Californian Orange (dutch Passion) - First Grow

[Parisdude]

Hello all,

Just to get some points of view on my first grow. I'm running a 1 sqm grow box with a 400w HPS with a digital ballast supposed to be 10% more efficient than a standard magnetic one. Six weeks into flowering, I added in some LEDs (Bloomed X135) that seemed to play out well. (I'm planning to go all LED, but the investment has to be spaced out over time...).

I have four Californian Orange pulled from Dutch Passion seeds. 24 days of veg and coming up on 70 days of 12/12. Cannabio soil and nutrient program. A Plagron booster added in the flowering stage.

I probably made some newbie mistakes over the course of the grow (overwatering at one stage, added nutes too often at another stage, let the box peak at 33,1 C° at yet another). It felt like a long time before actual flowers started growing after the switch to 12/12. Still, these ladies seem to be doing well, despite my efforts to the contrary. I FIMed two, leaving the third to develop freely. The stretch was amazing (+100%). The non-FIMed of these is 190cm (Around 6'5''). The others are close behind at 170cm. I have pruned lower fan leaves continuously, for air and convenience when watering. Some say do, some say don't. So I did.

It seems to me, with my newbie eye, that I have a couple of nice rockets to Mars in there. For size reference, that hand in there is not a small hand. They should be coming down in three days time when passing 70 days of flowering. Do you guys see any evidence to the contrary?

Thanks!

 

[happy b]

No mate they DEFINETLY have ATLEAST 2 weeks left to bloom.theres not even a brown hair on them.if you take them now youl lose out on a good bit of bud and the quality will be low.you flipped em before they were sexually mature which means an extra couple of weeks of bloom.sorry about that but i PROMISE you wont be dissappointed you didnt pull em wen you see how much theyl swell out between now and then.if your desperate for a smoke take a wee branch(though i wouldnt as its still too immature to be any way decent)but dont cut all em down now as they almost add another third of theyr weight in the last few weeks.once about a third of your pistils turn brown/orange is usually how a noob can tell wen to harvest but a microscopes better.you can check the color of the resin heads with a scope.
girls look nice apart from thst.

 

[tobh]

This was the first "name" strain I ever grew. Definitely great smoke. Damn it's been years since I've seen the name even!

I agree with happy b. You have AT MINIMUM 2 weeks more. That's even on the shy side imo. I'd guess another 3 to 4 for a decent amount of amber trichomes. They look mighty fine though!

One Love,
tobh

 

[happy b]

This was the first "name" strain I ever grew. Definitely great smoke. Damn it's been years since I've seen the name even!

I agree with happy b. You have AT MINIMUM 2 weeks more. That's even on the shy side imo. I'd guess another 3 to 4 for a decent amount of amber trichomes. They look mighty fine though!

One Love,
tobh

I thought maybe more too but for anewb desperate for a smoke i recon he could maybe harvest at 2 more weeks but probably leave it another 3 if it was me.as iv said already theyr looking good.youv just misjudged the flower period cos you forced em into flower.

 

[tobh]

I thought maybe more too but for anewb desperate for a smoke i recon he could maybe harvest at 2 more weeks but probably leave it another 3 if it was me.as iv said already theyr looking good.youv just misjudged the flower period cos you forced em into flower.

Excellent point. Haha I forget that a lot of these new guys don't have a few grows under their belts so the patience factor isn't quite there yet.

 

[happy b]

Wen i first started growing i was pulling off sugar leaves and buds all over the place.it took me along time to get the proper patience.thats the thing about growing weed,it helps you in ways you could never forsee.

 

[Parisdude]

Thanks for your feedback! I take the point of them being flipped into flowering early - what you are saying essentially is that it's not the time spent in 12/12 that counts but the time when flowering actually started after flipping them. That's in line with other stuff I've read. I guess I'll leave them for a wee while... patience not an issue with me, if it takes a year to get them ready so be it.

I can't take pictures at the moment 'cause I'm away. But I'll post some tomorrow to show that there is actually quite a bit of orange hairs. You can see it at the top of one of the photos, but for the rest, the light and the lack of detail actually hides them. The first nice orange hairs showed up already in week five of 12/12.

In fact, also have another experiment in there - a Barney's Farm Critical Cure that I put into 12/12 already as a seedling. I first thought it would come to nothing, but after three weeks in 12/12 it shot up and made a nice "multi-shelf popsicle".

 

[happy b]

Wen a strain is say an 8 week job that means 8 weeks from it shows sex.most people flip after sex is shown so an 8 weeker will take 8 weeks but if you germ it and veg for 2 weeks then flip it will take a couple of weeks of 12/12 before they start throwing pistils which adds a few weeks to the bloom time but if its a sexually mature plant at flip the usual flower period applies.
im not sure iv explained it properl but you seem to understand wat im getting at.

 

[Parisdude]

Wen a strain is say an 8 week job that means 8 weeks from it shows sex.most people flip after sex is shown so an 8 weeker will take 8 weeks but if you germ it and veg for 2 weeks then flip it will take a couple of weeks of 12/12 before they start throwing pistils which adds a few weeks to the bloom time but if its a sexually mature plant at flip the usual flower period applies.
im not sure iv explained it properl but you seem to understand wat im getting at.

Crystal clear, thanks very much mate. I'll try to be more organized for the next batch (... a Diesel from Barney's Farm).

 

[happy b]

Do you only grow fems dude?i take it your in europe like myself?

 

[Parisdude]

Well, this is my first grow and I went for fems straight away. I'm three hours from Amsterdam (Paris) with the train so it made sense to me. Considered regular, but limited grow space argued for fems, but there is no telling what I might do in the future.

 

[ilovealta]

Cali-o day 91