Cannabis Chronicles

LUI Day 73

we found powdery mildew on less than a dozen large fan leaves which had been sitting directly against a wall in the growroom . . . the “white scourge” was confined to 2 plants and was not severe . . . in fact it was barely noticeable without a very keen eye . . . fortunately there are 3 pairs of “eagle eyes” here at the bird’s nest . . . and this problem was found very early on . . . the first thing was to remove all leaves which showed any possibility of involvement with powdery mildew . . . we’re closing in on the end of week 5 in bloom so we are truly at a critical point for taking action . . . much later in the bloom cycle and this problem becomes increasingly difficult to treat . . . even now it poses a dilemma . . .

Neem oil is a very good fungicide and insecticide and is one favorite choice for eliminating powdery mildew . . . it’s an organic product from the Neem Tree . . . but it can certainly effect final flavor . . . so we opted to use another organic method for powdery mildew control . . . baking soda . . . also called Sodium Bicarbonate, or Bicarbonate of Soda . . . we mix 1 TBSP of baking soda with a gallon of pure water . . . this mix is sprayed on the entire garden as a fine mist until it coats all leaves and runs off . . . the baking soda changes the pH balance on the plant’s leaf surface and makes it undesirable for the powdery mildew . . . we’ll spray the LUI’s in a day or two with a good soaking with plain water to make sure her pores don’t clog and to help rinse away the baking soda residue . . . then we’ll increase ventilation and hope for the best . . .

the worst case is that our treatment cause more harm by encouraging even more destructive bud mold . . . that’s not likely but we’ll want to make sure our LUI babes dried out well where the colas are forming . . . bud mold loves moisture inside or between buds . . .

the next worse case is that we effect the final quality of our product but manage to kill the PM . . . if we use the LUI for cooking or bubble hash then a lil baking soda residue can be rinsed away . . . and considering that we’re still over 3 weeks from harvest . . . this isn’t necessarily going to be a problem . . . we’ll keep our finger’s crossed . . .

the best case scenario is that the LUI’s barely respond to the few lower fan leaves that were removed . . . the PM doesn’t return and the baking soda residue is rinsed away . . . this is our hope since there were little or no signs of damage by the PM and the baking soda should rinse away with a little effort . . . we expect the best case . . . and are prepared for the worst case . . .

The baking soda sounds like a good idea . . . If you are concerned that there might be some residue left of the plants at harvest, and you have a good way to dry the buds out, you can always soak the plants in room temperature water for about an hour right after cutting/trimming to make sure the residue is gone . . . The additional water will have no effect other than slightly wetter buds - the risk is mold in the drying room . . . Its a tough choice, but I’m sure you’ll choose what is best for your situation . b4edgan20

b4edgan20 our most favorite Bud Composer . . . we’d thought of the harvest rinse idea too . . . sounds like another case of great minds thinking alike . . . if we go that route we could rinse and then trim the flowers off of the stem at harvest time and lay out on a screen . . . that almost assures that the chance of budmold disappears . . . the buds don’t look quite as pretty this way and it does leave a few of the trichs stick to the screen or rack . . . but life is always a compromise . . .

? 3LB How is odor on your girls now that their flowering? Was there a lot of stretch after 12/12 . . . pepsi

odor is a tough one pepsi since there are usually 4 or 5 strains going at a time in our garden . . . we also run a constant carbon filter to remove odor from the grow the best we can tell so far they haven’t been especially strong in odor . . . in terms of stretch they roughly doubled in height . . . actually just under that . . . but we topped our plants so growth was divided between several colas for each plant . . . this slows down stretch some . . . with a single cola LUI that hadn’t been pinched or topped we’d expect the plant to double in height . . . maybe a little bit more . . . can’t say for sure since you’ve seen our current experience with the LUI’s . . . but that would be our experience with similar plants / strains . . .

midsummer (Somehow this comment got lost in the transition. . .We assume he asked about the size/type of containers used). . . you are watching us like a hawk , lol . . . we grow mostly in 2′x3′ containers . . . and we still do . . . but this is our first run of LUI and they were moved to bloom unsexed . . . when plants are going to have to be culled they need to go into smaller containers . . . so we use 3 gallon pots . . . the next round of LUI grown at the bird’s nest will be in 2′x3′ containers . . . now that they are sexed and we’re growing from clone that’s easy to do . . . the Bubba Kush S1 we are growing is expected to be all female . . . so we’re still deciding if they will go directly into large containers for their first grow . . . or if we’ll stay with the 3 gallon pots their first time through too . . .

? Have you already decided which of the lui’s your going to keep for a mother. Or are you going to have to go through another cycle with them before you can decide. If you have chosen one, what is it that you are looking for, ease of cloning, yield, veg speed etc . ddftre

ddftre . . our primary interest is medicinal . . . so our first concern is potency . . . and there’s not a good way to know the best plant(s) until they’ve been sampled . . . we can “eyeball” for trichomes . . . but choosing based on trich coverage is no substitute for sampling and long term comparison . . . and for that the herb has to be dried and cured . . . so it’s a good thing we are old and patient birds . . . eh? all of the LUIs rooted well upon cloning . . . and all have done well in terms of vigor throughout their life-cycle . . . so there’s not much to choose between from those viewpoints . . . if potency is equal and general vigor is equal across the board, then the selection comes down to flavor . . . if two plants are equal there, then yield is the next factor . . . one other thing we’ve used as “selection” is exposing plants to pests or disease to test for resistance . . . a friend with a terrible uncontrolled spider mite infestation can sample various clones . . . if one shows more resistance it’s the keeper . . . so there’s lots of factors that can go into choosing the “keeper” . . .

bigmak ( another question/comment that has been lost). . . Earth Juice Catalyst has oat bran, kelp, wheat malt, molasses, and yeast . . . and according to the manufacturer’s statement . .

“Natural enzymes, hormones, vitamins, amino acids, nutrients, sugars, plant acids and surfactants encourage compact growth, nutrient uptake, increased yields, and enhanced flavors . . . ” it’s up to the individual grower to decide if it’s really all that . . . but we do view it as a great stimulant for beneficial bacterial activity . .