growing wide

[firstfist]

Hey all.

Giving the grow another chance. My last try was years ago, pre-internet infact, and the only advice I had was the shit I thought sounded right in my head. I ended up with one 12" plant with a single bud (decent quality I guess:stoned:) and another 3 footer that must have been a male cause I never got it to bud.

Anyway, here I am some 15 or 20 years later and I'm having another go at it. This site, with a few others have proved tremendous resources, but I do have a question that I havn't found an answer for.

The space I have decided to grow in isn't all that tall. Does anyone have any experience with tieing thier plants down to get them to grow vertically? Or should I just try and find a better spot?

[McLuvin]

What are the dimensions of the room you want to use?

[firstfist]

It is a water heater closet. Above the heater where I will be keeping it is about 3'X2' with only 4 to 5 feet of height.

[McLuvin]

WOW that is tight. Your real only options would be LED's and fluorescents. Even then you would be very limited. I recommend you re-think where you want to grow. SORRY.

[Vancefish]

Tieing down the plant to maximize it's light accessability is called LST(Low stress training). I'm in my first grow, and three weeks into flower. I vegged this plant for about eight weeks.

Here is a link on how to do it.

http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/180037-how-l-ow-s-tress-t-raining-lst.html

and a link to see my entire grow. I borrowed a really nice camera, and plan to take some far better pics tomorrow (three weeks into flower).

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/179056-kinda-wild-trial-grow.html

BTW this thing is quite HUGE! :D

[Vancefish]

WOW that is tight. Your real only options would be LED's and fluorescents. Even then you would be very limited. I recommend you re-think where you want to grow. SORRY.

Sorry Mcluvin but you are incorrect.

I wouldn't suggest much more then a switchable 400w light HID, but with an cooled hood, and good ventilation it could grow quite a plant (just not to tall).

Or four standard plants that didn't veg long at all!

I'll use a tape measure in a pic tomorrow, then you'll see a plant can be HUGE and short. :thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Most of what I have read suggests starting out with the bare minimum of grow materials, and use the first experiences as just that. Experience. I was planning on getting this CFL light (http://homeharvest.com/hydrofarmcompactfluorescents.htm) to start out with. Seemed like the best option with my limited space.

Just tied my girl (I hope) down. Right now she is just sitting in a window getting natural light and doing well at 5 nodes.

[McLuvin]

It's all good Vancefish. I am also open to new idea's. Can't wait to see your pics.

[PhatJay]

Most of what I have read suggests starting out with the bare minimum of grow materials, and use the first experiences as just that. Experience. I was planning on getting this CFL light (http://homeharvest.com/hydrofarmcompactfluorescents.htm) to start out with. Seemed like the best option with my limited space.

I am growing with that type of CFL but a different reflector. My cupboard is H 60" x W 36" x D 19" and I have 2 decent size plants in it. The great advantage of starting with CFL's is that they generate very little heat which makes ventilation much cheaper and easier. You won't produce as much yield as other types of bulb, but you can still get good yields (a friend of mine uses the 250watt versions of these lights and gets 3-4oz a plant.

My setup is pretty basic, but I think I have got pretty good results for a 1st timer. Check out my grow and see what you think.

:)

[bigtopsfinn]

2 x 3 x 4 (or 5)ft. is doable, even with an hps. If you want to go the CFL route, maybe check out Wal-Mart, Lowes, etc. first, and see what they have. You can probably get 4 clamp light sockets, 12 Y socket splitters, and 12 x 23w-42w CFL's for 2/3 the price, maybe less, and at least double the wattage...

I'd say 400w HPS is the way to go from the start, but if you aren't keen to invest in ventilation (strong inline fan, carbon filter, cooltube/vented hood), then stick with the CFL's for now.

LST is nice, but for height restrictions, SCRoG (Screen of Green) is even better. Here's a good link : http://boards.cannabis.com/closet-cabinet-growing/52326-lovely-ladies.html. Also the second and third link in my sig has Scrog examples.

Some pics from the second link:

[Vancefish]

I took some great shots. However I don't own any photo altering software. So I returned the camera to the friend who I borrowed it from, with the pics still in it. She's going to edit them down and email them to me.

I should be able to post them either tonight or tomorrow. :thumbsup:

Here's a HUGE sneak peak.. :D

[firstfist]

I ended up ordering a 200w cfl, and it came today.....broken :(. Amazon is sending a replacement that should be here by Sat.

Anyway, I've had it growing for a few weeks just getting window sunlight, and it has been doing ok. Slow as she goes. This morning I got impatient for the light, and put a 23w cfl on her (it just showed it's sex yesterday, I'll ask about that in a second). Just having that one light on her got 2 days worth of window sunlight growth. Wish I had my camera to get a shot of her, but alas its miles away at the moment.

So a couple questions. If it is starting to shoot out the female pistules? does that mean it is in the beging of the flowering stage? Sunrise here is currently around 7:30am, and sunset at about 8:00pm. Should I start the new light regement slowly, or should I go right to a 24/7 light schedule to bring it out of flowering?

Thanks!

[Vancefish]

Having female parts doesn't mean it's flowering. However 18on/6off will veg a plant faster. Also, outdoors a plant CAN flower (or at least start to) with 11 hours of darkness.

I took a couple pics today of my LST. Here's a couple for you at 32 days flower.

[firstfist]

Awesome! Good news indeed, and those look quite nice!

So glad I took your advice and used some LST. It is starting to get a bit hard to tell where the actual "top" of my plant is. Two of the shoots look just like the main stem, and a bunch of others will look like the main stem in a day or two at my best estimate.

[Vancefish]

Awesome! Good news indeed, and those look quite nice!

So glad I took your advice and used some LST. It is starting to get a bit hard to tell where the actual "top" of my plant is. Two of the shoots look just like the main stem, and a bunch of others will look like the main stem in a day or two at my best estimate.

Shoulda shown you these too. :thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Don't have my set up still, but I'm a bit confused about 200w lighting. This is the bulb that I have coming (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HHQ9TW/ref=oss_product). I have read both that I will need a ballast, and somewhere else that these cfls have internal ballasts. Is that true? I'm starting to think it is true as I can't seem to find any 200w cfl ballasts. Kinda lost here I guess.

[bigtopsfinn]

Looks like that thing has a ballast already, it's the plastic thing between the bulb and the socket screw. Should get your started :thumbsup:

[Vancefish]

I just looked at that bulb too. Just like any CFL the ballast is part of the bulb.

What I find interesting is I, for the life of me, can not find any info on the lumens this bulb puts out. I built a CFL/tube light hood totaling 333w which puts out 17,900 lumens with 4 x 4' 2700K tubes, 4 x 23w 5000K CFLs and 3 x 27w 6500K CFLs.

I'm curious what these put out, but even Hydrofarm themselves don't have it on their site. I'm sure it's going to work great! However watt to lumens efficiency is an unknown, without that number.:wtf: Makes me think they don't want us to know.

Hydrofarm - Hydrofarm FLC200D 200 W Compact Fluorescent Bulb - Daylight (http://www.hydrofarm.com/pb_detail.php?itemid=117)

[firstfist]

I have seen the lumens for these bulbs in a few spots. Here is one of them (http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/bright-wing-200w-5000k-9500-lumens-cfl-grow-light-p-2761.html). For some I have seen as low as 8000lumens, and as high as 12000 lumens for single 200w bulbs.

[Vancefish]

When you get your replacement you'll have to tell us what the box says.

However if 8000 is all it pulls then multiple standard CFLs are more efficient. As each 27w puts out 1700 lumens. So, five standard CFLs equal 8500 lumens, and only use 135w.

If it puts out 12000 lumens. then it would take seven regular CFLs to get 11900 lumens, and those seven would use 189w.

This tells me that although this is a good bulb for growing. Either with the 8000 or 12000 lumen version. The standard CFLs are better. Because you get more light per watt. Plus using multiple bulbs, the light comes in from many angles, instead of just one.

Although I think this is a good bulb, I think you should consider standard 27w 6500K CFLs from home depot. They only cost about $8 for four bulbs. Then buy some lamp sockets($3 each) and lamp cords($4-5 each). Make your own drop lights.:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Crap. The reflector hood (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009I52AQ/ref=oss_product) I ordered is made to plug into a ballast. Should I order a new one, and send this one back. Or should it be simple enough to rewire the mogul base socket for a standard two prong and ground cord for the cfl light I have already?

[stra8outtaWeed]

one thing to put in your arsenal is Bushmaster...when you go to put your plants into flower it will stimulate faster flowering but it limits the stretch and will stack your nodes tighter and have better yield than without it...only applied in the the very beginning of flower once or twice depending on personal preferance but a small bottle of it will last a long time! your plant will only stretch about a 1/3 of what it would normally by applying Bushmaster...so it is great for small spaces!:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

This bushmaster (http://www.impactguns.com/store/bushmaster_6.8_rifles.html)?:wtf:

JK. I'll definitely look into it. Seems like everytime I turn around there is a new shiney toy on the shelf to pull down and take home. Think I'll wait till this grow is over before I start procuring more "growstuffs", but thanks for the input.

[stra8outtaWeed]

NO..this bushmaster:thumbsup:

Humboldt County's Own - Hydroponics | HIDHut Discount Hydroponics Supplies and Equipment (http://www.hidhut.com/catalog/humboldt-countys-own-c-30_121.html)

if you need that Bushmaster then you are growing too much...haha!

[firstfist]

Right on. THanks for the link. So the 4oz bottle will last me a good while if I only have a few plants kickin'?

[stra8outtaWeed]

yes..only use 3 - 5 mls/gallon applied once in the first days of flower so 4oz could last afew years! store it in cool place and it will last just fine!:thumbsup: i bought a quart and it may last me a lifetime..haha!

[firstfist]

One more question. I'm thinking about getting myself some Fox Farms nutes. The last time I tried growing the only resource available was the Anarchasts Cookbook, and the suggestions in there (as far as I can remember) are WAY fucking different from what I'm reading here.

I am seeing pictures on here showing good results, so I'm throwing away all the info in my head I learned way back then. Like to help with a strong plant, stress the shit out of it. It even suggested dropping your plant out a second story window, then repotting it (seriously). What I have been using from it was the recommended fertilizer regiment of used coffee grounds, and egg shells. I think the coffee grounds are a bit too Nitrogen rich, because I am having some of my leaf tips turning a bit brown. It isn't so much that I am worried this far into the game, but I want to do it right.

So finnaly to the question. If I buy these products, should I follow the recommended doseing, or dilute it a bit more.

[stra8outtaWeed]

i don't use FF nutes but many here do and you can find alot of info by doing a search...one book i reccommend is Jorge Cervante's Medical Marijuana Bible:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Oh, I know. I think my problemb may just be that I'm reading too much. I have so much new info in my brain that I'm having a hard time keeping it all straight....specially when I'm not myself:stoned:

[bigtopsfinn]

I'm not a FF user, I like my Canna.

But if FF is the only available set, you'll need the trio. They have a chart online with weekly dosages listed. With FF, it's recommended to feed half the recommended dosage twice per week, instead of giving them the full dose at one time.

FF nutes are notorious for being very strong, so make sure to start with 1/4 strength and work your way up. It's also good to do a small flush with plain water once a month to help with the salt build-up (flush with the container's equivalent volume of ph'd water, 5gal of water for a 5gal pot).

This is how RustyTrichome does it, you can check out some of his posts. If you do a google search like this:

fox farm nutes site:boards.cannabis.com

you'll get several threads to read through.

Happy growing :jointsmile:

[firstfist]

You guys rock! Thanks so much for your help so far.

[Vancefish]

I've been using the Technaflora B.C. starter kit. It's made for hydro, and I'm growing in FF ocean. So, I mix it at 1/6th hydro strength, then only feed every third watering. I did this because it included all the nutes I needed for every stage in one box set. Then mixed at those levels, this $35 kit should last me around 5-6 grows of 12 plants (about the same size as my "trial grow").

About that light hood and bulb?,.. Since we have no idea WHAT you actually bought, we couldn't tell you if it's the right one. However a reflector does reflect regardless of WHAT is generating the light inside it.

I'd still suggest a few regular CFL drop lights. Even with this 200w CFL overhead. A couple CFLs bringing light in from the sides won't hurt. Plus you can buy both 6500K CFLs for better veg growth, and 2300K CFLs for flower!:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Well, I am returning the first reflector I purchased and am getting this one (http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/bright-wing-125w-2700k-cfl-grow-light-p-2202.html) instead. It is only about $15 dollars more than the other one, that is just about the same reflector, plus the 125w 2700 bulb. Still keeping the 200w bulb for veg, and I am going to add a three or four 100w equal (27w I think) drop lights.

Seeing as how I may be kind of messing up my first grow a bit, should I even bother cloning this one or should I just start from scratch for the next one? I am going to probably take a clone off for learning purposes, but I think I read that a stressed plant's clones don't do much better than the mother. It that true?

[stra8outtaWeed]

yes practice....one tip for successful cloning is get a small dish of water...like a baking dish or just something to do the final cut of the stem under water with your razor...at a 45 angle of course...but doing it under water prevents air bubble from happening to the end of the cut(embolism) stopping it from rooting and the cut just damps off...the stem basically melts away! use rapid rooters or good quality rooting plugs are the easiest to use...jmo!:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

I ordered some rooting plugs, and some root gel. I am definitlely go the cloning route. Wondering if a stressed plants clones can be any better than the mother though. IE. After this plant I'm growing buds (hopefully :)), if I am dissatisfied with my results will it be likely that I can do better with the clones, or will they be doomed because of the plant they came from?

[stra8outtaWeed]

not exactly...they may take a little longer to root but it will be good practice!:thumbsup:

keep your dome on and temps in the mid to low 80's:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Will do. Thinking I'm getting the light hood and other goodies by Friday or so (I fucking hope so anyway). Once I do I'm thinking I'll give her a week with her new lights, then take a clipping and throw it into flower.

My camera will be home on Tues., so I'll have some pics up soon after. It's looking good other than where the leaves have grown into the light during the day and got burnt. It's really only a few extreme edge of leaf so I'm really not worried about that too much.

[firstfist]

Checked the soil PH yesterday, and it came in somewhere between 7.5 and 8 as far as I could tell. This coupled with the fact that she was in the same pot as when her seed cracked (a 2 gallon planter) that was filled with potting soil that had little pearlite with only a single drain whole at the bottom. The single drain whole, coupled with such a big pot was leading the soil to mold around the bottom drain where some roots were comming out.

Taking what I have learned here, I decided I needed to do an emergincy transplant into a smaller pot. I got a little planter (mabey 3/4 gallon) and filled about 1/3 full with a hummus compost, pearlite mix (50/50) and got it wet enough that I could plaster it to the edges of the pot in preperation of mom.

So she just happened to be ready for water, making the dig WAY easy. I dug in with my hands trying to stay to the outside of the major root system. Once I got her out of the ground I lightly shook off any dirt that would come off without taking roots with it. The root ball that was replanted was only slightly smaller than the plant, so I believe I am good there. Plunked her in the new pot and flushed it well.

Now a couple hours later she is looking healthy still. She has a bit of droop going on with some of the larger fan leaves, but I think all in all it was a good move. I'm planning on letting her veg like this till I start to see major growth again, giving it a week or so then giving her a gallon planter upgrade (the root ball barely fit in the new pot, so she should fill it with roots quickly). Then one more transplant into a 3 gallon pot 2 or 3 weeks into flower.

So keep the nutes from her till I start to see growth again, correct?

[bigtopsfinn]

Yeah keep the nutes to a minimum but also do not use too much light until the roots are growing strong again.

[firstfist]

Are 4 26w cfls too many, or just about right for the time being?

[bigtopsfinn]

Maybe 2 bulbs will do for now, nurse it back, slowly add lights as it starts looking better.

[firstfist]

She seems to be doing great. Lower light is off already, and I'm seeing a bit of new growth already. Mabey I'm being impatient, but it seemed since there was zero drooping, and new growth I'd re-up the lights this morning. Now there is considerable growth today.

I did a bit of figuring since I have never really kept track of how long it has been, and I'm at about 6 weeks. The first 5 1/2 weeks were just the 12 hours of sunlight we had here, and just put her underlights about 4 days ago now on an 19/5 schedule.

Looking ok for a newbie?:)

[firstfist]

Thought I'd post a shot of my little cardboard growbox. I had the lamps a bit closer, but thought I'd keep them higher for a few days for the roots (less light?). Monday I should be getting my reflector with the 6000k, and 2700k lamps, so I'm going to squeeze it in just above the hanging cfls. As it grows up I'll move the larger reflector lamp, but keep the 26w ones about where they are.

Sound about right?

[Vancefish]

Looks great! :thumbsup:

My only thought is,.. It looks like your in a 6 inch pot. Is that correct?

I ask just because I started mine in a 6 inch. It needed re-potting about a month in, and was about the same size that yours is now. I noticed the plants leaves started to droop a little, over a few days it got worse. turned out I was root bound.

So watch the droop for signs of that, It'll also seem like the water just runs through the pot.

I added a before recovery and after shot too.

[firstfist]

Thanks.

Apreciate the heads up. Close, it's an 8" pot. I had to repot because it was in a larger pot that the soil wasn't drying out in enough, among many other newb problems like soil, bad pot, too big of a starter pot. So I placed it in this one. It never drooped more than a leaf or two. I'm planning on sitting it in a bigger pot as soon as I see some roots poke out the bottom.

Also thought I'd mention this. Mabey you can't tell in the shot, but it isn't drooping at all right now. I've been doing some elaborite LST, and just did a little tie down session a few hours before the shot.

[stra8outtaWeed]

have you thought of paintiing your box flat white...or some mylar will reflect some of the light back into your plants....that box just eats the light...it will brighten the place up quite a bit with a fresh coat of paint:jointsmile:

[Vancefish]

Ah, I see. Deceptive shot, leaf looked droopy and was freshly trained. Well like I said looks good from here.

Another thing to watch for when doing LST with string is tieing it to tight. I left a tight string on my main stem to long and it kinda strangled it until I noticed and removed it. I added a shot of after it was removed. You can still see the strangle spot through the leaves in the pic.

I ended the issue by tieing a loop in the end of the string then doing a loop around the stem. then the knot itself keeps the loop loose allowing the stem to thicken unthreatened.

That last post was my 420th! :D

[firstfist]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I only had about 3/4 can of flat white spray, so I got as much coverage out of it as possible. I am planning on getting another can and doing another coat, but again the picture is deceptive. It actually is fairly white :)

Yeah Vance, I had read that about you in another thread I think...mabey this one? Anyway, I am getting around that by tieing one end of the string to the bucket, looping around the plant, cinching down, and then tieing the other end of the string to the bucket also. Thus making one large loop that only holds the branch around half the stalk so it can grow unrestrained.:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

So I have everything setup....sort of. I'm kind of running into a heat problem that mabey someone could give me a tip on. So now I have the 200w cfl veg bulb, and the capability to have 4 26w cfls on the sides. I have them off for the moment though.

I keep burning my plant. When I have it closer than 6" it starts to burn, but I've read with cfls that is the furthest away I should have it. If I turn on any of the 4 26w cfls it really starts to burn.

I just havn't found a happy medum yet. Either that or I am doing the venting wrong. It does get WAY hot in there sometimes.

Any ideas to mitigate the problemb? Thanks guys!

[bigtopsfinn]

I think you are burning them with too much nutrients. Putting the lights closer is making them suck up the nutrients, and that's why they are burning. I'd flush with plain ph'd water, maybe 1-2x the amount of water in relation to the pot (if in 2 gal pot, flush with 1 to 2 gallons of ph'd water)

You'll need an exhaust fan (or a stronger one that you have now, not sure if you do) to get those temps down. A few computer fans or even a bathroom fan from the hardware store will do the job.

[Vancefish]

I agree with Bigtopsfinn, You might be nute burning, not heat burning. The only way I've seen heat burn with my CFLs is to have them actually touching the CFL.

You want your grow space to sit in the 70-78F range roughly. So if your box is getting to hot then add fans on the top of the box(blowing out). Then drill vent holes in the bottom(because heat rises).

That will also pull more CO2 enriched air through the plant/s, while keeping it cooler:thumbsup:.

[firstfist]

I don't really think it's nute burns. I havn't started using them untill just this week. I'm using Fox Farms, using it at about 1/4 recomended strength, and have only added it for one watering. Other than that this girl is 100% au-naturale :D

I don't have a thermometer, but I'm fairly sure it is getting up into the high 80's in there at least. I'm thinking it is just my blower engineering because when I open the front of the box I get blasted with heat.

I think I'm going to try getting that black fan up a bit higher, possibly making a vent tube of some sort, and getting some vent holes in the bottom.

On a more positive note, I checked the PH of the water that came through my soil yesterday and it was spot on. On top of that, after adding the nutes I saw some explosive growth, even with the burning going on. I'm happy with this grow as a learner, but am thinking about getting some of these (http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/ufo-2-dna-genetics-rocklock-feminized/prod_1597.html) comming for my next try.

[Vancefish]

Yea those temps are way to much. Somewhere in the high 80's, like 85-88F and the plant stops exasperating(might be the wrong word:D). From what I understand, it ceases taking in or out gassing as a protective measure to retain water. Thus it stops growing, and leaf tips can suffer as the plant can't deliver water to the tips fast enough.

All you need to do is add some sort of small fan to pull air out the top of the box. Then some holes near the bottom for fresh intake. Even the fan you have in the box aimed at a hole would likely help. However a computer fan or something similar is best.

I'd agree though, it's less likely to be nute burn(but still possible). Likely it's heat stress.

[firstfist]

Thats a bit puzzling to me, because it is still growing. Fairly fast infact. Mabey it is getting a nute burn also? I'll try flushing it at her next watering to see if that helps. There was a small amount of used coffee grounds in the soil I origanally used. Perhaps it is still kicking out a ton of N.

[Vancefish]

Do a little of both.

Don't actually flush, just water with straight water a couple times, then try nuting again.

AND try to keep those temps in the high 70s if possible.

As fast as these things grow, it'll be no time before you can't even see the few damaged leaves through the thick new growth.

[CovertCarpenter]

...cuz they have such lovely shite at such loooovely prices. Whilst browsing in my #3 dolla sto, I found some cheapie wood-and-red-ammonia thermometers... that seemed to agree with the digital one on the wall, and didn't look too beat-up...

bought one for SeedCloneLing Land... and the best part...

It only cost me a DOLLAR.

Gotta love that ;) Still looking for my one-dollar hygrometer that isn't pure shite!

As for my own first grow, I solved a heating issue by adding three 12v muffin fans I bought at my local electronics supply surplus store, along with a 12v, 2a plug-in adapter that wasn't even polarized. I wired 'em in with some shitty speaker cable, and made sure that they were 'forcing' the issue around the edges of my garden, while pulling heat up fast.

Runs around 78-81 now :)


(c)C :chainsaw:

[firstfist]

Yeah, I know. Thermometers are dirt cheap, but I live out in bum-f*^k-egypt where we don't have those kind of stores. The nearest place with that kind of store (dollar store, walmart, target, ect.) is an hour and a half drive. Still I can pick one up fairly inexpensively around here, but I have droped so much on this first experimental grow that I hesitate to spend more. At least till next time.

Anyway I played around with my situation, and I think I have the problemb solved. I now even am able to turn on the extra 26w cfls with no more burning.

On a side note, I cut a small branch off last night for a clone. So far so good. It really isn't even wilting much. I must have done something right :D

[CovertCarpenter]

...if I could add another :twocents:...

RUN, don't walk down to your local gardening/hydro emporium, and get yourself a cheapie 10dolla bottle of Wilson's rooting liquid. It has one of the highest concentrations of IBA (the main rooting inducement), and one of the lowest prices. I'm not sure if it's too late to use it on your existing clone taken (might have to do one watering of it with a small, dilute concentration) as you're only supposed to do it once...

But for every snip that you take that looks like it could live, you dunk it immediately into water, then slightly higher cut at 45 degree angle while under water, wrap cut end-bit in a bit of cotton pulled from a q-tip, and dunk cotton-y bit into rooting compound with sterile tweezers. THEN place it (still with sterile tweezers) in whatever rooting medium you use.

I had great success with seedlings, but horrible success with clones until I started doing this.

The OTHER thing to really really be careful of is to NOT let it dry out... since it doesn't have a root system yet, it has to take everything in thru the leaves. Use a really really weak nute solution in clean, PH'd water to mist 'em with like every hour, or as often as they need it. I use rockwool as a starter medium, and keep the bottom of the rockwool in about ¼" - ½" of water in a tray, covered with nearly-tight humidity dome.

Place said dome near some 4100k to 6500k flourescents, and watch the little thing leap up to them in happiness :)

(c)C :chainsaw:

[firstfist]

The first shot is the outside of my box when it's all closed up. I pulled the box out a bit, sealed around the fan with a blue towl, cut a few small holes in the bottom and created a vacume that sucks out the heat. When I put my hand up to the whole I can really feel the air getting sucked in nicely:thumbsup:

I ended up placing some emergency blanket on the two walls. I don't really like having the bulbs sit against the cardboard even if they really don't get all that hot. Since I've read that heatblanket is a semi-sort-of decent reflector, thought better safe than sorry.

[firstfist]

First one is my clone in its little dome :) I took the cutting off with my razor (you can see where I took it in the last pic), recut under water, slathered with some clonex and stuck in a coconut pellet that I expanded inside of an old flower tray cup. :rambohead: That is one long ass sentance :)

Two is an overhead shot.

Three is the main stem. The dirt is some local made hummis wood compost with a tad of lime added mixed with about 40% perlite. It doesn't look like it in the photo because I was a bit short on dirt, and instead of mixing up more compost pearlite dirt I just added an inch or so of 100% compost.

Four is just up from the last photo and shows how I'm LSTing, and like I previously stated where I took the clone. I first tied a piece of twine around the base of the lip. Then I tie one end of a piece of twine to it, around the branch I want to tie down, cinch it up and tie the other end.

When I look at my earlier posts I can't believe how much I've learned already. I'm decently happy with this grow so far, but am really looking forward to the next already :D

[firstfist]

After last nights dark cycle, I now have a few roots poking out through the bottom drain holes in the pot. Does that mean that she's ready for a transplant, or should I still give it a few more days?

[Vancefish]

You can re-pot now. Personally I thought you were close a week ago.

[firstfist]

I just put it in the smaller planter 13 or 14 days ago, and thought I should just wait untill a root poped out the bottom. Should I really have repoted after only a week?

I really appreciate all your help by the way. I have read some stuff saying to repot right when the root pokes out, and others that say to wait a bit. Thats why I'm asking. I see the great results that you guys are getting, and so I am asking those that are much more qualified to come up with answers.

For me it is just a slightly educated guess :D

[firstfist]

I had watered this morning before I saw the roots coming out, and I doused it pretty good for one last nute free watering. Except I cheated and added the smallest amount of molasis.

Figured since I should let the dirt dry out before I repot, I would do one more LST session while I was waiting. Counted 13 decent budsites, and another 6 developing and in good shape.

Think I'll go into flower as soon as I figure out a place for my clone to go. Hopefully that will be in the next day or two.......

[Vancefish]

I'm not saying you HAD to re-pot after a week. Just that when you started the thread I thought your plant looked a little large for the pot it was in (web pics CAN be deceiving). :D

Personally, I have found it takes about a month for a plant to root bind in a 6" pot. Then another month to root bind into a 2 Gallon pot. I've currently got a Durban poison, and a G13xAfgani, which are both root bound in 5 Gallon pots! :eek:

However if you have roots showing out the bottom you are likely there now. If left in the pot your in now. Growth will slow to a crawl, water will seem to drain right through the pot soon, and you'll start seeing the plant droop sooner due to sucking up all the water so fast.

If you plan to take any clones of her. You'll want to cut them off before putting them into flower. Most people re-pot, then clip cuttings. Allow it to heal, and recover from both the re-pot and cutting for a few days. Then put it into flower. :thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Got her repoted tonight. She looks kinda small with all the new real estate around her :D

Day 4 for my clone, and I am pretty sure I am starting to see a bit of growth :) At the very least she is done wilting, which it never really did much, and is really standing up straight now. Looks like it may be a success :D

[palerider7777]

who needs lst? lmao here's a pick of "1" of my plants 6weeks from fresh cut clone. no lst'ing, i fim my plants only.this pic i took tonite,and also switched out my mh to hps and tomarrow will be first day 12/12.

ps here are some pics of a clone i cut from the big one in the pic 2 weeks ago.

[firstfist]

Look good. I'm kind of interested in bim. Did a search for it, and after looking in multiple threads I've only found it mentioned, never explained (I did find a few good grow logs to read through though :D). Do you have a suggested link that you look at?

I'm going to set up a SCROG screen when I get a final grow location built, hopefully for my clone. For now though I decided that I don't have room in my current box without crouding out any chance of moving stuff around in there.

[palerider7777]

fim is where you take 80% of the very top growth of the newest growth.like topping but you don't cut the new node off just alil above it.i had a link i saved so when people asked i could show it.it is hard to find but i just installed a new hd and lost all my fav folder cause i forgot to back it up lol.i'll look and see if i can remember where it is at.

[Balkey]

Heres a nice pic.

PS. your roots are coming out of the container through the bottom holes not necessarily because they are rootbound, but because you have gotten lazy and left moisture or water in your water catch/tray. You need to make sure there is no moisture left in that tray or your roots (which spread to find water) will come out of your pots and sit in the water and mold. I personally set my pots on something that allows air to flow under and around the pots (increase oxygen to the roots) then when its time to water put the tray or something to catch the run off under the pot, then remove it.

[PhatJay]

I'm kind of interested in bim.

I tried my first Fim a few weeks ago, This cannabis.com forum guide really helped...

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/144573-guide-fimming-topping-made-easy.html

[firstfist]

Started the 12/12 cycle this morning, or was that yesterday morning? Today's kinda-a-blur. I'm now counting 18 budsites, and 7 of them look like they could be the "top" of the plant.....but aren't.

So looks like I'll have 8 main cola's? Hopefully I'll have room :D


The clone has her own little spot with a set of 4 26w cfls. I'll add more as she grows as needed, but for now that is all I can fit around her. Oh, and I now have her in a 4" pot with 50% humus wood compost, 40% pearlite and about 10% local garden center soil that has worm caseings and lime in it. I had been keeping the mix wet for a few days before the transplant, and the water comming out the drain wholes was just right:thumbsup:

Hopefully pics to follow soon.

[Vancefish]

Call me a profit, as I'm about to tell you,.. your future. :D

Grats on the 12/12. Good luck with the cutting as well. 4-26w is plenty for a clone.

HOWEVER,... It is going to take you 8-10 weeks to flower out your first plant(mom).

So,.. Any plan for the baby? Or are you planning to veg it for the entire 8+ weeks??

Because this is what you get with eight weeks veg using LST(5 gallon pot).

[firstfist]

Do clones even flower quicker than Mom? Very Eeentresting.

Not positive yet. I have a few ideas bouncing in my head. One is to make a stealth shed in my crawl space large enough for two or three in flower, and a large enough space for a veg section to keep the flower room always full :D

Don't know if that will actually end up happening before the clone is ready for it though. If she gets too big I may take a clipping off her, and set her free. I live right on the edge of the rockies, and can think of a few secluded places she would probably be happy.

[firstfist]

This may be a dumb question, but I'm going to ask :D The light bulb that I have for flower, the 150w 2700k CFL, came not working. Another is in the mail, but I am already 3 days into flower. It won't effect the flowering too awful much having a veg bulb for the first week or so of flowering will it?

[firstfist]

fdasfdsa

[firstfist]

Oops ^^^:D

Here I am 8 days into flower. Starting to see white hairs popin' out all over, and it has just about doubled in size in the past week:thumbsup:

Got the new 150w CFL 2700k bulb up and running now plus the four 26w CFLs, and she seems......content.

Mini Me is growing ok now. It has just barely noticibly been inching out growth for the past week, but now today at day 18 it about doubled in size. The most important lesson learned? Don't clone such small stems. Anyway, I ought to start to see good growth now.

Also, since growth was accelerating I made a bim cut earlier today, and the lower branches really started showing.

[firstfist]

Dang it:smokebong:

Third times a charm I guess. Here are the photos that go with the one up there :D

[firstfist]

Starting to look good. I'm starting to see some good crystals forming already :D Should end up being a snowy plant :thumbsup:

[firstfist]

What more could one ask for? So many hairs, looks like a circus freak:thumbsup:

[firstfist]

Looking and smelling like a champ. I'm thinking about 3-4 weeks to go, and already I'm daydreaming about a puff :jointsmile:

Does anyone think I should tie the two tall branches down? If I do, with my limited space in there, I will severely cut off light to one or two others, but I'll be able to get the rest closer to the light.

Thoughts?

[firstfist]

Has anyone done any LST this far into flower? I'm a bit afraid to mess it up when I'm this far along.

Thanks!

[firstfist]

Update with pics. I should probably have started a grow log for this one, but it seems a bit late. I'm thinking I have 2-3 weeks to go.

[oturbojoeo4o]

good shit with all CFL grow