Winter windowsill insanity

[Crow River]

Day 32 by the window.

 

The girls have enjoyed a day of full sun. They are all a picture of health. So I waited until near sunset to inflict a topping on the Super Kush and Critical Kush Auto. Seems a bit brutal, but if it helps keep them shorter and bushier that's all good. I gave them a bit of growth notes afterwards to help recovery. They will be going into a dark period soon, so there's another chance to heal.

 

The tops went straight into some pots in a wee propagator. Not sure yet what I'll do with them if/when the root, but for the time being they're by the window too.

 

Before

 

After

 

Tops in pots

[OldFord]

A picture of health sir ,  very nice 

[Crow River]

Aye they're doing better than I expected. Heat may helps a lot, and the air temp has not gone below 15ºC at the coldest, usually between 17 and 20ºC, warmer when the sun's out.

 

Once wee Joshua catches up, she'll be topped too...  

[Crow River]

I was given some seeds recently. Decided to pop one in soil to join the others by the window.

 

Strain is SOS by Sawney Bean, who's based in Scotland (apparently not the same one from this forum). It's an auto, apparently derived from Strawberry Cheesecake and selected from the smaller, more compact phenotypes. Seems to me this is a perfect candidate for a spot at the window.

 

Single SOS seed now in a propagator next to the Critical Kush Auto. We'll see how she gets on.

 

[Crow River]

The wee SOS decided to break soil today, so that's Day 1 for this girl. She took her time, but may have been a bit too cool by the window. Moved her into heated propagator and she popped up within a couple of days. She'll stay there until she's ready to go into her final pot by the window.

 

 

The oldest girls at the window are now at Day 38. Both have recovered from topping, and new tops are growing well. No sign of flowering yet on the Critical Kush Auto, but topping may have set her back a bit, and I daresay she may take a little longer anyway in these conditions. More similar to an outdoor grow in some respects. Kind of a half way house between indoors and out. Wee Joshua is forging ahead, now on her fourth true node. She'll be topped too once she hits her fifth.

 

Have been thinking things over, and rather than flower the Super Kush, I'm thinking to keep her as a mother, like I will with Joshua. I can then flower a bunch of cuts from each strain, both indoors and outdoors too.

 

 

Also by the window for now are all the cuts - six Triton Biscotto Lime, and one each of Super Kush and Joshua (in the square pots). Some look like they may have rooted already, others looking a bit more precarious. They'll stay in the big propagator a while yet, until they're better established. Then I'll make decisions about how and where to flower them.

 

[Zebal]

Watching this with great interest, things seem to be going to plan.

Good luck with the project.

Zeb

[Crow River]

@Zebal, cheers glad you find it interesting.  

 

Just a bit of an experiment. But yeah, it's going okay so far. Winter's nit really so cold in these islands anyway. Lack of light is the main obstacle, easily solved with a wee grow bulb... 

 

Autos will happily grow in just about any conditions, that's clear. Intriguing though to see how well a photoperiod strain is doing. So egis could be one option for keeping a few mother plants around without taking up tent space...

[Crow River]

Day 4 for the wee SOS. I moved her from the heated propagator to a mini propagator which is nestled among the pots by the window, so she gets a bit of warmth from the heat mat. I've opened the vent to reduce humidity inside. I imagine I'll need to remove the lid in a few days as she's stretching a fair bit. Then next week sometime I'll pot her up into final tomato pot.

 

 

The eight cuts by the window appear to have all rooted. That's not bad considering they have no heat source other than the sun's rays and ambient room temperature. I've opened the vents on the large propagator so there's air exchange: up till now I've been opening the lid every day. I intend to put four of the TBL clones in a small tent, and do a SOG style grow. Not sure if I'll veg them for a couple of weeks in the tent, or just go straight to 12/12. Anyway they seem content in the propagator for now. Not sure what to do with the other two TBL clones yet (top right of the picture: these were tops from the two Pot Noodle girls). They're a bit smaller so maybe they can just sit in the propagator for a bit until I've decided. The Critical Kush Auto (top left) will be going next to her big sister by the window, and I've half a mind to reactivate the old grow cabinet for the Super Kush clone (yellow pot second from top left). Maybe do a SCROG with her. Anyway they both seem happy enough in the propagator for the time being.

 

 

Finally, the winter windowsill girls themselves. The two larger girls are at Day 42 now. The Super Kush is growing quite vigorously since topping. I'll need to top her side branches soon. Quite impressive given she's in a 1 litre pot. The Critical Kush Auto is filling out nicely now, still not as vigorous as the Super Kush, and no sign of flowering yet. Can't be too far off though. Joshua is at Day 24, she is starting to catch up a bit with the other two, but still not quite ready to top. Maybe next week. 

 

Overall I have to say that the winter window sill is serving quite nicely as a veg area. Air temperatures maybe a bit lower than optimal, but the girls don't really seem to mind. Also I'm convinced that natural sunlight is doing them good.

 

Daylight is increasing by 4 minutes every day, and earlier this week I adjusted the timer for the SANSI bulb so it comes on an hour later. By the middle of February I'll need to adjust the switching off time too, as sunrise gets earlier. Originally back in December the bulb was on for 12 hours straight, by the end of this month it will be more like 9 hours, and by the end of March only 7 hours. 

 

Having decided to grow the Super Kush as a mother, the only girls that will flower by the window will be autos. That should help with smell, although I do have an extra filter and fan to use when flowers start to noise the place up. 

 

Next change at the window will be potting up Super Kush and Joshua into finals. I'll use 2 litre fabric pots, so the roots will air prune. Might need to trim footballs slightly to get them in there, so I'll wait until any other topping / pruning has been done before potting up.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by Crow River

[Crow River]

Just topped the Joshua as she's ready. Popped the top in some soil in the propagator with the other clones, we'll see if she roots okay.

 

Some of the other clones are getting quite feisty, a good sign. I will need to pot up the Critical Kush Auto clone first, so it has a chance to grow a bit before flowering.....having said that, she may not have rooted yet, less than two weeks in the propagator. I'll keep an eye and see how she gets on.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Crow River

[Crow River]

One of the nice things about being off sick is I can potter about my plants whenever I feel like it. 

 

Topped the Super Kush again, this time two side branches who, in the battle for apical dominance, had grown quite tall. So another two Super Kush cuts in the propagator now. Lovely stem rub scent from this girl with a fresh lemony funk.

 

Dunno what I'll do with all these cuts. If I had friends or neighbours who were growers, I'd consider giving them away, but then again if I did know such people I'm not sure I'd want them to know I grow. The fewer that know, the better.  

 

Way too early to put them outside, that's at least 8 or 9 weeks away at the earliest. Can't grow them all out by the window. Not enough space, and the aroma from the girls already there is getting louder. Tent space at a premium too, I have another small tent free but the third space, the old grow cabinet, is currently full of demijohns of home brewed wine...  Also there's the electric bill to consider.

 

I suppose there's no big rush until the newest ones are rooted, and the older ones need potting up. 

 

I have a notion to do some grafting experiments, so will think on it for a while.

[Crow River]

Day 10 for wee SOS.

 

She is growing quite slowly and is still small. I put this down to the conditions by the window: not the depths of winter any more, but still air temps are only around 17 or 18ºC. Similar to a Scottish "summer" in fact.  

 

Hopefully she'll start spreading those true leaves further soon, which will show she's ready to be potted up. That's a way off yet though - I'll go by her stage of development rather than number of days, in recognition of the grow conditions.

 

 

Oh yeah, nearly forgot. I potted up the Critical Kush Auto clone into her final. I'm using a slightly smaller pot than for the original. I rearranged the girls by the window slightly so she could fit in. I've also taken all the pots off the crate they've been sitting on, so the grow bulb is now about 6 inches / 15cm further away, but the light spreads further. I'll post some pics once they're all settled in.

 

I also topped the Super Kush again, this time the two tops which sprung up after the first topping. Those tops are now in pots in the big propagator, so I have five cuts now, the oldest of which may have rooted, it's not quite clear. Next task with the Super Kush is to pot up, which will mean trimming the roots a bit. Not today though, I'll let her recover a bit from the topping first.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Crow River

[Crow River]

This evening I repotted the Super Kush into a 2 litre fabric pot. Before placing in the final pot I pruned the existing root ball, which was quite nicely developed but needed to be cut back a bit so that the fabric pot can do its job of air pruning in future. This procedure may slow down growth a little in the short term, but hopefully the girl will be healthier once recovered, and any chance of roots circling should be eliminated. I won't be able to take new cuttings for a while, but that's okay...  

 

[Crow River]

Checked on the heated propagator to see if there were any signs of life. Couple of chillis have broken the soil, which is nice. No indications from the two canna beans. Had a gentle dig around with a bamboo skewer. GLZ seed still intact, good plump round seed, but no tap root yet. Frisian Duck has finally germinated, and a wee tap root probing the soil. Carefully covered them back over, I guess the Frisian Duck will break the surface sometime soon. GLZ? We'll have to see...

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Crow River

[Revive]

4 hours ago, Crow River said:

GLZ? We'll have to see..

Hopefully this 1 pops and turns into a beast like the 1 of the ones I grew last season. 

How long has it been in the dirt now mate?

 

[Crow River]

23 minutes ago, Revive said:

Hopefully this 1 pops and turns into a beast like the 1 of the ones I grew last season. 

How long has it been in the dirt now mate?

 

 

About two weeks - a bit too long for my liking. TBH I had pretty much given up on both of them, but when I spotted the tap root on the Frisian Duck I realised there was still a chance. 

 

I'll wait another week or two before binning the GLZ. Maybe she'll surprise me yet...

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Crow River