SuperSkunk Manifold

[H.A.F.]

Anyway, I gotta go do stuff, because...
Here's the pic.

I had a pot set up with FFHF (happyfrog) FFLD (luckydog) and pure peat that I had to get online because every damn bag in the local stores is "amended" with nutes.

I did a slurry test on FFOF, FFHF, and FFLD. All of them were within 600-800ppm right out of the bag. But it's different ppm. The biggest difference was the time it took to absorb the same amount of water. The LD had no surface tension and the water seemed to soak right in and flow through. HF was next, but took some agitation to get it all wet. Ocean Forest is a no-go because the others are better. It has no mico's or microbes and the other two do.

My GDP grow with 'Lefty" I had one in FFHF, and FFLD to test the two soils. Prior to me screwing up one plant at topping with the LST, all my notes showed the FFLD outperforming the FFHF until about week 4 when I started the pre-flower feeding and light flip. Then the one in happyfrog started bushing out, shooting faster, etc. The LD started having heat and nute issues quicker, and both were fed exactly the same.

So I came up with the above, with the HF on the bottom, the LD where the roots will likely go first, and a 50/50 mix in between. The mix I use for seedlings is 1/3 plain peat (no nutes), LD and HF. I sifted it through 1/4" screen to get out any twigs, then a 1/8"screen to get out any dust so I don't get mud.

Oh, and the luckydog absorbing water so well makes it great for the top part to keep water from running down the outsides of the pot.

 

[H.A.F.]

I've been watching close, and here is the first partially red hair I've seen. This is the difference I was talking about. several per flower have that purple color, while one is obviously getting skinny and ripe. I'm thinking that before this 12hrs is over there should be a sprinkling of brown pistils. Using hippie theory that would place harvest on or about the 24th.

 

[H.A.F.]

I have searched but can't find the reference. In an old cannabis book I had when it discussed how to determine when to harvest, "21 days from the first brown pistil" was mentioned as an "old hippie rule of thumb" Right or not, it's damn close for me so far.

I am still not going to harvest based on the calendar, but with that as a target date it helps with planning.

I have roughly 3 more feeds. I want to push the nutes now, then start starving her more and more in the last week or so. I won't short her on water and calmag, but starvation will make the plant think "this is the end" and it will pump out those last trichomes as protection. I have also tried splitting and drilling the stem. I put that in the 'can't hurt' category because you don't do it until you have a firm harvest date anyway.

I've never noticed any difference using the 'dark' period at the end, but I'll usually do it for a couple of days.

 

[H.A.F.]

I have a dehydrator, and the plastic mesh screen on the trays may be perfect. I cut one into 2" strips, and used it with the with mesh on the 5gal pot above. I don't think it is sturdy enough for tying stuff to, so it is on the inside of the 1/4" mesh. I wasn't worried about adding height to the 5 gallon above, but I think making a 3-gallon several inches taller might be interesting, since tall and skinny will dry quicker.

Might have to watch for it getting top-heavy with the plant and tipping over though, so maybe not.

 

[diggs99]

Nice hippy tips , it seems our plants are on a very close schedule.

I have 1 of my 4 plants that seems less sturdy compared to her sisters. Oddly enough its the plant that has been the most vigorous since sprouting. Her stems are still quite bouncy/not rigid compared to other 3. Already noticing a few stems with nice colas sagging a bit. shes gonna need to be staked i think.

 

[H.A.F.]

And the fat-ness begins! LOL

 

[H.A.F.]

Oddly enough its the plant that has been the most vigorous since sprouting.

Makes sense. Growing faster means more green stems and less woody ones that have hardened.

 

[diggs99]

Do plants like this grow smaller or lesser buds because of the greener stems?

What would cause that to happen? She was topped a bunch. Too much? She seems to be filling out decently tho. But what do I know lol

Pic was taken right after last pruning/ cleaning up.

 

[H.A.F.]

Do plants like this grow smaller or lesser buds because of the greener stems?

What would cause that to happen? She was topped a bunch. Too much? She seems to be filling out decently tho. But what do I know lol

Pic was taken right after last pruning/ cleaning up.

Looks like a sativa , or like the sativa part of the hybrid was more dominant. This is what people look for when finding the 'perfect' mother plant for clones or certain pheno-types to breed. Not saying it is good or bad, or that this would be one you keep, but if they are from the same batch of seeds, it is an anomaly that they watch for and single out. (either to clone or cull)

That said, there should be no difference in yield, just appearance and ease of harvest. You probably won't see the nugs growing together into fat solid cola, but the nugs will still fatten. This is what my herm looked like (stretchy) so watch closely, but harvest wise it produced the most uniform batch of nugs. even the tops were just a little bigger than the others. Since you don't have a half-broke plant, you should be able to get bigger finished nugs.

 

[diggs99]

And the fat-ness begins! LOLView attachment 4275668

Lol my god look at this beast

 

[H.A.F.]

Here's another reason for the lights out flash pics. Colas really pop, as do blank spaces. When they come back on I will LST this cola into the blank space. Probably rearrange a few of those center ones. Right now there are no ties on any of those in the middle.

 

[H.A.F.]

I don't know if it is backed by science or just a habit of mine, but for the most part I don't prune any fan leaf that is by a sprout I keep.

I think that it has a direct relationship to that individual nug getting bigger. That is how I judge the week-3 pruning. Any random fan leaf goes, but if there is a sprout I plan on growing out I'll leave the leaf unless or until it has more nute-burn than leaf. Even then I'll snip the burnt tips off and leave the rest if I can.

But if the sprout is big enough that it has it's own fan leaves, it can go away.

 

[H.A.F.]

@diggs99 You'll get a kick out of this. I went through the archives and found a pic of my last skunk grow, in week 3 day 26 since flip (same as above pic) then one at the end of week 6 when I harvested this one, day 40 since flip. (I had another plant I let go longer). The lower pic is my plant now. The first grow was in 5gallon, this one in 3.

Like I said, we are about to witness the fatness. Once the browns start popping she goes into survival mode and really tries to make more seeds - but can't so keeps trying.

 

[Gollyboy]

This is my 1st grow and manifolding yours are all looking lovely fair play just hope these turn out the same

 

[H.A.F.]

This is my 1st grow and manifolding yours are all looking lovely fair play just hope these turn out the same

I have successfully done 1.5 manifolds, so I am by no means an expert, but I did it different than you. I waited until it was about 6nodes tall before topping. Shouldn't be an issue, it's a weed. That said, if you've grown plants regular (with a big top-cola) you know that the first two sets of limbs are usually runts and get pruned early. I think that is the reason for keeping the third node.

Your way it's going to get any stunting out of the way quick. Who knows?

 

[H.A.F.]

I shopped around for a mat for the clones. Everything was in the $20-30 range then I found this. thought I would share.


Showed up yesterday and is 'installed' and is exactly as advertised.

 

[Big Perm]

I shopped around for a mat for the clones. Everything was in the $20-30 range then I found this. thought I would share.

View attachment 4276281
Showed up yesterday and is 'installed' and is exactly as advertised.

I highly recommend plugging it into a temp controller with a temp probe. I can link a couple, but you're already on amazon. I use Inkbird and Willhi and they are worth their weight in gold.

 

[H.A.F.]

I highly recommend plugging it into a temp controller with a temp probe. I can link a couple, but you're already on amazon. I use Inkbird and Willhi and they are worth their weight in gold.

Thanks! I'm not really relying on this much except to get the 4 clones rooted, which is about another week, then it goes away. I set the big one on there just to help flatten it out because it came rolled up and stiff.

With the temps as low as they've been, my cloth pots always feel cool, so we'll see what happens. Oh, I have a plastic tray to put over it that will raise them off the heat further if needed, but right now there are 3 solo-cups stacked (only bottom one water tight) so it is about 1/2" from the mat to the soil, and I put a little water in the bottom cup to keep it steamy. They got domed with clear cups right after the pic.

 

[H.A.F.]

As far as the clones go, at least I have a contender for the flower room! She is taking off, and may go into a bigger pot later just to support all the shoots.

DAMN! There are no "nodes"! There is a leaf/sprout, then another, then another, then one coming off that one, and the other one, Crazy

I forgot to put it in my notes here, but when I covered that ugly junk on the stem with dirt I mixed some Clonex in a little water in a syringe and squirted it in the soil all around the stem.

 

[Big Perm]

As far as the clones go, at least I have a contender for the flower room! She is taking off, and may go into a bigger pot later just to support all the shoots.
View attachment 4276310 View attachment 4276311
DAMN! There are no "nodes"! There is a leaf/sprout, then another, then another, then one coming off that one, and the other one, Crazy

I forgot to put it in my notes here, but when I covered that ugly junk on the stem with dirt I mixed some Clonex in a little water in a syringe and squirted it in the soil all around the stem.

For what it's worth, I did an led grow once and had the same exact thing happen because the light was so close the plant didn't have to grow to get more light, lol. At least, that was my deduction.