Barney's Farm - Biscotti Mintz

Last run of the growing season. Biscotti Mintz by Barney's Farm. I wasn't satisfied with the last crop's yield so i wanted another crack at it. This time I'm armed with a digital Lux meter so i can better dial in the light without the guesswork. Looking to start the clones off with between 5000 and 7000 LUX at the canopy. But i didn't like the brightness at 8000 so i upped it to 15,000 Lux. I think the 5k to 8k Lux recommendations for clones was for clones in the process of rooting. Recommended Lux values for vegging plants is between 15,000 and 50,000 Lux. They were very lanky with long internodal spacing which I thought might be insufficient lighting. Because the other Biscotti Mintz grows and research i've done, shows a very bushy indica trait growth pattern. So either i have a shitty pheno, or my lighting wasn't good enough. I'm guessing it was the light because preliminary testing with the Lux meter showed that my canopy was quite under lit last run. Again using 3 gallon pots, this time i am crossing my fingers with the substrate because it is reused coco that i washed and buffered myself. I've never done this before so i have no idea what's going to happen. For all i know they will all be dead in a few days lol. Anyways, i tested the coco pH last night, and after buffering with 2x strength calmag and soaking the coco in a 6.0 pH for 48 hours, the pH is sitting around 6.8 in the coco. Not where I wanted it, but it's doable. I believe the coco brand new out of the bag measures at 6.8 so... I will be watering in 6.0 pH to try to achieve a balance. Treating the roots before planting with Azos and dusting the planting hole with Mykos. The nutrient solution is very mild to start off. About 450ppm. Hygrozyme will be added to the mix and watered in to help break down the old dead root matter that wasn't able to be sifted out of the coco. The cellulase will break those roots down into usable food for the plant to uptake, and clean up the dead roots at the same time. Hygroben will also be added because i have some left from the last crop. And after seeing the results of using bacteria, i'm pretty sold on using it. Today is March 4th, 2024. I like to start on the first of the month but i like starting on Monday's better for keeping my weed soaked brain organized a little easier. I'm thinking to do half strength doses 2x per week instead of full doses 1x per week. It's twice the mixing, but that's ok. There will be 7 plants in total, and the experiment i am running this time, for anyone that wants to check out, is 1 of the plants i will do a seriously severe defoliation on while leaving the rest untouched. And we'll see how it plays out yield wise. I'm sure of the outcome already, but I'm tired of the babbling dummies all over the place that preach fan leaves fan leaves... So we shall see! I had the pH of the nutrient solution set to 6.0 but after adding the enzyme and liquid bacteria, the pH dropped to 5.78, so beware of that if you use those products, even though they claim not to affect the pH. The light dimmer is set to 6 of 10. The clip fan is set to 2 of 10. Temps set to 74F and humidity set to 70% humidity. The light is 18 inches from the canopy at a dimmer setting of 6, which gives the canopy 15,000 Lux. Each plant was gently watered with about 300ml of nutrient solution, which was carefully and gently dispensed with a 140CC syringe Hope they like what i've done with the place lol. P.S. I realized that the 5000 to 7000 Lux was for clones that are rooting. So I had the lux at 12,000 at 18 inches from the plants at a dimmer value of 5. I've now upped the dimmer to 6. Tomorrow i'll check the lux and see where it's at. The clones have just come out of the dome today so i don't want to push them too aggressively too fast. MARCH 5, 2024 I just tested the Par light reading on BM #1 and the BM right in the center. BM #1 Par reading is 247. Center plant is 270. Light dimmer is at 6 and light is now 13 inches from plant canopy. MARCH 9, 2024 Fed again today. There is some progress in growth. 1/2 inch increase. The clones have been upset getting adjusted to their new environment. I've upped the dimmer to 7 and the PPFD and DLI numbers are good. Humidity remains set at 70% and temperature is set to trigger the fan at 78F Light remains where it was so the plants have grown 1/2 so the light will be 12 inches above the canopy. Mixed up 2 liters of nutrients and the ppm was 555, and the pH was adjusted to 6.15. 2ml Per liter of hygrozyme and hygroben were also added. Clones have curled leaves and a perky/droopy stature. The leaf edges are browning a little bit. I'm not sure whats happening with them other than it's just the effects of transplanting and drastic environmental change. What i'm wondering is how they will/are reacting to the used coco underneath? We press on with fingers crossed! 🙏😁

The clones have been sad most of the week. It's only the last 2 days that they've come out of their transplant funk. I originally tried to keep the temps quite low, around 72F with a 70% humidity. They were sad and droopy. I thought about it, and decided to raise the temps to what most closely resembled the environment they were in when in the clone dome. So i raised to 78F and kept the humidity at 70%. 2 days later they responded, and are now perky and growing. Just how much they have grown I will measure tomorrow. As well as all the other measurements and additional pictures. Tomorrow will be a feed as well. The clones have grown 2 inches this week. Not lighting the world on fire by any means, but they were suffering transplant shock for most of the week so considering that 2 inches of growth is decent. I'm noticing a little tip burn on them. As the roots reach down deeper into the soil they are going to grow into the re-used buffered coco. That coco was soaked for about 72 hours in a 2x strength General Hydroponics Calimagic+ solution at a pH of 6.0ish So the nitrogen content down there in that coco might be a bit hot. So given that they are green and reaching for the light, I'm going to forgo feeding them today, and instead perhaps just give them some 6.2 pH water with the Hygrozyme and Hygroben. Maybe the next application of water i will give them a little food, we'll see. I'm undecided on topping them. If I'm going to do that it's gonna be within the next 3 days. I want these plants flipped to flower at the end of March for an end of May finish. And i want a decent yield this time. Because last run i came to realize that my garden was under lit and the buds didn't develop that well. Plus i had a pH pen lead me astray which fucked up the garden really bad at a crucial point in flower. Let's hope that doesn't happen again! MARCH 12, 2024 I was going to feed the plants, but since their roots are now growing down into the buffered with Calimagic coco, they are actually showing a little tip burn on the newest growth tips as well as all the other leaves. I buffered with 2x strength calmag which i am now thinking wasn't necessary to double the strength. The pots are still heavy with the calmag solution that was left over from the soak, so I'm just going to let it ride for now. Onward we go.👍

Plants are chugging along. When their roots dove down into the buffered coco they started to green right now and started to burn a little bit on the tips of the leaves. Even the very young fresh growth top leaves had a touch of burn. They have adjusted now and are overall quite perky and happy. The 2x strength calmag buffer i did deposited a lot of nitrogen in that soil, which likely caused that burn. First week of transplant they were pissed off and hating life. Being taken out of their cushy clone dome I imagine is similar to a baby being pushed out of the womb. So for the first 5 to 6 days they were droopy and sad with no real vertical growth. By end of day 5 they perked up, and day 6 they were happy girls. (typical recovery timeline) 2nd week is where they went boom. They started at 3 inch rooted clones, and didn't grow the first week. and in a week they have grown from 3 inches to 10.5 inches. 👍 It's getting hard to maintain consistently high humidity due to the recent nice weather we're experiencing, which is causing the temps to ride close to 78F which is the temp trigger. It always rides close to 78F but it doesn't rise up as quickly when the fan turns off which allows for more time for the humidifer to catch up. It's always a battle to maintain VPD with budget home grow gear. I've been debating on if i should top these plants or not. I'd like to get more side branching, but i don't want to deal with the added delay while waiting for them to re-veg new tops and the side shoots to develop, Still thinking...but i doubt i will. I want this crop done by end of May. PPFD is around 515 at the canopy, with a DLI in the high 30's which is good. Plants aren't burning or bleaching from the light so they will grow up further towards the light till the PPFD is too much. Then i will raise the fixture. Dimmer is now at 8 of 10. I should have been using a light meter decades ago. But, decades ago we were using H.I.D's and you were constrained by the heat. I fed these ladies on Saturday i think. I gave them 1 liter each. The pots are feeling light, so I think today i am going to mix up week 1 of bloom formula and give it to them at a 6.2 pH while still in veg for several more days. The elevated phosphorous triggers the plants to start making flower parts. I found last crop in doing this, that i reduced the stretch of the plants when introduced to 12/12, and I would say I was 7 to 10 days ahead of where bud development usually is by week 3. By end of week 2 i had white bulbs of pistils and early bud formation. I've never seen that in my life! UPDATE: I decided screw it, i'll whip up some nutrients today. So i mixed up a bloom mixture and gave each plant 1 liter. They are still on 18/6 but the bloom gets the phosphorous going which signals the plants to make flower parts. It's accelerates the flower growth and puts the plants ahead of schedule by a week to 10 days when in flower. Also reduces the stretch to a degree. We press on! 🙏

Hot dose of nutes this week! I think they need it. I think it's supposed to mix to 1200ppm but the hard water adds around 200 more. Something is off about them. Could be the ultra low humidity and fucked up vpd. My humidifier shit the bed a few days ago. I have my back up in there now set to 50%. But the leaves are all flat green without much gloss about them. I am using re-used coco from a previous run that i buffered myself. I dunno, we'll see what this blast of high ppm's does for them. I fed 1 liter through the top and bottom fed a second liter. 2 liters total for each plant. I actually flipped them to flower on Saturday, but i like to start my weeks on Monday's so.... I feed week 1 of bloom formula on the last week of veg before the flip. PPFD is between 500 and 600. 6 Plants are 17 inches tall, the runt in the middle is 16 inches. Soil pH seems to be 6.8. Next watering i will water in a 5.5 pH THURSDAY MARCH 28, 2024 Checked the coco pH last night and it was 6.8. So today i mixed up some gassed off tap water to a 4.8 pH and bottom watered 1 liter into each pot. The plants leaf tips are pointing down due to the hot dose of food. No tip burn though so it should be good. Light is 3 inches from the canopy and PPFD on each plant are all 600 to 650.

Burnt one of the tops cuz i was lazy and didn't check them. The rest are ok. ppm's a little high for my liking but they should handle it. Next watering i think i'll do a 50% strength and run a gallon through each pot to get some decent runoff. Maybe clear out some salts. Other than that, pretty decent. PPFD is around 600 right now. Light is at 9 on the dimmer. My AC Infinity humidifier sprung a leak and leaked down into the electronics and fucked it. So got a new one coming. Should be here on April 4th. Shitty clear back up i have makes all kinds of algae to rinse out. Sucks.

Starting to split the feed up into 2 feeds per week and half strength. Monday's and Thursdays. Did a light defoliation of the biggest fan leaves that were blocking light from reaching tops. No Enzyme or Bacteria this week because i fucked up and was a little short on gassed off water so i had to use 3 liters of chlorinated tap water. (forgot to top off the bucket) Plants are doing well and have no tip burn and are a nice healthy green colour. They are budding nicely at only day 23 of light flip 😉 PPFD is now around 900 at the canopy and light intensity is max. So glad i have the PPFD app. I think it's going to make the difference this run.

Saw a weee bit of the hints of nutrient burn on some of the leaves. The other day i tested pH and it rode up to 6.8 to 7.0 so i wanted to run a little extra water through and out the bottoms of the pots for a bit of a flush. I pH'd the water to 6.00 exactly with about 900 ppm mix in each bucket. I ran 5 Liters through each 3 gallon fabric pot and allowed 5 minutes or so for drainage. Then put them back in their saucers and back in the tent. I jammed a bamboo stake down into the roots ripping and tearing roots apart as i go muuahahahahaha! They gonna be chunky fuckers in a few weeks they'll need the support. Next watering, Thursday. Perhaps a 650ppm mix then. I'll check pH tomorrow and the fuckers better be back down where i want them! OR ELSE! lol Seeyaz next week! Growing weed is easy. Only dimwits make it complicated.

Rolling along. The back row of plants are always the most neglected simply because they are hard to reach and monitor from the front of the tent. I did notice a little something off on the back row middle plant. So i brought it forward to the front to keep an eye on it. It has some mild lightening up of green on the leaf edges on a few leaves and a bit of necrosis on the serated leaf blade tips. But over all the plant looks good. The ladies are getting half strength feed 2x a week now, Mondays, and Thursdays. I'm still dialing it in and unfortunately i hit above my target ppm again this time. I'm shooting for between 600 and 700 ppm and i'm getting 900ish. I diluted the mix with some water to bring it down a bit but not enough to my liking. Next time i know the adjustment i need to make. Sometimes it takes a little trial and error to get things right. Again i watered with a 6.00 pH to drop what seems to be a re-occuring theme of upward creeping pH. Last thursday the pH of the plants varied between 6.8 and 7.0 Not where i want it. After todays watering i tested and got a 6.2 reading which is right where i want it. I can't wait to finish this crop and shut down for the summer! I really need the break from 9 month's of babysitting plants. And i am looking forward to turning my bathroom fan off that has been on and annoying to listen to for the past 9 month's. I will revel in the solitude of silence. Buds are filling out really nicely. Things are getting frosty. There should be some serious bud development in the next 2 to 3 weeks! Looking forward to seeing what these plants can do with proper PPFD!

Day early on the entry and watering. There is tip burn on my leaves including tips of the serrated blade edges with a slight slight yellowing / lightening greenish colour. This is likely due to hot soil, and a bit of pH issue. The nutrients are always watered in at 6.2, but several days later the pH in the soil reads 6.8 to 7.0 It's fucking annoying that for some reason the coco drifts upward in pH. I find it difficult to maintain a consistent pH in it. So today i didn't add any nutrients. I set the water pH to 5.8, but decided at the last minute to add 2ml per liter of Rezin, just because i have a bunch of it laying around. After adding 30ml i checked pH of the water and it was 5.62. Fuckin water in! That's got to reach a happy pH medium. Hoping to stabilize around where i like it at 6.2. My tap water is always around 200ppm so they got a little bit of something. Whatever is in the tap water. The rezin product is just Molybdenum. There is no other ingredient labelled on the bottle. I think it's a bunch of green planet snake oil, but fuck it throw it in to use it up. I'll likely feed the plants on Thursday. I will try to keep it under 1000ppm. I need some of that salt to be eaten up by the plant before i feed more. Buds are filling out and i am starting to get the first few orange pistils visible here and there on various bud sites. But most are still all fluffy white. THURSDAY APRIL 25th, 2024 Plants were fed 710 ppm feed of the usual Remo Flowering regiment. Added was Green Plants Rezin Product at 2ml per liter. pH was set to 5.7 because the soil pH keeps drifting upward towards 6.8 to 7.0. Plants are showing signs of nutrient stress on the leaf tips and serrated leaf blade tips. Some fading green to yellowing beginning on lower to mid large fan leaves. Biscotti Mintz is a pretty quick flowering plant and i'm going to guess that it's in the beginning stage of it's end of life transition. It's close enough to the end that it doesn't matter really if it's a deficiency or a lockout. I'm not thinking it is. Biscotti Mintz doesn't seem to grow big chunky thick long Kolas but rather more popcorn nuggets. Very nice sized nuggets too. I can't wait to see her finished! The pistils are really starting to turn colour now. Especially at the upper plant area. The lower half the buds are still very fluffy and white but a few orange pistils are beginning to appear.

The girls are at end of life stage. I think by the weekend they are going to be ready for chop, but i'll let the trichomes be the judge. So far there are only a few ambers, a lot of cloudy and some clear still so they will get a few more days and be re-inspected. Last time i grew this strain they finished i think in 63 days. This go around they are going to finish in approx. 50 days. I manipulated that with a recently discovered technique that literally accelerates your flower time by a week to 10 days. It's always bitter sweet come harvest time. Growing them is fun and all that, but when they are finished you have that god awful trim to contend with. I hate trimming, i always have. Always will. I have a bud bowl trimmer but it's not really very good for making beautifully trimmed weed. Plus it knocks off a shitload of trichomes. No more nutrients for these girls. Only Green Plant's Rezin. Sigh, i guess i better get my scissors all alcoholed up and clean and get my drying rack and hanging screen and humidifier prepped. Another run in the books... THURSDAY MARCH 2, 2024 Last watering. Rezin added only and hard water, pH to 5.94 From now on the light will be on 24 hrs a day for 2 or 3 days. Then they will be harvested in stages as the lower buds are still filling out and trichomes are still clear. Top half of the plants are done. Bottom half's may need an additional week. One thing's for sure, with 48 to 72 hrs constant light, and then back to 12/12, the lower half is gonna be stressed the fuck out! Lets hope it equates to more resin output! Begin Harvest Saturday! This was a nice run! More or less trouble free. That's always nice. MONDAY, MAY 6, 2024 I lied! haha. They are done and dying, but i want more cloudly tri's so they will get their usual watering with Rezin, and maybe by Wednesday i'll be satisfied with the inspection. I want this stuff to be rip roaring smoke.

Plants are done, but the trichomes are not, so i will keep them going till i am satisfied with the ratios. Too bad, i wanted to trim them starting tomorrow but if i want peak potency, i have to wait and let the Trichomes be the indicator

2.5 hours per plant for the trim. I trim to perfection because it's the only way to get the most for the product. Buds spread out on drying rack in a dark room with a 55% humidity maintained RH and about 23c temp. I would like it cooler but i don't have control of the temperature in the space.

2.5 hours per plant for the trim. I trim to perfection because it's the only way to get the most for the product. Buds spread out on drying rack in a dark room with a 55% humidity maintained RH and about 23c temp. I would like it cooler but i don't have control of the temperature in the space.