ReelFiles
Well-Known Member
The first time I tried growing I accidentally stressed two females into turning hermaphroditic when I kept messing with nutrients and flowering cycles. The seeds were supposed to be mostly female since two female plants produced them. Even though the yield was hindered by seed production the smoke was pretty good, so I held on to the seeds for a few months. The next time I decided to grow a batch I figured I'd give these mostly Indica plants a go and the results were phenomenal.
I went to a local home improvement store and bought a big bag of potting mix, a bag of vermiculite and one of perlite. I chose 4 pots for vegetating and 12 pots for flowering. The nutrients I bought were fish emulsion for vegetating and a natural blooming fertilizer for flowering. I also went to a bookstore and bought a couple of indoor growing books.
First I placed a few seeds in between a few bleach-free paper towels. When the seeds sprouted roots of ca 2", I placed them in 4" pots inside an old speaker box with 4 24" cool light fluorescent lights.
I vegetated the plants for ca 2 weeks and immediately placed them on a 12/12 schedule, since I only had limited space. I had 2 150W HPS security lights and some 48" fluorescents, so that had to do. I tried my best to keep the lights as close to the tops as possible without burning the delicate tops, which usually ended up being between 8-12 inches of distance.
At the first signs of sacks starting to form I culled the males and kept an eye on the females for any hermaphrodites. There were only 2 males and no hermaphrodites out of 10 seeds so I was pretty pleased. I kept the 2 strongest and most potent smelling females and got rid of the rest.
I only had limited experience with pruning, but from what I had read; pruning the top of the main lead would make the plant concentrate on growing the other leads. I wasn't absolutely sure so I didn't do it to both plants.
I believe that pruning the plants down to 2 leads increased yield by about 15-25%, compared to the plant I had left alone.
I squeezed each lead ca every 2-3 inches to induce bruising, which supposedly would increase yield by stress and enabling the plants to pass more nutrients through the stems. Compared to what I saw from my other friends who tried growing it definitely did the trick.
When I bruised a stem too much and it fell of I simply cut a section of a drinking straw off and placed it around the stem, until it could support itself again.
The plants had a deep pungent but very sweet smell, so I decided to call them Juicy Fruit. As it turns out there was already a strain by that name out there, but I didn't know that at the time. Either way I was very proud of how these plants had turned out.
At one point I noticed a few mites on one of the plants, so I got some Neem oil and sprayed both plants down good for about a week. After all the mites were gone I sprayed the plants down with some water to get rid of any residue that would ruin the buds. I made sure the plants were mostly dry before turning the lights back on, so that the leaves wouldnt get burned from the light hitting the water droplets.
I trimmed off any dead leaves or large ones that were blocking light from getting to the buds, every week or so. That also gave me a chance to inspect the plants for any mold, further mite infestation or any other problems that might have arisen.
When it came close to harvest time I inspected the crystals every day with a jeweler's loop for discoloration and when I noticed some had started to turn color I decided it was time to harvest soon. I immediately started to flush the planting mix with gallons of water every time it got dry about 2 inches down in the mix, for about a week. The idea was to get rid of any excess salts and nutrients. By then about half the crystals and hairs had turned brownish and I cut the plants down.
I trimmed off all the sun leaves and left most of the smaller leaves close to the buds, since they had plenty of crystals on them. I hung the buds up for a couple of nights in a warm dry room, inside a tall card board box to help absorb the moisture.
Then I placed the buds inside a large sealed ammunition box that I got cheap at an army surplus shop. I opened the box every day or two to inspect the buds for any signs of mold. One of the buds was still a bit moist so I placed it inside a brown paper bag for another 2 nights and that seemed to do the trick. 2 weeks later all the chlorophyll smell had dissipated and the bud was ready to smoke.
It seemed to smoke nice and clean, without any of that green taste, which I attribute to cleansing the soil and plants prior to harvest and curing the buds correctly. I don't remember exactly how much I harvested but I think it was close to 5oz, not bad for two plants shorter than 16" each.
This was the best harvest I had ever had and I wish I could repeat the success I had back then, but now I live in an apartment complex so I cant grow my own anymore.
Well, thats about it, hope it can help some noobies get started growing their own stuff.
Good luck to you all.
I went to a local home improvement store and bought a big bag of potting mix, a bag of vermiculite and one of perlite. I chose 4 pots for vegetating and 12 pots for flowering. The nutrients I bought were fish emulsion for vegetating and a natural blooming fertilizer for flowering. I also went to a bookstore and bought a couple of indoor growing books.
First I placed a few seeds in between a few bleach-free paper towels. When the seeds sprouted roots of ca 2", I placed them in 4" pots inside an old speaker box with 4 24" cool light fluorescent lights.
I vegetated the plants for ca 2 weeks and immediately placed them on a 12/12 schedule, since I only had limited space. I had 2 150W HPS security lights and some 48" fluorescents, so that had to do. I tried my best to keep the lights as close to the tops as possible without burning the delicate tops, which usually ended up being between 8-12 inches of distance.
At the first signs of sacks starting to form I culled the males and kept an eye on the females for any hermaphrodites. There were only 2 males and no hermaphrodites out of 10 seeds so I was pretty pleased. I kept the 2 strongest and most potent smelling females and got rid of the rest.
I only had limited experience with pruning, but from what I had read; pruning the top of the main lead would make the plant concentrate on growing the other leads. I wasn't absolutely sure so I didn't do it to both plants.
I believe that pruning the plants down to 2 leads increased yield by about 15-25%, compared to the plant I had left alone.
I squeezed each lead ca every 2-3 inches to induce bruising, which supposedly would increase yield by stress and enabling the plants to pass more nutrients through the stems. Compared to what I saw from my other friends who tried growing it definitely did the trick.
When I bruised a stem too much and it fell of I simply cut a section of a drinking straw off and placed it around the stem, until it could support itself again.
The plants had a deep pungent but very sweet smell, so I decided to call them Juicy Fruit. As it turns out there was already a strain by that name out there, but I didn't know that at the time. Either way I was very proud of how these plants had turned out.
At one point I noticed a few mites on one of the plants, so I got some Neem oil and sprayed both plants down good for about a week. After all the mites were gone I sprayed the plants down with some water to get rid of any residue that would ruin the buds. I made sure the plants were mostly dry before turning the lights back on, so that the leaves wouldnt get burned from the light hitting the water droplets.
I trimmed off any dead leaves or large ones that were blocking light from getting to the buds, every week or so. That also gave me a chance to inspect the plants for any mold, further mite infestation or any other problems that might have arisen.
When it came close to harvest time I inspected the crystals every day with a jeweler's loop for discoloration and when I noticed some had started to turn color I decided it was time to harvest soon. I immediately started to flush the planting mix with gallons of water every time it got dry about 2 inches down in the mix, for about a week. The idea was to get rid of any excess salts and nutrients. By then about half the crystals and hairs had turned brownish and I cut the plants down.
I trimmed off all the sun leaves and left most of the smaller leaves close to the buds, since they had plenty of crystals on them. I hung the buds up for a couple of nights in a warm dry room, inside a tall card board box to help absorb the moisture.
Then I placed the buds inside a large sealed ammunition box that I got cheap at an army surplus shop. I opened the box every day or two to inspect the buds for any signs of mold. One of the buds was still a bit moist so I placed it inside a brown paper bag for another 2 nights and that seemed to do the trick. 2 weeks later all the chlorophyll smell had dissipated and the bud was ready to smoke.
It seemed to smoke nice and clean, without any of that green taste, which I attribute to cleansing the soil and plants prior to harvest and curing the buds correctly. I don't remember exactly how much I harvested but I think it was close to 5oz, not bad for two plants shorter than 16" each.
This was the best harvest I had ever had and I wish I could repeat the success I had back then, but now I live in an apartment complex so I cant grow my own anymore.
Well, thats about it, hope it can help some noobies get started growing their own stuff.
Good luck to you all.
