Leaderboard

Aweh gromies, Outdoor flowering time is upon us, our ladies are stretching nicely. They got thinned out around the bottoms and topdressed with mature compost-dropping soil levels. Added powdered eggshell and watered in with AACT last week. Keeping a close eye IPM wise as our RH is high as usual. No serious issues so far. Allready harvested some early bloomers F1 Bluecheese (180gr jarred and curing) Strawberry Vostoks (60gr) Pics. 1-5. F1 Bluecheese, Charlottes Angels. 6. Fruitpunch, Vanilla Kush. 7. Gorilla Glue. Cheers

Introducing the Homegrown Auto Cup, a unique collaboration between Biltong and Budz Seedbank and @Bay Seeds, proudly showcasing the freshest auto seeds South Africa has to offer. As we embark on our soft launch from December 20th to March 31st, 2024, immerse yourself in the essence of “Local is lekker.” “Local is lekker” Competition Dates: December 20th – March 31st, 2024 [Note: Biltong and Budz will be closed from Friday the 22nd and will reopen on the 9th. (Last day of dispatch: 18th Dec). Any orders during this period will be promptly fulfilled from the 9th.] How to Enter: Purchase a 3 seed pack of Bay Seeds – Russian Gorilla Auto seeds from Biltong and Buds using the coupon code “bayseeds” and you’re automatically entered. Share your grow updates on the Biltong and Budz Growers Group on Facebook. Alternatively, if you prefer to stay anonymous, email your pictures and descriptions to homegrowncup@biltongandbudz.co.za. For Instagram Users: If you’re on Instagram, amplify your participation by tagging both Biltong and Budz (@biltongandbudz_) and Bay Seeds (@bayseeds420) in your posts. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #homegrownautocup to showcase your growing journey and connect with fellow participants across the community! This soft launch marks the inception of our cannabis community cup, complete with numerous prizes for the best grow, as determined by our esteemed judges. Why the Homegrown Auto Cup? We’re committed to providing South Africans with top-notch, locally-bred auto seeds at an affordable price. Join us in dispelling the notion that automatic seeds are solely expensive imports. Our cup celebrates the future of cannabis cultivation. History of Automatic Seeds: While relatively new to the industry, breeders have been experimenting with cross-breeding automatic (ruderalis) seeds since the late 1970s. The breakthrough came with the launch of the “Lowryder” strain by the Joint Doctor, demonstrating the potential of autoflowering cannabis ruderalis hybrids. What are Automatic Seeds? Automatic seeds are hybrids with ruderalis variety crossbred into them. Originating from Eastern Europe, ruderalis, named after the German word ‘ruderal,’ meaning ‘weeds growing by the roadside,’ has become a vital component in creating these hybrids. Why Grow Automatic Seeds from Bay Seeds? Local is lekker: Support local breeders enhancing our genetic diversity. Year-round cultivation: These seeds flower automatically, eliminating photoperiod sensitivity. High yield, short flowering time: Automatics yield big results when grown correctly, with a significantly shorter flowering time than other hybrids. https://www.biltongandbudz.co.za/autocup/

Hey, So this grow is done and dusted, thought I would add it here as a start-to-finish diary. Substrate : Freedom Farm Premium Classic, amended with Dirty Hands Elemental Blend at 1L per 20L soil and a rooibos mulch on top. Nutrients : Biobizz (Grow, Bloom, Top-Max, Acta-Vera). Kushy Amino Acids, CalMag and Bud Juice Symbiotics. Genetics : Mandarin Cookies V2 from Ethos Genetics. There isn't many pics of Veg, because a cannabis plants looks like a cannabis plant, lets get onto the good stuff. I harvested just over 600 grams in dry weight in total, 400 grams of decent smokable buds and 200 odd grams of bud and offcuts to go towards some bubble hash. Well that's that, cheers for now.

Some pics from today: Pulled one purple haze regular that turned out to be male. The two AK-01s and the slurricane #7 are the biggest plants so far (all just over 1.5m already).

Harvest time

Aweh fellow florists, The ladies are putting on their show. Buds are swelling and stinking with goodness, despite the heavy rain and high rh. Lost a few girls to the "taxman" mentioned in earlier posts, got a new problem with small spiral snails "ring debarking" some plants-tested some vinegar/soap mix to no effect, now dusting with cinnamon. Don't like spraying stuff in flower, hopefully they'll pull through. Chopped some Bluecheese f1's this morning. Pics of Charlottes, Gorilla Glue, Bluecheese. Our climate on the north coast is unforgiving to say the least. Its like the weather wants to kill your plants.....4 days of thunderstorms and rain, high rh and the next day temps touching 50deg. A good test for any genetic abd the reason why you plant double and take extra clones, just in case. Cheers.

- I've never been a fan of top dressing for this reason, unless you top dressing with a fertilizer that can be broken down by water and leech into the soil (dry amendment fertilizer). When it comes to things like Kelp meal, bone meal and crushed Malted barley, they take time for the microbes to break them down. So I would add them to the soil in the beginning when I was mixing the soil for the plant. I find the trick to organics is to work 2 weeks ahead of where your plant are. So if I'm going to flip to flower in two weeks time, I already start with the organic material needed for Phosphorous and Potassium to give it 2 weeks to at least start breaking down. However, keep in mind, just because the raw material exist in the soil, doesn't mean the plant will use it or it will affect the plant. An example of this is the kelp and bone meal, you can add it to the soil in the beginning and let the microbes do their thing, When you flip to flower, those broken down nutrients will then be instantly available to the plant when it wants it. Crushed Barley needs to be worked into the soil in the beginning, when it gets wet it will build out a mycelium network throughout your soil and feed your microbes. - I answered your Environoc question in the other thread. It won't hard the plant if you do it throughout flower, it's just not needed as it's a waste. - I have never found a use for a compost tea, I prefer to use VermiPure Tea (https://hydroponic.co.za/hydroponics/umoja-organics-vermipure-worm-tea/) and Environoc 401 instead for the microbe loading. Then normal nutrients for the other NPK stuff. If you looking to do organics on the cheap, try out the Bud Juice nutrient range, I'm busy using it at the moment on a grow and its seems really good for something you only give once a week.

She finished wonderful, but I'm doing a second round and it's going even better!

Depends if I'm growing organic or not at the time. If non-organic, my preferred nutrients are the Gold Label nutrients, but they are wack expensive. Alternative to this is the TA Tri-part, I'm had fairly ok success with the TA nutrients, but overall, my success with synthetic nutrients has been "questionable" in general. If organic, I amend Dirty Hands Elemental Blend into the green bag of freedom farms (1L Elemental Blend to 20L of FF soil) and then I feed with around 50% of the bio-bizz recommended nutrients (depending on stage of growth, I use more around week 4 - week 6 of flower), this method has worked the best for me. The only "catch" being that you probably need to give CalMag for the first few weeks of veg. I don't know why, but every plant I stick into freedom farms has an immediate Calmag deficiency, but is easily combatted with one dose of Calmag a week for the first 3 / 4 weeks of veg, then its fine after that. If you anticipate this, its great easy growing. With organic I find you just need to work 2 weeks ahead of where your plant is in development. For example, if you going to flip to flower, start pre-loading your soil with the nutrients the plant is going to need in a week or two's time. This gives the microbes time to break it down into a form the plant can uptake when it needs it. So take a bloom booster for example, it's basically just Potassium, so in week 4 of flower, I start pre-loading the soil with lots of potassium so that by the end of week 5 or start of week 6 the plant is able to absorb as much potassium as it wants. The same happens at the end of the grow, from week 7 I start feeding water only so that in week 9 I can harvest.

I have gone solar. But these days you can buy a 5.12Kw battery and inverter for under 40k and you will be able to run every thing. Add solar panels and you are cruising. We produced 25kw yesterday.

We grow organic outdoors, I use a lot of different amendments in my soils, which are basically built from scratch. The wormfarms were a game changer, castings for the soilbuilding and topdressing as well as wormtea. Liquid nutes I prefer Biobizz, with Seagrow and molasses for AACT. Also use numerous liquid extracts and FPJ's during veg and flower. So far, so good.

I run a 3kva inverter connected to 4 x 12V lithium batteries, its able to hold two tents running at a total of 1600 watts for about 3 and a half hours (along with some lights for the house and our PC's and TV). The unit itself cost me around R45000, but worth every cent.

3 days later

Join us for for our monthly 420 lifestyle market on the West Coast at @West Coast Vaper Secret Garden Nursery. Play park for the kiddies. Braai pits. Braai packs available in-store. Stroll through the Secret Garden Nursery. Browse through the farmstall. Grab a bite from the kitchen.

Congratulations!!! @Bay Seeds I see your Maverick, Top Cheese & 5th Gen Fighter are on sale MarijuanaSA's website. South African Marijuana Seeds - Marijuana SA

Yeah I'm having a big issue identifying male or female while still in growing stage. I've planted more the 100 plants so I don't want them to become male . So kindly advice how to detect male trees.

Howzit 420 growers, Dillipit at your service. i'm here because i'm done paying for good bud I want to start my own grow and reap the rewards nature intended for us. Belated 420 !

Aweh gromies, Happy 420 weekend. Herewith some organic outdoor buds.

Johan's Nutcracker day 49.

Didn't actually plan for them to get this big. Mother nature doing her thing...

I'd like to see a update on this Grow please Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

If they don't say on the bottle to stop during flower.. you can ignore any website telling you otherwise. The main point is simple.. the producer would tell you in the first place if you could run in an issue... they are usually double careful what they recommend. I used 401 during flower.. not on all feedings but twice a month I added a normal dosage. See no reason why you can't mix the microbes with sugar.. they might actually like that. Hope that helped ^^

So it can be used throughout the grow, but also depends on how long you vegging your plant for. However, Dirty Hands do have a nutrient feeding schedule for Orgasoilux soil if you want to add nutrients, which I have attached for you. The feeding works out really cheap as you don't use very much of the nutrients at all. You buy these nutrients here - https://jamiesgardenshop.co.za/product-category/organic-garden-products/organic-fertilisers/liquid-organic-fertilizers/ I've grown using their nutrients before and have had great results. Organic Liquid Feeding Program (3).pdf

The lights cycle is not such a big issue. It’s more Fluctuation in humidity that causes the most issues. As long as your plants get their 12 hours sleep you should be fine. Keeping the humidity down during the load shedding period is the most important thing.

Flipped here: A few days later, plant in the back left is stretching like crazy Going to do a big leaf strip once they stop stretching

I ended up having 5 males and 3 females. Flowered out the males and selected on for future use. I had issues with this grow, as I had a heat issue and my favorite plant hermied. 3 weeks into flower. I then seeded the plant that did not hermie with al of the males. First pic here is of the seeded female and the rest are just what they looked like just be fore the showed male flowers. The big one is the one that got seeded.

yeah I got the same Fruit Pastilles and the CBD seeds with my order from them, gave the CBD seeds away, but I'm keen to pop these fruit pastilles. As for the OP, overgrow, groen seeds, trophy seeds are all reputable and have pretty quick shipping, it really depends on what you looking for as each of these places carries different genetics. If you looking to do a run with Ethos Genetics, In house Genetics, Dutch Passion or Fast buds, trophy seeds is for you, they are slightly higher price than the other seeds banks, but they carry very good genetics If you want to do a Seedstockers, Delicious Seeds or Seedsman, then Groen seed is the way to go. For everything else, there is Overgrow. All three do also carry similar genetics like Barney's Farm, in cases like this, pick the website with the best price. As for best freebies, both Overgrow and Groen Seed are very good with this, there is always some free stuff with your orders.

I am sure you know about André De Ruyters book "Truth to Power"? Ex CEO of Eskom.... good read for anyone in SA. think that can make things very clear. you can say factories and businesses are down right now, but they wheren't during the rugby world cup? and many other times...... plus majority of corporate owned businesses don't shut down whole factories just to get through a day of christmas, they'll have 1 guy on stand by or the factory just pushes through. the whole world still works up to the 23rd and continues on the 27th only to take off on the 1st again for 1 day. how does that equal to a whole month without loadshedding? someone inside eskom can spin that shit and I'll smell rotten fish from miles away. Loadshedding started in 2007 as a temporary thing to give a gap in order to "fix the problem".... It's 2024 in 6 days, that gives us 16 - 17 years of loadshedding..... it hasn't been constant/consistent for all 17 years, we've had worse times and times with no loadshedding all through out. it's not a new thing to go through fluctuations. If it hasn't been clear as day, we're collectively too affraid to adress the problem directly, because the problem has our country in the palms of their hands and can do whatever they want right now. the problem is too big to fix, it's integrated into our society. The actual problems has been solved, but a new problem has emerged - management. New management doesn't have any grip on what they're doing, incompetence is running the power grid, problems of the previous mismanagement still exists, because of the current inconpetence not being able to focus on the the problem which is in itself the incompetence of the management. So they're literally just playing with the buttons. SA is in deeeeeeeeeep financial shit, so wherever our government can funnel money they will, trying to make it seem like they're working on the problem, but in reality they steal the money and loadshedding presists. It's just an easy gimmick for the fools running the show. They don't give a single shit about loadshedding, cause they're not affected by it. That's how it's going to be for as long as we accept the "ancestral cultural richness" of the indiginous people that refuses any form constructive criticism.

Aweh fellow florists, Compliments of the season. Summer is off with a bang, ladies are are happy...just have to keep them that way in this heat. Even got some early flower action going.... First round of clones are vegging, 2nd batch acclimating. Topdressed the big girls again last week as they start switching to flower- dropping soil levels.(Compost, coffee grounds, powdered eggshell, wormcast and woodash) Followed with AACT. This week, mulched thick with grass clippings and watered light (summer storm incoming) so the worms can stay cool/hydrated to continue doing their thing. Got a few strains going- f1Bluecheese, Gorilla Glue, Fruitpunch, Charlotte's Angel, Strawberry Vostok, Vanilla Kush. Happy Growing.

I keep a bucket 1/3d fill with salt water, snails get dumped in and I clean and refill every week or two. after a while it's like they get the message or they start talking amongst eachother but yeah got minimal snail damage over here this year

12 December Late update. Had some spidermite issues due to high temps and low RH. Got a spidermite spray from the brand "Buddi". Worked well, issue resolved. Humidifer arriving tomorrow, to get that nice high RH for veg. The plants all have very different structure and are growing at different rates. Will probably take cuttings from Hiroshima #1 from what I can see so far. For the two larger ones I topped them now, as they reached three nodes.

Probably around 10 years, I put them in last year and have been working like a boss ever since

For now....Same as AK but Tripart instead. Reason : i struggle catching deficiencies quick enough with organics Hoping to do water only organic run next

Looks awesome. Can I get your advice on my next grow please. Im growing indoors with a 30l pot. The bottom half I use orgasoilux and the top half I use freedom farms soil(green bag). I veg for 2 months and I only use biodyne microbes and molassas through to flower. Girls are always happy. Then once I hit flower I either used diry hamds biophos or biobloom nutes. This run I was thinking of ditching the bottled organic nutes and topdressing 1 week before the flip. Will one top dress of elemental blend be enough to carry me throigh to harvest with molassas feedings and water only?. Or should I stick with liquid organic bottled nutes(biobizz bloom). Your help would much appreciated. I wouls include a photo of my last grow which I used diry hands bio phos during flower. Alternatvely if I go the topdress method for flower should I be safe and go for elemental blend from jamie or use my own mix for dlowe. I was thinking a mix of Dried kelp, malted barley, gypsum and worm castings. Since elemenatal mix has more amendments should I rather lean towards that. Thanks again TH seeds - Orangesicle

Those look like springtails which are considered beneficial insects, although you seem to have a quite a herd there

Tooth Fairy: Flower - Day 7. light defol + training.

24 November This is where we are now. Planted into pots, and second grow light up. Opened two of the passive intakes at the bottom instead of an inlet fan. Trying passive intake and a bit of negative pressure this time. Going to wait a bit longer before feeding first nutrients. Would be interested to know when other salt nutrient users start feeding? Any input appreciated. Back left Hiroshima in the last post's photo also died. I need to stop meddling. The line-up is now Hiroshima, G-Fawke both by Renegade Seed Co. Also from a friend's personal seedbank I've added a seed labelled "Pierre's Black Mountain Temple" to fill the last spot. Hiroshima #1, #2 and #3 Number 1 and 3 are healthy and doing fine. Number 2 struggled a bit straight out of the seed, one leaf shrivelled on the end. Not sure why that happened, but it seems to be recovering well. G-Fawke #1 and 2 and the Black Mountain Temple are doing fine.

Update: Got the Dynavap M 2021. What a beautifully engineered piece. Most flavour that i've ever experienced. Complete, smooth and equally powerful as a joint at a fraction of the herb used. I was sceptical at first but from the first toke i realized that the Dynavap is a beast. Once that you get the hang of heating the cap correctly without combusting, its smooth sailing. Flavour for days. Get one. You won't regret it!

Once sister! Well done

Getting thiccc, frosty and stinky! RH has been high, hovering around 80%, there has also been some rain and wind, so making sure the lower sections are nicely defoliated. Pineapple Chunk and Jillybean will be done first as I'm just starting to see some trichomes turn amber, usually around this time I would stop feeding and start "flushing" with rainwater and molasses, usually for two weeks, and then just plain rainwater for a few days before harvest. Since I'm using salt based ferts, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to introduce molasses, I know some nutrients will be available immediately, but I have no idea what the soil microbe life is like.

The Ugly...

I have used Bio-Bizz Bloom in previous grows and I have Dirty hands inc Bio-Phos. This time around I wanted to try the topdressing, but now since you have advised against it, do you think Ill be better off going back to the liquid nutrients feedings for flower? I use a 30litre pot. I fill the bottom half with Orgasoilux and the top half with Freedom Farms soil. I veg for 2 months and all I add is microbes. The plant is always healthy. Do you believe I will require flower nutrients to get me through to harvest? Do you think all my nutrients in the living soil would be depleted? I'm just concerned my soil wont have enough P and K for flowering, especially if I don't top dress. In your experience is Biobizz the best liquid flower nutrient, and if you don't mind sharing, how often do you apply it? Some people use it every watering where others use it once a week. From my understanding Bio Bizz bloom is just molasses and kelp? Wouldn't compost teas and molasses feedings have the same effect? Thanks for your help! The image below is my previous grow during veg and flower. One plant trained in a 40litre pot using freedom farms and Orgasoilux. I have a small mars hydro tent with a 120w QB from Green Houston and a mars hydro 48 reflector (blurple old tech) tents width and length is 70cm x 70cm. During flower for this grow I used Bio-Phos by Dirty hands inc. I was not sure if I provided enough nutrients through the flowering phase. Roughly flowered 8 weeks. I couldn't tell if this was its natural fade or if I could have pumped up the nutes do get denser and bigger buds

Hey, yeah it is the 700w Sunplus LED light, however don't buy one, they shit. On one of my lights, 3 out of 8 bars have had the 3000k diodes die on it, but like the entire bars. Sunplus hasn't responded to any of my support request about how do I get replacements. The after sale service is pretty much null and void. I've done 3 grows with these lights. For a R14 000 light, I would class it as pretty shitty quality. It puts down the ppfd for sure, but in my own testing, the Lummi 720W LED which costs half the price puts down exactly the same ppfd as this sunplus light with 301H diodes with almost identical heat output. Luckily I have so many bar grow lights, I just replace it with another one, but still annoying.

The short answers to this is yes, you are going to need some form of backup power for the fans / extractors, your concern here is heat and humidity, not light. You have to keep the air moving. Autoflowers are the best for load shedding, (if you don't have backup power for your lights). Put your lights on 24/7 and let load shedding be your dark periods. So 2x 2H load sheddings a day = 20 hours of light for the plant, which is spot on perfect. Even at stage 6, you plants will still be happy. Autoflowers will not care about the broken up light periods either. Also autos don't need the lights to be as "higher wattage" as photoperiods due to DLI (Daily Light Integral). So to explain this briefly. a Plant can only take is so much light in a 24 hour period and the rest is just wasted light, this is called the DLI of the plant. A cannabis plant needs between 30 - 45 mol/m² of light per day. Generally you would aim for abouts 40 DLI a day for cannabis. When you have a photoperiod plant in flower, it can only have 12 hours of light, so to hit 40 DLI a day, we use higher watt lights like (for example purposes) a 650watt / 1.2m² tent. When using auto's, your lights are on for 18 - 20 hours, so that 650watt can be dropped down to say 400w to achieve the same 40 DLI in that period. If you have extreme load shedding (stage 16), you can turn up the power of your lights for the available hours you have power to meet the same 40 DLI. You will also find a lot more mould and mildew resistant autoflower strains than you do photoperiod strains as this resistance has been bred into the strains, this helps with the humidity issues that can occur. Generally speaking, a small'ish inverter + 2x 100Ah 12v batteries can hold small oscillating fans and extractor fans for a relatively long period of time.

Awe, stoked we can go forward on the forum @DesignatedDave Jou yster. What a wild few years it's been, wow.. So at long last I am at this girl again.. Struggling with the germination as the beans truely have not been kept under the optimum conditions unfortunately. Have a few F2 and F3s on the go and will finally decide if she's worth keeping. After working with a few hard hitting legendary strains in the past few years it might be hard for me to admit she does not tick the boxes, but let's see. @Bay Seeds Knocking it out the park lately buddy.. Below a few picks of the babies and what I worked with the last few years. Happy flowering season guys and gals.. Let's see what the male to female rates gonna be. SSC- @Totemic Orange Velvet Underground Ethos Boo Berry Cookies-Ethos Crescendo Ethos GG#4

@king kong If I am understanding you, you wana be able to tell before they go into flower. Only way to do that is lab testing. otherwise you gotta wait till the plant expresses it physically so you can just tell like in the photos Bos showed, will be easy to tell them apart. trick is to get them before the male flowers open and pollenate your females. there is about a 1 to 2 week window, depending on genetics and conditions from when a male flower is clearly visible till it opens and releases pollen. so you gotta make sure you get them in the first few days of forming.

I am researching bay seeds at the moment and glad to see them on here. I have so many good reviews about their auto seed range, I might just buy some soon. I have recently heard they are local, well priced . Also see them listed on biltongandbudz.co.za, my favourite local seedbank.

Lithium ion should last 10 years