Hi GC, First post, and my first grow. I've been lurking for a few months and learned much from the members here - thank you. There's a TL;DR for those not interested in the saga... So I started growing this bagseed that my friend gave me, it was started outdoors in a beer fermenter with some garden soil... I made the mistake of transplanting into the current pot (when it had only 1 set of true leaves) which is about 12 litres and contains some random cheap potting mix. The plant barely grew for the first few weeks, I checked PH, it was at 4.5, so I added a whole bunch of lime which brought the PH to 7.0. The plant started to recover from what I now believe was a calcium deficiency (rust spots) but was still growing very slowly. I flushed the medium, bought a tent and went indoors with it. The current tent setup is as follows: 90x90x160 6" inline fan Muffler Carbon filter 1 x 55w 6500k CFL vertical in a lamp base 1 x 250w 2700k/6500k mixed spectrum CFL in a basic batwing (pulls just under 200w from the wall) 2 x 23w cfl pointing on a new plant that's going 12/12 from seed Using GH flora trio Running 12/12, obviously, (lights on at night) - it's in my garage which gets hot during the day and cold at night - not ideal, I know. Tap water (very soft, ph 7.0) Currently at the 7 week mark from flip No training - popped 3 colas all on its own After using some fish based fertilizer which perked the plant right up, the growth exploded. This thing was vegged for about 2 months, most of which it was growing very poorly. I've had all sorts of problems so far, PH out of whack (fixed) white flies (fixed) I nute burned it with the fish based ferts (if a little ferts help a lot, then more must be better!!!! :-( ) before moving to the GH Trio and this week I found some spider mites which I killed with pyrethrum spray - will reapply every three days until no more eggs. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, I got too excited by the wet/dry cycle and let it dry out too much - came home one day to completely wilted plant (about 2 weeks ago) and lost about 1/3 of the fan leaves. Basically, I have fucked up in every way possible but somehow this plant hasn't hermied or tried to kill me during my sleep on account of poor treatment. The pyrethrum burned all the pistils when I applied it 3 days ago, prior to that it was maybe 30% red pistils. I have a 40x loupe that I'm using to keep an eye on the trichomes, but I really find it hard to identify when they are cloudy or clear, a 100x scope is on the way. I thought I saw some amber pistils but who knows... I've taken some pics through the loupe and with my phone to see what you guys think about the current state of the plant. Clearly it has been through the wars but I want the best out of it. I feel rather attached to this plant after all I have been through with it and all it has taught me. I've got some proper genetics for the next grow and I'll be moving to either a 400 HPS in an air cooled hood, Lumatek ballast, Gavita bulb, or a Mars 2 700 (still on the fence about LED's). I also have some proper sized pots and Canna Terra for medium. As I don't know if I'm dealing with an Indica or Sativa (leaves look Sativa dom, but the plant is short) I'm unsure when this plant is ready for a flush, harvest, cure and long awaited SMOKE. I have anxiety issues and a form of arthritis. I can't take NSAID's due to stomach issues and cannabis smoked in the evening (just a little) keeps the inflammation at bay and lets me sleep properly, it also means I can avoid opiates which are great but really only short term and addictive solution. More more amber trichomes/CBD is what I'm looking for (based on what I've read). TL;DR here is: I smoke cannabis flowers to sleep and ease anxiety and arthritis. Plant has been through hell. When should I start flushing? How far is this plant from harvest?
You need a hand held Micro scope. They are pretty cheap on Amazon And you need to study the trichs on your plants Research how and what to look for in the trichs. There is tons of info
I'm just posting to say that I enjoyed reading that story, what a journey lol. No comment on when to flush, with random genetics and no experience growing them your guess is as good as anybody elses.
Thanks Viking, I have a 40x loupe but I still can't see the trichs properly, cloudy vs clear is hard to tell. I guess it comes with experience. Thicken, glad you enjoyed the read - sure has been a rollercoaster for both plant and I. When I opened the the tent to see every single leaf wilted it felt like something died inside me.
I also enjoyed the story, and you seem to have responded to all stimuli well and with an even head, at least in the re-telling of it! Congratulations on your first grow, and welcome to The City! I have a suggestion for you, if you're feeling experimental. I would cut one now, note the trich color, and dry and cure it. Then I'd wait for a bit to see how the trichs keep developing, and harvest when they really amber. Dry and cure, and then compare. They will be the same plant, but give you different experiences. So try it out, and see which level of trich development you prefer. I never wait to the very end, because couchlock cripples me. Keep up the great work, and enjoy your buds!
Thanks for the welcome Sensei, each problem taught me a lot, I'm glad it reads like I was acting sensibly, it felt like panic stations at the time. I really like your suggestion of harvesting in stages. I'm going to start the flush from the next watering and might take down a cola in a week's time. I'll try to work out which is ripest first, rinse and repeat.
I tend to like the couch lock, and they really pick up weight in those last few weeks getting to couch lock quality. It looks great!
A bit of an update guys, I cut off a popcorn bud and quick dried it in the oven. Seems it cooked a little too long as it was very dry when I broke it up. I rolled a pretty small joint and had a few tokes, well, it's pretty strong shit. Very cerebral, not in a bad way but not enough of a body stone. Seems like the kind of joint you'd pass around with friends. The taste was nowhere near as bad as expected. Not much flavour or smell but very smooth. Perhaps the shit I've been buying is just garbage? Gonna try again in about a week with another popcorn and see how it's going. Can't wait to do a full harvest and trim, plus weigh in.
There is not as much money in letting it get good.............And that my friend, is the real secret to growing your own....you can't buy as good, and shouldn't sell it because it is so much better. SSSHHHHH!....don't tell anybody!
@OldGoat54, you make an excellent point about yield. You're absolutely right about the weight at the end, those colas can fatten up real nice. Sad but true, and with most industries as well.
Thanks guys, the fucking mites are back... Even so, From last night's smoke I can see something special awaits me. I'll update again when I harvest. Honestly, after all the shit CFL's get this seems to have been worthwhile.
Thanks Synbee. Bit of an update, the plant is still throwing out new pistils like crazy, the calyxs are swelling and I haven't taken any more testers... It has now been in flower for close to 11 weeks and I only have a few amber trichs on the sugar leaves... The cola on the right is getting FAT - really filling in nicely. I have noticed one seed on a lower branch, not sure if it's going hermie or was pollinated by another plant in the room that I since discovered was male. I've been using plain water for about 1.5 weeks now and some of the leaves have gone yellow and dropped off. The mite infestation was completely taken care of by the pyrethrum spray in two applications. Started 3 new seeds this week and set up a small seedling/veg tent that is 60x40x60 - running 2 x 55w PLL and venting into the flower tent with just a 4 inch duct. All in all, coming along nicely. Thanks for the kind words and advice everyone.
hey guys, just a little picture update. Should also mention it's going hermie on me... picked off a nanner earlier today... oh well.... free 'feminised (read - hermie)' seeds lol...
Yes I harvested, got 1 zip dry plus some popcorn and a lot of trim. Not too bad I guess... Have 3 new plants on the go, vegging under a 2 x 55 pll - they are doing much better at 2 weeks than this plant was at 8 weeks. Much bigger. This time I flower I'm going to use a 400hps, the CFL left me with airy and loose bud, plus heaps of popcorn.