Photoperiod Death's Ceaseless Cycle

[Death The Cultivator]

Shit happens so fast at home while I'm at work. Fuuuuucccckkkking spider mites reappeared visibly around three days ago but this time... I was prepared! Cleaned the whole room top to bottom with Zerotol then followed up with a Neem/Castile spray on just about everything outside the tents. Followed up by doing a Castile spray on every plant to knock the population back, then today I did another with Neem and Castile, finally the last part comes tomorrow in the mail - persemillis and californicus predatory mites will round out the IPM.

The mites got so bad I didn't notice until the stippling, white dots, on the leaves appeared and then I found webs. I will be wiping those off with paper towels but thankfully I was really enough that the spray won't affect my flavor. I killed the lights for the past three days, bagged the infested plants up to allow humidity to build and today the activity was pretty low. Interesting to know they don't like high humidity or the cold which I have them both of.

Anywho, the mites got everywhere including my veg plants and next cycle. They are doing fantastic though the plants to the right, Copacabana Haze, were affected by the spider mites - the Diesel Deluxe pheno in the second pic took the mites the hardest. Honestly, going to kill the clones of that pheno because it grows so poorly and took those mites badly. Still curious what the Copacabana Haze might do as it does grow better. The plants to the left are Panama Haze which weren't really affected by thre mites are doing well.

Lastly, today would be day 0 for flower on the second cycle but I want to release the Beneficials and top everything one more time for clones. Definitely was a stressful couple of days but the room needed to be cleaned and I had a gang of fungus gnats.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Now it is time for the second cycle and a few things have been done to get here, on veg time I have no clue. 12/12 has been initiated today so in about 9 weeks well have us another harvest!

Distributed the persemillis and californicus over cycle one's flowering plants plus everything in veg. Very active and shipping was prompt, next time I'll order a larger batch. Only using one 315cmh until week 3 and because the heat may go beyond what the insects can handle

Secondly, I did the final prune on these ladies with a soft topping and cleaned lowers - also helpful in that I got rid of a lot of damaged leaves from the spider mites. Prune came out perfectly and I do mean perfectly.

Running these ladies at a 1.5ec and a 6.0ph. I also took around 12 cuts of the Copacabana Haze and around 24 of the Panama Haze. Structure on the Panama Haze after training came out ideal whereas the Copacabana Haze were a bit sick due to mites.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Well these plants are just damaged at this point but we will continue to push regardless. We are into week 6 but I'm not pleased overall due to the stippling on so many leaves but they are actively drinking. Anyways, I am pleased nonetheless that everything is doing as well despite the issues, especially the Diesel Deluxe that isn't sparse. Around 3-4 weeks left and harvest is a go.

The stippling, white dots, are caused by the spider mites sucking chlorophyll from the leaves. I was told to pull leaves to knock back the population but it is what it is at this point. The bus development on everything but that UGLY Diesel Deluxe pheno look pretty decent, probably even better in the next cycle.

Panama Haze

Diesel Deluxe pretty pheno

Panama Haze

Diesel Deluxe ugly pheno

Panama Haze

Copacabana Haze - note the red stems that seemed to have developed from spider mites

Panama Haze

Copacabana Haze

 

[Death The Cultivator]

These are doing splendidly! I must spray heavily every three days so that I can truly break this mite infestation but I have hope. Turned on both 315cmh fixtures and they are looking great under the heat. Room is staying at 84 overall with a humidity of 65% but I posit a theory - the spider mites have receded overall due to the high humidity and initial knock down of beneficial pest/spray.

General veg area with some of everything going right now. Largest plant is Diesel Deluxe #2 or the pretty pheno.

These are going to fill the space nicely. Quite pleased with the pruning though

 

[Death The Cultivator]

It's lovely when lush growth occurs and it is abundant in the 4x4 leaving me incredibly pleased with the current growth. I have a mix of images of both strains but I do find the overall growth beautiful.

Panama Hazes to the left and Copacabana Haze to the right.

Trimmed these up a bit before taking pictures as there were a few branches that weren't nearly close enough to the canopy. Also removed dead leaves and damaged ones from three spider mites.

Panama Haze 1/4, Copacabana Haze 2/3


Giving them a preventative spray every 3 days of liquid karma/Beneficials/silica/fulvic acid/Castile soap/Neem oil. Don't really want to get into the habit of ordering insects so the hope is that the spray can break their cycle of reproduction before week 3. The place I ordered from has a triple threat mite product that I may order to spread once the transition is over and I'm not spraying anymore.

I'm glad to see there is no stress whatsoever from running two CMH 315's. Gets pretty warm but not uncomfortable with 60-65% humidity and 86f. Watering around 2-2.5g every day at 1.5ec and 6.0ph. Planning to order some liquid budswell for the last 3-4 weeks of flower on the cycle 1 plants. Overall happy with the mega Crop and Sweet Candy but I'd still prefer Botanicare or General Hydroponics

Fingers crossed for that 2# yield.

 

[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.