TonyGreen's Tortured Beans "Bubble Head" meets the Gavita LED's............

Huh? Not sure what you mean.

Here’s the lowdown……..I typically pull every plant (24) out of the room at flowering, to clean them all up, lollipop and defoliate, etc. This crop, I only did the left side and although I removed some leaves on the right side, I did not stake them or lollipop or do much else. Of course eventually it always catches up to you and things go to shit. So today was the day I pulled everything out on the right side. It was a bitch, since if the plants branches can’t lean against other plants, there’s nothing to hold them up So much was laying in the ground. Amazingly, I was able to get the wife to help, which is very, very rare. I held all the branches per plant upward, she tied them up around the stakes with string/hemp rope. Plant by plant we went- actually only 9 since the 3 OKC were taken out to the other room. No fun at all, I’m too old for this shit.

So now the plan is to chop the OKC next weekend, and leave the Bubblehead for another 2-3 weeks, probably closer to 3 than 2…….I’m disappointed the Bubblehead branches weren't sturdier, as the bud weight is packing on right now. Especially since the breeder made it a point to say he improved on that in pheno selection. Hum, maybe not……….

But it’s done, and I’m happy with the way it turned out. Plants should be set for their last couple of weeks, I‘m going to start preparing for my next strain, Ethos “Thug Roze”- an extremely heavy yielder which I’ve read some great reviews on the last few days. I’m considering using netting for the first time which I own, and need to think on it a bit more.

Lastly, these summer grows are particularly hard. I’m in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay and the heat and humidity in June/July/August is atrocious. It’s like Florida here. Live on the water, that’s what you get. My winter grows are always better, and this won’t be an exception (meaning I’ve had better overall grows). I’m not knocking it mind you, it just takes more effort on my part.

Ethos OKC…….today is day 57 in flowering.

Medic Grow Fold 8 i won in a contest at Cocoforcannabis………

That's a sweet win... or should I say Ying? lol
Beautiful buds btw!!

This LED is definitely not as powerful as the Gavita, even though the power draw is higher. The Gavita has somewhere near 600-700 more diodes and a better driver, no doubt. But it’s foldable, so I can fit it in smaller spaces, and has a built in dimmer, which Gavita does not. The Medic Grow is also nearly 1/2 the price...........

I remember you talking about the amount of diodes on the gavita pro 1700e. You mentioned that gavitas don't push their diodes as much hence the 5 year warrantee... the warrantee was why I went with Gavita... that and also the efficiency and power ratio.... didn't gavitas used to be able to fold? Or was that the 1650e ?

No, I don’t think either of the Gavita’s fold………..or ever have. There’s some other manufacturers that produce some that do obviously.

Enclosed is something I've never discussed, in many years of posting. I've been doing this on and off for a long time, and find it very effective. I thought I'd finally post it tonight, as I have some time and recently told a few friends fighting mites about it.

You guys know I love Purecrop1, but it can be harsh when buds start to gain size mid to late in flowering. I always use it at a lower rate than recommended anyway, but here is a trick I use in conjection with it. Monterey Garden Insect Spray is a relatively cheap spray (a quart is about $1 and it contains Spinosad. Read up on what that is but it's an all natural, organic bacterial product that kills aphids, spider mites and thrips and some other critters.

But, rather than spray it on buds in flowering, which is a no-no, use it as a root drench up to 6X in a grow at a dose of 4 tablespoons per gallon. I typically use PureCrop1 in veg and early in flowering (maybe thru week 3), then start the Monterey drenching weekly. It is systemic, meaning it will travel thru the plant, up to the leaves so when the buggers suck the leaf juices, they'll get a dose of spinosad too.

Also, a lot of mites also can hang in your promix, rockwool, coco or whatever else you are using. They will eventually head up towards the heat of the lamps/LED's, but it also does a wonderful job of keeping your medium very clean of any insects. Try this is if ever see any issues, or as a preventitive, you'll thank me later on.

I went to 3 stores today, all that carry Promix and all we’re out. None of them could say when it would be back in stock, but it has been ordered. It appears Premier is having issues these days, for some reason. I ordered four of the bales for future use, bit couldn’t take a chance so I ordered 2 bales from Amazon (at $83 a bale delivered) so I could put it to bed. They will be here early next week. I usually keep a few in the garage, for emergencies, and I dropped the ball this time.

How about a pic of the BubbleHead?

Yeah it seems like deliveries have cut back... so like there will be some one day then a week later none... maybe only 1 or 2 deliveries a month or something opposed to weekly to save on the gasoline that seems to also be skyrocketing.. you'd think the hydro shops would do better at a "par inventory" lol

Systemics scare the piss out of me.

Shzz I wanted to ask you.. you use a bluelab.. to do ec ppm tests... you mentioned that you're feeding low before. It seems like the actual ppm with botanicare is hard to ascertain because of humic acids etc contributing.. so how do you guage it all then? Sorry if this is a stupid question man... but I had to ask. I also have bluelab .. but the combo plus.. and ec pen .. for 2nd reference.. they seem great! Very very close to each other.

Systemics…….. no need to worry about the Monterey’s, since it’s not a “chemical” with nasty’s in it. Most things I would never consider using, this is perfectly fine. It’s produced by fermentation, and is considered organic. It’s on everyone’s list as perfectly fine to use without any health concerns, systemic or not. Read up on it, you’ll see.

Terp…… I’ve seen people ask about this before, since organic‘s supposedly do not show up properly on the meters.I use the Bluelab Combo meter, it’s terrific. I don’t usually worry too much about the ppm readings, I study the plants before each watering and decide where I want to be. I do it by feel and observation, and less by the recommended rate. People may have a hard time understanding this, but after so many years, it just all seems to work. As I’ve mentioned, since Botanicare Pure Blend Pro is so clean (99% organic), it tends not to build up, which is normally what causes most issues like toxicity in the soil, burning the plants, etc.

Spinosyn A and D make up spinosad.
These are the chemical components below that make spinosad


From my understanding it's banned in US/Can commercial growing. Maybe changed idk.

Now I have no idea if it's safe, only because I don't think many, if any, studies have been conducted with regards to burning/inhaling it.

The systemic aside from being in the bud you smoke, will also carry unknowingly to clone cuttings you may give to others.

For those few unknowns that raise a red flag for me, especially after researching other systemic like eagle20.

It may be 100% safe, but .. it might not.

Everything can be broken down to a molecular equation........spinosad is not banned, as I’ve read numerous articles about farmers using it on their food crops. The original formulation was banned in Canada, but that is currently being re-evaluated as of January of 2022. In the US, it’s perfectly legal. As I’ve stated previously, I managed the US’s 2nd largest organic farm, over 850 acres, some years ago and I can assure you these things are heavily researched by the parent company. See the below link:

So, it is recommended not to apply the last few weeks of growing, as it breaks down quickly to completely harmless in those last few weeks. But, I understand everyone’s concern, especially people with health issues. This is one of the more benign products on the market, natural and organic, it’s effective and doesn’t have a long life, that’s why it has to be applied often, up to 6x a crop.

It's banned for commercial grow use.
At least here where I live.



980 day review and more testing is happening as of 2020 here.


Like I said, it might be 100% safe. But IDK.

You have everything covered. Your last few posts cleared up a lot of things to me. I figured you were using you experience to up the feed or take action. I haven't seen you mention ppms much.

I do have a question about cal mag. Am I correct that you use it every watering. Even when you are not feeding that day.
Now for the hard question. What do you look for in the plants to show you need to make an adjustment in the cal mag.

Yes, I use cal/mag with every watering, no matter if I feed too. I use reverse osmosis water, which cleans everything out of the water. Pot loves it’s cal/mag, up until the last 2 weeks Of flowering. Or you’ll start seeing deficiencies……I range between 5ml and 10ml per gallon.

420, so you are in Canada? A lot of times things are outlawed not becasue of the harm they cause humans, but because they can be harmful to other beneficial insects like pollinating bees. I know its legal in every USA state, but Canada can be tricky with this and other insecticides/pesticides/miticides. I will try to find a study I recently read, where something like 45 farmers were asked what they apply to their food crops to reduce/eliminate mites, thrips, etc. and Spinosad was the #1 product listed, almost 40% used it, along with some other things. It was a scientific study published by a university.

I guess everyone has to make up their own mind on the subject, obviously using nothing is best- but thats sometimes not feasible if you have or had bug issues in the past. Always good to have other points of view!