DonBrennons 'Unconventional' organic gardens

Thanks Don. You mean the delicate method of knocking the flowers into a small container?

I chopped the male yesterday into a large ziplock bag and shook it but the yield seemed negligible. It either stuck to the plant itself or to the sides of the ziplock bag or got absorbed into the plastic. I would advise against that method and maybe use a dark glass vial, tin foil or a mirror next time. It's a very fine particulate and tricky stuff to work with. I found a few threads here that details some people's methods which I will try next time. But what did work for me was making a small envelope with nonstick baking paper and I knocked the flowers (some of which fell into the envelope) in. Then I stuck it in a jar with rice and left out one day and stuck in fridge the next day and kept for a week. Then I removed the flowers later and then used a q-tip to paint on. I heard that about the flowers and moisture, to remove them. It didn't seem to affect what I was doing as it now seems I successfully pollinated my flowers. I can post those threads here if you want, just have to find the links...


Oh and I ended up making the FFJ with banana, mango and papaya and used the male flower tops, leaves and some stems in the mix and blended it all up. Again, thank you for the inspiration on that!

yeah, I folded a decent sized pocket with baking paper and gently shook the individual branches over it, separated the flowers out and tipped into a small baggy with some rice to absorb moisture. To pollinate , I removed the plant from the room and hit early flowers on some of the lower branches with a small paint brush. I did get some rogue seeds on other parts of the plants, but not many, like 10-15 per plant.

Your FFj should be good............mines still sat in the fermenting vessel and it finished a couple of weeks ago I think. I'll get around to straining it and re-fermenting the leftover materials soon, it's not doing any harm as it is and I don't need any ATM

DonBrennon said:

She still ain't doing anything, still got white pistels and clear trich's..........I'm stumped

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Wow hardy girl -- may be good for outdoor too if she likes to grow in snow

Hey DonBrennon, how's your ice queen doing meanwhile? Still hanging on?!

calliandra said:

Hey DonBrennon, how's your ice queen doing meanwhile? Still hanging on?!

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She's down, dried and curing in jars, didn't smell of much when I took her and during drying, but starting to get a sweet smell to it now which reminds me of subtle bubblegum. I still don't think she finished properly though, you can tell that the buds should be really tight and rock hard and they aren't, they just didn't swell at the end. I've weighed it dry at just short of 4oz and had an early sample and it's a pleasant smoke, definitely works, but nothing to write home about.

I think I've identified the problem though..........the tent the 3 plants were in is falling to bits, the zips are bust and there are significant light leaks. I took the big sativa down on Monday cos she was throwing out loads of 'nanners' and got a bit of bud rot right at the top of one of the main colas. The Fat purple is still going but not far from finishing, she should've been done around 4 weeks ago!!! I'm gonna take her down at weekend and throw the tent in the bin!!!

I do believe all the above issues are being caused by the light leaks, apart from the bud rot...............that's down to me allowing the bud to get too close to the cobs, I think the bud got scorched before the rot set in.

Last pic of the AHB, before she got the chop

Pre-trim...............the bud that's already trimmed in this shot, on the far left, is the one that got bud rot, it's drying in a different room to the rest, just in case

After trim

about a pound.................pmsl

DonBrennon said:

about a pound.................pmsl

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Yeah I'd say so too... haha! I'm still stuck staring at those megacolas! And just yesterday I said size doesn't impress me

Yeah it sure sounds like the light leaks were it - Good thing you have that ROOM in the making where that won't happen anymore! Have you been able to progress on that or is it still stressy time for you?

calliandra said:

Yeah I'd say so too... haha! I'm still stuck staring at those megacolas! And just yesterday I said size doesn't impress me

Yeah it sure sounds like the light leaks were it - Good thing you have that ROOM in the making where that won't happen anymore! Have you been able to progress on that or is it still stressy time for you?

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It's still stressy time, not had time to look into my lighting problem, but the environmental issues have been sorted out and I can't finish the room till the Fat purple is done and the tent is down......soon though!!!

Got my plants sexed and selected for the next run though..........got 6 pk x livers, 3 SSDD, 2 C99's, 1 Blue Iguana, 1 Fat Purple and I'm gonna have to try the AHB again, so I'm running one of those too

DonBrennon said:

It's still stressy time, not had time to look into my lighting problem, but the environmental issues have been sorted out and I can't finish the room till the Fat purple is done and the tent is down......soon though!!!

Got my plants sexed and selected for the next run though..........got 6 pk x livers, 3 SSDD, 2 C99's, 1 Blue Iguana, 1 Fat Purple and I'm gonna have to try the AHB again, so I'm running one of those too
View attachment 3833023

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Ah sounds great -- and the sweet C99s, they do haunt me
Looking so happy there!
Actually I'm thinking of dumping my closet and partitioning off a corner of a room after I move... will still be like a closet, but hopefully large enough to give my girl(s) a bit of that freestanding feel.
Cheers!

'Lack of' progress report................I'm currently encountering problem after problem, my conversion to first organics and now cob's hasn't exactly been plain sailing, but it's better to address these issues now than when I'm in full flower I suppose.

Moved my storage shelves and worm bin's to find the wall behind them totally damp and covered in mold. Long story short, tiles had slipped down on my roof, leaving a hole and totally blocking my drain pipe, meaning that the rainfall from the full row of terraced houses was running down my back wall. Been and got a ladder today, replaced the tiles and unblocked the drainpipe. Cleaned the inside wall and tried to paint it, but the paint underneath just started bubbling up. It all had to come off.
You can still see the damp at the top, hopefully it'll dry out for tomorrow so I can get it painted, I've had it hot in there today with a big fan blowin on it.

These are pretty much all currently mainlined to 8 tops each and are ready to go into flower, but the delays mean I'm probably gonna top em again for 16 tops and make sure I give em a proper clean up underneath.
I really need to re-pot the one's still in smaller pots, but haven't got the room until I get it all painted.

Oh and I bought this a couple of weeks ago for £1 at the supermarket, they usually die within a week, but this one seems to be OK.
Seems to like the disco lights too, she only had buds when I got her.
she got re-potted just before this photo

DonBrennon said:

'Lack of' progress report................I'm currently encountering problem after problem, my conversion to first organics and now cob's hasn't exactly been plain sailing, but it's better to address these issues now than when I'm in full flower I suppose.

Moved my storage shelves and worm bin's to find the wall behind them totally damp and covered in mold. Long story short, tiles had slipped down on my roof, leaving a hole and totally blocking my drain pipe, meaning that the rainfall from the full row of terraced houses was running down my back wall. Been and got a ladder today, replaced the tiles and unblocked the drainpipe. Cleaned the inside wall and tried to paint it, but the paint underneath just started bubbling up. It all had to come off.View attachment 3839804
You can still see the damp at the top, hopefully it'll dry out for tomorrow so I can get it painted, I've had it hot in there today with a big fan blowin on it.

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Ah what a pain in terms of grow room progress!
But OTOH good thing you're redoing that room just now, otherwise you may not have noticed the roof issues for another while!
Did the wall get dried up? By your description and the pic it kinda looks like it'll take longer... maybe add a primer coat of something anti-humidity/anti-fungal before painting it?
Might be a bit overreacting, but I have gotten mold around my windows (old uninsulated house with new windows), and it kept regrowing every winter, despite fungus-killing poisons I was using to get rid of them, until I put a primer on it...

Anyway, hoping it all gets sorted in a way you'll never ever have to return to it!

I think Kilz is a good product for a primer that seals out mold: http://www.kilz.com/

I'd look into what other treatments there are for mold. It's a pretty serious thing to have mold growth in your house, can lead to bad health conditions that I think get misdiagnosed. Hope you get that figured out.

calliandra said:

Ah what a pain in terms of grow room progress!
But OTOH good thing you're redoing that room just now, otherwise you may not have noticed the roof issues for another while!
Did the wall get dried up? By your description and the pic it kinda looks like it'll take longer... maybe add a primer coat of something anti-humidity/anti-fungal before painting it?
Might be a bit overreacting, but I have gotten mold around my windows (old uninsulated house with new windows), and it kept regrowing every winter, despite fungus-killing poisons I was using to get rid of them, until I put a primer on it...

Anyway, hoping it all gets sorted in a way you'll never ever have to return to it!

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Hahaha, you're spot on. Tried painting it with a one coat last night..........it's peeling off this morning. gonna have to strip it again and use a primer.......arrrrrgh!!!

Aruanda said:

I think Kilz is a good product for a primer that seals out mold: http://www.kilz.com/

I'd look into what other treatments there are for mold. It's a pretty serious thing to have mold growth in your house, can lead to bad health conditions that I think get misdiagnosed. Hope you get that figured out.

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Thanks for the link, will look into it

Yeah no worries DonBrennon. I know this cause I had to redo my old basement due to flooding at one point, no fun. Hope you get it sorted out, for your plants and especially your health sake.