the Bowl cut training method

[Farmall]

hey Cronk, it just really looks like the shapes I am anxiously trying to get. last time I had 4 days of serious trimming with the big buds but also a load golfball sized popcorn. If it makes the big colas bigger... it is more than worth it all for me. Essentially, I have approached the same technique but yours is more aggressive. Compared to my topping and lst old methods, my technique is aggressive but not near what you’ve achieved. To me it illustrates that I can do much more.

usin g the super-soil has given me the freedom of not using up time to mix nutes... it’s water and that is so convenient and you have no need to flush. It seems hard to visualize tiny growth as it all starts out tiny 😄

[Cronk]

Super soil sounds interesting to me, nutes get old and I wonder about the crap that's in them. Is SS time consuming to make and maintain? are there any infection risks?

yes, I got tired of the endless trimming at harvest. my last grow was ridiculous, I was trying to get every possible bud to grow, it was a waste of time in the end and nearly burned me out on growing. I still have a brown paper grocery bag full of fluff material to make something with. This time I think for me, it's not so much about total harvest as it is ease of growth and quality as my time is very limited. I've seen some guys claim 6 ounces per plant with aggressive training. I think I'll get 3.

[Farmall]

Super soil; go to the web sites... as mentioned Kind Soil was a bit rude to my friends who made a few inquires and I am quite sure it’s great soil. But, in my book attitude is everything so I am using Natures living soil. Check out their website and instructions. You can make it but it can take as many as 60-90 days to “ cook” down into useable material so I bought a few bags and it has been doing GREAT ! I see no maintenance or risks of any issues... it is truly an organic method and no need to flush. Fungus gnats seem to be a good possibility if your Soil is too moist on the top. and, you don’t water so much that you get runoff... in fact if you do, you’ll probably be washing out all of the good microbes. In a 5 gallon fabric pot I water every 2-3 days with about 1200-1400ml of water. By the second day, they’re usually dry but, they’re at that stage of growth.

Did you use those paper bags for drying? At my other friends suggestion, I did it that way and it really was easy and worked wonderfully. No mold, dried nicely

[Cronk]

I did dry in paper bags. I closed them lightly and put the bags in one of those mesh multi level hanging things. after about a week they were dry and I jarred them. I think it improved the smell

[Cronk]

so it seems you use Kind Soil in conjunction with Coco or another medium? Do you add any organic nutrients at all?

[Farmall]

Yes, that is exactly how I did it... Natures Living Soil mixed with Fox Farms ocean..filled the fabric pot 33% full with that and then filled the balance with CocoLoco. The only thing I added was worm poop tea and alternated with 1 mix of water and blackstrap molasses but only 3 times in 2 months.

The paper bags were the easiest part of harvest. Filled them only to cover the bottom and shook them gently every day. I had hung them from a clothing rack on coat hangers. Folded the tops over the hanger and used binder clips to hang the bags from the hangers to keep them off the ground.

I have one of those multi-level hoop things. Took me an hour to get it back in the bag

[billyboy]

I'm trying out this bowl method on this Dinafem Dinamed CDB +. I topped at the 6th node and kept everything below, splayed them out in a circle and let em rip. Defoliation along the way so far but mostly letting it do what it will do. I'l taking everything inside the wires keeping it clean and lean.
We'll see how this goes.

How long was Veg when this pic was taken?

[billyboy]

Tell Grandpa Daze "the line may be fine but it is easy to find" from Billy

[HappyDaze]

billyboy We'll need a Ouija board or a crystal ball...Grand Daddy Daze has been tending his tomaters in the Big Garden in the Sky for about twenty years now.

But back to the question at hand.....what's too much training from your view? I'm always trying for <100 day turnarounds with the indica dom plants I grow.....W.W., Blue Dream, Blue Widow, etc.

[Cronk]

@billiyboy unfortunately I couldn't tell you.

[Cronk]

here's some better pics of what my grow is doing. you can see the structure a little better and you can see how much I didn't cut off. I think I got lucky with genetics because the things I let go here would have killed me in another grow. still, it's a good lesson for me because I'm going to do this same thing x4 in September. 3x this same strain + one big indica.

[Cronk]

I swore I was going to clip anything on the inside of the spokes but damned if i didn't let all that mess go. wonder if I should clean it up now. the more I look at this the messier it looks to me. I think it's a good start anyway, I'll do better next time

[Cronk]

[billyboy]

HappyDaze 'But back to the question at hand.....what's too much training from your view?"

>> That turns out to be a more difficult question than one may think. So here is my answer:

If you are looking for the balance between yield and effect then the answer is "The amount of training that delivers less than the desired effect and that diminishes from the maximum yield, is too much.".

I am about to do the second and final major defoliation on six sisters from four strains. Wish me LUCK in training all six of those girls :-)

[Doubledealing72]

Your plants are looking great Cronk! You can still pop that small stuff off the bottom if you want to. I dont think it would hurt any, but if you're not sure just leave it on and keep it in mind for the next grow.

Good job man, they look super clean 👍

[Cronk]

woke up to signs of what I think it nitro tox. Need to flush tonight and see is it improves.

[Cronk]

Thanks to Schwaggy my plant was cut down tonight at what is said to be peak CBD. That is when all trichs are predominantly milky yet not amber whatsoever. This is what I learned today as Schwaggy pointed me to a guy named Wade Laughter of House of Harlequin.

I was going to wait till 20% amber like I have in the past. I'll try this. Even though my Candida produced multiple batches of very good oil I had thought it should have a stronger CBD effect given it's profile. This may be why. I'll dry and make CBD gummies with this one.

[Cronk]

This training method made it really easy to cut down and hang with a string. I left all the leaves on and I'll let it hang for a few days when I'll transfer it to a couple paper bags for another few, then I'll jar it.

thick colas, not much leaf material, no fluff whatsoever. all nice buds. I'm really happy with this method. Could have been a little taller but I think yield will be good.

[Schwaggy]

May be short but those colas are thick! You’ll have a merry harvest. Good work!!

[Farmall]

Cronk. What process are you going to use to make these beautiful buds into cbd? just realized I am using the same 39” tent, 315 light. My last CBD was decarbed, then Magical Butter with olive oil. Maybe there is a better way?

[Cronk]

same except with hemp seed oil. I decarb at 240 for 60 minutes and do a 4 hour tincture at 130 F in the magic butter.

I tried the stovetop method, the taste was toasty and not so nice. I think the gentle heating of the MB is better. The long decarb is for the CBD. I've read so many differing opinions on temp and length of tie that I don;t know anymore. I do know that this method made my THC gummies nice and strong, delivering a great buzz.

[Cronk]

I'll add that if you plan to harvest for CBD like I did you'll want to start you flush at around week 6. I wasn't planning to do it this way so my flush was only about 5 days. Wade Laughter suggests to flush 4 weeks before harvest. He grows all natural, though. I;m not sure if I'm willing to do that yet as I'm still believing that the nutes help pack on weight but I could be very wrong about that. He says it's all in the genetics. I reckon I ought to grow one to flush that early and see.

I'll be using less nutes next grow for sure

[Farmall]

Thanks Cronk, I used super soil so only used water. But, I saw an article on buying a half pound of whole plant chopped hemp for $170?? Which says it is tested at 20-24% cdba. Given this scenario, an ounce decarbed, infused and strained via Magical Butter should produce 6-7oz of CBD oil?

As for building yield, I’ve tried several techniques and I’m still not sure which combination would be best between training and lighting as it just takes too many variables for me. So I found my self doing them all and probably reduced yield as a result and the lighting is an experiment that takes months to see a resulting difference and may be best learned in a side by side experiment

[Cronk]

I forgot you were using Super Soil. Nevermnd with that then.
I decarb about 50 grams and use 2 cups oil in the MB. I get about the same out in oil tincture. Candida is supposed to be 15 - 20% CBD but we don;t have testing so I have no idea. It works well and I hope this Dinafem with the new decarb schedule will give me better oil. We're all on our own experiment path.

[Farmall]

Well your clarification makes sense... I know I am more of a teaspoon of this and 2 oz of that equals X. But we are really experimenting. When I read about the successes of individuals who report on their mixtures, I can best utilize that as a start point to to up or down from there ....pharmaceutical brain washing makes me believe in those dumb ideas ...Hahaha

as this conversation started, I still have to compliment you with your pruning and shaping of that bowl....

btw, the source of the CBD material is black tie dot net. Check it when you have some time, I’m interested in your thoughts

[Cronk]

That shake looks interesting, as well as the other things they sell. That they can ship all over the US has be really curious. Good reviews, too. Not sure if it's a better option than growing, though.

please remind me what Super soil you use?

[Farmall]

I'm using Natures Living Soil . None of it is cheap but when I consider I did not buy any nutes, and the energies required to mix and schedule feeding and the flush towards the end...I figured Id try the organic route and see how it went. Honestly it went well...My thinking is I need to adjust my lighting. I think it may be too much for the area. Despite my dimming it down near 40%, I may need to drop it more or remove a fixture. I have mentioned these lights before and they are DIY LED Strips.. you may find the video interesting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAFdc6WZF-g&t=1388s