2wk's left, please look, thoughts advise help welcome - new grower

static12 · Oct 3, 2010

ok peep's have a look an see what you think, i no im well off the pace with shit hot looking massive plants with copious bud on them but im taking my time learning and messing up so i can get there in the end!!
these have been in flower for 8wk now, have had ionic neut's - only veg then bloom. no boost or anything like that. i have no ph meter so gotta keep things as basic as poss till i no what im doing. grown and flowered under 250w cfls red&blue.
so have a butchers an let me no whats what or any errors im making pls!!!

jimbobthe3rd · Oct 3, 2010

Hey mate, good to see you're into growing. Here is some constructive criticism...It looks like you haven't topped your plants, thus only having one main cola. Using only CFL's i would have topped the plant to get several heads thus increasing yield since the overall height of the plant isnt that big.

Also, there seems to be some nutrition problems going on here. The yellow leaves in the 1st and 3rd picture indicate shes not a happy girl. You can get onto the nute problem early by noticing in the last picture, the very tips of the leaves will first turn yellow (noting either a nutrient deficiency or nute burn (too strong a nute solution, and will need to be diluted with more 0~200ppm water/tap water.)). It also looks like you may be over-watering them? WIth the way the leaves curl like they are doing. The yellow dots along the leaves could signify a magnesium deficiency.

There is also a big stretch between the nodes (bud sites), this can be caused to you keeping your light too far away from the plant so it has to stretch for it. It's easier to contain indica strains once topped than sativas, who love to stretch.

Are you in the process of flushing them now? How are they going :)? Any questions you have pls feel free to ask i'm just here to help and share my knowledge xD.

static12 · Oct 3, 2010

hey jimbob thanks for the words of encouragement buddy, like i say im a newbie, these are only my 2nd an 3rd plant, the first i typically rushed into and ended up with a monster in a 2ft box, still its all part of the leaning curve eh?? As for the criticism - it aint no thing, good/bad/ugly - hell i dont give a monkey;s, all i wan is to give my plants the stuff they need to make the whole thing worth while in the end, an without people like u helpin out it would take people like me a hell of a lot longer to get down the road so to speak!!
yeah defo got sum nute issue goin on with yellow spots, curling an burning on the leaves, took my time increasing the feeds up for the first few weeks and have since eased off the nutes now, would there be any problems if i finished em off with only water, like i say i still got a wk or 2 till chop??. As for the topping - i gather its the done thing with CFL grows, i put that down to my lack of experience, an i couldn't bear to hurt my new babies!!! as daft as it sounds LOL!!! i have been researching 'topping' and also 'sgrogging' as this is also supposed to be beneficial to CFL grows. i have aquired quite a few white russian and blue cheese seeds which are going to be my first victims of plant bondage lol - topping included!!
Think i'll take it easy an do another two plants and try an sort my nutes and feeding regime out - gotta bite the bullet on a pH tester too me thinks, damn them things aint cheap, any recomendations for a decent soil tester? The stretching is again my bad, gonna sort my light out better this time i think, bout 2 or 3 cms is good?? (again its the newbie in me not wanting to burn my girls!! lol!!) God this growing lark grabs you by the nuts doesn;t it!! dont think i'v read or researched anything as much in my entire life!!!!!!!! lol
Once again thoughts vibes ideas alway welcome!!!

peace peeps

UNITEDGROOVES · Oct 3, 2010

jimbo pretty much said it all.. But the first thing you need to do is get your self a ph/ppm meter.. You need to know what you're feeding your girls, If your PH is off you're fucked.. ALso look into training techniques.. Peace out

jimbobthe3rd · Oct 3, 2010

static - I'm glad i can share my knowledge with you to help you get better results :). Scrogging is the shit! If you want low plant numbers + tons of bud!

The first time my mate topped my plants, i wanted to fking kill him lol, i'm like NUUU WHY ARE YOU CUTTING MY BABIES!! Then today...it must seem like i massacre the fuck out of my girls haha, the more you cut em, they come back twice as much! And i didn't really figure out how flexible girls can be until my 2nd or so grow, i was always scared of snapping branches until i was taught by a master grower that you can basically tie knots with these girls and they'll love it lol.

If you wanna give scrogging under a cfl a shot, i'm sure you can get minimum 1 gram per watt easily :). That's 8-9 ounces under the one 250w cfl, will save you a coin or two instead of buying it ;).

Check out my scrog thread if you wanna see how its done lol.

Dunge · Oct 3, 2010

Am I to understand that this plant is under 2 X CFL lighting only?

jimbobthe3rd · Oct 3, 2010

Dunge said:
Am I to understand that this plant is under 2 X CFL lighting only?

To me it sounded/looked like he vegged under a single 250w blue CFL and then flowered under a single 250w red CFL? I could be wrong but this is what it looks like.

LBH · Oct 4, 2010

Nice coverage jimbob.

I'll just add in that the bloom nutes really do make a difference but like JB said, your main priority should be to flatten the canopy if you plan to stay with the current lighting.

The tutorials in my sig are designed to teach you exactly what jimbob is talking about, help yourself.

and kudos for going about this in an educated, patient manner. With your cordial personality and real willingness to learn, you'll get lots of help along the way.

Good luck bud!

Zissou Intern · Oct 4, 2010

yeah man all in all they could use some work, but man for being this new to it, i give you mad props.

i BUTCHERED my 2nd and 3rd grows. got too cocky thinkin i new shit after harvesting one single plant. which was early. 5 years later and im going strong not looking back, and still end up messin up a plant or two.... comes with the game.

good luck hope that smoke is legit i know it will be

yeah man ph ppm meter is KEY i promise.

that downward curl is probably from overwater but it could be from and off PH as well.... i see its in hydro... havent stepped in those waters yet wish i could help you more there.

LBH · Oct 4, 2010

I'm in hydro.

PH pen is mandatory for soil,....but for hydro, it's even more critical. Giving it a go w/o one is a formula for failure.

I use the oakton ecotestr2 ($60) and the HM TDS ez (amazon- $18)

The main benefit to doing hydro is the control you have. These are the "meters" for that control.

By monitoring the ph and ppm, you know exactly how much you are feeding, exactly how much they are eating and gives you the ability to dial in an exact ph.

I usually recommend that folks by the pens before the seeds, they're THAT important.

static12 · Oct 4, 2010

Cheers for the input peep;s - WOW LBH, sum mighty fine shit you got goin on there!!! Tutorials are SOOOOOO helpful, spent sum quality time readin (again!!) nice vid too!! i vegged for 3wk under single 250w blue CFL, switched to red for flower. pH meter WILL be sorted for NEXT time!! hurrah!! Am gonna let the 2 lil girlies run thru an have put them on a water diet till they meet their doom and grab myself sum bloom nutes for my next crack or the (very frustrating) whip. I understand the requirements for bloom food but didnt wanna risk addin more nutes to already unknown pH levels. Im growing in soil, i got given the clay pellets and some other bits and bats after another 'inexperienced' grower (who was to bone idle to read/research anthing prior) had many failed attempts to grow hydro, again he too never bothered with a pH pen - thus explaining a lot of his troubles!!! lol !!! i just decided to put them on the top to help block out the light.
so the plan of action is to get 2-3 seeds in germ when these are down, get my pH meter, rig up a suitable screen, get sum bloom nutes, chill a bit on the watering and GROW SUM NUT's to start topping my girlies!!!!!!!!!!!!! would i be ok doing 2 plants an topping once (2 colas) for scrog in a 2ftx2ftx4ft? All my reading has shown that you are best to do one thing at a time that way you know if what you are doing is working, if not at least you know what went wrong, how and why. that being the main reason i didnt top or scrog - topping, scrogging an bloom nutes (without a meter) i feel would have been more like jumping out of a plane without a parachute!! lol. at least i end up with a lil bit of smoke to remind me whats to come!!!

once again peep's BIG THUMBS UP!!!

sharonlitchfiel · Oct 8, 2010

PH pen, 600 HPS and Potassium = Stanky Chicken

CanadianClassic · Oct 8, 2010

get a ph pen or ppm meter or get or get a RO machine or buy RO water it has 0ppm and when nudes are added has a correct PH,And top your plants or learn a technique called "Fimming" CFL's get the job done but if u want real colas invest in a HPS even if its a 125 watt it will produce your yield alot

Good luck with the ladies!!!

CanadianClassic · Oct 8, 2010

Fimming is like topping yet you cut about 75% of the very lil top off at a curved downwards angle,this can result in multiple tops usually 3-4 sometimes even up to 8 has been achieved where topping only gets you 2 tops,you can also combine these methods and have tops were u want,The sooner you start topping the better it will extend your veg time a bit but will be well worth it in the end!

Good luck with the ladies!!!

highrise · Oct 8, 2010

Very nice work for a first attempt.

Looking at those pictures you might also want to consider letting them go a little longer than the 2wks you mention. Those look pretty sativa dominate which i find usually take a couple of weeks longer than what the label on the seed pack says. I tend to wait for the hairs to turn orange and start shrinking back into the buds and then give them another week after that.

j wizzle · Oct 8, 2010

you have 4 weeks left on those... you should be fine boosting the P & K right now for the next 2-3 weeks. then flush for 10 days and chop.

get a combo meter...you NEED it.

also, train your plants into bushes before you flip. get a screen to even out your canopy...

good luck...but theres really no luck in this game. do things right the first time and save money and time in the long run. next time you buy a light, dont think about another CFL, get a HPS and grow dank for real..

420king-MASSES · Oct 8, 2010

just water her out until harvest she looks fine brotha keep up the good work

static12 · Oct 11, 2010

jeez peeps, thanks for the words of wisdom. i have read a little about fimminf 'CC' but again being a newbie gonna go with topping and training under a screen and getting my pH's sorted for my next go or 2, then i'll read a lil more an go fimming my girlies!!!
like i say i no i goofed with the meter but all this reading makes ya wanna get your hands dirty - LOL!!

once again peeps thanks for your comments an advise!!

kashinc · Oct 12, 2010

not bad for your first grow, I would def get a PH pen and throw in some HPS even a 250watt hps for a small closet works well. cheers mate enjoy the ladies

2wk's left, please look, thoughts advise help welcome - new grower

2wk's left, please look, thoughts advise help welcome - new grower

static12

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2wk's left, please look, thoughts advise help welcome - new grower

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