First grow room - let the wild rumpus begin!

[shawnskush]

Day 6 of Bloom

Didn't get Serenade, didn't see it. Ended up with Nuke Em and Azimax. I'll get Serenade when I shop next. Hit 'em with the Nuke Em first and tomorrow night I'll use Azimax.

Busy Day. After working on putting the electrical in someone else room the better part of the day I got home to work on mine. Before that though, Friday night I was tying up some branches and one branch on the big Cnx broke - Ugh! It was about 1/3 of the plant. There was still a bit holding it to the main stem. I wired it back up and took some pictures, you could almost not see the crack afterward. The whole branch still looks good and I sure hope it stays that way. I didn't believe it would work....

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Here are the plants as of an hour ago -

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Maybe I should have switched to Bloom a little earlier ;-} The Blue City are still short, but reaching a bit more and getting real bushy. The Cnx would look good as a hedge...

Here are some shots of the stems on a couple of Blue City. Good and strong.

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I've also noticed the tops are growing much more dense. Does this mean they are forming buds already or just building up for a final growth spurt? As I understand it they usually grow for a week or two more before bud start to form but this growth is different than prior growth.

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someday I'll remember what setting on the camera makes the color right...

Since this is my first grow I put the thread here in Grow Diaries, but i've woven in the process of building my room so sometimes I think I should have separated the thread into two parts and put the room stuff in Room Design. Too late... ;-}

I added two things to the room this afternoon. The much needed Dehuie -

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All ready had a drain line installed so I just plumbed it into that line. I will have to rework the pvc in the future I think, put a bend on it to raise the hose connection up so when I change hoses it doesn't leak. I plugged the unit into a timer and set it to run only during the plants night otherwise it would run constantly while the exhaust fan draws in fresh air with the lights generating heat.

I also plumbed the reserve reservoir, which is kind of a double name... My wife and I are heading for the East Coast for a friends wedding, to see the folks, the cousins and a Red Sox's game. The cousins have tickets to the game so we get to go ;-} I'm going to have someone check in on the room but they won't know much about running it. Worst case the person checking will have a number for an expert to call, or they could call me. I believe 110 gallons will keep it going for 9 days. I have tracked how the ppm goes up as water goes down and think I can come close enough on a second weaker mix to add to the main res and have the nutrients close. Will air on the light side so they don't get burned. I installed a float valve on a piece of pvc and mounted it down in the main res at about 20 gallons. I hope this allows the solution to start to go up in ppm as the water is used, then it will start to receive the lighter mix from the second res and balance out. I don't have time to test it so I'll cross my fingers....

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At least I filled it with water in the drive way and let it sit all night to test for leakage. After installing it I filled it and will let it sit for a couple of days to see if the float valve holds. I put a second charcoal filter up top so all I have to do is open the valve and keep my eye on it when filling, no moving filters.

All right - thanks for listening. If anybody see's something that that you think would cause a hazzard for the plants or have has a better way to do this please let me know!

id be way too worried to leave my ladies for 9 day LOL!

 

[One Flip]

id be way too worried to leave my ladies for 9 day LOL!

I would worry about 9 more days of stretch..your going to come back and be like.. Dude.. I can't get into my room anymore.. It's like one big plant in there!!

 

[Swany]

I would worry about 9 more days of stretch..your going to come back and be like.. Dude.. I can't get into my room anymore.. It's like one big plant in there!!

Of all the problems I could think of, that would probably be the one I choose ;-}

id be way too worried to leave my ladies for 9 day LOL!

Yea - not the ideal thing to do. What would be worse? - Telling my wife I'm not going to visit the family with her ;-}

 

[Swany]

Day 9 of Bloom

I've not had much experience being a parent. I guess I was too lenient with the kids 'cause they are just all over the place ;-}

I'm kinda proud, and at the same time I think this might be a bit of a problem! Tomorrow I leave for 10 days and I'm hoping I can get in the room when I get back. A friend is going to look in on them every other day or so. She owns the second script on my wall so I know she'll do the best she can. However, it's all ready a bit overwhelming to me and I at least know the room. She had some experience growing years ago but....

Definitely a Wild Rumpus in there ;-}

some close ups of some of the tops. First couple are Cnx, next are Blue City Diesel. Last is a shot of the big Cnx

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[Swany]

Day 13 of bloom -

this picture was taken yesterday by my friend who is watching the room -



I'm not on my computer at home and can't rotate the photo on this one, growl. Talk about nerve wracking - my very competent yet complete neophyte to hydro friend is mixing nutes to add to the system. I know she'll do it right and I still fret a little. Part of the reason I'm concerned is I pick the week i'm away from home to start wondering if I should have started running Drip Clean or changing out the solution. I haven't done either. The ppm climbs about 100 - 150 between each add of water and fresh nutes. This time it climbed a little more than 200. I had her add 30 gallons and only mix in 20 gl's worth of nutes, with an extra 50ml of Bloom just to be sure. This should bring the whole systems ppm down to around 1100 to 1150. She'll go back and test again tomorrow.

 

[Swany]

Day 18 of bloom -

Still on the East Coast and my good friend and co-investor in this project is doing more work than she bargained for. Tonight she found that the reserve reservoir had stopped draining into the main res and left the main res <almost> dry. Had her pull the hose off the bottom of the back up res to just let it all drain. Don't know why the top wasn't draining but I hope to find out when I get home.

Second - she found the clones starting to droop, the pump had become completely clogged with....?

It's all working again now, I sure hope the clones survive.

A few pictures of the plants, first one is a shot across the Blue Cities from 3 days ago, and the second one is from the big Cnx from two days ago.

I can't wait to get home! Oops - don't tell my Wife I said that...

 

[theivory]

Just read through the post swany that room is amazin. Hope those babys perk back up for ya.

 

[Swany]

Just read through the post swany that room is amazin. Hope those babys perk back up for ya.

Thanks Theivory - me too! My friend said she was going to be there about now to check but I have not heard the update. If I lost them it would hurt but I have a few of each strain in pots at a friends and I believe they are still in veg. Those plants were the ones I did not choose for the grow however...

 

[Swany]

Whew - all the clones are doing well. I'll be home tomorrow will get some pictures up. Just another grow for y'all but I'm stoked! I know now to let the Blue City get a bit taller before training, and to tie the Cnx down right away. But to have the room wall to wall in baby buds is soooo cool ;-}

I also ordered some T5 UVB bulbs and I'm going to set them up on four of the plants to see how I can effect THC production. Won't be in for a few days but I'll post pics of the fixtures i'll build in the mean time.

 

[theivory]

Glad to hear the little ones are doing good

 

[Swany]

Day... ugh, forgot to look. It's the 3rd day into the 4th week of flower - too lazy to do math ;-}

I got home from the East Coast mid afternoon on Monday, worked on the room 'till about 9:30 pm, eat and went to bed. Tuesday I worked in there from 8 am to about 3:30 in the afternoon. Root aphids got in somehow. My partner (other prescription on the wall) sprayed with SNS 203 while I was gone, and used H2O2 in the solution. When I went in after getting home to check out the situation I found the lights on - it was suppose to be dark. My grow partner, let's call her Spin, said the lights were on the right schedule the day before when she added one hour of darkness to allow the 203 to dry before lights. So I turned off the lights and kept them off for a bit more than 24 hours to be sure to re-affirm the plants in flower. Next I added Merit in the recommended dose to the solution and let it run till morning. In the morning I opened every tub and in about 5 of them I found aphids. I wiped down the inside of the tubs, undersides of the lids and sides of the baskets to be sure all the nasties were in the solution, then went in and had breakfast. Next I drained as much of the solution as I could, which ends up being about 2/3rd's. Next I filled and drained about 200 gallons of fresh water (well water filtered through carbon) to clear out what I could, then mixed all new Week 4 of Pure Blends advanced formula. In and around all the draining and filling I tried to crawl under the plants and get in to clear the underbrush. Doesn't seem like much but it sure took awhile.

This morning I put up one rod to start tying up buds. I did not prepare well for this and while I was gone the tops on the Cnx got heavy. The Blue City Diesels are all so dense that some buds are covered. Right now I have to go run a new timing circuit for a friend, but this afternoon I'm going to try and trim out enough fan leaves to allow light to potential good buds, while not removing to much of the plants sugar factories.

I have learned that one must stay on top of trimming! Also I get now why people put big tomato cages over little plants - it's good to be prepared ;-}

Here's one of the bigger Cnx buds

And a BCD bud - one of these got burnt when it grew too close to the lights. Would have been the biggest one too :-/

 

[Organicyumyum]

hey man, everyone does their own thing, but I wouldn't be using merit in flower...definitely not in week 4. it's highly toxic. I honestly wouldn't use it at all (Im an organic grower), but smoking buds used with Merit in flower is definitely not a healthy thing to be doing.

and please be careful when using that stuff. you aren't supposed to touch it at all so use a respirator and rubber gloves when using it. but like I said, I wouldn't recommend using it as it is only supposed to be used on ornamentals. It takes a long time for it to flush out of the plant, much longer than the time for veg and flower. There are threads here on the farm where people have sprayed plants with all different chemicals in veg, run them through flower, and merit was still in the plants at the end of it all (all buds were lab tested). Trust me, there is always an organic solution, and sometimes you just have to tear down the room and clean it out with bleach and start fresh. Anytime I am that far into flower I find an organic solution that will at least hold the problem back until the end of the cycle. Then I make sure to go in and thoroughly clean everything and start with new clones (starting from seed is the best way to never get bugs).

 

[shawnskush]

I second what OYY said... merit during flower=bad juju

 

[Swany]

but I wouldn't be using merit in flower...

I second what OYY said... merit during flower=bad juju

Yipe - thanks guys. Shit... I read an article written by Ed R. on Cannabis Culture about treating aphids. Though it mentioned Merit. I just went back an re-read it and no, it talks about pyrethrum and Botanigard. I got articles confused. Now the big question I suppose is can I get it out of my plants? I never ran lights while Merit was in the solution, could that have limited the uptake by the plants? And I thought things were going so well... I have buds forming almost as long as my fore arm - growl. I did read directions and use PPE - gloves and what not. I guess that should have tipped me off but I was tired.

Any thoughts on a Supper Flush?

 

[Organicyumyum]

Yipe - thanks guys. Shit... I read an article written by Ed R. on Cannabis Culture about treating aphids. Though it mentioned Merit. I just went back an re-read it and no, it talks about pyrethrum and Botanigard. I got articles confused. Now the big question I suppose is can I get it out of my plants? I never ran lights while Merit was in the solution, could that have limited the uptake by the plants? And I thought things were going so well... I have buds forming almost as long as my fore arm - growl. I did read directions and use PPE - gloves and what not. I guess that should have tipped me off but I was tired.

Any thoughts on a Supper Flush?

no way to super flush that out (stays in the plant for a really long time)........to be honest with you, and I hate to do it cause you are so far along, but I wanna warn you about the potential health consequences of that stuff. It may be a better idea to turn that run into edibles. Smoking it Im sure is far worse than ingesting the plant. Ive been doing this 13+ years and have made plenty of mistakes, but at least now ya know for next time. You could always smoke it anyway, Im sure half the bud in dispensaries is full of merit which is why i will only smoke my own herb. If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask. But just know that there is an organic solution to every problem in your garden, at least one that will hold off the problem until the end of your run.

 

[motiv303]

Ouch, i have to agree with Organicyumyum too, merit used at this point was a mistake, leave it at that. Sucks because looks to be some great flowers in there, but turning it into edibles is probably the best course of action to still get a decent & a safe(er) end product. Ive got plenty of experience using the Gnarly chems to erradicate pests, but the golden rule for me is they Have to stop Long before flower. Usually just treat clones and early veg with them. Once In flower if an issue is discovered (as oyy said), an organic solution to at least finish the run is best. Best of luck Swany!

Btw, i kinda speed read through this but, any idea what clogged that pump? Looked like spray foam (kidding of course, but it did). Anyway. Cheers! Motiv

 

[Swany]

Btw, i kinda speed read through this but, any idea what clogged that pump? Looked like spray foam (kidding of course, but it did). Anyway. Cheers! Motiv

Hey Motiv - I think it was related to the root aphids, or what ever bugs they were. I found a glob of the same looking stuff on the root balls of half my clones! Talk about freak out... I took the clones and cleaned the crap off with with a spray bottle and a tooth brush. Thought for sure I would kill them but I figured they were dead if I didn't get the gunk off. It's been a few days and it looks like they are going to survive.

I thought I was careful with this whole thing but those little f€#*ers got in anyway. I will be doing •all• the proper organic premtive stuff on the next run!

 

[Swany]

Day 26 of Bloom -

Definitely learning lessons on this first grow... With a month to go and then two weeks away from home shortly after that I'm going to run these to the end and see what happens. I'll figure out what to do with the harvest then.

Spin and I did manage to get rid of the bugs.... Plants are looking good. I have a couple T5HO lizard lights coming to try out UVB on 4 of the plants for the last month. I'll detail that in Grow Room Setup. I also have a thread started in LED Lights for the new Apache T8LED's I got. Will have those on some new Moms shortly. With the 4th of July long weekend we've had a number of people over and I've not had much time to work on the room - grrrrr.

Here are the plants -


A shot of one BCD bud



A shot of the four Cnx plants



and some Cnx bud shots

 

[mr_rodzilla]

looking really good bro! o_O

 

[Swany]

looking really good bro! o_O

Thanks ;-}

Funny coincidence Rodzilla, I just installed a fixture to test Lizard Lights (T5HO UVB bulbs) on a quarter of my plants. I don't have the bulbs yet but they should be here this week. I'll put something up in the Grow Room forum to talk more about them.