Photoperiod Death's Ceaseless Cycle

[Death The Cultivator]

We are finally approaching the final stretch at week 8 with two to three weeks left. The spider mites are persistent, note the beneficial insects sachets that came to late but will hopefully quell some of the population. Some bud shots for everything but overall but not disappointed. Everything has retained smell/stickiness but the spider mites are persistent. A bud wash is a must once harvest happens. I'm thinking about two weeks of swelling are on the horizon.

The stippling due to mites is apparent with the white spots. In the future I'm going to order 4000 beneficial mites to cover the cycle 2 and veg plants. Also ordering nematodes as the fungus gnats are getting out of control.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Finally arrived at this point! Below are pictures of my veg setup underneath a 185w bridgelux fixture. I do regret not having 4000k or higher to veg with but I'm satisfied for now as I haven't decided who I want to buy my next lights from. I'm between Growlight Australia and Cutter AU right now but for $2100, cutter sounds better than $2700.

Those 3 plants are Copacabana Haze, vegging to go into the 5x5 along with that tall Diesel Deluxe in back.

This is a combination of Diesel Deluxe and Copacabana clones taken around 5-8 days ago.

Panama Haze clones taken over 12 days ago and rooting.

Diesel Deluxe in the middle back. Panama Haze clones directly in front of the DD. There are two more DD clones to the right that are my new mothers.

Copacabana Haze clones currently rooting.

Panama Haze clones in the middle back with an ugly Diesel Deluxe pheno I'm contemplating killing.

Basically, all the clones are either for flower or to become mothers. I'll select the best for moms and the runner ups for flower. At this point I'm working in five stages.

Clone - Cut 15+ per cultivar, propagate and veg for two weeks in 2in planter

Transplant - to .5 or 3 gallon depending on vigor. Top at ,6-8th node.

Veg - transplant from .5/3gallom into 5 gallons for mom or for flower. Veg for 1 week in 5 gallon. Top entire canopy for even structure and bottom prune.

Harvest - bud wash, process cobs, and hang dry flower.

Flower - Immediately flip to 12/12, 4 plants in 4x4 and 4-6 in 5x5.

I'm watering every other day and as seen with the Copacabana Haze clones, uniformity is coming together nicely. Eventually I'm going to reach the point where I'm not spraying the plants anymore but using solely predator mites unless I'm bringing something from outside the house.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Spider mites killed the leaves on the Copacabana Haze so I harvested that and the ugly Diesel Deluxe pheno. The buds in either never fully developed due to the mites but in the mean time I've slowed the infestation on cycle 2 and possibly eradicated them in the veg space.

In the meantime, I've kept the Panama Haze/Diesel Deluxe inside the tent. Panama has been large unaffected but the diesel deluxe may not make further than another week. Going to have to sanitize and release a ton of beneficial insects to be sure this doesn't happen again.



Panama Haze grew odds colas that I want more of, beautifully weird. I'm going to go another two weeks on her while I prepare some Copacabana and Diesel Deluxe to take the spot. I've smoked some of the Copacabana Haze enough to feel that it deserves to be grown well, a very nice cerebral high that melts away anxiety.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Well fuck it's been a long time since I last updated for Cycle 2. I've added beneficial insects sachets since I've finished the foliar portion. 15 million nematodes and 2000 beneficial mites are landing today to quell a fungus gnat infestation plus kill off the remaining spider mites.

Panama Haze Left, Copacabana Haze right

Copacabana Haze

The Copacabana Haze have been fighting off the mites but one is a bit stunted as I caught the problems far too late. The Panama Haze are doing incredible so I'm pretty excited to see how everything grows with no issues.

Panama Haze

Panama Haze

I've smoked some of the Copacabana Haze, quite pleased with what it has been able to do for me. The buds were far from solid but I pass no judgement on the final result as the mites thoroughly wrecked the plant. This is why it is so important to maintenance the plant, it all serves as a preventative so a quality yield can be achieved.

Panama Haze

Panama Haze

Copacabana Haze

Overall, growth looks great with nice structure and good growth under 630w of CMH. Plants are receiving 1.5EC and a 5.8ph but they are tolerating the light intensity really including the heat.

Copacabana Haze

Panama Haze

Copacabana Haze

Copacabana Haze

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Below is basically a blurb so I don't have to write it out again. Harvest day and now everything is drying.

Spider mites pretty much destroyed the leaves on the Copacabana Haze and Diesel Deluxe BUT the Panama Haze was able to finish. The buds I could salvage from the Copacabana Haze have a nice uplifting, mood balancing, mellow chill high. Smoked some with a few people whom enjoyed the flavor, noting it being earthy while also becoming giggly with a superb head high though it does creep.

View attachment 1399780Diesel DeluxeView attachment 1399781Copacabana HazeView attachment 1399782Panama HazeView attachment 1399789Diesel Deluxe

I do have many clones I've taken of every strain that grow quite well with excellent structures. Currently, I'm flowering the Panama Haze and Copacabana Haze in a 4x4 under 630cmh in 5 gallon pots of Coco. Still battling spider mites a bit so I'm using beneficial insects sachets and released another 4,000.

View attachment 1399790Panama Haze L. Copacabana Haze R.View attachment 1399791Panama HazeView attachment 1399792Panama HazeView attachment 1399793Copacabana Haze
View attachment 1399794Copacabana Haze

Pleased with the look of the Panama Haze buds while the other two strains did not fully develop. I was able to make cobs from the Diesel Deluxe and Panama Haze so fingers crossed they'll be pretty good.

View attachment 1399783Diesel Deluxe
View attachment 1399784Diesel Deluxe
View attachment 1399785Panama Haze
View attachment 1399786Panama Haze
View attachment 1399788Panama Haze

I'd like to try more of these genetics but in the mean time I will be running these three strains perpetually to really do them justice. The spider mites were unfortunate but the Copacabana high is very desirable for me so I'd like to see her grown better.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Things are going well, accomplishing a third cycle is incredible from where everything started. At this point the thread is going to get boring until I get more genetics(Ace seeds!) but in the mean time I may germinate some Bangi Congo x Panama seeds I have as I do love Panama

Here is the way my cycle is going at this point

A=Odd number
B=Even number

Any cycle with an odd number is in the 5x5 tent under the 500w bridgelux 3000k fixture. Conversely, want cycle with an even number is related to the 4x4 using two 315w CMH fixtures. So in the future I may begin formatting with the following

Breeder/Strain(s): La Buena Hierba/Panama Haze+Copacabana
Cycle: 3
Day: 1
Light cycle: 12/12
EC/pH: 1.5/5.8
Temp/Humidity: 84f/65%

I'm actually two weeks early because I couldn't let that Diesel Deluxe in the middle get any taller but did not want to kill her. No issues being early as I have plenty of plants I can veg.

Diesel Deluxe

Copacabana Haze


I hate hand watering but it really doesn't get any easier than this so the hope is I can bring in around 6-10oz per plant for a total of 24-40oz in the B cycle. In the A cycle, this one, I'm hoping for 54-90oz with 9x 5 gallon pots.

Copacabana left and right rear, Diesel Deluxe middle and front right

Copacabana Haze

Now I do hope to reach the point that I'm only running one strain per tent aside from when I'm introducing something new. I do need to transition into creating bonsai mom's or at least not accidentally moving them to 5 gallons. My pot game is trash but I'll probably stick to plastic pots for moms with around 3 of each strain. I also started distributed the mites but I'm waiting to do the nematodes.

Copacabana Haze

 

[Death The Cultivator]

It has been a long time! The work garden has kept me busy and away from the home grow with long hours. So there are some updates but I'm happy to report that the spider mites are just about eradicated.

First, these spider mites have become such a nuisance with Cycle two being subpar and the death of two Copacabana Haze plants. At this point I am alternating between Neem and Castile every two days with temps in the mid 70's. I don't foresee having to kill anything this cycle as I'm seeing a positive reduction in leaf damage overall. So with less stippling I am also observing less red and early flowering in addition to improved vigor. I'll keep on this regimen until bud development really gets going as I believe these are closer to 11 week finishers.

In regards to the cycle itself I see room for improvement in several areas. With the best cycle I will be increasing plant could a bit to really capitalize on canopy. In the 5x5, I will increase the could to 9x 5 gallon plants and 6x 5 gallons in the 4x4. Hopefully I'll reach a point where I can do homogenous cycles of the same cultivar as the Copacabana Haze bushes very well but the Diesel deluxe would be better with 12x 5 gallons. Not sure on what proper yields look like with any of these strains but I'm hoping for 6-10oz per plant when everything goes well.

Everything is doing very well on this cycle despite some hiccups though I believe I need to do a final prune, I probably won't. I have 6x Panama Haze to transplant for Cycle 4 that is finishing in about two weeks. Cycle 5 is going to be 9x Panama Haze as it has a pretty potent smoke/cob experience despite all the issues. However this could be the final run of the Diesel Deluxe and Copacabana Haze if the smoke doesn't end up being good.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the state of my veg and youngest flower space but I want to see my yields return to 2018 2+lbs per run. The hunt for incredible sativas will continue as I have some Ace Bangi Congo x Panama that I'm itching to germinate.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

This cycle went to shit lol. Have no clue where anything really wrong but I can't assume it was the frequency of irrigation and maybe spider mites but they have budded beyond this point. The images are from about a week ago, they are still alive and getting fuller while drinking every other day. Been incredibly busy with the grow at work and I wouldn't say these were neglected but the overall situation was bad. I did kill those two Copacabana Haze to knock down a massive spider mites infestation but these probably were affected to a lesser degree.

It's nice to think about what could have been better for this run but in the mean time I have been making micro adjustments. I've switched back to General Hydroponics MaxiGro and MaxiBloom as I truly prefer A+B formulations for nitrogen control in flower. Plus this is much simpler with a 1-2g per liter feeding and no crossing between stages of growth, also going to change the pH range in veg to 6.0 and 6.3 in flower as there is much more nutrients availability. I just don't like Mega Crop every time I've used it, my veg is never impressive and flower is just okay.

I'm also switching to TerraGrow to replace the Growpito Beneficials as it is a much better price - 8oz of GB is $40 vs $110 for TG at 64oz with everything GB has aside from mycorrhizae, trichoderma, and yucca. The price is much better with it being almost triple the price for GB compared to TG. Another pain point I need to work through is getting a wetting agent but I'm not decided on what I want yet otherwise slowly working on getting to a true SOG in both spaces with hand watering. I really need an aerocloner but it has been a tragic tale of failure as it seems the universe doesn't want me doing 100 clones in a 5x5 and 64 in the 4x4.

I also retained some Ace Seeds Bangi Congo x Panama that I will probably germinate soon while I determine if any of these LBH strains are worth keeping. Anyways, I believe this Panama is a 10 week cultivar so there are around 13 days left. With sativas, I routinely adjust the light cycle from

12/12 - week 1-5
11/13 - week 6-8
10-14 - week 9-11

Though I have my eye on some 16 week cultivars but only if I have everything perfect the way I want it.

They ugly as fuck btw. TLDR: I'm getting my shit together

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Finally cycle 2 is done with some murder happening but done nonetheless. Looked like around 8oz overall but we'll see when it dries. Terps are pretty good with a mix of sweet, nutmeg, and something else. All the leaves pretty much died though I am off the believe that these were about 9 weeks to finish anyway. I also lowered the light scheduled down to 10/14 in the last two weeks where I saw the plants reflower.

I will say this, Mega Crop never works super well for me but I am loving Sweet Candy and I have a 7lb bag on the way. Very impressed by the MaxiGro considering the ammonium nitrate seems to be truly impressive. Beautiful new shoot growth that is a vibrant green started occurring when I switched and now I'm hooked though I sort of fucked myself. MaxiGro and Bloom are $130 a piece for 16lbs. More expensive than mega Crop but I'm past worrying about the cost of nutrients especially when each container would make over 2800 gallons.

Otherwise, harvest went well and I've moved 6 Panama Haze in 5 gallon pots to the 4x4 space. The veg area is pretty empty now but I have clones of Panama Haze that will fill the 5x5 when the next cycle finishes at the end of February. I need to transplant a lot of plants and get some more Coco prepped but I think this perpetual is off to a good start.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Here we go again. Mothafuckas always growing some shit...

6x Panama Haze in 5 gallons of Coco running

MaxiGro - until week 3 at a 1.8ec/6.0ph
MaxiBloom - week 4 to harvest at 1.8-2.4ec/6.3ph
Greenleaf Nutrients Sweet Candy
2x 315 CMH lights
Growpito Beneficials - bi weekly drench
Weekly Castile soap foliar
82f/60% rh
9-10 weeks seems fair for a finishing time so the middle of April it is.

Plants were bottom pruned prior to entering the 4x4 and maybe receive another in three weeks. They are gorgeous and lush already.