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Black Banana And MAC 1 SOG

Black Banana and MAC 1 along with a few other strains: Animal Cookies, Death Bubba and GMO. Sea Of Green with 19 plants in flood and drain. Hope the root aphids are gone!

So the Black Banana, MAC 1 and Animal Cookies are getting tall and look like they have recovered from root aphids. Root drenches cause almost as much damage as root aphids but plants grow out of it. While root aphids will continue sucking the life out of them if left untreated.

To find out how to get rid of aphids go here: http://420dotcom.com/how-to-get-rid-of-root-aphids.html

Some smaller clones were added as well. A few Black Banana and Death Bubba as well as a GMO were also added. I did not have room for them in my veg closet so decided I may as well fill the tray up.

There are 19 plants in 6 inch net pots filled with grow stones. Some clones were rooted in coco, some in root riots or rockwool. Underneath them is a polyester capillary mat. They are being flooded for 3 minutes every 4 hours during lights on. Currently running Jack’s 3 2 1 at 1000 ppm and pH of 6.0

Lighting is COB LEDs at 450 watts from the wall and at 3500k. I am hoping to update lighting with a HLG 550 R Spec in the near future.

Black Banana And MAC 1 SOG Day 0

Black Banana And MAC 1 SOG Day 7

Root aphids are gone hopefully and plants are looking good. They are starting to pray and are stretching. Looks like flowers are a day or two away.

The MAC 1 looks really good to me. It is a slow vegger so I gave it extra time for it to size up and it looks like time well spent.

MAC 1 DAY 11 STRAIN INFO

Sheltering in place because of COVID 19 has got me going a bit stir crazy so I decided to fill my time shooting a video for you. Here is some MAC 1 on day 11 and she looks really good to me.

I grew her in my last grow but the clones were really small and although she made beautiful buds the yield was really low. So this time she had about a month of veg time and she looks much better.

MAC 1 DAY 11 Bud Shots

Yes they are small but it is only day 11. She was the first to show flowers in this grow starting around day 8. I like when plants start to flower quickly. To me it is a good sign.

Grow Journals

DEATH BUBBA SOG

Time to start a new Death Bubba SOG with 24 plants under HLG quantum boards. My last sea of green grow was a test grow with several strains to see how they would do in a SOG.

I Made A Mistake!

Turns out my pots were mislabeled and what I thought was Death Bubba was actually Tropicanna Cookies. I thought it looked different but the pots said Death Bubba and I did not even think I had any Tropicanna cuts going at the time. So following are some Death Bubba bud shots from my other closet that finished a week later.

This is Tropicanna Cookies:

This is Death Bubba at 60 Days:

They all did very well but the Death Bubba was the star of the show so I am going to run her again. It is much easier to grow only one strain in a sea of green. That’s because the canopy tends to be more even and uniform. Also everything has the same maturity date

Death Bubba SOG Bud Shots – Really!

My plants are in 6 inch net pots filled with growstones. I am running a flood and drain system made from inexpensive mixing totes. My closet is 2 x 8 feet so it takes some creativity to get it done because standard flood tables wont fit. Each tote is 2 x 3 feet which works out well leaving a foot on either end for fans or heaters or other grow gear.

I will be running CO2 in this closet. It is not sealed but it is pretty tight and I get about 2 weeks from a 30# tank. I only run my exhaust fans at night and except for the summer months I can run it year round. If you want to know how to run CO2 in a grow tent or closet I explain how to run CO2 in an unsealed room here: https://420grower.org/adding-co2-in-a-vented-grow-room/

DEATH BUBBA SOG VEG

One of the great advantages of sea of green growing is the lack of veg time. Some growers start the flowering cycle as soon as clones are rooted. But I will give these a 1 week veg because I want to give them a bit more time to grow roots.

Death Bubba SOG Day 1 Of Flower

Going to flower this Death Bubba following treatment for root aphids. One side looks pretty good and is getting tall but the other side is smaller and was hit harder by the aphids and probably the root drenching too. I believe they are gone but will give one more preventative treatment with pyrethrum in case there are any survivors.

NEW DEATH BUBBA SOG DAY 7 OF FLOWER

As the world continues to battle coronavirus I have been fighting a battle with root aphids. Hopefully I have won. Because this is a SOG some plants were getting large and needed to be flowered. However some plants remain small likely because they sustained more damage from the root aphids. Root drenches are the only real way to fight these buggers and unfortunately they can be almost as hard on the plants as the bugs themselves.

DEATH BUBBA SOG DAY 14 FLOWERING NOW

Today is day 14 and the plants are flowering. Flowers started to show a few days before and it is always a nice sight to see. These plants were treated for root aphids with several root drenches which is hard on them.

Happily they are recovered and new growth is looking good. One side has bigger plants than the other but that was caused by smaller clones affected more heavily by the drenches. They are eating and drinking well so hopefully all root aphids are gone.

ALL DEATH BUBBA SOG DAY 20

These plants are looking pretty good all things considered. It looks like the root aphids are gone. They are eating and drinking well. Buds are stacking nicely and expanding.

Please ignore the video caption that says it is day 14. It is day 20.

Stretch should be over soon and I have gone through the plants and removed lower branches and some fan leaves too. Death Bubba likes to make a lot of lower branches. Many of them are small and wont get much light. So I remove them so the plant can send its energy to the top buds.

Death Bubba Day 20

Grow Journals

Sea Of Green Grow Journal SOG Method Explained

This is my first Sea Of Green grow journal and I will also be explaining the SOG method and how to set up a SOG grow for yourself.

What Is A Sea Of Green?

The sea of green method uses many small plants instead of a few larger ones. Plants are given a minimal amount of veg time in a SOG system. The idea is to have a level canopy made up of single colas and minimal side branching. Because they have a short veg time or none at all, they can be planted very close together often at 4 or more per square foot.

SOG Vs SCROG

People often confuse the two. A SCROG or screen of green is just that. A screen is used to pull branches down and control height. SOG grows generally dont use a trellis because plant size is controlled by density and veg time.

SCROGS have larger plants and plants are trained into the net whereas SOG grows use minimal to no training at all. Plant count is also much higher in a sea of green grow.

If you are growing in a 2 gallon pot or doing LST or other training to control plant size you dont have a true SOG. You just have a grow with smaller plants. I see a lot of videos where people mistakenly call their grow a SOG. There is nothing wrong with a hybrid system but this about growing in a sea of green so we need to make some distinctions between systems.

Sea Of Green Hydroponics

Hydroponics will give the best results for a SOG. Because of the large amount of plants hand watering will be difficult. As the plants get bigger they will need multiple waterings every day. You will want a system you can automate. You can use aeroponics or a top feed drip system but flood and drain is the easiest to set up and maintain.

I would not recommend growing in soil. You may be able to use coco in a SOG but I think hydroton will give the best results and it is reusable too.

Sea Of Green From Seed?

Typically a SOG is grown from clones. The provide better uniformity and stay smaller than seedlings with a tap root. They are also ready to flower much faster than seeds.

Can you grow from seeds? Sure but you may not be happy with the results. If you have a strain that grows without much variation between phenotypes it might work out. But usually some plants will be taller and some shorter and some may branch more heavily than others.

The whole idea of growing in a SOG is to get an even canopy made up of single colas. This will give you premium buds that get good light and eliminate lower pop corn buds. Growing from seed really defeats the whole purpose of a SOG grow.

Best Strains For Sea Of Green?

I am not going to recommend any specific strains. What you want is a strain that makes a dominant main cola. Heavy branching strains are best avoided. Usually this plant is an indica or hybrid strain although some sativa strains will also work. Early maturity is a plus and it should not be hard to clone. I would really recommend growing a strain you are already familiar with.

SOG Grow Week 7

Plants are now at 7 days and growing well. They are stretching and growing some side branches. I think in a week the canopy will be pretty full.

I started running CO2 about day 4 and the plants really seemed to start showing increased growth almost immediately. Right now I am only flooding once a day and the plants are on a flood mat. It stays moist and I really want the roots to grow down into it. So I am holding back on flooding more often.

Nutrients have been raised from 800 to 1000 ppm and the plants look a bit hungry. I just changed the reservoir and will give the plants a few days at 1000 ppm before I decide to bump things up again. It looks like the 2nd tray with taller strains is a heavier feeder than the tray with the MAC 1 and Death Bubba.

MAC 1 At 7 Days

Flowers! Sea Of Green Grow Journal Day 13

Things are going well. Flowers are here and actually some varieties were showing on day 9. I will be putting up a trellis net because plants are getting tall especially in the 2nd tote.

Plants are being fed at 1300 ppm and a pH of 6.0. So far I am not seeing any signs of too much N like I had in coco so I am loving the growstones. These plants are being fed supplemental CO2 at 1200 ppm.

SOG Day 17 Leaf Strip

Plants are growing well and there are a lot of small lower branches that need to be removed. Time to open up the canopy to air flow and let more light down to lower buds.

Sea Of Green Day 21 Leaf Strip Results

Plants have fully recovered 4 days after leaf stripping. Light penetration and air flow were greatly improved and now the plants can focus on growing buds instead of leaves.

Day 28 Whoops!

So I had a bit of a whoops this week. I had my nutes spike along with a pH drop and I can see some burnt leaf margins from it. Most plants look OK except for the SFV which always has been nute sensitive. The MAC 1 looks totally unphased by it and everything else should be fine.

I am not sure what caused it but it was time for a nute change so things may not have been stable. For one thing I missed a day topping up the reservoir which I am sure was a factor. Also I raised my co2 from 1200 to 1300 ppms which may have made the plants drink more. So what’s done is done and hopefully everything will be OK.

The plants are in growstones so there is nothing to buffer the nutes. This is a good reminder to always check on your plants a couple of times a day especially in this type of hydro system.

Day 35 Bye Bye SFV

So day 35 is here. Its been about a week since I had a nute spike. The MAC 1 was untouched by it which surprised me because they are the smallest plants in the grow. Most of the other plants had some leaf burn but otherwise seem fine.

The SFV is toast though. It is a very sensitive plant and does not like high nute levels. Always would show signs of N toxicity even at low levels and this blast just fried her. She is brown and dry so she will not recover.

If you grow long enough sooner or later something will mess up. I dont care how good a grower you are, expect the unexpected! I dont like losing a plant but at least it was only one and I caught it early enough to correct things and avoid a total disaster.

GML DEATH BUBBA DAY 40

Here is a preview of some Death Bubba on day 40. Incredible stacking and very frosty. She was started and flipped to 12/12 from a 4 inch clone and now she’s almost 4 feet tall.

Now she is doing amazing and grows completely different in a SOG. This girl used to grow bushy and leafy with a regular veg and now she almost looks like a totally different plant.

SOG Day 42 and Black Banana Bud Shots

Everything is looking good. I wanted to give you a closer look at my Black Banana so there are some still shots of her in the video. At this point I think the Death Bubba and Black banana will be the top performers in this sea of green.

THE COLOR PURPLE DAY 47

Nice purple tinges showing up on my Death Bubba. It took a while to get her growing right but now she has made herself at home. I think my LED lighting helps bring this color out.

THE HOUSE IS A ROCKIN’ DAY 49

Things are looking great. Flushing now and seeing results much faster with growstones. Many leaves are turning after only 3 days!

The MAC 1 is bulking up and looking extremely frosty. The Death Bubba is crushing it too. Lots of trichomes everywhere!

MAC 1 BUD SHOTS DAY 49

MAC 1 MIRACLE ALIEN COOKIES CAPS CUT DAY 49

GML Death Bubba Day 53

So it is day 53 and about 10 days to go on the Death Bubba. She is not really a purple strain but nevertheless she is showing a lot of purpling. I have grown her several times before but never really had this.

This is probably my best grow of her so far and I am pretty excited. She does better for me with no veg and in a SOG. When I grow her like that I avoid the leafy bushy structure I get with a long veg. Instead I get a single cola plant with great stacking and the same beautiful frosty buds.

LOOKIN GOOD DAY 56 THE END IS NEAR

Flushing continues. Most top leaves turned and many were removed so now the bottom needs to fade too. Originally planning on a day 63 harvest but I may take these girls to day 70 and hopefully get some extra weight out of them.

Sea Of Green Day 63

It is almost harvest time. Plants are flushing with 40 ppms tap water. I want to give them a few more days. Most look ready now but the MAC 1 and Black Banana look like they need a few more days. The GML Death Bubba is the star of this grow IMO and I have included some bud shots of her for you below the video.

GML DEATH BUBBA BUD SHOTS DAY 63

HARVEST VIDEO AND DRY BUD SHOTS DAY 66 FINAL

DRY BUD SHOTS DAY 66 FINAL

Weed Lore

DRAIN TO WASTE COCO

Drain to waste coco is a misleading title because DTW is actually not wasteful. In fact I am using less nutrients than a recirculating hydro system. Surprise! I avoided this grow method because the word waste is right in the title but I soon found it was a misnomer and drain to waste is a fantastic way to grow in coco.

Here I am running DTW with multiple feedings using a top feed drip system. It is doing great and I want to cover this grow system and some specific points about growing in coco and getting great results. The video below shows a brand new grow using top feed drip and drain to waste.

Although I like to experiment and sometimes that does not always work out so well. So this grow was a reset of a previous experiment gone south. In it I had a SIP planter going and a constantly falling pH. I fixed the problem but the plants were not healthy so I decided to start over rather than try nursing them back to health.

I decided it was time to go back to basics. Top feed drip and drain to waste are tried and true methods of growing in coco. I also decided to go with multiple daily feedings. Coco is a hydro medium and although you can treat it like soil you will never unlock its true potential that way. You can follow this grow itself at http://420dotcom.com/running-hps-vs-led.html

Drain To Waste With Short Frequent Feedings

Here is a video taken on day 7 with plants being fed 3 times a day. They get about a 15-30 second feeding. Just enough to produce some run off.

You Need To Automate Your Feeding For Maximum Results In Coco

If you want to get the best results growing in coco you need to automate your irrigation system. Coco is a hydroponic medium. Because it is somewhat similar to soil you can treat it like soil and get pretty decent results. But you are leaving a lot on the table growing this way and treating it like a peat based media.

Coco holds a lot of oxygen even when wet and because of this it can be irrigated much more frequently. Coco should never dry out! Salt build up only happens as drying occurs and the salts then have a place to build up. By always watering until you get run off you are not giving them a chance to accumulate in the first place.

Top Feed Drip For The Win! Easy To Set Up And Run

Because multiple small feedings are needed to unlock coco’s magic hand watering i8s just not practical. Can it be done? Yes. Is is practical? No!

You will have to be there every 3 hours or so to water doing it manually which does not make for much of a life. Even if you are determined to do this by hand you will miss feedings so you will need a pump with a seconds timer and a drip system.

Dont despair it is pretty easy to set up a top feed drip system and it is not that expensive either. Here is the drip system I use:

Products from Amazon.com

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You will want to use the open bubbler . The other regulates flow and you dont want that. It is more prone to clogging and you want maximum water flow which is controlled with a timer instead. Each bubbler has 8 ports and I use two drippers per pot.

You can use any 1/4″ OD tubing but I recommend the green floraflex tubing because it is super flexible. You will have a hard time using the stiff black stuff sold at home improvement stores. However I do get cheap dripper stakes there to hold the tubing in place.

Dont run drip heads with this set up. Open ended tubing works great and doesn’t clog easily. You can add a tee to the end of the tubing to split the flow if you want. You will want to water evenly so it is important to cut all your dripper lines the same length.

Here is the EcoPlus 396 GPH pump I use and I have found them to be very reliable and not to pricey. For most grows this will be all the pump you will need.

They come with an assortment of 1/2 and 3/4″ fittings and and intake screen.

But I take mine apart and use it as an inline pump. I also add a 1/2″ street elbow with a short length of pipe attached so I can pull from the very bottom of my reservoir.

Here is a pic of my modified pump:

You Need A Reliable Timer

This is the timer that I use. It is not cheap and can be a bit confusing to use at first. There may be cheaper alternatives out there but I have not found any.

You need a timer that can be set to run seconds, most I see run 1 minute intervals. You can use them but you may use a lot more nutrients than you need to. Then there are other timers that will run seconds but cant be set for 3 or 4 hour cycles so read the timer specs carefully before you buy something else.

Smart Pots For Coco

Smart pots work great with coco. I used 2 gallon smart pots and unless you are growing trees there really is no need to go larger. In fact smaller pots with a large root mass work best. They need frequent watering and can use up the feeding faster which is what makes multiple daily feeds work so well.

The smart pots will allow roots to breathe and will root prune to keep root circling to a minimum. Each time a root is pruned it creates additional side shoots.

DRAIN TO WASTE COCO – RESULTS

After running this DTW system on both my grows I have to say it was a total success. I have had no problems with salt or nutrient buildup at all. Even better I am seeing greatly reduced foxtailing in strains that are prone to it.

I just finished my first DTW harvest and here is a harvest video from it below. If you want to see the full grow it is here: https://420grower.org/double-tap-gg4-x-black-banana/

As you can see the results are quite good using DTW in coco. My other grow is still in progress at: http://420dotcom.com/running-hps-vs-led.html and it is doing very well also.

If you want to automate your watering you cant beat drain to waste coco but just remember the secret is running low nutrient levels with small frequent feedings.

Grow Journals

Double Tap GG4 X Black Banana

Going to flower 4 Double Tap which is a cross of GG4 and Black Banana from Solfire gardens. Plants are in 2 gallon smart pots filled with coco and watered with top feed drip and I will be recirculating nutrients in this grow.Lighting is a 600w HPS and a HLG 550 dimmed to 300w.

It should be an interesting side by side. The HLG 550 puts out a lot more light and to keep this comparison fair I may need to dim it down to 250w. I want to see how the same strain performs under 2 different lights and spectrums.

I have had a problem with foxtailing on some strains and the Double Tap is one of them. So I am hoping to find out if spectrum has anything to do with it. Honestly I dont really know if it does. Too much light of any spectrum might be the cause so I will be running a 13 off and 11 on light cycle to see if that makes a difference. I also will try to keep PAR readings under 800 micromoles.

Other things that can cause foxtailing are too much nitrogen or high temperature. I dont think either is the cause in my case. Temps never get too hot in fact with LED grows I usually need to add heat except during the summer. I run bloom nutes which are low in N too but I will run around 600 ppm to try to eliminate that as the cause.

Some strains foxtail naturally. Many sativas and hybrids with those genetics do and GG4 one of the parents of Double Tap does as well.

HPS Vs LED Side By Side Day 7

On day 7 all 4 plants are doing great. Growth has been good under both lights. I have a fairly even par of 450-500 on both sides of the closet. It does seem to me the HPS plants are showing more vigor with more lower branching than on the HLG side.

Double Tap Day 14

Plants are starting to flower on day 14 and look good. Both sides of this grow look about equal and I have adjusted the lights so par levels across both sides are in the 500-700 micromole range.

HPS Vs LED Day 21

Plants are doing well on day 21. Top feed drip and drain to waste are working really well together. Feeding at 650 ppm and 6.0 pH and they look happy and are not asking for more. I still do not see one side looking better than the other at this point in time.

Day 27 Plant Differences Between HPS And LED

I am seeing a difference in trichome development. The HPS plants have more or bigger trichomes than the LED plants but the LED plants are stickier and smell more.

Day 35 Buds Are Swelling

Buds are swelling and stacking up. I noticed a dramatic increase in size this week. This cut of Double Tap looks like a winner under both lights.

Still hard for me to see much difference between sides. I go back and forth. Sometimes the HPS side looks better to me and sometimes the LED side looks better.

MIXED SPECTRUM HPS AND LED COMBO

I wanted to shoot a separate video of these. Although it is hard to determine which side is doing better clearly the nicest plants are between both lights.

I think the mixed spectrum provides plants with a more well rounded spectrum by providing all the elements lacking from each individual spectrum. So the LED gets more red and the HPS gets more blue and the plants do better.

Reaching For The Sky Day 42

She’s a very tall girl that’s for sure. Just put on a third layer of netting because the tops were starting to lean over. Never really needed that before but her branches are thin and weak. Very sticky and great trichome production too.

DAY 49 DOUBLE TAP SNOWSTORM

My Double Tap girls have been flushing for about a week now. Still plenty of white hairs and some starting to turn brown. She will probably go 63-65 days but it really depends on the fade and the flush.

She is very frosty on both the HPS and LED side but I think the HLG 550 is producing more trichomes. On the other hand some of the HPS buds look a bit larger but there seems to be more buds under the HLG 550.

To my eye the nicest tops are getting both spectrums. I am not really seeing foxtailing on either side although some buds are more elongated than others.

Flushing And Fade Starting – Harvest Is Close

Leaves are turning yellow and some are turning purple. I am seeing some purple in the buds too. I did not expect this but I do like purple. Everything is very frosty and white hairs are starting to turn brown. That’s a sure sign harvest is close by.

Foxtailing does not seem to be a problem on either side so my problems were likely caused by other factors and not spectrum. Too much light might have been an issue. Heat was not a factor in the foxtailing but I suspect stress possibly from over watering might be.

HPS VS LED EARLY RESULTS

I did not run the side by side to compare lights but instead compare the different light spectrums. However I am seeing some different results late on.

The HLG 500 side appears to be finishing faster. I see more brown hairs and more leaves turning. There appears to be more buds set on the LED side and they have better trichome production. I still dont know which side will produce more but from what I see today I believe the LED side will win by a small margin.

When To Flush And Day 56

When do you flush? I like to flush early because it gives me time to get all nutrients used and results in a smoother and cleaner smoke.

It has been hard to really show the HPS side well so I added a supplemental 6500k light to show off the buds a bit better. It worked, at least until it tripped a breaker.

Double Tap Day 55-56 Bud Shots

Double Tap Day 60 Almost Done!

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Double Tap GG4 X Black Banana from Solfire Gardens on day 56. I added some day 60 bud shots to this video. Coming down soon, judging by the fade. 600w HPS vs HLG 550 side by side. When to start flushing and why earlier is better. • https://www.amazon.com/shop/howtogrowweed420 • Full grow at: https://420grower.org/double-tap-gg4-x-black-banana/ • @grandmasterlevel @tastiterps @solfiregardens2019 @realthor89 @mr_smokalotapotamus • #DoubleTap #solfiregardens #GG4 #BlackBanana #HLG550 #HPS #foxtailing #420grower #420instagram #420everyday #420nation #mmjlife #weedlove #weedlover #weedofinstagram #mmjgrower #mmjlife #budporn #howtogrowweed #growingweed #420dotcom #closetgrow #howtogrowweedindoors #growyourownmedicine #growyourownmeds #playingwithfire #greengenesgarden #closetgrower

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Not many white hairs left so almost time to harvest. I want a full fade even on lower leaves and so harvest may still be a week away. Some day 60 bud shots below.

HPS vs LED Grow Harvested On Day 63

Double Tap came down on day 63. No weights yet but looks like a good harvest. I did not see much foxtailing on either side which leads me to believe spectrum is not a factor in foxtailing, at least in my case.

While I dont yet know which light will yield more yet there were definitely differences between the 2 lights. The HPS buds appeared a bit stockier and a bit larger too. But the LED side had more buds and also grew more leaves.

Both sides were very frosty but I think the HLG 550 produced more trichomes. The biggest difference is in bud appearance and the LED won hands down. There was almost no purple under the HPS but the LED side had nice purpling in the buds. Fade was faster too and I actually think plants under the HLG 550 finished a bit earlier too. Stay tuned for updates!

Double Tap Bud Shots And Final Analysis

Most of what you want to know is in the video and final conclusions are below it.

HPS VS LED SIDE BY SIDE GROW RESULTS

The main reason for this HPS vs LED side by side was not to see which would yield better. It was about quality and if spectrum influenced foxtailing. My conclusion was it did not.

There was no foxtailing on either side except for a couple of branches that shot up way to close to the light. excessive light can cause it as well as high temperatures. But in my case I believe it was caused by excess nitrogen. I feed very little N in flower but I believe my coco held on to it because it was being overwatered and therefore overfed.

Yield and quality were virtually identical although the HLG 550 @ 300w produced about 10 grams more. I dont consider this to be significant and could have gone either way. The HLG 550 was dimmed to 300w to match the PAR output of the 600w HPS.

What is significant is the HPS used twice the electricity to produce the same results and I dont see a significant increase in quality to be gained by running it. Had I run the 550 flat out it would have crushed the HPS.

The HPS buds were bulkier. It looked like there was more and it had outyielded the LED. But this was not the case. The LED buds were a bit smaller but denser.

The only other differences I noted was faster fading on the LED side. The LED side produced more purpling too.

The bud quality was excellent on both sides but overall yield was a bit lower than I like. A lot of lower buds on both sides were small and it took a really long time to get everything trimmed because of this.

So there you have it. I will grow this again to see if yields can be improved but if not I probably wont keep her even though the quality is excellent.

Weed Lore

Foxtailing In Cannabis – What Causes Foxtails

What causes foxtailing in cannabis? Is it strain related or are foxtails caused by other factors like too much light or heat. I experience foxtailing on some strains so I wanted to find out how to fix foxtailing buds. Can you reverse foxtailing or is it genetic and can it be caused by too much light or the spectrum of light used.

Here is a picture of some Double Tap a strain from Solfire Gardens which is a cross of GG4 and Black Banana on day 56. She definitely has major foxtails. You can see the calyx is built from one bud stacking on top of another.

Some people dislike foxtails and say they are bad but I happen to like the look of this bud. There are good and bad foxtails too. These calyxes are elongated but they are solid. The bad kind is wispy and not dense and in some severe cases the entire bud can just be white hairs that never really fatten up.

Genetic Foxtailing

Some strains seem to have a genetic predisposition to foxtailing. This is a natural trait in many sativa strains and many strains we grow have sativa genetics in them.

For example in the strain GG4 AKA Gorilla Glue foxtailing is fairly common. Let’s have a look at the genetics in this girl. Gorilla Glue #4 is a mostly sativa variety and a cross of Sour Dubb x Chem Sis. You can check out the full genetics line at https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Gorilla_Glue_4/Unknown_or_Legendary/

A quick look at the genetics shows Hawaiian and Chocolate Thai in the genetics which are sativa dominant. There is also Skunk in the genetics which carries sativa genetics too. In fact Thai is known to foxtail naturally. So with a genetic mash up like GG4 has it should really be no surprise to see foxtails show up in this strain.

Does The Grow Room Environment Cause Foxtails?

If you look online you will see that too much light or high temperatures are the most common causes given for foxtailing. I think this is responsible for the bad type of foxtails but I think genetics or other factors are also responsible for causing this.

As far as heat goes HPS should be run at about 75 and LED at about 80-82. LEDs dont give off radiant heat like HPS lights do so they require a higher temperature for photosynthesis. However that certainly is not excessive for cannabis and temps for both can actually be raised when CO2 is added.

Light intensity is cited as another common reason for foxtailing. With HPS high light intensity usually goes along with high heat and symptoms like tacoing or leaf burn will often show up too.

But with LED lights there is much less heat so it is very easy to over saturate your plants. You normally wont see burning but you may see bleaching especially at bud tips. There can be tacoing or leaf rolling and also leaves can be yellow or look like they have a nutrient deficiency.

However in my case my temperatures are in check and I check my light levels with a par meter. I try to keep my levels between 500-800 but occasionally some taller colas can get a bit more. Lower buds on my plants that get less light still have foxtailing although it may be less.

Light Spectrum – Do LEDs Cause Foxtailing?

I grow with LEDs and I use COBs and Quantum Boards and yes I do get foxtailing on some strains and none on others. Both Tropicanna Cookies and the Double Tap shown above grow very similar bud shapes and both have a good amount of sativa genetics in them.

However, I know growers with the exact same cut of Tropicanna who dont get those elongated buds. Theirs are chunkier and more “normal” looking. But they are growing with HPS lighting. So is there something about LEDs that causes foxtails?

You can check out this grow journal at https://420grower.org/animal-cookies-in-new-sip-grow/ Although this Double Tap has foxtails it is neither too hot nor is it getting too much light. In fact I needed to add a small heater to get the temps to 81 and it has a par reading on top around 400 and the lowers are only about 200.

Then in this case it is not caused by too much light or high temperatures. This leads me to believe it is genetic and the COBs are allowing it to express itself.

Light Spectrum And Bud Shape

So this also brings up the question of what is normal. HPS is a very incomplete spectrum with very little blue light in it at all. It is about as far as you can get from natural sunlight but it works very well for flowering.

Sunlight has a kelvin temperature of about 5000 degrees with a CRI (color rendering index ) of 100 while HPS is around 2200k. It also has a very low CRI of 22 so colors are not rendered very well.

Given the differences in spectrum it should not be surprising if plants grow and flower differently. So is a HPS flower normal or are we just used to it because they happen to be the predominant spectrum most growers use? I dont grow outdoors but I would guess the flowers in sunlight are different and probably have more foxtails.

LED lighting is a different animal entirely and a cross between the 2. My COBs are rated at 3500k and my HLG 550 quantum board is 3000k. Both have a high CRI of about 90.

I would have to conclude that LED lighting allows foxtailing to occur if it is in the plants genetics because it is closer to the suns full spectrum and HPS does not do this because it is a much narrower and more red based spectrum.

How To Fix Foxtailing Buds?

Unfortunately I dont have an easy answer for this. I am not about to switch back to HPS lighting. I am a closet grower and dealing with the extra heat is difficult and so is looking at my electric bill. My power bill is half what it was and my yields are the same so at least for me it is not an option.

In most cases high temperature and too much light are the cause of foxtailing so the obvious fix is to adjust your environment accordingly.

Make sure your HPS lights are not too close. If using HPS make sure your buds are not getting too close to your light. Check leaf surface temperature with a temperature gun. They are cheap insurance. You can not go by room temperature.

LEDs are a bit trickier because they dont give off enough heat to burn your plants. This makes it very easy to have them too close. Ideally you want to use a par meter to check the height. There really is no other definitive way to know if they are getting too much light and using manufacturer guidelines may not be right for your situation.

Daily Light Integral Possible Fix

I can not change the spectrum of my lighting nor do I want to. I believe the closer we can get to sun light the better our grows will be. Plants have spent millions of years evolving and growing under the sun. The main advantage of indoor growing is really climate control not better lighting.

Daily Light Integral or DLI may have potential to help stop foxtailing. It is a formula used by greenhouse growers to determine how much supplemental lighting to use. Plants have different light needs. Cannabis and tomatoes for example have high light requirements. But as these photons accumulate during the day it is possible for a plant to receive more light than it needs or can use.

What DLI does is determine how long they need that intensity. So it is possible with high power LEDs, especially the white light ones, the length of intensity might be too long and encourage foxtailing. Perhaps running 11 on and 13 off would help.

I have not tried this so it is just a theory. Personally I dont have a problem with good foxtailing and in fact I really like the look.

Do LEDs Cause Foxtailing? Experimental HPS Test Grow

Sometimes something just bugs me and I want to find the answer and solution to my problem. So I decided to do a test grow and find out if my lights are causing plants to foxtail or if there are other causes.

I have 4 strains that I am familiar with and have grown multiple times. Two of them, Tropicanna Cookies and GG4 always foxtail under my COBs and quantum boards.

So I took down my HLG 550 and swapped it for a 600w HPS. The plants were only 7 days into flower when the change was made. By the end of this grow I should know if lighting is the cause or if other factors are in play.

1000w HPS Upgrade

The 600w HPS I was running was not really giving me the coverage I needed so I pulled out an and hung it with a

Hoping the light switch does the trick. Everything looks happy and temperatures have stayed around 76-78 degrees. With the air cooled hood temperatures are lower running a 1000w bulb than running the with a 600 watt bulb.

SIP Planter To Drain To Waste Conversion

I have decided to change my growing system from a sub irrigated planter to a DTW top feed drip system. Many people say you can’t recirculate coco. I have done it in the past but at this point I am having issues with dropping pH and until I figure out a work around I need a system with proven results.

I like to automate when possible and although hand watering is effective it can be problematic lifting pots under a trellis. Since I already have a drip system that is what I will be using. Canna recommends DTW and advises against recirculating in coco. So that is what I am going to do.

There are the same 4 plants under the same 1000w HPS and the plants sit on top of seed flats because I want them to drain freely. I want air space under the smart posts. The plan is to water 3 times during lights on for 15-30 seconds. Water will be held in the flood tray and pumped out into a bucket for disposal because I do not have a drain nearby.

Drain To Waste – Not That Wasteful

After running my pump 15 seconds I collected about 10 ounces of liquid from two drip lines. There are 2 per pot so I will go through 40 ounces every watering or 120 ounces a day. That is a bit less than a gallon.

Because my reservoir is filled with 20 gallons of nutrients it should last almost 3 weeks. I would actually use more nutrients recirculating if I changed my reservoir every 2 weeks. So maybe drain to waste really is not that wasteful.

The Advantage Of A Drain To Waste System

The main advantage of this system is stability. Your nutes are always the same every feeding unlike a recirculating system. This can help prevent over feeding and nutrient lock outs. When you recirculate plants take out different nutrients at different times so your reservoir can easily get out of balance.

One thing that can cause foxtailing is excess N or too high a nutrient level. So I am hoping the change in lighting and the change in my grow system will result in fewer foxtails.