The James Gang

[H.A.F.]

Got my first hard frost last night and had a day of salvage harvesting and clean-up. The garden is now empty except for a section that has celery and sweet potatoes. Now that their vines got dead they need harvesting.

I pruned back some pepper plants and left them to see if they re-veg in spring. I'll be able to tell in a month or so if the trunks pull out easy because the roots died.

 

[H.A.F.]

Out of the five Grape Lime x 1st Crown there were triplets, then two stand alones. Of the stand alones one is vastly different, the other looked like the other 3 but with crinkly leaves that always prayed a little more.

As of today I have two phenos. This one tossed a nanner up top and one on a 3rd-node-from-the-top flower. You can see it in the middle there. What is crazy is that it was obvious in the light of the tent, but I couldn't find it again outside the tent without a scope. The LED grow lights have another benefit they don't advertize, They make checking out testers a snap.

This is week 7 for them so there's no recourse. It's nowhere near done but there's cannabinouds there because it stinks. My drying closet rH was getting a little low, so I plucked the two nanners and hung her to dry as is, no leaf pruning. I'll bet there's a mild buz in ther but I'm thinking more like topicals or something.

I have 4 more, so no biggie. the others look great.

 

[H.A.F.]

Since I am having less plants for a bit I'l be using more soil. I have the 4 Macchiato going into 7g instead of 5g. I may shuffle them into the smaller tent then lump the GLx1C into the mixed up tent. Their height matches all the rest and I have no clue where the new ones will end up for height. So far they are all the same though so might as well Offspring 'em.

 

[H.A.F.]

Random shit before I tackle re-potting and messing with harvested pots to get soil charged up for the next run.

Thinking about the contest plants a.k.a. "next drop" and since they are fems I don't need more than 4 plants of smoke. I know that leftover tester beans usually go to the back of the line to run again, but I don't have a lot of fems to run compared to regs. they make good space-fillers after a few duds or mutants try to fuck up the rotation.

This "sour puss" fem I have going from Monkey Dog smells delicious, and if this is what the community calls "sour" then it is one of those food-smells I like from things I have grown before. It's a fermented note to whatever else is going on and it makes you want to taste it before you smoke it.

I usually plan on 4-6 girls every drop. That means I can drop some regs at the same time to keep a little variety. I have several packs of Top Dawg gear I am dying to try, and one (T-star) I tried and loved that I want to run more of. One is the Dirty Taxi. How can you not want to grow that??? Then I have his Sour Diesel F5. I have heard his stories, and if he took it to F5 and is satisfied that this is what he considers sour diesel then I want to try it. JJ breeds for what I like to smoke (so far). I trust him as a breeder and his prices are reasonable considering the work put in.

The other one I have is from a sour male he bred/selected that's called Zkittles/SourDawg. To me that sounds like he worked a Sour line and his Stardawg and got something, then hit that on Zkittles to find a pollen donor. I got the "Zsour 91" which is that hit to the Chem 91. If I am selecting a cross that's usually where I lean. He has it crossed to the ChemD with some Chemsis in the mix but I passed on that (for now)

I also have his Jane Doe Skunk - whatever that is. I am not a skunk hunter and it was a free ($150) pack with an order of his gear from Dagga. I would not have spent that on Skunk, but I'll grow the hell out of it to see what JJ came up with.

 

[H.A.F.]

I spent the morning picking flowers I only got 7 days of hanging out of them. With the humidity around 40% I can only keep them in the chamber so long before they get crispy. I'll be burping on the regular, but I love the aroma therapy as stuff cures. It stayed around 60% in the wardrobe until yesterday when I guess they lost enough moisture to put it over the edge. Dropped to 50% this morning.

None of these are glamour shots. I just wanted to record the weight on each plant to see what I got out of 5 plants. The rough total puts it right at 224g, or a half pound. All those little plants add up. So yeah, I only got a half ounce from the little Bubba cross plant, that's just gonna make it special if it's good. This doesn't count the Croquembouche that got bucked a day or so after these got hung. That was another small ounce-ish plant.

Both of the Chemdog crosses are fluffy and sticky everything else is dense.

 

[H.A.F.]

I had 5 lilac sweet potato starts plus one is a 5g pot. I can't have nice things here until i eradicate chi[pmunks. The pride of the harvest

Weighed more than the rest of it. On the left are ones I lost half of to being eaten but there was anough to cut the bad away and eat those tonight. The upper one nust neded a littl spot carved out. But I guess it's better than them being full of worms or something. There were a few that had no potato left except the peel right where it connected to the root. I got the two "1st gen" tomatoes whole and those skinnies were spread aound where the vines took root.

 

[H.A.F.]

I have a bucket grid that's 1/2" mesh and fits a 5g bucket. It is perfect for de-larf-ing and de-shake-ing a small harvest. I dump it on the grid over a frisbee then give it a little jiggle and I get me some tasters before stuff cures, and all the loose trim for dry-sift.

I do that so I'm only curing the good stuff. But it also creates a specific dividing line I can hold myself to and only keep a little from each plant out to try early.

I'll spend the morning with each one and see how they feel on a clean(ish) slate. Some wake-n-bakes go pretty sideways and I just go back to bed. I'll set those strains aside to try later in the day and see if it makes a difference. I did that with the Dank Sinatra, and tried it after that post wake-n-bake nap and I went in for another nap. Didn't do shit until afternoon and now I have a dedicated bedtime strain.

I think with plants going longer in general with my gentler growing style is making some interesting increases in potency. The Notso Headband x Chemdog was what I tried this evening and I am happy with it. nice fun chem high. I got soil sifted, pots ready etc. Then I tried the Notso TK. I think I have a large plant of bedtime weed now. The DS was a tiny plant.

I just wanted to take note of this and see what happens. I'll likely be up in the wee-hours re-potting plants. Also, see if sitting here made it different. Nope LOL.

 

[H.A.F.]

I'll likely be up in the wee-hours re-potting plants.

If you want to be happy in retirement, if you have no obligations, sleep when you want, but also get up when you're done. No need to check the clock and see if you are "supposed to be sleeping" - that's part of the working man thing. Turns out that from 10p to 3a is a good nap, especially when the clocks moved. I think I got 6 hrs? Anyway, I called it. Got these done, the Last Call is finally showing a pre-flower but it's not identifyable yet. I moved the 4 Grape Lime testers into the 4x4. That's why I make random notes on here. I checked what I wrote before and it seemed like a good idea so I did it. Probably wouldn't have remembered otherwise. Maybe eventually.

Update on the Deep Chunk that I flipped 10/4. 4 weeks in and they are looking sharp. I have one that's not religious like the others. Structure-wise they are mostly the same.

60w of light... Granted that ain't a GE 60w lamp bulb or anything but it makes me wonder how these would do with a CFL or similar quick-n-diry DIY grow. Or even the regular bulb shaped LED's that have assorted spectrums. It was $150 for 21 seeds, dropped 9 and got 4 girls. If someone was to clone one and run with it i think it would be a great side-hustle production plant.

Oh, the lilac sweet potatoes stay purple after frying. I have seen some that turn brown.

 

[H.A.F.]

This is a first for me. I had an Orange Gasm from Irie that had the same structure, (real chunky and hairy and dense) and I got mold in the top because it flowered so long. Right at week 10 I snipped two fat under-nugs from the top to make sure it had airflow, and I hung them.

Today this Headline from Skunktek (Texas Shoreline x Headband) is at 80 days and could go longer, but those tester nugs were good and dry and the high was already there (as I suspected) and amazing - so she goes today. I just set her out of the tent while the lights were still on this morning so I don't have to open tents and grope around in the dark later. I shut the whole room back up for darkness and cat-proofing. I am still a fan of harvesting in the "morning" so I'll give her the day to do that night thing and chop it this afternoon - while smoking on her today

 

[H.A.F.]

The Headline is a nice OG-type buzz. Powerful but not debilitating. Letting it hit 80 days might bring that couch factor up a bit. It smells like the Dank Sinatra - that sour-ish food smell like the niceness of the Headband and the nasty of the Shoreline mixed real well. Really tasty and it has super sandy trichs, after grinding I had to brush out all the kief in the grinder (no screen) back onto the flower.

The latest harvest is top notch with only the later-flip Croquembouche left. The first one and her sister the SSHP x Baguettes are all top shelf easy. If you have any of the old CLG stuff don't let it rot in the fridge, pop 'em!

The CSI freebie mystery crosses (Chemdog, Bubba moms), are good plants, and the Chemdog cross is very chemdoggy leaning and looking. We'll see if the high plays out but the bud structure is a little different from the Dog's I have grown. I know nothing about Bubba Kush for comparative purposes, but it's a good tiny plant.

The CSI Notsodog Headband (LA Pure Kush) crossed with the TK and the Chemdog are both stellar and plentiful. The Dog cross (right) is fluffy, a little sweeter than Chemdog but not much. The Notso TX is the beast on the left. She made weight, it was all weight (no larf) and it seems to be excellent weight. It's a "hindu kush" style rather than an OG, gassy type kush. Some people may call it earthy but I get an herb garden in the spring, with lots of pungent assorted herbs.

 

[H.A.F.]

I shut the whole room back up for darkness

Here's a nugget for ya. Free.

I hear people talking about bad zippers or pinhole light leaks in tents, but no one mentions the velcro "sealed" hermie-holes on every tent. Why trust the tent at all?

When I shifted the Deep Chunk to flower in what was a veg tent the first thing I did was black out the windows and I keep the door shut duting lights out. My flower bedroom is dark except for a few indicator lights outside the tents. like on the smoke detector LOL. I have kitty-cat climbing-claw holes up the side of one tent. When I heard it i was obvious what was going on and I sganned her before she even got to the top. After a short flight into a curtain the cat doesn't come into the room any more.

But it doesn't matter because the room is dark. I may eventually put some silver tape over the holes but they are in a darkened room. Even with a room light on that intensity will not shine light in through a pinhole like a high intensity grow light does shining out of the same hole.

All my opinion - that's why it's ffree

 

[H.A.F.]

The second Croquembouche went 9 weeks and 3 days. My signature block is looking skinny. The 4 Deep Chunk haven't changed in a day, I have the Notso ChemD in the closet for height, I pulled the Sour Puss in because I'm OCD.

Now this has 6 Freeborn plants,

and this has 4. And I have some in jars too! So far all his stuff has real nice highs.

 

[H.A.F.]

That second Last Call ffrom Blackbird was a dude, and I pulled that NYC Piff x Lemon Tree fem. She was clawing real bad and I know from the re-pot she had shit for roots.

After the Chunker Dunkers I am running for the contest I have a few more runs of "what is in the pack?" runs of Top Dawg and 707 gear I either haven't popped yet or haven't gotten a girl.

I picked up the Sour Diesel F5 and one of his Z-sour91 which is Chem 91 x Zkittles/Sourdawg. I have sour cross from 707 that I got dudes first drop.
And I think the Sour Diesel may be the last of my big purchases. I have a few CSI crosses I want to try next time I buy the Chem91 S1's but I can't think of anything else I want. I have tons of Kush's, OG's, Chem's, Sour's, and lemon/lime stuff.

The UK Cheese S1 I got as a freebie from CSI was not really an amazing high, but it was real good. But It was one of the loudest things I have grown, and until it was gone smelled exactly like blue cheese. CSI has "Muttzarella" which is the Chem91 and UK Cheese mixed up - not sure which was the reversal. His T-1000 is another I wanted to hunt through the S1's.

But I may be done. I have Heisen testers, then the participation prizes he's gonna send to everyone that finishes the contest (i.e. grows a damn plant LOL) and @J.James will be sending me testers soon enough. I think that glass pipes might be my new addiction Good thing I am a fan of functional and not the high-dollar artsy-fartsy glass.

 

[Fiddler's Green]

.... @J.James will be sending me testers soon enough...

Oh snap!

 

[H.A.F.]

Oh snap!

Oh, there's no inside info or anything, that's just his next step and I know he's working towards it.

 

[H.A.F.]

I love it when I figure out an odd smell, one of those you know but can't place.

The Headline (Headband x T Shoreline) from Skunktek smells like those cheap-ass Banquet salisbury steak frozen dinners that were all the rage when frozen meals first became a thing. It's that onion/mushroom gravy with the meaty undertones.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast, already in progress...

 

[H.A.F.]

I think there's some strong cannabinoids in the meaty smelling ones other than just high THC. There's just something about the buzz that feels different, and good.

 

[H.A.F.]

I spent about an hour today grinding up a few nugs of everything. Having these big round-end tubes labeled means if I do prerolls I don't have to label anything in the regular size doob-tubes. It's a good way to find out what isn't the favorite. With my new cannagar molds I have more interesting stuff to do with the pre-ground stuff, but I like having a variety bowl-ready. This is just that to the extreme

 

[H.A.F.]

I just got a big bulk-pack of the assorted tubes and caps, and now I use one color cap for each set of harvests, then different tube colors for each strain or pheno.

 

[BSGrows]

That's some legit organization