One Pink Lemonade - no-till cycle 7 in 4 foot diameter pot, 5x5 tent
- Thread starter Northwood
- Start date
It's now one week later and I don't think this pheno is growing as quickly as my last run with a different strain. Then again, I'm only growing one plant from one seed and don't have much choice but to forget any idea of runt elimination. Meanwhile the cover crop has become a bit too aggressive so I flattened it. As my little plant grows, its demand for nutrient will increase so this cover needs to be gradually giving back nutrients by that time instead of sequestering them.
It seems healthy enough, and apart from the overall look and color of the plant I also judge health in little seedlings by how well their cotyledons make out during the early stages of growth. They seem to be looking okay so far:
I follow the same procedure cycle-after-cycle. When I'm about 2 weeks from harvest I seed my cover crop because the plants have slowing demand for nutrients and I want something to soak up the nitrogen that may otherwise go out my exhaust vent. Always keeping living roots in your grow pot keeps the mycho happy, and also bacteria that enjoy meals of root exudates. This is what the pot looked like right after the chop a few weeks ago:
I cut off the trunk at soil level, leaving the roots untouched. All the branches are chopped up into smaller pieces (along with any other biomass without trichomes on it) and will go on as a mulch over the cover crop in a couple weeks from now. Even the bubble hash making waste will be added on top, along with pruned material from the current grow. Pretty much everything, except trichomes and the small amount of bud I smoke, gets recycled in this process.
It seems healthy enough, and apart from the overall look and color of the plant I also judge health in little seedlings by how well their cotyledons make out during the early stages of growth. They seem to be looking okay so far:
I follow the same procedure cycle-after-cycle. When I'm about 2 weeks from harvest I seed my cover crop because the plants have slowing demand for nutrients and I want something to soak up the nitrogen that may otherwise go out my exhaust vent. Always keeping living roots in your grow pot keeps the mycho happy, and also bacteria that enjoy meals of root exudates. This is what the pot looked like right after the chop a few weeks ago:
I cut off the trunk at soil level, leaving the roots untouched. All the branches are chopped up into smaller pieces (along with any other biomass without trichomes on it) and will go on as a mulch over the cover crop in a couple weeks from now. Even the bubble hash making waste will be added on top, along with pruned material from the current grow. Pretty much everything, except trichomes and the small amount of bud I smoke, gets recycled in this process.
And another week has passed. This morning I broke up all the stems from the last harvest and placed them over the cover crop I had previously flattened. The weight of the stems should hold the cover plants down so that most of them start dying. In another 3 weeks or so I'll be adding the rest of the fan leaves and stuff from my last harvest over these stems, and about a 2 inch mulch layer of chopped hay over that. This will cause the stems to remain moist and subject to fast decay. Once this plant is in flower, there will be no trace of these stems left.
I should also mention that nothing else was done to prepare for the current cycle - no amendments, no "organic" fertilizers - nothing except water every few days. What I do during this cycle is actually what feeds the next grow cycle. Those stems I added today likely wont benefit my current grow cycle very much, but they will the next. The idea with this grow style is to maintain a high rate of organic material cycling continuously throughout and in between grow cycles. That is really the only objective here. Plants will grow themselves and pick the amount and kind of nutrients according to their requirements in whatever stage of growth and environment it happens to be in. I never worry or fret about what the plants are doing, or if they're hungry or overfed.
I should also mention that nothing else was done to prepare for the current cycle - no amendments, no "organic" fertilizers - nothing except water every few days. What I do during this cycle is actually what feeds the next grow cycle. Those stems I added today likely wont benefit my current grow cycle very much, but they will the next. The idea with this grow style is to maintain a high rate of organic material cycling continuously throughout and in between grow cycles. That is really the only objective here. Plants will grow themselves and pick the amount and kind of nutrients according to their requirements in whatever stage of growth and environment it happens to be in. I never worry or fret about what the plants are doing, or if they're hungry or overfed.
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Nutty sKunK
Well-Known Member
Looking awesome dude!!
In the first picture I was like ‘he’s outside!’ Lol
In the first picture I was like ‘he’s outside!’ Lol
I used a machete with the stems on a slab of plywood. Of course pieces were flying all over the room. If they're perfectly dry usually you can break them nearly cleanly just by bending them, but no way if they're even a little damp. I cut up my first cycle stems with my pruning sheers, and that took forever. So for the next cycle I tried grass cutting sheers, and they would work good for the smaller stems, but not so great for thick ones. The machete thing is new.
I'm hoping to get a small wood shredder from Santa this Christmas. But seriously, a little shredder would make quick work of it and leave you with a finer material that would decay much faster.
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Thanks. It's the "outside" I'm trying to duplicate here so that's a good thing. People grow no-till for a lot of reasons, but for me one of the major ones is living in a part of Canada with miserable winters, and having a little piece of outdoor summer filled with life in my house when there's a blizzard outside. I'm addicted to it now, so being without it would negatively affect my mental health during those dark freezing months. Other reasons is because my wife doesn't like me spending more money on my hobbies than her own, and after reaching 60 years old I find myself getting more lazy than before. I'd rather not have to deal with issues or stress about pH or nutrients.
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
Wow your set up is amazing similar to what I'm working towards I currently have two 20gal storage totes in a 4x4 hoping to upgrade to a raised bed of some sort I also live in northern Canada! Here's my curren project a mainlined master kush back a lst triple cheese front left and a fimed lost cost hash plant front right my other pot had a dosi dos but it didn't make it
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Hey that's very, very nice! I started originally in plastic bins too, but with blue-box recycling bins I bought from Home Depot. Four bins in one 5X5 tent with a plant in each worked really well for me. It would have been better in retrospect if I had started with one bed of soil at the start instead of 4 bins. I definitely understand that it takes a special commitment to have 150 gallons of soil in your house sitting in a single bed/pot though. Hahaha
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
Thank you still relatively new to growing but learning lots as I go!
Yes I agree its a lot of money up front for the bed and soil so I figure in the mean time I can work all the kinks out in the mean time
How do you water your plants I'm using a 1/4" soaker hose currently
The soil and stuff is only a one-time expense, so in the end I think we save tons of money in the long run. Plus no more work mixing soil again. Once you're past the second cycle, everything basically runs itself provided it's had a steady stream of organic material added as mulches during those first 2 cycles.
I'm just using a watering wand right now. With thick mulch and that much soil in one pot, it's not something I need to do very often anyway. And it's an excuse to visit my grow room and unzip the tent! I was thinking about a Blumat system, but I'm a little reluctant due to so many people having difficulting dialing them in. Plus I don't know if I would trust it if I went away for a month holiday. I'd be so worried I probably wouldn't enjoy myself. LOL
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
I have heard the same about blumat systems being difficult to dial in as well and cant justify the cost especially since I'm always tinkering with my setup. You might be interested in looking into gas lantern routine as well. I'm currently trying it out and seems to be working well saves 5hrs of hydro living in northern Ontario and in a rural zone it adds up fast
Where I live in Ontario the hydro company only charges us off-peak-usage hours of KWs used no matter what time of day because of the pandemic. That means indoors you can run your lights at whatever time you like and not get charged extra for it. I'd rather this whole pandemic shit end sooner than later though.
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
Right currently it doesn't matter ours is the same but I'd much rather save the extra money and spend it on more seeds I have a bit of a seed addiction lol
So do you know this strain I'm growing at all? I bought the seeds from the Ontario government. It seems no one on Reddit even has grown these out yet. They were bred by a micro-licensed producer and breeder called ANC Cannabis. I still have to pinch myself that the government is selling cannabis seeds to us now. What a wonderful world we live in. lol
Edit: And before you ask why I'm only growing one seed, well it's because only one popped out of the two I planted. It's the first time in literally years that I've had a good looking firm seed not pop. So 50% germination rate with a sample of 2 so far isn't a great sign for them, especially when they cost $49.99 (tax and delivery included) to your door in a day for 4 of them.
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So 3 weeks after the first photo, here she is today:
I tied down the secondary branches Tuesday more for initial LST, but that's about the only thing I've done this week. Oh, I watered her once too. Crimson clover and other things are now flowering which is pretty. I know this plant looks like a ridiculous mess right now, but this fat girl will straighten herself out. I'm hitting her harder with the light right now. The main fan leaves are huge and wide, and everything about this pheno screams classic "indica". It has very short internodal distances and very thick stem, even on the secondary new growth. I was a little concerned about how dark the leaves are, but apart from no obvious shortage of nitrogen, it doesn't look like anything is overboard.
I don't do any defoliation or trimming of unwanted nodes or branches (suckering) at this early stage. I want every photon landing on her to be utilized with none wasted below the canopy. And honestly it's too young for me even to choose what to keep and train yet. She's close to 2 feet in diameter now that she's stretched out, and I'll let it go a couple more weeks until she covers most of the surface area of the 4 foot diameter pot before I do anything beyond what I'm already doing.
Over the coming days this week I plan on adding the rest of my waste biomass from the last grow (fan leaves and stuff) over the older stems and cover crop already there, along with a good layer of straw over top. I'll probably add a SCROG net soon too - maybe within the next 3 weeks when I start having difficulty keeping up with making the canopy even. Like every other grow, I'll play it by ear depending on what the plant does.
I tied down the secondary branches Tuesday more for initial LST, but that's about the only thing I've done this week. Oh, I watered her once too. Crimson clover and other things are now flowering which is pretty. I know this plant looks like a ridiculous mess right now, but this fat girl will straighten herself out. I'm hitting her harder with the light right now. The main fan leaves are huge and wide, and everything about this pheno screams classic "indica". It has very short internodal distances and very thick stem, even on the secondary new growth. I was a little concerned about how dark the leaves are, but apart from no obvious shortage of nitrogen, it doesn't look like anything is overboard.
I don't do any defoliation or trimming of unwanted nodes or branches (suckering) at this early stage. I want every photon landing on her to be utilized with none wasted below the canopy. And honestly it's too young for me even to choose what to keep and train yet. She's close to 2 feet in diameter now that she's stretched out, and I'll let it go a couple more weeks until she covers most of the surface area of the 4 foot diameter pot before I do anything beyond what I'm already doing.
Over the coming days this week I plan on adding the rest of my waste biomass from the last grow (fan leaves and stuff) over the older stems and cover crop already there, along with a good layer of straw over top. I'll probably add a SCROG net soon too - maybe within the next 3 weeks when I start having difficulty keeping up with making the canopy even. Like every other grow, I'll play it by ear depending on what the plant does.
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Brandon137
Well-Known Member
I havent heard of this strain I buy my seeds mostly from canuk seeds and have had fairly good results. I also have really enjoyed growing Humboldt seeds stuff as well. Plant is looking great cant wait to see it in flower
My last run in there was four Afghan Hash Plants from Canuck Seeds and they turned out well, though they stretched quite a bit more than I thought it would by its indica-like vegetative growing habit. They had a great yield though. I can't wait to see my current plant in flower too, but unfortunately it will be at least another 7 weeks before I flip this one. She's just one plant, so I need her to get large.
Brandon137
Well-Known Member
Wow its going to be massive when finished I've grown gelato wedding cake hindu kush auto and zkittles glue from Canuks the gelato was amazing super frosty and the wedding cake was nice lots of inernode spacoing tho and is vary sensitive I had one hermie at week 3 and one in week 7 I think it was lack of experience and not genetics