My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
11/22/09 Update
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...E_4B0B133D&jpg
End of fifth week of flowering, beginning of sixth week of flower for Units 1 & 2
End of second week of flowering, beginning of third week of flower for Unit 3
End of first week of flowering, beginning of second week of flower for Unit 4
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...8_4B0B133D&jpg
Well let me say first off, now I don't have a knot in my stomach anymore regarding the density of the bud - it got fat this week, swollen and feels hard. It's also very sticky, even after casual handling I have to wash my hands. The smell is very sweet and fruity. I don't know if this is due to the flavored sweetener I'm using or just the strains themselves which do boast low & fruity odors, but marijuana smell hasn't been a problem yet due in part to the strains and the ONA & Can Filters.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...A_4B0B0E35&jpg
As scheduled I have started the Ripen formula using KoolBloom Dry in the oldest 2 units. The calyxes have begun to swell so now would definitely be the time, I think. I'm using it at a strength of 1/4 tsp per gallon as per the company's recommendation. I'm a little concerned as there was some problem in Unit 1 that may have stressed them enough already (KoolBloom induces ripening & bud swelling in part by stressing the plant - it appears to be a P & K bomb, the guaranteed analysis is 2-45-28)
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...1_4B0B0E35&jpg
I'm really starting to appreciate the strengths of the genetics I've chosen and believe me, it was a painstaking choice - a lot of research went into picking these particular strains/breeders. I hope the genetics prove strong & resistant (and please don't hermie on me w/the KoolBloom!) - they already are producing distinctive, and in my opinion, handsome plants.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...1_4B0B179F&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...E_4B0B0E35&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...3_4B0B0D85&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...9_4B0B0D85&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...C_4B0B2C2B&jpg
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
Unit 3:
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...A_4B0B2D3E&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...1_4B10D42C&jpg
Unit 3 is at the start of the third week as of this day. All plants are doing well and drinking a lot of water at this time in their lives. I took cuttings for clones from one plant in the unit despite it being 2 weeks into flower because it had a thick meristem & so far, what I've seen is the best plants have the thickest meristems stems. It's not the best specimen of Apollo 11, but may turn out to be very good. I took 4 cuttings from Apollo 11 'hotel.' I know Cinderella 99 has had clones taken from it successfully 2 weeks into flower, as Apollo 11 is Cinderella 99's descendant, I'm hopeful one may take root giving me the option of another specimen as a mother. I took so many cuttings of Apollo 11 because out of all the strains, it has been the smallest by far offering only one stand out and that plant is smaller than the other strains, so I want to give myself the best possible chance for picking the right mother. Also, I've notice that Apollo 'delta' which I had taken cuttings of before is not a good rooter, which would be a problem when running a perpetual harvest system that relies on clones.
Unit 4:
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...0_4B10D42C&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...7_4B0B2D3E&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...4_4B0B2D3E&jpg
Unit 4 is very large & seems to keep getting larger exponentially - they are showing their superiority to the plants in Unit 3 that I didn't select for mothers, same for the Blueberry mother & Sugar Blossom mother. The plants are quite tall and I think appear to be getting enough light, as are the plants in Unit 3. The Magnum xxxl reflector has a rather wide footprint. As you can see from the pictures, you can no longer anything but the top of Unit 2 when viewed from the front. This reservoir as also changed today from the Transitional formula to the Aggressive Bloom.
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
OMG...:jumphappy:...what a grow!...:thumbsup:..good genetics is always the first step
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...1_4B10D42C&jpg
Not much to tell in the Veg room, all the mothers, save C99 X BB 'echo' - the newest transplant have been topped above their third node in the hopes of producing bushy plants. I thought it was risky to transplant from the aerocloner directly into the Hydroton with no Rockwool intermediary step, but it worked fine for all of the plants I tried this with so I was very pleasantly surprised. The success rate of the previous transfers are what changed my mind about putting my only surviving, rooted clone of C99 X BB 'echo' into rockwool first & instead I decided to just put it directly into the Hydroton as I felt now that the Rockwool may even present an unnecessary extra step with its own complications.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...3_4B0B133D&jpg
I transplanted my one cutting of C99 X BB 'echo' that lived & I successfully re-rooted directly into the Hydroton from bare roots in the aerocloner. It's been 2 days, the leaves are perked up. I hope the little guy survives - I think it will. I hope so, as I don't want to re-veg the C99 X BB 'echo.'
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
Trichomes
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...0_4B0B179F&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...8_4B0B179F&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...C_4B0B186C&jpg
Initially I was thrown by the appearance of amber heads this early in groups 1 & 2. I didn't expect that. The first place I'd look for the cause would be at the UVB. One thing I know, the trichomes I've gotten into clear focus look very clear to me. There also appears to be some true clouding starting. The amberish heads all appear smaller than their brothers or damaged and probably not representative of the "true" ambering I expect to see later. I'm going to hope and assume we're on schedule. Before this, I was worried that I hadn't used enough UVB or put it close and the trichomes wouldn't mature fast enough. But this reassures me somewhat on this point, plus light at that end of the spectrum is powerful and does carry, so more plants than I think may be getting the UVB light. Just to remind, I added the supplemental UVB b/c I am using very red Super HPS Solarmax in addition to having them put behind glass in vented hoods, blocking any UVB I would be getting from an HID.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...E_4B0B186C&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...1_4B0B186C&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...9_4B0B242E&jpg
A small bud was taken off C99 X BB 'bravo' and my "lab rats" smoked it. The report was similar to last week's test of C99 X A11 tiny sample, but a bit more potent this time - a good clear "up" high but needing to mature (obviously) as you could feel it as immature & not "all there" yet - but still potent. The bud was sacrificed for the trichome pictures, but I am finding it helpful to get this feedback, it's relaxed my worries about the trichomes' maturity & if they are too ripe for their age.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...C_4B0B242E&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...2_4B0B2B18&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...E_4B0B2BA6&jpg
A small bud of Cinderella 99 'pineapple' was taken to observe the trichome development. Like the C99 crosses taken before her, she was smoked after being thoroughly examined & photographed. The reaction from the "lab rats" were much more pronounced this time. The sample got them much more high than the previous samples and had a very clear, very bright, very happy up head high and although it was very young - it was pretty potent, so I'd caution anyone smoking C99 to take it slowly at first because one small bud of this 5 week old sample got two somewhat-heavy/heavy smokers stoned with mostly clear trichomes that appear to be just starting to turn cloudy.
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...F_4B0B2BA6&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...E_4B0B242E&jpg
http://www.imagehut.eu/pro/image.php...C_4B0B2B18&jpg
As these are sativa dominant strains and I'd rather harvest when mostly cloudy up to 25% amber the farthest for most of the strains and 50% cloudy 50% Amber for the C99 X BB maybe. I read a post that I found reassuring; it said that basically, you do start to see ambering here & there at weeks 5 - 6 sometimes, but it levels off and maturation goes much slower after that, ambering in earnest around week 8 and later (I notice that my all or mostly indica strains give a week or two longer of projected harvesting time, perhaps this is why), so if that holds true I won't have to pull the plants early. I also see that there are quite a few clear heads and most of the amber heads appear to be smaller or damaged. I'm looking at a 50 day harvest schedule for the 2 units, all trichome dependent, of course. I am totally new to this so if anyone has a better read/interpretation of these trichome pictures, please say so.
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
"I also see that there are quite a few clear heads and most of the amber heads appear to be smaller or damaged. I'm looking at a 50 day harvest schedule for the 2 units, all trichome dependent, of course. I am totally new to this so if anyone has a better read/interpretation of these trichome pictures, please say so. "
Aloha Appolonia.
(Patron saint of dentists)
I may have an explaination of what you are seeing.
The resin glands start clear and the plant makes new ones at a steady rate
The clear ones are hardly affected by the UVb.
Goes right through them.
As the plants mature, the first blush begins to ripen and cloud-up.
A cloudy cap IS affected by UVb in direct proportion to it's opacity.
A cloudy cap can darken, then shrivel, then fall off, in a single 8 hour exposure to UV.!
It's a continuous process.
Timing outdoor harvest can be tricky depending on lattitude and cloud cover.
You want to try to catch the last big burst of coudy trichs before they fry.
It's an ill wind, that gathers no moss...;)
So, I deprive my girls of UV during veg. and flower.
The buds continue to produce resin glands and the caps ripen and cloud without shrivel or drop offs.
They really pile up under LEDs.
[attachment=o232154]
[attachment=o232153]
Almost every trich is still capped too!
Then, I hit them with measured amounts of UVb and "tan" them to a turn.
1 hour exposure is noticeable in it's effect.
[attachment=o232155]
And 4 hours, near the equator, makes for some couchlock-tanglefoot.
[attachment=o232152]
[attachment=o232151]
I have no lab-rats but the wife and I.
So, testing has been a problem.:stoned:
One hit, and we lose the pipe.
Should we find it and dare a second hit we lose track of what we were supposed to be testing for.:stoned::stoned::stoned:
It's a major cause of dangling participles.:jointsmile:
And don't get me started on what it's done to my chess game.:o
I may be wrong, but so far, it's not so much if, you use UVb as it is when, and for how long you use it.
Hermie's doing a test on fresh cut LED grown buds to see if they need to be alive for the toasting.
I'm betting that uniform exposure to UV will be more difficult, but that exposure WILL let you tailor the character of the "side effects".
Time and curing will tell.
Does this get ya thinkin?:cool:
Weezard
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dutch Pimp
OMG...:jumphappy:...what a grow!...:thumbsup:..good genetics is always the first step
High praise indeed coming from you, Dutch. Yes, I am finding the genetics to be key. I'm not unaware of the fact that the errors & weaknesses I've had in my grow have been bolstered and weathered considerably b/c of the superiority inherent to the plants. Alas, the next week update I will have to confess to a rotten Co2 timer causing a chain reaction of inability to handle the higher temperatures which lead to a case of classic heat stress in my lovely C99 x BB 'bravo' especially. Mercifully I have a new timer - the old one had a mechanical error - I will be showing pictures of the damage done after two, possibly three days of higher temperatures at canopy level (around 90) without Co2. At first I thought it was brown algae (which is actually a misnomer; it is a cyanobacteria - an organism previously classified as algae b/c they shared similarities in food uptake, but cyanobacteria are prokaryotic cells as opposed to other forms of algae which are eukaryotic hence the re-classification. I wonder why they are called [I]cyano[I]bacteria. Are they blue? Anyway, back to the grow: I do believe I had a tad case of the slime, as it is also called, but I think I managed to beat it back with Hygrozyme and FloraShield and it has been contained. I think I got to it early and it was only really effecting the plants in units 1 & 2 - all those pictures of damaged leaves & such.
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weezard
"I also see that there are quite a few clear heads and most of the amber heads appear to be smaller or damaged. I'm looking at a 50 day harvest schedule for the 2 units, all trichome dependent, of course. I am totally new to this so if anyone has a better read/interpretation of these trichome pictures, please say so. "
Aloha Appolonia.
(Patron saint of dentists)
I may have an explaination of what you are seeing.
The resin glands start clear and the plant makes new ones at a steady rate
The clear ones are hardly affected by the UVb.
Goes right through them.
As the plants mature, the first blush begins to ripen and cloud-up.
A cloudy cap IS affected by UVb in direct proportion to it's opacity.
A cloudy cap can darken, then shrivel, then fall off, in a single 8 hour exposure to UV.!
It's a continuous process.
Timing outdoor harvest can be tricky depending on lattitude and cloud cover.
You want to try to catch the last big burst of coudy trichs before they fry.
It's an ill wind, that gathers no moss...;)
So, I deprive my girls of UV during veg. and flower.
The buds continue to produce resin glands and the caps ripen and cloud without shrivel or drop offs.
They really pile up under LEDs.
[attachment=o232154]
[attachment=o232153]
Almost every trich is still capped too!
Then, I hit them with measured amounts of UVb and "tan" them to a turn.
1 hour exposure is noticeable in it's effect.
[attachment=o232155]
And 4 hours, near the equator, makes for some couchlock-tanglefoot.
[attachment=o232152]
[attachment=o232151]
I have no lab-rats but the wife and I.
So, testing has been a problem.:stoned:
One hit, and we lose the pipe.
Should we find it and dare a second hit we lose track of what we were supposed to be testing for.:stoned::stoned::stoned:
It's a major cause of dangling participles.:jointsmile:
And don't get me started on what it's done to my chess game.:o
I may be wrong, but so far, it's not so much if, you use UVb as it is when, and for how long you use it.
Hermie's doing a test on fresh cut LED grown buds to see if they need to be alive for the toasting.
I'm betting that uniform exposure to UV will be more difficult, but that exposure WILL let you tailor the character of the "side effects".
Time and curing will tell.
Does this get ya thinkin?:cool:
Weezard
I love the Canna forums. Look at this post, what a great and knowledgeable community we've got here.
Weezard, again thank you for sharing your advanced knowledge of growing with me. The clear trichomes not being effected... wow, you sure gave me something to chew on (thank you thank you thank you!)
I've been running my UVB through out the flowering session, believing that b/c of my use of a Super HPS w/tempered glass reflector, I wouldn't be getting any of that lower frequency which would lead to lack of potency & ripening. But you're telling me the trichomes will cloud on their own, yes? And if they do so when the UVB is on them, they will amber & degrade rapidly, I take it.
The UVB is at a distance of no less than 24" away from the plants and are on 5 hours a day. Since I am growing sativa dominant strains at the moment - I think I will shut my UVB for now & only turn it on at the last or second to last day for one hour if I think they need ripening up. So UVB does not cloud the trichomes, they cloud as they mature... They will cloud on their own, am I correct in my reading of your post?
May I ask how far away you place your UVB lights when you shine them on your plants? My UVB lights are T8's, 3 foot long, 36 Watts each & there are 4 of them. I imagine UVB, being at the lower end of the spectrum does not dissipate the way red light does & is able to penetrate from greater distances.
I do want these plant to have a more head high with only the C99, Blueberry cross having much body in it, so my need for amber is not the same as that of a person growing indicas for pain management, for example, there more UVB exposure might be required.
Just 2 things - wow those LEDs produce amazing trichomes, no wonder everyone raves about the potency of LED grown bud. 2- I'm amazed at how little amber causes a couchlock stone! Thanks for the heads up, as I'd have ruined my plant's high going for a 50/50 mix of on the sativa-indica crosses!
I'm off to hermie's thread - thanks!
My First Grow: Aeroponics, LED veg, Super HPS flower, CO2 sealed room
This grow is completely crazy! I love it!
:thumbsup:
