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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: That's one of the reasons I grow using only organic materials, and not products that come in bottles. I have heard the same too...that some brands/lines of nutes "secretly" put PGRs in the mix. Quote: I wouldn't be striving to grow stuff like "street herb"...like I wouldn't have that as a benchmark. Most of that stuff is like fake tits to me too...mostly just aesthetics/eye candy, lacking soul and richness. Even if a bud is completely caked/frosted with trichomes and super dense, that doesn't necessarily = quality to me. I wouldn't get too hung up on the density of the bud or how densely packed together the trichomes are...for me it is all about the quality of the resin/smoke. How rich the aroma & flavor is, how smooth & clean the smoke is, and how rich the effects/high is. I mean I do love me some pretty flowers and aesthetics is part of it all, no doubt. Quote: Some of my outdoor looks like "indoor" lol. Sometimes it is obvious, but outdoor flowers can definitely look just as dank as something grown indoors. "Home grown" should be some of the highest quality flower possible. Some of the stuff I've grown is some of the best I've ever seen/smoked. I just wish I had a cooler environment to dry in, I feel that would do a lot to preserve the loudness/gassyness of the aroma as well as helping the flavor come out in the smoke a bit more. Some of my outdoor looks better than pretty much anything I've bought in a weed store over the past few years, it also smells and tastes better and has a better high. Certainly better than anything I've got off the street in recent times, the quality of the herb on the market in my area in recent times has gone down hill a lot. (compared to around 2005 to 2010) I know someone that grows in a greenhouse and sells their stuff as "indoor" lol (I feel herb should be priced/sold by its quality and not where it was grown, but it seems like on the "market" these days the price is roughly set in regards to how it was grown indoor/outdoor/green house/light dep.). Perhaps the lack of complex and unique aromas from strain to strain is because of the nutes you use/your style of growing? Soil/organics is said to have richer & more complex aromas versus plants grown with salts/minerals. I grow under real sunlight so that's likely part of the reason, but my plants produce super rich/complex aromas that I often describe as being like a perfume or like a cologne. And each strain is unique/different in the aroma, very diverse...."Floral & leafy plant scent" shouldn't be a sign of homegrown. Quote: I don't think all commercial growers are using PGRs. Hard tellin' how common/wide spread such is tho .I'm acquainted with some folks that have been "in the game" of cannabis cultivation for a while now (from the old days of prohibition to the "regulated"/legal markets of today)...and they and others are very against using PGRs. So along with a handful of folks that are using PGRs, no doubt, a lot of growers are also totally against using such things. If you really want to avoid such things for sure, then look for cannabis products with some sort of certification that shows they were grown organically/cleanly. Here in California (and I assume they also do certification in other states where Cannabis is legal) there is a third party certification organization known as "Envirocann". The farms/producers that are certified by them will have the "EnvirOganic" or "Envirocann" logo on their products. https://www.envirocann.com/ "Envirocann is a third party certification organization, focused on the Quality Assurance and Quality Control of cannabis production and products. Through on-site inspections and lab testing the Envirocann Certification verifies that Best Management Practices (BMP’s) are used to grow and process cannabis and ensures environmental stewardship and compliance to local and state regulations Our mission is to empower cannabis farms, manufacturers, and retailers by providing a transparent look into their Production, Manufacturing, and Management practices. We add value to the cannabis supply chain backed by objective scientific data through our regular on-site inspections and the requirement of lab testing on every crop & product certified. It is our goal for our clients and their products to be recognized by the market as the best and cleanest, as well as representing quality, integrity, and excellence. The Envirocann & EnvirOganic Farm & Nursery Certification is geared to those with a strict adherence to Best Practices in a farm setting. Our certification designates a commitment to environmental awareness, use of approved input materials, and a commitment to Social Justice. The EnvirOganic level represents an additional commitment to organic production and practices. All certified farmers complete one or more site visit for each crop and maintain all standards required to achieve Envirocann or EnvirOganic Certification. Envirocann Certification We offer a process and product based certification that reflects local, state and environmental compliance combined with onsite inspections backed by laboratory analysis. This level of certification requires routine sample collections and site audits with pesticide residue testing. The Envirocann logo is used to distinguish Clean, Compliant, and Sustainably cultivated products. EnvirOganic Certification The EnvirOganic certification reflects that all state and local compliance standards are met along with the implementation of Organic Management Practices, including regenerative land stewardship. This level of certification allows farmers to display the EnvirOganic logo on final products. The EnvirOganic logo represents cannabis grown using exemplary practices, organic inputs, and in a manner exceeding current National Organic Standards." I imagine there are a few other third party certification organizations out there, but that is the only one I am familiar with off the top of my head...A few years ago I was buying weed only from farms/brands that had the "Enviroganic" certification/logo. They were truly organic buds, grown in live soil, and the farms also operated in a regenerative manner. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: There totally is! And I do feel everyone's own style of growing will give the plants/flowers/resin a certain "signature"/characteristic, even with differences between strains (if that makes any sense lol). And no doubt one's environment contributes to such as well. Not to get into the whole "synthetic" versus "natural/organic" thing lol, and I don't know all that much about synthetic PGRs....but I feel that "natural" PGRs (those derived from organic sources such as alfalfa, kelp, chitin, sprouted seed teas, etc) don't come with the same potential toxicity that some synthetic PGRs have (all of the "natural" sources of PGRs are 100% edible and safe to eat if one wanted to do so, sprouted seeds specifically are loaded with good stuff for humans and lots of folks eat sprouted seeds every day), and the natural PGRs don't impact the overall quality of the flowers resin either like synthetic PGRs can. These "natural" PGRs (auxins, cytokinins, Gibberellins) are already present in cannabis and all plants, they are the actual hormones that plants naturally produce/use. Alfalfa and kelp are staples of mine, they are both total power houses that are loaded with all sorts of goods far beyond just that of "NPK"...tons of micro nutrients/minerals as well as a lot of other chemicals/compounds that totally enhance the growth of plants. A while back either you or someone else in this thread mentioned/asked something along the lines of "what is so different about soil versus soil-less or hydro that creates the potential for richer aroma/flavor? I feel, and it seems that some of the theory/speculation about such, is because of the bacteria and various microorganisms/biology going on in live soil. One example I know of is in regards to lactic acid bacteria...As LAB digest sugars they produce/shit out various compounds and one of them is a short-chain fatty-acid known hexanoate. And that is essentially the pre-cursor that the cannabis plant needs to synthesize itself to start to produce ALL of the cannabinoids/terpenes, so if a soil is already naturally producing hexanoate then that (in theory) can boost the overall potential for cannabinoid & terp content. And that is in regards to just one single type of bacteria and one single compound that they produce...factoring in all of the other types of bacteria, fungi, yeast, algae, etc etc that are present in live soil and all of the various compounds they produce...I feel there is a lot going in in soil that contributes to the essence and overall "richness" of the plant and its resin & medicinal effect/potency. Quote: I was just making a broad general statement when I mention "stuff that comes in bottles" . I'm mostly speaking in regards to synthetics/salts/minerals and hydro nutes mostly, stuff that isn't derived from organic sources and stuff that doesn't contain any biology/life in it. Lots of brands/lines of nutes out there with flashy labels that aren't much more than an overpriced bottle of salts/minerals. I hear what you're saying tho and you make some good points. Of course there are some quality brands/lines of "organic based" nutes that come in bottles...That brand/line piggy mentioned a while back in particular, "Nectar for the Gods", I've heard lots of great things about em' from several people over the years and I actually have interest in working with them myself. The only "nute" I've ever used that's come in a bottles is fish emulsion. The kelp & alfalfa I use does come in bags so I suppose that could be compared to a bottle. Just about everything else I use comes from my yard (nettles, mallow, chickweed, various grass clippings, etc), or harvested from local riparian habitats (nettles, collecting duff/compost, etc). I make my own LAB. I make my own fermented plant teas. For controlling pests I use microbe based pesticides, or just essential oils. I've been using the same soil for years now and I haven't ever used any "nutes" on my plants ever...I just top dress the soil a few times through out the year and I give a few bacterial & fermented teas a few times through the year and that is about it, other than that my soil/plants receive nothing but water ever 2 to 3 days....But if one is growing in small pots indoors that is a bit different, since the plants won't have a large/expansive root system or as much soil to collect nutrition from, in such a situation I can understand the benefit (or the need) for using bottled nutes that have the "goods" already digested and in a form that is easily available to the plant/roots. I was just being a total about "bottled nutes" in general lol . I try to avoid "products" when so much of it I can acquire/produce myself, and for dirt cheap/free...but no doubt there are some quality brands/lines of "organic" nutes out there (a few that I want to work with myself). I've also been curious about using some of the "products"/microbes from the brand "Mammoth", I have been very curious about how much they can push & "boost" the potential of my plants.I will try to post an update on what I have going sometime later or tomorrow as well as a review of & my thoughts about these autos that I grew...I have been smoking the Mango Smile and Creme de la Chem the past several days, really killer stuff! I am quite impressed! Some of the best I've ever grown, no doubt about it! -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Looking chunky there Icon!
Those sensors are pretty neat! How much did they cost? I can see something like that being a real nice addition to an indoor grow, being able to visually see all the variables graphed and lined up with a specific time. Pretty sure I over watered my plants a few days ago. I gave em' a bit more water than I have been all summer, I was trying to give them a nice "deep" watering, trying to get some moisture/oxygen/nutrition to trickle down deep into the soil. The day after I gave them that "deep" watering, all of the tops/new growth on just about every single one of my plants were all super twisted and crinkled and curled up and looking terrible/ugly and some had the "claw" going on as if there was too much N, and a few leaves on a few plants had some orange/bronze specs. I assume the main culprit was over-watering and a rather saturated soil, and that the over watering messed with the ph and/or the uptake/availability of some minerals (which is why there was some orange/bronze specs/pits on a few leaves). I let the soil dry out for a few days and within 48 hours all of the tops/news growth coming in started to grow normally again with out being twisted/crinkled/curled....So that really leads me to believe that over-watering is exactly what the issue was. But it only affected the tops/new growth, all of the other leaves and main fan leaves were still looking normal. Also....uggghhh....I spotted some damn mites on one of my plants a couple days ago . Not this again!...I feel that I've spotted them much earlier than I did last year though. I intend on buying some rosemary essential oil and some Bronner's peppermint soap later today or tomorrow and blasting that plant and giving all of my other plants a light spray down. At least I spotted em' before the plants have started to flower.It looks like a few of my clones are just barely starting to stretch a bit. A few of my random "bag seed" plants look like they will likely be males, which sucks because they're great looking plants that have a dank/skunky smell to their foliage and I was really hoping they'd be ladies. Might try to collect some pollen somehow tho (I have questions about such, I will make a post about that sometime later) I started 2 more autos about a week ago, another Mango Smile and another Strawberry Mango Crumble. And I will be starting one more Mango Smile today or tomorrow. I am very curious to see if there are any other phenos/slightly different characteristics that come out in this Mango Smile compared to the other one I grew, also curious to see any differences with it growing/flowering under slightly shorter and somewhat cooler days as we get closer to fall (they should finish up around the first week of October, versus finishing up Mid-July) My #2 Strawberry Mango Crumble plant is hanging up to dry right now....Smells pretty different compared to the other SMC I grew, it also took a lot longer to finish up (80-ish days, went much longer than any of my other autos). It smells like Strawberry-Watermelon candy to me at the moment, a distinct strawberry smell and melon with a candy-like sweetness, has some pretty fat/dense buds too. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: That's not too bad for a sensor/system like that, providing a lot of good info/data. Yea...broad mites were one of the things I had some suspicion about. I was doing some reading/research and came across some things that was pointing to broad mites being the culprit, or at least the symptoms being similar. But since the soil has dried out over a few days the tops & new growth is coming in normally once again, so I feel those symptoms were likely caused by over watering and the ph getting thrown off. One of my plants definitely has mites tho (spotted them on just a few branches, and only at the tip/new growth), and they are gathered around & only impacting the new growth. Those tips/leaves have a different look compared to the twisted/curled tops I was dealing with. My scope isn't powerful enough to ID if they are russets or broad mites, but my course of action would be the same either way....I'm going to use rosemary essential oil with some peppermint soap diluted into water, that's what I used last year as a knock out/kill and it def helped to wipe em' out. Fingers crossed. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: I just checked out that link... That is the most comprehensive source/info about mites that I've come across! I didn't really learn anything new in particular from that page, I did a lot of reading/research about mites last year when I was dealing with them...but that single page has basically EVERYTHING one needs to know about mites lol, basically everything I learned over 2-ish weeks of reading about mites from different sources is all on that single page lol. Good stuff! Lots of good info there! But yea...this whole year/summer has been screwy for me and full on unknowns (long story) so I wasn't ready for a full term grow and the $ I would have put into purchasing bio-pesticides went into other things. I was only planning on growing some autos and being done with everything by mid-July and moving out of town...Had I known I was going to do a full term/photo grow, and had I know I would still be living here until the fall, I would have planned a lot better. I was planning on using bacteria and fungal based things like Beauveria bassiana, grandevo and venerate....those three specifically are what I had in mind for pest management and keeping mites in check because after last summer I never ever wanted to deal with that nightmare again. When ever I have the chance to do a real proper grow I plan on working with those (Beauveria bassiana, grandevo and venerate)...That's the thing, over the past several years that I've grown I've done so on a bare minimum shoestring budget and I still harvest some pretty dank flowers in the fall. So when the time comes that I can afford to do a grow exactly how I want, with the exact genetics that I want and with all the tools and supplements I want (and need), I'm really looking forward to that day. Quote: Thanks for the good luck & prayers! I use a wetting agent that breaks the surface tension of water so it doesn't form droplets on the leaf surface, so it spreads across/coats the surface of the leaf. I'm not sure on the type of mite I'm dealing with, possibly even multiple species. But I am leaning a bit more towards them being broad mites instead of hemp/russets. Quote: I had mites infest my plants last year right at the beginning of flowering, around the end of Aug and early Sept they swept through all of my plants pretty rapidly (within a few days after spotting them on parts of one plant they were being spotted on all of my plants and spreading through them noticeably from just morning to evening). I'm aware of how detrimental and fucked up these damn things can be...they totally suck the life out of the buds and prevent the buds from even forming/developing at all, all pistils are brown and dead on arrival (never any white pistils), buds are crispy and dry, trichomes are shrunken and deflated and contain no resin/oil/terps....They can be absolutely devastating. So far tho I'm only seeing them on one of my plants, and only on a few branches at the tips (none of my plants RN are in full on flowering yet, just entering stretch/pre-flower). I managed to wipe them out (for the most part) last year though and was able to bring my plants to harvest....I used a mixture of rosemary oil, lavender oil, alcohol, and peppermint castile soap. And that totally seemed to do the trick because within days after my buds were starting to push out nice white pistils again and were developing trichomes that were filled with resin/oil, and I managed to harvest several pounds (some of which was pretty dank). Though I did several applications of that oily mixture, about 4 times IIRC through out early to mid flowering, along with Dr. Zymes about twice a week. Quote: I remember when I was first hit with the issue/infestation of mites last year and you were telling me to toss everything lol (I had 8 plants, two of which were like 6ft X 6ft)...Which is totally understandable depending how severe the infestation is (I was even considering pulling and burning the one plant I just spotted them on the other day lol), but I'm glad I put in the battle last summer because I ended up bringing all of those plants to harvest. The mixture of essential oils, alcohol, and soap did the trick for me though! But yea...from all the reading I did last summer when I was dealing with this issue for my first time, that is exactly what I gathered, that what works for one person does not work for another. So many people said that some "thing" worked very well for them for wiping out mites, while another person says they used that same exact "thing" and it didn't do anything at all. There was absolutely NO agreement in regards to what worked and what didn't for wiping out mites, there was no "magic bullet". (in comparison to something like caterpillars, where "BT" is known to work very well and reliably and pretty much everyone agrees that it helps) But I do feel having an IPM regimen in place with things like Beauveria bassiana, grandevo and venerate (and/or others) can do a lot to prevent an infestation from ever developing/happening in the first place. There are lots of outdoor growers in my area that don't deal with any mites because they have found an IPM regimen that works for them...Seems that mites are getting pretty bad around here though since there is so much cannabis being grown outdoors in this region. I feel if one doesn't have an IPM regimen around here it's almost guaranteed that they'll be infested with mites. I knew about the risk/potential, I've just been in a lazy & depressive funk lately combined with not having much $ to work with so I slacked on giving my plants a defense. I sprayed my plants down last night with rosemary oil (about 3ml), 70% alcohol (about 5ml), and castile soap (about 5ml) all mixed/diluted into about a gallon of warm water....I will report back tomorrow sometime and let ya'll know if it has made an impact, and if that one plant has its tips growing normally again. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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On the topic of pollen....
I have a couple males that I would like to use to knock up just a few flowers on a few of my plants. Thing is, the males are almost 3ft tall and rooted in the ground right next to all the ladies so once their flowers are ready they are going to be dumping a lot of pollen into the air, and I only want to knock up a few buds. Any suggestions on how this might be possible? I was thinking about just cutting a few tops off the males (basically taking "clones") and placing them in cups of water to keep em' viable while the flowers develop and open up, then using the pollen to dust a few buds. Or...hacking/cutting the plant so there's only a tip or two with flower clusters remaining, covering the flowers with something to prevent pollen from going airborne, and using the pollen to knock up the ladies once it starts to be released. I kinda recall pollen doesn't remain viable for long? And it needs to be dried out properly for storage? I think I might have asked something similar last year lol. Quote: ![]() I remember when you were dealing with the damn things a while back and how tough it was for your to eradicate them. That was crazy! They can totally make the whole thing depressing and devastating, I can't imagine the feeling of not being able to get rid of them though...especially when growing this plant is a passion like it seems to be for most of us around this place, and even more so when it is what provides one their herb/medicine (or as a way to save a lot of $). I thought I was going to loose everything last year and have to buy the crap from stores. I would be stressing and more bummed right now if I didn't already have a bit of a harvest from my autos....even then I'm optimistic about the situation since I've already gone through it and know what to do and have caught it very early and only on one plant and before full on flowering. I know it might not always work though so definitely a little concerned lol. I still have about 10 to 14 days at the earliest before any trichomes start to form on any of my plants so I have some time to spray some other things if needed if my oil mixture doesn't show improvement in the next 2-ish days. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: It is against the rules to post links to or suggest/name seed banks... But as far as breeders go for feminized autos...I would suggest looking into "Night Owl", "Mephisto", "Twenty20 Mendo", and "Mosca". I grew some stuff from Mephisto this summer. It is my first time working with their stuff and my first time growing any sort of auto-flowering plant....I am quite impressed with the overall quality of the flowers. $10 a seed is pretty typical for cannabis seeds, that is a standard price....Seems a bit much at first, but it usually takes a breeder a year or several years to develop a quality "strain". Takes a lot of time, a lot of plants, sometimes a lot of space, takes $, takes knowledge to create such a thing. The breeder has to make some $ to make it worth their time. So you're not buying just a "seed"...you are buying someone's creation, you are buying someone's work that took them a year or more of work to create. You are also buying a seed that has the potential to provide you with several ounces or several hundred dollars worth of cannabis. That $10 seed can provide you with 4 ounces of flower, or about $600 worth of cannabis (possibly worth even more depending where you live).....(and with normal photo-period plants, that $10 seed has the potential to provide one with several pounds or several thousand dollars worth of cannabis, or even a lifetime supply of cannabis if one turns it into a mother plant to take clones from) -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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It's been several days now since I first applied the mixture of oils/soap/alcohol in my battle with mites.
I kinda lost track of the days, I think it's been around 6 or 7 days now though since I first sprayed. I also did a second spray down 3 days after the first. And once again, it has totally worked! I am not seeing any signs of mites on the one plant that I spotted them on and the tips of the branches that the mites were impacting are now starting to grow normally and with a bright green/lush vibrant glow (instead of appearing dull/pale/lifeless and drooped down with the brown/red color of mites). The 2nd time I sprayed I added some sesame seed oil to the mixture, which is something I didn't use last year. I also added a small amount of Dr. Zymes to the mixture because why not lol. The recipe/mixture I used this most recent time is rosemary essential oil (3ml to 5ml), castile soap (3ml to 5ml), alcohol (5ml), Dr. Zymes (5ml), and the last time I added about 3ml to 5ml of sesame seed oil. All diluted/mixed up into 2000ml of water. To make sure the oils and everything is mixed up thoroughly and distributed/suspended evenly through out the water I shake it all up vigorously with a small amount of water at first to make an emulsion, then I mixed/shake the emulsion up with the full 2 liters of water. I plan on spraying my plants with this mixture at least once or twice more in the next 10 days, just to make sure no mites can start to take hold/multiply before the plants are in full on flowering. From what I gather, putting it simply....The essential oils basically "melt" the eggs of mites and possibly even the mites themselves and there are certain components/chemicals in rosemary oil (and other EOs) that fuck up the reproduction capabilities of the mites, as well as deterring them (tho I wash my plants down with fresh water the morning after, and EOs evaporate away pretty quickly, so very little residue/oils are left on the plants the day after). The castile soap helps as a surfactant/wetting agent and coverage, helps it "seep and soak" into the nooks & crannies, possibly suffocates the mites a bit too. The alcohol will dry out the mites/fuck up their bodies structure. Oils like sesame seed oil physically coat/suffocate the mites, and also seem to contain some insecticidal properties themselves. In general my plants are looking pretty good at the moment...A few months ago I started to ferment some alfalfa, kelp, and fishbone meal in a bucket. I've gave all of my plants some of that twice over the past week and they're absolutely loving it! They all have a nice healthy glow about them, all of their leaves are perked up and reaching for the sun, their tops are vibrant & glowing. They're all stretching and will start to set & stack flowers in the next week or two. Seems like most of my plants are taking a while to transition into full on flowering compared to previous years. (I really need to start keeping a proper grow journal and documenting everything) From the bag seed plants I have going, so far it appears that only one of them was a male. I chopped it a few days ago. Seems to be that time of year lol, I was skimming through a reddit page for outdoor growers and I saw many different posts/pics of folks killing their males lol. My last two autos are looking fantastic too, better than the ones I started in late spring but the days are starting to grow much shorter. And if anyone remembers, I was talking about transplanting autos a while back....One of the two I transplanted took hold just fine (Skywalker), the other survived the transplant and was alive for a few weeks but it was stunted and never grew up beyond the size it was when transplanted. I am glad the Skywalker made it though, every other seed I started of it this summer was either stunted or got ate by an insect. That Skywalker is now flowering, will likely be done in 4-ish weeks. Just another rambling update. I've got 14 good looking plants going right now, all on the small/medium size but looking great. Quote: You have a nice selection/variety of different strains going there! Nice diversity. That auto-strawnana actually looks pretty similar to the original/photo period Straw-nana that I grew last summer. It has the same vibrant green color that mine had (I know all plants are "green" lol, but I've noticed some plants have a distinct color/shade of green), the SN I grew was the most bright/vibrant green colored plant I've ever grown....I'm curious if the mother of that auto is actually the same Straw-nana that I grew. The SN I grew was one of the most resinous/sticky plants I've ever grown...the fresh resin on the live plant smelled like bubblegum at first, then turned into more of a classic strawberry-banana smell. Def had a distinct musty banana-like note. Quote: I scrape the resin off the blade and save it for my post-trimming smoke session. Then I give the blades a wipe down with alcohol. My tradition for trimming is....once I am finished I collect all of the resin/hash from the tips of my fingers (my fingers get pretty caked with resin) and roll it up into a ball along with the resin I scrapped from the scissors. After that I collect all of the trichomes/kif from the surface of my trimming tray (usually only like a bowl worth). Then I pack a bowl with one of the prime buds I just trimmed, I place a patty of the finger/scissor hash on top of the herb, then I top it off with some of the kif I collected. It is basically my way of celebrating the finishing of a plant, how I like to celebrate taking care of a plant all the way to the end...It is something I always super look forward too lol. As I am trimming for several hours and feeling all tired and cramped up and achey, I just keep in mind that I have a nice treat waiting for me when I'm finished...a giant bowl of herb/resin/hash. Lots of others I've been meaning to reply to...I just can't keep up with it all. It is awesome seeing everyone's lovely plants though! ![]() -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: lol, that pic totally conveys the feels of trimming lol. Trimming is super tedious....but in ways I kinda enjoy it. It is very meditative for me, I totally get "in the zone" and not thinking of anything at all, just focused on the task at hand and nothing else. I also always have music playing and vibe out. Also one of the few times that I actually aim/strive to get super stoned is after a trimming session (typically I just take a couple bong rips and I'm good). Quote: I know, I know lol. I'm terrible at posting pics lol .I'm in a grow competition over at some other place and I think I might be disqualified now because I wasn't able to keep up with posting pics/updates often enough lol .Posting pics is always such a time consuming task for me...transferring the pics from my phone to my computer...then resizing and/or cropping them...then erasing all EXIF data...then actually uploading and posting them on the forums. I still need to post pics of my plants/grow from last summer lol, I still haven't posted any of those lol. I am pretty sure I already posted this one but its the only relevant pic I have to post right now...This is from last month, they're all harvested now (Front left is Strawberry Mango, front right is Mango Smile, back left is another Strawberry Mango, back right is Creme de la Chem, middle pots are clones of Mac-1 and Ice Cream Cake. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: lol...yea that plant did have some giant fan leaves, especially in relation to the over all size of the plant. I took some pics of the fan leaves up close, when ever the day comes that I get around to uploading/posting em' I will point it out. I took some clones last year of some plants just to play around with it in a crude/basic way...I heard from a few people/posts that mentioned plain ol' water with no hormones at all would work. So I just plopped cuttings directly into some cups of water. I didn't make the cut in the water but I was mindful about it and placed the cutting in the water immediately after, was quick about it. The cuttings never developed roots, but they survived in plain ol' water (which became stagnant at times when I forgot about them for a day or two) for like a month IIRC, they even started to flower while just sitting in water. And they were outdoors the entire time, 95f to 105f and 10% to 20% humidity, but in shade/filtered sunlight. That is how I took some cuts of that male plant I had...The thing was pretty big so I just decided to chop the entire thing, but before I did I took some cuts and placed them in just plain water. The way it looks, I feel they have about 7 to 10 days before the flowers open up (tho I am not yet super familiar with males). If it works out then awesome and I will have some pollen to collect, but if not I'm not really trippin' about it. It was one of those things where I figured it's worth a shot and out of curiosity to see if it can be done that simply. Quote: LOL @ the look on his face in that pic ![]() Yea those were all autos. I don't think that applies to autos. With autos transplanting is possible, but from what I've seen so far from the couple times I tried that this year (compared to all my usual transplants with photos) and from what I hear from many others is that it is ideal to start autos directly in the spot/pot where they will grow up/flower. The roots shouldn't ever be disturbed or restricted with autos, ideally. I started those plants directly in those pots. Those are all 30gal pots in that pic, besides the front left which is 20gal. The plants didn't "max out" the pots at all but they absolutely "grew into" them and became restricted in size slightly (besides the creme de la chem, back right, it was a pretty tiny plant relatively speaking). That plant in the 20gal, the front left, totally would have grown larger and yielded more if it was in a 30gal pot. And the Mango Smile, the front right, wouldn't have grown that large if it was in a 20gal. Their root system expanded pretty well through out the pots, tho I don't think their main tap root reached the bottom (the autos in that pic) It is very hot & dry in my area so the larger volume of soil helps with keeping the soil/root temps cooler and holding onto more moisture. Also, I feel that growing organically in soil the available nutrition isn't "concentrated" and isn't as available to the roots/plant compared to synthetics/salts, so having a large volume of space for the roots to gather nutrition is more ideal. Tho no doubt I have seen folks grow some large plants in relatively small pots on purely organics. On synthetics/salts/hydro, I think a plant can grow quite large relative to it's pot size/root space more so than a plant on organics. When I grow photo period plants I start the seeds in 1 gallon pots outdoors under the sun, after a few weeks once they are more or less as large as the pot I transplant them directly into their final pot or directly into the ground. In regards to full term photo period plants grown outdoors (7 to 9 month old), my pots are pretty tiny lol (I feel they're on the high side of small and low side of medium for a full term outdoor plant). 50gal to 100gal to 200+gal pots aren't uncommon for outdoor plants. Though depending how folks do it, the roots will still bust through the bottom of fabric pots and into the earth below. Some of my photo-period clones have busted their roots through the bottoms of my fabric pots. When ever I finally live where I can grow big full term plants and have the funds do everything proper how I want, if the soil in the area isn't ideal I will be going with 50gal to 100gal fabric pots and/or creating very large mounds. I have heard some stuff about what you're saying in regards to starting in small pots before transplanting, and even transplanting up in size a few times...there is likely something to that, but I think growing outdoors under the sun and with organics is a different game. Here is a plant started in a 200 gallon pot... 500 gallon.... ![]() Some dudes preparing 1000 gallon pots lol... ![]() Probably around 200 to 300 gallon pots, and the plants aren't nearly as large as they will get.... ![]() -OM . Edited by openmind (08/16/21 05:53 PM)
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: Yea that's basically the line of thought that I've heard about that. I have definitely heard that from several folks, on forums and in person. I'd be interested in seeing some experiments done, and curious about to what point in the plants life or how many different transplants would be beneficial. But it is definitely "a thing" and a practice/method that people do. I like starting in relatively small pots (1 gal) and only transplanting once, but I have gone from solo cups to 1-gal pots to 30gal (or into the ground). -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Alright!...I'm finally doing it, after almost a year lol, here are some pics of my grow/plants from last summer. I don't think I posted a single pic of any of my plants last summer.
This is ALL from LAST SUMMER. Not what I have going right now. The spot. The area with the broken ground is where my in ground plants were placed...I ended up taking out the hoop-house, ended up not using it. The native soil I'm working with in my yard...I loooove the soil here, so much so I take pictures of just soil every year when I am working the ground lol. Pretty rich, sandy loam, and absolutely chock full of worms during the spring time. The plants I grew in the ground did very well in the native soil with basically nothing but water for 6 months. The babies... A family shot during early/mid flowering, soaking up the sun shine. (my cacti in the foreground are much greener this time around lol) Lemon Wookie Glue, with its several dozen chunky thick tops (it was cool seeing large plants with a bunch of tops sway around in the wind). This plant ended up around 6 to 7 feet tall/wide. Lemon Wookie Glue Lemon Wookie Glue, right before the first night of harvest. It took me 2 or 3 nights each to take each of my big plants down. The underside of the Lemon Wookie Glue. I grew it kinda sorta in a "screen of green" style sans the screen lol..Basically just topped the main stalk once, did a bunch of LST/bending, and then continued to top the branches to create a nice broad & somewhat flat top/canopy. Gave me tons of prime tops along with keeping the plant relatively short (it was still 6ft+ tall, I assume it would have been around 10 feet if I didn't top or bend it at all) The base of the stalk of the LWG, not a giant but one of the biggest I've grown.... The base of the stalk of the "Soup"...(From a seed I pulled out of some "Thin Mint" that I grew, "Thing Mint X ?" , I named it soup because of its somewhat savory essence) Tops of "Soup" in the sunset One of the several dozen tops I got from "Soup" Capstone, right before its pre-sunrise harvest... Sour Diesel X Lemon Kush, before its pre-sunrise harvest... Wedding Cake, a few days before harvest. The leaves on this thing turned such a dark purple it was damn near black. Wedding Cake Wedding Cake Wedding Cake My closet/drying space during the "first phase" of harvest...Fortunately some of my plants finished up and were harvested at different times otherwise I wouldn't have had enough space to hang/dry everything at once lol. I had 7 lines hung up in there, and each line is at least 7 feet long, so I had basically a damn near 50 foot line of colas hanging to dry, and I filled that thing basically twice lol. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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On the topic of pollinating autos with photo-period pollen....
I successfully collected some pollen. I took some cuts off the male right before chopping him and placed them in a cup of water. I think that was about 7 to 10 days ago, I forget. But the flowers started to open up and dump their pollen a couple days ago. Since some of the flowers were already open and releasing their goods I was trying to as gentle as possible when handling them so they didn't dump their pollen everywhere, especially since that's what I was trying to collect. I held the flowers over a smooth glass cutting board and gave them a gentle tapping. The pollen has been sitting on the cutting board in a dark spot for almost 24 hours now. (I was surprised at how much pollen came falling out of just a few flower that had opened) I have one auto going right now (Skywalker) and it is in the early to mid stages of flowering so I would like to try pollinating it. I feel the plant has at least 4 to 5 more weeks to go before it is finished. I assume now would be a good time to knock it up? I plan on only hitting a couple of the lower buds with pollen. What I am wondering about is if this will impact the overall quality of the rest of the bud on the plant at all? Or will a few seeds on some lower buds not really make much of a drastic impact or diverting of resources that will impact the quality?...Is it possible a couple buds becoming pollinated will make the plant finish up quicker? I am also wondering about the off spring from a cross of an auto and a photo....The auto is the mother (Skywalker) and the father/pollen is from a photoperiod (Underdog Urkle).....I'm assuming some of the offspring will be autos and some will be photos? I am also wondering if the pollen sitting on a glass sheet will still be viable for 3 to 4 weeks (in the dark, 50% humidity, 70f to 74f degrees)? Or should I store it in some container? Because I plan on using some of that pollen to also knock up a few buds on some of my photo period plants when they are deeper into flowering in a few weeks. Any tips for the actual process? I was thinking about just using a q-tip/cotton swab to transfer the pollen onto the female flower. Was also thinking about a paint brush but that seems like it might "let go" of some pollen into the air and make some of it air born, and I don't want that. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: I feel that genetics and the amount of light (and the spectrum of light) that is hitting the flowers are the two main factors that determine the amount of trichomes and how tight/densely packed the trichomes are. I feel genetics plays the biggest role in it all though, and certain environmental conditions can enhance that "trait". That is just my "feeling" from what I've seen growing over the past several years and also from what I gather from hearing/reading about things from others.....I am curious though, like icon is, does anyone know of any other variables that influence trichome production/density? Off the top of my head from the lil bit that I understand and from what I've seen, I just can't think of anything else that would play a big role in trichome production besides genetics and the light intensity/spectrum. (and having a happy healthy plant, of course) As far as the amount of resin/oil that is produced within the heads of the trichomes though, I feel there are some little things that can increase such like sulfur and having a soil or medium that is rich with life. I feel just having a happy plant that is receiving everything it needs will do the trick, and if the plant doesn't have the genetics/trait for tons of frosty trichomes then there isn't anything a person can "add" or "do" that will create such. Quote: Nice dude.... Where abouts in the world are you, or how far north/south are you? I've been wondering how far into flowering other peoples outdoor plants are because most of my plants are barely starting to develop actual flowers, seems a bit later than usual (I'm in nor-cal, just east of the SF bay area). I recall the first 2 years I grew outdoors it seemed like my plants flipped into flowering right at the beginning of August and they were ready for harvest in early October....but last year and this time around it seems like my plants don't start to flower until the end of August/beginning of Sept....Which means they won't be ready for harvest until around November 1st to November 10th. Curious why my plants are flowering almost a month later than plants I grew the years before, or if some genetics just don't transition into flowering until a lot later into the summer/fall? They're all stretching and some have calyx/pistils starting to cluster & stack up at the nodes, but still not quite engaged in "full on" flower development. The first two years I grew, at this time of year/end of August all of my plants were already 1/2 way into flowering with a lot of resin and only had about 4 to 5 more weeks to go before harvest...Last year and this year, I still have no distinct flowers at the end of August. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: I hear ya... Like I said in my previous post, "I am curious though, like Icon is, does anyone know of any other variables that influence trichome production/density?" Still though, I don't feel there is any magic variable/component that increases trichome production/density. I feel genetics and light intensity/spectrum plays the biggest part, and genetics/the strain is the core of it all.....Some strains just naturally produce ridiculous amounts of trichomes. Quote: With soil/organics....depending what one is feeding their soil and plants with and if the materials/inputs are already digested/soluble or in their raw/whole form (as in fermented teas versus raw materials like alfalfa/kelp meal), the plant & roots are more in control of what is being taken up into the plant compared to salts/hydro which will basically absorb/take up what ever it is given (which can lead to an excess/build up of nutes/salts in the medium and/or plant) With soil/organics compared to salts/hydro I feel the plant/roots has better "control" at taking what it needs and doesn't need and there is much more of a "buffer", so there is far less chance of the soil/medium or the plant developing an excess of nutes. The roots and the root exudates decide what the plant takes up in organics, compared to the hand of a man essentially force feeding a plant salts, and I feel that plays a big role in there being finer & better control (and much more of a "buffer") in how much and what is being taken up into the plant (because the plant/roots are in control). With soil/organics the soil can be loaded with organic material but that doesn't mean that material is being taken up by the plant and that doesn't mean the material needs to be "flushed" away, organic material isn't being absorbed by the plant. The organic material needs to be broken down and digested by bacteria/fungi first and other sorts of soil life, and the roots and exudates have some control over the bacteria/fungi/soil biology and how much of that material is being broken down and absorbed . The roots & exudates regulate/control what is going on in the soil and being taken up by the plant. I view organic like....I am providing my plant with a buffet of nutrition, the soil is loaded with food/nutrition and dynamic biology/chemistry but the plant doesn't eat it all at once and doesn't absorb everything that is in the soil, the plant merely nibbles on and takes what it needs only when it needs it, it controls what it "eats" with it's roots/exudates. So there is far less chance of the plant developing an excess with organics (but still possible if one is using potent fermented teas and/or using a soil mix that is still hot) My soil has almost nothing but water running through it for 6+ months, so it is essentially always being "flushed". There is nothing in my soil that needs to be flushed away anyway. Quote: Running a bunch of water through the roots of a plant does nothing at all to flush/remove nutrients in the plant tissue. Or are you talking about a build up of nutes/salts within your medium/roots? -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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I'm way too stoned to give you a proper reply at the moment lol
. Will try to get back to ya tomorrow. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: I'm curious what Derralyd is feeding his soil/plants with and their over all style of growing with organics/soil, because within "organics" and "soil" there are different ways one can do things. I grow in soil/organically and all of my plants "fade" towards the end of flowering and have very little nitrogen available near harvest. But that is not at all because of "flushing", that's because the plants have consumed majority of the available nitrogen in the soil and I do not provide the soil/plants with any more sources of N about 4 to 6 weeks before harvest. Quote: Huh? N is mobile. I thought that was the entire point of "flushing" was to deplete the rootzone of nutrients so the plant tissue can consume its stored N. You're confusing the hell out of me. N is mobile within the tissue of the plant, but running water through the medium/roots will not move that nitrogen out of the plant. If one is growing with salts/water soluble sources of nitrogen then running water through the medium/root zone will help flush/wash it out and the roots will no longer have any N available to take up. In organics the available N is often not in a water soluble form that can be taken up by the roots (unless one is using pre digested/fermented inputs, which contains nutes in soluble form that the roots can take up), so running a bunch of water through the soil won't flush it away. If flushing/running water through the root zone depleted nutrients and washed away N, then how do my plants grow all summer long with basically nothing but water running through the soil/root zone? My soil/root zone is essentially being "flushed" every day to every other day all spring and summer and fall. I do give my plants/soil some nutrition here & there through out the grow via top dressing with raw/whole organic materials as well as fermenting those materials (alfalfa, kelp, fish emulsion, nettles, bone meal, etc etc). I add some nutrition to the soil about 2 to 3 times a month....but day to day, week to week, there is nothing but water going into my soil. I did give two of my plants a dash of fish emulsion today though with their watering for a lil boost of N (5-1-1...though only about 3% of the nitrogen is actually soluble/can be taken up directly by the roots). TBH I do need to do some more reading/research on the biology of soil/nutrition and how roots & exudates interact with it all, and freshen up my understanding of it all. I feel I get the gist of it, but there is so much going on. I'm also bad at rambling...and tend to just ramble on into tangents that loosely relate to but don't actually address the topic being discussed lol. I've been interested in trying a "live-coco" or "organic-coco" approach, not sure what it would be called....growing mostly in coco and feeding the plant with nothing but pre-digested/fermented plant teas and foliar feeds. With that style of growing I feel one would basically need to be micro-feeding their plant every day with every watering. It'd basically be like a form of hydro, but using fermented/digested organic inputs instead of using salts. I feel with that style of growing one's hand would have a lot more direct and sharper/more immediate control over the plant, compared to just a classic organic "super soil" where lots of nutrition is already in the soil. -OM . Edited by openmind (08/30/21 01:22 PM)
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: Nice dude... Cool to see your outdoor plants, nice set up for rain protection too Quote: I let my soil go relatively dry towards the middle/end of flowering. I've never made any comparisons and have never had any of my flowers tested, but I have heard from a few folks/sources that letting the plants go a bit dry as well as plants being in a relatively dry climate can increase the oil content within the trichomes and increase cannabinoids and aromas. Quote: Are you familiar with Mac-1 much at all or know about how long it usually takes to finish up? I've heard around 9 to 10 weeks (?). I have two of them going outdoors right now and they're taking so long to transition into flowering, most of the plants I have going have been taking their time to flip into flower development but the Macs are def the farthest behind. They look like they will have some buds starting to cluster/stack in about a week or so, but dang...at this rate it is looking like the earliest I'll be taking em' down will be damn near the middle of November. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: Quote: Quote: That pic of the mushroom patch in Hunter's sig has always reminded me of the very first patch of mushrooms I ever found, which is still to this day the largest patch and most prolific fruiting I've ever seen. It was some ps allenii. It was in an almost identical landscape with woodchips, some small bushes, and irrigation/sprinklers just like that one.... The patch was basically CARPETS of mushrooms, tons of huge clusters so dense that they carpeted the entire area. It was literally like a dream come true for me lol...I was on on a bike ride/mushroom hunt that day and found one small cluster of allenii about 50 feet away from the main patch. Even though it was just a cluster of 2 or 3 small mushrooms I was stoked because it was my very first find of an active mushroom. After I took a pic and went to get on my bike to ride back home, as I looked up I saw the main patch, several yards of nothing but mushrooms covering the ground. I literally could not believe my eyes lol. I was looking at them, even picked a couple and saw distinct bruising, but it was so hard to believe in the moment. I picked about 1.5 grocery bags FULL, had em' in my back pack literally filled to the brim...and then I continued to go back to that patch for several days to harvest more. I still wasn't able to harvest it all. I think I got somewhere around 10 ounces dry from that patch that year. I had so much that I was giving out handfuls of them for free at festivals that year. Allenii are crazy potent too...a mere 1g feels comparable to basically an 8th of cubensis. Quote: What do you have going on there? BTW....I am really happy with the herb I got from those meph autos I grew. You were one of the folks that got me interested in em' and convinced me to give em' a try. I had my doubts because of the impression I've had about "autos", but they really are up there with the best herb I've ever grown, no doubt about it. I actually think the flower I got from the Mango Smile is the best I've ever grown (If I had to pick one), really dank stuff. Crazy that something that dank can be grown in just slightly over 2 months. I have another Mango Smile going right now, I'm curious to see if its flowers have a slightly different characteristic compared to the other (this one seems to have slightly fatter leaves compared to the first one I grew earlier this summer). I'm going to try to do a full review of all of the autos I grew sometime soon. Quote: Damn...15 weeks!? What strain is it? I like how everyone in this thread is growing some dank quality flowers....I have yet to see any shwag lol. -OM .
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curious Registered: 08/03/07 Posts: 13,864 |
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Quote: I don't think it's almost ready .If I had to throw out a # I feel like that plant has AT LEAST 14 days to go and even then I feel it would still be on the early side. From the looks of it, I think that plant would finish up towards the later 1/2 of September. It appears to still be pushing out a lot of pistils. And it could just be the strain/genetics, but it looks like the buds haven't even developed all that much trichomes/resin yet. Sorry to say because you have a lot of rain coming, but to my eyes those buds don't appear to be almost ready. You gotta do what ya gotta do though . -OM .
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about "bottled nutes" in general lol . I try to avoid "products" when so much of it I can acquire/produce myself, and for dirt cheap/free...but no doubt there are some quality brands/lines of "organic" nutes out there (a few that I want to work with myself). I've also been curious about using some of the "products"/microbes from the brand "Mammoth", I have been very curious about how much they can push & "boost" the potential of my plants.
. Not this again!...I feel that I've spotted them much earlier than I did last year though. I intend on buying some rosemary essential oil and some Bronner's peppermint soap later today or tomorrow and blasting that plant and giving all of my other plants a light spray down. At least I spotted em' before the plants have started to flower.

lol .



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