beluga logs it all et al

[beluga]

Welp. Maybe time to restrategize.

I'm not gonna make any moves yet, but I'm pretty certain all of the TWBVs are male.

This one is curious

So, that's a bummer.
But...

The BbKSwOG that got repositioned came through.

And the other still shows nothing.

There's a good chance I'll clone the one showing pistils. I don't wanna waste time or space and it would give me a chance to make some adjustments. Its sibling seems to be temperamental about topping and is quite the lowrider due to it. I might be able to utilize that since I'm keeping things compact. Who knows. I'm gonna sleep on it and see if those TWBVs surprise me. I was more excited to work with those since I mixed em. But... eh. I don't wanna wait for seeds to mature again right now.

 

[beluga]

On lighting.

Past me started to build this.

Thanks, farm and past me, for keeping track of things.

Still have those starboards and two of those 50w XLG drivers.
I just gotta get some extrusions and then I'll throw those together finally, but instead of incorporating them into a new system, I want to just supplement my current light. I'm thinking modular, daisy-chained together on four 22" extrusions. 7 chips per strip. FDFDFDF configuration. Still weird to me that "Deep" isn't the one toward the end of the spectrum and "Far" is. Whatever.

But, anyway, now I want moar!!!

Osram Oslon 455nm

Osram Oslon 735nm
And their datasheets

Interesting, it seems both Luxeon and Osram have chips manufactured by New Energy. Maybe it's just specific series... I'll have to dive a little deeper to see the comparisons.

For comparison, the Luxeon Datasheet
Honestly, at a glance, I might go with the Luxeons.
For that reason....

Luxeon Royal Blue 445-455nm

Luxeon White

and, for shits because my interest is piqued

Luxeon Lime Green

Those last two are broad spectrum. No good info on the datasheet. According to Steve's, the Cool White is "415nm - 800nm, with dominant peaks at 455nm, 540nm, and 630nm"
And the Lime Green is "-400-750nm"
So what use do I have of the green? 🤷‍♂️ Strictly satisfying curiosity. I think I want to get into making tunable switches for the different spectrums. That's pushing my understanding, though, so I'll have to study a good bit first.

My base will still be Bridgelux strips, only they have a new series I want to fart around with. Those BXEB Gen 2s have shown their worth to me and are cheap as all get out, so, if it fails, I'll just resort back to them. I do still have those 5000k 1120mm Gen 3s that I need to match a driver to.. but that's staying on the back burner for now.
I know most people are on about 301B/H's.
But, what can I say, I'm a contrarian 🤷‍♂️

And obviously this means I'm going to need a place to put it all. So, new construction is impending, too. 😎

 

[beluga]

On the plant side of things....

I think I'm gonna roll with this.
Just two BbKSwOG ladies.
At least while I have construction going on.

Actually.... that leggy TWBV did turn out female, but I made the executive decision. It would have been impossible to get these varieties to cooperate and I was really not a fan of the TWBV structure... it's just not right for keeping things tight - need uniformity above all else.

And, man, I'm hating this half-baked net pot column shit of mine. It was entirely too frustrating to make some adjustments last night. I think next time around, I'm going to attach collars directly to them and widen the hole to fit them easier. Or just scratch that idea entirely. The need arose from having plants that I vegged out wayyyy too long and they just got huge and unstable by flower. But I don't have that option with the current state of things. And, honestly, this lighting is far better suited for vertical farming - tight stacks of gentle but effective lighting.

It's good to be done with that for a while. 😒
Now you can party on, girls. 🥳

 

[beluga]

🚀

 

[Aqua Man]

View attachment 1285537
🚀

Now the fun part begins 😍

 

[beluga]

Been chilly out here and I didn't react quickly enough to keep them from feeling it. Got down to the low 60s in there, with res temps about the same.

So, just with cutting the in/outtake fans and throwing the res up on some foamboard, we got the air temps at 83°F, res temps at 78°F overnight (their daytime.)

I think I need to get some lower-speed fans. The ones I have were intended for a 4x8 room, so, even dialed all the way down, they are definitely too much for my little cabinet until I build some additions to satisfy that cfm demand. I guess I could put them on timers for the time being, too 🤔

Ain't stopping 'em from getting the party started though

 

[beluga]

Day 21 Flower

Been some ebbs; been some flows. But we're moving along.

Underwhelmed by the stretch of the one. The other is quite nice.
I was expecting to max out vertically, but I don't see that happening now.

Underwhelmed by the bouquet so far. We'll see how that evolves.
The TWBV males that I pulled a week ago were probably more pungent than these developing flowers.

I'll try not to get too hung up on it.

Something else I've never done in my growing escapades is go sterile or biotic with my hydro solutions... I've just added nutrients and called it a day.
I decided, after some root envy and in the spirit of not pushing my luck, that I'd go the microbial way. So, I added some GreenEden Endo Boost. I would have gone with a Plant Revolution/Plant Success product (great white/orca), but, looking at the GreenEden makeup, it seemed to be a more complete blend. We'll see.

Still an environment battle. It stays at a nice and relatively stable climate so long as the in/outtake fans are off, but I can tell it needs a recycling by the time I get to open it. Gotta throw those on timers and better match the fan power to the cabinet. That's going to be addressed this weekend. Pretty bummed that I missed an Inkbird sale... I gotta get at least a few of those.

 

[beluga]

Aaaaand we're root rotting 🤦

Just as I was saying how I hadn't gone sterile or live. Right after giving them that inoculation of microbes 😒
And honestly it was probably there the whole time. Would attribute to some of the stunting and other signs of persistent mystery stress I've been noticing throughout. Def didn't inoculate with beneficials soon enough.

In the process of deciding what to do. The obviously infected and ailing plant (left) just feels like an energy waste. The whole thing does at this point.

Either gonna A. scrap it, B. remove the healthier plant to its own bucket and treat it, or C. maybe go through the treatment protocol on both. I'm leaning towards B. But A might take over since I want to work with my TwBV anyway. TBD.

This one is quite nice.

Growing exactly how I'd like for this setup. Still nothing impressive in the aroma/resin formation. It's hardly sticky after a gentle rub and the smell is very faint. It's a nice light pine/spice smell... nothing wrong with that. But it's just so underwhelming.

Quite the setback but entirely self-inflicted.

Wondering where I went wrong, it was almost certainly the switch to PBP from CNS17. I assume the CNS17 had some sanitizing/antibiotic agents in it that PBP lacks. It would explain my previous 100% success rate in preventing root rots in the past having never used microbes nor H2O2.

🤷
Back to the drawing board.
Go sterile or live from the get go.

 

[beluga]

🤘😤🤘Let's Save Some Plants!! 🤘😤🤘

Decided on option C. Let's see if I can save both ladies!

Supply List:
•A rotting plant! • Water! • Bleach/H2O2! • Hydro equipment! • Southern AG Fungicide! • Distilled Water! • Buckets!

Start with sanitizing all of your equipment that came into contact with whatever tf lifeform was rotting your roots. Fungus? Oomycete? Who tf cares! Let's burn them tiny foes!

Chemical warfare, mfers!!

Then I let it all run while I do the other stuff.

Mix up some beneficials!!

(Syringe for the no-mess mixing of smaller amounts.)
Here's Southern AG's recommended use:

Good shit!

Now the fun part!

Get allllllll up in there. But gently, of course.

After two washes (first, left pic) and after four washes (second, right pic)

If you're using the buckets that you're bleaching (like I am), you'll want to run clean water through the running system a few times before adding the plant back in some fresh fresh water.

Drench 'em!!!

Give 'em a li'l pat on the head and wish them a good night!

😘


This is my first time trying it. We'll see how it goes... looks pretty advanced on this one, but she was still pumping out fresh white terminal roots, so I have some optimism.

 

[Dirtbag]

🤘😤🤘Let's Save Some Plants!! 🤘😤🤘

Decided on option C. Let's see if I can save both ladies!

Supply List:
•A rotting plant! • Water! • Bleach/H2O2! • Hydro equipment! • Southern AG Fungicide! • Distilled Water! • Buckets!
View attachment 1288293

Start with sanitizing all of your equipment that came into contact with whatever tf lifeform was rotting your roots. Fungus? Oomycete? Who tf cares! Let's burn them tiny foes!
View attachment 1288294 View attachment 1288295
Chemical warfare, mfers!!

Then I let it all run while I do the other stuff.
View attachment 1288302

Mix up some beneficials!!
View attachment 1288296 View attachment 1288297
(Syringe for the no-mess mixing of smaller amounts.)
Here's Southern AG's recommended use:
View attachment 1288303
Good shit!

Now the fun part!
View attachment 1288298

Get allllllll up in there. But gently, of course.
View attachment 1288299
View attachment 1288300 View attachment 1288301

After two washes (first, left pic) and after four washes (second, right pic)

If you're using the buckets that you're bleaching (like I am), you'll want to run clean water through the running system a few times before adding the plant back in some fresh fresh water.

Drench 'em!!!
View attachment 1288304

View attachment 1288305


Give 'em a li'l pat on the head and wish them a good night!
View attachment 1288306
😘


This is my first time trying it. We'll see how it goes... looks pretty advanced on this one, but she was still pumping out fresh white terminal roots, so I have some optimism.

I love that you're trying to save them, good call. Curious to see them in a week or two.

 

[beluga]

I love that you're trying to save them, good call. Curious to see them in a week or two.

I'm a softy, what can I say?

Quite curious myself to see how it works out. I've got a few clones of the one female TwBV locked and loaded if these don't see much improvement.

Plus I think I like the buckets.

I might end up tinkering around with these instead of totes. Tried and true.

The one on the right wasn't quite as badly infected.

A lot of fresh roots top and bottom.

Especially hopeful for her.

Washed up the place with vinegar and gave the whole thing a once over.
Nice to be able to shake things up albeit not the best circumstance.

 

[beluga]

Take a look. It's in a book. A reading rainbooooowwwwww

Introduction to Plant Physiology

Some light reading for a slow and rainy Monday morning at the office.
Always good to brush up on the basics.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the universe.
- John Muir

 

[Moe.Red]

Take a look. It's in a book. A reading rainbooooowwwwww

Introduction to Plant Physiology

Some light reading for a slow and rainy Monday morning at the office.
Always good to brush up on the basics.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything in the universe.
- John Muir

Thx man!

 

[beluga]

Day 28 Flower

outside temp: 42ºf
garage temp: 52ºf
cabinet temp: 83ºf 😎
cabinet rh: 62%
Now, that's with lights on. I did some extra sealing and there's only passive exhaust with very minimal passive intake... that may not be ideal without some CO2 supplementation. And, mind you, it swung down to 77f/36% within 30 seconds. Small area - easy come, easy go. I don't know where that RH reading came from... it's actively raining and has been since Friday. I highly doubt my garage is anywhere near that. I gotta upgrade my monitors sometime.

Nothing of particular note on recovery. It's early in the mend, but nothing seems worse. Leftie might have yellowed up those lower fan leaves some more. But rightie is still sailing along it seems.
Had the right pump seize on me when I turned it off/on (hence the mess 🤫). It's going after a cleaning, but I gotta upgrade those and get them some filter socks for the roots that are draping them 😬

Also gotta get some heat up in there for lights out - as is, it's in the low 60s/high50s. We're already looking at dipping into the 30s this weekend and they're on an 8p/8a schedule... so they catch some chills. That might be fun to play with come anthocyanin time, but right now I just need them to thrive. Thinking about getting one of these chicken coop heaters. Small area - easy come, easy go. I think one of those hooked up to an inkbird might be a sweet economical way to heat this space. I could maybe even have it in a sort of register box with the intake fan if for some reason directly in the cab proves problematic. But running 200w instead of 1200w sounds pretty nice any way about it. Here's hoping.

 

[beluga]

On Green Leaf Volatiles

So, everyone's harvesting outdoor and getting hay smells. I wanna dive into it a bit.
And here seems to be some thorough rundowns:
Green leaf volatile production by plants: a meta-analysis
and Green Leaf Volatiles: A Plant's Multifunctional Weapon Against Herbivores and Pathogens
There's a lot of technical jargon in there, but quite some fascinating things to pick out.

To simplify things: Why does cut grass smell so good?
Basically, plants emit compounds both airborne and through the soil to attract or repel bugs, microbes, etc.
And that's what's responsible for the smell of cut grass.

There's apparently been no specific investigation of cannabis producing GLVs, however, it seems to be the popular opinion that all green-leaved plants produce GLVs. So it easily leads to the deduction that that very similar "hay" smell that we get especially when we fresh trim is from the same function.

What I'm really trying to find and what I'd like to associate to cannabis growing is with harvest, trimming, and how ripeness impacts GLV emission. I'd have to assume since all of a plant's functions start to slow toward full ripeness, so, too, does the GLV production... especially seeing as the Ls are often no longer G. The correlation to life stage might be in one of those articles, but I'll link something else if I find it.
Another tool to indicate and encourage full ripening of the plant is always welcomed in a practice where patience easily wears thin.

 

[beluga]

Did a little defoliating. Tilted the light to compensate for lefty.
Brought in an old friend

Just a little motivation to keep them from leaning.
Don't build 'em like this anymore 😎

Lefty

Righty

Not too bad considering all the root rot 🤷‍♂️

 

[beluga]

Parasteatoda tepidariorum

🧐

Sorry to disturb you, little friend.

 

[beluga]

Day 32 Flower

Got some new toys.

(Ignore the wire mess 🤫)
At half power, we're at 76°f at night; 82f° in the daytime.
I think I'll dial it down to 81 so the exhaust kicks on occasionally.
100W for heating? Heck yeah, tiny cabinet.
This is temporary, so it looks shoddy, but I've got the muffin fan there to prevent a hot spot on that bucket. Successfully, I might add.
I trust this to run safely enough to put it in a register box with the inline fan. That's the plan for the future.

How bout some success stories?
Before

After

Wish I had a better before/after.
But this is lefty, the much more infected plant.
And, quite frankly... making a better recovery than her sister:

But her pump has been failing. I have new ones arriving tomorrow.
In the meantime, I've been manually spraying her roots twice a day.
It's taken its toll, I feel.

Just ironing out the kinks, eh?

On the aerial side of things...

Lefty

Righty

Seeing bits of orange popping up. I don't know how I feel about that for some reason.
Some decent trichome production coming through on righty.

Party on, girls.
Excellent.

 

[beluga]

So, while that coop heater is not creating hot spots, it is still tanking the RH - that was a stupid oversight. We're down to 37%
Pair that with a broken pump/roots you're manually drenching and it's just sad.
Top it all off with ordering the wrong pumps 💀
She's still trucking along, but some those top roots around the net pot are getting crisped up. Gonna have to keep a close eye and probably clean up and BA drench the roots again. Taken a beating, that one. Her bouquet is finally evolving with a little coaxing. The pinespice now hides a sweet/fruity - optimism rising. Let's hope I don't kill her.
Lefty is still pumping out the pearly whites down below. Not much corresponding aerial development. Might bump up the feed a bit; get a little beefier with the mag sulfate supplement. She just started drinking pretty heavily again.. no doubt in correspondence with the environment shift.

Pumps on rush order, should be waiting for me when I get home. Humidifier in queue. Brainstorming external environment controls. Some kind of spin on a lung room. In some fashion, ducted-in moist and warm air.
Tentatively, I'm wondering if setting the heater to full power would kick on the exhaust more often, pulling in the more-humid garage air. But that air is only so humid for so long with the season change. And I'd think the drying effect would be even worse with higher heat, even if off for longer durations. It's radiant, so there isn't much in the way of immediate fluctuation either.

Win one thing, lose another.
Small spaces... easy come, easy go. 😒
I miss my basement and 4x8 tent sometimes. I'm gonna make this work though. And - I promise - just as I do, we'll make room for my projects in the basement again 🙃

 

[beluga]

And we're rolling. Pump is bumping. Gave them a BA root drench. Gave them mag sulfate. Gave them a trace of food.. I think I tend to overfeed. Got hot tips a lot of the time. So, I'm easing up a little to see. Could just get a PPM meter, but, y'know... 🤷‍♂️
RH was 57% when I opened it up this evening 🤔 I don't know how much I can trust that hygrometer. Should probably get another.
Don't trust lefty to produce much even though her roots are getting pretty.
Do trust righty to even though her roots took a hit. Just a more vigorous seed from the get go. Man, the aroma is getting good. It's so subtle until you disturb the buds, I really like that.