Coffin_Dodger's Continuous Chronicles of Cultivating Chaos

[Coffin_Dodger]

Hey, everybody!

Hope everyone and their gardens are doing well as we dive into the best time of year: Spooky Season!
Definitely a more dialed-in, steady week for us here, with little to no major slips or tangles. We were happy to start the week taking a peek under the hood on a couple plant-sites, to find tap-roots floating along in the current. Those wisps became full on within about 36 hours. We’re seeing consistent, noticeable veg growth anytime we go 10+ hours without looking at them. Houston, we’re ready for lift-off!
Here are their canopies on 10.15:

And less than 36 hours later:

The babies are established enough to take more direct wind, so the second S6 oscillating fan was set to 45/15 at level 4, alternating off-periods with the lower S6, which itself is angled above the canopy, more for airflow than meristem and branch hardening at this stage. Both are controlled on seperate ports of ACI Controller 69 Pro WiFi “Anzu”.
We also played with Photone to dial our light up to ~25% power, ~18 DLI, ~270-300 PPFD. We have needed to use the space heater, mostly during their dark cycle, to maintain temperatures in the 70s.

The babies have responded well, with the left-side of the tent showing our favorites of either cultivar, so far. @JustTieflingThings has a theory about the proximity of the humidifier to that side, but we can’t be sure. Negan’s Bat are in the back, and Doctor Seedsman are up front.

Here are the NB just a few hours ago:

…and the DSCBD30:1:

We did not feed or change the res this week, as they have plenty of available food, temperature has not been a concern, and the solution level has only dropped negligibly. We plan on changing the res next “weekend.”
We also plan on topping or FIMing in the coming week, and starting some low-stress testing/training, as we get the little ones ready for our first SCROG. They grow up so fast, but we’re resolved to do what we need to and keep them in line this time!

Barebones Stats

• 25 Days from seed.
• The NB are showing a nice, fat broad-leaf structure, with tight vertical growth and a widened stance, even in the one that was left a bit taller than we intended at transplant. We are keeping eyes on it’s first true leaves, as they seem to have suffered a bit, and may need early pruning.
  The DSCBD30:1 are both spreading out less than the NB seem to be tending toward, and the runt of the lot is working hard to catch up, only a little behind any others in development.
• Light at ~25% power, ~18 DLI, ~270-300 PPFD.
• Steady read on the HM-100 of 69.5-70.5 * F, 1200 ppm and a 6.0 pH which occasionally bumps to 6.1 momentarily. No res change/feed this week.
• Averaging ~73.9 * F, 66.9 % RH, .93 kPa VPD. With minimal use of the space heater, we are seeing a negligible differential between Light and Dark Cycles.

In other grow-related news, mail drops have been good for us this week, with the arrival of letters from @Kgrim (Boosted Biscotti x Runaway Bride #8 and Twisted Seeds BB Indica F2) , @Abukeif (Phoenix Seeds Good Shit Fem Auto) and @DougDawson (GG4 x C99). Thank you all for your generosity, and look out for tags here soon enough, when we go lookin’ for what’s inside each wonderful little seed!

And, as always, Thank you(!) for reading along, any questions, advice, constructive feedback, or dropping us a little encouragement. Off to the grind for now, and looking forward to next week!

Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[Coffin_Dodger]

Hey, hey, everybody!
Hope everyone is doing well a week out from Halloween! May the Great Pumpkin smile on all your gardens!
It was a busier week around ours, as the babies continued really taking off. We had their first solution change/feed scheduled, along with an inclination that we would be topping most or all of them for the first time. Some developments led to additional steering.
Here they are after four days of coasting along through my work week while @JustTieflingThings manned the helm and kept things steady.

The silicate and extra wind have shown great effect on the meristems of all the girls, though they’re still a bit short to really start training much, as far as we can tell. We do plan on bending them a bit in the next few days, however.
DSCBD 30:1 Left to Right, #FW and #LG

NB Left to Right, #FD and #QT

The weekends work started on Sunday with a solution drain and feeding. Our water was a bit harder than usual, but @JustTieflingThings did a great job draining, and we came out at 6.2 pH, 68.5 * F, and 1350 PPM, or EC 2.7 We have noticed the pH sliding upwards since feeding, and have dosed several times since with GH pH DOWN in 10-20ml dosages. We have seen fluctuation between pH 5.8 and 6.4, averaging 6.1
All four have continued to throw tight nodal spacing, remaining low and bushy, so lights have not been adjusted yet this week. We have begun to see a majority of 5- and 7-blade leaves, though the Negan’s Bat was showing a lot of trifoliate in the first couple weeks. The first set of 5-blades on NB #QT (back left from the front of the tent) grew to a staggering size, as highlighted by the Bic for scale in the before shots of this weekends work. When we lifted these leaves to inspect the rest of the plant, we found strange, extremely dense growth underneath. The other NB looks to be exhibiting the same trait. This seems excessively bushy, though. Hmmm…

We took some of the other slightly troubled leaves from a few of the plants, and topped both DSCBD30:1 #LG and NB #FD. DSCBD30:1 #FW, the runt, was FIMmed. We ate the tops and, while @JustTieflingThings was not surprised by the DSCBD30:1 taste, the NB I ate had plenty of rich, peppery spice that developed in the back of my mouth for sometime. Over all, the smells from both were very spicy/earthy.
After consideration, we decided to let NB #QT recover from taking the big leaves before we top that plant, later this week.

And the after-trim group shot:

We have also edited automation on the controllers to allow a higher VPD, now solidly in vegetative stages of growth. We are now set at a VPD of .90
We will probably be assembling, if not also preemptively installing the SCROG screen today.

Here are individual shots of each plant.
DSCBD30:1 #LG

DSCBD30:1 #FW

NB #QT

NB #FD

Barebones Stats

• 32 Days from seed ~18 Days of Vegetative Growth.
• The NB are both showing a density of growth we are not familiar with, so tight as to mostly be entirely hidden and cramped beneath the more typical fan leaves, if enormous in some cases. Any advice there is deeply appreciated. The DSCBD30:1 are both cruising right along, and all plants seem to have been minimally phased by the stress this week. There is some slight tip burn present through out, though that may be tied to our base water quality more than anything, and has been present every grow. Again, advice is appreciated!
• Light at ~25% power, ~18 DLI, ~270-300 PPFD. We have not yet adjusted this week, as vertical growth has not been an issue. This is also to allow for recovery time.
• We continued the GH TRIO Medium Feed Schedule for Vegetative Week 3. Our base PPM was 530. We are averaging 6.0 pH, 71 * F, and 1350 PPM (2.7 EC)
• Averaging ~74.3 * F, 66.4 % RH, .96 kPa VPD.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

In other news, Jessi the Mail Cat was pleased to drag in a letter from @Rhai88 , after we caught a giveaway courtesy him and @SkunkIE on the Ryknows Discord server, for 3x the Soap x Chernobyl fem photo seeds from Trichome Bros. Thanks again, y’all, and everyone else- Go check out the discord! Starting to get crowded for next year’s line-ups! I think our humble bean collection has even passed 20 different cultivars!
And, as always, dear readers- THANK YOU(!) for following, tossing any comments, questions, constructive feedback, advice, or even simple encouragement our way, and for whatever work and projects you got done this week, whether for the good of you and yours, or the greater community!
Back to the grindstone for me, but hey- Next week is vacation and my birthday! Hooray, feeling your age!

Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[JustTieflingThings]

@Coffin_Dodger you left out one of the best parts!!!

We wound up with a nice little bundle of leaves from Trim The First. So for dinner I made some cheesey quesadillas and pico de gallo with cannabis leaves instead of cilantro.

It works really well! Highly recommend especially if you don’t like cilantro. It has the same bite without being bitter or soapy tasting.
Goddam I love this plant.

[Coffin_Dodger]

Heyhey, everybody!

Happy Halloween, or as we prefer in our house, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everyone here and all your people are well and warm, and that all your projects and gardens are running just as you’d have them. We had a busy week with my birthday and a Halloween party (where we took Best Couples Costumes) and are just gearing up for a hell of a vacation.
But y’all came here for plants, eh?

This week has been a big one for the garden, too, even while the babies coast happily along. We’ve got both DSCBD30:1 showing pre-flower, feminized as they are. Both have taken on much more “open” structures, with DSCBD30:1 #FW seeming not only to have fully recovered from her bit of a rough start, but to have taken the best to topping of any of the plants so far. DSCBD30:1 is still at a slight lead, and has sprung up with pre-flowers all over her slightly bushier, rounded build.

Sexing the Negan’s Bat has been a bit dicey, with the sheer density of both plants making it hard to see, and giving full-shade to the nodes, presumably slowing overall development at those sites. They both continue to throw huge beautiful fan leaves, and we’ve taken a couple more of those to encourage the undergrowth to elongate.
HUGE fans, deep serrations, peppery smells, and DENSITY remain the name of the game with these two, even the one on stilts (NB #FD.)

Through all that mass, however, I think we’ve spotted pistils on NB #QT. New at this as we may be, we’re pretty sure NB #FD is a boy, with pre-sacs showing, such as these:

Are we wrong? Are those just growth tips? Help in early sexing is most appreciated, as unfortunately we’re shooting for a sensi run this go around, and have no way to take proper care (or make good use) of a male

We’re damn well not playing with them out-growing our whole tent setup this time around, and have brought out the big guns to ensure we keep the upper hand in what will be the coming war.

I present our first and best line of defense, familiar to many of you, and new to us: The ScrOG!

I built it from 2x10’ lengths of 3/4" Sch 12 PVC and 4x 3 way 90 * T’s, setting the net at 3" spacing, and setting the leg cuts to a height of about 20" from the ground, to allow about 8.5" of under-canopy, per NorthernScrogger’s tec. I cut the lengths a bit too long, but @JustTieflingThings saved the day with proper process, and I shaved a few inches off the day before installation (hadn’t accounted for the additional length of the T’s.) It fits snug, adding extra support to the tent as a whole, and we may not need to zip-tie it down. We’ll see.

We have also dialed the light up to 30% output and set it to 35.5" from the top of the screen, to entice these babies to come on up and get tucked in. This has landed us at a PPFD read of ~(350-400 PPFD) and a DLI of ~(18-20.5).

There has been no feeding yet this week, as the solution is still running a little “hot” nutrient-wise, and the plants seem to be uptaking well. Temperature in the reservoir has not been a concern with the sudden shift in the weather outdoors here.
There is a definite spike downward on our overall environment due to that seasonal shift outside, but keeping the babies within +/- 5-10 % RH and * F has been fairly easy going. Spikes have been minimal and easy enough to smooth out.

Barebones Stats:

• 39 Days from seed ~25 Days of Vegetative Growth.
• Both DSCBD30:1 showing pre-flower and recovering beautifully from first toppings. Both have been trimmed a bit. NB #QT is more than likely also female from what we can tell, and still keeping tight, dense, closed structure overall. She (?) has still not been topped (yet.) NB #FD - MALE? See pictures above.
• HLG 600 RSpec raised to 35.5" above ScrOG and dialed up to 30% power, for PPFD 350-400 and 18/6 DLI of 18-20.5
• Solution steady around pH 6.1 , 68.5 * F and 1360 PPM (~2.7 EC.) No feed this week.
• Averaging 73.8 * F, 67.7 %RH, VPD 0.973 kPa

In other news, my birthday was in the last few days, and I usually take a vacation around now and May Day. In addition to extra time in the garden, some projects around the house and just plain relaxing, I’m hoping to get a second update in this week, with some smoke reports from last grow, some of the prep for starting Kratky hydroponic-style veggies, and our second attempt at making bubble/ice hash. Been reading up on and watching video of @JoeCrowe 's tecs to help with that last bit. Our last (and first ever) attempt gave us only a tiny return, though it may have been damned from the start for having harvested way too early (among other factors.)

Thanks, as always to everyone offering encouragement, watching along, or otherwise coming along for the ride! Questions, comments, constructive feedback, and even simple views are greatly appreciated and keep us happily trucking along and learning as much as we can!

Happy Halloween, Happy New Year, and most of all-

Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[JoeCrowe]

Some plants don’t produce much hash at all. I’ve had ones that yield a single gram off a kilo of buds. I get rid of plants like that. So far the best one I’ve got is 3% or 30 grams per kilo. Many of them are just <2%.

[Coffin_Dodger]

The man himself! Thanks for checking in. I think I have a return value written in old notes somewhere, but I can totally see that being the case. Is simply being more visibly trichome heavy a big factor? We have also included a lot of trim in our frozen stash. Should we wash the stuff of known lesser quality separately?
I think we have close to a kilo, again, notes aren’t handy, and while the overall grow was much better than the one before, it’s mostly lowers. Not expecting anything crazy, but something of a less… Viscous nature is what I’m shooting for. Hahah.
Thanks again.
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[JoeCrowe]

Trim will definitely lower the yield and increase plant fibers. Lower buds yield the same gram for gram as the main colas. The thing about the trichomes is… If the buds look frosty that means the trichomes are bigger than .5mm/500 microns/micrometers. Because the human eye has real problems seeing things less than half a millimeter in size. The “look” of it to the human eye doesn’t mean anything.

This bud yields less than this other scruffy bud.

The first image is <2% and the second image is 3% yield.

[Estacionsj]

Im setting up a couch and watching this Movie…

[Kgrim]

Don’t toss your hat into the fire too soon. Those just look like fresh branches to me. I’ve always been very good at nailing my males and females, but this year they threw me a big curve ball. A few I thought looked female were males, and some I thought were males ended up females. I didn’t have the veg time this year that I’ve had in the past. Work really really got me a late start this year with having to build the Chanel Flagship Store.
Have patience, keep an eye on them, and they’ll let ya know in their own sweet time.
Usually I get a jump on things, and veg them long enough that they will “pre-sex” and show without going into 12/12 lighting.
Those NB’s look like stout little plants. I just received a pack and am VERY interested to watch how your round of these turn out!!!
Good luck, and hope they give you some real nice flower!!!

[BongThrasher]

NICE, Looking Tasty

[Coffin_Dodger]

Thanks, @Kgrim. Good looking out on staying the executioner’s hand. Hahaha. We were planning on having to cull in the next few days, but with the addition of the ScrOG, we’re gonna be vegging a bit longer than anticipated, anyway, so we should have the time to wait yet and see if we get a happy curve-ball like you mentioned.
The NB are DEFINITELY stout! We’re excited to see what comes of 'em, and looking forward to popping more in the future. Love seeing such different traits than our admittedly low-level experience so far as given us. Wild to see such short plants throw fans about twice as wide as the plant is tall!
It’s great to have more experienced folks to bounce these things off of, now. Equipment upgrades are one thing, but Socratic learning is worth so much more.
Thanks again for checking things out and offering sound advice!
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[Coffin_Dodger]

Wow. That’s a damn good way to drive the point home that you can’t be 100% sure until you wash it, especially with an inexperienced eye. A remarkable difference in output! Good to know. Always best to temper expectation as I’ve seen it.
One thing I noticed in Shadows and Drills was the use of centrifugal force to expel a lot of the initial moisture content in the product. Seems like the kind of simple, subtle move that can make a big difference.
If there was one beginner mistake to bubble hash that you see most often, what would you say it is? Are frozen spoons as useful as some tutorials make them out to be, or is that a good idea on paper kind of thing?
Thanks again for dropping in and offering any advice!
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[Coffin_Dodger]

Funny you phrase it like that, @Estacionsj . We actually use the names of directors as our numbering system, to tag plants with unique names. Seemed trivial to include in the journal, but, for instance, NB #QT up there is Negan’s Bat #Quentin Tarantino.
We also pick those names based on a theme for each grow so far, like last run was all Stephen King adaptation directors, and our first grow was all directors that were try-hards for their debut films.
Hahaha. It’s just a bit of fun we have, being such big movie fans. Bonus points when the plants seem to behave like their namesakes.
In short, you’re more than welcome to find a seat- just don’t forget to hit the snack bar!
Thanks for dropping by!
Coffin_Dodger

[Kgrim]

@Coffin_Dodger the guy who taught me to grow, oh so many moons ago, got his Masters Degree in agriculture at Michigan State, and never left Lansing except to visit family back home, and grew Marijuana until he passed (RIP Professor Mikey) It was beaten into our heads that the PLANT will tell you, but, only when IT is ready.
Typically around the 3rd-4th week of veg they will “pre-sex” and start throwing pistils. Don’t jump the gun because you see a “ball”, because sometimes it’s a calyx that will throw pistils. In teaching my step kids, they now have a grasp on don’t chop it too soon, you could be wrong.
If you don’t have one, get yourself an inexpensive scope off Amazon, around $30, it will get you up close and personal and allow you to see what your eyes really can’t up close, and can help you identify days earlier than your eyes.
I’m a fan of the short stout Indicas, have been for a long time. I’m hoping these Negans Bats look close to the old discontinued DNA Genetics LA Confidential, not the BS LA that’s being sold nowadays at banks, NOTHING like the original LA.
Thankfully Budderton sent me 2 different phenos of the work he did with the original LA crossed with a stout Afghani. He says that the Afghani added to the LA with improved yields, but kept some of the original, very distinct taste of the LA, let’s hope, LOL
Looking forward to following your progress with these NB plants, can’t wait to see them chunk up into some nice nuggets!!!

[Coffin_Dodger]

Sounds like a helluva mentor, @Kgrim ! I apprenticed when I started tattooing- the old school way. I had the sh!t beat into me (literally) while running the front end of the shop. For years. Hahaha. I respect the hell out of that kind of relationship. There’s something special about knowledge and technique being passed along that way we humans always did before we got in such a big damn hurry.
I’m glad you spoke up! We’ll see in the next couple weeks, for sure. It makes a lot more sense to “measure twice, cut once” here, too. Hahahah
We do have a few jewelers loupes and one “digital camera” clip-on magnifier. When we get in the garden later, we’ll bust 'em out, for sure!
I guess we’ve seen more sativa leaning expressions so far in the two grows before this, because those two are just plain shaped wildly different. I hope they have a bit of heavy to them, to round out our smoke stash! The Bam-Bam I’ve heard is very mellow and body-oriented but not to a “lose-the-next-three-hours” degree. Hahaha
Never had a chance to try any LA Confidential that I know of, but I’ve definitely heard the name around, and that it’s one of those that people mostly approximate or pass off, like Green Crack.
Hope to see some of what you get out of it! Old school genetics and landraces are definitely points of interest here.
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[JoeCrowe]

My frozen spoon is in the freezer only to scoop the hash dust for dabbing. I don’t use any utensils on the screen to get the hash. Once it’s done acceleration, I just dump the chunk out. Mistakes can be made:
touching it with your hand
beating the plant material too much in the bucket
using bubble bags with dust in them.

[Coffin_Dodger]

Great tips, @JoeCrowe ! Thanks! Definitely learned how fast it all reacts to body heat last time. And probably beat for too long at that.
Should be getting some beaters for my drill any day now. I’m stoked to try it again!
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[JoeCrowe]

I took a cake mixer bit and cut one of the locking tabs off, so it could get locked into the jacobs chuck on the drill. With two tabs on the mixer, the tabs wouldn’t land in the right spot on the chuck so it kept falling out.

I just used a metal file.

[Coffin_Dodger]

Nice. I just went with cake beaters, too, since that looked like what you were using versus a big mixing bit proper or the like. Should be able to take out any tabs with the old Dremel.
Man, I can’t wait now. Hahaha. Gonna be like Christmas when the beaters land.
Stay up!
Coffin_Dodger

[TopShelfTrees1]

Looks great in there @Coffin_Dodger awesomr work and a nice detailed thorough log