Dreaming Big

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
Coco pH was neutral prior to starting. I used distilled water when mixing the Olivia's solution so that no other trace elements were in the water. The pH dropped to 6.6-6.7 it was a bouncing read. but still within where I need it. everything is setup on the table that my plants are on prior to making any cuts. I use a clean razor blade for each plant to insure no contamination. I know I have been going about this a little more carefully than I should but I am not "babying" them and causing the damp-off. I take my cut about 4" to 4.5" from the tip of the shoot, at a 45 degree angle. Quick and clean... And, besides last night, I place the cutting into Olivia's solution and move on to the next cut. Once I have my cuts together, one by one I take them out and immediately smother the tip in Clonex rooting gel. Once I know I have covered the entire "root zone" I snip leaves and plant into premade holes, pressing from the corner down to connect coco with the bottom of the stem and then fill in around it. Before last night I was leaving a lot more leaf in the cuts. The new Blue Dream cuts are as you say "Perfect" and less than my normal leaf amount. So I am hoping for a good success rate here. :) thanks again for the input. more to come from me. and soon the questions of proper cure will come from me. AutoAK is 6 days out. and now it's 5am again and I gotta get to bed before the sun wakes me up. GOTTA LOVE GETTING STONED AND ZONING OUT TO THE RIU COMMUNITY
It's happened to me too many times before, lol, now if my RIU goes 30 minutes without an update I get off the comp.

Try going for 4-5" cuts. bigger cuts are bigger, just not big old tops. That is not to say that you cannot clone tops, I've done it and they make pretty bad ass clones. Tops just take a long time to root, but they are trees from the get go. Last round of clones I did, all 9/13 clones were tops taken from small vegging plants or seedlings themselves, I just cut them in half and rooted them. It is all working out great actually, especially when you want to slow down growth, sometimes I just have too much going on at once.

Anyways, I'm babbling, stoned off my gourd on wax, and need to take off for school in about 15 minutes here. Gotta get your education! So anyways, pH balance your coco, this is very difficult to do with distilled water, although it is nice and gentle to work with! I stopped using Three Stage R/O and started using a more efficient Two-Stage water purifier because it comes out at about 130ppm and it's dechlorinated. What you can do, and I do sometimes when I'm in a bind, is boil up a pot of tap water to dechlorinate (I don't have the patience to let totes of water evap in the sun) and add that to cold distilled. Try to settle your water temp between 64-68 degrees.

water pH 5.7-5.8 better to be lower with clones, since sometimes you'll need to add plain water when they are dry and need moisture immediately. If they go dry, and you don't have water already pH'd handy, it's much better to just throw any sort of water in there to keep em moist. If roots touch a dry surface they loose their hairs and begin getting ropy and stretch out in search of moisture.

Do not buy in so much to all the importance of the different hormones. 1) You do not need any hormones. 2) If you get the hormone above the surface of the cube it can actually cause issues. 3) That being said, if you use hormone properly it's a huge advantage. If you are going to use a heat mat, it's best to just use plain ph'd water and a simple rooting hormone gel or powder on just the rooting zone. I might use a clonex or olivia solution once during the cloning period just to keep them green. I like clonex solution is because it's basically just an extra light fertilizer, no life in it I believe. It's not that it's bad, it's that it's best in moderation. Also, the debate of gel vs powder, whatever, I've had success no matter which one I'm using, they both just have a specific way of being used. Until my friend told me you have to dip your clone in water before putting it in the powder (duh!) I would have never had success with it.

Reduce the size of the holes you are poking. Just like when you are predrilling, you want to use a smaller drill bit than the shank of your screw. Don't push in too hard (that's what she said!), sometimes people mistake the feeling of contact with the stem pinching. That is a guaranteed dampened stem! I did this a few times in the beginning and was like WTF is wrong?? Found out I was mashing them in the cubes with my cave man hands. And if that Coco stuff isn't working out for you, dump it! Grab rockwool starter cubes, tried and proven!


And this is the absolute most important part!!!! Cut the clone a little extra long, and then immediately fold up the larger leaves and cut them in half, or more if they are big. Then get it right next to your water (if using powder) or next to your gel and cut it AGAIN with a BRAND NEW SHARP RAZOR (just as important as clean!) on a flat surface, so it's the cleanest fucking cut you've ever seen. 45 degree angle, only a 1/4 inch above where you cut originally, no need for anymore. Then dip that shit at the speed of light and make sure it's covered good, BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT IT GLOBS UP ABOVE THE SURFACE, because that can rot your shit! Pop it in your cube quickly and you are done. It should be like a 3 second deal, you don't want any oxygen getting up in that stem, whever o2 hits the xylem, you're fudged. Fucking A, I don't have time to check my vocab on that one, but I'm pretty sure I got that shit right.

I'll have to read over this and edit later, probably doesn't flow. good luck!!

Fucking A I got to get to school!!
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Alrighty Then. Here's the AK update..... She's most definitely going past 60 days, a little heat stress and low humidity may be to blame. Or G13 Labs associates give out the wrong information on their strains. I read 60 days from sprout to harvest. Either way, I took 10 "sugar coat" samples from 10 separate sections of this lovely lady. Out of the 10, 1 was about 50% cloudy and everything else still clear. The picture I took last week must have had a few "Burnt" trichs or something from my light being too close for a few days. Anyways, she's not ready, and will probably not be ready for a little bit. Any ideas as to how long anyone? About 75% of her hairs have changed and she doesn't appear to be swelling anymore. No change from yesterday to today.
 

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
They look really close. Autos are not very stable plants, so the information will usually vary, it's just a good average. I'd say you have to be in a week from the looks of the plant, but I could be wrong. And I've never heard of burnt trichomes, you'd have to take those things past 180f to change their color! I'd say those trichomes are definitely amber. in the picture. I guess now would be a good time to start flushing. I forgot, are you using organics?
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Yeah General Organics full line. I flushed last week and have only given her a gallon of wally world drinking water in the past week. Still got a little moisture in the pot but it'll be dry by tomorrow. I planned on just waiting till Tuesday, getting a few samples to check and if she's ready when she's supposed to then good. If not, I can give her a little water and wait another week to harvest. Kinda in a pinch right now. just moved in 2 months ago and now I am moving again. So I gotta "git 'er done" so I can move my veggies. I'd hate to attempt my first SCRog and then tear the bitch down in a week. So I'll figure out this situation and then hopefully start up what I talked about. AK had leveled off in new bud development from the looks of it and is getting yellow. exactly what I was hoping for.(Of the 5 plants I have harvested, none of them have ever been flushed correctly until now. I knew how, I just didn't pay for the seeds and was pretty much just starting to learn the basics. But she's just about there. I'll get some new pics up tomorrow. and maybe can get some better closeups.
 

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
Oh, you actually don't have to flush if you don't want to. Organics you can go all the way through to the end without flushing, but the liquid fertilizers do get a benefit from flushing, at least, that's the argument. I'd probably do a 4-5 day flush max with the GO lineup. And it doesn't matter what you are flushing, you can give them as much black strap molasses as they can handle all the way through and they will only taste sweeter and get heavier.

But I can tell you this much, AK47, as well as anything with a Sativa influence, is very very good when cropped early. As long as the buds are fat and dense enough I see absolutely no draw back on cropping a AK47 a week early besides a small loss in weight. I'd rather have the killer smoke than the weight though. Ask around, see if anyone thinks so too.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Funny you mention sweet. I used FloraNectar Pineapple Rush the entire time for her.... and now that I flushed last week and she's just about there, I have a very sweet pineapple smell in the room, and still quite pungent. I'm gonna grab a trich sample and see what's what. and I'll snap a couple pictures too. be back in a bit with the update. I wouldn't mind having a little manicure work to do this evening haha..
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
She's all done. A few more amber than I was hoping for but I think I can get over that. Post some pics of the harvest once I'm all done tonight, shouldn't take too long.
 

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
They look like they could go a little longer. But you've already started flushing, and if they get much more yellow you'll be trimming forever. It's your call, I just came up on this issue and decided to chop early. I had a lot more pop corn nugs, but the quality is excellent. I think most people kind of go with the flow and agree more opaque or more amber is best.

Oh, and I love all that flavored sweetening stuff, it's all amazing. Sweet Grape by Botanicare is another good one.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
PIC_0292.jpgPIC_0293.jpgPIC_0294.jpgThere's the semi-finished product. This closet is 36" wide, with 3 rows of string. Any guesses on weight? I wanted to hook up my hanging scale(for horse food and shit) and run the lines thru that to get an accurate weight estimate(Wet weight is 4 to 1 right? so 4 pounds wet is 1 pound dry.) I'm guessing a good solid 2oz for her when she's all dry.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Setting up the netting later today, Going to transplant and weave the big girls tomorrow. Gonna have to figure something out because the netting I bought is 4"x4" and 2x2 is the normal recommendation for such a small area. I think I may put one up, weave the bitches through it, and then just pop the other over top crisscrossing it to make my 2x2. Once i'm all done with them i'll be sure to update my pictures. They are all pushing 30 inches now, so they are gonna be quite a fuckin pain in the ass to weave.
 

Jozikins

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've weaved some beasts before. Dear god, once I weaved in a male, it was awful. The god damn thing was around the same size as yours so I figured it must be female if it took so long to sex. Turns out in week 2 of 12/12 it's male, and I accidentally cut out 1/3 of my best female plant. It's hard as fuck to tell what plant is what from under the screen.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
PIC_0300.jpgPIC_0301.jpgPIC_0302.jpgBack left Sour Diesel #2, Back right GrapeGum, Front left Royal Kush, Front right Blue Dream. Shouldn't take longer than a day for them to spring back up right? I know there are a few branches I will want to get lower but I wanted to wait to see exactly what needs to drop.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Still got to hook up my duct work and fan but right now it's not bad temp wise. Keeping a steady 78 degrees for almost a month now. So they are looking good... Got my humidity levels up to 50+ finally. And now is when I should be dropping it below 50. haha The AK had it bad, entire life at 20-30%, poor girl.. Anyways, I got a small clone stunted a bit, waitin on her to grow up..... Set my timer to shut off at 9pm and come on at 9am. I'll try my best to keep updating photo's every week. Hope you all enjoy. More strains burning a hole in my pocket, so Don't be too surprised when I start up my Greenhouse Seeds indica pack.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Ok sorry no pic updates in a while..... I got some in the digi from the last 2 weeks so i'll post em later.... Everything is over 3 feet. netting isn't doing shit.. bought a pack of 4' bamboo stakes, I've used some polished hemp to tie them together, made a nice hard trellis for my ladies. weaved them all together for extra support, and now i'm just waiting to install it. letting the bamboo settle a bit so I know I won't snap any stakes. I'll take a picture of that later too.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
alright well I wasn't busted, didn't die. just had a huge move......... had to pack and move in 3 weeks time. wasn't easy. I have no pictures to show right now because my digi is at the old apartment still...... tomorrow I hope. BD and GG are done. both finished too early. yeildings no more than an ounce a piece. AMAZING quality though. currently curing. i'll get some pics of the crystals as soon as I can. starting my greenhouse seed co seeds... white widow, ams, the church, and Trainwreck. i'll be updating the pictures on those too.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
OK so I couldn't get the camera before they all finished so once I do I have more pictures from later in the grow. but I removed the trellis net and it fucked the whole thing up. had to move again. so I moved the 4 plants over 3ft tall each. sucked ass.... but they are ALL amazing. only got 7.5 oz. but I had a few droughts because I was so busy packing I kinda put them all on the back burner. but now I have a new place better suited for what I have planned. BTW DO NOT BUY COLOUR COATS FROM GREENHOUSE SEEDS!!!!!! THEY SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!(only the trainwreck popped out of the 5 in the pack. so garbage AMS The Church White Widow and before was the White Rhino) got some new beans in today. I'll give ya a list............... Black Creek Gardens Spyder (purple sativa dom. AUTOFLOWER) 10xreg. - Hazeman Seeds Cocoa Puffs 12xreg. - Hazeman Seeds(freebie) White 88 G13/Hashplant 6xreg. - UFO's were (all 1xfem.) DinaFem Blue Thai, DinaFem Deep Cheese, and Delicious Seeds Cotton Candy. still got my ONLY SURVIVING blue dream cut from last time. (you see the timestamp on the pictures above. well I stunted her growth to keep her short. and it worked. VERY WELL, she's got 12-14 nodes and is about 7.5 inches tall. Started the nutes on her to get her growing for future cuts. and I am seriously thinking about trying some breeding with the Spyder auto. CANNED ABYSS has a very nice thread on ICMAG called "Snapshot_20130710_1.JPGalong came a spyder" with a link to his older thread. but he is the breeder who created it from Sputnik 2.0(female) x Lowryder(male). so i'm thinking of doing an insanely challenging hybrid cross. I think I may start simple but in the end I know I want to cross the Blue Dream and the Spyder. Looking for more seeds already. some original strains. like GDP or Skunk #1 DJ Short Blueberry may be where I end up.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
Snapshot_20130710.JPG GreenHouse Seeds Trainwreck left and HSO Blue Dream(clone) right. I got a real prop tray insert and dome this time. and rapid rooter plugs. so I don't think I will need to waste my time with the walmart bullshit anymore..... Anyone have any suggestions as so a good CoCo mix???? I use CoCoGro now but it's so compressed after you water it if you don't mix anything in. should I just buy perlite to add in myself?? or maybe there's a better product out there.
 

SxIstew

Well-Known Member
OK so 3 of 4 Black Creek Gardens Spyder cracked within 24 hours. as well as the DinaFem Blue Thai that I germed. put them all with the A.M.S.(still hasn't popped but it is still wrapped in the yellow color coat.) Each one is in a Rapid Rooter plug. Once they pop i'll post the pics. getting my camera tomorrow so i'll make sure I post the pics of the last batch I did. even though I didn't get to document the entire grow. Germing DinaFem Deep Cheese and Delicious Seeds Cotton Candy tonight. once they get a month or so old i'll figure out what I like and what I don't. whatever I don't will just get flowered and not kept for cloning. any male's that pop up in the Spyder will get separated from the rest and I will collect the pollen from them for future use.
 
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