You could say I'm "overfeeding" it I guess. These girls seem to take well to heavier doses so I've been hitting them with the A+B @ 20ml/gal as opposed to the normal dose of 15ml/gal. I go as low as 8-10ml/gal for certain strains depending on how they react to nutrient levels based upon past experience. The heavy pruning is probably the least stressful thing that happens to my plants during a given cycle. In this case, I would direct you to these two photos as an idea of what being so heavy-handed can lead to... I wouldn't dream of being so rough with some strains, as some just don't regenerate and "heal" as well or as fast as others. However, interestingly enough...as these continue to flower and I post photos from each successive week you'll notice that almost invariably, the branches that received the worst treatment will produce the most bud. Not exactly. I'm actually not making a decisive statement one way or the other in that regard, that's just the way I grow. When I first started growing (been close to a decade or so by now I reckon) I was extremely gentle with my plants, almost to the point of being "afraid" of them, or at least the idea of hurting them. I still don't reach in there and crush the flowers as they're blooming or purposefully break off branches, but I also don't baby the plants because I've seen how well they take care of themselves. As I mentioned, certain strains and strain families do not take as well to a particularly rough-and-tumble method of growing and need to be treated more delicately (not so much speaking in terms of physical handling but nutrients and the like). However, to make a very general statement, 9 out of 10 strains that you are likely to come across from the major seedbanks are poly-hybrids that have been back-, forward-, out-, and in-crossed from here to the moon anyways, so chances are the little mistakes will fix themselves, sometimes much faster then you might think in fact. I've trimmed large fans up to the day I harvested in some cases. Strain-dependent again to some extent, but as a general rule, I only trim leaves that I feel are not necessary or beneficial to the plant. Since I'm dealing with a 400w HPS, I'm lacking in the light penetration department, even in these close quarters. As is such, maintaining a well trimmed "side-canopy" is of much greater importance than with a normal horizontal grow style. By mini bud sites I assume you mean the thin side branches that are typically made into clones, right? There are a lot of things you can do to a plant, intentionally and otherwise, that might stress it in some way. My rule is simply to never stress the plant in more than one way at any given time. I wouldn't take clones from a plant on the same day that I transplanted it, for example. This one I would have difficulty explaining with only text, so give me a few and I'll dig up a diagram of the difference in light footprint between a vertical and horizontal light position. Not a problem dude, thanks for taking an interest. edit- Here's a good link on an excellent growing forum that will explain far better than I could hope to why I switched to vertical and never looked back: Benefits of Vertical Growing - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums There are definitely some vertical-specific issues that can crop up, but with the proper research and the ability to troubleshoot you can pretty seamlessly transition from horizontal to vertical. Also, I would say that nearly all of the issues you might encounter in vertical growing are nothing you wouldn't see with a regular light setup.
Nice thread on vertical growing! Makes complete sense and I'll give it a try next time. By stressing your plants, I guess your inducing them to grow the main stalks back stronger. Maybe with more cell tissue to carry more nutrients hence better buds. idk, just guessing.
Well, I think that's probably true, at least from what I've observed from supercropping...pinch and twist a branch, splint it (if necessary), and leave it be...a week or so later it will be healed with a big knot-like growth up to 3 or 4 times as wide as the stem itself in its place. So if that is an indication of what you stated, I think that's a reasonable conclusion to draw. I think it also bears mentioning that when I defoliate, I can logically deduce that since fan leaves are essentially the stored energy sources for the plant, removing many or most of them will basically turn your plant into a revolving door of nutrient uptake and distribution... in a sense. By trimming the majority of fan leaves, you are reducing the nutrient uptake of the plant as a whole, but the reason for this is because you trimmed the leaves in the first place. To my mind, there will still be an identical ratio of uptake to the concentration of nutrients you are adding, because the trimming of the leaves precludes the need for additional nutrients and the plants (appear to) adjust quite easily. I've drawn this extremely loosely-framed conclusion based upon experience that extends across several strains...from the extremes of the two major species and a whole lot of 'em in between as well. FYI, I'm well aware that the above is probably a jumbled mess of stoned rambling. This is all layman's conjecture here, people. I have no clue if this is accurate in any way, shape, or form, and I'm merely commenting from the peanut gallery based on my past experiences. All that said...thanks for posting man
here they are @ day 28, 4 week mark...almost to the halfway mark... not too shabby considering how little time I've spent on them the last week...the "other girl" aka the wifey has been taking up a good bit... haha
Thoughts @ the start of week #5... 1.) I over-vegged the shit out of these without really intending to. I feel like I will very quickly reach the point of diminishing returns once these fill in a bit more. Some of these branches are bigger in circumference than a Sharpie, a bit unnecessary for this rinky-dink little 400w. 2.) Digging this strain so far. Takes everything I throw at it...good bad and the ugly...and fucking laughs about it. Great "torture chamber" genetics for a test run like this for sure. Stretch was very manageable and I have the feeling that if I were to run these again (which may end up happening), if I got on the training a bit earlier these would have an ideal structure for a small bulb vert, or the 800w vert that this will be after I chop these ladies down. throwing another 400w in the second these come down, a CMH from Advanced Tech...(Phillips brand if I recall)...then I get to figure out how I'm going to frame that shower out to comfortably and securely accommodate an additional 4-3 gal pots full of coco. 3.) Still smelling nothing but fresh watermelons...quite a nice scent, actually. Interesting, as I've never come across anything quite this distinctly melon-esque at any point up until now, and I've worked pretty extensively with the strains in this cross. Definitely had some similar smells from the NL#5 (my favorite was the minty pheno I had for a long time, reminded me a lot of the smell my favorite H.O.G. pheno had), but nothing quite this strong in one category. Haven't really smelled any skunky funk peaking through yet either, nor have I caught a whiff of the extremely strong coffee odor and flavor from the male in the cross. Would be curious to know what the other phenos were like when this one in particular was selected, bet it was quite an interesting array. 4.) I think I'm still on track for an avg. of 100-150g per plant, and my total goal for yield is still at least 1/4lb avg. per plant, so looking for 12 ounces total. Going to push at least 2 of the 3 as late as I can to compare yields (and quality, of course) but I believe I may chop one of these down right around 8 weeks, depending on how it's looking...need a slightly early cut for my own head, can't be getting melted into my couch, too much to do. More to come soon... more photos at week 5
Thanks for checking it out brotha...much love for my blue ridge homies keep up the good work yourself...
Will be taking some photos at the end of week 5 tonight when the lights come on...humidity has been pretty steadily at 60-65% this last week or so and it's only going to get worse, so I'm clearly going to need to throw a dehuey in there... time to go dig my old one out. Guess I wasn't really thinking about the implications of growing in a shower in regards to RH. Oh well, still early enough that it won't be an issue, and despite the high humidity these ladies are absurdly greasy and absolutely covered in trichs. In the meantime, here are a couple of close-ups from day 28 that I forgot to post.....
General notes at day 35... 1.) Lockout (or rather, salt buildup) issues continue to loom. I have been a bit negligent these last few days once again and the girls are starting to pay for it. They're still pumping out calyxes and resin but I think it's clear from the bright purple stems and curling leaves that I need to be a lot more careful about making sure the coco stays plenty well soaked. Also may be seeing the start of a nitrogen issue as the bud-to-calyx ratio and appearance of the colas seems to have changed considerably overnight (reminds me of ECSD, may be visible in one of the pics, very dark, glossy, curled-down leaves), and I'm pretty sure that isn't the genetics, although I will check with my buddy tomorrow to be sure. 2.) Humidity has gone from average of 65% in the last week to 37% and holding as of right now. Gonna try my best to knock it down another 10% in the next couple of days with an additional dehuey or some skillful repositioning (or both). 3.) Temps remaining steady at 63-66 degrees lights off, 74-76 degrees lights on. Haven't had any more gnarly bud-bulb-burning action recently, so other than the damage I have already caused, we're looking good in all other regards. 4.) More to come later, the girl is giving me death stares from the couch and I think it's time to get off of the computer. Oh, and the pics are kinda out of order once again, sorry folks. Until next time...
Just posting random photos here...up earlier than I should be and the girl's still asleep, so enjoying my quiet time what a difference a week or so can make...same plant at day 12, day 19, day 28, and day 35 respectively:
Oh, and one more small victory...RH was holding at around 65% up until last night, threw the dehuey in there, and now it has held steady at 20% on the dot overnight. Very happy to see that
Gorgeous plants! Curious. Why are you trying to lower humidity. If you already said I missed it or forgot. Thanks.
These are almost halfway done flowering and the RH is only going to get higher the bigger the flowers get. I was running a very real risk of budrot and/or mold with my RH at 65-70% these last few days. After a week or so of that there's usually no going back, especially with a strain that has very dense flowers as this one appears to have. Given the fact that I'm growing in a naturally humid environment, and I have not sealed off any of the obvious sources of humidity in the area (i.e. the drain on the floor of the shower and the like), I need to be very careful to ensure that humidity remains at a favorable level. Plus, lower humidity will increase trichome production by a noticeable margin...to my understanding, this is a biological measure taken by the plant to prevent it from drying out too much, although I can't really say for sure as I have only a layman's understanding of plant biology. perhaps somebody with a degree (or just more knowledge, lol) can chime in here? overall, though, my main concern is preventing mold and the other issues that come with high RH. The flip side is that in lowering my humidity so much, I will now have to be extra careful about ensuring that I properly soak the medium, and will likely need to water every day rather than every other day as I have been doing these last few weeks. Dry coco = salts leeching = very unhappy plants real quick. This IS a torture chamber, but I'm not trying to kill these broads Thanks for posting man
Best sounding theories I've heard for the presence of trichomes are (1) to ward off bugs, and (2) to attract humans. That's an interesting idea about warding off dryness, but I'm a lil skeptical of that. I think you'd first see leaf margin rolling or other leaf changes from the plant closing the stomata. Then the leaves would wilt. I'd guess that as long as you don't see these changes in the leaves, that the lower humidity isn't a problem. Maybe there is a tiny window where the humidity isn't so low that the vapor pressure deficit causes leaf changes, but it's low enough that the plant ramps up the trichs. When are you checking humidity levels, though, JD? I keep a data logger running so I can see how humidity (and temp and CO2) change over time, and at least in my cabinet there is a big daily drop in RH with lights on and big rise with lights off. Also there is pretty much variation from the top of the soil to the top of the canopy to elsewhere in the room. So if you're monitoring it periodically just make sure you are comparing readings at the same time and place.... cool pix! I love that time lapse sequence.
Yeah the humidity sounds a bit low, a good fan is the best cure for keeping mold and budrot away IMO. Oh, and from my understanding, what will increase trichome production the most is uv light, the trichomes development is to protect the seed/flower from UV light damage, kinda like sunblock for plants.
Makes even more sense...thanks for the additional perspective on that one. I keep the hygrometer right at "plant level" (i.e. pretty much right in the middle of the vertical canopy) and check anywhere from 5-6 times per day. Once it's a bit more dialed in I will basically only check once a day, maybe twice. If I had a spare hygro laying around I'd put one or two more around the space just out of curiosity, but I'm mostly concerned with the canopy area staying at the correct humidity, so I'll K.I.S.S. it for now. Not really any such thing as humidity that is too low when flowering man, at least not in my experience. I've sampled buds grown in literally 0% humidity that were some of the most impressive I've ever seen. I always aim for mid 20's as a general rule, and I'll be real happy if I can keep it to 20% for the rest of the grow. I've had successful harvests without any bud rot/mold at up to 50-60% RH for the bulk of the flowering phase, but I generally don't like to push my luck.
Here are some similar "time lapse" photo sequences of the other two girls from days 12/19/28/35...interesting to see the development, no? taking photos on a weekly basis has always helped me with training and just in general as well...good to have another "perspective" other than just your own two eyes to identify problem areas and the like.