Easter Cheese (final post)

Outcomes

...and the Blue Cheese, born on Easter morning, was harvested under a Blue moon...complete organic horticultural synchronicity, no?

Hey and Hello Growmies!

What a week in the office...the Auto plants came down in 10 days and the Photo Blue Cheese went the full 14 for one and 15 for the other.

Root Ball on these-

the tap root on the Blue Cheeses did not extend down that far, but the finer side tendrils network was thick. It shows the 16", but that was for a "ball" 16" diameter

The Blue Cheese- this really reveals the 3 G. veg size pot it was in. The mass extends out after going into the 10 G, but much finer hairs. The drying out of the soil on the outside edge of the bags might have led to this diminished return to the outside of the mass- I plan on stepping down in final pot sizes, looking at Yucca and possibly other soil hydration measures. Reducing Pumice and rice hull aeration additives to soil as well-

I feel the color is pretty healthy. No discolored areas or places that looked diseased or rotting-

Now, the Autoflower root balls show a slightly different story-

Longer root tendrils but not nearly the circumference. These plants did NOT slowly develop anything- it drove full speed down to root to live . It's like, 1/2 of the root mass of the Photo plant. A bit longer, but half the mass...hhhmmmm.

A very pronounced taproot

Main tap roots of the Lost Elephant Autoflowers-

When you look at the info I provided throughout the grow I mentioned Leftie was fluffier buds that did not tighten up like the Right plant did- at harvest the bottom 6" of the bag's soil was mostly dry. I knew I had some pH issues. I watered the same during Flower and they both were under same light. I might not have watered in fully at transplant, a topdress feeding might not have broken down as much and/or not penetrated. I am not sure-

It did affect yield as Leftie came in at just shy of 5 ounces while Leftie came in at 7.3 ounces after drying. The Autos were remarkably consistent with one being an 1/8 short of 3 ounces and the other at 3.25 ounces. The bud structure of those Elephants were tight and solid.

Well, that's a wrap Growmies- root ball studies are important I feel. Super fun grow with tons learned and am already applying to the next patients in the office. Thank you to @Mr. Grow It and all who advised and commented- I hope this gets looked at years from now, buried in the posts and either it gets laughed at or inspires just one gardener to avoid my mistakes.

It's not goodbye.

I hope to see you on the other posts, but this Cheese is in the jar.

Have a great weekend Growmies-

dry update- Cheese is IN the cave....

Hey and hello Growmies- what a week!

So, here is the situation, this is just what I have evolved my drying process to and in NO way do I want to represent as "this is the way".

Drying is unique to the specific situation- Yours.

I have gotten here thru a multitude of best practice guides, articles and videos-

I will say this-

Obtaining genetics, prepping for the grow, the grow and all utility costs involved, the many, many weeks of patience and learning, all the hours of research and videos and forum visits, ALL of that investment you will have in your ripe and ready to harvest plant is best served being carried thru to the dry and curing of that time, effort and investment.

I'm just trying- to evolve, learn and adapt.

Like all of us Growmies here.

This will be my 4th dry, and largest (4 plants)

In the tent-

Couple of points to bear in mind-

1. I grow using central A/C in dwelling. Stays comfortable- 74-76 degrees-

I found a portable room A/C on Marketplace(FB) for 80 bucks- only intent was to utilize to aid drying for 2 weeks at a time and not run continuously.

I have to vent the A/C exhaust so it has to stay close to the window- I angle my tent so the A/C hits one side of tent and intake and position the dehu so it's exhaust hits the otherside of the tent and it's intake-

2. My dwelling ambient humidity ranges 55-60%, so the dehu in the room with the tent isn't working hard. First day set it at 50%, second and third 55% then to 60% for rest of run- It is still putting out a bit of heat but is being managed in the room-

Dehu pointed from a distance to hit foam board angled to tent intake vent with fan inside-

Door cracked a bit with fan just inside bouncing A/C off wall pointed up-

door cracked, both side vents open-

The AC Infinity Controller 67 units some have a beta Bluetooth controller via your phone via app-

I have a second AC Cloudline and filter in the room for any ambient odors plus the tent unit-

I also have another hygrometer/thermometer with a wired probe in the tent to give extra data-

This sitting on top of tent- top # is room, bottom two is the probe down in plants

And this is tied to the stalk of one of the plants-

was day of chop right as I hung- is why the 24 hr. average is high-

I realize all these readings are a bit different by a few degrees, it's the average of them I am looking at-

So there is the update- looking for a 14-16 day hang, will check the Autos starting about day 8 for prelim stem snap tests. Smaller plants, they will be ready for jars first I feel.

What do you think?

If I missed something, speak up-

If even just a single aspect of this looks applicable to your grow, use it, modify it, twist it- this is not the way, just a way I am doing it.

If works, will do it again.

Have a great week and good growing Growmies!

....Cheese into the cave...

Well this is it, the staggered end-

Sunday Rightie comes out, Leftie gets until Tuesday (Thank you @Cap Stone )

then they both chop down to hang whole Wednesday evening.

Looking to tighten up the buds some with the extra time.

When you look at the 2 plants, Leftie had issues Rightie did not.

My soil gets dry. I believe this is affecting the pH and therefore my nutrient uptake. I also feel dry soil works against dry amendment feeding. I mulched and have reduced the aireiation mix I added to this soil from previous.

Leftie-

Leftie has fuller, "fluffier" buds vs. Rightie having denser, tighter buds-

Tighter bud of Rightie-

Have had the drying A/C going in this tent's room since Friday. It has the temps in the room in mid to low 60's but has the RH up from high 40's to mid to high 50's- I don't expect any color difference but am hoping it will help tighten up the bud structure on Leftie some.

It was a pretty consistent grow overall- lots of lessons learned and fun journey as well- not that I am letting guard down, drying and curing are no joke and NOT to be underestimated by any means-

Also chopping and hanging along with the Cheeses a couple of autos I have had going on in the other grow space-

These are "Lost Elephant" by Twisted Tree Autos- super excited to start next run in the 2X4 tent full of their "Newberry", an Auto cross using DJ Shorts Newberry...

Well, that's it for the grow part folks. Big Blue Cheese will be drying by sunrise Thursday, I would appreciate any good ju-ju you could send along if you think of it with your coffee that morning...

On the the chop and hang- I hope to post some pics but will update for sure to let you know how it turned out-

Thank You to Mr. Grow It and to all who commented and offered suggestions or even just encouragement-

It was all appreciated-

Have a great week and keep it frosty Growmies!!!!

Beautiful! Getting goosebumps just looking at those frosty ladies! They look like they can go another week, maybe Leftie will catch up then.

If Rightie is done first, you could put her in a dark place or box for up to 72 hours and give Leftie a few extra days.

Week 10-

Aging the Blue Cheese

Welcome to more pictures of plants!!

...we're getting closer....closer....

Photoperiod grow-MSNL-"Big Blue Cheese"

.....(standing timidly in front of group)...."Hello, I'm Dr. Ozzy, current Blueberry-aholic"....

...you can really see the color difference between Leftie and Rightie....

Same cultivar, nutrients, light, pot size, water....

but different development...

Leftie still plumper pistils, buds are fluffier and not as tightly drawn up.....

Rightie....smaller, tighter pistils....buds are already solid and tight, have drawn up and just more "solid" to touch...

...I am calling this "opaque" compared to the posted pics from a couple of weeks ago....

....Cloudy? Yes, but just so......

What say ye about it? Do you see it differently?

I even think I see some ambers developing as well....

The plan is to dry in this same grow tent so I am going to have to chop them together so I really hope Leftie can come along. If it could just be not clear trichomes I would be happy. At this point it still is 90-ish % clear...

Trichome evaluation is hard!!!!

Anyway....busy week in the Dr.'s office....feel free to comment and give me your 2 cents!

Stay frosty Growmies!!!

Still packing on weight! Those longer-flowering cultivars can be tricky. Patience is so key - which I'm sure you know 🙂 Nice job so far. PS. Glad you liked the interview!

Week 9 of Cheese-

Good week all. Nothing but excited about getting close to the end of this part of the journey. I believe we are close- trich checks are still clear, but not like water as in weeks past

....and now, really, it's just incredible when you open the tent first thing...

some colors are filling in but Leftie is still a step behind Rightie...

pistils are still hydrated and plump...

lots of copper on this "button" bud-

...it's got the height, I think it could fill in more, chunk up- until I can provide solid Ph levels to allow the nutrients to work at their potential I will question the size- Gardener goals: consistency.

The stalks are strong enough to support the buds now. the net is acting more as a seperator and spreader for light getting lower areas...

Still thinking it will be closer to an 11 week run for these. I think they need at least 14 more days...but again...we shall see...may need to change their music from jazz to the dance music station to hurry them up...

temps still hovering 85 lights on, but humidity staying 50 ish...watering these 10's and keeping soil hydrated is a trick. I have found less amounts more often to be better better, but still thinking of reducing to 7 G. pots next round for Flower.

Busy week!

Stay frosty Growmies!

Great interview with Dude Grows show this week for @Mr. Grow It!

Go check it out on Youtube! 😀

Nice job! I'm thinking you still have 2 weeks to go by the looks of some of those pictures.

Chester Cheeto's den update-

It's week 8 and if you bet money on these girls being dead by now, you lose! Ha!

Hello Growmies! Update on the long running Big Blue Cheese tent grow and honestly, it's like watching plants grow-😂

They are healthy-ish and Leftie seems to be a bit behind. Pistils are still whiter and not getting the copper hairs like her sister, Rightie...

....a little bit of frost development....

gave her a glass of tea (I am in soil, see mix above, using Earth Dust dry amendments) and a bit of worm castings.

Her Ph runs consistently a bit low ( I water in 7.0 and have never slurried more than 6.2) but I don't feel I locked her out or anything...she just seems a bit slow growth.

There is a bit of discoloration on the leaves but nothing that has caused me great alarm.

I don't think she stretched as much as I worried she could and it has remained controlled. I backed the light back to 80-85% in case those brown tips were light burn and it has not gotten any worse...8-10 week strain and I know I will see alllll of that 10 weeks if not more, triches will tell.

Have dropped humidity to 50-55% and will see if I can get it lower, but the dehu has the lung room temp up and the tent is now ranging from 83-85 so I don't know how much more I can do there-

Yeesh...I have GOT to trim a bit higher next time....

everything is droopy as these were taken right at lights on, pre-water-

If I was not clear on something or you see me heading for certain disaster please feel free to mention it!

This diary is after me after lurking on the site and I am learning alongside all others here.

That's it for now, stay frosty Growmies-

Happy 4th of July!

4th of July Cheese tray!

BBQ sauce!

Houston, we have Bud-age!!

Oh my!

Well it has been a couple of weeks and time for an update- week 5 of flower for these Blueberry X UK Cheese photoperiod girls.

Am still taking specific leaves that shadow to the inside, twist taller stems to soften them to bend under second net as needed- Stretch was managed I feel. Might be a late stretch as well, we will see...

starting to get a bit of a floral smell as the tent opens up first thing- the tops are sticky AF.

M/H SP3000 at around 12-14" @ 85-90% 75-85 temp. Running around 60% hum. 2 fans, oscillating up top, reg. fan below. Earth Dust is all fed for the run- couple more hits of Cal-Mag and watch for pests-

Looking forward to the next run- stepping down to 5 g. pots and trying instead of 2. Going for smaller plants, a bit more training. Thinking about running some Stardawg. We shall see-

Stay safe this Fourth of July holiday growmies-

Couple of weeks into Flower-working the churn...

Hello and happy weekend again.

The Blue Cheese tent is still busy and working.

The top is still bushy as heck, it's a bitch to work with but I am trying- tucking leaves and if a top gets tall enough to put it under another square I do. Light supercropping the stems and getting them loose before i bend them under. Trellis line is elastic which helps with preventing damage.

here is a before and after a "tuck" job-

There has been strategic leaf pulling, a bit each day- underneath I have targeted itty bitty smaller growth, new leaves that will never see light, anything discolored. Noticed light on the mulch for the first time.

Still looking at the different colors in the plants- these are from same bag, they are sisters but the color difference-

Not a purple stem underside of the plant on right, lots on left-

I am fascinated by that-

Anyway- That's it for this week, not much happening yet- it's a long wait for the Cheese- and has allowed a dedicated veg tent project to get done which is fantastic- right? YES! (...nod your head)

Have a great week Mr. Growmies -

....all the Cheese a 2 X 4 can hold. Week 1 Flower-

Hello and good weekend growfolk-

It was Wednesday before the 12/12 cycle began. Ridiculous growth before and since. A couple of times a day I am tucking leaves, extending tops out to squares and the edge of net-

It's gruesome- I feel like it is such abuse, tucking leaves, trying to expose tops-

but the next morning after doing this 2-3 times a day- it's all good-

It's crazy- they are so resilient, coming back bushier and healthier than before-

On that subject- the split of the main stem noted from earlier post? check it out today-

this last picture really reveals the plant is growing outward from the clip-

It is restricting it, I feel- it needs to come off.

C'mon -You know it - I know it.

It's going to sting a little.

OK. A lot. But she is going into Flower and needs to be at her strongest, even healing toward it and not being restricted by anything-

Nurse-prep the table-

I might go at it with tweezers to see if I can remove some of that tape before plant grows it over, but am not going to stress it hard. that's blue removable painters masking tape. Electrical or Gaff and might be different.

I have noted before in the post about these 2 sisters exhibiting different stem colors and it is still holding true-

these are each one. Seems to be genetics as growth, leaf structure, etc. seems to be same-

Where they are at for week 1 Flower-

OK, I am pulling leaves every day. Every day weaving the tops and branches forces leaves down and under. Eyeing a defoliation in few weeks, but picking and pruning as I go. I think the condition of the plants allow it. At any sign of strain or stress I will be on the lookout for, but these girls have come on strong and not missed a beat-

1 Gallon water each every other day-

Getting Recharge once a week, Microbial Mass every other week. I soil drenched Canncontrol for IPM. I foliar applied in Veg-

Will get second feed of Earth Dust Boost in few weeks.

Already supercropping tallest stems-

Soil staying properly wet, but these mesh bags allowing circumferential drying. Sides coming in allowing air gap in the bag from soil to side of bag.

Going to use solid plastic pots for Flower in future. Large mesh bags will try for household plants.

I hope all is well Growmies and you all have a great Memorial Day week -

Stay frosty!

You will probably get a big knuckle where the break is, and that is what you want. Once it fully heals, it will probably end up being stronger than before. I had one girl last summer split right down the middle, I just tied/taped her back together and she didn't miss a beat and grew this big gnarly knuckle at the break point.

Those are some healthy looking girls! I will be surprised if she doesn't survive.

And lol for the Sanford and Son meme!

just a small spring "A" clip like at hardware store...I think I got a bag of 10 or 12 at Harbor Freight for 2.99? The one on the plant is like the grey 2" on right here...nothing special. I use 'em for lots of things, super handy.

NEVER expected what they did for me this week-

I also have bear man hands when topping, pulling leaves. I ripped quite a few and rarely have had success in the healing process. I need to use trimmers to defoliate and remove limbs moving forward. Glad I'm not alone!

What is that little clamp you're using to keep it together? I've had some success with plant clips but not much

...shredding and slicing the Cheese...

Big week in the Dr.'s office...Day 49 for these 2 Big Blue Cheese Photoperiods-

The girls did not miss a beat from the transplant I feel. Each morning they appeared to have grown a couple of inches from the day before...so a couple of days after I trimmed up the bottoms-

...what came off of one-

...both after the trim....

So, I feel good and go to do some LST, just pushing them down and tucking leaves....and hear a.., (snap) while pushing down...sharp intake of breath-

...I have cracked the main stem where the top was...I grabbed tape and realize it's bigger than little branches I have snapped and taped before...then I saw a little clamp on the table...

...grabbed a q-tip and dabbed a bit of Recharge on the wound-

...well...best I can do. I truly hoped/hope I get lucky.

It's a couple of days later and I HAVE to get a net on this so I can get it flipped to flower- this is not a tall tent and part of the genetics are Big bud.

So, I tried the net a bit, got great advice from others and raised first attempt up- It was messy, all the while watching #2 that got the split for signs of imminent certain death...

that was a few days ago and here is this afternoon-

...and the wound is looking great-

...looks like there might be some slight knuckling developing at the seam...not sure...but no phooky, brown looking plant-death type stuff either...gotta keep pressing forward...will Lollipop up a bit more soon... defoliation in 2-3 weeks but cleaning up leaves as I go-

So, you see where it's at- flip to Flower this week-

Earth Dust Boost has been administered. Another dose in a few weeks-

worm castings weekly is on the menu...

I am watering every other day- 10 gallon Rain Science bags-

mulch is killing it- best basic add I have done for the garden-

Appreciate any advice about defoliation and using the nets to my best advantage. The first one already down is a 4" square and I have another one 6" to use as well in Flower.

Have a great week Growmies!

@Cap Stone that would be optimal...I am just guessing on stress from transplant...saying I have seen is soil needs a week to reflect what is really going on so I would think next weekend would tell me if they are healthy?

If they look green and have been growing, I will really be in a situation of getting the lollipop done, light defoliation working out from center and getting quite a bit weaved in net. And I really want to get this part in control so they can have space in Flower....but I sure as heck don't want to make a move and they not be healthy.

Healthy as possible.

Reasonably healthy.

But yes, I would LIKE to lollipop them...

Those are some big bushy beautiful girls! I would guess that funky leaf is suffering from too much shade. Actually, I'm surprised you do not have more like that. Just cut it off, no problem.

Do you plan to lollipop them before you net them?

Keep on growing and Have fun!

Easter Cheese ...bits in a salad bowl...

So, this weekend is transplant time for the Big Blue Cheese Photoperiods/MSNL.

Above is one of the two girls at day 42 in the 3 gal. Going to add a couple of inches dirt height in the 10 gal. bags they are going into...

Please bear in mind I am showing this, warts and all to help and communicate- I am a bit awkward in words and use way too many pictures. Otherwise I would write pages of innececant info I am confusing from the past year of exposing myself to voluminous internet info-

...that said,

Here is the top. The girls are displaying some different characteristics that I think is interesting...lighter color and a bit different height

I don't think I waited too long to transplant them to bigger pots. roots were to the sides but not in any restricting way it looks like...they did gather at the velcro seam-

Those Radicle bags worked like a charm, velcro opened and they peeled off like a banana skin...

Otherwise, roots were light all over, more concentrated in areas...

Here is a side by side with the 3 gal. and 10 gal.-

....and both after being mulched in...

I am going to let them settle for a couple of days...I am still getting PH up from low reading last weekend. I will then get them pulled down and should have a net in by next weekend. The net has to play at around 14-16" to allow for flower and as you see...the challenge is apparent-

Issues and problems? You betcha-

...this is the girl on the left (#1)...

Low to the base, is NOT getting light...could be fan hitting it, I know a Ph issue exists, nutrients?... not sure...

...this is on girl on the right(#2). Again, on bottom, NOT getting light, Ph issue known...might have gotten a Recharge watering and it sat on the leaf?

not sure....am Ph watering at a 7-7.2, small amounts worm castings....just going to watch closely....they both are in general good health, but would like to have Ph issue in a better place for week to 10 days before flip to flower, but that will be growth determination as well. I just don't think I have too big a window there.

Stay tuned- anyone who put money on me killing these things before harvest or even getting to Flower- don't leave yet, you still have a dog in this hunt...🤣

Have a good week Growmies!