So I'm new to the forum and decided to post some info about my first time growing. I'm already about 6 weeks into flowering now but I have a few pictures from my veg ill put up. I started with clones from a local dispensary as I wanted to get the basics of growing down before I shelled out money for quality seeds. So my genetics are piss poor but I think for what a started with I'm doing pretty good. So here's pics of them the second the got brought back to my house. Six different strains, 3 setiva and 3 indica so I could really compare how different strains take to different nutes and conditions to find the best one for my grow. As you can see, genetically the aren't the best, and one of them Died within the first week. So while I waited for a replacement I focused on the other five. I put them in the pots I planned to flower them in, as I didn't want to have to deal with transplant shock on my first grow. Here's my initial setup, white walls and white plastic covering the floor in my closet. I was using 2 150 HPS fixtures. After about three weeks I began Stress training my plants and defoliation. Here they are about a week after I began to train them. I trained them slow at first, only bending the top down. Then once the plant responded and turned back to the light, I began to pull branches into there own sections of space giving them all maximum lighting. After about 2 weeks after I started that, I Scroged them.
This I what they looked like after being Scroged. Now my sativas grew like crazy and I had 1 of my indices keep pace, but the other indicas were either slow to grow, or dead and waiting on a replacement. I let them sit vegging like this for about another month. I would put them outside on a clear day for as long as they could be in direct sunlight, and then move them back inside when they were no longer getting direct sun. My idea was to create a secondary fan leaf canopy under my bud canopy. What I mean is I would allow my plants to grow a little more than what was required so that I would have extra fan leaves on the bottom of my stems. This would allow me to defoliate my bud sites to allow for maximum light access, while maintaining a canopy for maximum photosynthesis. So I put them into flowering and all was going well until about my third week. There was a heat spike in my area and my grow room got too warm. This brought with it a fungus that attacked the fan leaves of my girls. This destroyed my secondary canopy, and since I had already started seeing buds, I had already defoliated the tops. This left me with about 1/4 of the fan leaves I had intended so I am pretty sure my bud production slowed greatly. I didn't think to take picture of the fungus but if I ever see it again I will. So I had to change my grow area and decided to add more light to make up for the lack of fan leaves. I added 3 40w t12 fluorescents(2 daylight deluxe and a plant growth special) I also added five 100 watt output CFLs. I moved my plants out of my closet and built them a PVC light stand complete with Mylar sides and ceiling. This stand sits right next to an wall mounted AC unit in my house. And here's what my light spread looks like These are what my plants look like now, about 6 weeks into flowering. These are the setivas and this next is the indica. As you can see there is a distinct height of the plant where buds start, below this point it was supposed to be a full canopy of fan leaves, but setbacks happen. I still grow on an indoor/outdoor style saving power and giving my plants natural light whenever possible. How do I keep my 4 foot tall maturing plants a secret in my back yard? This! It's a 4x8 hoop house with CFL lights attached at the top. This is my new veg room, as it gets natural sunlight all day, then once the sun goes down my CFLs turn on to make sure my plants get a full 18 hours.
So I saw on YouTube people do a koolbloom cycle for weeks 5 and 6 of flowering. It's like a 0-45-15 or something like that. However I found in my garage an old miraclegro box of nutes at 15-30-15. I went to the store and they don't even make that concentration anymore. All I could buy was 18-18-21. So I decided to try that in placement of a koolbloom cycle. I have seen some pretty strong growth since I started that for nutes. Ill flush for 2 weeks just in case.
Looking more at this miracle grow box, it contains 12% chlorine which is high and its a common belief that chlorine is a no-no for strong ladies. However I have heard from several sources that chlorine is essential for bud production. Either way the chlorine should kill my beneficial bacteria, and since they are mostly there for nitrogen fixation, and I don't need nitrogen for my plants anymore I don't see the harm in killing them off, that way the 15% nitrogen from the miracle gro isn't completely used by the plants.
Im Jealous, you have a much nicer setup than i do lol. That actually seems like a prety legit setup for a first time grower. Your set up is very unique from what i have seen before, and i think the idea of indooor/outdoor mix is genius, never would of thought of that my self. I wish thay sold those things in stores because i would totally buy one! Your plants are looking awesome, hope they turn out great, and great job for a first grow
Thank you, and actually the hoop house wasn't that hard to build and cost in materials close to 60 bucks. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
Im just curious, Where do you live around? Im in Canada and if i had plants that size in my back yard i would have my neighbours all over it. Do you live somewhere where its legal? or just no neighbours?
I live in Southern California. I live right next to an apartment complex and several houses. I just keep the lid closed on the hoop house when they are in there. I also grow a lot of other vegetables and fruits, so the neighbors aren't suspicious. Either way I stay within the legal limit for my state. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
Wow bro you got it going on Put sunglasses in front of your camera to take pics with hps light will help with the lines
Nice looking hoop house. I've been wanting to do something like for a while, but just haven't had anywhere to put one up.
Alright I just flushed them about 3 days ago and have had to tie string around the branches to hold them up. They are getting heavy and completely tipping over. Have to be careful not to let these branches snap. This one is my Blue Dream. She's looking really good. It's kind of hard to see on my shitty iPod camera but they are all looking really frosty. Noticed some strange bud growth after the flush. The top cola sugar leaves still rowing have curled and it looks rather odd. Not sure why they are doing that. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
Here is a couple of shots of them under the lights. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
So I posted about the strange growth and someone suggested that I may have a little longer for these plants than I previously thought. Bought a 60x/100x magnifying glass off eBay so when that comes ill be able to tell. They might be right, I'm not sure. Either way if those girls got longer to grow all the better for bigger buds. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
As the title to this thread suggests, this is my first grow, so no I haven't "seen" an organic grow, though my grow was organic up until I threw in that miraclegro. Honestly thinking organically is nice, but I am more concerned with experimentation and finding new techniques and theories. I am not going to grow only the way most people say is best, I am also going to follow advice that contradicts what most people believe. When a 20 year experienced grower says chlorine plays an important role in bud production I don't immediately throw that out the window because other people say otherwise. If the point of this forum is not for people to discuss what new ideas and techniques they are trying, then what's the point of it? I'd rather follow the odd sourced info and see if it really does work, and if it doesn't then I have learned something for my next grow. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
So people were saying my plants didn't look two weeks from finishing and could take a bit longer. When I have them a look today, ever mug that had strange nug growth just exploded with new flowers. And ones that didn't have the strange growth stayed about the same size. People were saying the strange leaves were nothing to worry about, but only the nugs with these strange leaves have had a nug explosion in the last few days. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
Alright guys super Scrog time. One of my indices that fell behind has been in flower for about three weeks now. I should have scroged her sooner but was lazy. Now that she is I think she is going to produce a hefty sum. And one with the tip of my hand for reference. It's about a 2' x 3' net. Buds are looking good as well. Check out my grow! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1206866-first-grow-indoor-outdoor-mix-lst-hst.html
My grow was organic until I added the miracle grow. I just wanted to see if it would do anything for bud production. I'm just experimenting.