Rocky Mountain Dream....

[Mr.Sputnik]

you get my PM Sputnik ?

yes sir! I'll have a present for you when you get up here as well, just let me know 10 days in advance!

 

[true grit]

Here's the indica on her flush...coming along real well. Nice and chunky!!!

 

[altitudefarmer]

Oh hell yeah, Gritty! She doesn't show much color, other than green and yellow, but those buds are going to be some tasty dankness! My buddies and I are coming up next Thursday to watch the Rockies play the Mets- if anyone wants to join us, holler! I was going to head up today to opening day today and then catch the BlackHawks vs Avalanche, but some things came up. Damn, that would have been an awesome day... In any case, we're going to have a great year in CO!

 

[true grit]

Yeah she is most def a skunky stinky gal with some nice chunky buds all the way through... should be uber dank!


Yeah, don't think I'll catch the opening day but thinking bout hitting lodo for some pregame beer specials!!!

 

[TyKaycha]

Just got gifted with a hot little indica momma by AltitudeFarmer. Just like I like them, short & fat, with some junk in the trunk...:rofl Thanks Bro!

Haven't had a chance to read through this thread yet, but subscribed and will work my way through it.

Altitude mentioned when I met him today, getting together sometime in May. I know my girl (real girlfriend not my plant girls) & I would love to hang out, drink some beers and talk cannabis in person with some friendly folks.

 

[true grit]

Well plan on makin yall way out!! You will like the clone, its a great plant for me so far!! I will be trimming up the sati tonite!!

Roll over to the other states forum and there is a thread on the meet up...

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

TG, It's doing a good job at cannabalizing those fan leaves. that's one of the desirable traits I look for in a genetic. You can definitely see the afghani genetic comming out in the sugar leaf structure. That's a great genetic. Do you use a P-K finisher like kool bloom powder?

 

[true grit]

Nope no finisher, I just adjust my nutrients all the way through and fade out towards the end. Most plants in the room do that when I fade the nitrogen around wk 6 and use a good root stimulator towards the end before flush to help uptake all that ish in the soil...then at least a 2-3wk flush... I also pull em off as they get super yellow and get the rest that are green to pull out whats left in the soil.

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

I too do not use a finisher. From what I have read it forces the plant to finish when high levels of P-K are added. I prefer for the plant to run its cycle naturally. A finisher is suppose to increase yield as well. It seems that high levels of P-K could burn the plant and leave residual ferts even after a decent flush. What root stimulator do you use? Excellurator? I prefer peroxide.

 

[true grit]

Yeah been using Excelurator. Its bout the only thing non organic in my cabinet, but at less than 1ml/g and 25ppm/5g, I don't sweat it.

I agree with the plant cycle, I've learned running perpetually that counting days really doesn't matter- it can be a good frame of reference if you are pushing for a certain # of days, but really isn't indicative imo. Better to just learn to watch the plants. I was talking with a dude from Full Spectrum and he was talking about how people who harvest by trichs are often incorrect when it comes to maximum thc and other cannabinoid content.... that basically trichs can lie. Can you change the type of high- yes, but peak maturity and thc content he said in most stains is not indicated by trich color. Just a thought, and I figure being able to test strains for cannabinoid content all day, he might be on to something....

 

[altitudefarmer]

I prefer peroxide.

Care to share your technique/recipe? I'm thinking it's hella cheaper than commercial rooting products...

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

2ml per gallon in the res works well. I put peroxide in my cloner too. It's also good for a plant that has been overwatered or to jump start a plant that you might need to revegitate from flower to veg for whatever reason. I like to use peroxide in conjunction with leonardite. You should mix the peroxide before adding anything else to water and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before adding nutes.

TG, I harvest mine based on smell and look. I know they are done when the grassy (wheat grass) chlorophyll vegetative smell has completely left, the plants start dropping leaves, and the trichromes are full. I look for a rainbow hue in the trichromes as well.

 

[altitudefarmer]

Gotcha, but are you talking 3% grocery store H2O2 or the 29%- 35%? I also understand that it will kill beneficial micro-organisms. No good to add those and kill them at the same time, eh? I'm betting your cloner runs very clean; do you use bennies at all?

 

[Jack_Baybeh]

The RMD looks great fellas! Always interesting to see peeps homegrown breeding projects. Big up AltitudeFarmer.

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

It's the 29-35% stuff, use 1.5ml per gallon of the stronger stuff if you can find it. Apparently some new regulation has the 35% no longer in manufacture according to one grow store, but alot of these grow stores have no clue what they are talking about. The peroxide kills off some bennies, but not all of them depending on how strong you mix the peroxide. I have been curious about exactly what the peroxide destroys, I have heard it destroys all organic material, but then again the roots are organic and they survive very well in a diluted peroxide solution. You're basically adding extra oxygen to your system which will oxidize some things. I'm sure that the bubbling action alone (not just the oxygen injection from the bubbler) of the solution in a DWC kills a few of those bennies off. I think you'll have to get your solution tested to figure out if peroxide kills them all off for sure. I don't typically run bennies in a DWC with peroxide as you really should choose one way or the other, either a sterile solution or one with bennies in it. I like the sterile system with organic additives such as kelp. It seems that the system is more forgiving using peroxide, no brown root funk, the plants can handle a slightly higher water temp (if things go a little south in the summer). Save your bennies for dirt, you're not really creating a symbiotic root system relationship in hydro as there is not ample time between res changes for the relationship to establish itself like it can in dirt. Don't get me wrong, the bennies still work, but not like they can in dirt. If you do use peroxide in dirt to perk up a plant, you'll need to add bennies back into the dirt.

The cloner runs very clean. I mix the solution at 2ml per gallon of both peroxide and leonardite (Diamond Nectar) and within 10 days the roots are 8-10" long with the faster rooting strains like the ISS X Bhodi Satva. I also found that instead of dipping my clones directly in hormex, I mix 1ml in a plastic party cup with tap water, cut my clones from the plant and put them right into the cup and leave them in the cup for a while (an hour is good, but you could leave them for a day or two under fluoro's as long as they don't drink up all the water). It saves hormone and seems to root a couple of days faster than just the hormone dip. I still have yet to post up on how to make a $50 48 site aerocloner but it will get posted at some point with pictures

 

[altitudefarmer]

Mr Sputnik you are to be commended and appreciated for that thorough explanation; thank you! Don't miss the cannacampout in May- I'd rather show the appreciation with some nugs grown better by your advice...LOL.
I am currently having a HELL of a time with pH in this "super soil". I am going to tackle this beeeotch head on when the lights come on in the bloom room. This batch has been bad to my girls, and I'm trying to figure out wtf I did different. Spent the whole morning flushing plants...not my idea of efficient usage of time. I am also setting up a little hydro; so at least I can have something decent while getting this super soil technique down.
I have a little RMD girl three weeks into bloom, and I'll post some pics tomorrow. She is looking amazing; she did not get beat down with a bad attempt at 'super' soil, haha. She's just loving the Age Old Bloom and OF soil.

 

[true grit]

You using Subcool's super soil formula? RO? Rainwater? Calmag? what pH?

 

[altitudefarmer]

TG, I tackled this monsta this morning; I think I have it under control. I only let the soil sit for about 2 weeks, and it's not quite ready. That would explain the pH fluctuation- it was trying to dip on me pretty bad. A little extra pH up in my water got 'er up to 6.4 (runoff). Going to let the rest of this batch of hot stuff cure for a while longer before I use any of it, lesson learned.

But in any case, I'm using filtered water; TDS is around 40-60ppm. I added dolomite; doesn't that cover my cal/mag? In any case, I flushed several gals yesterday, they looked better this morning, so I did the rest. Firing up a 4x4 anyhow, along with a couple dwc buckets just for fun. I want to see how a couple of my strains perform for me in hydro, since I haven't run any in a few months. Headed back to the garden after I grub these hash browns and eggs, and I'm gonna have a little tie-down session for the gals in veg. Paying alot more attention to my watering technique, on the advice of ASG OG. Thanks bro, will post a couple pics in a bit, and keep you posted on the ss progress.

 

[true grit]

Reason I ask is that I had same pH issues with my super soil, asked Sub and found out he doesn't used filtered water or ph... said he uses tap that is somewhere around 7.2 or so and just runs with it. Explains the calmag issues I had, lockout signs/ph issues....

 

[Mr.Sputnik]

I don't use a RO either, just a sediment and 1 micron drinking water filter. The RO removes alot of the minerals that you need like calcium and magnesium. What's the point in removing it and then putting it back in? I don't even use cal-mag and my grows come out fine. Anytime I have used more than about 0.5ml per gallon I see leaf issues indicating that I'm using too much. It's just one less thing to forget to buy at the grow store.

I usually leave the water in a rubbermaid container for a day with an airstone in it to let the chlorine evaporate off and for it to warm up a little.

I've always liked the Age Old ferts. I've tried all sorts of other organic soil mixes and fertilizer but I keep on going back to what works; the Age Old. I've tried guano mixes, the dry foxfarm mixes, foxfarm organic ferts, the new general organics ferts, and I keep on going back to the Age Old. With anything else I get some weird leaf issues, a lockup, a PH issue, a smell so bad I dont want to enter my grow room, or a total lack of yield. I'm pretty much set on Age Old as I haven't had to dick around with it. I run other additives such as leonardite, sea kelp, bennies, and molasses(this is where I get some of the minerals, use the cheapest molasses as it has more good stuff in it, I use brear rabbit but any blackstrap works good too). I run my water at 6.2-6.3 and call it good.