CFL Grow L.A. Confidential

Making good progress, YR. Looks like they're really going to respond well to the topping, and you should have multiple budding sites by the time you get to 12/12.

Definitely Cal-Mag is an essential when using RO water or rainwater (which is what I use when I have it available). Just an fyi, in case you're using a pH meter, don't leave the electrode in RO water for too long at all, it'll ruin it ...as long as you have some dissolved solids in there (like tapwater, or a RO water + Cal-Mag mixture) then you're fine, but leaving the electrode in water with little or no ppm is a no-no (trust me, I know, because I did it last year and it cost me forty bucks for a replacement).

Anyways, keep up the good work...looking forward to watching these gals get big and bushy (the way I like all my women, lol)

Ok, I watered the indicas before I headed to work today. Both girls got 24 oz of plain water. The Diesel just wasn't dry enough yet. I think I'm seeing evidence of the Cal/Mag working already. It's been several days and it's a liquid, so they should take it right in.

In the pics you can see my mistake of letting one get to close to the light. I don't think I've got pre-flowers yet. One more thing....I do move the plants back and forth under the light. The plants at the ends are getting close to equal light. Connie is under the reflector 24/7. She's the priority.

Lookin good, YR. Nice and green...
You gonna do any lst on 'em?

Yessir. I don't have much choice in that. It's going to be maybe a month before I get the light I want. As long as I've got cured bud by Labor Day, I'm ok. I'm in no real hurry. What little reading I've done on LA Con as far as growing methods, she's gonna be a bush. It's not a heavy yielding strain, so multiple bud sites will help overcome that (I hope). And to one person a heavy yielder might not be, for the next. By the time I go to flower them, we should be in 5 gal smart pots under at least 250w CMH. I think for my real goals a 250w is really plenty. I've got plenty of CFLs to fill in with as well. To me, it doesn't make sense to spend a ton on fans and hoods and all of that to grow an ounce a month. I've got a couple strains that are worth learning to get the most out of and that is my intention. I'll have to mix it up some because who wants "couchlock" weed every time?

as for the La Con I have one going now and its a HEAVY eater sucks up water nutes and just about anything it can get its roots on Ive started to prune back the top fan leaves to get light down to the lower bud sites. but great looking grow subbed up now wish i saw this a month ago.

Thanks NL#5. DNA mentioned LA Con being a heavy feeder. I gave her like half strength nutes the first time she was fed. The breeder said she's a heavy feeder, but I didn't want to risk it. My last grow I battled over watering and or over feeding early on. Later in the grow, some of what I thought was heat stress might have been cal or mag. Last grow was bag seed learning mission. This is a learning mission too. Like, what can my noob ass generate for cheap? Luckily, I can read and absorb a ton from guys like you on this thread. I'm planning on Connie being a Ruebenesque little bush by the time I'm done.

Ok, so I go off reading again. Stumble onto more cool shit. I was reading one of Riddleme's thread's. Stumbled across a bit on looking at the leaves. Erect and reaching for the light vs relaxed and happy. Long story short, I raised the light a couple inches. We'll check them in the morning. If they look good, this will up my lighting footprint tremendously. But then, I'm not using a 23w CFL anyway and I've burned a leaf. I love finding shit that costs zero money to try and maybe reap the rewards of.

The leaves looked more relaxed today. Maybe it's just me. I made my first attempt ever at LST on Connie. The smart pots make it easy. I just used safety pins and that green twist tie stuff. I made sure to leave the loop on the plant end loose for growth. They're also long enough that I can move them if need be. The reason I went ahead with it now was to try and get the 4 branches that are going to end up being the colas to be an even height. Pics included. I included a couple pics of the Diesel. She's almost my little step child. I'm amazed at how different her leaves look in comparison to the others. She's a sativa dominant, but her leaves sure don't tell me that. Oh well, my first go at a sativa type strain, what do I know?

looking good and the diesel will be a lot of fun i would LST her just as you did Connie

I'm planning on something like that. She's topped for 4 colas too. Her center two are ahead height wise currently. Plants amaze me, they've practically righted themselves already. They just turn themselves towards the light.

Have you grown Diesel before? Would there be much difference from one seed company to the next on Diesel labeled strains? This one is from Dinafem.

Ive killed all my diesel when i try and start them. so never grown it out yet. But have 3 different diesels sitting in my personel seed bank.

I just know that it likes to shoot up in flower like my green crack did

Would it help to make holes in the pot my plants are in now ganna be 3 weeks tomorrow. They are in there final pots. Ur plants are looking good.

Masterogkush said:

Would it help to make holes in the pot my plants are in now ganna be 3 weeks tomorrow. They are in there final pots. Ur plants are looking good.

Click to expand...

It would help, but the plants will need to be out of the pots. How big are the final pots? It might cost a few bucks more to do it, but, I'd look into Smart Pots. Roots Organics sells a breathable pot as well. There's actually at least two companies that do hard plastic air pruning pots. If you don't have the drill and bits the fabric pots would be cheaper. They're easy to work with. One of the best investments I made for this grow. Read this some of this thread to get an idea of why it works....https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/360125-new-growers-needed-grow-lab.html The Smart Pots come from like half gallon to over 100 gallons. Have fun!

Before I went to bed last night, I checked Connie probably 10 times.

I got home from work and made a couple of adjustments on my LST. I'm trying to keep what will be the "main" colas level with each other. Last grow one cola lagged behind and needed it's own light for that section of the plant. Since I had Connie out I top dressed all 3. I don't pack or compact the soil AT ALL (unless I need to add stability on maybe one side) Because of that, I'm getting those big holes in the soil we all love. The indicas MIGHT get fed tomorrow. They're almost dry. The Diesel, is still pretty moist. I wish my nursery would get more smart pots in. That would allow me to level the playing field a bit more. Pics included......

MMMm looking good man, and couldnt you just have your nusery just order you a few in as an extra on there next order to insure you get them? atleast thats what Ive done with stuff I really want and they dont have on hand when i go the first time. really pumped for connie looks like your shooting for 6 colas?(or am i wrong)

Yep, getting those stems to grow evenly can be a real trick sometimes. The LST should help with that.
Are those smart pots re-usable?

NL5, This topping should give me 4. BUT two of the lower branches are right there in the running. They'll be colas, just not dominant ones. I've told him and even offered to pay in advance. I'm not in a hurry and I told him that. I just thought of wanting more tonight as I checked the soil.

xebeche, They are sold as reusable. They're pretty well built in my opinion. The bottom is a different, more aggressive material. Filling them, is kind of weird. I prefer to hold a pot this size when filling it. Once a plant has been in there a week or so they get pretty firm. It's really easy to give em a squeeze and kind of aerate things a bit. Now that I think about that, that might not be a good idea.....I'll look before I do it again. But then, it might toughen the roots up, kind of like we use fans to toughen stems. Dammit, a new reading project, lol

Ok, Music is my real weakness. Why not listen to something while you're here?
[video=youtube;sU11ZWAlcyE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU11ZWAlcyE[/video]

Feeding time at the zoo. All three got fed. The indicas got 24 oz, the Diesel got 12. I started with about 1 gal of filtered water. I added 1tsp of Cal Mag, 3Tbs of Big Bloom and 2tsp of Grow Big. The leftovers will go on plants outside.

[video=youtube;B-YsE4AKf_k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-YsE4AKf_k[/video]

I fed them last night. Connie and the Cali Hash got 24oz. Diesel got 12. I'm gonna call her Dime. I moved the plants around a bit under the light. Connie's on the end and Dime (the Diesel) is in the middle.

Here are some pics of my sexy girls.