First Time Grower, G13 Feminized

[supersymmetry]

http://foxfarmfertilizer.com/products_pest1.html
Fox Farm Don't Bug Me
someone on grasscity recommended this. it says it's natural, derived from flowers, kills on contact, breaks down quickly & doesn't persist in the area, can be used right up to harvest, etc. sounds just about perfect! i gotta confirm it works on spider mites (page doesn't mention 'em) & then we're good 2 go

 

[Dr Gruber]

thanks! i'll look into that... 2 small updates...

1- even after washdown/rinseoff, a couple hours later there was 1 spider mite. physically removed it w/ clean instrument. since then i have seen none. let's keep it that way

2 - "local loser" plant in 80oz jar: tips of original 2 leaves are starting to dry up. it's getting a lot less light. i should do somethin w/ it today, probably abandon it outdoors

I often see a few of them around after a spray but they usually die soon. But in about 9 days i think the eggs will hatch and you will need to hit them again...maybe go with the no pest strips and follow directions on package.


Those leaves pretty much always dry up...they are food for the rest of the plant.

 

[supersymmetry]

got my hands on foxfarm "Don't Bug Me" coz it sounded more natural than the pest strips. no spider mites yet today, but yeah good idea to keep an eye open. i heard they have a 7 to 9 day breeding cycle. rewatered pot, got runout, plant is in full swing. node spacing pretty damn tight. still a smallish plant, but at the moment a very healthy plant

 

[supersymmetry]

my G13 runt is looking mighty fine tonight. no spider mites visible. daily leaf growth visible. gaining some good height. i'm not getting my hopes up too high but right now it's smooth sailing.

lights going off @ 10am and back on at 4pm. i'm still running my 19on/6off light cycle. couple more days and i will be at the desired noon-6pm lights off, and i will switch to normal 18on/6off then. unbelievably dense red light from the ufo concentrated in a tiny space. temps still about 10F higher than i would like, but so is the climate! average for May down here is historically 80F. we've had nothing but low-to-mid 90s all May, & June is shaping up the same way. oh well. plant doing gr8 right now. lights on average = 85F, lights off average 70F. best i can do without wasting tons of electricity.

 

[supersymmetry]

certifiable screw-up in the span of 5 hours

-for better side coverage, last night i mirrorcoated w/ reflective tape the inside of the "grow room". the current grow room is an empty 5-gal bucket sitting on the dirt around my plant. it's the ideal size for now, so no probs there.

-plant got different combinations of tap water pH 6.0, tap water pH 7.0, tap water w/ 100ppm nutes. i was feeling cavalier since the plant was doing great so this was a small side experiment. no nute burn. no probs there.

-took a pic at midnight (6 1/2 hrs ago). plant looked excellent, temp 82F, typical. no probs.

-checked again at 5am (1 1/2 hrs ago). got pic, so i have before&after pix. some, not all, of the uppermost leaf tips are browning. 1 or 2 very small brown spots in middle of leaf. temp 86F, typical temp, maybe a bit on the high side for overnight. all leaves are visibly bigger *and* more upright, which is odd because in my book that's a sign of better health not worse

-checked pictures of health problems online and it sure looks like heat stress to me. but the heat didn't go up much...? amount of light went up due to mirrorcoating.

-light source is about a foot above. i moved it further up just now. re-sprayed w/ plain tap water. i don't know what else i can do in the middle of the night. this bums me out so i'm going back to sleep. maybe someone will post advice by the time i check this page later.

plant's future doesn't seem in doubt, but if it keeps losing photosynthetic surface area, then who knows? blarg... blarg.

 

[supersymmetry]

on the bright side, if there is one!?, 3 more hrs have gone by & things look the same, i.e. not worse. this is even more evidence of heat stress and *not* nute burn. got another pic. temp around 80.5F.

 

[Dr Gruber]

Without pics its hard to tell but brown leaf tip are usually a sign of nute burn.

 

[supersymmetry]

Without pics its hard to tell but brown leaf tip are usually a sign of nute burn.

it all happened in the span of 5 hours or less, when i raised reflectivity in the grow room and the temp was 86-88. it was the upper leaves on the outer edges. i'm pretty sure it was heat stress. it has not gotten significantly worse since then.

well at this point i can only laugh... at myself! something fell on the plant around 10:30pm and 2 branches broke. keep in mind the thing is about 2 inches in height and not much more in width. there's no weight to the branches so they basically stayed in place. i noticed right away, and went to prop up the branches with little pieces of metal providing counter-force to heal the breaks. they lined back up perfectly and i hope for a seamless recovery.

what a poor plant! first the roots ran outta space. then the first 2 leaves yellowed out, although they are still alive & well today, no wilting (yet?). then some stunted growth during final transplant. then a spider mite. then heat stress. now broken branches. most of that is my own fault, being a total novice in gardening. let's see what's next...! at this point it's a small miracle if it goes on to produce buds!

temp appx 73 right now. newer light setup i'll discuss later. leaves are re-stiffening and reaching for the light, so that's good. i'm not stressing all the goofups. the amount of experience i am gaining for future grows is worth it.

 

[supersymmetry]

its good genes may yet overcome all my stupidity and inexperience plant is lookin' fine. i'm keepin' hope alive.

next random thought... depending on who you ask, some ppl swear on their mother's life that you can give toxic amounts of light, and some ppl swear on their mother's life that you can't. i wish i had some FACTs and not opinions on this. i'm sort of blasting it with deep & dense light right now and keeping temp low(er), and it seems to be liking it... *shrug?*

 

[Dr Gruber]

its good genes may yet overcome all my stupidity and inexperience plant is lookin' fine. i'm keepin' hope alive.

next random thought... depending on who you ask, some ppl swear on their mother's life that you can give toxic amounts of light, and some ppl swear on their mother's life that you can't. i wish i had some FACTs and not opinions on this. i'm sort of blasting it with deep & dense light right now and keeping temp low(er), and it seems to be liking it... *shrug?*

Dont feel too bad we have all done that at one time or another. Recently I had a plant on a cardboard box and the box got wet...guess what happened. I walked into the room to see my plant resting against the light bulb and burning up.

I wouldnt be too worried either...they can bounce back and those branches may grow back together.

And you can add too much light but you are way under that so dont worry.

 

[supersymmetry]

all breaks seem to have healed partly, maybe even fully. the leaves on the broken branches were starting to curl last night (bad thing) but they actually grew overnight (good thing) and the veins on those leaves are thick enough that i know they are getting nourished (also good thing).

massive growth ever since i added 2 pocket mirrors on the sides of the plant for light amplification. plant width at least 3 inches now, and the main stem has visibly gotten thicker and taller. keep in mind we're still talking a few inches here for all dimensions involved, but hey she's recovering & growing no obvious problems right now.

today i had the 12pm-6pm darkness cycle. i think i will do one more 19on/6off and then go to 18on/6off. that way the plant gets a rest on the warm part of the day, because heat is definitely an issue here, even though i'm using LED's. i'm working in such close quarters that the heat from the power supplies & power supply fans is working down to the plant. long story short, my lights-off time will be 1pm-7pm starting tomorrow

 

[supersymmetry]

And you can add too much light but you are way under that so dont worry.

i know that there will be a light shortage once the plant gets a foot wide or a foot tall, but right now, the power of the UFO is not to be taken lightly dude, have you ever seen in the movies where the UFO shoots down a blue laser beam and totally blinds the person on the ground with intensity? it's kinda like that on my plant, except red light. there's excellent side coverage too thanks to mirrors. it's all being focused on an area about 8 inches by 8 inches. it's damn bright. for now.

there are some newer leaves, very small ones, like 1/16" to 1/8", coming out where some lower branches are branching off the main stem. this is in the past couple of days after i increased side light coverage. is this something you want, or something you want to avoid?

 

[supersymmetry]

all pics i've taken so far have had the camera blocking out most of the UFO's light so the intensity really doesn't show up. i'll upload some pics with the camera off to the side and you'll see that there's definitely no light shortage right now. if i look at it more than a few seconds my eyes start acheing

 

[Dr Gruber]

something you want.

 

[supersymmetry]

g13 is experiencing the most massive growth in a 24 hour period to date. previous breaks seem to have healed well. no spider mites visible. despite my mistakes, it is thriving. the #1 enemy continues to be heat, and this atrocious weather isn't helping. i mean nightly lows are around 72-75F, and with a bright ass light bearing down on the plant, it's really hard to keep it below 80 overnight. sure, i could run the a/c 24 hours a day, but this building is a rental so, someone's gotta foot the bill. if i can plant seed #2 some time towards the end of summer, i think plant #2 will do extremely well in the cooler weather.

top priority right now is to find ways to lower temp without using tons of electricity. what about growing a plant inside a fridge? crazy? i can set the fridge temp as high as 46F, and with the light dead center above the plant, i doubt it would exceed 70F in the immediate area. i think it would be too cold, honestly, but any ideas u might have for cheap temp control are welcome. thanks! i'll also scour around online tomorrow trying to find stuff. ss

edit: day 19 is underway

 

[*BUDS]

g13 is experiencing the most massive growth in a 24 hour period to date. previous breaks seem to have healed well. no spider mites visible. despite my mistakes, it is thriving. the #1 enemy continues to be heat, and this atrocious weather isn't helping. i mean nightly lows are around 72-75F, and with a bright ass light bearing down on the plant, it's really hard to keep it below 80 overnight. sure, i could run the a/c 24 hours a day, but this building is a rental so, someone's gotta foot the bill. if i can plant seed #2 some time towards the end of summer, i think plant #2 will do extremely well in the cooler weather.

top priority right now is to find ways to lower temp without using tons of electricity.

what about growing a plant inside a fridge? crazy

? i can set the fridge temp as high as 46F, and with the light dead center above the plant, i doubt it would exceed 70F in the immediate area. i think it would be too cold, honestly, but any ideas u might have for cheap temp control are welcome. thanks! i'll also scour around online tomorrow trying to find stuff. ss

edit: day 19 is underway

You said it, no. Your going to have to get a small exhaust fan with a piece of ducting pointed out the window or to another room in there with a passive fresh air intake, this will keep things much cooler . Another thing your 90w fluro does not equal a 400w HPS ,its bullshit, think about it why would the experienced growers on here use hot expensive HPS when you can get away with a 90w fluro. Dr gruber got his results from 2x 400w so u cant compare. Hate to see you fuck it up when u just paid $200 for 2 seeds (whether its worth the price or not ,its not the point)
Keep a mum under that light 18/6 and next grow build a grow room so u control temps etc. Dont use mirrors it will create hot spots.

 

[supersymmetry]

get a small exhaust fan with a piece of ducting pointed out the window or to another room in there with a passive fresh air intake, this will keep things much cooler

it's a great idea, i just don't know if it's doable in this particular building

Another thing your 90w fluro does not equal a 400w HPS ,its bullshit, think about it why would the experienced growers on here use hot expensive HPS when you can get away with a 90w fluro.

hmm. i did think about it, which is why i bought the UFO over other types of lights my friend. rated at 50,000 hours, comes with 3 years of warranty, uses 90w of current, at least 95% of the light it puts out is photosynthesized, no ballast needed, no searing heat. HPS fail at all those criteria, oops. this light is worth the money, that's what it boils down to. which is why i'm thinking about a second one!

now think about this: experienced and inexperienced growers alike sure as hell are not as experienced with LED's as they are w/ lamps, since LED's are the new(er) kid in town. so experience in this case amounts to nothing. don't knock it (LED's) till you try it. i'm using it and i'm very impressed. no doubt in my mind it's right up there at 400w equivalent or more.

Hate to see you fuck it up when u just paid $200 for 2 seeds

fucking up is part of my contingency plans. i.e. i have backup plans if i fuck up. i haven't fucked up yet. BTW it's 3 for $200, not 2 for $200. if that seems insignificant, then everyone please send me your 3rd seeds, lol

Dont use mirrors it will create hot spots.

respectfully disagree. u said it's all about experience. well my first-hand experience tells me they don't create hot spots. the heat issue i'm having is from the ambient temp outside, mostly.

experienced growers also usually have to worry about profit & loss because they're in the business of selling weed. i'm growing strictly for myself, and i'm not that heavy a user. low yield on the 1st try doesn't intimidate me.

as of an hour ago, plant is watered with tap water lowered to 5.6pH and lights were turned off. back on @ 7pm.

 

[supersymmetry]

in all the marijuana research i've ever done, i've never seen someone state this important info in plain English, so i am putting it here for my own own future reference:

local loser plant, still growing in an 80oz jar, basically all stem & very few leaves:
1st node or 1st set of leaves: one (1) leaf per branch
2nd node or 2nd set of leaves further up: three (3) leaves per branch
3rd node or 3rd set of leaves further up: five (5) leaves per branch
4th node or 4th set of leaves further up: seven (7) leaves per branch
5th node: not visible yet, but my guess is that all nodes from there up will have 9 leaves per branch

how many nodes are there per plant? i don't know, but i will find out.
does the node count vary by strain? i don't know but i will find out.

g13 still has the 1pm-7pm darkness. sucker is spreading wider. just watered it w/ 5.6pH tap water @ 52ppm. that's 48ppm in the water and 4ppm pH-down. the heat-stressed half of the plant is on the same side that had broken branches temporarily, and is consistently smaller than the better side, but the plant is growing leaps & bounds throughout. the pocket mirrors i had are already too small. i'll be trying out the mirror-coated 5-gal bucket instead from here on out, as a grow room, until the plant outgrows that too. after that i will need a new plan which i don't have yet but i have ideas. i will be moving g13 back to 1230pm-630pm in 10 minute increments over 3 days starting tomorrow. apparently there's a spike in temperature from 1230pm to 1pm based on the sun here. this building isn't as insulated as i'd like it to be. today i'm also gonna try to find budget solutions (dirt-cheap stuff from Lowe's) for venting in air from the outside on the shaded side of the building. maybe one of those clothes dryer flex hoses, or something along those lines. i'll pipe that to the 4" fan i have and see if that's adequate cooling. if not, there are always bigger fans & bigger hoses...

 

[supersymmetry]

a question for anyone who knows, coz i don't:

does water creep upwards over time, through soil or in grow rocks, to become usable by the roots, or does it stay low and get stagnant? or something inbetween??

like if you watered a plant on day 1, totally saturating the soil after runoff, and then never watered it again, would the plant be able to use all that water eventually, or would the water be unreachable, or toxic, or would it evaporate away unused, or other bad things?

 

[supersymmetry]

g13 undergoing gigant-o-normous growth, by my standards. i sure hope i can keep it sustained! there's one or two leaves that have come out w/ chunks missing, and sporadically there's a hint of more heat stress on a leaf tip or two, but overall this girl is healthy, nice & wide, and thirsty. i think i'm already using like half a gallon per day but don't quote me on that. she is still a few inches tall with extremely tight node spacing, just the way i was aiming for. she is surpassing all my expectations! still, i refuse to get my hopes up or count my chickens before they hatch.

i have some new ducting going to the outside world and/or to an air conditioner (same window) and with these, temp is much more under control now. i am convinced that anything above 80F is what stunted the growth early on.

my crazy-ass mirror techniques seem to be paying off. next step: grab a cheapo lowe's glass cutter & cut these two 20x24 mirrors into small polygonal shapes for sustained light aiming at the sides of the plant.

pics on next page, maybe, or whenever i get around to it.