Hot Diggity's Lab

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 2

And we're off! Seeds went into rockwool Thursday night around this time. I often count days from the time I plant a seed but these were a bit on the slow side...whatever...lol

8 out of 10 Chem '91's sprouted
9 out of 11 Appalachian Super Skunk's sprouted
All 3 CBD sprouted (these are for fun, not being selected)

Placed a bunch of lettuce seeds into paper towels this morning too. May or may not fill all of the remaining pots with veggies. I wish I could fill the whole room with kind colas but I need to be super focused for the next year. And trying to pheno hunt any more than 10 of something seems problematic.



It's pretty dry so I turned off the heater, turned on the humidifier and lowered the exhaust fan to about 15% power. Going to try and maintain low 80's temps and get the humidity as high as I can.

 

[colocowboy]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 2

And we're off! Seeds went into rockwool Thursday night around this time. I often count days from the time I plant a seed but these were a bit on the slow side...whatever...lol

8 out of 10 Chem '91's sprouted
9 out of 11 Appalachian Super Skunk's sprouted
All 3 CBD sprouted (these are for fun, not being selected)

Placed a bunch of lettuce seeds into paper towels this morning too. May or may not fill all of the remaining pots with veggies. I wish I could fill the whole room with kind colas but I need to be super focused for the next year. And trying to pheno hunt any more than 10 of something seems problematic.

View attachment 4774597

It's pretty dry so I turned off the heater, turned on the humidifier and lowered the exhaust fan to about 15% power. Going to try and maintain low 80's temps and get the humidity as high as I can.

It begins!
It’s just beautiful, brings a tear to the eye!

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

I started this build back in July. Can't believe it's finally starting.

 

[colocowboy]

I know right! I love it, the meticulous attention to detail will pay off. Really nice space! That’s an investment that’ll pay for itself.

 

[raggyb]

Placed a bunch of lettuce seeds into paper towels this morning too. May or may not fill all of the remaining pots with veggies. I wish I could fill the whole room with kind colas but I need to be super focused for the next year. And trying to pheno hunt any more than 10 of something seems problematic.

You could still put in a tank with piranhah would be most appropriate just sayin. Happy everything!

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 4

1 of the Chem's may not make it. This would leave me with only 7 and that's risky since the primary goal of this round is to find a solid keeper. Ended up planting 3 more seeds. I also expanded the scope just a bit. Planted 9 Goji OG F2's.

 

[ZezoZose]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 4

1 of the Chem's may not make it. This would leave me with only 7 and that's risky since the primary goal of this round is to find a solid keeper. Ended up planting 3 more seeds. I also expanded the scope just a bit. Planted 9 Goji OG F2's.

Are the Goji F2s from Copa or of your own making?

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Are the Goji F2s from Copa or of your own making?

They're from @Houstini

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 6

Merry xmas everyone!

I've got the room at a very comfy 79F and 60% RH. Seedlings are doing great so far. Hoping they really start to jam in another 4 or 5 days.

Current Counts:
'91 Chem - 10 (Fem)
Appalachian Super Skunk - 8 (Reg)
Goji OG F2 - 6 (Reg)
Romain Lettuce - 14
CBD Only Strain - 3

My order for Kelp, Fulvic and Humic Acids arrived and it's exactly as I was hoping. Did a quick test tonight and 1 gram per gallon comes in at 60 PPM (500). The packaging does not indicate the exact composition. I will be contacting the company but they probably won't know.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 9

Final counts will come on the next post. So far I'm having a very mixed result with the seedlings. Some are jamming. Some are not. Despite my quantum boards being dimmed as low as they can go, I think I might have a small amount of burn on some of them which has resulted in stunted growth. If so, I think I caught it quick enough to react and decided to stagger which lights are on and used an on/off approach like so:



Kind of hard to believe that boards running at ~ 43 watts could be too much.
I expect to start rearranging plants and bring more lights online by the end of this week.

I've been trying to keep temps/rh in a good place. Decided to lower temps and rh a bit today. Here is where I've been:


Now that I'm making my own nutrients, I'm starting to get organized with all of the stuff.


Did my 1st feed on the plants that were furthest along. Came in at 240 PPM (500).
Plants seemed pretty happy 8 hours later.

Still running 24/0 lighting. Might switch to 20/4 but having to tweak my exhaust and humidifier is a lot of work and I'm not sure it's worth it. I've done both and honestly, I don't see a difference.

Here is the furthest along:


Here is a Chem 91 that just isn't quite right. Is it still okay to call something retarded? I think she is retarded.


And here is an example of the 2nd wave of seedlings that got planted 5 and 6 days after the initial's.


And finally, a brief room shot...


The plants that have a well-formed 2nd set of leaves look like they are about to take off. We'll see!

 

[GrowdoBaggins]

It's been a while since I posted to this journal. I stopped posting mostly because very few people were visiting and responding. It's important to note that my love for growing does not require any kind of validation from this community. That said, the way in which I document my efforts has certainly suffered as a result of this. So - regardless if I'm talking to myself, I am going to continue where I left off.

Chapter 6 came and went. It my was my 1st ever attempt at living soil and it went very poorly. It was also my 1st attempt working with Bodhi gear. The Lemon Hashplant samples reviewed very well despite looking sub-par. The Guava Wookie samples reviewed very poorly despite looking amazing. The Sunshine Daydream samples were a mixed bag. They certainly did not look fantastic but reviewed decently. I take full responsibility for the sub-par reviews and, as I said, it was my 1st attempt at living soil and it went very poorly.

Chapter 7 was a larger Bodhi experiment but again, it was also a living soil experiment. I realized in Chapter 6 that the 0.9 gallon containers I chose were way too small. I ended up going with 7 gallon containers and I made some adjustments to the soil recipe. Things went much better but far from perfect. I still had a lot of problems but not as severe as the previous attempt.

I ended up with the following plants:
(1) Cobra Lips
(3) Super Silver Hashplant
(3) Forest Queen
(2) Hashplant 4 (Chem 4 x G13)
(2) Hashplant D (Chem D x G13)
(1) Soul Food

Midway thru flowering, the cobra lips starting throwing nanners and by the time I caught it, it was too late.
Was it a hermaphrodite?
Did it throw boy parts due to stresses? I had altered the light schedule from 24/0 to 12/12, back to 24/0 and then back to 12/12 due to problems with some of the other plants. But it was not for an extended period of time.

All of these plants finished flowering. Samples were sent out and seeds were collected. None of the flowers were, what I would consider, ruined with seeds. Some had more than others but all in all, the amount of seeds was fairly low.

All of those sample were shipped out in late December and I decided to run the last round of Bodhi genetics that I had. I planted the following offerings - mostly 5 seeds or more of each:
- Herer Hashplant
- Lemon Lotus
- Lemon Hashplant (I had already done a round of these and they were great)
- Strawberry Goji

I also had a couple of non-Bodhi things that I wanted to experience:
- Sensi Seeds #11 - They had recently released some experimental crosses that looked interesting.
- Humboldt Chem
- Humboldt Green Crack (I hate this name)

These were kind of fillers but also I just wanted to see how they looked.

At the very last minute I also planted a bunch of the Cobra Lips crossed that I had just made (accidentally).
Many of the seeds did not germinate - I think they were too fresh.
But some of them did.
My original objective with these seeds was:
A) Are they actually feminized?
B) If so, are they going to be hermaphrodites?

Well...14 sprouted and 14 were female. Yes, they are feminized.
Were at 53 days of 12/12 and not a single one has shown any signs.

This pretty much gets us up to date and I will resume posting here regularly.

Hey, first if all, thanks for all of this info. I'm about to do a sog soil pheno hunt and this is a great reference. One question, did you ever use compost tea during chapter 6? That may have helped counter the low soil vol problem a bit. Again, thanks for the info. This is as far as I got today so I apologize if the question is answered later on.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Hey, first if all, thanks for all of this info. I'm about to do a sog soil pheno hunt and this is a great reference. One question, did you ever use compost tea during chapter 6? That may have helped counter the low soil vol problem a bit. Again, thanks for the info. This is as far as I got today so I apologize if the question is answered later on.

I did. I made a tea twice, I think. As great as living soil probably is, it just does not suit me like hydro does. I want to be in control. That said, if I ever revisit it and can get it figured out, I may change my mind.

 

[bodhipop]

Quick update...

The last thing I'm waiting on is my water pump. Will be here Thursday.

I started the grueling 1/4" line work and my fingers are wrecked after the 1st day.
(12) 8 Port manifolds
(96) pieces of 1/4" tubing at 44"
(96) T connectors
(192) pieces of 1/4" tubing at 15"

I made it 1/3rd of the way.
I'll probably be able to finish these by Friday.

Ignore the big black tote - I'm just trying to fix a silicone seal issue.

View attachment 4762739

View attachment 4762743

Once the pump arrives, I'll begin testing. This is a rather complex build. Especially since I've never made any kind of automated watering system before.

And finally..as if I didn't already have enough on my plate, I'm also migrating to DIY nutes. Having absolute control over everything kind of suits me...if you haven't noticed.

View attachment 4762750

What is your favorite source for DIY nutes?

 

[GrowdoBaggins]

I did. I made a tea twice, I think. As great as living soil probably is, it just does not suit me like hydro does. I want to be in control. That said, if I ever revisit it and can get it figured out, I may change my mind.

I think in that pot size at least once a week would be better. But ya, there are certain benefits of hydro that soil can't touch. Again, thanks for sharing, great thread.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

What is your favorite source for DIY nutes?

I don't have any favorites yet - this is my very first time making my own.
I'll be happy to share what I've bought and where I bought it.

Most of my purchases were from here:

Greenway Biotech offers ecofriendly products for a healthier lifestyle

Greenway Biotech's healthy, natural, and organic products include: Beauty and Personal Care, Organic Fertilizers, Hydroponics, and Raw Chemicals and Compounds.

www.greenwaybiotech.com

I'm certainly happy with what I got, but I'm pretty sure I over paid.

I used Kelp 4 Less to get my Fulvic Acids / Humic Acids / Kelp Blend:

Kelp4less – Paying for water sucks

www.kelp4less.com

Fulvic Humic Kelp Blend – Kelp4less

www.kelp4less.com

I got the Sodium Borate from ebay - but this is easy to get anywhere:
Here is where I got it:

Sodium Borate Decahydrate / 4 Oz Bottle / 99.9% Pure Reagent Grade / Fine Powder 640052707009 | eBay

SODIUM BORATE DECAHYDRATE. The item for sale is 4 Ounces (113 Grams) of Sodium Borate Decahydrate (Na. Sodium Borate Decahydrate, also known as Borax, is a mineral sodium salt of Boric Acid. 99.9% Pure Reagent Grade. ).

www.ebay.com

The Potassium Nitrate was kind of hard for me to find. Since I needed a fair amount, shipping costs tended to be high. I still need to find something local where I can buy a 50 lb bag.
But here is what I did buy:

10 LBs Pure 99.8% Potassium (KNO3) Saltpetre Hydroponic Garden grade Low Price | eBay

This item is in powder form. Garden Grade for Hydroponic system.

www.ebay.com

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 16

As usual, my work with coco is a bit clunky at first. I seem to struggle in the early innings and then do well later in the game.
I ended up taking apart my entire auto-watering system until these babies are ready to go. Once I have them where I want them, I will bring it back online.

Final Counts:
Chem '91 (Fem) - 11
Appalachian Super Skunk (Reg) - 11
Goji F2 (Reg) - 9

Not much else to say, so just some pics. The larger ones are day 16 and the small ones are 1 week behind.

 

[bleedintears]

Well damn that was a read. But I finally made it. Your past grows in this thread were beautiful. And I cant wait to see what the new rooms put out.

 

[Brettman]

Took me a couple days due to work and kids, but ive read your entire journal. I have to say it’s one of the best I’ve read. Some of your plants looked incredible and I can’t wait to see how these turn out for you! You mentioned you don’t smoke, just wondering what you meant by that, do you vape or make edibles? Or just for other people.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 21

Tonight the lights will be going out for the 1st night of 12/12!

I made a few big changes over the last few days. I wasn't at all happy with how things were going and I wasn't sure what the problems were, exactly. I was fairly certain that the LED's were too intense, and/or, I was not giving them a sufficient rest period. I was also concerned that my DIY nutes were just not cutting it. I decided to turn some panels off, give them at least 2 dark periods a day - anywhere from 1 to 2 hours each. And I also switched back to using Blue Planet Nutrients which I am very comfortable with.

After 48 hours, I'm back on track. My plan now is to use Blue Planet nutes for the next 2 to 3 weeks until the stretch is over. Then I will pick a small number of plants and use them as my guinee pigs with my DIY nutes until I can get that figured out.

The 2nd pic has the late additions - 1 week behind the rest. Even though they are this small, they'll be fine to start the 12/12 cycle.

@bleedintears - Thank you!
@Brettman - Back in my 20's, I loved to smoke. But something happened and I just wasn't able to enjoy it any more. My love for growing never left, however. So while I no longer consume cannabis, the only thing I can think about is growing it. It's my passion.

 

[Hot Diggity Sog]

Chapter 9: The Pheno Hunt
Day 23
Day 2 of 12/12

Things are going great. The 1st batch is jamming. The 2nd batch, which are 5 and 6 days behind, are getting ready to start taking off too.
I figure over the next 10 to 20 days, I'll cull the males, get things relabeled, and then bring the watering system online.

Not much else to say, so just two pics for tonight.