Doing a selective pollination next time around, are we?
I hope so…
Sci 
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Yes, but I can’t guarantee it until I see roots on the clones I’m taking this week. 
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Something tells me this is happening, i love selective pollination man!
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Just found this thread and it is amazing. Your biological approach is probably the finest I have seen in my years of searching the internet. The trex guardian is a very nice touch 
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LOL, this tickles me pink. 
The TL;DR version: 
You can’t beat mother nature, she ALWAYS wins, so cooperate with her!!!
The long version: 
I’ve spent most of my time studying plant and soil biology with the intent of removing as much work as possible from the process. I read Masanobu Fukuoka’s book “The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming” a long time ago and it really resonated with me. It reminded me that plants have been thriving all on their own, without any humans fussing over them, for 470 million years. Read that again, because it’s really truly the core principle of working with nature. This has been the one thing I remind myself of when I want to fuss over my plants. As @ReikoX says, “a double dose of LITFA,” goes a long ways.
This principle ties in with something I learned in college, that each living thing on this planet 
is the most evolutionary efficient converter of energy from one form to another in it’s specific niche. Also, every single thing on this planet is a source of energy for something else. The key is to find the right biology for the niche you have. We’re lucky that the natural world has already done most of the work for us in this aspect if we just pay attention to how nature already cycles energy.
.
I have also been inspired by reading Albert Howard’s “The Soil and Health: A Study of Organic Agriculture” which shows that even as conventional farming was getting it’s start that a conscientious farmer could produce better crops with the right system of composting in place. 
I also read a ton of the research on organic inputs that Clackamas Cootz posted on the ICMag forums, which is sadly interspersed between lots of ego driven posts by others. I’ve read tons of other stuff too, but those 3 things were pivotal.
The big takeaway should be that it can take some time and work to get a full biological system going, but it doesn’t need to cost tons of money 
and a perfect system is a self perpetuating 
system. The slow compost worm “bins” I’ve been running for almost 5 years are just 3 salvaged 25 gallon squat plastic pots. Use what you have, make mistakes, LOTS of them, often making mistakes intentionally, but always learning from them. You can’t avert future problems 
if you don’t know what they look like!
One final fact, we have a seemingly infinite amount of biological diversity and most life on this planet is capable of thriving in a range of environments utilizing a range of nutrient inputs. This is the reason there are so many nutrient recipes that all work. We should never be looking for the “perfect” nutrients for our plants, we should be focusing on maintaining a healthy equilibrium 
in a sustainable, and as environmentally friendly, way as possible.
The “I don’t want to understand it, I just want to grow dank” version: 
Both Buildasoil.com and KISorganics.com sell packaged amendment kits that take almost all the work out of making a living soil. They also sell cover crop blends that are perfect for seeding a living mulch. Get worms to compost everything for you (soil amendments, food scraps, yard debris, pretty much anything non-toxic), and sprinkle that stuff everywhere all the time. Someone says you have a Cal-Mag deficiency in your organic system? Hit it with homemade compost, water it in and LITFA!!!
Remember, you’ve never truly mastered organic growing until you stroll through your garden 
filled with a diversity of plants 
, dropping food waste 
as you go, stepping over unraked leaves 
, as you relax and feel gratitude for all the living things tirelessly turning sunlight 
into everything you need to thrive as a healthy and happy human! 
(Sometimes I think those hippies were onto something! 
)
Enough waxing philosophical, let’s smoke some hash!!! 
PS. I went ahead and set up the cloning area and sanitized everything, so I’m ready to take clones in the next couple days! I plan on taking pollen from each male, so I’m conflicted about if I need to take clones of the males. I’d love to hear everyone’s opinions on this matter.
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Damn @Sebring love your posts. 
I would take clones of the males too, just in case one of em turns out to be worth his salt.
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Speaking of unusual males, one of the males that I had Phylos test came back with odd results.
The odd part here is that I’ve been trained in biochemistry, I’m familiar with general protocols, and I’m 100% sure that I sent in large enough samples. So, I believe that this “unofficial” male plant is a male, but it’s not a strong male. Which means it’s probably a male with a strong intersex trait to it.
I’d love to hear other’s theories and thoughts. I could be wrong, I actually hope I’m wrong.
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Very well said!
I would clone the boys as well for further pollen collecting then perhaps a sog grow of say 1 boy for every 3 girls for selective pollination’s
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The Big Day!
I started the cloning process today by gathering all my supplies. Each test tube has the plant ID number on it and water in it. A new scalpel for sharp cuts and Clonex for those all important hormones. (I’ve tried other cloning solutions/powders/organic versions and none seemed to work as well as Clonex, so that’s what I use.) Sanitation and aseptic tools are key to successful cloning in humid environments.
(Nitrile gloves used, but not seen in photo)
Our first slip (this is what scientists call cuttings intended for cloning) ready to go in it’s test tube of water to soak while I cut the rest. Notice that it’s 3-4 fully formed leaves, which I do NOT cut at all, on a 3-5 inch stem with a diagonal cut right below 2 leave nodes that have been removed. The diagonal cut always needs to be about a quarter inch below the node cuts to have the greatest chance of producing roots, because this is where there is already a large quantity of accumulated plant hormones. This wasn’t the way I use to do slips, but some research convinced me there was a better way. Download PDF
All done taking 11 slips, one of each plant.
Each slip is soaked for a few minutes in Clonex and placed in a foam disc with it’s appropriate ID number.
Hurray!!! All 11 slips are in the cloner and ready for some LITFA!!! There was a single female slip, K4, that seemed to wilt a little during the process, but I’m hoping she perks up over the next day. The light above the clones is a weak blurple light placed about 3 foot above them which should decrease the light they’re receiving enough to prevent stress on them.
We’ll see in the coming days if they all root. I usually get about a 90% survival rate using this cheap Clone King cloner I picked up years ago for about $25 (they charge more now), but I have gotten much worse rates doing almost every other method. I blame the constant relative humidity of about 60%.
Just before taking clones I did a little low stress training (a.k.a. tying the stems down with string) so that the female plants would have a little more room to fill out. I also fed all the plants a little dilute kelp tea (3 tbsp in 3 gallons of water, aerated for an hour).
To finish up my afternoon I gathered up all the Princess Haze water sieve hash that has been drying over the last 4 days and smoked enough to rocket me 
into the stratosphere!
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I think it’s time for a StarWars Storm trooper in that forest. 
i can hear the blasters!
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I noticed that some of the plants have started to get shriveled yellow tips. I believe I made the soil too nutrient rich, which wasn’t a problem until I watered in a dose of microbe solutions (em1, mammothP, photo plus) which made an increased amount of the organic nutrient bio available to the plants. I’m sending off some soil for lab testing tomorrow and I took the hose to the soil today and watered enough to leach out some of the excess nutrients. I don’t think I’ve had leaf tips shrivel like this before, so I’m open to suggestions about what the problem might actually be.
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In my personal opinion, too many nutes too fast, considering it’s really only on the new growth.
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Three common symptoms of Nutrient Overdose:
- leaves turn a darker green than usual
- the leaf tips brown,
- or the leaves curl down.
Could be a Mn deficiency due to the fact that the younger leaves are yellowing and there is yellowing in between the veins. What’s your soil pH?
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If your already organic (with microbes)and your system is functioning ok why add more I’m familiar with Em1 fairly well but the other two I’m not , I’d hold off on those IMO this is a water only type soil try the KISS method and let your plants talk to ya! Maybe a figurine if Gene Simmons is needed in the bed!
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I highly doubt there’s any deficiency in this soil I’d guess there could of a been a temporary swing in Ph caused by microbes perhaps that made your plants unhappy for a bit apply a small dose of LITFA and see what’s happens.
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Just came across this the other day too. 
Thinking it is between the nutrient overdose and pH, or some combination. For me, it happened after the addition of a Cannabis FPJ that wasn’t properly diluted.
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Thank you everyone! The leaves have been deep green. I’m going to do water only for the future! The soil test results should tell us more when they arrive. #litfa
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I think you need a different one for bloom though. (LITFA-D)
…it’s the one with the other chick.
the D is for DAMNIT!
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