Hey everyone, So, I harvested my first plant 2 weeks ago. That one was grown from bagseed. I harvested it very early and the high is a very nice cerebral high with barely any body high. I like it very much. I still have two plants in the garden. One of them is rather puny and not even worth talking about (I might just cook the whole thing into butter cause I don't think that it'll give too much smokable bud). The other one is looking rather nice. Partway through flowering it got way too tall, so I LSTd the top of the plant. You'll be able to see that in the pictures. I gave the plant its last dose of fertilizer a few days ago and have started flushing it (should I just water it more often, or should I bring it into the tub and literally flush it out?). There are a ton of budsites and they are starting to look rather tasty. However, the buds haven't really become too dense. They're still rather airy and you can even see through them in some places. It's been flowering for at least 10-11 weeks. Any ideas on why it's not getting too dense? Does this happen all at once during the last week or two? Also, is there any kind of food that I can give it when I'm already in the flushing stage? Sugar maybe? Leave some comments//suggestions//etc. I would greatly appreciate it.
yes you can use molasses. go for the blackstrap i researched my local molasses at the grocery store and blackstrap has a high phossphorous along with higher levels of calcium and iron. but i dont know how late you can use it in flowering. they do look ver very sativa dominant so they will take long to flower around 10-12 weeks maybe 15 at the longest and remember you start counting from the 1st sign of sex (pistils or nugget pouches)not when u switch to 12/12. one more question what type of light is that? from the picture it looks MH and if it is and not HPS thats why your buds arent dense.
I have heard that blackstrap is the best, hopefully I can find it around here. Does anyone have an opinion about how late into flowering it can be used? Is it really something that needs to be flushed? Yes, it's an mh bulb. However, it's one that they say has a better red light spectrum. I understand that it's not the best for flowering. But I just don't have the money to purchase another ballast and bulb. I wonder if supplementing with red light and/or full light spectrum CFLs would be a good idea? Anyone else have any comments/suggestions?
Um, I doubt you'd need to purchase another ballast . You can get a cheap HPS bulb for like $20 at Home Depot . Good looking ladies though!
The ballast that I have is only for mh bulbs. Are there any HPS bulbs that don't need a ballast and that aren't too expensive? Does anyone have an opinion on the full spectrum or red spectrum CFLs to supplement my mh? How about using molasses this late in flowering?
Ah yes, conversion bulbs . http://www.htgsupply.com has some very good ones. Good investment for your next grow, the bulbs won't arrive in time for harvest, if you order them.
Maybe I'm missing something, but I only seem to be able to find mh bulbs that work with hps ballasts. What I need is an HPS bulb that works with a mh ballast. Still nobody has answered about the molasses and CFLs. Anyone?
Red spectrum CFL's can't hurt. At the very least, it'll give you some xtra wattage. You can look for some grow lamps that are red-spectrum. You can find them at pretty much any store that sells aquarium products (Wal-Mart, PetsPlus, local pet stores, etc.)... I'm not too sure about the molasses, though... I've read that it can be used in the last couple weeks of flowering to help fatten up the buds a bit... How long have you been flowering for? Those buds look like they still have white pistils. The reason they look so airy and not ready to be chopped could be because they're not ready to be chopped... Do you have a magnifying lens to check the trich. color with?
boy does that ever look sativa dom. going to be some BOMB smoke if you let it grow. looks like you have another 2 weeks atleast, the first layer of pistils hasn't even started to brown. red spectrum cfl's would help put on the weight but did you know MH is supposed to grow more potent weed because it emits more UVB because of the spectrum? thats why big time growers use even spectrum. (UV-B +UV-A force the plant to create more resin) heres a big article about using molasses that i think everyone should read. all it is is carbohydrates (sugars) for the plant to use.
It's been flowering for about 11-12 weeks by now. And yes, I do have a microscope to look at the tricomes. I haven't done it yet because it doesn't look anywhere near done to the naked eye. I'll check it in the next few days and let you know how it looks. Thanks for the info about the lights. I'll try to get some CFLs for the next grow. I'll probably cut this one down in about 2 weeks. But doesn't it seem way too long? 14 weeks? I guess some sativas can take that long, huh? By the way, I forgot to mention it earlier. These are California Orange Bud, so yes, very sativa dominant.
I've heard of some Sativa strains that don't finish for 14+ weeks... Maybe you just don't have enough light, though, and that's why the buds look so whispy???
Could be not enough light, but I kind of don't think so. I have a 400 watt mh and I've only had 3 plants in there for the duration of the flowering and it's down to 2 now (for the last 3 weeks or so). Only one of the two that's left is any good, the other has had problems ever since it sprouted. I think that I'm going to salvage a little bud from it, but I'll mostly use it for hash and/or cooking.
How many Sq. feet does the light have to cover? You want about 100 watts per sq. foot as a good rule of thumb... From the pics it looks like the light has to light a pretty big area, but that could just be the pics.
The room is about 5x4 feet. So I guess it's not quite enough light. But it's only about 4-6 plants in there at most, I had heard that was enough. Also, I have no money to buy more lights. Maybe some CFLs
So you're getting about 20 watts per sq. ft.... That's not enough... If you can make the room smaller, that'd probably be the best bet... 5'x4' is more than plenty for for 2 plants... If you make the room smaller, that'll make the current lighting more intense (you'll be getting more watts per sq. ft.)... Your plants will thank you for it If you can't do that, the addition of some CFL's will help a bit, but not very much.
I'm not sure where he was gonna send ya, but there is a good thread on the uses of molases here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=32180 By the way I use mollases, and sucunat 1 tsp each per gallon every watering.. During the first week of a two week flush I double the dose to 2tsp each per gallon, and the last week is straight ph'd water.
Yeah... Make it so the light is forced into a smaller space. Try to get the walls so they're only maybe 4-6" from your plants, and paint them flat white. Real cheap to set up, and will boost your bud production big-time.