As posted in the past, am not a fan of seedling shots that go nowhere.
The plants that were 30 days along the path, all died over the week I had to be away for emergency surgery. New group was started in the MugGrow Sips, that made an appearance in the previous journal, on August 1…
Had started with 5H Club genetics again to search for a mom candiate. Had a short variety that I was looking to find. Decided to give the Raw Cookies x Raw Cookies a try, they were won last Spring and haven’t been tried yet.
What to expect this season:
Netcup wick sips
Upsize netcup wick system
Fabric & basket wick platforms
Grafted moms to hold keepers
Perpetual cycle growing out grafted selections
I suggest the 1080p, especially enjoyed this on the Roku with the big screen and sound system.
The first to show popped up in 3.75 days, the fastest tracked so far.
Waiting on the second tweaks the average but still less than 5 (fingers crossed).
Still waiting at day 8 for any signs of germination from the second RC shown last week.
This is 4.5 days after the previous photo for the first early sprout. Nice and tight.
The problem with the mugs is there are only 2 of them… not quite enough at times or if one is
a slow starter as is happening now, and you want to begin the next set.
More dollar store innovations… The egg holder - decided to abandon the top and drill holes in the bottoms of each cup. It floats in the middle with room on each side. 1 liter into the main res fills all the cups to just below the rim.
Position the netcups so the wick hangs into any water filled cup. This is with 3 of the 3.75 size but can fit a 5 inch size also. The two end cups were fully dry media at start and 8 hours were saturated (a bit wet?) but with the larger res should only need filling once a week.
Have been running these in the bloom area. Only half the strips are turned on, they are at same wattage level as the veg area would use. Plants (not sprouters) get raised up to the scrog level for now. It’s a bit shaky but there’s no loose water in anything that isn’t sitting on the floor. If the mug turns over it’s contained in the tub.
The Raw Cookies (RC) is approaching week 2, in the next week it will get topped for the first time. The second seed still hasn’t done anything after 15 days in soil. Considering the 50% loss in mailing, 50% germination rate, 50% m/f chance, this has a long way to go to find a successful harvest…
Am not seeing the root growth of previous use of the mugs. This one is just starting to put a few out the bottom of the netcup. Since watering in tea settled the topsoil layer, added about a half inch of fresh media to help feed it up a bit the next week or two until moving up to larger size.
The first of the house strain jumped up in 4.5 days, but the second took a full 7 days to show up.
Put 2 more beans in soil last night. These will be the root stock for grafting. Depending on how they sex out, might keep a branch of the lemon around. These seeds are from the first stressed out Sweet Lemon, but it’s clone didn’t get stressed and was even better in quality. Not planning on keeping if herms again, but the root stock can’t pass that on.
The next round got ahead of the averages and had 4 plants above soil in 5 days.
Being that close together they will be treated as the same week in scheduling.
One of the SL root stock went wacky. The first set of leaves that would normally be 90 degrees from the cotyledons are pointing the same direction and covering them.
Finally… put a set of tubs into the bloom box to judge the fit. The tubs themselves shouldn’t have to be moved, but will allow the plants in fabric containers to be rotated or positioned as needed within the confines of the tub.
Poor little RC dud has not shown any movement in a month. Longest was 40 days that eventually sprouted but have no time for that nonsense anymore (too many seeds that want a chance).
Topped one and the other was a leaner. Wrapped a strip of panda film (black out) around the root zones to block light and add a bit of warmth (possibly?) but it has increased the root action out the sides of the netcups.
These two are both short and slower in developing. Moved them into the mugs but that is having a minimal effect on them. They also have a bit of odd coloration on the leaves.
Sticking to the schedule, they’ve all been topped at standardized date.
Not having enough larger netpots on hand went with the tubs previously used with wicks.
They only fit a pair to a quadrant, as the next stage will use a tub per plant like the RC is enjoying.
After they show sex will decide who moves up. These 4 tubs used the last of last years soil supply.
Have a brand new bag for next stages.
The mugs now have the next beans that should appear any day now.
The Raw Cookies is forming up to an nice compact bush. The root growth has increased, and this one didn’t have any cover crop to add extra out the sides.
The second round group is a month old, not much to look at after trimming other than the stem sizes.
The older two have roots out the bottom where there are openings. They stay about 1/2 inch long and air prune only to be replaced.
The Starkiller at 10 days isn’t much to look at yet. The cat grass shot up, was clipped, and shot up again, yet broke soil the same time. In the background the untrimmed plants from above (two of them anyway)…
Had rain half a day today, but mid 90’s by the weekend…
Wanted the wick pads to have added thickness, staples will probably need replacing if rusted. There is a lip around top to allow air circulation, and space between the strips. The egg top can be removed and the basket still sits on top, but then there’s nothing to hold the strips in contact with the basket.
I’ve used this basket in previous grow through flower, and have also transplanted this basket size into fabric containers (with and without root trimming). Moving up from the 5 inch netcup, below is 2.5 inches of new soil, and a few inches around the upper root ball position. Put a teaspoon of the grow tea in each corner for later consumption.
The basket here is using one of the smaller reservoir tubs (for the moment) and gives 2 to 2.5 inches of water capacity, and the larger would hold more volume of water in the same height factor. Moved the Starkiller up from the mug to the 5 inch size and started a new pair of seeds in the schedule.
When RC recovers it will get another topping and grafts will be started.
Once the soil is moist it doesn’t go anywhere. You can wash it out watering from the top with teas and such.
In the photo it’s just after transplant and the soil is still dry. Had to add extra padding under the tub as it wasn’t absorbing quite enough.
The Starkiller has the netcup sitting on top of a platform inside the tub and the other tub root stock will get a similar setup so they have an individual reservoir rather than share a common drinking vessel. When they were small they fit two to a water supply, but they are starting to crowd each other (until trimmed and grafted) and individual containers would allow them a bit more space.
The RC was bushing out nicely, selected the sites to provide grafts and started to clean up in preparation to flip and stumbled across what I didn’t want to see…
Wasn’t really happy with the wicking of that particular basket. This will let me get in and examine the saturation level and how the roots propagated. It might work better with the wick inside the basket in direct contact with the soil.
At the widest point the Rx bottles are 2 inches, the tub on tops sits at a slight slant. For the most part it is stable and water containment secure. The roots are blasting out the bottom and I want to see how well it filled out from the 3.5 inch netcup size that was transplanted.
Cleaned up the root stock group. The ones with baggies are the grafts. The SL_1 and 5H_A got grafts of their strain siblings (5H_A got 5H_B and SL_1 got SL_2) as well as a RC graft that was later removed for reason stated at start of this entry…
The two non-graft plants will be moved to fabric containers and flipped. They’ve been topped was going to veg them a couple more weeks, but now they’ll just go into flower cycle to get it back on track.
The basket didn’t wick quite as well as anticipated. The saturation layer was just above the ‘new soil’ line and the top remained dry. The roots spread wide across the bottom and were just reaching the outside.
Moved a pair of the tubbed group up to fabric containers to be flipped very soon. These had thick roots poking out the corners and where the strips passed through the tub. This was what remained after an inversion and shake loose method of transplant.
The root ball was fairly solid across the entire block. The orange lines show the trimmed off section used on one of them, the other was dropped untrimmed into the destination.
The orange dashed line shows the saturation point of the fabric. It will wick and you can feel it’s moist but not wet up the sides of the container. Have already had to tie down one branch that has a few extra grow tips and once flipped they will stretch a bit and fill out.
(Still haven’t a 100% guarantee of sex but signs point to females)
The Sweet Lemons are both females. The Club pair haven’t shown but counting them also female until they go nuts.
The grafts are still not looking well and will consider a repeat.
The flower area set to 13 on 11 dark this season (normal 12/12). Not much growth yet but can start training into scrog level canopy. The fabric containers are wicking well and should work out. They got their first tea but not really needing it yet.
The Starkiller got transplanted at day 30 into a plastic #1 container (1 gallon size in my mind). Put 3 wicks out and across the bottom. The root mass got shaved off each side to give more fresh soil around it in the new pot.
There was a winding of roots around the top level of the net cup just above where the holes start (because they weren’t air pruned).
Putting this size netcup into the tubs gives good humidity and a bit of light protection and the roots don’t prune right away.
Put the two SNoHi into 5 inch netcups with res tubs of their own. A bit earlier than scheduled in the past, but they had good root development in the mugs but it’s time for something else to use the mugs.
For those not involved, the power went off at midnight (12:30 actually) Wednesday and remained off 40 hours.
Not knowing duration and updates unavailable they spent the first 30 hours in the dark and the second day were put in shaded sunlight for the day. Returned to their regular cycle that evening. They are a bit off but hope to recover.
One of the bloom group finally showed male and was chopped. The outage was in week 1 and that’s better than a previous outage that would have fallen in week 8 of bloom and decided to chop early, but it didn’t happen and they could have gone the full 60 days instead of 50 something…
Moving them into the sunny place, one of the mugs fell over and spilled the soil. I could see the seedling just starting to uncoil, so scooped it back into the cup and it all worked out but it’s a bit off center from where it was planted.
The 5H_root hasn’t shown sex yet… Starkiller and the other Sweet Lemon will be the next to flip, probably 2 weeks… SNo pair just got topped, but show more petiole length on the fan leaves than most of the other stock. The wicking tubs working still. Have reworked the rectangular baskets with new wicks for better saturation, will see how they test out.
Moving the SL_2 up from tub size to the green basket. This was in the tub 44 days and the roots were considerable. Then took the knife and skillfully hacked away an inc slab around and from bottom…
Tried to leave a bit of the chives, they got buried a bit in the process…
Fresh soil all around and it’s own wick reservoir. Moved one of the SNo up from 5 inch netcup to tub setup for same type of root structure. The other is acting like it’s too wet but hasn’t ever looked really vigorous…
At day 62 the rootstock hasn’t shown sex… not sure if that’s good or bad but it’s not in the lineup yet…
The failed male hasn’t had any water since it was chopped a week ago and still the chives persist… you can lift it by the stalk and it’s really light yet holds together as a root ball.
The Star was starting toothpick size roots out the lower openings (both with and without wicks). Up top the branching is getting thick and needs training. Velcro tape to the side of the container with FlexGlue to hold the velcro tie downs. In the past I’ve used the large clips (see green basked photo above) and adjusted the wires to the loop handles.
The Sweet Lemon has reached week 2 of bloom cycle (with brief hiccup) and seems happy. There are roots up to the saturation line and should start air pruning. Have started the teas for the bloom area. The recent transplants won’t need it for a few weeks yet. Next week might add another inch of fresh soil on top as that’s a non-application week on the tea schedule.
The Star is all show and after the major fan leaves go needs to take it’s shape for bloom. Might scrog if tie downs aren’t enough. STILL have not sexed this plant but it’s taking over and this will show and continue or get the same fate as the last plant in that position inside the box…
Well the last round of outages spared us (less than 5 min drive it was dark), but they’ve alerted again and is possible we’ll finish this week and start next week without. The Star was a beefy male but needed to go and the other Sweet Lemon was promoted in the basket to that spot.
The SL_1 got a leaf strip up to canopy level and most of the stretch should be over. Added the extra soil layer on top and watered it in this week instead of the tea feed it would usually get. Upgraded the reservoir to the larger size tub that holds a bit more in reserve.
Decided to upgrade the tubs with velcro tie downs and go from 3 inch netcup to tub size.
There is a bit of root circling around the bottom and sides but the trim & transfer method seems to work.
The root stock plant at day 73 has been in the tub at least 60 days. The roots are starting to come up to the surface and air prune. The upper growth has slowed quite a bit. It should be transplanted but still hasn’t shown sex…
The SNo and 5G pair got topped. The 5G pair transplanted into their new tubs.
An example of the tie downs in action.
Additional pair of seeds in ground 3 days and should pop up any time.
Just a different strain of mystery plant that has an origin story (not interesting at all)
Lastly…
PrimoKush has left us. His YouTube channel was a great gathering while it lasted. It was from his show that I won my first seeds of quality origin. Aloha
5H Club Carving & Climbing
Over in the veg area the root mom was in need of some new soil. The roots were packed and stopped coming out the bottom like freshly transferred plants.
Put it into a 1 gallon fabric container like the Sweet Lemon. Will top and put into bloom soon (still no sex showing). The SNo will have a couple more weeks and get the same (upgrade container and bloom prep). There are a pair of mystery seeds that haven’t shown after 11 days, but a pair of Raw Cookie x Sniper are in the mugs for a run.
Moved the 5G pair into bloom box for sexing and stretch testing. When they show is about the time to move the root plant from veg. At week 4 the Sweet Lemon is stacking up nicely (but got a bit stretchy).
The tops are starting to frost up and the bud sites are stacking up. Some of the larger fan leaves will go but there’s good air flow and light penetration. Doesn’t seem to be any ill effects from the extended dark periods it received in flower.
The upper colas are still within growth range and won’t get the bend and flop or other such treatment.
It did expand a bit outside it’s footprint but still leaving room for a couple more around it. The second Sweet Lemon is more contained to the basket shape footprint. At week 2 it will probably reach the same canopy level as the other in the next couple weeks.
The pair of 5G that were in the box last week to sex got too big to fit comfortable so back in the veg area to train and top until they behave. The 5H_rootmom wasn’t doing much but taking up room so it went into the bloom box to sex and either run or cull as needed.
The second Sweet Lemon is shaping up much like the first in structure. It’s still stretching and should finish about the same height as the other. The rootmom just started and unknow if it will finish.
The Sweet Lemon at 5 weeks in has rooted up the saturation zone almost to the top. The other in the basket (lined with weed barrier cloth) has also shown a few roots out the sides without the cloth but not the bottom yet.
The 5G pair are showing really fat leaves (not a mother trait) and spreading them out creates a large footprint. They’ve been topped but not sexed yet so it’s a waiting game. Almost 30 days and don’t have any seedlings coming up to take their place. One set at 15 days got chucked… second pair at 10 days (in photo) and nothing but the cover crops (so know the soil is fine)… Some more special beans at 2 days and hopeful…
A closeup of the beefy one. The arms are AAA battery size and have a feeling this one is a stretchy kind in flower.
It’s been shooting roots since last transplant out the bottom (other one not so much or as frequent).
The Sweet Lemon is still bulking. Removed the Rootmom as not productive to end result needed.
The second is moving along very silimar in structure. The reservoirs all got a good clean and and wipe down to eliminate both the BTI bits, slime and green ick.
The orange line indicates the mounding in the center of the soil. The basket’s handles are too large to make a cloth layer work with minimal material. When transplanting the SNo from tub size to similar basket, the slabs sliced off the side of the root ball in trimming fit well across this opening up to the top rim of the basket. Nice even soil layer…
This coming week the SNo will be shoved into the flower box, next week 5G get transplanted, topped and wait until the first Sweet Lemon reaches harvest. Have a pair in the mugs working on a week of sunshine…
Exhaling In Relief…
