SOIL A Slightly Seedy Summer Sativa Grow

[UndergroundFarmer]

iCloud on this PC is being unreasonable right now in addition to the photo issue. Pictures later, looks like.

I took down the last member of this winter's grow last week. The Larry's Lemon OG started to mold in a humidity wave. I caught it just in time and only lost half a cola. She went into the dark with the drying MAC-1 and I chopped three days later. Now maybe when this stuff all goes in jars I can get the seed project moving. Along with criminally high humidity, the hemp russet mites came back. I'd hit them with Lost Coast mixed too weakly for a few weeks before. I noticed the tender stuff getting chewed and blasted with neem oil three days apart. I think the stuff was a bit strong - it made holes in some of the leaves! There's no sign of the mites anymore, either. One of the nice things about the pickers is that you know when they are drinking and when they ain't. It was a relief to see them need regular topoffs again. Sunday was more topping and defoliating and tying down branches to get their manifolds grown out. Even the Tangies were trimmed to four main branches. They grow up so fast...

 

[Ckbrew]

It appears to be working

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Nice! I love it when sugar leaves run out of space for more trichs.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Fresh pics! The plants continue to recover from a neem/Dr. Bronner's mix that was too heavy on the soap. At least the mites couldn't survive it. Most of them are coming along well enough to manifold and the Tangies are already trimmed to four main branches. It seems one of those may be outing itself as a male - it's noticeably taller than the other three.


Above are Liberty Haze, Lavender
Acapulco Gold, Sweet Amnesia Haze


Super Lemon Haze, Durban Poison
2 x Tangie X Blueberry


I need to tie these guys down soon! Front left is suspiciously tall. Tangies got only one spray and didn't get as burned.


Occasionally I update this thing. LLOG is still drying. MAC-1 went into jars a few days ago. I got three quarts of bud much danker than the first batch because it was allowed to fully mature this time. It's not often that a second harvest in the same grow beats the first in quality. Smoke report when it finishes drying and curing. (It's still too damp to burn well.) I've been doing a rolling reamend since I added neem seed meal the weekend before (for pest control, mostly). I gave them a shot glass apiece of kelp meal this time which will surely help with healing up then they can get more crab meal next weekend.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

The battle with the hemp russet mites continues. I've been assaulting them with weaker but more frequent drenchings of neem oil/Dr Bronner's and now rubbing alcohol. I think I'm winning. I'll break out the microscope and check again this weekend. On a nicer note, I got around to a honeydew. The worm bin needed to have its lowest tray cleaned out and prepped for service again. The whole tray was packed with castings, even down to the spigot for draining the stand at the bottom! I got enough worm poop to reamend all my pots and still have a three gallon bucket full of castings. Also, the LLOG that was drying is now in jars and the 3x3 is empty except for the three pots the clones grew in. Amazingly enough, there were still live worms in all three! I guess the dead roots kept them going while I ignored those pots except for the occasional watering.

I got more tying down done this weekend and may put up the first scrog net in Coconut Grove. Here's a look:

I can't wait for the mites to be gone for good. These guys should already be in flower.

Here's the flower tent:

I really hope Super Lemon Haze at left rear snaps out of it.

I forgot to get a picture of the Tangies. Some of them are looking pretty rough from the mite bites but they should rebound in flower.

Speaking of the little devils again - I will try to wind down next year's grows by June and not start up again until September. this will give me more ability to travel on vacation and not have to deal with running an A/C in the grow room. It also just possibly will prevent the next mite infestation.

 

[Going2fast]

Your being assaulted from all sides growmie. You got this though. I've found live red wigglers in my 5 gallon bucket planters after harvest and they dried out to drooping leaves a few times. More resilient than I thought.

 

[3Berries]

Here's something on the mites and cannabis.

https://www.trifectanatural.com/pro...-to-get-rid-of-or-kill-russet-mites-naturally

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Thanks for the encouragement and the tip. I'll be giving Trifecta a good looking over tonight.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

MASSIVE CUTBACKS!!!

I found just a few mites Sunday morning. Most fans I put under the scope had none, but I found one with a few hatchlings, so I went in to psycho defoliation mode. After denying them most of their habitat, I gave them another spray. I even moved the Tangies into the 3x3 to start flower because I'm tired of veg.

Here's the hack jobs:

Liberty Haze, Lavender
Acapulco Gold, Sweet Amnesia Haze

Super Lemon Haze, Durban Poison
Tangie X Blueberry

The Tangies:

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

I even had to chop off a badly bitten branch from one of these Tangies. I seriously have to take a break next summer so the mites can't get established again.

 

[Franklin]

Man you are really fighting, not sure I'd have the patience. Hey do you have any posts detailing you approach to living soil? I'm dabbling in it and would love more info.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

My previous thread Niwas and a jump to living soil may help. I'd have to reread it myself before I could tell you what all is in there! I base what I'm doing on Build-A-Soil's method. I use their premixed 3.0 because it's the best and easiest way to get going. I have a worm factory where all the kitchen scraps and coffee grounds go. That is huge because I have fresh worm castings on demand plus worms for replenishing the pots. It took several months to get going but the compost is incredible. I reamend with BAS's gnarly barley once a week to keep the worms alive. I'll bet I could use Malt-a-Meal instead and do fine. I do reamends every 21 days with Down-To-Earth's Neem Seed Meal, Crab Meal and Kelp Meal and use their flowering mix for flowering along with a dose of worm castings. The pickers I grow in water from a reservoir in the bottom. Water wicks in from the corners and saturates the soil from below. The plants put roots down into the reservoir and take off like they do in hydro, but they are even healthier. I also don't adjust the pH of my water. The life in the soil will take care of that. I do add a pinch of saponins to help with absorption. I hope that helped!

 

[Franklin]

Thanks UF, super helpful

 

[Going2fast]

Man you went full scorched earth there. Never manifolded. Why do you take all of the shoots along the stem off?

 

[Ckbrew]

You hit them hard. Make sure they know who is the boss. I bet they will veg out nice.

 

[Blowdout2269]

Damn, you raped them tangies! Stay steadfast.
Though a tougher battle, I'm sure..you can win.
We wish you the best!

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

In this case, mostly to get rid of damaged leaves and nodes, but also to keep it all clean below where the scrog net will go soon. I usually leave three growth nodes at the ends until I flip to flower. Cutting off as much as I did denies the mites habitat and makes it way easier to spray them again if needed. It's also good to get rid of damaged stuff because the mites inject an anti-growth hormone that causes most of the real problems. It's stupid really, because they kill off their own source of food.

In a future mite-free grow, I will look at leaving a few of those shoots in the middle to help fill out the canopy. I could probably keep as many as four without crowding.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Thanks for the encouragement. Some like Acapulco Gold are already bouncing back fast.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

All right! It's getting harder to find baby mites, but there are still just a few. I mixed another batch of spray and hit them again on Sunday. I also took a few more leaves from where they weren't needed or too bugbit to thrive. Everything in Coconut Grove needed water today! Emptying the reservoir means growth! I haven't put the net up yet but will very soon. The flower tent is still another story but half of them are turned around and growing. I predict a very staggered harvest. Tangies are still recovering and adjusting to the new tent and light schedule. I now have three Mother's Finest seedlings in the nursery and I'm trying for a fourth before it gets late.

Coconut Grove: Liberty Haze, Lavender
Acapulco Gold, Sweet Amnesia Haze

Flower tent: Super Lemon Haze, Durban Poison
Tangie x Blueberry

The Tangies trying to bounce back in the 3x3.

Mother's Finest at last.

 

[UndergroundFarmer]

Tuesday update: The fourth MF has sprouted!

Also, I forgot that I turned off the two tent heaters at their switches when I wanted the last grow's plants to have cool temps for late flower.
I kept on thinking that the heaters were working but the exhaust fan was bringing in too much cool air to keep the temps at 78F during the day!!
Luckily, I checked last night knowing that freezing temps were on their way. They are already responding with noticeable growth since last night.
I'll be putting up that net soon and then we can get this grow happening!