Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
Wow , they are so thick and fat. What’s your humidity at? Any concerns for Bud rot?
Hot Diggity's Lab
- Thread starter Hot Diggity Sog
- Start date
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
Thank you!
No concerns. 2 or 3 rounds ago I had my 1st ever bud rot. It also happened to be the 1st time I ever tried to run perfect VPD...figures, right?
I'm in New England so the weather is changing. The plants also go through a pretty large transition where leaf temps can be as much as 5 degrees F lower than ambient air temp when they are young to as much as 5 degrees above air temps when they are in mid to late flower. I usually take measurements at the very top of the plant during flower and during veg, the top most fan leaves.
That said, I aim for temps between 84 and 86 F when I measure. I'll let it be lower than this but never higher. I track this stuff daily so today my air temps range from 77 to 79 and my flower temps range from 81 to 86. RH is fairly consistent in the high 50's or low 60's. I'm really paranoid now about letting it get much higher than low 60's. At night, I'm currently running a much lower RH - just for safety. 72 F and 48-50% RH is about where I am at.
I'm always tweaking and my basement temps fluctuate a lot during a year. They can peak at 79F mid summer and drop as low as 48F in February. I have heaters, humidifiers, and dehumidifiers but no AC's. So I'm often using them all as I need to.
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
There is one thing I observed that is worth mentioning regarding bud rot. I had ~ 30% of the plants develop bud rot that time. But there did not seem to be a correlation with cola size. I concluded that genetics played more of a role. Just my 2 cents.
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
And Stress. I notice that my buds that get the Bud rot have 2 common features . Dense and they are the buds that have been pulled down the greatest by my scrog screen so very stressed but it also makes them huge. Some strains have more tendency to rot I noticed.
That’s great you don’t need to run A/C even in the summer. I imagine you pull quite a bit of water from your dehumidifiers . Do you use that water that you get from the dehumidifier to water your plants?
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
No, I discard it. It might be safe to use but I don't.
Edit: I'm going to take PH and EC tests on it. Now I'm curious.
colocowboy
Well-Known Member
It’s basically rainwater, also turns out to be a significant percentage of my total water usage. I’m using less than 1/4 of previous water use just reusing condensate!
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
Do you drink it for personal human consumption?
colocowboy
Well-Known Member
I don’t but it’s just transpiration, I’m more confident in its origin that the tap! My first science experiment in school as a kid was solar distilling water, essentially capturing condensation. Other than catching in a trash barrel I could drink it. My plants definitely don’t mind!
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
Chapter 10: The Selection
Day 86 (12/12 from seed)
I am thrilled with the progress over the last week. Some of them are still in full growth mode but many are really starting to plump up and a few are beginning to ripen. I'm also nearing the end of the 2nd week of the new ingredient - Calcium Sulfate. My feed really feels like it is on point right now. I did have the minor blunder where I was too cautious with Potassium and experienced some deficiencies earlier but it was quickly rectified - the fan leaves just don't recover/reflect it.
My wife is complaining. The carbon filter is no longer able to control the smell. It's not terrible but anyone that *knows* what this smells like will notice it immediately. We're hosting Thanksgiving this year so I need to get this issue under control by then.
Based on how things look, I think a few can be harvested within a week. A good number of them need 2 more weeks. And some are going to need a full 3 more weeks.
Onto some pics!
As I often do, I did one shot with a 2 liter soda bottle for reference. Sometimes it's really hard to tell how large or small buds/plants are unless you have a frame of reference.
It's really fascinating to see how the pollen donor, Chem 9, has impacted this cross. Roughly 1/2 have taken on the purple color. At least 1/2 have taken on the beautiful huge top cola that Chem 9 had.
Day 86 (12/12 from seed)
I am thrilled with the progress over the last week. Some of them are still in full growth mode but many are really starting to plump up and a few are beginning to ripen. I'm also nearing the end of the 2nd week of the new ingredient - Calcium Sulfate. My feed really feels like it is on point right now. I did have the minor blunder where I was too cautious with Potassium and experienced some deficiencies earlier but it was quickly rectified - the fan leaves just don't recover/reflect it.
My wife is complaining. The carbon filter is no longer able to control the smell. It's not terrible but anyone that *knows* what this smells like will notice it immediately. We're hosting Thanksgiving this year so I need to get this issue under control by then.
Based on how things look, I think a few can be harvested within a week. A good number of them need 2 more weeks. And some are going to need a full 3 more weeks.
Onto some pics!
As I often do, I did one shot with a 2 liter soda bottle for reference. Sometimes it's really hard to tell how large or small buds/plants are unless you have a frame of reference.
It's really fascinating to see how the pollen donor, Chem 9, has impacted this cross. Roughly 1/2 have taken on the purple color. At least 1/2 have taken on the beautiful huge top cola that Chem 9 had.
BobBitchen
Well-Known Member
killin' it bro 
Very nice.
Very nice.
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
Incredible! They look so good!
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
Thank you all for the nice comments!
Next update will be Saturday (maybe Friday). I'm not updating as often but, when I do, the changes/progress is much more evident this way.
I'm no breeder and I'm not capable of running 10,000 plant sifts. But hot damned...there's gotta be at least one rockstar out of these, right?
Early to mid January is when the reviews will start coming in...fingers crossed. Feels kind of like buying a scratch ticket.
Next update will be Saturday (maybe Friday). I'm not updating as often but, when I do, the changes/progress is much more evident this way.
I'm no breeder and I'm not capable of running 10,000 plant sifts. But hot damned...there's gotta be at least one rockstar out of these, right?
Early to mid January is when the reviews will start coming in...fingers crossed. Feels kind of like buying a scratch ticket.
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
Chapter 10: The Selection
Day 93 (12/12 from seed)
Another week in the books and things are jamming.
Many of them have been unable to stand on their own and I spent time this week reorganizing so every plant that needs support can lean up against a wall. A few of them have fallen even leaning on the wall. When lights went on this morning, I entered the room to find a plant lying on the floor - not the table, but the actual floor. Plant and container. It just couldn't support the cola and fell right off the table. She wasnt slated to get chopped this weekend so I was a little pissed about that. But oh well, it happens. Especially in these 1/2 gallon containers.
I'm going to start chopping tomorrow morning and take 2 or 3 a day from now until next weekend.
I'll be posting several times over the next week to showcase what is getting chopped and try to get some higher quality pictures of each including whole plant and close-ups.
Here's a sneak peak:
Day 93 (12/12 from seed)
Another week in the books and things are jamming.
Many of them have been unable to stand on their own and I spent time this week reorganizing so every plant that needs support can lean up against a wall. A few of them have fallen even leaning on the wall. When lights went on this morning, I entered the room to find a plant lying on the floor - not the table, but the actual floor. Plant and container. It just couldn't support the cola and fell right off the table. She wasnt slated to get chopped this weekend so I was a little pissed about that. But oh well, it happens. Especially in these 1/2 gallon containers.
I'm going to start chopping tomorrow morning and take 2 or 3 a day from now until next weekend.
I'll be posting several times over the next week to showcase what is getting chopped and try to get some higher quality pictures of each including whole plant and close-ups.
Here's a sneak peak:
BobBitchen
Well-Known Member
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
I bet th
fuck, that’s crazy that one plant like burst so big it popped right of the shelf. I love looking at you pictures! I spend a lot of time mesmerized by your ladies.
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
Chapter 10: The Selection
Day 96 (12/12 from seed)
Things are still going great! I chopped 5 plants on Saturday. The one that fell off of the table and then 4 others that had serious lean issues. A few of the monsters need a corner to lean on - a wall was just not enough so I had to make some tough calls. The other 4 I took could have gone longer but a few more had to go. I ended up chopping two that seemed "done enough" and two that got sub-par reviews from the grower (me).
We started with 26 plants. I culled it down to 20. 5 have been chopped leaving 15. Of the 20, 2 were ruled out due to sub-par traits so I am left with 18 clones. I have to hold these clones a really long time and, having never done this before, I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. I ended up taking clones right as they were entering flowering and the side branches were taking off. I rooted them in 1.5" rockwool cubes and kept them domed to keep humidity high. Nothing special - no rooting hormones or anything. I chose to use RO water treated with a typical amount of Cal Mag and then PH'd to 6.1ish. 100% success. I keep them warm - ~ 78 to 82 F. The dome keeps the RH super high (I haven't measured but likely 80%+).
After they rooted, I put them into a plastic flower bed with my same coco/perlite mix. This bed was approximately 4 inches deep, 20 inches wide and maybe 40 inches long. I liked this because I could water the bed, and not have to worry about watering individual containers. I also knew that I was going to have to take clones from *these* based on how long I have to hold them. So I did exactly that. Once the bed got a bit overgrown, I started taking clones again. Once these rooted, I placed them into my same breeding pots with the same coco/perlite mix. This is where things are at today.
The bottom 3 are either going to need to be heavily pruned or I need to take clones from them and kill them. Since I'm still probably 10 days out from harvesting the last plant, *and* I have to be very careful about bringing anything new into Room #1 until I am 100% sure the gnat issue is completely gone, I may have to hold these in Room #2 for perhaps as long as 20 more days.
(If anyone has any questions on gnats, I'm your guy
)
Drying Area
I had to change plans. My original design for Room #2 is not going to work - at least not always.
I need to keep the clones in a warm and humid environment. I'm running 80F and 60% right now. I'm able to do this by running a humidifier and putting the exhaust fan on a timer. Clones don't stink. But hanging flower sure as fuck does. I can't have hanging plants in any room where the carbon filters aren't on 24/7. It's just not possible. My rooms are incredibly well sealed and insulated but if I turn my carbon fans off even for a few hours, you can smell this outside. Can't have that.
So - I migrated my drying chamber over to the original grow space. The dreary basement room where all of this began. This is good because that room has a beefy fan so odor is no concern. Problem is has exterior concrete walls so I'm at the mercy of the weather.
I find myself in a situation where I need to manage 4 climates:
Room #1 - Flower Room.
Room #2 - Clone Room
Room #3 - Drying Room
The entire basement.
Room #1 is easy - I have a dehumidifier in there on a timer and it also is set to only go on at a certain humidity threshold.
Room #2 is easy - I have a humidifier in there set to a certain RH and I have the exhaust on a timer.
Room #3 is a bit harder - As the outside temps drop with winter approaching, this room drops with it.
Room #4 - The entire basement. I cannot control temps. Only humidity.
So I have my work cut out for me.
My drying strategy is pretty cool. I'm going to be cold drying. I'm oscillating between 61F and 57% and 63F and 53%. I will continue to do this for a few more days and then start to remove the large fan leaves. Then I will gradually start to increase the RH but keep temps in the low 60's. My target is to swing between 58% and 62% for the next 5 to 7 days (after the 1st 5 days). Aiming for a 12 day hang. I'll get into the next step once we get there.
So - tomorrow, I'm going to be building a photo box. I'm super excited about this and I will be able to take pics of individual plants with proper lighting and background. 1st set of pics should be out this weekend. Fingers crossed.
Figured I've rambled on enough, some pics to end this post.
Day 96 (12/12 from seed)
Things are still going great! I chopped 5 plants on Saturday. The one that fell off of the table and then 4 others that had serious lean issues. A few of the monsters need a corner to lean on - a wall was just not enough so I had to make some tough calls. The other 4 I took could have gone longer but a few more had to go. I ended up chopping two that seemed "done enough" and two that got sub-par reviews from the grower (me).
We started with 26 plants. I culled it down to 20. 5 have been chopped leaving 15. Of the 20, 2 were ruled out due to sub-par traits so I am left with 18 clones. I have to hold these clones a really long time and, having never done this before, I wasn't exactly sure how to do it. I ended up taking clones right as they were entering flowering and the side branches were taking off. I rooted them in 1.5" rockwool cubes and kept them domed to keep humidity high. Nothing special - no rooting hormones or anything. I chose to use RO water treated with a typical amount of Cal Mag and then PH'd to 6.1ish. 100% success. I keep them warm - ~ 78 to 82 F. The dome keeps the RH super high (I haven't measured but likely 80%+).
After they rooted, I put them into a plastic flower bed with my same coco/perlite mix. This bed was approximately 4 inches deep, 20 inches wide and maybe 40 inches long. I liked this because I could water the bed, and not have to worry about watering individual containers. I also knew that I was going to have to take clones from *these* based on how long I have to hold them. So I did exactly that. Once the bed got a bit overgrown, I started taking clones again. Once these rooted, I placed them into my same breeding pots with the same coco/perlite mix. This is where things are at today.
The bottom 3 are either going to need to be heavily pruned or I need to take clones from them and kill them. Since I'm still probably 10 days out from harvesting the last plant, *and* I have to be very careful about bringing anything new into Room #1 until I am 100% sure the gnat issue is completely gone, I may have to hold these in Room #2 for perhaps as long as 20 more days.
(If anyone has any questions on gnats, I'm your guy
)Drying Area
I had to change plans. My original design for Room #2 is not going to work - at least not always.
I need to keep the clones in a warm and humid environment. I'm running 80F and 60% right now. I'm able to do this by running a humidifier and putting the exhaust fan on a timer. Clones don't stink. But hanging flower sure as fuck does. I can't have hanging plants in any room where the carbon filters aren't on 24/7. It's just not possible. My rooms are incredibly well sealed and insulated but if I turn my carbon fans off even for a few hours, you can smell this outside. Can't have that.
So - I migrated my drying chamber over to the original grow space. The dreary basement room where all of this began. This is good because that room has a beefy fan so odor is no concern. Problem is has exterior concrete walls so I'm at the mercy of the weather.
I find myself in a situation where I need to manage 4 climates:
Room #1 - Flower Room.
Room #2 - Clone Room
Room #3 - Drying Room
The entire basement.
Room #1 is easy - I have a dehumidifier in there on a timer and it also is set to only go on at a certain humidity threshold.
Room #2 is easy - I have a humidifier in there set to a certain RH and I have the exhaust on a timer.
Room #3 is a bit harder - As the outside temps drop with winter approaching, this room drops with it.
Room #4 - The entire basement. I cannot control temps. Only humidity.
So I have my work cut out for me.
My drying strategy is pretty cool. I'm going to be cold drying. I'm oscillating between 61F and 57% and 63F and 53%. I will continue to do this for a few more days and then start to remove the large fan leaves. Then I will gradually start to increase the RH but keep temps in the low 60's. My target is to swing between 58% and 62% for the next 5 to 7 days (after the 1st 5 days). Aiming for a 12 day hang. I'll get into the next step once we get there.
So - tomorrow, I'm going to be building a photo box. I'm super excited about this and I will be able to take pics of individual plants with proper lighting and background. 1st set of pics should be out this weekend. Fingers crossed.
Figured I've rambled on enough, some pics to end this post.
Hot Diggity Sog
Well-Known Member
I just wanted to share the 1st picture from my new photo box I built. I did a few different shots messing around with the lighting. More experimentation is needed but I feel like this has some promise for single plant shots! This one happens to be a semi-close-up.
Dr.Amber Trichome
Well-Known Member
What is a photo box? That bud is so frosty. I love the colors.
Brettman
Well-Known Member
Holy shit that looks incredible! I’m drooling over here
