First grow, Green Crack (fem) CFL

12Tops...

With your limited height I would stick with 56k for now.. I would hate to see them stretch to early.. my green crack stretched 6" after flip.. Let's play it safe and see what happens.. I usually don't help newbies this much but you did your homework and have a plan... A lot just pop seeds then ask what's next..

HydoDan said:

12Tops...View attachment 3926402

With your limited height I would stick with 56k for now.. I would hate to see them stretch to early.. my green crack stretched 6" after flip.. Let's play it safe and see what happens.. I usually don't help newbies this much but you did your homework and have a plan... A lot just pop seeds then ask what's next..

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Hey thanks a lot man I really appreciate it. Yeah I tried to read everything available before even starting lol! Ok good call. I like to play it safe so we'll see what happens. I think they like the 18/6 schedule more than the 24/0 as well...

They do need a rest period..
I run 24/0 for two weeks then go to 20/4 for two weeks then 18/6 for two weeks.. Then flip to 12/12..
Trying to imitate fall..

Just topped the larger one for the second time. The new shoots have barely started. Left three fan leaves to help. Third node from the stem

Looking good.. I would move the anchor points out past the next node, keep her from folding up..
keep an eye on the hole in the stem from your first topping.. I think it's ok but it is an inlet for mold..
That's one of the main reasons I top early... No hollow stem.. most first-time growers wouldn't do that to a plant!
Good job!

Moved the anchor points to the third node where I pulled the fan leaves, knuckles are forming nicely, pulled her down a bit more too haha. I took a photo of the inside of the stem. Looks like just drying out fibers. Unless that's a colony of spider mites lol! To be honest this is quite difficult to do for a first time grow. Not the act but mentally. Continuously removing growth is taking a toll haha. I'm ready to see growth . Hopefully this next topping will come quickly and I can let them rest and grow!

I must admit even though I've done this to hundreds of plants... It ain't easy.. It does slow down the process by a couple weeks.. but the end product is worth it.. looks like the stem will callous over.. just wanted you to be aware.. right now there are more roots than foliage.. It will even out.. anchor points are spot on..

New challenge has arose on Day 26

Pots were dry so I fed them some Big Bloom full dose, 3ml cal-mag, and ph to 6.8. Soil runoff was 6.1 and 6.0. (I haven't given the plain Phd water yet. I know I should be but I haven't. They've been fed different arrangements of nutrients the past 4 times. Plants seem fine but maybe washing out the salts will be the next watering.
Temps and humidity have been perfect, growth is a little slow as I pulled all fan leaves except for the main growth node. Smaller plant is now catching up as I left more fan leaves.
All that aside I have a new issue ha. Something ate two blades of my fan leaf! I knew bringing outside broccoli from lowes into the garden was a dumb idea. Now I'm under the impression I might have a caterpillar or worm in the garden somewhere. I checked everywhere and all of the leaves with a light. Nothing. Could be a moth in the tent somewhere who knows ha. Going to try and nip this in the but before anything gets out of hand

A few years back I had the same problem.. Leave were missing on a regular basis.. looked all over, nothing...A few weeks later I finally found a giant green 3" caterpillar stuck to bottom of a fan leaf. He had been eating quite well.. I recommend
the yellow sticky paper for flying bugs and neem oil for crawling.. Those little nodes are lookin good..

Welp...

A mont old now (from sprout). For sure screwed up topping on this round lol, clipped a couple leaves on some of the shoots. Which would be fine I'm sure. They've been a little stunted but are still growing slowly. Just a bit concerned about the new leaf color (bit yellow) and a bit burned on the fan leaves. Maybe should have just watered with plain water this last time. Will for sure the next watering. Been about two weeks of training now and still one topping left. Should I stick with 4 colas per plant or try for the 8 each. I feel like it's taking forever.
The larger yellow nodes are the bigger plant (which I'm sure will be fine). The other photo with the smaller growth and burnt fan leaves are the smaller plant. I did move them both closer to the lights yesterday but I moved them back today. Haven't looked up anything or tried matching photos yet but here's the update

They're gonna be fine just use plain water till they get some foliage back.. You did what a lot of ppl do.. Removed plant mass then fertilized ... with the foliage missing it can't keep up with the nutes... let the plant tell you how many tops it can handle.. I have a wait and see philosophy sometimes you need to change plans.. I just flipped to 12/12

With the tiny setbacks and getting them trained, adjusting temps/humidity...im going to have to keep them both at 4 tops each. I calculated out that if I Veg them both for 2 weeks (after this Friday), then flip...I can allow 12 weeks for flower, a week of drying, and two weeks of curing before I get married two weeks after that I need these babies done for the after party! First grow obviously not as efficient. Some training stress, maybe over freezing a bit, etc. I allowed for 12 week being they are cfls and a sativa dominant hybrid. So maybe they finish in 10. I'll snap a couple pics when I get home. Let me know what you all think?

That sounds like a plan, hopefully the plants agree..
My GC was done in 9 weeks so that leaves some leeway for more cure time..
You've learned more from your first grow than most people learn in 10. Only minor mistakes...
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding... My 49th anniversary is in June..

HydoDan said:

That sounds like a plan, hopefully the plants agree..
My GC was done in 9 weeks so that leaves some leeway for more cure time..
You've learned more from your first grow than most people learn in 10. Only minor mistakes...
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding... My 49th anniversary is in June..

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Thanks man! Means a lot. And I hope to one day be celebrating a 49th anniv! Congrats!

The little guy has a bit of yellow growth on the new leaves but both responded tremendously to the plain water. I think while they weren't showing signs of over feeding they were definitely not happy with the back to back nute schedule. Both of their main shoots grew at least a 1/4in overnight. The big one grew a 1/2in for sure. He's looking great. Still going to stick with the 4 main shoots on each due to time being a factor but I'm thinking tomorrow or Thursday I'll tie down the new mains and remove the fan leaves. After that I'm going to remove the main stem ties as they are digging into the plant a bit.

Transplant before flower? After tying them down this last time I'm going to Veg for 2 weeks so isnit better to transplant now or right before flower? I'd assume now, right?

Big guys has his first pre-flower! She's official ha! Aaaaand that sentence makes no sense hahaha

The one thing I wouldn't do is remove any more fan leaves.. The more green the more area for photons to be absorbed..
I would just move your anchor points out again.. Keep an eye so you don't split the main stem..
Definitely transplant asap we don't want any shock going into flower.. They are ready to explode...
You can't see it but they have been growing roots like crazy... The stems are good size and healthy...

Temps at 74, humidity at 51%. Those broccoli plants are exploding and really helping the humidity stay up there!

All yellowing on new growth is gone and plant leaves have been dead flat/green/and "praying" haha

I'll get the soil and pots ready this weekend for transplant. Both are looking healthy and it's good to see growth and foliage on my plant again! Can't wait to get some vertical height!

I'll transplant and add good bacteria to the roots while doing so. Then train the mains back how I want them. Guess it's almost time to sit back and watch em grow! Going to give them one more water only feeding tomorrow then lets the soil dry for a day and transplant! Inside of the tent is smelly already haha. When the light and fan are off you can smell them outside the tent!

Once they are transplanted it's time to watch em grow... Mine are starting to stretch already..

They look absolutely beautiful. Exactly the canopy I'm trying to get!!!

Not looking forward to getting home tho. Both windows in the mancave are open and it's 83 outside. I'm going to take a wild guess and say the high in the tent was 93 when the lights shut off at 12pm (prolly was around 75 at that time outside). I'm sure they're fine tho

Really hoping to get a smaller version of your plant

This is the first time I've used the support cages and I really like them.. Gives you complete control...
Did I mention my light source was cob led technology... In over forty of growing I've never seen anything
like it.. Faster growth..bigger tighter buds with super Trichomes...

Yeah I see the cobb stuff pop up now and again, I researched growing A LOT when I was 19(ish) and was really into the science/breeding etc. Ive long forgotten most of that hahah! I dont want to research anything crazy and new because Im impulsive and Ill spend way too much. I tend to go overboard on hobbies lol.

Anyway, the temps only hit 85 high and 71 low, humidity on lights off is 81% right now, which im fine with! They are in lights out until 6pm, but I kind of want to just take them out of the box and transplant them hahah, I hate waiting. Im sure it wouldnt mess anything up but Ill just wait till 6pm.

I wanted to use the sacks or air pots but instead of spending money I got two 5 gallon food Safe buckets from work and drilled a million large holes in the bottom. also along the edges in case i need to lst or tie down anything (but prolly not)

Filled them an inch with growstones and added all my transplant soil mix. Ill dump a bunch of root formula/mycorrhizae onto the top of the soil and place the roots right on that. Im going to look up transplanting and see if there are any extra tips/tricks i should know and then get them all setup for 18 hours of light and a fresh watering of plain PHd water...

Ill also probably hold off on the nutes and see what happens since my mix will have much more ffof/vermiblend in it than the seedling did...

Ill post pics of the root ball and transplant process, hopefully everything is big and white all over!

Those plants look amazing btw, thick ass stems and green as hell, So healthy looking! Also the 49th anniv sank in and Im curious what youre pushing in years hahah if you dont mind me asking, seem like a cool guy!