Second Grow - Going Hydro, Baby!

[ajpapenfuss]

U will be surprised what you get with that hydro

 

[Weedly]

A lot's been going on since last update--mainly fighting humidity. I thought I was doing okay when I got the basement humidity down to about 47% and to about 55% in the tent, but then a hot humid day hit and the basement shot over 50% and the tent got to about 65%, which I've studied is well in the danger zone for mildew and budrot, especially for my bushy plants. So I got some plastic sheeting and threw up a makeshift lung room around the tent and put the dehumidifier in it, which dropped humidity in there to around 40%. However, the tent was staying at 58-60% with the sensor about 6" above the canopies. I wasn't happy with that since literature says that's just not good for late flower. I've tried snipping all the larger leaves and even the small ones with stems longer than 2", but they're still really bushy, so I know a higher humidity would be especially threatening in that tent. The only reason I can think why the humidity in the tent is so much higher than the air going in is lack of ventilation. I had my 4" fan on high, but I guess that wasn't enough. I took off the carbon filter (didn't really need it anyway) and straightened the hose as much as possible, which did seem to increase the exhaust flow considerably, but with little to no effect on the tent humidity. So my last resort is to buy a 6" fan with double the airflow. It comes Saturday. So far I've found Spider Farmer gear to be good quality and sturdily constructed, so I stuck with them. Our only consideration now is how we'll duct it out of the basement window. I'm hoping I can get a 6" dryer vent, but I haven't check on that yet. Earlier I was keeping the tent temp in the upper 70's to combat the humidity because it lowers the RH, but I'm thinking 78 degrees and 58% humidity is a recipe for disaster, so I'm attempting everything I can to remedy it. If the bigger fan doesn't help, it is just going to have to be what it is.
Otherwise, everything seems to be doing pretty good. The buds on the tippy-tops of the plant on the left are almost to the light so I had to pull them to the side, so I suppose they aren't getting much light now and are really stretching weirdly out. The buds lower down the stalks are looking good, though, and are starting to fatten up nicely. The plant on the right is a 90% indica with a stated 7-9 week flowering time, but it seems to be progressing really quickly. It's day 1 of week seven since flip but only mid-week 4 since I saw the first pistils. The pistils on that flower have almost all curled in and a good amount are starting to turn orange. Data sheet says 7-9 week flower time, so I guess it's coming along on the quicker side. I won't harvest until 10-20% amber, but it's really cruising. Just for kicks I checked the trichomes yesterday and they all appeared cloudy, which seems way too soon. I then checked the trichs on the other plant, whose pistils are still bright white and mostly sticking out and they all appear cloudy, too. I know it's not light play because on my last grow with all the same equipment, there were plenty of clear trichs--in fact I actually had trouble getting them to cloud up. Doing a little research indicates that a speedy switch to cloudy shouldn't be a problem as long as there hasn't been some accidental pollination happening, which would be odd, although I did end up with some seeds my last grow, so who knows?
I've been trudging along, keeping the EC around 1.8, which seems to make the plants happy, and there are trichs on absolutely everything green, so I guess that's good. Can you make edibles with trichome laden fan leaves, or is it best just to chuck them?

 

[Weedly]

U will be surprised what you get with that hydro

I'm definitely hoping that's the case. If I get three quarts off of each plant, I'll strut around like a pharaoh. Your twelve quarts just seems unfathomable to me. Maybe one day!

 

[ajpapenfuss]

8 days drying each jar has 60 grams and 2 boveda plus a little extra to see how it smokes today

 

[Weedly]

That does look scrumptious.
What size jars are those that’ll hold two ounces like that?
And how’s the smoke report?

 

[ajpapenfuss]

Half gallon smokes nice for 8 days off the plant

 

[Weedly]

Well, I installed the 6" exhaust fan and the tent was like a wind tunnel. The air in the lung room was 45% but still upper fifties/low sixties in the tent. Frustrated, I hung a little hygrometer in the tent and it read 45%--more than 10% lower than what the sensor of the AC Infinity humidifier was showing right next to it. Not knowing which one to trust, I hung another hygrometer, albeit a cheap one, but it perfectly agreed with the little one, meaning that it was almost certain that the AC Infinity sensor was reading way off. I looked this up and saw several other reports of people having this happen with AC Infinity sensors (maybe a problem with all brands?). So we reinstalled the 4" fan and went by the other hygrometers and the tent stayed down to 43-45%. The 4" fan worked even better than the 6" fan I think because the 6" was pulling more air into the lung room than the dehumidifier could keep up with. So I'm happy with humidity in the mid-forties--not perfect, but much better than upper fifties/low sixties.
My Punch Pie on the right is progressing quickly. The pistils are mostly orange and pulled in and the trichs are 95% cloudy now. It seems they clouded up very early after forming. I'll wait until about 10-15% amber and then I may or may not flush, but not for more than a couple days. Seems there's a lot of bro science regarding this, but the few research papers I've seen on flushing point to it not being helpful at all, so I'll just wait to see the timing of the scheduled reservoir changes to decide. I would have expected the plant to show more signs of senescence at this point--there's only a very slight purple-ing of the uppermost leaves--but I guess as long as the trichs and pistils appear ready, the buds are primed to harvest. I wonder if there's a noticeable difference in smoke quality of a plant that shows its age vs. one that is still thriving? Perhaps a reduction in chlorophyll or other negative agents during leaf senescence?
The OG Kush on the left is doing well, too, but is taking its time progressing, which is probably good since her buds could still use some heavy fattening up. Trichs are mostly cloudy on her now as well, which is great. Last grow I messed up the feeding in the last few weeks and the trichs never seemed to cloud up- just went from clear to amber. I ended up waiting far too long and wound up with pure opium (and some seeds), which was fine as I wanted a nighttime smoke, but I have plenty of it left and don't really need any more.
My itty-bitty Northern Lights auto outside is growing some nice buds and should be ready in a couple weeks. I'm really interested to see what the yield is from her since she is so small but has really nice buds. There are some white spots on the leaves that appear like thrips? but I've gone over the leaves in detail and can't find any critters. Maybe spider mites but I don't see any silk at all and the spots seem too big. Regardless, the spots don't seem to be interfering with growth and maybe, just maybe, a little stress will be a good thing?
We also transplanted a few more autos into 5 gal pots and they seem to be thriving in their new homes. They might have gotten bigger in bigger pots, but the NL in the 10 gal pot didn't fare too well (certainly my fault) and I'm tired of luging the monster pot in and out of the rain.

(The reservoir of the humidifier below was empty. I just had it on to use the sensor.)

 

[Weedly]

Outside Northern Lights. Big top bud. Bud rot. Boooo!!!
But… it got rained on a few days ago before I could get it inside, temps near 95, RH near 80-100 all day, every day.
Maybe that’s why these plants don’t naturally grow buds around here until the summer swelter has passed.
Live and learn. When my photos in the tent are done, I think I’ll move my three young autos in there.