My first grow

[kolah]

Thanks all!

Hers some new pics of my 3 clones:

 

[kolah]

I notice some of the larger leaves are really hogging up light. Should I snip some off or just let them go?

 

[Seamaiden]

I would clean up lower areas of whole branches, but not quite yet. Let them grow a bit. Or, you could tie them down if you have room to let them spread. Otherwise, let them grow into trees and clean up lowers as needed (to allow good air flow, and force the plant to put its energy into growing top buds and not lower larf).

 

[sky high]

I dunno how others do it..but when I clean up the bottom of a plant I take ONLY the growth shoots...leaving all of the fan leaves to help send energy to the tops of the plant.

out there in that greenhouse tho...damn...they'll get some great Sun so trimming could probably be kept to a minimum/lower center and just let em go nutz...

lookin good from here....however ya slice 'er dice it!

s h

 

[mendel]

I would uppot them to bigger pots and use the stretch to fill your space. You can trim up the slag when the plants starts throwing lots of pistils. Then be ruthless, if it doesnt look like it will hold up a bud wack it off. the stretch is your friend, and its starting in 3...2...1...

Root mass doubles in the stretch at beginning of flower. half the plant is above the soil level and half below.

 

[City farmer]

Hey Kolah nice job! There is nothing better than growing off grid in a greenhouse! I would not worry about extra light on the bottom if you get full sun all day they will do just fine, just clean up the bottom fan leaves and shoots a bit but not to much. And If you have a good finished compost you should throw some in a bucket with a little mollases maybe bubble it with a fish tank bubbler during the day when your solar panels can handle the load. Then spray the entire plant with full strength compost tea mix. You can also cut it with half water and feed the plants with it as well. After they start to flower top dress with compost or earthworm castings if you can afford it.

@9300ft you may need some heating later on towards the end of the season to keep your buds from freezing. I used a propane stove on a thermostat and 55 gallon water barrels painted black to hold the solar heat and keep it above freezing. The flowering cycle should start around july 15-25 and go untill late september early october. Hope this helps ya its looking good! Here is my 2010 outdoor off grid crop last year when I was still a caregiver. I pulled them oct 6th but it was a little late I could have pulled them a week sooner but was in amsterdam and couldnt make it back in time.

 

[sky high]

If that pic isn't full-on inspiration I dunno what is!

Awesome looking grow, city farmer.

 

[kolah]

Appreciate all the great advice and hell yeah those are some great monster cola's in your GH from last year, CityFramer.

And yes, a very small efficient propane heater will be a must in my GH when the temps start to drop at night..plus the CO2 will help as well.

I am unsure whether I will transpant them into bigger pots, plant them right into the ground or just leave them. I will wait for the ones I started from seed to show their sex and see how many females I have to play with.

 

[City farmer]

Well last year i just put the clones right into a 20 gal bag of roots organic 707 soil right in the original bag. That worked well but i did have to feed compost tea, kelp, mollases and water every day at peek of flowering to keep those thirsty girls happy and green in those small pots. I think you should keep the floor covered with landscape cloth and use large pots or bags. A 40-60 gallon cloth smart pot per plant is the way to go. More dirt equals more bud less plants and much less watering so you have longer to go fishing in between work:)

The propane heater was well worth the investment and saved my girls the last 3-4 weeks when it was really scary i might lose them at night. But while I was harvesting and sleeping in the greenhouse it got so cold on the last night that a few bowls of trim at the far end of the greenhouse froze pretty good. It was borderline even with the heater and water drums. I think an underground wallapini greenhouse is the way to go up there. You could grow all year and force flower an early crop in the spring to get 2 harvest out of one growing season. I did 2 crops with 2 greenhouses one main crop that vegged all season and one i force flowered around may 15 with black out tarp every day for a july 15th harvest. All with no electricity and your own well water! Most the sativas do amazing at your altitude. Indica may struggle a bit but can do well also.

 

[kolah]

I have plans for a 2nd GH..and yes it will be underground and with a cold sink dug in.

At this stage of the calender is it worth it to transplant these into bigger bags? Won't transplanting them now shock them and stop or slow their growth? Could it set back their energy to flower as well? Whre does one find 40 gallon cloth bags?

What strain did you groe in your picture? It looks like one main cola and what gallon size bags are those?

And yes it is a known fact that plants grown in high altitudes have more "zip" in them. I know this because being a horseman our hay up here is super high in nutrient contents. There could be many factors involved, soil, sunlight 300+ days a year, temps but altitude plays in significantly.

Right now the plants I started from seed are really hard to differentiate their sex. I have looked at many pictures and my plants are at that stage where some "things" are emerging from the shoots but I am unable to tell if they are male or female or hermified. It's driving me crazy. Some look like pistles? (the V's) but there are no fuzzzy hairs emerging from them. Others look like a small new spout and could just be another shoot growing out.

 

[Seamaiden]

I have plans for a 2nd GH..and yes it will be underground and with a cold sink dug in.

At this stage of the calender is it worth it to transplant these into bigger bags? Won't transplanting them now shock them and stop or slow their growth? Could it set back their energy to flower as well? Whre does one find 40 gallon cloth bags?

Unless they've gotten into flowering really hard, it won't hurt and may help them get more veg growth in before they start flowering. You can either get Smart Pots, or landscape cloth (the weed barrier stuff) and some pig wire to make a frame, line the frame with the fabric, add soil, et voila.

And yes it is a known fact that plants grown in high altitudes have more "zip" in them. I know this because being a horseman our hay up here is super high in nutrient contents. There could be many factors involved, soil, sunlight 300+ days a year, temps but altitude plays in significantly.

Fascinating, I never knew that. But what really got my attention was the "horseman" bit, as I used to show horses during my youth. And breeding and training. And pigs. And chickens (didn't train the chickens, trained the pigs). No horses for me anymore, though, not with my back!

Any particular breeds you work with/keep?

Right now the plants I started from seed are really hard to differentiate their sex. I have looked at many pictures and my plants are at that stage where some "things" are emerging from the shoots but I am unable to tell if they are male or female or hermified. It's driving me crazy. Some look like pistles? (the V's) but there are no fuzzzy hairs emerging from them. Others look like a small new spout and could just be another shoot growing out.

Have the leaves begun to alternate their growing pattern up the stalk? At first, when the plant is very young, the leaves emerge directly opposed or opposite each other. As the plant matures, usually about 6-8 nodes worth of growth, the leaves will begin to alternate. It is when the leaves begin to alternate that it's easiest (for me, others insist they can tell earlier and damn if I know how they do it) and time to sex them.

 

[kolah]

Great idea for clothpots, SM. ...but also more money involved for more soil and materials. Hmm. I am a cheapskate.

Yes, high altitude "greens" are higher in good stuff, el facto! I wonder if it holds true for MJ. (it would be a good comparison experiment for a chemistry/horticulturist geek)

Horses? I have 2 Paints, both purchased at 6 months. I checked them out just after birth, (put a hold deposit on them and kept them with mom until 6 months old and then brought them home. I am a half breed Indian and have a thing for spotted and patchy colored horses with strong body-type and intelligence. Paints and Appys are my fav, Arabians my least fav. (too high strung and fast metabolisms). Morgans are pretty cool too.

I will check on the alternating leaves that you mentioned. I have been focusing where the new shoots emerge and right now it's just too damn hard to tell. I'd hate to chop a female and hear her scream. Some have 2 long green thingys sticking out but no fuzzyness. Some look like a new shoots emerging. Some plants look very male by their thickness and size alone but I know that is not reliably indicative. I am learning fast the pros and cons of starting from seed. With clones there is not as much worry about sexing, well maybe some concern for hermies popping boners but thats it. I do notice my seed plants are more vigorous, healthy looking and they are almost catching up to my clones which had a 4 week start on my beanys. Some of the big fan leaves on my seed plants are taking on a deep purple-blackish color...looks cool.

Maybe I will experiment a bit and transplant some into bigger bags and leave others in the small buckets. All my strains are heavy indicas. Hell, who knows, I may end up with a dozen weiner-swinging boys. That's why I will wait to transplant.

 

[kolah]

male or female?

 

[kolah]

male, female, too early to tell? pictures are poor, I know..maybe I''l try taking some through a magnifying glass.

 

[kolah]

M or F? Look at the thickness of the stem on that Pakistani/G-13

 

[Seamaiden]

Hi Kolah. Yes, colored horses are beautiful to look at. My own thing was always the mind of the animal itself. Many lines of Arabs can indeed be incredibly high-strung (I happen to love that fire and am... well, was able to control it very well), but there are certain Polish lines (Nabor especially) that are known for their calmness, attraction to humans and for having God damned IRON SIDES. When you're used to a rather sensitive animal, it's not much fun having to bang on another one just to get it to feel your heels. My first Arab was a Nabor gelding named, incredibly appropriately, Barney. And he was a real Barney! In any event, there are few breeds as intelligent or attuned to humans as Arabians, but IMO Appies come rather close, much closer than any Quarter Horse might hope (again, JMO). My horses were very much like dogs, except for the stallion, he was just a sourpuss all the way around, but that's another story.

So, I can't tell at all from your pix how those GIRLS (from our minds to their organs) are going to ultimately sex out. But I can try to help you by describing what the males tend to look like, to me, when their flowers begin to emerge. If you put your fingers together, pushed out, making your fist/hand a bit of a teardrop shape, that's sort of what they look like except they're more clawed-looking. Girls just look hairy.

I see one plant that's begun to alternate growth, so within a few days to a week of that you should be able to tell, either something spherical or like a tiny clawed hand is emerging, or it's lookin' a little hairy.

May they be girls!

 

[City farmer]

hey kolah cant tell from the pics yet......But at this time they should be showing some signs. If there is lots of action going on near the 3rd and 4th nodes but no white hair probably a male. The females will start with a little green spike followed by a white hair....The males will start with the same looking spike followed by a small ball on the end of the spike and no white hair. Usually the females will show first in my experience. Hermies can be a little of both Hope this helps! And yes the high altitude buds are very potent and will really turn colors later in flowering. Looking good!

 

[kolah]

Thanks for all the help.

I have 5 IFO's (Identififed Female Objects!). I moved them over to the female side of my GH and am keeping a steady watch on the others. I am betting they are males.

Finding hermaphodites must be a huge bummer. I have seen a few pictures of what they look like, (ie fuzzy pistils and ball sacs) but is there a sepcific time period in which they show up or can it be anytime. My reason for asking is that I'd like to keep a steady look out for them so they do not spermiate my ladies. Is this a big concern?

I will dislike killing the males. I am thinking about planting them off far away(guerilla style) and sacrifice a female to be planted by them and just let them go off on their own.

My clones are looking good, getting lots of hairs and branching out everywhere. My new females are looking super healthy as well and catching up to the clones. I have used no liquid nutes. I just planted all of them (clones and seeds) in Happy Frog soil and water with my well water. I want to stay organic and avoid all synthetic chemicals.

What would be a good organic flowering additive should I need it?

I'll post some pics tonight.

 

[chickenman]

I like age old organics... I probaly dont feed as much as others depending on strain, maybe every 3 to 4 waterings will use...Also investing in a ph pen to test water ph is huge imo, I like around 6.5 to 7...

 

[kolah]

I bought a simple pH tester kit, just pop some of the drops in a mearured vial of water being tested and compare it to a colored coded chart. My well is consistantly 6.5. The pH kit I bought from a grow supplier was 15 bucks. I'd bet if I'd shopped around I could have got it cheaper.

For my first grow I am quite happy (so far) with Happy Frog soil. I think for my next grow I will advance to Promix. ...and next year I will start them much much earlier. Since the CO law allows us 6 plants, 3 budding and 3 veg I want to grow the biggest plants possible. What a sillyass law. I can grow 3 monsterous plants into bud which will easily produce more than 2 ounces of good pot, yet the law says I can only possess 2 ounces. WTF? and then you have the prob of planting seeds which is a crapshoot for producing females so you need to plant more than 6 to get 6 females. I'd really like to take some activism and try to change these laws as they are not very practical or fair to growers. And the entire "usable" marijuana wording in the CO law is wide open to interpetation. This IMO was done to keep lawyers in business. The law needs to be cut and dry (a lil' pun) and it should be worded in black and white so there is no room for legality bickering. Hickenlooper is a nazi POS. We need some serious changes at the state level and county levels and IMO we need to shut off any feds involvement on the sovereign states, COMPLETELY.

On another note, the nights are getting cool up here in the High Country...47-50 degrees at night. I am shopping for a small propane heater with a t-stat. I believe the cold nights are making many of my plant leaves a cool deep purple color around the edges. It could be a bit of genetics too.