NOW THAT’S A DEFOL! 
I’ve never seen zipties applied like that either. Interesting
I didn’t have a chance to get to the feedstore yesterday to update my melon diagnostic kit.
Interesting to hear the hypothesis that rootbinding in the peat pellets causes premature auto flowering. I used some different stuff this year to try it out, coco pellets which were really nice. They have the same sort of fabric wrap but it’s easy to peel off as they get hydrated. I was also suspicous of the mesh causing interference, tried both unwrapped and wrapped versions with no practical difference. I also tried plant-in pots (coco and manure). My autos were flowering at quite small size but I assumed it was the environmental stress, it’s hot here. Around the 4 week mark. I’m not sure if the rootbinding was an issue, but I was skeptical of it for a couple weeks after transplant into the big pots. I’ll have to try some normal plastic pots and conventional transplanting next season. I did much prefer using the cowpots in a larger size (4" x 4" square) filled with potting soil, small area for seed germination dug in and filled with the ultra-fine coco material taken from a disassembled pellet. That was the best setup for me, but haven’t tried the normal plastic pots yet.
Nice to hear about those strains being good. The more I learn, the more I think just about anything can turn out OK. It truely is overwhelming to decide on strains though. I have a giant spreadsheet of strain comparisons. I was frustrated with the lack of information published on most, and wound up with some Euro genetics just because they had better info. Luckily started finding the more reputable/large-scale domestic breeders.
Next season I’ll be having an even harder time selecting. It’d be even harder if I get into breeding. I think another season of just learning and growing is in order.
Had to toss a SAD cola on my girl yesterday, bud rot. We got some crazy random rain over the last two weeks, and while I was taking some small samples to microscope I noticed a small bud rot site. Fortunately it was isolated, but sad to just toss a pretty big cola. Could also be caterpillar-caused, but I’ve been pretty good on the IPM, but haven’t sprayed this one because she’s so close to harvest.
Nice routine about the posting on the internet thing. Toss sugar leaves in the freezer, check the internet and come back to it. I feel I write too much as well, I like checking first thing in the morning before the little girl or spouse wake up, and before I head to work. It’s my favorite time of the day to just be alone with my thoughts.
Gonna take some time to mull things over( yes 
…was having a hard time loading up over the last couple of days, both technically and mentally, a bit of computer troubles and then having my better half decide that she was “taking a god damn vacation!”, I slowly realized that there had been a take over in the household. So a well deserved brake was taken from the normal routines and needless to say, we’ve been having a blast just rechecking out all the local areas that have been neglected for longer than I care to admit. Its just amazing to see how much is simply out there, so close, if we only look!
