Rubbermaid CFL bag seed grow [Archive] - Green Grass Forums

gsosure

05-22-2009, 08:30 PM

the image reaper

05-22-2009, 08:39 PM

Ok my setup is complete. My 2nd rubbermaid setup - Cannabis Forums Message Boards - Medical Marijuana, Cannabis Club, Dispensary, News (http://tinyurl.com/p2ojtl) , I've just placed 6 of my grem'd babies in some Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil as suggested and I'm starting them on 18/6 light (I've read some posts where people do 24 hr lights.. is this better?). I have them in some Sole Red party cups to start (I'm going to be watering them from the top for now, but I have read its better to water them from the bottom, any suggestions?). Once they are above the soil I'll post some pics, Figured no one wants to look at red cups with dirt in them wondering lol. :hippy:

well, first off, make sure your cups have good drainage ... second, do NOT fertilize your young plants, until they show about 4 sets of leaves ... especially, with Ocean Forest soil ... I like OF soil, but it is pretty hot, it has killed some more fragile strains, in my own experience ...

never, ever, water cannabis from the bottom, always from the top ... cannabis requires loose, well-draining soil, it is crucial ...

24 hour, or 18/6, that will always be arguable ... personally, I use 18/6 ... I've tried about every combination, nothing seems obviously better, the 18/6 just seem 'happier' to me :D

do a lot of research while you're waiting ... Mandala's website has a lot of great info for growers, too ... good luck :thumbsup:

gsosure

05-22-2009, 10:34 PM

Great thanks for all the info. I have small holes poked in the cups to allow drainage and I have about a 15% mix for perlite and my FF.

I'll stick with the 18/6 seems so much more natural and nature like. I've been keeping to the moto "K.I.S.S" I figure this plant can thrive in nature on its own so I'm trying not to over do it. http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/3213/0522091725.th.jpg (http://img207.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0522091725.jpg)

gsosure

05-22-2009, 11:10 PM

Italiano715

05-22-2009, 11:48 PM

Ok so here is a noob question I was looking around on the site on how far I should keep the lights from the plants but only found info on HID's, but since I'm using CFL's I'm sure there is a slight difference. Right now with out measuring them I think they are about 10" from the top of the soil.

CFL's one to three inches away from the tops. They don't penetrate deep so you have to have them close to the tops without burning them. That's really the only problem with having CFL's is you have to move the lights up constantly.

gsosure

05-22-2009, 11:53 PM

CFL's one to three inches away from the tops. They don't penetrate deep so you have to have them close to the tops without burning them. That's really the only problem with having CFL's is you have to move the lights up constantly.

Great thanks for the info going to move them closer so they don't stretch when they come out of the soil. Once things get going I'll slow up on the posts. Just want to make sure I get off to a good start. :D

syde00

05-23-2009, 01:12 AM

Ok so here is a noob question I was looking around on the site on how far I should keep the lights from the plants but only found info on HID's, but since I'm using CFL's I'm sure there is a slight difference. Right now with out measuring them I think they are about 10" from the top of the soil.

10" is WAAAAAAYYYYYY too far for CFLs.
you should keep CFLs anywhere from 1-4" away (closer the better obviously)... just watch you don't burn the shit out of your plants

you should read this: http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/140735-answers-about-cfl-hps-how-much-light.html

exceptionally good info there.

gsosure

05-23-2009, 03:16 AM

Awesome yup just read that over and they are now from dirt to light about 3". Just going to keep a close eye on them once they come above the dirt to keep them from burning. I must say this site has been an amazing resource. I hope once I'm done I can use my knowledge to help others like I've been helped.

Balkey

05-23-2009, 05:17 PM

It's not as important in veg to keep the cfls as close as possible, when compared to flower. The main thing you want to avoid is stretching and heat issues with cfls in veg. As long as your not stretching and raising the temps. too high, you want them as close as you can get but honestly, I kept mine probably 5 inches or so away and I had no stretch or heat issues. 10 cfls, 26watters.

Until you get your setup and grow style dialed in, go by the general rules, the more light the better. IR, won't steer you wrong. He's right that OF is hot but as long as you don't fert too early, it's satisfactory for seedlings. Don't be surprised to see a little deformity in the early leaves/first round leaves. I use OF from start to finish. Always water from the top. Always.

As far as drainage holes are concerned, I like mine as big as possible. I make my own pots, and use a 1/4 inch drill bit for the drainage holes. The bigger the holes the less likely water will get trapped on the bottom and it also allows more oxygen to get to the roots. You will be thankful you added perlite. IMO, always add perlite.

I've used both 18/6 and 24/0 and saw no difference. The only reason, I don't know if its true or not, I used 24/0 last grow was I thought the plants would show sex earlier after the light change. My human thinking, thought that since they had never been exposed to dark that the first exposure would 'kick' them into flower faster. Took the ladies 3 days, which was quick IMO but I have no evidence to support either way.

Also make sure you don't water normally too soon. I had an experience once when I watered normally too soon and the seedling hadn't rooted down far enough and the entire thing, root and all floated to the top of the soil lol. I was pissed, but stuck the girl back down in the soil, and she grew fine. She was stunted, as you can imagine, by the experience but it worked out fine, she was only maybe 7 days behind the rest. I use a spray bottle until I think the ladies have rooted down far enough to handle a full on watering.

K.I.S.S:stoned:

gsosure

05-25-2009, 05:40 PM

Just a quick post, have 5 that are above soil now. Figured I'd post a few quick pics before the lights go out. Happy Memorial Day all.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/9462/0525091146.th.jpg (http://img29.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0525091146.jpg)

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2074/0525091148.th.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0525091148.jpg)

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/7559/0525091147.th.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0525091147.jpg)

gsosure

05-27-2009, 03:06 AM

Well here is a better pic of the babies, they have been under 24/0 light.. yeah my timer hasn't been working from what I gathered being home all day today. I'm not sure if this is a normal size for 4 days in the soil. but here they are.

This one is looking the best
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/2013/0526092154a.th.jpg (http://img36.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0526092154a.jpg)

top view of the 5 that have sprouted
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/8922/0526092154.th.jpg (http://img16.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0526092154.jpg)

sideview
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9953/0526092154b.th.jpg (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0526092154b.jpg)

MRDiff

05-27-2009, 08:56 PM

Nice. Putting those lights closer will definitely get those plants moving quicker.

gsosure

05-28-2009, 03:45 AM

Yeah right now they are about 3" from the lights and its about 72 degrees. I'm going to keep the log updated about ever 2 - 3 days so I don't over post.

gsosure

05-28-2009, 06:23 PM

Ok just got done watering the babies. They are all looking strong and are about 1.5" for the shortest and about 2" for the tallest. I noticed after my last watering a lot of excess water run off in the case so I put plates under the cups to catch that water.. Now my questions is will that cause issues if my plants suck that water up from the bottom? Other than that I think I'm on track thanks for all the great tips. :hippy:

pic1: Just a shot from above to see the leave growth.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9245/0528091249.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0528091249.jpg)

pic2: Group shot from the side to show height growth.
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2927/0528091251.th.jpg (http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0528091251.jpg)

pic3: And back to the cab for some "sun".
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/8349/0528091258.th.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0528091258.jpg)

pic4: This one is looking the best.. Have some high hopes here.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6462/0528091254.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0528091254.jpg)

headshake

05-28-2009, 06:38 PM

[quote=gsosure] I noticed after my last watering a lot of excess water run off in the case so I put plates under the cups to catch that water.. Now my questions is will that cause issues if my plants suck that water up from the bottom?

negative ghost rider! cannabis plants like to have a wet/dry cycle. they say that roots grow more when the soil is dry as they stretch to find water/food.

not to mention standing water leads to high humidity (and fungi), bugs and algae. not to mention your roots need oxygen and too much water can lead to root rot.

i like to put mine in the sink or bathtub (depending on pot size of course!) and water til i get a tad bit of runoff. let them stand for about 15 minutes and then return to their housing unit.

make sure that you have adequate drainage in your pots.

good growing!

-shake

gsosure

05-28-2009, 09:45 PM

Great thanks for the fast response.. I removed the plates and noticed a huge amount growth just from this morning.

gsosure

05-30-2009, 05:55 PM

Just checked in on the babies, and they are looking strong I think. I noticed a little leaf growth and some height. I'm starting to wonder if I need some more light on them or if I need to move them to bigger pots. Here are some pics so any ideas.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/7735/0530091228b.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091228b.jpg)

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/2827/0530091228a.th.jpg (http://img34.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091228a.jpg)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/1439/0530091228.th.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091228.jpg)

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2435/0530091227a.th.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091227a.jpg)

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/2780/0530091227.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091227.jpg)

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/4127/0530091228c.th.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0530091228c.jpg)

gsosure

05-31-2009, 02:28 PM

So I was doing some research the other night and I noticed the color of my bulb didn't seem to match up with what I thought I had. I realized I bought 2700k instead of 6500k. Well I've now fixed that and added 2 bulbs to the mix. I now have 8 Bright Effects Day Light 6500k bulbs. Lets hope this gets me on track for a better grow.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/8302/0531090915.th.jpg (http://img189.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0531090915.jpg)

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4109/0531090915a.th.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0531090915a.jpg)

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/6623/0531090914.th.jpg (http://img32.imageshack.us/my.php?image=0531090914.jpg)

syde00

05-31-2009, 02:45 PM

So I was doing some research the other night and I noticed the color of my bulb didn't seem to match up with what I thought I had. I realized I bought 2700k instead of 6500k. Well I've now fixed that and added 2 bulbs to the mix. I now have 8 Bright Effects Day Light 6500k bulbs. Lets hope this gets me on track for a better grow.

just as an FYI, 2700K isn't 'wrong' by any means. the timing just isn;t right :) the plants make the most use of 6500K during the veg cycle, and the most use out of 2700K for the flower cycle. That being said, its actually good to use a mix of both for both cycles... heavier on the 6500K for veg, heavier on 2700K for flower. a 75%/25% mix seems to be around what people say is optimal.

if you haven;t read it already, the links in my sig have some really good info on lighting in general and some specifics about CFLs in the 2nd one.

fluid69

05-31-2009, 02:54 PM

those bright effects bulbs are good for the money. they're bright as hell. I think you'll be happy with them.

gsosure

05-31-2009, 03:41 PM

Yeah its was those CFL posts that made me realized I had the wrong lights for this point in the grow. Its may sound dumb but the lights have only been in place for a few hours and I can see the leaves perking up a bit. Thanks all.

syde00

05-31-2009, 04:08 PM

yep, as an experiment when i took a couple clones of my current grow i tried using mostly 2700K on them for veg so i could see the difference... it was actually pretty significant, within a couple days of them vegging i could see them growing much more tall and lanky than the same plants grown under primarly 6500K, which grew much much shorter and bushier

gsosure

05-31-2009, 06:42 PM

Ok so yeah the light change was a super good idea. I can already tell a difference. But with the reading I've done I'm starting to wonder about space I have about 34" H x 39" W x 64" D , I have 5 plants in cups, but I'm thinking I need to get them to bigger pots. any suggestions on sizes or what I can fit in that space so i won't have to move them more than once?

gsosure

06-01-2009, 06:59 PM

I think its about time to move to bigger pots. the bottom leaves are getting so big they are twisting in the cups. I noticed a HUGE amount of growth from yesterday to today with the new lights. I'm really just amazed.

So I'm thinking I watered them a little today, get some new pots and more soil, and getting pots about the height of the beer box thats in there now to promote a little stretching to prep them for the up coming light change. at the end of this week I'm going to go to 20/4 and eventually move them to 18/6 shortly before hopefully making it to 12/12 lol.

dukesdean

06-01-2009, 07:34 PM

gsosure

06-02-2009, 01:40 AM

Ok so I noticed they weren't growing up but more out so I moved them to about 5" away instead of 2" and also trimmed the rim of the cup so it was even with the dirt. I did that about 5 hours ago and I can already see a difference in the plants. Heading to the store tomorrow to pick up some more Fox Farm and some decent sized pots so I don't have to move them again. and no I'd never refer to fox farm as dirt. :thumbsup:

the image reaper

06-02-2009, 01:48 AM

I'm glad to see you finally filled the cups up :D ...

gsosure

06-03-2009, 01:53 AM

So in prep of switching to 18/6 at the end of week 2 I made these covers to put over them and cut vents in the bottoms. I'm pretty stoked they worked out how they did. Any who just a pic of that.

gsosure

06-03-2009, 05:01 PM

Just peeked in on them this afternoon to check the temp with the new covers on and silly me I never put the gauge back in, but I did notice that my plants have really straightened up and the leaves are all perked up after the first night of 18/6. I'll get some pics after I repot them this evening or tomorrow.

Balkey

06-03-2009, 08:51 PM

I'm just curious why you just now switched them to 18/6 and didn't start with that? Just curious. :stoned:

gsosure

06-03-2009, 08:56 PM

Ok I went through the stressful task of transplanting the babies to 3 gal pots and not a moment to soon. When I cut the bottoms of the cups they were covered in roots( see pic 1). The temp in the box with the lights on is at a steady 82 degrees not sure what its at with the lights off. But here they are transplanted and under the lights. ( pic2)

I started out at 24/0 for the first 2 weeks because my timer was broken so at the end of week 2 I had a new timer and switched it to 18/6. it seemed like while at 24/0 I had a lot of fast growth and the switch to 18/6 made them jump more... but that's just what I noticed :jointsmile:

gsosure

06-04-2009, 05:13 PM

Ok so I just checked the babies, they have all perked back up, the shock didn't last or look as bad as I thought it would. Even in the new pots I have them around 5-6" from the lights. Is this still good or should I start moving them further away? I checked last night after the lights had been out for about 3 hours and the temp was about 69 degrees. Just checked it and the lights are about 82 degrees so I'm holding pretty strong for now.

One thing I noticed in a few cfl grow logs is the placement of white paper plates under the pants I assume as a reflector, is this something to help with flowering and get lights up under the plant or could this be practiced in veg to?

I know I have about 2' of grow height. which would be the better method lst or scrog and whens a good time to start? I've read the faq on how to do them just not sure when to start.

headshake

06-04-2009, 06:49 PM

with 5 plants, let's guess that you'll have 2 females. you can clone for sex or whatnot.

so with 2 females you could pull a scrog but it would be a waste because they would fill the screen very fast (unless you put them through a horizontal screen that then went vertical up the rest of the height of your cab or something). so 5 in a scrog is out of the question.

the scrog will start at what height you set the screen. or you can make an adjustable one.

if more than that are female then you should LST them. if you go with LST i would let them get a bit bigger first. then just bend them over 90 degrees near the base (water at least 1 hour prior, prefferebly a day prior) and tie them down. use string or landscaping wire....anything that works.

this will re-route the growth hormone from the main cola to the other nodes and they will start to grow up. now you will have many colas. you can combine this with topping or other methods. you can top with the scrog too.

you should finish LSTing at least 2 weeks prior to flower.

hope this helps.

-shake

gsosure

06-04-2009, 08:54 PM

Awesome, Yeah that was very helpful. Sounds like LST is going to be the route. So I just want to post comparison pics from yesterday at 4pm (pic 1) and today at 4pm (pic 2).. The transplant looks to be a success.

gsosure

06-07-2009, 11:09 PM

Ok just got back from a weekend vacation and wow.. They really jumped up. They all have 3 sprouts I'm thinking come Wednesday I'm going to switch the lights and start flowering. Any one have any tips on when to start nutes? After some reading on the organic nutes I'm going with Fox Farm Big Bloom. So anyway here are the babies in no real order.

headshake

06-08-2009, 12:25 AM

not sure the kinda results you will get with just the big bloom. it can be used as a stand alone product, but it was designed to go with the others in the lineup (tiger bloom, big bloom). but of course, the other two aren't organic.

you might supplement with some black strap molasses. some people say it does nothing, but it seemed to work well for me. the next day after watering/feeding there seemed to be an abundance of new growth. not necessarily on the main cola height wise, but an overall thickening of the plant, especially down below. the dosage is 1 tablespoon (Tbsp) per gallon of water.

you can start giving nutes as soon as you have alternating nodes. usually around 4-5. you might want to wait to start flowering until then as well as this denotes when the plants are mature.

good growing.

-shake

gsosure

06-08-2009, 03:33 PM

Cool I appreciate the info. I've been doing alot of reading of other cfl rubbermaid style grows and I'm noticing the height growth on the plants doesn't seem to have alot of comparison to others. I'm wondering if I need to add more lights or move the plants down. I'm just hoping I didn't stun them in the FF Ocean Forest. But on a up note when I opened the door this morning I was hit with a nice skunky smell. :jointsmile:

gsosure

06-10-2009, 05:59 PM

Ok so I moved the plants down to be about 5-6" from the lights last night before the lights went dark. Woke up this morning to water them and this is what I woke to. Everything is looking good so far when it comes to watering I've just been soaking the soil till i get a little run off out the bottom. Pic 1 is a group photo and pic 2 is the best grower.

gsosure

06-14-2009, 08:59 PM

OK so wow, I was out of town for a long weekend came home to these. I'm for sure glad I waited. But I am switching the lights out tonight and starting flowering because I do have limited grow height and space. I do see why some people said I will run into space issues... But I'll figure that out when i get there. So here they are.. pic1: group, pic2: the smallest of the bunch, pic3-4: the one with the best foliage.

Italiano715

06-14-2009, 09:13 PM

gsosure

06-14-2009, 09:44 PM

So they are all the same age? If so, I'm betting the front two to be males and the back three your females. :D Ask me how, I don't know. The just look like the vigorous growing ones, so that's what I'm going with! :D:D:stoned::stoned: Only time will tell though :)

I won't ask, but we shall see in about 10-15 days lol. I'm really nervous because of the fact I have such a small amount of room that I might have to figure out another grow option lol. But I don't wanna get ahead of myself. :jointsmile:

Italiano715

06-15-2009, 12:18 AM

How big is your grow room?

gsosure

06-15-2009, 12:54 AM

How big is your grow room?

34" H x 39" W x 64" D .. from bottom of lights to bottom of the box. Starting to wonder if I should start the lst now?

gsosure

06-16-2009, 08:38 PM

Welp day 2 of flowering the babies are looking good. Going to pick up the nutes in the next few days I decided to go with the Fox Farm Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom as a pair. I had a slight heat issue, but was easily resolved and plants are looking better. I let them get a little dry so I gave them a little extra water. I've been reading about topping and LST, I have 3 alt nodes on all plants, just not sure where to start. From the reading I need to wait for them to get another set of nodes anyway. Let me know your thoughts.

Italiano715

06-16-2009, 10:17 PM

if your starting flowering, don't LST or top. No stress to the plant while it is in this stage at all!

gsosure

06-16-2009, 10:23 PM

Really from the reading I thought your supposed to wait for a week into flower then top. If thats not the case then I maybe hosed on height lol. But thanks for the tip, I'll leave them alone from here on out.

Italiano715

06-16-2009, 10:32 PM

Nah you want to do everything in vegetative and stop about a week or two before you start flowering. Then if you LSTed them you release them once the flowering phase starts. Well that's how I read to do it. If you cause your plants any stress in the flowering cycle there is a strong possibility that it may hermie on you.

gsosure

06-17-2009, 01:59 AM

Yeah I went back and re-read it I was completely wrong. Welp I guess if I messed this up then I'm growing them all natural lol. I added my own yeast/sugar co2 jug as recommended from the faq's and forums. I did under estimate the smell so I'm going to have to look into a carbon filter on the output fan.

Italiano715

06-17-2009, 02:05 AM

hell yeah, smells like bread rising or pizza dough rising....mmmmm I love that smell.... :cool::thumbsup:

gsosure

06-18-2009, 07:47 PM

Welp here we are day 28 flowering 4.. getting ready to pick up my nutes for flowering As I said going with the Fox Farm collection Big Bloom, Tiger Bloom, and Grow Big. They will get the first round tomorrow during watering. Right now they are all over 7" with lots of alt nodes. Leaves all have a pretty green color. Adding the co2 jug has helped I can tell. :hippy:

gsosure

06-22-2009, 01:27 AM

Ok just got back into town and wow they have grown alot in the last 3 days. They all have about 5 alt. nodes now, I'm starting to keep an eye on the top nodes for sex, I'm hoping to find out this week because I'm really running out of room. I have a few that kind of look to have pistols but then again it could just be new leaf growth. As I was taking them out to check the soil and get pics Plant B pic 2 slipped from my hand and fell over :wtf: .. I checked the stock and all the alt nodes and found no breaks or bad bends so Keeping my fingers crossed I didn't kill it. ....Mental note for next grow no more than 3 plants at a time in this box.... :stoned:

gsosure

06-22-2009, 06:43 PM

Ok well Pic 1 is my confirmed female I'm a happy parent. Pic 2 on the other hand I think is showing balls in the circled area. If you need to compare pics to the full size, they are lettered in order in the above post.

headshake

06-22-2009, 07:32 PM

the ladies look very nice gso! congrats on the little girl, stogies all around! as far as the second pic, i wouldn't jump to conclusions. in my experience the males tend to show sex first. maybe she's just a later bloomer.

*crosses fingers*

-shake

gsosure

06-22-2009, 07:38 PM

Shit well if that is the case.. I have 5 females the other 3 plants are now showing what pic 2 is showing. I thought I was coming out with 1 female the rest males... Looks like I may have to make a bigger grow box.. Funny thing the one that showed female first is one that earlier in my thread someone guessed would be the first male.. Sparks a bowl in honor of his new baby girl.

headshake

06-22-2009, 07:40 PM

you never know til you see the sex organs!

blazes a blunt for ya new girl!

-shake

gsosure

06-24-2009, 05:21 PM

Just plucked my first male from the group. That leaves me with 1 female and 3 no shows. Crossing my fingers I get atleast one more female from the group. They are all also coming very close to making out with my lights so I'm thinking I'm going to have to drop them down a little more. I've started to come to realize all the flaws I've made with this grow.. I now have a list of things to do while in veg and when moving to flower to help me on my next grow.

Italiano715

06-24-2009, 06:56 PM

Veg them too long eh? That was one of the first things I though about when I started was how much are they going to stretch during flowering. Crazy how big they get with the switch of the lights. I'm having to move mine up every day just about.

Hope your 3 no shows are some lovely ladies! :thumbsup:

gsosure

06-24-2009, 07:14 PM

Its not a height issue, they have plenty of room there is more "elbow" room they are having issues with all the leaves in a way over lap each other. That and I didn't lst or train them at all during veg like I should have and just let them grow all natural. I'm doing some reading and I'm wondering when I can start taking off bottom leaves.

headshake

06-24-2009, 08:38 PM

if they are not getting any light and dying off you can either wait until they fall off or give them a light tug. just be careful pruning in flower as you could possibly get some herms.

-shake

gsosure

06-25-2009, 10:46 PM

Ok so I'm 12 days into flowering and have only had 2 show sex... at what point should I start worrying about the other plants?

fluid69

06-25-2009, 11:33 PM

how long did you veg for? they made need a few more days to mature.

gsosure

06-26-2009, 12:39 AM

I vegged for 3 weeks.

headshake

06-26-2009, 12:49 AM

did your plants have opposite leaves?

-shake

gsosure

06-26-2009, 01:36 AM

Yeah, all but one and it was the one that went male.

gsosure

06-26-2009, 07:11 PM

Ok welp nothing to worry about now. they have all showed sex, I now have 3 females and 2 males.. Now its time to baby them so I get some nice bud in a few months.

gsosure

06-26-2009, 07:34 PM

I ment to post these pics in that last post but forgot.. Pic 1 is my other confirmed male. pic 2 is one of the other females. The third female is still early but I do see small pistols growing close to the stem but to small to get a good pic. Anywho cheers :stoned:

gsosure

06-26-2009, 08:43 PM

Ok seriously done updating for the day .. Just a big day and kind of excited.

gsosure

06-29-2009, 03:28 PM

Ok, well the plants are all about 7" from the bottom of the lights which is concerning because I know I still have a lot of growing left. I'm wondering if I could start a scrog of some sort to stop them from getting to much closer to the lights. Any feedback would be great.

Balkey

06-29-2009, 03:44 PM

Those looks great! I love that soil mix, has never let me down. :thumbsup:

On the height issue. Those will grow more than 7 inches that you have left. I know you are using the tub on the bottom most likely for the issue of keeping it absolutely dark when it should be dark. BUT since they are in flower already, lst or any other method would probably hurt your yield. So....

Do what I did, just use the top of the setup, where the lights are and place the plants in a closet or somewhere you can keep it dark. Now, you can move your tub up as high as you need it just by propping it up ( put boxes or anything really on the side of the plants to set the tub on). You'll have to keep them in a dark place to control the dark periods but that's the only way I see you fixing the grow space problem.:stoned:

gsosure

06-30-2009, 04:14 PM

Yeah its a great soil mix, I'll be using it again. Thanks for the info, My plan is to keep using both sides of the tub, but put hooks on top of the lid and on the ceiling above it and use a chain to raise and lower the lid. And use white poster board to wrap around the tub to keep light out. I'm debating on if I should repot them or not at this point because I was reading if you keep them in smaller pots they will start smaller because the root system doesn't have anywhere to go. I'll have new pics tomorrow when the new camera gets in.

Balkey

07-01-2009, 01:13 AM

The idea is to use a small pot to start and gradually increase the size as they get bigger (not allowing it to get rootbound though). Why? Well, the lady will use more of the soil up than if you were to put it in a bigger pot to start with. The roots will move down and to the sides of the pot then chill and soak up water. You DON'T want them to be root bound though.

As to whether or not you should repot or not, I don't know. If you are to do it, I'd do it ASAP, before they get further into flower. I transplant once sex shows, so I technically transplant in flower but a lot of people don't.

gsosure

07-02-2009, 05:19 PM

Ok so it seems like its been a few days since I updated. Had a little scare when watering them yesterday plant B(pic2) all her leaves were super droopy and soil was bone dry gave her a liter of water over a few minutes so the soil would soak in as much as possible. Plant E(pic3) is showing sex, but seems to be a few days behind the rest. Other than that they are doing amazing here are some pics.

I've decided to go against transplanting this late in the game and to help with the height issue I will soon run into I've setup the top of the grow tub so it can be lifted up as needed and I'll use white poster board to wrap around the gaps.

http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/3010/day42a.jpg

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/356/day42b.jpg

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/9820/day42e.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3907/day42tub.jpg

gsosure

07-06-2009, 08:27 PM

Ok back from a weekend away and wow the growth has been amazing. All the plants are about 1.5 ft tall with lots of bud sites. I'm starting to wonder if I could safely remove some fan leaves without majorly hurting the plants? I made some changes to the grow box, i removed the bottom tub and have the top tub suspended above to adjust for height and allow me to space them out a little more they were very snug and over lapping with the base. I also put 2 desk lamps on the ground aiming up into the top to give the bottom bud sites more light. So far following the FF feeding schedule has worked perfect no nute burn or lock as far as I can tell. Any comments more than welcome.

greenatik

07-06-2009, 08:34 PM

I wouldn't be worried about pruning its never done harm to my plants that I can tell. just do it all at once. I like to 'lollipop' my plants. every node i take everything off the bottom 1/3

but wow everything looks great can't believe those are in a rubbermaid. great work gsosure :thumbsup:

gsosure

07-06-2009, 10:28 PM

Thanks for the info. Took me a min. to figure out what you ment by lollipop, but I think its a little to late now, almost all the lower branches have bud sites and I'd hate to cut them. I was thinking of going and just triming all the fan leaves that are in the way out. think that would do anything? Just trying to figure out how to give them more light and room.

gsosure

07-08-2009, 05:45 PM

Ok well made some changes to the grow room to give me some more height and that seems to have helped a lot. I did notice that on all the plants the top like 6 stems of fan leaves are red on top but green on bottom (pic 4) I was thinking it could be temp issues at night the box gets down to upper 60's and lower 70's. Other than that the plants are looking amazing starting to see lots of bud points and trichs forming. cheers all :hippy:

Italiano715

07-08-2009, 05:49 PM

Balkey

07-09-2009, 04:29 PM

I wouldn't worry about the purple stems. I've looked for answers on that myself and find all kinds of answers. Some being phosphorus def., stems just go purple in some strains when they enter flower, etc. It could be due to the soil because I use the same soil and I get it EVERYTIME. The way I dealt with it although I never worried about it was to put more ph down in my water (my tap water is off the charts, its very alkaline).

I honestly think it helped. My new growth would always be green and lacking the purple. So my advice would be to check your ph run off and water ph. But all in all, it's nothing to worry about.:stoned:

gsosure

07-09-2009, 04:55 PM

Yeah thats what I was getting as well when I was searching so I figured well I have a few subscribers I'll post a pic and get their opinion. I don't use tap water because I won't even drink it so no way I'm letting my plants have it, I buy pre ph'd water from the local fish store 6.5 - 7 every time. ( yeah I know I'm crazy) Thanks for the reassurance that its nothing to worry about, the rest of the leaves and plant look amazing so I'll just mark it up to nature. I added a new Co2 jug yesterday as well and I swear the bug spots just blew up over night and they got much taller one is about 4 " from kissing the lights. Temps were a little warm this morning sitting at about 81', but they aren't canoeing or anything so I think my temp gauge is just to close to the light bulb. Anywho thanks for the info. I prolly won't upload any more pics for the week unless something major happens just to save space and so the next pics will look hopefully amazing. Also just ordered a new macro lense for my new Canon so I can get good pics of the forming trichs. woot cheers.

gsosure

07-10-2009, 06:24 PM

well woke up this morning to some bad plants.. 2 of the 3 have gone hermi.. Lots of little ball sacks.. I do have 1 that while its not the biggest plant.. it doesn't have balls. pic 1 is plant A and pic 2 is plant B...

Balkey

07-12-2009, 02:29 AM

Damn man, that sucks. I've never had a hermi, ever. It could be because I use store bought seeds/just get lucky with good genetics/the way I handle the ladies just gets er done. Did you do something during the growing process that could have stressed them? Light leaks?

Personally, I don't even TOUCH them or move them at all, except for when transplanting (even then I make that process as fast as possible and gentle). Probably just genetics though. Your next grow should be actual strains from a breeder. You have the process down enough to risk some money on beans.

If your 3rd one doesn't turn hermie, I wouldn't worry about the size. Sometimes the biggest yielders are the smallest ones.

As for your water, I have no knowledge at all about store bought water. I don't drink my tap water either (it's terrible) and just ph adjust it, and it does just fine. Besides maybe some lime build up (which I've never had noticeable deficiencies from) tap water IMO works just fine.

Good luck on your last lady. :stoned:

greenatik

07-12-2009, 02:43 AM

try picking the balls off and see if it produces any more. Mine threw a couple balls like that even though it was a clone from a pure female mother from stress i guess. I picked them off a week ago and haven't seen anything since. beautiful plants though man :thumbsup: i'll second what balkey said try and get some clones or some good seeds for the next run you definitely got the growin part down

gsosure

07-12-2009, 06:44 AM

Thanks guys for the responses, I already chopped the hermi plants didn't wanna risk messing up the one plant that survived. I do think it was stress that turned them because they were so crammed for elbow fighting for light and I moved them every few days to water and take some pics so I'm sure that didn't help. I know I could use stuff to fix the ph, but its just as easy to go down the street say I need 5 gal of 6.5-7 ph water and they have it ready lol. you guys have any suggestions on places that send to the middle of the USA? If I knew anyone that grew around me I'd ask for clones or seeds but I keep to myself when it comes to my habits and what not. I did start a list of things I'm going to be doing different next grow to make it go a little more smooth. Here is a pic of the lone survivor. My roommate said he thought he saw some balls forming on an alt node if so I'll try the pick off method and see what happens. :smokin: funny side note.. I didn't find out till today that my roommate took the top kolas and dried them while I was gone and smoked them.. he said he was high for like 30min after each bowl and it tasted horrible.. I almost fell over laughing.

gsosure

07-13-2009, 06:34 PM

Just finished with the watering.. Did a thorough search no balls which makes me :D . Had some browning on one leaf at the top but I think that was from the lights getting to close so I remedied that by raising the top a little. I also added 2 desk lamps in the bottom of the box. I used the 6500k lights because I saw some other cfl threads that mixed light colors during flowering and they had some nice results. I got a close up of top bud and it has some nice trich growth. Other than that things are back on track.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/6320/day53e3.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8453/day53e2.jpg

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8323/day53e.jpg

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/3818/day53e4.jpg

gsosure

07-21-2009, 04:11 PM

Ok so things went from being ok to horrible in a short amount of time.. I had to go out of town for a wedding I came back late last night and checked on them this morning it appears as the main exhaust fan died and the box has been hotter than Hell its self. They were being watered on a Bi-Daily basis, but my roommate didn't notice the fan not working. I'm overly concerned at this point that the plant is just going to die. These pics were taken just after watering I'm afraid to take it out of the box that it might be fragile and break. Any tips on what I could do to try and save it. The only leaves that are looking bad are fan leaves the bud sites all look amazing still. Any who keeping my fingers crossed and my vibe positive. :hippy: