Help! Must leave town for 5-7 days

Looking for suggestions on what different people would do if they had to leave their garden for 5-7 days for work/vacation.

Garden FAQs:

1. The plants are in soil.
2. The plants will be in 3 gallon containers at the time of the trip.
3. Temps are right around 78 degrees at the canopy.
4. Half of the plants will just happen to be turning two months old (if you count their birth date as the day the seeds were planted).
   
5. The other half are about a week younger, though they behave as if they were two weeks younger because the seeds were planted in the wrong medium and were very sick at first and almost died.

I have seen the method of floating clones in styrofoam in a dish of water to root over vacation, but it may be slightly early to take clones from these plants???? Is that true?


So here are the questions:
1. Is there any reason why the plants would not be ready to take clones on day 60 from seed planting in order to have backups in case the potential mommies die?
2. Does anybody have a preference on a drip system with a pump vs. a wick system...or even some other method?
3. Would taking them out from under a 400w HID and putting them back under CFLs slow water uptake much? Would this be a good idea?
4. How am I going to survive without smoking for that long?

Any suggestions on not losing two months of work, electricity, seeds, and $$?
I know the first option is always to ask a trusted friend to water, but, in this case, there are no friends, trusted or otherwise.

How many nodes do your plants have? Are they sexed?

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Originally Posted by socialistpete

How many nodes do your plants have? Are they sexed?

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They are not ready for sexing yet. Half of them are five weeks old (the ones I care about the most), and the others are 3.5 weeks but stunted.

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Originally Posted by socialistpete

How many nodes do your plants have? Are they sexed?

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They are not ready for sexing yet. Half of them are five weeks old (the ones I care about the most), and the others are 3.5 weeks but stunted. I am trying to figure this out ahead of time so there is no rushing around.

you could take clones if you are worried about them dying while you are gone(number or name the clones so you know where they came from). they will certainly live for a week with minimal lighting(or a cfl in a reflector) you dont care if you are set back for about a month?

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Originally Posted by twoguysupnorth

you could take clones if you are worried about them dying while you are gone(number or name the clones so you know where they came from). they will certainly live for a week with minimal lighting(or a cfl in a reflector) you dont care if you are set back for about a month?

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I care, but it is better than having nothing! My hope would be to take clones as a backup, and also have the mums/dads survive.

i am not sure i could or would trust a light on for that amount of time with no one to watch it. even on a timer. yes you could use the styrofoam thing i would think. but then what about to much humidity? my system is like that for clones, its a styro form with plugs and a humidity dome and it at least takes a couple of weeks to sprout. some would survive but ...

i dont know how to keep the plants alive without being there.

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Originally Posted by twoguysupnorth

i am not sure i could or would trust a light on for that amount of time with no one to watch it. even on a timer. yes you could use the styrofoam thing i would think. but then what about to much humidity? my system is like that for clones, its a styro form with plugs and a humidity dome and it at least takes a couple of weeks to sprout. some would survive but ...

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Not worried about leaving the lights on. It is no different than leaving the porch light on as long as everything is wired safely. And keeping the clones alive would be the easy part, and as far as I am aware, there is no such thing as too much humidity for clones. What I really need are the answers to my questions in the first post--best way to keep the grownups alive...anybody else out there experienced with pump drip on a timer/wick systems? etc. Thanks for you input anyway, TWOGUYS...

So here are the questions...again:
1. Is there any reason why the plants would not be ready to take clones on day 60 from seed planting in order to have backups in case the potential mommies die?
2. Does anybody have a preference on a drip system with a pump vs. a wick system...or even some other method?
3. Would taking them out from under a 400w HID and putting them back under CFLs slow water uptake much? Would this be a good idea?

Anybody? Beuller...Beuller...Stinky Attic?

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Originally Posted by socialistpete

How many nodes do your plants have? Are they sexed?

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Sexed, yes...just did it. I am an amateur, so I was waiting to clone for sex. I forgot about pre-flowers. Half have been sexed. Unfortunately (in this case), only one male. I was hoping they would mostly be male so I would have to toss them and start over. Now I have to figure out how to keep the mums going while away...:D

Somebody Help! I cannot figure out whether it I should leave in veg for what would be a full nine weeks and wait to flower until I return, or flower early...and if so when? Which would be easier to manage while away?What will present the least amount of growth and require the least amount of water? It is looking like I will be gone about five days at this point. Please give me your two cents.:twocents:

THE STRAIN IS AK99 by the way.

after starting to flower they will probably streatch for 2-3 weeks after. they will continue to grow in veg as well. i hope this helps, but sorry i couldnt be more. is there any possibility of setting them outside somewhere safe to start flowering then bring them back in when you get home?

You really need a good friend you can rely on right now!

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Originally Posted by Dr. Bloor

You really need a good friend you can rely on right now!

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I am such a nice guy that I gave all my friends away to the needy!

...but seriously folks, how come nobody has suggested that I build a bubble/aero cloner? I searched and searched within the Cannabis.com search field and did not find much in the way of a basic how to with good pictures and easily understandable directions (Latewood's sprinkler thing notwithstanding). Found a few on other sites though. I will giver it a try, and then the cuttings and moms can fight it out for who wants to live the most while I am gone...For the moms, I might get a garbage can and a pump and set a timer to water them once mid vacation.

Somebody ought to compose a Sticky for general plant survival schemes while away for short times, and another for how to build a simple and reliable aero/bubble cloner--something like Children of Bodom's threads for the carbon scrubber and Rubbermaid growbox with nice step by step photos. I found this bubble cloner faq on another site, and it was informative. There was another one from the old overgrow.com, but I cannot find it right now. At any rate, I get the general idea, I think, but it would be helpful if it were right up front in the beginner grow faq so that amateurs like me could find it without spending a couple days...though I love nothing more than spending a couple of days learning something. It stays stuck that way, even with all the smoke...:stoned:

Hydroponics Gardening - Start a Small Garden Indoors- Helpful Guide
this is the guide i found a while back, i havnt had a chance to build anything but it looks good. there are some good diy's in here.

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Originally Posted by twoguysupnorth

Hydroponics Gardening - Start a Small Garden Indoors- Helpful Guide
this is the guide i found a while back, i havnt had a chance to build anything but it looks good. there are some good diy's in here.

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Thanks for the link, Two Guys. It looks good. I will check it out. I am going to suggest that the mods add a section entirely dedicated to DIY projects, if it does not already exist.