Ladies are looking good. All 18 are getting LST to one degree or another. I've still only topped/pruned/fimmed 6 of them. I'll top at least 6 more (no fimming) and I MIGHT not do anything but LST to the last 6 just to see the differences. Of course males will be removed upon identification. No watering today to speak of. I'm giving them a day to appreciate me . [note: 1st pic is all 18 ladies, 2nd is of Bunny, 3rd is of Bella, 4th is of Fawn and the 5th is a closeup of Fawn's topping. I spread the tops open wide and am directing them in opposing directions].
Light feeding this morning and then a heavier feeding just before I took the pictures. I know I know I should try to void watering the ladies directly but they are so short and fat that it can't be avoided at this stage. [note: 1st is all 18, 2nd is Bella, 3rd is Fawn and the 4th is another closeup of the topped section of Fawn. Lots of new growth there since yesterday's closeup.]
I plan to begin flowering of the original 6 on the 25th of this month. I need to take clones from those 6 first. Thanks for the kind words man.
Lookin' good knuckles. One criticism though. The soil level seems a bit low for LST IMO. Alot of the plant looks like it's below the lip of the container. I'd suggest either raising it off the bottom of the pot with some extra soil or re-potting. You could also cut down the lip with some shears. No matter the training technique/lack thereof, i like to keep the plant no more than an inch or so below the container lip. Other than that, you're doing pretty well. I'll check back soon.
Agreed. Some of the soil levels are as much as 2.5 inches or more below the lip of the pots. I'm still learning. I've added soil to a number of them earlier on but still have work to do on that end. Future plants will have the right soil level and you might've noticed the newer plants have a higher soil level. Thanks for the criticism man. I want to become a pro someday so I need to hear it all .
I went ahead and trimmed out the flowering box today. I moved the 600W HPS into the flowering box and I moved 9 of the prospective ladies to the flowering box. One catch though...I'm still leaving it on 24/0 for another 8 days. The veg box now has the 400W HPS in it with the 9 newer aspiring ladies in it. I plan to flip the flower box to 12/12 in 8 days and keep it there for the infinite grow. Right now I'm just giving myself more space to veg. It breaks my heaart to see the 600W HPS box right beside the 400W HPS box. The color of light is so very different. You can tell by the two pictures below. [note: both pictures are of the two boxes. Can you guess which one has the 400W and which has the 600W? +rep if you get it right on the first guess .]
400 on left, 600 on right. Atleast I think so. Hope you pull some good yields, you've put in slot of time and effort. Hopefully it pays you back and more
Nah. 600 on the left and the 400 is on the right. I figure if I can harvest a plant a week I can keep myself in some good smoke and maybe even make a little hash for myself
I took a cutting from Bunny and Bella each today and prepped them for cloning. With Bunny I just made a 45 degree cut at the base and cut off the bottom node, then dropped the cutting into a small cup with superthrive in it. With Bella I actually shaved a little of the bottom of the stem like a carrot and dropped it in a cup with a little superthrive. I want to see which way works most effectively developing roots. I also have some small 1" rockwool cubes to move them too when I see some root action. Then it's soil when the roots break the sides of the rockwool. Did I mention this was my first attempt at cloning? As soon as the clones appear to be making it into the world alone then the green light goes on for flowering of those 2 ladies. And we can see if they are ladies or if the dude just LOOKS like a lady. And I still cannot get over the color difference in the 600W pics and the 400W pics. Looks the same in person. HUGE difference in my two lights. [note: 1st pic is of the 1st 9 ladies, 2nd is of Bunny, 3rd is of Bella and the 4th pic is of the last 9 ladies under the 400W.]
I decided I want to transition to as organic as possible, so to start I built a Worm Bin. There is an excellent sticky in the organic section on Vermicomposting by OldPork and it looks interesting. I'm big on saving money and worm castings are expensive so I'll make my own! Much like the original post, here is my very simple step by step. 1. 18 Gallon Rubber Bin 2. I drilled an assload of holes in the bottom of the bin for air and to allow any liquid to leak out 3. I drilled a bunch of holes in the sides for air exchange 4. I got a bunch of 3/8 screws to attach the screen (to prevent the worms from leving through the holes and other bugs from entering the bin) 5. I attached the screen to the bottom (the screws pop through but so what) 6. I attached the screen to both sides 7. I begin the process of adding funk and scraps to the bin. Pine straw, dried leaves, fruit and vegetable scraps etc...and 1lb of worms from the worm lady. It was that easy. Now I get to manage it daily and see how it turns out. I'm concerned with keeping it outside as the weather is not ideal for them here. I might have to convince the wife to let me bring them inside someplace. "Honey can I bring my worms in" should be an interesting conversation!
Today I took 4 more cuttings and thus now have 6 ladies (hopefully) in the cloning stage. That means March 25th is the day I have set to begin flowering those 6. The other 12 are under the 400W veg light and will be cloned and moved to flowering in intervals so the infinite harvest can begin. That would put me around May 20th for the first tentative harvest date. [note: 1st pic is of the 6 that are set for March 25th flowering, 2nd is of Bunny and the 3rd is of Bella.]
I grow indoors in soil all organic so get at me if youd like any info...looks like its going good. Ill be watching good luck!
Sup hydr1 and thanks for the hand...Soil. I need help with soil. I'm now using a perlite/soil totally sterile mix. No worm castings though. The plants in that soil (4) do not look nearly as healthy as the ones I planted in 5-4-3. My understanding is that you should have soil with no ferts in it and the 5-4-3 stuff I have the first 14 plants in says "feeds up to 6 months". The plants planted in 5-4-3 are noticably larger and stronger looking thn the ones in my sterile soil. Help? I'm also waiting on some Russian Comfrey Roots to use as my fert. I'm committed to eventually being all organic. I love the concept of self sufficiency. [note: 1st pic is of the 6 cuttings in superthrive water cups awaiting signs of roots so I can start flowering the 6 ladies (hopefully) in the 2nd pic.]
you dont want to dump ferts into yous oils before the plant is in there and get it too hot before you transplant and start up you can however prime your soil up to get it really healthy....look at my soil list on my journal....I either use fox farm ocean forest or I make my own recipe and My own recipe seems to get alot more roots. I start with a holland dirt what has perlite, coco fibers, peat and a few other little things. It is basically just a plain dirt/potting soil base I then add...worm castings, starter trace minerals, potash, wood ash, bat guanno, blood meal, bone meal more perlight and the secret ingredient...................river sand. The sand helps coat the roots with silica...this makes them strong and active. Make sure not to over water and let your soil dry out alot! then come with some good water and light organic nutes...every once in awhile switch it up and feed just water. I want to try russian comfrey too....that sounds like a dope idea...right now I make Teas from guanos and other organic products.
Thanks hydr1, I'll check it out. Brief update tonight. I've got a lot going on this weekend so here are a few pictures. [note: 1st pic is of the 6 ladies on day 31 of veg (heavy LST, fimming and topping), 2nd pic is of Bunny, 3rd pic is of Bella.]
Tea from guanos? No offense but that sounds like some pretty nar tea. Anyways. Nice healthy looking babies knuckles. Looks like it's flowering time soon eh? Hope you get alot of dank bud.
I dig the organic stuff. I'm making my own worm castings, growing Russian comfrey root, raising ladybugs...I want to go all organic. Where would you get bat poop? That's guano, right? The wife definitely will not be up for raising bats. Most of the items you listed for your personal soil recipe I'd have no idea where to get. I'm up for any recipe or off the wall, obscure technique to go all organic. Anyone have any organic recipes they'd share? There must be an "organic farmer's cookbook" of sorts someplace you would think. [note: 1st pic is of the 6 that are scheduled for flowering in 3 days. 2nd pic is of Bunny.]