How to scrog up bushy nl#5xhaze girls?

calliandra

Well-Known Member
I'm also curious, you mentioned a theory that plants put off a smell when stressed. I've noticed these are the smelliest plants I've ever had in veg. They seem happy and the smell is good (like you walk in the house and want whatever that smell is good) but I have never experienced a smell this strong before flower.
Actually, not sure on the smell theory - it's something @RM3 has been proposing - apparently his plants never smell at all in his very well dialed in environment, no matter the strain. It came to my mind when observing how the smell changed when I made changes.
Another theory of mine is that maybe they were taking on the smell of the neem meal I was adding more liberally during veg to ward off those gnats...

As to smell intensity, I grew 3 sensi superskunk autos before this one and they were skunky as hell from their 2nd tier of leaves lol - so the nl5xhaze is an innocent angel in comparison to me personally :-P

Hey up Calli, how are the girls doing?
Haha, thanks for asking!

They are in
day 21 of flower
today and looking good and scary too :mrgreen:


2016-01-03_fd21 (1).JPG
2016-01-03_fd21 (2).JPG

The canopy continues at 20cm with the shorter branches that are around 10cm still gaining a very little in height, and the budsites are beginning to fill out a bit in places -- and that's the scary part, if they just fill out and get fat from here - they DO have another 2 months to go! - they are going to be rubbing shoulders with another -- potential danger of mold? We'll see! I've moved my fan to above the screen in any case and will be letting it run more often than I have been to now.

Bit of an impression of how the buds are developing on dawn and dusk respectively:
2016-01-03_fd21_dawn.JPG 2016-01-03_fd21_dusk.JPG
(yes, I need to find a better way to take pics haha)
I've found that Dusk is actually the one with the more grapey aroma, whilst Dawn is going more citrus-piney :weed:

I found Dawn throwing a few leaves in the undergrowth two days ago too; they had just wilted, as in shriveled up without changing color. As the marigold was hanging about too, it may just be that I should water them more... though the 3 day rhythm - watering them until runoff becomes visible (and then gets sucked back up within an hour) - I've gotten into felt just right to now. Observation mode for a bit more on that ;)

I'm also still on the fence about removing the mulch. Been reading around and realizing the obvious: fungus gnats prefer eating fungi (duh? lol) and I have a nice fungus culture under that mulch, so whilst tending to the soil I'm actually also feeding them :shock:
I can't wait till those nematodes and bacteria arrive this week! It will be the perfect time to add them, as the adults seem to be dying off, and if they laid eggs those will just be hatching into their larval stage when I introduce their new room mates :mrgreen:
Btw found a nice doc on their life cycle here: http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/pests/pdfs/insects/FG.pdf

Cheers! :bigjoint:
 

ArcticOrange

Well-Known Member
Good call on the bacteria and nematodes. The bacteria alone were enough for me those gnats will be gone in no time! The ladies look great but to be honest I don't think mold is going to be a problem, most of your swell is going to happen later on in the last few weeks when the ripening occurs. Good luck, the girls look amazing!
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Good call on the bacteria and nematodes. The bacteria alone were enough for me those gnats will be gone in no time! The ladies look great but to be honest I don't think mold is going to be a problem, most of your swell is going to happen later on in the last few weeks when the ripening occurs. Good luck, the girls look amazing!
Thanks :-D
fingers crossed you're right!8-)
 

TheStickMan

Well-Known Member
Wow, looking excellent! Mine seems really cramped and I'm also slightly worried about the colas being too close together and touching! I think you'll be fine though, you've got great spacing between them!
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Wow, looking excellent! Mine seems really cramped and I'm also slightly worried about the colas being too close together and touching! I think you'll be fine though, you've got great spacing between them!
Thank you! Do post an update of yours -- it must be exploding to the nth degree with those 400W!:weed:

Funny isn't it - we go to all this trouble to get a screen of green, and when we have it, we get all fidgety and nervous about overkill!! :-P
 
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hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Actually, not sure on the smell theory - it's something @RM3 has been proposing - apparently his plants never smell at all in his very well dialed in environment, no matter the strain. It came to my mind when observing how the smell changed when I made changes.
Another theory of mine is that maybe they were taking on the smell of the neem meal I was adding more liberally during veg to ward off those gnats...

As to smell intensity, I grew 3 sensi superskunk autos before this one and they were skunky as hell from their 2nd tier of leaves lol - so the nl5xhaze is an innocent angel in comparison to me personally :-P


Haha, thanks for asking!

They are in
day 21 of flower
today and looking good and scary too :mrgreen:


View attachment 3577134
View attachment 3577135

The canopy continues at 20cm with the shorter branches that are around 10cm still gaining a very little in height, and the budsites are beginning to fill out a bit in places -- and that's the scary part, if they just fill out and get fat from here - they DO have another 2 months to go! - they are going to be rubbing shoulders with another -- potential danger of mold? We'll see! I've moved my fan to above the screen in any case and will be letting it run more often than I have been to now.

Bit of an impression of how the buds are developing on dawn and dusk respectively:
View attachment 3577136 View attachment 3577137
(yes, I need to find a better way to take pics haha)
I've found that Dusk is actually the one with the more grapey aroma, whilst Dawn is going more citrus-piney :weed:

I found Dawn throwing a few leaves in the undergrowth two days ago too; they had just wilted, as in shriveled up without changing color. As the marigold was hanging about too, it may just be that I should water them more... though the 3 day rhythm - watering them until runoff becomes visible (and then gets sucked back up within an hour) - I've gotten into felt just right to now. Observation mode for a bit more on that ;)

I'm also still on the fence about removing the mulch. Been reading around and realizing the obvious: fungus gnats prefer eating fungi (duh? lol) and I have a nice fungus culture under that mulch, so whilst tending to the soil I'm actually also feeding them :shock:
I can't wait till those nematodes and bacteria arrive this week! It will be the perfect time to add them, as the adults seem to be dying off, and if they laid eggs those will just be hatching into their larval stage when I introduce their new room mates :mrgreen:
Btw found a nice doc on their life cycle here: http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/pests/pdfs/insects/FG.pdf

Cheers! :bigjoint:
Very nice! A textbook grow.
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Hey wait a sec - you said these plants have another 2 months to go?This at Day 21 of flowering and looking like they do?
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Very nice! A textbook grow.
Thanks! I wish it felt that way too - feels like a bumpy ride instead - but hey, there'S fun in that too! :bigjoint:

Hey wait a sec - you said these plants have another 2 months to go?This at Day 21 of flowering and looking like they do?
Yes sir :shock:

3 days germinating paper towel
7 days sprouting
40 days veg
14 days post-flip stretch
21 days flower (counting from appearance of first flowers)

And Sensi puts flowering time at 65-75 days
 
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calliandra

Well-Known Member
On another note, I've been ruminating over the mulch-fungus-gnat question today AND have finally come to a conclusion as to how I will go about:

I will water more
The usual logic with fungus gnats is to water less, so the surface is dry and thus inhibits egg/larvae development.
But this is preventive and, judging by the amount of flies that were about, I now probably have a nice nest of eggs, if not larvae too, in my soil.

I was reading around some more and happened upon an interesting detail: fungus gnat larvae, as the name states, like fungi best as food. But when those aren't available - say, because it's too dry - that's when they turn to roots for nourishment and water. :shock:
Hence keeping my soil dry at this point would actually move them to do what I absolutely do not want!

Soo, since I have profuse fungal life going on under my mulch, I will tend to it so it flourishes and keeps the larvae eating that - and away from the plant roots.
They will then actually be doing something beneficial, breaking down organic matter, until the SF nematodes move in and nyumnyum them :-P

I really feel comfortable with this strategy as it incorporates the spirit of the whole living soil thing:
seeing the whole picture of interdependencies, instead of just a linear symptom/problem ---> remedy/solution.
Also, it's a hands on example of the problem containing the solution:
my fungus gnats multiplied because they liked the environment - and keeping the environment favourable will resolve the issue of their possibly damaging the plants' roots.
Ah, it's lovely when knots unravel like this :mrgreen:
 

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Thanks! I wish it felt that way too - feels like a bumpy ride instead - but hey, there'S fun in that too! :bigjoint:


Yes sir :shock:

3 days germinating paper towel
7 days sprouting
40 days veg
14 days post-flip stretch
21 days flower (counting from appearance of first flowers)

And Sensi puts flowering time at 65-75 days
Every grow is a learning experience.Some require more learning than others! That's what is so great. Working with the plants together.
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Wohoooo! My Steinernema feltiae finally arrived today and as it was just lights out, I mixed them up, removed the part of my mulch that is still loose and watered them in immediately, covering the soil back up with the mulch.
According to the producer, I can repeat the treatment in 2 weeks - and I sure will :-P
My "water more" scheme fits in nicely, as apparently I need to keep the soil moist for at least a week for the nematodes' comfort and success.

And nonetheless I am still a tad concerned and suspecting my plants are heading towards getting rootbound?! :shock:
After all, the 28L pot was meant for 1 plant only and I have 2 in there...
I have been watering every 2 days now, and towards the end of that time, bottom leaves are still starting to droop.

On the one hand, it does make sense, since in the canopy above, flowers are growing like crazy and of course they also need water!
But on the other, how is it that all of a sudden the girls won't tolerate any sort of dryness at all (which they did get during veg, so they're not weak spoiled brats that can't handle a few hours of "drought").

Also, I noticed that a leaf that had gone droopy before the last watering is now shriveling up.
Not really getting yellow first (which could then be a nitrogen issue), though they do fade a bit.
Here's an illustration of what is happening (the colors are exactly how they look in daylight):
2016-01-07_leafproblems.JPG

#3 is the leaf that was droopy yesterday, seemed to recover after watering, and was beginning to wilt today.
The other 2 are different stages of progression I found - notice how they begin wilting from the leaf base upwards - just as the wilting is progressing from plant bottom upwards.

Thing is, overall I'd say my girls are looking pretty healthy (today is day 25 of flower):
2016-01-07_daylite (1).JPG 2016-01-07_daylite (2).JPG
The droop and and wilt is happening mainly on Dawn (the larger of the two, left side) - which is another thing that hints at roots running out of space below... larger plant, larger root system, quicker to become distressed by lack of space makes sense...

But, repotting now would be a nightmare lmao!
It would have to be done IN the closet because of the way the screen is fitted in.
I figure it would take 3 people, one of which has to be pretty strong - one to raise the screen at the same time as the second raises the plants by their main stems and holds it raised for a while. And how the hell is the third person going to crawl between their legs - the closet is only 90cm wide remember! - to remove the pot and slide a larger pot under?!

So what does this look like to you all?
And what can I do, apart from breathing into a paper bag and rolling a joint to relax?! :bigjoint:

Here's pix of Dawn & dusk buds I took whilst I was at it:
2016-01-07_daylite-dawn.JPG 2016-01-07_daylite-dusk.JPG
I think it's really interesting how the two are different in form - Dawn's buds more pointy and longer, Dusk's more rounded and crouched - since Dawn has consistently leaned more towards sativa-ishness and Dusk towards indica-ishness in small details throughout the grow.
Ah! May they be well!
 

mattyblade1

Well-Known Member
Actually, not sure on the smell theory - it's something @RM3 has been proposing - apparently his plants never smell at all in his very well dialed in environment, no matter the strain. It came to my mind when observing how the smell changed when I made changes.
Another theory of mine is that maybe they were taking on the smell of the neem meal I was adding more liberally during veg to ward off those gnats...

As to smell intensity, I grew 3 sensi superskunk autos before this one and they were skunky as hell from their 2nd tier of leaves lol - so the nl5xhaze is an innocent angel in comparison to me personally :-P


Haha, thanks for asking!

They are in
day 21 of flower
today and looking good and scary too :mrgreen:


View attachment 3577134
View attachment 3577135

The canopy continues at 20cm with the shorter branches that are around 10cm still gaining a very little in height, and the budsites are beginning to fill out a bit in places -- and that's the scary part, if they just fill out and get fat from here - they DO have another 2 months to go! - they are going to be rubbing shoulders with another -- potential danger of mold? We'll see! I've moved my fan to above the screen in any case and will be letting it run more often than I have been to now.

Bit of an impression of how the buds are developing on dawn and dusk respectively:
View attachment 3577136 View attachment 3577137
(yes, I need to find a better way to take pics haha)
I've found that Dusk is actually the one with the more grapey aroma, whilst Dawn is going more citrus-piney :weed:

I found Dawn throwing a few leaves in the undergrowth two days ago too; they had just wilted, as in shriveled up without changing color. As the marigold was hanging about too, it may just be that I should water them more... though the 3 day rhythm - watering them until runoff becomes visible (and then gets sucked back up within an hour) - I've gotten into felt just right to now. Observation mode for a bit more on that ;)

I'm also still on the fence about removing the mulch. Been reading around and realizing the obvious: fungus gnats prefer eating fungi (duh? lol) and I have a nice fungus culture under that mulch, so whilst tending to the soil I'm actually also feeding them :shock:
I can't wait till those nematodes and bacteria arrive this week! It will be the perfect time to add them, as the adults seem to be dying off, and if they laid eggs those will just be hatching into their larval stage when I introduce their new room mates :mrgreen:
Btw found a nice doc on their life cycle here: http://www.greenhouse.cornell.edu/pests/pdfs/insects/FG.pdf

Cheers! :bigjoint:
That girl looks like the business mate. Keep the pics and updates coming
 

Grandpa GreenJeans

Well-Known Member
Lookin really good! Great job, now the hard work is repayed and it looks like your making out real nice.

The whole rootbound thing. Sadly I'd have to agree. 2 plants in 1 pot is a competition for root space and 1 plant will always dominate, that one is dawn.

The plants will always act screwy and show symptoms in the leaves. I've once had a plant that lost 50% of its viable fans while in the mid flower phase from being rootbound. Cost me a significant loss in yeild but I learned the symptoms of that particular plant and have since gone with large fabric pots. It's hard to out grow a 20 gallon fabric indoors-lol

I think your plants look great for their age and the leaf loss isn't that bad. I'd finish them out just the way they are. Next time go for 1 plant per plastic pot or 1 10 gallon fabric and get 2 plants.

NL#5 is a hardy strain and very tasty potent smoke. Your in for a treat very soon.
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Lookin really good! Great job, now the hard work is repayed and it looks like your making out real nice.

The whole rootbound thing. Sadly I'd have to agree. 2 plants in 1 pot is a competition for root space and 1 plant will always dominate, that one is dawn.

The plants will always act screwy and show symptoms in the leaves. I've once had a plant that lost 50% of its viable fans while in the mid flower phase from being rootbound. Cost me a significant loss in yeild but I learned the symptoms of that particular plant and have since gone with large fabric pots. It's hard to out grow a 20 gallon fabric indoors-lol

I think your plants look great for their age and the leaf loss isn't that bad. I'd finish them out just the way they are. Next time go for 1 plant per plastic pot or 1 10 gallon fabric and get 2 plants.

NL#5 is a hardy strain and very tasty potent smoke. Your in for a treat very soon.
Thank you so much for this :)
It reminds me of how the the central concept of nurturing a living soil and growing plants in it is trust.
To trust the plants to know what they're doing - so they're rootbound, and drop part of their leaves to balance their upper growth with the capabilities of the root system below. Doing their thing, all is well. :weed:

Btw I am now watering small amounts daily to keep the top soil moist for the SF-nematodes, and haven't seen any wilting since.
EDIT: I take that back -- it's still happening - I guess I had selective blindness there for a bit :mrgreen: lol

And yes! To learn from it and make sure there is enough soil provided for comfort in future - wow 20 gallons!!
I also do love the look of those fabric pots, but I've never seen them around here, was playing with the idea of getting some felt material and sewing some myself :-D
TBH the only reason they're both in one pot was that I was figuring Dusk wasn't going to be going anywhere --
I was wrong lol -- again, trust!

Just as to trust that the soil life will regulate itself, provided as it is with a good base mix, regular mulches of organic matter, and soon, some worm castings - maybe as tea, since I don't have much yet (trying to regrow a worm population in a bin I am temporarily taking care of).

Speaking of which!
Do you think the compost in that bin can already be used for making a tea?

This is from a few days ago:
2016-01-03_inhabitants.jpg

The compost is only like 3cm deep in a round bin diameter 16 inches, but it has a lovely earthy smell to it, so I was figuring I could amend the no-till with a tea made from a handful or so of it?

Maybe not till after the harvest or would it make sense to kind of feed them now they have it so cramped?

Cheers!
 
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Grandpa GreenJeans

Well-Known Member
Thank you so much for this :)
It reminds me of how the the central concept of nurturing a living soil and growing plants in it is trust.
To trust the plants to know what they're doing - so they're rootbound, and drop part of their leaves to balance their upper growth with the capabilities of the root system below. Doing their thing, all is well. :weed:

Btw I am now watering small amounts daily to keep the top soil moist for the SF-nematodes, and haven't seen any wilting since.
EDIT: I take that back -- it's still happening - I guess I had selective blindness there for a bit :mrgreen: lol

And yes! To learn from it and make sure there is enough soil provided for comfort in future - wow 20 gallons!!
I also do love the look of those fabric pots, but I've never seen them around here, was playing with the idea of getting some felt material and sewing some myself :-D
TBH the only reason they're both in one pot was that I was figuring Dusk wasn't going to be going anywhere --
I was wrong lol -- again, trust!

Just as to trust that the soil life will regulate itself, provided as it is with a good base mix, regular mulches of organic matter, and soon, some worm castings - maybe as tea, since I don't have much yet (trying to regrow a worm population in a bin I am temporarily taking care of).

Speaking of which!
Do you think the compost in that bin can already be used for making a tea?

This is from a few days ago:
View attachment 3581572

The compost is only like 3cm deep in a round bin diameter 16 inches, but it has a lovely earthy smell to it, so I was figuring I could amend the no-till with a tea made from a handful or so of it?

Maybe not till after the harvest or would it make sense to kind of feed them now they have it so cramped?

Cheers!
I think the compost could definitely be used as a tea starter. All you really need is 1 handful, into a 1 gallon brewer. Yours is currently being used as a top dress, microbes populate the top 2-4 inches of a soil (usually compost or humus (leaf mold)) so I'd say that's the freshest most microbial rich spot of the soil. And especially if fungus gnats are going for it. There must be fungal hyphae (mycelium threds) present and that makes a great year when the fungal spores are already germinated. They take the longest to develop in a tea, bacteria are the very fastest.

Being as tho cannabis is a annual and has a fairly short life span, it has evolved to favor bacterial dominant soils over fungal. Not to say there is no benefit from fungal presence, but they are always second in line to bacteria. Ultimately the only way to get the true bennies out of mycorrhizae is to be 100% NO TILL ROLS. That's how it is in nature.
 

calliandra

Well-Known Member
Thanks again, @Grandpa GreenJeans :)
Great to know that I can already use that worm compost!
I have stumbled over this concept of bacteria vs. fungus dominant soils a few times before, and I get the feeling it has alot of implications for further nurturing my soil that I am not aware of yet ... letting this sink in for another bit :mrgreen:
 
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