2nd Grow: Girl Scout Cookies

Hello there and thanks for reading!
I'm doing this grow journal for myself, but you are welcome to read along...

This is my 2nd grow using my indoor tent. The tent is a 2x4x5. I will be using a newly purchased 24" T5, 4-bulb fixture, to grow vegetative for about 3 weeks. Then switching to a 600W HPS for flowering.

This will be a soil grow. I'm using "Vital Earth" potting soil, and will be using the BioThrive nutrients. For the vegetative grow I'll be using "Grow" (4-3-3), and after switching to the HPS I'll slowly switch to "Bloom" (2-4-4). The soil has a trace amount to start (.37 -.31 -.31) so the nutrient regime will probly start after a week or so. The hydro store I got my soil from also threw me a bag of MYKOS. Some sort of beneficial fungus that makes the root system explode. I'll be using that during the initial planting as directed.

As i stated, this grow is the second round. The first was successful and very informative. I did 6 plants, flower only for 68 days, and yielded just under 4 ounces. I'm hoping that this time I will be able to get 3-4 ounces per plant! I have cut the number of plants to 3, and have added the "veg" cycle. Last time the plants had almost no roots in the 2 gallon pots used to grow them in. That was probly the biggest lesson learned! More roots will mean more plant, and more plant will equal more buds! At least that is the hope.

I'm doing 3 clones, all the same strain: Girl Scout Cookies.
The buzz on these plants is that they will produce a very nice bud. I'm still learning here, so smoke-able is good! The last crop works, but has a rough taste. This crop will get better attention to the details. And the next one will be INsaNE! LOL...

Here are some starting pictures. I have the tent up and running, all 3 clones are still in the cubes. I picked them up last night. The tent held a temp of 73-75 all night last night, without the heater turning on once! I was concerned with what the T5 would NOT put out regarding heat. The HPS was HOT, but this T5 is perfect! Currently running 2-6" fans, just to move air. As things get going I have plenty of fans to move air as needed.

Today I'll be potting them into 2 gallon pots.

Again thanks for reading! More to come!

Ok, life has officially begun today, January 6th.
Got all three girls planted in their new homes.

I first fill the pots with the dirt, then saturate and mix by hand untill the soil is wet. Then I fill the pots the rest of the way with dry dirt and hand mix again. This, once done, left the dirt to within about an inch of the pot rim.

Then the pots came into the kitchen for planting. I scooped about a fist worth of dirt from the center of each pot. Sprinkled each hole with the MYKOS, as well as each rooted clone. Then I place the plant into the hole and loosely fill in around the plant, and cover each root cube completely, with the removed soil. Then just a gentle pat down to clean up the surface, and Wa-Laa! Babies ready to grow.

I placed them in the tent and lowered the light to about 5 inches from the leaf tops. They should not need water for about a week due to the heavy/wet prep of the soil. I'll just keep an eye.

Here are more working shots...

Mmm girl scouts haha
Dude why the f is that soil so wet. My babies would die

Mmm girl scouts haha
Dude why the f is that soil so wet. My babies would die

I hope they don't die.
The last crop lived just fine.
A lot drains off in the first few hours. The resulting soil is a bit more packed as a result. I heard that some people plant in dry soil and water. I guess whatever works, right...?

This looks pretty good to me. I like your method man

And your set up is pretty nice. I'm a fan of clean, organized operations. It's like an art form for me

Sent from my iPhone using GC Forum

Edited by RastaReformed, 06 January 2013 - 10:18 PM.

Day three, and all is well.

No one has died.
Plants are getting a footing in their new homes.
The temp in the tent seems to hold around 72ish give or take a few degree's.
It's been pretty chilly here, so once it heats up outside those temps will climb a bit.

Everything is looking good!

OK, 5 days in and so far soo good.

Only 1 plant has suffered, and that was from the heater.
When the thermostat fires the heater on it runs the entire tent up to about 85-90 degrees before shutting off. At least that is the "Max" temp it's recording. Otherwise it sits right about 71-73.
One plant was a bit to close to the line of fire, or "heat wave".
I have relocated, and re-directed the heater to keep this from happening again! The plant only suffered some leaf curl on a few leaves, I'm hopeful that i caught it in time to recover! I also move the plants a bit to allow for a bit more space.

I think that I will water a little today when the lights come on. I'm starting my BioThrive "grow" nutrients from the start. I'll have to watch for run through on the pots, this first watering after the potting is tricky to time. I don't want to saturate things! But I don't want to let things get too dry either.

Things are going well!
All plants seems to be growing nicely, even the heat burned one.
I can see nice little shoots forming from all the expected places.
I added water yesterday, but it was very little, half gallon between the three. It resulted in a small pool under each pot after about 5 minutes. Water is good!
I'll probably raise the light an inch or two in a couple days. I don't see too much "stretching". I can see the big leaves reaching, so i'll let them get as close as possible before moving the light.


Here are some pic's..
(the bent wire in the pot represents the plant height a few days ago. it's hard to tell when looking at them daily.)

Got some "fun" stuff done today...
Labeled the plants with little home-made ID's.
Then took some pic's of each plant...

A:

This is the one that got burned from the heater. It has recovered nicely. Looks the only victim was the one big fan leaf. Some of the other tips look a bit curled, but just fine. As you can see from the pictures. Nice fresh growth coming along.







B:

This plant has been sitting in the prime light. Right in the center of the T5 bulb. It probly catching most light compared to the other two. It has a nice solid, tight growth pattern. Not much stretching.







C:

This one is the "runt". It sits on the end of the light farthest from the heater. While it's not getting burned, it might be a bit cooler over there. The growth does look a bit weaker, but nothing to worry about, they're only a week old since potting. I'll keep an eye on it. I did apply a little training wire to lean it over the center of the pot.








So things are rolling along.
Any input is appreciated! I certainly learned a lot during the last grow with all the help from the GC members!
I don't see any problems coming. I'm ready to add fans as needed, I've got a De-humidifier if that issue rises. I'm ready to lift the light as needed.
Hopefully my first "Veg" cycle goes well.

I do have one question...

How long will the (4) 24" T5's be sufficient?

I'm thinking up till the plants get about a foot tall? 2 feet? I understand it's not the best at throwing light distances, or reflecting. Mostly a "directly-under-the-bulb" for best effectiveness. As you can see from my arrangement of the pots that space will be limited soon. As i write I realize I need to get a drain pan to hold all 3 pots in a straight line! Lose the red plastic plates untill later for flowering! What a genius! I'm already looking for my MacGyver solution! Thanks GC! You struck without knowing!

Time for an update!

Almost 2 weeks in now, and everything is going amazingly!
Already raised the lights twice, trying to maintain about 2-3 inches between the plants and the fixture. Raising the light when they get about an inch from the bulb.
The plants are sucking up about 1/3 gallon of water every 3-4 days. The waterings are getting a bit heavier as the plants are getting bigger.
The only leaf I've plucked is the burned fan leaf from A. Everything else has been left to flourish!
Going to switch positions with A and C.
Since C is looking like the runt, and i feel it all about location, it could be an easy remedy... Rotate the two spots.
The plants smell amazing! Not really a heavy dope smell, but a really nice growing herb smell!
I've decided that they are going to be allowed to grow "wild" for about 2 feet. Then I'm going to top and train the plants to bush out, trying to hold them to about 3 feet.
At the current growth rate, that should only take another week or two.
Once topped and tied, I'll slowly switch the lights to 12/12 by 1/2 hour a day. That will give me 12 days of recovery from topping.
The slow light cycle switch will hopefully allow the plants to finish out their veg on a more natural cycle, and give the plant time to heal and adjust to the training.

Here are some pic's from this morning...

Group shot showing the over-all space. As you can see the light is slightly adjusted to one side. But the plants are looking beautiful!



Plant A:
This one sits on the left. It is doing nicely. This one had burned, as you can see a little burn on some leafs. It has recovered very well! I also added a little pull wire to help it lean towards the center of the pot.









Plant B:
This one is doing best in my opinion. Very nice tight growth, even canopy. Very stout stalk. Not much to say here...









Plant C:
This one is the runt. Sort of stretching a bit, not the tight growth like B. Needed to be pulled over to center of the pot with a little training. Growing nicely though!










Over all very nice results so far!
Any thoughts???

Lookin good is my thought.!!! I seen you had a question about topping in another thread?

These are the plants in question.
They are growing nicely. It's just as clones they don't have the typical Y formation to top at.
Any thoughts on my plans so far?

You can still top I always top everything lol I love a good bush

Just cut right above on of the nodes an the side shoots will all fight to be the new top then top the highest one a week later

I decided to LST the plant a bit now.
Hopefully get it trained to do what I want.

Just since yeterday it has grown up into the light.
I installed several hooks to hold down the lower branches, and raised the light.
Any branch that had developed above the second node was held down.
I'll try to hold down all branches in this method to expose and spread the plant.
The parts hooked have already grown "Up"...

Enjoy the pic's...

A few LST pics...

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Oooo they look to be growing quickly !!!! Awesome !!

Topped all three last night.
Woke up this morning and all had a nice heal, and are continuing to grow like a weed!
That's why I topped them earlier than planned. They are growing very quick!
I want the bottoms to mature, but don't want to get so tall that the bottom starts to stretch.
I'll let the new tops grow, get at least a few branch nodes, then top them.
I'm considering topping all the branches too, but not sure of the effectiveness of that method, considering I'm not going to be vegging for much longer (maybe 2-3 weeks).
However plans seem to change daily... I am a stoner...

Had a bit of time this morning...
Built a stand for a bigger fan, held a couple feet up.
The head swivels and the cover oscillates to chop up the direction.
Big improvement that will help later in flower time too!

Took some pic's...

Here's the new fan stand:



Plant A:

Still doing well, a little thin, but going nicely!
Some of the bottom branches that aren't getting heavier will get cut during the next top.
Most branches are growing well!
The topping has healed nicely and the sprouts are climbing!









Plant B:

Doing very well!
Nice branches forming, only a few stragglers.
I'll continue to LST all the branches as you can see.









Plant C:

Another nicely growing specimen.
Branches are forming similarly to A and B.
New growth is strong!
Will follow similar rules with regards to the branches on the next topping.









Here are a few group shots.








All 3 plants are doing great in my opinion.
Growth is similar across the board. I'm hoping the branch growth continues to be strong and stay horizontal as trained!
The flagged wire is to demonstrate the 2ft. goal for flowering. Once they hit this point I'll start the lights towards 12/12. Slowly by 1/2 hour a day, this will take 12 days to gain the 6 hours. Then at day 6, I'll switch out the light to the HPS and flowering will begin!

Wow !!!they look super healthy nice job on the top

Thanks!

I'm thinking that the new "tops" need to get about 6 inches before being topped.
But I'm begginning to get worried about space come flowering time.
6 more inches will get me to the 24" mark.
Then maybe another 6-12 inches during finish and flower.
That takes them to roughly 36" in flower inside a 5' tent.
The 600 HPS will need about 12", and the pots are 7" full of dirt.
Looks like some serious training may come into play towards the end.
I may be able to train the tops to lay over, but it is going to make lower light difficult.
I'm trying to train the branches to NOT grow over each other, leaving some exposure to the lower branches.
Bending the tops might hide the light...
I'll deal with that later when the plants are too big!
LOL there's a thought, the plants are too big!

One joint at a time!