8k+ watt Vertical Tree Grow, soilless

[istari72]

almost-harvest trichome pron:

Busy, busy, busy bee!

 

[istari72]

I'm getting real close to harvest; i'm thinking 7 days for Elephant (50% of plants), and 10+ for the remaining strains. Much to my surprise, I have found that 2 of my 'Querkle' plants are actually Spacebomb by TGA Subcool. I had decided to discontinue this strain even though it is one of absolute favorites, thought I had done so, regretted having done so, and am pleased that I messed up!
-note to self: **Attention to detail**

Further, the 'Querkle' plants that I am runnign simply do not appear to be 'Querkle'. They're getting purple, but have a pungent fuel smell instead of the wonderful berry smell I was expecting. We'll see. Finally, the G13 is excelling, being surrounded by 4 vertical 1000k's, and rotated daily.

Once I figure out my new camera I will be able to provide better bud porn.

I have also learned that HPS light is no good for budshots (as seen above), so I guess i'll have to take the pix just after lights out, fans off, and with some CFL's. For now, here's some from my old camera.


FYI: I will be running a strain test of Gage Green Groups White Fire x Sour Diesel in the very near future, which will share space with my present seedlings of OG Raskal's White Fire and Corelone Kush x I presently don't remember. Genetics have just gone from pretty darn good to absolute topshelf.

More info regarding this grow show, including thread links, will be provided. And hopefully i'll be a little more thread-saavy as I am just figuring this out. I sincerelyt hope all visitors enjoy, and please feel free to join the conversation.


Cheers!
Istari72

 

[istari72]

I moved three plants outdoors to open things up a bit, did a bunch of leaf removal, redistributed the vertical lights for 12 plants instead of 15, and I love it! Crowding is exponentially counterproductive.

Still Flowering...

Trichomes from 2 days ago

Though I have great trichomes, they are making transition from clear to cloudy, with only spatterings of ambers. Goin' another 4-5 days before I start selectively harvesting the more mature buds. If only these plants were my new genetics that are mere seedlings right now - it's all about the White Fire! Gunna be unfricking believable!

Cheers!
Istari72

 

[nMEEKS]

Looking good! Busy bee moving all the huge trees and lights around! Looks a lot more manageable in the indoor operation now! Space to move around is a necessity IMO! I am a little concerned for the plants you moved outdoors though. . . did they go through any type of hardening off? I don't know what area you are in, but cooler outdoor nighttime temps are going to destroy your plants used to much more gentle indoor nighttime temps, especially since you are moving them out there in late flower. . . . I hope that I am just being overly concerned, I wish the outdoor plants the best of luck in their first few nights! Thanks for sharing the update!

-Meeks

 

[caregiverken]

Great grow thread Istari!
Nice work
Beautiful plants!

 

[istari72]

Looking good! Busy bee moving all the huge trees and lights around! Looks a lot more manageable in the indoor operation now! Space to move around is a necessity IMO! I am a little concerned for the plants you moved outdoors though. . . did they go through any type of hardening off? I don't know what area you are in, but cooler outdoor nighttime temps are going to destroy your plants used to much more gentle indoor nighttime temps, especially since you are moving them out there in late flower. . . . I hope that I am just being overly concerned, I wish the outdoor plants the best of luck in their first few nights! Thanks for sharing the update!

-Meeks

Thanks for the kind words Meeks. Ya, I had to real it in a bit as I have a tendency to crowd things. Fact is i'm not as nimble or physically resilieint enough to continue Twister Indoor Gardening...each grow is a little more open and workable these days. Regarding the relocation of 3 plants, they each recieved a bit of transition stress, but it wasn't too bad.
Also, I wanted to pull out the purples in a particular strain, as well as try my first 'spring flowering' run. Always trying new stuff.

However....... 2 of the 3 have developed mold after 2 days outside. Shit! So, I sprayed the Spacebomb with Neem Oil product and will do the same for the Elephant after this post. My plan is to give each harvested bud a good wash prior to placing it in a low humidity, high circulation, fairly warm drying area to dry it quickly, which will hopefully remove the neem oil. If not, hash. Luckily, the clouds have dispersed and the sun is finally shining again. On the plus side, the outdoor fake "Querkle" has exhibited no evidence of mold or shock whatsoever. Go figure...

I appraciate your considered feedback m8, big time! Cheers!

 

[Burned Haze]

For all mould, look into green cure. It's safe and effective and can be used up to a journey before harvest in veggies according to them. I spray up to a week in harvest .



Prevention is the key but nothi u can do now, there's so many fungicides that is so dangerous and cannot be used in flowiering. Some major douches have used some serious fungicides that are systemic and don't ice a fuck that ur smoking it and can't flush it out. :(

 

[istari72]

Ok, Folks, here are some pix from 04/11, 04/12, and two trichome shots from today. I'm trying to decide whether to harvest today, or wait longer.

04/11

04/12

.....................
Istari72

 

[istari72]

04/12

04/14, Today

75%+ pistils dry and whithered, and calyxes swollen pretty good on bud tops, a little less developed on inner/lower branches. =Only a few amber trichomes though...........I just don't know. Maybe I should wait another 4-6 days as they just finish week 8 tomorrow, but maybe now's the time.


O



Please offer your thoughts on ripeness and harvest to help straighten me out. I'll be posting more bud pix in the next hour or so to complement the excessive trichomom shots alreadfy provided. Thanks All!


Cheers!

Istari72

 

[istari72]

More pre-harvest bud pix -

Istari72

 

[BillyB]

Wow bro, you're killing it! I've heard of people growing like this, but never seen it until now. Is it true that you can pull 2# per plant in this system?

 

[El Cerebro]

How'd it go? Between trimming and media, bet that was a handful.

 

[TiffanyT]

Great pix. how were your results?

 

[Burned Haze]

I keep checking ur thread everyday :p

Love ur grow!

 

[istari72]

Rule #1 in running a grow thread: Don't drop the thread at harvest time!

My sincere apologies, harvest began, I got really sick, life suddenly thrown out of whack, and then I began avoidingcompleting results because I felt so embarassed and shitty for not remaining timely. I have finally returned to offer the overall results and analysis, and as this requires multiple steps, Iwill do so in a series of posts until completed.

Overall, I had some pretty big issues that wreaked some serious havok on my overall yield, including spider mites on a few plants in final week, insufficient watering of 32 gallon containers, improper medium Ph, and some weather related issues, all of which will be addressed.

Good news is this:

• the overall product is the finest I have grown to date
• even with significant losses and improper conditions, it is a large, happy medicinal harvest (final harvest incomplete as i'm still effin trimming!)
• a whole bunch of stuff learned, much is critical, and much is quite intersting and begs further experimentation (such as light spectrum differences and bud color, etc.)

3 thumbnails below are Unmanicured Purple Bud (Diesel?), Unmanicured Elephent, and Elephent Trich shot.

Next post to follow...

Istari72

 

[istari72]

Results and Discussion
Numerous issues arose over the course of this grow which significantly limited the final wieghts, which were therefore never even tallied and totaled. I learned a great deal of very important lessons, however, and therefore have pleasure intermixed with my earlier consternation. Issues were as follows:

• Improper watering - most significant limitation
• Improper Ph - I ran between 6.2 and 5.5 which is too low
• Overcrowding
• Emergence of Spider Mites in last 2 weeks, followed by...
• moving 1/3 of plants out of garden during last 2-3 weeks of flowering. Major loss.

Overall, I ended up with much less than 1g/watt due to below issues which I will explain in more detail. This is accompanied with discussion of my personal lessons learned and future implications.

Improper Watering:
While temporarily living with family over the past year, my garden was located within a relatively small independent building, the 'Studio', which is about 22' x 15' or so. This building was not permanently stablilized on it's foundation, and the owner of the building was concerned that all that wieght could have caused structural instability and utter ruin. This was not the case, but resulted in me having to only partially water each 32 gal container for the first 6 weeks or so. The natural result was substantial dry pockets and inadequate water and nutrient flow throughout medium.

Upon emptying containers post-harvest it was clear that root development and growth was dramatically restricted, which confounded the bThe Borg enefits of 32 gal's of healthy, biodynamically active root mass. I have since researched proper watering methods thouroghly and have systems in place which assures I won't have to deal with this again.

My use of 'air tubes' inserted vertically within medium remains inconclusive due to improper watering. I think it may hold some promise, though I agree with some PhD. lady from Sunshine Mix company that the incorporation of hydroton or so into medium would be beneficial for both oxygen/root levels and compaction issues (wet sunshine mix in such a large container tends to compact - my choice to flush medium prior to flowering was likely counterproductive.

Overcrowding:
I did it again, dammit! Adequequate spacing is critical to heavy yields of top flowers. It is evident that undercrowding is more productive than overcrowding, and represents a better starting point as one fine-tunes thier system. In the final weeks of the grow I moved 1/3 of plants outside to reduce crowding and the garden and the gardener were better for it. The plants moved outside, howveer, weren't.

Next, The Borg (spider mites)...

Istari72

 

[istari72]

Before addressing our old nemesis, The Borg, I want to comment on my need to research (re-search) proper watering practices. Those who are at the absolute top of their particular game, be it professional gardening, sports, or musicians, they all conjsistenly emphasize the import of mastering the basics of a craft which provide the foundation for excellence to develop. I assumed that watering was simple and straightforward which is an easy, common assumption.During this grow it became clear that I had a missing brick in my foundational gardening knowledge, and i'm glad i've finally identified it. Challenging our assumptions and constanly refining our understanding of our foundational gardening practices inevitably leads to success, as is true in life :)

(steps off soapbox)

The Borg:
I have a history of contentious and bitter warfare with the Borg, spider mites that is, and have become pretty succesful at maintaining my outer perimeters. Not this time. A couple of weeks prior to harvest they appeared minimmaly and intermittently on one plant, with all adjacent and other plants inspected and apparently mite free. Bullshit! I knew better! All adjacent plants were moved outside which lead to 1/3 of plants being transitioned outside. Other plants were immediately treated with 10,000ppm co2 for 2 hours (effectiveness undetermined), and remained mite free. The garden i'm presently building is a Closed Growing Environment (CGE) - Fuck the Borg and all of his mold and mildew pestilent friends!

I'm gunna keep doing this in short segments as I really get it done this way, and I doubt many are watching as I waited way too long to finish what I started with this thread. But, finish I will! Next, the move outside, and final review and pix of grow.

Istari72

 

[istari72]

The Great Outdoors
Due to overcrowding and subsequent lack of circulation, the emergence of mites on one plant, beautiful, warm, rainfree, 13 hour outdoor spring sunshine ,and the fact that I had only a couple of weeks left, one third of crop moved outdoors. That was fun. Though no rain, the accumulated overnight moisture levels coupled with exposure to outside elements and pathogens, mold set in quickly. My efforts to cull the tide were futile, and I ended up with a depressing mass of unusable material. Sucked.

Conclusion

32 Gallon containers
ensure proper application of water and nutrients, incorporate hydroton, watch for compaction (careful with flushing), and vacuuming catch tray-lids is oain in the arse and time gobbler - instal drainage if at all possible. PVC drainage inserts inconclusive thus far.

Lighting
Rotating containers on wheels is doable but time consuming. I would incorporate aircooled overhead "Ocho" relfectors (better yet adjust-a-wings with a/c controlled CGE) in addition to vertical bulbs. Vertical 600's on the perimeter/corners would also be markedly beneficial.

Defoliation
I did perform fairly vigorous defoliation/leaf removal to maximize lights to buds, yet due to previously mentioned confounding variables, results are inconclusive. I am presently using the Texas Kid technique of slowly removing larger leaves to open up inner canopy because I think it likely has merit, but I will have to wait a bit before running any real side by side experiments.

Final Thoughts
I apologize a final time for not remaining timely on my grow journal which will be addressed and corrected. Further, I will be much more concise in my reports in order to save myself and others time when reviewing the salient details. Thanks for each and every visitor, be good to yourselves and others, and do good work. Questions etc. welcome. :)

Harvest Pix to follow...

Istari72

 

[Kush Farmer]

I cannot wait to see what your yield looks like.. :eek:

 

[patriots333]

nice , so do the tubes help that much , winter 10k bare bulb is no prob for me , summer , lololol looking at slpit systems , lots of air movement .. may ask yield per 1k light