Experimental organic grow #2

So now, here's the story behind the grow (and feel free to comment):

It all started when, ummmm, no, lets try again. Once upon a, nope not it either. I've been a long time toker, and have recently become a official and legal MMJ patient. My first grow was a real scattered mess, but it taught me quite a bit about how to (and not to) take care of my girls properly. The second grow I am doing now is much more focused. I have the grow room all set up, my plants planted, and I will not be leaving for any extended period of time during the grow. I have all my supplies laid in as far as soil, nutes, lights for veg and bud, and a computer to lookup HUGE amounts of data. I have been actively reading up on and gathering information on growing MMJ since Autumn of 2011 (and lurking in the shadows here). For all the sources of information out there on the web, I find myself returning to this site all the time for more up to date, and seriously helpful posts.

The room:

My partner generously donated about a quarter of his art studio for use as my grow room. The room is about 8' x 5' x 6'6", but half of the ceiling is slanted and takes off about 40 cu ft, so I have a total of 40 sq ft, and about 200 cu ft. I put up a framework in the allotted space, and put up Panda plastic to make it a totally lightproof area. The door is a cut to size Panda plastic panel with extra heavy duty velcro to along the sides so that the door can be opened by either pulling one side open and ducking through, or roll both sides up and secure it against the ceiling.

The lighting:

The light is a 4', 4 lamp, fluorescent fixture with 4 new 6500k T5 HO lamps, and 2 2700k bloom lamps for later (the light fixture was donated to me by my partner, as well as 6 replacement lamps). I installed hooks in the ceiling, acquired chains, a timer, vent fan and ducting, an oscillating fan, thermometer & hygrometer combo, and a few other miscellaneous items (all donated to me by my partner). I hung the lights, hooked up a timer, got everything set and ready to go, and then took off.

The seeds:

As these are highly experimental circumstances for me I am just using some (hermie) bag seed to start with. I don't want to waste good seed or clones on the first 3 or 4 runs. I am not looking for the best super dank bud right off the bat. These first runs are practice runs for when I get a little more serious and actually pay for seeds/clones.

The nutes:

I am going very basic for nutes here, just organic fish emulsion, GH organic bloom fert, organic blood & bone meal, organic steer manure, and organic potting soil (again, all donated to me by my partner). There is enough nutes in the soil for the plants to grow nice big, bushy, and dark. The fish is only used in case the plants show some Nitrogen deficiency.

The soil:

To germinate the seeds (in the soil) I use my mix of soil, manure, and B&B meal. Mix it all well and run it through a sieve to get out the larger particles. This is the base for my germination soil. The final grow soil is made of soil, manure, and B&B meal without using the sieve. (again, all donated to me by my partner)

The water:

The water is just Plain Old Tap water or POT for short. I have no idea what the PPM, TDS, PH, or any other detail about the water other than it is wet and has been used in the yard here quite successfully for over 34 years by my partner, and over 100 years on this property. I do not have the money, nor does my partner (he had to dip into savings to get me the donated materials for my grow), time, energy, space, etc for dealing with getting the water just perfect.


So here is my grow so far:

I have been keeping a journal, and have taken a few pics as well. It's not the most perfect operation, but it did get me some bud (still drying/curing), taught me a LOT about growing the girls, growing indoors (and out!!), and has greatly increased my knowledge of plants in general. It has also led to some side studies in various subjects. But here is the thing, I am NOT in the for money. I am doing this because I like to grow things, and I like to (and need to) smoke said growing things. My other suppliers of MMJ are all organic as well, they have even given me sage advice as they have been growing for about 20 years each (so 40 years of experience on speed dial, or on visits as we hang out sometimes). So, on to the grow so far...




Day 1, Wednesday 9-26-2012:
Planted four unknown hermaphrodite bag seeds in custom soil mix. Set in a warm South facing window in the ceramic studio. Watered with straight tap water.


Day 2, Thursday 9-27-2012:
All four seeds have started to break the top of the soil.


Day 3, Friday 9-28-2012:
All four seedlings are now up with their seed covers fallen away.


Day 4, Saturday 9-29-2012:
All four seedling are now completely upright and the first real leaves are forming.


Days 5 to 8, Sunday 9-30-2012 to Wednesday 10-3-2012:
Left plants outside in sunny location all day, Put inside ceramic studio at night. Watered with plain tap water, no additional ferts other than what is in the soil.


Days 9 to 14, Thursday 10-4-2012 to Sunday 10-10-2012
Moved plants to their new permanent home. Grow room description below. Lighting is a T5 HO 4' 4 lamp fixture with brand new bulbs just installed, lighting options explained below.


Days 15 to 17, Thursday 10-11-2012 to Saturday 10-13-2012:
Took pics and measured all four plants. All waterings up to this point have been with straight tap water, unknown PH, EC, etc, working well, largest plant is five inches across at this point. Continuing with watering as needed with straight tap water. The measurements are as follows:
Elvira: 5" x 3" x 3"
Francine: 4.5" x 2.5" x 3"
Corky: 4" x 2.5" x 2.5"
Regina: 4" x 2.75" x 2.5"


Day 18, Sunday 10-14-2012:
Watered with straight tap water. Plants are looking great, but they were showing roots outside the bottom drain holes. So it's transplanting time. They have now been put into their permanent pots. They are actually pretty small pots, I don't want BIG plants. I want medium-small plants that will stay under my lamps. One of the plants may not do well, or even survive. While transplanting into her new pot the ball crumbled and I barely managed to get most of her in. I would say a good 75% root loss. I hope she pulls through!!! All the others went in fine and I expect them to take hold and start filling out in a couple days. The soil they were put in is a mixture of 8 parts organic potting soil, and 4 parts composted steer manure. I've found that this mixture has given me great results with other plants, and as this is an experimental grow (only the second time I have EVER tried to grow marijuana, the first ones are about ready to harvest) I'll stick with what I know works on other plants, and if I screw up I can just change the formula. All the seed is unknown hermaphrodite bag seed, so it's not a loss if something goes wrong. UPDATE 11:30PM: I went up to check my little angles and all of them look just fine, even the one I was worried about. I will measure them again on Thursday 10-18-2012.


Day 19, Monday 10-15-2012:
No water needed, the larger pots are holding and retaining the extra water. Plants look like they are a bit bigger. That's it.


Day 20, Tuesday 10-16-2012:
No water needed again. The plants look even lager than yesterday. And upon measuring them the largest of my plants was previously 5 inches, and today it was ~9 inches. I can't wait till Thursday to measure them!!!


Day 21, Wednesday 10-17-2012:
No water needed again. The plants look nice and super healthy. Even the one that had a large portion of it's root ball torn off is doing OK, at least she's holding her own! Then again her name is Regina, she's gonna be the come back queen!!!


Day 22, Thursday 10-18-2012:
Watered with POT (Plain Old Tapwater). The plants are nice and super healthy looking. The measurements are as follows:
Elvira: Over 10" across
Francine: Over 8.5"
Corky: Over 7"
Regina: ~5.5"
This will be the last time I measure them like this because I just don't think it's going to matter too much down the road. I just wanted to see how fast and big they could grow given the proper conditions.


Day 23, Friday 10-19-2012:
No water needed. The plants look nice and super healthy. No problems.


Day 24, Saturday 10-20-2012:
No water needed. The plants look nice and super healthy. No problems.


Day 25, Sunday 10-21-2012:
No water needed. The plants look nice and super healthy. No problems.


Day 26, Monday 10-22-2012:
Watered with POT. The plants look nice and super healthy. Found some spidermites and have applied Neem to all four plants, upper and lower surfaces of the leaves, and even the plant stem and a bit of a soil wetting with it as well. I'll keep re-applying the Neem at 3 day intervals for the next two weeks. Also noticed the roots starting to grow out of the drain holes already!!! And these are their permanent homes until harvest!


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Grow room:
An 8'L X 5'W X 6'6"H area I created in an upstairs garage attic furnished as an art studio (and grow op too now). I framed it all in, and then put up Panda Plastic, and covered anything that was not white inside with the left over scraps (I have to recycle as much stuff as possible as I only have about $200 or less for my spending cash per month, being on disability really sucks sometimes). Installed hooks in the ceiling, and got chains to hang the fixture from. I made a small platform to keep the plants off the ground. And lastly I got a oscillating fan, and a very low wattage heater (it drops well below freezing here in my area of Washinton state).






Lighting:
SunBlaze T5 HO 54 watts ea, 4 lamps at 4', total 216 watts. Replaced the bulbs on 10-11-2012.


The reason behind the flourescents is that I do NOT have the money to buy a HID. I do not have the money to operate a HID. I do not have the electrical capacity for a HID. I do not have the cooling capacity in my small space for the HID, and cannot install any cooling system. These are some of the reasons that I do not use HID. As I could not afford the fixture, my partner got one for me as a birthday present. He is on Social Security as well, so we have a VERY limited amount of spending money.




Custom soil mix:
4 Parts organic potting soil
2 Parts steer manure
Small handfull of bone&blood meal
Mix well
Put through screen to remove larger particles, screen size about 1.5mm to 2.0mm
Unknown PH, etc...




Girls at 15 days:





Girls at 22 days:

Now I know that I do not have much experience growing MJ, but I am learning , and would appreciate any and all constructive comments/criticisms, random comments, questions, observations, experiences, etc, etc, etc... I know I may have the low budget special, but all it is meant to do is to get me learning the basics, and if not perfecting them, at least starting along the path to knowledge about a near, and dear friend.

Please feel free to ask me any questions, about any part of my grow, from setup, to operation, etc... I really need all the advice I can get. I seem to be doing OK, but I want to be able to keep my girls under 3 feet tall, and be able to keep the canopy within the light boundaries. I have heard of several methods but not sure what would be the best method (read simple, easy, CHEAP/FREE) and being a complete noob I need some direction. I am turning in in a few mins but will be taking and posting the most current pics on Wednesday eve sometime after Noon.

Please ask questions, post comments/advice/sarcasm, but NO degrading, picking on, bullying, verbally bashing, harassing, or generally being disruptive to the thread. Lets keep this civil people. We are all here to learn and share our knowledge, hopefully without the attitude that seems to pop up once in a awhile (I was a BBS SysOp from the 80's and 90's, so I am SICK of flame wars and general abusiveness for ANY reason).

So my big advice at this point is as to when I would need to do some control of the height and the width of the plants. I will probably be donating my runt that had her root ball damaged to a friend as a Birthday present, or some such. That will leave room for some fairly bushy taller plants, do them lollipop style, FIM, or any other of a hundred training methods. I was thinking of using some LST to get them to grow the length of the lighting fixture, kind of coil around the lights/pots.

Anyway, suggestions, and comments welcome. And please respect me when I say I do not have the money (I have $200 or less to last me 30 days for food) I am able to eat, bus fare, misc expenses, etc. Electrical capacity, at the house we live in is about 100 years old, and is in SERIOUS need up electrical wiring upgrades, and many other more pressing household items needing to be fixed that are on the top of the list. My partner who is on SS, generously bought and donated the light fixture, 4 new veg lamps, and 2 new bloom lamps, the exhaust fan, the oscillation fan, the timer unit, the Panda plastic, nutes, and several other items needed to make the grow space, nutes, equipment, etc, complete.

I look forward to hearing from other people with their trial and tribulations, advice, sage advice, and divine advice.

A few things I need to know is when to chop, top, supercrop, whatever the method to keep the canopy under 5 feet tall (Preferably 2' 6" to 4' max), and under the rectangular light path. As in what is the best internode number and best time (all approximate of course!). I have most of the answers that I read on this system, but just need confirmation on conflicting advice, and just generally want to start an interesting thread. When I feel I have enough practice under my belt to do this a bit more professionally (NOT commercially!!!), I will be sure to Write up another journal or ten (over the next few years anyway).


You are hereby notified that you are strictly prohibited from disclosing, copying, distributing, disseminating, or taking any other action against me with regard to this profile/journal/forums/messages and the contents herein, including, but not limited to my photos, and/or the comments made about my photos or any other "picture" art posted on my profile/journal/forums/messages. The foregoing prohibitions also apply to your employee, agent, student or any personnel under your direction or control. The contents of this profile/journal/forums/messages are private and legally privileged and confidential information.

OK, here is an update for the girls. And some pics of them from just an hour or so ago...


Day 27, Tuesday 10-23-2012: No water needed. The plants look nice and super healthy. The spider mites seem to be knocked down for now.


Day 28, Wednesday 10-24-2012:
No water needed. Started with LST to train the girls laterally. I hope this works as well as all the articles I have read claim. I also hope that I am doing it correctly. I am 97% sure I have it right, so we shall see. This is an experiment after all. The spidermites seem to still be in remission, I hope that they stay that way!

Day 29, Thursday 10-25-2012:
Watered with POT. The plants look nice and super lush. They seem to be taking the LST well so far, I think the most damage I did was to accidentally crush a small leaflet ot two. No signs of the spider mites, but I still sprayed all with Neem.


Day 30, Friday 10-26-2012:
No water needed today. The plants are still looking super green and lush little bushes. The LST seems to be causing no harm at least, and actually looks like the girls are responding quite favorably. No sign of the dreaded spider mites, but I'm keeping a close eye out. They were limited to only one leaf lobe on one plant, so probably not more than a couple dozen, but that is still WAY too many!!!


Day 31, Saturday 10-27-2012:
No water needed. The plants must have stretch marks by now! Either I am easily impressed by these plants, or the girls seem to really be growing fast, but with nice big dark fat leaves (Indica, Indica/Sativa, not sure, it's bag seed), and the fist node spacings are about 1/2". The cotyledons haven't even fallen off, they are even still a bit green under all the canopy. Seriously these girls are turning out to be rather bush like. I really hope that I've got the idea down for the LST, so far that looks like it is coming along nicely, I have already had to re-stake all three girls as they were starting to grow up again. On a side note the girls from this summer are now all dried, and cured, and being smoked in good company (always good to share some harvest with your fellow farmers). And I have to say that for bag seed, those girls were not only quite prolific growers, but producers as well. I got just under 4 oz dried and cured off of three girls that were not pampered, but did have a couple of episodes of stress, and it definitely impacted the grow, plus they were grown for 80% of their life outdoors in our back yard.


Day 32, Sunday 10-28-2012:
Watered with POT. The plants look nice and super lush and green, in fact Elvira (yes I name them all) has completely covered her container and with the LST her "top" is almost over the edge of her container. Corky and Francine are looking quite happy as well. The spider mites seem to be under control as they have not shown up again yet (yes yet, once you get them it's FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE to be rid of them). The temperature and humidity are staying within reasonable limits. The temp is between 60°F and 80°F, and the humidity stays between 30% and 50% at pretty much all times. So it looks like all is proceeding nicely.

Sounds like you really know what your doing, very organized grow looks great man good luck. and you may be using hermie bagseed but grown under those conditions it well deff be dank bud don't underestimate the bagseed haha

BakedBrah said:

Sounds like you really know what your doing, very organized grow looks great man good luck. and you may be using hermie bagseed but grown under those conditions it well deff be dank bud don't underestimate the bagseed haha

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Thanks for the compliment, I certainly tried to get myself together for grow #2. The last grow with moderately abused plants turned me out just under 4 oz!!! And that was with only 3 plants.

And now that I have started the streamlining process things should go a LOT more smoothly. Man the first grow is a real rough ride!! I have spent since about November last year researching, planning, gathering, constructing, etc, etc, etc... I may have a basic setup, and I'm not expecting to get pounds out of the girls, just a learning experience, and a small stash of home grown to supplement and add variety to my MMJ supplies. (I live in a state that has a Medical Marijuana law and have my green card/papers)

If anyone has something to add, explaining, whatever, please feel free to post. All the help/advice I can get the better.

WOW! Looks like you are going about this in a very scientific manner and keeping good notes!

EJM said:

Day 29, Thursday 10-25-2012:
Watered with POT. The plants look nice and super lush. They seem to be taking the LST well so far, I think the most damage I did was to accidentally crush a small leaflet ot two. No signs of the spider mites, but I still sprayed all with Neem.


Day 30, Friday 10-26-2012:
No water needed today. The plants are still looking super green and lush little bushes. The LST seems to be causing no harm at least, and actually looks like the girls are responding quite favorably. No sign of the dreaded spider mites, but I'm keeping a close eye out. They were limited to only one leaf lobe on one plant, so probably not more than a couple dozen, but that is still WAY too many!!!


Day 31, Saturday 10-27-2012:
No water needed. The plants must have stretch marks by now! Either I am easily impressed by these plants, or the girls seem to really be growing fast, but with nice big dark fat leaves (Indica, Indica/Sativa, not sure, it's bag seed), and the fist node spacings are about 1/2". The cotyledons haven't even fallen off, they are even still a bit green under all the canopy. Seriously these girls are turning out to be rather bush like. I really hope that I've got the idea down for the LST, so far that looks like it is coming along nicely, I have already had to re-stake all three girls as they were starting to grow up again. On a side note the girls from this summer are now all dried, and cured, and being smoked in good company (always good to share some harvest with your fellow farmers). And I have to say that for bag seed, those girls were not only quite prolific growers, but producers as well. I got just under 4 oz dried and cured off of three girls that were not pampered, but did have a couple of episodes of stress, and it definitely impacted the grow, plus they were grown for 80% of their life outdoors in our back yard.


Day 32, Sunday 10-28-2012:
Watered with POT. The plants look nice and super lush and green, in fact Elvira (yes I name them all) has completely covered her container and with the LST her "top" is almost over the edge of her container. Corky and Francine are looking quite happy as well. The spider mites seem to be under control as they have not shown up again yet (yes yet, once you get them it's FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE to be rid of them). The temperature and humidity are staying within reasonable limits. The temp is between 60°F and 80°F, and the humidity stays between 30% and 50% at pretty much all times. So it looks like all is proceeding nicely.

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+rep for this guy! Or gal or whatever. Nice job so far. Subbed for sure.

Here's the last couple days, and some new pics from just a few minutes ago...

Day 33, Monday 10-29-2012:
AAAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!!!! I was taking a look at Elvira and looking at how the LST was going, and SNAP I accidentally topped her!!! I have the 2 pieces spliced, and I hope the top will graft properly (I've never attempted a graft before, EVER). Well this will give the other 2 a chance to catch up in growth to her. Other than that all is going well. No water needed, the plants are looking nice and super green and lush. No sign of any spider mites, but I'm keeping a REALLY close watch out for the little b*st*rds.


Day 34, Tuesday 10-30-2012:
No water needed today. Elvira's top that I am attempting to reattach does not look like it is dead, just not happy (wonder why???). Corky and Francine are looking great, nice lush and green. I found no more signs of spider mites on Francine so far, nor Elvira or Corky. A couple of the side branches that are coming out of the shrub like bush that is Elvira needed a little LST to get them away from the lights (The lights are about 2" from the topmost leaf mound.


Day 35, Wednesday 10-31-2012:
Watered with POT. Elvira's top did not reattach but there are still a couple fibers attaching the top to the rest of the plant. Guess I'll just snip it off and go from there. She already looks like a shrub, guess just more so now. Corky and Francine are looking nice and lushly green. No sign of the little b*st*rd spider mites. Some of the branches coming off the girls needed a bit of training so that they would get more light, and other than that I left them to their own devices for another day.


And here's the latest pics of the girls. From the Left is Elvira (Just finished the topping, can't tell huh?), Corky, and Francine. They all look to be some nice Indica or Indica dominant hybrid. And their sisters from the last grow 3 showed like Indica, but one had somewhat long skinny leaves, showing mostly Sativa, that one turned hermie and was pulled and used as ingredients in mint-a-juana tea. Ah well, we shall see what the girls do in the next few weeks, and they look even more promising than their predecessors, so good things in the works I hope!


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BTW: The topping occurred at exactly 3 o'clock, about 3 inches from the rightmost edge of the planter. You can make out the small brown of the scab that has formed, you can see her top on the lower left partially hidden under a couple leaves.

And I swear that these are some kind of shrub, the longest internode on any of them is still under 1 inch, and we are at about node 5 now I believe.

That's it for now. More on Sunday or so...

Day 36, Thursday 11-1-2012:
Watered with POT and a small shot of fish emulsion. I just finished a remodel on the grow room due to my partner wanting to claim his left over 3/4's of the art studio. In the process of him doing some cleaning he came across 3 small triangular end table kind of things, which were just perfect for lifting my girls off the ground a bit more. One needed a bit of a riser because it was about 4.5" shorter than the other two tables. I have the girls all situated with their new tables (I know, putting my girls on a pedestal and all that...), and now I am able to work with them with MUCH less effort. But re-arranging that little area took a bit of planning and thinking about how to lay it out a bit more efficiently in the space I had available.


On a personal note I and my partner (well myself at least) are/am now officially disgusted with Halloween, and holidays in general. My partner being an avid photographer was asking the kids and their escorts if it was ok to take a picture of the kids in their costumes. I was sitting 20 feet from the front door and heard EVERY single person/group respond with a yes. Not a single negative, decline, or even a simple no. Well apparently this angered some parent that was NOT WITH THEIR KIDS, called the police to report that my partner was taking photos of the kids coming to our door, on our property, begging for free candy from us. If the neighbors have that dirty of a mind that they think we are a couple of child molesters then we will simply post a notification that due to the above happenings (described in detail) we are not allowing anyone onto our property, giving out candy, or participating in anymore holiday festivities due to our neighbors mistrust, and obvious dislike of us. This may seem extreme, but things have been stolen from our property (like my partners $700 bike), people have come into our CLOSED, GATED, and LOCKED back yard doing who knows what, and we have just generally been feeling hostility from certain ultra right wing religious fanatic neighbors during the election (We even had political signs stolen off our property). Now lucky for me my partner was getting home at the EXACT time that the police were coming to the door to talk with him. I suffer from extreme anxiety, especially from the police. So due to the A**H*LES we have for neighbors, and because of my medical issues, I am going to decline participating in any holiday functions ever again. Plus their insinuation that we are pedophiles makes me really pi**ed, I think the phrase is "Makes my blood boil". It's really sad that this world has come to such a sadly pathetic state where you think your neighbors are pedophiles because they are gay, and there is an obvious lack of respect for our private property. The moral minority, and religious wrong spreading lies, deceit, fear, mistrust, hatred, and bigotry. And for the appropriate closing: JESUS, SAVE ME FROM YOUR FOLLOWERS!!!


Day 37, Friday 11-2-2012:
I'm still on a high simmer from the Halloween stupidity, and my partner is finally getting to the point he'se pissed. He was kind of laughing it off. But now he's talking about finding out who filed the report. I'm ready to file for harassment, but then I have to think of the girls. So anything that we do would have to be done anonymously, letter to the editor type of thing.


Anyway, back to the girls: They are all doing fantastic, nice lush green, and I still say that they have stretch marks! No watering needed today. tied a couple branches out of the way. That's about it to report on the girls. I checked all of them thouroughly for spider mites, or anything really, and all of them look nice and clean. Temp is 70°F ±10°F and humidity is 35% ±5%. These have stayed pretty much constant throughout the grow, and I don't expect them to change anytime soon.


Day 38, Saturday 11-3-1012:
Still doing the simmering blood thing, so is my partner.


No watering needed again today. All three girls look beautiful, Elvira seems to have recovered from accidentally being topped and is now starting to take off again. I had quite a few branches to tie down or otherwise arrange today!!! Guess that means I may be going to 12/12 soon (I'll think about it at around 50 days). Good thing I have a large collection of twist ties and copper wire to do the LST with (admit it, it's makinging the girls into bonsai's). No sign of spider mites or any other pest.


Day 39, Sunday 11-4-2012:
No water needed again today. The girls seem to go through about half a liter of water every 3 or 4 days. Not bad, guess that the water requirements will be ramped up a bit more during the later part of the veg phase, early part of the bud phase. After thinking about things a bit more, I am most likely going to start the 12/12 cycle at about 60 days into veg. I want some nice medium, bushy, level canopied girls that will give me about an oz each, without having to grow them to 4'-5' tall giants like my first grow. Checked the girls all over for any signs of trouble, but no spider mites or any other insect I could find, nor any mold/mildew (powdery mildew in endemic to this area, it's on everyone's plants at sometime here) Tied a few more branches down, and shaping others to conform to the way I want them grown. It's really kind of fun once you get the hang of gently bending and moving the tender stems where you want. That's about it for tonight, time to upload the pics and the log, then wander off to some hash, and then keep reading more, more , more about cultivating MJ.


Well that was an exciting little episode that I can't wait to forget about until next time it's a holiday. Yes I have turned into the Grinch/Scrooge, and have soured on all holidays in general now. That was just kind of the last straw for me, and tipped the scales. I'll just keep completely to myself, and make no more than the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM acknowledgement of their existence. I'm not the most social in the first place, but things like this just drive a wedge between supposed neighbors. My partner actually decided to block our entrance, and put up a sign detailing why we no longer permit anyone on our property for any reason during any holidays that they may try to come to the door. I want to get the sign laminated so as to be permanently in place for the whole neighborhood to see everyday until we are both dead, which I hope is a VERY long time. (Blood still boiling, it'll simmer down and my fantasy will come down to reality, learned a long time ago to THINK it through, then think it through again a 100 more times if needed until it doesn't result in jail time, social ostracism, or other undesirable events.)

Here's a few shots of the girls, then a shot down my lights and canopy. Hope they show a bit of how it looks...

Day 40, Monday 11-5-2012:
All is looking well with all the girls. I had to reposition some of the branches, and their brackets, but all went well. I'm still trying to stick to the 60 days from seed to flower, but these things are getting nice big and bushy. I hope they don;t go crazy in their last stretch during flowering. I gave the girls POT again today, all seems to be going well, no signs of any spider mites or anything else. All is good, green, and growing.


My partner is actually serious about putting up the sign and at least a rope, during Halloween anyway. It's possible he may adopt my idea and have it posted either semi-permanently, or permanently.


BTW: He is an immigrant from Holland, and when he gets a bit ticked, fun things start to be talked about and a sensible, diplomatic solution is found within a few days.


Day 41, Tuesday 11-6-2012 ELECTION DAY:
All is looking well with the girls, checked them for any signs of life besides their own and found nothing The girls were thirsty today too, I had to water them all a bit over a half liter each with POT. And I had to rearrange a few branches again, this LST is rather fun on a small scale, I could not deal with it on any large scale. They all seem to be doing great, so it's just a waiting game until around day 60 when I plan on 12/12 barring any advice from someone more experienced (HINT. HINT). Not exact, down to the last minute, just a general feel from their grows and their schedules, if they are willing to share that is...

Been a while since I posted, but here is a few more entries in my journal:



Day 42, Wednesday 11-7-2012:
All is looking well with the girls, no signs of anymore spider mites. Just a few branches to readjust, and a few new ones popping up.


Day 43, Thursday 11-8-2012:
Watered the girls with POT and GO bloom cycle ferts. A few branches to readjust, that's it!


Day 44, Friday 11-9-2012:
All is looking well with the girls. Readjusted a few more branches. DAMN THEY GROW FAST! (Kinda like a weed or something). We are heading to a friends place for a day or two to visit, and swap stories, and sample each others goodies.


Day 45, Saturday 11-10-2012:
GONE FOR A DAY


Day 46-0, Sunday 11-11-2012:
Came home today around 4:00 pm, and after getting sorted out from the trip home I went to look at the girls. They shot up almost an inch the little time we were gone! Got those all tied down, but now I noticed the new growth on the leaves is not very dark green, in fact they seem to be lightening up a lot!!! I'm going to check on possible solutions. Hopefully something simple. Also starting the girls on 12/12 today. They are just getting too big to stay under the rectangle of light, so I had to start flowering before they totally outgrew the lights. We shall see how the forest canopy develops.


Day 47-1, Monday 11-12-2012:
Checked in on the girls, doing about the same as last time, I looked up the best fit for the symptoms and it looks like a zinc/magnesium deficiency so a bit of research, and we'll see if the suggested cure works, if it does then I'll post about it, if not, then I'll post about it. Other than that all looks good with the girls, gave them some organic fish fertilizer with their drink, switching to the blooming fertilizer next watering.


Day 48-2, Tuesday 11-13-2012:
I just ordered 2 new 3000°K lamps for my blooming phase. I'm trying 2 at first to see how that does, then I'll try it under 4 some other time (my partner stole my first 2 lamps for the inside of the house, so I won't see those till spring). I have not been up to check on the girls today, I have had 5 medical appointments today, so I am too wiped too look. I'll be sure to check on them tomorrow, and hopefully I'll have 2 new lights to help the bloom phase along.


Day 49-3, Wednesday 11-14-2012:
I've been out all day with errands and appointments, but did have time to check on the girls. Good thing too, because several branches escaped my efforts to restrain them. After getting all of them back in place I replaced the 2 innermost 6500°K lamps with the new 3000°K lamps and settled them back into place above the girls. One of the girls (Corky) has already started to show sex at not just one or two places, but all over the place. What a truly wonderful and beautiful sight! Can't wait for the others to show as well. I have finished the lateral growth and will now be letting the girls fill in and bush out and upwards. Should be and interesting grow, and harvest. No water needed today, but will need POT and fertilizer tomorrow. I will be sure to take a couple pics of them tomorrow as well.


Day 50-4, Thursday 11-15-2012:
Picture day for the girls! Be sure to take a look at them and see if you can figure out something I can't about the new growth being lighter green, but otherwise looking healthy and growing like crazy still! Watered with POT & GO Bloom. No pics yet, not enough energy other than to take care of the girls.


Day 51-5, Friday 11-16-2012:
All the girls are looking great, I have had them on the 12/12 cycle for 5 days and all are showing sex, all female, and I'm hoping for 1 hermie to popup again so I can get some pollen to use for seed production. I know it's unknown seed stock, but even harvested 1 to 2 weeks early it still has a kick ass high, so I'll trust in this next batch as well. I have high (pun intentional) hopes for the girls.


Day 52-6, Saturday 11-17-2012:
Well I have the pics of the girls today, but I'm just too lazy to upload them today/night/whatever it is. I retied a few escaped branches and then watered with a little POT to keep them all evenly moist until the next watering & fertilizer session. No signs of any bugs or insect life that I could find. All is looking good with the girls, I'll see them in the morning after 10:00 am for their morning checkup.


Day 53-7, Sunday 11-18-2012:
Today is day 7 of the bloom cycle and all the girls are showing even more pistils poking out in search of pollen. Not a lot yet, but a few spots of pistils on all the girls. The vegetation is taking on a nice darker green tone, both the old and the new growth. No need to water yet as I just equalized the watering with POT yesterday (for some reason Corky (the middle/second girl in all the sequences seems to either respire a lot of water out, or the medium is not holding it like it should), so the girls should not need any more water for another 2 days or so. I'm posting the pics from yesterday as well as the log entries since the last installment.


Day 54-8, Monday 11-19-2012:
Not feeling up to doing much of anything today, probably my new meds.


Day 55-9, Tuesday 11-20-2012:
Watered the girls with GO Bloom and POT, the girls seem happy, they are all nice vigorous girls. No need to retie anything yet. But I did raise the lights just a little bit, because they were starting to touch the light bulbs. No heat/burn damage on any of the ones touching the lights though.


Day 56-10, Wednesday 11-21-2012:
I have not been feeling the best the last few days. I just had a change in a couple of my medications and it seems to be messing with my system, so I'm probably going to keep things short and to the point for a while. Anyway... The girls looked great again today I gave them all a little bit more POT today to even out the weight differences between the containers. They seem to be doing nicely and are happy with the setup they have here. Can't wait till about day 60 of the bloom cycle to see what kind of producers they will turn out to be (bag seed that they are, I have already had a nice little stash to smoke on, good stuff!)


Day 57-11, Thursday 11-22-2012, Thanksgiving:
Just looked in on the girls while cooking the turkey (just my partner and I this year, blessed silence), and all seems to be good. I re-tied a couple of escaped branches, and moved a main top cola (if it wan't growing sideways that is) as it was touching the lights. I have also raised the lights 1 chain link so that they all have room to grow (first time I have had to move the lights so far), the trouble will be keeping all of the branches at an even level. I fed the girls some GO Bloom and POT. Still not feeling too good so that's it for today!


Day 58-12, Friday 11-23-2012:
After a few loads of dishes (amazing that you produce the same amount of dishes cooking for 2 as you do for 12) I checked up on the girls and had a grand time re-wiring almost every branch so that they all maintain the same height. I never knew that it could be so difficult to keep something as simple sounding as "level canopy height" in check!!! I spend on, on average, about 20 minutes a day in my little grow room with only 3 plants and 1 fluorescent light fixture. I do break it up into a morning and evening inspection, but I do seem to be OCD about the height, etc... Not a bad thing, just a little self observation. Anyway, the girls all seem to be doing quite well, the LST experiment seems to be doing well, and the grow overall seems to be going about as well as can be expected. Just a side not here: The temp is always between 60°F and 75°F, and the humidity is always between 35% to 45%. That's all for today folks!


I'll be uploading the older pics here first, then I'll try and get some macro shots of the girls and upload them later tonight. That's about it for now...

Well they are a bit late, but here they are...

And here are the pics from today, just about 30 minutes ago. The first three are the girls from left to right, and the next two each are close ups of Elvira, Corky, then Francine....

OK, here's the last few days, not a lot due to me and my partner being sick, but here it is...




Day 59-13, Saturday 11-24-2012:
Sick day...


Day 60-14, Sunday 11-25-2012:
The girls look great today, Francine is perking up and greening up as well. Just a few re-ties and a few minor adjustmets to keep the canopy at an even level. Watered the girls with POT & GO Bloom, I was supposed to do the watering yesterday, but I was not feeling very well, and even today I was feeling like crap. But I got out and got the girls taken care of for a few days at least. Now if I am going to continue to be sick for a few days at least the girls will have what they need for at least 3 days. I took a couple of close up pics of the girls in addition to the general hover over shoot. To document the progress of the bud development.


Day 61-15, Monday 11-26-2012:
Went in this morning and the girls are looking great, as usual. A few re-ties (I am not a believer of strangling the plants just to hold them in place) and minor adjustments and everything is back as the same level again (almost). By the looks of things I may have to raise the lights again. Really nice an exciting to see the girls doing so well. I have been watching them creep higher and higher to the lights and have been just exstatic with their overall growth. The plants if straightened out would probably be about 28"-36" high.


Day 62-16, Tuesday 11-27-2012
Sick Day...


Day 63-17, Wednesday 11-28-2012:
Sick Day...


Day 64-18, Thursday 11-29-2012:
Went in to look at and water the girls after 2 days of feeling like drek, and (not surprisingly) they are flourishing, even without me for 2 days. Kind of makes you feel un-needed, then you get to touching them and making sure they are in good shape, no pests, no other problems, and you realinze these little girls are totally at your mercy! Anyway, the girls are doing great, just a few re-ties here and there, and a watering with POT and GO Bloom, and all is set for 2-3 more days of being sick if my body needs to rest up some more. I was hoping for a resounding yes from my body, but it's given me a definite maybe as to it feeling better soon. Sucks sometimes. But, I am going to imbibe a bit, then see how the rest of the day goes... I have been having a bit of trouble lately keeping the girls at 60°F or higher. The area where they are kept is a non-heated over the garage type studio not attached to the house, and a measly 15amp breaker to run the whole building (about the size of a small house really). I have turned the heater up a tiny bit, and this seems to be keeping them at at least 60°F, but I was hoping for at least 65°F to 70°F. Ah well. I'll take what I can get, only about 42 days till harvest...

Not a lot to report by volume, but significant goings on are in here...

Day 65-19, Friday 11-30-2012:
Sick Day...

Day 66-20, Saturday 12-1-2012:
After looking the girls over it was apparent that it was time to make some decisions on which bud sites were viable and which ones were going to make tea fodder. I ended up stripping pretty much any and all buds in the under growth, but tried to leave as many of the fan leaves intact as possible, at least the ones that looked like they were not going to interfere with any of the other bud sites, etc. So I ended up taking about 1/4 of the girls total bud mass off. I just hope that I was not too over zealous when I was pinching the non-productive buds off. Anyway it's done and I will have to live with the results, I think the girls will be just fine. I gave them a little watering today with POT to equalize the water levels as well.

Day 67-21, Sunday 12-2-2012:
The girls are looking great today, looks like the pruning back I did for them yesterday didn't hurt them too much. I had to re-adjust almost every wire, and add a few more to the total. Those girls must really be liking the conditions they are in. I checked out the pruning job to double check that I got all the suckers I could find at that moment, watered the girls with POT & GO Bloom, changed the propane tank on the heater (combination of CO2 generator and heat source), took the regular photos, plus a few extras, then buttoned the girls up for the night.

Got a few pics of the girls, the normal three top views, close up of two random buds each from the girls, then a few shots of some more bud sites, and finished off with a view down the long way under different shutter speed settings...

Day 68-22, Monday 12-3-2012:
Sickday...


Day 69-23, Tuesday 12-4-2012:
The girls are looking great again, no problems with any pests or nutrient defifiencies again. A little re-tieing of a few branches and the girls are set for another day. I also notinced one of the girls has decided to go hermie on me. I was both hoping for and against this happening. On the one hand I really need some more seed, and I am not willing to spend a fortune for something that may get intercepted, etc. On the other I want to make sure that the entire crop does not get fertilized. So I compromized and have totoally stripped all pollen sacs off except on one side branch that I am going to keep bagged to trap the pollen, with a visit and a blow off OUTSIDE the growroom everyday to let them fertilize for a while, then remove all the remaining pollen sacs. If this triggeres her to stop producing pollen sacs great, otherwise I will just have to tbe sure to check her out everyday and remove any extra sacs that develop.


Day 70-24, Wednesday 12-5-2012:
Upon entering the growroom today I looked down the length of the girls and decided it was time to raise the lights another half length as they are all growing at roughly the same height. Gave the girls a light watering with some POT only.

Day 71-25, Thursday 12-6-2012:
I trimmed out a few more straggling non-productive buds and leaves, then tidied up around the grow room Feeling like drek, but still checking on the girls due to the pollen sacs.


Day 72-26, Friday 12-7-2012:
The girls are looking great again, as usual. I'm still sick, and feeling like drek, if the illnesses of friends is an indicator then I probably have about 2 more weeks of feeling like drek. But the girls seems to be doing great, I gave them a thorough watering with POT & GO Bloom, aired out the bagged section of Francine, did a thorough going over of her to make sure that I didn't miss any newly forming pollen sacs, then closed up for the night. Drek, drek, drek....


Day 73-27, Saturday 12-8-2012:
The grow room temp is starting to dip to 50°F or so at night, so I have had to up the heater inside the grow room to keep my baby girls alive and thriving. Some minor re-tying and that's it for today.

Day 74-28, Sunday 12-9-2012:
Looked in on the girls, and it seems that there is at least one pollen sac opening already, so once that has gone on for a few days I'll have to make sure I collect some samples to try my hand at artificial pollination.


Day 75-29, Monday 12-10-2012:
The girls are looking great as usual, no pests so far, let's keep it that way!!! But I have noticed a few small spots of powdery mildew, interesting because the temp is always 60°F-75°F, and the humidity is always between 30% and 45%. I have re adjusted the temp, and venting systems a bit to see if that will help with the problem. It's far too late in the game for me to lose my entire crop. Unfortunately powdery mildew is a nasty endemic problem to this area. Hopefully the girls will pull through (really only one of them showing infection, but I know that are all infected, no way around that...). On a happier note I dropped one of the girls down an inch because I ran out of room to adjust her down. And if things keep progressing at this rate then I will have to raise the lights another chain link in the near future.


Day 76-30, Tuesday 12-11-2012:
I went in looking after the girls today, and all I had the energy for was a quick status check, then I had to check out, still sick from whatever virus got it's RNA in my body, damned invaders, I'll just have to keep toking till I feel better.

Day 77-31, Wednesday 12-12-2012: 1st Appocolypse
Well the girls, myself, my partner, my dog, the cat, the house, well the whole world really is still here, so I guess the first appocolypse was a real dud. Anyway the girls look great, just a few re-adjustments to a few colas and a quick splash of POT & GO Bloom, then I was back to the house. Still feel like I was run over by a pot smoking hippy in a VolksWagen bus. Hopefully I'll (We'll actually) be feeling better in the next week or so.


Day 78-32, Thursday 12-13-2012:
My tooth has really been hurting the last couple days, and I will be going in at 5:30am (RIDICULOUS!!!) to have a at least my lower right molar removed, maybe a few others depending on what the dentist says. But on to the girls, they are looking gorgeous as usual, the powdery mildew seems to be in check temporarily, and still no sign of any insect infestation, so far so good. Just a couple branches needed a little re-tying. I have them all a little bit of POT & GO Bloom to keep them nice and evenly moist.


Day 79-33, Friday 12-14-2012:
The girls are looksing great, I had to trim some leves off of Corky because she has developed powdery mildew, but the other two girls seem to be doing just fine with no spots on them. Justa bit of te-tying to make sure the canopy stays as level as possible. That's it for today...