Thanks @highminwin , I’ve been really happy with results so far, been learning a lot over the past few years, especially now that I’ve got my corner of the basement with a couple grow zones for tents and a drying setup/transplant and trimming table etc. I’m getting started back up after a month or two off, I intended to finish up earlier and take the whole summer off while working on a vegetable farm, but ended up squeezing in one last grow (of course!) to make three runs for the 2021/22 winter. I’m setting up to do a single double tent run since I’m planning on going snowbirding this winter, but if I get my auto drip watering system setup running, maybe there’ll be some experiments this year on leaving them for more than a few days. I’m sorely tempted by the DIY Octopot setups I see using felt pots and net pots into HD storage bins, but I think I’m going to stay with my 7g or maybe some 10g felt pots and try out this auto drip halo and auto drain system that I bought the parts for last year. I’ll try to find a link to the design I’m following, and get a little post up about what’s been popping in the seed dome the last week or two.
Here’s what’s going on now on the nug production line:
These are getting started directly in a used soil mix, the same one they’ll end up in for final growth but taken out before I added some amendments into the rest. I have had mixed luck with bagged seed starter soil and Jiffy picks, they seem okay but I am trying out the Breeder Steve theory of don’t baby them, drop lots of seeds and look for the hungry and resistant ones that just want to grow. One thing I did remember that I should have done is to sterilize the mix in the microwave first, I got more damping off than I like to see.
From left to right:
-2x Bodhi Smart Move (Genius Thai x Old Mother Ghani), started four, only two popped
-2x @Tonygreen Sowah Grapefruit (New York Candy Orange x Sowahh), started four, two damped off, I decapitated one with the dome and stuck it right down into the soil next to the stem, it might just make it
-4x @Baudelaire Fleur Du Mal Cinderella 99, started four and four survived, tough as expected
-3x @SCJedi Nigerian Sunshine (green pheno) x Apollo 11/13 open pollination, started four and three made it, one’s a runt but robust looking, I think it’ll be fine
The plan this time around is to cull the males, and spread the females between my two tents instead of getting the veg tent rebooted with another round once flower starts. I’m hoping for five or six females, depending on how it splits I’d like to get three or four of the C99 and Nigerian Sunshine in the 4x4, and one or two Smart Move and Sowah Grapefruit in my 3x4. But that will remain to be seen once we get to sexing.
Strain information:
Smart Move- No info from Bodhi on this one, @minitiger described it as a cross between Lemon Thai and Apollo 11, which makes sense to me.
Here’s a review of Genius Thai Extreme rom higherthought.guru:
"Coffee and cannabis—this is as good a morning strain as any!
Origins and Backstory: Bodhi originally released Genius Thai Extreme seeds as F1—a hybrid between the Apollo 11 Genius cut (originally from Brother’s Grimm seed stock) and a landrace Thai sativa. A friend of mine, @planthoarder, open pollenated those and made F2. I passed the F2 seed onto yet another friend here in Colorado, who then grew the pictured flower organically, indoors, and around 7500 feet. The Apollo 1 1 Genius cut is so named because it will get your brain juices flowing and take you into orbit; it is universally loved by sativa enthusiasts, especially those who were active in the ‘90s. Thai landrace plants are known for being hard to tame, but have uniquely soaring and cerebral highs that are sought after by connoisseurs. I imagine Bodhi’s goal of the cross was to get all of the best parts of sativa effects into a fast-flowering and easy to grow plant.
Appearance: These flowers are beautiful! The buds exhibit all the best aspects of both parents; they are full and dense, and covered in resin. This gives the flower a modern bag appeal with a heavy frost factor. At the same time, they have a tell-tale calyx structure that is omnipresent in southeast asian cultivars. The way the pistils almost fold out of the calyxes remind me of Thai temples in a way—maybe that’s just placebo. In any case, these flowers are stunning. They look like Thai flowers that have been well-tempered and bred for the indoor clime, but the density, fullness, and resin-coverage of these flowers is what is really impressive—a true achievement when working with landrace equatorial sativas.
Aroma: Exotic, fruity, and floral, the aroma is a high point. It comes off as an exotic smoothie including pink lemonade, hibiscus tea, and indian spices. It is like a sweet-sour-floral smoothie, with immediate notes of pineapple, nectarine, mango, guava, papaya, and strangely foreign fruits that I do not have words for. An exotic note is prevalent that is somewhere between incense, fruit, and spice, and really smells like some unbelievably exotic culinary spice from Asia. I can only describe it as “Thai,” but it is strong. There are more notes of lemongrass, and a few other herbaceous/botanical notes that remind me of tropical greenhouses and botanical gardens. The aroma is “juicy,” and makes me think of a fruit blend that has been sitting in the sun. Genius Thai is really exotic, unusual, and attractive.
Flavor: While not quite as punchy as the aroma, the flavor is a fun experience. The smoke is more herbal and botanical than the aroma, and slightly less fruity. The hibiscus and other floral/herbaceous greenhouse flavors are present, and make for a really unique smoke. The most dominant notes of the smoke are nectarine, Thai-weed-spice (I don’t know how else to describe this), mango/guava, and hibiscus. Just as unique as the aroma, the flavor is something special. It is smoky experiences like these that make Bodhi such a cult favorite breeder.
Effects: This is a floaty, thoughtful, and giggly herb that is guaranteed to pick you up. You could expect most of the effects just from the lineage, and it is a great compromise of Thai genetics with a good indoor sativa performer, the Apollo 11 Genius clone. The come-up is floaty, happy, euphoric, with hints of soaring/cerebral Thai. The Thai effects are just traceable here, but noticeable. For the uninitiated, Thai weed is some of the most unique sativa smoke in existence—it can come in waves like psychedelics, can inspire extreme giggling/euphoria as equally as it can terror and paranoia. There is truly no weed as psychedelic as Thai/Cambodian weed, and this Genius Thai Extreme manages to capture a few pieces of that. This herb is certainly giggly and euphoric, but not as soaring as Thai. Fortunately, I think a terrifying and paranoid experience on this weed would be very difficult to have. It’s not nearly as overwhelming as a pure Thai smoke, and would probably be equally favored by beginning smokers and sativa-connoisseurs alike. All in all, this is good wake n bake herb on weekends for happy, easeful activities. I smoked this and got quite a bit done around my house, and looked around at my current life situation with optimism. The feeling does eventually fade into something dream-like; the lack of clarity keeps me from smoking this one when I’m aiming to be productive. Overall, this is a day brightener and great summer-time herb.
Overall: This is an almost ideal exemplar of breeding. Thai cannabis is some of the best in the world (it is my personal favorite), but it is just as easily some of the most difficult to manage. Even outdoors, the extensive flowering time (14-24 weeks) prevents most North American cultivators from even attempting to grow these strains. Genius Thai Extreme captures a lot of the best aspects of Thai weed in a plant that is easy to grow inside, has great bag appeal, and a very reasonable flowering time. This strain is really impressive from a breeding standpoint. It is great in theory, excellent in execution, and makes a “Thai Lite” version of weed accessible to many more growers/smokers than will ever be able to enjoy true pure Thai. This is a complete package plant, and is not lacking in any category. Personally, when I compare this to the 30 or so other varieties I have on my shelf, I tend to prefer others for smoking. That being said—if this was the only flower I had available to me, I’d be incredibly grateful. This is an excellent quality sativa in virtually every category. The effect is a bit too dreamy for me to enjoy smoking this a ton during the day, and lacking the OG punch that I enjoy during the evenings. Personally, I’d prefer a selection with a longer flowering time but a more soaring/cerebral/psychedelic effect. So, I don’t get into this jar too often. If I’m heading for a hike on a sunny weekend with a friend or doing a home yoga session—this is the first weed I’ll think of (along with DJ Short F-13). I hope that gives the reader enough info to accurately gauge where this one settles out, but overall I think it’s an impressive plant and one I feel lucky to be smoking."
Sowah Grapefruit- from TG/GLG:
" Genetics: New York Candy Orange x Gorilla Bubble x Sowah (Sour Diesel BX4)
Seeds in pack: 20
Sex: Regular
Type: Hybrid
Flowering Time: 70-77 days
Yield: Medium/Heavy
Area (Indoor, Outdoor, Both): Both
Notes: Dr. P’s New York Candy Orange has been a favorite of ours. The cross of NYCD x Agent Orange took 3rd place Indica at the 2013 ICMAG 430 cup and has been used in several previous strains such as Ruby Red GB and The Orange Grapefruit Rabbit Hole.
I’ve been holding my grapefruit keeper from The Orange Grapefruit Rabbit Hole for a couple years for this very chance I envisioned the first time I smoked her. Expect excellent resin production from the GB with the grapefruit twang from the NYCO and the legendary world class Sowah terp profile."
Cinderella 99: from FDM
“A F4 sibling cross of selected males and females from the original 1998 release of Cinderella 99 by legendary US breeder Mr Soul. This generation is even more uniform and true-breeding than the original, while retaining the strong sativa head, short maturation, ease of growing, and sweet cherry and citrus notes of Soul’s magnum opus.”
Nigerian Sunshine x Apollo 11/13- I’m expecting a fruitier, more sativa version of the NSxGoji I grew two rounds ago that’s already a favorite for the daytime
Actually, I thought the female in that cross was just a straight Thai crossed to Apollo 11; somebody else corrected me. The Smart Move is (Lemon Thai x A11) x OMG. Still good weed, though haha. I especially liked the OMG-leaner I found.
Bumpity bump bump watch this space I’ve got updates coming later today
The anticipation is killing me 
Ok guys sorry for the tease, I got stoned last night and didn’t get the post together. @minitiger @HeadyBearAdventures @BeagleZ @alwaysnoob @JoeCrowe @GREANDAL thanks for standing by.
I’m back in my tents and growcave for the winter, got a couple things going on here, let’s get started:
Just got back from my lovely local grow store, love them folks. Reupped on my favorite dry general fertilizer, Coast of Maine Stonington, and I got some of their fish bone meal to try their topdressing feeding chart this time around:
Also some langbeinite and Azomite for recycling soil with, and some Hygrozyme to get my root zone clear and pumping, along with breaking down old root balls after harvest and speeding up the composting process. I’ve had good luck so far using LABS for that but I want to try this stuff, everyone seems to love it, soil or hydro. I didn’t really want to use Azomite because I don’t love the aluminum content, but I’ll find some rock dusts for the next time and use this in the yard. And once I finish this Hygrozyme maybe I’ll give the barley straw extract a try instead, IDK it appeals for the cheapness in me:
Langbeinite is one that I’m excited to get in the mix:
"Down To Earth’s Langbeinite 0-0-22 is a naturally mined crystalline mineral that supplies the water-soluble sulfate form of three vital plant nutrients: potassium, magnesium and sulfurs. It’s maximum chlorine content is less than 3.0 percent, minimizing the potential for fertilizer “burn,” and it’s neutral pH does not alter soil activity.
SOLUBLE POTASH (K2O) 22.0%
MAGNESIUM (Mg) 10.8%
10.8% Water Soluble Magnesium
SULFUR (S) 22.0%
22.0% Combined Sulfur
CHLORINE (Cl) Max 3.0% "
Potassium contributes strongly to overall plant health by regulating internal processes. Since potassium makes up part of the fluid of the plant, it is found throughout plant tissue, meaning plants need a strong source of potassium as they grow. Potassium deficiencies lead to weak stalks and immature roots, leaving the plant susceptible to insects.
DTE Langbeinite 0-0-22 is widely used on sensitive vegetables and fruit crops that require high fertilization rates but do not tolerate high levels of chlorine or soluble salts. This standard grade langbeinite has a typical SGN of 95 and is an excellent source of readily available sulfur, potassium and magnesium."
After potting up my first cycle of the year, I had to get cracking on breaking down the five 7g footballs from last year along with lots of sundry houseplants and culled seedling from sexing this run. I’ve got three of these bins remoistened and ready for the dry amendments:
This time around that’s going to be:
-CoM Stonington dry blend, fish bone meal, and EWC
-DtE bone meal, crab meal, langbeinite, and azomite
-Espoma garden gypsum and kelp meal
-Roots seabird guano
-malted barley powder
I might track down some rice hulls from the local brew shop when I go see about getting beer malt. I stopped adding coco after the roots in my recycled bins started dong similar things for aeration but I need more.
In the tent, almost ready for flower time in another week after they root out some more under Big Red (my HLG 550 R-Spec) which I just switched in there yesterday, I’ve got four ladies in seven gallon felt pots, on elevators to keep them nice and dry and aerated all around. They’ve been vegging since sprout under Little Blue, my single B-Spec panel build that pushes around 155 watts cranked up all the way. They seem happy with the more diffuse and warm light from four boards running low.
This grow, I indulged my obsession with the descendents of Princess and Genius, still looking for Cafe Girl (original BG Ginger-Ale or Rosetta Stone). Others were started but none made it, so all four strains here have Princess or Genius anchoring 25%+ of their genetics. Sadly, I did not pop any of my Princess 88 beans this time through, I would have squeezed a fifth plant in for that. I doubt I’ll need it though, these genetics love to get broken over and spread out.
Back left is Nigerian Sunshine green x Apollo 11/13 OP from @SCJedi, back right is Cinderella 99 from @Baudelaire as well as his Cinderella Mix in the front right. On the front left is Smart Move (Genius Thai x OMG) from Bodhi.
NSxApollo:
C99:
Cindy Mix:
Smart Move:
Coming down the pipeline, I’m going to be doing my first co-op run for OG, a preservation of Vortex (Romulan x Space Queen) from Subcool. That’ll take up my big tent for part of the winter, but I expect to get two or three flower rounds in too between my two tents.
Dirt is mixed, after a week of slowly rehydrating dry root balls and pots, and watering in some Hygrozyme to get stuff breaking down. This time around I mixed 3x bins, at two cubic feet per bin, each one got:
-4 cups earthworm castings (CoM, 100% castings)
-1 cup gypsum granules (Espoma)
-1 cup kelp meal (Espoma)
-1 cup crab shell meal (DtE)
-1/2 cup steamed bone meal (DtE)
-1/2 cup fish bone meal (CoM)
-1 cup Azomite granules (DtE)
-1/2 cup Stonington dry blend (CoM)
-1/2 cup langbeinite (DtE)
-1/2 cup seabird guano (Roots)
-1/2 cup Tomato-Tone (Espoma)
-1 cup mixed rolled oats, flaxseed meal, basmati rice, malted barley powder
EDIT: also one cup each neem and karanja meals
Everything watered down with the last of my sample of BioAg Ful-Humix and mixed up nice. Might add a little molasses water next time I moisten it up, just to make sure the little guys in there are nice and active.
I’m really happy to have gotten in my groove of recycling soil and reamending with inexpensive and pure single dry ingredients. Been trying to get off the bottle and it’s going pretty good so far, especially sticking with the cheap non-hype stuff from Coast of Maine, Espoma and DtE that I can get at any garden center. No weed tax here unless I want to support my local grow store, in which case the extra dollar or two is really for their conversation.
Do you do all that every time you recycle? Just curious. Obviously haha.
I usually only re-amend every-other grow, but after following schmarmpit’s log for a while now, the way he re-amends every grow, it’s got me thinking maybe I should, too. Of course, the way I’ve been having to toss soil and mix up new batches lately, I haven’t even needed to re-amend a whole lot haha.
How long do you let it cook before use? Just curious. I have SO much soil to reuse. I have to keep indoor and outdoor soils separate here sadly.
It’s been getting more intense each time I do it, but I think I’ve reached a good equilibrium between variety and common sense KISS. The first couple times I recycled it was just kelp, garden lime, and the Stonington, it worked okay but I find myself having to nurse the plants through mid-late flower a bit. Maybe it’s just the size of plants I’m trying to do in 7g pots, but I think my soil mix now is probably pretty good and hot. I might do a half-strength reamendment next round depending on how this goes. I figure everything I’m using is pretty gentle and slow, so it’s not so much burning as overfeeding I have to worry about, and I’m not growing landraces or Blueberry so that’s cool with me. I’m still using the first dirt I got, somewhere in there, never gotten rid of any so far.
New this round are the Azomite, langbeinite, Tomato-Tone, and the grains. Needed minerals, wanted to try langbeinite, I had leftover Tomato-Tone from the vegetable garden and my tomatoes kicked ass this summer. The grains are based on learning that not only are they good slow release fertilizers, and a good home for microbes in the soil food web, but also the proteins in oat and flax help feed bacteria very well. Cleaned out the pantry a bit because heck why not?
Uhh shortest cook I’ve done was a couple weeks, that wasn’t really enough in my cool basement. Maybe if it was composting warmer. Usually I give it a month or two, basically until I scoop up a handful and smell it and I can’t smell the distinct ingredients anymore and it’s melded into a good loamy dirt smell. If the bone meal and crab meal still stink it’s not ready IMO. I have a rule that I have to mix the bins a little every time I look at them, so they stay nice and aerated, I just have to water them more often to keep it nice and moist. The best advice I’ve gotten was to maintain the moisture at the level where when you squeeze a handful of dirt it doesn’t quite make a clod but releases a drop or two of water, that’s where a lot of the magic happens.
Actually, I just realized I forgot to add the neem and karanja meals to the soil bins. That’s one I’ve been using since the beginning too, and I think it’s helped me avoid any major pest problems in my soil. I get Ahimsa brand from this place, it’s superb quality, one of the brands BAS and KIS repackage.
Yep. Same idea for hydrating mushroom substrate, it’s called “field consistency” 
Oh, yeah, I’m not worried about “hotness” haha or whatever; I’ve mixed up soil and planted in it the next day no problem. Like you said, all of my inputs are pretty mellow, never worried about “cooking” my soil mix or anything. I’m gonna mix up some new soil today or tomorrow and use that as part of the flowering pots that I’ll be transplanting into later this week, not worried about it at all.
I was more just wondering about the frequency of the re-amends. I’ve always re-amended every-other grow, but it seems like a lot of people lately re-amend after every grow and get pretty great results.