22 Part 2 Bubble OG Manifold

Sep 25: moving to new diary to accommodate the 30 week limit here on Growdiaries. This plant was too big for me to force flower in July when I did all the other photoperiods. The strength of light falls quickly this far North and photoperiods need to be forced to finish in time and to produce good buds. Reviewing Ed Rosenthal’s grow guide he mentions in a single paragraph using a far red light (730 nm) at dusk to set the plant into dark mode. This saves 2 hours versus the normal hormone signal so you effectively provide an extra two hours of darkness or a 26 hour day. I started doing it in mid-August after the light arrived (ForeverGreenIndoor 4 foot 730 nm light is 99 US). Other options are Flower Initiator (200 US) or Agrolight (60 US but out of stock). So far so good, but beavers have been falling trees on the power lines to the farm all summer. They took out the power eight (8 !) times including 3 times in a single week and twice at dusk when I should have been using the light. Missing those two nights three days apart in mid-August caused several plants to re-veg including the other smaller Bubble OG plants. So I can tell the light works because of the negative effects when I missed the two nights. Next year I’ll have a battery backup so no nights are missed with the far red light. Anyway, it seems the far red light did get this big plant to start flowering early. I’d say 3 or even 4 weeks earlier than it would have without the light. That’s huge here because we usually get hard frosts in mid-October that end the grow season, and she might be able to produce decent buds this way. Using the red light on these Bubble OG plants and the four field plants (Fast Skunk, 11Roses x Super Skunk, Bubble OG and Hash Bud clones).

Oct 4: looking good and buds are progressing nicely. Weather is still good so 🤞. Added a couple handfuls of malted barley as a top dressing.

Oct 10: plant seems to have tilted a bit in the soil due to wind on the tall canopy. Moved plant closer to a windbreak and stabilized with some soil bags so it won’t topple. Oct 11: leaves are now off the trees around the grow area meaning it is sunnier again now. Track of sun is above tree tops until mid-September which is when things get shaded.

Oct 17: close to ready but we’re running out of nice weather in two days. It’s been an absolutely great run of cannabis weather since July but first snow is forecast for 7 days from now, and then it’s below zero all day and there’s no hope at that point. Oct 23: weather has still been good enough to keep going but I’ll take her down tomorrow. She’s the last plant in the grow area and potentially the biggest overall but I don’t think she’ll win that contest. Oct 24: took it all 2,800 g wet. In keeping with Canadian outdoor tradition, there was a bit of snow falling as the plant was being chopped. She would have better buds with stronger sunlight but it’s all for hash and I’m happy with the total weight (of course).

This was one of three mother plants that were started indoors a bit too early. She got too big for me to do light deprivation like I did for all the other photoperiods in the grow area. I did use a far red light (730 nm) at dusk to initiate and promote flowering. This switches the plant into dark mode two hours faster than normal so it’s like creating an extra two hours of darkness to make a 26 hour day. It seems to work and is worth the hassle. I don’t think she would have finished flowering in time without the red light which probably moved things up 3-4 weeks.