So one of my friends approached me a couple years ago and suggested I become a caregiver. I never gave it much thought, but after a weird few months, I've gotten all of my paperwork in order and decided to give it a shot! Now, this grow is not anything special, it's not LST or SCROG, even though I wanted to do both of those. The location of this grow has changed twice, stressing out the plants to no end. Finally though, I've gotten everything settled and my babies are soaking up the sunlight! Currently, my crop is 34 plants strong. Multiple different strains including Blue Dream, Headband, Medibud, Purple Brainwreck, Girl Scout Cookies, Larry's OG, Granddaddy Purple, White Widow, and Black Berry. I've got 2 1000w HPS and just added a 1000w MH for the last few weeks of flowering. Also because they were under 1 HPS and 1 MH before they were moved, and I didn't want to stress them any more than needed. The room temps are 76-82f during daylight, and 64-70f at night. Humidity ranges from 30 to 60, depending on when I've watered or misted. There is also a 6" 2200cfm exhaust fan helping cool off the lights. I've got 2 rotating fans for passive air movement. Nutrients were for the first 4 weeks X Nutrients, the last 4 are Fox Farms. Everything was lollipopped at the beginning of flowering. Today (the start of this thread) is day 32 of 60 on flowering. My soil is a mixture of FF Ocean Forest and multiple added organics. I nute them once a week at full strength with molasses, water them down a few days later with nothing added, and spray them weekly with neem oil to deter bugs. I was also spraying them with bloom spray, but this week was the last week for that. I wanted to wrap the grow in White/Black poly, but it would take 2 weeks to get, and isn't worth it with that small of a time frame in my opinion. I'm really new to this, I never really smoked and I took up this hobby because it was an interest, and I wanted to help out a friend. Really, I would just love for everyone to give their opinions on my grow. I was aiming for roughly 100oz out of the 34 plants. Things look amazing to me, I see no signs of spider mites or bugs at all. A bit of nute burn here and there, but I have Sledgehammer flush if it becomes an extreme problem. Any suggestions are EXTREMELY welcomed, as I have read countless threads on this forum just to learn myself. And now, here are the pictures! Entire Crop Headband Purple Brainwreck Larry's OG Granddaddy Purple Blue Dream Again, I understand I'm extremely new, and I openly welcome all of the tips, tricks, and hints you can throw at me for my grow. I've got a hair over 3 weeks left, and want my babies to be nothing but happy. Thank you for looking, I will keep everyone updated!
Went to nute them yesterday, noticed a few very fine webs on the bottom 6 inches of a couple plants. Looked at the bottom leaves of all the plants and found about a half dozen immature spider mites, and a half dozen mature red ones. Pruned a few leaves and stems off, sprayed every plant and 1 1/2 gallons of water mixed with 4tbps of neem oil. Sprayed them all once, checked for mites. Found a few live ones, sprayed them again. Checked after a half hour, find 2 lives ones. Sprayed them all again, same mixture and amount every time. Waited a half hour, found 1 live adult. Sprayed them all again. Tops, bottoms, undersides, stems, dirt. Looked again, didn't see anything alive. Tonight I will defolite about 35-50% of the leaves off of the plants (Only 3 weeks left to go), release 1000+ lady bugs (I hope the babies will be hatched and eating by the time of harvest, this is just a precaution), and will nute again. If I see any more alive bugs, I will scrub each remaining leaf with a mixture of soap and neem. As far as I can tell, it is a very small infestation and has not reached the upper 2/3rd of the plant, or any bud sites. Right now I'm not too concerned with getting rid of them FOREVER, just keeping them as low as possible until harvest. By then the lady bugs should be done mating and will be eating any remaining bugs and eggs, and the mites should not be a problem when I chop everything down and hang them upside down. IF I see any remaining live bugs a week before harvest, I will get SMC and spray them down a week before. I shouldn't have to hit any of the buds, because I have been neeming once/twice a week since they started flowering. I will take pictures tonight when everything is trimmed and treated. I was supposed to nute my plants yesterday, but I hit the room with so much neem spray that I wanted to give them a day to wake up and hopefully feel better. I will nute tonight instead. The room is kept at 60*f at night and 72-75*f during the day, with humidity anywhere from 30-65%. Last night it was 90% when I finished spraying, but my exhaust fan and air conditioner helps to get rid of all of the excess moisture, and I have not had any problems with mold. I'm pretty much doing everything I can right now to create a defensive environment for these fuckers, just enough to keep them down as low as possible in population and height on the plants, so I don't have to trash or chop the entire crop early. Anyone have any advice? I know spraying with neem this late is not the best option, but I had to do it and I'm comfortable that with the last 3-4 weeks of flowering left, I should still get a hefty amount of good smoke. OH. I also added a CD player to my room playing a U2 record on repeat, softly. Just so they don't get lonely and make friends with the pests