dillhole's first grow WW x Skunk

Hi, folks. I've been lurking here since I started my first grow on Sept 7. I didn't originally plan on doing a grow log (paranoid I guess). But I've learned so much from this forum that I feel compelled to share my experiences. I hope that someone can learn from my mistakes :)

I'm gonna list my worst mistakes right here so that everyone will see them:

1: I didn't use sterilized soil. I used some Jungle Growth stuff that I got from Lowe's. It grows great tomatoes. It also grows great fungus gnats. I've been fighting them bastards for a month. Save yourself some heartache and get good soil.

2: I underestimated the cannibis plants' ability to stink. About the time the plants were producing their third set of leaves I discovered that they could stink up my entire 3600 square foot house. After I ran around opening windows and turning on the attic fan I had to install a high CFM exhaust fan in my closet. It would have been easier to do that before everything was set up. If odor would cause problems for you then plan for it in advance. And choose your strain wisely. Don't choose anything with skunk in it's name :)

3: This space reserved for the next stupid thing I do.

My (slightly ghetto) grow setup:

A closet measuring 2x5 with 6 ft of usable height.
A homemade light consisting of 9 CFLs and 2 48" T8 fluorescent tubes.
White Widow X Skunk feminized seeds
Jungle Growth soil (see mistake #1) mixed with perlite and vermiculite
Miracle Growth veg nutes (has a tomato on the box)
Green Light Super Bloom nutes 12-55-6
Reflective mylar glued to cardboard for quick removal.
Ph test strips
HotShot No-Pest strip (thanks to the damn fungus gnats)

I'll add pics when I figure out how to do it :thumbsup:

This picture was taken on Sept 14.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...MG_0084-ps.jpg

Six days later. Remember the plant in the second picture. It auto-topped itself by producing a 4 leaf clover pattern with no center growth shoot.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0085.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0086.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0087.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0089.jpg

More pics. One plant died so there are only three now. The third pic shows the plant that autotopped itself :)
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0090.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0091.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0092.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0093.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0094.jpg

More pics. Had a slight Ph problem that I corrected with a small amount of hydrated lime added to the nute mix.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0096.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0095.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0097.jpg

Here's my babies now. I switched the lights to 12/12 on Oct 15. The largest plant had a few hairs the next day. The other two haven't yet.
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0099.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0100.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0101.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0103.jpg
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0104.jpg

Does anyone know how long it takes Hotshot no-pest strips to begin killing adult fungus gnats? I've had it hung in the closet for a day and the bastards are still flying around.

So far I've used Permethrin, Bifenthrin, and glue paper. I've kept the plants a little dry and I covered the soil with perlite and vermiculite. Nothing seems to work :mad::(

Any suggestions?

wow they R looken great. egen wow I say.

Nice dillhole, i cant wait to see some bud pics

wow, your grow looks EXACTLY like mine. First thing to remember, unless you keep a daily log of your plants, numbering them has no use whatsoever. I started to number mine, but after I transplanted, I just forgot about them. And with the plant splitting early like yours did, well, you really don't have to try and seperate them with wires, I tried that but found it was just better to let them grow. I swear though, I have the EXACT same setup, except that mine only has two heat lamp lights. And because of my shortage on lighting, I only use my box for cloning, my other plants are outside.

Thanks guys!

DrSeuss, do you got pics of your grow? I would love to see them! I numbered the plants because I did things slightly different with each plant. This is my first grow so I wanted to try a variety of things to see what works and what don't. I'm treating them all the same now but I used different sources of water and additives during the veg stage. Not much difference in the plants though. As for the wires, I LST'd all of them, even the self-topper, for greater light penetration. I probably just use the wires to keep the canopy even throughout the rest of the grow.

your plant sure seem to like what your doing! They look great.

yepp, I have SOME pics, http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...-grow-log.html

but anyway, that's accually a great idea (experimenting like that)
your plants look great btw

I've just noticed that the self-topper is producing growth shoots that top themselves. Makes me wonder if this is a genetic trait that can be bred for. At the very least it's pretty cool, two colas for the price of one. And no stress for the plant.

I may try to clone it using one of these topped shoots. I just dont know if I have the time to baby a clone.

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0106.jpg

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0107.jpg

Today I started them on 1/2 strength bloom nutes and gave them another round of LST. And after drooling over HPS lights for the last week, I decided to add 4 more CFL's instead. I'll consider HPS when I have more experience :)

I now have 13 CFL's and 2 48in T8 tubes. Three of the cfl's are 150watt equivalent (2700K). Ther remainder are all 100watt equiv. And four of those are 6500K. Confusing enough? :D

The plants had a 3 day growth spurt after switching them to 12/12. Had to raise the lights everyday. Since then they haven't grown very much but they've filled out some. All of the plants are showing their sex now:thumbsup:

I'm still fighting the fungus gnats. I'm about to give up and spray gasoline:mad: If anyone has a solution for these bastards please tell me. I'll give you my first born (plant, not kid).

Okay, enough blabbing. Here's a few pics:thumbsup:

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0116.jpg

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0118.jpg

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0120.jpg

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0123.jpg

The good news: Got some buds forming!!!
The bad news: Still fighting gnats.

The plants went nearly a week without needing water. Don't know if it's normal or if it's because of the slightly low ph problem I've got. They seem to be healthy though, just growing a little slower than I expected.

I gave them a good drenching with ph'd water today. The pics are before I watered them. Next watering I'll start full strength bloom nutes :)

I'm excited that I'm seeing some progress. I would have never thought that I could grow my own weed. This is cool as hell. I hope I dont do something to goob it up now! :rastasmoke:

Oh, I've been sizing the pics as 800 by 600. Is this too large for images in a post? It occurred to me today that most people dont use a screen resolution of 1600 by 1200 like I do, so the pics may be huge on their screen. Lemme know what yall think, I'll be happy to resize them :thumbsup:

Before getting watered!
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0125.jpg

Future bud!!!
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0126.jpg

I cant wait!!
http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p...y/IMG_0130.jpg

Would it be a good idea to do a little pruning down low? Not much light makes it there anyway. I'm just scared it'll hurt em. Ha, I'm so protective of these plants that I may not be able to smoke them.

I'd prune the leaves that don't seem to be getting any light at all (personally), unless you can get a few CFLs aimed at the side/underside of the leaves.

I really like those close up photos. :thumbsup:

Beautiful plants bro! Good work:thumbsup:

Thanks guys! I'm learning how to use my camera to take macros. It's not as easy as I thought. Hopefully I'll be good at it by the time the buds get nice.

If they ever do...

The plants aren't very happy right now. Leaves are pointing down at the tips. The color is still ok but the lower leaves seem to be getting a little pale. Some of the newer growth on two of the plants is slightly shriveled. It looks like a nitrogen problem but I don't know if it's too much or too little.

I gave them 1/2 strength bloom nutes at the start of flowering. Then they went 8 days without needing water. The tips started pointing down then but I attributed it to being dry. Yesterday I gave them a drenching of plain water (ph about 7, runoff in the low 6's) and they haven't gotten much better. If they're not happy by tomorrow I'll put a post in the plant problems area.

Plants look a little better today. I think they have a minor N lockout caused by low pH. I haven't decided how I'm gonna fix it yet. I've only got hydrated lime to raise the pH and it's very, very strong stuff. I'll have to be careful if I use it since I don't have a meter, just pH paper.

Since I'm here anyway, I'll post some bud pics :rastasmoke:

I've decided to wait until they need water again to correct the low pH. Apparently the last watering was enough to correct the N lockout but the pH remains too low. The soil is still damp so I'll wait till it's drier. Since the soil has been damp for a long time I may add some H2O2 to the mix for oxygenation. Is this a wise thing to do? Or am I asking for more trouble? Comments? Please :)

I took a few more closeups today for your viewing pleasure :D I think my camera will rock when I learn how to use it. It's a Canon S5-IS. Some of these buds are smaller than my little fingernail and you can see much more detail in the pic than with the naked eye. It makes me geek out a little bit!

I placed a post in the problems area. Ya'll come help me out. Thanks.

Most of the time...the gnat eggs was in the soil you bought. Happens to me all the time...:(.

I have read that, covering the top of the soil with sand or a paper plate/foil or something will stop more eggs from hatching. (not advice, just something I read)

Me?..I just kill them...(amono~amono)...hand to hand combat...:stoned: ..I don't think they hurt the plants; but not sure.

Yep. They came in the soil I used. Lesson learned. I don't think they bother the plants much, they just piss me off. Thanks for your help!

Plants were a little rootbound and soil pH was too low. The gurus (Dutch Pimp and Weedhound) in the Plant Problems area encouraged me to transplant and flush. So I did. Although I didn't really transplant, I expanded the current pots. Pics can be found in this thread.

The plants were looking better almost immediately after the flush. I should know in a few days if they like their new pots.

Been busy, haven't had much time for an update :mad:

The plants are looking pretty good. They must like the new pots and fresh soil. Each plant has 2 or 3 "main" buds and about 15 small budsites. Trichome production has picked up speed. Even the smaller buds are getting frosty!

They'll be needing water (no nutes) tomorrow or the next day, I may give them a little bit of molasses. Too early for that? Just thinking that my bloom nutes are a little low on K, and I've read that molasses is a good source of that.

wow wow wow. they look great as ever.

:thumbsup:

Lookin beautiful, dillhole!
Keep up the good work!

Thanks for stopping by guys!!!

Hydrocannabis, funny I was just drooling over one of your older grows :D

Good job dh..... Good luck the rest of your run......d:rastasmoke:

Wow is right! They look great.....especially for a first grow! Good work dill. Keep it up. :thumbsup:

Got a hermie :(

Checked the plants today and one of em had balls all over it. Fortunately they were confined to the small budsites in the undergrowth. After picking through them with tweezers for an hour, I said the hell with it and started cutting the whole shoots off. What's it gonna do, hermie on me?

I think that all of the male flowers were immature, but some had split into quarters. Does this mean that they dumped pollen? I didn't see any, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't any. Look at the pics and tell me if I'm gonna have seeds...

These plants haven't had any light or heat stress. I had a pH problem and had to repot last week. Was this enough to make one grow dicks? Or is this proof that feminized seeds suck?

I guess I'll have to be more diligent with my nanner check from now on. On the bright side, I have enough immature bud to make a joint. Think they have THC yet? There were quite a few trichomes on a few of them. Gonna taste like shit, but I'm gonna try them tonight. Dehydrated immature green bud and leaves. Yumm.

I was right about one thing, the taste was pretty bad. But it was much stronger than I expected. It caught me by surprise. I really didn't expect anything because the plants have only been producing buds for 2 1/2 weeks. It took nearly 10 minutes from the first hit to feel anything. I was on the fourth hit when it started and had a few moments of anxiety. After that passed, I had a very nice trippy high. I even had a few closed eye visuals. Then I got the munchies and then I went to bed.

I guess I'm pretty pleased. It was every bit as strong as the stuff sold around here as "good shit". I can only imagine what it's gonna be like when it's ripe and cured. I'm a lightweight, so I'll probably have to be careful with it :pimp:

Get yourself some Reverse from Dutchmaster to prevent hermies. Could be stress from your issues but usually there is some sort of light leak coming through so if you can climb inside from your plants point of view and check for leaks then do so asap. Even something as small as the teeny lights on your timers, dehumidifier and/or surge protectors can be enough light to mess them up.

Yep, some of those have opened and dumped pollen. One good thing.....if you like this strain any seeds that may come from your grow will be female themselves. WW is know to hermie easily.......have never grown Skunk so can't say about that strain.

check out an old thread called "Hermie solution confirmed" I believe in the search function. Tons of hermie info in that thread.

http://boards.cannabis.com/plant-pro...confirmed.html

Thanks Weedhound! Coming to my rescue again, eh? That was a good read, I'm sold on Reverse now.

Pretty sure there is no light leak. I've crawled in there myself, long enough to get my eyes adjusted. No leaks. I did have a power failure during "night" that caused my timer to get off by 18 minutes. I wonder if that did it?

I'm not terribly upset about getting seeds though. I wont have to buy anymore, and I'll have more than enough smoke for my needs. I just hope some bud escaped pollination.

How much pollen is in a ball anyway? I had 3 or 4 that were open. Is that enough to get all of my buds? That would suck.

Dill.....I honestly cannot say how nuch you would need to pollinate a crop with. I would do the Reverse at least once....even this late in your grow and Rock Steady will swear it stops "nanners" in their tracks. As long you as drying your plants very well before you turn your lighing back on there should be not be any last ing affects. I personally would not spray it on my plants after, say, the fourth week in bloom TOPS and only if I had seen nanners on the plant, (as you have) and when using itturned off the lighting until I made sure the buds, branches and leaves are thorough dry by applying a light but constant fan to the wet plants amd checking them over for wet spots very carefully.

The more "inbred" your seeds get (self-pollinating or "selfing") each generation of plants get less and less stable and you tend to get end up with seedlings AND grown plants with lesser immune systems and just generally do not thrive and/or yield as well as do many stable and carefully selected seedlings that you pay you hard eaned $$'s for. Something to think about. Sometimes freebie seeds are terrific.....but have their own issues as well (such as again.....hermieing easily due to stress in future babies as well.) I have found third generation "selfed" seeds about 50% stable compared to 90-100% from my normal seed company.....just my personal experience.

WH, you got me to thinking about light leaks. I haven't checked the closet for leaks since I installed my exhaust fan. So I got my old night vision scope out, removed the plants, got in and shut the door. After a few minutes I saw a faint amount of light coming from the pvc exhaust duct. Way too dim to see with the unaided eye. After some investigating, I found that the light was coming from a street light shining through the gable vent in the attic. My fan is directly in front of the gable vent, connected to the closet by four feet of pvc pipe.

Then it dawned on me. I did some work in the attic about 10 days ago and had the attic lights on. And guess what? The hermie is sitting directly underneath the exhaust vent. I think I found the problem. Doh!

If I could edit my first post, I would put this info under Item #3.

Now that that's solved, do you recommend using DutchMaster Penetrator along with Reverse? The propaganda on their website says "You must always use Dutch Master Penetrator with this product".

I may have to wait until next grow to spend any more money. Although this grow is mostly for my wife's medical benefit, she would most likely strangle me if I keep spending money. Getting strangled hurts.

The pic is of my exhaust setup.

I feel like I've been on an episode of CSI :D