Trichome development

[sawmiller]

Is there anything I can do to stimulate or promote the development of trichomes?
My (supposedly) White Widow from cannabisseeds.com (:mad:) has been in 12/12 for 4 weeks now. The lighting I have is a total of 253W of cfl's, and I'm going to have to go with that until harvest.
My deadline for harvest is 3 more weeks as I want to have a few days to dry before I go away for christmas, and obviously I would like to be able to offer my friends something worth puffing.
Thanks in advance.

Sawmiller

[bigsby]

That plant looks a bit starved for light. There's a fair bit of stretch going on, though I've never grown the WW myself so perhaps that is just the normal characteristic of that plant.

3 weeks is going to be pushing it. By the looks of it you likely need at least another 4 - 5 weeks plus a few days of total darkness. Be patient. The plant can gain 30% weight in the last few weeks. If needed, you can leave her by herself for a week. Just give her a thorough watering / flush before you go.

[WashougalWonder]

Not going to make it in 3 weeks, especially with such insufficient lighting. Widow likes it's light. I grow it, you best be looking at 8 weeks minimum.

I flower under 1400 watts. Your plant is light starved. It should have visible trichomes at 4 weeks. Sorry, but I bet it takes at least another 6 weeks to be halfway decent.

We get what we pay for with lighting.

[RAINHAZE]

....Plus adding carbs can help. Have you tried molasses?

[Dutch Pimp]

white widows at 4 weeks, flowering....400 watts...:)

[RAINHAZE]

Wow! nice. Deff a big difference from the OP's pic of WW.

[TANKJR]

Yea, you better go shopping...that won't be ready by Christmas. What a difference a bigger light makes, eh?

That's a beautiful closet there Mr. Dutchy! Kudos! Mine looks a lot like it with AK47 and a 400w hps! 5th week of flowering and there's so many trichs you can't touch it...it sticks to your finger and won't let go! Just like it's grabbing me and saying, "smoke me...smoke me please!" That could be the weed talking tho!?!...And the smell is soooo goooood! I smell Holiday Cheer!

Don't be depressed Sawmiller, mine won't be ready by Christmas either, and that's kinda what I was shooting for...New Years should be a blast tho!

[sawmiller]

Thanks for the tips fellas.....
Which leads to the next question: any strains recommended for my lighting setup? next time I'd like something a little smaller...indica dominant perhaps.
Christmas is coming and all the gifts I have to buy are going to cost me.....won't be able to afford a HPS for a couple months. Even then, my budget would only stretch to a 150W one. Would that be ok for a single plant?

S

[TANKJR]

Maybe some type of lowrider (Lowryder?) or lowryder cross...I really don't know as I've been stuck on AK for the last few years (I really like it!) and I grow a little different than you do (closet with 400wHID from clones) Yea, a 150w will do nicely for one plant! Maybe even two if you can get a good reflector! Ask St Nick for one for Christmas...maybe he'll put one under the tree! ;)

On another note, I hope to be getting some Purple Trainwreck clones later today!!! A bro called me last night and asked how many I wanted...YEH! Early Christmas!!! Guess what the next batch will be??? :D

[LetsSeeYa]

Thanks for the tips fellas.....
Which leads to the next question: any strains recommended for my lighting setup? next time I'd like something a little smaller...indica dominant perhaps.
Christmas is coming and all the gifts I have to buy are going to cost me.....won't be able to afford a HPS for a couple months. Even then, my budget would only stretch to a 150W one. Would that be ok for a single plant?

S

Hey sawmiller i grew 4 plants with 279 watts of cfl's. Its in my Sig if you want to see what to expect growing with cfl's. My grow turned out killer for my first indoor grow. And the WW that iv read about takes 11-12 weeks to finish and this is one thing that cfl's will not do. They just add 2-3 weeks to the flowering period. But there are a couple things you can do to help add light with out buying anymore lighting if ya cant at this time.

I would try and tighten up your growing area to use all the available light you have. I would start with getting cardboard box's and cut them open and paint them flat white and brushing the paint is cheaper then spray paint as you will need at least 2-3 coats. I just used some Killz i had around. But you want to enclose your plant as tight as you can, also try and keep your lights very close. If you get some burn here and there, then you have them close enough. Its not going to hurt you in the end as my crop turned out great this way. And some people say the buds get airy with cfl's, but mine were rock hard and got a bit over an oz per plant. But my plants got more light with the area as closed in as possible, with the cfl's close to the plants. And what light that strays from your plant will bounce from the white painted card board back to your plants. Works great, just try and cram the lights in close and surround everything with the card board.

If you dont get what im saying, my grow is in the Sig, just got to page 5 or so to see how i kept the cardboard close to use all my available light i had. Its that when i look at your set-up, i see nothing that would reflect light that gets away. The red you have around them will only absorb any light that gets away. And i made those lights for under 20 bucks from wally. Check out the grow, i was pleased:thumbsup:



:rasta:

[bigsby]

You can save some hassle and achieve very good results by getting a roll of Reflectix at home depot. You'll be done in 10 minutes.

[sawmiller]

Thanks fellas,

All the info has made up my mind.....I'm gonna finish this grow with what I have at the moment, and will buy a 150W HPS for the next attempt. I have my beady eyes on one, and on a nice looking indica dominant from Nirvana seeds. The cfl's gave good results for the veg stage, as did the growing medium. The pH balanced compost and pH buffered hydroponic flowering food have kept her happy (if leggy) through 12/12.....so at the very least, I'm learning!
LetSeeYa, the red was an attempt to add some longer wavelengths to the cupboard during flowering.....it's some shiny christmas gift-wrap. I realise that adding something like red glass between the lights and the plant will do little but filter out the green wavelengths, and was sort of hoping that the red foil would absorb light and emit the energy as red wavelengths. Digging into my old memories from my days as a 16 year old in science classes!
I will post final results and conclusions of this grow, and will no doubt have some questions when I get my HPS. It's a shame most of you guys are across the Atlantic.....I'd buy you all a pint by way of thanks.
Have a good Christmas and New Year.:madnoel:

Sawmiller

[GetThisOrDie]

Definitely check out scrogs. You can increase your yield by training in some way to get a good even canopy for that 150w.

Here is a great link for different training methods.

An Overview of Cannabis Training (ScrOG, SoG, FIM, Supercrop, LST, etc.) - Marijuana Cultivation - Growery Message Board (http://www.growery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/239247/fpart/1/vc/1)


Also lowering your humidity can increase trich production as well.

[WashougalWonder]

Why not monitor your local Craigs list and see if you can pick up a used power supply and hood, maybe even larger wattage...watts is where it is at to push the lumens.

[LetsSeeYa]

Thanks fellas,

All the info has made up my mind.....I'm gonna finish this grow with what I have at the moment, and will buy a 150W HPS for the next attempt. I have my beady eyes on one, and on a nice looking indica dominant from Nirvana seeds. The cfl's gave good results for the veg stage, as did the growing medium. The pH balanced compost and pH buffered hydroponic flowering food have kept her happy (if leggy) through 12/12.....so at the very least, I'm learning!
LetSeeYa, the red was an attempt to add some longer wavelengths to the cupboard during flowering.....it's some shiny christmas gift-wrap. I realise that adding something like red glass between the lights and the plant will do little but filter out the green wavelengths, and was sort of hoping that the red foil would absorb light and emit the energy as red wavelengths. Digging into my old memories from my days as a 16 year old in science classes!
I will post final results and conclusions of this grow, and will no doubt have some questions when I get my HPS. It's a shame most of you guys are across the Atlantic.....I'd buy you all a pint by way of thanks.
Have a good Christmas and New Year.:madnoel:

Sawmiller


Yeah a 150 w light is about a buck a watt on ebay new. But im sure you could get on used for cheap, then just buy a new light. Then you can use your CFL's for a veg room. When using CFL's you really need the lights close or you get that stretch, but kept right on the plants, they will stay short and bushy. If done right you will get a few burnt leaves, but to keep them nice and short this is just what ya need to do.

Also, LST will not stress your plant. Low, means keeping the branch growth low and stress means you are putting pressure on a branch to keep it low. This method will not stress your plant. The S in LST simply means you are pulling the plants limbs to manipulate its growth. It could be called [LPT] lOW PULL TRAINING?

Sorry man, its just that it was mentioned early in the thread and was buggin me. I think i didn't want someone to read information that is not correct. Now if im wrong, please everyone say so:thumbsup:, but im not.


A pint sounds good:thumbsup:



Keep er green bro:rasta:

[RackitMan]

Thanks fellas,

All the info has made up my mind.....I'm gonna finish this grow with what I have at the moment, and will buy a 150W HPS for the next attempt. I have my beady eyes on one, and on a nice looking indica dominant from Nirvana seeds. The cfl's gave good results for the veg stage, as did the growing medium. The pH balanced compost and pH buffered hydroponic flowering food have kept her happy (if leggy) through 12/12.....so at the very least, I'm learning!
LetSeeYa, the red was an attempt to add some longer wavelengths to the cupboard during flowering.....it's some shiny christmas gift-wrap. I realise that adding something like red glass between the lights and the plant will do little but filter out the green wavelengths, and was sort of hoping that the red foil would absorb light and emit the energy as red wavelengths. Digging into my old memories from my days as a 16 year old in science classes!
I will post final results and conclusions of this grow, and will no doubt have some questions when I get my HPS. It's a shame most of you guys are across the Atlantic.....I'd buy you all a pint by way of thanks.
Have a good Christmas and New Year.:madnoel:

Sawmiller

Beware some of those inexpensive 150W HPS lights. One engineer did a measurement and it was pulling over 300 watts with the cheap ballast.