So I was @ the local gardenin center pickin up some trimmers for the impending chop. BTW, I have to chop on a weekend, no way I'll have time during the week. SO I'm thinkin either next weekend, or the weekend after, prob the latter (3-27).
Prob. gonna do 3-4 days of flush just to be safe.
Here's where I effed up. I was @ shop speakin w/ some other patrons bout the 600 i just got in efforts to get better canopy penetration (per your advice). And I had x2 separate dudes (not together so independent sources), both say that pruning is key & essentially its best not to have a canopy.
Now, of course I decide that after your input I'm cool with not makin a single snip before chop day.
first what were you talking to them about growing?? that can make a big difference in the response...
here is why you want a canopy.. if your canopy is even, or close to even, then light is hitting everything equally... when your canopy is uneven some flowers are recieving more light than others... plus taller flowers can shade out lower flowers... this isnt as big of a deal if you have plenty of lighting.. like a couple bulbs in a room.. basically so the bulbs are covering a smaller area.. but if you only have 1 bulb, smaller bulbs, ect trying to keep an even canopy is pretty essential.. also, if you have multiple lights its still a good idea... otherwise you could have lights at different heights... which can cause a drop in efficieincy for your fans, or branches from taller plants could grow into lower hanging lights...
Then I get all nice & lit up late Friday night, and convinced myself (prob. wasn't really that well thought out, just a nice boner split second call ya make when ur sportin a good 'ol ripper). to start some slective pruning. Lookin for the lasrgest leaves that if removed, would allow space for light to penetrate to smaller bud sites @ bottom of plants needed some photo love.
No biggie, things obviously didn't crumble right that second.
But tonight, I gotta bunch of droopy ass plants (not too bad, but def. not nearly as lush & leaves are not nearly as erect, etc.)
DId I totally fuk the dog here, of you think I be alright, specially this close to the goal line.
My hypothesis is that perhaps the leaves are not there to evenly diperse all feedings, so whats left its get saturated, causing the wilting???? Total shot in the dark. But should I reduce feeding?
They are @ the point where they have drippers goin bout 50% of time (30 mins an hour). Love to know your thoughts on if I should reduce that back down to 15 or 20 mins per hour..
I'll put some pics up tonight or tomorro.
If you can let me know a worst case scenario that'd be great.
i know you said the feeding wasnt happening.. which is a big part of it.. but remember it in terms of this... those large fan leaves are collecting 90% of the light and turning it into energy for the plant... the flowers themselves dont abosob much light... removing a few is one thing... like 1 of every 4 or 5... but stripping them down is going to affect final yields..
also thats where the plant transpires a lot of water through... so it may affect how much water the plant drinks since it wont be expelling as much now.. so you may need to cut back on watering..
Also, I have noticed that some of the larger colas are lookin way closer to being finished as opposed to the guys lower down obviously.
Is this gonna be a situation where I should start choppin the largest @ the top & let the smaller ones down low roll for a few more days??
I'm sure pics will be what ya need for an accurate prognosis. I'll get em up as soon as I can.
the flowers closer to the light always finish before lower flowers (again another reason for an even canopy!!).. you can harvest the top flowers and then move down the plant if you want.. or you can harvest the lower ones at the same time.. either way is your call.. they lower ones are probably around 80% ready when the tops are fully ready... so you still make out well..
Thanks as always my man, shoulda left em alone.
ehh.. it happens...
BTW, photo cubes are lookin very nice. Especially those moved to the hydrofarm. Currently have a timer on them lettin loose the drip ring for 20 mins / per hour. Those girls are ragin, super lush. Gonna get H20 farm under the 600 watt halide bulb til autos finish (unless you suggest otherwise). I'm quite sure I can cool it sufficiently. And I just wanna get those girls as massive as possible before switchin to hps bulb & flippin to 12/12.
super crop them
Ok and finally some guidlelines for switchin photo girls.
Right now ALL (both in cubes in drip tray, as well as hydrofarm) have been on 24/0.
Could you please advise how to switch over properly to 12/12.
We discussed briefly before a few weeks back.
you can start cutting back the hours over a week to get them ready if you want... or you can go right into a 12/12 light cycle.. either way is fine... cutting them from 24/0 to 12/12 may shock them a little.. but if they are healthy it shouldnt/wont make any difference... i used to give them 24 to 36 hours of dark before going into 12/12... i dont anymore tho... i have found that with a good amount of veg time it didnt really help start flowering any faster.. maybe in younger slightly less mature plants it does...
So, H20 farm will be under halide on 24/0 till autos are done. And cubes will continue @ 24/0 till they done as well (you know they goin in v-drip deal).
So, when the time comes, autos are all finished, etc. I will load up cubes into v-drip. And keep all (v-drip & waterfarm) on 24/0 lights to get them acclimated to HID's, (right?).
Then after perhaps a week I should make the switch to 12/12? And during these week should I start introducing bloom nutes before the photo switch? Or NO bloom nutes til they are on 12/12.
Since they been on 24/0, do I just pick which time period for 12/12 I want them on. Or is there are schedule that would be more beneficial to them (i.e. they like straight up 8am to 8pm).
And finally, when they are in 12/12 bloom cycle, how un-interupted do they need to be? I think I also remember reading that if you get a cheap green light bulb that you can work on plants (check res. ph, etc.) during their sleepy time.
yeah, let them acclimate to the light for a week or so.. you can start introducing a small amount (1/4 strenght) of bloom nutes... both the awesome blossom and bloom is good... when you flip to 12/12 try to set the "day" hours to a good time for you... so you can work on shit at your convienence... if you find your room gets too warm you may choose to set the dark hours to during the day and have lights on at night.. when its all around cooler... i have heard the same thing about green bulbs.. i assume its true.. but again, i just have my hours set to when its easy for me to work..
Sorry for the barrage my man, but guess you are gettin used to it.
I can't say how invaluable of a resource you truly are bro.
Thanks a ton!
I use a cheap 10 dollar Rapitest mini pH tester probe for soil and a cheap little bottle of General Hydroponics colored scale drop test thingy for fluids.
