Niwas and a jump to living soil in the new year.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week four update is late again because of a nutty work week. Flowers continue to build nicely. The tent that was less affected by mites is doing noticeably better though. I've pulled fans off and looked for mites under the scope and all I find are large adults and no babies or eggs so it seems that the neem spray and neem cake in the soil finally worked into the plants themselves so that eggs can't survive.

Here's the 4x4s:


It's time for more defoliation, obviously.

Here's Peyote Forum flower building up:


And here's the jungle developing in the 3x3:



I need to try to get a photo this weekend because the peavine growing in here is starting to bloom! All of these girls need to get a good trimming again. As soon as the MAC-1 clone is big enough to tie down, I will have to flip to flower because of how big the others are getting.

[Cali]

Looks good all around. Keep an eye on the cover crop. I stopped using living cover crop because where I live I have to deal with thrips and clover is one that would always get infested. It’s how I notice issues because they the pest seem to set up shop down there and then move up. Also the fact that my pots are only 5 gallon so not much space for a living mulch. I do have it on my outdoors though because nature is more abundant and takes care of pest easier. Being that you have mites still and in flower have you considered buying beneficial pest? It’s usually what I do in flower and the good thing is they do stick around.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I'm keeping an eye out for predator mites at the grow shops. For all I know, the ones I'm still seeing are predator mites with nothing left to do! I did some defoliation today and should have kept a few of the fans from the 3x3 to put under the scope. I'll be spraying tomorrow to try and get ahead of bugs. I'll probably cut back the cover crop if it gets much bushier.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Peavine!

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 5 of flower update is only one day late. Buds are building all over the place and now the four in the 3x3 have been flipped to flower so just about all my evening waterings are happening in green light.

Here's the two 4x4s:


And some early bud porn:


Left is Larry's Lemon OG, Right is Peyote Z-z and it definitely smells like candy.

Here's the 3x3 just before flip:


These are the bonus weed MAC-1s and a LLOG that may still root someday:

I've topped these two and set them up with four main branches when they do grow out. It's been a while since I've had clones around. I forgot how much more symmetrical seed babies are.

Next weekend is reamend day. They will get ground gnarly barley, DTE Rose and Flower and maybe some worm castings. The MAC-1 clones got a dose of worm compost complete with worms just before I added the timothy mulch. Letting Eisenia fetida do all the hard work is paying off in every tent!

[SoOrbudgal]

Looking real healthy you sure got this grow dialed in

[Cali]

Nice pea vine. Reminds me of HerbinFarmers grow tents. Keep an eye out for them they will wrap around the buds and choke out the plants. Citypickers are looking great. Plants are making a nice comeback, stacking up really nice. You will be pretty impressed come harvest. I’m really liking their performance and specially how easy it is to just fill the reservoir like a hydro bucket but without all the headaches. That Larry sounds very tasteful. Pretty sure it will reek of fuel soon.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've got one of those vines that climbed Alien Rock Candy and might have to take it down. I'm expecting some great bud next month. The Seedsman Peyote Purple crosses are growing surprisingly well. I'm a bit sad that none of the Peyote Wi-Fi seeds lived to maturity now. Still, most of what's in this grow are varieties I've been waiting a long time to try like Sensi NL and Expert MAC-1 and Purple Urkle. It looks like I need to update the post signature too!

[Puglover1]

I see MAC-1 at the dispo often but I've never tried it. What would happen if I put nightcrawlers in when filling my bags but I didn't feed them ... what would they eat?

[UndergroundFarmer]

I reamend with dry kelp meal, neem seed meal and crab meal during veg, Rose and Flower Mix during flower. I also add ground sprouted grains (which I'm sure the worms love) and crumbled fan leaves. That and the stuff present when the soil was mixed keeps them happy enough to not try to escape. I'm pretty sure they'll eat dead root bits which is absolutely necessary to go no-till. I got my worms from PetSmart. They sell them as "red wigglers" in a cooler where they keep crickets and other live reptile food. They live in compost heaps and are native to North America and can be caught "wild" like I did at first but I think that could be how the hemp russet mites got in. I keep a worm factory going in my house on the back porch so I've always got fresh worm compost complete with worms to add.

[Puglover1]

Ah, thanks. We have Petsmart here and an indy pet store where I take the pugs for nails. My town is on the IL River, I grew up fishing, and eating fresh caught catfish and bullheads. I can bait a hook but I won't take the fish off - live fish are creepy, worms are OK.

[golfnrl]

@Puglover1... I can bait a hook but I won't take the fish off - live fish are creepy, worms are OK....that right there made me laugh out loud.

[Cali]

I see MAC-1 at the dispo often but I've never tried it. What would happen if I put nightcrawlers in when filling my bags but I didn't feed them ... what would they eat?

Depends, will there be any organic matter in the soil they can eat? What worms are we talking about? I know Of red wigglers as composters and they will survive as long as it’s moist. They breed thru moisture and “eat” organic matter that is broken down by enzymes because they have no teeth they don’t chew. Night crawlers like worms that come out of the earth when it rains those will die quickly.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 6 went by faster than I could get the update out and now it's week 7! This will be the last posting of group pics because bud porn is on tap.


The 4x4s are left and middle, 3x3 on the right. I've found pea pods while thinning out the cover crop in the 3x3. The middle pic is the 4x4 that got all the plants that grew after I busted the mites. The one on the left has quite a few that were bitten early in life.


The nursery looks a bit different now. My old T5 panel died and was replaced with a veg LED. The clones are now tied down to make four good colas apiece.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Now we're in week 7 and looking and smelling very nice.



These are in the 3x3 in their third week of flower if I remember accurately. If I don't, no biggie. I just harvest when done. The close up is Purple Urkle (Pyramid Seeds).


Left is Peyote Z--z (Seedsman) Right is Alien Rock Candy (Same) ARC makes small buds like Dr. Grinspoon but are supposed to be quite potent.


Left is Orange Cookies X Nicole (Seedsman). Right is Jack Herer (Seedsman) and a tomato I think my wife sneaked in.


In the healthier tent we have at left Larry's Lemon OG (Garden of Green). At right is more LLOG plus Northern Lights (Sensi) and Expert Gorilla (Expert).
LLOG is looking like a winner. I'm glad to have one of its clones in the 3x3.


Peyote Cookies (Seedsman) at left is another winner. MAC-1 (Expert) is at right stacking nicely with more tops like it.

I'm seeing trichomes on the fan leaf stems in some places. Worm poop is the way. Maybe I should make a post strictly about the process of growing this way when things settle down. I'm battling trouble with a 127 year-old sewer line among other issues in this old house right now plus weird work hours. The stuff I'm taking down in May should make it all worth it come quittin' time.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 8 update: a dollar short and a week late.

The 4x4s as of April 24:


The tomato invader:



Inside the 3x3:



The Larry's Lemon OG finally rooted! Here she is in the Nursery tent with the MAC-1 clones:



Last week was another crazy one for me, but things are progressing.

[UndergroundFarmer]

Week 9 is here and it is getting close to chop! Here's a few shots of the tents and more bud porn.

4x4s



Bud! Larry's Lemon OG and MAC-1



Expert Gorilla and Northern Lights



Alien Rock Candy showing some light stress and Orange Cookies X Nicole



Peyote Z--z



The 3x3 and something else flowering in the Alien Technology:



Purple Urkle stacking beautifully and a shot of the nursery with the LLOG clone greened up. I managed to grow out a runted stem from the MAC-1 clone on the left and was finally able to tie it down this weekend:



It's about time to break out the loupe and start planning chop. It's gonna get a bit crazy trying to dry so many varieties at once but no biggie because this haul will be worth it. At least the 3x3 won't be ready to go down for about another month. In future grows like this, I'm going to have to put in scrog nets because so many of these (GDP, Peyote Forum and Expert Gorilla especially) are falling over from the weight of those buds.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've neglected to take pics for a week or so. That's OK because the only thing really growing in the 4x4s right now is an invading tomato plant. I finally figured out how it got there - I added a tray of worm bin compost when I mixed the soil and the seed must've come from table scraps. Tomato seeds have to get slightly fermented before they'll grow so it makes sense that it could have taken months for it to become ready to sprout. Anyway, I wish I'd transplanted the stupid thing outside when it was tiny. Now I am seriously considering keeping it for the tomatoes after I cut down the weed.

Speaking of weed, about the only plants still drinking are the Larry's Lemon (which will need at least one week more than the others) and that tomato. I've checked with the loupe a few times over the last week and the trichomes are getting close but still too many clears left and not much fading or show of color in the buds. The 3x3 girls are doing nicely and will finish two or three weeks after I chop the 4x4s. More bud porn to to follow when the situation warrants it!

[UndergroundFarmer]

Chop day for one of the 4x4 tents happened Sunday. This was the one overrun by the tomato plant (which is now worm food BTW). I cut up everything that remained after taking down the medicinals and piled it on top of the soil and worked it all in to get some of the crusty stuff from reamends where it needs to be. It wasn't long before I was shaking hands with worms. It was nice to finally see some of the little guys doing all the hard stuff for me after months of supposing they were in there and thriving. After the other tent gets chopped, I will grind up some gnarly barley and add all the other stuff I need to start another grow. Here's the results - not bad for the most mite-damaged of the weed!


Alien Rock Candy grew out buds like small popcorn balls dipped in sugar. I got a fair amount of purpling which I didn't expect. This was one of the reasons the tent smelled like candy.


Peyote Z--z is the other reason this tent smelled so much like candy. This one stayed low but built some very chunky buds.


This Jack Herer fem freebie was dwarfed by the mite bites but did OK anyway. I can't help but wonder if Sensi's original would've done better under the circumstances.


Blueberry grown from a fem freebie did OK. I did get some purpling late but the smell does not begin to compare with the DP reg I grew out last year. Another fem freebie from Seedsman, Orange Cookies x Nicole, made heavy chunky frosty bud that I can't wait to sample. Some of the carnage from taking off the big fans is visible below.

The other 4x4 has quite a bit more plants and bigger ones with even heavier buds. I can afford to grow only for seed this summer and probably will, even though I might try to set aside a few individuals to flower out in 5 gallon pots a la the 3x3 right now. I also still have three clones (two MAC-1 & a Larry's Lemon OG) that need to go into flower soon and also need to go someplace else so I can start seeds for the next round. I'm getting to the place where I have to call friends and beg them to take some bud. This way of growing especially in the pickers is making it as easy as it gets. It's practically like growing in a worm bin.

Luckily, the temps and RH outside dropped a lot from last week's preview of July. I've got the Niwa in there managing temps and RH with lights out and should see some good results with the drying.

[Puglover1]

I bought, tried MAC-1 recently from the dispo. Not impressed, around 26%, at least it was on sale. Chem Dawg 34% is much better.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I've got two of its clones in flower. That turkey had better get me off the planet for all my time and trouble!

[Puglover1]

UndergroundFarmer - I misspoke. Mac-1 total THC 32.xx %; Bio-Chem total THC 34.xx % Both labeled as Indica, both by Ozone, always tight bud & meticulous trim.

I've smoked the Mac-1 in regular chillums, in a pipe, and rolled a medium size joint. Only smoking 2/3 of the joint got me where I'd expect and shoot for.
The Bio-Chem I use a glass one-hitter, put 2 little pieces in it, get 3 hits, repeat. Asleep within an hour but fall asleep buzzed up and maybe don't finish the 2nd hitter.

Still expensive experimenting because they don't have what I really want.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I'm getting yellowing leaves ahead of schedule in the 3x3. Jeremy from BAS was right about 5 gallon pots being a bit small for living soil. I've added some of the leftover nutes from hydro to give them a boost today and will give them some more worm castings and Rose and Flower mix to help them finish this weekend. The other 4x4 is probably not going to be ready for all to get the chop by Sunday so I'm going to have to take it day by day during my vacation.

[UndergroundFarmer]

I'm threatening the remaining girls in the 4x4 to start fading or no more pics. I had hoped to chop more than just the Chocolate Mint OG by now and I may take the G-13 and the Northern Lights tomorrow anyway. Some are just starting to show yellow in the leaves and Peyote Forum is beginning to show purple for real. LLOG is popping out new flowers just to spite me and will probably be in there a week after everything else goes.

I did get to sample a bit of Alien Rock Candy yesterday because I knocked off a small bud while taking down a fire hazard - the oscillating fan had stopped because of a broken and arcing wire. This is at least the second time I've had to tear one down and splice in some slack after the backing and forthing took its toll on the power cord. The bud was still a bit too wet and burned black but the buzz was encouraging. The high is nearly all sativa buzz and forced me to stop what I'd planned to do before sampling after a half hour.

The 3x3 tent is looking about three weeks from finish for the 3 indicas and of course another week or two for the LLOG. I also flipped the nursery light to 12/12 because the clones were getting too big to wait. I'd damn well better like LLOG and MAC-1 a lot because there will be a lot to deal with once this generation of plants is gone.