A Day in the Life Part Four: Day Twelve of Flowering Wow. What a day. Our Colorado city was buried in early snow so big and heavy that you'd be hard pressed to find a tree anywhere that hasn't suffered damage or been completely wiped out. Anyway, here are tonights pics. Blueberry Kush, of course G'nite World...
Hey MG, nice setup and looking great! If you don't mind me asking, how did you rig up the C02 emitters? I can see the potatoes, but how much sugar did you put in? Also, where does the terminal end of you tubing go? ..just right by the base of the plant, or into the foliage?
Hey,there W. H. First, keep in mind that if you're venting air out of your growing area that most of the CO2 supplement will be vented along with it. I don't vent at night, so that's probably the only time i'm getting a good CO2 boost, but every bit helps, right? Anyway, for the DIY system I recommend using 5 gallon containers. Beer carboys or 5 gallon water jugs work great. A lot of people use 1 gallon jugs, which is a waste of time In my opinion. To small to make any real difference. With the jugs you'll need to get rubber stoppers with holes in them and fermentation locks from a local or online home brew store. The locks bubble and allow you to see that the jugs are emitting CO2 and also to see when fermentation slows or stops altogether. To hook up the tubes you'll also need to seal the caps of the fermentation locks (they have small holes in the caps to allow the co2 to escape) and cut a small hole so you can insert the tubes in the caps. I used spare line from an RO unit and they work great. You'll also need to seal around the hole where you inserted the tube. I tried silicone sealant and other things, but they didn't hold very well. The best way to seal the holes in the caps and around the tubing is with a hot glue gun. Cheap and works like a charm. After you've got all that done you'll need yeast of course. Buy the cheap stuff (its like 50 cents a packet) and dissolve it in water that's between 100 and 110 degrees. For the initial fermentation I use around three or four cups of sugar and some chunks of potatoes (sweet potatoes work best) in the five gallon jugs filled with water, then I add the activated yeast. Make sure the temp of the water in the jugs is around the same temp as the water you dissolved and activated the yeast in. You can also use anything that contains a lot of starch, such as rice, but potato chunks work best. Then shake the crap out of the jug and seal it with your rubber stoppers and fermentation locks. Then run your lines to your plants. Works best if you can run the lines above the plants or into the foliage as CO2 is heavier than air and will drop. When fermentation slows simply add a few more cups of sugar and/or starches to reactivate the yeast. I'm able to keep the jugs going for about five weeks this way before I have to dump the jugs and restart the process. A little work, but well worth it if you can't or don't want to buy and operate an expensive CO2 generator. I've noticed a real difference. Also keep in mind that the cooler the water is in the jugs the slower they'll ferment. If your ambient temps are around 75 to 80 degrees each jug should pop some CO2 around every five to ten seconds. When it slows way down from that its time to add more sugars/starches. Hope that helps! M.G. Over and Out!
I am definitely going to try that DYI Co2 set up. Quick question, do you pump the the water out to water your plants? And you add nutrients and sugar and starch to the water?
Hey, there. I think you misunderstand this process, man. CO2 is carbon dioxide, which is a gas. Its what the plants breath in through the stomata on the underside of the leaves and then the plants produce oxygen, the exact opposite of what us primates do. You aren't "watering" the plants with anything in the jugs. The water,sugar and starches in the jugs are fermenting (just like beer would) and producing the CO2 gasses. Clear now? M.G.
Hey good starting posts for the city man, always nice to see some folk bringing some knowledge to the table. -Kush
MG, thanks for the detailed description there, I appreciate it! When I have a little time, I'm gonna use some of these 5 gallon Arrowhead bottles I have sitting around, and rig up a couple of those. Good luck in the meantime, your plants look great!! - Jim
Ok, so here are last nights pics. Oh, and I screwed up on the days into flowering when I started the photo journal. Last night was only the end of day Twelve of flowering, not thirteen as the timeline would suggest. Same drill. All shots of the Blueberry Kush plant. Oops! I see the fourth shot is actually a pic of the Super Lemon Haze plant that snuck in there. Ah, well. Anyway, here ya go. Enjoy!
Ok, so I wasn't going to use any additives whatsoever, just follow the Lucas Formula using A.N. Jungle Juice, but I folded like paper and bought some A.N. Big Bud and Bud Candy. Gonna give it a try and see how it works out. Also started adding a tablespoon of molasses to each gallon of my nutrients, or "Suburban Koolaid" as I like to call it. The gals seem to really be diggin it! More pics soon!
Ha! Marijuana Homeland Security! He's hard to see under that 1000 watt HPS, but I got's me a Spider, Man. Haven't seen many pests thus far, but if they come this hungry little bugger will drain their bodily juices. Yummmm! Well, as long as he doesn't suck down on the Super Lemon Haze plant after it starts to produce THC. Then he'll just sleep. Or... maybe he'll get a bad case of the munchies and kill every pest in the house!
Ok, so here we go with last nights pics, end of day 14 into flowering. My wife was too tired to take photos, so you'll just have to contend with my limited photography skills for today. The Blueberry Kush plant has become so dense with foliage that all but the top colas are getting extremely difficult to photograph, so i've decided to spread the pics around to cover all of the plants, which are also very dense with foliage. Bud formation, while still early in the process, has exploded over the last few days. While i'm certain that this is in part a natural part of flowering, I cannot discount that the addition of the molasses, Big Bud and Bud Candy along with the basic nutrients has played a role. So.... on with the show! The first photo shows a few of the nearly uncountable bud sites on the Sativa dominant Blue Dream plant. Photo two is one of the budding stems of the Afgani Skunk plant. Photo three is also the A. Skunk. Photo four is the top of the Blueberry Kush plant. Photo five is a forming bud on the Super Lemon Haze plant And finally, another pic of the Blueberry Kush Around six weeks left to go before I approach harvest time. So far, so good!
Five weeks for the Blueberry Kush, Blue Dream and Super Lemon Haze, and just over four weeks for the Afgani Skunk
They look gr8 man just like mine its awesome to see that yours are growing at about the same rate as mine this way I'll know if something is wrong
And now some photos from Halloween Eve, end of day sixteen into flowering. Its wonderful to be able to grow indoors 100% state legal and to watch these babies flourish! Noticeable differences every day. Guesstimating around six more weeks to go. Patience Grasshopper... Anyway, here are last nights pics. Still spreading around the shots between the Blueberry Kush, Blue Dream and Afgani Skunk. Such beautiful plants...