Indoor Off to Seed the Wizard

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Day 41. Mid-grow update. Well into flower now, things are slowing down a bit.

So far the plants in the bin haven't shown any sign of reversing. The other plants have stretched enough to shade the bin, so they may have been starved for light. I decided to pull out the bin and set it up on a shelf in another room, with a light on it (and the exhaust fan blowing at a carbon filter, the WAs are pungent). If they don't reverse by a certain point I'll cull them, but if they do I can at least save the pollen for another grow. The other plants in the tent could really use the space, though.

Everything back in the tent, after spraying some pollinated branches. I can move the trays apart with the bin out, which allows more air and light through to the lower growth.

Overhead view. A couple of the upper fans have been showing symptoms of light stress, I adjusted my lights and I think it's stopped getting worse.

Bruce Banner #3.

Mango Smile, clusters of stigmas continuing to spread.

Wizard's Apprentice 3, a bit blurry but showing the structure.

One of WA3's tops.

WA4, a little more sparse and open than WA3.

WA4's tops.

Wild Thailand Ryder 4, with a couple pollinated branches in the middle.

Walter White 1 (FIM'd).

WW 2 (topped).

 

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Day 48.

I culled the plants in the isolation bin, after a couple weeks of spraying them they still showed zero sign of reversing, and it was too late to use any pollen from them in this batch. Oh well.

In a couple days I am probably going to move the plants over to a single 2x2' bottom-feeding tray and try watering them with an AutoPot aquavalve for the rest of the grow, as a trial for using it in later batches. At this point my plants will happily drink up everything if I water twice per day, so I'd rather give them as much as they want while they're getting frosty and bulking up. I can switch back to hand-watering if necessary.

Buds forming everywhere, but decent airflow.

From above. The WWs' and WAs' uppermost fan leaves have some light stress, whereas the BB#4 is dark green and seems like it would happily take more light. The MS's leaf tips that were clawing from nitrogen before have burned a little and curled up, but otherwise it seems to be doing great.

Bruce Banner #3.

BB#3's buds are getting some purple here and there.

Mango Smile!

One of the (many) MS tops.

Wizard's Apprentice 3.

WA3 tops.

Wizard's Apprentice 4. Not quite as much bulk as WA3, and it's struggling to hold up the side branches. Pollinating little side branches doesn't do any good if they break off, so I've got ties holding them up now.

The Wild Thailand Ryder is filling out now, not likely to yield as much as the others but should be enough to try + some seeds.

WTR4 top.

Walter White 1.

Walter White 2, a bit branchier.

WW2 top.

 

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Day 55 (some pictures from yesterday, some today). Over the last week a couple major things have changed:
- I moved everything to my bottom-feeding tray and set up my aquavalve.
- Some of the pollinated branches have visible seeds developing.
- I finally bought a good pH meter.
- Some sort of issue with WW1 has gotten worse.

Full tent, before adding a bunch of hydroton to the bottom. There's quite a bit of open space when everything is in one tray the full width of the tent, vs. two fairly narrow windowboxes. The aquavalve is set to flood the tray a 1" depth, and with a 2x2' tray that's a volume of almost exactly 2.5 gallons. I've typically been hand-watering around half a gallon per day lately between the two windowboxes, and I don't want to flood the tray with substantially more than that at a time, so I needed to fill in more of the space. I added a bunch of hydroton, but since hydroton floats, I needed to add a bit more to keep that layer in place. In the mean time I've removed the excess and I'm waiting for the rest to get absorbed before iterating further.

The two Walter Whites (left-middle and front right) have a lot of yellowing going on in their upper leaves. It's probably related to light stress, the WWs are a little taller than the others (~24"), but I'm starting to wonder if it's also a pH issue. After using GH test kit drops for years, I finally bought a good pH meter (an Apera PH60), and it's telling me that what I thought was around 5.8-6.0 was probably actually much higher (6.2-6.4), and that could make a substantial difference with the nutrient uptake. Magnanese needs a lower pH range than that, and could be consistent with the symptoms I've been seeing (yellowing, particularly between leaf veins, like magnesium deficiency, but moving from younger to older growth). If so, it's immobile, so it probably won't improve substantially but it shouldn't get much worse? Whatever it is, the WWs are most affected and the BB#3 the least. It's separate from the Mango Smile's dried out / curled up tips, which were probably due to wanting less nitrogen and a lighter EC in general.

The flooded tray, with hydroton. The water doesn't seem to be going through the aquavalve "pot sock" so well, but that may sort itself out eventually? It's supposed to keep roots, stray floating perlite, etc. out of the way that could cause the pump to get clogged and fail open. I folded one of the sides down a bit so water could flow out before the valve stopped, but once water can pass through it better that shouldn't be necessary. I'm going to be watching closely for mold in the next couple days, though the humidity at the canopy level hasn't risen.

Bruce Banner #3, about 20" / 50 cm.

The BB#3 is probably the most photogenic of the bunch.

The pollinated branches are starting to visibly swell with forming seeds. There are a few peeking out, but it's only been ~2 weeks, so they're still quite green.

Mango Smile. 22" tall, nearly as wide, and the buds keep spreading and smelling great.

I can't wait to try this one.

Wizard's Apprentice 3.

Wizard's Apprentice 4. While taking all the plants out to swap out the windowboxes for the tray, WA4 suddenly tipped over, falling a couple feet. It didn't seem to obviously suffer for it, and the coco/root mass held together, but things got tense for a minute.

Wild Thailand Ryder 4, which has stretched a bit more and is now 24" tall. It's still a week younger than the others, but the branches have started to fill out.

It's also getting some frost now.

Walter White 1, with some yellow fan leaves up top and also a few at the bottom.

WW2 has similar issues, but seems to be in better shape all around.

 

[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]

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.

 

[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.

 

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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.

 

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Drying/curing update.

After hang-drying them whole for 5 days, I moved the unseeded branches to paper bags (keeping as much stem as I could but removing large fan leaves), then surrounded those in a paper grocery bag. After a day I started getting anxious about over-drying, so I dry-trimmed and moved them to jars. They've just started curing, but they are already smelling like they have been curing in the jars for a week or so. The paper bags were an experiment, which I gave up on about a day in, so I don't want to make any inferences or claims based on it. I suspect that approach may be better suited to a lot of flower filling a bag, rather than several small plants in separate bags, because that extra paper may absorb more moisture. Maybe the flower would have benefited from staying in bags longer, but it's too easy to over-dry here in the winter.

I don't think I'm going to get a great flower yield this time -- probably around about 10-15g from each plant, 2.5-3 oz total -- but that isn't counting several branches on each dedicated to making seeds, particularly on the WAs and BB#3. After I extract the seeds, all that trim will get dry sifted, as will a full quart jar of very frosty sugar leaf trim, mostly from the BB#3, MS, and WWs.

Updates:

- WA3 & WA4: These have had a sharp smell that cuts through all of the others since mid flower, and guess what, they still do. Bodhi's description of Cheech Wizard (the photoperiod parent of Wizard's Apprentice) calls it a "green curry OG". Strange, intriguing. Both jars smell pretty similar.
- BB#3: I couldn't pick up on a distinct smell from this one pre-harvest (generally earthy?) but now it's got a very strong, lingering gas smell, even louder than the WAs. I'm not familiar with the nuances of gassy strains, but the BB#3 reminds me of my CDLC, albeit without its acrid garlic/sulfur notes (which aren't my thing). So, dark/gassy/earthy. Also, it looks really striking in the jar.
- MS: This is my favorite smelling one of the bunch, even more than the WTR4. It's strong enough to stand up to the previous three plants, and is exactly what I'd hope for from "mango haze". Mango, haze. Yum.
- WW1 & WW2: These smell like low-key funky citrus. Distinct, but not as intense as the others.
- WTR4: This developed a mild chocolate smell late in flower, and curing has brought out a more dominant "fruity pebbles" smell. According to Breeders Syndicate episode s04e02 ("Crybaby Organics Talks Cannabis Scent Exploration"), that's a variant (stereoisomer, IIRC) of linalool. Whatever it is, it's one of my favorite cannabis smells.

I'll update again after I've extracted seeds, and once I've tried them all a couple times.

 

[parsing_trees]

The RH in the jars has settled, so I have a final weight. I've also extracted the seeds and a bunch of kief. I got about 80g of flower total (2 3/4 oz), with ~15g from the Mango Smile and Wild Thailand Ryder, ~10g from all the others. Not as much flower as my previous batches, but I also extracted about 630 seeds from the pollinated branches (of 15 different crosses), as well as ~12.4g of kief from those branches and 2.2g from general harvest trim, so 14.6g total. Just over a half oz of kief

The Bruce Banner #3 made the most seeds (~215 total: ~70 BB#3 x Anvil, ~65 BB#3 x Blue Microverse, ~80 BB#3 x Zamaldelica Express), the Wild Thailand Ryder the least (15: 4, 4, and 7 with Anvil, BM, and ZE respectively), and the others each had 50-100 between the three pollen sources. My Blue Microverse pollen from June 2020 is clearly still viable, but my older Anvil pollen from October 2020 produced 0 seeds across the board. The Zamaldelica Express and newer Anvil pollen was from late 2021 and early 2022, so I'd expect those to still be good.

(kief from the Walter White's second round)

I got about 3.75g kief from extracting the seeds in a sifter box, but then putting the trim jars in the freezer overnight and a couple minutes in an aluminum pollen shaker for each sifted out another 5.5g in the first round, then 2.01g more in the second, and 1.08g more in a third round. I kept each strain's trim and kief separate, each will probably get pressed into its own puck later. Based on the trim weight they all had a 11-16% return in the shaker from the first two rounds. For the third round I mixed the trim together and put the result in its own jar, since it probably has a bit more broken up leaf bits mixed in.

The BB#3's kief has a pink/purple tint...

...and the Wizard's Apprentice kief is a bit greenish.

I will post mini reviews of each strain once I've tried them all a couple times.