One Pink Lemonade - no-till cycle 7 in 4 foot diameter pot, 5x5 tent

[Northwood]

Northwood, may i ask about your take on defoliation?

Im doing my first scrog and have some squares were there are leaves and a bud site underneath them. I dont now if i should cut the leave and let the bud site exposed to light.

I don't defoliate much in the middle of veg unless things get really out of control with very short nodes and thick bunches of leaves pressed together. Like this grow for example. lol

I believe defoliation is one of those useful tools we have in our toolbox for helping to maximize overall quality and yield. But always remember that we pay for those photons on our electrical bill, and that energy should rather go into growing new leaves or buds than lighting up your tent floor. In other words, look from above down through your plants. If you can see the tent floor or soil anywhere through the canopy, you've overdone it. If they're big, then stick your head under and look upwards from the bottom to see if you can see lights. In other words, especially in veg don't waste light on surface areas that aren't capable of photosynthesis.

After stretch is about over and I see budlets starting to form, then defoliation begins... but just some leaves each day during watering time. The bottom of my pot is covered with a layer of its own leaves right now if you zoom in. Within 2 weeks of harvest, I'll have defoliated to the point that some light will reach the surface of my soil, and that's when I normally sprout my cover crop. There's a method in the madness... somewhere...

 

[Northwood]

I added some alfalfa pellets last Tuesday. The pellets are sold for animal feed and available anywhere animal feed is sold. They are not composted, but consist of dried whole alfalfa pressed into a pellet form that looks nearly identical to the wood pellets I use in my smoker. Out of the sack, the pellets are super hard and dense. They have an NPK of about 2-1-2. Here they are right after I threw some on top of my "mulch":


And here's what they look 20 minutes after top watering:



They swell to several times their size and get all loose, breaking apart if you gently touch them. An hour later the springtails came out to feast on them:


I would not use them as a top dress unless you have predators, otherwise the fungus gnats will feast on the mold that they often grow if kept moist for any length of time. They aren't moldy yet as of now though. It's possible the millions of springtails I have now all over them will prevent any mold from being visible. Springtails compete with fungus gnats for food, and also feed predatory mites and other creatures when no bad bugs are around. I still haven't seen a single flyer in this grow (or the last 5 before this). No yellow stickies needed. I like that.

I did see something crawling over my mulch for the first time a few days ago and it disturbed me a little. I didn't get a photo, because the thing quickly crawled under the mulch and I haven't seen it again. It was a damn centipede! I haven't added EWCs since my very first grow cycle, so I suspect I've had them in there since then. It's the only place they could have come from. Centipedes are voracious predators, and will eat anything from the size of a springtail larvae to a red wiggler worm. Plus they can bite!

I'm not going to worry about it too much for now. Considering I still have worms in there and I think I've had centipedes for awhile, perhaps I just have to consider them part of the ecology. If one escaped the tent though, my wife would have a fit. I haven't told her yet If she does find out, I'll just tell her it's better than scorpions and rattlesnakes. Hopefully I don't get any of those lifeforms popping up, or I'll need to get some hawks in there too. lol

 

[Brandon137]

I added some alfalfa pellets last Tuesday. The pellets are sold for animal feed and available anywhere animal feed is sold. They are not composted, but consist of dried whole alfalfa pressed into a pellet form that looks nearly identical to the wood pellets I use in my smoker. Out of the sack, the pellets are super hard and dense. They have an NPK of about 2-1-2. Here they are right after I threw some on top of my "mulch":
View attachment 4790580

And here's what they look 20 minutes after top watering:

View attachment 4790584

They swell to several times their size and get all loose, breaking apart if you gently touch them. An hour later the springtails came out to feast on them:
View attachment 4790594

I would not use them as a top dress unless you have predators, otherwise the fungus gnats will feast on the mold that they often grow if kept moist for any length of time. They aren't moldy yet as of now though. It's possible the millions of springtails I have now all over them will prevent any mold from being visible. Springtails compete with fungus gnats for food, and also feed predatory mites and other creatures when no bad bugs are around. I still haven't seen a single flyer in this grow (or the last 5 before this). No yellow stickies needed. I like that.

I did see something crawling over my mulch for the first time a few days ago and it disturbed me a little. I didn't get a photo, because the thing quickly crawled under the mulch and I haven't seen it again. It was a damn centipede! I haven't added EWCs since my very first grow cycle, so I suspect I've had them in there since then. It's the only place they could have come from. Centipedes are voracious predators, and will eat anything from the size of a springtail larvae to a red wiggler worm. Plus they can bite!

I'm not going to worry about it too much for now. Considering I still have worms in there and I think I've had centipedes for awhile, perhaps I just have to consider them part of the ecology. If one escaped the tent though, my wife would have a fit. I haven't told her yet If she does find out, I'll just tell her it's better than scorpions and rattlesnakes. Hopefully I don't get any of those lifeforms popping up, or I'll need to get some hawks in there too. lol

Looks awesome as usual

 

[Northwood]

She's definitely taken on a different look over the past week. I think I'll call her "Shaggy" now. lol


I'm guessing she'll go another 3 weeks at least, so my cover crop needs to be started within the next week or two depending on how she looks. There is more bud than I realized growing between the 2 nets, so I've started a gradual defoliation campaign in there. Plus I need to slowly open her up so that at least some light gets to the bottom of the tent for the cover crop. Oddly she's not really shedding old fan leaves yet by herself, even the leaves that haven't seen light in weeks. She's a stubborn girl.

Edit: I haven't seen that centipede again. So I decided to stop worrying about it.

 

[Northwood]

I planted my cover crop this morning. This is what the soil looked like before I did anything with it. The alfalfa pellets have completely fallen apart from the repeated top watering through the week:



The springtails just love those alfalfa pellets. So after I broadcast my seeds (lentils, mung bean, crimson clover, rye) I spread 1.5 pounds of azomite and 1 pound of bentonite over the surface, then watered. Here are a couple photos an hour or so after watering:





The white jelly looking stuff is the bentonite where I applied it a bit too thickly. It absorbs water and turns into a jell. I did see the centipede again last Wednesday. Sadly again he was too fast to get a photo, and just popped up out of the mulch for half a second. It's definitely well over an inch long though - maybe 2".

The plants still need at least 2 weeks, so I think my harvest window prediction was somewhat accurate. I've been checking the oldest trichomes for changes just for the heck of it. I really don't expect any amber trichome heads at this point:

 

[myke]

Could you add a couple of your Walmart bulbs down by the pot for the cover crop since its shaded so much?

 

[Northwood]

Could you add a couple of your Walmart bulbs down by the pot for the cover crop since its shaded so much?

I was thinking of doing that! I'll see how stretchy the young seedlings are first though after they sprout. I'm still defoliating here and there (slowly) so there should gradually be more light getting through, but my timing might be a bit off by planting my cover crop perhaps a week too early. At least I still have backup lights on hand should it become necessary.

 

[BeastLebanese]

I planted my cover crop this morning. This is what the soil looked like before I did anything with it. The alfalfa pellets have completely fallen apart from the repeated top watering through the week:

View attachment 4799339

The springtails just love those alfalfa pellets. So after I broadcast my seeds (lentils, mung bean, crimson clover, rye) I spread 1.5 pounds of azomite and 1 pound of bentonite over the surface, then watered. Here are a couple photos an hour or so after watering:

View attachment 4799340

View attachment 4799341

The white jelly looking stuff is the bentonite where I applied it a bit too thickly. It absorbs water and turns into a jell. I did see the centipede again last Wednesday. Sadly again he was too fast to get a photo, and just popped up out of the mulch for half a second. It's definitely well over an inch long though - maybe 2".

The plants still need at least 2 weeks, so I think my harvest window prediction was somewhat accurate. I've been checking the oldest trichomes for changes just for the heck of it. I really don't expect any amber trichome heads at this point:
View attachment 4799343

I would be put a sticky trap wherever you seen the centipede to catch it while its still small. I've seen some freakishly huge ones before. Even though I consider myself a bad-ass, 6' 250+lbs guy and may look tough on the outside, those things scare the bejeezus right outta me lmao.

 

[2cent]

Woohoo go bro!
Barneys just asked me to be a tester and sent me
3 strawberry lemonaid
3sisksberry
3watermellon skitz.

These lemonade strains seem to be so damn tight. Cant believe how low and tight u got that trained. First 3 week huggin ground love that. Dont any bugs get on the leaves n feast by mistake?

Hope i can get mine as tight. Subbed

 

[myke]

You've mentioned hen manure before,I saw some at canadian tire.Would this be a top dress item or something to add to soil thats cooking?Also at what mix ratio?
Thanks.

 

[Northwood]

You've mentioned hen manure before,I saw some at canadian tire.Would this be a top dress item or something to add to soil thats cooking?Also at what mix ratio?
Thanks.

This one? https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/acti-sol-hen-manure-1-36-kg-1590101p.html

I did both. I added some to my initial soil mix, half a carton in nearly 100 gallons of medium (not very much), and I also top dressed the other half of the carton plus more of another one right over my hay mulch gradually over the first grow. More went in during the late 2nd grow cycle too, but I haven't used any since. In total I think I've added 2 full cartons of it. I added alfalfa pellets the same way, just more of them. Keep in mind that my soil base was Pro-mix Organic Herb and Vegetable, and it's pre-loaded with nutrients too that supposedly last 3 months.

 

[myke]

Yes that one. Yes you started with good soil first. So when I’m mixing up my soil I usually do 15 gallons. So the hen manure could be part of my compost/ewc part. I’ve been doing 2/3 compost 1/3 ewc about 3.5 gallons worth for my 15 gallon mix. I could exchange some of my compost for the hen manure?? Or stick with my mix and add a cup to my amendments of 6 cups per 15 gallon.
Im not too sure how hot it is.
thanks.

 

[Northwood]

Woohoo go bro!
Barneys just asked me to be a tester and sent me
3 strawberry lemonaid
3sisksberry
3watermellon skitz.

Waaahhh! Why can't I be a seed tester too? lol

The bugs in there don't crawl on or eat the plants. I try and keep the bad bugs out of my grow tent, but I also have a lot of predators in there that will feast on them should one find its way in there - such as the dreaded fungus gnat.

Edit: Was showing another guy's Pink Lemonade that was strangely different from my own (like a sativa), but it turns out they're just light starved. It seems the strain is naturally fat and stocky, with very tight nodes and low bushy profile. It was more of the strain's characteristics than anything I did with training.

 

[Northwood]

Here's the lady today.




I'm not super impressed with the leaf to calyx ratio on this pheno. This is going to take serious effort to trim properly, dammit. On the bright side I'll have lots of bubble hash making material. For sure though she needs about 2 more weeks to ripen up properly. In the meantime I'll continue to gradually defoliate so that more and more light reaches my cover crop and the lower buds on the colas.

Speaking of cover crop, those seeds don't take long to sprout even without being covered. Here this are this morning right after watering. The springtails are hiding because of the top watering and only come back out an our or two after. As you can see, all the bugs I have don't mess with the little tender seedlings:

 

[the native]

Here's the lady today.

View attachment 4804807
View attachment 4804808

I'm not super impressed with the leaf to calyx ratio on this pheno. This is going to take serious effort to trim properly, dammit. On the bright side I'll have lots of bubble hash making material. For sure though she needs about 2 more weeks to ripen up properly. In the meantime I'll continue to gradually defoliate so that more and more light reaches my cover crop and the lower buds on the colas.

Speaking of cover crop, those seeds don't take long to sprout even without being covered. Here this are this morning right after watering. The springtails are hiding because of the top watering and only come back out an our or two after. As you can see, all the bugs I have don't mess with the little tender seedlings:
View attachment 4804810

Mate I dont mean to be a fan girl,but your grow is fire,ive follwed alot of your work and try and take some of your knowledge into my grows,haaha im a looooong way off,but this is inspiring brother

 

[2cent]

Mate I dont mean to be a fan girl,but your grow is fire,ive follwed alot of your work and try and take some of your knowledge into my grows,haaha im a looooong way off,but this is inspiring brother

Hey i called fire first.. Hes mine i get his soil first haha.
Nah its crazy aint it lol perfectly executed scrog nice jewlry hanging branches for the mrs and a shitton of tahoe for u

Defo go that extta week bro she wil frost out and calax up like thhe pics on connection in her final week. If ya dont see it they say wait 5days from ripe and she will curle up like an evil little demon plant almost kill herself off with thc resins

 

[2cent]

Howmuch did u top that bitch lol. Keep lolkin at her base... Its like a web of death lol

 

[Leeski]

Here's the lady today.

View attachment 4804807
View attachment 4804808

I'm not super impressed with the leaf to calyx ratio on this pheno. This is going to take serious effort to trim properly, dammit. On the bright side I'll have lots of bubble hash making material. For sure though she needs about 2 more weeks to ripen up properly. In the meantime I'll continue to gradually defoliate so that more and more light reaches my cover crop and the lower buds on the colas.

Speaking of cover crop, those seeds don't take long to sprout even without being covered. Here this are this morning right after watering. The springtails are hiding because of the top watering and only come back out an our or two after. As you can see, all the bugs I have don't mess with the little tender seedlings:
View attachment 4804810

Amazing what’s your cover crops I see clover?
got a whole micro world going on there I find your soil surface as amazing as the tree in a tent

 

[myke]

Amazing what’s your cover crops I see clover?

I was looking back, here I copied it

So after I broadcast my seeds (lentils, mung bean, crimson clover, rye) I

 

[Leeski]

I was looking back, here I copied it

So after I broadcast my seeds (lentils, mung bean, crimson clover, rye) I

Cheers bro I wasn’t being lazy have read the whole thread in various states of mind thank you