TestOfOath's Happy Place

[TestOfOath]

Thanks man, I feel like I should invest more time here than doom scrolling on social media like I have been, this is infinitely more beneficial in so many ways lol. As for the crosses I share your sentiments on them potentially being some very nice crosses. The Tropicana Cherry had your classic TC flavor and smell, idk what terp it is exactly but I 100% associate it with Tropicana and some incredible looks to go with it. The purples of both should compliment each other, all around should be a real solid cross.

Brawndo from Aficionado Mendocino was slightly underwhelming, plants were very whiny but they’re outdoor bred in Cali so my indoor shit show they went through probably wasn’t ideal for them. They did have hands down the best nug rubs of every plant in the room though, I can’t even describe what the smells were that came off those plants but they were absolutely magical. Had you smelling your fingers like the first time you ever got to whatever base that is. You can see in the pics that the nugs were pretty small and the plants were kinda lanky and lacking, but I feel like the ICC #5 should make up for all of that in the cross, and the Brawndo will add its magical terps and very pretty end of flower colors to the already pretty ICC #5 end of flower colors.

One of the ones I’m most excited about was a late comer that just happened to make its way into the run, my Pictured Rocks (BOG Blue Moon Rocks x Pure Michigan F2, if you search there’s pics way up somewhere of it, was a 1 off freebie I got in a trade), was my first time growing it and it was just a fresh sprout basically that went into the hydro system I made next to some other small ones. But boy am I happy it did, I’m calling the offspring Boston Cooler F1 as its my favorite ice cream beverage, made with Vanilla Ice Cream and Vernor’s, which originated in Michigan, so it fits the theme and makes me happy. I don’t specifically remember the terps on that one, probably cause it was right next to Brawndo and I always checked on that first or maybe they were underwhelming, can’t really say. But man the trichomes on that thing were SO long, like really really long. Before the bugs and me killing them fried the plants it really was a beauty, but it was just a side though project so didn’t get the photography love the others did.

[Emeraldgreen]

From a purely selfish standpoint, you should spend more time here

I ran aficionados rainbird inside, completely underwhelming also. Outside made me wish I had kept her even just for breeding for outdoor

[JoeCrowe]

Yah if I were a betting man, I would place my stack on “soil mites” of the orbatid family. Fungus eating species.

[TestOfOath]

Alright so I figured its time for my bi weekly/monthly/yearly or whatever update

I completely tore apart the superflow and washed and scrubbed it in the bath tub with vinegar water. Was a nice hefty sludge in the bottom and in the bottoms of all the net pots, where those annoying little bastards were living. As you can see in some of the photos, the sludge is still living in the air stones some how. I think it lives off the oxygen at this point. I sprayed 2 stones with a strong isopropyl alcohol spray and rubbed off the stuff on the outside of the stone, was still back the next day. I stopped using URB and the root nutrients I have as I’m certain those are the two that led to the overgrowth of bacteria or whatever the shit that stuff is. There’s like 30 or 40ml off concentrated neem oil with another 20-30 ml of surfactant to make it less oily in the water, stick to the roots and shit less, and a splash of organic defoamer cause it gets bubbly after the surfactant. Sitting at like 6-700 ppm with nutrients, I just went straight for the full RAW bloom mix, so its high 20-30’s NPK. There’s new super healthy root growth popping off already, super minimal amount of those mites crawling on net pots, less than 5 per pot easy, but there’s also not much food for them left anymore after rinsing and washing everything.

I’m almost certain they’ll recover and its about as good a stress test as you can do on the ICC #5 S2 and BCICC, so it’ll really test the S2 genetic resiliency which is exactly what I want cause I have that nagging worry in the back of my mind about inbreeding to S2.

Greenhouse is going well, I can’t remember if I said before but I put like 2.5 lbs of powdered sulfur across every inch of the greenhouse, gonna go hard on making sure to take care of it this year. Got a soaker hose and put down 10 boxes/bags of organic ferts. It’s GOING to be a good year this year.

Now for pics!! (feel like there should be some disclaimer here about any folks with sanitation issues)

[Gpaw]

I was somewhat impressed with hydrogen peroxide (3%) for clearing up that slimy biofilm. I’ve been buying it in litre bottles…

Cheers
G

[TestOfOath]

I was tossing some 35% hydrogen peroxide in when it was really bad before I cleaned as a last ditch effort but I’m down to not much in the bottle anymore now, I’ll toss in what’s left as well! I use hydrogen peroxide when sprouting seeds as well

Side note, don’t ask chatgpt how much 35% you should be putting into water, the way it words it makes it seem like your room will explode if not extremely ventilated because of the extra 02 it gives off.

[Rabeats2093]

35% food grade peroxide is some gnarly shit brother be safe when handling it glad to see you around !

[TestOfOath]

So I haven’t really gotten a lot of pics but we got the garden done this weekend, its like 75 ft by 25 ft so it was a lot, was a jungle of weeds when I started and it rained the night we planted so I’m pretty proud and confident that the garden will actually go well this year, SUPER excited about that. Greenhouse is growing fast. Also got new root growth on most if not all of the plants in the super flow.

Albino Penis Envys are starting to colonize! Looks like I didn’t screw up the fool proof method they provided which is surprising, I even held my breath and turned the fan in the room off when inoculating like they suggested should be a nice little harvest by the end though, I’m definitely gonna grab a syringe of each cultivar they have at the shop when I have the cash

The rolling trays are tests I’ve been printing trying to find one that I actually like to use, I’m a fan of the red one for rolling on the go, I keep one in my bag cause it keeps from making a mess while rolling pretty well. One of these days when I get enough projects done and free up enough time I really need to get into fusion 360 or something and learn to design myself.

Been putting a lot of time into getting my stock up on ototwgenetics.org and getting things squared away on there, its a lot more work than I imagined it’d be, but I know I’m responsible for all of it and in control of it as well, its all on me at this point and that’s how I like it

[Sailorboy]

This your ICC #5 S2. She’s looking good growing great!!

[TestOfOath]

Alright so random update time again, so about a week after cleaning the hydro system out I had nice new roots growing and everything was chugging along and happy, picked up some side work completely tearing out 800 sq ft of carpet and installing lifeproof flooring. So ripped out the carpet during the day and the lady I was doing it for was like yo let’s go trip at your sister in laws tonight and you can go home tomorrow, ok cool.

Drank some lemon tek tea with cacao added for a double MAOI around 9 PM, everything’s smooth till like 230AM, I hear a huge thud which was apparently my brother in law passing out while standing next to their bed, some blood pressure issue or something they’re apparently used to. (And mind you, I had 0 control over their situation, these two are like 40 and 50) But then I find out shit’s hitting the fan for the other couple and she’s having some heart issues brought on by tripping too hard essentially, 2 ambulances and 2 cops come at 230 AM while she’s laying in the front yard in the rain. Take her away n get her stable, she left the hospital next morning. Make sure sister and brother in law are smooth for like 30 mins and then leave to my buddy’s house like 6 mins away.

Then my daughter, who’s at a sleepover and its 3 am starts blowing me and my wife’s phone up with the emergency phone she had, turned out to be a group of the girls there that had taken her phone and were messing around and I had my wife wake the parents up and go handle it cause I was an hour away and still tripping.

Get home next day around 930 AM and go in the grow room and everything in the hydro is wilted as shit, open everything up and roots and clay are bone dry, i cycle the pump a few times on the wifi timer and nothing happens, take the pump out and apart and still nothing, random little spurts where it gets power. So the 3 month old Vivosun pump took a shit, pulled the one from the hydro system I built (cause I shut that one down, I need to get the drainage right and just don’t have the time right now.) and cleaned it and put it in there and I can see new roots again now but boy did they get pissed off after already being pissed off. LUCKILY the greenhouse is doing phenomenal, I’d put down a bunch of top dressings and stuff in there and it seems to be paying off, they’re about chest height for the most part and the one has hands down the biggest leaves I’ve ever witnessed, I’ve got larger hands than pretty much anyone I meet and these things make my hands look just tiny next to em. I weed whipped after pics and cleared some of the area behind the greenhouse in an attempt to get as much light to the smaller back plants as the front, but it’ll work out in the end cause we’re planning on moving as soon as I harvest so if its a little sooner than later this year that’s cool with me, I’ll leave the tree line cover this year.

WILD FUCKING RIDE lately, let me tell you boys.

Work has been just as crazy. The 2 managers that hired me are both gone, one quit and the other got fired, I’d spent the last 2.5 months being told by the last of the 2 a bunch of stuff that never came to fruition cause he was kinda over his head in his position and it led to me getting to where I don’t give a shit about the place anymore and just come to work, not give a 110% like I normally do. But this week I met with all of the top managers of the place and had a short talk about where I was at with everything and they want to get me back to where I’m happy and motivated and want to continue working at this place. I’d even told them I want to run my own company eventually and they said they’d help me get there and then sub contract me work afterwards if that’s what I really wanted to do.

And now for pics

[TestOfOath]

Speaking of these APEs, they’re almost fully colonized, is there a way I can take them out of the bag at some point and put them in a tub so that the substrate is spread out and there’s more of a surface area for them to fruit on, in turn leading to a larger harvest than just the like 10x6 in area the bag would have to fruit in???

[Kushking902]

You can, is there just grain in that bag? Or is it one of those all in one grow bags? You can mix it up with substrate after it’s fully colonized in a small tote and wait for it to colonize the tub.

Bag just about colonized

Substrate colonizing under casing

Casing layer colonizing

Pins

[TestOfOath]

@Kushking902 That’s specifically what I’m looking to do! It’s from SHRUM, one of the pre-made grow bags that you just inject. I’m not sure what their blend is, some dark material that looks like dirt and vermiculite but I have no clue really.

Did you make your own substrate in the totes or just open the bags and spread them out? How can I tell when it’s FULLY colonized to be able to put it into a tote? Too early means definite contamination unless you’re in a sterile environment right?

[Kushking902]

@TestOfOath

Did you make your own substrate in the totes or just open the bags and spread them out?

That stuff there was bought in the bags, pre sterilized and pre hydrated. 1lb grain bags and 3lb substrate bag.
I have a pressure cooker now so I can make it myself.

@TestOfOath

I’m not sure what their blend is, some dark material that looks like dirt and vermiculite but I have no clue really.

It’s probably coco, vermiculite, gypsum, and manure. Don’t really need the manure but I got a little better yields with it.

@TestOfOath

How can I tell when it’s FULLY colonized to be able to put it into a tote?

That first picture of the grain bag I put there is close. At that point I break it up and mix the grains then let it colonize in a nice white solid block.
Then break it up and mix with the substrate and then close it.
I’ve never tried the all in one bags before so I can’t say how well that would work for spawning to bulk.

[TestOfOath]

So I had another fun weekend last weekend, worked like idk at least 2 weeks in a row cause I did Saturday and Sunday and didn’t start finally recovering until yesterday. 12 hours + 6 more on 60 mg of adderall so I’m capable of doing 2 people’s worth of physical labor on top of foreman-ing 10 people around a idk 4,000+ sq foot complete move AND move in to the next house. Was an absolute shit show and I had to literally put my life in danger to complete it, crawled under this big dumb dresser on the staircase with 6 guys on the outside of it and lifted with my whole body from underneath so we could get it up. Told 'em “don’t kill me down here boys, we got this”, real solid motivator.

Ended up shutting the grow room down this week, I’ve still gotta cut off like 1/4-1/2 inch off the legs that Superflow system cause the water level on the far back sides isn’t high enough. Everything was still struggling to recover and probably wouldn’t be ready for harvest by the time we move in the fall so I’m gonna transplant all the plugs into solo cup and figure out what to do with them, maybe plant a few. I’ve got BCICC in the greenhouse already but no ICC outdoors yet.

Greenhouse is doing fantastic actually, will probably spray this weekend just to deter the sparse leaf hoppers and other nuisances that are out there. Boston Cooler is over 7 ft tall already, Rick James has the biggest leaves I’ve ever witnessed, bigger than my head by a decent amount at this point, BCICC just looks phenomenally healthy overall, pretty confident in this year and the genetics I chose for this last seed run.

Mushrooms are fully colonized finally, I don’t really have the environment controlled in the .5 bath they’re in, just a fan going and ambient temps which usually don’t make it to 80F. Going slowly but surely, decided I’ll get this run under my belt and next time I’ll experiment a tiny bit on getting the bag into a larger mix for a heftier harvest. Even an 1/8th or 1/4 of APEs would last me quite some time with how little I actually trip these days. And i’m gonna make chocolates at a 1:1 ratio of shroom to chocolate for easy dosing so even a smaller harvest will last.

On a personal achievement kind of note, my guy in Australia that bought seeds has some great looking plants going from me and the seeds I sent to China made it to my guy! First time sending to China, tracked, beat customs, and will have a Chinese national growing my buds!!!

Super exciting for me, even if its been a massively slow year sales wise

Aussie fella’s weed

[TestOfOath]

Hey folks, greenhouse is still going strong. Boston Cooler is a good 8 ft tall even after being topped, I topped everything a week ago, Black Cherry ICC has leaves rivaling the Rick James now, I’m getting really excited for this Croptober the more I watch these grow. This is also more or less a test run of the majority of my new fem cultivars and they’re all doing spectacularly in my book so far. Covered the entire greenhouse in powdered sulfur again and then wet the whole thing down. That was the last of my like 5 lbs of sulfur.

Bought some baby ducks cause my outdoor rescue bunny died and my daughter was sad. Apparently feral outdoor rabbits never acclimate to domestication, probably should’ve checked that out before hand. Ducks are pretty cool though, and they love my weed just like bunnies do, I didn’t get a pic of the aftermath but they ate it down to the stem and then some

[Rabeats2093]

Make sure those duckling get enough niacin !
Glad to hear everything is chugging along …
the great house looks great brother !
Keep in touch .

[TestOfOath]

Thanks man, I’m doing my best to keep everything together as usual lol, its been a f’ing stressful year of a lot of work but it’ll all be worth it in the end.

I’ve been feeding them Flock Raise, meal worms, and peas. I didn’t see anything about niacin in the flock raise so maybe I need to look into a supplement? What does it do for the little critters?

[Boozer]

Don’t want to step on my dude @Rabeats2093 toes but you can add brewers yeast to help with niacin. I just sprinkle it on thier feed. Looking good brother.

[TestOfOath]

Appreciate the heads up! I’ll have to make a note now and snag some of that. How often should I be feeding outside of the actual feed, things like meal worms and peas and blueberries or whatever? Cause it’ll mess their diet and in turn their digestion up if I over do it, correct? These little mf’ers are growing like weed, feel like you can see a visible difference every day or few days!

Also, do they eat green vegetation regularly? How often can I give em a weed leaf as a treat? I’ve only done it once and they enjoyed it, stems/stalk gave em something to chew on and play with for a bit as well