White Shark: Harvest Time Nears!

[Rangi]

I love learning from these plants, alltatup! There's an argument to be made for "immersion" approaches to learning ... but it comes at the risk of becoming entirely overwhelmed and falling flat on your face! lol

I initially ordered a Bloombox only. Then a week later I called them back and said, screw it, I'm all in. Give me the Full Meal Deal. And make that With Cheese. lol

So, I've gone from never having even seen a live, growing marijuana plant to having - as you said - a lotta them! My Health Canada personal production registration allows me to grow 25 plants. And I'll be able to add 8 more (for my wife and me) as "recreational" plants on 17 October when the new law comes into effect. 33 plants will either keep me out of trouble ... or get me into a lot of it. Really, could go either way. lolol

[Rangi]

Campesino, I agree re accuracy concerns. I had a cheap one years ago that came with in my cedar cigar humidor. Piece of junk. I'll go with the caliber IV that you and alltatup have found works well. Thank you both for the feedback

[alltatup]

Man, Rangi, you are dealing with a lotta plants!! That's great: I learn so much from each grow.

[alltatup]

I also like the Caliber IV, after wasting money on a few cheaper ones...

[Rangi]

Campesino, I don't have a hygrometer that is jar-friendly, but I will in a few days - it's en route! This is also a neat concept:

http://www.hygrolid.com

[Rangi]

@allatup, just fyi, I plan to post a few "DIY" type threads .... hopefully some info there that someone can use - regardless of whether it's a box grow or not. It'll probably be a week or two tho, but definitely sooner rather than later

[Rangi]

Thanks - once again! - Campesino and everyone else here for passing on these gems of info! So grateful!

Humidipaks have been removed. Burping forward!

[alltatup]

Rangi I know just how you feel. July 21 will be my two year anniversary growing, and I have learned so much!! I worship cannabis now--humans' plant best friend. Like dogs!! I'd love to see some pics of your setup and yes, moving the whole shebang to the basement sounds like a good move!!!

[Rangi]

alltatup Thanks very much! This was the first bud I've grown that is really good. REALLY good! lol Yield was low -- but only if measured in weight. I learned so much during this grow, and that has to count for something!

Ohhhhh ... root rot! Quite familiar with it!! When my boxes first arrived (this time last year) I set them all up in a 10' x 12' room ... 2 pros, 1 bb & 1 ms! What a squeeze. And as you can imagine - and as I should have done in advance - managing heat in that small space with 4 boxes cranked up with a battle I did not win easily! I saw the chiller solution on the BCNL forum, but wanted a solution that didn't require purchasing 3 chillers. Seemed inefficient. So I stumbled across some random post out in hyperspace about using a stainless steel coil in the rez, through which cold water is flowed to cool the solution. I also moved all the boxes to my spacious (and unused - since the last brat moved out 10 yrs ago!) basement.

Already long story, made as short as possible ... ...
- I have a chiller that cools tap water in a 25 gal Coleman Marine Cooler. That cold water then is circulated out to each box and back.
- At each box (other than MS), there are 2 cooling zones - grow chamber and nute rez.
- Flow of the cold water from the Coleman to each of the 6 zones is controlled by an Inkbird controller - thermometer measures temp (either air or water), and if above the temp I have "set" it activates a solenoid valve to open and allow the cold water to flow. Once the temp is back in range, the valve closes.
- To cool each rez, the cold water flows through stainless steel coils (2 in each pro; 1 in the bb) that are mostly submerged in the nute solution. Got this idea from beer kegging! Have never done it, but apparently at one point in the process hot liquid needs to be cooled quickly. So a SS "immersion coil" - through which cold water is flowed - is submerged in the hot liquid. So I thought ... hmmmmm! And it works
- To cool the grow chamber, cold water flows though a Gaming PC Radiator that I attached to the air intake! I guess hardcore PC gamers need to keep those electronics cool, so they've designed some super efficient liquid cooling systems. Best part of this was that the BCNL box fan IS a PC fan ... exactly 4" ... so this radiator I bought to attach to the outside of the box had the screw holes and everything already perfectly lined up!!. When the temp rises above the set point in the grow chamber, cold water starts flowing through the fins of the radiator through which the fresh air is being drawn into the box.
- And ... I also have a 7th "zone" ... the cold water flows to an 8" IceBox attached to an 8" S-Line Vortex fan ... The IceBox is a radiator (Hydrofarm now markets them) and can be attached to reflectors in grow rooms for cooling air. So I thought .... hmmmm ... lol! I've been able to eliminate the portable AC unit needed to manage the ambient environment. All from 1 chiller.

Trust me, I had LOTS and LOTS of glitches and hair-pulling frustrations to get this all "flowing" properly! I'm not a handyman. But I am curious. And like to tinker and experiment. And learn. blah blah blah. lol. Seriously though, this is just one example of so very many where growing weed has pushed me outside my comfort zone. Clearly not just growing the bud; I'm growing myself too. I like it.

[Rangi]

Wow!! That's amazing!

I have another crop of White Shark (clones from my mom) veg'ing and training right now in my Bloombox. Hoping I can get some height on them, compared to this last crop. My plan is to stick with this strain for the next several crops - at least - so I can figure out timings, etc. I don't yet have a "groove" in terms of having them transition smoothly each time I move them (cloner > bloombox; bloombox > producer). I'm already feeling under the gun to get these ones moved to the pro ... they're starting to take off ... and I don't have pro available yet (cleaning day today I guess!).

[alltatup]

Rangi, Just wanted to show you my Purple Haze x Malawi grow (like my 3rd grow??) that took over the box. Since then I've been conservative with veg time, but I know with the strains I'm growing now that I could veg a little longer and get better yield.

[alltatup]

Spot on: share, give and take, pat on back and receive pat on back!!

[alltatup]

Rangi Grow looks fantastic!!! Love the big box. Just curious how you keep res temps down cuz I certainly had to buy chiller--before that it was a horrific grow with root rot (buds stunted, but still quite good bud).

[Rangi]

Harvest Report - White Shark Weighed and Jarred

• buds were ready for jars last night

• each jar has an Integra 62% humidity pack
  • Bud: 318g
  • Premium Trim: 41g

• was a bit disappointed in final weight ... about 60% of what I should be able to get from this strain in this setup
  • that said, it was my first time growing this strain, plus they had a rather bumpy ride!
  • They travelled across the country during a -40^oC cold snap to get to me - and were in the dark for 24 hours during their trip
  • Then they developed and survived WPM
  • Then they experienced nute lockout in early flower
• weight aside, I am absolutely thrilled with the quality - which I haven't seen the best of yet ... cure, cure cure!

[Rangi]

Potency "Estimate" > HiGrade Analytic Scope

• I ordered one of these Scopes a few weeks ago ... See:
  • https://www.gethigrade.com/web/index.html

• Makes 3 claims:
  1. Plant Diagnostics
  2. Harvest Optimization (when to harvest)
  3. Potency Evaluation (%THC estimate)
• For #1 and #2, you submit a pic via the scope/app/phone and about 12hrs later you get an email with "results"
• For #3, you take a pic and get an immediate estimate

• Can't find any studies demonstrating reliability and validity, so for now I consider a neat toy lol
  • But I must admit it made me smile today ....

• Fending off cognitive dissonance, and notwithstanding this flattering "result", I won't suggest by any means this is an accurate analysis
• Perhaps at some later time I'll upgrade it from "toy" to "tool". We'll see!
• For now, just smiling