First Grow - CFL

Jad3,

I'm thinking about it. I might be able to do some isolation. It would be crude if I did it. I have a bit of Reflectix left and I do have a couple parabolic reflectors I could use... I could put him in a shed that I have. That might be the way to go. It wouldn't matter if the temp dropped at night...

I just might do that!

Thanks

So I've moved The Boy out. He has been banished to a shed outside. It isn't going to be very nice for him but he might produce some pollen.

If I can actually collect a little I'll give it a try. I do manual pollination of my Xmas cactus so I think I can handle it.

The good part about this is I can start a 12/12FS grow already. I picked out 2 Lemon Kush fem beans and have them soaking. Hopefully I can get both of them to pop. I'm very interested in seeing how they do with a 12/12 grow.

I'm going to try them in a soil and perlite mix with a different fertilizer.

I also am looking forward to trying a lemon flavour. As strange as it might sound I have never smoked anything with a lemon flavour. Pine, skunk, and fruity (tropical). But no lemon. I couldn't tell you why that is though. Guess my friends just didn't grow it.

It'll be fun to see how they do alongside the White Widow.

The First Lemon Kush has cracked. A tiny bit of root is visible. I'll transfer them both into the rooting pots later today. Hopefully they both will grow.

PISTILS HAVE APPEARED!!!!

The Little Mutant has started to put out pistils. I am very happy say its a girl!

She has four strong branches and a central leader. They are all at the same height. It looks like its intentional but is not. I haven't touched her. I won't get much off her but at least Ill get something.

Now to wait for the other one.

Both Lemon Kush beans popped so they are now in there little starters. Let the 12/12FS start!

congrats on the girl!!

Thank s NewGrow,
I am very happy.

Update:

Stretching is continuing. I can see some more Pistils showing on Little Mutant. And they both are looking nice and healthy.

I have discovered a new reason to like the screen I am using... I had decided not to do a true SCROG this grow, but use the screen to just position the main stems before letting them grow straight up. While doing that positioning a took a bit of the wire I was initially using to LST and did a bit of LST connected to the screen... Works beautifully!! I can now continue to position the stems then LST them further just above the screen and maximize more of the light exposure. The wires are just shaped like double end hooks. Hook the stem and then hook it to the screen at the height I want. Perfect and no risk of breaking the stems (which I did once).

If you look closely you will be able to see a few of the pale green wires holding the stems down.


And here is my Little Mutant girl.


Crossing my fingers for a second girl.

Little Mutant only has 5 tops to her but they are looking good so far. If I was vegging longer than this I would have topped all 5 of them to increase the number. THe interesting thing about how she has been growing is the the 4 branches have been growing faster than the central/main trunk. She was stunted for the first couple of weeks when she look really bad. It now looks like it was the main stem that was effected initially. The side branches continued to grow those first two weeks while the main one just sat there stunted. They are all about the same now since the central one has shot up and gotten past the screen. It is looking like it will pass the others in the next week so I am sure that I will get a central cola from it, but I doubt it will be much more than the 4 branches.

Looking at the LST connected to the screen is making me think that this might be a really easy way to do my LST in future grows. Buy using these wire hooks I can unhook them and reposition them very quickly and easily without risk to the plant.

If I set the screen only4-6 inches above the top of the pot... FIM or Top under the screen... position the stems with the screen... Then LST everything as it grows through the screen. Adjust the LST as needed throughout the whole grow, adding more or just moving the ones I am already using.

This might work really well once I am ready to do my Recirculating Hempy Grow. If it grows the way others have had them grow I will need to be able to do lots of training all the way thru the grow, even if I only do a couple weeks of veg time. I would like to do that grow with as much veg time as I can possibly fit in my tent. That is why I'm going to be lowering the hempy pot right to the floor. Give me as much vertical growth as possible. It's a good thing I have 1000's of feet of wire for doing my LST.

So I checked on the male that I banished to the shed. When I got up the last couple of days the temp has been -1 or +1 Celsius. Not so good for the little guy. He seems to be fine though. I got two CFLs on him continuing the 12/12 plus the sun shining in the little windows. If the temps drop further I can add a little heat using an electric heating pad. Wish I had a temperature controlled plug for it though.

There are lots of balls all over him now.
I'm going to have to figure out how to tell when they are going to open. Maybe a bit of searching in the breeding section I guess.

Looks like the temps are going to remain low all week. I put the heating pad in. I have the plant inside an empty 5 gallon bucket with the heating pad curling around the plant. Set to low it should give off enough heat to help.

The male sacks should start opening at different rates, so based on that, keep looking closely, and as soon as one bursts you know what to look for.
Then when you know what to look for, pick out a few ripe sacks and put them in a glass jar. leave them a couple days in the dark. keep checking them.

Then when they burst, shake the jar and carefully, andwith a small paintbrush, lightly spread polen all over the buds you want to fertilize.

Just be really carefull, because the polen is extremely light and will fly off at the slightest wind.

Some people also put a clear plastic bag around the fertilized buds as to keep the polen in.

As soon as the buds are fertilized, their white pistils will wither and curl inside.

Then, expect seeds! =) (and mail me some hahaha) good luck!

Update:

More pistils!!!

The big one has started to put out pistils!!!!! YA!! I got two girls

Now I just need to keep them going like this for a bit longer... ok make that a couple more months. Uugghh!!

I'm going to be checking on the sacks every day. So far he is still looking good. I think I have a little glass jar that will work well.

I've never had to collect pollen like this before. I pollinate my Xmas cactus bit is very easy. I just pull the pollen off a flower and apply it to another. Works almost every time.

The first Lemon Kush has popped up out of its little pot. Looking nice and healthy so far.
I am sprouting them in little coco coir pots filled with Vermiculite. Just 'cause I have it. I seem to have an issue with doing the same thing twice... can't seem to do it very well. Anyway, I didn't like the nute burn I seemed to get at the beginning with the White Widows. Maybe this will help with that and help with the initial growth. Kind of like a Hempy start. That is the thinking anyway. I need to use really light nutes though. That does make it a little risky.

SO I think it is time to ask for some advice...

I am starting to actually get into the flowering stage of this grow. I am now seeing the development of pistils on the two White Widows. Little Mutant being farther along than the other. The two Lemon Kush I have now added are just starting so I am not factoring them into this question.

Question: Should I put in a second light fixture?? Should I double the number of CFLs in the tent??

I can easily create a second fixture that could add another 184 watts of light to the grow. I have already got the parts to increase the exhuast and scrubber function and a larger fan to circulate the interior air. The passive air intake comes up from the floor where the ambient temp is about 18 Celcius so I have some capacity to handle the increase in temperature that the added light will cause.

Will a doubling of the CFL watts to 368 watts be worth the added cost and heat concerns??

if you can squeeze a second light in there absolutely do it. just keep an eye on temps.

More watts will mean more weight. Especially if you keep the CFL's really close to the plants.

But, just as dP said, keep an eye on temperature.

Awesome grow man. Can't wait to see the girls now and sorry about u having a boy but atleast your making good use out of him with the pollen. Are you limited by height because I started to get stretching just like yours and it nearly caused mine to get burn all of it's new growth.

Hey Guys! Thanks

I was just over in the CFL forum trying to work out the details of adding more light. I think I got some ideas as to how to do it. Gotta go thru my supply of electrical stuff. Doing renovations helps with materials at least. I'm still going to be going to the store most likely though.

RD,
The stretch has been really slow so far. Not much of an issue. I have scorched a couple leaf tips but nothing major. That is actually part of the reason for doing a little more LST above the screen. I'm trying to keep the canopy growing evenly. I still have the little bottom branches coming up thru the screen and becoming part of the canopy. The bigger girl has 10 main tops right now, with another 3 coming up into the canopy soon. A couple of the lowest branches wont make it and I think I'm going to end up trimming them if I can't get enough light to them.

Bending the main tops back down is causing nodes to grow though. I'm curious to see what happens with those.

I'll try to get a couple pics tomorrow.

LK Update:

Both of them have popped into the air. The first one is looking good so far. The second is just coming up so I'm waiting another day before I make any guesses as to survival. I've never used a non-soil medium before. I's making me a little anxious. I have a very dilute nutrient solution mixed up that I can spray on for the next couple days. I'll also use a little to moisten the base of the medium every couple days if it looks like it needs it.