Orcas' Logs

[Orcaman]

Howdy Farmers, Hope 2015 is a great year for all. A weekend home so updating on this very nice Saturday here in Denver Co. First I have to say the new soil PH pen is a tool I should of added sooner. @sixstring, I give the Bluelab pen a 10 for ease of use and quality. Here is a shot in use.

Here are my three Fems. First is Purple by AK by Yumbolt. She is still in veg but looking great.

Next is Acapulco Gold by Skunk#11. She has been in 12's for three days now. Testing PH this morning she was the lowest at 5.0 and the only one that needed adjustment. Flushed her with water at 7.6 and will recheck in the morning.

Next is Red Dragon by Northern Lights by Big Bud. She is 7 days in 12's and doing great. Her PH is right in the park at 6.2

Next is a couple shots of our Diesel by Landrace Pakistan at 11 days bloom. She is at 5.8 soil PH

Here are two finishers. First is Kings Blood 42 days 12's Did a major tie up plus note a PH level of 6.1

And to finish a couple of shots of Critical Cure. She is on day 56 12's and the last recovering girl from acid burn. Her PH is now 6.5 from the 4.8 days back.

Good Weekend to All!

 

[sixstring]

Lookin good man, that kings blood is a looker.whats her genetic makeup?how long are the probes on the meter, can it reach close to the bottom of those pots? You know if I had that badboy I would be checking runoff numbers with my normal meter to compare against actual soil numbers, man I could spend hours messing with that lol.do you calibrate it and do you use standard cal solution or something else? Sorry for
All the questions bro, think im as excited as you haha.

 

[Orcaman]

Lookin good man, that kings blood is a looker.whats her genetic makeup?how long are the probes on the meter, can it reach close to the bottom of those pots? You know if I had that badboy I would be checking runoff numbers with my normal meter to compare against actual soil numbers, man I could spend hours messing with that lol.do you calibrate it and do you use standard cal solution or something else? Sorry for
All the questions bro, think im as excited as you haha.

Hey sixstring, Love the excitement my friend. To answer your questions, Kings Blood is Mendo Purps by Jaffa Cake, Breeder Immortal Flower. Just a stellar plant that always has a spot under the lights here.:)
As far as the Bluelab soil PH meter. She requires initial calibration before use and then every 30 days. The calibration solutions needed are 7.0 and 4.0 solution for dual calibration. I think any brand will work but I'm using Bluelab solutions. The key to this tool is the liquid filled glass probe must stay hydrated in the KCI storage solution. Like they say if it dries it dies! I will only use their storage solution.

Here is a shot of the storage dabber that holds the KCI storage solution and is also used to make a penetration hole for the fragile glass probe in the soil.

As you can see in this image the probe length is 4 inches. An adequate depth indoors or out. A pot only requires one reading. Outdoors you take three of four readings as far apart as possible to come up with an average reading.

As you stated this tool is very versatile. From testing water in to run off out. These plants are so touchy to PH levels more then most the other elements in growth. Lockout can happen so easy from to high, or low PH levels.

 

[sixstring]

thats awesome bro,now you gots me hooked lol.can you toss up a link to where ya got this meter or did you buy locally? i want one now.i was just at the grow store yesterday after reading that first post i was drawn to a bucket full of those cheap ass soil meters but i said nope cant do it,these look cheap as hell lol.

 

[Orcaman]

thats awesome bro,now you gots me hooked lol.can you toss up a link to where ya got this meter or did you buy locally? i want one now.i was just at the grow store yesterday after reading that first post i was drawn to a bucket full of those cheap ass soil meters but i said nope cant do it,these look cheap as hell lol.

I know what your saying about grow stores. No inventory! Things are getting a lot better here in Denver for supplies. I bought this unit from my best online supplier. Here is link to my out of state needs.
https://www.hydroponics.net/

 

[Orcaman]

A good Sunday to all on this fine mid January day. This morning was harvest day for our Critical Cure on day 64. After reviewing pictures taken yesterday to journal I discovered that her PH issues caused her to throw out a few nanners. I think it was too stressful at this point in growth going from 4.8 PH up to 6.5 and yesterday was down to 6.0 I wasn't going to mention it and even tried my skills with paint and touched over the couple of nanners in three of these images. I guess for fun can anyone see my rookie work. I have never altered any other image and never will again.:)

We really like this girl and will keep her going. Here is a cutting almost ready to move into 12's.

Here is the next girl moving to 12's today. This is our AK Landrace. Last run she was having issues. It's going to be nice keeping her PH proper now. This is one of our sweetest smelling and tasting right now.

Here are the rest in bloom. First is Acapulco Gold by Skunk #11. She is 11 days in 12's today. Her PH yesterday was 5.8. Just a little low but not bad. Almost ready to remove her giant main fan leaves.

Next is Red Dragon by Northern Lights by BigBud. She is on day 15 today and forming buds. I really hope this plant is stable being my own mix. She has very strong branching. Her PH yesterday also was 5.8. I'll bump it up tomorrow when she gets some water only in between feeding.

Here is our Diesel by Landrace Pakistan. She is 19 days bloom today. Her PH dropped back down to 5.0. Gave her some water and a dash of baking soda with a PH level of 8.0 This morning she is back up to 5.9 From my findings I'm seeing acidity build up increase in early bloom while the plant in in stretch mode and starting bud growth.

And to finish here is Kings Blood showing her true colors on day 50. Amazing the change in one week. Her PH was 6.0 yesterday. Nice and stable with her. Just a few more days in till harvest.

Happy Trails!

 

[Orcaman]

Good day fellow Farmers, This morning was harvest day for our Kings Blood 55 days bloom. Wanted to share some final shots of this beauty. A nice and sticky one and a half hours of trimming. Now I just need to get the smell calmed down. The wife is getting ready to make a big batch of barbeque sauce. That should help overcome what the Ona buckets can't.

Here is her yield. Not bad for a plant less then two feet tall.

Now visible. I wanted to show the monster trunk she developed.

It will be nice to get her jarred up in about five days. This is one of my favorites!:)

 

[Orcaman]

Happy Saturday All, Doing the weekly update. To start off I want to ask for some help. I have two cuttings that were taken on November 18th from a plant 40 days bloom to re veg and save a favorite. Both cuttings are growing under ground but will not move on the topside. My first move was going from 18 hours to 20 hours light. This helped some. Recently purchasing a proper PH meter I found that they were too acidic. Next after rebalancing PH and being in four inch pots for a month. They were move up to six inch pots and some fresh soil. I keep invigorating her top side but no result. Any Ideas! A couple of images.

Next is our fem Purple by AK by Yumbolt. She is going into 12's tomorrow. Topped her yesterday.

And a shot of all the veg girls.

Here are the four current bloomers. First is AK Landrace a week in. I'm so glad that I found my low PH problem. I really thought it could be a bad air issue from cellar growing to finish with no real air in and out. A great leaning curve for me!:)

Here are my other three own fem girls. I need nicknames for these newbie's. Here is Acapulco Gold by Skunk#11 in bloom 18 days now. Removed all but her top two main fan leaves to promote a little more stretch on top two branches. I am just loving this girl!

The next new fem girl is our RED Dragon by Northern Lights by Big Bud. She is 22 days bloom. This is one sturdy plant.

Last is our Diesel By Landrace Pakistan 26 days bloom. She is very happy and as tall as I can go in my current bloom area at 30 inches.

And a final shot of the bloom area in action. The 80A camera filter really helps kill the yellow of the HPS light.

Happy Farming!:)

 

[Orcaman]

Good February to all, Updating a day late after all pictures taken yesterday running out if time. Lots going on in the garden. First I want to show this cutting of our Kings Blood. She looks pretty good from a distance. But if you look closer you will see spotting on a couple leaves. Pulled out the PH meter and found the PH at 4.3. Tested the others to find them in range. Trying to figure out why some are going so acidic.

Next are the bloomers. Here is a little more linage info on my fem mixes. First is our Purple x AK x Yumbolt 12 days bloom. The Purple by Ceres seeds is unknown. The AK is a landrace from the Himalayan zone. Yumbolt 47 also known as Humbolt is a mix of Columbia, Mexican, Thailand, Afghanistan by World of Seeds.

Next is our Acapulco Gold x Skunk #11. The AG by Barneys Farm is a secret hybrid just known as Mexican. The Skunk #11 by Dutch Passion is known as Skunk #1 IBL in its own name. Here she is on day 18 and looking great.

Next is our Red Dragon x Northern Lights x Big Bud. Barneys Farm Red Dragon is Utopia Haze from Brazil x Himalayan Afghanistan. The Northern Lights x Big Bud mix is NL#1 x NL#2 x NL#5 combined by Big Bud. The mix of Skunk#1 x NL #1 by World of Seeds. I am loving the Pom Poms on this girl at day 22 bloom.

And to finish a couple of shots of my girl. Here is our Diesel by Dinafem x Landrace Pakistan by World of Seeds. Day 26 bloom.

Man I Love Growing!

 

[CBDEMON]

Looks super dank in your neck of the woods! Lovin' it:cool:

 

[Orcaman]

Good Saturday All, The weather here in Denver has been total spring like. Seventy degrees yesterday and pretty much the same today. We have been in a long drought but nothing like California. I seen Thursday was the first rainfall in 43 days for San Francisco. Went to the store this morning to come back to this. Our first Crocus of the season. I love these flowers.

Here are all my current bloom girls and a big Thank You to CBDEMON, Your words mean a lot to me brother. This morning was feeding plus a great time for pictures plus was also SubCulture day for all the plants. First is our Purple by AK by Yumbolt day twelve. I need to note that I took a cutting a few days back discovering this morning that it was not going to make it and took a lot better second.

Here is our third run of Critical Cure. Like I have noted the second run hermied. But I am sure it was from being too acidic. First run was fine.

Next is our Landrace AK day 22. A two day correction. I need to note that I lost true bloom days of these last four plants. I have to thank to the wife's spread sheet for tracking feeding schedules on all of the plants.

Here is another note on the last three. I noticed last feeding some early yellowing. So I upped there dosage on bloom only using General Organics. I think they look better this feeding. First is our Acapulco Gold by Skunk#11. Bloom day corrected to day 30. I'm loving this girl. She smells almost just like our AG parent.

Here is our Red Dragon by Northern Lights by Big Bud. A corrected bloom day at 34 days today. I'm a little concerned about this girl being stable. I'm seeing a couple of concerning spots on some buds. Keeping a good eye on her! Some great looking buds.

And to finish, Here is our Diesel by Landrace Pakistan. Corrected bloom day of 38 days. She is almost ready for flush. This run is looking stellar!

Now it's time to clean and recalibrate the soil PH meter. It just let me know two days back. Turning off the check point for calibration after 30 days. Hope it's a great weekend for all!
Orca

 

[Orcaman]

Good Sunday farmers, Hope it was a great Valentines for all yesterday. Even being sick for the last week I have a nice grin on my face from last night.:) This update is all focus on maintaining proper PH levels based on individual plants and strains. I want to note these are not some of my better pictures. I took these yesterday afternoon trying a different setting on my camera. I changed the contrast setting to soft from normal to see if it would help with trich glare, only making them too dark. This morning was feeding and thought about a reshoot. Just not feeling up to it thanks to this Flu bug.
I need to also note that it's time for me and the wife to calculate how many more plants we can finish by the end of April. This year we have to renegotiate our lease with our landlord of three years. Plus also want a month off of blooming plants at the same time. My setup makes it very easy to keep all of our favorite strains going all of the time.
Here they are this week. First is the veg area and our Kings Blood ready to be up potted and move into 12's. I'll be taking two cuttings of this girl real soon.

Here is our KB and her PH level at 6.0 yesterday. This morning during feeding added some baking soda to their food to raise her PH a little more. I'm finding in soil mixes they thrive when PH is right at 6.3

Here is our own fem strain. Purple by AK by Yumbolt 20 days bloom and reading 6.0 PH. Removed her main fan leaves a few days back. Building some very nice buds. I pushed this plant into 12's. She is only a foot but tall but very stout.

Here is Critical Cure 22 days bloom. Her PH at 6.2 and looking great compared to last round burning her up with too low PH level.

Here is my problem child right now. This is our AK landrace by World of Seeds. Even just dropping to a PH level of 5.8 She has gone into lockout. She will not use her moisture and nutes compared to the rest of our girls. Hard to resolve this problem at her age at 28 days bloom.

Check out this leaf from yesterday. Looking even worse this morning during feeding. As noted added baking soda this morning at feeding to raise PH.

Here are our other three own fem girls. Here is Acapulco Gold by Skunk#11 38 days bloom and a 6.1 PH. She is becoming a fun girl. Her smell is like egg custard. Plus I'm liking the variegation in her leaves. A very solid plant in all aspects.

Here is Red Dragon by Northern Lights by Big Bud on day 41 bloom and a PH level of 6.1 She is really plumping up. Plus her red hairs are amazing. Her smell is of Lysol! Stable so far.:)

Here is our first self strain growing for close to five years. Our Diesel by Landrace Pakistan 46 days bloom. Her PH is 6.4 being in flush. Right at a week from harvest. This is at great, potent producer. You can get a very good yield from a small starting plant.

And to finish a shot from the cellar.

Good Day!

 

[Orcaman]

Good Wednesday everyone, Here to make some notes. Our Landrace AK is really struggling with her PH and lockout issue and is getting cooked. On Saturday her PH was 5.8 I was able to get her up to 6.4 This morning she had crashed down to 5.4 So I decided to replace her soil to something new. The soil she was in is Lucky Dog by Fox Farms. I want to note since trying it all I have had is unhappy plants. Bought a bag of VermiSoil yesterday to try out. I has a nice PH level of 6.5 in the bag. I'm hoping the new soil will be more stable and helps this poor girl recover.
Here is how bad she looked this morning before I repotted her a removed the fried leaves.

Is anyone currently using this soil? I like its numbers.

 

[sixstring]

nice updates orcaman,so how did the lil kingsblood do since those last low ph readings?seems like alot of people are having problems with ff soil lately so maybe a switch is all you needed here,i hope :) man i still want that ph meter,looks like its been real usefull around here.peace

 

[happy b]

All looking awesome as per usual orca . I ran the WOS affie kush when they first came out . lovely sweet,dank hashy with solid nugs . a really good representation of an AK.

 

[Orcaman]

nice updates orcaman,so how did the lil kingsblood do since those last low ph readings?seems like alot of people are having problems with ff soil lately so maybe a switch is all you needed here,i hope :) man i still want that ph meter,looks like its been real usefull around here.peace

Thank you all for the support, sixstring, If you go back to my post before the last is a picture of our Kings Blood doing great. She and all the other plants are maintaining great with a little added baking soda here and there. I want to state that I have never been a Fox Farms fan. I used Ocean Forest for a couple of years then went to using Pro Mix. I let the grow store guy talk me into the Lucky Dog being on sale. My mistake! This PH pen has been a great investment costing $140.00 plus solutions. This is our main Medicine in this household!:)

All looking awesome as per usual orca . I ran the WOS affie kush when they first came out . lovely sweet,dank hashy with solid nugs . a really good representation of an AK.

Hey happy b, I'm a Kush whore! This AK is an interesting girl. I love her wild stature, trich production, and sweetness. I grew some Afghanistan in the 80's from some saved seeds found in a few buds. Still the best smoke and knock out high I have ever tasted. But it was smuggled in from the region.

 

[Orcaman]

Good day everyone, Nice and snowy here in Colorado this weekend. The mountains are finally getting a good dumping. The snowpack is lagging this season so far. This morning was harvest day for our Diesel by Pakistan at 52 days. She really yellowed up this last week. Quite a stinker too. Her smell is as my wife says of "Burnt Rubber" I love her taste. Still diesel dominate but much smoother. And a great put you out high. A few shots before cutting her.

 

[ShroomKing]

Good Wednesday everyone, Here to make some notes. Our Landrace AK is really struggling with her PH and lockout issue and is getting cooked. On Saturday her PH was 5.8 I was able to get her up to 6.4 This morning she had crashed down to 5.4 So I decided to replace her soil to something new. The soil she was in is Lucky Dog by Fox Farms. I want to note since trying it all I have had is unhappy plants. Bought a bag of VermiSoil yesterday to try out. I has a nice PH level of 6.5 in the bag. I'm hoping the new soil will be more stable and helps this poor girl recover.
Here is how bad she looked this morning before I repotted her a removed the fried leaves.
View attachment 486957
Is anyone currently using this soil? I like its numbers.
View attachment 486958

Ive been using vermifire for 2 years now. I like it. I do ammend it , by cutting it 1/4 with perlite and adding organic nutes and dolomite. My recipe.....

 

[ShroomKing]

Good day everyone, Nice and snowy here in Colorado this weekend. The mountains are finally getting a good dumping. The snowpack is lagging this season so far. This morning was harvest day for our Diesel by Pakistan at 52 days. She really yellowed up this last week. Quite a stinker too. Her smell is as my wife says of "Burnt Rubber" I love her taste. Still diesel dominate but much smoother. And a great put you out high. A few shots before cutting her.
View attachment 487866
View attachment 487867
View attachment 487868
View attachment 487869

That looks so dank!

 

[Orcaman]

Ive been using vermifire for 2 years now. I like it. I do ammend it , by cutting it 1/4 with perlite and adding organic nutes and dolomite. My recipe.....

An interesting mix. The Vermifire is very similar to Ocean Forest. Do you feed on top of your mix? Using the General Organics complete line to feed, I like a more zero mix. When I was using Ocean Forest I would amend with Ancient Forest 1 to 1. Plus add right at 10 cups each Perlite and Vermiculite. But still not totally happy. Right now renting I want simple and a reasonable cost. This VermiSoil is already helping out my fried AK. And just $14.00 a bag. Great information!:)