Zen’s Winter Run 2025

[Zen_seeker]

The deepest i worked was at the 7400 foot level. You can actually hear the ground working snap,cracle, pop, you get use to this over time.

A mile and a half underground.
I did some caving as a kid but if it’s black and a real tight space I want out.

I’ve been on lake ice a lot, fishing usually. You get the cracking and shifting there. Not sure I’d be comfortable hearing it underground too.

You have any “oh shit” moments?

My wife had an opportunity to work at a mine years ago but turned it down. Her sister used to look after a companies insurance and she saw how well they were compensated. But she wasn’t interested in something that dangerous.

 

[Zen_seeker]

20251011: Grease Monkey & GG Berry #4

Woke up at 3am. Warmer outside then it has been but the basement is colder than normal.

Tents at 85%RH and 20*c, not good. Dehumidifier is on and I test the furnace each Thanksgiving anyway so I put it on at 4am.

Things have slowed down in the tent so I’m hoping the heat will get things going again.

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On a side note these grow bags seem to work pretty well. Anything I started in them or transplanted into one did fine. Spearmint, Teddy Bear and Mammoth sunflowers for example. I left a few on when transplanting to the gardens since they are supposed to be biodegradable. This was in the ground about four months and I don’t see any signs of the material breaking down.

I pulled the plant to see how far the roots got past the pot. They got at least twice the diameter away. The mammoth in the top corner is still alive and well.


After beating the pot on the ground a bit most of the soils off and you can see the root ball clearly.

I got 1100 more of varying sizes so I like them. But I’ll be removing them when I transplant in most cases I think. Easier to deal with than the small netting around Jiffy peat pucks. But neither of them is biodegradable in 6 months or less.

The new nylon shopping bags I use break down in one season. The old ones took two or three. But they are in sunlight above ground all year. I’m thinking these grow bags will be similar.

 

[steamroller]

Maybe 24/7 lighting till all are growing will help with heat?

 

[Zen_seeker]

Maybe 24/7 lighting till all are growing will help with heat?

I closed the room for now but it’s a hallway. I think the dehumidifier will act as a heater for now since I need it on anyway today but I’ll save the light idea if it isn’t enough.

So far, so good.

 

[Pipecarver]

I closed the room for now but it’s a hallway. I think the dehumidifier will act as a heater for now since I need it on anyway today but I’ll save the light idea if it isn’t enough.

So far, so good. View attachment 116078

I just showed my wife your bags and she said they will degrade before you can use them. She says she bought some one year and by the next they just fell apart when she went to use them. Are they sealed up some how? I had a beautiful Indian sweater I had stored, I went to use it one winter and it fell apart in my hands...fkin moths ate it all up, turned it into dust.....I have a feeling your bags may do the same.......Freeze them??? Vacuum seal ????

 

[Zen_seeker]

I just showed my wife your bags and she said they will degrade before you can use them. She says she bought some one year and by the next they just fell apart when she went to use them.

I hope not! They currently reside on top of the tent. Can’t recall when I got them but it was around Father’s Day. I’ve only used six so far but they still feel good and sturdy.

Are they sealed up some how?

Just the fold over bags like older style sandwich bags before ziplock, but with a sticky fold over.

I had a beautiful Indian sweater I had stored, I went to use it one winter and it fell apart in my hands...fkin moths ate it all up, turned it into dust.....

Ya I have a few suits and a favourite sports jacket with little holes now because they weren’t used since I retired. Forgot to put plastic over them after the last funeral and wedding we attended.

I have a feeling your bags may do the same.......Freeze them??? Vacuum seal ????

I hope not. I kind of doubt they will degrade that fast as the ones outside didn’t even rip when I pulled the stem of the sunflower. It all came out if the ground together in one piece.

@Bandit420 has had them the longest. Maybe he can give us more insight.

 

[Bandit420]

I hope not! They currently reside on top of the tent. Can’t recall when I got them but it was around Father’s Day. I’ve only used six so far but they still feel good and sturdy.


Just the fold over bags like older style sandwich bags before ziplock, but with a sticky fold over.


Ya I have a few suits and a favourite sports jacket with little holes now because they weren’t used since I retired. Forgot to put plastic over them after the last funeral and wedding we attended.


I hope not. I kind of doubt they will degrade that fast as the ones outside didn’t even rip when I pulled the stem of the sunflower. It all came out if the ground together in one piece.

@Bandit420 has had them the longest. Maybe he can give us more insight.

These bags hold up great for me. No issues with the seams, moths, or anything and each bag is just like the first one I pulled from the pack when I opened it.
They're supposed to be bidegradable but I don't see the ones out in my compost heap degrading in any way. Even UV from the Sun doesn't make them degrade.

Roots can punch thru like there's nothing there but I still cut the bags away before I plant them



I'm using the largest size in my flood and drain because they won't lock up salts like felt bags and are more like a skin than a container.
The coco/perlite when wet is heavy and given the sheer nature of the bags would likely rip open if I lifted them up. I can't do that anyways since the roots have gone thru and anchored down to the coco slab below but that would be something to be cautious about if your bags are wet and heavy

 

[Zen_seeker]

20251013: Grease Monkey & GG Berry #4

GGB4 is doing well. Should be out if any danger in another week.

The original GM is great and looking good. However the second one hasn’t come up. It’s got the helmet on still but I can see green out the one side.






If the last GM doesn’t start growing I’ll see if I can get the shell off. Failing that I’ll pop another seed but I’m out of GM seeds.

Tents at 25*c and 65%RH with the dehumidifier running non stop. Acting as a heater and brining the RH down from 85%.

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I’ve read that peppers do well when cleaned up and moved inside for winter. Save most of the roots, trim any unruly ones, remove as much of the old soil as you can, then transplant into a new pot of the same size and water it down. You should clean up the top as well and chop off any unnecessary branches. I’ve gotten this far with the Thai peppers. Might try another before nights get below 10*c.


Thanksgiving is over for us. Just the cleanup and normal weekend chores today. It’s damp but warm outside, 15* but high humidity.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Think we’ve had our last big garden harvest. Still lots of green peppers and tomatoes but nothing large.


The rest of October I’m dumping the crate soil into bags for next year. The grow bags are mostly breaking down, some are three years old while others are only a year old.

I’ll be using JMS and IMO collections to try and rejuvenate the soil next year. Then we’ll see if I use crates and a garden bed next year.

 

[Zen_seeker]

20251014: Grease Monkey & GG Berry #4



The GGB4 are only six days out of the soil. Doing good, looking strong.

The original GM is doing great.

The latest GM is holding on. I took the shell off without any difficulty but the membrane is sticking like glue. On the good side the root is good enough to hold it firmly in place even with me poking at it. I don’t want to waste the last seed so we’ll give it more time. The membrane shouldn’t be an issue if it takes off…right?

 

[Pipecarver]

Hey, I dropped 6, 2 popped and grew long tails in 2 days, the other 4 hadn't popped after 4 days so I dropped 4 more last night and this afternoon I have tails on the original, well 3 out of 4. Now I have 4 more seeds dropped and between paper towels. that I really didn't need. If these new ones pop fast I'm sticking with them. I have much better luck with those fast out the shell to those that take a while although 1 might be a Quebec Blue, I'll have to grow that one if it survives the next few days. I think that was my favorite smoke so far. The first 2 Strawberry Purps are up and stretching for the light. They took off so fast I added another 2 of them to germinate.

 

[OLDCRO]

Hey, I dropped 6, 2 popped and grew long tails in 2 days, the other 4 hadn't popped after 4 days so I dropped 4 more last night and this afternoon I have tails on the original, well 3 out of 4. Now I have 4 more seeds dropped and between paper towels. that I really didn't need. If these new ones pop fast I'm sticking with them. I have much better luck with those fast out the shell to those that take a while although 1 might be a Quebec Blue, I'll have to grow that one if it survives the next few days. I think that was my favorite smoke so far. The first 2 Strawberry Purps are up and stretching for the light. They took off so fast I added another 2 of them to germinate.

I planted eight auto seeds in final pots there all up had to help 2 pop there helmets. Tangerine dream

 

[Observer]

How do you feel/like/think, photos vs autos?

I've grown one auto by mistake before, or as a bagseed, turned out to be an auto.

Cool, but it was one of my first plants, didn't know what I was doing, then.

Curious about trying/growing autos down the line

 

[Zen_seeker]

Hey, I dropped 6, 2 popped and grew long tails in 2 days, the other 4 hadn't popped after 4 days so I dropped 4 more last night and this afternoon I have tails on the original, well 3 out of 4. Now I have 4 more seeds dropped and between paper towels. that I really didn't need. If these new ones pop fast I'm sticking with them. I have much better luck with those fast out the shell to those that take a while

I try not to get impatient. If I’m using my seeds I don’t mind wasting them and popping more. But these are the good seeds I won so I hate to waste them or lose them. I stick to four plants and either toss or give away extras. If this last plant doesn’t take off I’ll pop another.

although 1 might be a Quebec Blue, I'll have to grow that one if it survives the next few days. I think that was my favorite smoke so far. The first 2 Strawberry Purps are up and stretching for the light. They took off so fast I added another 2 of them to germinate.

Nice, I’ve never heard of that strain. I do recall you had a somewhat local seed vendor you use in Quebec. I’m guessing that’s one strain you got from them. Yes I like it when they take off quickly and you can go to the veg stage, plants are almost bulletproof at that stage.

So you’re at ten seeds, half of which have popped with tails, while the one is straggling and the four new ones are pending?

How about the ones you dumped after making hash, frost get them or have any survived?

 

[Zen_seeker]

I planted eight auto seeds in final pots there all up had to help 2 pop there helmets. Tangerine dream

I had all four of mine come up with the shells this round. If they are more than a centimetre tall I tend to try and take it off. Smaller I find are harder and can damage or pull it up out of the ground.

It’s the membrane that gives me the biggest issue. It’s like plastic wrap that can dry out and become almost impossible to remove.

My main strain I have hundreds of seeds for is very citrusy. Tangerine or clementines. I hope yours is a heavy hitter.

 

[Zen_seeker]

How do you feel/like/think, photos vs autos?

I've grown one auto by mistake before, or as a bagseed, turned out to be an auto.

Cool, but it was one of my first plants, didn't know what I was doing, then.

Curious about trying/growing autos down the line

I’m guessing this is for @OLDCRO but since I just did 4 GDP autos I’ll chime in.

All four came up quick. No issues I can remember. They were less than two feet tall but loaded with buds. If not for bud rot I would have gotten 3+ ounces from each plant. Unfortunately two were male as well. I’ll try them again. Maybe indoors as well. Other than the short size I liked them. I’ve heard good and bad about them but these ones did great outside.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Still waiting on the small one. If I had more Grease Monkey I’d pull it and try again. I prefer to have two of each strain.

All the plants at 5am.


The straggler zoomed in. It’s so tiny I need the photo to see it properly. It looks fully developed but has dried membrane on one of the cotyledons.

Unless it browns out I’ll keep waiting.

 

[Pipecarver]

I try not to get impatient. If I’m using my seeds I don’t mind wasting them and popping more. But these are the good seeds I won so I hate to waste them or lose them. I stick to four plants and either toss or give away extras. If this last plant doesn’t take off I’ll pop another.


Nice, I’ve never heard of that strain. I do recall you had a somewhat local seed vendor you use in Quebec. I’m guessing that’s one strain you got from them. Yes I like it when they take off quickly and you can go to the veg stage, plants are almost bulletproof at that stage.

So you’re at ten seeds, half of which have popped with tails, while the one is straggling and the four new ones are pending?

How about the ones you dumped after making hash, frost get them or have any survived?

Ya frost got them, I covered them up with a plastic sheet but after a heavy frost there was only 2-3 left above ground, All of the spout tails on top were dead. I haven't looked in a few days I'll check later.

QCseeds is actually out of BC, Quebec has more restrictions on seed sellers counting each seed as 1 gram, with a 28 gram max limit. He said he'd get busted selling in Quebec so he moved to BC. That Quebec Blue was a Beauty. I had 2 seeds in a QCseeds container but they'd slipped out of their jackets...so I either have QCblue or a Biscotti Skunk with a short tail. Either one is fine but Blue was nice smoke & a pretty plant. My extra 4 are 2-Strawberry Purps & 2 more Zamal Dreams.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Still hoping.

 

[Zen_seeker]

Had a panic attack this morning. I test my natural gas furnace every thanksgiving weekend. It’s cold enough to have the heat on for a bit and warm enough if something is wrong I have time to fix it before the real cold comes.

Everything went fine until yesterday night. It was supposed to drop to 4* and I’ve got four seedlings to keep alive.

I woke this morning to find the heat wasn’t on. Advancing the thermostat didn’t work. Flipping the on/off switch didn’t work. Removing the main panel I was able to put the blower fan on manually so it had power.

At this point I turned off the power switch to let it sit and hopefully reset anything. We don’t have a error code window, just a couple of led lights on different parts that have flash codes.

I’ve replaced the blower a few years ago and the controller before that. Lightning strikes killed them years earlier. Otherwise just vacuuming twice a year, inside and all vents, is enough to keep it happy along with changing filters.

Just before we vacuumed this morning I removed the lower panel that has a kill switch, so the blower isn’t on with the panel off. I turned the power back on and pushed in the kill switch. I started to turn on! YES!

After the cleanup and filter check I assembled the panels again and things are back to normal. My guess is the panel cover vibrated lose enough to let the kill switch pop out.

So panic is over. It got a good cleaning. Filter’s clean. And switches are tested and working fine again.

 

[Pipecarver]

Had a panic attack this morning. I test my natural gas furnace every thanksgiving weekend. It’s cold enough to have the heat on for a bit and warm enough if something is wrong I have time to fix it before the real cold comes.

Everything went fine until yesterday night. It was supposed to drop to 4* and I’ve got four seedlings to keep alive.

I woke this morning to find the heat wasn’t on. Advancing the thermostat didn’t work. Flipping the on/off switch didn’t work. Removing the main panel I was able to put the blower fan on manually so it had power.

At this point I turned off the power switch to let it sit and hopefully reset anything. We don’t have a error code window, just a couple of led lights on different parts that have flash codes.

I’ve replaced the blower a few years ago and the controller before that. Lightning strikes killed them years earlier. Otherwise just vacuuming twice a year, inside and all vents, is enough to keep it happy along with changing filters.

Just before we vacuumed this morning I removed the lower panel that has a kill switch, so the blower isn’t on with the panel off. I turned the power back on and pushed in the kill switch. I started to turn on! YES!

After the cleanup and filter check I assembled the panels again and things are back to normal. My guess is the panel cover vibrated lose enough to let the kill switch pop out.

So panic is over. It got a good cleaning. Filter’s clean. And switches are tested and working fine again.

Hey Gmorning, I had the almost the same thing happen. I have a kill switch by my basement exit door, right next to a light switch, reaching in with the lights off to turn on the light I've accidentally flipped the wrong switch. So the heat doesn't flow when needed at say 3 am...lol

Our oil tank is not very much higher than the furnace. The oil at the furnace will siphon back to the tank over the 3 months its off if we don't shut off an oil valve above the burner. Then the furnace tries to run without oil in it burning out the burner and requiring a oil furnace tech visit. We have to catch it mid June and remember to shut the valve and furnace off along with the thermostat when we feel we no longer need the heat. If we just rely on the thermostat to control the furnace the tank wicks back the oil and there's no oil when needed. If we shut it off too soon we freeze at night, too late and the oil gets drawn back to the tank...