Advanced Autoflower Training, tips, secrets

Week 5/10~17/2013
Never Transplant!!! Start off in the harvesting pot 3Gallon+

You Could!! Cut off the bottom to a party cup, an when the roots come out the bottom just put the Cup in the bigger Pot.
20/4 hours is the best(Depending on Strain) If you really want to Find out what is best, Start with 24/7 then the next batch, use 20/4 and see how that goes...

Soil is more important then lighting.
Auto's have funny tap roots and until you grow one you probably wont understand. They have a tap like normal but its short and stubby usually grows to a 45 at one side. When you hear people say that they veg until the tap hits .... Well this statement is partially right but for the actual tap root to hit. Then you would have to have a shallow pot like 5 inches. Ruderalis has adapted to harsh conditions like permafrost layers that are very thin so to survive it evolved to grow multiple large sideways roots.Auto's growth will stop if over watered the easiest indoor mix i have found is a good organic indoor potting mix in ratio of 50/50 mixed with perlite. This promotes really good drainage which auto's love. try and steer clear of time released ferts to easy to burn your plants when using nutes.

For the feed/nutes even with 50% perlite a good soil will more then support a auto for 3-4 weeks. I have finished many nice plants with this mix only using water
best results were from using nutes 1/4 str at first then build up slowly.
I introduce veg nutes at show of preflower roughly 3-4 weeks. If your going to feed every watering then leave nutes at 1/4 str there is not much veg after this 2-3 weeks so these feeds need to be under max dose other wise a burn will greatly reduce yields at this point.
Preflower is not the sign to switch to bloom nutes unless you want a fast low yielding auto. If this is so then there is no need for veg nutes you want the N to diminish.
When the tell tale popcorns of hairs start to pop up over night. I use just water for 1-2 weeks depends on str of nutes i used in veg this just helps with nute build up and helps deter problems later on. Bloom nutes 1/4 str and build up
few auto's actually run for 8 weeks. i assume when i am growing a new strain 10 weeks have had them take aslong as 14.
I have topped and if its within the first couple sets of nodes then it actually helps i pull a 1/4 ounce more from my 1 oz strains
really it just relocates bud sites honestly extra weight is probably just stem weight but the scales dont lie.
Lst they love it absolutely love it SCROG remember this word if your on your first auto grow or a grow using led or cfl its a god send. For hid's this is the money maker in the right setup easily two to three times yield.
Auto's need no schedule when it comes to lighting common misconception is that a auto needs a dark period a true auto needs no such thing.They will run pedal to the metal start to finish under the right conditions. You may need a dark period for temps or your pocket book , If the breeder calls for a dark period its for the desired bud structure but commonly its the fact that they know that if you run 24/7 that the plant is no where near small or stealthy Dinafem white widow auto for example up until a year or so ago growers were advised to put it on 12/12 to bring out the best of this strain that was the claim anyway . But put them on 24 hrs and there 3' tall with a few weeks of veg left.


t-5 is enough to get decent yields
spectrum is personal preference nowadays the requirement of a MH to keep from hermi'n has been bred out most are stable enough to not have problems
personally i use blue spec but only at most 20-30 % is blue blue spec causes close nodes and shorter plants
i prefer a red spec on a auto i have found it makes them reach a bit more and in turn light is allowed to penetrate easier, which if you want a good yield is the key to bumper harvests on a auto ofcourse the more light the better but i have grown full term with 1 68 watt 2700k cfl a plant and got good yields its all about lst
and utilizing the light you have, being sure not to waste any

Dont use the finger method. You dont give them watering schedules, you schedule food but you water them when they need it not when a certain day of the week comes along or if the first few layers of soil is dry. When the pot is watered lift it up and see how heavy it is. Wait a few days till you see the leaves start to droop a little bit then lift the pot again and see how much lighter it got. IMHO thats a better standard for telling when your plant needs water instead of using the finger test. You keep too much water in your soil it hinders their growth.

research research research cant say it enough

research research research cant say it enough

research research research cant say it enough

Also to prevent that, some growers will use extra perlite or newpaper and use it as a bottom layer of the pot/bucket to cover the drain holes.

In horticulture, perlite can be used as a soil amendment or alone as a medium for hydroponics or for starting cuttings. When used as an amendment it has high permeability / low water retention and helps prevent soil compaction. ;P

Auto LST
http://www.autoflowering-cannabis.co....html#more-939

Tie down AF LST
http://www.autoflowering-cannabis.co...s-trainin.html

Mix one table spoon of garden lime per gallon of dirt. Never have a cal- mag deficencey and your soil oh will be stable.

Different strokes for different folks bud

Read the bag when you buy lime there are two kinds of lime: dolomite lime that has cal and mag and then there is also hydrated lime which you do not want to use for cannabis.


Week 5/17~24/2013
sweet tooth from barneys is a all time fav its almost always in rotation,probably the strain i would suggest to any beginner grower
buy 3 of these plant all 3 at the same time
this will insure that if you get the real cabbage like pheno that youll know it and not have problems
its not common but not uncommon and have heard horror stories about it indoors gave one of these "cabbage" pheno's to a buddy a week ago was about 3 weeks old he said after he stuck it in the ground outside its grown almost a foot in a week that is nuts

I like to use Super Roots Air Pots 7.5L(2 gallon) with 60/40 Perlite/Coco.. This allows for the most beginner gardener to NOT over water.. We all now when we first start that's the hardest part is to not overwater.. But this also allows for great rapid growth in my experience.. Air pots also allow for you to grow more plants in the same area.. Say you have 3-4gal buckets, well there HUGE.. Air pots are 9x9" tiny compared to buckets.. This is because they DONT ever get root bound.. I would also advise to get Advanced Nutes PH perfect as well.. Then you have nothing to do but PPM.. And with feeding always UNDERFEED(compared to back label instructions) would be my suggestion, but there are a VERY few that will take full dose.. Veg nutes if used weeks 3-5, then flower nutes weeks 5-8.5 then water for 1.5 weeks= 10 weeks.. Week 5 half veg half bloom nutes.. KISS, not to many additives... Last but NOT least LEAVE them ALONE lol, don't be touching and sqeezing your nuggies every HR.. Its hard but really just water and feed and well watch thru your tent, lol.. You have a lot of Oils on your hands so you touching them and stuff can/maybe affect them.. GL everyone

Yeah its not recommended to transplant auto's, you will get a couple rogue growers who say they have done it w/o problems which I can see. It's a 50/50 chance in my opinion to really stress it out. I've transplanted many of times and never seen any kinds of shock. They just keep going. But I'm for sure gonna play it safe this round, Should do what i am doing if you are confident in your strain. Take one of the seeds get some Gibberellic Acid. You spray it on the plant according to the directions (they seem to vary on the seller) when the auto strarts flowering. t'll make male parts and hermie itself, and it will give you 100's if not 1000's of seeds exactly like the ones you bought.

As for the height LST them they like to be tied down

. Will stay under 4' that way for sure

(depending on the strain, some AF can get like 7' lol).

8-14 weeks depending on strain and most will get good sized outdoors if you have some high drainage but still absorbs water type soil
if they get to large. drive a stake in the ground and tie the main stalk down from almost the top if. you can get the main cola/tip to bend down to where its looking at the ground "do this before flowering/ you can still tie them down after flower but be gentle" and bend it over a couple days or a week depending on how gentle you need to be if it feels like its gonna break or starts to bend stop and tie it off or stake it off
you get a s.o.g. effect

all it is.
is a controlled stress on the stalk i do it all the time its like super croping for auto's really dense's them up
i grow with cfl's and led's and its nice to not have stretchy plants

TIP OF THE DAY!!!

Dont talk down to your Autoflowers, it wont make them feel any bigger...

Posted this in a thread earlier, not many ppl frequent the proper forum to find this. I think its a great addition to the thread.

Have A Plant Problem? Check Here First

And this

Guide to Nutrient Deficiency or Toxicity

Andddd this

Guide for Diagnosing Plant Problems

The key to getting a successful harvest from autoflowers is SIZE

A true autoflowering strain has a pre programmed lifespan: from the moment the seed cracks to the day she dies the age is indeed pre-destined … therefore more than any other type of cannabis the vegative growth is critical to the end yield
Read here on the veg stage in autos→So here are our 10 Top Tips for a Better Autoflowering Yield!

Size of Pot

Even for dwarf autos you need to be using a 3 gallon pot to give the plant enough space to develop a good rootball.

A good light mix

A nice light mix such as 50:50 coco

erlite is best as it makes sure you get a good wet-dry cycle.

AVOID OVERWATERING AT ALL COSTS

Give NO NUTRIENTS AT ALL until the autoflowering cannabis plant has developed 4 nodes. The dose should only be introduced gradually and in increments.

Continue vegetative feed until ALL upward growth stops. The auto will have started flowering before this happens (in a 9-10 week auto, you would expect to continue using veg nutes until week 6)

Ensure the genetic material (that’s technical talk for Cannabis Seeds guys!) that you start off with is of good, well bred and viable stock. Check what other growers are / have been growing and how well the strain did.

For maximum grams (oz) / foot, make sure you have 16 dwarf/short autos in a 4 ft x 4 ft (1.2m x 1.2m) area

Go easy on the nutes. Generally less is better in most cases.

Don’t give them too much light to start with. Go for a low watt fixture for seedling growth, increasing the amount of light as the plant develops.

ViaVoltTM T5 Grow Light Fluorescent Lighting System Fixture, 2′ – 4 Lamp $96.59

This kind of T5 light is a must if you are using HID grow lights for giving seedlings and young cannabis plants a great start.

and that brings us to top tip no 10:

Autos don’t appreciate being transplanted. They just don’t have time to recover from transplant shock in their mad dash from seed to harvest. So don’t do it! Either sow the auto seed direct into their 3 gallon pot

Fixing marijuana Nutrients Deficiencies & Fertilizer Burn

http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...fertilizers-ph

Part 2:
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...ies-fertilizer

Part 3:
Looking for it ;P

Part 4:
http://direct.bigbudsmag.com/grow/ar...ficiencies-thc

Part 5:
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...-fertilization​

http://www.dutch-passion.nl/en/news-...de-to-AutoFem/

Click to expand...

Week 6/07/2013

Tip of the day: For people who suffer from gnats.

1. Stop over watering
2.Get a mug or a small bowl.
3. Pour some apple cider vinegar into it
4. Add a few drops of dish soap to the vinegar.
5. Place in area with gnats and give it a few days

Tried a lot of stuff when I first started growing while learning how to water properly

. I came up with this and it worked and I posted it on here and worked well for others in the past.

i actually just sprayed for gnats
some chewing tobacco tea on the top of the soil
also a layer of sandy soil helps keep them away no nooks to hide larvae in

I also (when needed/ prevention) spray water/neem oil/ dish soap on top of the soil after watering and it will create a film on the top of the soil that kills the gnats.

Tip of the day:
If its not dry, dont apply.

3 gal is the common practice from what i can see


Yeah AN is a little pricey but these now a days if theres a new grower out there that dont wanna fight with the PH that would be good for them. AN has the PH Perfect Technology, pretty cool stuff. Makes growing too easy these days

The Grow, Micro, Bloom base nutrients contain value-added components that will enhance the performance of any type of garden, and include:

F-1 (fulvates)
H-2 (humates)
An amino acid complex
Wet Betty (non-ionic surfactant)

The combination of the pH Perfect™ Technology, simplified mixing rates and level of chelation in the balanced nutrient ratios ensure that crops always have access to the highest level of nutrition and vitality boosters possible
Growers using the pH Perfect™ Technology nutrient technology will not have to worry about pH in their nutrient solutions, because the new formulas are able to adjust the pH to the optimal range automatically. Combining an optimal pH level with these cutting edge chelates has growers reporting back with a new standard in yield expectations.
In fact, the chelation technology used is so effective, that nutrients would still remain available to plants in conditions that would not normally allow crops to grow at all. However, growers won’t need to worry about that because the formulas keep your pH in the optimal range at all times.
The Grow, Micro, Bloom combo pack provides you with all three components of our advanced three-part feeding program. Together, Grow, Micro, and Bloom make up a superior hydroponics fertilizer that provides optimal nutrition. If you want to achieve fast growth, high yields, and incredible products, choose Grow, Micro, Bloom.

• Promotes healthy plants and fastest growth possible
• Pharmaceutical grade precursors
• More chelates per micronutrient than other manufacturers
• Nutrient absorption from a broader pH spectrum
• Concentrated, less-expensive formula
• Easy to use



Posted these on a different thread, thought they might be helpful



Didn't put anything in here that went into PH intimately yet. This is a good piece, its from Big Mike at advanced nutrients.

Talk to any experienced grower and they will tell you that one of the most important features of their grow is the ability to control pH. pH (which, as most people are unaware, stands for "potential Hydrogen") is of paramount importance to any hydroponic grow operation because it affects the way that nutrients are absorbed into your plants. Many growers have long had an adversarial relationship with their nutrient solution's pH, but recent advances in nutrient technologies have made pH much more easily balanced within the nutrient reservoir, without the need of buffer solutions like pH up (an alkaline solution) or pH down (an acidic solution). Here is the lowdown on pH, how it affects your plants, and how you can keep it in that "sweet spot" that plants love.
Why pH Matters:
All green-leaved plants can survive just fine with a pH between 4.0 and 7.0. Basically, because the plants are made of relatively weak acids, they enjoy an environment that is also on the acidic side. However, when you are growing hydroponically, the nutrient solution that you provide to them is their life force, and nutrients will not be absorbed properly without the solution composed of the correct pH.

While the optimum pH for plant uptake may vary from one mineral to another, experts have determined that the optimum range for most of them is between 5.5 and 5.8, though many growers will argue that anything up to the 6.2 range is perfectly fine.
Minerals like Manganese (Mn), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), and the especially critical Iron (Fe) have reduced absorption rates at a higher pH, while Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg) have issues being absorbed at a lower rate. This doesn't mean that no nutrients are absorbed at higher or lower pH levels, but why waste valuable nutrients because your roots essentially don't know that they are there?
Controlling pH
There are a variety of tricks to keep your pH balanced. Firstly, for God's sake, make sure you have a meter, and a good one. My advice to growers is that nutrients, meters, and lights are not the places to save money. Spend some dough on a great tri-meter (pH, ppm, and temperature), and you will have the best chance of knowing what is happening in your reservoir.
Also, invest in some simple aerators to keep the nutrient solution in your reservoir constantly circulating; this will add oxygen to your solution (which makes roots happy) and make sure that all of your nutrients are evenly distributed. Aerators are inexpensive and can be purchased anywhere from hydro stores to pet stores, and even Target or Wal-Mart, though we recommend showing love to your local hydro store, where you can pick up the latest copy of Rosebud Magazine while you're at it.
To keep pH within that optimum range, growers have traditionally had to rely on buffer solutions, like pH up and down. While relatively inexpensive and incredibly effective, these buffers add unnecessary particulates to your reservoir, often causing your ppm meter to register a higher number than it would if it were only measuring your nutes (like it should). They are also extremely caustic and (as one grower and Rosebud reader whom I know can attest) burn like hell when they come in contact with skin, especially both at once.

One trick of the trade that is lesser known and less commonly used (though can be effective if you know what you are doing) is to add excess levels of Phosphorus (P) to your reservoir. Because of the way that it interacts with the other nutes, it will work to keep your pH at an optimum level (for a while). The downside of this technique is that as you use the nutrient solution in your reservoir to water your plants, and it recycles back into the reservoir in a never-ending cycle, your plants will uptake not only the nutrients that you mixed for them, they will absorb that extra Phosphorus as well. So, when using this technique, the efficiency drops as you water your plants – nothing will be as accurate as a brand-new, freshly mixed reservoir.
Changing the Game
While the info here will allow you to have a successful grow and harvest (providing you do everything else correctly), it takes time, effort, and constant monitoring to keep pH at an acceptable level to your plants. Your little green buddies will absorb nutrients at different levels during different parts of their lifespan (veg vs. flowering), so your pH will be constantly changing, and not always in the same direction. It takes a dedicated grower (or an automated system) to stay on top of this.

I mix dry kelp(algalmin or something) into my soil mixes but I have not finished any of those plants nor have I used a liquid concentrate of it. Yep leds spit out some crazy colors ..... when my tent is unzipped this shows up on my floor . The camera didnt capture it real well but the reflective material on the inside of the tent reflects and separates the light making a led rainbow



Nothing at all wrong with 5 gallon buckets, as long as they are CLEAN!!! Yeah make sure drainage is adequate and a tip either put like a 1 inch layer of perlite on the bottom of bucket's or newspaper (i prefer perlite and you will prob have some left over anyway if you use it). That way the drain holes dont get clogged, you dont want that...Really...

Hardening off

What is Hardening off? Hardening off is when you take your baby seedlings and bring them outdoors a couple hours a day before planting/potting them outside. This helps them acclimate to the new environment (especially the radiant heat from the sun), it makes it an easier transition for them as well as a preventive measure to avoid the sun from burning them

Never tried any Sensi seeds but always heard good thiings. They have been around longer then i'd say 85% of the breeders today. When it comes down to it its if you feel it has the qualities you want. Some may sound cool, like one time i ordered "Ice Cream" from Paradise seeds. AT first it was great but the novelty flavor got old very quick. You have to do research, type the strain in google with "review" at the end see what you can dig up about it. If you take the time to research and actually think about what traits you would like from your plant then your money will be well invested. I'll recommend some companies for you to check out for the future, but sensi is a fine company as I said. There are a lot of "novelty" breeders (paradise seeds isn't one but the strain kinda is ya know?) out there that can make a mediocre strain sound like the cats meow. Maybe they really believe they have something? Who knows, but check these guys out too, will list in no specific order. If anybody else wishes to contribute go ahead and i'll round them up every few days and add to the weekly round up.

Barney's coffee shop (IMO his genetics are like the "fine dining" of strains. Derry's genetics are of fine quality for sure.)
Dutch Passion (These guys been around for a while, very well known)
DNA Genetics (a little pricy not to sure about their auto's, but their photo strains are top notch)
Dina Fem (Always heard good things and more old school breeders)
World of seeds (Afghan Kush Ryder!!, Good breeders dont think they have been around too long)
Big Buddha seeds (The fucking cheese, this dude has some killer strains. Blue Cheese is lovely)

CBD crew (Excellant breeders world reknown, new and gonna give info. You'll see why sadly no Auto's yet)
CBD Crew seeds is a collaboration between Jorge Cervantes, Shantibaba from Mr Nice seeds and also Jamie from Resin seeds. This new collaboration has one focus in particular and it is one that will further the medicinal opportunities for the cannabis plant! The focus of CBD Crew seeds is to produce cannabis strains that have an equal ratio of THC to CBD. CBD Crew strains typically have 5%-6% THC and the same amount of CBD. The CBD Cannabinoid is one which is thought to have medicinal benefits with some suggesting that it is great for preventing cancer, dealing with pain and also as an anti-inflammatory medication. It has also been reported that this cannabinoid helps significantly with illnesses such as anxiety. The truth is that although we know from the testimonials of medical users what this cannabinoid is capable of, until proper research is done, we will never know the complete medicinal value that this cannabinoid represents. So far its medical application seems extremely versatile. The fantastic new seed bank CBD Crew seeds are setting the standard for future THC/CBD cannabinoid balanced cannabis seed breeders.



good read on the ruderalis strain
http://hashmuseum.com/cannabis-ruderalis

Okay I'll put in my 2 cents. I've tried 5 gal buckets in soil, and passive hydro & I have found no advantage over a 3.5 gal bucket. I've grown 100's of regulars, and have found that a final container that is taller than wide doesn't work any better than a container of equal height and width, for root spread, and from what I've read autos are even more horizontal in root growth than regulars. What I've done for my hempy's is either buy or find 3.5gal buckets or just cut off 5 gal buckets a little below the rings such that the height is just a little more than the diameter. If you look at all the larger smart pots (5, 10, or 20 gal) you will notice that they are wider than tall, same with the larger air pots. So when looking for a good container (larger) to grow in keep the height, width ratio equal or leaning towards width.

As far as light I've always worked with a square area, and most hoods are constructed this way, but a 600 will cover a 5' square area no problem. I don't believe you'll need any supplemental cfl's.


and another history lesson on ruderalis
this one is from dinafem
https://www.dinafem.org/en/blog/hist...wering-seeds/#

very good read
http://jointdoctordirect.com/faq/fre...sked-questions

and another
http://bigbudsmag.com/grow/article/m...ring-marijuana
wish i could find a actual life cycle bio
on c. ruderalis in nature but its limited i think i havent found the right common name for it most are in russian

Posted this on another thread figured i'd toss it in here too

Chlorosis is typically caused when leaves do not have enough nutrients to synthesise all the chlorophyll they need. It can be brought about by a combination of factors including:

• a specific mineral deficiency in the soil, such as iron[SUP][2][/SUP] or magnesium [SUP][3][/SUP]
• deficient nitrogen and/or proteins[SUP][3][/SUP]
• a soil pH at which minerals become unavailable for absorption by the roots [SUP][4][/SUP]
• poor drainage (waterlogged roots) [SUP][4][/SUP]
• damaged and/or compacted roots [SUP][4][/SUP]
• pesticides and particularly herbicides may cause chlorosis, both to target weeds and occasionally to the crop being treated.[SUP][5][/SUP]
• exposure to sulphur dioxide[SUP][6][/SUP]
• ozone injury to sensitive plants [2]

Interveinal chlorosis is almost always associated with a nutrient imbalance. This may either be due to a deficiency of a specific element or to a pH Imbalance in the soil which inhibits a plants ability to absorb nutrients. While the treatment is the same for both, you may still want to select from the list of additional symptoms in order to search for the precise cause of your African Violet's symptoms. Keep in mind, however, that due to the complex interaction between plant nutrients, pinpointing the precise cause will probably be very difficult. Often, an excess of one element will cause a deficiency in one or more other elements, and vice versa. Moreover, it may be that your African Violet is getting the proper balance of nutrients, but an imbalance in the soil pH is inhibiting its ability to absorb them. Thus, short of sending your plant to a laboratory for testing, you will probably have to be satisfied with simply knowing that your African Violet suffers a nutrient imbalance without knowing exactly why.



Just posted this in another thread as well... really grab a bottle just to have if your growing indoor for sure.

Even if it wasnt PM I say buy this just to have. This will completely get rid of the PM, awesome stuff. screw sulfur burners..

http://www.greenwaynutrients.com/lea...powdery-mildew



kinda lol'd a bit

check out gerorge cervantes how to grow videos and do plenty of reading. Also look at prices for decent gear when you are thinking about what kind of set up you want to get/ run there will be quite a high initial investment cost and high running costs esp. with 3 big HPS which then have to be cooled and so on. Make sure you have the money to get everything to grow and keep that grow going before you start buying anything or planning too much.

we will start with ripeness. most people say to check your trichromes with 30X magnification. i have other ways. when buds are done they look "done". the appearance of the bud changes. the leaves start to hook upwards and become hard and crispy. the calyxes will swell and the hairs will turn brown. you can see a golden tinge to the bud leaves. this is the amber crystals. they start to turn amber on the leaves first.



not ready..........





ready.......






notice the difference? it's pretty easy to see once it occurs.

Ready Set grow
Vol.1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECnYjf5ABQ
Vol.2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4cVm...EAF25EB9A832C5


jorge cervantes ultimate grow
vol.1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-dkX6dsEHQ
vol.2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY66GdaQb4Q
vol.3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYxVrE6mLM4

Seemorebuds
vol.1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8rl3TyFpWk
vol.2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mgBJj8VTK0
vol.3 - will post when i find it

Watch these and you will have a better understanding of pretty much anything you might be wondering.



Thank you everyone who comes in to see whats new and who contributes to this thread as well.
ive had old timers tell me to mix neem water and a few drops of dish soap
i would assume the dish soap is to break up the oils so they dont leave as thick a film
never tried it

One of the most counterproductive aspects of growing high-quality medical marijuana is the use of insecticides and fungicides. Growers whose primary concern is producing a quality medicine for their patients understand the dangers of spraying toxic chemicals onto plant material that will eventually be consumed. Yet even the most meticulous growers find themselves batting unwanted pathogens at some point in their growing careers and it becomes inevitable that they must treat their gardens with something. This is why so many of them are looking to natural and organic pesticides that breakdown quickly and are safe for human consumption.
A popular natural treatment used by medical marijuana growers is neem oil. For years growers have been using neem oil as a treatment for various insects and fungus. More recently the active ingredient in neem, azadirachtin, has been isolated and used as the active ingredient in many commercially available pesticides. What really makes azadirachtin so effective is the way it works.
Azadirachtin is an organic substance that belongs to the class of organic molecules classified as tetranortriterpenoids. Azadirachtin is structurally similar to insect hormones called ecdysones. Ecdysones are the hormones that control the process of metamorphosis as the insect changes from larva to pupa to adult. Although they don’t know for sure, scientists believe azadirachtin acts as a “ecdysone blocker.” Because azadirachtin disrupts the unique role ecdysones play in metamorphosis, the insects are unable to molt and their life cycle is broken. Azadirachtin also works as a feeding deterrent. Many insect varieties seem to be able to sense the azadirachtin on the plants and refuse to feed.
Products that contain azadirachtin are a great choice for the conscientious medical marijuana grower. If you choose to go the azadirachtin route, there are a few things you should be aware of. First, azadirachtin is not a contact killer like many other insecticides. The insects must absorb or ingest some of the compound to be affected. Depending on the particular pest’s life cycle it could take as long as 5-7 days to see the results from the first treatment.
Another important thing to note when using azadirachtin is that multiple treatments are usually required for complete eradication. This is especially true when there is a serious pest infestation. Plan on treating your garden at least three times, usually with three to seven days between treatments. For total coverage, an atomizer sprayer works best. Watch for leaves that appear wrinkled as this is a sign that the stomata are getting clogged. If this occurs, rinse the leaves with luke warm water and then continue the treatment program once the leaves appear normal again.

Click to expand...

Why pH Effects Nutrient Uptake In Medical marijuana


Hydroponic medical marijuana growers have heard of and probably seen the effect pH has on a plant’s ability to uptake nutrients (and therefore grow), but few hydroponic growers understand why the pH directly affects nutrient uptake. The pH range of your water, nutrients and medium all play a direct role in your plant’s ability to absorb macro, micro, secondary nutrients and carbohydrates. As with most important factors associated with hydroponic growing, the effects of pH can be seen in the building blocks of cellular growth: the proteins, amino acids and microorganisms.

The Science Behind pH Effecting Nutrient Uptake

It is difficult for nutrients to enter the plant’s roots on their own because of a protective membrane around plant cells that make it virtually impossible for water soluble ions to penetrate. In order for the nutrients to enter the membrane they are carried into the plant via special transporters. These transporters are protein molecules that enter the cell membranes. It is these proteins that allow the nutrient ions to actually enter the plant cells. Every essential nutrient has particular transporter proteins that are responsible for bringing that nutrient into the plant. Proteins are rich in ionizable chemical compounds and makes their functions dependent on pH levels. There is an optimal pH range for each protein and therefore a corresponding optimal pH range for the absorption of every given essential nutrient. This is why we can determine optimal pH ranges for any particular plant species. Depending on the nutritional needs of a given crop we can determine the best pH range to accommodate the proteins associated with the particular essential elements. The ideal pH range for medical marijuana is 5.5-6.3.
Nutrient uptake is also determined by the beneficial microorganisms found in a plant’s rhizosphere or in the growing medium. These beneficial organisms need a consistent pH range to function properly. When pH strays from the desired range an environment that promotes pathogenic microorganisms or slows the processes of beneficial organisms will occur.

The Best pH For Growing marijuana

As previously mentioned, in order for medical marijuana growers to maintain optimal nutrient uptake it is suggested to keep the pH range between 5.5-6.3. This sweet spot ensures your plants will receive every essential element and at the highest absorption rate possible. It also ensures a good environment for the beneficial microorganism activity in and around your plant’s rhizosphere. Without proper pH levels, growers limit their success and end up wasting time and money. Growers who maintain optimal pH ranges combined with quality nutrients and supplements can expect vigorous growth and bountiful yields that will live up to the expectations of the most rigorous of hydroponic gardeners.

Hash is the most ancient cannabis concentrate and probably the most widely used. At one point in the Middle East, hash was made by making slaves run naked through the cannabis fields and then scraping their bodies for all collected product. Ouch! Nowadays, most hash is being made using a process called cold water extraction, but can be as simple as pressing the kief into solid form.

It does no good to spray the soil with neem to fight bugs, the oil needs to be sprayed directly onto the bugs to be effective. They can crawl all over a coated plant if they were not coated during the spray.

Autoflowring cannabis is the third and smallest specie of the cannabis genus, which includes cannabis Sativa and cannabis Indica, this third specie is also called cannabis ruderalis / autoflower / auto cannabis / automatic cannabis.

So what is autoflowering cannabis? It means that this variety of cannabis will automatically flower under almost any light, that means that autoflowering cannabis plants don’t need the 12/12 light cycle to start producing flowers and they can grow under 24 hours of light from seed to harvest.

The Ruderalis plant is a wild variety of the cannabis Sativa and it is small bushy plant that has adapted to automatically flower and reach full maturity anywhere from 8 to 11 weeks in harsh climates and conditions. The first autoflowering cannabis plants were found in the former Soviet Union and they were some left over hemp plants that had adapted to the harsh region. Now we can see ruderalis plants all over the world and these strong plants are well adapted to the diseases and insects that surround them and they do everything to flower as soon as possible and produce flowers and seeds faster than any Sativa or Indica plant can.cannabis sativa, indica and ruderalis

Although the wild ruderalis cannabis plants contains little or non THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) breeders from all over the world have produced some amazing autoflower strains by crossbreeding these wild ruderalis strains with some of the best commercial cannabis strains and now the market is flooded with new and exciting autoflowering seeds that start the life on autoflower plants that can be ready to harvest in 60 days from seed, stays between 50 and 100 cm and contain 20 to 30 % THC.

Just wanted to share a idea to get around not transplanting autos. My girl friend and I grew a auto this vegg cycle with some other plants and to avoid transplanting it we started the seed in a strawberry basket. When it came time to transplant we just planted the plant and basket together in a smart pot. Next time I will just start in a 2 or 3 gallon but if your in a squeeze for space this may do the trick. It did for us.

200th post = Mine

Tip of the day: Dont forget to love!

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, activated coal, or carbo activatus, is a form of carbon processed to be riddled with small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.[SUP][1][/SUP] Activated is sometimes substituted with active.

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Australian Medical marijuana Educator

Join DateJun 2007LocationOceaniaPosts3,819Rep Power14

I prefer Radic's method but here are some other ideas

Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a hormone that can be used to change the sex of a cannabis plant. It's most common use is to force a female plant to produce pollen which can then be crossed with a cutting from the same plant to produce seeds with the same genetic makeup of the mother plant. In this way, one can preserve the genetic traits of a particular plant without a complicated breeding program. This is done by spraying the plants with 100 ppm gibberellic acid in water for 5 consecutive days. Staminate flowers should appear within a few weeks. If not, repeat the process. This should be done early in the flowering phase, as soon as the sex of the plant is confirmed. The resulting pollen can then be saved for future fertilization of a cutting from the original mother plant. Gibberellic acid should be used only as directed and with proper precautions taken. After the final application, mist the plants with water often to remove any residue before drying and smoking the buds.

If a chemical stress is something you'd still prefer...uncoated aspirin (salicylic acid) works just as good, and is much cheaper than GA, too. One aspirin per quart of ph'd water...two or three waterings in a row. (per your normal watering schedule) Nanners usually take a week to 10 days to form.

For insiders: the change from the first to the second internode flowering is the best moment for treatment.

July/August 1993
Story Title: Gibberellins - Plant Growth Hormones
Author: Leo Wright

The power of gibberellins to accelerate growth, and to induce or promote flowering, continues to fascinate both amateur botanists and commercial flower growers. One gibberellin is gibberellic acid, a natural hormone that can be readily extracted from common plants.

Auxins, cytokinins and gibberellins are the principle growth-promoting hormones found in plants. All three control, stimulate, inhibit or alter a plant's development to one degree or another, depending upon the external environment. Auxins tend to promote rooting, leaf and fruit retention and directional growth; and cytokinins promote active cell mitosis, ion transport and general plant vigour. Gibberellins are noted as the most powerful of the growth promotors because they , increase internode spacing, induce and promote flowering in many plants, and modify the flower sex expression in some plants.

Investigations in Japan in the 1920's of the pathogenic rice fungus Gibberella fujikuroi, which caused rice plants to grow abnormally tall, led to the eventual isolation from the fungus of several types of gibberellins or growth-promoting hormones, including Gibberellic Acid (GA-3).

Gibberellins are well known to promote uniform growth through cell enlargement. They cause plants to grow tall and elongated, with light green leaves, and also stimulate seed germination and other growth phenomena such as early flower formation.

Flower Induction and Promotion
In many plants flower formation is governed by internal factors; in other plants it is controlled by precise environmental conditions. Some plants initiate flowering after having undergone exposure to a period of cold. In nature, these cold-requiring plants usually flower in spring or early summer, after having been exposed to the cold temperatures of winter.

In other plants, flower formation depends upon day length or photoperiod. Basically, there are two principal photoperiodic plants - "long-day" plants which flower when the day length exceeds a certain minimal value which may vary from one plant to another, and "short-day" plants which exhibit the opposite behaviour, flowering in relatively short days when the photoperiod remains below a certain maximal duration.

Under these conditions, long-day plants flower in summer when the days are longer, and short-day plants flower in autumn and winter when the day length drops below the critical maximum.

Then there are plants that are described as "dual-day length" plants, where they stay vegetative if grown on continuous long day or continuous short day, but flower if exposed either first to long then short days ("long-short-day" plants), or vice versa ("short-long-day" plants). Most cold-requiring plants also have dual environmental requirement, flowering if the low-temperature treatment is followed by a long-day regime.

The phenomenon of cold requirement with regard to flower formation is called "vernalization", and that of day length control as "photoperiodism". The conditions conducive and nonconducive to flower formation in a given plant type have been termed "inductive" and "noninductive", and exposure of cold-requiring and photoperiodic plants to inductive temperatures and photoperiods are called "thermo-induction" and "photo-induction" respectively. In cold-requiring and photoperiodic plants alike, the need for induction may be absolute, whereby the plant will fail to form flowers altogether unless given inductive treatment; or it may be facultative whereby flowering will ultimately occur without induction, although with greater or lesser delay.

The use of gibberellins for cold-requiring and long-day plants can induce or promote flowering to one degree or another. Typical gibberellin responses include larger blooms, stem elongation, flower stalk elongation, and in some cases earlier flowering, which are all desirable elements to commercial flower growers.

Typical Applications
When gibberellic acid is sprayed on gardenia or geranium flowers, there is a 25% -50% increase in flower size. The treatment is used at the rate of 5 mg/L (5ppm) at the time of first colour appearance.

The flowering of cyclamens can be accelerated by 4-5 weeks with a single spray of gibberellic acid, at the rate of 50 mg/L (50ppm), 60-75 days prior to the projected flowerdate (Widmer et al. 1974). Higher concentrations will result in adversely tall and weak flower stems. More recently, Lyons and Widmer (1983) suggest applying 15 gms/L (15ppm) of gibberellic acid to the crown of the plant below the leaves, 150 days after seed is sown.

Gibberellins are popular with commercial growers to replace the cold treatment or long night treatment of plants such as azaleas to induce or force flowering. Standard cultivation techniques require flower-bud induction with about six weeks of long-night treatment. Once flower buds are established, a temperature of 7°C (45°F) or lower is required for six weeks to ensure flower bud development. After this, flowers are forced into bloom in 4-6 weeks. However, a weekly spray treatment of gibberellic acid for five weeks, at a concentration of 1000 gms/L (1000ppm), will result in earlier flowering and larger blossoms. The five consecutive weekly sprays should commence when flower buds are well developed after the short-day treatment.

Hydrangeas, another cold-requiring plant, also respond favourably to gibberellic acid. Using the same five-weekly treatment, the concentration should be reduced to 5-50gms/L (5-50ppm) to ensure earlier flowering and larger blooms.

Gibberellic acid can also be used to delay flowering and to stimulate rapid growth in plants such as geraniums and fuchsia. The treatment requires weekly sprays at the rate of 250gms/L (250ppm) for four weeks.

According to Carlson (1982), gibberellic acid can also be used to produce tree-type geraniums and fuchsia when applied at the rate of 250gms/L (250ppm) two weeks after potting, then once weekly for five weeks.

It should be noted here that the precise function of applied gibberellins to flower formation is not entirely clear since all plants react differently to treatments, and in many cases gibberellins do not promote flower formation.

Sex Expression
Flower sex expression can be modified in some plants by treating seedlings with several growth-regulating substances. With the exception of gibberellin, these substances tend to reduce the number or suppress the development of staminate flowers, and increase the number or accelerate the development of pistillate flowers. In contrast, in the case of cucumbers, gibberellins increase the number of staminate flowers on monoecious cucumbers (plants that have the stamens and the pistils in separate flowers on the same plant), and result in the formation of staminate flowers on gynoecious (female) cucumbers which would otherwise only produce pistillate flowers.

The ultimate effect of a chemical on sex expression would be a complete reversal of flower sex. To validate a flower sex reversal one would have to replace the intial staminate stage with pistillate flowers, or the pistillate stage with staminate flowers in monoecious plants. It has been found that gibberellins will increase the number of staminate flowers in monoecious cucumbers, resulting in the formation of staminate flowers on gynoecious cucumbers which would otherwise only produce pistillate flowers.

Extracting Gibberellic Acid
Although several types of gibberellin are found in plants as natural hormones, Gibberellic Acid (GA-3) is the best known. While it is a natural product of the Asian fungus that destroys rice, growth-promoting substances that are either identical with, or closely related to, gibberellic acid can also be found in common plants such as cucumber, rock melon (cantaloupe), corn, peas and beans, and it can be readily extracted in crude form by amateur botanist.

Edward Pinto, a student at St Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, developed a simple and inexpensive procedure for extracting gibberellic acid from common plants, which was reported in American Scientific ( August 1967). As sources of materials, he used the seeds of fresh cantaloupe (rockmelon), fresh wild cucumber, and the dry seeds of corn, peas and three species of bean - pencil rod, lupine and pinto. The cantaloupe and cucumber seeds were dried at room temperature and chopped into particles about 3mm in diameter. The procedure used 200 grams of finely chopped seeds which were soaked for seven days in a solution of acetone (10 parts by volume), isopropyl alcohol (5 parts), ethyl alcohol (2 parts), and distilled water (5 parts), to give a total volume of 110 millilitres. The solution was then poured off and the seed particles rinsed with 40 millilitres of a solution consisting of equal parts of acetone and isopropyl alcohol. The rinsing solution was then added to the first solution, and heated to a temperature of 45°C (113°F)

WARNING: it should be noted that the solution is highly flammable and must not be exposed to an open flame. The heating procedure was continued until the residue evaporated to the consistency of thin tar and was almost dry. The residue was then taken and mixed with 100 millilitres of distilled water and ethyl acetate.

According to Pinto, a key factor to extracting gibberellic acid is to raise the pH of the water to about pH8 (slightly alkaline) - at this pH the gibberellins are soluble in water. The pH was achieved by adding potassium hydroxide, or concentrated pH lower to the solution. The mixture was then shaken for two minutes, and the water drawn off and mixed with another 100 millilitres of ethyl acetate. This procedure was carried out a total of three times.

Now the water was made acidic (pH3) by the addition of hydrochloric acid - at this pH the gibberellins are soluble in ethyl acetate. The solution of acidic water was added to 100 millilitres of ethyl acetate. The water was drawn off and the procedure repeated twice more, after which the ethyl acetate solution was dried to a paste. The tarlike mass was then mixed with about 8 grams of lanolin. The lanolin paste is the final product, and it is applied to plants as a thin coat to the upper surface of each mature leaf, taking care not to damage the plant.

Conclusion
The role of plant hormones is complicated biologically and biochemically, and even today their roles are not fully understood. What works for one plant does not necessarily follow for another. In most cases it is which will signal a homonal response. When applied externally, hormones will influence the organisation of the internal chemistry of the plant cell, and the interaction among cells, but the degree of interaction will still depend upon the plant specie, the stage of plant development and the external environment.

Source: http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=au


Last edited by Smokin Moose; 07-16-2009 at 11:17 PM.
Enlightened Veterinarian's Guide to Treating Pets with Medical marijuana. Dr Doug Kramer's definitive ebook "Sweet Serenity"

Truth flows on to credibility, and credibility will be the vehicle for change
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tekdc911 said:

im straightening out my loose ends Jeff
and im probably not going to be on for a while i really loved this site after my autoflower.net nightmare i figured this would be a place to lay some roots down but im tired of seeing people get banned or threads just disappearing for advertising claims
or for what ever reason one of the disgruntled mods feel is correct

ill send you my email in a message if you want to shoot the shit or something

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tekdc911 said:

lol @ the vid

that other site doesnt even have a autoflower section so i messaged the admins and threw out my portfolio
told them im a self proclaimed atuoflower guru >.< guess we will see what happens

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Light is the small segment of electromagnetic radiation that humans can see. All the colors of the rainbow are represented within this segment or region. If all the parts of the light are there, the light seems to be white. Light can also be split apart, as sometimes can be seen when it shines through a water droplet or a glass prism. It is possible to see the different colors when this happens. The most famous example of this is the rainbow, for which the light is split apart by water droplets in the air.

The radiation just outside the violet side of the spectrum are the ultraviolet (usually abbreviated as "UV") rays which cause sunburns, and the infra-red radiation just outside the red side of the spectrum is felt as heat. Other radiation on this same spectrum outside of the visible light range include x-rays, microwaves, and radio waves.​

There are several ways to measure light. For the purposes of choosing lighting for horticulture, there are two important measurements: wavelength and intensity.
Wavelength is measured in nanometers. A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, and is usually abbreviated as "nm". Each color has a range of wavelengths. The part of the spectrum that plants can use makes up the "Photosynthetically Active Radiation" or "PAR" region of the spectrum, (Eskins, K., 1992 and online 2006) and this is generally agreed to be the range of 400-700nm. (Vass, I., Szilard, A., & Sicora, C., 2005)
The intensity of light is measured in lux. A lux is the amount of light a single candle gives off, for a distance of one meter. The word comes from the Latin word for "light."


[h=1]Photosynthesis[/h]
"Photosynthesis is the basis of plant growth and development." (Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200 Simply put, it is the process plants use to gather energy sunlight. The plants store the gathered energy as carbohydrates, and so the sunlight is basically "food" for the plant. This is the most important part of the plant's metabolism. (Tanaka, A., & Makino, A., 2009)
Plants need light in the right amounts and in the right combination of colours in order to provide the basic energy for photosynthesis. Without sufficient light, the plant is weakened and becomes etiolated, or "blanched." (Anjah, G.M., Fochod, D.A., Annih, M.G., & Kum, C.K., 2003) It is usually easy to determine when this has happened, because the affected plant looks very pale or even white.
There is a basic chemical formula that describes the photosynthetic reaction:
6CO[SUB]2[/SUB] + 6H[SUB]2[/SUB]O + light energy à C[SUB]6[/SUB]H[SUB]12[/SUB]O[SUB]6[/SUB] + 6O[SUB]2[/SUB]. (Dictionary of Botany, 2002) What this formula is saying is that carbon dioxide, water, and light combine to make carbohydrate and oxygen. The oxygen is released into the air around the plant. Technically, this only describes half of the process, the "light-dependent" part. There is also a "light-independent" part that normally happens at night. It releases carbon dioxide into the air.
It would seem logical that leaves should be as efficient as possible and absorb all available light, but chlorophyll only absorbs a tiny bit of green light and reflects the rest. That is why chlorophyll looks green to the human eye. The truth of the matter is that plants grown under green lights tend to die quickly. There are some aquatic bacteria that use a purple pigment to conduct their photosynthesis. They use the middle of the visible spectrum, such as the green and yellow light. It is believed that they developed first, near the surface of the oceans. There is speculation that the chlorophyll systems developed in the deeper water to use the "leftover" light that made it past the purple bacteria. (Nave, C.R., 2012)

[h=1]Phytochromes &#8211; what are they and why are they important[/h]
Phytochromes are a type of pigment found in plants and some varieties of algae. The plant uses these pigments as photoreceptors, to detect changes in light.
There are two forms of phytochrome: P[SUB]r[/SUB] and P[SUB]fr[/SUB]. The first one responds primarily to red light, and the second responds primarily to far-red light. P[SUB]r [/SUB]is transformed into P[SUB]fr[/SUB] following the absorption of red light. Likewise, the absorption of far-red light transforms P[SUB]fr[/SUB] to P[SUB]r. [/SUB](Eskins, K., 1992, online 2006; and Dictionary of Botany, 2002)
One of the functions of the phytochromes is to determine the amount of shade over the plant, especially the amount of shade produced by the leaves of other plants. Under normal circumstances, natural light contains both the red and far-red parts of the spectrum. As the light filters down through leaves, more and more of the red light is taken out because it is absorbed by those leaves for photosynthesis. This decreases the ratio of red to far-red light, causing the plant to expend more of its energy to grow taller to get above the perceived canopy, instead of producing more leaves. A plant in this situation will also put more of the leaves it does produce at the top of the stem, in order to make use of the greatest amount of red light. (Maliakal, S.K., McDonnell, K., Dudley, S.A., & Schmitt, J., 1999)

[h=1]What is the Emerson Enhancement Effect and why is it important?[/h]
Robert Emerson discovered several surprising things about photosynthesis. Rajni Govindjee, one of Emerson's students, describes two so-called "Emerson effects". She indicates that her colleague Eugene Rabinowitch named the Emerson Enhancement Effect as the "second Emerson effect", saying that it"is the enhancement of the quantum yield of a photochemical process produced, in plant cells or extracts, by far red light, by simultaneous illumination with light of shorter wavelengths." (Rajni Govindjee, R., & Rabinowitch, E., 1961)
To put it a little more simply, the results of photosynthesis are greater if there is a combination of red and far-red light than if there was an equal amount of light that was only red or only far-red. For example, there are five units of red and five units of far-red, the results are greater than they would have been with ten units of red or ten units of far-red. The Emerson Enhancement Effect is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.
Why is this surprising? Until Emerson made his observations, it was generally believed that all the light that a plant's leaves absorbed was funneled through to one specific kind of chlorophyll molecule: chlorophyll a. (Dictionary of Botany, 2002) Chlorophylla can only process light at approximately 700nm, however. Therefore, Emerson disproved the prevailing belief. His discovery "suggested that for photosynthesis to take place with full yield, at least one accessory pigment must be excited simultaneously with chlorophyll a; failure to do so appeared as the cause of the decrease in the quantum yield of photosynthesis in the red region (referred to as the red drop)." (Rajni Govindjee, R., & Rabinowitch, E., 1961)
The first Emerson effect is also connected to lighting, but it is less important to the making of lighting decisions for horticultural use. Plants give off carbon dioxide in a short burst, after light starts to shine on them following a dark period. (Rajni Govindjee, R., & Rabinowitch, E.,1961)

[h=1]Light Spectrum[/h]
The short version is that "most higher plants and green algae have highest photosynthesis rate in orange and red lights, secondly in blue-violet light, and minimum in green light." (Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200
There are several kinds of chlorophyll, which all serve similar functions. For normal plants, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b are the main workhorses of photosynthesis. As
can be seen on the graph below, chlorophyll a uses a range of light colors, with peaks at approximately 430nm and 662-700nm. Chlorophyll b uses a similar range, with peaks at approximately 453nm and 642-680nm (eg.,Shibata, K., Benson, A.A. & Calvin, M., 1954; Brown, J.S. & French, C.S., 1959).Chlorophyll d serves a similar function for certain algae. There are also auxiliary pigments which use smaller sections of light. These include beta-carotene which uses small sections of the blue-violet range.

[h=1]Red and Far-Red Light[/h]
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "far red" as "near infra-red" and states that the first known use of the term was in 1951. (Merriam-Webster, 2012) The wavelengths included in the far-red region are those that are in the range of 650 to 800nm, (Fattahi, M., 2009) although some authorities put the cut-off point closer to 740nm than 800. (Govindjee, R., & Rabinowitch, E., 1961)The low end is the important part. The red wavelengths are in the range of slightly less than 600 to 650 nm. (Fattahi, M., 2009)
These are the lights that affect phytochromes, shifting them between the active and inactive forms (P[SUB]r[/SUB] and P[SUB]fr[/SUB]).
Red light is the most effective kind for photosynthesis (Dashur, R.H., & Mehta, R.J., 1935; and Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P.,200, and far-red light is mostly used by the plant to detect competing plants. (Eskins, K.,1992, online 2006)

[h=1]Red :Far Red Ratio[/h]
The "red : far red ratio" is a comparison of the amount of red light relative to the amount of far red light that is shining on a plant's leaves. For optimum photosynthesis, both red and far red light must be available to the plant. However, too much far red light will cause problems.
According to Chelle et al, "The red:far-red ratio (R:FR) is a key variable in many biological processes from basic ones such as the response of phytochrome to more integrated ones, such as tillering or weed competition." (Chelle, M., Evers, J. B., Fournier, C., Combes, D., Vos, J., & Andrieu, B., n.d)
Experiments with seedlings have indicated that the ideal red: far-red ratio is very close to 1:1. The plants tend to be sturdy, straight, and firm. Also these plants tend to be able to produce good root systems, presuming that they receive appropriate quantities of water. If there is not enough red light, the seedling will tend to be taller but spindly and less resistant to drought.(Anjah, G.M., Fochod, D.A., Annih, M.G., & Kum, C.K., 2003)

[h=1]Blue-Violet Light, and its effect on plant-growth[/h]
The blue-violet region of light has a range of approximately 400-520nm. Experimental evidence is clear that blue-violet light is required for photosynthesis. (Dashur, R.H., & Mehta, R.J.,1935) If there is sufficient blue-violet light, the size of the leaves will be good. It also appears to be a factor in the development of the chloroplasts. (Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200 Chloroplasts are the parts of the leaf's cells which contain the chlorophyll and conduct photosynthesis, so they are important.

[h=1]UV Light and effects on plant-growth[/h]
Ultra-violet light is divided into three ranges: UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. UV-A is the closest to visible light, with a range of 315-400nm. UV-C is the farthest from visible light, at 200-290nm. Very little UV-C radiation makes it past the outer atmosphere, so it is not
generally seen as important for horticulture. UV-Bholds the middle ground between them, at 290-315nm. It tends to be filtered out by the ozone layer, where that layer is sufficiently thick. (Vass, I., Szilard, A., & Sicora, C., 2005)
UV light causes problems for plants, much as it does for humans. The beta-carotene in some kinds of algae and higher plants provides some protection from UV-B (White, A.L., & Jahnke, L.S., n.d.), but generally speaking, all UV light will affect photosynthesis badly, and cause health problems for the plant in other ways. If UV light can be minimized, this is a good thing.
Too much Ultraviolet light can slow down the photosynthesis process(Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200 and it can damage DNA molecules, much as it can in humans. (Strid, A., Chow, W.S., & Anderson, J.M., 1994) Chloroplasts are particularly hard-hit by over-exposure to UV-B(Strid, A., Chow, W.S., & Anderson, J.M., 1994).

[h=1]The Colors in the Middle, effects on plant growth[/h]
The middle of the spectrum runs between 520 and 650nm, approximately. The green and yellow colors in this region are not used much by the majority of plants. Theyare reflected away, which is what gives chlorophyll its green appearance, which in turn gives leaves their green appearance. Many kinds of plants have secondary light-absorbing pigments which make use of the middle range, such as beta-carotene, but it is not very important for most of these species. (White, A.L., & Jahnke, L.S., n.d.)
That said, red and violet light doesn't penetrate as far into the individual leaves as far as green light can. The leaves of many species of plant contain more than one layer of photosynthetic cells (chloroplasts), and so in strong light, green light would add more energy to photosynthesis in these cells than the usual red and blue-violet lights. (Terashima, I., Fujita, T., Inoue, T., Chow, W.S., & Oguchi, R., 2009)
If there is a reason to want to encourage the stomata of the plants to open, extra blue and red light is useful. Extra green light will encourage the stomata to close. (Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200 Also, adding green light to an already complex mix of reds and blues can help to expand the leaf area. (Zheng, J., Hu, M.J., & Guo, Y.P., 200

[h=1]Ratios of Light Colors[/h]
The combinations of red, green-yellow, and blue-violet are crucial to photosynthesis, and the proportions of these colors are also important. These proportions are often indicated by ratios of "red : blue" or "red : green : blue". NASA and the Russian Space Agency have conducted many studies of the best combinations of lights, so that they would not be using extra light arrays that the plants could not absorb. Installing a light that the plants cannot use would waste both energy and space.
The Russian studies tend to focus on cucumbers and tomatoes, because these two make up the vast majority (>98%) of their greenhouse crops. (Prikupets, L.B. &Tikhomirov, A.A.,1994) In Dr. Tikhomirov's study of cucumbers, he determined that the best combination of lights for photosynthesis during the production of fruit was approximately 40% red, 40% green, and 20% blue. He claimed that"(g)reen rays penetrate into the middle and lower leaves" that would otherwise not have enough light. The plants can't survive without enough red light. (Tikhomirov, A.A.,1994)Further study produced slightly different numbers, figuring that cucumbers need Red 40-45%, Green 35-45%, and Blue of 15-20%. None of the three should go above 45%, or productivity drops. (Prikupets, L.B. &Tikhomirov, A.A.,1994)By contrast, the best ratios for tomatoes was determined to be 60-75% Red to 15-20% Green to 10-20% Blue (Prikupets, L.B. &Tikhomirov, A.A.,1994).
Some experimental data indicated that wheat (Triticumaestivum) is not particularly sensitive to various combinations of light colors, and can be grown entirely &#8220;under red LED&#8217;s&#8221; with no loss in productivity (Bugbee, B.,1994) It can use blue and green light, too, but wheat was found to require a minimum of 60-70% red. (Tikhomirov, A.A.,1994) Soybeans also tolerate a wide range of combinations without much trouble, as long as they are provided a large amount of red. (Bugbee, B.,1994)
Among decorative non-food plants, the fuchsia shows the usual pattern of absorption, while geraniums and hibiscus show evidence of absorbing high levels of blue and green light (Schurer, K, 1994).
Aside from a few species-specific ratios, a red-range-to-blue-range ratio of 7:1 or 8:1 for most food-crop species, with 19:1 being seen as the bare minimum of blue, except for some seed grasses such as wheat. (MacLennan, D.A., Turner, B.P., Dolan, J.T., Michael G. Ury, M.G., & Gustafson, P.,1994) Drs. Tibbits and Britz indicated that for most commercially plants, a ratio of 9:1 would be close to ideal, although Britz expressed "doubt that a single spectrum will be optimal under all conditions. Much will depend on the species or genetic variety used.&#8221; (MacLennan, D.A., Turner, B.P., Dolan, J.T., Michael G. Ury, M.G., & Gustafson, P.,1994 There is clearly room for experimentation for many crops, but it seems agreed that a ration of approximately 8:1 would be a good place to start.

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robbyie66 said:

I think I would chalk that plant as f up11 yank it start fresh nice new strain!! my opion.

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Jeffdogg said:

gonna be doing a grow with 5 Sweet tooth auto in 2gal equivalent air pots in a couple weeks. (there will be some photo's in there too) cant wait to see how the air pots work out

[video=youtube;wHhZeeTrfs0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHhZeeTrfs0[/video]

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