My Current Grow - 10 Varieties

[Elevator Man]

The BDs are incredibly slow to sex - I've had to put them on 12/12 just to find out what they are. Even one of the Thais seems to be showing something 'down there'. I only really need one female of each for these - there's no crossing planned. I just want a huge variety of smoke! And I can't afford to re-pot a bunch of males into large pots, so as soon as I'm certain, out they go - maybe tonight hopefully...

Just about to chop the NL X BB and G13, which will take a while, so I've got a friend coming round to give me a hand...

 

[suckerrepellent]

you have a pretty cool grow goin here. interesting strains. you might consider keeping some of the elite males, get some of their sacks and save some pollen in the event you try some crossing in the future. i know id save some black domina dust if i could. lookin good!

 

[Guest]

I'm very interested in seeing the G13 and NLxBB final pics. They going in the harvest thread?

 

[Elevator Man]

I'm very interested in seeing the G13 and NLxBB final pics. They going in the harvest thread?

Yep - I've been trying to sort these out all day, but keep getting pestered to do 'work' - don't these people understand I have more important things to do than meet their damn deadlines?

The G13s are hilarious - it had totally collapsed by today, so I had to just keep piling branches of buds up on top of each other like dreadlocks and hope they didn't collapse before I pressed the shutter! Got some great shots though - just have to delete some more old pics from my gallery to make room for them...

 

[ngakpa]

heya - can't wait to see those Thai hotties

here's a classic Prince Far I track for the Jamaican roadtest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbp8UnD9U20
"Throw away your gun (and let we have some fun)"

great footage from '70s Jamaica

 

[Elevator Man]

It's been a while since the last update - I've been really busy working, trimming, re-potting, spraying - and smoking! Most of the harvested plants are dry and curing in jars, though they're all getting sampled, and it's top-notch stuff - needs a little longer before it shifts into top gear, but the nutrients have worked wonders - the buds taste delicious, even at this stage. I just posted pics of the first Skunk#1 pheno to come down in my harvest photos thread.

As for the growroom - busy. Here's the state of play before my battery ran out - I'll update on this little lot tomorrow...

 

[Highlighter]

EM, tremendous grow! Had to come check it out after your posting of the Malawi in the 'sativa' thread. She's a beauty! Is this a Pip's gold?
Anyway, can't wait to watch her finish up. Outstanding prune job!

 

[Elevator Man]

Thanks! It's the Seedsman Malawi Gold - there is an earlier grow thread in the Flower Pix section - it's a beauty. The seeds were incredibly cheap too - less than £20...

 

[Elevator Man]

Some bad news...

Some bad news...

Well I finally fucked up on something - I guess something had to go wrong eventually. On Thursday night, the temps outside increased hugely, and I miscalculated just how hot it could get, and how much water the plants would need. When I opened up the growroom Friday, the hay-smell of freshly-dried leaf made me shudder - the plants got pretty well cooked in the four hours after I left them before the lights went off. I raised the lights about eight inches immediately, and drowned the plants in water, but a lot of damage had already been done.
Worst of all, the Malawi Gold has taken the biggest hit - about half the plant is dry and shrivelled - it's really upsetting to see. The two skunks got damaged too, though not as much as they're shorter. But large parts of some buds are brown and dry - probably smokable already, ironically, but not this way.

The new plants are better-off as they are much shorter, and much more green - they folded upwards to protect themselves, and have pretty much recovered. Apart from the #2 Flo pheno, which I think is fucked, basically. It's gone brown all over - it was just too much for the poor thing - though it was getting a little weird anyway - I'm no believer in fate, but I do like a pheno that can resist the occasional disaster, so I guess this was 'meant to be'...

So - the issue remaining is whether to keep the Malawi Gold going or cut my losses - much of the bud material is dried out, so I'm not sure if it will grow out new calyxes, and many of the shade leaves are withered beyond repair. If it can re-grow in the few weeks remaining, I can keep it, but I'm also thinking it might just be a waste of electricity, and better to use the lights for other strains - like the Thais. The two skunks won't lose much in yield, even if they don't grow out any more, as they were so fat anyway, and much of the buds are still undamaged.

I'm really miserable about this, but it's my own fault, and pointless whingeing about it - I'm just thankful I have plenty of dried buds now to take away the sting. But if anyone's ever air-dried most of a pure sativa at ten weeks flower, I'd love some advice on whether it's worth continuing...?

 

[Elevator Man]

Well, here's some news on the grow, as it's been a while - and I've recovered from the shock of nearly frying my plants. I've pulled out the two large skunks for chopping tomorrow, and they don't look too bad under normal light - a burnt patch on each bud, but I shouldn't lose much. The Malawi Gold is the worst affected, with over half the plant dry and shrivelled (in top left). However, as I hoped, it's starting to regrow - as this had at least five weeks to go, I'm going to start re-feeding fairly heavily and see if I can get this thing to finish with some weight.

As for the new stuff - well, they're going like trains at 21 days flower:



I have three Black Domina F2s, all of which look different - one in particular (right at the back of the pic above) is a much slower-flowering pheno, and is taking ages to get going, but they look very healthy with incredibly thick stems. I don't normally grow pure indicas, but this is quite fun, and is getting me into practice for some Deep Chunk! Here's two of the three:



The main Thai is bushing out nicely, though I still can't say for certain that it's female! The other two will be repotted and added to the growroom on a day or two, along with one Flo F2 that's still hanging around.

The Skunk X Flo cross is an almost pure indica pheno, and is flowering very quickly, though a little short. This is really just a test grow to see what it smokes like - the skunk female parent is incredibly fruity, so it should be nice. The Cheese X Yumboldt ('Chumboldt') is also pretty small, but beginning it stretch a little - looks quite sativa, apart from the height...

And the most exciting for me - the two best phenos from the Malawi Gold X Flo seeds I germed a few weeks ago. Again, just a test grow - I don't plan to incross this line until the autumn, so just want to see how the two strains combine. The Flo parent in both cases was the #2 male (not planned, just the way it turned out), which was small, green and very indica, but I suspect quite passive in physical traits - which is borne out by my 2nd-gen Flo incrossing - as the Malawi is extremely dominant in both phenos.

However, these two are much darker green than pure Malawi, the leaves are less droopy and have rounder serrations. Also the plants are more stocky than the Malawi, and much more branchy than the Flo, which is exactly how I hoped they would turn out. I can't wait to germ 50 or so seeds of each batch after the summer, with the #1 purple Flo male's influence, which I think will be much more dominant. But until then, these two will be fun to watch:

 

[medjool]

EM....
nothing like a grow room disaster to get you down
I'm glad it's not so bad...
I'm with Highlighter, I HAD to check out your threads
after your photos in the Ultimate Sativa
also, 1200 watts, that is interesting...



mrs m

 

[Elevator Man]

Well, I posted ages ago that something had to go wrong - I'm hoping that was it!

As for the Malawi Gold, it's growing new shoots everywhere - whether it will need to go through a re-veg period I'm not sure, but the shoots look like basic veg growth - we'll see. I've decided to keep it going regardless - I'm convinced it can recover. And there's plenty of time.

I chopped the two big skunks today, and suprisingly the damage wasn't as bad as I expected - once I'd got the leaves off (which were all withered - one plant had to be 'plucked' like a chicken!), there were some pretty bad scorched patches, but not a great loss in yield overall. And the burnt areas still have resin on them, so they can go in the hash bag. These two should be heavier than the rest - if I pull less than five ounces per plant, I'll be disappointed...

 

[Elevator Man]

Just adding two more Thais and two more Flos to the main grow - these are my second-gen Flos, so probably around F6 on 'Flo-time'. The main Thai already in there may be male, and if so, will have to be pulled out.

The Malawi Gold is taking up an awful lot of useful space, but I'm trying to hang onto it for now - lots of new growth everywhere - though not as much as the dead material yet....

 

[Guest]

Sucks about the burning but hey if thats the worst thing to happen for a while i think you will be ok. I hope you don't mind i was wondering what sort of extraction you have ? I have just bought a couple of 600w and a fan but not sure if its enough, i plan to run them at night on 12/12 only if i can so that should help i think.
Best of luck with the grow!

 

[Elevator Man]

Neil - I've got two RVK 4" inline fans - one in, one out. The intake is on the left side, just behind that fan at ground level - the extractor is right up at the top on the other side venting out into the garden. To be honest, it's only just enough with 1200W, and that's in a cellar with 2ft thick stone walls! I think I'll upgrade after the summer to a 5, or maybe 6-inch extractor, and leave the four-inch intake, which should get me some slightly negative pressure in there. I only run at night - 6 till 6, and 7 till 7 summer time, but it's still damn hot in there.

Shame about the Malawi, but I think it can give me something by the end. And these two MG X Flo phenos look more than good enough replacements! Here's some new pics, with the remaining two Thais and two Flos added tonight - BTW, I think the first, biggest Thai is a male...



Thais:


Black Domina F2s:


Malawi Gold X Flo:


Malawi Gold:

 

[Blunted22]

Hey elevator ive noticed that you always have beautiful grows man. I seen that you change up your light cycles for flowing to kind of imitate changing seasons.

How well have you tested this, if at all? Im sure you have tested it and run it for a reason, so do you actually see a difference since it would be e z to do?

Thanks for answers the questions i hope they werent to noobish its a subject i came across acouple time and i see people goign back and forth with no real evidence.

Good luck on the grow bro im sure it soona be great like always. (got to love them dj short strains)

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info mate! I went with a large motor 6 inch ruck inline. No intake as of yet though. I will have to see, I am going to get framing up today i may just run one of the lights during the summer.

The Malawi Gold X Flo look great! they both look similar in structure and leaf shape from the pic's. Best of luck with the grow!

 

[Elevator Man]

Blunted22 - well it seems to work so far, though this second batch have obviously just gone in at 12/12 straight - I never really planned to keep this grow going as long as this! But in future, I will definitely trigger my grows at 14/10 now - unless they're very sativa-dominant, I've found most of my strains will begin flowering. We had several Flos growing outdoors last year (in various gardens), and they all started flowering between Aug 28th (green pheno) and Sept 5th (purple pheno) - the photoperiods there are about 14.00 and 13.42, so it's clear you can do it.

Neil - the MG X Flo look to be settling in nicely - a great mix of both profiles - it looks much more MG, except it's too short - which I'm hoping is the Flo kicking in. Also the flower period will be critical in judging how it's worked out - anything less than 12 weeks will be a success in my book...

 

[Elevator Man]

I just found out some more info on the Black Dominas - I was given these by a friend a few months ago, which were in some seeded BD buds. Turns out that they're not F2s at all, but Black Domina X Maple Leaf Indica!

No biggie really, as they're still pure indica, but that may explain the three wildly different phenos I've got - one of which is taking much longer to start flowering than the other two - it's the most bushy too, which may not be just coincidence...

 

[hidingtree]

hey EM ! dang i so wanted that malawi to finish perfectly mate ! cheers on your groe though and for counting your blessings .... dam i've done that so far .... interesting stuff the HALO .just wish it was more for heat stress than pests . !still cant wait to hear about the malawi though . cheers!many blessings , hidingtree .....