Tom’s Bay Area entertainment

[TomH]

Since I live a split-existence, with a week in the western foothills of the central Sierra Nevada (about 80 miles from Yosemite) and the following week in the Bay Area (south of San Francisco) I have dual diaries. My intention is to make things easier to coordinate, however I fully expect to completely confuse myself and I'll probably even make a couple facetime posts here!
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Getting old and being always loaded does make for some entertainment if you don't take things too seriously!
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Anyway, I have three plants currently growing in the Bay Area.
1 - A bagseed Sativa leaning hybrid, 2.5 months old and was 30" tall until I taught it the limbo, now it's about 18" tall but rapidly getting too big!
2 - A clone of the foothills Apples and Bananas plant. It's currently 9 weeks old and beginning to pick up steam. It took it off a plant that was in the 2nd week of flower, it seemed to go through a rooting followed by flowering, revegging and now it's growing normal. Took nearly 2 months from flowering momma to normal cut, but then all I have to work with is cloning gel, rockwool plugs and hand watering so I guess I can't complain.
3 - is a clone of the other plant in the foothills, Golden Kiwi x Watermelon Punch. It is also 9 weeks old and bigger than the previous clone and smaller than the bagseed plant.
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All are growing under LED, on a balcony moderately open to the external elements, these puppies are in it through Oct/Nov.
I'll start adding pics in the next post.

 

[TomH]

Plant 1. I wish I had a before pic, it’s typically leggy sativa genes show up but there’s enough indica in her to keep the leaves a little plump. Seeds came from some homegrown bud I received from a friend of a friend. I have no freeking clue what its strain is, but it’s really peppy stuff. I grew 7 in 2021, three were part of a sausage party and had to be put down. I wish I had collected pollen first though. If this one turns out male I’m certainly going to bottle as much as I can.
This plant has one variegated leaflet


Plant 2. Cloned, flowered, revegged and somewhat normal in 9 weeks. I think I have an iron or nitrogen lock out due to ca mag. Someone posted about ca mag in early veg potentially causing a similar issue. I need to put the bottle down.
This plant has a Venus fly trap as an emotional support plant


Plant 3. Cloned and also good limbo dancer. I am intentionally trying to keep plants compact through the end of July when the stretch starts.

 

[TomH]

Bay Area update 6/16/23, everything is vegging along well. Six more weeks of veg growth should do them well.
The bag seed sativa hybrid showed a couple pre flowers even though we’re still on 16 hours of light.

The glass container is a bog with Venus fly traps in it. It’ll need to move soon, but for now they can take advantage of the expensive photons.

 

[TomH]

The bagseed sativa leaning hybrid tossed out a few preflower indicators that she's a she!
I'm thrilled as this is a seed from the batch that got me stared (all the way back in 2021).
I've always wanted to take another run at that strain, it was a great producer, but I didn't know what I was doing in the realm of proper harvest timing nor dry/cure.
With all that going against me, it was still some awesome weed. Very speedy, but the flavor never lived up to the terpene profile when it was growing. It was an amazing citrusy splendor, it was that way until the first day of dry, then hay and never came back. I think I can do better this time.

The seed was planted 3/22/23, popped up above ground 3/24 and has the typical legginess from Sativa genes, my daughter named her Rita, but I'm wondering if I missed the opportunity to call her Jean Sativa, but I digress. I knew it was likely to veg for an extended period if it was a female, so I vegged it under blue light (6500k). I'm probably going to leave it under cool light through stretch before employing more expensive photons.
I am keeping her as compact as I can with every method I can think of, I topped, broken, bent, tied, and caressed this thing. Headroom is my concern, her sisters from last year (outdoors) got really tall.


I'm excited to take another run at it and hope I can do it justice!

 

[Rootsruler]

Sweet Trap terrarium..........

 

[TomH]

Been almost 2 weeks since an update here in the Bay Area.
We’ve had a cool June, following a relatively cool entire half of the year.

I’m still using a heater to keep the environment warm, humidity is right in the 53 to 55 percent with temperatures ranging from low 60s at night to upper 70s during the day.

This grow is on a balcony, so I’m dependent upon Mother Nature to cue the plants to fruit.
I provide light from a couple medium sized panels (250 watts approximately each) but I try to roughly mimic sunrise and sunset.
Given that, July 31 is when I’ve seen first signs of flower in the past.
These are 1- apples and bananas, 1- golden kiwi x watermelon punch and one sativa from bag seed.
Everything has been vegging under blue biased lights, I changed them for the higher wattage to take them into flower.

 

[TomH]

I replaced a couple small lamps (35 and 50 actual watts each) that I was using in early veg for a significantly larger unit (250 watt), in addition I cranked up the luminosity of the remaining lamp (200 actual watts) to 100%.
I knew this was going to affect the plants N requirements, I even ramped up the nutes, but the three little gals are pretty sad and chlorotic. I don't know if it's experiencing such rapid growth that I didn't supplement the nutrients enough or something else.

How's that for narrowing down the issue.

Anyway, I bumped them all with a pretty good dose of N, Iron and Epsom. I turned off one light (bigger one) and turned down the other.
I also did a foliar feed of "Flower Kiss" from FF.
They look a lot less limp and pale today than they were yesterday.

Just for historical record, I wanted to add my municipal water report, our water in both locations is pretty good, the bay area which gets it's water from Hetch-Hetchy near Yosemite is actually not as good as the water in the Foothills. The Foothill house is only 80 (road) miles or so from Yosemite, but uses a completely different water source (three rivers to the north of Yosemite). but I digress.


Bay Area Water Report - 2021

 

[SiamSam]

I replaced a couple small lamps (35 and 50 actual watts each) that I was using in early veg for a significantly larger unit (250 watt), in addition I cranked up the luminosity of the remaining lamp (200 actual watts) to 100%.
I knew this was going to affect the plants N requirements, I even ramped up the nutes, but the three little gals are pretty sad and chlorotic. I don't know if it's experiencing such rapid growth that I didn't supplement the nutrients enough or something else.

How's that for narrowing down the issue.

Anyway, I bumped them all with a pretty good dose of N, Iron and Epsom. I turned off one light (bigger one) and turned down the other.
I also did a foliar feed of "Flower Kiss" from FF.
They look a lot less limp and pale today than they were yesterday.

Just for historical record, I wanted to add my municipal water report, our water in both locations is pretty good, the bay area which gets it's water from Hetch-Hetchy near Yosemite is actually not as good as the water in the Foothills. The Foothill house is only 80 (road) miles or so from Yosemite, but uses a completely different water source (three rivers to the north of Yosemite). but I digress.


Bay Area Water Report - 2021

Really like how you have integrated all the plants into your home and the love you're giving them. Keep up the good work.

 

[TomH]

Been a couple weeks since my last update.

Two plants are happy and one isn’t. I think I messed up something in the soil for this one or it’s sativa genes are kicking my butt, it didn’t appreciate the last week or so at all.

The two small plants are fully in flower mode, I think they’ve stretched their limits, but the sativa had root zone ph and ppm issues.
I flushed her and now hoping she’ll figure things out.

 

[GoodShit97]

In case you didnt know, ive always been told that sativas require less food usually.
Seems to be true as well, cause my 80% sativa has been fed sooo little and shes happy as can be

 

[TomH]

In case you didnt know, ive always been told that sativas require less food usually.
Seems to be true as well, cause my 80% sativa has been fed sooo little and shes happy as can be

I've read that often, it's getting it through my gray matter that seems to be the problem.

I seem to learn a little with each grow, a light hand might be this grows lesson!

 

[TomH]

The Bay Area is having a little warm spell. I think it’s going to top out in the low eighties here today, RH around 45%.
At night it dropped to 63 degrees and 86% RH.

Golden Kiwi x Watermelon Punch, beginning week 4 of 9?


Apples and Bananas just entering week 3 of 10?


Sativa leaning bag seed, just entering week 3 of 12?

They were looking a little sad yesterday. I thought I had a root issue, I watered and fed, they all perked up significantly.
I guess it was a root problem, rooting for some water.

 

[Rootsruler]

The Bay Area is having a little warm spell. I think it’s going to top out in the low eighties here today, RH around 45%.
At night it dropped to 63 degrees and 86% RH.

Golden Kiwi x Watermelon Punch, beginning week 4 of 9?
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Apples and Bananas just entering week 3 of 10?
View attachment 16844View attachment 16845View attachment 16846View attachment 16847View attachment 16848

Sativa leaning bag seed, just entering week 3 of 12?
View attachment 16849View attachment 16850View attachment 16851View attachment 16852
They were looking a little sad yesterday. I thought I had a root issue, I watered and fed, they all perked up significantly.
I guess it was a root problem, rooting for some water.

Look at you! You came limping into THCFailure with a couple of busted plants and now you're popping some seriosly sparkly flower!!! Beautiful Brother!!

 

[TomH]

Look at you! You came limping into THCFailure with a couple of busted plants and now you're popping some seriosly sparkly flower!!! Beautiful Brother!!

perfect name for that place, but I really miss more than a few people that are still over there.
I thought there were some good stand up people, but the guy with the keys to the kingdom and his thugs ruined the experience.

 

[Rootsruler]

perfect name for that place, but I really miss more than a few people that are still over there.
I thought there were some good stand up people, but the guy with the keys to the kingdom and his thugs ruined the experience.

Yeah. Me too. I miss Nick and a few other people but they made their choice. Not harshing on them, as that is their choice and they are always welcome here, but I do miss Nick flipping out on newbs!!!!

 

[TomH]

Here I am, feeding/watering 2 of the three plants (one got it yesterday). I started thinking about what they are and hadn't even considered until the end of early flower that I have one indica, one hybrid and one sativa growing here!

For the past couple years, I've always lamented that I'd be pretty phat in one strain or the other but rarely two or all three.

I didn't even plan it, just ended up working out that way. I do wish I knew exactly what strain the sativa leaning plant is.
It's not a monster, but probably twice the size of the hybrid and indica that it's sharing quarters with. When I grew it a couple years ago, it had the most amazing lemony/pine aroma that I messed up due to lack of knowledge in the dry/cure process.

If I can get another plant with that aroma, and keep it through cure, I'd be thrilled.

The hybrid and indica plants were watered/fertilized today, took twice as much as it should have to get runoff. I thought stretch was over, but the are certainly still bulking up buds looking like long spears on one plant (indica), less stacked but still impressive on the other (hybrid).

I'll get some new pics up shortly.

 

[TomH]

The three Bay Area ladies, golden kiwi x watermelon punch is the first pic, probably still 4 to 5 weeks to go.

The second pic is apples and bananas. About the same time until harvest, give or take a week.

Last up is the sativa leaning hybrid, two or three weeks longer before harvest.

All are stacking up nicely, golden kiwi is looking pretty beefy too.

I’m excited to see what the fully mature plants look like.

 

[TomH]

That sativa leaning hybrid has one variegated branch.
The leaves on that branch are much more sensitive to bright light, the buds are also slightly smaller than other branches, but no signs that it is anything other than genetics. The three plants are all in contact at this point and no sign that the variegation is HLV.

I’m hoping that the buds look variegated, just for the novelty effect!

 

[TomH]

The Bay Area grow has missed a couple weeks of updates due to being out of the area since Aug 11.
My daughter has done the majority of the plant maintenance for the past two weeks.
Everything is progressing nicely, stacking up and beginning to fill out nicely.

Two plants are at the end of week 5, the other is end of week 6. Things are getting sticky and aromatic.

 

[TomH]

Just dropped 4 new beans into water with a pinch of Epsom salt.
4 different strains, if anything doesn’t germ, I have backups, but here’s what I have coming up next:

Skywalker OG
Platinum GSC

*These two are starting in the Bay Area, but moving to the foothills by early veg.
Skunk No. 1
Orange Creamsicle

I seem to be in the last 4 to 6 weeks of the current grow, so I now have some new kids to take care of.
I’m pretty pumped by all four strains. If they live up to their names, I’m going to b happy with some of the speedy sativas in the lineup.

 

[TomH]

A pretty nice looking bud off my Golden Kiwi x Watermelon Punch, six weeks and one day into flower. It’s not too big but has a couple really nice colas on her.

The other pics are my low tech solution to a germination and seedlings station.

My new grow should get an excellent start.

 

[SweetLeafGrow]

Looking awesome in there!

 

[Pipecarver]

A pretty nice looking bud off my Golden Kiwi x Watermelon Punch, six weeks and one day into flower. It’s not too big but has a couple really nice colas on her.

The other pics are my low tech solution to a germination and seedlings station.

My new grow should get an excellent start. View attachment 19224View attachment 19225View attachment 19226View attachment 19227

Hey, do you ever have trouble getting seedlings started? I don't put mine under bright lights until they're 7-10 days old. I start them off my t5's at least 24-30" away almost in the shade until they pop up and grow a pair of leaves......after 2 weeks I can have the my t5's within inches but early on I try not to fry them......We all grow different I'm not saying your wrong and I'm right it's just my way of getting them started...pretty flowers

 

[TomH]

So far, seeds have been started under the kitchen lamp, then transferred to solo cups.
I'd guesstimate that I have about a 75% germination success rate, not perfect, but pretty decent.

This is my first go with a germination chamber, I'll keep an eye on things to make sure I'm not getting too many photons too early.

I can exchange one of the 20 watt bars with a 10 watt if I notice any issues.

 

[Zen_seeker]

I pop seeds in paper towel and ziplock but switched to GNicks shot glass method in the spring. So far so good. Leave in water or water/H020 until it pops. Then move to peat puck or solo cup. 100% so far but only a few seeds tested this year. I went clone nuts.

 

[TomH]

I do the 50:50 watereroxide mix to pop the seeds.
They all had little pointy tails at the 2 day mark.
I did something different this time, I took a very dilute solution of Mr. Fulvic and Vit. B1 starter.
As soon as I did that, the tap root on all of them took off, I could see it get longer every time I looked at it. Of course, I'd been toking all day, so ...

They were looking ready to start pushing out the cotyledons so I dropped them in soil this AM. I'll see what pops up!

 

[TomH]

Hey, do you ever have trouble getting seedlings started? I don't put mine under bright lights until they're 7-10 days old. I start them off my t5's at least 24-30" away almost in the shade until they pop up and grow a pair of leaves......after 2 weeks I can have the my t5's within inches but early on I try not to fry them......We all grow different I'm not saying your wrong and I'm right it's just my way of getting them started...pretty flowers

I checked the light level with one tube (LED) lit, the soil level has about 7900 Lux.
I certainly expect to need to hang or build a riser for the light(s).

 

[TomH]

Back to the Bay Area.

Golden kiwi x Watermelon punch end of week 8. I see almost all red pistils even with a white flashlight. Trichomes are still more than half clear I’m planning on 2 weeks, but watching with anticipation. Frootloops sweet smell.

Apples and bananas end of week 7. Mostly white pistils still. Tart sweet smell.

Last one here is sativa bag seed. It’s putting forth a tangie aroma. It might be something in that lineage. Still some white pistils but being sativa, I expect a few rounds of new flushes of pistils. It’s end of week 7 also, expect about 12 or so. We’ll see how much patience I have.
Fortunately, I’ll be harvesting five plants in quick succession at weeks 9 and 10 for this girl, that alone might make me not want to harvest because my hands are sure to be hurting.

Sorry for the blurple lighting, tough to look at

 

[Anthem275]

Looking like straight fire Tom!!!

 

[Pipecarver]

Back to the Bay Area.

Golden kiwi x Watermelon punch end of week 8. I see almost all red pistils even with a white flashlight. Trichomes are still more than half clear I’m planning on 2 weeks, but watching with anticipation. Frootloops sweet smell.

Apples and bananas end of week 7. Mostly white pistils still. Tart sweet smell.

Last one here is sativa bag seed. It’s putting forth a tangie aroma. It might be something in that lineage. Still some white pistils but being sativa, I expect a few rounds of new flushes of pistils. It’s end of week 7 also, expect about 12 or so. We’ll see how much patience I have.
Fortunately, I’ll be harvesting five plants in quick succession at weeks 9 and 10 for this girl, that alone might make me not want to harvest because my hands are sure to be hurting.

Sorry for the blurple lighting, tough to look at
View attachment 20780View attachment 20781View attachment 20782View attachment 20783View attachment 20784View attachment 20785View attachment 20786View attachment 20787View attachment 20788View attachment 20789View attachment 20790View attachment 20791View attachment 20792

Looking nice all sparkly and shit....How many weeks in flower? You might want to adjust your light down a touch I see some of your leaves shying away and curling down.....I turn my lights to 80% starting week 9 then down to 60% at week 10......to let them ripen .......just something I picked up of Yt.