Feminized Pine Apple Express (California & Bulgaria) first grow anything!

Thanks, might try that if the Mosquito Bits https://www.amazon.com/Summit-Chemical-Company-Mosquito-30-oz/dp/B08L9Q1J3T/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw64eJBhAGEiwABr9o2N4stqZCSrgaKCXbTkHBehuClW6wTR6qfysS7iAZdR6dhWhMY0mq5RoCRDAQAvD_BwE&hvadid=177790639813&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031379&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=7496761099376759633&hvtargid=kwd-130700085403&hydadcr=21629_9710598&keywords=mosquito+bits&qid=1629662063&sr=8-4 does not help with this. I did replant my Basil into another pot that I grabbed from outside, thinking this is where it came from. And another cropping! These things grow like…WEEDS! I can swear I cropped them last week, cleaned off the bottom good this time.

Wow that’s a bucket of leaves right there.

1 Like

Grabbed a bag of bokashi from Bokashi Earthworks, gonna use this as a top dress. The way them Youtubers described it made half sense and sounded like something I’d like to try out,

“bacillus bacteria, a purple non sulfur bacteria, rhydopseudomonas palustris, a fermentive fungi, saccharomyces cerevisiae, and actinomycetes bacteria. The substrate is mixed with other natural plant and mineral inputs and fermented to increase beneficial microbiology and biologically available minerals and nutrients”.

With a description like that, how could you pass it up! :smiley:

Soon as I take care of them fungus gnats, then the top dress will be added. The Mosquito Bits arrived and I’m setting up a spray bottle with the stuff at the moment.

And… it seems like half of my grow has already outgrown the tent, that didn’t take long at all, I’m gonna practice some SUPER CROPPING (if I get the nerve) this evening, or not. I’m imagining that when these go full blown flower that they will grow another 12 inches, and that’s all I have till they touch the lights. so yup…it’s either chop chop or a super crop.

1 Like

(oops … tried to edit that last post and got deleted by mistake)

The supercrop was a success, the limbs I bent over last night didn’t even wait till sunlight for the flowers to start pointing up.

2 Likes


I believe…Im officially in Flower …:grin:
Decided to be normal and ordered them cool pot elevators and matching drip pans/saucers, no more carrying these ladies in and out of the tent. Especially after this week’s lollipopping…

1 Like

I’ve convinced my brother n law to grab a grow tent as well. And I’ve grown to really like what the tents bring to the table, was a little beside myself on initial setup but now get it. My continued battle with over feeding is still ongoing. I feel like these ladies can use a little push and nutes isn’t what they need right now. My EC runoff are through the roof. My mistake is topping off the plants with nutes that doesn’t runoff. You see as the water evaporates, the nutes stay. And because of that, you now have a higher concentration than what you started out with. You then feed more nutes…and before you know it …OVERFEED. So the new plan is when feeding to do it with a good amount of runoff. And when I feel like the ladies can use a sip, plain filtered ph’d tap water. Seems to be the weekly struggle and theme of this thread so far. :joy: Past two waterings where done to runoff with plain water, and I can see all the nutes just coming out still, and I see that the ladies are breathing better. The pointing to the skies has come back.

1 Like

I’ve noticed the side (right) with the Hydro 2000 lights have the healthiest flowers so far… compared to the dual Hydro 1000’s on the left 4x4 side… not to happy about that. So placed an unwanted order on another 2000. The lesson here is, don’t skimp on lighting folks. Id love to get a pair of 3000 lighting…but …yeah …$1000 later… I’m liking what I see so far just with the 2000 lighting. If I have too I can supplement with the 1000’s in the middle is what I’m thinking at the moment. And yes the gnat battle continues lol… I’m planning on river rocks and maybe some nemotodes as the third wave of attack. I starved the ladies of feed for a week and they’re not to happy about it .gave them a light feeding last night so anxious to see later today how they respond.

They’re looking good right now!
I just flipped to flower this week and hope to start seeing some flowers soon. I do give nutes but I start with about half the recommended at the start to prevent nute burn. I had a small test plant a couple weeks head start that wilted and discolored with full dose.

1 Like

12 hour light 12 hour (total) darkness helps with the flowering. Mine were in preflower for three weeks until I got the tent, about a week after the tent and the white pistils started coming out. I’m finding out (with my cheap [vivosun](VIVOSUN TDS Tester 3-in-1 TDS EC & Temperature Meter Ultrahigh Accuracy Digital Water Quality TDS Tester (Blue) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2O1Z5B/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_6P4NPRH79PK8NE668PWQ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1) tester) that I can dial in the nutes near optimum feed. I went from ppm to ec readings. recommended EC for cannabis is 1.5 to 2 during flowering. The Pineapple Express is really picky about standard feeds though. So I tried a simple flower feed this last watering. teaspoon of black mollases (5 gallon bucket) 4 teaspoons of (20 milligrams) of Bio Root, 2 teaspoon of Flower A ( I noticed Flower A is a little high with the Nitrogen so really reduced the feed on that one) and 4 teaspoons of Flower B ( hight potassium and phosphate feed). The EC reading from that was .970 well below the suggested 1.5 for Cannabis feeding. Next morning the leaves responded well with arms raised . I water till runoff( in my 7 gallon cloth buckets) Usually about 18 cups or so. During Veg this was every three days, now, with the flowering, it’s every two days. But I only feed once a week! I am currently experimenting with the plain watering (maybe no longer a plain watering feed?) 1 tablespoon of Epsom Salt per gallon. The magnesium is supposed to be wonders for cannabis, especially during flowering. The unknown for me is the high EC reading of 2.7, but my understanding is that Epsom Salt is not a salt at all but sulphate. magnesium sulfate to be exact, and completely organic. I won’t know for couple days what or how the ladies will react to this one but the literature I have read on it sounds promising.


So apologies to the forum…had no idea there was a journal section here before I started this thread. Since I’m already knee deep into this thread thinking I’ll just continue? There seems to be controversy on the use of Diatomaceous Earth use for gnat control. I was hesitant to use this as one complaint was that it clogs the soil. Yet last night a youtubers go to method of eradicating these gnat pests was to mix the stuff in the soil from the beginning! Grabbed a bag from Home Depot and am trying out the top soil treatment today. The adults are out to play at full swing and I’ve been spraying everything (NEEM OIL, Organic Soap, Mosquito Bits) at them to no avail, yeah they die but more spring up quickly the day after. My plan today is to let these pots fully dry out, scary but must do… and see what the diatomaceous earth does for me. Not a fan of those yellow stickers at all… those are gone soon.

@TransplantedFarmgirl I just remembered your recommendation! What type of sand are you using? This might be my last resort with these gnats. Just not sure about how it will mix with the soil, maybe it won’t at all, how’s the sand working out for you so far? Do you have pics of that?


It is regular play sand that comes in 40 or 50 lb bags. You don’t mix it into the pot, the sand is compacted on top to a depth of approx 2”. On this plant the grow medium sometimes rises over the sand during watering. When it dried I remove the soil that got above the sand and smooth it back out. I also have it in the bottom of the pot but o have plastic containers not fabric.

1 Like

I just got asked to in on a $100 gallon of the SNS 209 stuff, and looking at this $5 for a 50lb bag of play sand is looking promising at the moment. More than enough for my cloth pots, not to concerned about the gas exchange at the top or covering the bottom as I’m growing in cloth pots that breathe all around and drain well with no drain holes at the bottom.

But… will try the nematode thing first… keep shooting myself in the foot though… won’t the Diatomaceous Earth kill the nematodes? the irony, does nothing to the gnats but kills the nematodes that kill the gnats… o.O (why don’t I just get the sand)? Is it that important for root air exchange at the top? (just add water they said, that’s all these plants need, is water and light) O.O

And…for my entertainment…I’m amusing my evening with the apple cider and soap dish hack to catch…you guessed it…GNATS!
50/50 water and cider vinegar, with a teaspoon of soap, I’ve gotten reports that this doesnt work at all…so we’ll see…see ya’s in 24 hours…GOOD NIGHT,




DE is not as effective after it is wet to my knowledge. Once it dries out it is effective. I do add it to my final pots, the silica helps give very sturdy structure to the plants. But I am not sure about the nematodes. You can always try crushed egg shells; they don’t dissolve as easily.

1 Like

Not sure about them either, but am super curious at the same time. If my order survives the desert temps on delivery and the diatomaceous earth topping…they should do the job within a week of initial application. I’m hesitant to use rocks for their weight. I was really close to grabbing that bag of sand though. The only reason I’m still hesitant is for this…

" Why do my houseplants need soil aeration? Soil aeration is important because the roots of your Pilea take in oxygen and release CO2 . When the supply of oxygen in your potting soil is low, your plant’s growth will slow down due to the accumulation of CO2 around the roots"

But you seem to be having no problems with that, and that’s a good thing. My Apple Cider Vinegar experiment won’t be lasting long… :smiley: Today at lunch there was three times more adult gnats roaming around than inside the little traps I set up. And the cider smell…yuk. They’re going to the trash in the morning. The good news is everything up top is looking good, I noticed the branches with the most leaves are having the heartier buds so far. So will be hiding the trimmers from myself, plan on just removing fan leaves covering buds from here on out.


3 Likes

I know it’s not the “best” LED lighting out there, but for the money, it is the best LED lighting out there. My 2nd Mars Hydro 2000 arrived last night and I just had to get an early lunch today to set this up as quickly as possible… you married guys know what that’s about. Box is well hidden in the garage for later disposal :wink: And I don’t need to tell you how bright these lights are. The 1000’s are great for flowering…these 2000 are excellent for flowering. My pair of 1000 could not compare to the one 2000 I had side by side… pistils under the 1000’s were weak and not as healthy as the ones under the 2000. So the change has been made today. pair of 2000’s with a supplemental 1000 in the middle. :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Plants look great man!! My first grow I grew with 2 TS1000’S and a TS600. Yielded me 1.43 lbs off of 3 GDP autos. TS series are good lights for the money for sure. And funny about hiding the box in the garage. I have a TSL2000 under my bed the wifey didn’t know about til I told her. Then she was like oh yea I remember when you got that… no way she did, lmao. Good growing man keep it up. I grew a couple Pineapple Express Autoflowers and the smoke is phenomenal!! Still waiting to get a 4 week cure for a smoke report

1 Like

Hey thanks man, trying, sometimes it feels out of control… then sometimes you feel like a pimp…lol… This is my first grow anything really … plants around the house are wondering why they’re getting extra love lately :joy:

1 Like