GHS Trainwreck Grow Log, LST

Hello!

It has been almost a month since my baby popped out of the ground (Day1), and I finally decided to share my experience with everyone here. Enjoy!

This being my first time, I have now realized that I am missing a few important things for my grow (in case of problems), but I think the basics are covered. Also, living here in the F***ing arctic of Finland, gardening stores are few and far between, and have limited products when it comes to cannabis cultivation. But others here have had great success, why not me?!


Seeds: Feminized Trainwreck from Greenhouse Seeds Co. (I have heard negative things about these seeds, like hermies, but we shall see!)
Soil: Basic el-cheapo stuff
Nutes: Canna Terra Vega 3-1-4, Canna Terra Flores 2-2-4, Plagron Green Sensation Top Activator 0-9-10
Light: 400 Watt HPS
Vegetation: 20/4 light cycle
Closet/Cabinet Grow: 51cm x 51cm x 171cm tall
Large fan blowing directly on the plant to keep temperatures between 26 and 29 when the light is on, temps are between 22 and 24 when off.
Humidity is too low, but something which I will have to work on in the next grow.

Here are the pictures so far, from day 15 to day 20... First two are day 15, third one is day 17, fourth is day 19, and fifth is day 20.

http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M01Day15.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M02Day15.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M04Day17.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...nn/01Day19.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M01Day20.jpg

(Anyone know why I can't attach pictures, the posting rules on the bottom left of my screen says I can do everything BUT post attachments, hmm...)

I have doing a lot of research about different techniques, such as LST, topping, FIMing, and SCROG. Because I have no experience growing this strain or growing period, I decided to try the LST method for two reasons:
1)Minimal Stress
2)Limited Grow Space

What I am trying to accomplish here is to get more than one top, hopefully I can get like 6, and to do this I will be tying down the main shoots to try and keep them level with each other, as well as giving them each direct light. Right now, she would be about 2.5x taller without the LST (Judging from the length of the main stem).

I wonder how large this is going to get, since Greenhouse on their youtube video says to veg this for 2 weeks, and flower for 9. I have veged now for 4 weeks, and will switch the lights to 12/12 in a couple days (after Day 30).

Here are some pics from last night, day 27: In the first pic, the main stem is at the top of the frame. I tied it over to the left, then started curving it around my bucket.

http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...nn/01Day27.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...nn/02Day27.jpg

Get a spray bottle and spray them with water, that should help with humidity, if it gets too dry give them moisture

Spray bottle, you say Inspectah? I thought about that, but I remember reading that the droplets of water can act like a magnifying glass and burn holes in the leaves. But I just just give it a try... Thanks for the tip!

maybe droplets can somehow manipulate light but i doubt it, thats why you should spray them with a mist, i think it cools the plant off, not burn holes in it. Why u think the bottom of the ocean is dark? because water stops light, it doesnt intensify it

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InspectahEX

maybe droplets can somehow manipulate light but i doubt it, thats why you should spray them with a mist, i think it cools the plant off, not burn holes in it. Why u think the bottom of the ocean is dark? because water stops light, it doesnt intensify it

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Touché... I understand what you mean about the mist part. Looks like it's time for a trip to the store...

Here are some pics from tonight, the end of day 30.

Switched the lights to 12/12. Reduced my Veg. Nutes by half for the last two days. Tomorrow I will start giving it bloom and top nutes at half strength.

I posted a question before, but didn't get an answer yet. Maybe someone can help me with the nutes I have...
http://boards.cannabis.com/advanced-...xperience.html

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M03Day30.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M02Day30.jpg
http://i363.photobucket.com/albums/o...n/M01Day30.jpg

Nice LSTing......i love plant bondage.....Cant wait for more pics! Keep up the fantastic work....them plants look healthy as a mofo!

Hello again,

I just took some pics after the first week of flowering. She has really grown a lot since last week. No sign of flowers yet.

I gave her a half dose of the top booster on the first day, with full strength Canna flowering nutes everyday. She seems to be responding well to them. I am still unsure about the top booster, whether its safe to use as directed, because my friend said he had a problem with it. I think I will wait another week before I start feeding her those, we'll see how she responds to a little bit and work up from there.

Here are the pics (all the same plant, unfortunately she is an only child)

update?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by southerntoker

update?

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Here are the new pics... She has been doing very well and growing a lot. Now I have little buds starting to form at the top of each stem.

I will start to give it the Plagron Top Activator Tomorrow. I think to be safe, I will have one bottle with the Top nutes, one bottle with the bloom nutes, and one water. I will alternate between the three each time I feed, which is usually twice a day (there is very low RH here and my plant dries out very quickly)

Here are the pics!

dammm she is looking great.:thumbsup:

looks like I still need more pratice on lsting my plants when they R still small.
well heres to great luck on flowering her great.

:thumbsup:

Hello again,

Here she is, almost 3 weeks now into flowering. I have been feeding her twice a day, alternating between regular water, bloom nutes, and top activator nutes.

She is in a 10 liter bucket now, but I think it will be too small for the long run... now i gotta find another bucket and some decent fertilizer. I bought some fertilizer the other day but its total shit... a lot of nutes and keeps water.

Here are the pics, enjoy!

wow i def wanna know how u made that happen .. but im having a hard time understanding what u did with the LST (im still tryna get how it works) can u explain in thurough detail plz lol

Ill draw a picture for you and explain it, click on pictures because they are to small to just look at


[align=center]a plant at a young age looks something like THIS

[attachment=o206970]





You tie the top part down gently something like THIS


[attachment=o206971][/align]









Then those little leaves you see coming out grow up to be side branches resulting in a bushiness visual, adding more bud spots in a vertical restriction and also resulting in an even canopy and more main colas like THIS


[align=center][attachment=o206972][/align]



Hope this helps, tell me if you need more explanations


Sorry for hijack

I couldn't believe my eyes after looking at your last picture number 5 up close. AMAZING. I can only hope to grow mine looking that sweet. I'm definitely going to try lst when i plant in hydro!

No problem about the hijack, its always good to hear a couple different methods. Here's how I did it:

1: Drilled holes all around the top rim of my bucket, about 10 total

2: Once the plant became tall enough (I think about 5 nodes in my case), I bent down the top so it was parallel to the ground, and tied it down using nylon string.

3: Kept an eye on it for the next couple days, and as soon as a branch started to outgrow the "canopy", I would tie it down also. Repeat this step until you are satisfied with your canopy, and stop about a week before flowering.

4: The main growth stem will always jump up after you tie it down, so I started to tie it down going around the rim of the bucket until it grew at the same rate as the other "tops"

5: After a week or so, your plant will be covering and hanging over one side of the bucket, and the soil will be exposed on the other (you can see that from my earlier pictures). This is not a problem. As the plant grows more, you can pull the growth stems towards the empty side of the bucket.

6: When I was getting closer to flowering, I didn't do any major training. By major I mean I wouldn't bend any stems to the point that they were parallel to the ground. I did tie down a couple stems, but only bending them slightly to make more room for the other bud sites.


This is my first time growing, so I did not want to get too fancy with this. I will be transplanting into a bigger pot, so I think I will have to tie down the stems again (pain in the ass). However, since I only have one plant, I will do a little more training just to spread it out more. I have a lot of bud sites below the canopy, and I will try to get more light into there. I'll post some pics when I do that, maybe later today...

Hope this helps!

oh yeah, keep in mind the space that you have available. You can get really carried away with this thing and easily outgrow your space.

3 weeks of flowering done, 6 more to go...

She ended up outgrowing her old container, which was a 10 liter bucket, so I went and bought a 23 liter container today. I drilled holes along the top rim, on the side of the bucket around the bottom for fresh air, and a few more holes in the bottom for drainage.

I had a lot of strings tied up in the old bucket, and had to cut them all away and start over. What I did this time was spread out the canopy to get more light inside the plant, and hopefully more buds as a result.

As I explained in my last post, I did not bend any of the stems parallel, just enough to get them where I wanted them. I will have to see how the plant adjusts to the new ties, and I might have to do a little bit more LSTing in the next few weeks.

Here are the pics:

Been almost a week now since I re-potted and re-lst'd. She didn't grow much in the first few days, but its been growing steadily again. Here are some more pics...

Some more pics from today...

Big tops i like the only child. Nice to know people such as yourself are growing the dank up in the Arctic circle:thumbsup:

I hope to emulate your LST with my new grow. I like the idea of LOWstress. Keep those updates rolling!

This is 1 kick as grow. hwow.

two big thumbs up, Bub! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

amazing! im surprised its not more purple though with you temps! is it in a heated space?? i think you will love the trainwreck though i just got a ounce and am floating :stoned:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sandm4n

amazing! im surprised its not more purple though with you temps! is it in a heated space?? i think you will love the trainwreck though i just got a ounce and am floating :stoned:

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Yup, she's in the corner of my living room/dining room/bedroom (got a pretty small apartment for U.S. standards)...

Well it's been another week, about 4 more to go!

I have started to give it nutes only. Before I was switching off between water, flowering nutes, and top nutes. For the next two weeks I will give it only the nutes, alternating each feeding. I am hoping this can give it everything it needs for the last two weeks, when I plan on giving water only.

Got some pics for y'all...

A few more pics...

those are some nice chunky buds, makes me consider getting it, i heard it was a heavy hermer, but yours hasnt hermed so i just might have to get it, rep for sure:thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stinkybudz

those are some nice chunky buds, makes me consider getting it, i heard it was a heavy hermer, but yours hasnt hermed so i just might have to get it, rep for sure:thumbsup:

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I've read that it would hermie late in bloom. Still got 4 weeks to go. purpwidow is growing the same ones and has a log goin. his started a little after mine.

what are top nutes? and what are u using?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FunkMeister

what are top nutes? and what are u using?

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The top nutes are Plagron Green Sensation Top Activator 0-9-10. 1/1000, so I use 2 ml per 2 liter bottles. I got this stuff for free when I ordered my other nutes and hps, so i figured i'd give it a try. It says "Green Sensation is a flowering stimulator (also called a 'booster') used in the last 4-6 weeks of the flowering period...." it says a lot more i just dont want to type it all :jointsmile:

The other nutes are the typical flowering ones: Canna Terra Flores 2-2-4. It says 1:200, so I put 10ml into a 2 liter bottle.

I keep these in separate bottles, and alternate between the two. I was alternating three (water) before but now just the two. I figure I have about 4 weeks left so plain nutes for about 2 weeks, the last weeks just water.

shit looks amazing bro:jointsmile:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigtopsfinn

Kept an eye on it for the next couple days, and as soon as a branch started to outgrow the "canopy", I would tie it down also. Repeat this step until you are satisfied with your canopy, and stop about a week before flowering.

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Hmm, I heard that it was okay to LST right through flowering? Is this incorrect?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DasPachy

Hmm, I heard that it was okay to LST right through flowering? Is this incorrect?

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I can't really say... I have read from a couple different places that you ought to stop a week before flowering, so I did. When I was doing the first bends (while it was in veg) I didn't notice any slowed growth. However since it's been flowering i had to re-pot and re-lst, and she slowed her growth and flower production significantly for a couple days. During the veg stage it was gradual training, when I did the last re-pot re-lst, I tied down everything again and moved branches around where I wanted them. It may have been a little too much stress.

So, from my *limited* personal experience, I would say that lst in flower as little as possible. You could just pull one branch over here and there, but don't start bending them parallel to the ground.

Almost been 6 weeks of flowering. She is starting to plump up quite nicely. Still growing vertically a little, but mostly fattening up the bud sites.

I have been taking off some of the small buds from the bottom for "tasters". I don't have a connect around here, and it's just too tempting. Anyways, she doesn't seem to mind too much. Still no sign of hermies (knocking on wood), so I will just keep on doin' like i've been doin'.

I've been giving her nutes everyday for the last week, never plain water. I think one more week or 10 days of just nutes before I go with just water for the home stretch.

My apartment smells like high heaven right now. Got a bunch of air-fresheners around the door, and the smell only hits you once you come inside. Good thing most of my neighbors are retirees and wouldn't know good ganja if it hit them in the head.

More pics from today

So my wife an I were just sitting around in our apartment when we heard a knocking on the door. Usually we ignore it, because we never have any guests over, and also for the fact that my baby (in the pics above) is in her closet in the corner of the living room, with the door open and a fan blowing on her. It stinks in my apartment, therefore I never open the door.

Then, I heard a voice from inside my apartment. It was an electrician who works for the leasing company, coming in to fix the fuse box i complained about 3 months ago! I nearly shat myself. I ran to the door and told him it didnt need fixing, and he left.

Thankfully I had a couple "security measures" in case this happened. I have a curtain that separates my living room from the front door area. I also placed 3 air fresheners there. The guy didn't seem to make any fuss, and hopefully he didnt smell anything in the less than a minute he was here. Now I'm thinking to myself, thank god I was home. Otherwise, the guy had the key to my apartment, and could have just walked right in, looked inside the curtain to see my plant, and I'd be fucked out of nearly 3 months work.

Better to be lucky sometimes. If your wondering why I still take the risk, well I didnt know that the electrician/anybody could come into my apartment without prior notice. Also, the penalties here for small grow operations like mine include only a fine.

That was my rant, still a little shaken up. Hopefully there will be no more surprises until I finish my grow!

wsup bigtopsfinn. ur plant looks real badass.

and I have also felt scard while growing but mine were outdoors.
and the cop had driven right by my house first I wet my self just a little then I stayed calm about it then grew balls of steel and keeped em growing till november.:D
and I never saw any cops on my street anymore after that.:D
so my cheese/hawiian skunk grow got to finish flowering.:D

and now I have some of the best buds I have ever gotten to smoke.:D

well anyway ur plant looks great and hope u really do get her all the way to harvest cuz I am sure it will be a great onw at that.

so the lights I ise R?:D

and have a wornderful thanksgiving.:thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hydrocannabis

wsup bigtopsfinn. ur plant looks real badass.

and I have also felt scard while growing but mine were outdoors.
and the cop had driven right by my house first I wet my self just a little then I stayed calm about it then grew balls of steel and keeped em growing till november.:D
and I never saw any cops on my street anymore after that.:D
so my cheese/hawiian skunk grow got to finish flowering.:D

and now I have some of the best buds I have ever gotten to smoke.:D

well anyway ur plant looks great and hope u really do get her all the way to harvest cuz I am sure it will be a great onw at that.

so the lights I ise R?:D

and have a wornderful thanksgiving.:thumbsup:

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Thanks hydro!

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I noticed something else yesterday, which is giving my plants too many nutrients. I just switched my feeding cycle from 2 feedings of nutirents/1 feeding of water, to only feeding nutrients. I noticed the some of the leaves on the top of the buds started to rust a little around the edges. Since then I have given it water twice. I have to water twice a day, so later I'm gonna see if it keeps getting worse or what. I might just keep giving it water, since I got about 2 weeks to go.

Well I have a little problem. I am guessing that I gave her too much nutes, and she has started to discolor a little bit in the leaves on the tops. I have been giving only water for the last couple days. Tomorrow morning I will flush it out with water and keep giving her only water until harvest.

Greenhouse Seeds Co. says 8-9 weeks for flowering. It's been exactly 7 weeks now, and although I could cut her down now, I think I'm gonna wait it out a little more. I have a jeweler's loupe which is rated at 30x, but it's nothing compared to the radioshack one you guys have in the states. I can't really tell if they are clear or cloudy. The look pretty cloudy to me, but I want a little amber in there when I harvest.