Hello All, This is my first indoor grow so I'm looking for some feedback, comments, and answers to a few questions. Setup Grow Area: Metal shelving 3 feet wide x 18 inches deep x 3 feet high (adjustable) -Flat white walls and flat white poster-boards lining the sides and walls Lighting: 2x 23w CFL Cool Blue bulbs in circular reflectors mounted above and adjustable 1x 46w CFL Warm Blue bulb in single adapter plugged into central power strip 1x 23w " " " " " " " " " " " " Current light cycle is on 24 hours of light and 0 hours of dark Soil: Basic Miracle-Gro Potting soil in 2.5 gallon pots Fertilizers: None yet. Kind of nervous. Don't know where to start Fan: Basic oscillating fan moving air around Water: Distilled water with a pH of 7 Temperature: Ranges between 72F and 85F Seeds: Taken from a bag of 30's. Look pretty Indica dominant Timeline: I can't recall the exact date but I'm guessing between 20 and 25 days Questions: 1. Ok, so I'm kinda tweaking because pistils are quite evident at the nodes on both plants. I know that because its on 24/7 lighting that the plants haven't sexed yet but is there any way that to tell prematurely? 2. After topping my taller plant i noticed a slump in plant activity is there generally a period of reduced growth? 3. My other plant is LST'd; am I doing it correctly? Any pointers? Photos: Photos 1 & 2: My setup with the LST plant on the right and the topped plant on the left Photos 3 & 4: Topped Plant #1 nicknamed Mavis Beacon (Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I'm hitting her back up for teaching me how to type HAHA) Photos 5 & 6: LST'd Plant #2 That's about it, let me know if I'm missing anything.
There are a number of ways to sex, but they have to be introduced to a 12/12 light cycle in order to do so. (you can take a clone and bud that, you could flower just a branch on the plant in the veg by covering it up, or put the whole plant under a 12/12. Generally when you lst or tip/prune/top a plant it can take another 2 weeks longer in the veg stated depending on how much was done. When you take the top part of the plant you removing those top auxins and so the plant has to switch directions and push those auxins to the next closer tops that are in line. I cant really see how your doing your lst, but there are many ways of doing it. One thing that I do to make a plant more bush is take the top shoots and tie them off and bend them over till they are about level with the others to create an even canopy. within a day or so they will curve around it and grow up. With tipping as I said before you are actually removing those auxins so yes, will take a little longer than if you were to just bend them. What is your humidity level? When you start your nutes, start at a 1/4 the strength and work your way up from there.
Generally pre-flowers appear in Week 5+ of veg and your plants are 3 weeks old. Are you sure that what you're looking at aren't stipules (see pic below).
1. TheCareGiver pretty much said it. If they veg long enough they could show sex without switching the lights, but there is no guarantee. 2. Yes, after topping a plant you will see reduced growth as it heals and redirects it's energy. usually just a few days (1-3). 3. It's really impossible to LST incorrectly. Your goal is to expose as much of the plant to light as you possibly can. I LST'd until i moved into my 3 gallon grow bags. Once I was in them, I started super cropping. I have some busy little bastards right now. Your plant looks a little to small to start supercropping but its something you might want to look into for when the plant gets larger. hope that helps
yea i agree with this guy, they usually show sex in veg after about 4 weeks for me, but in week 3 in veg no sex will be showing oh & ur LST looks good dude keep up the work!
Yes, they will pre-flower, but imho, in order to actually know 100% is to sex it by changing the light cycle. -Not all strains will pre-flower showing differences, so sexing is the 100% way. but thats me. Im still learning lots everyday.. so do me a favor and point out to me where i am mistaken if i am, lol please.
your right, its the stipules. thanks as far as my humidity level goes, i have no idea where to begin. I have a bowl of water sitting in my grow area to make sure its somewhat humid but i'm not too sure how to measure it.
Maybe get something like this? Amazon.com: Taylor 1523 Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer & Hygrometer: Patio, Lawn & Garden
There will always be there little difference in grow op to grow op, so rule of thumbs aren't ALWAYS the best option for everyone but in most cases it is. for veg. you want 50-70% relative humidity and for flowering 40-50% as I said before, there will be a slight degree difference in each room, i think its at like 85% RH and mold starts to develop??? Low humidity in flowering for sure, to avoid any excess moisture and thereby preventing mold.