Small Closet Grow Log

[DOUGAL25]

Week 1

Well I got my license so I figure it's time to give a little back to this site. For now, a small closet grow op is the best for now. Time for a few details...

Strain : Barney farm's Blue Cheese (fem)
Grow Medium : Fox farm's ocean forest soil
Lighting : 150w HPS, (2) 40w 2700k CFL's (supplemental side lighting)
Nutes : Miracid (cheaped out on veg), Earth Juice bloom, Beastie Bloomz, superthrive, unsulphured molasses
Techniques : Topping + LST
Flowering time : 9-10 weeks

I have no pictures during the 2 month process of veg. However, this plant was topped once and had its side branches trained. Whenever chop n training, it will take additional veg time to grow back out. I was aiming for a broad horizontal canopy that would ensure distribution of light.

It will get its last transplant today to ensure fresh nutes for flowering, pH balance, and rootbound prevention.

I will try and update weekly (sundays) from the beginning of flowering to pruning.

[DOUGAL25]

Final transplant was completed 5 days ago. No shoots were LST'd until today, in order to let her recuperate from from the transplant stress. The four main shoots were the only that needed to be tied down. A few more fan leaves were trimmed in order to allow air flow and light to penetrate deeper.

Next watering will just be tap water + 1 Tbs molasses. I feed every other watering (EJ bloom). Molasses is applied every other plain water feeding.

Pistils are now showing at almost every node. :D

[Darkone7]

Congrats on getting your licence.
Those are quite the healthy looking bushes you have there,awesome job and good luck.

[MTbudman]

I agree, great looking bush...lol
I'm interested in watching your grow, as my flowering will be done in a closet too.
How long do you run your fan? Only when lights on?

[DOUGAL25]

Hey guys, I appreciate it so far


How long do you run your fan? Only when lights on?

As of now, I've just had the fan running while the lights are on. I need to figure out some extension cords tho, because I do want air circulation 24 hours.

The "bush" is still showing signs of early flower stretch, hopefully it will end within a week! :stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Here's some pic updates - the server wouldn't let me post last nite.

Started using beastie bloomz and removed a few more fan leaves.

My biggest issue is the two stalks in the middle. They are outgrowing the side shoots and are stealing a lot of light. I may have to figure out a way to tie them down, if there's enough room.

Time to sit back and watch some flower development :stoned:


Ps.
Happy holidays! :rasta::smokin::rastasmoke::pimp::detective1::join tsmile:

[DOUGAL25]

Woops :stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Whats up everyone.

Bud development is looking nice now. She got full strength nutes today. Yesterday added some sugar water + yeast in a gallon jug to get some CO2 going.

1 Quart dechlorinated lukewarm water
1 packet yeast
3 cups sugar

This recipe should last for 2-3 weeks. I like to add CO2 in flowering anyway possible.

Vertical growth appears to have stopped. Now it's all horizontal (bud) growth! :stoned:

[purplekush989]

looking good man:thumbsup: are you still adding the molasses?

[DOUGAL25]

looking good man:thumbsup: are you still adding the molasses?

Thanks purp! I'm adding 1 Tbs. molasses every 4th watering, in just plain water. I know I could use it more often, I just don't want to risk nute lockout that I've read can happen.



Latest issue is efficient side lighting. Might have to pick up another 40w CFL to give all of the sides supplemental light.

:stoned:

[purplekush989]

i actually had a question for you about the lighting. I was originally planning on using a 150 hps plus some supplemental cfl's for my grow, quite similar to your setup. however, if all goes well i should have 2-3 flowering plants instead of 1. Since you said you need MORE supplemental light for just one flowering plant, do you think it would be wise to upgrade to a 250 or even 400w for 2-3 plants? I'm trying to minimize electricity cost / ventilation needs so im trying to keep the HID light as small as possible.

[DOUGAL25]

do you think it would be wise to upgrade to a 250 or even 400w for 2-3 plants? I'm trying to minimize electricity cost / ventilation needs so im trying to keep the HID light as small as possible.

You could use this 150w for 2-3 plants, but they would have to be small, single-cola plants. For 2-3 plants, I would suggest the 250w. I think the heat could still be properly managed with that of a 250w; however, I think a 400w would be too overkill (w/o proper vent.).


I was originally planning on using a 150 hps plus some supplemental cfl's for my grow

You should still add in supplemental side CFLs if you want some good development of the lateral floral meristems.
:twocents:

[JungleSuperstar]

Whats up everyone.

Bud development is looking nice now. She got full strength nutes today. Yesterday added some sugar water + yeast in a gallon jug to get some CO2 going.

1 Quart dechlorinated lukewarm water
1 packet yeast
3 cups sugar

This recipe should last for 2-3 weeks. I like to add CO2 in flowering anyway possible.

Vertical growth appears to have stopped. Now it's all horizontal (bud) growth! :stoned:

breathe on them!!:stoned::stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Hello people!

The smell on this baby is exactly how i would describe blueberry cheese!! You get a strong blueberry overtone with a slight skunk/dank/cheese undertone - very nice.

Not really any problems to report which is good. Just a few more fan leaves coming off on their own. Should just be normal aging of the plant. A few pistils have started to change color, so I lowered her down a couple inches. Just wanted to make sure that light wasn't too close.

This is the last week I'm going to use beastie bloomz (used it about 3 weeks total).

:stoned:

[PhatJay]

Looking nice, I am impressed with how you managed to get such a flat top. Any chance you could rewind time and take some pictures of how you did it? :D

[DOUGAL25]

Looking nice, I am impressed with how you managed to get such a flat top. Any chance you could rewind time and take some pictures of how you did it? :D
Thanks!
I wish I had documented the top n train process through veg! It took about two months total.
But if you look at the last picture posted, you can see just where I topped it. It was topped just above the 5th node of the main stem (not sure what week of veg). Then, all 10 of the lateral stems were trained to the sides with wire. With using wire, you can set all of the tops at appropriate heights to get a nice even canopy.
Of course, different lateral stems can growth at different rates, so individual repositioning is key. You'll be surprised how easy it is to manipulate the canopy.
The middle area of the bush, where the original cola used to be, will fill in pretty quickly from the side branches of the top lateral branches.

nice log yourself btw! :stoned:

[GetThisOrDie]

Blue cheese you say??

It looks so yummy. Grats on a great lookin girl.

Ive heard that Blueberry is very finicky with nutes and is easily over fed. Does your Blue cheese show that pheno? I am interested in a blueberry cross but dont want it to be as tempermental to nutes as Blueberry.

Also how do you like Beastie Bloomz? Everytime I see it I want it. I want to try the FF 3 part with open sesame and cha ching ( cant remember if its cha ching...) but its 90 bucks and money is tight at the moment.

[DOUGAL25]

Ive heard that Blueberry is very finicky with nutes and is easily over fed. Does your Blue cheese show that pheno? I am interested in a blueberry cross but dont want it to be as tempermental to nutes as Blueberry.

Not so much from what I've seen. I started off weak and the past couple of weeks I've increased nute concentration. No real signs of nute burn from that. It probably does help to have a blueberry X if that's true.


Also how do you like Beastie Bloomz

I've never grown w/o BB, so I don't have a control to compare to. I would recommend it though, even with the steep price. A bottle of it will last years. I didn't bother with open sesame, and my buddy is going to buy me cha ching in a week or so. That should really help with resin/oil production (according to their marketing).
I do notice however, that after an application of BB, some bottom leaves turn yellow and will fall off. I've read that this is expected from BB usage.
:stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

What's crappening?

I lost my jump drive so I have to wait until I get another to post pics. I did just take pics of day 40 flower, so I won't forget to post those.

I caught a mistake in the beginning of my log. This strain's flowering time is 8-9 weeks rather than 9-10. I figure around day 60 it'll be ready, so that means 20 days left!

Next feeding (friday) will contain Cha Ching for the first time. I'm excited to see what it can do. The only thing I don't understand about it is that it contains some nitrogen...not sure why you would need that at the end of flowering!?!?

Again - I'll post pics asap :stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Here's some pic updates :stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Well, baby got its last feeding today (Earth juice bloom + Cha ching). Now for 1.5 - 2 weeks of flushing.

For the final 3 or so days, I'm going to "shock ripen" it. During the shock period, you give it 24 hours darkness and use cold water when watering. According to HT's, it's suppose to increase resins, aroma, and taste in the plant.

The smell is intoxicating
:stoned:

[GetThisOrDie]

that looks great

grats!

Im interested to see your results with shock ripening. I also read that tiny little section in HT about that. Im going to try it myself so be sure to post your results!!

Dont forget to pass it this way...

[PhatJay]

For the final 3 or so days, I'm going to "shock ripen" it. During the shock period, you give it 24 hours darkness and use cold water when watering. According to HT's, it's suppose to increase resins, aroma, and taste in the plant.

Your plants are looking great.:thumbsup: I tried out stress ripening on my last grow, but I did it slightly differently. I watered with cold water from the fridge for 3 days, then did 3 days darkness with no water. I harvested 1 bud before stressing and the rest after. The later buds had a better hit, taste and aroma.

[DOUGAL25]

Appreciate the feedback guys - phatjay, for the 1st 3 days of shock ripening, you fed cold water everyday? I like the idea of 3 days with water, and 3 w/o (to let the soil dry out).

Realized it's time to start a few macros... enjoy :stoned:

[DOUGAL25]

Does anyone have experience with dropping night temps in order to have the plant change color (as in purple/blue)??

I got my A/C unit in my living room that I'm going to be chilling the air at night to hopefully induce a color change. I bet this technique would work with a strain that comes from blueberry....

Any insight would be great!
:stoned:

[GetThisOrDie]

When I lived up north I would crack the window in the grow room at night when they were almost done. Would get high 40s in there at night! As long as you are far enough along and dont let it get ridiculously cold you should be ok. From what ive read 50-55f at night will do the job.

The cold definitely brought the purple out of some dank bagseed that wasnt purple when I got it.

[PhatJay]

Appreciate the feedback guys - phatjay, for the 1st 3 days of shock ripening, you fed cold water everyday? I like the idea of 3 days with water, and 3 w/o (to let the soil dry out).

I planned it so that the last 3 days of light, I fed cold water and then no water for 3 days in complete darkness.

[DOUGAL25]

Welcome all

She got her 2nd flushing today, one more to go in about 3-4 days. Then it's time to let her dry out for the chopping (a week away!).

A few branches were damaged/bent after accidentally dropping a frisbee golf disc on her. I had to use fishing line to secure about 3-4 branches, otherwise they droop into the side lighting. woops! :stoned:

The density of almost all of the buds is impressive. The smell gets fruitier every day. :stoned:

Ps.
As an FYI, in pic 2, the lighting makes the middle colas/leaves look yellow, which isn't the case. They are still evenly green.
It's a pretty poor macro-job, for pic 4, I'll make up for it next week.

[dopet4h2c0]

looking good man post some pics when its cured and post a weight if you got a scale........but great job:thumbsup:

[DOUGAL25]

Hello people

She got cut last night halfway through her night cycle. Now she's up and hanging until the stems are dry enough that they snap.

I didn't get a chance to do shock ripening - was busy with work/school and wasn't home much. She's looking good though.

Macros to come for when she is dried - and yes, a final weight will be recorded.
:stoned:

[PhatJay]

Congratulations on a successful harvest! :dance:

[DOUGAL25]

Thanks for following along!

Well she just got jarred up and weighed. Came in at a disappointing 1.25 oz's. My goal of 2 oz's was far out of reach, so change will have to happen.

The next time around will be DWC 5 gal buckets (maybe 2) with a 250 mh/hps light, following General Hydroponics basic feeding sched. with the addition of the foxfarm trio (open sesame, beastie bloomz, cha ching).

Fem'd sour D will the next the choice
:stoned:

[jtsik330]

Thanks for following along!

Well she just got jarred up and weighed. Came in at a disappointing 1.25 oz's. My goal of 2 oz's was far out of reach, so change will have to happen.

The next time around will be DWC 5 gal buckets (maybe 2) with a 250 mh/hps light, following General Hydroponics basic feeding sched. with the addition of the foxfarm trio (open sesame, beastie bloomz, cha ching).

Fem'd sour D will the next the choice
:stoned:

Hopefully you its really good and last ya awhile! I would def go with a hydro just because 2 ounces is easily attainable with a DWC. 4 weeks of veg and you def got two ounces. Good Log and congrats on harvest!:hippy:

[dopet4h2c0]

yea man good job next time im sure you will get more...but the bud look great so be happy:rasta: