Hey everybody, I am a newbie here. I inherited an HPS light setup (400 watt) last year, and grew my first plant. Actually, my son started it on the back deck of my home, and it took off. It started to smell, and I didn't have the heart to make him kill it, so I setup a closet in my house to start flowering it. I lined the walls with Mylar, got an exhaust fan hooked up to carbon filter and vented it to my attic (I tend to go all in when I take on a project). I ended up with a 5.5 ft plant that yielded just over 8 ounces... And whatever it was (didn't know the strain) was killer! I decided to go a little bigger this year, and upgraded my light setup to a digital variable wattage ballast and 600 watt bulbs (MH for veg, HPS for flower). I started 3 feminized AI seeds exactly 5 weeks ago (germinated them prior, and put them in soil 36 days ago). I am starting to get nervous about the space, because they are getting huge... Not too tall, but very bushy. I am wondering if I should start them flowering now or if I can wait another week or so. Obviously I want the biggest yield I can achieve I'll post some pics and would love some advice. I don't know how much they will grow once they start to flower. Thanks in advance for your feedback!
These plants look great, you may decide to go with two next time, cause they are gonna double in size. I would flower now, getting used to the stretch and your space is a tricky skill. You need it though, I would flower now.
Will they double in height, or width, or both? I have plenty of room to let them get taller, but don't want them to choke their own light out as they grow wider. Also, they are so bushy and the fan leaves are so big that not much light is getting into the middle of the plant. Is that a problem or should I remove some fan leaves?
Both height and width. Mostly height for this strain. That is why I think next time you will likely do two. During flower I would start pulling fan leaves.
Defoliate, then switch to flower. If you where running 24 hours I would put them undee flower light for 18/6 for a few days to minimize stretching
Thanks. They have been on an 18/6 light schedule since the beginning. Should I cut them to 12/12 to initiate flowering? How much should I defoliate, and should I wait until I see visible signs of flowering? Sorry for being a pest, I just don't want to screw this up. My last (and only) plant was a sari a so much taller and more lanky. Much more distance between nodes.
I cut of any big fan leaves that's blocking bud sites. Yes start 12/12 lighting, defolating goes based off what you feel comfrotable taking off. I defoliate 60% of my plant before flowering gives you nice full colas
I had the same problem with mine ,i had to ditch 1 plant because of room mine also were short but crazy bushy ,im now a week into flower and to be honest i could still do with more space ,your grow looks great btw✌ Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I'd hate to have to ditch one of these beautiful girls, but don't want to risk them all by being greedy either. Do you guys know if they can still thrive while touching each other and the walls on the outsides, or do they need to have space all around them?
Ive been told that the more space the better ,but in some cases its totaly not practical ,ive been rotating mine seems to be ok so far ,in An ideal situation id say for me 28 inches square per plant would be good but im currently only 32 inches for the 2 Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Okay, so I switched to a 400 watt HPS on the 24th, and kicked them into a 12/12 light cycle. I have been out of town since then, with my brother watering them for me (1/2 gallon each every day). I came back last night, but the lights were out already, so this is what I found this morning; Anyone have any ideas? Are they so crowded they will all fail? The middle one had quite a few browning fan leaves at the lower half of the plant. Any expert advice is greatly appreciated! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Oh, one more thing... While I was gone a 600 watt HPS arrived, so I installed that today. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
also under a 600watt hps ,only 2 plants in 800mm x 800mm also running out of space Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Those look beautiful. The only question is then, how to get light down to the inside areas of the plants (or if you even need to). I'm trying to decide if I need to start aggressively pruning fan leaves. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Im also interested in this ,first grow for me so unsure ... Good luck Sent from my HTC One mini 2 using Grasscity Forum mobile app
So here they are at 9 weeks. 2 weeks into flowering and are still growing in height. They are about 6'3" (including 5 gallon bucket). I can't move the light up any more and am afraid the colas will get to close to the light. Any ideas would be appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app