I haven’t been on the forum for some time. I hope all is well with everyone. I thought I’d touch base on my third grow.
I bought 5 LA Confidential seeds from ILGM late last year, procrastinated a bit, germinated in late May, and then decided it was just got too damn hot inside to grow. I moved the plants outdoors by mid-June. Everything was great, but, by mid-August, the plants were too damn conspicuous to keep outdoors, regardless of legality, and I had been warned that Massachusetts late summer/early fall is tough on bud, as low temps and high humidity lead to bud rot. So I moved the 5 huge plants that had veg’d for more than two and a half months into my 33x46x80 converted shower grow room. It was a jungle in there and I had to trim the crap out of them, but they were still overcrowded.
Long story short, moving them indoors upset the balance of nature and I had to combat an onslaught of spider mites, aphids, and bud rot for the entire flowering period. I kept the mites and aphids at bay with a combination of humidity (for the mites), some 1:9 rubbing alcohol to water spray, and a boatload of ladybugs. This worked ok. In the end, the plants suffered and, although they were usable, I certainly lost what they had the potential to supply. I cut one down early and made a canna-oil using coconut oil and the bus and trim (we loved it). I tried to keep the bud-rot at bay by keeping temps over 70, but I had to cut down the rest just before the end of week 9 of flowering due to an onset of bud-rot in some of the colas. I ended up with about 1100g of wet bud, 950g of wet trim and loose buds, and lost about 220g of bud rotted bud. The surviving stuff is drying in paper bags and almost ready for jars. I am going to make some more cann-oil and also give some rubbing alcohol extraction process a try with the trim.
Hindsight 20/20, maybe I could’ve moved them to my backyard, out of site but mostly in the shade, and rolled the die with the Sept/October temps and humidity, avoiding some of the insect issues I faced bringing them in from the outdoors. But, as always, it was a great experience growing and I learned a lot. Fortunately, based on early testing, the LA is a powerful bud and my wife and I are very pleased with the product so far. Fourth grow is six fem’d Maui Wowies I got on ILGM sale.
Hope all is well everyone! Here are some pics.
This is right before I brought them in:
It’s a jungle in there
Flowering
Ladybug mania
Nearing the end
The end
The harvest
The bud rot pile
Strain; Type, Bag seed, or NA: 5 ILGM fem LA confidential ,
Age from sprout Germ’d Memorial Day, cut down 10/20/18
Age from flower: moved to 12/12 indoors on 8/20/18
Soil in pots, Hydroponic, or Coco? Coco based soilless potting soil from Roots Organics that have been reused from prior grows,
Size of pots: One ten gallon pot for single LA, all other plants in 5 gallon pots
How often do I water and how do I determine when to water: every other day.
PH of runoff or solution in reservoir? ph is 6 going in, I do not measure the runoff
What is strength of nutrient mix? EC, or TDS. I use flower power nutes. For the start, grow, and bloom, i used 1/4-1/2 recommended dosage. I used full boost dosage.
Indoor or Outdoor: Outdoor for veg, indoor for flower
Room size:indoor is 33x46x80
Light system, size, height from plants: outdoor - mostly full sun; indoor 400W HPS 6" from the lamp
Temps; Day, Night: indoor 68-80
Humidity; Day, Night: varying; indoor humidity was 60%+
Ventilation system; Yes, No, Size: no, AC unit was used to cool area if exceeded 80 degrees; fan installed to move air
AC, Humidifier, De-humidifier: AC, undersized dehumidifier
Co2; Yes, No: no