First time grow, advice/feedback greatly appreciated!

Ace Yonder said:

Ahh see I'm the opposite, half the fun of growing for me is mixing up my own batches of soil, usually I use my own worm bin compost but I just re-did the front garden with it before I started this little side project. But yeah, something about doing things the standard way just rubs me wrong, if I can't find some way to put my own spin on something I generally have no interest in doing it hahaha, I don't want to do anything that someone else could replicate through the careful following of instructions I'm a lifelong baker and I haven't used measuring cups or kitchen scales in almost fifteen years because I find that everything from cookies to cakes to muffins turn out better when I go with my gut, and I have won several blue ribbons using my eyeball-it method, which positively infuriates my brother in law who firmly believes that you cannot bake without the precision granted by weighing each ingredient, and who sadly lacks the ribbons to back up his position hehehe I'm a firm believer in Malcom Gladwell's assessment of the subconscious' superiority to the conscious mind, and prefer to let my superior side do most of my thinking

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I'm with you on this, Ace.
Pottering around, making your own stuff with as little reliance on corporate production line ingredients as possible....
Self sufficiency in the GROW ROOM.

I'm growing in clay pebbles BUT I still have a compost heap out back.
I want to do a few soil grows
I WANT TO TRY EVERY WAY TO GROW!

I didn't realize you were a newbie, Ace.
I'm about 3 weeks away from my first crop being harvested
about 3 weeks away from mt 2nd crop going onto 12/12
aout 3 weeks away from taking cuttings for the 2nd time
about 4 weeks away from attempting to make Iso oil for the first time

It's a steep learning curve at the start....
but I'm loving it!

Hi ace wicked grow fella loving the thread learnt abit aswell lol I'm to a newbie ready to start my 1st grow so I'm sure I be picking at ya brains and jointed's

NorthofEngland said:

I'm with you on this, Ace.
Pottering around, making your own stuff with as little reliance on corporate production line ingredients as possible....
Self sufficiency in the GROW ROOM.

I'm growing in clay pebbles BUT I still have a compost heap out back.
I want to do a few soil grows
I WANT TO TRY EVERY WAY TO GROW!

I didn't realize you were a newbie, Ace.
I'm about 3 weeks away from my first crop being harvested
about 3 weeks away from mt 2nd crop going onto 12/12
aout 3 weeks away from taking cuttings for the 2nd time
about 4 weeks away from attempting to make Iso oil for the first time

It's a steep learning curve at the start....
but I'm loving it!

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Sounds awesome keep us posted as to how you're doing

Dannyboi20VT said:

Hi ace wicked grow fella loving the thread learnt abit aswell lol I'm to a newbie ready to start my 1st grow so I'm sure I be picking at ya brains and jointed's

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Pick away my friend. You can also catch me at my journal

Update time I'll get into more details about what I do later. Its pretty simple actually and very easily replicated if one had a mind to. I'm not implicating anything, just a statement. One thing you'll probably notice. I had the ww x bb mixed up with the chocolate heaven. All have their correct name tags now Enjoy my friend....J

NorthofEngland said:

I'm with you on this, Ace.
Pottering around, making your own stuff with as little reliance on corporate production line ingredients as possible....
Self sufficiency in the GROW ROOM.

I'm growing in clay pebbles BUT I still have a compost heap out back.
I want to do a few soil grows
I WANT TO TRY EVERY WAY TO GROW!

I didn't realize you were a newbie, Ace.
I'm about 3 weeks away from my first crop being harvested
about 3 weeks away from mt 2nd crop going onto 12/12
aout 3 weeks away from taking cuttings for the 2nd time
about 4 weeks away from attempting to make Iso oil for the first time

It's a steep learning curve at the start....
but I'm loving it!

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Nice! I would love to try every style of growing til I find one that fits like a glove. Sounds like a nice beginning to a perpetual you got goin' there, and good luck on the iso oil! I've made BHO a couple dozen times (Couple grower friends always have several pounds of extra trim lying around that they've let me have free access to as long as I let them try a sample of whatever I make with it, usually Edibles or BHO) takes a bit to get a good technique but its pretty easy to figure out if you have a good logical mind. Never used ISO but I can't imagine it's all that different hehehe

Dannyboi20VT said:

Hi ace wicked grow fella loving the thread learnt abit aswell lol I'm to a newbie ready to start my 1st grow so I'm sure I be picking at ya brains and jointed's

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Thanks man! Let me know when you start

jointed said:

Update time I'll get into more details about what I do later. Its pretty simple actually and very easily replicated if one had a mind to. I'm not implicating anything, just a statement. One thing you'll probably notice. I had the ww x bb mixed up with the chocolate heaven. All have their correct name tags now Enjoy my friend....J

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Those look incredible man! And don't worry about implications, with plants like that it would take a fool to ignore the process that allowed you to get there hehehe

Thanks Ace, I appreciate that. Its nice to be reminded once and a while that what your doing is good. I see you are a big fan of UVB. I'm gonna look up a couple links of spectrum graphs showing the difference between HPS and CMH. I feel it just might sway you to switch over to hid. Maybe not right now as I don't know your space restrictions, but something to consider. One thing to remember though is ya can't run CMH in a cooltube as the glass blocks the UVB. I know that kinda sucks for some but when you see buds grown under those lights...AAAHHH you will just have to do it to see. And the pics with the lights on are absolutley beautiful. I'll work on those links ....catch ya later....J

The main issue with HID for me is the heat problems, the closet I am converting for my next indoor grow is in my bedroom so I really can't run the kind of exhaust fans I'd need to keep a 600w-1000w HID within acceptable temps and still be able to sleep etc. Probably gonna wind up investing in a good LED panel at the end of my summer outdoor grow, most likely Apache Tech or Area 51, as it fits my needs much better and I can specify the specific spectrum with as much UV as I want (and in the exact wavelengths I want) so I can really fine tune it, and I can sidestep the heat issue entirely.

Cmh only comes in 400 watts and smaller. I can totally understand the heat issues, thats why I need a bigggggggg room preferably with 10' ceilings lol. I just can't do small Ace, hell look at my coop now!! Just wait a month or two, its gonna be chaos in there! Don't know how I'm gonna water yet lol just might have to put a spout on that bottle. Later bro....J

Man this site is sketchy tonight. Every time I try to post its super slow or I get booted.

Getting ready to harvest in the next few days I think, buds might swell up a bit more if I left her longer but the trichs seem pretty ripe, mostly cloudy with a few amber (I tried to get a magnified shot but my hands are too shaky to get good shots through the little loupe). Anyways, here are some pics from today, let me know whatcha think. You might be able to see from the pics, I wound up with a couple seeds from the nanners she threw before I got the light leak problem fixed, but doesn't seem too bad, I clipped one of the buds to test and when i went through it there weren't any seeds so it seems just a couple buds caught pollen, probably from me being careless when removing the nanners. I was thinking about waiting til the seeds matured before cutting the plant, but I'm worried if I wait that long it might be over-ripe and suffer a potency drop. Anyhow, let me get to the pictures, there's lots of them because I found a new macro setting on my camera and had fun.
Also a funny note: Despite the numerous deficiencies everyone was spotting in the pics earlier, I decided to cut feeding anyways in prep for harvest and it has been almost 2 weeks since she has had anything but pure spring water, and her leaves are almost greener than when she was being fed hahaha, although she gets water (from the bottom, she likes bottom watering better than top watering for some reason)every day now as she has been super thirsty in the past week or two. What a weird lil girl haha

This is the picture I tried to get of the trichomes, dunno if you can tell but they are mostly coudy with a couple amber here and there, maybe 10%

These are the macros. Other than the main cola (first 3 pics) each pic is of a different bud (There are lots I couldn't get pics of because the angles of the growbox only let me photo the front 40-50%)




So whatcha think? Chop her down or let her keep goin? Or take just the big buds and let the little ones fill in? (I like that idea but it might make the buds harder to hang while drying if I don't take the branches whole)

(EDIT: This is the bud I clipped a couple days ago
)

Myself I would give her more time and I would have continued to feed right up to chop..chop....but thats me so thats all I have too say on that. Now on to the Congratulations!! Ace dude!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Frosty!! Very,very noice my fine friend I know your gonna have fun smoking her....Hope you get the answer you're looking for....J

Thank you kindly my good sir! I'll mark that down as one on the "Keep her going" side In the mean time, I also need to tackle my second dilemma, which is what to grow this summer. Part of me says just go bagseed from some of my favorite dispensary strains that I was (un?)fortunate enough to find a couple seeds in, part of me says go for clones since I can procrastinate longer, and part of me says do it right and fork out the dough for some quality seeds (Which are too damn expensive any way you cut it, and since I'm legal I wish there were some more local seeds banks or something). I have Bagseeds from Kali Mist, Purple Diesel, and Platinum Bubba, and I can get clones of most of the big clone only strains as my med card lets me access most of the dispensary cuts and places round here are well stocked. My main concern is that whatever I grow has gotta be mold resistant because I live right near the ocean and the humidity is real high

I followed this post from beginning to end. Sorry to say I didn't see the smoke report.
I did want to say that I found this very helpful for a newbie grower as well as the links and pics posed.
I am just gearing up, learning as much as I can, selecting my seed and trying to determine if I need to learn everything in advance or learn everything as I go and the seeds are started. I don't have an overly green thumb sadly so knowledge is greatly required.

Thanks again!

http://norstargenetics.com/?paged=4

I want some of this dudes gear!! If your in Cali you are in luck as I don't know if he ships, sent him a message and still waiting on a response. Personally I like starting with seeds, that way you know the plants haven't been stressed which reduces vigor and also you don't pick up hitchhikers that will invade your home. Thats my 2 cents on it. Your a smart guy Ace so I'm sure whatever you do it will be the right choice. Don't wait on the chop,chop based on my opine. You're the one smoking it bro I would hate to have you wait and you not be happy. Harvesting ones pot is a very personal thing, No 2 people do it the same way it seems. Enjoy her frostiness my friend....J

Hahaha I just seen the edit very noice ....J

ARMH said:

I followed this post from beginning to end. Sorry to say I didn't see the smoke report.
I did want to say that I found this very helpful for a newbie grower as well as the links and pics posed.
I am just gearing up, learning as much as I can, selecting my seed and trying to determine if I need to learn everything in advance or learn everything as I go and the seeds are started. I don't have an overly green thumb sadly so knowledge is greatly required.

Thanks again!

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Aw thanks man! Glad I could help, I got so much help reading other peoples' posts I'm happy mine could help someone too! Check back in a week or two for the smoke report, I haven't chopped the plant yet so it will still need to dry/cure a bit before I'll be able to give a full report. Although I will give an early bird report on the little nug I clipped before as it is looking about ready to smoke hehehe

jointed said:

http://norstargenetics.com/?paged=4

I want some of this dudes gear!! If your in Cali you are in luck as I don't know if he ships, sent him a message and still waiting on a response. Personally I like starting with seeds, that way you know the plants haven't been stressed which reduces vigor and also you don't pick up hitchhikers that will invade your home. Thats my 2 cents on it. Your a smart guy Ace so I'm sure whatever you do it will be the right choice. Don't wait on the chop,chop based on my opine. You're the one smoking it bro I would hate to have you wait and you not be happy. Harvesting ones pot is a very personal thing, No 2 people do it the same way it seems. Enjoy her frostiness my friend....J

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Ooooh I LIKE those!!! Da-Zinn-Che, Sugar Kiss, Big City Lights, and Pretty Wicked are my favorites but they all look amazing!! Definitely might be worth the drive to Santa Rosa to pick up genetics like that hahaha