LSTTT: Low Stress Twisty Tie Training

[Mr. Clandestine]

Just got some T-5's, we'll see how they hold up in there.

Do T-5's do a pretty good job for vegging mothers? I've used some T-12 fixtures before, but wasn't really impressed with the results. I need ample lighting for a couple of mothers, and was planning on using my 400W MH for it... but I think I'm really starting to lean more towards a fluorescent setup to save on energy. (Already got a 1000W burning bright for 18 hours a day.)

[Opie Yutts]

I think 400W for 2 mothers is a little overkill, unless you need them mothers to grow as fast as possible. Fluoros work just fine for my situation. One 23W cfl of the correct color per plant does real good.

[MVP]

Gotta agree with Opie unless they are intended to be Monster Moms and throw off several dozen clones each month....

[Mr. Clandestine]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

I'm hoping for enough growth to take about 10 good sized cuttings every 2 months or so. I was kinda figuring the 400 would probably be a little too strong for my needs, and actually was wanting to use it during flowering anyway. If you had to choose between an independent CFL over each plant, or a 2-tube 4' T-5 fixture, which do you think you'd choose to produce the amount of foliage that I'm shooting for?

P.S. - Opie, how did the harvest go last night? Any happier with the results (weight) than you were with sickhead?

[psteve]

If you had to choose between an independent CFL over each plant, or a 2-tube 4' T-5 fixture, which do you think you'd choose to produce the amount of foliage that I'm shooting for?More is usually better as long as you can vent the heat.
Shoot for more than 70 watts per square foot of canopy with cfl's.
You can get away with >50W/Sq' if you use T-5's.

[Mr. Clandestine]

More is usually better as long as you can vent the heat.
Shoot for more than 70 watts per square foot of canopy with cfl's.
You can get away with >50W/Sq' if you use T-5's.

Thanks for the feedback.

Got plenty of fans, so I'm not worried too much about ventilation. I'm heavily weighing the options, but Opie and MVP are right about the HID being overkill... fluoros will give off much less heat, and I've got quite a few CFLs and socket extenders laying around. I'm gonna go pick up a T-5 setup later this afternoon, too.

[Opie Yutts]

If you had to choose between an independent CFL over each plant, or a 2-tube 4' T-5 fixture, which do you think you'd choose to produce the amount of foliage that I'm shooting for??

OK, this might get dangerous but let me think. Without doing a bunch of looking for stuff, I think my 2-tube T-12 fixture puts out something like 5200 lumens, and it's closer to the proper veg spectrum. I think it peaks at 6100K or something. My 2 T-5s put off 12,200 lumens, but their color isn't as good. They peak at about 6500K. Even though the 12s have less lumens, they'll probably veg about as good as the 5s since they are closer to the proper color.

With CFL you can get even closer to the proper color, since manufactures are wanting to make the happy daylight bulbs. They take even less power to make the proper lumens, and they are more convenient to position and so forth. I also think you can take advantage of nearly all the light with a cfl by dangling it between plants, near their tops.

OK, my vote: for mothers it's CFL, or a mixture of CFL and T-12. Until tube makers get closer to the color that produces peak chlorophyll activity the 12s are going to be more efficient at vegging. Even more so for budding, since the lowest you can get for the 4 foot T-5s is 3000K, which aint that great. For cute little flats of seedlings, I'm thinking tubes. The 12s are bigger, bulkier, and produce more heat, but I'm seriously thinking about returning my new 5s. If you want to be as efficient as possible you should try to get close to the correct color.


P.S. - Opie, how did the harvest go last night? Any happier with the results (weight) than you were with sickhead?

Harvest went pretty good yesterday, thanks for asking. The 6 billion buds were kind of a pain in the butt. Several hours for the initial manicure. And yeah, I am much more pleased at the results of the mid health ones. A little surprised actually. My fingers are very sticky. Lotsa oozing resin, even more I think, than I'm used to. Fox Farms' enhancers may have had something to do with it. Lil fluffy on the outside, but hard as rock on the inside. OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration. Sickhead nuggets look pretty sad now that she's almost dry. It sure is a let down when you see their real finished weight.

[Opie Yutts]

So, you can imagine all you want, but a picture helps so much.

The first one is what's left, which I now realize are 2 plants. Turns out the left back one had managed to get a hold of a couple bits of light-filled territory before the healthiest one choked it out completely. Harvest them in a couple days? We shall see.

[Opie Yutts]

Now I must go work on my LED stuff.

Heres where they're drying, dark most the time with a bit of air flow. The hanging racks are left overs from the new screen. Did you know that it's best to hang them upside down, so that when the aliens come down to pinch little samples, the THC moves from the buds up through the stem and into the aliens hands? That's where their brain is, and they have some sort of THC flow enhancing enzymes and stuff.

[Opie Yutts]

PS. If anyone's into measuring, those are 2"x3" holes in the screen.

[Weedhound]

Now I must go work on my LED stuff.

Heres where they're drying, dark most the time with a bit of air flow. The hanging racks are left overs from the new screen. Did you know that it's best to hang them upside down, so that when the aliens come down to pinch little samples, the THC moves from the buds up through the stem and into the aliens hands? That's where their brain is, and they have some sort of THC flow enhancing enzymes and stuff.


Damn I knew i had been doing this wrong but I never knew why......:stoned:

[Mr. Clandestine]

OK, this might get dangerous but let me think.

Haha! I'll back away from the monitor.


OK, my vote: for mothers it's CFL, or a mixture of CFL and T-12.

Gotcha, CFLs and T-12's it is. I actually have a dual T-12 shop light stashed somewhere in my basement, so that works out pretty well. I'd much rather stick with fluorescents, so I don't have to worry so much about heat. I'll see what I can do about getting some 6100K tubes and CFLs when I finally make it to the store. Much appreciated advice.


I am much more pleased at the results of the mid health ones. A little surprised actually. My fingers are very sticky. Lotsa oozing resin, even more I think, than I'm used to.

Man, oh man... I can't even see any pistils through that haze of frosty trichomes. But, a "pain in the butt"?? Never! That's a labor of love, brotha. Looking awesome, man... enjoy them! :thumbsup:

[MVP]

So what do you think about the haul so far? Sticky = good, right? Hope you have enough to get you by until the next harvest. Time to make Cannabutter?

[Weedhound]

DAMN NICE HARVEST there Opie. :thumbsup:

Party at Opies!!! :D :D

[psteve]

Until tube makers get closer to the color that produces peak chlorophyll activity the 12s are going to be more efficient at vegging.I use T-8 bulbs in the same shop light fixture. They are daylight spectrum (6500k) and they give off significantly more light than the T-12's in the same fixture.

[psteve]

Did you know that it's best to hang them upside down, so that when the aliens come down to pinch little samples, the THC moves from the buds up through the stem and into the aliens hands? That's where their brain is, and they have some sort of THC flow enhancing enzymes and stuff.
BWAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
That's the funniest thing I've read on here in at least a week!:abduct:
I just spit tea all over my keyboard!

[hatch]

Opie,HWT'SUP?
Great looking haul. Happy smoken!!!Later

[GrowMe]

Looks awesome Opie!! Thanks again for all your help !

"Time to make Cannabutter?"

Do you make cannabutter with the trimmings MVP?

THanks..

[Opie Yutts]

Thanks everyone, but please don't leave for good. I still have 2 more plants to harvest and dry. And then, the weigh in.

I'm probably not going to make cannabutter. The next time I do any cooking-type stuff will be with none other than good bud. I've had rotten luck cooking anything with weed. Doesn't work and tastes like crap. Next time, when I'm sure I have enough weed so that I won't run out of smoke, I'm going to do things differently in the kitchen department. I'll probably start with some of Flameon's stuff.

psteve,
So you're saying the T-8s fit in the T-12 fixtures? That would be better, if they only had some around here.

[MVP]

"Time to make Cannabutter?"
Do you make cannabutter with the trimmings MVP?

Usually I make it with popcorn buds, sometimes mids. I plan to cook up Cannabutter with the trim from my next harvest, sometime in March.

Check out the link in my sig to see my latest experiment in the kitchen...:stoned:

[psteve]

psteve,
So you're saying the T-8s fit in the T-12 fixtures? That would be better, if they only had some around here.If they're the shop light style (two posts on each end of the bulb), then yes. If they're the old style (one post on each end) then no.

[GrowMe]

THanks MVP!! Awesome job you did there..read her through and through and going to experiment now...

I'm actually going to use trimmings from my recent harvest as well as a quarter or so of vaporized buds we've kept..

Guess i'm just going to grind up the leaves real well and throw the duff in there as well and see what happens...

:thumbsup:

[GrowMe]

Hey opie a few questions for ya..

When curing in mason jars is it ok for them to be packed to the brim or should they be like half full or something?

Also is 3 and half days ok for drying?? The smaller buds seem pretty damn dry.. The bigass cola seemed dry and after being in mason jars for only an hour or two they seemed to moisten back up so i pulled the bigger thicker buds out to dry for a few extra days...

I guess a week is about right for thick dense buds? THanks for everything.. :thumbsup:

[Opie Yutts]

For curing you pack less tightly than for storage. You want some air flow around the buds. For one thing, if they get packed together too much the chance of mold increases. Half is good I think. Yeah probably about a week drying for the really dense stuff.

You're going to use vaporized buds to cook with? Isn't all the THC out of them after being vaporized?

[Opie Yutts]

PS. Don't forget to turn the buds whenever you burp them.

[GrowMe]

We've been doing research about using duff in the kitchen and people claim to have success..I read somewhere that theres a 70-75% thc loss in the vaporization process...I have no idea how true or untrue this is..It makes sense to me that the majority of it would be gone..maybe something closer to 98-99%..either way we figured we'd give it a try..

We made up a batch of butter last night with about 11 grams of duff and a bunch of trimmings(no idea the weight).

Think it came out pretty good actually for the first time and using a bunch of scraps and salted butter...very strong cannabis flavor..i think thats probably from the leaves more than the duff...

We didn't even eat that much but def felt the effects even into the next morning...very groggy and hard to wake up..Seems like i feel very "burnt" the following day of injesting cannabis... :wtf:

So we really aren't sure where most of the potency came from..but seems we had success yet once again.. Thanks to everybody on this message board!!! THanks for the kind words in my other thread opie..Much appreciated!! And thanks MVP for the cannabutter recipe!

:S5:

[Opie Yutts]

The results are in for sickhead. She's dried and weighed in at 0.30 oz, or 8.7 g. Wow, a third of an ounce out of one plant.

[Rock.Steady]

ok, sickhead is not a 'star', but holy crap dude, the rest looks great so far. nice job:thumbsup:

[Hennessy1414]

how much did u get from all the lsttt clones? :rastasmoke: how many were there?

[Opie Yutts]

OK, the 3rd batch from this grow is up and hanging to dry. The dried mid health ones weighed 116.9 grams. That plus the yield from sickhead makes 125.7, and I'm assuming (looks like) the 2 healthiest plants will equal about 75% of that, so 125.7 so far, 220 grams or 7 3/4 ounces total estimated for this grow. 1 sick plant, 5 fairly healthy ones, 2 very healthy ones, for a total of 8 plants in 3 gallons of nutrients (2 reservoirs).

Holy cow, holy crap, and good night. I can't believe how friggen sticky the last 2 plants are. How sticky? Sticky enough to trap insects in the resin, just like they get trapped on those gross, sticky roll out fly strips. My wife got one of those in her hair one time, complete with flies. It was extremely difficult to untangle her without puking. There were two flies just stuck to buds, which is kinda weird, because I didn't even know we had any flies in the house. They must have been attracted to the scent and went directly to my grow once they came in. Come to think of it, it does smell kinda like a pitcher plant, (which is designed to lure insects with smell) only a lot more weedy smelling, and better. If I pressed a bud together, it felt like a hard sponge, and it stayed together for awhile, then slowly expanded back to normal. I can easily say this is the most dank dense, resin filled bud I have ever grown. Heck, this is the most sticky bud I have ever seen anywhere.

I'd better give credit where its due. Fox Farms 3 stage bud enhancement series. Since I've never used it before, that must be the reason. The main bud food was Supernatural's Bloom Aqua. I wouldn't exactly say my buds were real big, but that's not Fox Farm's fault. That's mine for creating 6 billion of them. If you want to skip the 3 stages and just go for stickiness, you could just use the last stage, but here's how it's designed:

Open Sesame - designed for rapid onset of buds. Use the last week of veg until the middle of bud.
Beastie Bloomz - designed to pump up the volume of the buds. Use the 2 middle weeks of budding.
Cha Ching - designed to totally fill your buds with oozing sticky goodness. Uh, I mean essential oils. Use at the end of budding, the last 2 weeks before the flush.

I didn't just stop one and start another. When it came time to switch I mixed the two for the first feeding, so Beastie Bloomz ended up getting used for 4 weeks instead of 2, and Cha Ching got used for 3 weeks instead of 2.

I tell you what (as they say down south), I am one happy customer. So why did I already buy Advanced Nutrient's 3 stager, Bud Blood, Big Bud, and Overdrive? I guess I'm just kinda in an experimental stage, and 2 of my hydro guys say that they absolutely would not do with out them. I want to see what works the actual best, except for trying Connoisseur. I told one of my hydro guys that I'm doing an all Dutch Master grow, according to their schedule. He told me I could not be more satisfied with the results from a different product, except Connoisseur, but I just aint spending that kind of money. I plan on reducing recommended PPMs during budding and mixing the Dutch Master stuff with the Advanced Nutrients stuff.

The healthy 2 drying:

[Mr. Clandestine]

Awesome job, man! That ought to tide you over for a while...

Very informative & detailed post... how you managed to stay sober enough to write it, I can't imagine! Enjoy 'em. :jointsmile:

[Weedhound]

Jesus that looks sweet. GREAT job Opie. :thumbsup: I want to try that Ak 47.....is that your favorite strain?

[Opie Yutts]

Thanks you two. I would have to say out of the ones I've tried, I like AK-47 the best. I want to try many more in the future. Early Pearl, Durban Poison, Kali Mist, Bubble Gum, Purple Skunk, and Jack Herrer to name a few. (sp? all)

Cheers all, time for more smoking. The high's wearing off, and we can't have that.

[Opie Yutts]

TO THE PERSON THAT ASKED ME TO HELP THEIR FRIEND:

A few days ago someone asked me to check up on a grow log of a friend of theirs. I kept putting it off, and now that I'm trying to do it, I can't find it. To make it worse I don't remember who asked or who the friend was. Hopefully that dude or dudess will read this and remind me.

Thanks. Back to your regularly scheduled program.

[SnSstealth]

go fox farm!!!! bad ass lookin plants opie.... ;)
good job
:smokebong:
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