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trichomechaser

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Everything posted by trichomechaser

  1. trichomechaser
    You can use Amblyseius swirskii mites which feed on the young stages of Thrips. I've got some on the way from Livingseeds.co.za, but they do take a while to get here once ordered, about 15 business days. So if you're in late flower it's probably going to be too late. Otherwise you can also find some Stinkwoods and try bring in some Lady Bugs from it. I sometimes steal a few of the young ladybugs to help control a bit, but other than that - yellow sticky traps can help as we as BioInsek (Beauveria Bassiana) which can be used in flower (it's a biological insecticide). Thrips are pissing me off at the moment too...
  2. trichomechaser
    The problem is a lot of people don't seem to know what makes a good breeder. They think that throwing together good looking cuts and doing some S1 is what makes a good breeder, "Looks fire so it must be a great breeder" on the other side there is the "Oh, this guy is running classic heirlooms, he must know what he is doing". The real good old school breeders are actually typically the guys in the US who were trading cuts in the underground long before any of the dispensaries started showing up. There are a lot of good podcasts out now by highly respected breeders, and just listening to them discuss the source of their cuts will get you in tune with who is really doing good work out there - and give some insight into the breeders which are publicly praised but were shady fucks in the industry who screwed over other breeders. People see hype more than they do anything else. There's also unfortunately a lot of people still stuck in the 90s, thinking that breeders who were putting out hype strains back then must still be doing good in the game. And because South Africa was quite limited in its exposure to the US underground breeding scene, not a lot of growers here are actually aware of the 'real OGs'. The problem here is that we see European genetics as superior, thanks mostly to the fact that they were the ones who controlled the foreign genetics market here for decades. Look at SkunkVa from Lucky Dog Seeds, that dude was part of the group of travelling 'dead heads' who basically just followed The Grateful Dead around America, and in that community you had some of the best growers of that time sharing cuts between each other, and creating fucking legendary strains. SkunkVA is known for his Chem '91 cut ( worth listening to how it came to be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zizcd3O92ps ) - but there is very little interest locally in these guys who originated classic cuts. If you're looking for quality breeders that have a good balance of old school but without being stuck in the past look at: - Riot Seeds - Archive - Lucky Dog (he almost exclusively works with his Chem cut though, so not much variety) - Bodhi - Duke Diamond etc There's a lot of other guys doing really good work and still actually breeding with males and females and not just seed making (silvering fems), but the above are some of the more respected guys who typically have the best connections to original cuts. With the Chem '91 mentioned above, SkunkVA himself has said majority of people claiming to be working with the cut don't actually have it (and its his cut). So one can't simply just look at a lineage or cut and take it at face value. To find the best breeders, listen to the originators of legendary cuts and see who they vouch for. You'd be surprised by how small the list really is. Granted my list is a little US leaning, but that's honestly where I see most of the quality coming from - and it makes sense given that the new legal infrastructure there offers such a good platform for breeding development Locally, I do like the work that Jay does. He has an interest in heirlooms, but isn't afraid to throw in some killer genetics from more 'hyped' breeders like OG Rascals (a personal favourite if you're into OG lines). As for which strains I've grown that I liked the most... My favourite strains haven't typically come from the "best breeders" and in some cases were even from dudes whose breeding practices are hated by 'real breeders' - Colin from Ethos has what is considered some terrible breeding methods, but the flower (assuming it doesn't herm) can still be really satisfying to grow if you're doing it for bag appeal or flavour. It's been difficult to get high quality breeders genetics here, so most of the strains I'm looking forward to running have only just made their way into my collection, but I'm definitely looking forward to my: Archive, Dungeon's Vault, Cannarado, Swamp Boys, Thug Pug Just give this a watch before you buy more Dutch genetics (addresses both Reeferman and Sensi mentioned by Chris above):
  3. trichomechaser
    Thanks dude There's 12 plants in the tent (1.2x1.2), and lots of empty space between the "canopy" so I'll be happy with a 350g average for the tent. I gave some cuts to some friends and asked that they keep them going and spread the genes (I have no need to be greedy since I grow for myself). I'll probably get a proper mother going soon though if I can sort out the space. She's a hell of a keeper
  4. trichomechaser
    Cheers dude. Yeah, I definitely prefer a bit of an early harvest, not a huge fan of CBN since it knocks me out haha. I prefer to cash in on THC and ideally look for a cloudy harvest, but I'm also running some hash on some of these plants, so also wanted to harvest a bit earlier for that. If I'm running a heavy indica that I plan to use for some narcotic highs then I'll let it run longer and get more CBN.
  5. trichomechaser
    Week 9 Update Orange Kush Cake Harvest & Report The Orange Kush Cake was an amazing plant to grow, she was extremely forgiving, stretched nicely upon flip and ticks all the boxes. Rich terps which took over the tent and excellent trichome production. Yield: 39g Smoke Report: Even without cure, she came out brilliantly smooth. The terpene profile is an unusual mix of sweet and sour, there is certainly some elements of artificial grape smell, like Fanta Grape. But also some more complex notes. The buds are caked in trichomes (will add pictures soon) and the taste echos the smell in many ways, rich, sweet grape with hints of citrus and gas. The high is potent! A hard hitter that leaves you feeling that 'between the eyes' pressure. Sugar Cane Harvest & Report Sugar Cane grew fairly squat, but had more branching than the OKC. It was also very forgiving though. During the grow, she had almost no terps at all - couldn't even pick off enough to talk about the fragrance. No fade on her really apart from some basic late flower N-def yellowing. Yield: 43g Smoke Report: Despite the lack of terps during the grow, once drying she came to life! Heavy dosidos coming through with her, that classic sweet dank pungent smell. A few days in the jar and she's loud as fuck! Not as smooth as the OKC without a cure, though seems to be improving after a few days in the jars at least. Another hard hitter, but more productive high than the OKC. I initially thought this wasn't a keeper due to the lack of terps, but now I'm wondering whether to run my cut again with what's happened in the dry.
  6. trichomechaser
    I missed a few weeks while I was on holiday, doing lazy holiday things. So here's a catch up post, about half the tent has been chopped. - Week 8 Update During week 8, the Orange Kush Cake really started to pack on some weight and continued to fade heavily. Definitely the prize of the tent. The Alien Wedding was the fastest to finish, at week 8. The bud is nothing to go crazy over, but the fresh cut had a very distinct lemon twist scent. I did harvest a little early on this one, intentionally. But trichomes were still mature with some amber. Sugar Cane was also nearing the finished at this point, and would become the second chopped.
  7. trichomechaser
    Yessir. @trichomechaser420
  8. trichomechaser
  9. trichomechaser
    Cheers bud. She's looking interesting, but just wish it had some/any terps to it. Alien Wedding, Sugar Cane and OKC are all at cloudy trichs, so I'll run water only for the last two weeks now I think. Harvest looks good for about 10 to 15 days from now. Around Christmas haha.
  10. trichomechaser
    Thanks man. Week 7 Update. The Orange Kush Cake suddenly started with a fast, maroon fade which has taken over much of the upper leaves. A real looker for sure... Next up is the Sugar Cane, with that classic towering calyx structure. Some nice trichome formation along the fan leaves. Unfortunately I get NO terps off her at all, this is something I've heard about Sugar Cane in other forums. Hopefully the cure brings it out some more. Then onto the Strawberry Banana, a more sativa dominant genetic, so understandable why it's a bit behind the others. But decently caked... I am having a few other minor issues in the tent, the small pot size combined with the bud weight is causing some stability issues on the Green Crack and Mandarin Cookies. I removed the weak Banana Daddy from the tent and replaced it with an Ethos Glue, Glue is known to hermie fairly often so will be watching it closely.
  11. trichomechaser
    I'm not too fussy on sativa/indica these days. I mean in reality how many strains are we really smoking these days that aren't just polyhyrids? Green Crack is often considered one of the most uplifting and energizing strains and yet it's still just a 60/40 hybrid. There's also too much phenotype variation to be able to straight up say sativa or indica (Unless one is smoking on full indicas / sativas or landraces). Personally though, I'll smoke whatever when ever. But I prefer growing Indicas for their fast flowering times and bud structure (not so much their WPM proneness though)
  12. trichomechaser
    Thanks man. Just another update as they are now into week 6. This Bananium has been heavily neglected, not sure I've even really taken pictures of her since she's a shorter girl. But she's really starting to come into her own now, looking frosty and starting to build buds. Similarly, below is my Mandarin Cookies which is sitting at the back of the tent and not getting much love at all, but she seems to be doing great. Below is the Alien Wedding, Orange Kush Cake and Sugar Cane #1 in that order:
  13. trichomechaser
    Nearing the end of week 5 now (day 32) and they are definitely bulking nicely now. The Alien Wedding is still maturing much faster than the others, while the Sugar Cane and Orange Kush Cake remain the favourites in terms of trichome production. Strawberry Banana is starting to add some weight now, but I have got some issues with the Holy Grail Kush, showing some nute burn and just general weak genetics, leaves aren't very strong and it doesn't take up much water, the rooting may not be great on it. Here's the Alien Wedding, Sugar Cane and Orange Kush Cake (shot with a flash this time)
  14. trichomechaser
    I'm personally not as optimistic about the recreational side of things as others seem to be, I mean I'm ready to be pleasantly surprised. But it feels like the way everything is being approached, especially by Government is that there is 0 incentive for them to give a fuck about the local market in terms of end use. I feel like they're going to fixate more on the medical side of things, and probably just define limits for the court ruling, but I honestly can't imagine seeing a well structured, fair and locally productive route for recreational usage. I've always thought we'd likely see medicinal implemented for several years before we see recreational addressed in any form we'd like to. But even then I see them taking a Canadian approach and making everything run through government with the favour of foreign companies as suppliers and government owned outlets. Personally, I'm not too phased - as a grower for personal use, I'll continue to do as I do and grow for myself. But I certainly would like to see the stigmas removed through a well structured normalization.
  15. trichomechaser
    This has been getting shared today and appears to be legitimate based off internal linking in the document. While it doesn't impact the recreational market or provide much insight into the home grower, it does provide a lot of information as to where the government is heading in terms of medicinal. The proposed model seems similar to the Canadian one, which isn't great - but it's certainly progress. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L4oW7YajBkvmMX_XHeIYozc6TESs99yG/view?usp=sharing
  16. trichomechaser
    Thanks man. The Alien Wedding is now developing awesome terps. Almost like hash dipped in petrol and grease. Insanely gassy, almost opens the sinuses. Definitely looking forward to it now.
  17. trichomechaser
    Will see how she finishes, but I wouldn't mind trying to introduce some colouration in the calyx if she doesn't develop any naturally, though may be a challenge for a small personal project. I may just reverse/self it though as you say.
  18. trichomechaser
    Ticking all the boxes for sure! Vigorous growth, great internodal spacing, strong unique terps, good trichome coverage and what seems to be great bud structure so far too. I may actually hunt some reg packs for a good male and see what the two can create with one of her cuts. Feels like it would be a shame not to keep her genes going in some form or another.
  19. trichomechaser
    Another week gone, and I'll now be heading into week 5 of flower. The revelation this week is that the Orange Kush Cake by Ethos is one hell of a keeper pheno. The terps are now a distinct Fanta orange/orange candy and trichome coverage is growing leaps and bounds each day. Only at day 24 and she's already looking caked up. The Banana Daddy has some serious problems which appears to either be a Phos def or severe nutrient burn - neither of which should be occurring given my feeds. The Mandarin Cookies are giving off amazing naartjie/mandarin terps which are sharp and sweet. ^ Ethos - Orange Kush Cake (Day 24) ^ Humboldt - Green Crack (Day 24) ^ Mosca - Alien Wedding (Day 24) ^ DNA - Strawberry Banana (Day 24)
  20. trichomechaser
    Seeds are too volatile by nature for anyone to really guarantee. It's a part of nature that some seeds won't germinate. Most experienced growers will agree. Especially if you have breeder packs. A sealed Buddha Seed is a Buddha Seed regardless of where you buy it. The other problem is that people never want to accept their mistakes. B&B gets plenty of people furious over failed germination yet they wet the paper towels twice or three times a day, drowning them. If a local seed bank were to guarantee germination they would be out of business soon as their order numbers picked up because of those situations. Not saying you are germing wrong, but even a few degrees too low in your germ environment and you'll see problems. Winter germination is a bitch without a heat mat for example. B&B could have probably comminucated better, I think that came down to one person running things. There's some additional staff now so there should be better/more helpful communication.
  21. trichomechaser
    I'm still convinced it's the soil bud, compare it to the others who have used that type of soil here: You'll see what I mean. And you'd be surprised what a difference you'll see in something like Freedom Farms or Organics Matters or Jamie's Garden Shop soil... It's not the cheap seeds either - here are some of my Bulk Seed Bank R60 autos from B&B. No failed germination issues with them either. But remember, no matter the breeder - autos are fussy as hell and require a lot more 'ideal' conditions than photoperiods if you're going to be happy with the results in many cases. But these are the same cheap genetics that people hate on and I found them great for the price.
  22. trichomechaser
    I've seen a lot of people (across social media platforms) make the same mistake I personally made when I started growing, and that is thinking that any soil will be good enough. The idea that heading down to BenBell and picking up whatever they've got is a good idea because "I'm still starting out". In reality, starting out with a good soil will make you see how great growing can be, instead of wondering what's wrong and trying to diagnose the problems that come from bad soil. If I had a PSA to give the new growers it would be: AVOID HEAVILY BARKY SOIL/BARKY POTTING SOIL Particularly avoid the Culterra mixes you find at your local gardening stores. While these bark filled mixes will work for a lot of plants, cannabis is not one of them. They are inherently acidic and the bark causes excessive nitrogen in the soil. The result is that you're left with plants which are getting burnt from the nutrients while being unable to absorb them because of the acidic nature. The result is plants that show both deficiencies and burns in early life, and rarely grow bigger than a ruler. There is a striking similarity between almost all of the plants which are unlucky enough to be placed into these mixes. I've grabbed some other people's images from social media just to show how uniform the problems tend to be. Invest in good soil! You're investing money into beans, don't waste that money by putting them into bad soil.
  23. trichomechaser
    Hey there, I help out Biltong and Budz with their orders. I've popped around 40 seeds that I've received from various breeders through B&B, and while not all have germed, about 92% have. Last 2 batches (20 seeds) have had 100% germination success. I realize I may come across as biased, but I only want to help you determine where your problem lies. Biltong and Budz don't breed their own seeds (think there was 1 pack that they did), so whatever else you buy (unless a local breeder) is being imported directly through the seed banks you'd buy from if you ordered internationally. The seed banks that carry them don't really have control over the viability of the seeds, it's all about picking seeds from a quality breeder, more so than the seed bank. The issue here is 100% the mediums you're using, not sure about the other 2 but when I started growing a few years back I made the mistake of using a soil like that and had the exact same issues with my plants. It isn't the genetics, it's the soil in this case. Avoid barky soil you find at garden shops, cannabis does not do well in it at all! Avoid barky or woody soils. They all stunt in exactly the same way, and look like the plant in the image. Barky soil is typically very acidic and also quite hot. That is why you see what you do here, a plant that has both deficiencies and burns.
  24. trichomechaser
    Update: Week 3 of Flower Week 3 of flower has gone well, no real issues arising yet. Had some nitrogen deficiency on the Orange Kush Cake lower fan leaves, after spending all her energy depleting the soil for her stretch. I've added some worm castings, kelp and alfalfa mulch to the mix. Buds are starting to develop now and each day the signs of trichome development on the sugar leaves, and on a couple - fan leaves, is starting to get me excited. Humidity is sitting steady at 40-45% with the dehumidifier and temperatures between 22'C at lights off and 28'C with lights on when warm. Alien Wedding (Mosca Seeds) Sugar Cane (In House Genetics) Gorilla Breath (Humboldt Seed Organization) Think this one was the Green Crack, but may be mistaken.
  25. trichomechaser
    Most from DSLR. Mostly shot with a Canon 100mm F2.8 macro in conjunction with off camera flash or photographic lightbox.

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