Justiceman's grow: The quest for Resin

[justiceman]

day 21(wk 3) Flower

Here is the official 3 week update. All has been well except for the slight N deficiency witch is being worked out as we speak. 12 hours ago I fed them with 270ppm of cal mag. I have recently been giving them only about 150 to 170ppm witch apparently for these girls is a little bit on the light side.

Aside from N everything seems to be going just fine. Here are a few pics for you guys. I have some soft core bud porn for ya as well as a pic taken with the HPS on just about half an hour ago.

(w/HPS on) I used tungsten mode. It came out pretty good so I thought you guys might like it.
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/week32.jpg

(Bud Porn)
tungsten mode no flash
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC1.jpg
tungsten mode with flash(It has a slight blue hue witch illuminates the crystals)
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GreenCushweek3.jpg
Gran daddy
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Grandaddyweek3.jpg
Green Crack w/ flash
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Green2.jpg

 

[justiceman]

Day 28(wk 4) Flower

Hey everyone so it's the beginning of week 4 and I am starting to see some good things here. My quest for resin is progressing quite nicely. The fruits of my labor have begun to show themselves.

Info:
I have been giving them about 250ppm of cal mag every watering and they still seem a little bit on the yellowish side though. I think I might even bump it up to 350 to be honest. I have also been giving them some earthjuice microblast on occasion to supplement trace minerals even though the extreme serene should do that I feel that it's to powerful to increase it's dosage since it might throw off npk ratios.

The roots organics tea's have been going quite well for me. I am starting to get the hang of how long to brew them for before they are ready. I use to think it took 2-3 days to brew, but that was because I didn't realize my aquarium heater wasn't working. After I replaced that the ph raises from 4.0 to 7.0 in a little bit less then 24 hours. Microbes don't mess.

Problem: So I have encountered those bastard Fungus gnats probably because of my medium and its moisture retention(peat). I have heard that fungus gnat larvae and eggs generally come in any type of peat based products. Although it is also because I probably didn't amend with enough perlite, croutons, or anything for that matter. The roots soil had plenty of perlite and I thought it had enough drainage but now after it compacting I am finding that It would have probably been better to amend it with some more aerating materials. In any case what's done is done. My aim as of now is to destroy them. I have heard of a biological control called gnatrol witch contains Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. I may use that. I also remember reading on one of shady's pages that he used predator nematodes. Those interest me greatly, because they end up living in your medium for the rest of the time therefore providing 24/7 security and they don't attack your plant in anyway. My aim kill the larvae with gnatorl or nematodes, and trap the adults with either sticky traps, or a rotting fruit, soap, water mixture.

Enough gnat talk. It is time for the bud shots. I hope you guys enjoy the resin as much as I.

not as green as they could be but still decent i suppose.
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/wk44.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/wk4.jpg
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/wk42.jpg
Grand daddy
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/wk43.jpg
HPS flash shots
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk46.jpg
Grand daddy
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk49.jpg
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk412.jpg
Green Crack
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk42-1.jpg

 

[supasticky]

Oh shit! Getting ready for another heavy harvest! I think that the traps would be your best bet cuz I'm sure you aren't infested with them or anything. And yah nematodes for sure. Your leaves are looking a little yellow, but is it from the CalMag? I heard that if you do light foliar feeding that is mostly water your leaves will start to turn yellow cuz you're basically leaching the leaves. Didn't you spray a few weeks ago?

-Supa

 

[justiceman]

sup supasticky!
I never did a foliar with cal mag. I did one with sea kelp in the beginning, and one with micro blast later on to curb a micro nute deficiency and it worked. Roots organics base nutes are actually pretty light in themselves. for instance the grow is 2-0.5-0.25 and the bloom is 0.5–2–1.5. The cal mag ha 2-0-0. So it really helps with bumping up the nitrogen as well as providing cal mag since I use r/o water. So I am pretty sure that I need to just bump up the nitrogen with bigger doses of big buddah grow, and a slight increase in cal mag.

 

[supasticky]

No I wasn't talking about foliar feeding with CalMag, I was talking about foliar feeding with anything. If it's mostly water it will leach your leaves of nutrients that aren't in your spray. I heard that trying to add more nitrogen during flowering can be bad because if you use to much your bud development will slow down and your buds will get airy..idk that's just what I've heard, but if you think that's what you need then you should do it.

-Supa

 

[Shady]

Sup Justiceman! Looking real good... The first couple weeks of veg is where most of the Magnesium deficiencies seem to occur. You're Girls look like they could use some and especially the Nitrogen in CalMag to help the plants during the stretch which is probably slowing down around the 4th and 5th weeks of a 10 wk strain... As for gnats, the predator nematodes take about 2 to 3 weeks to really reduce the pests in the soil such as wingless aphids and their larvae... Which are distinctly different from fungus gnat larvae even though the winged versions of both resemble each other.:icon_dizzy:

P.S. I agree with Supa about reducing the N during the last 1/3 of flowering so that the plant can focus on bud development instead of growth...

 

[justiceman]

Thanks for your advice guys. Opinions are always appreciated!

Supasticky,
I definitely agree with leaving out the N is the last 3rd of flowering, mainly for flushing purposes, but I think they need some so they can even make it through. N is still necessary through all stages of growth. Just in lesser quantity's during flowering.They still need some N to survive. I could definitely see your point on leaves leaching N if their were excessive foliar applications but I don't think two applications could leach N out. Plants do survive outside and get rained on with little or no effect to their nutrients in the leaves, but i suppose it's possible. Even if N got leached out I believe If I had an adequate N supply in the soil it wouldn't matter anyway.

Shady,
Ya i definitely need to up the cal mag. I gave them a slightly bigger dose last night. I have been very frugal with the dosages. I don't want to obstruct flowering with too much N and throwing the ratios off. I just want to ensure their survival until harvest time. I believe they will take the amount of N they need and still flower just as well as long as the necessary amount of P and K is available in the soil as well.
I wasn't aware that the nematodes take a few weeks to start working thanks for the heads up on that. I am positive that predator nematodes attack fungus gnat larvae though. I did some research on it.
Interestingly enough I read that fungus gnats love rotting fruit, beer, and some other things I don't remember lol.

In any case I set a small dish with some beer and soap mixed in it. I then set it inside the tent last night. When I awoke this mourning I checked it out and it had tons of dead fungus gnat adults in it:rauch08:
Apparently they love the smell of beer and the alcohol in it kills them as well as the soap. The soap also acts to make the dish slippery so they can't fly or crawl away anymore.

 

[Dr Tweed]

wicked pics and grow bro

 

[justiceman]

wk 5(day 35)

Hey thanks dr tweed you have a sweet jungle yourself.

Hey guys so It's the beginning of week 5. Everything is going a bit better then last time I posted. I have gained control over the fungus gnats by placing a saucer of beer in the tent(they cannot resist). I upped the cal mag dosage to 350ppm and they have greened up slightly but not as much as I would like. I just gave them a roots tea that was about 900ppm. Hopefully that will also help with the greening as well(there was about 300ppm cal mag in the roots tea).

I have basically fixed the humidity problem as well. I ordered a 40pint dehumidifier, and for now I adjusted my exhaust to flow outside, so that it at least keeps the humidity at night down to 60% instead of 70%, but when I get the dehumidifier I will keep it down to at least 50%.

So other then the slight N problem the bud production still seems to be going quite well. Fortunately I have a friend that picked up the same cuttings I did at the same time and he decided to mother them so maybe I can get some more cuts later on and really dial in strains. I am sure that If I could have curbed this N problem earlier I could probably have yielded more in the end. Oh well I should still get something nice. And its a good learning experience for next time around. I'm still really excited about the resin though! Here are some pictures for you guys.

family shot
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/IMG_1554.jpg

Grandaddy pics
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GD2.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GD6.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC7.jpg

Green crack pics
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC6.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC8.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC9.jpg

HPS on with flash pics
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/IMG_1526.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GD5.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC2-1.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/GC4.jpg

 

[supasticky]

Damn! That Grandaddy is starting to purple up I see. And look at the buds on the Green Crack! That whole plant is going to be covered in frost. When can I check them out?

-Supa

 

[justiceman]

Soon supa you will see the purp.

I just got done dealing with a funeral yesterday. Rest in Peace my fallen brethren this grow is for you because you always talked about how much you would have liked to try my harvest.:sick0004:

Just wanted to add this picture in of the grandaddy because it really is starting to purple up. Hope you enjoy!
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Grandaddy.jpg

 

[supasticky]

Damn bro sorry to hear about that.

That Grandaddy looks SO good!

-Supa
:sick0004: :passingjoint:

 

[FatBastard]

Been following your thread and I must say I am very impressed.. Thanks again for all the usefull information..

 

[Revolt!]

Following your thread bro! Everything looks great! Was thinking of using the roots line-up. How would you say it compares to other liquid organics? How is the yeild gonna be with it, do you think? Since I know that they have low NPK.

 

[justiceman]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Revolt I would say that Roots Organics is one of the more raw nutrients out their. They are basically like compost tea's in a bottle. Roots is different from General Organics, Pura vida, Pure blend pro, bio canna, ect. Most of the Organic nutes sold are already broken down completely into a mostly soluble form, and sometimes require PH adjustment. Roots Organics is more like buying raw EWC, Guano, and sea kelp. You have to brew it into a compost tea in order for the microbes to break down the nutes, and raise the PH naturally.

The low NPK doesn't affect the yield. It has more to do with the NPK ratio then the actuall percentages. lower NPK just means you will probably end up using more of it then a higher NPK nute.

I would say the yield on this run will be quite decent especially with having a slight N issue.

 

[justiceman]

wk 6(day 42)

So it's day 42 of flower! These strains don't take to long either. They are supposed to be "generally" 60 days. I am thinking about starting to feed just plain water after about day 50 maybe even a tad sooner. The Green Cush will finish before the Grandaddy as more of it's hairs are turning orange then the Grandaddy. Only thing is the Green Cush unfortunately still has that N problem. I have increased cal mag to 300-350 every watering, plus I increased the Veg base of the Roots slightly a while ago, but she must just be a really heavy eater. At this point I'm not to worried about greening the GC up, but I want to make sure the GC stay fairly healthy until harvest time. The grandaddy are turning purple though. I am pretty happy about that. Not to mention they all smell wonderful.

Forgot to mention that I got my dehumidifier on monday, and it does wonders. Daytime humidity 40%, Nighttime humidity 48%. Went with a 40pt. Man it is surprising how much water gets sucked out of the air.

So here are some pictures for ya!
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk66.jpg
GD
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk61.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk610.jpg
GC
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk68.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk6day42.jpg
http://i23.invalid.com/albums/b389/kingoflessthen3/Wk64.jpg

 

[winta]

wow those girls look rockin my dude great work!

 

[justiceman]

Thanks winta, even though I had some kinks along the way I put a lot of love into them.

Besides the slight N problem I am definitely satisfied with the resin production. I really like how purple the GD plants get. They definitely have that grape like smell. Very stocky and short. The GC are impressive with fast vegetation and flowering time not to mention the yield potential. I am trying to imagine what I would have gotten If I was completely on top of the nute servings.

Next grow I will be on top of cal mag and N for sure. The quest for resin doesn't end here. It is merely beginning.:fighting0040:

 

[winta]

and i will be following along bong in hand:bong-hits:

 

[supasticky]

too jealous. :middlefinger lol

-Supa