My first grow
- Thread starter Jerry Garcia
- Start date
Tatan
Well-Known Member
hmmm... yeah.. lol i guess... peace not war... lol
Btw... good luck on your last exam Jerry
Jerry Garcia
Well-Known Member
Sorry for the delayed absence, but this studying thing had me all bogged down with life. But now that is done, so I can focus on my grow room again! The exam went well by the way...except I answered 4 LONG essay questions before realizing the instructions only required I answer 3...
But enough of that nonsense. So the plants were looking about the same yesterday. Wide girl is starting to shoot off little projections from just about every bud, and the lower buds on tall girl looked like they shot out some new thick white hairs. There was a slight problem however...I woke up in the middle of the night and just had the urge to go check on them...turns out the water reservoir in the a/c was full, causing the thing to TURN OFF! It was 103! Yikes!
Thankfully, I was only sleeping for a couple hours, so it couldn't have been like that for too long. At least I caught it when I did, or I would have some very unhappy plants. Lesson #1...empty that stupid thing EVERY DAY! Lesson #2...always follow that fatherly intuition when you know something is not right with your girls.
Otherwise, things are looking great. I ran the UVB yesterday for ~4 total hours. I've been slacking on using it lately, but now that I'm done with class I'll have more time to play.
So as I said, my speaker cloth and 360w hps conversion bulb arrived yesterday. I haven't had a chance to set up the new light yet, but I PROMISE it will happen before this time tomorrow. My girls are going have a much stronger light for the last few weeks...
I have my first confirmed female little plant as well. After confirming sex, I topped her right abover her 2nd true node (node with the cotyledon leaves doesn't count as a true node) so hopefully the result will be 4 main colas! I also attempted to use the cut top as a clone--I dipped in this rooting powder and stuck in a pot a couple inches deep. Within hours it looked like it was dying. We'll see how it looks at 8pm, but I'm not very optimistic. No great loss I suppose, but it looks like I'm going to need to find a reliable cloning system before I try anything on my blue cheese babies (whom I shall germinate someday real soon...)
No pics yet...sorry. But now that my classes are done, I can spend more time updating my thread!
Oh, and happy Cinco de Mayo...not sure what the hell it really represents...not sure I care...just another excuse to drink on a tuesday (as if I need one)
But enough of that nonsense. So the plants were looking about the same yesterday. Wide girl is starting to shoot off little projections from just about every bud, and the lower buds on tall girl looked like they shot out some new thick white hairs. There was a slight problem however...I woke up in the middle of the night and just had the urge to go check on them...turns out the water reservoir in the a/c was full, causing the thing to TURN OFF! It was 103! Yikes!
Thankfully, I was only sleeping for a couple hours, so it couldn't have been like that for too long. At least I caught it when I did, or I would have some very unhappy plants. Lesson #1...empty that stupid thing EVERY DAY! Lesson #2...always follow that fatherly intuition when you know something is not right with your girls.
Otherwise, things are looking great. I ran the UVB yesterday for ~4 total hours. I've been slacking on using it lately, but now that I'm done with class I'll have more time to play.
So as I said, my speaker cloth and 360w hps conversion bulb arrived yesterday. I haven't had a chance to set up the new light yet, but I PROMISE it will happen before this time tomorrow. My girls are going have a much stronger light for the last few weeks...
I have my first confirmed female little plant as well. After confirming sex, I topped her right abover her 2nd true node (node with the cotyledon leaves doesn't count as a true node) so hopefully the result will be 4 main colas! I also attempted to use the cut top as a clone--I dipped in this rooting powder and stuck in a pot a couple inches deep. Within hours it looked like it was dying. We'll see how it looks at 8pm, but I'm not very optimistic. No great loss I suppose, but it looks like I'm going to need to find a reliable cloning system before I try anything on my blue cheese babies (whom I shall germinate someday real soon...)
No pics yet...sorry. But now that my classes are done, I can spend more time updating my thread!
Oh, and happy Cinco de Mayo...not sure what the hell it really represents...not sure I care...just another excuse to drink on a tuesday (as if I need one)
mared juwan
Well-Known Member
Cinco de mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over the French army at Puebla. Just so you know LOL.
When you get around to cloning your cheeses you should try my method. About 98% success rate and the whole setup costs under $20. I'll tell you more about it when the time comes.
When you get around to cloning your cheeses you should try my method. About 98% success rate and the whole setup costs under $20. I'll tell you more about it when the time comes.
Jerry Garcia
Well-Known Member
Thanks dude. I finished my last paper today so I am actually DONE as of right now. It's a nice feeling.
I haven't really looked much into cloning yet, I just tried to dip it in the rooting hormone and plant it. But when I'm ready to clone for real I'll get that info off of you.
As soon as dawn breaks in the grow room I'm going to put up the 400watter! For now, I'm starting on my speaker grill cloth to cover the window...
Jerry Garcia
Well-Known Member
So it is day 48...almost 7 weeks of flowering now and the buds look better every day. Wide girl's main cola continues to bulk up, tall girl is turning quite orange, and shorty is thick all around.
The leaf necrosis issue seems to have hit its peak of intensity...whether this is because there are no leaves left to attack or the problem has been resolved, I can only speculate. But the rate of decay seems to have slowed considerably, and new leaf growth coming out of the buds appears to be deficiency-deficient...ha
True to my word, I got the 400w system up and running! It required some serious overhaul of the space, but I got it in. The conversion bulb I got works great. It is visibly much brighter than the 150, so I can only imagine how much the plants like it. There's a problem, however. The fixture is so wide that it barely fits in the space. Instead of being completely suspended by the chains, it rests on 2 pieces of wood that formed the original braces for the shelf. It is too wide to hang freely beneath them, and the chain doesn't get short enough to suspend it above the slats. So it sits on them.
Sorry if that is hard to conceptualize, but I forgot to take a pic. Anyway, my problem is the bulb ends up sitting about 4 inches away from one of the pieces of wood, causing it to get a little warm. Do you think is a fire hazard? I tried to unscrew the thing to take it down, but my hand held screwdriver could hardly budge the screws. I'll need a drill to get it down. So its going to come off, just maybe not for a couple days.
Not surprisingly, the new 400w system puts of a ton of heat. How much heat, you ask? Well, with the a/c running constantly it kept it around 82. Perfect. Until the DAMN A/C SHUT OFF AGAIN BECAUSE THE TANK GOT TOO FULL. I emptied it at the beginning of the night, but because it had to run longer to cool the hotter room, it filled up more quickly. Bummer. So when I woke up and checked on them this morning, the temp was 108!!! Fuck. Who knows how long it was like that too.
So, it turned out to be quite the adventurous evening. On a positive note, there was no sign of any bugs. None. I topped off the pots again with sand, just to be safe, but I didn't see a single flying anything or a single crawling anything.
That is, until I opened the veg closet, and a little spider came floating down on his little thread. I was a little trigger happy and smashed him before I had a chance to ask questions, but he was definitely a spider. Now, spider MITES are so small that you wouldn't be able to see them clearly floating down in front of you, right? They make webs between branches over time, but otherwise they are tiny? I just want to make sure it was actually a spider and not something much more serious...
Anyway, I got some neem concentrate from lowes. Haven't used it yet...it says to apply it foliarly, and I'm not too down with that situation, as I'd rather not spray shit on/near my buds. I'll do it to the soil if/when I feel its necessary.
So, that was a lot of words, and more than you probably wanted to read. Let's look at sparkly things then, shall we?
Shorty's main cola. Thick and juicy.
Shot of her top
Lower buds
These lower branch buds are really filling out the entire stem nicely.
Next, wide girl. Those fan leaves are all but gone, but there is plenty of other smaller leaves that can hopefully pick up the slack.
Here's the top. New growth protruding from all around it.
Close-up.
Her lower buds still not as developed as the other two...yet...
And, finally, Tall girl.
Cola is looking quite solid here, minus a few dead leaves.
Nice looking underbuds. Big.
I want to smoke it right now...
Finally the small ones. I've confirmed now at least 3 females. One male has been confirmed (2 already trashed). So through 6 plants we are batting .500
I decided it was about time I checked out the trichs under the scope yesterday. I took the tips off one leaf from each plant. They all appear to have mostly clear trichs, though I think a few are beginning to become cloudy. Still got a couple weeks left though...
The leaf necrosis issue seems to have hit its peak of intensity...whether this is because there are no leaves left to attack or the problem has been resolved, I can only speculate. But the rate of decay seems to have slowed considerably, and new leaf growth coming out of the buds appears to be deficiency-deficient...ha
True to my word, I got the 400w system up and running! It required some serious overhaul of the space, but I got it in. The conversion bulb I got works great. It is visibly much brighter than the 150, so I can only imagine how much the plants like it. There's a problem, however. The fixture is so wide that it barely fits in the space. Instead of being completely suspended by the chains, it rests on 2 pieces of wood that formed the original braces for the shelf. It is too wide to hang freely beneath them, and the chain doesn't get short enough to suspend it above the slats. So it sits on them.
Sorry if that is hard to conceptualize, but I forgot to take a pic. Anyway, my problem is the bulb ends up sitting about 4 inches away from one of the pieces of wood, causing it to get a little warm. Do you think is a fire hazard? I tried to unscrew the thing to take it down, but my hand held screwdriver could hardly budge the screws. I'll need a drill to get it down. So its going to come off, just maybe not for a couple days.
Not surprisingly, the new 400w system puts of a ton of heat. How much heat, you ask? Well, with the a/c running constantly it kept it around 82. Perfect. Until the DAMN A/C SHUT OFF AGAIN BECAUSE THE TANK GOT TOO FULL. I emptied it at the beginning of the night, but because it had to run longer to cool the hotter room, it filled up more quickly. Bummer. So when I woke up and checked on them this morning, the temp was 108!!! Fuck. Who knows how long it was like that too.
So, it turned out to be quite the adventurous evening. On a positive note, there was no sign of any bugs. None. I topped off the pots again with sand, just to be safe, but I didn't see a single flying anything or a single crawling anything.
That is, until I opened the veg closet, and a little spider came floating down on his little thread. I was a little trigger happy and smashed him before I had a chance to ask questions, but he was definitely a spider. Now, spider MITES are so small that you wouldn't be able to see them clearly floating down in front of you, right? They make webs between branches over time, but otherwise they are tiny? I just want to make sure it was actually a spider and not something much more serious...
Anyway, I got some neem concentrate from lowes. Haven't used it yet...it says to apply it foliarly, and I'm not too down with that situation, as I'd rather not spray shit on/near my buds. I'll do it to the soil if/when I feel its necessary.
So, that was a lot of words, and more than you probably wanted to read. Let's look at sparkly things then, shall we?
Shorty's main cola. Thick and juicy.
Shot of her top
Lower buds
These lower branch buds are really filling out the entire stem nicely.
Next, wide girl. Those fan leaves are all but gone, but there is plenty of other smaller leaves that can hopefully pick up the slack.
Here's the top. New growth protruding from all around it.
Close-up.
Her lower buds still not as developed as the other two...yet...
And, finally, Tall girl.
Cola is looking quite solid here, minus a few dead leaves.
Nice looking underbuds. Big.
I want to smoke it right now...
Finally the small ones. I've confirmed now at least 3 females. One male has been confirmed (2 already trashed). So through 6 plants we are batting .500
I decided it was about time I checked out the trichs under the scope yesterday. I took the tips off one leaf from each plant. They all appear to have mostly clear trichs, though I think a few are beginning to become cloudy. Still got a couple weeks left though...
growforgood904
Well-Known Member
Aw man u are almost there! bet its a hard wait!! you will enjoy when u do!!! good job Jerry + rep
DodgeDread
Well-Known Member
maybe you could attach a hose and large bin to your ac and drain into there? This is how i run my dehumidifier constantly dripping into my feed buckets
glad to see you're liking the 400w, your plants are gonna love you
glad to see you're liking the 400w, your plants are gonna love you
Jerry Garcia
Well-Known Member
Thanks GFG. I really want to start taking little "tasters" just to see how it smokes, but I can never bring myself to snip off any of the buds. I looked real hard a couple tiny bottom buds that are like 10 calyxes total...maybe tonight...
Dodge, you hit the nail on the head my friend, thank you! There's a nozzle on the back where I can rig up a hose and presumably it will drain through that after I flip a switch. I've got an empty cat litter bucket that should work nicely, though I could probably drain it straight into my bathtub...
I also noticed the stupid bucket thing leaks a little onto my floor, even when empty. Looks like I've found myself a new project for the evening...
Dodge, you hit the nail on the head my friend, thank you! There's a nozzle on the back where I can rig up a hose and presumably it will drain through that after I flip a switch. I've got an empty cat litter bucket that should work nicely, though I could probably drain it straight into my bathtub...
I also noticed the stupid bucket thing leaks a little onto my floor, even when empty. Looks like I've found myself a new project for the evening...
Tatan
Well-Known Member
Thanks GFG. I really want to start taking little "tasters" just to see how it smokes, but I can never bring myself to snip off any of the buds. I looked real hard a couple tiny bottom buds that are like 10 calyxes total...maybe tonight...
Dodge, you hit the nail on the head my friend, thank you! There's a nozzle on the back where I can rig up a hose and presumably it will drain through that after I flip a switch. I've got an empty cat litter bucket that should work nicely, though I could probably drain it straight into my bathtub...
I also noticed the stupid bucket thing leaks a little onto my floor, even when empty. Looks like I've found myself a new project for the evening...
Hehehehe I wish I could be as patient as you.. I have taken whole branches off of my plant... as tasters...
highjulypool
Member
hi. been reading this thread regularly and i must say its tops. well done and keep up the good work. its a real fountain of information. i hope you get pounds and pounds of great smoke from this and your future grows. best of luck
mared juwan
Well-Known Member
Patience Jerry! Restrain yourself my man! Unless you don't have any other bud at all. Testers will set you up for disappointment IMO. Not only will it still have nutes in it but unless you want to let it dry for at least 4 or 5 days it's gonna taste green and immature. Even after a dry and cure it wouldn't be a proper representation of what you have. I swear the most dramatic change in smell and flavor in my plants happens in the last week or two. Skunks get skunkier, hazes get fruitier, kushes get kushier. But like I said premie bud is still better than no bud at all so I guess it depends on your situation.
Tatan
Well-Known Member
Yeah I agree, I have taken samples cause I dont have any other to smoke... so if you can hold off smoking it...
Marcus66
Active Member
As always, great journal Jerry G. Since your plants are a couple of weeks ahead of my first plants, I'm using this journal as kind of a blueprint. I do have some questions on snipping some samples from my plants. I've been buying tree since I started my grow and have been looking forward to ending that soon. Some tips on samples would be appreciated. So, what's the proper way to take a tester nug? Should it be hung for a couple of days just like the main harvest will be? Can the curing process be skipped? Is there a way to tell when it's a good time to chop a branch down to try (trichomes aren't cloudy yet)? Thanks in advance, and thanks again Jerry for all the good work, and enjoy the summer off from filling out unnecessary essays. Good luck, and I hope your harvest yields a plentiful bounty.
satuple
Member
Hi Jerry,
I was just reading your journal and the only thing I have to say is your girls look wonderful. I'm thinking about ordering some seeds from Nirvana.. maybe some AK-48 and Jock Horror... BTW I'm from Colombia and if you are interested in some Colombian seeds we could talk about trading some seeds.
And once again... beautiful work, keep on going... wana see some dried bubs and read your smoke report.
Jürgen
I was just reading your journal and the only thing I have to say is your girls look wonderful. I'm thinking about ordering some seeds from Nirvana.. maybe some AK-48 and Jock Horror... BTW I'm from Colombia and if you are interested in some Colombian seeds we could talk about trading some seeds.
And once again... beautiful work, keep on going... wana see some dried bubs and read your smoke report.
Jürgen
Tatan
Well-Known Member
As far as I know, you take a tester nug to smoke some before the rest of the plant is ready and cured...
What I do is I just cut a little branch and I quick dry it on top of a heater... hehe