I’m always fiddling with stuff to see what the effect is.
Slow adjusting the lights do not save any time - so no commercial value. It is interesting to see little differences in how the plant grows.
Another is, the males’ water consumption dropped to 20% by dumping them into the living room but the positive benefit is it pushes them along with flower development. 
Cheers
G
Yes, I am sure it slowes the process tremendously. I mean thats kind of why we do what we do indoors anyway to speed it up. But at the same time by rushing it what do we miss? I know some who like to veg 24/7 bc they say when they flip to 12/12 it gives them faster sex faster bud development ect. I. Not sure if its true or not. But I don’t like to do that. I’m not one for 24 hrs of light. Imo I think plants in all stages need rest/darkness.
So with that little rant over keep on fiddling lol 
love to see other thinking outside norm
Yes they do, and will sleep for 4 hours minimum, whether the light is on or off. So better to save your power bill money and let them sleep with the lights off for at least 4 hours a day.
definitely agree about the light
usually put seedlings under 24 hrs light
this time did 16 hrs and 8 hrs sleep more or less as they get a little morning northern sun before I turn the lights on
don’t know if it is because of the strain but they are doing much better this round - praying as happy as fk these days
For some time now, I have been searching for some sort of standardized grading system for cannabis breeding.
A score card if you will, something simple but no luck.
I’m trying to piece together my own version and kept finding things such as this:.
Growth structure: The plant’s height, weight, build, density, and root strength
Hardiness: The plant’s reaction to temperatures, dependence on water, resistance to mold and pests, and overall strength
Terpene profile: The aroma coming from each flower
Appearance: The buds’ color and structure
Trichomes: Either lanky with small heads or short-stalked with fat heads
Peak maturity: How early the plant is ready for harvest
OK, as far as it goes, but lacking.
As I see it, the first thing that needs to be qualified is the growing environment. I’m thinking a few bullet points covering: in-door vs outdoors, growing medium, nutriments, etc.
Looking farther I discovered:
Marijuana Botany by Robert Clarke
After studying the text I descovered that in here, was a great set of metrics with lengthy descriptions. Some sections were related to hemp, others covered oil seed etc.
I’m sorry to report, in a frenzy of wild debauchery (and other rude things involving a bad sativa, sorry Bob) I redefined and repurposed the list and definitions…
I present you with my plant grading score card V1.0
1. General Traits
a) Size and Yield – {small, medium or large [1 to 5]}
b) Vigor – {slow, Ok or WOW [1 to 5]}
c ) Hardiness – {weak, OK or Hulk [1 to 5]}
d ) Disease and Pest Resistance – {DOA, wounded, Good to Go [1 to 5]}
e ) Maturation – {flowering time [weeks or days]}
f ) Branching – {pencil, tree or bush [1 to 5]}
g ) Sex – {Nanners? [Y/N]}
2. Leaf Traits {narrow, mix or wide? [1 to 5}}
{any weird shit? Desc.}
3. Fiber Traits {hollow stem? [Y/N]}
4. Floral Traits
a) Shape – {Pearls to donkey dicks [1 to 5]}
b) Form - {calyx-to-leaf ratio of 1-to-4 }
c) Calyx Size – {small, medium or Mega [1 to 5]}
d) Color – {Describe}
e ) Taste and Aroma – {Smoke Report [50% of final mark]}
f ) Trichome Type – {Frosty [1 to 5]}
g ) Resin Quantity and Quality – {Dry to Dripping tar [1 to 5]}
h ) Ease of Manicuring - {1 to 5}
i ) Seed Characteristics – {small to large [1 to 5]}
j ) Maturation – {Weeks to flower}
5. Gross Phenotypes of Cannabis Strains {phenos? Desc.}
I’m sure I’m reinventing the wheel but have a look and…
PLEASE feel free to make comments (constructive or otherwise)
Cheers
G
If I look in my box shortly before the lights go off. The plants are already drooping a bit. They totally know when the lights are going off. Kinda neat to notice.
looks good
what happened to # 2 ?
They know when the lights are coming on as well, as they need to store enough energy for start up at sunrise, so they can use the maximum energy to grow over night.
So what actually stresses a plant with light leaks or changing light on off times, is a lack or excess of energy when the lights come on.
In nature it happens naturally as sunrise and sunset times change, but it’s a very small amount every day. It’s big sudden jumps that cause stress.
That’s what I get for editing and posting after midnight LOL.
I should have renumbered the sections.
#2 was Seedling Traits, characteristics such as damping-off & Whorled phyllotaxy. Not exactly ‘mission critical’.
I’ll fix that.
{edit} found a ‘maturation’ in general and floral (dropped and re-lettered}
Thanx & Cheers
G
Things have been progressing as to plan. The girls have had 3+ weeks in flower and are budding up.
The boys have been flowering downstairs and pollen is being collected.
The takeaway is: I suck at pollen collecting definitely need more practice and better procedures
On the clone front, I’ve been channeling my inner Dr. Moreau to good effect.
The 2 remaining Sour Strawberries are in nice form as well.
and the ‘art shot’…
Cheers
G
It’s bobsled time. Looking good.
Thanks, it’s getting there.
Next adventure is selectively pollinating individual branches, that will be ‘interesting’
Cheers
G
keep up the good work bro !!
what technique do you use to collect pollen? I am going to be trying for the first time in a few weeks to make some space monkey f2s. Well atleast try hahah.
Great job gpaw
It was my first shot at it, so I ‘winged it’.
I waited until the lower pollen sacks were starting to open, then I harvested branches of the males, stuck them in a vase with a sheet of paper underneath to catch the pollen. There were lots of shorter branches so I snipped a few of these and placed them in brown paper sandwich bags. To clarify, I’m collecting separate batches of pollen, one from each male.
After a couple days, I realized that ANY possible air disturbance was bad. I scrounged and modified some small boxes to act as shrouds. That was significantly better! The paper bag exercise was somewhat successful but collected a lot of misc. plant material. Tapping the ends of the stalks directly into the collection container was somewhat successful but messy.
Before collecting the pollen in the containers, I baked a couple tablespoons of flour on a sheet (250F, 30 min). I added this to the pollen to act as a desiccant for preservation.
Shortly I’ll find out successful this was 
Cheers
G
Here’s an interesting article and video on initial root development worth checking out.
Cheers
G
I needed to know this 
thank you so much
all the best and plant seeds
Dequilo
…and back into the tent sporting their new jewelry.
I ordered a collection of multicolored 4" tie wraps for tagging.
I’m happy with this ‘stoner proof’ ID system - sort of like the hospital wrist straps.
The process:
Pollen was collected from the 5 males in separate containers. Selected branches were isolated and dabbed with a cotton swab and allowed to sit for 2 hours. After 2 hours everything (including me) was misted down, a new branch selected… ‘rinse and repeat’ 4 more times.
The green plastic tapes are marking the unseeded buds that will be harvested for the smoke tests.
As you can see in the last shot, I had to select several branches (blue) for the last male (#57) with #52 female.
Once the buds mature for a week or so, I’ll hit them all again. 
Cheers
G
nothing is stoner proof