Just a little journal............

Ive got some horse fields a few miles from my house....and where there are horses, there is also horse crap. Maybe Ill try it out. Very nice grow mand, keep goin!

Hello Keno :) I've used shop bought compost before but it's much cheaper to use the homemade stuff and it's much better as well ;)


Errrrr I've forgot how old they are now, I'll have to check from my first post on here :o I've just been that busy just lately I haven't had much time for them, just pop in once a day to water them ;)

Anyway I pinched the tops this morning so I'll give them a few days and then switch to 12/12 on the HPS bulb.

love mand xxx :)



Just checked and I think there 6 weeks :)

Hello Mand can you please show a pic of the pinched tops, if possible cause I'm a

noobie and I'm going to start a grow real soon. By the way, thank you for this

journal, its a really good learning experience for me. So what are your step as far as

nutes or anything else you do when you enter the flowering?

Hello B :)

Well I've tried to take a few pics but affraid I can't really do close up's, I need a magnifying glass and I've not yet gotten around to getting one :o

I don't know if you can make anything out from these photo's. However when first pinching (topping) I think it is best done with a small pair of nail sisscors, so that you can remove only the very top new growth, I use my nails because I've done it quite a few times before ;)

Whatever you do make sure that nothing is taken off the area were the new stems are going to grow from. You can see them it's were the new sprouts are.
The bits on top of the ballast/transformer thingy are the new growth that has been removed, that's all you have to take off..............nothing more ;)


As for nutrients, I just start of with a good well rotted home made compost and I sometimes add a pinch of Phostogen plant food to the water, thats it really :)


Sorry about the photo's B :o .....................just let me know if I can tell you anything else :)


love mand xxx :)

How do you pinch the tops exactly? And what's it do really? Keep the plant low? Cause I really need mine to stay low.

Hello C :) ,It's quite difficult to explain without a decent pic...........

At the very top of you're plant there is the very freshest new growth just bellow the new growth were it joins the main stem thats were you cut it off.
However make sure that the cut is above the diagonal shoots growing from the node bellow ;)
With the main stem cut off all additional growing will come from the two shoots bellow the cut, making two main stems to produce buds.

I've grown with and without pinching (topping) and have found that by having two main budding stems that it does increase the yeild quite a bit ;)


I suppose that it could be used for keeping a plant low, I've never used it for that reason, check this thread out C :) .............................

http://boards.cannabis.com/showthread.php?t=18629



Love mand xxx :)

Mand im want to use a 400HPS and 400MH bulb but im having trouble looking for an

inexpensive light fixture. I guess when working with so much watts you do need a

ballast or can you just go stick those bulbs in a reg socket? Do you recommend

anything not to expensive and point me to a direction

Hello B :) I'm affraid where lights are conerned I'm only know the one I use and to be honest I no next to nothing about that :o

Before I bought it I read and was told that the best combination of lights was a Matal Halide for vegitive growth and an High Pressure Sodium for flowering.
Well I just went to the growshop told them what I wanted and they sold me the set up.
The ballast thingy can take both sets of bulbs, so when I've finished on the vegitive growth I just unscrew the MH bulb and screw in the HPS bulb and start 12/12.

I know the guys on here are always on about different types of lamps so I bet they can help you.

Heres a pic of my ballast thingy, oh, the small box that is with it is a relay switch, which stops the timer from melting.

The set up runs on 400 watts and they are quite exspensive to buy but I think they can be found cheaper if you shop around a little ;)



love mand xxx :)

Your plants look fucking nice. Ihope my grow turns out as good as your is going to. :P

Mand can you answer me one more question? its the 17th today, and i cant get my light untill the 21st (HPS all the way) but my seeds are germenated, and i have planted them, (only 2 plants) do you thonk they will be ok just in my room, with nothing untill i can get a light?

Hello W :) 4 days till you get the light. Well you have no choice really all I can think of doing is putting them near a window and be prepared for them streching, so you might have to put some sticks in them to help support them.

I'm just worried about the length of day light they will get this time of year, it's going to be less then 12 hours, what effect it will have on them at this age I don't really know ?
You're just going to have to try it for now and as soon as you get the HPS get them under straight away and run on a 18/6 light cycle. An MH would be much better for the vegitive growing (18/6), but sometimes you just have to work with what you have ;)
If the ballast for the HPS can also take a MH bulb then it would be better to get one of those.

Just give it a try W with what you have and see how it turns out, when you do the next grow you will have learned a lot from this one ;)


good luck ...............mand xxx :)