First time grower, have some questions

[elusiveshame]

Morning pic:

They’re continuing to climb up. The canopy isn’t as even as I would have liked, but I don’t think it’s so bad for a first timer.

I’ll likely do one last defoliation in about 2 weeks as that’ll be the 20-21 day mark, then I’ll just let it ride.

 

[elusiveshame]

Today’s pics:

Since I can’t really lift the pots too much to tell if they need water, I’ve been using a soil tester. The plant on the bottom needs a feeding (shows dry as deep as it goes), and the top plant is dry about 3” down, but then reads “normal”. I’m going to wait a few more hours and test again, then I’ll do a feeding on both, and just use less on the top plant.

Beyond that, they’re looking and smelling just fine

 

[PipeCarver]

Today’s pics:
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Since I can’t really lift the pots too much to tell if they need water, I’ve been using a soil tester. The plant on the bottom needs a feeding (shows dry as deep as it goes), and the top plant is dry about 3” down, but then reads “normal”. I’m going to wait a few more hours and test again, then I’ll do a feeding on both, and just use less on the top plant.

Beyond that, they’re looking and smelling just fine

I want to call BS....with a smiley face...lol don't tell me you can't really lift the pots.....yes you can...unless of course I missed something and you're disabled is so I apologize. What I'm getting at is you just need to lift enough to see if its light or heavy, I can one handed reach in and lift 3 - 5 gallon pots .....not off the ground but enough to feel the weight, if its light of water I can almost lift them straight up, if not they don't need it yet.....Even in a scrog it just has to be lifted an inch to know if its light or not.....

If in doubt look at your records and see when you last fed / watered...if they get it every 3 - 4 days and you're on one of those days then giver what she needs and take note.

1/2 feeds are not a great idea, feed them both at the same time but saturate the soil on both then let dry get the food to all of the roots not just on top, top wet bottom dry???

 

[elusiveshame]

I want to call BS....with a smiley face...lol don't tell me you can't really lift the pots.....yes you can...unless of course I missed something and you're disabled is so I apologize. What I'm getting at is you just need to lift enough to see if its light or heavy, I can one handed reach in and lift 3 - 5 gallon pots .....not off the ground but enough to feel the weight, if its light of water I can almost lift them straight up, if not they don't need it yet.....Even in a scrog it just has to be lifted an inch to know if its light or not.....

If in doubt look at your records and see when you last fed / watered...if they get it every 3 - 4 days and you're on one of those days then giver what she needs and take note.

1/2 feeds are not a great idea, feed them both at the same time but saturate the soil on both then let dry get the food to all of the roots not just on top, top wet bottom dry???

I mean I can physically lift them, but I don’t want to cause any issues with the nets :p if it won’t do any harm, I’ll keep doing that as well.

And it’s been typically every 3 days that I feed them, so I’m right in that schedule. What I meant by “partial” was to saturate the soil fully but just anticipate using less water since there appears to be a little moisture towards the bottom.

I’ll do a lift test and reassess :)

 

[omega_mu]

Anyone having doubts on lights and where they should be height wise and dimmer wise. I see alot of threads on lights and is it too mych ir too little. Spend the 30 to 40 bucks for a uni-t Bluetooth lux meter and get the free ppfd app. Migro shows you real data on YouTube. No need to have to guess or have doubt. One of the cheapest thing you can do and get real benefit.

 

[elusiveshame]

Decided to wait until this morning to feed the girls. I probably could have done it yesterday, but by the time I was able to, it was 5 mins before lights out. And both pots had a little bit of weight to them, so I don’t think it was a big deal.

Here’s after the feeding:

I have to go in and tuck some leaves and such, but they’re growing nicely it seems :)

 

[elusiveshame]

More or less the usual things - inspected leaves, tucked some, etc.

Pic:

Getting ready to bust on through the 2nd net.

 

[elusiveshame]

This mornings progress pic:

They’ve breached the 2nd net

I’ve picked the 2 branches that I’m going to pollinate after next weekend (2 of the smaller flower sites that aren’t getting a whole lot of light, but are still growing). When I do it, I’m going to just shut the tent down during daytime for a few minutes to apply the pollen then cover the sites with a paper lunch bag for a day. Once they’re covered, I’ll turn everything back on. This will help prevent the spread of the pollen. I’ll also do a light mist of water on the rest of the canopy just in case.

 

[elusiveshame]

If anyone has been wondering about the male plant, wonder no more :)

He’s doing well outside in the greenhouse (and outside on the deck on these unseasonably warm and sunny days):

I decided today to try some of those Kyle Kushman super crop techniques (the chiropractic massage + the 90 degree bend).

I did the “chiropractic crunch” on one stalk, and did the 90 degree bend on another.

I think I did it right, but if I didn’t, it’s the male plant so I don’t mind losing a few branches (or the whole plant).

Heres the result of it:

I’ll report back on how it looks over the next few days.

 

[elusiveshame]

Today’s pics (after feeding):

Next Monday/Tuesday will be day 21 of flower, so I think I’m going to trim all of the growth under the first net, and some of the upper fan leaves that are blocking light to some of the lower flowers. I’d do it now, but I’m somewhat concerned about stressing them to hermie at this point.

Thoughts on trimming at this point?

 

[elusiveshame]

For the male plant - both the super crop branch and chiropractic’d branch seem to be healing just fine, but might be somewhat slower than normal due to it being kind of cold out now (dropped to the mid 40’s today). Both flowers look good, and the 90 degree bend is still there, with the flower angling upward again. The slow healing could also be due to it being in flower and not veg as well.

I think I have enough confidence to try it on my next grow, at least a little bit anyway.

It’s amazing how much more growth the male plant has compared to the females, even with it being cold out. The sun makes so much more of a difference, even at the end of the year.

 

[elusiveshame]

Today’s pic:

Just doing some adjusting of leaves and tops as they keep climbing through the 2nd net.

 

[elusiveshame]

Just pollinated 2 flowers (one on each plant).

I used a qtip to apply the pollen and then covered them up. One with a sandwich bag that I cut the corners off of, and one with an old rx paper bag, also with the corners cut off.

I turned off the fans on the inside of the tent (exhaust is still going). I’ll turn them back on this evening, and in the morning, I’ll turn the fans off again, remove the bags, and spray the pollinated sites before turning the fans back on again.

I put the pollen on the 2 lowest tops, so I hope that reduces any risk of potential airborne pollen.

 

[elusiveshame]

Today’s pic:

I turned the fans off, removed the bags over the flowers with pollen, and gave everything a light spray.

I didn’t see any of the pistols change to amber/brown, so idk if the pollination took.

Since the temps are dropping into the 20F’s now, the male plant is hurting in the greenhouse and likely won’t make it to collect any pollen. Not the end of the world, though, and let’s me know that all outdoor grows in the greenhouse should be done by the first week of November.

Aside from all of that, all im doing is adjusting the tops as they grow through the netting this week. This weekend / next Monday I’ll do a final defoliation and just keep up on the feedings.

 

[elusiveshame]

So I was just inspecting the pollinated flowers, and I did see some ends of the pistols turn and start to die off. I think pollination has been a success!

I also just adjusted some of the tops in the 2nd netting, and let me just say, that 2nd net is really helping to train/support/tuck leaves out of the way.

Also, I’m starting to wonder if the bottom plant in the pic is a sativa/indica hybrid. The leaves seem a decent amount thinner than the top plant, but doesn’t seem nearly as thin for a sativa dominant. Any idea?

 

[Buzzy12]

Almost every strain available is a hybrid at this point unless you're growing a landrace strain. It's hard to say a strain is a 60/40 vs 80/20, etc... There's definitely Sativa genetics in there with how narrow those leaves are. Bud structure is another indicator of Indica vs Sativa genetics. Indica strains tend to be denser, more compact and Sativa strains tend to be fluffier, more elongated. Phenotypes are another factor to consider. Some seeds of the same strain can exhibit more traits for one vs the other. Without having at least some sense of what you're growing it's hard to say.

 

[elusiveshame]

This mornings pic:

Quite a few tops are now through the second netting, and aside from some leaf tucking and top training where applicable, nothing else has changed.

The lights have been on 100% for the last week and I’m not seeing any light stress. The lights are also pretty high up, maybe another inch or so from being maxed out. There’s still a 22-26” distance from the canopy to the light, so I think that’s all good and doesn’t need any further adjustment.

The lower plant felt light, so I used my soil tester and was “dry+” throughout in the few test spots I put it in. The top plant still has some weight and is reading “normal” once the probe goes halfway down.

I fed the bottom plant just a few minutes ago - about a gallon, and I have another gallon ready to go for the top plant. I’ll test it again throughout the day, and if I have to wait until tomorrow, no biggie.

I did change around my humidity sensor and humidity settings a smidge. The outlet that’s controlled by the humidity sensor is now about halfway up the tent, and kicks on between 45% and 51%. I had it at 48% to 55%, but with the colder temps coming in, and having to have my pellet stove going, the humidity in the basement drops to less than 30%.

I was able to raise it to 34% before I went to bed using a few damp towels in front of the stoves blower and another small humidifier halfway across the basement.

The reason I adjusted the sensor and settings is so that I wouldn’t run out of water in my tent humidifier while I’m sleeping as it was just constantly running trying to reach 55% that it likely won’t hit during the winter.

That’s all for now :)

 

[Shaded_One]

This mornings pic:
View attachment 1303287

Quite a few tops are now through the second netting, and aside from some leaf tucking and top training where applicable, nothing else has changed.

The lights have been on 100% for the last week and I’m not seeing any light stress. The lights are also pretty high up, maybe another inch or so from being maxed out. There’s still a 22-26” distance from the canopy to the light, so I think that’s all good and doesn’t need any further adjustment.

The lower plant felt light, so I used my soil tester and was “dry+” throughout in the few test spots I put it in. The top plant still has some weight and is reading “normal” once the probe goes halfway down.

I fed the bottom plant just a few minutes ago - about a gallon, and I have another gallon ready to go for the top plant. I’ll test it again throughout the day, and if I have to wait until tomorrow, no biggie.

I did change around my humidity sensor and humidity settings a smidge. The outlet that’s controlled by the humidity sensor is now about halfway up the tent, and kicks on between 45% and 51%. I had it at 48% to 55%, but with the colder temps coming in, and having to have my pellet stove going, the humidity in the basement drops to less than 30%.

I was able to raise it to 34% before I went to bed using a few damp towels in front of the stoves blower and another small humidifier halfway across the basement.

The reason I adjusted the sensor and settings is so that I wouldn’t run out of water in my tent humidifier while I’m sleeping as it was just constantly running trying to reach 55% that it likely won’t hit during the winter.

That’s all for now :)

Healthy looking plants, keep it up!

 

[elusiveshame]

Almost every strain available is a hybrid at this point unless you're growing a landrace strain. It's hard to say a strain is a 60/40 vs 80/20, etc... There's definitely Sativa genetics in there with how narrow those leaves are. Bud structure is another indicator of Indica vs Sativa genetics. Indica strains tend to be denser, more compact and Sativa strains tend to be fluffier, more elongated. Phenotypes are another factor to consider. Some seeds of the same strain can exhibit more traits for one vs the other. Without having at least some sense of what you're growing it's hard to say.

Oh for sure. I know I'll never know what % of indica vs sativa there is, but I was pleasantly surprised to see narrower leaves. And yeah, I have no idea what strains or genetics these seeds came from since it was bag seed that my dealer gave me. I didn't know that about the bud structure!

Healthy looking plants, keep it up!

Thanks! I'm surprised how well they're doing considering this is my first time :)

 

[Shaded_One]

Oh for sure. I know I'll never know what % of indica vs sativa there is, but I was pleasantly surprised to see narrower leaves. And yeah, I have no idea what strains or genetics these seeds came from since it was bag seed that my dealer gave me. I didn't know that about the bud structure!



Thanks! I'm surprised how well they're doing considering this is my first time :)

Got yourself a green thumb for sure, many growers don't have plants like this after years of practice. If you can make it to week 5 of flower with lush green vegetation you'll be smooth sailing to the end