Nearly there...criticism welcomed

I had a pretty tough start to my grow. 4 out of 5 seeds failed to germinate, I lost half my root ball during the 2nd potting up. I had a long running calcium deficiency well until flower that I misdiagnosed at least twice. I topped late in veg, much higher than I should of (I just got scared and a little sad at that thought of topping to the 2nd/3rd node and chickened out). I did however invest a lot of time and effort into my sole survivor and I think the love paid off.

She is a Blue Mystic (Nirvana). She has been under 12/12 for 7 weeks now. As I said, I did top, and then use ties to spread the plant out under the 600W HPS (that was intended to grow 4 plants). I trimmed out a lot of under growth to aid overflow in week 3 as can be seen in some of the shots (too much?). She stands 25" tall and has a 25" diameter. I wish I had taken clones as 4 of these plants would perfectly fill my space with just enough headroom to the light to be able to keep it at 18" all through the grow. She smells sweet and fruity

Thanks for all the tips, hints and advice both direct and indirect from browsing/lurking in threads.

What do you think of my sweetie?

looking good

Looks really good and your tale of woe gives me inspiration as I approach my first try at farming. What's with the big nuckles where the branches come off the main stalk?

I don't know. The biggest is the result of trying to bend the branch a little too far in one session. The branch came away form the main stem, almost came right off! I tied it back to the main stem with a soft wire tie and it healed. The others all just grew that way... maybe I put too much pressure on them with ties as well?

Na man, don't worry about it. It's a good thing, it's like the plants way of saying "I know I'm about to put on some weight" so it bulks up

I was growing caramel kush and I topped it once so it had 2 main leads and they both had knuckles/nodes that were as round as quarters!
Also, some strains just do that more than others.

Btw your 1st grow looks good. How are your temps? It does look a little heat stressed. How are you exhausting?

Gary Goodson said:

Na man, don't worry about it. It's a good thing, it's like the plants way of saying "I know I'm about to put on some weight" so it bulks up

I was growing caramel kush and I topped it once so it had 2 main leads and they both had knuckles/nodes that were as round as quarters!
Also, some strains just do that more than others.

Btw your 1st grow looks good. How are your temps? It does look a little heat stressed. How are you exhausting?

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Temps have been an issue. I can't get them to stay much under 30°C/85°F

Air goes: carbon filter> air cooled tube> fan> exhaust to separate room.

I live in a temperate area and never see temps in the house over 20°C even in summer... I think the issue is the tent location...it sits inside a closet with decent headroom (3m ceiling) but only a few inches around the sides/front of tent with doors closed. I plan to add an active intake before the next run though.

Skuzzy said:

Temps have been an issue. I can't get them to stay much under 30°C/85°F

Air goes: carbon filter> air cooled tube> fan> exhaust to separate room.

I live in a temperate area and never see temps in the house over 20°C even in summer... I think the issue is the tent location...it sits inside a closet with decent headroom (3m ceiling) but only a few inches around the sides/front of tent with doors closed. I plan to add an active intake before the next run though.

Click to expand...

I'm sure you know this, but target is around 77F so youre 8 degrees higher than I like. If that is ambient then it could actually be hotter under the light at the tops of the plant.

Is there anyway to move the tent out of the closet? If not, try a box fan at the door to blow cooler air in. Another option that might help lower the temps is if you can have the tent open while lights are on. I also understand how that might not be doable either, just trying to throw ideas out there for ya.

Either way,
Happy growing and good luck buddy

Gary Goodson said:

I'm sure you know this, but target is around 77F so youre 8 degrees higher than I like. If that is ambient then it could actually be hotter under the light at the tops of the plant.

Is there anyway to move the tent out of the closet? If not, try a box fan at the door to blow cooler air in. Another option that might help lower the temps is if you can have the tent open while lights are on. I also understand how that might not be doable either, just trying to throw ideas out there for ya.

Either way,
Happy growing and good luck buddy

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I thought I was doing OK with those temps, just not ideal. Can you explain what signs you saw in those photos so I know for future reference?

Skuzzy said:

I thought I was doing OK with those temps, just not ideal. Can you explain what signs you saw in those photos so I know for future reference?

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The leaves are curling up on the edges and tips, it called canoeing, because it resembles a canoe.

And 85 is not terrible, BUT where are you getting that temp from? Bottom of the plant, top of the plant, or just sitting on the side?

The temps directly under the light could be higher. I'm not trying to knock you brother, I'm just saying your plant IS showing signs of heat stress.

Gary Goodson said:

The leaves are curling up on the edges and tips, it called canoeing, because it resembles a canoe.

And 85 is not terrible, BUT where are you getting that temp from? Bottom of the plant, top of the plant, or just sitting on the side?

The temps directly under the light could be higher. I'm not trying to knock you brother, I'm just saying you plant IS showing signs of heat stress.

Click to expand...

I really appreciate your input... it's why I posted. I want to learn.

I usually have a hygrometer/thermometer right in the centre of the canopy, removed for pics.

Skuzzy said:

I really appreciate your input... it's why I posted. I want to learn.

I usually have a hygrometer/thermometer right in the centre of the canopy, removed for pics.

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Alright good, so that temp is at canopy level.

Hey we all had to start from somewhere, right? You're doing well, though. Finish this one out and see what you can do on the next one!

Looks good to me man

I'm in the same situation for temps, northern Europe and normally not above 20 indoors, the last 2 weeks it's been 21+ inside and the tent is always 10 above that
last weekend I got I got 2 clip fans aimed at the top canopy and a biggish desk fan outside the tent pushing in the air hole at the bottom causing some nice air flow around the lower canopy and that's brought me down to low 30's while the suns out and about 28-29 a few hours after sunset
BTW are you running the lights over-night? Basically let it produce heat while it's getting cool outside (I ask because that's the mistake I made first grow)
air circulation and venting is a bitch, my plan (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is to get a duct fan for the filter much larger than my tent requires to really suck the hot air out.
if you're in a similar part of the world to me winter will be a bitch for humidity (regularly over 90% outside) I haven't experienced it yet but local growers I know have had serious bud rot issues in plants coming down November to January

Fluff Up said:

I'm in the same situation for temps, northern Europe and normally not above 20 indoors, the last 2 weeks it's been 21+ inside and the tent is always 10 above that
last weekend I got I got 2 clip fans aimed at the top canopy and a biggish desk fan outside the tent pushing in the air hole at the bottom causing some nice air flow around the lower canopy and that's brought me down to low 30's while the suns out and about 28-29 a few hours after sunset
BTW are you running the lights over-night? Basically let it produce heat while it's getting cool outside (I ask because that's the mistake I made first grow)
air circulation and venting is a bitch, my plan (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is to get a duct fan for the filter much larger than my tent requires to really suck the hot air out.
if you're in a similar part of the world to me winter will be a bitch for humidity (regularly over 90% outside) I haven't experienced it yet but local growers I know have had serious bud rot issues in plants coming down November to January

Click to expand...

Cold and damp is certainly where I live.

I ran my light at 400W as a test, and my temps drop to 25°C. Pretty sure my issue is too big a light (heat source) for my small volume tent (48 ft³) but all the same I plan to run an intake fan next grow to help. and thanks to Gary Goodson I now know what to look for on my plants.