Grow Mediums One Down Two to Grow

[Screwauger]

Update 1/1/18 GCA Harvest

Happy New Year folks. Just a note to keep my journal current. I went away for two days and my girlfriend kept my DWC GCA plant well submerged in nutes. I had cut back the nutes to approx 450ppm last week and today, I refilled the res with plain tap water pH balanced to 5.8 with only hydroguard added. I didn’t check the ppm but this is my flush and I plant to keep it up until the remainder of the plant is harvested (3-11 days).

I did harvest a branch last wednesday and placed the nugz in a couple brown paper bags in a closet upstairs. I gently moved them around for a couple days then went away. Today there was a mix of buds that needed more time and a few that could almost be jarred. I selected a dense one and after cut up with scissors, was completely smoke-able. Obviously not cured nor even ready to start cure but wow, that’s good pot. Intense mango flavor and mild smooth hit that packed a backdoor punch as 30 minutes after six bongs I was transfixed by the rose parade and out in space somewhere but not in Cali at that parade. ZOoooooom. Really excited for this stash. My humongous carbon filter isn’t touching the dank aroma’s escaping through that vent under the side steps, whoa…

 

[lunarman]

so you're basically looking at 100 total days from sprout to harvest right? Not sure if I did the math right or not. And the breeder spec was this is a 60 day plant. Is that correct?

Those buds look big and dense. and quality smoke to boot. Nice job saving that plant from the mysterious autoput rooting issue.

 

[Screwauger]

so you're basically looking at 100 total days from sprout to harvest right? Not sure if I did the math right or not. And the breeder spec was this is a 60 day plant. Is that correct?

Those buds look big and dense. and quality smoke to boot. Nice job saving that plant from the mysterious autoput rooting issue.

Thanks @lunarman and yes, I'd say you are right on. I did have a period of two weeks where the plant was not under my lights but being held under inadequate lights for it's turn in the tent. Not sure if that set her back or why she has taken so long.

The buds are extremely dense and hard. Very nice structure to them.

 

[Screwauger]

Update 1/3/18 GCA (Partial Harvest)

It’s Day 90 from sprout.
The plant has been on plain water since Sunday.
When I actually trimmed one of the main tops and looked at it closely, at least 20% amber despite the white pistils visible. This plant, especially the main tops, started to foxtail and the newer “foxtails” are most certainly putting out new pistils. I prefer energetic weed.

I actually have a dried and curing branch and it is good pot, great head rush, lasting body high smooth and tasty. Most importantly, it lasts a few hours!!!

I suspect the remainder of the plant will go another week or two and I may add back some mild bloom nutes (gotta research that a bit).

I harvested four tops two days ago and bagged those today. Then I hacked another 8 or 9 large tops and hung them.

Some Bud Porn

 

[Screwauger]

Blizzahd Update 1/4/18

BBA 1 & 2
These two plants have been mostly ignored for the past several weeks while I tended daily to the improvised DWC for the Crack Plant. Unfortunately, that “ignoring” never pays off (see BBA 2) but out of necessity they went to the back of the tent so I could access the DWC twice daily for “top ups.”

BBA1 Day 78 from sprout
I am blown away by the size of this auto flower BB. In addition, the bud sites are all developing well and already the tops are firm and dense. There is evidence of some slight “purpling” as well as some pistils turning brown!! This plant remains on the same nute mix as documented in the last update which is basically bloom nutes with big bud. This was also the plant that had the pH issue or funky ill appearance for several weeks. Though I thought I cured it with strict adherence to the ph perfect nutes, now BBA 2 is doing the same thing despite the same nute mix/ph. Always an adventure!
Sort of mailed it in on the pics as I just used my flash vs supplemental lighting.

BBA2 Day 68 from sprout

This gal is on the same nute mix as her cousin BBA1, both are in my autopots. You may recall my GCA blew out of the autopot and had to be babysat for the rest of it’s. life.
This plant, BBA2, was transplanted into fresh coco/perlite in early December in an attempt to avoid the same sickly fate as BBA1, who appears to have recovered very nicely. Despite this, my neglect of this plant realized yesterday that she is doing the same thing as the GCA. Blowing roots into the tray and pushing the plant upwards where it is not wicking nutrients into the coco/pot but rather, existing on a barely adequate mini micro climate in the bottom of the tray. I didn;t take photos but a scroll up to November would show what happened to the GCA. Needless to say, I wasn’t about to commit to another improvised DWC requiring twice daily attention and weekly overhaul.

I took this plant out of the tent, trimmed all of the roots extended out of the bottom of the pot. I added a second root control disc into the tray itself (TMI I know but I need this info), top watered the pot until I could coax the rootball back down into the pot and reapplied the potsock.

I will monitor closely and soon, the GCA will be completely harvested and I can move this plant to the front and monitor even more closely. If need be I will DWC it after the GCA is out of the bucket.

This is not, I realize, a very good testimonial to autopots. I have sought input from a forum of only autopot growers and none have ever seen this happen before, let alone twice. Most are convinced I failed to put in the RCD, I highly doubt that however; I did take a shortcut. The RCD’s root control disc’s come with the autopot and are a sheet of landscape fabric treated on one side with a copper type coating. This is supposed to turn the root tips around or burn them off or otherwise stop the roots from trying to escape the pot. I re-used the RCD’s from my first grow vs purchasing new ones. I think this is user error secondary to laziness and cheapskateosis. Sorry for the length of this.
BTW, this BBA2 plant is outstretching BBA1 and is a huge plant (nearly 30" tall). I supercropped several of the tallest branches and will supercrop the rest when she recovers a bit. If I can keep these plants alive, they are gonna produce a ton of stash!

 

[Nosias]

Well keep doing what you are doing. Such "problems" you have

 

[Screwauger]

Hahaha @Nosias most certainly "problems" in the "I must be the ultimate grower" category. I do think my root issues could be a result of re-using the RCD's from last grow (though I know others do this without issues). I am 100% certain I used the RCD on BBA2 as I repotted it in early December and recall seating the fabric. Oh well, these "problems" just reuire more "hands-on" than I had hoped with the autopots.

 

[Screwauger]

Update GCA (Partial Harvest) Day 96

Hey Gang.

This plant has about run it’s course. I have harvested all of the tops and now just have the extreme lower half of the plant still under the lights (actually I took the rest of it today 1/10/18 due to root rot in the DWC bucket secondary to inconsistent water levels) . I did switch it back to mild bloom nutes and supplements for the last four days and will keep the final popcorn buds in nute solution until the pistils and trichs shows readiness. Based on expereince the past couple weeks that should be in 3-5 days. I was tempted to harvest it all because the BBA’s need the space but I just couldn’t as there is likely another 3/4 ounce on the plant.

As my previous update outlined (5 days ago), I had placed the first two branches into brown paper bag(s). Today they seemed nearly ready for jars but after an hour in the jar the RH climbed to 65% so I returned the nugs to the paper bag for a bit longer.

I did happen on a smaller nug that was fairly crispy and I cut it up (this nug having about a week longer on the plant than my first sample). All I can say is, I did it. I finally grew something I want to smoke. It is very potent herb and even before curing it is smooth with a creeping sort of lung expansion. No harshness or cough inducing hit. The flavor is not quite there but the aroma coming out of the bags and from the nugs is just super!!! Based on results so far for this plant, it would not be surprising to get 6 ounces. Wish I had more FB GCA beans.

Here are a few snaps

 

[Nosias]

Super, Super Job !! The buds just glow with the trichomes. I am really impressed. Yes, this is something you can do and have done well. Congratulations. Enjoy and tag me when you start your next grow.



You need some rep

 

[Screwauger]

Super, Super Job !! The buds just glow with the trichomes.

Thank you very much @Nosias

It is a preliminary guess but I have 5.5 ounces dried and jarred and at least a third of the plant still hanging and in bags drying. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say (despite setbacks) this plant will produce approx 8 ounces of usable weed not counting sugar leaves and trim. Of course, when all is said and done, I will update the journal with weights and photos.