Hi there, folks. I'm kind of new here, but like the site. Anyhow, I figured it might be fun to post a Maine Medical grow I have going on. Maine has finally gotten thier shite together with Medical Marijuana. I am now a State Registered Caregiver for 2 MMJ Patients. Its taken alot of time and money to get here, but now I am legally able to grow up to 6 plants per patient, so I get a total of 12 plants - in my flowering room. A "PLANT" is defined as a "flowering female", so my clones, mothers, and plants in Veg dont count. This is where I am at right now. I have 2 varieties - one is a 6 Week strain,(flowering), which produces some very nice, tight, crystally nugs. I got this strain several years ago from a friend who grows, and it is a wonderful starin. My second strain is a Northern Lights, which also produces very mice bud, although it is an 8 week strain. I have a mother plant for each strain. With these mothers, I am able to clone as needed to keep my supply of plants going. I have around 8? plants in Veg right now, and have been for several weeks. They are under a 400W Metal Halide "Blue" bulb. (Darn 125 bucks just for the bulb). I am able, in this manner, to take 2 plants each week and put them in my flowering area, which is a small room in my house. My flowering area has a "table" (low, on milk crates, with rubber to send waste water/food to bucket) in it, and the girls are under a brand new 1,000W HPS. They are in ?4 gallon pots, in Canna Terra Pro (purple bag) soil - what wonderful stuff!, mixed with about 25% large perlite. In veg, they are getting the whole Canna Terra nutrient line - Canna Vega, Rhizotonic, Cannazym. Every couple of feedings they get a good, solid dose of a wonderful organic compost tea, which I make and consists of Water - well water, I have great water, luckily! Compost -great stuff - homemade Earthworm castings Molasses - (blackstrap unsulphured) Mychorrizal bacteria, soluble - I will get back to you on the brand Just a little bit of Neptunes Harvest Fish and Seaweed I throw this nice smelly mess into a ten gallon bucket, fill it 3/4 of the way with water, stir the crap out of it, and drop in a fishtank airpump and airstone to aerate it. This makes all kinds of wonderful beneficial bacteria multiply and thrive in this mix, plus there is a small amount of nutes from the castings and fish/seaweed, etc., but my compost tea is a page in itself. The bottom line is I think it does two things - 1. flush out any salts from the ferilizer 2. add all those tiny beneficial bacteria to my soil - it is so important to be Healthy below the surface, not just above! Anyhow, in two weeks timeafter transplant from party cup to 4 gallon pots, using the method described, and also the Rhizotonic is great stuff, my plants have FILLED the 4 gallon pots with millions of roots, right up to the surface! Very happy with this method. So, right now I have 4 plants in the flowering room, and am at the point where I am able to put 2 new ones in every 7-10 days. This will allow me to perpetually harvest - basically the 'Sea of Green" method. When I get to the 6 plant mark, which may be next weekend, I am going to set up a second 1,000W HPS, so that there is a nice big light over 6 plants each. With the great nutrients I am feeding, and multiple 1,000's in my flowering room, my 2 patients should be VERY happy patients!*lol* I am gonna post some pics soon - hopefully this weekend if I can get my shite together. Maybe we can all have some fun together watching these girls grow and thrive. By the way - Grasscity folks, nice to meetcha!
Nice plan. The perpetual system spreads the work out so you don't have to trim the whole room at once, plus in medical growing you probably have a possession limit that limits what you can have at any one time. Is there any restriction in Maine on the size of the plant in bud?
Briar Patch, good morning. No there isnt a size limit on the plants - but we are only supposed to have 2.5 OZ or less at any given time, thus the "2 plants" thing I am going for. I suppose I can harvest one plant one day, distribute it, and then harvest the next one. Not to that point yet, but will be interesting to see. So, I'm making up a batch of my Aerated Compost Tea right now - will brew for 24-48 hours. Took a pic of my ingredients and batch - the only item not shown is a few really big handfulls of really nice compost - homemade. One quick thing to remember with aerated compost teas, people - it needs to smell good, and earthy. (mine smells just a bit like the fish + seaweed, but thats ok, too.) If it smells bad - dont use it! It needs to be aerated properly for the beneficial microbes/bacteria to survive, and thrive. If it goes stagnant, it will become Anaerobolic, which means that it contains alcohol - no good. Also, dont try and save it - use it right away. Non-aerated is no good, will go stagnant, and thus anaerobolic. Heres a really nifty piece of info - after you make your tea, strain it and foliar feed your VEGETATIVE plants with it. This Aerated Compost Tea will NATURALLY make your plants disease and bug resistant! Really cool stuff. Heres a couple of pics of my tea setup. It aint fancy, but I dont think you need it fancy! By the way, does anyone know how to take pictures of plants under a HPS light? Those lines drive me crazy! Anyone know how to do this?
So, I set up my cloning box today! It is a roughly 2'X2'.5' long, just a little bit longer than a couple of "shop" flourescent lights - its all I ever really need. It is made out of 24 guage galvanized steel - nice and shiny and reflective inside - (we have a great sheet metal fabricator at work, who is partial to the cause.)*lol* Anyhow, I take my cuttings off of my mother,cut off the 2 bottom nodes,give the bottom inch and a half a gentle scrape with my razor, and coat the lower stems in a good rooting gel, I'll get back to u on the brand. Then I use the same soil, Canna Terra Pro, with some perlite,(I get my party cups ready first, with the medium, make a hole with a scissor or pencil or something so my gel doesn't come off when I insert the stem), moisten them well, spray the whole inside of my clone cabinet w/ water for humidity, and shut the door. Keep moist for a week or ten days, and voila! Roots aplenty! I have about a hundred percent success rate using this method. The best advice I can give is: 1. Warmth. Around 78 to 85 degrees. They don't like cool, and will take a darn month to root without the warmth. 2. High humidity. Gotta be humid in there to work with my method. That's it - gotta run. Will post some pics of the cabinet tomorrow. Gonna take first clones this weekend, too. Peace, friends. Jerry
Good morning. The brand of cloning gel I use is Clonex. Just an FYI. I used to use Olivias, and they both work well, but my gro shop guy talked me into using the Clonex. He says it has more goodness in it. Anyhow, thats what I'm using, have been for around 6 months and I get good results with it. I will be taking 3 or 4 clones this morning. My mothers are still kind of small, but I think I can take the 3-4 and with it under the 400 MH, it should fill right in to be able to take more soon. Getting back to you all on the bulbs I am using - I am using "Hortilux EYE Blue Daylight 400W Metal Halide" for veg. It seems to be doing pretty well - I'm not sure If I should have just gone with a 1,000 MH - Its just alot of juice/power to be running...I think that when I have my cycle honed in to where I need it, and only have 4 or 6 at a time under the 400 I'll be ok - any thoughts on this? OK, back to question from yesterday - anyone have experience with taking pics while running the 1,000 HPS? I hate the black lines that run thru the pictures when the light is an HPS, and not sure how to take pics without it on? Any help here regarding taking pics is appreciated. Peace.
Real quick - my 1,000W HPS is the Hortilux EYE Enhanced Spectrum Super HPS. Just wanted to throw that in there. Peace.
Good morning ya potheads Just wanted to post a couple of pictures of the new cloning box and a couple of pics of the Vegetative plants. Keep in mind that ther veg plants are in a couple of different stages as i am trying to put two new ones into my flower room every week... Thats the plan, anyhow. I think it'll work. I do still need some help taking pictures under the 1,000W HPS, though...cant get past those dark lines going thru my pictures! As always, I am ALWAYS open to suggestions and methods. I have been growing indoors and out for around 17 or 18 years, but will NEVER claim to know it all and LOVE comments and/or suggestions to better my abilities. I believe that many of us are comfortable with our own methods, and we know what works for each of us, but at the same time, at least for me, THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. Peace.
Good morning, potheads. All seems to be growing/going great...I will be putting 2 more plants into the flowering room this coming weekend, giving me a total of 6 in there, and will be putting 2 more each week until I have my legal limit of 12 - (6 per patient). The Canna nutes are really good - between the brand new light - 1,000W HPS Hortilux EYE Enhanced Spectrum Super HPS and the Canna Terra nutrient regime, I am kicking ass- my growth is very close together and super tight - Its going to be interested to see what happens in flower once they are further along... So I was out in the woods yesterday watering the outdoor batch(es), and was thinking it might be cool to take some pics of these...They are around 5'-7' tall and very bushy...some of the buds are gonna be 16" long I think... Is anyone interested in seeing some pics of the outdoor batches? Personally, I think that they are worth seeing. I know theres gonna b some pounds outta there...just gotta get thru a few more weeks....Let me know if u want pics of the outdoor budz. peace Jerry
By the way, I figured out the black lines on my pics under the HPS...It was my Blackberry doing it. I tried a regular digital camera yesterday and it was fine and had no black lines running thru the pics like i was getting with the Blackberry..Not that you potheads helped me...hehe So I gotta go harvest somethin at another friends house after work tonite, but I'll try and get some pics up of the girls under the K HPS. gotta get back to work. peace. Jerry
Just addin some pics... These are actually from almost a week ago. I'll try and get some new ones tomorrow. I built a new (very) low table today that has a slight slant to it, almost the size of the room, and then the damn thing wouldnt fit thru the door - what a dumbass, huh...*lol* I use white roofing material, works great, and the low table drains into a low refuse/trash water container...I'll try and get some pics of that tomorrow, too, after I put it back together, cause I had to take it back apart to get it thru the damn doorway...*lol* heres a couple pics from last week. Adding two more plants to the flowering room tomorrow once the table gets oput back together. peace.
Put the low table back together in the room this morning...just spent 3-4 hours doing that and moving the light, to make room for the next 1,000W. There are now 6 plants in the flowering room, at 1 week apart intervals, so I will be able to take 2 plants out each week once the cycle is going and the first batch is done. Heres a couple more pics- sorry about the quality on several, but that darn 1,000 is bright, and makes my plants look yellow. They really are a beautiful shade of light green. The pics of the low table are good, tho... you can see how my waste is draining. It works excellent. It sits 9" high at the low end and 10.5" high at the high end, and is 6 1/2' wide and 8' long...pretty much fills the small room. peace.
Looking real good, Jerry! Looks like you're doing everything right right out of the gate. 6 week and 8 week strains, eh? Must be nice! How stable are those flowering times? That's what's keeping me from establishing a regular harvest interval - just can't count on consistent flower times, or at least not yet. Subbed! - This will be cool to watch you work towards and achieve your perpetual goals. Kindred souls we are! I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two here as well. Props to you for what's shaping up to be an excellent grow op!
MX, thanks so much, man. Feels good to have folks appreciate what I know, that you know, (haha) is ALOT of hard work. I put soooo much time, effort, care, and love into my room. I sit there with a smile on my face...*grin*- I know you do, too...this is a labour of love, my friend. As far as my strain finishing time - it is EXACT. I consider myself so lucky to have these 2 strains... especially my 6 Week. I got it from a friend, who got it from a friend, and God knows where it came from b4 that...*lol*, but I want you to watch this strain...it is MAGIC. Those first 2 that I put into flower on 8/21, WILL be finished on 10/02. Oh, I could leave them in a couple of days more, and sometimes I do, but they dont get any bigger after the 6 weeks, and really doesnt get much better. It doesnt need to, it is so friggin beautiful after those 6 weeks...and makes some great, tight, stinky-sweet oozin' goodness nugs... My friends all swear that they like that strain more than any other ones I've done... It aint bagseed,but it isnt a fancy hybrid from Amsterdam, either, (altho it could and should be...) but I swear by it. Then I have the Northern Lights strain, which is nice, and I use mostly for variety...you just cant burn the same thing all the time, ya know what I mean? It is an 8 week strain, and also done right at the 8 week mark. I'm in kind of a pickle, tho, here, folks, and maybe you all can help me out... I am trying to get a crop every week, just 2 plants. The way I am set up rite now, it is very doable, and I am adding 2 of my 6 Week girls in each Saturday...but my problem is that by having the 8 week strain in the mix, when I put 2 of them in this coming weekend, its going to throw my whole "every week" harvest off...I'm not sure what I can do about this - any ideas from anyone? My daughter just got a new camera today and I was just messin w/ it in the growroom...It is taking better close-ups than my regular camersa, so I may be commandeering it from her here and there... Heres a couple of pics I just took - check out the "2 Weeks into flowering exactly1" pic...camer out really neat, and if you can zoom in its even better... MX, you can see how nice this strain is, with the progress shown on these pics after only having switched the light back 2 weeks exactly, today...I am so stoked to have a room up and running at home again...I feel so blessed that I can do this legally now, (Maine Medical Caregiver) and this allows me to put all of my love and time and yeah, money (hahaha) into this...I was able to sit down with my 3 daughters and explain to them what I am doing, for medicinal reasons, and they are also enjoying watching me do my thing(although they have strict instruction not to tell anyone, just because, friggin people like to rip ya off)...anyhow, has never, ever been a moral thing w/ the kids, always just a stupid legal issue and now that aint an issue so I am so Friggin Stoked!!! Sorry, I am just so excited...*lol* Heres some pics. peace.
I can tell you're excited. I would be too! I think we're still a longs ways off. Cool shit, Jerry! That 6 week strain sounds amazing. OK. This is really simple and you're gonna kick yourself after I explain and go "duh!". Let's call the 6 week strain A and the other B. If I understand right, you want to harvest an A and a B every week. That means that you'll have 6 As and 8 Bs in 12/12 all the time. Every week, you will add one A and one B. Once you have 6 As in 12/12, then you will start taking one out each week. Same when you reach 8 Bs. That's it! So let's say your bud room is primed with 14 plants. Today when you put an A and a B in 12/12, 6 weeks from now that A will come out along with a B that you put in 2 weeks ago. The B you put in today will come out 8 weeks from now along with an A that you will be putting in 2 weeks from now. Got it? Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that my inconsistent flower times stem from the fact that I use LED and HID and each plant usually spends some time under each, but not in any consistent manor. To illustrate, I flowered an SSH under the HID and it finished in 53 days. Under both lights around half and half, a clone from the same plant finished in 59 days. Under LED alone, it was over 78 days (I took it early at day 78). Ciao! Check ya later, dude!
Hey Jerry. I went out and mowed some after sending that last post. While mowing, I remembered that you can only have 12 plants in 12/12, so what I said in my last post won't work for you. However, it's a simple fact that if you want weekly harvests of a 6-week strain and an 8-week strain, that will require 14 plants in 12/12 at all times. Alternatives, would be to find another 6-week strain, or double up on the one you have (so a single strain, 2 plant per week grow op). or skip two weeks of harvests on every 8 weeks for your 8-week strain. Sorry. That's the best I could come up with. Later!
MX thanks for all the input. I think I'm gonna just go w/ the flow, and if once in awhile its 2 weeks beween hearvests I'm not gonna sweat it, as I really dont want to lose either strain...and am limited to the 12 plants...but I;m not gonna complain and b happy w/ what I can do. Did you see the outdoor version of the 6 Week, under "Outdoor Growing", under "some of my outdoor garden pics".... just wakin up - gonna go get some coffee> mornin peoples.
I think I may have figured it out...will work ok, at least, I think...Spent some time this morning making up an Office Excel spreadsheet, and think I will have to put one of each strain in each week... This is what I came up with. There is also a schedule mixed in here for my Canna PK 13/14 product, which only gets used once or twice approximately the third week of flowering. Just go by the start and stop dates and you will see what I am trying to do... Now I just need to get more clones made...so much work! StrainPlant IDPut Into Flowering DatePK 13/14 ScheduleFinish Date 6 Week1A8/21/20109/10 Friday & 9/12 Sunday10/2/20106 Week1B8/21/20109/10 Friday & 9/12 Sunday10/2/2010 6 Week2A8/28/20109/17 Friday & 9/19 Sunday10/9/20106 Week2B8/28/20109/17 Friday & 9/19 Sunday10/9/2010 6 Week3A9/4/20109/24 Friday & 9/26 Sunday10/16/20106 Week3B9/4/20109/24 Friday & 9/26 Sunday10/16/2010 NL4A9/11/201010/01 Friday & 10/03 Sunday11/6/2010NL4B9/11/201010/01 Friday & 10/03 Sunday11/6/2010 NL5A9/18/201010/08 Friday & 10/10 Sunday11/13/2010NL5B9/18/201010/08 Friday & 10/10 Sunday11/13/2010 NL6A9/25/201010/15 Friday & 10/17 Sunday11/20/2010NL6B9/25/201010/15 Friday & 10/17 Sunday11/20/2010 6 Week7A10/2/201010/22 Friday & 10/24 Sunday11/13/2010NL7B10/2/201010/22 Friday & 10/24 Sunday11/27/2010 6 Week8A10/9/201010/29 Friday & 10/31 Sunday11/20/2010NL8B10/9/201010/29 Friday & 10/31 Sunday12/4/2010 6 Week9A10/16/201011/05 Friday & 11/07 Sunday11/27/2010NL9B10/16/201011/05 Friday & 11/07 Sunday12/11/2010 6 Week10A10/23/201011/12 Friday & 11/14 Sunday12/4/2010NL10B10/23/201011/12 Friday & 11/14 Sunday12/18/2010 6 Week11A10/30/201011/19 Friday & 11/21 Sunday12/11/2010NL11B10/30/201011/19 Friday & 11/21 Sunday12/25/2010 6 Week12A11/6/201011/26 Friday & 11/28 Sunday12/18/2010NL12B11/6/201011/26 Friday & 11/28 Sunday1/1/2010