So I've been growing this now for a month from seed, and I finally decided to start a journal. I was gonna hold off because it's my first time, but I figured if I have problems and then fix 'em (or don't) then it may help others who read this. I'm working on a budget here, so the the supplies I'm using are rather limited, but it seems to be working out for me, although next crop I think I'm going to get some "real" lights and better nutes My supplies are as follows: 2 Himalayan Kush (from seed) 2 Bubblicious (from seed) 12 18 watt 6500k CFL 12 23 watt 2700k CFL 18 gal tupperware DWC Tetra Whisper 10-30 gallon air pump 12" air stone 4" intake fan 9" exhaust fan 3'x3' closet I started the seeds germinating in a paper towel in between two plates in a cupboard. in two days, all four sprouted and were tranferred to rockwool cubes in a covered seedling tray and put under the 6500k lights for 24/0 shit I gotta get to work! more later today!
After 2-3 days, a sprout had popped out and had two leaves on it. I then transferred the rockwool cubes into 3.25" net pots (one each pot) with hydroton concealing the rockwool, and then into the 18 gallon tupperware with the airstone in the bottom hooked up to the air pump. the water level was just high enough to wet the rockwool, so there was about a6 gallons in the res. no nutes, just distilled pH'd water. After a few more days, the first "true" leaves grew out, and the plants grew a few inches. In the following week, more leaves continued to sprout, forming four pairs of leaves, without them seeming to grow much taller. This is when I added nutrients. There are people who will tell you not to add any for three weeks, or two weeks and so on, but I found a few sources that recommend adding nutes as soon as true leaves show, so I figured I was safe. I used dyna-gro and added enough until the res was at a little over 200ppm, as I did not want to burn them. I checked the pH and ppm every morning, afternoon and night (I can be a bit obsessive, but better safe than sorry), keeping it consistently between 5.8-6.2. When I noticed the level of ppm going down faster than the water, I knew it was time to up the nutes. I added until reaching around 400ppm, and kept watch on it from there. The plants seem to be hungrier than they are thirsty, and the ppm continually dropped. It was up to 800ppm when I decided to switch to flowering. I can be a bit anxious and impatient, and I read and researched when I should and how big my plants should be at this age. Many people said flower at a foot tall, but my plants seemed to be bushier and shorter than most people's at that age, which I attributed to a shared res/container. I pumped all the grow water out and refilled with a 1040ppm solution of 15 gallons of distilled pH'd water, using the Big Bud powder. Also, I switched the 12 lights to the 23 watt 2700k CFLs and put them on a 12/12 timer, 11am-11pm light, 11pm-11am dark. It is currently day three of flowering and I am eagerly awaiting signs of sex so I can cut out the males if necessary and get on with my grow. Fingers crossed for ladies!
I think your plants look good, my only advise is to try to get the light bulbs closer to the plants. Maybe you adjusted things for the pics so sorry if that's the case. I keep my bulbs about 2-3 inches at most and I have the 55w CFL's so heat shouldn't be a problem for you if you lower them a little, or raise the plant container a little. Anyways I'll subscribe and keep checking in with you.
Day five of flowering: Plants are starting to stretch a bit. Checked ppm and it was at 990, so I added a bit to bring it up to around 1100. still no sign of sex. have read that indicas show sex sooner, and males (on average) will show around 5-7 days. I know, I know...PATIENCE! but I'm taking it as a good sign getting paid this week, so I'm going to get some more socket doublers to up my bulb count from 12 to 20. That'll help not only in the aspect of upping the output wattage, but the bulb will be forked instead of pointed right at the plants, which will get more actual light to them
Hey looking good man. Your only issue I see is using foil as your reflective material. In the MJ Horticulture Bible it describes something I see in your grow- "aluminum foil is one of the worst possible reflective surfaces. The foil always crinkles up and reflects light in the wrong directions-actually wasting light." If you have about $10-20 more to spend and a Home Depot near you, they carry light weight insulation called "REFLECTIX small project rolls" that work perfectly for grow ops. It comes in various sized rolls, is super easy to cut/form to your needs and it reflects 97% of any radiant energy to strike its surface. I had foil for the first two weeks until I read that part in the book, then i bought a car windshield shade to use instead but it wouldn't cooperate with me because of the accordion folds in it. Once i got my hands on the Reflectix I was in heaven, it cuts easy and there was plenty enough in a single $10 roll to create reflection surface all the way around the plant and on top of the lights. Check it out - I'll try to include pics showing more of the Reflectix in my grow journal so you can see if you like it in action. Keep up the good work!
thanks for the advice, J. I started this on a pretty tight budget, but I just got paid today, so I'm about to go get some more supplies that I've been wanting, that included. I figured foil wasn't the best idea, but it was better than nothing. So I got home from work a little while ago and found what looks to be the start of balls on one of my plants. I'm hoping it's just an early shower and it ends up being a girl, but one out of four being a male is still not bad, plus It's the runt of the litter. None of the other three are showing anything, balls or hairs, so I'm going to pick up a magnifier while I'm out today so I can keep a closer eye on them. I'll post a pic of it in a little while in case anyone can identify, though I'm pretty sure it's still a little too early to be 100%
Day 15 of flowering: TWO GIRLS!! I have two girls! I'm such a proud pappy, I was hootin and hollerin when i saw those pistils, I'm so happy right now. The two that showed first are substantially taller than the two that haven't, and from what I hear and read, males show first, so that leaves me very optimistic and hopeful for the other two.
Upon further inspection, I have found that there are THREE females! just waiting on a sign from the fourth on whether to love or kill!
Day 17: It's all done and official now! Four out of four plants ended up female! I don't know what I did right, but I couldn't be happier right now. everyday more pistils come in and the tops just keep getting bigger. Stoked for the buds to form!
I decided that I ought to give a try at cloning, so I followed Rumpleforeskin's cloning bucket instructions almost exactly, except I only need 6 sites, and not such an elaborate spray system: http://forum.grasscity.com/do-yourself/444974-lets-build-clone-machine-*step-step*.html I cut 3 off of each and labeled them. my plan for these, if they all turn out well, is to start 2 of each as my next generation, and mother the remaining two, one of each strain.
I wish i was more experienced with cuttings and cloning, I really would like to do that with mine but I'm a little too nervous about just exactly what to do. You seem to be doing good with yours and you are much more ambitious than myself, let me know how the clones do and some more of the results. thanks.
Bro, from the bottom of my heart - You've got it sorted. You're really keen and have a great attitude. I've just started my own Himalayan Kush grow. 5 seeds, all 5 sprouted and theyre about a week old. Great work on the cloning, too. I may have the funds to make my own, but I'm not sure if I want to keep growing HK. Got them for free , by a grear guy. In about 3 weeks I'm planting them outside, and growing 2 Autp Haze's in my indoor grow garden . I'll be watching your thread!
Day 21: Before going to bed last night, I went to check on my girls, and man am I fucking glad I did! One of my light fixtures came loose and fell down one one of my plants! Needless to say, I was terrified. I picked it up and fixed it, but the damage was done. A bunch of leaves were wilted and one of the main stalks was almost burned all the way through. I rigged it back up with a twist tie and a toothpick, and I'm hoping that she recovers, with the results being the same as if I were to supercrop/pinch. I swear I almost cried
Day 22: Wounded girl is doing okay I guess. I still have the splint applied, but the shriveled section hasn't seemed to have filled out much, if any at all. However, the rest of the way up isn't shriveling or dying any, so at least nothing more seems to be coming of it. Hope for the best, I guess. I try to take pictures regularly in there, but it gets so damn bright I can hardly see the display on my camera. I have the lights set up to surround the plants as efficiently and useful as possible in the current situation. Every day I go in there and rearrange the lights and Y sockets so that the right light goes where needed. It seems that for the most part, they've stopped, or at least slowed, growing vertically, so it looks like this is the way the lights are going to be for a while. Which is great, because readjusting that shit is a pain in my ass! More and more bud sites keep growing and growing. Every time I look at them, it seems like they're doing so much better. I was able to snap a few pictures, but there is a lot of light everywhere and some of them blurred, but I'll post what I can The first one is my bigger Bubblicious, which I used for clones, and the second is the top bud of the tallest branch of my bigger Himalayan Kush which I also used for clones...and I'm glad I did- this bitch is tall and wide! I can't wait to see what she'll yield
Day 24: Wounded girl was doing much worse (wilting) so I clipped above the affected area and put it in my cloner. She's not looking very good altogether, so I'm considering chopping her and turning her into hash, maybe iso-hash, if she doesn't cheer up within the next few days. It makes me kinda sad to lose her to such a shitty accident, but at least that way more energy can go into the other three, plus the room is getting a bit crowded, so if I cut her down, they'll have a bit more room and I can rearrange a bit. Other than the problem with that one, they're doing great, and I topped off the water and nutes today. I just hope she can recover, and that not too much energy goes into her wounded stalk
Yo Lars, congrats, things are looking good on your grow (Sorry about the accident but im sure if you cut it below the break she would recover some). Keep us posted. Peace