Ill_Evan

7 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

Thanks @Prom, what do you mean when you say you vent by hand? 

He physically inhales the air from inside the tent, runs outside and exhales. Repeat until power comes back on. 

13 hours ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

i will be in late flower come late march with 12 plants in a 1.8x1.5 area ,rh 49 temp 26.9 currently with 2 600w hps lights what kind of rh can i expect at that time without a dehu

Roughly up to 60% in my experience, which isn't terrible but also not totally optimal. If it were to spike higher at any point you'd be at risk of PM at the worst time, hence I use the dehumidifier at that time to make sure it doesn't go any higher than 50% at the very least. 

12 hours ago, Weskush said:

How many hours of interruption in light cycles will have a significant effect on my clones? 

Anything more than 6 straight hours of uninterrupted darkness will start to cause problems. Do as @Apoche Alypse said and just run 24/7, you'll get the recommended darkness periods for clones/veg whenever loadshedding hits. 

Healthy!

29 minutes ago, GreenGalaxyFarm said:

im planning on having a dehu sometime feb/march to deal with the rh during lights off. im wondering will it help to reduce rh to low 50s during lights on, or will it just creep up back to 90 during lights off

Humidity will always vary with the weather. Right now it's pegged in the low 30's for me lights on or off. As soon as it starts raining again or I am in late flower, that's when I'll slap the humidifier on to max and let it do it's thing. 

Edit: The biggest factor to humidity in a tent is ventilation. You have to suck the air out of the tent and then preferably outside a window. If it's just blasting the air back into the room you will definitely need a dehumidifier regardless to manage the general environment. 

46 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

What do you guys think about growing during LS, is it impossible?

At permanent stage 6 it's gonna be hard. If it were somebody new I would tell them to start really small so that if they got really into it they can at least then invest in a small trolley inverter for the whole system and keep it small scale. For somebody growing not just for themselves then it's gonna be an issue. At this time I'd probably push towards outdoor/greenhouse if I hadn't already put so much into the indoor space already. 

52 minutes ago, Apoche Alypse said:

What do you guys do to mitigate the effects of LS?

Live in an area excluded from loadshedding, and when the cables get stolen from time to time use a inverter/battery/solar system.

Even then, if the power is out for a day and it's cloudy outside the batteries would only last about 4 hours and that's running maybe at 25% light output. What I usually do if I expect a long time with no power is I at the very least run the ventilation and then put the lighting schedule to run on/off in 3 hour intervals if in veg stage. If in flower stage I leave the schedule as is. 

1 hour ago, Apoche Alypse said:

Is everyone still doing indoor during power crisis or am I crazy?

Oh yeah dude. Guys are making plans out here. The indoor must flow. 

This is more of a question by me than an answer, but would hanging some greenhouse cover over the plant help?

45 minutes ago, Grant said:

I find no parasites on the leaves and I'm feeding the fish emulsion once ever 2 weeks, what can I use to give the plants nitrogen?

Fish emulsion is high in Nitrogen. 

14 hours ago, Grant said:

My leaves seem to be cupping up, drooping and deformed and I cant understand why?

Without additional information it could be either heat stress of overwatering. 

10 hours ago, Greybaard said:

Are there any marijuana friendly insurance companies in SA?

For what purpose? To purchase cannabis products on your insurance plan? You can already do that via the Medicines Act. You'd have to get a prescription from a doctor and then only use cannabis products provided by a registered pharmacy that stocks medicinal cannabis.

One such place is THC Africa run by the De Beers. Yes, those same De Beers.

8 hours ago, Totemic said:

Its that 12h dark part of the cycle and the ventilation at that time. You need to keep the fans going during lights off/loadshedding times to avoid PM.

This is very important during the Summer months. Ventilation is crucial during loadshedding at the very least. Even just 4 hours of 100% humidity caused a couple of my nuggets to rot. 

Good recovery. 

1 hour ago, Prom said:

Is not just that page ^^ the whole site is offline. Might want to take Pass The Dutch down.. 

Yikes! 

Ja guys come now, sales don't last forever 

I'd prune the rot bits off and give it another week or so. It still looks a bit early to harvest. Try your best to keep the plant out of any direct rain for the meantime until you do decide to harvest. 

If you can, try get a close-up picture of the trichomes. That will be the best way to tell how ready the plant is for harvest. 

6 minutes ago, lembit_pet said:

Crap, too much rain... can I still use it?

What is Auto?

No, all the rot will need to be thrown away and any bud attached to it as well. The top still looks fine, but you'll only know once you harvest and look into the centre. 

An Auto is a plant that doesn't need its daylight hours shortened in order to start flowering. Assuming that is a recent picture and you grew it outside at this time of year, it would be safe to assume that your plant is an Auto. 

31 minutes ago, TheLazyFisherman said:

Hwzit bru. Boland is no joke heat wise in summer, as you know no indoor during summer unless your aircon runs 24/7

This year I decided to not have anything in flower indoors during December/January. Just changing up the grow schedule a bit has saved me a lot on power and AC usage, and the lack of PM/bud rot is also great 

Welcome @Greybaard, you got any magic growing at the moment?

On 12/16/2022 at 10:00 AM, Prom said:

Eskom really did this crap at the wrong time in regards to the growth stage and weather.. but at least the sun cycle played along. I simply emptied the Veg tent to the outside and shut it down for now. Might be over, stage 4 isn't a big stress.. for now they can Veg outside. 4 hours no power is a PM monster.. should have seen my eyes when it was raining and i checked on the tent... 98% humidity  next you saw a moron trying to vent his tent by hand  should have made a youtube video.. 

I think i just go for a solar system to backup the ventilation.. light is strangely cheaper to bridge, car battery and LED already sort that to not run into trouble, just not strong enough to keep things growing but at least nothing starts to flower unexpected. 

 

And went from Stage 3 to Stage 6 ^^ nothing is over 

Bruh, was talking to a mate and we were going to setup a grow at his place but without genuinely investing in an inverter battery system the whole effort would be a waste  already took me so long to fully backup my own setup, even like you say if at least just the ventilation. Those humidity spikes are the real PM magnet. 

My boy taking a break from a hard day's work!

Last harvest of the year numbers are in. The big tent ZxP yielded 547g main buds, 280g popcorn and 5g hash. 

Main buds

Popcorn

Hash

That sums up the diary for 2022. Next year looks like a big year for harvests so I'm looking forward to that. The setup is pretty much dialed in and things are as efficient as they can be currently with me doing everything. I think this diary shows what is possible for a small scale grower and what the possibilities are with what I would consider hobby level equipment. I won't be doing a diary like this again next year. Instead, I will be doing short and concise grow reports that show everything from beginning to end in single posts. The grows are becoming quite consistent now so I think I'd like to switch things up a bit. 

2 minutes ago, CannaLush said:

Hi Evan

I am currently doing the courses on  https://growersnetwork.org/university/

I have looked at Cheeba as well as Thecannabisinstitute.co.za courses, Cheeba only starts their next round of courses next Feb, so will continue doing the ones I am doing, and then move onto the Cannabis institute ones as they are mostly on line.

Hon, I have grown and harvested before. I want a job in the industry, somewhere that I can settle in for a while and learn from the ground up... Books and courses are all fair and well, but it is all theoretical, and I learn best hands on, immersed in the activities. I am 50, beyond tired of my current work/lifestyle, and am taking a leap of faith into the great unknown, I am pivoting, and it is a huge change for me, but one that I am embracing.

I have met plenty of people in the industry, and what I have learned is that most people in this industry like to keep their cards very close, they do not share information very easily and despite the progress of Cannabis, it all remains very hush hush where information regarding employment is concerned.

Thank you for your feedback,

it is genuinely appreciated!

Sounds like I should rather be asking you for a job! 

Hi there!

What topics exactly are you studying with regards to cannabis? Have you ever taken a look at Cheeba academy? If you wanted an education in cannabis in South Africa that you could get a legitimate certification backed by a tertiary university, I'd look into Cheeba. 

Otherwise the fastest way into the industry would probably be to start growing yourself and learn the process of creating cannabis right from the beginning. Being able to produce, even just a little bit, of high quality cannabis would put you ahead of many people who have just simply studied the topic. A small 1 square meter setup is all you'd need. You might even be able to get everything in the classifieds section. 

Then when it comes to gainful employment you would need to get to know people in the industry face-to-face. The best places to meet people would be the two Cannabis Expos that happen in Jozi and CPT now on a yearly basis. You could also attend an open day at an academy such as Cheeba. Then you can also visit your local cannabis club, become a member and meet other members. If you are unsure of where to find a club, find your nearest Grow One Africa affiliated club. They are a safe bet and you can ask about other clubs that might be competing in the area and check those out too. 

I would also lastly recommend that during this process you keep your guard up and don't fall for any nonsense. There are many, many people from very different industries looking for ways into the cannabis industry like yourself and it is a highly unregulated and new industry. There will sure to be a few snakes on the path, some bigger than others. 

Anyone can slap a name onto a seed. I think for the most part looking for the old school 90's classics that is not a clone would probably result in a "fake". 

But also, why would you want exactly that 90's strain? I can tell you it wouldn't be for yields, or even THC %. Those true classics, for the most part, kinda look like jutt at first glance sometimes 

The ideal situation for genetics would be for growers to exclusively buy local genetics that are selected for their growing style and overall preferences for bud quality and then start a new generation of "classics". 

Unfortunately we are at a point in time where imported commercial seeds for the most part squash the local market and we are left selecting from a massive pool of options and sources. 

At the end of the day, find a breeder you like and whos' seeds grow well in your environment and buy their limited editions or new releases. Grow a few and select for the best.

Looking good!

Harvest  hung up to dry, should be ready to trim in 4/5 days.