Amen. Took a few leaves off last night and used some plastic twist ties I had laying around to shape 2 of the branches. Need to do this with a few more as well. Watered this morning as well.
I finally found what I was referring to reading in post #31; related to bacteria decomposing matter and raising pH. I was slightly off "Teaming with Microbes", page 26 (some copied, some short notes). Has to do with the nitrogen in bacteria and fungi. When these organisms are eaten, some nitrogen is retained by the eater; but much of it is released as waste in the form of plant-available ammonium (NH4). Depending on the soil environment, this can either remain as ammonium or be converted into nitrate (NO3) by special bacteria. Generally occurs when ammonium is released in soils that are dominated by bacteria. This is because most soils generally have an alkaline pH (thanks to bacterial bioslime), which encourages the nitrogen fixing bacteria to thrive. The acids created by fungi, as they begin to dominate, lower the pH and greatly reduce the amount of these bacteria. In fungally dominated soils, much of the nitrogen remains in ammonium form.
Wow, great info. Thanks for sharing, I love learning new things. Oops, Zip ties came apart while taking the picture. Still need to find a few more to get the other dominant branches out a bit. Girlfriend is coming into town for the week so might not be much activity on here. I'll sneak away when I can.
Whew, hectic week. Anyways, been fighting off some mites that snuck in while I was away. She sure is getting bushy though! Probably going to have to thin her out a bit. Or go full on bonsai on her ass! Wouldn't that be fun???
Haha that second picture looks awesome with the lighting and all, bring out the leaves texture. Anyway when using cfls do they only work for veg? Outdoor growing is my way of means at the moment but one day I'd like to have a cool indoor grow, could I use hps? And some cfls around the outside of the plant? And would anyone happen to be down to explain the waves too me alittle? Sorry for Intruding... Skunky Love your plants
Thanks Skunk 'N Funk! You can flower under CFL's if you choose, but HPS would be far better if you can afford it. Supplementing your HPS flowering with CFL's would be a great idea though, I plan on messing with this myself after seeing this little Kush grow. If you do choose to keep them under CFL, you will have to change the bulbs, or double the amount of bulbs, to a warmer spectrum for flowering. I assume this is what you meant by waves? The vegetative stage benefits most from a bluer, cooler spectrum as it imitates the long days of summer. Using these will decrease stretching and thicken your stems. The redder, warmer spectrum imitates the shorter days of fall and benefits your plants most in the flowering stage, and will help your plants finalize. These are the opposite ends of the spectrum and the only 2 that are of any concern to your average grower.
Right on! Thanks dude, red and blue waves only qualify for hps and such right? And do you use only cfls
5500k-6000k "daylight" cfl = mainly blue spectrum good for veg 2400k-2700k "warm" cfl = mainly red spectrum good for flower. But if you can get it, for an average indoor grow nothings gonna beat an hps supplemented with cfls
I have a bunch of 1000w HPS that I use for flowering in my rooms, this Kandy Kush is just a little side project I am doing to occupy my time. And I've wanted to build this contraption for years. I will probably flower her under the same CFL's, but add a 'Y' to each socket and attach more warmer 100w's. HPS is typically on the warmer side of things, depending on your bulb, and is best used while flowering. Metal Halide bulbs are typically cooler and better for vegging.
Dude just saw this CFL setup. Very cool. I think I might try to make a bigger version and along the 2x4s mount a couple sets of 4 foot floro tubes. After my next crop out Im going to get a new tent to house it. Awesome design.
Damn Jay, sorry to let ya'll down. Had a family emergency and had to duck out for the past week and a half. I know I promised a huge post for my 100th, but soon enough you will get a taste. In the process of trimming the last batch and everything is looking super solid. Had to test them all, naturally, and i think Harlequin is topping the charts. Followed by Blueberry x Jack Herer, then Girl Scout Cookies. But enough of that. My little Kandy Kush has exploded. Again, the care giver did not take proper care of her in my absence....(i'm really gonna need to find some help)....She was webbed up and growing into the lights. This was after I trimmed up 3 of the tops and took a grip of leaves off the entire plant. I've never seen anything so bushy before. She has a mighty need for some tying down and shaping. I'm thinking bonsai might be a viable option for this one....
Its all good bro...nice plant....how much u think the total cost was for this plants...soil n pge n equip
Hmmmm....soil was not that expensive, can't remember exactly off the top of my head. The lighting set up cost a total of less than $70, so I would imagine that each full cycle costs less than $100 including power for ~3 months. Pretty radical in my opinion. Today was very very busy for me today. Transplanted like crazy! Also found time to give my Kandy the attention she so badly needed. I am proud to say we are getting the mite situation under control and she has never been happier. I tied down a number of branches to start training a shape, and removed a grip of leaves/nodes/webs(ewwww). All while getting to feel the sun for the first time ever, she had an exciting day lol. The Bonsai is almost soooo official. Bonsai Kandy or Kandy Bonsai??? I know she may look a little awkward now, but soon she will fill out again and be beautiful and healthy! Starting to think that overhead lighting would be optimal for her from here on out for aesthetic purposes, as the leaves would all be facing the same way....but not sure yet. Take a look and let me know what you think! View from the top shows off a very promising shape! The stalk on her is HUGE! Easily as wide as a AA battery. You can also see the holes I made to attach the strings.