Mango Smile, day 1

Dropped these this morning; plan is to grow inside as long as possible - I’ll take them off the platform eventually and put directly in the tub to gain more headroom. For now, they are under just the Marshydro TSL2000, I’ll add in the side lighting they they get around a foot tall…if I keep them inside under the intense lighting, and eventually add in the square tomato cages I’ll be shooting for a for a vertical grow. I used square tomato cages and milk crates on a grow at the GF house and they are doing great…more pics of that later today…

layering of the soil is in 3 parts. Bottom third Big Rootz, dusting of earthwork castings, next third FF Ocean Forrest, dusting of Peruvian seabird guano, and last third FF Happy Frog. I usually finish it off with a layer of Light Warrior but couldn’t find any around here. Big dusting of diatomaceous earth to top it off. I built up the middle to get the stalk elevated and that leaves some room in the pot for a top dressing with FF Strawberry Fields and guano when they hit flowering.

I’ll be using the NFTG Roman schedule (starting at 50% strength) with these and not deviating from it unless problems arise; which I’m sure will not…pH 6.4 water for the next couple of weeks to start.

I hope to be done by mid-Sep, when mold and bud rot can be a problem.

I helped a growmie out with harvest of Mephisto Pink Panama - one of the plants was deep purple, like indigo ink. Wound up with around 82 oz wet which I had to split between the dry/cure cabinet and a makeshift dry/cure area in a standing shower. I have a dehumidifier in the shower and will keep it at around 52% RH. l will move stufff to the cabinet as the buds shrink and make more room but I can already tell it ain’t all gonna fit…

before we started trimming, I set up my stacked focus camera gear. 90 individual shots with the camera in a focusing rail, moving incrementally forward in each shot. An hour of processing in Photoshop to align, and stack the images and then analyze each one to find the in-focus parts. The software then took the in-focus part of each image and built a composite that is completely in-focus through the depth of the bud. JFM…

Here are my Mango Smiles at day 7…already praying…

Day 20, stretch is starting I think. Pinned down some lower branches and debating on toppping…might Top 2 and let the other 2 go au natural just for kicks…

Day 22; some LST to the branches coming from the first node, will get them out to the edge of the milk crates and start bending branches further up the stalk with red LST clips. Did not top any of them, and will raise the lights to the max available soon so they have room to stretch. I’m hoping to get to harvest with these growing indoors - I have another shower/tub enclosure I can use to split them up when they need that. Few extra trips up the stairs every day, but need my exercise!

they got a full strength dose of Recharge and Fish Shit today, back on NFTG mid-veg mixture tomorrow…

Day 25; 1 liter of plain water for the day. They are filling in and leaf tucking is a constant effort - the big fan leaves re getting plump and lookin’ healthy…

Day 30, the stretch is kicking in so I’ll have to shuffle these around soon and switch the T5 lights to bloom spectrum.

Retired engineer said:

I helped a growmie out with harvest of Mephisto Pink Panama - one of the plants was deep purple, like indigo ink. Wound up with around 82 oz wet which I had to split between the dry/cure cabinet and a makeshift dry/cure area in a standing shower. I have a dehumidifier in the shower and will keep it at around 52% RH. l will move stufff to the cabinet as the buds shrink and make more room but I can already tell it ain’t all gonna fit…

before we started trimming, I set up my stacked focus camera gear. 90 individual shots with the camera in a focusing rail, moving incrementally forward in each shot. An hour of processing in Photoshop to align, and stack the images and then analyze each one to find the in-focus parts. The software then took the in-focus part of each image and built a composite that is completely in-focus through the depth of the bud. JFM…

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That drying tray/fridge looks amazing, how much was that if you don't mind me asking?

I was i

DrDukePHD said:

That drying tray/fridge looks amazing, how much was that if you don't mind me asking?

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i was in the gray about these i need one jaja

DrDukePHD said:

That drying tray/fridge looks amazing, how much was that if you don't mind me asking?

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It was $1299 when I bought it last year, I think the price is up to $1499 now. Sounds steep, but takes all the stress out of the most vulnerable period in the plants’ “seed to cure” life cycle, and avoids tying up my grow space for 2 weeks just when it’s time to get started again.

$1,600; awesome video of the shrinkage within the first 48 hrs at the second link below…

Another grand for cryo cure vs cold cure is worth it. Thoughts?

Tried to find a cryo cure machine for $1,000 more than the Cannatrol and came up empty - do you have one in mind?

solakani said:

Harvest Right™ | Home Freeze Dryers | Freeze Dried Food Storage Home Freeze Dryers

harvestright.com

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Cool,,thanks I’ll check it out. In the meantime the Cannatrol will just keep chugging along…

Thank you for sharing.

Cryo cure is quicker but I am more curious about any difference in quality. Dry cycle is 4-7 days for cool cure?

solakani said:

Thank you for sharing.

Cryo cure is quicker but I am more curious about any difference in quality. Dry cycle is 4-7 days for cool cure?

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The default settings are 4 days dry (68 degrees, 54 degree dew point) and 4 day cure (68 degrees, 52 degree dew point). There is also a hold cycle (68 degrees, 54 degree dew point). All the settings (duration, temperature and dew point) are user adjustable.

I’ve kept mine on the default settings with great results. On the last couple runs, I left the weed in for an additional two days on the hold cycle as well.

below pics are from the owners’ manual and go into more detail. I’d like to give the freeze dry method a try, but $2500 is a bit steep just to try it out; the Cannatrol does a great job and I’ll stick with it…

Day 33, now in two separate enclosures. They are stretching quite a bit now and will outgrow the grow spaces in a week probably and move outdoors. I dialed back the lights a bit since it is so freaking hot here and my house AC is running nearly full time. The two on the thirdfloor (the wall is covered with a Mylar emergency blanket with all the creases remaining from folding) are really in a hot zone…im gonna focus on all the side lighting I provide until they move outdoors to best develop flower sites toward the bottoms of the plants…

in prep for their move outdoors, I bought a portable greenhouse to get them sheltered from heavy thunderstorms and wind. It’ll also be an effective area for IPM - spray the greenhouse with Spinosad or the like before I put the plants in there.
I have a couple rechargeable camping fans on the way for airflow and I’m looking for a rechargeable bug zapper to put in there too…

Day 35. Will have 4 posts one per plant. This one was upstairs and needs a break from the California Lightworks 500. It will move downstairs for a couple days of T5 3000k/3500k/6500k lighting.

Plant 2 moving from upstairs to downstairs.