Middle 12, Master 35

Today I spent nearly four hours replacing all the filters in the reverse osmosis system. This was extremely overdue. The only filter that wasn't completely destroyed was the grain-activated pre-carbon filter, but it was most likely used well beyond its intended lifespan. The sediment filter was an orange-brown color, and there were what looked like mold spots in the membrane.

I'm a moron for not doing this sooner. This probably was the main reason all my yields have been diminishing over the last few months, and most likely why my clones haven't been rooting as they should. The PPM reading was at 100 when I checked the water the other day, and that was only after I had taken my sweet time changing out the batteries in the PPM meter to begin with.

Anyway, I should be having less problems now that everything seems to be in place. I just need everything to continue as planned and I won't have too many huge problems going forward.

VEG

This room is pissing me off. I haven't seen a lot of growth anywhere around this room besides the mothers. I want to blame the water most of all, but I can't even fathom how that would be an issue if it wasn't an issue only a few months ago. Maybe the contamination in the filters grew exponentially after the plumbing issue was fixed. Maybe the water had been ruining all my strains this whole time and I'm only now able to see what they're really supposed to do. Maybe I'm just an idiot.

MIDDLE

Day 12

This room is beginning to worry me. I'm not seeing a lot of growth in the GG or the Bubba. I need them to get taller. To hit 4 lbs in this room with trees, I need an average of 3.2 ounces per tree, The Abusive and XJ13 look like they can hit those numbers just fine, but the Bubba and GG seem a little stagnant as far as height is concerned. They're about 3 feet off the ground, but from experience, I know that anything under 4 feet generally doesn't come close to the 3-4 ounces I need. I'm willing to bet that I might even hit an equal weight to that of the overgrown trees I'm used to growing. Then again, it's Day Fucking 12, so I can still hope.

MASTER

Day 35

Following the theme of the rest of the grow, the Master has begun to turn on me. The Phantom trees are ripening faster than I would've liked but aren't getting any bigger in size, which is really what I want at this point. It's as if they're almost done with the entire rotation. Girl Scout Cookies, on the other hand, doesn't have as many orange hairs, but isn't nearly big enough to get a good yield. I flushed everything out with this fresh RO water I just got from these new filters, so hopefully any damage to the plants that I've inflicted over the past month won't have too much on an effect on the final yield.

I had to use more bamboo sticks on the Gavita side after I noticed that the entire canopy was leaning over. Doing so gave me a chance to take a peek into what's been going on in the area of the canopy I don't usually see. The good news is that there isn't any mildew; the bad news is that I'm only going to get tops, and maybe a few decent middle colas if I'm lucky. I just have to hope that this side carries whatever inadequacies I see from the main side.

All in all, another shit week, with another recovery week to follow.

Middle 9, Master 32

VEG

Something interesting is happening with the clones that I've never noticed before. There's a little condensation accumulating on the side of the humidity dome that wasn't there during the first few days after I made the clones. Most of the clones themselves are spreading out their leaves. My guess is that there was almost no metabolic activity until a few days ago when the condensation became apparent, and now the clones are officially "alive." A few of the sponges actually became dry and I had to change out the water, which I have to say is a lot easier to do now that I'm using sponges with slots. However, I did notice some spider mite tracks on some of the leaves, so I might have to spray fungicide on these clones if I see more.

I saw some signs of mildew on the Bubba (of course) and some of the other strains as well, so I sprayed fungicide on everything just to be safe. I'll have to drop the HPS tomorrow to make sure these plants get as much light as possible before the next rotation. They already seem like they're behind schedule.

MIDDLE
Day 9

Mildew on the Bubba again, so I had to spray it off, again. I'm a little worried about the integrity of the crop, but I'll take any other problem over mildew at this point. Considering how these plants are progressing, I probably could've afford to put 16 instead of 20 in this rotation, but it's a little too soon to call it. I don't see a lot of change in height yet, but I'm definitely seeing a lot of lateral growth, probably because they were all topped a day before flowering. I estimate that most of the room won't reach the second trellis. I could be wrong though.

MASTER
Day 32

One of the Phantoms on the Gavita side fell down the other day. Fortunately, the whole pot tipped over with it, otherwise the stem would've snapped. I planted some bamboo sticks to support the trees on the edges so it doesn't happen again, along with the GSC/NO-Q that I believe caused the tipping to begin with; one of its branches is actually bent all the way down. The price of not using a trellis at all, I guess.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how the Gavita is performing. Even if I didn't overcrowd that side with an extra row of trees, each tree looks like it could be a heavy hitter. Middle colas are far more developed than I would've expected. The foliage is ridiculously thick, to the point where I can't even see past the first row of trees. I'm also pretty impressed with the number of colas I'm seeing at the top of the canopy. It may be that using a trellis might have actually been hurting my yields this entire time. And this is only a single Gavita. I still have to wait until everything gets cut down, but it looks promising.

I changed the batteries of my PPM meter (finally) and I noticed that with a combination of base nutrients, Terpinator, Big Bud, and Overdrive, I'm getting a PPM of 1300-1400. I vaguely remember PPM being a lot higher in the days I used to hit massive yields, but the orange hairs on the colas right now are making me hesitant to play around with the food. I also noticed that the water by itself is actually reading 100 now, which means I have to do something about the reverse osmosis filters. Most likely, I'll have to order a fresh set tomorrow after I take it apart and examine them.

Middle 7, Master 30

MIDDLE
Day 7

With growing cannabis, there are no sudden realizations. There's only the gradual understanding of things. I'm beginning to realize what a mistake it was to grow taller trees, or even veg too soon. Only the top three feet of foliage ever yields me anything, and everything else is waste. I spent too much time taking care of overgrown plants, trying to SCROG, putting nets up to hold them all together, when I should've been focused on keeping them short, containing them with constant trimming and topping.

These trees came in at about two feet tall average, the tallest still barely now penetrating the first trellis. I topped them right when they came in, which will stall vertical growth even more. I used to think that vertical growth was a healthy sign, but I had to also consider the distribution of growth. If I only limit the canopy to what the trellis can hold, my yield will be limited to what the trellis can hold, and I'll be stuck at 3/4 lb per light. On the other hand, if I simply regard the trellis as a support tool and not rely on it so much for SCROG, I think I can maximize my yield significantly.

I spaced out some of the trees on the other parts of the room to grow beyond the frame. The trellis will still have the same effectiveness in supporting the plants, but this way I'll be able to get more heads by using more surface area. Another "I should've thought of this before" moment.

Powdery mildew is still going to be a problem here, though. If I spray fungicide again, that'll be the third time this week. I won't stop until I absolutely have to.

MASTER
Day 30

I'm not satisfied. These trees were just too tall coming in, but now they're ripening and the soil is drying up faster than I would like. I feel like this is going to hurt yields if I allow the pots to get as dry as they are. The buds themselves are looking nice, at least in quality. I can smell everything, and the THC is thick. I still don't see one light producing a lb, but I'm counting on it producing a much better yield than this last one. As long as I keep mildew at bay and temperatures down, I can get plenty out of this room.

I hardly see any yellowing, which is probably because I raised the lights a lot higher than usual above the canopy. I'm worried that this is hurting yields a little bit, but I'd rather sacrifice a little yield for nice green leaves. I'll probably have to prop the trees up the Gavita side with bamboo sticks soon so they don't fall on each other. It's going to be a bitch to maintain, but at least I'm not losing more money here.

VEG

It's all about the clones right now. I can't say if the 24 hour T5 is helping or not, but it's definitely not hurting anything. I'm constantly checking the water level in the tray to see if there's enough moisture in the sponges. If even one of these doesn't get adequate access to water, the mildew will start to claim them all and I'll be fucked. On the other hand, too much water will ruin the integrity of the tray itself and I'll also be fucked. I have to be cautious.

The rest of the room is already starting to look nicer. I'll have to lower the HPS light and trim a little bit tomorrow after I feed, or else these plants won't be nearly ready for the rotation. I'm a little hesitant to trim because I still need clones, but I only need 16 to start anyway since the Gavita rotation is two weeks behind. I also have those extra Mystery trees, which I've decided to label XJ13 since it seems closest to that strain. Considering the size of these plants I might have to start with 20 trees rather than 16, or else I'll have a lot of unused space in the Master. It just all depends on how well these plants do over the next few weeks.

CURING

I have to remember not to jar fresh buds too soon. Even leaving the lids open on the GSC and XJ took away some of the freshness. I took everything out and laid it on drying nets, so everything should be ready for sale tomorrow.

The GG and Abusive had a lot of burnt tops, which couldn't really be avoided considering the Middle room has lower ceilings. Another problem from having tall as fuck trees. Discounting the Bubba, I'm probably looking at about a two pound yield, which is pitiful. Luckily, my bills for this month don't amount to all that much, but I still need money to pay for bills and expenses in the coming month, so I'll have to find a way to supplement my profits. I desperately need this Master to hit.

Middle 5, Master 28

MIDDLE
Day 5

Not much going on here since yesterday. I saw a few spider mite tracks earlier in the day so I sprayed fungicide again. It'll help with the mildew on the Bubba as well. I'll have to get used to doing this often and as early as possible when I see something wrong. I still have to change out the reflectors, but so far so good.

MASTER
Day 28

Temperature was in the high 70's last I checked, which is slightly lower than usual. Growth seems a little stagnant, as always seems to be the case around this stage of the grow. So far no real problems with mildew, spider mites, or anything else. It's strange having everything seem alright since everything else is going to shit, so I'll have to be careful.

The Gavita side is interesting. Without a frame, mid-flower trimming, or too much overall care, these trees are actually progressing well. While only two weeks behind the rest of the room, flower production is consistent with HPS. The canopy is huge, and even the middle buds are growing in size. Comparing these trees with the HPS is going to be very interesting in the next few weeks to come, if I can make it that far.

VEG

The 10 net cups I planted yesterday are dead. Not surprising, but still a reminder that I need healthy clones to make all of this work. I cleaned out the closet and adjusted the T5 to sit higher than usual. It's also on 24 hours now, which should help the rooting process. This might throw off the veg a little bit, but it doesn't hurt to have more light while plants are still vegging anyway.

I'm reverting back to cloning with black root sponges. I still believe the rockwool to be a more than viable option, but I think rockwool is more susceptible to other problems like mildew, mold, or algae. Also, using rockwool allows me the humidity dome to completely enclose the tray, which helps keep the humidity at 100%, but also traps excess respiration from the clones themselves. I'm too weary at this point to keep tinkering with it while my entire operation goes to shit.

Since cloning is a huge issue, I've decided to mother as many strains as I need so I don't run into a shortage. I have two Phantom's, one WF, and I'll have to mother one GSC, Abusive, Bubba, and XJ each. I'm also going to try to get at least one Sour so I can bring that back into the rotation. Having strong mothers will grant me more ability to choose exactly how many of each strain I wish to grow without being confined to simply growing what stays alive. This is one of those "I should've done this a long time ago" moments, and I feel like a moron for not doing it sooner, but such is the life of a cannabis grower.

I'm really worried about my finances right now, and I'm considering taking on another loan to survive this coming month. If I can manage to get through it, I'll be in decent shape.

Middle 4, Master 27

MIDDLE
Day 4

Plants were wilted slightly because I waited until today to get the soil for transplanting. I think I'm going to have to put in new reflectors because one in the back is malfunctioning. It'll turn on and off on its own, which I think hurt the yield a little bit last time. (Actually, I put the Bubba under there last time, which was rendered useless anyway because of mildew.) I'll have to go in tomorrow and make the final decision. If I go through with it, I'll have to go to the storage unit and grab two Blockbusters to add to the two I already have if I want to change the whole room out. It'll be a pain in the ass with the plants and nets already set up, but it might help the yield, and I can't afford to let that opportunity pass.

Most of the plants themselves look healthy, although I'll have to spray fungicide as often as possible because of Bubba. They're smaller than usual, which is probably better for efficient metabolism. It also helps with the air flow since there won't be foliage covering the fan. I have four Abusive plants in there as well, although they're a little taller, which is expected since those bitches tend to be lanky. I trimmed all the bottom leaves and branches when I transplanted them today, which should help contain growth and focus it towards the branches that need it.

MASTER
Day 27

Phantom is starting to annoy me a little. While most of the heads are looking to hit, everything else below the trellis is probably going to give me nothing. The GSC is another story; a couple of them are too tall and getting dangerously close to the light. I'm debating whether or not I should just bend the head, but this late into flowering might hurt the plant. I guess it'll hurt more if I leave it. The Gavita is looking strong, but the proximity of some of the center plants might also take a toll on their yield. It doesn't really matter though, because anything I get off this light is a bonus.

Strangely, my electricity usage hasn't gone up that much, if at all. I'm paying 1700 for this past month, which is about the same as last month. Next month, the meter predicts that I'm going to pay about 100 dollars more, which is odd considering the Gavita uses 1100 watts. I'll have to wait and see what the real cost is next month.

It's hotter than usual in this room because the thermostat isn't triggering the house AC to turn on, yet the weather outside isn't cool enough to keep the room under 80 with that Gavita on. Even then, I'm not really seeing any decline in growth, and in fact, there isn't as much powdery mildew as there would be. I did some research and some people did say that hotter temperatures could actually contain mildew spread, since the moisture is simply being evaporated by the warm air. I guess this could be substantiated by the fact that I haven't really had to keep up with spraying fungicide as often, although I do anyway for preventative purposes.

VEG

The shitshow continues. Two whole trays of some of the best clones I could ever cut, and what does it give me? Ten fucking survivors, most of which probably won't survive planting. What an absolute disaster. If I was told that out of almost 200 clones I could probably only keep 10 if I was lucky, I would've told them to go fuck themselves. But alas, 10 fucking candidates for the next Middle rotation.

I transplanted all the good net cups into PW Mid's, and I'll have to hope that they produce enough branches for me to clone from. I have two weeks to get them clone-ready, and then I still have to get the motherfuckers to root, which will take me at least another two weeks. Once they root, I have another four weeks to clone off them again for the Master while also getting them ready for the Middle.

I'm in deep shit. I'll most likely have to clone from the Phantom mothers as soon as tomorrow so I can have somewhat of a head start. I also have to figure out a way to keep the clones from getting infected with mildew. I'll probably be leaving the clones somewhere else where it's cool and safe from mildew, most likely downstairs. I can also leave the light on 24 hours a day as well, which should help them root faster. I should've done all this shit months ago. I'm an idiot

Middle Day 0

MIDDLE
Day 0

Transferred 20 pots into the room today, excluding the weaker Bubba trees and one WhiteFire (which is probably something else). These trees are about half the size they normally would be for Day 1 Bloom, but I'm thinking it might be more efficient to have shorter, bushier trees rather than tall and lanky ones. I fed them without any supplements and I sprayed fungicide. Hopefully I won't have too much of a mildew problem this time around, especially with about half the room being Bubba.

MASTER
Day 23

The tops of the Phantom are looking amazing, but the only drawback is that there aren't a lot of tops. I have to remember to keep everything shorter going into bloom from now on, because the bottom of the canopy simply isn't going to make me any money. This shouldn't be a problem with this new schedule I have. I still feel like I'm cutting it a little close, especially because I haven't been able to get any good clones. Abusive and GSC are also looking pretty good, but I'll have to watch for mildew on the GSC. I already noticed a slight outbreak of it and I'll have to spray fungicide tomorrow. Spraying once a week and keeping temperatures higher than usual is working on containing the spread, but I'm still worried that it's going to hurt yield.

I've been pretty consistent with using Big Bud this time around, and I'm curious as to whether I'm getting favorable results because of the Big Bud or the fact that most of the room consists of Phantom. Either way, the Master is looking as good as it's ever been, especially with the addition of the Gavita. That side of the room is progressing nicely, even on the edges of the canopy. If I can get 1.5 lbs from that side of the room alone, that would be enough to justify changing the entire house to Gavitas.

Temperature was an issue last week when I cut off the house AC, but raising the lights helped a little. Air flow is pretty good around the room with the addition of that oscillating fan in the corner, and there's even a cold spot in the opposite corner.

VEG

Clones are a serious problem. I lost more than half of the Phantom tray to mildew and the other tray is only barely starting to root. The net cups look okay right now, but if I have to cut clones from them later, they'll be too weak for bloom. I have a couple of Phantom mothers, but it'll be at least another week or two before I can cut some clones from them, and it'll only be Phantom. I saved a WF for mothering as well, for the sake of variety. I also held back four Bubba that were meant for the Middle room, but I'm trying to steer clear of Bubba entirely because of the mildew problem. I'll have to be even more proactive about mildew control if I'm going to continue using Bubba in my rotations.

I'm considering putting my clones somewhere else where they won't be affected by mildew. I know for sure now that opening the humidity dome early was a bad idea because the Phantom tray was most affected by mildew, while the other mixed tray wasn't. Now is probably a good time to do a Veg reset by taking both tables outside for rinsing and putting a new tarp on the floor. This might help with the mildew problem, since the floor is probably where the mildew is sitting, even though I can't see it.

HARVEST NOTES

Fucking mildew destroyed the Bubba. Even with rinsing with hydrogen peroxide, I know I'm going to have a problem trying to sell it. The H2O2 wash also eliminated the smell of the bud, which is not good. I have a few strains I can't really identify; I know I have GSC, True OG, and GG, but differentiating them is going to be somewhat of a challenge when they're ready to sell. Everything else, with the exception of True OG, also has mildew, but not as much as the Bubba. I didn't wash the other strains, so hopefully the mildew isn't as noticeable on those strains.

GG is a waste of time. It doesn't smell as pungent as anything else I've grown, and it doesn't have as many THC crystals as a lot of the usual strains I have, both of which hurt the value of the bud. Unfortunately, I still have to grow it, because I don't have any other substitutes at the moment.

All in all, I'm expecting a shitty yield, along with a shitty return for this month. I hope I can at least pay the fucking bills.

Middle Cutdown Day 1

Dealing with another powdery mildew infestation. The mildew has gotten deep into the Bubba buds. I'm experimenting with soaking the branches with a mixture of about 5 gallons of water and 12 ounces of hydrogen peroxide, followed by a thorough rinse. I've come across some comments on YouTube and cannabis forums that rinsing with warm water helps preserve the THC heads, and that I should probably be using 8 ounces of hydrogen peroxide per 2 gallons, which means I have to double my dosage to effectively clean the mildew off. However, one Bubba tree took me nearly two hours to clean, and I'm pretty sure many of the other infected Bubba's will take even longer.

So far, it seems like the Bubba will have the most mildew out of the entire room, so I won't have to be as thorough with the other strains, but I'll still have to be thorough regardless. The mildew isn't visible after cleaning, but there will be problems if the buds are broken at the point of sale. The entire cutdown will probably take me two whole days, not including clean up and replants.

The Master isn't looking as bad in terms of mildew, but there are other problems. I experimented with turning off the house AC because of the cold weather, and the results weren't too bad during the first couple of days, but problems with growing cannabis usually take time to manifest after at least a few days. The temperature increased to about 81 degrees on the thermometer, but was probably higher in the canopy. Bottom leaves turned yellow and the soil dried a lot more, and bud growth seemed to stall slightly. I turned the AC back on today and there was about a 4 degree difference in temperature, but I'll have to watch closely to see if the drop in temperature justifies the growth.

The house itself was almost robbed last night when someone took a metal chair and tried to break into one of the windows downstairs. They would've gotten in if there wasn't a PVC pipe blocking the window rail, but I'll still have to repair it tomorrow before I do anything else.