excellent grow,just finished reading everything.
hope and love for no mold
Wow! Taskenti has really moved along
looks a like a fine haul you'll be getting from these mate... hope you're all set for the "big trim"
happy harvesting mate
j
that taskenti is looking soooo
Cool to see the pic with the actual purple trich-stalks
I've saved it to me fav pix folder
They've blown up ever more since I last took a peek at y'r thread, maybe you won't get to y'r 1lb goal but it looks like you've got plenty of smoke to come
Have ya test-smoked some of the blowfish already? if so, whats the smoke/stone/high like??
Also can I ask what kind of cam y'r using? i'm getting fed up with mine and it's in-ability to take decent macro's but gotta work for more € first if I do want to splash out on a DSLR
Oh well, something to aspire to right? By the way that title you made up "low does layering" sounds real good!! You think I could do that with square pots on one square meter indoors?? not too sure meself, but if I'm not gonna try that this run then there's always next years outdoors
Looking forward to more harvest shots and or smoke reports
Take care, laterz
Low
errm... nice trunkage dude
Nice frosty popcorn
Looks and sounds like ya got plenty of really good smoke!! 2009's OD was a success huh?!?!?
Thanx for sharing the info about the cams, i'm thinkin i'm gonna go find an inbetween cam because I don't think I am worthy of a DSLR, meaning: i don't use a lot of specifics wouldn't even know how to set up such elaborate cams, and usually point and shoot..
it's just a shame most of the point and shoot variety cameras I come across do not seem to have a decent macro function...But I might've found one now I just need to save up
Have fun smokin all those buds man!
Laterz, Low
This grow was completely organic (a first for me), and the plants/soil were fed with compost/guano teas and fermented plant extracts for their entire life.
The first part of the grow (indoors) was a little bit of a disaster, but I had dug and amended two deep trenches at my plot by the end of the third week of April, and planted out my four plants around the start of June.
Instead of planting them out normally I decided to "layer" all but one plant, with the aim of keeping them low profile, as well as promoting the growth of multiple root systems on each individual plant, and increasing the chances of a better yield.
Mistakes made
- Plant spacing too close
- Planted out later than I could have
- Planted in too shady a spot
- Did not scape the branches/layers to encourage root growth (see next)
- Later layers did not root as well (see above)
- Took no preventative measures against pests (early on at least)
- Left it late before staking them
- Did not remove lower/smaller branches
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Results
Despite these mistakes, and choosing non standard early flowering strains, or what I thought were early flowering strains, all of the plants, including the Taskenti (which I knew would be a gamble) managed to fully mature thanks mainly to relatively kind weather early to mid flower.
Trainwreck #1 - Dry yield: 3.25 ounces
This Trainwreck was in the most shady position, and never reached anywhere near it's full potential thanks to that fact as well as being attacked by pests (fleabeetles) just before flower, which cant have helped much. As with the other plants I layered, the later layers did not root as well as the first layer I initially made when I planted them out.
Layering in this case may have been a mistake, since it kept the plant low and out of the sun, but also within the reach of the fleabeetles which live in the soil, and climb up the stems to to damage to the young shoots of the plant. It was the only plant to suffer significantly, since all the others grew too fast/tall to suffer anything but the occasional bit of fleabeetle damage here and there.
The flowers were mostly quite sparse (this strain needs good sunlight in order to produce dense buds I think), although some of the taller main branches produced nugs that almost resemble fairly solid bud. Although leafy, this plant had perhaps the best crystal coverage of all the plants, and simmilar to her sister Trainwreck #2!
Most of her got the chop at 57 days of flower as signs of PM were starting to appear in many branches. I probably left behind 1/3 to 1/4 of her that was mostly fluff/popcorn, but am regretting doing so a little since I could have used it for ISO.
Blowfish - Dry yield: 4.7 ounces
This was the the only plant that was not layered, although I did bury her deep trying to get a similar effect. It would have worked better if she was bigger, and I had buried her deeper I think.
I was a little disappointed with the yield for such a big plant, but then it is going to be headstash I think if my last outing with her is anything to go by. The relatively low yield might be partly explained by her being partly blown over at around the start of flower. One large lower side branch that was low enough to produce roots for itself apparently yellowed early because of this at the very least.
The buds, although surrounded by a bit of leaf, had fairly tight packed but small calyxes that are liberally coated with resin glands, along with the surrounding smaller leaves. Not quite as much trimming especially compared to the Trainwrecks with this one, which is always a bonus.
Most of her got the chop at 57 days of flower, although a few smaller nugs were left to go another 3 more days. One or two patches of PM had started to appear on her by this stage, and with a long spell of wet weather forecast, I did not think it was worth taking the risk.
Trainwreck #2 - Dry yield: 6.05 ounces
This pheno did not do well indoors for me, but outdoors it surprised me by taking off, and producing some amazingly frosty (although quite loose and leafy) buds in flower. Again I don't think there was enough sun in late flower to produce very dense buds.
Trainwreck #2 was the first to show signs of PM, so I harvested in stages with the lion's share being cut at 63 days of flower. I think the layering worked much better with this plant than her sister mainly due to the slightly sunnier spot, although as with the other plants, the later the layer was done, the less well it took. In this case 2 layers was enough, although I don't know if scraping the stems before burying them might have made a difference or not.
Taskenti - Dry yield: 8.3 ounces
The wild card stole the show in the end, and I wasn't even sure if she would finish, but luckily she was the first to show signs of flowering. Perhaps being in a sunny(er) spot helped in that respect.
Layering in this case was definitely a good idea! Even the smaller branches had quite nice nuggs on them although, once again the could have been denser with a bit more sun I think. The crystal coverage on the buds is right up there with the others IMO.
Total = 1lb 6.3 ounces
Conclusion
I thought that I had dug the trenches too deep, and that they would become stagnant, but in the end, I don't think it made much difference. If anything I think it helped. The layering certainly helped, although the last round was unnecessary, as I found out when I pulled up the roots the other day! The entire surfaces of the trenches were a mass of fine roots at least.
I was hoping to grow enough for perhaps 6 months to a year (about 24 ounces of skunk from a dealer is what I'd usually get through in a year) at best, but this is much better quality bud, plus I have a crap load of frosty trim which could probably keep me going for a few months on it's own!
Here are some pics of the dried buds.
To the left of the lighter are Taskenti colas, and Blowfish on the right
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I collected all the preflowers together for this pic - Taskenti top left, Blowfish top right, Trainwreck #2 bottom left, and Trainwreck #1 bottom right
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Blowfish calyxes
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Trainwreck #1
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Taskenti
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Here are some shots of the nuggs, chosen at random. Blowfish first
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Taskenti
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Trainwreck #1
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Trainwreck #2
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Back in a few weeks with some smoke reports