Fuse's diesel grow

Greetings guys. I figured it was about time I took the plunge and shared my grow with you guys. I'll try my best to keep it up to date, but I can't make any promises. Here goes nothing... (deep inhale)...

I'm growing two distinct phenos of a shoot-off of ECSD/NYCD(not sure which). I was gifted about 50 seeds from a older guy that use to grow this strain by the thousands in his back woods in NY. He developed these two phenos to his liking, and sold pound upon pound of the stuff for as long as I knew him. Over the years I've grown this out about a half dozen times... each time a different way. I've done outdoor soil, indoor soil, hydro in different setups, but never coco. I read about coco for years now in these forums, but never had the balls to try. So I'm trying it now, and needless to say it's been an interesting learning experience.

I'm using cheap as shit coco that I bought by the 5kg bale online. I was a bit concerned about the quality, but it seems to be ok so far. I washed the shit out of it a good 2-3 times, each time letting it dry out before another wash. I have 6 plants each in 3 rubbermaid containers that are about 15-20 gallons each. I have a few single plants in 10" pots, and another couple plants in a 5gal homer bucket and a 12" pot. The 12" and homer bucket are one of the phenos, the rest of the containers are the other. 4 of the plants are the moms that I've kept for about 2-3 years now that I've decided to let move on to the big bong in the sky.

I've changed up a lot of stuff with this grow. For instance, I've decided to go KISS and I switched my nutes from everything I could throw at them to maxibloom. I'm also hand watering for the first time since my first ever grow. I use maxi with tap(well) water, epson, and citric acid. The tap around here is 8+ and it fluctuates due to the close proximity of a river and the fact that I live in the middle of a irrigated orchard that jacks with the water table. I've gotten to the point where I don't fuck with my ph that much anymore... it's just too frustrating. I get it to around 6.0 and let go.

(to be continued)

The two phenos are pretty sweet, literally. One is a indica dominant that has the more traits of sour diesel, with the pungent grapefruit/diesel aroma. It grows like a wild jungle bush, and will stay short and compact even if the light is 20' away. The high is more of a sleeper stone, and it's what I use to battle my psychophysiological/adjustment insomnia. The other pheno is a sativa dominant that stretches like a motherfucker if left unchecked. I've got one or two right now that stretched more than I would have liked and it's going to suck when they start to put on weight. The aroma off the sativas is almost an orange/tangerine spice. It's amazing, and nothing I've ever smelled before. I can't pinpoint the spice notes, but they're perfect. This pheno is my day to day and weekend strain. The high is ridiculously uppity. It increases my anxiousness, but I'm able to function on it, and I wouldn't be paranoid going to the in-laws house on it.

The area I'm growing in is a 6'x6' "cold cellar" under my house that was used by the previous owner as a dumping ground for all his unwanted construction scraps. It was a bitch to clean out.

I'm using a 600w HPS in a Sun System 2 hood. I'm not using the total 6'x6' area, more like 4x3-4x4. I've debated whether or not to change up my lighting to LED, and I might try that later on due to the temps down there now that summer is rolling around. The first grow I did down there ended up being less than spectacular due to the fact that I couldn't keep the temps below 85. I ended up with a little less than a half pound of "fluffy" weed that had no weight, but still packed a hell of a punch.

I'm on day 33(if my calculations are correct) and things are looking decent. I've never counted days in flowering, I just started and finished when I thought they were good. I figured since I was going to document this grow, I should count this time around. Pics as follows:

My pictures aren't the best, I know. I need to figure out the best way to take pictures of my grow with the camera's I have.

So I need to admit that I'm a complete idiot when it comes to coco. I was feeding/watering way to little. Like everyone tells people not to, I was treating it like soil. Most of the threads I read said not to let it dry out... so I figured I was good when I felt my coco and it was damp. Deficiencies and problems started coming up and I was scratching my head. I had that ah ha moment when I was reading the post here.

The plants are back on track now and I'm enjoying the increased growth. Coco really is easy once you learn to treat it like it's own beast.

Question though... can anyone recommend any additives at this stage to boost growth or flowering. I've read a little about bloombastic and koolbloom powder/liquid, and I'm debating picking some up. I know about molasses, and use it every couple of waterings/feedings. Is there anything else you guys recommend, or just stick with the BB/KB?

Day 39 update

Day 39 update

It's day 39 and the plants are looking good. The buds are filling out a bit more and the resin production is kicking in. I had to prune a ton of fan leaves on the indica dominants to clear some shaded areas on them. It'll help with the final trim too, because these things are dense with leaves at the end and a PITA to trim. The sativa dominants are starting to funk up with their aroma, and they are picking up more of a diesel smell now. All the sativas are essentially clones of one plant from my last grow, so I'm wondering if I picked one that is displaying more of the diesel traits than the "tangerine spice" traits that the others had. Either way it smells delicious down there.

I went ahead and ordered up some Bloombastic. I didn't get any responses to my question above, and I figured I'd just take a chance on it. I liked the price of the powered Kool Bloom, but I read mixed reviews in comparison discussions.

Anyway, here's how it looked today when I said good morning to them. I think these pics came out better this time.

Day 45 update

Day 45 update

The plants are looking good. Leaves are healthy and green, and the buds are starting to grow out quite nicely. I don't think this grow will be that great weight-wise, but should be some good smoke.

I went to the Hydro store and the guy sold me on some Snow Storm Ultra. I've given em two doses of it already. I also got the Bloombastic in the mail this past week. Man, that stuff stinks and is thick. It was a big surprise in comparison to the Snow Storm Ultra. Can these two be used together? I was thinking about alternating days I use them. Any feedback would be cool. I'm willing to experiment with it either way.

Still having a bitch of a time staying consistent with my picture taking. Is there a preferred method for picture taking that works best? Or do you snap a million and save a dozen good ones? Anyways... here's what you all are really here for.

Some more from day 45

Some more from day 45

A couple more:

Looking good If you check Rez,s recipe he uses kool bloom with great success,i run Big bud thru weeks 3 to 5 and for week six hit them with the kool bloom in coco, works good i water three times a day when in full bloom plants love it important to keep track of your weeks so you know when to flush and add your boosters. Once you get the coco dialed you,ll never go back to soil..Best of luck, Buddler

Thanks, Buddler. I'll have to check out Rez's threads. I think before I go and make any changes, I'll need to get a pH/EC/PPM meter. I'm running blind right now, with the exception of one of those aquarium drip pH tests. My biggest worry is burning the plants. From what I've read, the KB powder can burn if not properly measured and ppm'd. Do you measure ppm or just go by the doses recommended here/on the bottle?

I think I'm sold on coco though. I might try some drippers on Blumats next run. Hand watering these plants is getting difficult. I come up covered in sticky resin and reeking of skunky/diesel pot smell because I brushed up against the plants. Security wise, it would be nice to not smell up the whole house just by walking through it lol.

NY2 you need to set up a water manifold and a reservoir with drippers or open ends on a timer no more tedious stinky hand watering LOL.PH is important with the coco and low ppms ,KB strong stuff try half dose for a week and adjust from there fosure.Once you get the auto watering they grow like hydro. B

quick update

quick update

Thanks for the info, Buddler. I was thinking about pumps, too. I was wondering wtf I would do if I had to go out of town for the weekend, and no one was around to hand water. I definitely need to get as close to set-it-and-forget-it as I can get.

Quick update: I've noticed some things in the room today. Some of the sativas that stretched like crazy are also now showing nanners. I had this happen last round as well, and I'm questioning how many of these cloned plants came from a sexually confused mother plant. I don't mind the possibility of some seeds, but I'm not even sure if they would pollinate and seed in the amount of time I'm thinking I have left. Like I said earlier, I've never counted days on these. It will be interesting to get the official count.

The indicas are show a couple red hairs, which has me stoked. I'm out of my sleep stash and these plants are the much needed replacement. I'm thinking I might start flushing them late next week. Does anyone go much further past the point where all the hairs turn red on a citrus diesel variety?

Day 54 update

Day 54 update

OK... so I went back and counted days on a calendar, and I'm actually at day 54 of flower instead of day 51. Not sure how I counted 3 days off of what it actually was, but hey... I'm sure we've all had a stoner moment at least once in our life.

OK... so the bad news first. It seems like my previous suspicions were correct, and most of my sativa's are now throwing nanners. I've started removing the nanners with extreme prejudice. At this point in the grow, I'm thinking I'm too far to change anything, and too early to chop. I need to see this out till the end. Anything anyone can recommend, or just keep pulling nanners? I guess I'd just like some reassurance that people have had successful harvests past a late flower nanner explosion.

Good news is that the plants are starting to bulk up like crazy. They're getting heavy with resinous goodness and fox-tailing pretty nice now. I'll get some pictures up later today when the wife comes home with her camera.

Day 55 pics

Day 55 pics

Some pics, as promised...

NANNERS!

NANNERS!

God damn roosters in the hen house... I'm sure you can spot them...

nice plants. the buds seem small though. are they or do the photos just not do them justice?

This pheno is a late weight gainer. The weight doesn't start gaining until the mid 50s. Chaco's ECSD thread has some good info here, and IMO, is one of the best references for anything diesel. I gauge a lot of where I am off that thread.

In all honesty though, my pheno is not a heavy producer like it's origins. I've had better in the past in terms of yield and strength, but this has been an unbelievably perfect fit for my medicinal needs over the last couple years.

Nanners ,friggin things guess your gonna get some seeds Good frost on them gonna be good though i,ve grown out plants with nanners better than chopping at this point,got a long way to go yet on those frosty diesels .I usually start from seed better chance of weeding out all the herms ,Great pics keep im comin Cheers B

Sorry to here about the nanners, they look great other than that. Hopefully there will be no pollen, or the pollen wiil be non-viable. I guess just keep picking them until finished, it's just damage control now. Unfortunately it looks like you still have a long way to go. I am sure these will plump up like crazy.

I want to do a run with coco it's just I am a little nervous changing from years of Promix use. I am sure by what I have seen in the past the coco would far surpass the production level of Promix, it's just I need to find some good nutes to use. Any suggestions for veg and bud?

TGT

Buddler- thanks, mate. Yeah, I should have offed the moms a while back and started fresh with seeds. I've had these moms around for while now. They've been through some heavy stress at times, so I'm not surprised this happened.

TGT- I'm pretty sure one or two main colas on a couple plants are seeded now. I'm not really worried as there are a ton of good colas down there. It does suck that it wasn't from a full male that pollinated. I would love to have had some viable seeds for stock that weren't going to inherit hermie traits. As far as the nutes go, I've heard some great stuff about the canna A&B nutes in Coco, but I'm pretty much sold on this Maxibloom. I would guess you would want a little more N in grow if you were going to veg longer, but it worked great for me this whole grow. In veg and bloom I've maybe used 1 1/3 2lbs bags @ $15 each bag. It goes a long way. I'm a pretty big fan of the addition of seaweed extract in any form throughout the grow, but skipped it this one for financial reasons... same reason I went with the MB. I'm sure you'll love the Coco like I did this round.

Day 60 Update:

Even with the nanners/seeds, most of the plants still look great regardless, and I'm stoked for this grow. I chopped a side branch off the sativa late last week to test. It dried in a paper bag for 4 days before I smoked it, at which point it was pretty decent. The next day I hit a half a joint and stared at the wall for like 2 hours. I was baked for hours. The wife couldn't walk straight on the 6th day. No cure, just straight dry. I'm not sure I want it to go much longer than it takes to flush(maybe 1-2 weeks). If it gets much stronger, then it's going to be too much for me. Weight has never been a concern, just whether or not it fit my liking. Where it's at right now is exactly how I like it. I've got a bunch of seeds left and can always grow it out again. The high was slow and then a very fast ramp up 5 minutes later that actually felt like I was pulling G's in a jet. I sunk into the couch hard, but it was all head... almost a mind-body separation. The wife said her brain was tingling, which she never says. The taste was ultra smooth (even without the cure), piney/mildly sweet at the inhale, and softly fruity and sugary on the palette in the exhale. It was almost like fruit stripes chewing gum. I'm sure with a cure it will be amazing.

I'm thinking of a kush, afghan, or hash plant strain to try next though... something in the 40-45 day range. I've been eyeing that DP Passion #1 sale on the Boo for a few days now. I'm also thinking about the BOG genetics. The wife loves fruit flavors, so I might ask her what she'd like to see next. Any suggestions to a short, squat plant in the 45 day range that's relatively cheap?

Pictures tomorrow as usual...

Seeds...

Seeds...

One from yesterday(day 60) showing some seeds midway down the bud:

Day 61 pics

Day 61 pics

Day 61 / day 3 of flush: