Indoor Off to Seed the Wizard

[parsing_trees]

Day 57. I let the tray dry out, filled it with hydroton (about 4 gallons, total), topped up my reservoir, and gave the aquavalve another go. With the hydroton, the reservoir went down somewhere between a gallon and five liters, then the aquavalve closed. I will top up the reservoir later today and see how long it takes for the plants to absorb that, and for another flood cycle. I'm hoping the 7 gallon reservoir will be enough for up to a week.

I got some pH test paper (HYDRION, 5.5-8.0 pH Range) to double-check the readings from my new pH meter, and it seems to agree with the meter; the GH pH test kit drops are the odd one out, or I've been misreading them for a while. Hopefully adjusting the pH better from now on will put whatever the issue WW1 has been having this time to rest.

Tag: @Olderfart

 

[parsing_trees]

When I checked this morning, the reservoir was down another half gallon, and it definitely wasn't all absorbed overnight. There may be some kind of slow leak? Yuck. I may stick with hand-watering the remainder of this grow, because I'm going to have a hard time trusting it. I removed some of the excess with a shop vac, and I was able to set up my second circulator fan underneath the canopy, blowing across the stems/top of the coco, so that will hopefully help to keep mold in check.

I read this aquavalve troubleshooting guide before setting it up, and again now. I checked that the silicone pads were seated properly before, and the area inside of the pot sock should be free of debris, but once the tray has had a chance to dry out further I'll check. The top floats were floating properly when I cleaned the aquavalve pre-use, and otherwise I didn't see anything that seemed mechanically amiss that suggested a defective device, but I may have something set up subtly wrong.

 

[parsing_trees]

Day 64.

The colas are filling out, but it will probably be another 2-3 weeks until harvest. Some of the damaged upper fan leaves on the WWs and MS are getting crispy, and others have started to fade, but otherwise not much is visibly happening at this point.

I decided to move the aquavalve to the front of the tent, so I could give it another try but keep a close eye on it. It's been working a bit strangely, first roughly a gallon to flood the tray to the expected depth (red), but then with a few more small reservoir drops (cyan) before the tray full dries out, and I haven't actually seen the tray get completely dry. Then it floods again. I'm pretty sure the aquavalve is set up properly this time, but I don't think it's going to be a good fit for me. Oh well.

Next time I might try using a timer, aquarium pump, and drippers to water cups/airpots in my windowboxes once or twice a day, because that would be closest to my preferred overall setup. (If I had more space, particularly vertically, I'd try ebb & flow.) In particular, it'd allow moving the plants around more for inspection, training, and pictures, because currently if I shift anything even slightly some hydroton slips underneath the cups and it's hard to get the plants to stand up straight again.

Bruce Banner #3.

Mango Smile.

Wild Thailand Ryder.

 

[Meatball]

Another great looking grow! Too crowded to get any distinct smells? My MS was definitely Mango-y. Curious about BB.

 

[parsing_trees]

Thanks. The Mango Smile smells like skunky mango, I find it very appealing even though I don't normally care for skunky stuff. The Wizard's Apprentices smell OG-ish to me, plus something else I can't put my finger on, but I don't know OGs that well. The smell from those dominate. I can't individually make out the others, and since setting up the aquavalve / hydroton tray I haven't taken them out individually.

 

[parsing_trees]

Day 68.

After letting the reservoir run empty, I took out the aquavalve and most of the hydroton, so I can move the plants around again and take individual pictures. Otherwise, I'm just waiting for seeds to mature. Once I'm 5 weeks from the last pollination pass, I'll start checking trichomes. I expect to harvest within a few weeks.

Bruce Banner #3.

Closeup on a BB#3 branch.

BB#3 cola, macro lens.

Mango Smile. Some of the widest side branches needed support, and taking it out involved untangling it from almost everything else.

Closeup on one of the several MS tops.

Wizard's Apprentice 3, this one needed supports too. The WAs have a ton of resin, and the smell from them and the MS dominate everything else.

Wizard's Apprentice 4, this one has had supports for a while, because the side branches are really top heavy and flopping around.

WA4 tops, with a very heavily pollinated branch in front (bottom left).

Some of the pollinated lower branches on WA4 are foxtailing a lot. Apparently WA does that sometimes.

Wild Thailand Ryder 4. After it topped itself and I tied down the two main branches, it effectively wound up with three main colas.

Left and middle colas; the one on the right is hopefully full of WTR x Zamaldelica Express seeds.

Walter White 1. This one has had the most nutrient (?) problems, but it's filling out well now.

WW1 tops. Lots of frost, looking like the Ghost Toof I grew last year.

Walter White 2, a bit less dense than #1 but looking healthier overall.

WW2 top.

 

[parsing_trees]

Day 79. (Sometimes I post the day after I take the pictures, so they don't always match the post dates.)

It's been five weeks since the last pollination pass, so the seeds should mostly be mature. I took all the plants out to check trichomes, most look ready now but the MS and WWs could use a few more days.

I took out the 2x2' bottom-feeding tray and replaced it with the windowboxes. The tray isn't perfectly flat, so despite being level, the plants in the front 2/3 were getting more water than the ones in the very back. Next time I'll try automating flooding the trays once/day somehow.

Bruce Banner #3. Pretty, but I can't differentiate the smell from this one yet -- the Wizard's Apprentices and Mango Smile really dominate everything else.

BB#3, macro lens.

Mango Smile. There are a bunch of small dried out fan leaves, but the buds look good, and it smells delicious.

Mango Smile, macro lens.

Wizard's Apprentice 3. I added a couple more ties to hold the branches up, because without them the WAs' side branches are as floppy as a drunk elephant with no skeleton. They both smell really strange; the description for Bodhi's Cheech Wizard (parent of WA) describes it as green curry + OG, and I couldn't put it any better. That green curry smell cuts through all the other smells in the tent, it also really lingers.

Wizard's Apprentice 4.

Wild Thailand Ryder. This filled out several wizard hat buds. Whit's it's hard to separate from the others, I think it has a mild chocolate smell.

Closeup of one of the WTR colas.

Walter White 1. This has a sort of sour funk to it.

WW1 tops.

Walter White 2.

WW2 cola.

 

[DCLXVI]

WIcked growing in here! I will have to come back and give this a thorough read through.

 

[Franklin Sinatra]

Sweet grow homie, glad to see the finish line I bet huh? Nugs really fattening up nicely bravo. Seems like one hell of a successful grow!


I sent ya a dm, check your inbox when ya get time growmie

 

[parsing_trees]

Day 83. Final pre-harvest pictures from last night.

Full tent. They're all around 20-24" / 50-60 cm tall.

From above.

Bruce Banner #3.

Close up of one of BB#3's tops. Those spots on the leaves appeared quite recently.

BB#3, macro lens.

Mango Smile.

One of the MS tops.

Wizard's Apprentice 3.

WA3, macro lens.

Wizard's Apprentice 4.

One of the WA4 tops.

Wild Thailand Ryder 4.

WTR tops, a bit blurry on the sides but focused on the middle.

Walter White 1.

Walter White 2.