Slightly disappointed in bud size... should I be?

This is my first grow and Wednesday, Jan 4th will make 12 weeks from seed sprout(6 weeks flower). I have been using RO water with Botanicare PBP bloom, Cal-Mag plus, and Liquid Karma, along with four drops of Dyna-Gro Liquid Grow every other week during flowering. I have a small fan blowing and a small warm mist humidifier going. The room can get fairly chilly and I think that definitely may be a factor in slow growth with this strain. This is a very small hydro grow with one plant of unknown bag seed and the res is only about a gallon and a quarter. Ph is fine but I don't have a ppm meter so I can't give that info.I am using CFLs... the 2700k bulbs(one 55w, three 26w, and one 23w) plus two 6500k 27w bulbs.

The plant is healthy enough and buds are growing, but it's been a fairly slow rate for the past two weeks. I'm know buds are supposed to get bigger the final two weeks, but I'm starting to wonder if the buds on my cola are ever going to get a significant swell. I've got all the lights as close as possible, I'm talking within four inches of most of the best bud sites. How can I tweak my formulas or which type/brand of additive would you recommend? Can anyone identify my plant type/strain and what would work best with it? How much longer does it look like I should let it continue to grow before starting flush?

That''s the problem alot of people get when using cfl's is the lack of weight. When using Cfls i'd commit to a much longer flowering period to add more weight. I would go maybe 10 weeks.

Next grow you might think about using HID lighting because it provides more robust flowering.

Balzac89 said:

That''s the problem alot of people get when using cfl's is the lack of weight. When using Cfls i'd commit to a much longer flowering period to add more weight. I would go maybe 10 weeks.

Next grow you might think about using HID lighting because it provides more robust flowering.

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I was already planing on going for at least three more weeks anyway. This will sadly be my only grow so I didn't want to invest in ballast lighting systems, exhaust systems, expensive meters, etc. My 5 year old is already too curious about what is going on in that room and my wife is not exactly thrilled with my "experiment" in the house so this will probably be it for a while. It has gone pretty much drama free and I have only spent about $60 total so far. If I were to grow again,the next grow would be nearly free except for maybe a couple stronger CFLs.

Anyone with some thoughts and answers to my questions? What does this plant look like it could be? Btw, trichs don't show in the pics but they are there.

Looks like a sativa leaning hybrid to me. Flowering could easily last another 6 weeks. Your plant looks really nice though.

thegoodeye said:

I was already planing on going for at least three more weeks anyway. This will sadly be my only grow so I didn't want to invest in ballast lighting systems, exhaust systems, expensive meters, etc. My 5 year old is already too curious about what is going on in that room and my wife is not exactly thrilled with my "experiment" in the house so this will probably be it for a while. It has gone pretty much drama free and I have only spent about $60 total so far. If I were to grow again,the next grow would be nearly free except for maybe a couple stronger CFLs.

Anyone with some thoughts and answers to my questions? What does this plant look like it could be? Btw, trichs don't show in the pics but they are there.

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i dunno if i could tell you the strain, im not solid at identifying them.. but regarding your lighting, maybe you should look into a small scrog space?

screen of greens utilize the light given a lot more efficiently then standard grows(whether you'd get that much better of results using the same lighting im not too sure), but even if you shelled out some money for a lower wattage HPS light, say a 150 or something a bit higher, that way it's much more intensity across your whole canopy, you get more lumens per watt and the canopy is evenly spread so the footprint of the light is always shining on as much of the plant as physically possible.. using a smaller hps you might still need ventilation, but definitely not a shit load of it.

as for this grow, just give her some extra time, you only got about 160 watts of cfl on that plant, plus the cold temps you mentioned

Dont fret. Keep growing a healthy plant and the buds will get a little bigger. You didnt really expect to grow hippo dick sized colas with CFL's, did you?

Have some rep for growing and keeping it simple

she looks very nice and healthy btw.. patience is a virtue

wheelt01 said:

Looks like a sativa leaning hybrid to me. Flowering could easily last another 6 weeks. Your plant looks really nice though.

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Ok, I really hope it is sativa dominant. I was thinking indica because I thought the leaves were generally more broad on this plant and sativa is supposed to pretty thin-leaved. I just looked and it looks like I am finally starting to see some red hairs on that cola top as well as some of the lower buds. I barely saw any very early this morning.

ZeeBuds said:

i dunno if i could tell you the strain, im not solid at identifying them.. but regarding your lighting, maybe you should look into a small scrog space?

screen of greens utilize the light given a lot more efficiently then standard grows(whether you'd get that much better of results using the same lighting im not too sure), but even if you shelled out some money for a lower wattage HPS light, say a 150 or something a bit higher, that way it's much more intensity across your whole canopy, you get more lumens per watt and the canopy is evenly spread so the footprint of the light is always shining on as much of the plant as physically possible.. using a smaller hps you might still need ventilation, but definitely not a shit load of it.

as for this grow, just give her some extra time, you only got about 160 watts of cfl on that plant, plus the cold temps you mentioned

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If I ever get it cranking again in the future I would probably go that route.

HID= Heavy Incredible Dank CFL = Crippled Fluffy Lame

Cfl just requires the knowledge and the strain to make it work. Look up gastanker's grows, he has done some amazing cfl work.

In this case I would say the plants might not have been entirely ready for flowering when you flipped her. This can add a few weeks during the transition. When you flowered how long did it take to show bud sites and sex(if it wasn't already showing).

I would put my money on another 4 weeks, it should fatten the most in the last half.

Well, I'm finally done with this first ever grow. All that's left is drying and curing. Some say that CFLs are a waste of time. I used just the relatively small wattage worth of CFLs mentioned in the first post and came out with this yield from one plant. This was a slightly staggered harvest(second and final chopping four days later) so there are a few stalks, including the cola, that you might be able to tell have been drying for a few days as opposed to the greener ones that I just cut down and hung. This is some great bud... I have already tested. It smells like lemon pinesol mixed with a slight citrus/fruity scent. Oh so frosty with trichs that just gleam and shine like diamond dust buried deep throughout the buds. I am satisfied enough with what I have gotten from this one small plant which was only about 28 inches in height, so CFLs were definitely a good choice for me in this particular grow. I showed the dry box I built. It's a very simple design that lets air enter through the 5 inch port in the back(a small fan blows at the port from a distance) and I crack the front open as an exhaust. It works great if you don't want to buy and install a computer type(cfm?) fan. How much does it look like I will end up in dry weight after 8 days of drying?

Looking at that, I would guess around 30-35 grams. Not bad for one plant! 8 days is a bit long to dry IMO, I'd do 5 days and then jar them

you would have done much better if you would have let them go the proper length of time. the pics you posted 2 weeks ago seemed to have at least 4+ weeks left if not more.. hopefully you can learn and make next time better. over all they looked nice though.
i would guess around 15-20 grams dry weight of buds alone.

im going to take a guess at 34.7

For your first shit congrats man, a hid would for shure juice it up a bit but at least you got a harvest!

You guys are funny! He will be lucky to pull a half out of that dried!

Nice of you to get his hopes up though I guess....