This sucks, but why the confusion about where they’re coming from?
Aphids fly.
You leave your tent open.
Mystery solved!
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Well, sure, a lot of shit flies. Birds, butterflies, bees, aphids… But only the aphids are ending up in my tent. I don’t see any aphids on the plants around my house (cursory examination; I didn’t take a close look at every single fucking leaf on every plant). Not to mention, I’ve had to leave the tent open since we moved into this house almost five years ago, never had an issue with aphids until two grows ago. So yeah, it is kind of a mystery. Why are they showing up now, all of a sudden, when they weren’t there before? Especially this grow, when I’ve been being super-anal and going directly into the grow room after a shower?
It is a mystery haha. It’s fucking weird. And annoying.
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Dude, what a bummer, I’m sorry for your troubles, for what it’s worth I had good luck with Dr. Zymes on an auto that I put outside last season that got aphids on it at one point, fried em all from what I could see
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Thanks, dude, but it’s fine. No need for condolences haha. I’m gonna chop everything in about an hour, when the lights turn on, and that’ll be that. Not gonna bother with pics, since I just posted some a couple days ago.
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A strategy some people are using is growing “banker plants” to constantly propagate parasitoid wasps. Not sure if you’re willing to go to that extent in a tent but basically you’re perpetuating a cereal crop like rye which has been purposefully infested with cereal aphids, in order to keep parasitic wasps (that you introduce) on hand. The Cereal aphids (supposedly) only reproduce on monocotyledonous plants such as cereal grasses. May be worth doing outside even with lots of flowering plants around in order to keep the local aphid population down?
Aphidius colemani
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Those things are bad ass. They look like a good insurance policy.
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Haha, yeah, I don’t really want wasps flying around my house. I’m familiar with the concept of introducing predators and whatever into a grow, read a lot about it. I’d prefer not to have to do that in the first place haha. I think I’m just gonna go real hard with the IPM from here on out. We’ll see what happens…
Just as an aside, did you know that wasps are pollinators, same as bees? I didn’t know that until two years ago, when I started planting flowers outside. Pretty cool. I mean, obviously, a thriving bee population would be ideal, but yeah, certain types of wasps also pollinate.
So, uh, bring on the swarms of wasps! Haha…
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Heres one I learned a couple of years ago, kinda blew my mind, honey bees are not great pollinators, because they are so streamline & efficient at what they do, its the big clumsy bees like the bumbles and solitary bees that are more effective. Sorry for veering off topic, but I had to drop that nugget of useless info.
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I know I said I wasn’t gonna take any pictures, but I figured I’d share one of the huge Colombian Gold x DE #2 after I untied her, right before the chop:
Big mama… Kinda weird the way she’s flopping all over the place except for that one cola in the back, sticking straight up no problem.
Anyway, everything’s hanging in the garage for the time being, gonna move them back into the tent when the light for that Ancient OG x AFPAK! AFPAK! turns on later tonight.
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shes spilling right out of that pot bud! like a green octopus crawling off your table
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I raged hard like a month ago, a nice gramski to myself and a pint of scotch and a few beers and I swear to God it took me 4 days to feel close to normal. Took my sinuses 8 days to heal.
My body weakens and withers lol. Haven’t “partied” partied in a couple years and IDK if I could handle it once a year at this rate.
It’s like the side effects have become 5x and the actual effects are 0.5x haha. A few types of party favors more or less don’t “work” at all anymore even though I don’t have a “tolerance” per se. It’s rarely even worth it anymore.
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Yeah, that was for sure the last time I do anything like that. I wasn’t even planning on it; it was just like,”Oh, shit, it’s Monday evening already and I’ve been up for 36 hours…” haha.
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Getting mild heart palpitations just thinking about it
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Alright, so in case anybody’s forgotten, that one Ancient OG x AfPak’s still going haha. Flower day 42 last night:
Her fans are starting to fade big-time, but that’s kind of something that happens during all of my grows, right around this time, week six or so, no matter the strain. Ordinarily, I’d be a little annoyed about it, but underneath those fans is just, like, a big-ass clump of nugs, so I’m actually pretty happy they’re starting to fade and I’ll be able to pull them off soon. Starting to get a little worried about airflow, which isn’t something I’ve ever worried about before. I tried to get a pic of the sorta beautiful mess going on just beneath that main “cola,” but it didn’t work out too well:
It’s hard to tell from that pic, but man, there are nugs everywhere underneath those leaves. If those fans weren’t fading like they are and looking like they’re gonna fall off pretty soon, I’d actually consider defoliating a little bit, which isn’t something that I ever do.
Anyway, a few more pics:
I’m thinking she’s gonna take 70 days, but you never know. I may top-dress with a little MBP here in the next few days, if I remember (I was gonna do that last night and forgot). I really do think MBP shaves a little bit off of the flowering time, so that may help her finish up quicker. I’m not necessarily in a rush, but I really do hate running a light just for one plant…
Also, the fungus gnats came back, but that’s my fault. I slacked on the Gnatrol, used the minimum dosage when I first saw them, early on in flower. Then, about a week later, I dosed with one tablespoon once and they went away. So I didn’t do a followup dosage the following week. They were gone for a while, but they’ve definitely come roaring back. Hit them twice in two weeks with the Gnatrol, the numbers are already diminishing, one more dose in a few days and I’m certain they’ll be gone. Motherfuckers… haha.
Anyway, yeah, flower day 42 for the Ancient OG x AFPAK! today. She’s real sticky…
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looking good man, a little phallic, but really good. haha. fuck gnats.
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Yeah, if I’d have known I was only gonna get one female, I woulda topped her for sure. But I kinda like that single cola-type thing. Always want to do it, but I always top. The only time I’ve ever grown plants un-topped before was when I tested those Mendo Purps/SSDD seeds for Bodhi. Those were absolutely the wrong plants to not top haha.
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Looking frosty and nice! What kind of smells is she throwing? That AOG was always one I wanted to grow.
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Ahh, there she is 
! Looking really dense, wonder how they would do with extended veg time and shaping for several main colas…
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Same dude for tent growing i’m finding myself really liking the single cola type plants, easy to SOG, I get it now
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Ummmm, not much right now. I don’t usually make it a point to even take whiffs of the flowers while they’re growing, just because they change so much during and after the grow. The only time I notice the smells while they’re growing is when they’re super-loud, like the BAH, C. Gold cross and the Soar from this round. You couldn’t miss the stink from those plants if you tried. This Ancient OG x AfPak is definitely not loud. After I got done watering and put her back in the tent, my hand was all sticky from moving branches outta the way and I thought,”Ooh! I should smell my hand!” haha. Didn’t pick up anything at all, though.
Probably better than this one’s doing now, un-topped. I blame it on the short veg, for sure. I only vegged her for 39 days (I think; I’m having trouble with my notes, which is what happens when you’re shitfaced for like three months). Max, she was vegged for only 46 days, though, which still isn’t long enough. I’m fairly certain it was only 39 days; even when I’m drunk, I’m pretty good about being accurate with my notes.
Yeah, I think for certain plants/crosses/strains, leaving them un-topped is fine. But I think if yields are a concern, topping the plants will always turn out more weed than un-topped ones will. I like the way un-topped plants look better than topped ones, though, for sure. All-natural… the way gawd intended haha…
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