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joe on your next grow every single day switch all the plants around in a different order and turn them around 50 degrees, this keeps all plants the same height, and gets light to every branch.
if you can do it now, take fish line, tie it to something that will make your plant lean over a bit without snapping it, and leave it there the rest of the grow she will recover in a few days and continue to flower.
Hi CCIE, flowers on two plants have started to connect. It's tough getting photos in those areas. I haven't sampled anything yet. :weedpoke: I don't want to try anything until I start flushing out the nutrients. I've read that it can have a harsh taste to sample while using full strength nutrients. I have resorted to picking up some small supplies from a local source. It is frustrating having to pay these kind of prices for herbs when I have this growing right here. Soon, soon, I keep telling myself. I figure I should have at least something to sample for the beginning of February. I'll keep the bulk of it to cure until Spring.
Last couple days, water consumption has dropped to about a quart/day. The nutrient consumption also appears to have dropped, requiring replenishing about every four days.
I've attached photos from Christmas/Flowering day 32. The pistils are getting very large, and several spots have started to clump together. I am at about 4.5 weeks. I believe you need to flush during the last two weeks. If I am to flower for 8 weeks, that would give me 1.5 weeks of feeding. I will change the water one more time around then, and replace with the FloraKleen.
invision, that's a good suggestion. I was thinking of using a new system next grow, perhaps individual growing planters, instead of the shared one I use now. That would allow me to better adjust the plants as you suggest. There are many things which I learned from this time around. One is that I may need a larger flowering area. I may go back and pick up the HydroHut. The cabinet has the depth for the physical planter I'm using, but there's just little room to work around the plants or lean them over. I have tried to pull over the plants to lean lower, but have either creased the stem or caused the netted planter to pull up from the planter, exposing the top of the basket.
So, I fell victim to overeagerness - I sampled. Totally not worth it. I clipped a branch with a couple buds, which appeared to be getting fried from the lamp anyway. There was still some green bud on the branch, so it wasn't completely fried. Anyway, it was New Years Eve, and I was out of bud, and there it was just looking at me ... saying .... smoke me. It turned out to be a waste. After long attempts at trying to dry it in the microwave and then finally trying to vape what I got out of it, I got nothing, zip.
Another lesson learned, no sampling.
Attached are a few bud shots, most of which are not burned. It's starting to fill in in several places. I'm still frying about the top quarter of two of the plants. I am going to have to do some redesign of the cabinet for the next grow. I noticed a shot of the cabinet in invision's grow, and got an idea - the glass shelf. I think I have an old one sitting around here somewhere. I'm hoping that I can fit it in the cabinet as invision did, to rest the lamp on top of. I am also going to review other lighting options, perhaps a cooled light.
Back to patiently awaiting my crop to get done.
hey joe dont get to discouraged man alot of people dont even get this close on the 1st attempt. i sampled my 1st grow too and it sucked until i harvested the whole plant and cured it.
go to hardware store and ask for a glass cutter, they are no more than 5 dollars and measure out your cab and cut the glass to fit, it cuts very easy as quick as a razor blade really.
thin glass is what you want, the thinner the better.
Hi invision, thanks for the glass cutter tip! I haven't located the shelves yet, but seem to recall they were close to what would fit in my existing cabinet. There were about 1/8" thick, if I recall correctly. Think that will be thin enough? They originally were meant to be used as shelves in another cabinet (furniture, not a grow cabinet).
I'm pleased with how far I've come. All of the plants could have turned out male, or I could have killed them off completely by now. Given that this was bag seed, there was little to know ahead of time, such as typical height.
Next time, I will definitely research scrog or lst for the next grow, even with the changes to the cabinet. From what I've seen, this should help the biggest problem I seemed to have this time around - plants way too close to the lamp. Plus, as an added benefit, the crops from either method seem to be increased.
I do tend to be hard on myself, but in a productive way. It helps motivate me to get better. It looks like I should see at least an ounce, maybe two (not fried) from this crop. If that is the case, and there's at least a halfway decent buzz from the finished product, I will be very grateful. I'm amazed I've gotten this far.
I've learned a lot this time and I hope to get the next one started soon. I figure I'll start my next seedlings during week eight of these plants flowering schedule. Estimating about two weeks before they will need to get into the cabinet, that should give me enough time to dry out this crop.
Now, the question I face .... do I try with the purchased seeds, or stick with the bag seed for the next grow. I'm tempted to try the new seeds, since I've not knowingly tried any of the breeds I have acquired. I picked up some Blueberry, White Widow, and Northern Lights #5.
well im on my 2nd grow, i used again bagseed just incase and im glad i did. things got a little to warm on me and had to adjust things here and there but everything is ok at the moment.
i figured if i could get this grow to harvest as well then i can buy some real seeds without the worry of beating up the plants too bad, i myself was also looking into NL#5 and WhiteWidow, and i also considered Cinderella 99 by Joey Seeds.
LST just seems to be the best way to grow for my situation, height really isnt a issue with me as i have about 35" of space right to my glass and with LST this will take a long veg to make them grow so big. my plants now are about 10-12in high LST'ed so i better flower soon.
Here's my update, 50 days into flowering. Burn coverage is still about the same. I believe I've saved one of the branches/bud sites, by tying it down lower (you might notice it coming across the middle of photo 1, with a string going to the left). I am going to see what else I might be able to tie down.
Last time I tried it, I didn't tie it town far enough, and it got burnt worse. That's part of the problem of why I haven't tied them down better to date - sometimes, I have to bend them much further right off the bat, then they are comfortable bending. One spot, I wound up bending the main stem on the far right plant too far, and she bent. She's since healed the spot (a little fatter there than elsewhere), but it freaked me out about doing it too much again.
invision - I think you have a point there, wait till I have a good grow with the bagseed before I go for the good ones. Your second grow is looking good so far. I finally caught up with that one. Your first one was great! I hope I can yeild at least that much!
Below, I have posted the latest photos of my girls, 50 days and going (83 days overall). The first is all of them posing for me. So far, the one in the best shape, and building the most filled in bud, is the shy one on the far left. I sneaked in and caught a shot of the main bud site in the second photo. Finally, I have a shot of a really shy bud. This one is hiding in the rear right of the cab, right under the filter. The bulk of this bud's mom is burnt (top), so it's nice to see something developing at all on this poor stressed girl. But, this bud has got some of the most crystals showing so far.
Enjoy the weekend, I am about to kick mine off right (no, not an early sample, just something from a friend).
Well, I should be in the home stretch for the flowering of this first grow. As such, I cleaned out my reservoir and filled it with plain water, no nutrients or flushing agents. I plan to leave this in place, topping off as necessary, for the next week to week and a half. After that, I will begin daily reservoir replacements, using GH FloraKleen.
I have also pruned much of the plant now. I finally picked up some gardening tools in anticipation of harvesting. I picked up a small pruning tool, as well as something to cut down those big stalks when it's time.
I've cleared out most of the dead plant, from burning, or just dead leaves. I'm not sure if it's just because I cleared away all the bad looking parts or if the plants responded well to the trim, but all the girls are looking a bit better. In addition to trimming, I've tried to bend many of the stems away from the danger zone under the lamp. Finally, to help keep temps down from the HPS lamp, I've started leaving the cabinet doors propped open during the light cycle.
I've attached another overall photo. While this doesn't show very much detail, I think you can make out how they girls are filling out. I am going to try to get in there later today and snap a few shots before the HPS lamp comes on. Hope to have those available for the next post.
Lookin' good, Joe.
Home stretch indeed - and looking like you'll have a healthy bit of bud soon. I too, hopefully.
Hey Bodom, thanks for dropping by, and the compliment! I think far away, and in that lighting, they don't look too bad. These current photos may tell a different story.
As promised, I snuck in early to snap a few photos before the 'sun' came up on the girls. They still show some decent buds coming through, such as the first photo. However, the next three should be made into posters -
This is your plant .... this is your plant too close to a 600W HPS lamp. Any questions? :o
Damn, sorry to see that.
Here we are, almost 9 weeks into flowering now. Buds are getting bigger and dense, and my drooling is almost substituting for water refills.
Currently, I am on water only. In about two days of going with straight water (no nutrients), leaves started turning yellow at an extremely fast rate. In the third photo below, This bud's leaves went past yellow, and into a brown. This was not caused by light burn, but something else. Anyone have a clue what this means? Any input on how they look now would be appreciated.
The runt of the pack is turning out to be the biggest producer. This could be attributed, at least in part, to it's lack of height. The other two just grew too tall and too much was burned as a result. It is looking very white right now. I hope that I didn't start flushing too soon. I started at 8 weeks. Since this is bag seed, I didn't know what to expect. I hoped for an 8 week flowering period. Well, when I hit 8 weeks and knew they weren't ready, I hoped for 10. Now that I'm approaching week 9, and plan to start the next step in flushing (FloraKleen), I hope I wasn't premature.
Attached are some bud shots of some of the nicer looking buds (or at least the easiest to get a decent photo of). The last one isn't a bad looking bud, but it has some strange looking leaves. I figure that the buds are draining their stored nutrients from the leaves, causing the yellowing. But, this particular leave just doesn't look right. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Here we are at ten weeks. It's seems like it's been a very long time since I adopted these plants. Since the beginning seedlings were planted, it's been well over three months now. I think I may start my next seedlings next week. This crop is looking worse each day. Hopefully, something will come of it, and provide the proper motivation to continue down this road of self reliance.
Last Friday (1/26), I chopped down one of the branches. I was hoping to have some dried before the Super Bowl. I trimmed them up, and placed them in a dark place to dry until the big game. Periodically, I would check on them. Once, I sampled. Ok, twice. The second time was a big disappointment - I found a seed!
The total weight of what I cut down (shown in first photo) was a little over 22 grams. Yesterday, after five days of drying, it was about 5 grams. The smoke tastes unpleasant, and the high is very mild. After the high wears off, I get this nice headache. The taste is difficult to describe, but it tastes like what I would imagine smoking a fresh plant might taste like. Hopefully, by the game, that will be gone.
The buds are very dry and crumble in your hands. I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but they don't feel like buds I've bought on the street.
Looking over the remaining plants, I have yet to find why a seed has appeared. I suppose I'll have no way of knowing until harvest. I don't think I'm fully aware of what to look for. I found this seed in my grinder, when prepping a sample for vaping.
One plant has a bud that looks downright sickly. It's part of the one that has the most healthy buds, so I'm not sure what to think. All the buds on that plant seem to have some dark leaves. I'll try to get a close up photo to post for comments. Right now, the plants are sleeping.
I'm almost a week into my flushing solution (two weeks flushing overall). Most buds still look very white, with very minimal brown pistils. I know, I should get a microscope to check them out closer. I hope to get one this weekend. Due to certain other circumstances, I may have to chop them down this weekend. I hope something smokable comes of them.
hey joe,
you need to cure those buds as i had the same problem, i dried my smoke and rolled one and didnt really get high, i was pissed at all this work for nothing.
so i ignored them and let them cure 3 weeks and the smell and taste was simply amazing to have, the high was right on not too intense but better than what i had on hand.
if they are too crispy add a little lettuce in there for a hour or 2 then remove it they should have sucked some moisture into them but make sure you dont cure them to wet or mold can occur.
dont be disapointed for a 1st grow there is nothing wrong with mistakes along the way i had them myself last and this grow but learning to correct the problem as it starts will give you better knowlegde of how the plant reacts to certain situations.
looks good to me just cure them and then try it out.
Great suggestion, invision! I added the lettuce for a couple hours, and voila, I had some moist buds again. I will continue to check for mold, as you suggested. I will also refrain from throwing out these buds, in hopes that the cannabis fairy will come down and bless my buds, making them worth smoking. If not, I suppose I could experiment with some canna-oil or butter or something like that.
I believe that today is the day. In reviewing the buds last night, it seems if I don't chop the plant soon, more buds are going to look like the one in the second photo attached. As you might be able to see, the planter seems to be having trouble holding the plants down - they must be top heavy .... I'm a big fan of top-heavy ladies :D
So, these are probably the last shots of my first plants before they are hung up to dry. I was going to do it last night, but decided to wait one more day. Next shots - the drying stage.
I'm already planning on putting some seeds in starter cubes as soon as I get the current plants hung. Then, I will be making some modifications to the cabinet while they germinate. Any suggested improvements are appreciated! One item I hope to implement is the glass shield like invision's cabinet.
wow man yous should be happy eith all that bud gawd damn
Thanks invision! I hope to be exclaiming the same thing in a month or so, when it's all dried, and had a little cure time.
Tonight's the night - I plan to chop them down. I may not get to post photos right away .... I need to run some string in that cabinet to hang the buds from. Since I don't have a continually recycling garden in there (yet), I'll just clean out the planter, run some strings from side to side in the cabinet. I'll leave the fans on but unplug the lights.
It's done (finally)! It took me about five hours to get it done, but I did it. I harvested my plants. I can't believe it took that long. The major reason was the crispy parts that I needed to trim off. It looks like I harvested a decent amount. I didn't weigh it yet, since I was just too beat. The dry weight it what matters to me anyway. Hopefully, after some curing, these buds will hold me over until the next harvest. :jointsmile:
Now the real patience begins. I've got these buds just hanging there, calling me to drop them in my vaporizer. :weedpoke:
Attached are the harvest photos. I've removed the lights and hung some string in the cabinet. The exhaust fan is running. The first is the overall. What you see is most of what was harvested. There's a few pieces that I couldn't hang, plus the few samples that were snagged during the grow. The next two are closer shots of each row.
I think that one of the seeds must have been a different strain than the other two. One of the plants had significantly less bud, and it was very dark, with a lot less pistols than the other two. It looked almost purple. I'll have to get some close up shots of a couple buds to demonstrate the difference. I'm just too beat to do any more now. I was so excited about finally getting done, that I had to post my results.