T5 Closet/Soil Grow with 4 Strains

I am starting another grow, and thought I'd keep track of it in a journal. Figured this would be fun...and would help make the time go by quicker.

I am doing a closet grow of 4 plants. I ordered the seeds from Attitude (recommended, as I received my seeds in 10 days here in the States. I chose the stealth shipping and got a mug along with my order. And two free feminized seeds). The strains I am growing are:

-Blueberry
-Orange Bud
-Mazar
-LA Woman

All my seeds are feminized. I figure since I am only growing 4 plants at a time, it is not worth ending up with 3 or 4 males. That would suck. My 8 feminized seeds (have another blueberry, orange bud, and mazar...as well as a sweet haze) cost me a total of $110.

My lighting is a 4' x 8-bulb HO T5 fluorescent. I've used this light before, and for veging it is really amazing. For flowering, it is good. But with all 8 bulbs, it puts out about 40K lumens...and I change the bulbs out depending on the stage (warm or cool). I paid $125 for it on CL. As for electricity usage...even though it is 400w, my bill only goes up about $30/month when I am flowering with it.

I am growing in 3.5 gallon square pots...and using FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil with all the FoxFarm liquid plant foods (Big Bloom, Grow Big, and Tiger Bloom). For those looking to learn how to use liquid nutes, here is a FoxFarm's website for feeding schedules;

http://www.foxfarmfertilizer.com/soilfeed.pdf

Tells you everything you need to know.

Today is Day 1. I germ'ed my seeds this past weekend, and just put them into their pots. I need to get some mylar to line the closet. But since it is still dark until the seeds poke their heads out of the soil, no hurry right now.

I would post some pics. But GC seems to be really slow right now, and is lagging when I try and include attachments. I'll load some later. Not really much to see yet.

I want to use this journal as a way to ask questions, and possibly answer any. This is my second grow. The first one was bagseed. Was able to get 6 z's from 3 plants.

I am going to try and posts updates about every 3-4 days...and post my pics with the plants labelled, and from the same angle and distance for each shot. This should make it easy to compare/contrast the growth between posts.

Peace.

 

I actually have a second 4-bulb T5 that I am tempted to do exactly that. Use the 4-bulb one for veg'ing, and the 8-bulb one for flowering.

Have you noticed that flowering takes just a little longer with T5's?

Anyway...here are some pics of my little seeds poking through. Here is the first one. This is the Mazar strain. None of the other plants have poked their heads up.

I buried the already germ'ed seeds about 0.5" under some moist soil two days ago. Already showing signs of life.

Here is a question, though...when should I start the 18/6 light cycle? I don't want to burn out these cute little cotyledon (I believe that is what they are called). But want them to "grow towards the light"...

Anyone know the right time for light?

 

Here are some updated pics of my little bean sprouts. I was tempted to pull them up and toss them in with a salad this afternoon...but was able to restrain myself.

The LA Woman just poked her head through the soil...as she germ'ed a little later than the others. But it looks like I am on the way to growing all 4 strains. This being my first non-badseed grow, I am quite happy to be growing -real- strains. The results shall speak for themselves.

I have the lights on 18/6 right now...but am keeping the fluorescent a good 10 inches away until these little guys get a little more sturdy. I don't want to fry them...

Here are some updated pics...

 

Still in the pre-veg phase. Just wanted to update some pics.

Not many problems to report. One of the little ladies is leaning a bit, but she'll straighten up as she grows.

No nutes yet. Just watered a few times. They seem happy so far.

 

All the plants are looking good. They are starting to show their 3rd set of leaves, and it is interesting to see the small differences in each of the strains...and how each of those will express themselves over time.

Been watering every 3rd day, and started them all on FoxFarm's Grow Big. Next watering I'll start them on FoxFarm's Big Bloom. So far, I've only need about 0.5 gals to water all 4 plants. I figure I'll alternate them. One watering they will get the Big Bloom, the next Grow Big...rinse/repeat.

Here are some pics.

 

I seem to be watering about every 3 days. Alternating Big Bloom (2tbsp/gal) and Grow Big (2tsp/gal) with each watering. It is amazing how much my plants like this stuff. After each watering they just jump in size. They are just getting big enough that the roots are reaching a good portion of their containers, and I am not too worried about excess water pooling and getting nasty...all pots are draining nicely.

Just starting to get secondary branches on the lower nodes. They are showing up much earlier than in my previous grow. As a matter of fact, these plants are growing a bit faster than my previous batch. My bagseed grow was with really old, completely unknown seeds. A couple of them hermie'd and small parts of my previous grow were un-intentionally allowed to come to seed. Not gonna happen this time...

Here are some pics. Not much else to report.

 

Time for another update.

Watered today with some Big Bloom (2 tbsp/gal).

The plants are getting nice and bushy...really filling out. I'm going to be topping them before the next update. I want to top right after the 4th or 5th node...and almost there.

As far as interesting stuff going on...not much. But as you can see, the LA Woman and Mazar are really short and bushy, and the Blueberry and Orange Bud are getting rather tall. I'm a little worried that they are all going to have a different height in their canopy...but that isn't anything a few bricks can't fix.

Oh...the LA Woman actually got the tips of her leaves burned (can see in pic). They crisped a little when they got too close to the lights (kinda weird, since she is the shortest...Go figure).

 

I topped the two tallest plants this morning. Cutting the main stem just above the 4th/5th node on each.

I decided to hold off topping the other two, as they are so short and bushy. May not need to, actually. My goal this grow is to get more bud growth on non-main colas. With my last grow, 80% of all my bud came from the main colas of each plant. While that was really cool looking, I think distributing the bud growth should give me more yield.

 

Another update.

I topped the plants on Friday (two days ago), and the ones I have topped have all grown an inch or two. I did not top the LA Woman, as she is already seriously short and bushy...and is having a hard time even keeping up with the other three strains.

Watered today. 0.25 gals/plant with 2tsp/gal of Grow Big added.

The Blueberry and Orange Bud are the two tallest ones. I'm going to have to keep topping them to keep their height down. One of my goals on this grow is to keep all the bud growing area with 15"-18" of the lights...this means I want to keep my plants below 2.5' tall. On my last grow, some of the plants were over 3' tall...and this was not conducive for growing with fluoro's. A lot of the bud sites were just weak and small.

I have taken to using bricks to bring the Mazar and LA Woman closer to the lights. I tried having the lights on a slant, but this was causing the Orange Bud to lean just a bit.

Here are some pics.

 

Sorry for not making any new posts. I was on a trip that got extended...and had a friend taking care of my plants for me. She was unable to make any posts.

But...I am now home again, and the plants have gotten wild. The Blueberry has just gone crazy...and the LA Woman and Mazar are staying short and stubby.

I switched them over to 12/12 (flowering) on Wednesday (3/10). I am already seeing little nubs where the flowers are showing up.

The smell from these plants is amazing. 100% better than the smell my previous grow. The last grow smelled ok, but not this good. And these ladies are not even into flowering yet. They are going to be potent.

Now...here is a question for anyone who read this. Two of my plants are getting WAY too tall. I was gone on my trip for longer than expected, and it looks like they just took off. I do not want them growing much taller. What can I do to limit their height when I am already into flowering? Take a look at the pics and let me know.

The topping worked out well. On the three plants, all their top stems are all close to the same level...there is no one main cola going really high. But I am afraid the blueberry is getting stretched out.

Let me know what you all think...

 

I read through your journal...and you are right, good call. I have the lumber to make the frame, etc...and am going to make it height adjustable. What did you use for the wire, and any ideas for spacing, etc?

Couple questions...

1. I may have to move my plants before they are done (one weekend...parents may come visit). Is this going to make it considerably harder to move?

2. I'm guessing the way you scrog is just...any tall part of the plant you bend over and let run along the wire until all colas are the same height...and then let everything grow through. Is that about close?

I'm going to need to find something more stable for the 2 small plants to reach the screen...they are literally not growing more than 12" tall. But SCROG'ing looks like it will solve the problem of those two that are just going for height.

Thanks!

(I may keep posting questions).

 

I have built a frame...suggestion for material to use to build the lattace? I tried twine...but it is just too much a pain in the butt to tighten, and i doubt it would be good for the plant.

Much appreciated.

 

So...I made SCROG screen this weekend (used 18 guage wire, seemed to work best...in case anyone else is looking to make one).

And...it didn't go so well. I think the lesson I learned was that if you are gonna SCROG, you need to let the plants veg up into the screen and train them as they are growing. Trying to get the screen low enough, yet not damage the plants, proved too difficult after the fact. The main stem on my largest plant broke (luckily it stayed connected, and is making a full recovery...this may be a blessing in disguise, at it will slow the growth of this plant/cola down for a week or two). And I just could not get the other stems to inter-twine in the screen.

Next grow I will SCROG. But gonna have to just stick to selective pruning this time around.

Here is another lesson I am learning. Don't grow too many strains at the same time. Mine vary in height and density. It seems my Blueberry and Orange Bud would be great for SCROG'ing, as they are tall, with long stems. The Mazar and LA Woman are short (very short) and bushy...barely a foot tall...and it would not work well with. Also, having to constantly move around the shorter/bushier plants to make sure they get light is not fun.

So...ya. SCROG'ing would have been a good idea. But I think I waited just a little too long to start.

 

So...my brother is coming through town. Can't let him know I have the plants, so am going to have to hide them. Going to put them in the back of my closet behind clothes and sheets (lightly covered).

They are 1 week into flowering...and are just starting to show their sex (2 females, 2 can't tell yet). But this also means they are starting to put off a nice little scent. There is a whiff of orange-blueberry in it, too. Smells wonderful.

But hopefully they won't spend more than the typical 12-hours in darkness tonight. Not even sure if he is coming here or not...but getting prepared.

Ugh.