Joe goes organic

[Joe Blows Trees]

Made another popcorn tea for the plants and saw this:

Thought about planting it just because but it went into the mix. Will be putting the plants into bloom tomorrow and as soon as the ladies show themselves, I'll transplant them into 3/5 gallon pots of my cooking soil for their flowering stage. The males will be examined for possible pollen harvesting after which the worms will enjoy them as they will no longer be needed.

On a side note, I did an experiment with Foxfarm's ocean forest soil. I planted a seed into its hermie mother's pot and it sprouted and spent it's first week under a 1000 watt on a 12/12 cycle. The picture below was right after chopping it's mother.

Long story short, the soil was never amended nor did I remove the original rootball and the only nutrients used on the second run was foxfarm grow big(veg) and a bloom booster 10-30-20 with a couple molasses waterings. The first run was foxfarm grow big, tiger and big bloom, cal mag, and molasses with a 60 day veg and 78 days flowering. It was chopped today, 60 days flower time plus 30 days veg equals 90 days total lifetime second run, and it didn't hermie, although the below pic may show the beginning signs of a nanner, I'm not 100% sure.

I'm going to throw these rootballs into the compost pile and let nature's recycling process commence.

Some of my vegetable seeds have sprouted so I'm also prepping the garden for hopefully a bountiful harvest. Here's the okra.

Here's the main cola of the "experiment" plant. Nothing to brag about but it's only an experiment so hey, I'm happy I got it through to the drying/curing process with a 300 watt led and CFLs. Only the official plants get HPS love. Haha.

 

[DonBrennon]

Made another popcorn tea for the plants and saw this:View attachment 3629949

Thought about planting it just because but it went into the mix. Will be putting the plants into bloom tomorrow and as soon as the ladies show themselves, I'll transplant them into 3/5 gallon pots of my cooking soil for their flowering stage. The males will be examined for possible pollen harvesting after which the worms will enjoy them as they will no longer be needed.

On a side note, I did an experiment with Foxfarm's ocean forest soil. I planted a seed into its hermie mother's pot and it sprouted and spent it's first week under a 1000 watt on a 12/12 cycle. The picture below was right after chopping it's mother. View attachment 3629967

Long story short, the soil was never amended nor did I remove the original rootball and the only nutrients used on the second run was foxfarm grow big(veg) and a bloom booster 10-30-20 with a couple molasses waterings. The first run was foxfarm grow big, tiger and big bloom, cal mag, and molasses with a 60 day veg and 78 days flowering. It was chopped today, 60 days flower time plus 30 days veg equals 90 days total lifetime second run, and it didn't hermie, although the below pic may show the beginning signs of a nanner, I'm not 100% sure. View attachment 3629971

I'm going to throw these rootballs into the compost pile and let nature's recycling process commence. View attachment 3629974

Some of my vegetable seeds have sprouted so I'm also prepping the garden for hopefully a bountiful harvest. Here's the okra. View attachment 3629990

Here's the main cola of the "experiment" plant. Nothing to brag about but it's only an experiment so hey, I'm happy I got it through to the drying/curing process with a 300 watt led and CFLs. Only the official plants get HPS love. Haha. View attachment 3629977

Hi Joe, IMHO, and I know everybody has their own ways and preferences, but I think those could've done with another 2 week of flowering, at least. What was your trigger for the chop? Cause in my experience, while the pistels are still white like that, the bud is still growing and finishing, Like I said it only my opinion but you're losing out on both yield and quality by not letting them go to full finish. If the seed company recommends a 78 day flower, that's 78 days from showing first flowers, not switching to 12-12 so 78 days should really be anything like 85-95, but the plant tells you when it's ready, not how many days.

It does look great BTW, it's just that they do fatten up a lot in the last 2 weeks

I've never actually seen a nanner in real life only in photo's, and from your photo it's kinda hard to tell, but that looks like a swelling calxy with fresh pistels ready to emerge. its still flowering

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

I understand what you're saying @DonBrennon

That was just an experiment and I needed the space that it was taking up for the real deal strains. It's a random bagseed and it has a mellow buzz at best. I wouldn't grow this strain for retail sale are personal use, it's pretty weak. Just like its mom, it didn't even get real frosty. Just really wanted to see if
A.) The plant would grow in the same pot as its mother did with no amending of soil or removing the first rootball.
B.) To see if a hermie seed would throw nanners like its hermie mother did.

With all the uncertainty you can find on the net about growing cannabis, I've decided to try most things out for myself so I'll know from experience. Thanks for the tip and believe me, I'll definitely be waiting until the optimal time to harvest the good strains like purple haze, Hindu kush, and Jamaican Pearl.

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Meet the first ladies planted into the soil which began cooking on February 5 which gives it 6wks.

They will only need it for flowering. 16 seedlings have been planted and when it's transplant time in about two weeks, we'll get to see if the soil will make it through a full grow. Veg time will only be 4/5 weeks.

Hindu kush

Bubblegum

Jamaican Pearl

I topped one Hindu kush and one Jamaican Pearl. The Hindu topped is female, , and the Jamaican Pearl topped is a male . Still waiting on the two purple haze, one Pakistan Chitral kush, one Hindu kush, one bubblegum and one raspberry cough to show sex. Any females will be transplanted into the soil mix. A few worms are in a couple pots too.

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

I let some rice sit up for awhile and then put it in some pine bark and covered it up. This is the result.

I was wondering if I put this in the worm bin would it have a negative affect on the soil or castings produced or would it be beneficial to use?

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Watered the bloom room today and the last raspberry cough and Pakistan Chitral kush are female so they've been transplanted. The last Hindu kush looks like little white hairs are forming but I'm going to wait another day before transplanting it. The other bubblegum is male. Still no sign on either purple haze plant.

Pakistan Chitral kush

Raspberry cough

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

So I was watering the males outside and I noticed a seedling in a near by pot from last year's harvest. Upon further inspection, I find three seedlings have sprouted in the og kush pot and one in an amnesia haze pot. I didn't even know seeds had fallen into the soil and they both sat outside through the winter. I'm excited and thinking about leaving them to finish outside mixed in with my vegetables. I'll top dress em and only occasional watering when it hasn't rained in awhile and two teas, one when they get bigger in veg and one about 3/4 weeks into bloom.

Amnesia haze pot
Og kush pot

Nice looking shell is still on it

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

I've been using homemade co2 for my bloom room and I've noticed that it serves a dual purpose: it draws gnats to it and they fall in and die. I'm not sure how much the co2 is helping the plants, there are three 1.5 liter bottles in a 6x6 area, but it has started really cutting down on the gnats. Can't wait to get the nematodes for a double dose of help!

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Put some veggies out to harden off for planting day

Okra

Left side: broccoli just transplanted
Right side: cucumber, watermelon, tomatoes

I'm also prepping to recycle my rootballs and noticed why I won't be using perlite anymore. It all floated to the top of the soil.

Jamaican Pearl Male

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Transplanted 4 more plants today:

Dr Grinspoon

3 Mystery Beans from a fellow grower

They'll be vegged until I harvest the next crop in about three to four weeks. I also finally know that both of my purple haze plants are female so I ended up basically 50/50 with all the regs I planted. I'm debating on transplanting them into 3 or 5 gallon pots since they have another three and a half months to go and are already close to 4' and still going. They're currently in 2 gallon pots. I transplanted the others as soon as they showed sex and they're all flowering nicely. So glad I put the Jamaican Pearl in a 4.5 gallon pot, it's almost as tall as I am.

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Transplanted both purple haze plants today: Transplant height 3' 2" (38")

Untopped
Topped once

I get to see how well my soil mix will do. They are going into week three of 120+ day bloom.

I also transplanted the clones today. Hope to find a suitable mother plant for the Hindu kush and purple haze.

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Transplanted the strawberry kush in veg

Found out one of my mystery seeds is an auto. I was gonna put it in the bloom room with the other three mystery beans, but since I've never grown an auto, I decided to leave it in the veg room on its regular light schedule. I also topped it twice before I realized what it was, so I'll get to see what happens.

Also found out these bugs are back. Thankfully they're not affecting the main grow area. Only one side of the room. Neem oil isn't working. Here's a pic of a plant

Not sure how to kill em, but I'm gonna clean the official flowering room very well before the move in a few weeks.

Here's a picture of one of the mystery beans that was a runt. It has started flowering. I'm thinking about letting it finish up since it's in the corner and might be some fire. To small to clone, so if it's fire, it'll get revegged.

The bugs are on this little girl too. She'll get a soapy water spray at lights out, that seemed to slow them down more when they attacked in veg.

 

[questiondj42]

Give NEEM oil or Spinosad a try. You might also invest in some ladybugs.

 

[DonBrennon]

I'll apologize!!! now for the long post and being the bringer of doom, but..............

I'm feeling your pain Joe, IME I think you've got big problems there, that are way past foliars' or biological control. I'm not sure about all of your set up and intentions, but you need to take drastic action or you're gonna end up fighting this problem for ages and spending a shit load of money on it.

Are those little plants really worth keeping? they are highly infested and WILL infest all of your plants and rooms/tents................burn them fast and ditch the soil. I'd also check all of your other plants and if any are highly infested I'd burn them too. When you've got webs like that, it means there's a serious population of adults laying eggs, the number of eggs on those little plants will be huge.

Treating with spinosad or neem, then following up with predators 'may' help on the less infected plants, I'm not certain though, these fuckers go all over your room for some reason and always seem to come back.

I've had one serious infestation like yours and one I picked up on sooner, but was that one was compounded with a thrip infestation and a long running powdery mildew problem. The serious infestation was a long time ago, in a damp dirty basement and I can't quite remember all the details, but I spent a lot of time and money trying to control it to no avail. Eventually I used a sulphur candle, which killed everything, including me almost LOL.
The second one could have been controlled by intensifying my IPM regime IMO, but I'd been battling this powdery mildew problem for too long and knew the only way to kill all the the spores in the room was a sulphur candle, so..............

Both of these occasions were while I was growing with chem nutes for profit and had no interest in mother nature at all, and were 'REAL' last resort measures, which included scrapping all of my plants. Burning a sulphur candle indoors is highly ILL ADVISED, it lingers for weeks and you've got to vacate your house for a couple of days at least, but it fucking works as a last resort.

Get rid of any highly infected plants(and soil), spray all remaining plants with a good bug killer, (I believe spinosad is really good, but it's so expensive here I have no exp of it), clean and disinfect your room like fuck, vacuum regularly everywhere, but ditch the wastes away from your house, intensify your IPM regime..........................................IF!!!!! your still fighting them in 6-12 months it's time for the last resort, the length of time depends on your patience. I 'think' I've got a recent thrip infestation under control, but because of it my current crop isn't gonna be as good as it should be, when it happens to 2-3 crops in a row, you start thinking
drastically

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

I did get rid of the two heavily infested plants and hit the others with neem oil. I agree that my whole crop is not worth saving two runt plants. I'll hit them again in two days and once more two days after that. Thankfully the crop further behind is entertaining week four so I don't think the neem will affect the buds. I'm gonna cover the new flower room with panda film and treat it while I run the setup for a few days before the move.

I had powdery mildew last run, but I attributed that to not pruning the lower branches. I did it this time to ensure that was the problem. So far, no signs of it this run and with some going on 7 weeks, I feel good.

Sorry to hear about your pest problems. I was so happy I didn't have bugs last run, I kinda got lax on prevention. Definitely won't be lax anymore. These bugs are vicious.

I put the plants and soil in my wormbin before reading your post @DonBrennon so I hope the nematodes I'm going to add to it will kill them or the other predator mites in the bin. Next time I'll just put them in a whole in the corner of my backyard so the trees can get the nutrients and the ladybugs will kill the mites.

 

[ThaProdiG]

i suggest spinosad as DonBrennan said. i use monterrey spinosad and ive only have one particular pheno that would not stop attracting thrips. Definitely should be disposed of.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

I did get rid of the two heavily infested plants and hit the others with neem oil. I agree that my whole crop is not worth saving two runt plants. I'll hit them again in two days and once more two days after that. Thankfully the crop further behind is entertaining week four so I don't think the neem will affect the buds. I'm gonna cover the new flower room with panda film and treat it while I run the setup for a few days before the move.

I had powdery mildew last run, but I attributed that to not pruning the lower branches. I did it this time to ensure that was the problem. So far, no signs of it this run and with some going on 7 weeks, I feel good.

Sorry to hear about your pest problems. I was so happy I didn't have bugs last run, I kinda got lax on prevention. Definitely won't be lax anymore. These bugs are vicious.

I put the plants and soil in my wormbin before reading your post @DonBrennon so I hope the nematodes I'm going to add to it will kill them or the other predator mites in the bin. Next time I'll just put them in a whole in the corner of my backyard so the trees can get the nutrients and the ladybugs will kill the mites.

Let me know how it goes, they are a real pain to get rid of! If you absolutely get tired of fighting them, let me know. There is a poision, but it should be kept for last resort! Avid and Forbid. I used it 2yrs ago and have not had a problem since!!! It really should be last resort, or if you have already cleared out your rooms. I use a charcoal mask and goggles when I spray this stuff... Some people say that a plant sprayed by this stuff should not be smoked, even if the plant was in Veg during the spray!!! Others say that it will go away after several weeks?

 

[MustangStudFarm]

They are $200 each for a normal size bottle, but people on Ebay sell them by the dose...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/free-avid-0-15-EC-Miticide-insecticide-1-2-OZ-as-a-gift-just-buy-4-pipettes-4f-/162029816756?hash=item25b9bacbb4:g:fZgAAOSwI~VTyOl6

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Free-Forbid-4F-Miticide-Spiromesifen-1-2-OZ-as-gift-when-you-purchase-4-pipettes-/162022529351?hash=item25b94b9947:g:BccAAOxyaTxTWNd1

 

[Joe Blows Trees]

Thanks for the tip @MustangStudFarm, I'll keep that in mind for the new room. So far, the heavy treatment I gave them last night seems to have worked. I aerated it and the leaves look healthier, plants are happy, and no signs of bugs. I'll be treating them on a regular basis so hopefully I'll win this battle.

 

[MustangStudFarm]

Thanks for the tip @MustangStudFarm, I'll keep that in mind for the new room. So far, the heavy treatment I gave them last night seems to have worked. I aerated it and the leaves look healthier, plants are happy, and no signs of bugs. I'll be treating them on a regular basis so hopefully I'll win this battle.

One treatment is all that you need of this stuff. I bought 3x doses and I still have 2x left from 2yrs ago!!!