Hittin' the highminwin road.. my first grow!

[LivingBlackSoil]

https://www.rollitup.org/t/vert-600-400-5-plant-from-ukraine-with-love.938560/post-13472509

Sedan is the name and he’s an innovative grower who attracts other creative folks making for an informative thread. Having trouble ffwding to last page. Remember it being open, now it’s closed, and International. Fun stuff. Blessings to him and his. Love to him and his. Justice to him and his.
Peace

Edit: Just saw that it was closed for expressing political opinions on a grow journal??? What a weird site. Wether u agree or disagree with Sedan, he is in Ukraine.

Sorry for the hijack @highminwin keep growing that Earth Wind and Fire!!

[highminwin]

what a cool link LBS! the size of those colas that he grew out is goddamn impressive! like, ridiculously impressive. i imagine the heat coming off of that must have been something though. or maybe not, i suppose it’s just the one bulb after all.

[highminwin]

some quick updates on the grow…

first, we’re gonna have to pour one out for new caledonia 4. i checked up on it the other day and i felt like it was time to call it. lets take a look at the autopsy.

browned cotyledon leaves. shriveled taproot. it looks like a little sleeping embryo. maybe next time, little one.

now onto the living plants! the ladies in the main flowering tent are just chugging along, nothing of major importance to note. tropical 1 still has that amazing funky blueberry smell, i really can’t get enough of it.

one thing i’m noticing is tropical 3’s tips are possibly being bleached by my led panel. it’s strange though, since it seems like the lower tops are being affected more than the higher tops.

it totally looks like light bleaching to me. i’m a little hesitant to turn down my panel though, since my other plants seem to be doing alright. will i just lose those tops or will just the leaves yellow and die? should i be more concerned?

i have had a recent infestation of fungus gnats, possibly from the happy frog. i had started spraying neem oil, but only somewhat casually. i figured i only saw a few, so i only sprayed the plants that seemed to have them. but then i noticed they were hopping from plant to plant, so today i buckled down and added neem/karanja cake to all of my plants, as well as doing neem foliar sprays. don’t sleep on those gnats, they will over-run your plants before you know it! i will continue the treatment until they’re totally gone. i might have to pick up some of those mosquito dunks.

aside from that, my second set of seedlings are also chugging along nicely. considering my lack of space, they’re actually doing too well. while the seedlings started out in the ac infinity veg box, i found that they were pretty happy in the flowering tent. they seemed to do pretty well in that environment.

nanan bouclou 1 and new caledonia 2 were doing too well, so i put them back into the small ac infinity veg box since i don’t have room to transplant them into 1 gallons yet and i wanted to stall any further growth. you can see they’re both totally ready for new shoes.

one thing i’m curious about is whether switching the seedlings back and forth between the 18/6 veg box and 12/12 flowering tent will cause any long term issues or increase the likelihood of herming. just something to keep in mind.

the other seedlings are also doing well, working to catch up to nb1. they’re in the main flowering tent where they’re getting 12/12 light at 80% power from about 18" away.

viet black 1 and nanan bouclou 5S “shorty” are the smallest of the group.

nanan bouclou 5T “taco” is showing some discoloration or possible variegation in its leaves. i’ve scoped it for potential bugs/predators but did not find anything conclusive. my theory is that his roots got damaged during the surgery to separate shorty and taco, and the damage/stress from that either had him eating into his leaves or called out the variegation.

i’ll be keeping a close eye on taco for the next week or so.

i decided that i couldn’t keep jury-rigging my ac infinity box (although it’s done remarkably well and been very adaptable). i really want to get my second set of seedlings transplanted and ready for the next part of their lives and i don’t feel comfortable putting a proper led panel in that box since it’s made out of cardboard and everything about it is mickey moused. so i ordered another tent, 2’x2’ this time since that’s all the space i’m willing to give up.

sadly i couldn’t find the ac infinity 722 (72" tall) in stock anywhere, so i had to opt for the 422 (48" tall). i was really hoping to get something that i could bi-sect so i could create two levels and i didn’t want to go bigger than 2’x2’. it’ll have to do for now.

i’m really looking forward to having a proper veg and flower space, although i really wasn’t expecting to take up this much space with everything. please don’t tell me that it just keeps getting worse. i’m not an idiot though, i can see the writing on the wall. lol!

who was saying i needed to get another tent? i think it was LBS. at the time i thought to myself, “that’s silly! i don’t have room for another tent!” but then you know, these plants… they just need to be grown! is there a support group for this? oh, this is the support group? well, you guys aren’t doing a very good job!

[JoeCrowe]

Now you know how to make kosher dill pickles and sauerkraut! Keeping the cabbage and/or cucumbers in the brine is integral to keeping mold at bay. You weigh it down with something then scoop the floaters off the top.

[highminwin]

@JoeCrowe

then scoop the floaters off the top.

umm, what are the floaters? lol! is that just the moldy bits you’re talking about, or any bad parts that you’ll want to scoop out?

oh, i totally forgot to update you guys on cindy 1, the female i had given to my san diego grower friend. he sent me a video update last week which i took some screen caps from.

she’s just busting out with new veg growth! she looks very happy. much bushier and more vigorous than my cindy 2, who is her indoors sibling.

when i’d dropped her off, she had already been in flower indoors for maybe two weeks or so. you can see some of her new mono-leaves due to re-vegging from the longer outdoor sunlight cycle. it should be another month-ish of reveg before she’ll naturally switch into flowering again.

[JoeCrowe]

With Lactobacillus ferments, anything that can mold that floats to the top I scoop off.

[Dr.VitaminGreen]

Are you soaking the seeds with Hydrogen Peroxide or aloe or fulvic or just water?

I just put up my new seedling tent. Is the 2x2 from Cool Guy Grows off Amazon.
It’s the best quality tent I have ever put up tbh, like everything was sized perfect so I didn’t have to strain to get it on, instructions were extremely clear, and they even included a roll of silver tape for any light leaks or pinholes, which it has none of. I am extremely impressed. I have used Secret Jardin, Gorilla, Mars, vivosun, and this one was the cheapest but the most quality.

That Light Bleaching is definitely interesting, those thin leaves don’t like too much of anything I have found, can you move then to the perimeter of the tent? That would probably help a bit.

Hope you had a great weekend!

[LivingBlackSoil]

I have that same lil tent sitting on a card table. Perfect lil size. Ac Infinity is my tent of choice. Got the 5x5 when they first came out. Less expensive than the Castle Greens 4x4. @highminwin did you consider the one they have with 2 chambers? I think it’s like 2x3 or so.

Edit: it’s 3x4

[highminwin]

@Dr.VitaminGreen

Are you soaking the seeds with Hydrogen Peroxide or aloe or fulvic or just water?

just plain water for now @Dr.VitaminGreen. the germination part has gone pretty well for the most part. i think in my first grow there were some stubborn tropical mix seeds, but my thought on them was those seeds were really thick and i hadn’t been patient enough with them.

this second grow i lost two sprouts because i think they got trapped under soil debris. so in the future i’m gonna fill in the seedling hole with probably some down to earth starter mix. it’ll be the simplest thing to do, rather than going out to buy some vermiculite, or sifting the happy frog soil to remove the bigger chunks.

@Dr.VitaminGreen

I just put up my new seedling tent. Is the 2x2 from Cool Guy Grows off Amazon

it’s a good price on that tent, although i see it’s using 600D material versus the ac infinity’s 2000D material. makes me wonder about the tubing as well. can you get us some pictures and specs on it? it’d be great to see a comparison. maybe the price difference would be worth it to those who can afford it.

i’ve been super happy with the ac infinity gear i’ve used so far, so i felt comfortable picking up the ac infinity 2x2. again, i wish it were the taller version, but at least there’s enough vertical room to put the ac infinity cardboard “transformer” box on top. so i can still work that mega box 20 ways to sunday!

@LivingBlackSoil

did you consider the one they have with 2 chambers? I think it’s like 2x3 or so.

i did, i saw someone using a 2x3 which had a small secondary side chamber, and they just flipped the frame pieces around to create a dual level tent. that’s pretty much what i was looking for, although i was hoping the dual level could be adjustable (+/-2 feet in height). i also considered the gorilla tent’s 2x2.5, which is a foot taller, and has additional height extenders if i had the ceiling height (which i don’t). but i nixxed all of those options because i just wasn’t ready to give up another 6" of floor space.

i’m trying to stealth grow in a small-ish bedroom and i feel like my 3x3 tent already takes up an inordinate amount of space. i’ve been able to drape the tent and put boxes up around it so it just looks like i’m a neat hoarder or tinkerer/crafter. i think to add another 2x2 is going to stretch the limits of my plausible deniability as is. “no, those are my external storage closets because i don’t have enough closet space.” “oh, i use that tent for product photography.”

but like i said, i’ve caught this growing bug so i’ll have to see where it takes me in the future. i didn’t really even expect to be at this point in my life right now, with even the one tent. lolol!

[Dr.VitaminGreen]

Huh, never even looked at the material difference. I have never noticed a difference in that factor, unless it has pinholes, it’s not going outside, so there’s no reason to be upsold on something like that, just my opinion, but I view AC Infinity as same as Mars or Vivosun.

They are all the same same China factory stuff with USA based dropship warehouse so I just find the best deal. Same with blurple lights. Which I got a 100w adjustable Vipar for 58$ with coupon for the tent.

You could have looked at secret Jardin, they make a tent on top of a chamber tent. Expensive though.

I also did a Google “Male Isolation Chamber Rollitup,” and there’s a diy using a Rubbermaid with a PC Fan and hepa Filter. Looked right up your alley since you know how to wire those up.

It looks like damping off those seeds that’s why I was curious as to your method. Easy non harmful method is to add a tint bit of hydrogen peroxide to the cup of water. Maybe give it a try next time, or use aloe or fulvic, but I haven’t tried those.

[Limeflavouredheadbut]

@highminwin

do you change out the carbon in your filter at all, lime? or has it been running with the same for those five years?

hello mate i wouldnt say its meant to last that long, i think the guarantee was 12 months but im very lazy and very very tight so yeah its just the same charcol in it i was looking at replacing it but ya know if it aint broke

~lime~

[DesertHeartGardens]

Fungus gnats are such a pain in the ass and multiply like nuts they sure love organics ‍:dash:but I get some mosquito bits same thing as dunks and water them in every 10-14 days keeps them at bay rove beetles are wonderful for getting rid of the larve in the soil too and sticky traps sticky traps sticky traps the Cindy 1 you gave your friend is looking great such detailed reports great stuff

[DesertHeartGardens]

[ReikoX]

Probably going to jinx myself, but I haven’t seen a fungus gnat since I installed the Blumats.

[Hemp]

Molasses. Yellow sticky pads for black flys. Blue for white. White for anything. Molasses will trap them in the soil. They hate it. If you hang the stinky ones near the light. When the light comes on after a sleep they fly up if you have a fan blowing they will hit it. Let your soil dry out is the best. My thoughts. I have had them bad before. Flying in my nose. It was ruff. Dr. Earth make final stop it kills fast . Just make sure fans are off. Might get in your eye.

[highminwin]

@DesertHeartGardens

I get some mosquito bits same thing as dunks

it looks like the mosquito dunks are doing a very good job. i ground some up, sprinkled on the top of my soil, watered it in, and fungus gnats have been gone since. it’s been about a week now. i’m curious about the difference between the bits and the dunks, since i saw the bits have 3% of the bacillus whereas the dunks have 10% i believe. i might pick up some of the bits later on, but the dunks have served me well so far. i’ve gone through three and a half of the pucks to take care of my flowering females and the new batch of seedlings, and i’m happy with the results.

@ReikoX

I haven’t seen a fungus gnat since I installed the Blumats.

why do you think this is reikox? i read that gnats like wet damp soil, so do you think the blumats are keeping your soil conditions moist but less than what gnats would like? or maybe the blumats are watering further down than the topsoil?

it’d be nice to get more automation going, but i’m very limited in space and definitely still trying to maintain as much of a stealth setup as possible. i think the noise from the pump for the blumats might be too much for me.

@Hemp

Dr. Earth make final stop it kills fast

i haven’t heard of the final stop before. looking it up, it seems to be a blend of essential oils (rosemary, sesame, peppermint, thyme, cinnamon, garlic) and safe to use during flowering as well. i think there’s an ipm thread on overgrow which has a similar essential oil spray. i did like how immediate and effective those mosquito dunks were. i had tried using neem/karanja meal sprinkled on top of the soil, and that didn’t seem to do much against the fungus gnats. so i’m curious about the effectiveness of essential oil sprays. but if you say it worked for you, i may try to make my own version for the future.

thanks for the suggestions everybody. i seem to have a personal aversion to creepy crawlies and flying pest-y things, lol! i dunno how i’m gonna make it as a grower and gardener if i don’t get over it. one step at a time i suppose.

[DesertHeartGardens]

Been a big learning curve for me doing organics use to freak out at every bug still do every once and awhile but has gotten a lot better having confidence in my ipm regimen glad the dunks work for you and got them under control just saw thrip Damage in my veg/clone tent only found 2 leaves damaged and only a couple larve so think I caught it early but deployed the sticky traps and sprayed the shit out of them they don’t end up in my flower tent

[highminwin]

it’s been a busy week for me, so i’m a little behind on things, but i’ve finally got some time for my weekly-ish update. so lets take a look…

when’d we see these plants last, a week or two ago? well, they’re all done with their main flowering growth spurt and these weeks are just patiently waiting for them to plump up and be ready to harvest.

what i originally thought was light bleaching on my tropical 3 is looking more like nute burn and maybe something to do with the seeds it’s producing, since it’s the seeded branches that are showing the most affected leaves.

actually all of my flowering females are showing some slight issues with their leaves (yellowing, dying, spots), but aside from tropical 3 (where it’s showing on a lot of the upper canopy) it wasn’t extreme on my other plants, hitting only two or three leaves at a time. after thinking about it for a little bit, i concluded that i was probably feeding them too hard and i have eased up.

since flowering started, i’ve been feeding them sprouted seed meal and build-a-bloom on sundays and mango/banana fjp feedings on fridays. oftentimes i would supplement with an additional feeding on wednesdays, depending on what i felt like (aloe, kelp, humic, fulvic, powdered coconut, etc) and then plain waterings on in-between days.

i’ve since switched over mostly to plain waterings and my feedings are more sparse. i think i’ve noticed a plateauing of the yellowing leaves/spots since i’ve dialed it back.

but if you look at the branches which are intentionally (and decently) seeded, you’ll see a fair amount of the leaves have dried and wilted. i haven’t noticed this on my other plants, so i’m curious what causes this. at first i thought that branch had just been bent or broken and so it was slowly dying, but the rest of the branch and plant looked fine, so it didn’t alarm me enough to figure it out any more.

once i trimmed off and cleaned up the dried leaves, it looked alright to me. so i suppose i’m not gonna worry too much about those dried leaves.

i’ve since been going over the plant and collecting seeds by hand, plucking them off with tweezers. because this plant is pollinated with two different males, i want to be sure the seeds i collect are properly sorted and labelled.

not done with seed collection yet (probably about halfway through), and it looks like tropical 3 x durban 1 will have plenty for a first go at things. i’ll have to at least wait for a smoke report on tropical 3 before i know whether these seeds are even worth planting or sending out to others.

interestingly enough, the seeds on tropical 3 matured very quickly (i’m still waiting for seeds on durban 3, cindy 2, and tropical 1 to mature). on the other hand, it feels like the bud on tropical 3 has been slow to develop. it just seems like low trich development so far. maybe this plant prioritized seeds before buds, whereas the other plants are BUDS before seeds! at least it spaces out my seed harvesting duties.

[highminwin]

durban 3 is doing very nicely for being in a three gallon container.

her main cola is just thickening up trying to do them squats and whatnot, although again in more of a foxtail way than a thick chunky donkey dick sorta way. but still, look how much flower is there! i’m super excited for this smoke.

while her stem rub is still that acrid, rubbery smell which i don’t love, her flowers are very sweet, exotic, fruit-y smelling right now. it’s very alluring and i wonder if it’s the mango/banana ffj that i’ve been feeding them since all of my plants’ flowers seem to have a similar sweet smell to them (aside from tropical 1 which has that additional funky skunk berry smell to it as well).

see how even her seeded branches are fairly wispy and thin, as well as relatively minor trich development. she’s still got a few more weeks in her yet.

you can see the slight yellowing issues with her leaves below. nothing serious, and i think my feeding/watering is a little more dialed in now. durban 3 also has to deal with two clamp lights nearby and a fan blowing onto some of her leaves, so some of them are extra damaged. but again, nothing too alarming i don’t think.

[highminwin]

here’s cindy 2. overall growth feels slow, but buds and trichs are coming along nicely i feel like.

see? looking pretty frosty.

as for tropical 1, well, more of the same really. she’s still short, stout, and smelling like a sexy skunky smurf berry. i love to be near her and smell her scents. it’s such a pleasure whenever i move her in or out of the tent, it’s like being near your romantic crush. i just hope i like her smoke as much as her smell.

whaddya think? another week or two for tropical 1?