A noob's journey... Let there be green

[Cort]

Time for an update:

Seedlings still sick, I almost loved some to death. 2/7 still showing signs of being over watered. They are doing much better after being transplanted to 1 gal grow bags and letting them dry out.

http://img508.invalid.com/img508/5174/120003.jpg
If I love the sight of my youngsters roots, does that make me a pedo?

FIMed the 5 healthy ones last night.

BDs are looking good, transplanted a week ago to 15q containers
http://img508.invalid.com/img508/540/120005.jpg


Nodes arnt as tight under the 1k light and higher temps. Will do the flip in a day or two.
http://img842.invalid.com/img842/2433/120009.jpg

Everything seems to be in order, just have one question...
Top or FIM?
With only 12 in the tent I have 1.3333333333333 sqft each, so have a bit of room to play with. I dont want to push veg out longer so I am leaning towards top.

In fact, unless someone yells at me and calls me a noob, I think I will top them today.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Hey cort what up, i wouldnt top them unless your gonna veg awhile still. Looks like your on the right track. Those roots look so nice.

 

[Cort]

If not topping, what should I do to get them a bit bushier, in the big pots and with only 12 in a 4x4 I have a bit of extra space.

The shop should have my VSC-DNe controller (to automate my fanspeed based on temp) today or tomorrow and would like to flip soon.

 

[Melvan]

You can top them if you want, but you'll need to give them a couple of extra weeks of veg. You know, the bushier the plant the more bud sites. Top them, give them a couple of more weeks, and get a bigger harvest for your wait.

Remember, patience is a virtue. Don't be so anxious to get to the "flip", you'll just screw yourself out of all that nice smoke.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

You got 12 in a 4by4 they dont need to be that big when flipped. If there growin right at the flip there going to get alot bigger. I would say as soon as you think there growin right flip em.

 

[Cort]

Time is money. The only reason I am in a hurry is because its going to get hot here soon, and Id like to get enough smoke for myself and family before I have to crank the AC 24/7. 2-300 bucks in power when not growing is bad enough. If we dont have to buy at 65 an 8th over the summer then all the gear and time has paid for itself.

I do plan on taking my time with the next round though. 2 BDs that arnt up to par now will be loved until one becomes a mother and the Mendo Madness seedlings have at least 2 months to produce a tent full of goodness.

After that, my girls will just be houseplants till it gets cool enough to run lights again. September or October most likely.

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Yaaaa its flip time. Start the countdown.

 

[Cort]

Wow... your right, time to flip = I need to study. Just when I started to get mixing my veg nutes down I need to change it all up.

Botanicare line
Pro grow Bloom
Silica blast
Hydroplex
Karma

Will run these for a few more weeks
Hygrozyme
AquaShield
Cal Mag
SuperThrive

Finishing
Sweet Raw
Clearex

Missing anything?

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Dont think your missing anything. I like your time to study attitude. You can never know everything.

 

[Cort]

You can top them if you want, but you'll need to give them a couple of extra weeks of veg. You know, the bushier the plant the more bud sites. Top them, give them a couple of more weeks, and get a bigger harvest for your wait.

Remember, patience is a virtue. Don't be so anxious to get to the "flip", you'll just screw yourself out of all that nice smoke.

Had a talk with the girls today and they decided you are right. These girls want to veg a bit longer. Think I was kinda going on the assumption in the back of my head that I was gonna kill my first grow so I might as well get it over with.

So, back to FIM or top ?

 

[Melvan]

Top

 

[Cort]

Today is the big day. All the girls come out of the tent and I finish making it ready for the flip. Double check the light proofing, a good cleaning etc...

Couple of days ago, I withheld food, just gave the girls water. They look hungry now, slightly more pale than usual. They wont be flipped till tomorrow but should I start with transitional feed now or stick with veg?

A new addition to my harem, a little girl in 1" rock wool called banana OG, so the clinic says. Will grow her out and throw her babies in the mix for round 2.

Pics to follow. They bushed out real nice. Thanks for telling me not to flip Melvan, it will make a huge difference. Going to get some tomato cages today.

 

[lazarus718]

Sorry to see the initial over-feeding with your babies bro, wish you would have read some of the threads before doing that, but you did the right thing and flushed em out quickly. Like Melvan I grow in soil so don't have any hydro experience but from what I do know you are going to want to keep an eye out for changes in your water temps more so than ambient temps. Since you are out in the Cali desert you aren't going to have crazy temp swings at night and I don't think your grow temp could ever reach a temp cold enough to really cause any considerable slowing of growth with your girls. But your water can in a hydro set-up, so watch that. Soil has it's own challenges too man, and to get the best out of your plants you need to know what you are doing in any medium. Just keep researching and learning, this first grow is going to teach you a TON!!!

 

[Cort]

http://img842.invalid.com/img842/2433/120009.jpg
Before topping on Jan 19th.

http://img827.invalid.com/img827/6632/21006.jpg
Today 2/1... Day one of flip :party0042:

Last time I try for 12 full sized plants in 16L pots with a 4x4 tent. Not much room here.

Feeding grow/bloom at 50/50, do this till they done with stretch right?

When do I start using hydroplex?

Now that the girls are in the tent and were veging under hps the purple has gone away on new growth and they are sucking up noots. Feeding about 1.5L every other day at 1k ppm. No signs of burn, in fact I toned the feeding down to 600 one day just to give them a break and flush a little extra and they yelled at me. Run off in the 600s. Touching up with 1/3-3/4L of 5.8 RO water on no feed days to keep pot weight up. Lights on 75-78, Lights off 70-73, still a tad dry at 30-40RH

Roots are already popping out the drain holes. Added these big ass 48 inch tomato cages (might cut them down after stretch) and the roots attacked them. When I moved pots to water tonight the cages were surrounded by fat furry roots :D


http://img227.invalid.com/img227/9393/21008.jpg
2 tall ones are left over Blue Dreams, letting them decide who gets to play mommy.
Shorter ones are the Mendo Madness. Most are doing well, 1 or 2 still not back to normal. Just as long as they stay healthy enough to get a few cuts, some to sex some to turn into moms. They dont seem to like being stuck back in the closet, 68-72 for temps and less air flow.

Upper right corner in the jiffy pots are my peppers. Still waiting for my ghost pepper seeds. The adults outside seem to like my runoff from feedings.

:bongsmi: Cheers

 

[Melvan]

They look great, keep up the good work.

I agree, you should reduce the number of plants you're growing. You'll more than make up the weight from the missing plants by increasing weight on those you keep, and as an added bonus you'll save on nutes.

When the roots grow out the bottoms of the pots it's ok to cut them off, they'll just air prune anyway.

My buddy who owns a grow shop does the same thing with his peppers, he makes the best relish! He's running ghost peppers right now, I'm not going anywhere near them, don't like 'em that hot

 

[Cort]

Girls still doing well. Culled down to 9 plants for extra room. Sad that none in my circles want these big girls in 16q pots. Might just practice taking cuts and rooting them for the bros who like them young.

Have to head out of town for a few days for family stuff so I am teaching a family member how to check and correct the ph of some water I will leave for out. I will ph first and it can be corrected if need be.

Going to give a good feeding at the PPMs they are used to (about 1k) seconds before I close and lock the door and hope everything runs well while I am away.

 

[Cort]

Some of the girls out of the tent getting watered and tied up. They seem to like being tied up a little. Nothing too kinky, just gentile restraints.

The girls are starting to get dressed up looking for a date. Those girls are only 7 days in and already showing off some pale white hair.

Whores :D

 

[mittenmedgrow]

Hey Cort your plants look great. It looks to me like its going to be crowded in there. I think its funny melvin tells you to veg longer. Then tells you to grow less plants. My advice is the opposite. Veg less, more plants. Less wasted time. There are so many advatages to small plants over large. If your interested I will give you a better explanation of my opinion.

 

[Cort]

Hey Mitten, Thanks for stopping by.

I hear ya on the less and more... part of that was me. I chose 16q pots so I could have some bigger plants and I vegged too long before topping. I didnt have my tent dialed in yet so I wasnt ready to flip. Thats why everyone says to get your environment down before popping beans or getting clones. Im also doing a bit of LST but I plan on trimming pretty heavy to even it all out.

This first round will be a bit full in the tent, gonna dial it down some after this run. This is practice and learning. If I get a nice sack that would be cool, if that smoke is good even better.

Id be happy to learn a bit of sog or other high number low veg methods however, this run Im just trying to learn as much as I can. Doing some LST, clones, topping FIM and recovering from my mess ups:D I will be doing a SCROG set up some time. If I do shut down for summer, that gives me lots of veg time to tinker with the plants even if they just get tossed after im done playing.

 

[Melvan]

Hey Cort your plants look great. It looks to me like its going to be crowded in there. I think its funny melvin tells you to veg longer. Then tells you to grow less plants. My advice is the opposite. Veg less, more plants. Less wasted time. There are so many advatages to small plants over large. If your interested I will give you a better explanation of my opinion.

When he was advised to let them veg he was recovering from nute burn & hadn't topped yet. If he had made any mention of the fact that he was going to cull some plants I would have recommended the same as you. If he did mention it earlier in the thread I must have missed it, damn pot!