remember now, I didn't squeeze and crush the stem, so it snapped. Gotta remember to crush it a bit before bending!
I think I will wait one more week to pollinate these ladies. I got some opened flowers into folded paper with two silica gel packets in there. I have two of those, so I can use the paint brush method on a selected lower branch. That should leave a good 4 more weeks to form good seeds.
Edit: I drew some lines so you can imagine how some of the branches are growing...I'm no Picasso mind you:
This is 100% LED, and I think we can say that they work fine. This is a flowering model, but it vegged these plants just fine, and they are short as hell (9-15"), but not stunted. I kept the light at least 12" high until they'd done their stretch. But then these 5 week old girls just grew into the light, and I hate moving the light because I don't have proper light hangers. Will order 2 sets with my next LED panel.
So I will turn the LED 90 degrees, and put another one next to it. You can get an idea of the sweet spot, and I can stagger the plants where the front row is offset from the back row, giving each plant a triangle to grow into, and I know there will be ample light everywhere in the tent.
I think I spent like $50 give or take with this tent, just a standard metal wardrobe from a big box store, power strip,old school timer with pins, USB Wind Fan (pictured), and a computer fan connected to an AC adapter, blowing through a hole I punched through the reflective material and the wardrove cover. I literally just used a blade. I taped the power strip to one of the the posts. This is total DIY on the cheap, and it can be put together pretty much anywhere in the world with common items. It's not 100% stealth, but that could be done with more work.
All the plants together. It's too crowded. I'm getting a second Blackstar when I can afford it.
Interestingly, pot size does not necessarily predict actual size. I am moving to some taller pots I found, or more likely, I ignored for some reason at the magical gardeners market I go to. I feel very blessed because this market somehow has just what I need in terms of everything I need but the lights.
Literally, there is one kind of fish emulsion, one kind of seaweed, an organic activator, and one guy that sells European potting soil. Lots of Neem, though. That makes me feel very comfortable, and I get to throw money at the nice vendors that recommended all the products I use.
Stay tuned for next week, we should be chopping these gorgeous Blue Himalayas and moving 2 Sweet Skunks into the flowering chamber. They are 3 weeks? I will report tomorrow, gotta get some of those tall pots. Also a Speed+ that is going weirdly. And...since this is perpetual, 2 Mohan Rams are sprouting and will begin their journey tomorrow as well. Or tonight, but I'm so lazy...
"Palo Alto"
I trimmed out the bottom branches, got some popcorn buds to smoke.This is the only time I've really taken any leaves or buds that had a fighting chance. I'm convinced this sped things up and got better buds, but then my light is more intense now, and that is always the key in fast grows, ample light e.g. HPS.
I think this shows comparable results to a 250W light, I'm sure I can get more yield through more thorough cultivation, this is just decent potting soil, a few organic nutes like fish and seaweed applied lightly, and not too much flowering ferts either, lots of plain water, and once flowers are really going, I recycle the runoff with a plastic pipette, but I think a regular turkey baster would be faster.
This kind of fast draining organic medium and multiple waterings is tedious, but actually pretty easy, and you interact with the plants more often. This is probably one thing I do which may or may not be typical. The plants seems to grow a little after each mini-watering.
And I feel the draining action draws air down, I can hear the snap, crackle and pop while it happens, and more than the water or ferts, the air is getting to the roots. I am also trying to remember to aerate my water for a while before watering. I water a little to enthusiastically sometimes, but I never seem to get overwatering. I water sparingly every few days until they start to take off after week 3. No nutes, just let them be.
And here you can see the next crop, at 5 weeks. I tried to bend the main tip on the plant on the right, and it snapped. The stems are very brittle on these plants, not sure if that is normal. So I bent the taller tips and on that plant I have many tips in a flat canopy. This plant has very nice branching, and they all stretched to near the main power zone of the light. This made this 'happy accident' not so bad, but since this probably should have been done 1-2 weeks ago, not sure if I did a bad thing.
So I ended up supercropping by accident, so we'll see if that works with this strain. That's OK, they are big plants for some reason, and seem to be nearing the hump where the plants just don't care what happens, the point of no return. Anything before that will stunt flowering, I believe.
The one on the left I successfully bent twice, this plant is just one column of indica with big leaves. I kind of like that. You ccan see the main tip flaring up on the left. She is in a new pot that I will use, probably the same volume, but taller.
Edit: I remember now, I didn't squeeze and crush the stem, so it snapped. Gotta remember to crush it a bit before bending!
I think I will wait one more week to pollinate these ladies. I got some opened flowers into folded paper with two silica gel packets in there. I have two of those, so I can use the paint brush method on a selected lower branch. That should leave a good 4 more weeks to form good seeds.
Edit: I drew some lines so you can imagine how some of the branches are growing...I'm no Picasso mind you:
This is 100% LED, and I think we can say that they work fine. This is a flowering model, but it vegged these plants just fine, and they are short as hell (9-15"), but not stunted. I kept the light at least 12" high until they'd done their stretch. But then these 5 week old girls just grew into the light, and I hate moving the light because I don't have proper light hangers. Will order 2 sets with my next LED panel.
So I will turn the LED 90 degrees, and put another one next to it. You can get an idea of the sweet spot, and I can stagger the plants where the front row is offset from the back row, giving each plant a triangle to grow into, and I know there will be ample light everywhere in the tent.
I think I spent like $50 give or take with this tent, just a standard metal wardrobe from a big box store, power strip,old school timer with pins, USB Wind Fan (pictured), and a computer fan connected to an AC adapter, blowing through a hole I punched through the reflective material and the wardrove cover. I literally just used a blade. I taped the power strip to one of the the posts. This is total DIY on the cheap, and it can be put together pretty much anywhere in the world with common items. It's not 100% stealth, but that could be done with more work.
All the plants together. It's too crowded. I'm getting a second Blackstar when I can afford it.
Interestingly, pot size does not necessarily predict actual size. I am moving to some taller pots I found, or more likely, I ignored for some reason at the magical gardeners market I go to. I feel very blessed because this market somehow has just what I need in terms of everything I need but the lights.
Literally, there is one kind of fish emulsion, one kind of seaweed, an organic activator, and one guy that sells European potting soil. Lots of Neem, though. That makes me feel very comfortable, and I get to throw money at the nice vendors that recommended all the products I use.
Stay tuned for next week, we should be chopping these gorgeous Blue Himalayas and moving 2 Sweet Skunks into the flowering chamber. They are 3 weeks? I will report tomorrow, gotta get some of those tall pots. Also a Speed+ that is going weirdly. And...since this is perpetual, 2 Mohan Rams are sprouting and will begin their journey tomorrow as well. Or tonight, but I'm so lazy...
.... happy seeding my friend.
