This is a picture of what I was referring to 1st plant-around 4 weeks - Marijuana Pictures, Photos & Videos - Grasscity.com Media Gallery
Dr. Gurbz: what you plan to do and use certainly sounds reasonable. At school we've been taught that if you really want to penetrate the canopy, grow bigger tight buds accompanied by a high yield, you really can't beat HID. The only thing the guys who use HID complain about is their electric bill. The next best option appears to be HPS. I recently won a mini 150 watt HPS fixture/reflector set up, with the bulb, but minus the ballast. I believe they said it was worth about $150. I turned it down and donated it back to our student raffle. I guess I made someone who eventually won it happy but frankly I'm okay with my T-5's. What I'm going to ask you to do is this: if you buy and use the set up you described please document it for us; brand names, specifications, how you're using it and the results. We all have our favorites and frankly I like the simplicity of the T-5's fixtures I'm presently working with. They burn about 80 watts per hour, they're a lot less complicated than HID or HPS and they plug directly into a wall socket or through a simple remote timer. I believe in K. I. S. and at my age I want my life to be simple. We just finished a section in class on HID and HPS lighting and I came away thinking that what I've got with T-5's is better for me. If we legalize M/J for recreational use in 2012 it will certainly encourage me to enlarge my operation to include growing enough for a few trusted friends. Presently I just have to grow enough to keep my sugar bowl full to stay out of the pharmacy and dispensary. But if things change I would certainly investigate what you're doing so please keep us posted. Merry Christmas. Hank
[quote name='aceofspades941']Hank, did you not use green until a few years ago? I have a question for you guys. I am LSTing my three plants to try to utilize as much of my larger tent space as I can. My oldest plant is 4 weeks old and really starting to have a lot of growth. It looks pretty good to me with all the developing branches and growth sites but it looks a bit like a messy ball of leaves right now. I've been telling myself that its just getting bigger now and later it will look pretty with multiple colas, but I'm wondering if I'm doing it right because its different than a traditional looking plant. I've trimmed a few larg fan leaves that were getting in the way of developing branches but not much else. Does anyone have any clue as to whether I'm on the right track?[/QUOTE Ace: I'm not too sure about your first 'green' question? Prior to building and using my two DWC bubble tubs for my meds I was an avid Aerogardener for about five years, (the self contained, table top patented active hydro system). I loved them and I got enough but I had to keep three machines going at all times. Before that it was T-8's over dirt. Now it's T-5's. What I see in your photos that intrigues me is that you appear to be growing in drip/overflow trays, not pots. Maybe that was just what I thought I saw in the pictures you posted. But your plants are beautiful so what ever it is you're doing keep it up. I'm assuming there's dirt under that Hydroton? My next grow will be in dirt in Eco pots. I'm trying them out with vegetables in my hobby green house right now and they look encouraging. I'll tell you what troubles me is that if you are growing in those shallow drip/overflow trays where are your roots going to live? You can have some pretty big root mass with healthy M/J plants and that's why most of us grow in posts. For a large mass on top, you have to have sufficient grow space below ground level. Right now I' experimenting with 10 inch pots and if I'm successful I'll soon go to bigger size Eco pots before my next meds grow. Merry Christmas. Hank
Thank you for the compliments on the plants, I'm glad you don't see any immediate problems. The two smaller plants are in a 5.5 gal styrofoam ice chest and the larger plant is in a 5 gal plastic bucket. I want them to be in big enough containers to be able to flourish. The smaller plants have really taken off in the last few days, especially one of the two. I believe its black widow, and the other is white skunk. Its got some fan leaves already about as big as my hand. Hank, how long do you veg your plants for before switching to flower?
Ace: you have to understand that I grow non-specific, 'bag seed,' that I picked out of a few joints a friend gave me and I've continued them for the last 27 years. I can only tell you what I do. I would suggest you look at Cervantes, Rosenthal and SeeMore Buds for specifics. I go from seed to veg for about two to three weeks. Then, when I see a good root system has formed, I switch to the veg formula for about a month. On the progressive light schedule I use, they usually start pre-flowing at about fourteen to thirteen hours of light, (about ten weeks). Then I switch them to the flowering formula for about five to six more weeks. Last I give them a pre-harvest formula and flush. Overall it takes me about twelve to fifteen weeks to get in a crop. It depends a lot on ambient temperature, humidity, and other variables. I hope that helps. Merry Christmas. Hank
Ya I moved against selling, I would rather work really hard and be free, And I get to smoke all the bud : ), Than have to go to jail . IL is pretty strict about dealing. Ed Rosenthal is a genius, I read Closet Cultivator. And he has some amazing Idea's. I'm afraid that after cannabis has been legal for a while they will add stuff to it like they do Tobbaco. If you think about it Tobbaco isn't very bad for you untill the cigarette companys add all that extra stuff in it. Man that sucks that they prescribe pills for what a simple plant could do much better. My Grandfather has cancer and is refusing treatment, But they are still giving him VERY high dosage painkillers. I wish he wasn't so against marijuana. He was in the army and ever since he was a little kid he's been told weed is bad so he just beileves it.
Toke: you have to understand that your gramps and I are probably from the same generation. We were taught that if you lit up a fatty John Wayne, Jack Webb and the First Marine Division would come crashing through the door and cart your ass off to prison. Unfortunately, there are some folks who would do it to us regardless of the benefits of medical M/J so please be careful. Merry Christmas. Hank
Hey guys, sorry for the absence I've just been waiting patiently for my plants to do their thing They've been doing well, I switched the lights to 12/12 last Saturday (1/13), and saw the first little white hairs on my white skunk yesterday! Curious that she is the smallest and youngest of my 3 plants, but I think the white skunk is supposed to flower a little quicker than the black widow. I did end up getting a 400 watt hps, installed it on Wednesday. I also built a 4'x3' screen to do some scrogging. I think the screen is a little too big but I wanted it that way instead of being not big enough. I have a question for you guys, 2 of my plants are still in the same 5 gal container and I was planning on moving them into their own separate 5 gal buckets but I read that its not good to transplant during flower because it stresses the plants. They both look healthy but I just think they would get a lot bigger if they were in their own buckets. Anyone have any insight as to whether or not I should transplant or just let them finish where they started?
To be quite honest, I haven't had the opportunity to use a HPS on any of my grows yet, but I do have a few good CFL grows down... Without having anything to directly compare with (yet), I'd have to say that if you're on a strict budget, throw in the CFL's. I get a quality yield with a 200w 2700k bulb supplemented with four 23w 6500k bulbs. I've been doing autos until my technique is down pat, so next go round is some Strawberry Cough and Pineapple Express (movie themed grow FTW). I'll do a journal when the time comes...