For all new growers with questions... Tons of information and answers..

[simpsonsampson420]

Once again, thanks alot SimpsonSampson - your knowledge, insight, and ideas are invaluable

thank you and your welcome!

Can you add how often and how much i should water plants during sprouting, vegitationg, flowering etc

that will be somewhat based on the size of your plant and what you are growing in...

the best thing to do is to make sure the medium you are using drains well.. if you are using a cup, for instance, with soil to start your seeds in make sure there are plenty of drain holes..

saturate the medium completely... make sure its well moistened.. and then let it go until it is dried out.. at least the top inch or two... thats a good indicator.. or you can get a moisture meter and water when it says its dry...

how often you will water will depend on the plant and evaporation that takes place.. there is no magic number to go by.. but usually 3 to 4 days is the average...

if you are using root cubes or rockwool blocks keep them moist but not soaked... if they are too wet you may get root rot...

 

[WheresWaldosBUD]

this is going to my first outdoor grow and i have 97 seeds. I'll appreciate all the help i could get or just come by and check my grow journal out and subscribe. see how everything turns out for my gorilla grow!

 

[showhard2handle]

hey man, had one helluva good friday after hearing ur feedback bout me girls.

Def. figure out way to get better close ups w/ out the hps on.

Anyway, tonight I have x1 cube that has a little lady that just startin wiltin a little bit today.

Interesting & important to note that it had by far the most algae growth). Which has all but cleared up, but that cube def. was treated with the most perox.

Per your warning below this text (that sounds spot on) w/ what I'm sayin. You say I should add some super thrive. I have 2 types in the recipe for success. Thrive Alive Green & Thrive Alive Red. Your opinion on which would be betta would be great.

Also, could it be an over watering issue (its one of my only WOS NY47's & I REALLY want it to make it).

I'm still hand watering, been lazy & waitin for proper timer for the drippers. Def. do this weekend if I can get some fukn time to myself. But anyway, I'll try to get some pics of the NY47 so u can see & diagnose from there. It has a really established root system (one of the shorter of the bunch, but has way more & stronger lookin roots jammin out the bottom of cube).

I've been soakin the cubes w/ 1/2 strength solution bout 3 times a day.

My gut is that it is not an overfeeding thing (although WTF do I know @ this point).

Like I said, he's a favorite & just wanna make sure he pulls thru, so any insight is always appreciated.




spraying after feed is fine... you can also add the peroxide to the feed if you want... this will kill all the beneficial microorganisims at the roots.. so you'll want to add some super thrive or something after you feed a couple times with peroxide to recolonize the root system... but thats not a big issue...

 

[simpsonsampson420]

this is going to my first outdoor grow and i have 97 seeds. I'll appreciate all the help i could get or just come by and check my grow journal out and subscribe. see how everything turns out for my gorilla grow!

well first good luck with things.. thats a hell of an undertaking for a first grow... i will be more than happy to help out with any questions you may have... feel free to post... i cant promise though i would do a good job at following your grow...

hey man, had one helluva good friday after hearing ur feedback bout me girls.

Def. figure out way to get better close ups w/ out the hps on.

Anyway, tonight I have x1 cube that has a little lady that just startin wiltin a little bit today.

Interesting & important to note that it had by far the most algae growth). Which has all but cleared up, but that cube def. was treated with the most perox.

Per your warning below this text (that sounds spot on) w/ what I'm sayin. You say I should add some super thrive. I have 2 types in the recipe for success. Thrive Alive Green & Thrive Alive Red. Your opinion on which would be betta would be great.

Also, could it be an over watering issue (its one of my only WOS NY47's & I REALLY want it to make it).

I'm still hand watering, been lazy & waitin for proper timer for the drippers. Def. do this weekend if I can get some fukn time to myself. But anyway, I'll try to get some pics of the NY47 so u can see & diagnose from there. It has a really established root system (one of the shorter of the bunch, but has way more & stronger lookin roots jammin out the bottom of cube).

I've been soakin the cubes w/ 1/2 strength solution bout 3 times a day.

My gut is that it is not an overfeeding thing (although WTF do I know @ this point).

Like I said, he's a favorite & just wanna make sure he pulls thru, so any insight is always appreciated.




spraying after feed is fine... you can also add the peroxide to the feed if you want... this will kill all the beneficial microorganisims at the roots.. so you'll want to add some super thrive or something after you feed a couple times with peroxide to recolonize the root system... but thats not a big issue...

ill double check but i dont think i saw a pic... if i missed it ill comment.. if not... well you gotta post it... lol

use which ever superthrive they talk about in beginning of veg.. i think its the red....

cant be lazy bro.. gotta get them girls happy.. lazy will end badly... i have to do some shit im putting off myself... lol follow my words and not my actions.. hahaha

 

[jdizzle22]

Ok so I went and watered the 2 plants with lower ppm runoff with a tsp of tiger bloom and 1.5 teaspoons of Big Bloom in 1 gallon of tap that was out for a couple days. The next day Alma's newer top sets start drooping and curling in along their edges. It dosen't seem to have gotten worse or better today. Unfortunately I wasn't paying enough attention or whatever to notice if this started at all before I fed her that stuff. The other one is fine, and I gave the smallest plain water (her ppm dropped 100 since the last one so I think she will be ready for food next time). I'm not really sure what the issue is, I looked at this http://www.marijuana-seeds.net/Thanks-ThankYou.htm None of the pictures are really the problem I am having, plus this is only going on the top part of the plant.* that part is furthest from the bulb on the plant

PS: She didn't perk back up as much as she usually does after being watered/fed. Is it somehow possible that was too much food for her and not for the smaller one?

PSS: In your experience how long does it usually take for the buds or whatever to start forming? It has been over about 9 days and I haven't noticed any changes yet.

 

[simpsonsampson420]

dont worry about the drooping... from the pics at least i wouldnt worry about anything.... some plants just randomly do that.. i have a few strains flowering like that.. as long as the plant isnt drooping.. or the entire leaf isnt drooping.. its nothing to sweat over...

as far as when you'll see results it will vary... but you should start seeing budsites form after about 2 weeks.. and have flowers forming after about the 3rd or 4th week.. it can vary a little tho...

 

[choempi]

i personally like rapid rooters or root riot cubes... they offer quick initial root growth and work well in all hydro systems....

same with clones... i tend to rip the cubes open and put cloning gel into the opening when i use them for clones... just to make inserting the clones a little easier...


Gotcha.

The 1.5x1.5 sure to grow cubes totally suck! I tried everything but as soon as a seed would pop the cube material seemed to take all the energy by being too difficult for the roots and stems to move, especially the main stem.I went through a bunch of bagseed and have one plant to show.

The sure to grow slab material seems different and may well be good for an established plant to grow well in. I am trying it out on my one plant. I have 2" rockwool cubes ordered and will try to root some more bagseed.

 

[choempi]

Hey bro, saw the post above about sure to grow (sounds like its the exact opposite).

Anyway, thats the white kinda styrofoam lookin stuff, correct?

Please advise, I actually was virtually a click or two away from buyin that shiz for my first go, then ended up playin safe & goin w/ hydroton @ the last minute.

Sorry to hear bout your issues.

I'm still breakin my cherry on first grow. Sampson recommended rapid rooters. Soaked them in some root stimulant for a few hours & they were ready to rock.

Bout 90% germ rate on first batch. & bout the same (I fukd up & let em get to dry 2nd go) for the follow up batch.

Anyway, they totally did the trick. Very porous seems like roots were thrivin quick style. I believe it was 8 days from the day beans sproutin til I dropped 'em straight into hydroton & they have performed wonderfully from there.

On second batch started in same way in rooters. Thru into rockwool cubes maybe 9-10 days later. & got roots bustin thru the rockwool now after bout 10 more days. So yeah, RR's are lovely!

For what it's worth, thats my humble opinion. Sampson get ya straight though.

Pitty, thought that sure to grow shiz looked great. (Easy clean up, no conditioning or rinsing, etc.)

If you could reply back to make sure we are on same page (so I know never to try it).

Take care, & good luck friend

Yes, I bought the STG with the same thoughts as you, and it was a bad call. The 1.5x1.5 cubes are not good for rooting seed in, though it may work for clones. The slab material is fluffy and seems totally different then the small cubes, and may work for already rooted plants, as I will find out as I have one rooted and in a chunk of slab.

I am probably moving toward using roockwool.

 

[showhard2handle]

ya... no pic... post one and ill let ya know what i think of the one you are worried about...

hey man, sorry for bein awol. Had some family drams to sort out.

Anyway, heres the photo of the girlie in question.

She's lookin rough dude. Very droopy, leaves feel almost dried up & roots pokin out bottom of cube have a little bit o' brown on 'em.

I belive even I am qualified to say she's hurtin & prob. won't make it back. All good, I got back ups.

Here is a new thing though, I no longer am trying to get moms going & get perpetual thang goin.

Some things have fallen together to enable me to get back OR @ the end of the summer. Where I can really spread my new found wings & let 'em soar. Got an old foogie thats a friend o' the family & totally cool w/ doin a caregiver situation!! Terribly effin excited, but right now instead of trying to get set up for long term. I need to bloom absolutetly ALL the photo girls I have started, so that I can be done & hopefully be drying by early June.

Here's the deal, got 4 girls in the hydrofarm (I know its a lot, but they are gonna be small when sent to bloom & I figure I'll jsut be LST'g my ass off). They are under the ghetto chandelier trying to get 'em as big as I can in next 3 weeks (til autos are done).

As so as autos complete, I will refill v-drip w/ girls in cubes & now flip v-drip & waterfarm to 12/12 ALL @ same time.

THe Waterfarm will fit inside of the tent next to v-drip, but its super tight (like 2" to spare). Specially once there are full blown ladies, I believe it will be an effin nightmare.

I was thinkin bout adding that 2nd 400 watter to help light up v-drip & h20farm better. Jus not sure how feasbile it will be to change out nute solution, etc. w/ the shit so crammed together.

Any ideas you can think of.

Essentially, as soon as autos are done, the entire closet will be on same photo cycle.
Gonna keep all going 24/0 til autos are down, & switch to 12/12 when you say I should.

Lemme know your thoughts for max. output w/ new situation. Pondered gettin a smaller 250 watt hps, simply to go over waterfarm (outside of tent), but it's such a negligable difference money wise tween 250 & 400 jus feel like its kinda dumbnot steppin up to 400 watts.

BTW, max juice is no longer an issue. I have that sorted now, so don't take that into consideration when doing the 400 vs 250.

Thanks as always my man, look forward to you new ideas.

 

[simpsonsampson420]

its definitely a def issue.. possibly due to lock out.. remember that rockwool has a high ph and can cause upwards drifts... so you need to use a lower ph'd solution in the beginning... you should do 2 things...

1) check run off ph and see what its at.. should give some idea of whats up..

2) cut back the daily feedings to a normal feed schedule.. by that i mean just water them well and let them dry before watering again... we may need to flush as well.. check the run of ppms also

 

[simpsonsampson420]

hey bro

alright first off if i didnt say it before about the 250w lamp and shit... i dont think i commented... what i would do is move the 400w lamp you have now outside the tent to where you would want the 250w lamp... and get a 600w lamp for the tent... it will really step things up inside for flowering...

if not that stick with another 400w.. dont waste the money on anything under a 400w... or if you want a good alternative check out sunleaves satellite IV floros.... http://www.brandys-imports.com/susaivgr.html if you want to know why they are 500 i will tell you.. but ill wait to see if its worth getting into or not..

good thing with the res... it will help keep things cleaner.. and will also allow you more time in between to clean at you leisure... ppms are good.. the girls can often eat more than we feed them.. over time you'll increase your strengths... you already are!!

dont sweat the one that died... there is a real possibility that if all the rest are healthy that it was just a bad seed... it happens... no reason to stress..

the girls are looking lovely tho.. starting to fill in nicely... i still think you have about 2 or 3 weeks to go... still around that same time line... if you can get some real close up pics (if your camera can take good up close) i can tell you even more precise what i think..

and lastly, you are correct as far as pollination goes.. the flowers would have died off.. stopped swelling and growing.. you would be able to see seed pods by now.. im sure your in the clear

 

[showhard2handle]

hey bro

alright first off if i didnt say it before about the 250w lamp and shit... i dont think i commented... what i would do is move the 400w lamp you have now outside the tent to where you would want the 250w lamp... and get a 600w lamp for the tent... it will really step things up inside for flowering...

if not that stick with another 400w.. dont waste the money on anything under a 400w... or if you want a good alternative check out sunleaves satellite IV floros.... http://www.brandys-imports.com/susaivgr.html if you want to know why they are 500 i will tell you.. but ill wait to see if its worth getting into or not..

good thing with the res... it will help keep things cleaner.. and will also allow you more time in between to clean at you leisure... ppms are good.. the girls can often eat more than we feed them.. over time you'll increase your strengths... you already are!!

dont sweat the one that died... there is a real possibility that if all the rest are healthy that it was just a bad seed... it happens... no reason to stress..

the girls are looking lovely tho.. starting to fill in nicely... i still think you have about 2 or 3 weeks to go... still around that same time line... if you can get some real close up pics (if your camera can take good up close) i can tell you even more precise what i think..

and lastly, you are correct as far as pollination goes.. the flowers would have died off.. stopped swelling and growing.. you would be able to see seed pods by now.. im sure your in the clear

Ahh, really nice to hear w/ certainty that I'm in the clear on the pollen. (I understand you can only be but so certain w/ out puttin ur eyeballs on 'em.) But still fukn great to hear.

I'll work on perfected my bud porn technique.

PLEASE explain to me how a floro is $500 beans. I noticed the wattage was up over 400 watts. No way in hell I can do that right now (I'm talkin like an extra $200 beans is the most I can come off of, plannin to move cross country & what not). But for posterity, I would love to know how a floro got that high.

Good call with the 600 in tent & 400 over waterfarm outside of tent.

Here's the thing I am confused on that I really need some advice. Is how to cool that 400 watt (my current one). Cause it is a cheapie & just has gull wing reflector.

My fan is connected to the flange on back of tent, so I fear I would not be able to cool another HID outside of the tent, know what I mean?

My plan as of last night was to keep cheap ass existing 400 watt w/ gull wing reflector in tent for just v-drip.

Then grab the guy below. Yeah it's only 150watts, but it's gotta a nice hood that I can connect separate 4" ducting to, then run that above the tent to a "Y" connector, & that fan will be plenty (even with efficiency loss using "Y" connector), to cool cheap ass gull wing (4oo), and new cheap 150 watt w/ descent hood.

Check out link below if ya can that shows the 150 watt I'm thinkin bout. It's 80 beans, boom.

I realize a 600 would be ideal for tent. But
they did do OK with a 400 watt in there. I basically broke down & @ 50K lumens from 400 watt hps. My current girls are gettin bout 4K lumens per piece.

With the 150, divided by x4, I would still be gettin 4K of lumens to each one.

Lemme know what ya think. Or if 150 is just a piece o shit. Was tryin to rationalize that it would be nice for keepin proper moms in h20 farm once I get to left coast too.

I dunno, again, gotta get everything to bloom & be done by June, so time is suddenly of the essence & I'm on a budget now. What a bitch.

Thanks for all you help dude!

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=49255

 

[Vtec9010]

Hey SimpsonSampson!

I'm totally new to this whole thing (both growing and on the forum) and this is my first post. I've been reading all your information and responses you have posted here and I must say you have done an excellent job breaking it down to us newbies without acting like a know-it-all. Props to you man.
But lets get down to business to why I'm here..I'm interested in starting a grow. Nothing big by any means, I'm talking like 1 or 2 plants.
I want to grow in an area thats approx. 5 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet deep (its a gutted dresser). As for lighting I was just wondering what would be the most efficent for the size, cfl or hps (from reading your previous posts I'm thinking of going with hps) If I do go with hps what size should I get if I'm only going to do 1 or two plants and because they put off more heat will I need to put in a ventilation system? As for soil and nutes I think I'm pretty good. I'm going to get a high quality soil and take your advice and get a fox farms nute system. I'm also looking for any reccomendations on a strain that has a good yeild but also stays pretty small height wise, if you or anyone else posting here has any reccomendations that'd be great!
Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions at once, I'm just anxious to get going.
Thanks again for all your help!

 

[simpsonsampson420]

Ahh, really nice to hear w/ certainty that I'm in the clear on the pollen. (I understand you can only be but so certain w/ out puttin ur eyeballs on 'em.) But still fukn great to hear.

I'll work on perfected my bud porn technique.
your pics are good enough for me to feel confident in saying your clear on the seeds.. but without a much closer view of the flowers i cant really give a good call for doneness... you'll get the camera bug eventually and get a badass one just for close up pics
PLEASE explain to me how a floro is $500 beans. I noticed the wattage was up over 400 watts. No way in hell I can do that right now (I'm talkin like an extra $200 beans is the most I can come off of, plannin to move cross country & what not). But for posterity, I would love to know how a floro got that high.
ok... gotta break it down a little.. first they are 420w ballasts... each with 4 bulbs.. so each bulb is 105ws... each bulb puts off 11,000 lumens.. so each ballast puts off 44,000 lumens.. so they have the light output of about what a 400w hps lamp puts out...

this alone is impressive.. but if it was all then it wouldnt be worth the money.. here are the other features and reasons why its worth the money...

1) heat output is SUPER low... at max temp it will run at 90 degrees... this means they can be put in smaller locations with much less worry about heat... lower need for heavy ventilation i guess is what i mean..

2) their ability to stay extremely close to the canopy without burn.. im talking within inches.. what this means is that your plants get WELL over 44,000 lumens.. lumen ratings are rated at 1 foot from the light source... so at 1 foot from the light is the 44,000 lumens... move the light within an inch or two of the plants and you get 80,000+ lumens...

3) their lumen output is also constant since its floro lighting.. HID lighting has 2 actual readings.. initial lumens and mean lumens.. we read what the initial lumens rating is.. this is the peak most lumens the light puts off.. but after operation use and time those lumens drop... the floros will stay at the rated lumens until the bulbs burn out...

4) bulb life is EXTREMELY long.. i have used the same bulbs in them for the last few years... and a good majority of the time they are on 24/0....

Good call with the 600 in tent & 400 over waterfarm outside of tent.

Here's the thing I am confused on that I really need some advice. Is how to cool that 400 watt (my current one). Cause it is a cheapie & just has gull wing reflector.

My fan is connected to the flange on back of tent, so I fear I would not be able to cool another HID outside of the tent, know what I mean?

My plan as of last night was to keep cheap ass existing 400 watt w/ gull wing reflector in tent for just v-drip.

Then grab the guy below. Yeah it's only 150watts, but it's gotta a nice hood that I can connect separate 4" ducting to, then run that above the tent to a "Y" connector, & that fan will be plenty (even with efficiency loss using "Y" connector), to cool cheap ass gull wing (4oo), and new cheap 150 watt w/ descent hood.

Check out link below if ya can that shows the 150 watt I'm thinkin bout. It's 80 beans, boom.

I realize a 600 would be ideal for tent. But
they did do OK with a 400 watt in there. I basically broke down & @ 50K lumens from 400 watt hps. My current girls are gettin bout 4K lumens per piece.

With the 150, divided by x4, I would still be gettin 4K of lumens to each one.

Lemme know what ya think. Or if 150 is just a piece o shit. Was tryin to rationalize that it would be nice for keepin proper moms in h20 farm once I get to left coast too.

I dunno, again, gotta get everything to bloom & be done by June, so time is suddenly of the essence & I'm on a budget now. What a bitch.

Thanks for all you help dude!

http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=49255[/QUOTE]

i would, if i were you, use the 400w with a gull wing outside the tent and use the 600 in the tent.... first off scrap the idea of anything less than 400w.. you will waste your money and time.. trust me... in a more open environment a 400w would stay plenty cool... a simple fan blowing on it will help also... as long as the heat can dissipate into a decent sized environment your good...

either way you'll have a 400w lamp outside with a gull wing.. and inside will be a air cooled light.. whether it will be a 400 or 600 is up to you...

Hey SimpsonSampson!

I'm totally new to this whole thing (both growing and on the forum) and this is my first post. I've been reading all your information and responses you have posted here and I must say you have done an excellent job breaking it down to us newbies without acting like a know-it-all. Props to you man.
But lets get down to business to why I'm here..I'm interested in starting a grow. Nothing big by any means, I'm talking like 1 or 2 plants.
I want to grow in an area thats approx. 5 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 3 feet deep (its a gutted dresser). As for lighting I was just wondering what would be the most efficent for the size, cfl or hps (from reading your previous posts I'm thinking of going with hps) If I do go with hps what size should I get if I'm only going to do 1 or two plants and because they put off more heat will I need to put in a ventilation system? As for soil and nutes I think I'm pretty good. I'm going to get a high quality soil and take your advice and get a fox farms nute system. I'm also looking for any reccomendations on a strain that has a good yeild but also stays pretty small height wise, if you or anyone else posting here has any reccomendations that'd be great!
Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions at once, I'm just anxious to get going.
Thanks again for all your help!

hey bro.. thanks for the kind words.. always appricieated!!

now to business...

if you want to go floro that would be fine.. if you can spend the money on the floro i suggested to sh2h that would be amazing in your set up... this would work well and is cheaper http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?t=prod&sku=SPB104&AC=1... obviously you will get better results with the more expensive one.. but both would offer quite satisfying results... they would also require much less ventilation... you'll need some regardless... but the heat output would be much much lower... i would stay away from the spiral cfls or other forms of floro though.... if you dont go one of the first two options just go hps.. the other benefit to the floros is that you can keep them closer.. since your limited on space in a way.... they will take up less vertical space and be kept closer... good for a small space...

if you go hps you will need to definitely do ventilation work... you'll also want to have an air cooled hood.. hps lamps will give you great results.. but the heat issue must be addressed... a 400w lamp would work.. 600w would be best.... 1000w would be overkill....

itd be beneficial to line the dresser inside with reflective material... especially if you use floro lighting... but either way its a good idea...

as far as strains go stick with heavy indicas.. the more indica dominant the better... they will work better for you than sativas.... matanuska tundra is a personal fav of mine.. stays nice and short with very little stretch if any at flowering..

 

[showhard2handle]

Wow, killer info. bout that floro. Wow, a floro that puts out more than an HID, (or potentially twice as much if u increase mobility). I would love to grab one of those, but dough is an issue. on this.

I also preesh the candor bout gettin anything less than a 400. I will either go 400 or 600.

I also will perfect my close ups, got whole place to myself tonight so I will get something posted later on.

My actual question for today is regarding excess fan leaves that fill out my canopy.

Obv. with all those gals crammed in there I am struggling to get light to everyone.

On some of the larger gals that have really long branching w/ leaves bout 10" in diameter @ the ends of them.

What do you think about perhaps some delicate pruning some of those larger leaves to allow some more light to penetrate canopy (I actually have a canopy, fukn sweet. You da man goose.)

As I mentioned I have some additional lights that are down @ ground level, & when hps is off it provides some really cool look at what's happenin under the canopy. In short, it's some really groovy lookin shit that I feel could use the light. But I don't wanna fuk the dog this far along by overdoin it & stressin or something. I can't really see how removing a leaf could hurt plant, if anything, logically it seems that it would be one less piece of vegetation for the plant to support & perhaps re-focus that energy on bud sites & main colas.

But, I am totally ASSuming & yappin out my ass here. That would be what you are for. Whatcha think?

Holy shit, a floro spittin out 40K of lumens. Wow

 

[simpsonsampson420]

ok.. to begin with if you want to add lower lighting to the canopy go ahead.. thats more than fine...

now.... onto the discussion of removing foliage...

i dont recommend doing it at all... BUT that doesnt mean im right...

lets talk quickly about the purpose of fan leaves.... large fan leaves are used to absorb light and store energy... thats their main job... the less you have the less light is absorbed and the less potential energy is available...

now the little leaves within the flowers will absorb light and such.. but on a MUCH MUCH smaller scale.. they are basically just little boosters...

ok.. so my opinion about removing leaves, as i said, is not good... its my belief that if the plant isnt using the leaf it will discard it itself... i try to limit the amount of total stress.. so removing anything is hard for me too do.. even taking clones kills me.. lol a bit overkill.. a bit of a drama queen thing.. but thats just me.. i dont even really lollipop even tho i know i would have bigger yields.. my lollipopping consists of whatever i remove for cloning...

with that being said... it is just my opinion... the truth is that you can strategically remove some leaves to allow for more light penetration... it takes practice to get right.. theres a method to the madness that can only be figured out through trial and error.. i just suggest removing a couple leaves per plant every couple days.. give you time to see how the plants react and adjust to any stress that may have been caused.. as far as where to start or which to remove you'll kinda be on your own there..

but yes, you can remove some... dont be scared to try it out... just go easy on them...

 

[Vtec9010]

Thanks for the info bro and fast response, had to find out how to +rep before I posted again!

So I decided I'll go with 600w hps considering my budget. Which means I will need to set up some sort of ventilation. I'm thinking just intake/outake fans on either side of the dresser which means I would also probably have to have some sort of filter to cut down on the smell. I'm assuming that opening the dresser once a day won't be good enough? I was planning on painting the interior white to get reflection as well.

Looked up that strain on Attitude and it looks pretty delicious.
I was wondering if you had any experience with low ryder?? I'm just interested in it because of the low grow height.

Thanks again, I'm sure I'll have more questions, just hope I don't get too annoying haha.

 

[showhard2handle]

ok.. to begin with if you want to add lower lighting to the canopy go ahead.. thats more than fine...

now.... onto the discussion of removing foliage...

i dont recommend doing it at all... BUT that doesnt mean im right...

lets talk quickly about the purpose of fan leaves.... large fan leaves are used to absorb light and store energy... thats their main job... the less you have the less light is absorbed and the less potential energy is available...

now the little leaves within the flowers will absorb light and such.. but on a MUCH MUCH smaller scale.. they are basically just little boosters...

ok.. so my opinion about removing leaves, as i said, is not good... its my belief that if the plant isnt using the leaf it will discard it itself... i try to limit the amount of total stress.. so removing anything is hard for me too do.. even taking clones kills me.. lol a bit overkill.. a bit of a drama queen thing.. but thats just me.. i dont even really lollipop even tho i know i would have bigger yields.. my lollipopping consists of whatever i remove for cloning...

with that being said... it is just my opinion... the truth is that you can strategically remove some leaves to allow for more light penetration... it takes practice to get right.. theres a method to the madness that can only be figured out through trial and error.. i just suggest removing a couple leaves per plant every couple days.. give you time to see how the plants react and adjust to any stress that may have been caused.. as far as where to start or which to remove you'll kinda be on your own there..

but yes, you can remove some... dont be scared to try it out... just go easy on them...

Great explanation. SOLD on my end. Sounds like a descent technique to practice/perfect, but not something for breakin my cherry. I'll get a few notches in my belt & then maybe give a whirl.

I believe I have the close up thing down. Well maybe not so much down, I just took some betta close ups for ya. THings are gettin really exciting in there homey. I am absolutely ecstatic. Can barely get my hand (and I'm bout 6-4, - 250 so they big hands) and I can barely get my hand around some of the larger colas, of which there are prob. 4-5. Man I'm pumped & I thank you profusly for all ur help.

Lemme get the pics ready to upload & I slap em up.

Thanks brotha!

 

[choempi]

Sam, where do you get your peroxide and how do you use it in hydro?

 

[choempi]

Sorry forgot to ask you also about conditioning rockwool for germinating seed, do you condition it with a purposely low PHed water?

Danger in oversatuatin?