Ricky's Trailer Park

[ricky_simples]

Thanks for the kind words. It's definitely a good feeling to know they're on the rebound. Whenever I run into hiccups with my plants I just can't get my mind off of them subconsciously. Regardless of what I'm doing, my mind will drift back to the garden and my mind will race with ideas for remedies. So it's a big relief have my finger on what the root cause was. Now I can go back to business as usual and put my mind at ease.

I've heard a mixed bag of reviews when it comes to Slurricane. Some have shown awesome, keeper level photos. Others have said it's a strain that yields extremely low and not worth the price tag. I decided a few months back I'd try growing some "hype shit" as I call it. The idea is to find out whether or not paying beaucoup bucks for packs will result in better weed or not.

So either way, whether it's in a couple weeks, or in a couple months, I'm committed to running the Slurricane from both breeders. I'll find out what the fuss is about. I'll document it on a separate thread here on Phenohunters too. I say it all the time "genetics matter", so lets see what overpaying for seeds does, is it worth, is it not? We'll find out soon.

The Slurricane from Archive is fems, selected as a freebie from JBC when I picked up the Hyper Fuel (Rocket Fuel x Dosidos) that's currently on the right side of my tent. The Slurricane from IHG are fems too - I paid full price for, ordered from Platinum Seed Bank a few months ago, along with a pack of Sugar Cane (where I have two of those on the left side of the tent).

 

[ricky_simples]

T-minus two more days until these ladies get flipped to 11/13.

Sugarcane - IHG (left) and Hyper Fuel - Archive (right)

Got the lights set to 230~ watts - reads around 20K lux at canopy. Comes out to around 380 umol/s/m2 so I think I'll crank the lights up about 20-40 watts for the last few days before they start flowering. The front right Hyper Fuel is stretching a bit more than the others so I'll be keeping an eye on her after flipping. I plan to go with 2 layers of trellis netting and will use velcro tape to train the canopy to the netting.

Light on temp - 79-80 (leaf temp 1-2 degrees cooler than tent)
Lights off temp - 66-68
18/6 light cycle
RH fluctuates between 65% - 72%
Reservoir PH 6.1 / EC 1.8 / res temp 67

 

[ricky_simples]

I spent a bunch of time on Sunday resetting the 4x4. It's not my favorite thing to do but it's not horrible either. I suppose it's a small price to pay to grow good dope.

Did some defoliation when I transferred the plants into the 4x4. Placed two layers of trellis netting with a 3rd layer on standby if needed. Definitely making a concerted effort to manage the canopy. I flipped em' on Sunday and they've already grown about half a foot in three days, so about 2'' per day. There's still a couple plants that haven't reached the netting yet, but the ones that have got velcro-tape'd down.

I did a light swap in the 4x4 too, moving the Kingbrite 240 w/ reds and UV and my DIY 250 watt light in there. I mounted the Gromau5 flower initiator pucks on the top crossbar of the tent so it gets great coverage. They're set to turn on for 15 minutes immediately after the 12/12 cycle goes into darkness. One of the QB's I took out of the 4x4 went into the 2x4 veg tent, dialed down to 90 watts. The other one is sitting in storage as I don't need it at the moment.

The plants are in #3 pots and they're getting 1/2 a gallon of water per day. Watering is timed to turn on when the lights do for 12/12. I'll keep monitoring whether that'll suffice for the long term or I'll need to increase watering duration as the plants drink more while maturing. But for now 1/2 a gallon is enough to show runoff.

I tapered back the Jacks 321 to 3 grams, 2 grams, 1 gram. (was 3.6, 2.4, 1.2). The res currently sits at a 1.7 EC, 6.1 PH, and 67 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[ricky_simples]

Harvested the last of the Wifi 43 x Aliendog Cherry this past Tuesday. It was a very chunky plant so I let it hang for 14 days. Glad I did because when I went to trim it, my entire house smelled like a petrol station. Just stinking like crazy.

This one foxtailed heavy, but ended up being one of the easier plants I've trimmed. Definitely I high calyx to leaf ratio.

 

[JL2G]

Harvested the last of the Wifi 43 x Aliendog Cherry this past Tuesday. It was a very chunky plant so I let it hang for 14 days. Glad I did because when I went to trim it, my entire house smelled like a petrol station. Just stinking like crazy.

This one foxtailed heavy, but ended up being one of the easier plants I've trimmed. Definitely I high calyx to leaf ratio. View attachment 3129 View attachment 3130 View attachment 3131

Beautimus, love the way the Wi-Fi hits, and the Aliens. Mmmmm, sounds and looks so very tasty.

 

[goMM]

Good shit @ricky_simples.....gotta love them WiFi ??

 

[ricky_simples]

Flipped on Monday and today is Saturday so I'm calling it day 5 of flower. Got the ladies training hard with the velco tape. This will probably be my new training method - super easy to undo and adjust branches as they grow. Better than twistie ties, that's for sure.

Also liking this 4-plant setup vs 6-10 in smaller pots. Four is like that sweet spot where each plant has its own 2x2 ft quadrant to thrive. The bigger pots means less drying out and less watering frequency. They get fed when the lights turn on.. seems to be working well. It's also helping keep the fungus gnats down (haven't seen one yet) since that top soil gets dried out between waterings.

 

[ricky_simples]

Alright, today is Monday so it's been one full week since these plants were flipped. Overall they are looking relatively healthy, definitely on the right track now. I've been defoliating as I train (with no predetermined reasoning) other than keeping an even canopy. There's still some discoloration on the older growth, but all the new stuff checks out.

Right now the lights are about 3ft from the top of the canopy. When I hold my lux meter app at canopy level I'm getting between 30,000 -40,000 readings. I obviously have no way to verify these numbers, but just visually looking at the plants and watching the environment and growth, it's safe to say they're in a comfortable range.

I'm planning on using an additional trellis net above this one, probably 6'' - 10'' above, and I've measured the lux at that height being in the 50,000 - 60,000 range, which is about exactly what I'm aiming for. So for the next two weeks while these plants continue to stretch I'll be focused on keeping things horizontal.

I think it's time to top off the res tonight. It's been 8 days and I haven't done anything to it. I use a Bluelab Guardian to monitor EC & PH levels so it's as simple as walking by my tent to read the controller. The PH has only moved 1/10th of an increment over the past 8 days. When I filled the res I had set it to 6.0, and then about three days later I noticed it moved up to 6.1 and has held steady since. I suppose some people like the fluctuations to hit all ranges for the nutrients, but I kind of enjoy the PH stability of Jacks. I could comfortably leave my grow room for a week, come back, and find the damn PH will have only budged .1.

When I ran flood and drain it fluctuated a lot more - I'm assuming that was because it was recycling water that has passed through the medium. But since doing drain to waste where the runoff funnels into a separate bucket, there's almost nothing for me to tinker with. That's enough yapping for today, here's a picture update.

 

[HydroRed]

Alright, today is Monday so it's been one full week since these plants were flipped. Overall they are looking relatively healthy, definitely on the right track now. I've been defoliating as I train (with no predetermined reasoning) other than keeping an even canopy. There's still some discoloration on the older growth, but all the new stuff checks out.

Right now the lights are about 3ft from the top of the canopy. When I hold my lux meter app at canopy level I'm getting between 30,000 -40,000 readings. I obviously have no way to verify these numbers, but just visually looking at the plants and watching the environment and growth, it's safe to say they're in a comfortable range.

I'm planning on using an additional trellis net above this one, probably 6'' - 10'' above, and I've measured the lux at that height being in the 50,000 - 60,000 range, which is about exactly what I'm aiming for. So for the next two weeks while these plants continue to stretch I'll be focused on keeping things horizontal.

I think it's time to top off the res tonight. It's been 8 days and I haven't done anything to it. I use a Bluelab Guardian to monitor EC & PH levels so it's as simple as walking by my tent to read the controller. The PH has only moved 1/10th of an increment over the past 8 days. When I filled the res I had set it to 6.0, and then about three days later I noticed it moved up to 6.1 and has held steady since. I suppose some people like the fluctuations to hit all ranges for the nutrients, but I kind of enjoy the PH stability of Jacks. I could comfortably leave my grow room for a week, come back, and find the damn PH will have only budged .1.

When I ran flood and drain it fluctuated a lot more - I'm assuming that was because it was recycling water that has passed through the medium. But since doing drain to waste where the runoff funnels into a separate bucket, there's almost nothing for me to tinker with. That's enough yapping for today, here's a picture update.

View attachment 3476

Clean setup, and those plants look way healtier than you are givin yourself credit for lol
Im suprised to hear you keep such a solid number on your pH though (even with Jacks). I'll experience pH swing up 0.5 point in a weeks time but Im topping off 3x more frequently than you do in 8 days time. And I thought I had mine relatively tight haha

 

[ricky_simples]

Clean setup, and those plants look way healtier than you are givin yourself credit for lol
Im suprised to hear you keep such a solid number on your pH though (even with Jacks). I'll experience pH swing up 0.5 point in a weeks time but Im topping off 3x more frequently than you do in 8 days time. And I thought I had mine relatively tight haha

Thanks man, that means a lot coming from you.

I'm not trying to be too hard on myself, but I've been doing this long enough to know how to avoid making dumb mistakes. But the pictures as HD as they are still don't pick up the slight variation in color, that slightly paleness / that comes from a Mg lockout. Pictures look good, but up close my eye spies imperfection.

And oh yeah man the Jacks is good stuff! Super happy with it and it's lack of volatility on the PH.

 

[ricky_simples]

View attachment VID_148230930_193357_418.mp4

 

[ricky_simples]

 

[ricky_simples]

Checked in on the garden last night once the lights turned on. This would be day #8 of flower. They're not quite to the budlet stage yet, but the are beginning to show pistols. Still stretching as expected. Growth is somewhere between 1-2'' per day. I didn't do any adjustments to the canopy last night, just smoked a joint and watched the plants in a daze. Each previous night I've been in there tying down branches, so yesterday I just decided to leave em' be.

I counted right around 40 colas total. My math could be off a bit - but each plant has between 8-12 branches. Hopefully I can continue to keep everything even so they're all relatively close in size.

I used to grow for weight, trying to maximize grams per watt and all that other bullshit. I put the scale down a few years ago and started focusing on trying to be a better grower. It's a hobby I love, and it's such a great feeling when you gift herb to a friend and they're blown away by the quality. Trying to grow for weight just kind of sucks all the love and fun out of it.

 

[ricky_simples]

Day 9 of flower and the lights just turned on. Going to velcro down a few branches but for the most part leave it be. That second trellis is about how tall I want em, about 2ft from the light.

 

[Capt. C]

Day 9 of flower and the lights just turned on. Going to velcro down a few branches but for the most part leave it be. That second trellis is about how tall I want em, about 2ft from the light.


View attachment 3764

I like the velcro idea. It's even green i had to squint to find it. Nice healthy looking plants.

 

[ricky_simples]

I like the velcro idea. It's even green i had to squint to find it. Nice healthy looking plants.

Thanks man, yeah it works the best out of everything else I've tried. I think I bought a roll for $5 at my local hydro store, but can be easily found online.

They're starting to green up a bit. The back left Sugarcane has purple stems, I wonder if it's genetics, environment, or stress. All others have green stems.

 

[Dankman_420]

I have one that gets purple stems every time. Mine is just genetics I think

 

[JL2G]

Thanks man, yeah it works the best out of everything else I've tried. I think I bought a roll for $5 at my local hydro store, but can be easily found online.

They're starting to green up a bit. The back left Sugarcane has purple stems, I wonder if it's genetics, environment, or stress. All others have green stems.

I have one that gets purple stems every time. Mine is just genetics I think

The God Bud strain I have always has dark purple stems throughout, that's all genetics for sure on that one.
Some others I have, my BBB, will purple up on the stems and such where they're exposed to the strong light. I'll have to get some pics later. But it will stay green where shaded, and purple only where blasted with the light.
Have seen other strains do this as well for me, and others. Big Perm did a vid on it awhile back.

 

[ricky_simples]

It's been a pretty wild week to say the least. I'm so happy it's Friday. Just picked up some 4HO-MET and excited to give it a try for the first time tonight.

Last night marked day 10 of flower in the 4x4. The stretch is definitely on. Did a little velcro action but for the most part let things be.

Started some new seeds yesterday for the next round.

Ghost Cake (Ghost OG x Black Forest Cake) - Dankonomics Genetics
Fierce Animal (Animal Cookies x Slurricane #7) x OGKB 2.1 - In House Genetics.

The Ghost Cake are proven winners, grew out three of em' late 2018 / early 2019, all three were fire. I wanted to get this strain back in the rotation before I do the head to head of IHG vs Archive's Slurricane.

The Fierce Animal were freebies I got from IHG when I ordered their Slurricane.

Got two beans of each strain in shot glasses, soaking.

 

[ricky_simples]

Been having some issues lately with cloning in my aerocloner. I think I had the collars wedged too tight in the holes I drilled. This must have been causing the stems to get pinched because the lower part of the stem (exposed to water) was getting swollen and acting like it was trying to grow roots. Anyways, I discarded the bucket top I had been using and used a hole saw to drill holes into a new lid. I went with smaller holes so the clone collar can rest on top, instead of being wedged into the hole. Hopefully this helps with my cloning issues as of late.

Took a few cuts last night (even though the donors) were flowering, just to see if this new method will pay off. My understanding is they'll still root the same way as if the clones were taken from a vegging plant, just that the new growth will be unpredictable. Well this is my short term experiment to see if I fixed my cloning issue or if I need to go back to coco plugs and domes.