Opie Yutts I need your help friend

[GrowMe]

"Ah, aeroponics. Wise choice. Not exactly for beginners, but it should be no problem if you have a couple smarts. Done correctly, this set up is one of the highest yielders.

Let me clarify what I meant about little water. In my opinion the best way to superfast growth and healthy plants is to supply the roots with as much oxygen as possible. This means that no matter what your setup, soil, soilless, hydro or whatever, you do not want your roots sitting in water. MJ is not a marsh or pond plant, nor is it a fish. It likes it's roots sitting in air. Of course like all living organisms, weed requires moisture as well as air, but it is much happier in an above-water existance. Like you and I, it likes to be dry and take drinks if it gets thirsty. (We'll discuss humidity some other time.)

Two really nice ways to keep your roots dry and still quench any thirst, is NFT, and RMT (also known as Aeroponics). Of course yours is not true aeroponics, since a sprinkler does not produce a mist, but itâ??s the same concept and should produce some damn fine results.

When you said begin tonight, I hope you meant to put them in a small amount of rockwool, sponge, vermiculite or something, that will later go into your net pots. (I recommend not using rockwool. Not for beginners.) That is unless your roots are 3 inches long, and able to reach completely to the bottom of your 3â?� net pots. Especially since you said the water will hit the bottom of the net pots. You canâ??t put them into your system until they will get wet when the drinking cycle comes on. One way around this is to completely soak the net pots with the sprayer 24/7, and that will keep the roots wet well enough, until they can be exposed in mid air, in some position that they will get hit with water during feeding/drinking time. Iâ??m talking Hydroton here, for rockwool decrease watering frequency dramatically. You can also get some capillary matting to lay your roots on, and have it extend clear to the bottom, and even have it taking up some of the bottom. It will wick moisture up to the roots, but this requires more pump on time.

When the roots are just emerging from the pots, you will want your on times to be more frequent, like 2 minutes on, 10 minutes off, repeat. Once they will get well splashed during the â??onâ?� cycle, you can start experimenting with your pump times. When there is a nice root mass, you can decrease the on time. You just start changing a little at a time, maybe once per day, and watch closely for any signs of thirst stress (wilting, droopy). You may find you need as little as 30 seconds on and 2 hours off or something. This depends on a bunch of things, humidity being a big one. Youâ??ll need to decide this yourself, but in my system itâ??s not real humid, usually around 36 or so. I would expect to end up with an on time of a minute, and an off time of 45-60 minutes. Of course you donâ??t have to worry too much about if you have too much on time. The off time is the tricky one; overdoing it could kill the plant if not watched carefully. If you have power failures you may want to consider figuring out some way to keep at least a couple inches of roots in water at all times. I had to build my own thing, but I have what you have, except instead of a sprayer for 3 plants, I have 2 misters for each plant, and a way to change water level so a little bit of roots are in nutes at all times. A lot of damn work to solve the friggen power outage problem. I also have a six inch air stone for each plant, and an air blowing power head in my main reservoir. A whole bunch of aeration, and it seems like once I put them in veg, boom! I cant beat them back with a stick. Iâ??m telling you people, oxygen in the roots is the key!

Oh yeah I forgot, not everyone can afford a cyclstat, which is a fancy name for â??$145 timerâ?�. The next best thing that I can recommend is a $20 digital timer from Intermac, I think. Theyâ??re available everywhere, and they get the job done quite well. You can have 14 on and 14 off times per day. You can even arrange stuff to happen on only certain days. I root my clones with one of these, using 45 off and 20 on, or something like that. Iâ??ve purchased about 7 of these over the past 6 years, and so far only one has failed, and I think that was just a case of too much juice for one little timer.

Hope that helps. My high is wearing off. Good luck and please send pictures."

Awesome stuff Opie..I have a few questions for you if you don't mind enlightening me..

1) Once the seeds are germed, which way do i put them in the rockwool..(part coming out of seed facing up or going towards bottom of pot?) I'm a total Noob as well..

2)Also should i put the germed seeds that are in Rockwool in the pots w/ rocks and have the sprinkler on them for 24 hours with light 24 hours as well? Until they start to grow, then slow the watering down to once an hour for 20 minutes or something like that? I'm trying to see how much water i need to be putting on them..the sprinkler will hit very close to the top of netpots..

3)Should i buy something to create bubbles in the bucket that runs 24 hours or something? all i have is a 5 gal bucket with a little powerhead with a sprinkler attached to water hte pots i have in the bucket lid..do i need bubbles from something else to create oxygen?? sorry very new to this and am trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible..i will try and post some pics of my setup this evening..trying to get the germed seeds in some rockwool ASAP so your help is greatly appreciated and much needed..Also i read soemthing about a mist? IS that better than a stream of water from a sprinkler head..i could probably change it out if you think it will benefit me..

4)I plan on getting a digital therm/hum reader and put it in the grow space..should i be worried about humidity in the bucket? Where the roots are or is it just for the actual plant and the closet?

5)also i have some basic nutrients that i received with the kit i purchased. 2 big bottles:
a) Base - 1.6 - 1.8 - 7.4
b) 2.8 - 0 - 0
What to do with these?
Also have PH up and a PH down bottle..It came w/ a PH test kit and i tested outdoor pool water, aquafiina bottled water, and tap water all yielding the same results..Bogus tester? or is the water that close? I didn't try to adjust however, didn't want to waste anymore...It was very high at 8.0. Any thoughts?

6) Lastly Lights/Ventilation - I'm not going to run HPS and MH yet, i don't have the space right now or funds for that matter but hopefully next go straight to 1000W HPS, MH, Digital ballast and so forth but for now i have two basic 10" polished aluminum reflector with 2, 26 watt CFLs per reflector..so thats a total of four 26 watt CFL's with 5500K each. (couldn't find 6500K unfortunately) Don't remember how many Lumens however. Doesn't say on the bulb and i threw out hte packages already..maybe 900? 9000? Sorry actually have no idea where it would be...Anyway is that sufficient for veg? maybe ad 2 more cfls? Let me know what you think..I guess i'll get back to you on the ventilation when i hear back from you..pics would probably be easier than explaining..Cant wait to get started just need a few things clarified..THanks so much OPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry so long guys but i'll keep you updated with pics..

[Opie Yutts]

1) Once the seeds are germed, which way do i put them in the rockwool..(part coming out of seed facing up or going towards bottom of pot?) I'm a total Noob as well..
That part coming out of the seed is called the tap root, and needs to be aimed toward the bottom. No matter which way it is oriented it will probably grow toward the bottom, but not placing it properly will probably add a few days to how long the roots and/or stem take to pop out of the medium, and it could add stress, and could even make it end up not coming out at all. Whatever is left of the seed, probably just 2 pieces of a shell or less, is holding two little leaves and a stem, which of course will want to be heading upward.

2)Also should i put the germed seeds that are in Rockwool in the pots w/ rocks and have the sprinkler on them for 24 hours with light 24 hours as well? Until they start to grow, then slow the watering down to once an hour for 20 minutes or something like that? I'm trying to see how much water i need to be putting on them..the sprinkler will hit very close to the top of netpots..
What I was trying to say above, is that you begin by putting seeds or germinated seeds in dry rockwool (in your case), then you put them in a dry tray and flood them. Use as little solution as possible to get the RW soaked. If you don't have a propagation tray or something, you can use anything you have on hand that has side(s) that are at least 1/2" tall. Tupperware, cake pan, kitty litter box... You'll want roughly a 2-3 inch cube of RW, assuming your net pot is a 6 incher, adjust accordingly. If you bought a half bale or something, just tear off a good handful. Don't forget that RW needs to be soaked at least 24 hours, 48 is better, in water that has been PH'd to whatever PH you plan on using. I suggest 5.5 or 5.6. It is best if you can keep checking it in your actual system for a few days before transplanting, adjusting PH as it fluctuates, until it at least comes close to stablizing. I'm guessing most people don't do that, but either way, once it gets down to where itâ??s supposed to be, you can start using it. Oh yeah, you check it by mixing up some PH7 water and running it through the dry RW. Catch the first run-off and check it's PH. Soaking it also helps get out all the tiny chunks of volcanic rock or glass. (Once back in the day, I didn't know that you were supposed soak RW, and I had 2 damn tough seedlings survive out of 12.) Put a seed or germinated seed in a chunk of RW, then completely drench the chunk with PH'd water mixed with only a very small amount of B1 supplement, and put it in the tray. I recommend SuperThrive at 2 drops per gallon. Some people use up to a half teaspoon once the are growing good, but that's way overkill IMHO. Keep an eye out for wilt, and watch the rockwool chunks in the tray. Once they are almost dried out, or the seelings look like they might be getting thirsty, you can add 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the same solution to the bottom of the tray. When I say the same solution, if it is the actual solution you used a day or two or three ago, be sure to check the PH since it often rises throughout time. Again, watch the wilt and the RW, and repeat until roots start coming out of the RW. Hopefully at this time they are long enough to put the plants into the system and have the water reach the roots during pump on time. If not, keep them in the tray and keep all roots covered with several layers of black plastic, or anything that will for sure keep the light off the roots. If you want to try putting them into the pots as soon as they are germinated, I'll bet this would work, but it would be more of an experiment. It might even work to put just seeds in there. I would think that as long as the tap root or chunk of RW is in good contact with some capillary matting, and the matting reaches to the bottom of the pot and takes up a little bit of the bottom, and you are spraying 24/7, and the light is at least a foot back, that would keep the roots in as much moisture as they need, and ultimately work out fine. This would be much better for the plants if you could get it dialed in properly. Perhaps if anyone else reading this has tried it, they could chime in here. As far as light schedules, the only time that I use 24/7 is for rooting clones. For one reason, see here: http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/99457-why-should-i-turn-out-lights.html (http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/99457-why-should-i-turn-out-lights.html)

3)Should i buy something to create bubbles in the bucket that runs 24 hours or something? all i have is a 5 gal bucket with a little powerhead with a sprinkler attached to water hte pots i have in the bucket lid..do i need bubbles from something else to create oxygen?? sorry very new to this and am trying to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible..i will try and post some pics of my setup this evening..trying to get the germed seeds in some rockwool ASAP so your help is greatly appreciated and much needed..Also i read soemthing about a mist? IS that better than a stream of water from a sprinkler head..i could probably change it out if you think it will benefit me..
As long as the sprayer is spraying fairly often, like every 10 minutes or something, you probably would be fine without additional aeration. However I highly discourage this. As I have said many times and will continue saying until the day I die, the key is oxygen to the roots, that is assuming you prefer fast-growing, huge, lush, healthy plants. It doesn't cost much to get a cheap ($8?) air pump, a yard or two of line and an air stone, and run it 24/7. A small air stone is pretty cheap. I said cheap, not inexpensive. I mean that it doesnâ??t cost much, and it falls apart or breaks after one use. If you get an air stone, try not to get the smallest one. I recommend air wands. You can clean them after each use, they last forever (or at least for the the 5 years it's been since I've switched), and some of them are flexible. Why should you do this? Well consider this basic mathematical formula: Taking into account the price of weed in your area at the time this was written, as well as your strain, humidity, and all other possible variables, for every 10 bubbles per plant that are bubbling 24 hours per day, you will see an additional yield of exactly $2.67 worth of weed. So you see, most aeration tactics pay for themselves within one or two harvests. This does not even take into consideration all the other benefits derived from aeration, such as less chance of algae. MJ roots beg for air, and reward you greatly if you oblige. And yes, a mist is better than a spray, and a fog is better than a mist. Water droplets in this case are measured in microns, and the smaller the droplet is, the better it is for your overall plant health because smaller water droplets mean bigger air â??dropletsâ?�. Remember â??theâ?� key? Now keep in mind that fogging is fairly new, but considered by many to be the best way to promote huge healthy roots, and in general plants. The smaller the droplet is, the more advanced the system is, and the more of your time it will take (sometimes dramatically), and the more problems it will cause. For example, the smaller the droplet of water you use, the more filters you must use, forcing you to use larger water pumps which forces you to hire an electrician to install a new breaker panel (EXAGGERATED FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES). My advice is to leave your 360 degree spray head at this point, and see how things work out. Just have fun and soak up the knowledge on your first grow, and perhaps, if youâ??re dedicated to spending the time it takes to do things properly (like reading up on the basics especially, and the advanced stuff as time permits), you just might end up with some weed to smoke.

4)I plan on getting a digital therm/hum reader and put it in the grow space..should i be worried about humidity in the bucket? Where the roots are or is it just for the actual plant and the closet?
The humidity in your reservoir or bucket is not really a concern until you start getting more into the advanced stuff like fogging. Worry about, not necessarily your grow room humidity, but the humidity at the canopy of your plants. (Itâ??ll probably be close to the same anyway.)

5)also i have some basic nutrients that i received with the kit i purchased. 2 big bottles:
a) Base - 1.6 - 1.8 - 7.4
b) 2.8 - 0 - 0
What to do with these?
Also have PH up and a PH down bottle..It came w/ a PH test kit and i tested outdoor pool water, aquafiina bottled water, and tap water all yielding the same results..Bogus tester? or is the water that close? I didn't try to adjust however, didn't want to waste anymore...It was very high at 8.0. Any thoughts?
Thoughts? Sure, I've got lots of em... Man, that was great when that stripper put her... Oh sorry, you must mean thoughts about your question. Hydro systems should have a PH of about 5.5. If everything reads the same it either means that everything happens to be the same, or you are not doing it correctly (read the instructions thoroughly), or there is something wrong with the test kit. I highly recommend getting a PH pen for like $20. You will come around soon enough and see why it makes sense anyway, so why not just get it now. You will need to calibrate it before using it, so you can buy a small bottle of PH4 and PH7 calibration fluid, or if you ask real nice and flash a little chest, depending on the sexual orientation and gender of the clerk, they might just give your pen its first calibration for free. For the real fancy (expensive) ones you'll need a PH10 calibration fluid as well. Iâ??m not sure what your nutrients are. The first one is probably a nutrient for the veg stage, and the second one might be a supplement or additive. Youâ??ll need some flower nutrients too. For your first grow I highly recommend laying off the additives, except for a small amount of superthrive or other B1 supplement each feeding throughout the veg cycle only. This will help promote root growth and health. Everything starts getting more complicated the more things you add, and you greatly increase the chances of a first timer ending up with a case of KFP (Kentucky Fried Plants). Youâ??ll also need an EC or PPM meter when you start adding a bunch of stuff. Your veg nutes will probably work fine. I use (and highly recommend) Fox Farmâ??s Grow Big for vegging and Tiger Bloom for budding. Those are some of the less expensive nutrients on the market, but many people believe that they are some of the best. You could spend $60 or more on a quart of nutes, where as these are about $15 each. Perhaps if nobody here responds about your substance â??bâ?� above, you could call the store and ask for clarification.

6) Lastly Lights/Ventilation - I'm not going to run HPS and MH yet, i don't have the space right now or funds for that matter but hopefully next go straight to 1000W HPS, MH, Digital ballast and so forth but for now i have two basic 10" polished aluminum reflector with 2, 26 watt CFLs per reflector..so thats a total of four 26 watt CFL's with 5500K each. (couldn't find 6500K unfortunately) Don't remember how many Lumens however. Doesn't say on the bulb and i threw out hte packages already..maybe 900? 9000? Sorry actually have no idea where it would be...Anyway is that sufficient for veg? maybe ad 2 more cfls? Let me know what you think..I guess i'll get back to you on the ventilation when i hear back from you..pics would probably be easier than explaining..Cant wait to get started just need a few things clarified..
Let me start this one with something important before I forget; Be sure to keep fluoros back about 18 inches for the first week or so of a seedlings life. Then gradually move it closer until it is almost in the plants. I first read your question incorrectly and I was going to say that amount of lighting just barely squeaks into the â??OKâ?� category, but it would sustain life and even make the plants grow. Now I see you have 4 of those bulbs so it's not so bad. That should do pretty good, but I would like to replace all 4 with something a little bigger. They make 500 watt equivalent clf's now. Imagine 4 of those in there (?overkill?) If at all possible, no wait, no matter if I had to sell my children for scientific experimentation, I would pick up at least 2 CFLâ??s that equal 100 watts incandescent (36 watts each?), and replace 2 of those you have. More if you want even faster/bigger growth. Good job on the cool or cold color lights for vegging. 6500â??s are really hard to find. I would get the lights nearly right into the plants if possible, while watching closely for heat stress. One big regular fan blowing up at your cfl array, and one small oscillating fan gently rustling your plants should do the trick. Just watch temps carefully during the addition of any light. I have a light formula like the bubble formula above, but I donâ??t want to think right now. In general, more light = more weed, especially during flowering. Now you could get the same amount of weed if you have less light during veg than optimal, as long as you just keep vegging and vegging until you have a bunch of growth. You canâ??t do that during flowering however, because buds get done at a certain time whether you like it or not. Therefore the amount of light used during budding becomes the critical one to worry about. Make sure you have a bunch, the more the better. Make sure you use â??warmâ?� or â??extra-warmâ?� for blooming, but better yet look for the numbers 2200 or 2700K in descending order of preference. Unfortunately the numbers are not always on the package, but you can call the mfg. or look on their web site spec sheet, like this: http://www.feit.com/twist/twist.html (http://www.feit.com/twist/twist.html). Please let me know if you find some 2200â??s or 5700â??s. Be sure to consider that for the absolute best/fastest/biggest growth, you should mix about 15% red wavelength light in with your vegging lights, and about 15% blue in with your budding lights.

THanks so much OPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your welcome and good luck.

PS. I am happy to help, but there are a bunch of people in this forum just as qualified to answer your questions as I am, and many even more so. By asking only one person to help in the title of your thread, you may be delaying or limiting the info you receive. I am not always hanging around here. Sometimes I go for weeks without signing on, and sometimes Iâ??m on several times each day for 2 months or something. If you want to catch my attention in a title, perhaps you could say something like â??Plants infested with buffalo, Opie? Anyone? Please help.â?� Anyway, just a suggestion.

whew!

[rhizome]

Why should you do this? Well consider this basic mathematical formula: Taking into account the price of weed in your area at the time this was written, as well as your strain, humidity, and all other possible variables, for every 10 bubbles per plant that are bubbling 24 hours per day, you will see an additional yield of exactly $2.67 worth of weed.




That's awesome.:thumbsup:

[Opie Yutts]

Yeah, thanks rhizome. I was kinda surprised at that one myself. What a testament to bubbles, eh?

[GrowMe]

Opie, You're the man, or woman.. lol Seriously though, thanks so much..I had actually already started the process cuz i was afraid you might not respond...but again thanks for taking the time to help me out..Sorry for not asking everybody but after reading multiple posts by you i immediatly thought this guy knows his aeration..

So........since i kinda started before reading all your responses i'll tell you what i did and you tell me how bad i messed up.. :)

I soaked the rockwool in some PH balanced water, only for 30 minutes tho...squeezed and resoaked a few times..(distilled water tested right at 6.0) put hte germed seeds in RW and put under some light in the system...Almost immediately one of hte four ladies came out to play..now a few days later and all four have leaves...2 look very strong and are about an inch tall and the other two haven't done much since showing there leaves..maybe light on the roots?? I konw i messed that part up but as of now 2 look alright as i said..i just put the hydroton grow rocks in the pots..a layer underneath the RW and filled the rest to the top...I'm using 3" pots for now..

1) About how long till i move them to bigger pots and the different system?

2) When should i go to 18/6 light schedule? I'm trying to get these answers from researching but to be honest sometimes the more i read the more confused i get..lol

I was planning on going to 18/6 light schedule maybe sometime in the next couple of days..That will be a week of 24/7..tell me what ya think...

-Like you said i'm pretty much experimenting as i'm sure my first grow won't be a HUGE success but at the same time am hoping for the best..Your replies are GREATLY APPRECIATED..I'll try and get some pics up for you guys...I'll also be buying an air stone sometime in the next few days, you know, for that key ingredient:cool:

[GrowMe]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02036.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02035.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02034.jpg

[GrowMe]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02040.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02039.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

Opie, You're the man, or woman..
Man, or little boy in a mans body.

lol Seriously though, thanks so much..
Again, your welcome.

I soaked the rockwool in some PH balanced water, only for 30 minutes tho...squeezed and resoaked a few times..(distilled water tested right at 6.0) put hte germed seeds in RW and put under some light in the system...
That will probably be OK. (fingers crossed)

Almost immediately one of hte four ladies came out to play..now a few days later and all four have leaves...2 look very strong and are about an inch tall and the other two haven't done much since showing there leaves..maybe light on the roots??
It is normal for some to look like they are left behind for a few days at the beginning. They will most likely catch up to the others, or at least end up being a decent plant.

I konw i messed that part up but as of now 2 look alright as i said..i just put the hydroton grow rocks in the pots..a layer underneath the RW and filled the rest to the top...I'm using 3" pots for now..
Sounds fine.

1) About how long till i move them to bigger pots and the different system?
So I guess those photos are of your rooting system, then you have another system that you are going to put them in? That might be a good idea, since once you get all 4 spaces taken up with big plants, there is going to be a tangled root mass underneath, and the sprayer wonâ??t really be doing its job properly. I suspect they would do fine that way, and your roots would get plenty of moisture, but it will end up being more of a DWC system. As long as you have something to tie the plants to, or some way to support them, you don't really need to put them into bigger pots. You could though, and if you do, I would just set the whole 3" pot into a 6" pot. I would probably do this just as the roots start coming out of the 3" pots, or a couple days later. The bigger pot you use, the less you will need to support the plant as it grows, because in bigger pots the roots have a good hold and are able to support the plant. I recommend just starting in a 6" pot if at all possible. The less transplanting you do, the less you will stress the plant. Each time you stress the plant, it's growth rate usually slows down a little for a couple days while it recovers. It depends a great deal on what variety your plants are. Some are real hardy, and some don't want to be touched. There are lots of people that just keep the plant in a 3" net pot for the whole grow, and support the plant as needed.

2) When should i go to 18/6 light schedule? I'm trying to get these answers from researching but to be honest sometimes the more i read the more confused i get..lol
There is a lot of different answers to this one, but I firmly believe that plants grow better with a little rest at night. As soon as I take them out of the cloner and put them into my system I go to 18/6. Some people will say don't ever change from 24/0 to 18/6, but I strongly disagree. If you haven't read that link I posted about why plants need rest, be sure to do so. I have read a lot of stuff indicating that plants take in what they need during the day, and process that stuff at night.

I was planning on going to 18/6 light schedule maybe sometime in the next couple of days..That will be a week of 24/7..tell me what ya think...
I think that will be fine.

-Like you said i'm pretty much experimenting as i'm sure my first grow won't be a HUGE success.
You never know, it might be a huge success compared to what you are used to. If any of your plants grow and get some smokable buds, consider your first try a huge success. For your first grow itâ??s all about the knowledge you gain, figuring out how to remedy any problems that arise, enjoying your hobby, and as a bonus to all that you might even end up with some nice smokable buds.

[pastetea]

I enjoyed the questions and responses. :)

Big ups to Opie Yutts and GrowMe,

Good luck!

[PharmaCan]

[COLOR=darkred][B]2) When should i go to 18/6 light schedule? I'm trying to get these answers from researching but to be honest sometimes the more i read the more confused i get..lol
There is a lot of different answers to this one, but I firmly believe that plants grow better with a little rest at night. As soon as I take them out of the cloner and put them into my system I go to 18/6. Some people will say don't ever change from 24/0 to 18/6, but I strongly disagree. If you haven't read that link I posted about why plants need rest, be sure to do so. I have read a lot of stuff indicating that plants take in what they need during the day, and process that stuff at night.

There was a rather lengthy discussion about light cycles a couple of months back. One point that a number of people seemed to agree on is that going from 24/7 to 18/6, the plant thinks the days are getting shorter so it wants to grow faster.

PC :smokin:

[Opie Yutts]

hmmm, sounds reasonable I guess.

Also, from the things that I have read there seems to be a general consensus that root development is slowed if plants have 24/0 lighting after the initial one or two weeks. So some people use 24/0 in there mother section so that they don't have to re-pot as often.

[the image reaper]

when Master breeders like 'Shantibaba' and 'Chimera' recommend anything besides 18/6 and 12/12, I'll switch ... lots going on in a plant during night cycles, too ... :jointsmile:

[the image reaper]

oh, Opie !! .. thanks for the +Rep, but what was your message 'only for hydro' ... ? ... didn't understand that ... :jointsmile:

[GrowMe]

Sweet, things are getting a little clearer here..Thanks so much Opie and everyone else..great message board!!!! Whenever you have a second a few more questions for ya..

I don't have another system set up yet, i planned on tackling that when it was time..I kind of just assumed that i had too..I didn't know i could veg and flower in this small of a system with successful results...Once time, i planned on going the storage bin/air stone route..read a lot about them and seems to be a decent DIY system thats not that hard to assemble..

So,

1) If I stay in the system with the 3" pots, should i take the sprinkler out and replace it with a couple of air stones? If so when, and would i have to spray the roots or leaves with water? Also if not then should i just make the sprinkler shorter so its not in the mess of roots??

2)When do i need to start supporting them? I do have a light breeze on them

3)And what the hell does DWC stand for..For some reason its the one i haven't been able to find..:wtf:

THanks for all the help Opie and others..

[GodBud]

Opie

What are your PPMs when your seedling(s) reach say the 2nd to 3rd node.

Thats where my baby is right now. I just grow for my personal smoke and this is my second grow for the hizzdro. Right now I have an 18 gal res put about 10 gal of regular tap water. Net pot suspended from the hole I cut. Filled with hydroten

I use AN nutes 3pt I have some Cal mag and just ordered some HyOx. Anyway, my meter reflects 5.7 Ph and 600 PPM nutes mixed appropiately. It looks healthy and all seems to be going good. I used Big Bud for my flower on my first grow. Things turned out really better than I expected. I just went to 18/6 I agree with the rest theory. I am a little worked up regarding the water times. Basically, I have a timer that gives me 14 set times so on off on off etc counts as one of the 14 so I have it set up to a good 1.5 hrs drink first thing when the lights come on then I stagger it on off throughout the day every couple hrs with an on time of roughly 30 - 40 minutes. I give it one good last dose of about 1 hour then the lights go out about 30 minutes after. I have this looping 7 days a week Does this sound okay?

Also at what point do you know when to kick the PPMs up. I mean the plant cant talk, yes I know it talks through what you see but how do you just sense its wanting more vitamins. Is there a theory to that? I know good ole experience is the best answer but seriously, any thoughts regarding this (not strippers) hehe!

I use a 400 W interchangeable MH/HPS hovers about 3 feet up.

Your thoughts on all this is appreciated!

Thanks

Peace

[GodBud]

Here is a photo of my soon to be bride
[attachment=o165754]

[Opie Yutts]

oh, Opie !! .. thanks for the +Rep, but what was your message 'only for hydro' ... ? ... didn't understand that ... :jointsmile:

Well I guess I was thinking that if somebody does soil grows only, then he starts doing hydro as well, he should have a stronger reputation. Makes sense to me.

[Opie Yutts]

Sweet, things are getting a little clearer here..Thanks so much Opie and everyone else..great message board!!!! Whenever you have a second a few more questions for ya..

I don't have another system set up yet, i planned on tackling that when it was time..I kind of just assumed that i had too..I didn't know i could veg and flower in this small of a system with successful results...Once time, i planned on going the storage bin/air stone route..read a lot about them and seems to be a decent DIY system thats not that hard to assemble..

So,

1) If I stay in the system with the 3" pots, should i take the sprinkler out and replace it with a couple of air stones? If so when, and would i have to spray the roots or leaves with water? Also if not then should i just make the sprinkler shorter so its not in the mess of roots??

2)When do i need to start supporting them? I do have a light breeze on them

3)And what the hell does DWC stand for..For some reason its the one i haven't been able to find..:wtf:

THanks for all the help Opie and others..

If it were me, I would use what you have for rooting only, and have an Emily's Garden type DWC to put the plants in once they are rooted. This is an awesome system for beginners as it is real easy to maintain and produces some fantastic results. Run Emily's Garden through a search engine, then buy one for like $80 or build one for like $35. I've built several over the years.

1) Yes I would take out the sprinkler and put a couple air stones in there once the roots start hanging down by the sprinkler. Ultimately you will want some way to change the water level, so a little of the roots (about 3") will be in water at all times. This will make sure they never get dried out to the point the plants will get stressed, even during power outages. The sprinkler will not function properly once the roots start hanging that low. You do not have to spray either the leaves or the roots. However, many people insist that plants want to be fed from above as well as below. I have never folair fed, but I am about to. I got some worm casting liquid to spray this time around. As long as you keep your water level anywhere from 0 to 4 inches from the bottom of your pots, the bubbles bursting from the air stones will saturate the roots that are in air. I would not try to keep lowering the sprinkler to keep the roots out. You are going to end up with one big tangled root mass that will take up most of the volume of the bucket. Instead I would have a valve that just turns the sprinkler off once the roots reach it. Like I said, it would just be much easier if you had a dedicated rooting system and a dedicated growing system.

2) You start supporting them as soon as it looks like they might be having a hard time supporting themselves. This is normally not until some point after flowering is induced, but with 3" net pots it will most likely be at some point before flowering. Depends on a lot of things, but it could be as soon as one month after they have started growing good. I highly recommend the use of a screen. I think this is the easiest way to support the plants. Just put it about a foot or 18" above the pots, and tie the branches to the screen with twisty ties. This way you can also spread out your foliage to your delight, in order to take up area efficiently.

3) Ah, come on. DWC should be easy to find. Anyway it means Deep Water Culture, and it's the best hydro method for beginners in my opinion. It's real easy to set up and maintain, and it gives you about 100 lb. of dried bud per branch.

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GodBud

What are your PPMs when your seedling(s) reach say the 2nd to 3rd node.
Your picture looks like yours is just slightly smaller than mine when I take mine out of my cloner and put them into my system. Before than I am using only tap water with a little B1, which makes a PPM of about 325. At the point of transplant, I start using just a touch of nutrients, which ups the PPM to about 450. I leave it like that for a few days, then go to 600. One week later 1000, one week later, 1400 where it pretty much stays until 10 days before harvest.

Right now I have an 18 gal res put about 10 gal of regular tap water. Net pot suspended from the hole I cut. Filled with hydroten
Sounds good, but I think that you could start giving them a very small amount of nutrients. Also, if you don't have an airstone in your res, I would definately put one or more in there. Better yet, a powerhead submersible pump that circulates the solution and injects air. Better yet, both.

I use AN nutes 3pt I have some Cal mag and just ordered some HyOx. Anyway, my meter reflects 5.7 Ph and 600 PPM nutes mixed appropiately.
Oh I see you are using nutes already. 600 seems slightly high for the size of your plant, but it certainly looks healthy, so I wouldn't change anything at this point.

I am a little worked up regarding the water times. Basically, I have a timer that gives me 14 set times so on off on off etc counts as one of the 14 so I have it set up to a good 1.5 hrs drink first thing when the lights come on then I stagger it on off throughout the day every couple hrs with an on time of roughly 30 - 40 minutes. I give it one good last dose of about 1 hour then the lights go out about 30 minutes after. I have this looping 7 days a week Does this sound okay?
This sounds fine, especially seeing how healthy your plant looks. I don't worry about what time of the day it is, I just use the same on and off times 24 hrs per day. If your plant can handle going without water for 6 hrs at night, I imagine it could go 2 hrs without during the day. You want to give it as little water as possible without stressing the plant. You can find out exacty what this is by very slowly decreasing pump on times while watching very carefully for any signs of stress. Once you see stress from lack of moisture, go back to the setting you used just before that one. Preferably you'll get a cyclestat when money situations permit, then you can do something like 2 minutes on and 1 hour off, or something. The timer you have will work fine for now though, just try to figure out the maximum off time you can have.

Also at what point do you know when to kick the PPMs up. I mean the plant cant talk, yes I know it talks through what you see but how do you just sense its wanting more vitamins. Is there a theory to that? I know good ole experience is the best answer but seriously, any thoughts regarding this (not strippers) hehe!
I don't listen to my plant. I am her master and she must obay. Actually I just kinda have always followed the schedule I mentioned above, and everything just seems to work out. I don't worry about if a plant wants more vitamens unless I see signs of it. Then I get out the problem charts, and see if I can't figure out what the problem is. Eventually you will get a schedule figured out and not have to worry about it so much.

I use a 400 W interchangeable MH/HPS hovers about 3 feet up.
That's a good distance for how old your plant looks. However I suggest starting to move it closer, the closer the better. You figure out how close the same way you figure minimum pump on time. Just move it a little closer at a time, changing slowly, while watching for signs of heat stress. I have a cool tube for my 400W in my veg section, so the plants can almost touch the glass. Otherwise, maybe end up with the light about 1 foot away?

Thanks
No problem.

[the image reaper]

Well I guess I was thinking that if somebody does soil grows only, then he starts doing hydro as well, he should have a stronger reputation. Makes sense to me.

oh, well, thank you, Opie ... coming from someone I respect like you, thats something ... When I read it, it went right over my head :D something that doesn't take much effort, these days haha :jointsmile:

[Opie Yutts]

*crying* They respect me. They really respect me.

Thank you.

[GodBud]

OPIE

Simply stated you ROCK!!!!!!!!1

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions and concerns! This is a great thread and you really make it shine bro!

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

Absolutely no problem, and my pleasure and stuff. Glad I can help.

[GrowMe]

Thanks again Opie..I think for the first grow i might try and use the same sytem all the way through flowering..hopefully it wont be a waste..I bought a small single outlet aquarium air pump and two air stones..theyre like 5 or 6 inches long...I used a T-splitter and ran it to both air stones..You think my air pump is too small? The stones are not putting off a whole lot of bubbles..the pump says 5-15 gallon but maybe i should have only ran it to 1 air stone instead of 2? I planned on just replacing with a bigger pump, what do you think?

[Opie Yutts]

If funds permit, I would definately get a little bigger pump so you can have good bubbles from each 6" stone. Otherwise, you could just run one with the pump you have and that would be sufficient. Many people don't even have that much in one bucket.

[GrowMe]

awesome..thanks opie, few pics here..PH sky rocketed to 8.0 all the sudden today..got that taken care of..had to throw one away that didn't make it and am afraid i might have to do the same to the smallest of the 3 in the pic..It hasn't done anything for prob 3 days and looks dark in color with a tiny bit of white on the leaves...??????? Have a few more seeds germinating right now to take the fallen soldiers places. They seem to grow pretty quick..i put them in the RW exactly 7 days ago i think or maybe 6, but either way they show improvement each morning..THanks for all the help..see you soon

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02057.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02055.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02054.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02049.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02048.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

The PH fluctuation like that is often caused when the rockwool is not soaked sufficiently before use. Perhaps that is what happened here. Just keep a close eye on it and it should eventually stabilize. Yeah that is pretty lame bubbling in the picture. I would just use one stone or get a bigger pump. The good news is that they appear to be making a good effort at growing, I think they will probably be OK.

[GrowMe]

Thanks again Opie...Talk to you soon :D

[whatsthatsmell]

There was a rather lengthy discussion about light cycles a couple of months back. One point that a number of people seemed to agree on is that going from 24/7 to 18/6, the plant thinks the days are getting shorter so it wants to grow faster.

Ok, i'm not sure if i have over looked this on this thread or not but there was a very lengthy discussion on roots and the what goes on in a 24 hour period using different light schedules. To boil this doing to keep it short, here is what happened during that test (this is a hydro test if i remember correctly)

24hour period:
24/0 - 29cm root growth
20/4 - 33cm root growth
18/6 - 38cm root growth

the only thing i dont know is what nutes were used during that 24hour period...would be nice to get an experiment to find out during which stages of growth the plant uses which nutes more specificly....for example during the first week after pop'n the bean which nutes does it use the most and in what quantities..... If anyone has that info i would love to know it...

Hope that info helps, and if its a repeat, sorry...

[Weedhound]

Another unscientific opinion here.....my plants have done better on 18/6. Something about a rest period from the photosynthesis or something.

I hope my detailed and thorough explanation here has helped. :D

[GrowMe]

Good stuff guys, thanks..i plan on going to 18/6 tonight or maybe beg of next week..like i said its only been a week from germination so they seem to grow overnight..literally. hope the new light schedule kicks em into high gear..talk to you soon

[GrowMe]

Quick question..I had some seeds germ that i kinda forgot about..one started rooting through the paper towels. Anyway i just put them in some solo cups with peat moss and a few pebbles from the backyard and was going to put them under the light with the small system..Is this a bad idea? if so please explain, and also if its ok and they actually start to grow, is it possible to take them out of hte soil and put in hte system with hydroton rocks? If some of the ones that are in the system end up being males or something like that.. Or if you guys have any other suggestions on what to do with them i'm all ears..Kinda only studied up on hydro/aero, not soil..Thanks in advance

[Opie Yutts]

One problem could be the PH of the rocks you used, or the mineral or salt content. Who knows? Most likely it will be OK. I don't think I would put peat in my hydro system for fear that it would get a bunch of junk in the system and plug up my filters. I'm pretty sure peat is mostly just for soil grows.

I grow in soil to keep mothers. Why don't you just take cuttings off the ones in dirt and start them in hydro, instead of putting the dirt ones in hydro? I don't think plants will do well if you take them out of dirt and try to put them in hydro. Getting all the dirt off the roots would shock them too much I think.

[GrowMe]

Ok sounds good..Now to use them as mothers, what does that entail? how long until clippings are ready to be taken?

THanks again Opie

[Opie Yutts]

mums (http://www.cannabase.com/cl/pages/mums/mums.html)

I highly recommend making a copy of this on your computer in case it ever goes away. It is one of the best articles on moms that I have seen. I hope to start doing it properly some day like in the article, but right now I just am growing plants in dirt, and occasionally take cuttings off them for clones. When do you do this? About 2 weeks before you want to put them into your system, because it could take that long to root them, depending on your style. Of course you do not do this until the mom is big enough to handle the stress of the cuttings, probably after a couple months of vegging, if you plan to take a few. If you're going to grow from clones, which is of course way better than from seed, search "scarification". And of course, don't start a plant as a mother unless you know it's female. Males are useless unless you want to breed and make seeds, which you don't need unless you let your mothers die.

[palerider7777]

*crying* They respect me. They really respect me.

Thank you.

naw there just using u for what info u can give them lmao:thumbsup:

[GrowMe]

Hey, i got mad respect for ya opie..and I also appreciate your valuable info..or as much as one can appreciate over a computer board..lol Anyway i'll get sum new pics up soon..they seem to be doing ok for now..

Changed water and put what appears to be nutrients today (just some stuff i got for free..looks like some generic bottles:

Davids Grow - Base
Davids Grow - Grow

1) Put 2 tsps per 2 gallons...No idea if this is good or bad but guess we'll see...What you think?

2)Finally got a thermo/hygrometer..Is reading 88 degrees F and 58%RH..Think thats ok? I only have 4 - 26 W CFLs in there now..can't imagine how hot its going to be when I flower...

3)Oh yeah and i wasn't particularly referring to putting the soil pots in with the system. I could have been a little more clear.. I actually just meant is it ok for them to be in hte same closet next to the aero system? If so should i put them outdoors when i want them to flower or something liek that..don't think i'll have room for all the plants in the closet..I'll include a pic of that as well..

Also got a bigger air pump with 2 outlets. Much better now that each air stone has its own line. Will include pic later as well

4)After looking at so many pictures and seeing how big these plants are going to get..(HOPEFULLY GET!!) I can't go from start to harvest in this system..I plan to keep the best 3 or 4 plants (that is as long as i get 4 ladies) and put htem in their own bucket with their own five inch circular air stone..NOW, the question is should i get a 4 outlet ecoplus bubbler air pump: ?

4 Outlet EcoPlus Air Bubbler Pump Hydroponics Aquarium - (eBay item 200173694847 end time Nov-20-07 14:30:00 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Outlet-EcoPlus-Air-Bubbler-Pump-Hydroponics-Aquarium_W0QQitemZ200173694847QQihZ010QQcategoryZ4 3555QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

OR - Just get another one of the small 2 outlet air pump like i have now? I am curious because i want the MOST amount of bubbles as possible..As a wiseman once said, "the key is oxygen/bubbles" :D
If i were to do this it would obviously eliminate the sprinkler..Would that be sufficient as long as a couple inches of roots were in the water?

Thanks everybody, especially OPIE!!!!! Puttin one in the air for ya now :smokin:

[palerider7777]

i use airhogs they produce a ton more than the lil stones u buy at a fish shop and i also keep the sprayers goin as well so incase 1 goes down u still have the other

[GrowMe]

Thanks palerider, anyway you could give me a link to where i might find some..did a few searches and came up empty..Let me know..thanks again

[palerider7777]

i got them at the dro shop

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GrowMe

1) Put 2 tsps per 2 gallons...No idea if this is good or bad but guess we'll see...What you think?
I'd say that if you don't want to get a $25 PPM pen, then you should figure out how much nutrients to add by the directions on the container, or by starting low and gradually increasing until you see the first sign of nute burn, then back it off to the previous amount. Of course the easiest and most accurate way is by PPM levels.

2)Finally got a thermo/hygrometer..Is reading 88 degrees F and 58%RH..Think thats ok? I only have 4 - 26 W CFLs in there now..can't imagine how hot its going to be when I flower...
More windage! Your plants will most likely do better if you keep your temps under 85, but better yet under 80. 60 humidity is best, but mine do fine a 35.

3) is it ok for them to be in hte same closet next to the aero system? If so should i put them outdoors when i want them to flower or something liek that...
Just keep in mind that clones, mothers, and vegging plants need 18/6 light, and blooming plants need 12/12. You cannot let the two schedules interfere with each other.

4)NOW, the question is should i get a 4 outlet ecoplus bubbler air pump: ?
4 Outlet EcoPlus Air Bubbler Pump Hydroponics Aquarium - (eBay item 200173694847 end time Nov-20-07 14:30:00 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Outlet-EcoPlus-Air-Bubbler-Pump-Hydroponics-Aquarium_W0QQitemZ200173694847QQihZ010QQcategoryZ4 3555QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
OR - Just get another one of the small 2 outlet air pump like i have now?
Well you are going to have to decide that, but I recommend going bigger and fewer rather than more and smaller when it comes to air pumps. I would definitely not buy the EcoPlus line. I have had very bad luck with them. They seem to give up pumping, or continue pumping but start doing it extremely loud after just a few months. I hope I'm not too late, but check this out: http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/141583-i-ve-got-proper-bubbles-once.html

If i were to do this it would obviously eliminate the sprinkler..Would that be sufficient as long as a couple inches of roots were in the water?
Yes, you don't even need any roots in the water, but it is best for power outages purposes. The bubbles popping on the surface should provide plenty of moisture to roots.

Thanks everybody, especially OPIE!!!!!
No problem.

[GodBud]

OPIE SINCE YOUR KIND THOUGHTS SEEMS MY PLANT HAS TAKEN A WEIRD TURN

WILL YOU LOOK AT MY LTEST UPDATE/THOUGHTS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK?

PLEASE

THANKS

SEE:

http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/142121-help-advanced-nutrients-please.html#post1734983

[Opie Yutts]

WILL YOU LOOK AT MY LTEST UPDATE/THOUGHTS AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK?


Done.

[GrowMe]

Opie..i'm still here, i actually had some problems logging in..(problems being i forgot my password to both here and email account..anywho:

1) I def wanna get a ppm pin but don't have the flow right now..I was looking at sum with 6 different readouts..that measure PH/temp/EC/TDS/PPM..They are about 100 bucks..Are these good? PH Temp CF EC TDS PPM 6 in 1 Water Monitor Tester Meter - (eBay item 290183403324 end time Nov-28-07 23:18:49 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/PH-Temp-CF-EC-TDS-PPM-6-in-1-Water-Monitor-Tester-Meter_W0QQitemZ290183403324QQihZ019QQcategoryZ2075 4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Are they any better than a cheapy $25 pin?

2)I def. need more windage but its kinda hard with hte ghetto setup i got going in the closet..I've got the temps down to about 80-82..even as low as 72, but thats after 6 hours of darkness and constant fans blowing and at night of course..Humidity seems to float anywhere from 40 to 55

[GrowMe]

Sorry i hit post reply a little early :stoned:

3) As far as keeping a mother that prob won't happen this time around cause i only have one area to work with..was wondering though, do you only keep a lady vegging to become a mother if shes in soil? was wondering if people keep a mother thats in a dro system..Ive been reading that mold and algae might be a prob for me in the future..yet to see any to this point but they aren't even 3 weeks yet..

4) it wasn't too late..i did not get the ecoplus as you suggested. I actually just went and got another 10 dollar pump and it seems to be working fine thus far..


You said i don't need the roots in the water so they aren't ..i took my two biggest plants and put them in there own system as of yesterday..they have a 4 inch circular air stone each..One i just put the 3" net pot directly into a 5" pot and the other i actually pulled the plant out of the 3" and put it in the 5"..Make sense? lol hopefully not confusing you.. The others i will prob go ahead and pull out of hte smaller pots before transplanting to bigger ones..i was just kinda scared to try with the first plant...there were a lot more roots on the first plant too...SO, are you sure the plants are getting enough oxygen from just the bubbles? I mean the roots WERE getting saturated with water in the smaller system from the sprinkler, now the roots are not even showing out of the larger net pots yet..

For fear that the roots might suffocate or not be moist enough i've taken a turkey baster and put some of hte water out of their buckets and drip from top a couple times a day..think that is ok?

[GrowMe]

Dammit! keep hitting Enter after a long thought..sorry guys...buds must be better than i thought..

So here are some pictures. The 2 biggest ones in their own buckets are 19 days old from seed..and the one thats still in the multiple system thats short and has wide fan leaves is also 19 days old but has been sick for the past few days. :( she looked awesome up until a few days ago..i woke up and she looked near death..very wilted and laying over..i watered and she came back to life but hasn't been the same since..bottom leaves are curled up....just not looking that great..a hydroton rock was kind of sitting on her stem when i first put her in the sytem but she refused to give up..i'm hoping she will pull through as i could tell she was a different type of strand/strain? sorry forget which it is..a lot shorter than the others and growing out rather than up..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02102.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02099.jpg


By the way i know you cant tell if they are females yet but i call them my girls anyway...i'm trying to think postive! :D

Here are some more pics of my biggest and healthiest plant..however the bottom leaves are a little yellow and starting to brown..?????? PPM?????????? Did I FRY em?

let me know what you think..Actually went to the dro shop in my area and the cheapest ppm was like 90..gotta order one i guess..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02101.jpg


air stones and roots(bad pic)

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02094.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02096.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02097.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02098.jpg

[GrowMe]

Man this stuff is fun..its hard to believe these things were just a seed not even 3 weeks ago..Sometimes i think man they aren't really growing that fast but when i look at the first pics of this thread i'm like whoa..lol think i found a new hobby :thumbsup:

And all is due to the Genius' of this board..Thank you all!

Now i hope the rest is smooth but somethings telling me not to get my hopes up..

One more question for now, or maybe a few..I just got a Jack herer seed from a friend like two days ago..the bud is really sick..i'll try and get a pick of that up as well..but check this out..so i'm lightly squeezing the seed to make sure its good and it is..i guess i figured id squeeze it a little bit harder and the f*cker broke..very pissed of at myself i put it in a wet paper towel and way and today its germed and looks ok..Anybody have this happen before? think it will be ok? and also if it does survive does it need 24 hour light for a few days at least or can it go directly to 18/6 with the other sluts..

And if anyone was wondering the other plant thats in the starter system next to the sick one is only about 10 days old..That ones a freakin beast..might catch up and surpass the big ones..

Thanks again everybody!!!!!!!!!!!

[GrowMe]

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02093.jpg

Heres a pic before i transplanted the two largest..then theres the short one thats sick and the other one thats the beast..i figured it out its only 9 days old from seed not 10...Do they seem to be growing at a good rate? Fast, slow, about average? Shorter plants are sativas? Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated...

[GrowMe]

Few more pics:

Anybody ever use that dutch masters and florablend? got it for free

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02105.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02108.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02112.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

1) I def wanna get a ppm pin but don't have the flow right now..I was looking at sum with 6 different readouts..that measure PH/temp/EC/TDS/PPM..They are about 100 bucks..Are these good? PH Temp CF EC TDS PPM 6 in 1 Water Monitor Tester Meter - (eBay item 290183403324 end time Nov-28-07 23:18:49 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/PH-Temp-CF-EC-TDS-PPM-6-in-1-Water-Monitor-Tester-Meter_W0QQitemZ290183403324QQihZ019QQcategoryZ2075 4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Are they any better than a cheapy $25 pin?



I don't know if they are better as far as quality and how long they will last, but they are not the same thing that I was talking about. If you can, you definately should have one in your grow, but you will also want something smaller that you can just dip in your solution at the sink. That is unless you mix your solution in your reservoir.

[Opie Yutts]

3) ..was wondering though, do you only keep a lady vegging to become a mother if shes in soil? was wondering if people keep a mother thats in a dro system..Ive been reading that mold and algae might be a prob for me in the future..

You said i don't need the roots in the water so they aren't .. ...SO, are you sure the plants are getting enough oxygen from just the bubbles?

For fear that the roots might suffocate or not be moist enough i've taken a turkey baster and put some of hte water out of their buckets and drip from top a couple times a day..think that is ok?

You can keep mothers in hydro or dirt, it doesn't matter. Many people like dirt and fluoros, because it's easy to grow slow growing plants that way. Mold should not be a problem unless you have improper ventilation, either way, soil or hydro.

I said roots don't need to be in water, but they do need moisture from something, be it you with a turkey baster, a drip system, bubbles popping and splashing on the roots (like a cheapo aerocloner). I didn't say not to water your plants. I'm not sure what you mean by getting enough oxygen from the bubbles. If some of your roots are in mid air they are getting oxygen, and if you put bubbles in your system you are putting oxygen into the water, which the plants really like. They need oxygen, so if you suffocate them, like drown the roots all the way up to the plant, and leave them in stagnant water, they will die.

Yes, I think it is OK that you are using a turkey baster. I also think however, that if you are going to use a drip system to keep the roots moist, then you ought to do it automatically with a timer and some 1/4" line or something.

[Opie Yutts]

I'll try to answer some more tomorrow. Looking forward to the pictures.

[Opie Yutts]

Here are some more pics of my biggest and healthiest plant..however the bottom leaves are a little yellow and starting to brown..?????? PPM?????????? Did I FRY em?

let me know what you think..Actually went to the dro shop in my area and the cheapest ppm was like 90..gotta order one i guess

Looks like that air stone is making some nice fine bubbles. It's hard to tell if you fried them or starved them without knowing what ppm your solution is. For those littlest ones, you probably want less than 600ppm. For those bigger ones, I should think they could handle twice that. Remember when you increase food, do it slowly and in stages so that you can watch for any signs of nute burn.

[Opie Yutts]

One more question for now, or maybe a few..I just got a Jack herer seed from a friend like two days ago..the bud is really sick..i'll try and get a pick of that up as well..but check this out..so i'm lightly squeezing the seed to make sure its good and it is..i guess i figured id squeeze it a little bit harder and the f*cker broke..very pissed of at myself i put it in a wet paper towel and way and today its germed and looks ok..Anybody have this happen before? think it will be ok? and also if it does survive does it need 24 hour light for a few days at least or can it go directly to 18/6 with the other sluts..

And if anyone was wondering the other plant thats in the starter system next to the sick one is only about 10 days old..That ones a freakin beast..might catch up and surpass the big ones..


That's pretty cool that the seed germinated after breaking in half. I've never heard of that before. If it sprouted, it should be OK provided it is properly taken care of.

18/6 light is fine for the newly hatched.

It is common for some from the same batch to grow bigger than the others. I think it has mainly to do with how big of a root mass they get in the first week or two. You may want to take cuttings of the fastest growing/biggest ones and clone these for a mother or two.

[Opie Yutts]

Do they seem to be growing at a good rate? Fast, slow, about average? Shorter plants are sativas? Any comments or suggestions are much appreciated...

Growth seems about right. Shorter bushier plants are usually indica.

[Opie Yutts]

Anybody ever use that dutch masters and florablend? got it for free


Ive not used either, but General Hydro generally makes good stuff.

[Opie Yutts]

It looks like you kinda are getting the hang of it, and getting a feel for what needs to happen in hydro. Keep up the good work and you will soon be smoking your own creation.

[GodBud]

Remember when you increase food, do it slowly and in stages so that you can watch for any signs of nute burn.
.

Opie

I applaud you on taking time to answer questions on here. Great stuff man!

My ppms last week were 750 then last night I bumped it up to like 830 or so. At what intervals with regards to ppms are you thinkin.

I also think I read on here that some like to push the pant(s) max and just burn the very tips on the fan leaves then back off a hair. How long (in hours) would you guestimate you would notice this in the plant?

Thanks B


Latest pic

26 days from sprout

[Cyclonite]

Hydro will tell you in 24hrs if they dont like it:thumbsup:

[Opie Yutts]

My ppms last week were 750 then last night I bumped it up to like 830 or so. At what intervals with regards to ppms are you thinkin.

I also think I read on here that some like to push the pant(s) max and just burn the very tips on the fan leaves then back off a hair. How long (in hours) would you guestimate you would notice this in the plant?


I think for a plant that size you are doing it about right. Here's my schedule, but remember I figured this out after a couple harvests of experimenting to find the right amount. Yours could be different. Also my well water starts with 260 ppm before I add anything.

week 1-2: Whatever ppm happens when you mix 3 drops of SuperThrive per gallon. I usually leave them in the cloner for 2 weeks, sometimes even more, unless I am in a hurry. In that case maybe 10 days. Sometimes I've even started growing them in the cloner (if I'm busy or something), and start upping the ppm right there.

week 3: At the start of week 3 the plants come out of the cloner and go into the system. I pull the light at least 3 feet back for my 600W, or 2 1/2 feet for my 400 watt (Also decided through experimentation). My ppm goes up to 650. During the few times I grow from seed and in dirt, at week three I go to about 400 instead, and lower the other weeks ppm a little too.

week 4: ppm = 1000

week 5: ppm = 1200

week 6 through harvest: ppm = 1450

Yes, a good way to find out exactly how much food your plants want is to keep increasing slowly, maybe 50 or 100 ppm at a time. Keep doing so until you notice the first signs of nute stress, which is yellowing on the tips and leaf edges, then back it off 50 or 100 ppm. Make sure you take special note of the recipes, so you only have to go through it once. It's kind of a pain.

And Cyclonite is correct. You should start seeing signs of stress in about 24 hours, give or take.

Check this out, it might give you some ideas:

[GrowMe]

Opie

I applaud you on taking time to answer questions on here. Great stuff man!

Well said!

And those pics look great GodBud! I'm jealous..a few days behind you but seems like a few weeks by the looks of things..

This pic i just took and shes not looking too good..I gotta get a damn PPM pin..Can someone give me a link or tell me the make and model of one you prefer?


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02138.jpg


A few more pics for yer viewing pleasure..

Pics don't do em justice..The big green bitch is supposed to be Jack herer and forgot the purples name....However it has little purple bulbs all over it..almost looks like purple seeds at first glance..smoke is amazing..smell, taste, etc. Same for Jack..!!!


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02136.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02135.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02134.jpg

Opie, thanks for all the great advice..I hope i am on my way to burning my own creation..

Few things :

1) I forgot to F***ing soak my hydroton before hand and my ph has been a real bitch to control since i switched to bigger buckets..How long will this last? Should i change?

2)LIghts? I need more lights..i have 4 26 Watt CFLs.. 5500K What should i add if i put two more bulbs in there?

3)some of hte roots are turning brown..Are they dying?

Thanks for everything everyone!

[GrowMe]

Damn my camera blows..Wish yhou guys could see that bud in person..or youd probably rather partake but you know what i mean..thanks again..i'll be patiently waiting..

[Opie Yutts]

Need better camera or better focus. Pics are blurry.

1) I forgot to F***ing soak my hydroton before hand and my ph has been a real bitch to control since i switched to bigger buckets..How long will this last? Should i change?
I'm not exactly qualified to answer that question since I don't use rockwool. My understanding is that it can continue fluctuating throughout the grow. Remember rockwool sucks? And that's not the only reason it sucks. I am making the automatic PH doser listed in the grow faqs. If I was in your situation I would definitely consider doing that too. You can have rockwool and not have to worry about PH at the same time.

2)LIghts? I need more lights..i have 4 26 Watt CFLs.. 5500K What should i add if i put two more bulbs in there?
Of course the more the better up to a certain point. That point is a long way off in your circumstance. 5500K is perfect for veg. Where did you get them? All I kind find in stores around here is 5800, and that's if they even have anything other than 2700K. As usual I recommend HID lighting, but that takes a lot of venting. If you're sticking with CFL I would get about 4 more, or some bigger ones. Also it's best if you could have about 15% red spectrum while vegging, and the opposite during budding.

3)some of hte roots are turning brown..Are they dying?
Pictures? It could be root rot, but probably not, it's more likely discoloration from the nutrients.

[GrowMe]

I'll try and get some pics up soon of hte roots..or the lack there of..as far as lights..what about like the 300 watt lights you can get anywhere..i think they are clear bulbs..is that bad for flowering?

How you like the pics?

[GodBud]

Well I am wondering how soon I will be able to tell the sex. I bought the beans Femenized as advertised from growshopalien. I hope its a girl. I will be optomistic. This particular strain is a Jack Herer. The bud Growme posted although blury looks pretty tasty. The plant just fanned out it first set of 9s. How soon do you think until I can tell sex and when would you suggest 12/12?

Peace

Day 28 Veg

[Opie Yutts]

It depends a bunch on your goals. Some people skip vegging completely and go right to 12/12. You get less weed per plant that way, but you get to harvest more often/sooner. If you want to tell the sex before the normal time to change lights, search presex or presexing.

[GodBud]

Opie,

Yeah I am familiar with putting them into 12/12 for a couple weeks to get gender then going back to 18/16, it sets you back a little but if not in a hurry then why not. I dont wanna do that. It will show sex eventually. I was just wondering if there was a correlation between the leaf sets to showing sex. For example, is there a trend where say the next 1 or 2 nodes after the first set of 9, is when sex will show during the veg cycle. Thats just an example of what I am asking.

Peace

[GrowMe]

Good questions GodBud. I'm curious about that as well.. Yours looks very healthy and strong!

I have a few questions for someone..

As far as lighting goes, i have a small space and venting is an issue..can't do anything that involves ballasts or anything of that nature..I noticed at Home depot they have 75 watt High Pressure Sodium bulbs that appear to screw into a regular size socket..Does it still require a ballast for the smaller HPS bulbs?

What about using this?

z-100 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2700K Warm White - Mogul Base CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/z-100-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/m35844.htm)

If i buy this how much more will i need? Basically i'm trying to make the most of hte area i have and funds to spend.. I need to know what hte least amount of watts i can use for a 3.5' x 2.5' x 6' area... 4 plants..

Also are any of these PPM meters decent?

HM TDS-4 METER Digital Thermometer PPM TESTER Hydro New - (eBay item 320190391707 end time Dec-04-07 03:10:27 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HM-TDS-4-METER-Digital-Thermometer-PPM-TESTER-Hydro-New_W0QQitemZ320190391707QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20754Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

New TDS Meter Reverse Osmosis Reef RO Water PPM Tester - (eBay item 120188891405 end time Dec-02-07 19:32:59 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-TDS-Meter-Reverse-Osmosis-Reef-RO-Water-PPM-Tester_W0QQitemZ120188891405QQihZ002QQcategoryZ206 84QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

HANNA TDS1 TDS Tester/Meter/1, Water Filter/PPM/DI/RO - (eBay item 280176916370 end time Dec-03-07 16:35:14 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-TDS1-TDS-Tester-Meter-1-Water-Filter-PPM-DI-RO_W0QQitemZ280176916370QQihZ018QQcategoryZ43555QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

HANNA Primo TDS Meter, PPM Tester, Conductivity - (eBay item 280177712069 end time Dec-05-07 22:16:26 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-Primo-TDS-Meter-PPM-Tester-Conductivity_W0QQitemZ280177712069QQihZ018QQcatego ryZ42291QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)


Thanks again guys!

[GodBud]

I have seen those HPS at the depot. The one I saw was higher watts and said on the label it required a special ballast. You might read the label and see, if it doesnt say anything then just ask they are pretty helpful there.

Too bad you cant crank a 400 + HID :(

I use the Milwaukie SM802 Smart Combined Meter. It rocks!

Peace

How is that Herer bud?

[GrowMe]

Godbud i wish could too..Hopefully next time will be 1000 HID..For now gotta do the best i can with what i got..what about halogens? i've heard they aren't ideal, is that correct..I found these at 150 watt and 2700 kelvin..Whats the absolute best you can get? 2500k, 2700k, 3000k, 3500k? ??? ???

THanks for everything guys..got my other two in their seperate buckets today..i'll get some pictures up soon..

And that Jack Herer is sick..so is the purps..

Talk to you soon


10043 - Features & Photos - GE Home Lighting Products (http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=CONSUMERSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=10043&BreadCrumbValues=General%20Purpose_Standard_,0&ModelSelectionFilter=FT0010:General%20Purpose_Stan dard)

[GrowMe]

Sorry guys but i have a few more questions..with pictures.

Heres some haze i got today

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02176.jpg

First off one of hte leaves completely fell off today..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02173.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02148.jpg

How bad is that? The rest of the plant looks pretty good..pic of the roots..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02155.jpg

The roots exploded just in the last day or so...But only the two plants that i put in their own buckets..I'm using 2 gal buckets now..the roots are so damn long that they are touching the bottom of the buckets..Is this bad? As you can see in the pic below ive lowered the water level drastically so as little of the roots as possible are sitting in the water...Is this a big deal? SHould i go to bigger buckets? That would really suck...

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02154.jpg

I need help guys!!!!!

ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY THAT HAS COMMENTS, CRITICISMS AND SUGGESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHIME IN!!!! ITS MUCH APPRECIATED


The two that were in the starter bucket were the two that the roots were turning brown..i think it was because of lack of moisture..i believe they were starting to die...they are in they're own buckets as of tonight..pics below..hopefully they'll bounce back like the others..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02096.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02156.jpg


THanks everybody!!!!!

[Opie Yutts]

I was just wondering if there was a correlation between the leaf sets to showing sex. For example, is there a trend where say the next 1 or 2 nodes after the first set of 9, is when sex will show during the veg cycle. Thats just an example of what I am asking.

Sorry, I'm not sure about that. I've never tried to sex them in veg.

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GrowMe

..can't do anything that involves ballasts or anything of that nature..I noticed at Home depot they have 75 watt High Pressure Sodium bulbs that appear to screw into a regular size socket..Does it still require a ballast for the smaller HPS bulbs?
All HID lighting needs a ballast. In fact so does fluorescent lighting, it's just included. I suppose it is possible that the ballast is incorporated in with the bulb somehow, but if it doesn't mention anything about that on the package, it aint so and you'll need a 75 W HPS ballast.

What about using this?
z-100 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2700K Warm White - Mogul Base CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/z-100-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/m35844.htm)
If i buy this how much more will i need? Basically i'm trying to make the most of hte area i have and funds to spend.. I need to know what hte least amount of watts i can use for a 3.5' x 2.5' x 6' area... 4 plants..
I've seen people grow more than 4 plants with one of those, but I would want a little sumpin sumpin to go with it. That one is 2700K and for budding. I thought I saw somewhere some big ones like that, that are 5500K for vegging, but they are more expensive. Since you want 15% red for vegging and 15% blue for budding, you could have your sockets in a fixed position and change to the proper spectrum when you change from veg to bud. I would probably want about 4 other smaller bulbs, or another big one. One 5500 and one 2700K together for both veg and bloom would work pretty well for 4 plants I would think. That would make a little heat though and it would need to be vented somehow if the cabinet is sealed. For a place that small, if it has to hold everything, I guess I would not try HID lighting. I would definitely think hard about the possibilities of a sog or scrog grow in that little space. It is by far the best way to utilize a small space like that. Harvesting twice as often aint bad. You could also grow a little bigger than normal during cloning, skip vegging and go straight to flower. That would cut out the need for a flower section and give you room to keep a mother and cloner (a must in my book for any kind of repetitive harvesting).

Also are any of these PPM meters decent?
- HM TDS-4 METER Digital Thermometer PPM TESTER Hydro New - (eBay item 320190391707 end time Dec-04-07 03:10:27 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HM-TDS-4-METER-Digital-Thermometer-PPM-TESTER-Hydro-New_W0QQitemZ320190391707QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20754Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
- New TDS Meter Reverse Osmosis Reef RO Water PPM Tester - (eBay item 120188891405 end time Dec-02-07 19:32:59 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-TDS-Meter-Reverse-Osmosis-Reef-RO-Water-PPM-Tester_W0QQitemZ120188891405QQihZ002QQcategoryZ206 84QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
- HANNA TDS1 TADS Tester/Meter/1, Water Filter/PPM/DI/RO - (eBay item 280176916370 end time Dec-03-07 16:35:14 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-TDS1-TDS-Tester-Meter-1-Water-Filter-PPM-DI-RO_W0QQitemZ280176916370QQihZ018QQcategoryZ43555QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
- HANNA Primo TDS Meter, PPM Tester, Conductivity - (eBay item 280177712069 end time Dec-05-07 22:16:26 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/HANNA-Primo-TDS-Meter-PPM-Tester-Conductivity_W0QQitemZ280177712069QQihZ018QQcatego ryZ42291QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
That last one looks alright. I didn't read everything on those, but I noticed one was from Australia, and one only went to 999. You want ppms of around 1400, so that one might be for an aquarium.

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GodBud

I have seen those HPS at the depot. ...just ask they are pretty helpful there.
Huh? Well, I suppose, sometimes, if it's not a weekend or something.

Too bad you cant crank a 400 + HID
I suppose if you just had one area 6 feet tall, and the grow wasn't on a shelf or anything, and you vegged and budded in the same area, you might be able to do this with a cool tube or sealed hood and a couple good inline fans. Perhaps 75W or even 150W would be doable in a sog-type set up. Two levels with one HID each. Digital ballasts (for less heat) and inline fans could be mounted in one small section at the top and/or bottom. Mother and clones some small space in 1/4 of a closet somewhere else in the house. However... I'm thinken fluoro, and perhaps I would check into the newer, brighter and more efficient G5 tubes.

I use the Milwaukie SM802 Smart Combined Meter. It rocks!
Yeah, I wish I would have started off that way. Having one for PH and one for PPM aint so bad though.

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GrowMe

Heres some haze i got today
Looks nice.

First off one of hte leaves completely fell off today..
No biggie, that'll happen from time to time, especially on the lower ones. As long as the rest of the plant is healthy everything is fine.

How bad is that? The rest of the plant looks pretty good..
Not bad, see above.

the roots are so damn long that they are touching the bottom of the buckets..Is this bad?
No biggie, happens all the time. It would be pretty hard to stop it from happening, but there's no reason to.

As you can see in the pic below ive lowered the water level drastically so as little of the roots as possible are sitting in the water...Is this a big deal?
Well it something to think about. I don't know how big of a deal it is. It is very common for roots to be in water. You can have most of your roots in water, as long as you leave at least 4 inches or so that are not (at the top of course). It's best if they can have some in air, but you don't want so much in air that they get dried out. They need to get wet somehow, be it splashing from bubbles popping or intermittent spray jets, or drip from above, or whatever.

SHould i go to bigger buckets?
Did you say you have 5 or 3 gallon buckets? Either way both are plenty for a plant unless you are vegging an abnormally long time.

I need help guys!!!!!
I'm trying.

The two that were in the starter bucket were the two that the roots were turning brown..i think it was because of lack of moisture..i believe they were starting to die...they are in they're own buckets as of tonight..pics below..hopefully they'll bounce back like the others..
Can't exactly tell what happened from the blurry pictures. They usually do bounce back if they aren't too close to death.

[GrowMe]

THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH OPIE!!!!!!!!

You are making this a hell of a lot easier..or at least not as difficult to get my questions answered..

-As far as changing my setup to SOG or something different, thats not going to happen this time around..i think i like the seperate bucket setup i have going for now..this will only be a one time thing in this space..then when i move/have more room, i'm going to go to a larger more dynamic setup.

-The buckets i'm using are exactly 2 gallons..kinda small but work well for the space constraints..

-If I get the big 100W CFL @ 2700k for flower can i use 2 or 3 of the 26 watt 5500k veg bulbs that i'm using now along with that? Will that be sufficient for flower?

-What about these halogens? they are 150 Watt @ 2900k..However I noticed there was a big difference in the lumens..What to do? Thanks for everything guys..

10043 - Features & Photos - GE Home Lighting Products (http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=CONSUMERSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=10043&BreadCrumbValues=General%20Purpose_Standard_,0&ModelSelectionFilter=FT0010:General%20Purpose_Stan dard)

[GrowMe]

What about Crystal clear bulbs? What kind of Kelvins do these have? They are 300 watts with pretty hight lumens..These def wouldn't work huh?

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GrowMe

-The buckets i'm using are exactly 2 gallons..kinda small but work well for the space constraints..
That's not a problem. Right now in my temporary grow I have 6 plants sharing 2 gallons, and they are doing fine.

-If I get the big 100W CFL @ 2700k for flower can i use 2 or 3 of the 26 watt 5500k veg bulbs that i'm using now along with that? Will that be sufficient for flower?
That would probably be good, if you get the lights real close to the plants. It's especially good you would be mixing colors. It should produce some nice buds.

-What about these halogens? they are 150 Watt @ 2900k..However I noticed there was a big difference in the lumens..What to do?
Halogens are bad. They run way too hot to do any good. If you are going to run that hot you can use HID lighting, and have twice the lumens per watt. Usually the wrong wavelength too, but 2900K might not be too bad, since your second choice for flowering is 2750K.

[Opie Yutts]

What about Crystal clear bulbs? What kind of Kelvins do these have? They are 300 watts with pretty hight lumens..These def wouldn't work huh?

I don't know for sure what Crystal clear bulbs are. Aren't they incandescent? Gotta link?

[Opie Yutts]

what about halogens? i've heard they aren't ideal, is that correct..I found these at 150 watt and 2700 kelvin..Whats the absolute best you can get? 2500k, 2700k, 3000k, 3500k? ??? ???

10043 - Features & Photos - GE Home Lighting Products (http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=CONSUMERSPECPAGE&PRODUCTCODE=10043&BreadCrumbValues=General%20Purpose_Standard_,0&ModelSelectionFilter=FT0010:General%20Purpose_Stan dard)

Sorry I missed this one earlier. Again no halogens. See above.

As for the best spectrum, that's really hard to tell. There are lots of things to consider when trying to figure out the best anything for a plant, light included. Unless I hear of a better way though, I am going to stick with whatever gives the plants the best chance at peak chlorophyll activity. According to the chart, 5700 and 6100K are the best choices for vegging, not between. 2450 and 2750K are the best for budding, not between. The best choice of each is the lower value. Good luck finding exactly those numbers on a bulb. Interestingly, you can achieve those numbers with LED lights, hmmm. Halogen lights normally hit somewhere in between the ideal numbers, or worse yet in between red and blue.

[GrowMe]

Heres the crystal clear light..its 300 watts and 6000+ lumens..I know they are not for foliage..they don't state kelvins..Does that not apply for clear bulbs? Just trying to get the most watts as possible in a small bulb..and they're cheap! Don't really wanna pay 60 dollars for a CFL if i can avoid it..i plan on buying a nice setup in the upcoming months so i wanna pay as little as possible..i've already spent a couple hundred bucks and don't even know if they're sluts yet..

Buy 300 Watt - Light Bulb General Purpose - Crystal Clear 20861 by GE Lighting at Hardware and Tools Corp. (http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u251462?ref=gbase)


That's not a problem. Right now in my temporary grow I have 6 plants sharing 2 gallons, and they are doing fine.

How the hell you do this Opie? Pics by chance, would love to see your setup..Or is this just for vegging you talking about?? Ve3ry interested..

[GrowMe]

Check this out Opie.. Buy 38 Watt - 2D Fluorescent Replacement Lamp Bulb 4 Pin 25427 by GE Lighting at Hardware and Tools Corp. (http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u134513)

If I buy 5 of those its going to cost about the same as the big 100Watt CFL...HOWEVER 5 will be 190 Watts instead of 100..and instead of 6900 lumens with hte big cfl i can get 14250 lumens with 5 of these little guys.. What do you think?? Whats a four pin plug??? Can i make it work in a closet?

THanks man!!!!

???????????

[GrowMe]

Or.......

40 Watt Compact Flourescent Spiral 2700K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/40-Watt-Compact-Flourescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/fe-iis-40w-27k.htm)

42 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2700K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/42-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/tcp28942.htm)

42 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2800K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/42-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2800K-Warm-White-p/b509542.htm)


Not sure what to do but one of these 3 above may be the final decision..I'm going to have a total of 3 - 10" aluminum reflectors w/ 2way splitters in each..I'm going to have a total of 6 bulbs all together..i was thinking maybe 4 - 40 Watt cfl (2700K) and 2 of the bulbs i have now..26 watt cfl (5500k)...What you think bout them apples?

That would put me at 212 watts and around 14000 lumens give or take...i think that might be better for me than buying the big one..it would be hard to position that one i think..anyway let me know what you think..is that enough for decent results? Thanks

[Opie Yutts]

Heres the crystal clear light..its 300 watts and 6000+ lumens..I know they are not for foliage..they don't state kelvins..Does that not apply for clear bulbs? Just trying to get the most watts as possible in a small bulb..and they're cheap! Don't really wanna pay 60 dollars for a CFL if i can avoid it..i plan on buying a nice setup in the upcoming months so i wanna pay as little as possible..i've already spent a couple hundred bucks and don't even know if they're sluts yet..

1. Buy 300 Watt - Light Bulb General Purpose - Crystal Clear 20861 by GE Lighting at Hardware and Tools Corp. (http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u251462?ref=gbase)

2. That's not a problem. Right now in my temporary grow I have 6 plants sharing 2 gallons, and they are doing fine.
How the hell you do this Opie?

1. That's an incandescent. Bad.

2. Like this: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/140716-lsttt-low-stress-twisty-tie-training.html. It's called an Emily's Garden, and I keep telling people it is one of the easiest ways to produce big fat nugs. Very nice for beginners. Hard to go wrong.

[Opie Yutts]

Check this out Opie.. Buy 38 Watt - 2D Fluorescent Replacement Lamp Bulb 4 Pin 25427 by GE Lighting at Hardware and Tools Corp. (http://www.hardwareandtools.com/invt/u134513)

If I buy 5 of those its going to cost about the same as the big 100Watt CFL...HOWEVER 5 will be 190 Watts instead of 100..and instead of 6900 lumens with hte big cfl i can get 14250 lumens with 5 of these little guys.. What do you think?? Whats a four pin plug??? Can i make it work in a closet?

THanks man!!!!

???????????

It looks like that could have a lot of advantages. I've never heard of someone using those before, but I don't see why not. You could spread out your light better and get those bulbs in close to the plants. However, it has a plug for a lamp or something (the kind of lamp that sits on an end table). You could probably buy a cheapo lamp that fits the 4 pin plug in a second hand store or something, and take out the socket, or I'll bet there is sockets to wire those at Home Depot or an electrical supply store. Those are for budding (2700K), but you could mix those with some vegging bulbs and the veggers should do pretty good.

[Opie Yutts]

Or.......

40 Watt Compact Flourescent Spiral 2700K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/40-Watt-Compact-Flourescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/fe-iis-40w-27k.htm)

42 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2700K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/42-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2700K-Warm-White-p/tcp28942.htm)

42 Watt Compact Fluorescent 2800K Warm White CFL (http://www.buylighting.com/42-Watt-Compact-Fluorescent-2800K-Warm-White-p/b509542.htm)


Not sure what to do but one of these 3 above may be the final decision..I'm going to have a total of 3 - 10" aluminum reflectors w/ 2way splitters in each..I'm going to have a total of 6 bulbs all together..i was thinking maybe 4 - 40 Watt cfl (2700K) and 2 of the bulbs i have now..26 watt cfl (5500k)...What you think bout them apples?

That would put me at 212 watts and around 14000 lumens give or take...i think that might be better for me than buying the big one..it would be hard to position that one i think..anyway let me know what you think..is that enough for decent results? Thanks

I think that should do pretty good. Having several as opposed to fewer and bigger, allows you to position them better. Try to get them as close to the plants as possible, and please send pictures.

[GrowMe]

Check these pics out

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02181.jpg

Temps never get below 78, 79 and thats when the lights are off and good fans going..

That is until we found this little beauty..Anybody ever see/use one of these before..What you do is put ice in the back of it and the fan blows cold air out..lowered the temps 10-12 degrees easily...Don't really need it at night or even in the day yet but prob will when the bright lights go on soon..let me konw what you think..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02182.jpg

[GrowMe]

few more pics..this portable a/c unit is badass however the ice melts pretty quickly..prob within an hour and half, two hours..also i forgot it has a resevoir for the melted ice and a mister in front of hte air vent..mists the cold melted water w/ on and off switch..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02188.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02189.jpg

[GrowMe]

Whats optimum temperature? 73???

[Opie Yutts]

Yeah that's pretty cool, except you have to keep adding water all the time. I've seen those before and thought about using them. Mini swamp coolers, they are. The concept has been around for a long time, but not packaged so nicely. I've thought about getting one of those and rigging a small pump to pump the melted ice to an ice maker, then automatically the ice goes into the swamp cooler again. I gave up on the concept but I think it could be done with a little Mcgyver mentality.

You had to ask about the temp. Well you brought this on yourself, another thing for you to buy. The only true way to know if your temps are correct is to take the temperature of the leafs. The only way I know to do this is with a laser thermometer. The leaf temps should be under 80 degrees at all times, and that is always a little different than the air temps. How different? Anywhere from 3 to 8 degrees or something. Gotta keep the temps in the grow under 82 to be sure the leaf temps are under 80. This is how I figure out how far away I have to keep my lights. I raise them pretty far up, then take the leaf temps, then keep lowering the light, waiting a couple hours, then taking the leaf temp again until the leaves are averaging about 76.

Laser thermometers are anywhere from $25 plus shipping to $60 at a store.

[GrowMe]

Yeah i read some of your posts about that..i think for now i'm going to spend my money on some other stuff first..i figured you'd seen the cooler or something similar before but thought id ask..even tho you have to keep refilling the ice, its a quick and pretty cheap fix as long as you can do it a couple times a day when 12/12 lighting is in effect..

As far as the cab temp what do you think is optimum? you think 68 is too low or they like that at night?

Thanks again

[GodBud]

Damn bros going high tech!

I am beginning to take on the mentality to let the plants do the talkin. If the ambient temps feel good to me then I am sure they feel fine with the plant. Its starting to get cold where I live so I put a small heater in the grow area thats set to a thermostat. But as far as temp changes from lights on and lights off they cant be that drastic cuz my plant is looking really good. :thumbsup:

Peace

[GrowMe]

Thanks Godbud..Post an updated pic if you can..i have one of four that is really starting to take off..Fingers crossed its a lady.

[GrowMe]

Also what do you set the thermo at on your heater? Thought they liked it being cool/cold at night.. Or is that only when they are budding? Not at all?

THanks

[GrowMe]

Yet another question about lighting.

Is it better to have a bigger bulb (bigger in actual size) than multiple smaller bulbs..Even tho with 4 - 40 watt bulbs i will have more watts than the 1 - 100 watt bulb..(13" long)..Do you think the big bulb gives off more energy or light somehow? Or covers more space?

Thanks

[Opie Yutts]

No, I think watts are watts whether they are from the big bulb or several smaller ones. More watts is better, more lumens is even better, and more radiant flux is the best, since that is the real light and not what we see. If you really want to impress people buy something to measure radiant flux, not lumens, and there can be no doubt to the answer to your question. Most people are wrong about the true way to measure the light. Lumens are only what humans can see. There's lots of other light, and plants see some of it.

It's whatever fits your space the best. I think several smaller ones are most often better because you can position them better to cover more areas, and get them close to the plants in more places.

And I thought I answered this already, but maybe not. The best temp. IMO is 82. Any higher and you will not be sure the leaf temps are less than 80 which is important. As for the nighttime, you don't want a drop of more than 15 degrees, 10 would be better.

[GrowMe]

Sorry if i asked the same question twice..i may have missed your answer..

Anyway i'm really having a hard time deciding what to do for the flowering cycle as far as lights go..especially since i'm going to go to a nice 1000 watt system in the upcoming months..I want to spend as little as possible but not so little that i get shitty results. I could get the smaller 40 watt bulbs and place them accordingly like you said and end up with about 212 watts all together..(160 from the warm bulbs and 52 from the veg bulbs) Or i could get the bulb below and add some of hte bulbs i have now.. What you think?

MaxLite 35872-ML SKO200EAWW 200W 120V 8U Tube E39 Mogul Base 2700K Warm White 10,000 Hour HighMax HPF Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) - 850W Incandescent Equivalent - High and Low Bays, Gymnasiums, Wall Packs, Warehouses, Churches (http://www.lightbulbemporium.com/proddetail.asp?prod=35872%2DML)

I'd end up with 200 watts warm bulb and up to as much as 104 watts from the 4 veg bulbs i have...Is it worth is for the price? I could use this with my 1000 watt system next year..just to add a couple hundred watts..Better idea?

Another question - Is that correct about this light lasting 10,000 hours? If thats true and my stoner calculations are correct, then that light will last me approximatly 14 grows @ 12 hrs a day for 60 days... ????

What are your thoughts? and are these hard to keep temps down? or they good like most cfls? Thanks so much guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:thumbsup: :smokin:

[Opie Yutts]

I've not used those monster bulbs, so I'm not sure how much heat they give off. It will be an issue, but probably not a huge issue. I imagine you could rig a small computer fan next to it and that would take care of the heat issue. Just don't blow the heat down on your plants.

You know the basics about the kind of lights required, and your calculations seem correct, you are just going to have to choose what you think would be best for your situation. If I knew I was going to do a much nicer set up next, I would try to save my money for that. Then again, as you said you could use the bulbs you buy now, in your next set up. It may be smart to buy a little more light at this point and figure the new ones into your next design.

I don't know if I'm helping, sorry, a little buzzed.

[GrowMe]

You're def helping..id like as much feedback as possible..just trying to weigh out our options..like i said i wanna save my money for bigger and better htings in the near future but don't want to sacrifice yield for a few extra bucks..

With that being said i think we are going to go with the 200 watt CFL and what do you say? 2, 3, or 4 of the 5500k - 26 w cfls???? how many of those to go with the monster CFL??? I don't want to get too much blue spectrum if thats something i should worry bout? letmeknow...thanks os much

[GodBud]

I know you guys shifted over the light topic just thought I would slap a pic up and get your opinion on a question. The plant is doing great got it up to 1250 ppms all other specs are normal as should be. But I am a little concerned at the growth rate. seems a little slow for 31sh days. What do you think?

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

With that being said i think we are going to go with the 200 watt CFL and what do you say? 2, 3, or 4 of the 5500k - 26 w cfls???? how many of those to go with the monster CFL???

If you don't want to get blue cfl's then that would probably be OK. Your plants will grow with only bud bulbs, and not badly. However with some blue ones, they will be more likely to grow a little bushier, with more nodes coming out the sides instead of one or two main stems going straight up. I would say 3 or 4 since you can usually find them for less than $4 each.

[Opie Yutts]

The plant is doing great got it up to 1250 ppms all other specs are normal as should be. But I am a little concerned at the growth rate. seems a little slow for 31sh days. What do you think?

It does look a little slower than the average of how my plants grow. But I can have 4 that grow really big and fast, and another 4 from the same batch, growing in the same conditions, and growing about half as well. And they look healthy, just as yours does. I am fairly certain this has to do with the first few weeks of a plants life. If it grows a nice big root mass in the beginning, you will get nice big, fast growing plants in the end (and middle, and pre middle.) After a couple three weeks you are out of luck if the plant hasn't grown a big root mass by then. That's just the way some plants do whether they are from seeds or clones. If you choose to use it anyway, you will be struggling with it until harvest, or else it will grow slow and not produce many nodes or buds. That's why it's best if you can start more than you need, pick the best/biggest/most healthy ones and feed the others to your goats. Seed prices being what they are I know that it's often hard to toss out females that you've worked so hard for, to get them to the point when you can sex them. That's why it's important to me (and for other reasons) to keep mothers, take extra cuttings, and root them in something that is conducive to good root growth, like a cheapo aerocloner. Using scarification this gives the plant a chance at a great root mass.

Now, I hope I didn't bum you out man. Your plant is not real bad, just kinda behind a little. Just keep keeping it healthy and hope for the best. It may take a little longer to veg than some, but you could get a nice big bushy plant before you go to budding.

[Opie Yutts]

Also GodBud, I can't recall if you said what kind of lighting you are using, but whatever it is more light = more weed, or the same amount sooner. Perhaps I would try to find a couple 23 or 36W (or even bigger if you've got the gold pressed lattinum) blue wavelength cfl's and put one on each side of her close to the top, and close to the plant. I think you would notice an improvement. :thumbsup:

[GodBud]

If I take a clone are you saying that I could have another chance at a better root mass and get a bad ass plant. It seems to me that I would just be doing the same thing all over again if it all lay in the genes. Your thoughts.

I have heard that there are certain strains that just take a lot longer than others to complete a full grow cycle. Nobody on here that I have found knows anything about the Jack Herer genetics.
Your thoughts

Lets say the plant is a runt but I decide to go through with the full cycle. Would the buds be as potent or are we just talking yield?
Your thoughts

Thanks Man

Peace

[GodBud]

Also GodBud, I can't recall if you said what kind of lighting you are using, but whatever it is more light = more weed, or the same amount sooner. :

400 Watt interchangable HPS/MH

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GodBud

If I take a clone are you saying that I could have another chance at a better root mass and get a bad ass plant. It seems to me that I would just be doing the same thing all over again if it all lay in the genes. Your thoughts.

Clones from one mother can have varying vigor. There can be sub runts, runts, monsters, and super monsters. It depends mostly IMO on whether or not a plant is able to develop a nice big root mass in the first 2 or 3 weeks. If it doesn't, you might as well chuck the plant, or you will be struggling with it to catch up to others the whole grow. It can depend on many things, a biggie being what part of the mother it was taken from. My plants seem to do the best when I get lower older cuttings or the main node(s). Also, how much moisture it received, how the scarification turned out, where in the cloner it was placed, etc. However, it still is a clone, and it should be able to produce better offspring than itself if given a proper chance, unlike it's mother.

I have heard that there are certain strains that just take a lot longer than others to complete a full grow cycle.

You absolutely heard correct my friend. Seed sellers may tend to exaggerate, but some say they have seeds that have a budding cycle as little as 40 days. I've also heard of flowering cycles as long as 140 days. Can't recall the strain. Now vegging cycles are much more similar between strains, with the average being 6-8 weeks. Some plants are ruda_-something, rudarellas? I don't remember without searching, but they have an extremely short veg time. Some argue that they have absolutely no veg time and start budding immediately. It seems likely to me that they have at least a day or two of vegging in there somewhere. These kind of plants are more rare, and include the ever popular Lowryder. Veg time of course depends a lot on what the grower wants, and some people do away with veg entirely whether or not they have a rudasomething strain like lowryder. If you are interested in the various characteristics of a particular strain, including finishing or flowering times, a good place to look is on seed sellers' web sites like Marijuana Seeds (cannabis, pot) shipped worldwide (http://www.kindseed.com).

Nobody on here that I have found knows anything about the Jack Herer genetics.
Your thoughts

Jack is a real guy who wrote "The Emperor Wears no Clothes" If I remember right he ran for president at some point. He is pro weed and thinks the government is hiding the facts about it. He named the strain after his favorite cross which is Haze x Skunk x Northern Lights #5. Can't remember percentages. Hmmm. Sounds real nice to me. Never grown it or tried any, but I want to soon. (both) Oh yeah, it's mainly sativa and (I think) takes a little longer than average to flower. I'm sure someone could answer this better than I am.

Lets say the plant is a runt but I decide to go through with the full cycle. Would the buds be as potent or are we just talking yield?
Your thoughts

That is hard to say for sure, but for the most part I think a runt would be just as potent. That is as long as you didn't care for it less because it's a runt or something. I would expect yield to be the main concern by far.

[GrowMe]

Just wanted to say hello and give a big FUCK YOU to PH..Am i going to have to correct the PH every damn day throughout the entire grow? I figured by now it would have settled a bit but everyday i check it and every day i have to adjust it..This is 4 weeks now and getting very old..Is it bad to make the PH too low so i only have to adjust it every 2 days or so? I put it to 5.5 or so everyday and within 24 hours its like 8.0 :wtf:

I'll get some pics up within hte next few days to show you some progress..one plant looks awesome..ones ok and two of them suck shit..Guess this is pretty normal tho eh?

Anyway thanks for any advises. :rasta:

[GodBud]

Growme

Yo B...... How much water do you have in the res? I have found that the less water the harder to keep the ph in check. I have 10 gal of water and I never have a problem with it changing. When I tried to start a plant in a 3 gal res my ph was constantly fluxing but ever since I went to more volume it settled down nicely.

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

everyday i check it and every day i have to adjust it..This is 4 weeks now and getting very old..Is it bad to make the PH too low so i only have to adjust it every 2 days or so? I put it to 5.5 or so everyday and within 24 hours its like 8.0.

That is not normal and it really sucks. You are going to have to

A. continue adjusting daily or
B. get bottled water or
3. get a reverse osmosis machine and some calmag or
lastly. build this: http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/58098-build-ph-doser-controller-under-100-tutorial.html

I've got the parts for two of them and I have one of them half put together. It's very basic. Never worry again regardless what water you use. I don't have much of a creeping PH problem, but I am aiming to not have to add PH ever, except into my automatic doser reservoir.

And it is fine to aim a little low if you know it's going to creep up. I would not aim below 5.1 though. It is best however to try and avoid fluctuations. You could try it a little at first and see if your plants object.

[GrowMe]

THanks for the advice Godbud and Opie..the problem is i don't have a resevoir that holds my solution..im using 4 seperate buckets..so i have to check PH 4 times and adjust a bare minimum of 4 times..and thats if i get it perfect the first time.....(never happens) usually 2 or 3 times per bucket..THATS FUCKING REDICULOUS and to be honest i refuse to do it..

I'm honestly to hte point where i'm just going to check it every few days and deal with it accordingly..if they die they die..as much as i don't want to, i guess i can wait a few months if this happens..like ive said previously i plan on going to a nice, big setup early next year..i just wanted to try and get the hang of hydro with 4 plants before i go and destroy 25...

[Opie Yutts]

Well at least you have a good attitude about it. For next time: 1) don't use any rockwool. 2) have one res for all the plants. 3) if you still have that creeping PH problem I would definately consider building the automatic doser.

[GrowMe]

Thanks again opie but don't confuse that last post for a good attitude.. :mad:

I'm a little pissed considering we've already spent close to 200 bucks on misc crap..

I'm not giving up just yet..i couldn't bring myself to just let them perish without a fight..So i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens..i'll get some pics up later..Everything seems ok except the damned PH..

Opie as for next time.. what do you use instead of rockwool? You think this is the cause of PH bitchiness..

Also, is there any threads on this board (or elsewhere for that matter) that have pictures of your setup or one that you would like to use?????

I thought the bucket thing was a good idea but is a hella pain in the ass to change solution..

Any ideas are greatly appreciated..

THanks

[GrowMe]

Oh yeah i forgot to tell you..in a previous post you mentioned going to bottled water..

From day one i've been using gallons of distilled water..Walmart distilled water measures pretty much perfect as far as PH goes after i add nutes.. Winn Dixie, aquafina, or our tap water is way off so i've just been buying gallons to save the hassle of adjusting right off the bat...

You think distilled water is bad for some reason????

Or

You think the PH problem is still in effect from the hydroton, or rockwool????????

The roots are kicking ass so what problems will i run into with this continous PH issue...

THanks again for everything guys/gals!!!

[Opie Yutts]

Opie as for next time.. what do you use instead of rockwool? You think this is the cause of PH bitchiness..

Also, is there any threads on this board (or elsewhere for that matter) that have pictures of your setup or one that you would like to use?????


Instead of rockwool to start plants from seed, you could use Rapid Rooters, bark plugs, coco fiber, a sponge, a 50% perlite/vermiculite mixture, or anything that will hold the plant up once roots take hold. I think stinky attic recommends the bark plugs, but I've never tried them. I root clones in an aerocloner, then put them directly into clay pellets.

My closet is all tore apart and there are not really pictures of it up yet. What I am doing in the mean time is a temporary Emily's Garden set up, which is very good for beginners, or anyone who wants to keep it simple yet achieve a great yield.
http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/140716-lsttt-low-stress-twisty-tie-training.html

[Opie Yutts]

I've never heard of distilled water being bad. As long as you end up with 5.5 PH and a reasonable PPM, the water shouldn't matter. It is possible that the water you are using has fluctuation problems. Be sure to look for water that says it has been reverse osmosised, then add CalMag to replace the good stuff that was stripped out. Some bottled water is RO, and some is from a pond or something. If I were in your shoes I might consider trying my tap water to see if that does better than what you've been buying. Just neutralize chlorine with drops if it is city water.

Hydroton does not cause PH problems, but rockwool does. Who knows if your problem is RW or not, but I would use something else next time to be safe.

[GrowMe]

Ordered my 200 watt 2700K CFL today..Hopefully get it by this end up this next week and go to flower then..That will be 6 weeks of veg for 2 plants and 5 or so weeks for the other 2 plants..There is a definate leader, one that looks to be a week behind and then 2 that look to be about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks behind..I should be able to see gender soon right?

I had a question.....I had extra germed seeds so i put them in solo cups with peat moss and only one survived..I had it in with the others and then put it to a bigger pot and added some top soil and put it outside...its been outside for probably 2 weeks now and it seems to like it...ALmost looks healthier than my indoor..NOW the question..I'm not sure exactly how much room i'm going to need for each plant and including hte one outside i have 5..hopefully we'll get atleast 2 females but if theres more i think i'll only have room for 3 possibly 4..What you think?

Next question was can i bring the outdoor plant in when i switch to flowering schedule? As long as its a female of course..

Anyone ever do that before???

For the lights i'll have 200 watts at 2700k and 104 watts of the 5500k bulbs..Do you think 304 watts is sufficient to yield some decent buds???

Anyone ever use these BIG CFLS????


THanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

[Opie Yutts]

quote=GrowMe

There is a definate leader, one that looks to be a week behind and then 2 that look to be about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks behind..I should be able to see gender soon right?
You can search presex or presexing if you are interested in that sort of thing. I've always sexed a couple weeks after going to flower. I toss the males and make mothers from females, and clones from mothers. No seeds if at all possible.

...its been outside for probably 2 weeks now and it seems to like it
Where the heck do you have the good fortune to live that you can grow plants outside during the middle of December? If I tried that here, they would go to flower, right after freezing to death. You lucky bastard.

I'm not sure exactly how much room i'm going to need for each plant and including hte one outside i have 5..hopefully we'll get atleast 2 females but if theres more i think i'll only have room for 3 possibly 4..What you think?
Please don't take it personally, but I've been in so many different grows lately I can't remember what you are growing. You might try good seed sellers like Marijuana Seeds (cannabis, pot) shipped worldwide (http://www.kindseed.com), to find out exactly what your variety is supposed to do on average. But one great thing about growing is that you get to decide the size and shape of your plants. You could veg for a couple years and have one plant take up your living room, or skip veg entirely and end up with more of a lollipop-lookin plant. For the first grow of any new strain it's kinda hard to tell exactly when to start flowering, as far as end size is concerned. Keep in mind though, plants will double or triple in size after going to flower. If it's getting bigger than you like, you can always cut some off. Be careful when doing this though. If you cut quite a bit (I don't know, half of it?), and keep doing it, you should consider trimming off some roots too. And generally, trimming makes more nodes with less buds per node. For a vague idea concerning the question, I mostly have been growing AK-47 and BBxNL. By the way, I completely recommend both. They are similar in stature and yield. I veg for about 6 weeks and by then the plants roughly take up an area of 2 cubic feet (1 foot wide and deep, and about 2 feet tall). I almost always do a little topping, which fills in the area with more nodes. Not topping will make the plant grow taller and skinnier, with less nodes (not necessarily less yield though). I nearly always use a screen in flower, so it's a little hard to tell, but I'm guessing my plants double in overall area after going to bloom.

Next question was can i bring the outdoor plant in when i switch to flowering schedule? As long as its a female of course..
Assuming your winters are beyond my comprehension and the plant hasn't already gone to flower, you can put it in flower when ever you want. Just don't drastically change it's environmental variables (temp, humidity) all at once.

Anyone ever do that before???
Many, many people.

For the lights i'll have 200 watts at 2700k and 104 watts of the 5500k bulbs..Do you think 304 watts is sufficient to yield some decent buds???
Absolutely. Isn't that equivalent to 800W incandescent or something? I should think that mixture and amount should produce some nice results for something like 4-6 plants. Just make sure you can take advantage of one of the great aspects of CFL, and position them so you can keep them nice and close to the plants at all stages of the game, except of course during sprouting. However watch out; the bigger the bulb, the hotter the bulb.

Anyone ever use these BIG CFLS????
Many have, I have not. I'm more of an HID guy, but my last grow I've been supplementing my HPS with a bunch of 23W 5800K CFLs.

Good luck. Keep up the good work. For such a simple concept, there's lots to learn and lots of variables, don't you think? Even the know-it-alls don't know it all.

[GrowMe]

Man Thanks sooo much Opie..It really is awesome you take your time to help others out..i'd be in the dark if it wasn't for you, and a few others..

As far as what i'm growing i really don't know..THey are from some bud that was grown outdoor..it was pretty good but am hoping it will be better if grown indoors.

This was all something i decided to do very quickly and basically jumped in blind..I germed the seeds and basically learned as i went..obviously making many mistakes that could have easily been avoided..If i would have just relaxed and learned a little before diving in head first i think these plants would be light years ahead of where they are now at 5 weeks 2 days old..

But not a big deal, i just hope they turn out to be decent plants..I was planning on vegging for about another week before swithching to flowering..and for the last week buying a 100 watt 6500K CFL..I found this biatch at Home Depot today in a different section from where i bought the 26 watters...I got raped paying 7 dollars a pieice for the little guys when this 100 watt bulb is only 16 bucks..(Mistake from hurrying into it) But anyway i'm going to add this for a week just to double the watts since i've been starving 4 plants with only 104 watts for 5 weeks.. :cool:

You think that will be a good idea? And also you think they will be far enough along to go to Flower?

Sometimes i think the big one is a female cause it looks like hairs but i don't know if they are white or just light green!?!?!?!! :wtf:

So in a week once i go to flowering i can bring the outdoor plant in and it can become an indoor again correct??????? Even tho its in soil..

By the way we had to bring it in and put it in the dark side of closet tonight..cause its too cold for the first time...

I'll get back to you with pictures.. I have no idea if i should cut or do anything to them..Id hate to start trimming shit off and kill the damn things..


Thanks for everything..

[Opie Yutts]

You think that will be a good idea? And also you think they will be far enough along to go to Flower?
I always condone more lighting, but remember more light also = more heat. And yes, if you want them to be, they are ready to flower. It just depends on your goals. Some people skip veg completely, harvest more often, and get less per harvest. If you're goal is to just get through a complete harvest, then I would say you have vegged long enough. If your goal is a whole bunch of bud, I would veg at least a month longer with your additional light(s).

Sometimes i think the big one is a female cause it looks like hairs but i don't know if they are white or just light green!?!?!?!! :wtf:
Hairs are a good sign, especially if they are coming out of a little pod-type thingee.

So in a week once i go to flowering i can bring the outdoor plant in and it can become an indoor again correct??????? Even tho its in soil..
Doesn't matter in the least. Indoor, outdoor, hydro, soil. Just try not to change the climate too drastically all at once, and check very carefully for spider mites or other pests, and do not let them near your other plants.

I'll get back to you with pictures.. I have no idea if i should cut or do anything to them..Id hate to start trimming shit off and kill the damn things..
If you do cut, just don't do too much at once. The only reason you would want to cut is to get more nodes. If you cut off the main node you will get 2 or 3 new ones in it's place, and you will be topping and making bushier plants. Just make sure you don't do this in flower or within a week from flower.

[GrowMe]

Got some updated pics here..This shits fun! Just hope we get some bud after all this work..And hopefully the light gets here soon..i wanna go to flower..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02280.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02279.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02283.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02284.jpg

I replaced one of the 26 watt 5500k CFL with a 42 watt 2700k CFL..I dropped the fuckin light right on top of one of the plants..kinda busted one of hte branches but its still attached and seems to be doing fine..Tomorrow will be 6 weeks..Do you think they are growing ok? Probably waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay behind cause of hte lights huh?

The soil one that we sat outside showed sex yesterday...Its a girl!!! :thumbsup: :D

I think I set in presexing without even trying..we brought her in for 2 nights and she was under the veg bulbs from 6 am to about 10 am and then went back outside for both days..

When i took her back out there yesterday or the day before i noticed some beautiful white hairs..

I REALLY REALLY HOPE the big one inside is a girl..she is so much bigger than the others, and way more undergrowth or whatever that is called..

So you said keep the outdoor plant far away from the others?? When i bring it inside for flowering?

We don't have any room for her now...i'm assuming not all 4 hydro plants are going to be females...As awesome as that would be..i'm sure i won't be so lucky...So unless theres only 1
female out of the 4 then there won't be a whole lot of room for them..they will be touching..

Is that not ok?

THanks so much for everything..!!!!!!!! :smokin:

[GrowMe]

Wooooooooooooohooooooooooooooooooo

Our outdoor just started budding this morning i believe...You can barely see in the picture but its there.... :jointsmile: :dance: :jumphappy:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02291.jpg

[GrowMe]

Ok WTF :eek: I'm kinda worried about this.. Last night i did a little pruning because there was a decent amount of dying leaves that looked to be in the way of fresh sprouting leaves..so i cut the tips of the leaves off...the brown, what appeared to be death leaves..Was this a bad idea? Look at the pic the whole damn arm came off with the leaves..I wasn't expecting the entire branch to fall off...the branch is still very moist and stinks like bud why are they coming off like that??????? Should i worry????

Thanks so much

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02293.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

Congratulations on the girl.

When you bring outdoor plants inside it is always a good idea to quarantine them for awhile until you make sure they have no pests or contagious diseases. Especially check very carefully for spider mites. They can just barely be seen with the naked eye, and would be on the underside of the leaves. I would at least run a magnifying glass over some of them to make sure. Spider mites suck, and I mean really, really bad. Never ever bring one inside if you can at all help it. You will be extremely sorry if you do. It's fine if you want to bring it in and have it touch the other plants. It's your decision, but it's also a gamble that I would not want to take. But that's just a guy that's had spider mites talking. If you're pretty sure you don't have them or other pests around there, then maybe I wouldn't worry so much.

Those leaves that fell of are dead. That's what they do when they die, so don't be worried, except to try and fix whatever is making the leaves dead. Again, this may be something to post about in the plant problem area, if there is even one of those anymore. However the top parts of the plants are looking nice and healthy at this point, so perhaps you've got the problem taken care of. Also I don't remember if you have a fan gently rustling the leaves. This is pretty important for several reasons, but i will help make the branches strong so they don't break off when they start adding weight from buds.

Also, did I mention not to let any spider mites in?

[GrowMe]

How do you think the hydro plants look Opie? Behind a little, a lot? How long till the sex shows? Is that only in flowering? I thought they show sex in vegging as well...let me know about how long it usually takes...Maybe its taking longer than normal cause we don't have a lot of watts??????/ What you think.???

THanks again!

[Opie Yutts]

They're not looking too bad really. Perhaps just a little behind, but no biggie, they've been through a lot. Sometimes sex is hard to tell without actually going to flower mode. On others it's pretty apparent, and they start showing within 3 weeks. Check for a little pod right at the top of where a branch joins the main stalk. If it's female there should be a couple hairs sticking out.

[GrowMe]

Ok i'll try and take some close up pictures..Waiting on this light to go to flower...kinda sucks, i was hoping it was going to get here before christmas..

I had a question to ask..i'm sure its a stupid question but i'm burnt right now so i figure i'll ask anyway..

When i check on the outdoor girl at night i use a tiki torch to look at her..Is it bad to have that close to it when its supposed to be sleeping???? Only for long period of time?

THanks

[GrowMe]

Is this PPM wand good? Will it last for a while and is good quality?

Nutrient Truncheon Wand EC/PPM/CF Meter Hydroponic NR! - (eBay item 320198890446 end time Dec-24-07 07:09:48 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/Nutrient-Truncheon-Wand-EC-PPM-CF-Meter-Hydroponic-NR_W0QQitemZ320198890446QQihZ011QQcategoryZ43555QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

Also which PH meters are better?

Oakton Ultra Basic pH Tester - (eBay item 200147232604 end time Dec-27-07 11:39:22 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/Oakton-Ultra-Basic-pH-Tester_W0QQitemZ200147232604QQihZ010QQcategoryZ756 70QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p1 638.m118)

NEW Milwaukee PH51 PH Tester - (eBay item 330199243401 end time Dec-26-07 11:56:07 PST) (http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Milwaukee-PH51-PH-Tester_W0QQitemZ330199243401QQihZ014QQcategoryZ884 33QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

What would you buy?? I'm thinking hte milwaukee cuase its cheap...What you think?

[Opie Yutts]

Darn, I really hate it when you type for about 10 minutes then hit the back button on the mouse. Well here we go again, only shorter probably:

Especially during flowering it becomes important to keep the dark period as dark as possible. If you change the light schedule much you increase the possibilities of problems and hermies, although they are rare. In fact sometimes people do this on purpose, that is mess with the light cycle to create hermaphrodites. Itâ??s my opinion that people in general make too big a deal about it. Iâ??ve looked in on my flowering girls many times at night, and done work in there with lights on. Iâ??ve never seen any ill effects. On the other hand I read something the other day that said if you keep your plants 100% light proof as opposed to 99%, your yield will be about 30% greater. I find this kind of hard to believe, just from my personal experiences. Just to be safe, I would keep dark, dark whenever possible.

Both Oakton and Milwaukee are great brands. If you have the money I would go with the Oakton. Itâ??s probably built slightly better and will likely last a little (or a lot) longer, but either will probably do fine.

Truncheon is a style of meter, and the one you show there is a â??knock-offâ?� of Bluelab. I recently bought both the Bluelab truncheon PPM and PH meter, and love them both. I thought they would be a little big, but it doesnâ??t bother me. In fact I think I kind of like it. Lotsa neat flashing lights for stoners too. Very easy to use, very straight forward. The Bluelab brand truncheons are waterproof. I donâ??t think the eBay add said that one was, but it might be anyway. I would think this is kind of important. Itâ??s real nice not to have to ever worry about if Iâ??m putting the meter too far in the solution. Not sure how durable that brand is (canâ??t tell what it is), but the Bluelabs are durable (the PPM meter). They say you can use it to stir your solution, and their video showed them dropping it on purpose. In general I believe you get what you pay for, but there are great deals too. I just donâ??t know. The Blue lab is about $150 for a good deal, or $180 otherwise. Love the auto on/off. Nope, sorry, thatâ??s the PH meter. The PPM meter is $110, or $135.

[Creesab]

Really nice thread .... such good help info offered, its nice.

I have the same sort of set up - buckets.

Couple key items I have noticed... 5 gallon buckets (depth) is amazing help for the root growth - plants are MUCH healthier and MUCH bigger... also a shared res. (even just another 5 gal bucket) makes keeping PH and nute levels at the right place easier.

right now I am fighting the cold in the garage and a cheap aquarium heater in the res. made all the difference.

carry on good gardeners....

[GrowMe]

Thanks opie..I really need to buy a ppm meter..i have absolutely no idea what its been hte entire grow so far...My big plant seems to have more brown and yellow spots on them...i'm thinking maybe deficiency since the biggest one is hte worst...Ive been using hte solution for hte PH...kinda sucks but better than not doinng it at all i guess...
THanks again for all hte help!!!!!!!!!!

Good stuff Creesab..what kind of lights are you running??

Bigger buckets are def a must if i do the same kind of setup next time...these are only 2.5 gallons...width seems ok but def. not deep enough...the roots reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally long..

Thanks for the tip..

[GrowMe]

Got my light in...Just put it up like that temporarily..I plan on building my own horizontal light fixture/hood to save a few bucks..Its a 200 watt CFL..hopefully heat wont be an issue..we'll see...Changed the schedule to 12/12 tonight...

How long till sex should show now that i'm in flowering?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02299.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02300.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02301.jpg

You think growth alright?

THanks so much

DAY 1 :420thought:

[Opie Yutts]

About 2 weeks until you can tell sex.

For a first grow, I think the growth is fine and dandy.

[GrowMe]

Here is our outdoor lady..When i tap the pot white dust falls from her..Pollen? Just curious. Looks like it has seeds all over her...???

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02425.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02426.jpg

I'll get some pics of the indoor ladies soon..Heres some gorgeous stuff we picked up today..Pics don't do justice..from left to right - Killer Blueberry - Rat Race - Jack Herer

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02427.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02429.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02430.jpg

[PharmaCan]

Here is our outdoor lady..When i tap the pot white dust falls from her..Pollen? Just curious. Looks like it has seeds all over her...???



I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but pic #1 is a male plant.

PC :smokin:

[GrowMe]

Shit, really? Thought something didn't look right...but it had white hairs in the beginning..

:chainsaw: :(

[Opie Yutts]

The fruit looks like little bananas. Male. White dust falls from plant. Definitely male.

Sorry man. Thanks for the photos though. Nice lookin nugs.

[Creesab]

lights...
I have fluors for the veg and a 400hps (dig. bal) for flower
I wish I had gotten at least a 600 for the flower
I may do an upgrade to a 600 and move the 400 to the veg.
1000 would be even better......

[GrowMe]

Thanks for the feedback...I'm running out of room indoors..ill get some pics up today..Actually ive already run out of room..at least for 4 plants..I believe i have one female inside and 2 males so far..the 4th i can't tell...But at the same time i'm not sure because i was certain the outdoor was a lady...??????????????? Had white hairs all over it...WTF?!?!?!

My sense of 'growing knowledge' has declined as my frustration level has risin quite a bit...

I'm kind of pissed off cause i don't know wtf is what..From the pictures ive seen of female plants with white hairs..mine looked just like that.. Hermie? Are we retarded? I just don't know how i could have mistaken that for a female...

I really NEED to get the males out of there..No room, and i don't want any females i have to get pollenated...Any advice or tips i may be missing is MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


THanks so much!!

[GrowMe]

These may help..probably gonna be huge when you open the file..Both these pictures are of same plant.

:( Male right?

THanks

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/07002.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/07004.jpg

[GrowMe]

This is one that we think may be a female..What you think?

This is exactly how the outdoor plant looked in the beginning then appeared to be budding but then a bunch of seeds? Q!?!?!??!? The one above just seems to have gotten balls all the sudden over night...No hairs...

This normal?? I thought it was pretty plain and simple..

White hairs = female
Sacs = male

What you think?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/070072.jpg

[herbie the love bud]

Let me be the first to congratulate you, you have a beautiful baby girl there.


This is one that we think may be a female..What you think?

This is exactly how the outdoor plant looked in the beginning then appeared to be budding but then a bunch of seeds? Q!?!?!??!? The one above just seems to have gotten balls all the sudden over night...No hairs...

This normal?? I thought it was pretty plain and simple..

White hairs = female
Sacs = male

What you think?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/070072.jpg

[herbie the love bud]

These are males. Get them out now. They don't have pollen yet so you don't have to stress, but get them out now.


These may help..probably gonna be huge when you open the file..Both these pictures are of same plant.

:( Male right?

THanks

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/07002.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/07004.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

I'm thinking that if you have white hairs followed by seeds, you probably have a hermie. You can still smoke it and it will get buds. Careful though, seeds pop in the bowl, sometimes spewing ash and embers all over the place.

[GrowMe]

No worries about the outdoor..that was kinda just cause we didn't have anymore room inside...

Now about the indoor Opie...What you think? That one is def. a male right????

And the other seems to be a female you think???? THanks so much

:bigsmoke:

[Opie Yutts]

I would have disagreed with herbie if I thought he was giving you bad advice. He and you are correct.

[GrowMe]

Should i be cutting or trimming some stuff off?? They are over 2 feet tall now and i think i may run out of head room...

I cut down 1 male yesterday.. :mad: That really sucks by the way..

And i think i have 1 more male to take care of but am going to wait until im 1000% sure..

And i believe we have 2 females...We really only have room for 2 anyway, 4 was just not going to work...and to be honest i don't even know if we have room for 2 !?! :wtf:

i'll get some pics up soon..

THanks for all the help everyone!!!

[herbie the love bud]

I'm thinking that if you have white hairs followed by seeds, you probably have a hermie. You can still smoke it and it will get buds. Careful though, seeds pop in the bowl, sometimes spewing ash and embers all over the place.

Its only a hermie if you are sure that it never got pollenated. Otherwise its just another knocked up bitch.

BTW, have any of you seen that funny poster with a picture of Mary on it and the caption reads, "Abstinence: 99.999% effective."

[Opie Yutts]

BTW, have any of you seen that funny poster with a picture of Mary on it and the caption reads, "Abstinence: 99.999% effective."

No but that's really funny.

GrowMe, if you don't want them to get so tall you should be topping them. Whenever you remove one shoot, you usually get two instead. It makes a shorter plant, but it doesn't make any less yield because it also makes a bushier plant with more bud sites. You can also do LST where you keep tying down the main shoots. That makes more good shoots growing out from the main stem, and ultimately results in about the same kind of shorter, bushier plant as topping does. You can also use a screen, and just don't let any part of the plants grow up past it. A screen also makes more efficient use of the available space, since you can position buds wherever is best.

[GrowMe]

How do i top the plants? I'm scared to do anything like that for fear i will F them up..I thought topping was only when they were vegging or something like that?

THanks for all hte help

[Opie Yutts]

It is only for vegging. I didn't mean you should do it now, just a general technique for keeping them short. Not a whole lot you can do after going to flower except put a screen over them, or keep tying them down away from the light. A screen seems easier to me.

To top, cut off the main growing shoots right next to the node below. Usually two shoots arise instead of one, and the plant will grow more out and less up.

[Opie Yutts]

Also search FIM for a hi-tech topping technique.

[GrowMe]

quick side question...
Is there anything that can be done with the stems and leaves of the males ??

[herbie the love bud]

quick side question...
Is there anything that can be done with the stems and leaves of the males ??

What would you do with them on a female? Won't be better than that.

Plus the amount of THC that might be in them at the stage you took them amount would probably be like smoking hemp.

Stop playing with fire and get rid of them before you get burned.

[GrowMe]

oh they are gone. i just didn't know if anything could be done with whats left of the plant.

[GrowMe]

Hash maybe?

[Opie Yutts]

The only possible thing really is hash, but not really. Some varieties, well maybe. For ideas look here:
http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-lounge/135784-things-do-male-plant.html

[GrowMe]

Cool..should i be trimming some of the bigass fan leaves?? They are literally sitting right on top of bud sites..(white hairs coming from inbetween leaves?) If i should be trimming off some of these, should i cut them right at the stalk like when they die on they're own???? Take the whole leaf and stem?? Thanks so much..

Also how long until buds actually start to show? We've been flowering for 2 weeks now and don't see any buds..

THanks so much

[GrowMe]

"Cool..should i be trimming some of the bigass fan leaves?? They are literally sitting right on top of bud sites..(white hairs coming from inbetween leaves?) If i should be trimming off some of these, should i cut them right at the stalk like when they die on they're own???? Take the whole leaf and stem?? Thanks so much.."

Since that post above most of the bud sites have come up through the big fan leaves.. So do you think i should leave them or trim some?

I'll get some pics up soon, they are budding now (very small but very visible) :thumbsup:

I finally picked up a ppm meter...put it at 980 with some stuff i got from the dro shop..

What do you think would be proper PPM? One is 3 feet tall and the other is 2 feet tall...

The one that is 2 feet tall is about a week younger if i remember correctly but i believe it is also smaller because it looks to be a different strain..Anyway lights go out in about 5 min so i'll take a pic..

This tues. will be 3 weeks of flowering.

[GrowMe]

First off.. Is this a big deal?

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02475.jpg

At what temp should i really start getting worried? Cause its been a real bitch to keep the temps down since we added the extra bulbs.. 1 - 200 watt cfl, 2 - 42 watt cfls and 3 - 26watt 6500k cfls...It even got as high as 91...

Got 2 fans and its still a pain in the ass..

If its mid to high 80s is that ok basically?/

[GrowMe]

Heres some pics of the ladies.. They aren't very good but maybe you could help point me in hte right direction as far as PPM leves go...Thanks so much!

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02477.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02478.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02479.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02481.jpg

[Opie Yutts]

Cool..should i be trimming some of the bigass fan leaves?? They are literally sitting right on top of bud sites...

We've been flowering for 2 weeks now and don't see any buds..

THanks so much

Uh, this is conflicting info. I'm assuming that you do have bud sites. Anytime you start seeing the little hairs coming out, that's a bud site. My AK-47 shows these within about 5 days of going to flower. Normal is about 1 or 2 weeks, sometimes a little more.

And never, ever remove fan leaves.
Unless:
- they are past yellow and turing brown
- they have mold or fungus
- they are shading a bud, and you cannot otherwise bend, pinch, move or tuck them out of the way.

The leaves are essential for sugar etc. production, and your plant will suffer if you remove them. If you do, cut them right where they come out of the main stalk so that there are no nubs sticking up to attract pests or disease, or shirtsleeves.

85 degrees is not a huge deal, as some people have grows above 90 and do OK. It is somewhat of a deal though. You need to keep the surface of your leaves below 80, and that means the air around them should be no more than 83. The best way to tell is to get a laser thermometer which actually measures the leaf temp. At 80 transpiration (and therefore growth) slows greatly or can even stop altogether.

PPM max?

cuttings - 50
seedlings - 300
young adults - 800
adults - 1400
middle of flowering - 1700
2nd to last week - 1400
last week - 50

This is based on the U.S., or 500 scale. These are maximum averages. Each variety is different. The best way to tell how much your plants can handle is to watch carefully as you increase gradually about 100 each feeding until you notice the first signs of stress, then back off a notch.

Hope that helps.

[GrowMe]

Yeah sorry that didn't make that much sense i suppose...

That was also a week ago and there are buds now...before i could tell where they would be..thats what i meant by "bud sites" ...they were just white hairs and now they are actually buds and have grown up through the fan leaves...I put the solution at 1680 PPMs today and when i added to the other solution it mustve went over 2000 cause my meter just started blinking...Just left it cause i had no room to put more water in..hopefully they don't get burned...they grow so damn fast man..this is awesome...

Thanks so much for all your help Opie.!!!!!!!

I'll get some pics up soon..Is there anything else i can do to help these ladies..Should i add some kind of mollasses or honey? Ive read about people doing that..

Any other tips are greatly appreciated..
Thanks so much

[Opie Yutts]

The biggest tip I can offer right now is get those PPMs down. 2000 could kill them, and I've never heard of anyone going that high. I would drain at least some and try again until you can get it to 1700, which might also be a little high.

[GodBud]

Opie,

A little off the topic but my girl is about 25 days flower taking nice form. Lots of bud sites and trichs showing. When I smell the main cola it just doesnt smell like that odor marijane puts off in fact it doesnt even smell like weed for that matter. When I pinch the leaves then smell my fingers then it smells like weed.

Your thoughts

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

That sounds pretty normal for me and my usual crop of AK-47, and most other stuff I've grown. I'm not far behind you and I don't really smell them until I start getting my hands into them. That's the ladies trying to spread their love juice around in hopes of getting it inseminated. Sometimes even right up until harvest they don't smell much. Other times, watch out boy, get a carbon scrubber or six. You're what? About half way there? Yeah I'll bet in two or three weeks your going to start noticing them pretty well. The closer to harvest, the more trichomes, the more smell.

mmmm, love juice.

[GodBud]

Well, I finally got a camera to post some pics of the Jack Herer Lady. 31 days flower.

Peace :stoned:

[Opie Yutts]

Nice healthy-lookin plants you got there GodBud. You are going to have some nice roasting ears there pretty quick. Mine are 26 days in. I sure wish all hundred or so of my buds were as big as yours.

[GodBud]

Thanks Ope

Thats just one plant there. The cola is getting really thick. Shes been through a lot of stress with the power outage back in December for 5 days. Plus the root system never really took off but the root mass has really started to take off since I went to 12/12. I probably wont get the yield I got off my first grow which was NLX one plant netted a 1/4 pound. I will probably get a couple OZ off this one but I am hoping the smoke will be better quality. I am still dumfounded that she isnt reeking it almost smells more like a mildew smell but there are no signs of mildew at all. RH is at 50% like you said maybe here in a couple weeks it will start reeking. Maybe its just the strain. Have you ever heard of strains that dont put off a major oder? This strain calls for a 60 to 65 day flower time so I am over 1/2 way there. I will probably harvest around mid Feb I like to go for more the physcodelic high than the couch lock.

Peace

[GrowMe]

Really nice Godbud!!!!! looks awesome..About how tall is she? That looks like a huge ass cola.. Its pretty apparent that we have 2 different strains going..one is about a foot taller and has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more buds and has a cola...the other one doesn't really have much of a cola at all and only has a few buds on each branch...However the bud on hte smaller one appears to be nicer...SUPER white hairs and lots of trichs...I'll get some pics up here soon..

Having some trouble with the heat...it gets around 91 in there..depending if we have to close up hte closet doors..if we have the doors closed for a long time it will get up to as high as 95...I know this is not good but at this point there really isn't much we can do...Sometimes i'll turn out a few of hte lights if its getting crazy hot..

We are trying to find a portable a/c unit but most of them need a window for the exhaust..(won't work) Any ideas?

There were many shaded areas on hte middle and bottom of the ladies so we added a few more bulbs..have 434 watts from CFLs right now...

Couple questions i have:

-Is the growth rate affected by the high levels of heat?

-Whats the hottest before they will die?

Thanks so much

[Opie Yutts]

GodBud,

It is perfectly normal for a strain to not be very smelly in flower. This is why I tell people who cannot afford, or don't want to build a carbon scrubber or ozone generator, to search seed banks or someplace, to find out what the varieties are that do not put off a lot off odor. There are some that are like that that still have high CB and THC content, and will still get you good and baked. Some others have a low percentage of THC, but if it's a choice between smoking an extra bowl or two and letting your neighbors know about your hobby, I'll take the first one. Beware though, the smoke smell is a whole different issue. People hundreds of yards downwind can smell what you're doing. Why no, I've never smoked on a golf course, why do you ask? Be patient, the reekage may still be a coming. If not, maybe she'll still be a worthwhile smoke.

GrowMe,

Depending on the strain, 95 is pretty high and it will most likely affect growth and yield. Sorry about that, I can understand what you're going through. That's one reason I'm on my third remodel, and much of my ducting is behind a wall. This is why I tell people plan on spending as much on venting as you do on lighting (at least for HID).

I too have thought of air conditioning, but that draws a lot of power usually, and it would be my last choice. I would much rather spend the money on another fan and some more ducting, or paying someone to cut a hole in your wall, or whatever it takes to properly vent the grow so there is no heat problem. Also be sure to use the straight, smooth, actual ducting material instead of the coiled dryer duct whenever possible. Believe it or not this makes a huge difference. It completely solved my heat issue in my veg section. I was so relieved when I fired it up and the temps stayed about 5 degrees cooler. Such a simple fix for an awful problem.

I have seen many portable AC units that don't require venting to the outdoors. I've even considered them, but I think this 3rd remodel will do the trick. I would put "Portable Air Conditioner" into your favorite search engine and see what comes up. I think they start at about $225.

Yes 95 is an issue and yes it will affect growth. Of course there are many plants that do just fine outdoors at 95, it happens all the time. I've even heard of people doing grows in 105 degrees and getting a pretty good yield. Facts are however, both cold and hot will slow down growth, sometimes dramatically. Remember your leaf temps, that's what's important. It would be best if you could get a laser thermometer. I paid $50 odd for mine, but I've seen them as low as $25 plus shipping if any. It is good to have one just to see all the hot spots on your canopy. I was surprised at the difference in mine. You want to keep the leaves under 80 for optimum growth. If you don't have a laser thermometer, this means that the air temp around the canopy should be no more than 83. Will plants produce weed at temps above 83? Of course. Will it be optimum yield? Of course not.

So, don't go above 105.

[GodBud]

Growme:

She is about 3.5 ft tall. The cola is lookin really nice.

Ope,

I appreciate the input. I guess the jack herer is one of those strains that dont put out the dookie reek. I am pretty certain that its going to be good smoke, it just is starting to get caked with trichs and is looking really juicy. I wish I had a high end lens to take some close ups but believe me this bitch is squirtin out the love juice. I pinched a small leaf off and put it under the scope and it looks very nice. I then put the leaf between my cheek and gum and it had a very nice sweet taste. I was thinking about clippin some of the lower buds towards the bottom and curing them just to see a preliminary of what may be. Would this be okay or should I just leave er alone. I have been bending big fan leaves that are keeping light from buds towards the mid section which are starting to take off nicely. I aint cutting the fan leaves off just bending and tucking some I have had to actually snap but not cut off they are still attached and even seem to be trying to heal back. Such a resealiant plant.

Peace

[GrowMe]

a few pics..

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02540.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02541.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02542.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02543.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02544.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02545.jpg

[GodBud]

GM:

Buds are looking tasty. What strain is that?

Peace

[GodBud]

Ope,

I have noticed just a few orange hairs starting to pop out on my girl towards the middle of the cola. What does that mean?

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

GodBud,

I don't think you would be a normal weed farmer if you didn't snip a little before she's ready. It won't hurt a thing, just don't do too much or she may get shocked, and you sure don't want that this far into flower. Remember though that the buds on the bottom part of the plant are less likely to be ready, so don't use that as a gage for the whole thing. The orange hairs are nothing to worry about. That happens on mine too. It's actually a good thing since it indicates that her time is growing near.

GrowMe,

Looking good, getting closer.

Both of you,

Aint it exciting?

[GrowMe]

Not sure what strain, they're badseed..But i think one of them is from my buddies ladies..He grew Elvis..? whatever they are they stink so good and are getting covered in trichs..

Happy smoking :thumbsup:

[GrowMe]

Opie:

Hell yes it is!!!! Thanks soooooo much for all the advice..

You were right about the PPM levels..they got burned..Sucks cause i finally got a ppm meter and first thing i do is burn them.. :wtf:

Would that affect the speed they are growing or size of buds? they seem to have slowed down a great deal this week.. Any thoughts??

Im getting really antsy for these broads to finish..HOw will i know when they are done? they are 6 weeks into flower in a few days here and am wondering if i have 2 weeks left or 4...I know some strains take longer than others and since i'm not sure what mine are what to do? thanks in advance :weedpoke:

[Opie Yutts]

Nutrient burn will slow them down. Maybe by one day, maybe by 2 weeks.

You will know when they are done by looking through your 30x magnifying glass or 60x pocket microscope. The trichomes start clear, then go to cloudy, then amber. Most people seem to like a little amber in the harvest. The more amber, the more you will be stuck to the couch. The more clear, the more you will be able to think and work while you're high. Sup to you. You can check seed sellers to see when your plants normally are ready.

[Opie Yutts]

Oh yeah, I go for about 10% amber, but if I am fortunate enough to have weed from several harvests I like to have some more clear and some more amber. Different weed for different times of day, or different situations. Once you've done the same strain a few times you won't have to check as much, because you'll know how you like it, and know what duration of flowering makes what kind of high.

[The White Snoop]

Opie- You did a hell of a job here man. Way to pour your info out to these guys. Very nice.

RESPECT.

[Opie Yutts]

Opie- You did a hell of a job here man. Way to pour your info out to these guys. Very nice.

RESPECT.

Thanks a lot. It's nice to hear words of appreciation from time to time so you know your time isn't going to waste. Not saying others aren't thankful.

My pleasure.

[GodBud]

YEAH HATS OFF TO OPIE GIVE THAT MAN A CCCCCCGAR :thumbsup:

You are appreciated my brother!

Well, I am on day 40 flower. The orange hairs are starting become more and more ech passing day. This particular strain calls for a 51 to 65 day harvest window thats from two different sources so I just put the low end to the high end up. Honestly the buds look like I could chop um. I looked at the trichs last night they were all clear. Should I wait until I at least see a little amber in the trichs?

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

Each to his own. I can't tell you what you should do, but I can tell you what I do, and what others have reported. Like I said above I go for about 10% amber most of the time. That's an all round "normal/common" kinda high. Seems most people want a little amber, which ends up leaving 80% cloudy and another 10% clear. Ideally, I will already have a bunch of "normal" laying around, so one harvest I may go with something like 95% cloudy, then the next 35% amber.

Then I can get up for work and have a bowl of cereal with my bowl of 95% clear. (Actually, usually while showering.) That way I'm fairly quick on the brain for my employers or myself, but I still get to have a pleasant buzz going. Then during lunch I'll have some more clear since food usually makes me sleepy, and often so does the 35% amber. After work I'm not giving my all to my employer, so I won't feel guilty if I'm a little like, "duh..?" So I'll stand around smoking with my buddies and handing out the "normal", unless someone wants a little "duh" for sleeping or something. If I've got crap to do at home that night, that requires some semblance of intelligence, I'll stick with the clear throughout the evening. Otherwise I'm all about the amber baby, especially just before bed time, where I'll sleep soundly for the duration of my rest period, unless the dogs feel it's important I know there's a squirrel outside.

That's ideally. Usually I end up slacking off after a good harvest and stop preparing for the lean times, and end up with one choice.

Oh yeah, I have not read anything scientific on the matter, but everyone says that once amber starts setting in, the THC starts to degrade. So how's it get you more couch locked? Hmmm, must be the other CBs or something. Anyone?

[Opie Yutts]

Why did that hit taste like fish just now?

[Opie Yutts]

Oh yeah, I wanted to suggest that you could harvest some a week or so earlier than the rest, that way you could have 2 different kinds of high to choose from, and study which one you like best for next harvest. Believe it or not some people do a kind of perpetual harvest, where the plant is always in flower and always (occasionally) being harvested. I don't know how long this can go on, and I don't know if that gets you more weed in the long run, but I would love someone to do a side by side and see what happens over a year of budding or something.

Like Weedhound however, I believe cutting anything off can stress a plant, and therefore temporarily slow down growth or bud production if in flowering. Until you know for sure how hardy your variety is, you may want to think twice about harvesting large amounts before the actual harvest.

No news yet on the fish.

[Opie Yutts]

Oops. 2nd paragraph of 3 posts above I meant 95% cloudy before and during work, not clear. Too late to edit.

[GodBud]

I think I will probably just wait till about day 50 then start my flush and cut er down around day 55. That puts me within the window of what the research shows on this strain. I did cut a small bud its been drying for 3 days now and is starting to give off that sweet hydro smell, has a nice stench to it. :thumbsup: I can tell its going to be some good smoke. :thumbsup:

Opie your a good man sir!

Keep yer eyes on this thread as I am going to post pics of the buds once harvested.

Also Growme I know your scopin this thread you do the same!

Peace Fellas
:stoned:

[GrowMe]

Hello everybody! Looks like i missed sum stuff these last few days..Awesome info, a lot of my questions were answered..

And def. a HUGE thanks to you Opie..You basically grew this for me from germination.. :thumbsup:

Tons of respect to you, not only for you intelligence but your willingness to help other stoners out..

Day 42 of flower here!!!!!!!!!!!! They look and smell terrific..

I'll get some pics up here soon..Gotta go eat!

[Opie Yutts]

Your welcome again guys, and that's cool we're all going to be harvesting about the same time. I got a couple weeks though. Looking forward to everyones' photos and numbers.

[GrowMe]

I believe we have a few more weeks as well...But as you can see by my mood i'm not very happy...I seriously burned the fuck outta them...The nugs seem the same size or maybe a tad bigger as they did a week ago..

Cant believe i did this to them..Almost every fan leaf is brown or broke off..

How the F*CK you gonna go out and buy a ppm meter just to burn them right away...I feel like a dipshit..

Anyway this sucks cause i went from being pumped about harvest to dissapointed and wanting to shut it down now..We have 4 fans running just to keep it at 90 degrees..Its loud and hot as fuck in here and am tired of trying to keep it from the roomates..I also have to keep

What to do?????? I'll get some pics up so you can see how bad i torched the poor girls...

I just don't want to keep em cooking for another 2 or 3 weeks if they aren't going to get much bigger...i'm going to go buy a magnifying glass today..do i look at the crystals on hte nugs? Don't worry about hte ones on the leaves i guess????

ANyway again thansk so much opie..your ladies look amazing in your lssst thread..hopefully one day i can grow like you...@!!!!!!!!!!!

It was just too small of a space and the 2 gallon buckets BLOW@!!!!

I gotta fill them shits up everyday.. That doesn't get old either :S4:

Sorry had to vent a little! Be back soon with pics..i took some last night but cant seem to get any decent ones to post..

[GrowMe]

Let me just add the nugs look and smell amazing...however the plant as a whole doesn't look great..like i said the fan leaves are fried...

just sounds like i contradicted myself from yesterday to today..just wanted to clear up any confusion i may have caused..

[GrowMe]

LSTTT rather...i'm retarded

[GodBud]

GM

I know any words of wisdom dont rectify your current situation but:

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment

Your still gonna get some good hits off your girls so dont look at it as a waste. Your next grow will be that much better.

Today I am doing a res change and going to just distilled water and Florakleen. I will do this for 1 week let the plant start using up its stored nutes and hopefully diminish the nitrogen build up in the plant. I will cut er throat next tuesday and start the drying process then to cure.

This brings me to my final question to you OPE:

Would you care to indulge in your personal method from the time you cut your girls to the time you load a bowl. Drying and cure methods that you personally use. Thanks Bro you da man!

Peace

[GodBud]

Sorry Ope I lied. One final question!

On this last week would it be okay to cut all the large fan leaves off to where its just exposed buds. My thinking is that those large fan leaves just have excess nutes and or chloraphyll that you dont want in the plant anyway also all the buds towards the bottom could get 1 last week of premium light. Would this hurt the plant in anyway? I mean she only has 7 days or so, so I dont see it even having time to freak out or really be affected adversely.

Your expert thoughts are appreciated!

Peace

[Opie Yutts]

GrowMe,

Sorry to hear about the troubles. You've been through a lot in your hydro adventures. Depending on how fried they are, I would probably not just chop them down. Sometimes plants look pretty bad toward the end of flowering anyway. One of mine is almost completely yellow and brown, except for the green buds. Not sure why that is when the other plants from the same mom, in the same res are just fine. On the other hand, if there is resin they will get you high, even if you decide to harvest early. It will just be a more clear kind of high. Some pictures would help me decide what I would do, but I would be tempted to flush a couple times, let em eat a flushing agent for a day, then feed them some more and see if they perk up any.

[Opie Yutts]

...question to you OPE:

Would you care to indulge in your personal method from the time you cut your girls to the time you load a bowl. Drying and cure methods that you personally use. Thanks Bro you da man!

Peace

1) I untangle them from the screen. While I'm doing so I cut off most of the trim, separating the trim that has resin on it from the rest.
2) It can go one of two ways for me here, both seem to give me about the same results. Sometimes I'll hang them upside down on a string or wire shelf in a closet. Otherwise I lay them on some screen, or anything that will let air flow all around them. Some people say to hang them upside down so the resin/THC/CB flows into the buds better. Chyaa, yeah right. I've sure never noticed a difference either way. Little popcorn-style buds I spread over a screen. If I want to try some as soon as possible, I pinch a few little tiny pieces smaller than a dime, and set them somewhere drafty, and they're dry in 1 day. I also try to keep the buds cool and dark, since both heat and light are reported to be bad for THC.
3) They are dry when the stem cracks when bent, usually a little under a week. That's when I do the final manicuring.
4) If I have a good amount of weed around I'll cure my harvest, otherwise I toss it in some paper bags. Just incase they still have a little moisture it's best to keep them out of plastic bags, or anything that eliminates air flow. There's a bunch written about curing your harvest, so I'll let you look that up.
5) Ultimately I'll have so much weed that I feel it might be advantageous to store some in the freezer. You can keep weed for many years in the freezer, and almost indefinitely if you store it in a vacuum. Believe it or not, it comes out nearly as fresh as the day you put it in if you use a vacuum sealer. I love mine for other reasons too, but it has an attachment that hooks onto a wide-mouth mason jar, sucks out all the air, and seals the lid. If you don't have jars you could also just seal the weed in the normal plastic sealing stuff, but some people say that gives the weed a plasticy taste. Some people also say that about storing weed in Tupperware containers. I haven't really noticed it much, but I use jars just incase.
6) To get it into my bowl, I tear off a little chunk and stick it in. Sometimes I don't put it in my bowl however, and I grind up a handful in my coffee/herb grinder. Then I put little pinches in the "whip" and suck up the vapors instead of smoke.

[Opie Yutts]

Sorry Ope I lied. One final question!

On this last week would it be okay to cut all the large fan leaves off to where its just exposed buds. My thinking is that those large fan leaves just have excess nutes and or chloraphyll that you dont want in the plant anyway also all the buds towards the bottom could get 1 last week of premium light. Would this hurt the plant in anyway? I mean she only has 7 days or so, so I dont see it even having time to freak out or really be affected adversely.

Your expert thoughts are appreciated!

Peace

I never cut leaves off unless it is a last resort to keep them from shading a good bud. Your plants will be using the leaves up until harvest. You mentioned flushing, which causes them to have no nutrients. They survive the week or so of the flush because they can eat the nutrition stored in the leaves. Take away those nutrients as well, and there's no food to feed the buds, and they will probably start turning yellow and dying.

[GodBud]

Most Appreciated B :thumbsup:

[GodBud]

Well fellas here is a photo of my girl day 47 flower B4 I cut er down. Does she look ready Ope. I looked at the trichs mostly clear with some cloudy ones no ambers but the orange hairs are really starting to cover her all over. It might be a day or 3 to early but I think shes about ready

Peace :stoned:

[Opie Yutts]

That's one heck of a bud. If there are no amber trichs yet, I would suggest she's not quite ready. That is unless you are going for that type of buzz that allows you to get your ass of the couch, and get a little thinking or work done. If so, now's the time.

[GodBud]

Yeah I am not wanting to be glued to the couch. I like the high where you can still get stuff done.

Peace

[herbie the love bud]

Yeah I am not wanting to be glued to the couch. I like the high where you can still get stuff done.

Peace

That's a beutiful plant but she's nowhere close to being ready. You're gonna lose a ton of THC cutting her early. She probably has 2 maybe 3 weeks to go an you didn't even flush her so you're gonna be smoking chemicals.

Remember that the vendors are telling you days or weeks of flowering. But flowering didn't start until about two weeks after you started giving her flower nutes. Not ON the day your started switching the lights!

But hey, I can understand you if you just gotta have your weed!

[Opie Yutts]

Many people like to harvest before any amber sets in, some even like it before cloudiness sets in too much. Anything after half cloudy starts degrading THC.

[GrowMe]

Looks awesome Godbud!! Can you take any pics of the lower half of the ole girl? I'm curious as to what size the buds are down there..Our are very small..

Well almost every single fan leaf on that bitch has died and fallen off (or i cut them off once dead) :cursing: Still cant believe i did that.. Ive been trying to flush them with plain distilled water for over a week now and i'm still not convinced shes ok...Seems like shes frozen in time..buds are same size and same amount of orange hairs..

The smaller girl still has almost all of her fan leaves surprisingly..however she was covered in crystals a week ago and now theres just a brown resemblence of where they used to be (all the leaves on top by the mini cola).. :(

Think i should go get a flushing agent? too late?

[Opie Yutts]

Remember that the vendors are telling you days or weeks of flowering. But flowering didn't start until about two weeks after you started giving her flower nutes. Not ON the day your started switching the lights!

You sure? I always thought it was the other way. I know vendors say my AK-47 is done in about 45-50 days. That's exactly how long mine take from the time I switch lighting. Otherwise it would be 31-36 days, which is kinda unheard of.

[Opie Yutts]

Looks awesome Godbud!! Can you take any pics of the lower half of the ole girl? I'm curious as to what size the buds are down there..Our are very small..

Well almost every single fan leaf on that bitch has died and fallen off (or i cut them off once dead) :cursing: Still cant believe i did that.. Ive been trying to flush them with plain distilled water for over a week now and i'm still not convinced shes ok...Seems like shes frozen in time..buds are same size and same amount of orange hairs..

The smaller girl still has almost all of her fan leaves surprisingly..however she was covered in crystals a week ago and now theres just a brown resemblence of where they used to be (all the leaves on top by the mini cola).. :(

Think i should go get a flushing agent? too late?

Sounds like your resin is degrading already. If that's the case harvest immediately, flushed or not. Look at that one that used to have crystals and see if they're all gone or "smashed down". If so, it's past time. On the other hand, once buds start getting closer to harvest the growth rate seems to slow way down, so maybe they are just normal. Pictures would help. When plants near the end of flowering, sometimes nearly all the leaves have yellowed and died. I know mine do that.

[herbie the love bud]

You sure? I always thought it was the other way. I know vendors say my AK-47 is done in about 45-50 days. That's exactly how long mine take from the time I switch lighting. Otherwise it would be 31-36 days, which is kinda unheard of.

Depends I guess on the vendor. That's been my experience, but if your experience differs, than it's really just a rule of thumb until you know your plant.

[Opie Yutts]

True, true. Get to know your plants people.

[GrowMe]

Heres some pics finally..its getting worse everyday..

Here is the big girl:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02655.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02658.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02659.jpg

As you can see, every fan leave is gone and all the smaller ones are fried and falling off...all the leaves coming out of the cola are burnt to shit as well.. Cut her throat???????????

Heres a few of the smaller girl..cant tell much by the pics probably:

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02656.jpg
http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc121/GrowMe2007/DSC02657.jpg

We'd like to cut Cindy's throat(big girl) and leave the smaller one to cook for a few more weeks but only have one spot for drying and thats where we grew them sooooooo...........trying to think of an alternative spot so we can let the younger girl Jazzy take in all that light to herself for her last days..

Which brings me to harvesting questions..Should we just cut off all the branches and hang them upside down? Simple as that?

What about the bigass cola? Same thing?

And lastly should i cut off all the leaves that are coming out of the buds? THanks so much! I'll def post pics of the final product..

[GrowMe]

Oh yah another question.. The big girl has some decent density to the main cola and the larger buds up top but all the tiny buds underneath are barely anything at all... Can i harvest the top half? if so how would i do that without completely killing her, and would it even be worth it to try and fatten em up a little?? Thanks so much! :joint1:

[Opie Yutts]

I don't see how it can be, but that looks like nute burn to me. It is normal for leaves to die and fall off toward the end of flowering, but it's also normal for them to turn yellow first. Doesn't look like yours are doing that. I forget, were you doing a final flush? If not, maybe you should just consider letting them suck water and flushing agent for a week or a few days. If it's nute burn they have more than enough nutrients to last a few days.

Yes, cut em off and hang em up side down. Or lay them on a screen, or a piece of paper or anything that will allow air to circulate around them. If on a piece of paper or something hard, that's not a problem, just turn them once a day. It's a wives tail about hanging them upside down makes THC flow into the buds. Try to keep them cool and dark, since heat and light degrade THC. 5-7 days, or 6 years for that big bud. Looks darn tasty.

Yes you can harvest the top half and leave the rest to ripen. This is actually preferred in my book, it's just a hassle so its not done a lot. There are people who do perpetual harvests. That is they never stop flowering. It was more common about 35 years ago.

[herbie the love bud]

Yes you can harvest the top half and leave the rest to ripen. This is actually preferred in my book, it's just a hassle so its not done a lot. There are people who do perpetual harvests. That is they never stop flowering. It was more common about 35 years ago.

It may be hard for you to do a partial harvest because the plant is at different nutrient stages. In otherwords, if you harvested a portion now before flushing and the rest after flushing you are going to get two different weeds. Potency and flavor.

Sometimes though, you flush and your lower bud sites are sucking the energy and are ripe and the top cola is not getting enough and taking forever to ripen. At this point, you can harvest the lower sites and let the top catch up and then harvest it.

But they are both being flushed, not prior.

[GodBud]

Actually, I did flush for a full 7 days ppm were 50 when I cut her. I harvested 51 days which put me in the window of the suggested harvest from my research. I yielded almost 2 oz thats weigh in after a week of hanging. I am sure I will lose a little more. I have the buds in air tight jars right now.

The buds are caked with shiny trichs and orange hairs. The smoke is really great. Very uppedy up high and the weed taste like that classic hydro taste. Overall I am satisfied. She went through hell. First off didnt get a good root zone from start and then I had a power outage and left her in the cold and dark for 6 days but she pulled through. I am glad I didnt kill her. The Jack Herer strain is a resealiant strain but very sensitive until you get er dialed in. I reccommend jack herer to any grower.

Much thanks to ope for your selfless giving of time and info. I will take it into my next grow which will be sweet afgan delicious or Sweet thai not sure which one I want to go with. However, it will be a little while. I just grow for my own personal and I am not a huge toker so my yield should last me a good few months. Honestly, I think I like growing it more than smoking it. Its such an amazing plant watching it through its phases. Absolutely incredible.

Peace Fellas and happy tokin :stoned:

[GrowMe]

Great news Godbud!! :thumbsup:

Pics?

Heres a new thread i started if you wanna see pics of the one lady we harvested...

http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/149930-harvested-cindy-today-pics-inside.html

[warfarefarmer]

I was wondering on aeroponics when you switch to 18/6 do you run your water then or shut it down for the six hours, plus I have a 15 minute timer what is the best to run it at so far I have it 30min on and 30 off. Thank You

[cmasfca]

I was wondering on aeroponics when you switch to 18/6 do you run your water then or shut it down for the six hours, plus I have a 15 minute timer what is the best to run it at so far I have it 30min on and 30 off. Thank You

You have to keep your misters on 24/7 otherwise your plants will dry up because there is no medium buffering the roots from drying out.

Way to bring a year old post back to life haha:rasta:

[warfarefarmer]

Thanks for the info it is very hard trying to find out light situation and pump on aeroponics I also know it is trial and error, but just getting the basic info on that, then tweaking it as you go. But getting the basics is a good start. Glad to bring the old post back, will have pics and more updates later been doing soil for a couple years now, then went to ebb for a month then switched it all over to aeroponics, all is looking very good.