2 posts were merged into an existing topic: Provocative memes
022721
This plant is exploding with buds, the stretch is ending,& the canopy is within six inches of horizontal. She is smaller than she should be due to the early cold shock, but the outcome of the training technique is apparent in this picture.
There are about 50 viable colas with a direct view of powerful LED energy. I have good control over the Daily Light Integral due to the near horizontal canopy, so I can dial it in confidently. Every one of those little flowers are getting 35-40 DLI light energy every day on their 12/12 cycle. I have had problems every time I pushed it higher than 40, but I’m guessing it varies with the genetics.
The roots have developed fully in a large pot of supersoil. It’s only one plant so I water her by hand. I like just enough runoff to dip a pH test strip in. Good, nute-rich soil with all the usual biology avoids a whole basket of problems.
So, I’ll do a light feeding of Bloom nutes, maybe FF Big Bloom & Tiger Bloom at 10% if she looks hungry. Barring that, all she gets from here on is 6.5 pH water, molasses, & calmag. When the stretch is done I’ll hit her with PK bud juice at 100% strength. That is a one-shot deal to see how she likes it. I think that is the time when a “Bud Candy” nute has the most effect. Observation & speculation.
Otherwise LITFA is the plan.
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Question, I have a plant that looks VERY similar to yours right now.
I have been debating about adding a trellis net. My reservation is that I have never harvested with one of those nets, or in your case screens. Does the screen/net create any headache when it comes time to harvest? Do you just cut the stems at the screen line to minimize damage to the flowers?
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Great question @MrWizard but I may not be the right person to address it.
In my very humble opinion there is a big difference between SCROG as a technique and trellising. SCROG done correctly keeps everything below the screen until the flowering stretch is complete. The only thing that ends up above the screen are apical bud branches which are allowed to go vertical in their final weeks (or months!) as the buds swell. The purpose of SCROG is to create a near horizontal canopy so that every bud site has near perfect exposure to the light.
I haven’t made use of trellis techniques but my impression is that they are often utilized to support the large and heavy buds whose stems may not adequately support their weight. In the case of double trellises, I think the lower net is used like a SCROG screen, but the upper one is more dedicated for support. Perhaps someone more experienced with the trellis method like @ReikoX can weigh in on the subject with more authority.
With respect to your question on harvesting, note that with a SCROG screen the bulk of the useable bud is above the screen so you can easily reach just below the net and snip the individual cola branches. That suits my drying style but isn’t for everyone.
What you can’t do easily with a wire SCROG screen is cut the entire plant off at the base. If chopping the whole plant is your preference you’ll want a SCROG screen that uses disposable yarn or twine so you can just cut it off at harvest.
Make Sense?
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Generally I ScrOG the first layer of tellise then flip when that is full and use the second for support.
This is what I do. I use an organic hemp twine.
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032321
Pretty flowers. The buds are ripening and a lavender blush is appearing. The colors are much more vivid IRL.
Bud structure is solid and symmetrical, the early pistils have already gone red hair. No indication of any problems ATM.
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I love the lavender color on them.
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032821
This is a good time to take a critical look at the character and quality of the buds we are nurturing. So, let’s take a little walk in the trichome forest.
The Trichome stalks are short and thick which is typical for the ILGM White Widow strain. The bulbous trichome heads are full and abundant suggesting a good harvest of tasty cannabis meds. You can also see the headless spikes of Cystolithic trichomes. Cystoliths reportedly don’t develop cannabinoids and terpenes and are believed to be a sort of physical defense for the plant against predators.
If you look closely, you can see the first appearance of amber coloration in the mix. Most of the trichome heads are already cloudy indicating that harvest time is on the horizon. When I’m feeling OCD, I do actual point counts to estimate Trich “colors.” I’m not feeling OCD today and I’m kind of over that model for determining a harvest date anyways. There are other ways to determine how ripe a cannabis plant is. More on that later.
The calyx pods are turning a darker purple as they fatten up in this closeup. You can also see Clear, Cloudy and Amber trichomes in close proximity to each other. About midway up on the right side you can see the purple coloration creeping up the stem of a squat trichome. That phenomenon has been beautifully documented by @JoeCrowe in his incredible micro photography images.
Let’s zoom out to the macro level again and I’ll leave you with an image that allows judgement of overall frostiness and composition. What’s not to like?
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040121
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
Till the last recorded syllable of time…
-Macbeth, in frustration over the delays in his own “Harvest!”
Alas and alack, mates. It STILL isn’t harvest day, but it is getting damned close. So, while we wait, let’s take a minute to talk about when to chop down the plant you have come to love.
I have grown this same White Widow strain several times now and on each occasion I treated harvest timing as a variable. I wanted to learn whether the potency & character of the cured smoke was really affected by those pretty trichome color changes.
I was also influenced by an article by Frenchy Cannoli (may he RIP!) that suggested maximum THC production doesn’t occur until at least half of the trichomes have turned amber. Most growers don’t wait that long so I wondered if we are all harvesting too early. Here’s a link to the article in question. This is an interesting read even if you don’t buy all of Frenchy’s opinions.
Without belaboring the details of my experiments, I concluded that waiting for more amber did indeed have a strong influence on the potency of my harvest, however it didn’t seem to change the character of the high as is usually supposed. In my case at least, clear trichs didn’t really make the weed noticeably “speedier,” just not as strong. That supported Frenchy’s claim that peak THC has not been reached. This led me to have more patience awaiting the “Amber Dawn” before harvesting.
I realize that is controversial, but it is what I found under relatively controlled repeat trials over several grows.
More importantly however I came to realize that trichome coloration is only one of several things to look for. After an intellectual nudge from the gentleman who invented the growing technique we’re using here, I learned how to also look for “The Final Push,” a sign he trusts as indicating that a plant is at peak THC production.
I understand the Final Push as a last gasp attempt by a cannabis plant at attracting a bit of pollen before withering away. That Lady Plant really wants to deliver a seed to the world before she dies, and the Final Push is the result. The tell tail sign is the appearance of new white pistils emerging from an individual calyx that already has older dry brown pistils. You can observe the phenomenon during very late harvest time and, once you know what to look for it is unmistakable.
To illustrate, here is an image of the Final Push on a near-harvest Northern Lights beauty: (reproduced with permission)
For the Final Push to be useful you need to know how and when your specific strain expresses it. There are many different cola structures and plant lifecycles, and the Final Push may present differently among them. I’ve only had the opportunity to view this with a few strains but they all showed it to some degree. YMMV! Break out the loupes and USB microscopes grow nerds!
This is also the time you may see signs of male sex indications, and nanners, both of which are stress signs of a plant trying to propagate any way she can. Remind yourself that this plant is a living organism with a programmed mission in life. “The Selfish Gene” by Dawkins explains it better than I ever could hope to.
Whether you see the “Amber Dawn,” or the “Final Push,” or both, this is your plant’s last attempt at making sure she doesn’t go without progeny. The flowers are swelling, and your plant is doing her best to ensure that if there are any boyz at all out there, she is ready to party!
“Huc Venite Pueri ut Viri Sitis” (basically, Come Hither Boys…)
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Again, such a fantastic, well-detailed write up. Thanks for sharing and great work 
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Thanks for your comment. I am well aware that this isn’t the usual Grow Log format and I appreciate the support I’ve received from this elite community.
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It’s your grow log, you can do things however you damn well please. Seems easy enough to follow for me. Keep doing you and thanks for letting us tag along
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Awesome info, I will use it!
Thanks…
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Howdy @GrouchyOldMan! Very nice detailed journal of your training. I’ve still never tried a full blown manifold, tie down, or a scrog net. Don’t know why. Anyway, great job. It’s interesting for sure.
I notice in that pic that you used the red circle to show the pistils at the end of the grow. I notice that there is no amber in the trichs. I’ve been trying to find a better way to decide when to cut than just amber. I’ve been finding that if I wait for good amber coverage I always seem to feel like I waited to long. It seems like I lose some of the raw character of the plant.
So, I may focus on that Final Push method to maybe not wait too long. Anyway, it’s a great thread you’ve made. Very detailed and helpful. I’d like to do a similar grow one of these days. Do you find that by doing a manifold type grow that it adds a lot of extra time to the full grow, and how much would you think? Thanks
Have you grown PC before? I haven’t but I have a cross a friend sent me a long time ago that was PC crossed to Sannie’s “Selene”. That was one very cool plant. It grew pretty tall but with wide node space and almost no trimming. It had pine cone shaped buds and it cured into a real stinker. Like dirty gym socks or something, lol. The bud would stay lit in the bow for a looong time. It was a really unique plant.
I still have some of the seeds, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I also have some Selene f2 by itself. I never have had either one by itself.
I always wondered what the PC was like. All I know is the cross was really impressive. I just never heard any reviews of the PC. I’ll dig those seeds out and see how many I have of each. It seems like he sent a good many with each. It was actually a happy mistake by him when his Selene male in another tent polluted the ventilation to his flowering girls. Anyway, hit me up anytime. peace
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This really clarified much for me. I had a very different understanding of this phenomena.
You on my watch list.
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Oh, I forgot… @GrouchyOldMan, I wanted to aske if you have your pots on the ground. I tried using my basement in winter and I underestimated how cold the roots were and the end of the grow went south fast. Lots of herm action near the end. I’ve gone back to letting my plants sit on a small pedestal. I found some small plastic waste baskets that are mesh even on the bottom so I just flip them upside down and it lets air get to the bottom of the pot and prevents cold roots. Anyway, thanks again! peace
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I grew it a couple times but that was before I was posting anywhere (I was keeping a low profile in those days…)
I didn’t get any ‘pineapple’ per se, but these was a sort of cheese aspect to it & some sort of fruit(ish). A cat piss changing to skunk about mid flower. I was manifolding and growing in tomato cages so the shape wasn’t natural.
This one isn’t ‘too blurple’ but definitely ‘pine-cone bud structure’
Apologies for hi-jacking your thread Grouchy 
Cheers
G
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The pics I had of that cross is on the hard drive on another computer. I need to get it hooked up again to get my pics. Definitely no pineapple or fruit in the cross. Lots of foul, dank smells, and a little cheese maybe, but it was fire. I’ll give you a shout when I find them. I should have a few I could send.
Sorry for the trouncing on your thread @GrouchyOldMan. I’m and antique as well. I have to respond to something right away or I’ll never remember again, lol.
Peace brother
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Good eye @GMan, the Northern Lights plant in the pic was “ready” for harvest even tho there was little or no amber yet. That’s why using more than one indicator is valuable.
Haw! That was very much a contributing factor in my environmental screw up. Normally I put the pots on a one inch foam insulation board, but that cold snap really caught me off guard. The VPD was so far off the plant transpiration stopped and the roots were really cold too. Lesson learned.
BTW, no worries about the “Hijack” thing. I’m here to learn too. All good.
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