Yet another CFL grow log....

Well then....

I have being reading monkeybones and secretgardens grow logs for a couple of months now and they both seem to be coming to an end (or ended in the case of secretgardens)

I decidided it was about time i started my own grow rather than just slobbering over theirs.

This is my first indoor grow too.

So....

This is what I started with...

Started germination of 4 seeds on the 12th Jan
Light = 125 watt, 6500k CFL on 24 hours a day
Soil = my own mixture of Generic grow bag compost, my own compost, Grit and, do you know those peat briquettes that you use on your fires? well i soaked and broke down with a spade, one of those over the course of 2 weeks. This stuff holds moisture very well. pH - around 6.7 (pH spike thingy)
Seeds = AK48 from nirvana
Grow room = modified wardrobe - painted matt white inside, insulated with styrofoam, a "curtain" on the inside of the door on the outside an old dust sheet and inside, one of those emergency blankets (the silverish things).

Temperature/humidity = 25C/30-40%RH.
Water = spring water pH - between 6-7 (only have litmus paper so no exact reading)

They emerged on the 16th Jan!! whoop!:thumbsup:
(well 3 did, the next came on the 17th)

I changed the lighting to 18/6 when this happened.
I also started giving a low dose of "babybio plant food"

On the 1st of Feb I did the following things:
Repotted in the same mixture of soil.
Added an extra 65watt, 6500k CFL in the middle of the plants
Made a "reflector" and put the 125watt CFL horizontally
Put a permanent fan (I had been using a travel fan but got tired of recharging the batteries so i purchased a 6" 18watt desk fan.)
Started giving a "full" dose of Babybio plant food whenever watered.

On the 6th of Feb I added a 20watt 2700k CFL (i noticed most people in the threads started with these so thought I had better add one too)
I also changed the lighting schedule to 17/7 as a lot of people were running this too.

The pH of the Plantfood/water mix is between 6-7 (like i said, only litmus paper) and the soil is the same as when started (about 6.5-7)

The temperature stays between 25C and 28C when the light is on but drops to between 15C and 18C when light is off.

They are now 25 days old and about, on average, 9" tall, have 5 lots of leaves, good growth on the secondaries and smell B-E-A-U-tiful!

Right.... The main reason I have started this log is to make sure I am doing it right (I think I am, just want some confirmation - I live in a very isolated place to say the least!!! so i cant pop around to a mates house or invite them over)

ANY imput would be greatly appreciated! If I have missed anything out that you would like to know, just say.

oh and I have a 85watt and a 125watt, both 2700k for when i get around to flowering.

If somebody could point me to the thread of how to post pics or tell me how, I have pictures of everyday of growth so far (except the 31st of Jan and 1st of Feb) and would be more than welcome to share.

L8rs Guys! :):cool:

So I figured out how to do the pics (I actually had to search on google as I got no joy with the search engine on the forums!)

Here are my 3 close up pics first - the dates for the picture names are the dates they were taken.

They were taken with a Fujifilm finepix S5500 but resized with picasa as I havn't made 50 posts yet so had to "gallery them".

Close up, 16-01-09

Close up, 30-02-09

Close up, 07-02-09

Hope they work???:thumbsup:

Here are all 4 plants:

All 4, 16-01-09

All 4, 30-01-09

All 4, 02-02-09

All 4, 07-02-09

Just realised that the Year is wrong in all the 16-01 pics (the just emerged pics) oh well... they are this year.

These are a couple of pictures of the whole cupboard, enjoy!:)

Whole cupboard, 30-01-09

This is how I had the cupboard until the 1st of feb when i said I changed it around.

Whole cupboard, 07-02-09


Oh - yes that is a spider plant in there - needed to get it growing well so where better to do it?

May start my tomato plants in there this year too? does anybody know any reason I shouldnt? - I do only mean start, they will be in there a week after they emerge maximum....

So... Any feedback on anything would be great, Cheers guys and gals!

hey eviltrees, you have no idea how great it feels to hear that I could be some inspiration to you. The CFLs are truly a great way to start growing and mine definitely turned out well.

From the looks of things you have done your research pretty well and it looks like your girls are doing great.

Keep up the good work dude, I will definitely be keeping an eye on this log.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be very happy to help you in any way I can.

Peace man!

-sg

Hi Secret!

Yeah I did a load of research before I started, got fed up of reading people asking what CFL's should I get etc... So I didn't want to do the same.

You were deffo an inspiration into starting one myself!

I do have a couple of questions,

I have read people talking about LSTing and FIMing?

The closest I can gather is these are methods of Topping (taking of the top growth to encourage branching growth, kinda like polarding a tree almost?) But what do these stand for, and would it be benificial in my situation?

Also, I have plenty of seeds left, but would it be worth cloning a plant rather than starting from scratch again? Would the plant I clone still be viable for production of the good stuff or would it render the plant useless?

Thanks for the reply, nice to know someone is watching!

Peace

there are more watching now! looks good, trees! to answer your question on LSTing and FIMing...
-LST = low stress training. basically the idea is to lower the top of the plant to encourage the side shoots to grow. the side shoots will grow and compete to become the primary cola. awesome technique, fairly simple if you're careful, and increases yield.
-FIM = "fuck, i missed." a method of topping the plant. instead of removing the entire growth tip, you leave 10-15% of it left on the plant. up to 4 (i've heard more) tops will branch out from the FIM site, instead of just two. a more advanced technique thats harder to perfect, but does increase yield more than LST if done correctly.

as for your question on cloning versus seeds, i'd definitely clone and save the seeds for backup. both the cutting you take and the mother you take it from will be fine to produce "the good stuff." the cutting will need time to root before you flower it, and the mother will need time to recover after you take the clone, but they will both produce.

so now, questions for you:
the wattages you're giving. do you mean you have a 125W equivalent CFL? or does the CFL actually use 125W? big bulb! watch your temps.

nice to have another CFLer join the ranks. good luck, trees!

Hi, GoldenGraham!

Thanks for the info on LSTing and FIMing, very much appreciated. Love the meaning of FIM! I thought it was going to be a very technical meaning!

I don't know if you have ever laid a hedge? but thats the image I am getting for the FIM method (kinda), I will look it up further now I know what it means.

I probably will clone then I think, I have the space.

Now for your answers, Yes its a 125watt 6500k Horticultural bulb, Envirolite to be specific, they also make 200watt and 250watt bulbs too, But I wanted to spread my available wattage around the room to get to all areas of the plants, I'm not sure what the equivalant wattage would be for that bulb but if a 20watt = 100watt equivalant then I guess it would be 125watt = 625watt equivalent?? Oh, yes it is a big bugger of a bulb. about a foot long. I have the same type for the 2700k stage too.

I was going to experiment with a CFL version of a vertical grow as the bulb was so big, I was a big fan of that, but i chickened out and decided to do it the traditional way. probably for the best.

My 65watt CFL said it was equivalent 400watt but I dont know??? that one is branded "nulight".

So technically I have over 1000watts of light (have a 20watt CFL in there too)

I do have another question now,

When I get around to flowering, would it be worth using my 65watt 6500k light as well as the planned 125watt 2700k and 85watt 2700k or would that mess things up?

Cheers guys/gals!

balanced spectrum can't hurt. i actually just posted this earlier today. i've read again and again that a 1:3 ratio is best. so (hypothetically) if someone was vegging with 12 bulbs, it'd be 9 6500k & 3 2700k. flower would be 9 2700k and 3 6500k.

one more note on FIMing... doing a FIM requires the plant to recover and therefore increase veg time. take the good with bad, right?

oh and on cloning... justanotherbozo has a good thread on a DIY bubble cloner. i made one from this and it works rather nicely. perhaps a thought. let me getcha a link here...
http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponi...ml#post1873609

Thats good news, will make sure i do then, will keep what I am using now though but make sure i use that extra 65watt 6500k for flowering.

Thanks for the link to the post for the bubble cloner, just going to read it now. :D

I forgot to say that the bulb does kick out some heat, but i do keep the temperatures well i think. Day = around 25C give or take 2C

I did try and raise my humidity the other day as it dropped below 30%RH for the first time so i put a moist flannel in there, it worked, it went up to 45%RH but it also dropped my temps to between 21c - 23c.

I may leave the FIMing and just do some clones, let the plants grow as naturally as I can seeing as it is my first indoor grow.

Thanks for the help. :thumbsup:

I just did my research into FIMing and I found this picture, I thought I would put it on here as I found it to be much clearer than the photographs that I mainly came across

Fimming vs Topping

Just so I'm not taking credit for it, as it is not my pic, I found it posted by a member called DierWolf on another forum (Dont know rules about naming other forums on here so i haven't).

Makes sense to me so I think I will give it a go.

Just out of curiosity, can you 'FIM' the secondaries?

I have 6 lots of secondaries on my plants now, It seems like quite a lot considering their age and height. Is the time right to FIM if I am going to?

Just if anybody was interested, this picture is the 125watt bulb I am using, next to an 'AA' battery for size comparison.

125watt CFL

I think it cost me about £20 including the post.

i think you can fim secondaries but i'm not sure. maybe someone else knows for sure...?

if you already have made the decision to fim, i'd do it soon. maybe you could get 2 fims in if you're willing to wait the extra 2-3 weeks to veg it out and let it recover. i'd only do one fim at a time, but you might get away with two.

and, damn. thats a big bulb.

I FIM'ed two of my four plants today.

Here are before and after pictures of one of them:

Before FIM

After FIM

I hope I did it right and hope that they are females! I have no signs as of yet after a good long search. The little buggers need repotting again though, its only been 10 days since i did it. the roots seem to be growing more than the plants!

I also took a picture of my pH litmus test from the run off, it has gone up slightly but still think it is between 6-7. I have read I should only use pH up or pH down solutions for raising and lowering pH, the problem is I can't get this (I said before, I am VERY remote from anywhere) I have read you can use baking powder/soda or vinager to do this but then I have read that it is not a good idea as well!? Any suggestions or other ways/means of doing this that won't screw my plants up.

Litmus pH test

Bye!
:D

Update.

I FIM'ed my other two plants yesterday so now all four are done.

I noticed some strange growths where the seedling leaves were they kinda look like more seedling leaves but thats just strange. Does anybody know what they are? picture attatched.

The secondaries are coming on very nicely, would it be worth tying them as some are growing pretty much straight up.

they are 29 days old now, will move into flowering in 1-2 weeks.

- goldengraham84 - yes it is a monster bulb! and thanks for the info on secondaries, not going to do another FIM, just the one. Do you think 1-2 weeks is adequate for recovery?

I need to repot them too but the only bigger pots I have are not much bigger (thought I had some more) I have some on the way though (post) Should I wait a couple of days after repotting before I move into flower?

Picture names are self explanitory...

They almost smell like coffee now!?

Another update

Its 34 days into Vegging now, I am thinking of changing the lights this weekend. I have 2 more lights coming so I can put them on the other sides of the plants insted of just in the middle. (you will see what i mean with my ariel picture)

Still waiting on my bigger pots, maybe tommorrow? Having to water everyday now, and my humidity has shot up to 50-60% Should I try and reduce this or is it still ok(ish).

I think i have the signs of 2 girls so far, not to sure as they seem a bit whispier than other pictures I have seen of preflowers, any thought into it is greatly appreciated.

enjoy the pics!

Well i think i can say FIM my FIM! On two of the plants anyway - I didn't even top them! I just gave the leaves a slight trim, I was being to careful not to top them. This is quite annoying as I wanted to get them into flowering lights this weekend and I have had to do it again just now. The other two that i FIMmed, well, how many branchs usually come off it? It seems like I have more than 4 maybe 6? I might just be looking at them wrong though, they are still quite small, it could be leaves?

I'm sure that I have 2 females to, I found a couple more of the realy thin whispy hairs on them earlier, but if somebody could tell me if I am right or not? the picture is on above post. Thanks!:)

Oh and some bad news.... There is no wind and the generator is not playing at the moment, hopefully the batteries will last until we can get the gen fixed..... or the wind comes back......

it certainly could be some prefllowers showing up. i've been tricked wrong before though. actually kept it way too long too. get some small underdeveloped beans. good thing was that i had no intentions of keeping the plant. scraggly and too sativa for me.

are you meaning to say that you're under straight wind power? nice! :thumbsup: what kind of battery source are you using till the generator is fixed?

Thanks GG84, hopefully they are!

Yeah were straight wind power, The batteries are those connected to the turbine/gen. They are supposed to hold like 3 days worth of electricity but as they are now "getting on a bit" they only hold a day/day and a half worth. They still have some charge in from yesterday (when gen was working) Its been as calm as anything here for last 4 days. There is a bit of wind now but I don't think turby is charging the batteries, Its not quite strong enough.

So the batteries died after the lights were on for 12 hours - now should i change the bulbs over to flowering (2700k) for tonight, leave the lights off for 36 hours and change them to 2700k or turn the lights (6500k) back on after 12 hours of dark?

The gen was fixed but is still playing up. But the wind has picked up a little.

Help please!:confused:

I have 4 hours before the lights have been off for 12 hours to decide what to do, could anybody give me a suggestion?

I think I am going to change the bulbs over to flowering but as I only re-FIM'ed 2 of them yesterday I guess this is not to great.

But.....

How would the girls react if I put the 6500k bulbs back on 17/7 for a few more days after the 12 hours darkness?

Would I be better off leaving them off for 36 hours (this is something I have read in these forums) and changing the lights over before they come on?

please help, power problems is not something I have read on these forums!:(

changes in lighting regimen can stress the plant. worst case scenario, you get feminized seeds if it hermies on you. if this is okay with you, go ahead and return to veg hours when you can. the "leaving them in 36 hours of darkness" helps them to show sex earlier. i don't think that it increases yield or anything. best of luck with the power situation.

Thanks for the imput GG84. I deffo didnt want to stress them!

I Turned the lights back on after 12 hours of darkness but i changed them to flowering bulbs (2700k) so technically it was just like they had a flowering night before they had a flowering day.

I never thought about it before but what is the common practice for changing over to flowering?

Is it the normal 6/7 hour "night" for vegging then when they "wake up" the lights are different...
or is it a 12 hour flowering "night" then when they "wake up" the lights are different? Hopefully it is the second one!

The ladies seemed to like the long night though they stretched out their secondaries nicely and.... I'm pretty sure 3 of them are females! I'm not sure on the other yet, strangley its the tallest/biggest that i'm not sure about...

We have some wind now :D so there is power :thumbsup: gen is still fooked though. Bloody thing!

gotta do some clones soon...

looking good i think your fine on the light switch no worries!:thumbsup: and my 6th plant is a female.im gonna watch your grow keep up the good work bro!!

Hi detroitfish, thanks for the support, great news on your girl!

Well its been about two weeks now since flowering started so I thought I would update.

There were infact only 2 females not 3, but i did plant 4 in the hope to get 2 females so I'm not dissapointed.

They have realy grown a lot in two weeks, they seem to have gotten really leggy, grown over 6inches taller in 2 weeks! They are flowering well though, I think!?

Like I said, they are a bit leggy looking, There is a lot of growth in the middle of the two plants though (towards the light in the middle). Wish I started with more lights at lower wattages rather than 2 really big ones. and a couple of small ones.

I did take 4 clones, but only two have taken. They are going to be a while though by the looks of it, still rooting better.

Got some pictures for you to look at.

Thanks for looking again!:D

looking real good bro :thumbsup:they should be starting to stink here soon :greenthumb:

Its been 23 days of flowering now, They are getting bigger!

They have pruned some of the shade leaves since my last post and there was a mini disaster which I fell asleep earlier than usual and didnt check the plants, the temp managed to get to 31C and the middle bulb fell over (thankfully it didn't break!) onto a branch and burnt it all - I did smoke it though and it was very nice, It has been a while! I have also had to raise the bulbs up quite a bit more. Apart from that everything is the same.

Some more pics attatched, tell me what you think... :)

Patience is the key here. Mine are at 83 days into flowering and they have at least 2 weeks more of flowering in front of them...maybe more.

Since February i'm like..."2 weeks more...." then 2 weeks later... "oh maybe 2 weeks more!!"....And it grows......grows.....and grows!!!

And you got some realy healthy plants! Great job!
:thumbsup:

83 days of flowering!! wow you have some serious patience.....but isn't that a little too long??

nice job evil trees, those girls are looking great! patience is key ... they will get even bigger, just you wait! very nicely done though!

k1ing87 - if you leave a short strain too long, yes, it will be past it's peak potency. but there are definitely haze's and sativas out there that are 120+ days of flowering. plus, add in the CFLs and that takes things out another couple of weeks or so. I think monkeybone is probably justified, and is hopefully looking at the trichomes.

take care,

-sg

everythings looks great yeah im getting ready to start my CFL grow soon still getting all the kinks worked out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by oSecretGardeno

k1ing87 - ......... plus, add in the CFLs and that takes things out another couple of weeks or so......

-sg

---

CFL's extend growing period?

yes k1ng, the CFLs lack the intensity of HID lights, and therefore cause a slower flowering period. could go longer by 1-2.5 weeks.

hey theeviltrees were are about the same stage of flowering now :thumbsup: wish you all the best! check out my pics i just posted the other day on my grow and let me know what ya think. yours look great and healthy

still out there eviltrees?

Hey secretgarden I'm back! Thanks for the support everyone, I appologise for the lack of updates/posts, its spring, busy time!

So... all has been going well, had a few problems with electricity going off but they haven't done too bad.

Its 53 days into flowering now they have got 18 days left before they are done.

One clone survived even though it took over 3 weeks to actually root, its about 3-4 weeks into flowering, not sure whether to try and keep it going or to chop it with the rest yet?

have some pictures to help, tell me what you think!

One more pic, full size close up, enjoy!:thumbsup:

The plant behind is the clone.

I should have mentioned what the pictures were!:)

new1-007-01 are the top buds of the "good plant".

new1-012 is a branch from the other plant and behind it is the one survivng clone - This is the large picture to.

new1-017 are some secondaries of the good plant.

new1-024 is the whole cupboard.

new1-027 is the whole good plant.

Hope that helps a bit!? :jointsmile:

looking mighty nice inside that box, interested on the yeild of these 2 plants keep us posted please.