I considered something like that, along with a vertical bare bulb. Niether one floated my boat, and the 6" fan combo is on the brown truck somewhere in Dallas/Fort Worth, so that's that. It'll all be fine as soon as I get to the plywood for the tent top, and much of the extraneous crap ends up there, like fans, ballasts and maybe the air pump as well. It should ideally end up being a very clean setup when it's all in there. Pretty much decided to run both lights in the 2x4, since I have an F35 example in the small tent under LED only for comparison purposes. Handy tip! Don't vape uncured, unflushed weed. It'll work, but tastes fucking awful, mostly from the chlorophyll that isn't yet converted. I believe I'm starting to see some results in the clones I've been spraying! Really would like to have some feminized pollen to play with! I've wondered how long seeds take myself, and I think the consensus is about 3 weeks from pollenation to mature.
4-9-2014 -1 Ready to upgrade the 2x4 tent! Went and scored plywood tops for both tents, so I can use all of that exhilarating open space up on top! Woo hoo! Scoring plywood: New beans arrived to add to the genetic diversity of my future grows! Took advantage of a 2 4 1 deal, plus a freebie in there I've absolutely never heard of. Punky Lion or something. Have to look up the genetics. Okay. Looked up the genetics! This is a feminized, non-auto that goes for $12+ per bean. FWIW: \tOriginal Sensible Quick Overview of \tSamsara Seeds Punky Lion1 x Feminized Cannabis Seed Also available in packs of 3, 5 & 10 Sex : Feminized Seed Type : Indica Flowering : Photoperiod Genetics : Matanuska Tundra x Chronic Flowering Time : Medium Outdoor Harvest : September Height : Medium THC Level : Characteristics : A dark plant that spreads all around a sublime candy fragrance
4-9-2014 - 2 Hit a snag! The fan was incorrectly assembled. No fucking way this thing was ever QC'd at the factory. At least Amazon is pretty good about returns. So, the replacement will be here Friday. The rotor inside was so off-center I never even bothered to plug it in, but just repacked it. In the meantime, I raised the HID and installed the wing reflectors and threw the plywood and ballast up on top of the tent. The lights are about 24" above the plant tops, and it's 82 degrees right there. I could probably get by with that for a grow, but I prefer the 70's, especially for when I go to DWC, since I'd rather the buckets had a better ambient temp to work with. So that's another example of two steps forward and one back. Otherwise, all is remarkably well! All the plants look excellent, and even the reluctant coco WW is finally showing very tiny flower starts. Haven't relocated it to the 2x4 yet. After I successfully finish all the other shit, I probably will. So everybody got full nutes today to hold them until Friday. Random pics: So the status is: All plants well, 32" tent looking very full, 2x4 tent still in an unfinished state, but both lights cooking. Very, very bright in there! Hell, when I turn off the LED, it's difficult to even tell. I'm loving this. Cannot wait to get all this harvested and get the rotation going! It's going to be excellent.
4-11-2014 Due to just general screwing up all around, my new fan/filter set isn't going to be here until after the weekend most likely. Meh. The 4" has things at a max of 88 with a more usual 82-84 with the AC on. I'm going to let that run until the new stuff gets here. I see an increase in plant growth rate already since I added the MIH, and so far I don't see an ill effects. I'll dial the HPS down to 75% if things get any warmer. Otherwise, nothing much at all new. I did install a bug/carbon filter over the 6" duct intake, so THAT'S new. So essentially still in limbo. I picked up some big bottles of nutes while I was at the hydro store yesterday. Sticking with the GH Flora Series as base nutes, since I've had good luck with it so far. Cannot wait to lose the coco and begin the DWC growing.
4-11-2014 - 2 Dialed the HPS back to 50% until I can swap out the fans. Rocking about 78 degrees set like that. F35-1 was showing a little light stress, so it will go into the 32" tent when the 6" gets here.
4-13-2014 Some concern the last couple of days about the F35-B, which is the one that's furthest along in flowering. It's been at it for 5 weeks or so. Still no cloudy trichs, and the upper leaves are clawing, and it's just not drinking any liquids that I can tell. So yesterday, I pulled the buckets and put all three girls on the floor. I flushed the "B" girl with plain water @ 6.1 ph, and dialed the HPS down to 50%, The leaves don't seem as dry and brittle as last night, but I'll give her a couple more days to see how she adjusts to the increased distance from the lights. IDK, this may just be part of her natural finishing cycle. Otherwise, she's as dank and sticky a plant as you could ask for. The buds are really filling in, and not rock hard yet, but more solid than they were under CFL for sure. Once the "B" recovers or at least seems to recover, I'm going to try "Tipping" a few of the buds for comparison purposes. This is a pro grower trick where they clip the top 1/8-1/4" off the tip of the buds. This supposedly makes the plant think that that particular bud has hit an obstacle like a leaf, and start bulking up. I'll tag the ones I try it out on. The Freedom 35 strain allegedly finishes in 35 days, so this is partly why I'm scratching my head about this one. Technically, it should be hanging up to dry by now, but no doubt the conditions weren't optimal. On the F35-1, some of the larger fan leaves were fading to pale green, a sign of too much light. Also, I've been bending some of them down out of the way to let a bit more light in the lower areas, so that might be the reason for some of that. She's beginning to express some dankness in the buds. The F35-V is just sitting there happy as a clam, and is getting some of that distinctive F35 dankness, more so than the "1". So that's the update, FWIW. The 2x4 tent: The 32" tent:
4-14-2014 Still a bit perplexed by the F35-B. Not drinking still, but not showing any stress either. Other than turning off the HID, I'm flat out of ideas. Trichs are still clear, and the buds are filling in nicely, but I have the feeling that what I'm seeing is the B getting toward the end of life bidness, and when she does decide to start turning those trichs, it's going to be a very fast process once it begins. The plants right next to her are completely different. The F35-V drinks like a fish. The -1 isn't far behind in liquid consumption. Go figure. F35-B: F35-V: F35-1: The coco Widow is finally acting as if she wants to grow, and is stretching - Mostly on one side because she's a runt and probably not getting the light she wants, since she's the shortest plant I have. When I get that 6" fan sorted out, I'll swap her for one of the 35's. The -1 I think. Both the 35's in the 2x4 are flowering nicely, so I'm a little reluctant to move any of them to the other tent. Everyone in the 32" tent is doing their thing. F35-2: Coco Widow: Coco Blackberry: (Apparently forgot! Girl in back right corner of tent) Hydro Widows: Hydro Blackberry: Beginning to suspect that BB clone I had going that dropped a mess of pollen in my cloning armoire pollenated everything in there. Still not seeing a gender flip, and some of those clones have been getting sprayed for 3 weeks plus. Very annoying. I may end up with a bunch of random regular seeds. That much will be interesting if I'm right. Crap, all of the cuttings in there have some bud going, but I don't see and seeds starting yet, just no male characteristics.
4-15-2014 Checked the F35-B out today, and she seems to be drinking again. The pot's lighter, and the top clawing leaves are still clawing, but they're not as dry and brittle feeling as they were. Thought I saw a huge cluster of amber trichs(!), but it was only a cluster of them catching one of the orange LED's just right. I examined the entire plant under magnification. I could see where I applied pollen, and I examined even inside a few of the buds to the caylx. The plant is fine. Not going to do that "Tipping" technique until I see cloudy trichs starting up in earnest. I want to try and catch that like 7-10 days before harvest. Still not convinced about colloidal silver. However, I ordered a 500ppm half gallon of it, which I can dilute to whatever ppm I chose. I've see suggested ppm's to use as low as 30ppm, and have been using 50ppm. Been through 8oz already, with no results, and I've been soaking the snot outta them. Checked those clones closely as well, but no signs of pollination. F35 in flower 6 weeks:
Did you read any guides on how to do it? IIRC I think it's something like start spraying a week before flip and then flip em an keep spraying on the same spot. Around week 3 the nuts are supposed to show Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Yeah, several of 'em. They have a variety of time frames and ppm suggestions. I have one I'm pretty sure is flipping, and one I think is going to. I looked them over again, and didn't see a speck of pollen on any of them. Regardless, I'm not tripping about it too much. I'm still more concerned about the 35B not drinking as much as the others. I should have that 6" fan & filter installed Thursday. That will get the temps down in the 2x4, and hopefully let her finish properly, with maybe more than 200 watts of HPS.
4-16-2014 The 6" fan/filter combo dropped with a thud. This is a pretty honking big setup relatively speaking. Runs smooth, and later on after it gets dark I'll take it outside and stick the fan on top to blow out any dust. Shake and repeat a few times until all the loose crap is blown out. Then I'll reverse the fan and make sure it's sucked any loose dust out that way as well. Then one more time the other way, and I'll slide the pre-filter sleeve on and hook things up. I'll be blowing into the fan. I think this could really suck in the sides of the 2x4 tent, even with forced inlet air.. I did grab one of the controllers and connected the fan. Not quite the range of variance I was expecting, and any start setting lower that 2/3 or 3/4 and it's really straining to get up to speed. Once the flywheel effect kicks in, it's okay. Full tilt and this sucker really puts out. Will update more later.
4-16-2014 - 2 Well fuck a duck. So I take the new filter outside to blow it out. When I tried to nest the fan into the filter, guess what? This fucker doesn't nest - from either end of the fan! W.T.F? I'm real unhappy, and I expect this set is going back. I sent the seller an email, but if they drag their feet, I'll just go through the Amazon defective product routine. Actually, the way I plan on using it, it's NBD to throw a foot of flex duct between them. Better, really. It's just that if I wanted the option of using it vertically in the future, I'm stuck with this setup.
4-17-2014 Went and thinned a lot of leaves off the girls yesterday afternoon. Mostly just the larger fan leaves, many of which were getting pretty yellow after I bent them down out of the way. I'll grab a few of those tiny, low lying flowers off later. That should be the last trim, except for a little detailing.. Still haven't decided what to do with that fan/filter combo that doesn't nest. I think I might just say fuck it and get it in place. I really don't want to go through another delivery cycle trying to get it sorted out. The filter is actually pretty good. Hardly blew any dust out when I put a piece of duct between the elements. Also, the ends are installed with screws, making it much easier to recharge it. I'm going to try and get them to send me a replacement flange I can just screw on. We even have speciality places in Dallas that will recharge filters reasonably. Sure, I could live with the 80 degrees or so in the tent, but I'd like it lower. Random pics of the haircuts: Miscellaneous micro shots: (Note: This bud was accidentally trimmed, and I was handling and smelling the shit out of it for quite a while before I decided to hook up the USB microscope. That's why it looks so abused)
4-20-2014 Happy 420!! After MUCH fucking about, I have that 6" fan installed. Not very happy with the results, either. Using the 6" as an exhaust fan, it just pulls too much air, and REALLY sucks in the sides of the tent. I've made up my mind I'll never use tents again once I relocate. So... I tried it the other way around, using the 4" for exhaust, and the 6" for intake. This sort of works, but fuck me it blows up that tent like a marshmallow even at half speed. If I keep the RPM throttled down, it gets noisy. I'm not pulling filtered air in, which might slow the airflow intake down a little. Maybe I'll try that later after all the plants are harvested. I may relocate the setup in the apartment, and try for a better configuration. I read somewhere that you need 2x the intake versus output for proper ventilation. Gotta be a better way. Generally, everyone's flowering, and all the 35's are knee-buckling dank! That one little sucker bud I accidentally trimmed off the V I did the macro pics of dried out, and I chunked a bit of the flowers in the bong before going to the movies yesterday afternoon. Holy shit!.Amazing taste, and a very cerebal buzz! Went to see "Transendence" while it was still in effect. I took the DaVinci along with some regular skunk loaded up, but never needed to pull it out, since I was pretty well set through the entire movie. I kind of take back some of what I said about the Freedom 35 strain. This is some seriously potent shit, if you don't mind smallish, indica-heavy plants. The best part is that none of the trichs on that bud were even beginning to get cloudy! So, after I run to the store for a couple of electrical things, I'm going to hook the gas up to the small tent, Kick it on for 15 minutes when the lights come on in the morning, and run that tent without fans for a couple of hours. I'll give 'em a week or so of that, or maybe until the tank runs out, whichever comes first. Everyone in the small tent is flowering nicely. I flushed everyone yesterday just for GP, and will go with light 1/2 strength nutes today. Almost time to back off the 35B feeding. Still no trichome shift, but I feel it's going to happen very soon and very quickly. After that little sample yeaterday, I'm really looking for that weed that gives me that one-hit, dick-in-the-dirt buzz. Really think that 35 weed will be awesome cured out. Shame there'll be relatively little of it. I wasn't thrilled with the results I was getting initially with that DaVinci vaproizer, but after meticulous research, I finally got it figured out. This is a pretty good portable vaporizer! I've dropped it several times, caught the charging wire with my foot and sent it flying, etc. Runs great. I don't know how well that company's Ascent vape works, but if it's as good as the DaVinci, I'd buy one if I was looking for a portable vape. Loking forward to having some cured, med grade weed to make into oil or wax I can run through it.
4-21-2014 Yesterday I finished screwig around with the fans. With all the duct and BOTH fans inside the tent, it's a Korean Klusterfuck in there. Almost embarrassed to post pics. Only consolation is that I've seen much worse.Temps in the upper 70's with the HPS @50%. Dunno yet what higher power will do to the temps. I think the plants would just freak if I dumped the full HPS on them. Regardless, they're going to have to live with mid-70's to 80 in there and oh fucking well if they don't like it. There's nothing I can do in this apartment to get it any cooler in there. The 35's in the big tent are showing a lot of fading leaves. Last night they got some 1/2 strength nutes and full strength supplements like cal-mag. I plucked all the little useless buds on the lower stems Still not seeing a trichome shift in anything. What is interesting in that one pheno the pistil are more greensh that white, but do turn red just like any other strain. This is probably common, but I haven't seen this before now. Gas is set up for 1250ppm in the 32" tent. The controller has a 15 minute operating window when the LED comes on, for 2 hours of no exhaust. Lotsa nice buds on the plants in there. Surprisingly, the BB's and WW's aren't nearly as dank yet as the F35's, which are wood-inducing. So after 10 weeks in, I'm getting optimistic! The plants are alive and flowering, one is getting close to harvest, and three more right behind it. No idea on the BB's and WW's. Still haven't moved the coco WW to the 2x4 since it started stretching and is competing now for light. Regardless, I'll be very happy when I can clear out the small tent and get a DWC bucket going. Dunno what strain of bean I'll start. Probably something I have a lot of, like Aurora Indica, since this is the first go with the buckets, and I kind of like indicas anyhow, being a former chronic, real-deal hashish smoker in my expat days. Seeing some strange formations on the clones, so I think the silver has finally taken hold. The 64oz bottle of 500ppm which <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);">I ordered arrived, and I can dilute down with distilled water to something less potent for future spraying. Rest assured, if you spray what you're trying to feminize properly, you'll use every bit of 2 ounces of CS to get results - per plant. I think next time around I'll spray just one branch of a plant early on, since I don't think the clones are going to unass much pollen. I used 50ppm CS on the clones.</span></span> And that's the way it is to date. Nothing else in the pipeline. The 35's in the 2x4 are atarting to droop on the lower branches from the bud weight, and they do feel very solid. Trying not to handle them excessively. Random pics:
4-23-2014 - Update Slow day, horticulturally speaking. Watered everyone after giving them an extra dry day yesterday. Hit 'em with plain water that's been standing in buckets for a few days. Only added S.O.S., silica, cal-mag, carboload, humics, and some liquid Koolbloom. Trying the HPS at 75% (300w) I think I'm beginning to see a small shift in trichs in the F35-2 in the 2x4 tent. Everyone else is clear as a bell. The 35's are sooooo dank smelling! The coco White Widow has a very floral scent mixed in with less in your face sourness. The Blackberries are still ho-hum smelling, but flowering nicely. No co2 effects visible yet. Did notice that the 35-2 is getting a funny color, and that along with the different color trichs make me think that's telling me it's going to get purple. Random pics Had to stake her since the cola was pulling her over: So I ordered this as a gift for a friend of mine, but I'm coveting it pretty good at the moment! This is MUCH stealhier than the DaVinci - I could literally cover the entire thing with my hand, and it would only look like I was wrapped up in the drama when I took it along to the movies! He's gonna need to assure me he'll use it before I send it. ] Cool bar code! Fuck.... might just send him a ham.
4-24-2014 I decided to do a little communing with the girls, and do a good update. Seeing nanners on some of the clones. The F35-1 &2 will give pollen, as well as at least one each of the Widows and Blackberries. Still spraying the shit out of ‘em. Thought I saw a little yellow nanner poking its nose out on the F35B. I tried to grab it with tweezers, but it turned out to be a tiny yellow leaf (I think). Went and plucked out that entire set of calyx to be sure. I was stunned at how hard and dense those individual buds are! Oy vey! Thoroughly examined all the plants after that. Since I'm discussing the 35-B, the main cola on her is beginning to get respectable, as she's beginning to bulk up. In the pics here you can see the sagging branches. I spent some time tying them up, as well as a bit on the other two in the 2x4. Got the HPS at full tilt, which gets me at 82 degrees amongst the plants. I think when I have my next fit of ambition this weekend, I'm gonna pull that 4†fan/filter set from the 32†and install it on the 2x4. I'm curious to see if I can strike a better balance with matched fans and filters. The F35-V is now under the HPS, and the 35-2 under the LED side of the tent. Running the HPS @ 400w really overwhelms the LED! Back in the 32†tent and I did a bit of trimming in there, and did a dank check on everyone. Somehow, seemingly overnight, the hydro BB took on the most AMAZING aroma! Reminds me of double mint gum for some reason, plus other smells I can't quite put my finger on yet. They need to develop more. Can't wait to see how that one turns out! The coco version is getting there, but is behind the hydro. The Widows all have that floral bias, but are still developing. The 35-1 has got the kushy dank coming on. Decided to hang on to that MFLB and just order another one. Geez... such a paraphinalia whore! Nute porn: