Nirvana's Ice, and DNA's Rocklock, soil grow, from seed.

Okay, time for some more pics.lol First, I'll start with the freebie Rocklock I have, that I started "bending", and ended up topping, tonight. It's branching out really well, but also a stretchy strain(compared to Ice), so I've topped it. When it recoveres next week, it's going on 12/12. It's close to 12" tall, atm. Not my favorite plant, but here it is....

Here's some pics of the Ice plants. There are a few different phenotypes showing now, some more vigorous, some shorter, taller, etc.... I FIMed one tonight, had one already bent/tied, and bent another one tonight. They look so nice that I don't know if I want to topich the other two. They are plenty bushy, as-is. I'm thinking about throwing them on 12/12 next week, then doing some mild LST as they start stretching...


EDIT: They haven't had any regular fert, yet. I gave them their first dose of Calmag, three days ago. Tomorrow is watering/feeding day, and I haven't decided what I'm giving them, yet. Probably some Protekt.

And just for the hell of it, I took a pic of a tiny preflower(calyx), and circled it, so that any new guys wanting to see examples, know what they're looking for, in their own grows.....

For easy comparison, I'm adding pics showing progress over the last 9-10 days....




The first two are from Sept 1-2, and the second two are from last night. They're growing well, and have nice internode lengths, but, I'm seriously thinking about moving up to a 600 MH, sometimes in the next couple months. The fluoros are working great, but just not fast enough for me.

Now, let's see what sort of jumbled array, these pics display as...lol

looking real good bro.

really nice node spacing!!!!


J

Thanks bro. Now, I'm sitting here dying to switch 'em to 12/12.lol Actually, I've been thinking about doing some version of SCROG with them, under HPS, with a light mover. Hmm....any input?

Okay, I've decided to incorporate foliar feeding, back into my grows, starting tonight. I just gave them a foliar feed, a mild mixture(approx 1/4 strength)of Calmag Plus, MG, and Protekt(silica), combined. After doing some reading on foliar feeding, I plan to use it til mid-flowering, and am expecting great results.

There'll be no more surprise deficiencies, for this guy.

That's the goal, anyway.lol

Also, I gave them all another dose of Calmag Plus, but I tried something new....they should've gone another day,(it's the beginning of day 4) before needing watered, but, since the soil was dry around the edges, that's where I'm concentrating the water/fert. I'm not worried about overwatering(good drainage), I'm trying to seduce the roots into spreading to those areas, faster than my normal method of watering(wait til dry, then water). We'll see.

Temp is currently 75*, and RH is 44%. Perfecto.lol

ALSO,....


I'm starting reconfiguring my bloom room, for a variation of LST, maybe even SCROG, depending on how you look at it. Anyway, I'm going to string wires about 20-24" above the rim of my pots, to limit canopy heigth. Any cola that reaches that heigth, will be trained so that it goes no higher. That'll keep my canopy as even as possible, and let me take full advantage on the lighting(a 400 and 600 HPS on a light mover). I'm not 100% sure how I'm going to have the lights setup, but am thinking a 3' x 6' area will work nice. I might go 4' x 5', still not sure about that. I also plan to upgrade to two 600's, but don't quite have the cash yet.

I also have two more 400 HPS lights, which I might add during the final 3-4 weeks. That should give 'em a nice boost, me thinks?lol

Stay tuned, they'll be going on 12/12, within the next couple days. I'm hoping this'll turn out really nice.....

Okay, NOW they're taking off like crazy. I really hate to seem like an 'attention whore',lol but damn, what a difference in only 3 days. I'm TOTALLY sold on the benefits of foliar feeding, after having started 6 days ago, and seeing these awesome results.


Anybody else thinking about foliar feeding?

I'll be throwing most of them(maybe all of 'em) on 12/12 tomorrow, after taking a few clones, especially off the best-looking phenotyes. The Rocklock is awfully stretchy, but I'll still take a few clones, just in case I like the results. The Crystal clones look a bit crazy,lol but are branching nicely, so I'll clone them too. I was going to eliminate the strain, but can't quite bring myself to do it, just yet.lol

8 days later....

Okay guys, here's where they're at right now. They've grown quite a bit, and filled out quite a bit. They're definitely ready for the flip to 12/12, and hadn't I got sick right after those last pics, they would've been, by now. Ah well, they're still under 18", which isn't too big, I guess. Anyway, I'm happy with all of them, except one phenotype of the Ice, which has been sorta weak-looking from the beginning,(pic #7) and is still looking sorta droopy, and smaller than the rest. Hmm.....

The Rocklock is the tallest one,(pics #6 and 10) somewhat stretchy, not not too bad 'cause it's also nice and branchy. It should turn out pretty well(I hope.lol). The two sativa-looking plants beside it,(pics #8 and 12) are the Crystal clones, which are kinda crazy looking. They always look to be on the edge of fert burn, with those dark green leaves, but have no burnt leaf tips, so I'm not worried. I love that strain, so it's going to stay.

Sorry guys, even though it's only been two days I couldn't help myself, I felt the *need*(stoned) to post more pics, being that they're looking so purty tonight.lol Actually, they look alot better(to me.lol) than they did 2 days ago, so wanted to snap some pics of their last day in veg. They are a hell of a lot more perky looking, since I foliar fed them a couple hours ago. I set the timer to 12/12 tonight, and will be moving them to the bloom room tomorrow.

So, let the flowering begin,.....

Also, since I don't know how to seperate the pics the way I want to, I'll do this in a couple posts. First, are just some pics of all 8 of 'em, just being happy plants....

This is an Ice plant that I trained by bending the main grow tip over, and I'm quite happy with the results. It really stimulated branching, and is noticeably bushier than my untouched plants. It looks like it'll have 5 nice colas, including the original main, which I wanted to keep....



Still no ferts, other than Calmag,( aboput every 4-5 days) and foliar feeding with weak mixture of MG, Calmag and Protekt.(about every 3 days) Temperature is currently 81* and humidity is at 45%.

Here's the results of my FIM, and it turned out okay. It has 4 main tops now, instead of one, which IMO, is a success.

I still don't care for FIMing. I don't like the way it damages the first new set of fan leaves. I prefer the results of "bending",(see above) much more. Anyway, not too bad. I'm certainly not bitching.lol

This is the Rocklock. It looks to have 5 or 6 mains, and be quite open branchy. Should make for good light penetration, as long the damn thing don't stretch out of my growroom. It's definitely going to need trained, in flowering. I'm told that it's not a huge yielding strain, but average, so I hope it does pretty decent.

Here's one of the Crystal clones I've had for about 7 or 8 runs. They both look a little rough, but not too bad, overall. I only took a pic of one, buty both basically look the same. Nice and sativa-looking. Yields great, too. Mmmm......lol

And finally, a couple of the nicest Ice plants(one isn't worthy.lol). I have to say, that I've definitely learned something this run. I skipped the 1 gallon pots, and went directly to 4 gallon pots, straight from the party cup, and man, did it ever help reduce stretching. I'll remember that one, from now on. It also saves me work, so it's a win-win.

Those are some very healthy looking plants, but you already knew that lol... Great job!!

^Thank you, kind sir, I'm quite happy with them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sort of attention-whoring, a little, but I think I've earned it. Both of my last two grows were almost total losses, about 30 plants, with nothing but a bunch of bubble hash, to show for months of hard work.(okay, semi-hard.lol) The first run hermie'd, and ruined everything. I eliminated one of the 3 strains, but, the next run got pollinated too. And to top it all off... my electricity got shut off for 5 days straight, 3 weeks before they were supposed to finish. That really fucked 'em up, causing the buds to stall, and never fill out. Wtf? Sheesh.


So,...yeah, I'm pretty proud of these gals, so far.lol It's the only good run I've had since last year, and I've done lots of reading since then. Honestly though, aside from the basics, I give alot of credit to foliar feeding. I'll admit, I haven't been growing long enough to have a solid feeding routine(still tweaking and adjusting)(fucking up, basically.lol) established yet, and the foliar feeding keeps the nute levels in check, as long as I don't overfeed them, with normal feeding.

They were moved into my bloom room, 2 days ago, so figured it was time to document the beginning. So far, no deficiences showing, although a few of the grow tips are a tad lighter than I'd like them to be. They'll get fed for the first time,(Dynagro Bloom) in 2-3 days, so that should help, I think. I'm going to foliar feed tomorrow, with 'high N fert, which should also help.

I hung a 'false wall' covered with mylar, to retain reflections, since I'm only using half the room. That way, I can easily remove it for access, and, to expand in 4-5 weeks, when I move the next generation in, and fill the other half of the room. It's currently 3' x 6'. with the light rail set to move only 10". It covers the area nicely, with barely any shady spots. I can't wait to see how the rail works out, as this will be my first real run with it. I'm getting about 5000 LSF in the center section, and about 3,000 LSF at the outer edges.

Temp currently 75* with air-cooling turned off. Humidity 51%.

Here's some pics of the babies. Cut them on the 25th, as I moved my plants into flowering. No mother plants. I never get anything off the lowest branches anyway, so use them for cloning. I don't really have room for mothers, so this works pretty good.


Also, I threw in some pics of the carbon filters, and a glimpse of the light rail. I'm running a 6" fan, with two 4" filters, so that I can have them spread out further than having just one. My room really isn't sealed, but I live alone, live by myself, so don't worry about it much. As long as it keep the odors/temps down, I'm satisfied. Last year, I didn't even have filters. My downstairs started to get a little stinky, eventually, so I figured I better do something about it, this time.lol We'll see how it works out, then upgrade, if necessary.