1st time grow...just looking for pointers!

I'm back, have been busy lately so haven't really been on here that much. So, it did turn out that one of my 2 that I began flowering did in fact turn out to be male. I noticed this about 5-6 days into the switch. Bummer, I know, but trying to stay positive with my one female and my 2 other "non-sexed" which are still vegging. The male I took out of my closet the day I noticed it was growing seed pods, and it is now resting quite well in the back yard.

Update. The one lady is almost 4 weeks into flowering and showing good signs. No "real" discoloration across the entire plant, so far, no negative signs of any sort. I am feeding a bloom nutrient that is 15-30-15 and seems to be providing the nutrients that she needs. She stands about 27" tall (from the soil surface). She has bushed out like crazy and the bud formation is coming along nicely. In the next few weeks I'll be picking up a jeweler's loupe to begin watching the trichomes. I figure since I'm only 4 weeks in, I probably have a bare minimum of another 4 weeks before she could be close to thinking about harvesting.

Of my 2 plants still vegging, one I have been LST'ing around the perimeter of the pot and it is bushy as can be and all the typical "branches" are growing straight up. (just something I wanted to try). I am getting ready to transplant that one in the next week or so.

The runt of the litter (literally stayed under 2" tall for 3 weeks) has started to grow finally and I will be transplanting it out of it's solo cup in the next few days.

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1st pic is looking straight down on my flowering female.
2nd pic is a side view showing how healthy she seems to be doing.
3rd pic is a look at the top. (my lighting sux....it's actually a beautiful green color as shown in the other 2 pics)


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pics 4 & 5 is showing the vegging plant that I'm LST'ing. The main stem if stretched out straight is about 10-12".

...couple more pics I snapped if anyone is interested......IMG_0219.jpgIMG_0222.jpg....just my setup.

As always, if anyone has any thoughts, criticism, advice, I am always wide open for it.

I'll try to be back on here more frequently.

catch you all soon!

-Smooth
 
Thanks for the support SB!

Update.

I think the male I yanked from the closet and put outside may be hermie. The flowers with "balls" now appear to have some "female-like" hairs coming from it as well...thoughts anyone? IMG_0242.jpg

My flowering female is rockin' ....tied her down a bit yesterday to allow more light penetration through the canopy...still figuring that I have about 3-4 more weeks before even considering harvesting. I have a Jeweler's Loupe ordered, and it should be here in about 3 weeks which will be perfect to begin looking at the Trichomes.
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The 2 plants still vegging are doing well...transplanted them to larger pots yesterday... the one I LST'd (or "Bonsai'd - as I like to call it) is looking pretty nice (first row of pics below), and the lil' runt has really started growing nicely (second row). I still don't know if they're females, but I consider those 2 an experiment and my opportunity to learn more about the traits of this wonderful plant.
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That's all for now...:weed:
 
Quick Question for you Veteran growers....

I have looked for hours on the internet and cannot find a reasonable answer...

During Flowering (currently week 6) is it more important to get direct light (using CFLs) on the actual flowers/bud sites or on the leaves? I ask this because I have an abnormal light configuration and am wondering which will be more productive to the plant overall.

Another way to ask is: Is it more important to have the light closer to the individual bud sites or higher up providing an even distribution of light across the entire top of the plant (sacrificing closeness in proximity to the flowers)?

thank you all for your time and direction....
 
So I am now at a bit over 6 weeks of flowering my lady and she is doing quite well. I still think about 3 more weeks or so before I am ready to harvest, maybe 4 weeks. Still waiting on the loupe to arrive...should be here in about 2 weeks.

I'm not quite "concerned" , but am questioning why some of my upper leaves are cupping down and slightly drooping with a "plastic" look to them...it's not a great pic, but hopefully someone can give me some reasoning. It is mostly at the top.HPIM1127.jpgHPIM1130.jpg

(for my own personal documentation purposes) I'm also going to put the "runt" that has been vegging for approx. 8 weeks into the flowering closet tonight.

Hoping someone can shed some insight to those droopy leaves. The rest of the flowers are looking pretty good.HPIM1136.jpgHPIM1126.jpg

....and yes, I'm aware the dates on the pics are WAYYYY off....never really use this camera.

-Smooth
 
Update:

All 3 of my plants are in Flowering now. Here's where I stand:

Plant 1 has been flowering for 57 days since the flip into Flower (but only 50 days or so since flowers showed). As mentioned in some posts above, I suffered some horrific "eagle-claw" and spotting that I have since determined was caused by over-fert of N during the early stages of Flower and quite possibly some "wind-burn" as my fan was blowing directly on the leaves. There may have been some other type of deficiency going on, but that was the best reasoning I found online after searching for hours. So, needles to say, in some areas the plant doesn't look great, but overall, is still showing good signs and decent bud growth. I switched my ferts to Botanicare Pure Blend's Pro Bloom 1-4-5 and this seemed to quell the clawing. I also added a drop of Floralicious Plus into every watering with nutrients. Wasn't able to eliminate the brown spotting, but I have since moved the fan so it's not blowing directly on the plant and the spotting has drastically slowed. My loupe finally came and all Trichs appear to be clear with maybe a few cloudy...it's hard to tell, I don't have "that eye" yet. I figure I'll harvest (depending on what I see) in another 10-14 days.
Here are some pics of where she is:IMG_0278.jpgIMG_0279.jpgIMG_0283.jpgIMG_0284.jpgIMG_0285.jpgIMG_0286.jpgIMG_0287.jpgIMG_0288.jpgIMG_0289.jpg
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Plant 2 (the runt) has turned out very well.
I placed her in Flower 13 days ago and she showed the female characteristics about 6-7 days ago. I have continued to LST her and she is rockin'.
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Plant 3 (fun-experimental-bonsai) I placed into the Flowering closet 4 days ago. I have made an attempt to use the SCROG/SOG method to Flower her. Don't laugh, I'm having fun. So far so good.
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I guess that's about it.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Peace,
Smooth
 
Well, I'm 57 days since flowers emerged, and 64 days since flip to 12/12 on my big gal. I am starting to see a few amber trichs, but the majority is 50/50 clear/cloudy. It seems the amber ones are on the outter most budsites and from what I've been able to find on RIU here it seems that is typical. I also think I have been getting some foxtailing across the plant, I'm not sure if that's what I'm seeing or it's just the buds continually developing/swelling. I am wondering what my next step should be. I think I'm going to wait another week or so and see how she develops. Yesterday was probably my last feeding with nutrients, will probably give strictly water from this point forward.

Once I see some more development on cloudy/amber trichs I think I'm going to put her into 48hrs. of dark. From the info I've been able to get on here it seems that is when the terpenoids seem to get a big boost......then after that HARVEST!!!

Here are some pics from today...sorry I don't have any of the trichomes, but my camera/loupe combo just doesn't produce any clear shots.
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Anyone have any thoughts?
 

rwbrock

Active Member
Looking good seems like your almost at the finish line. Just remember to keep it simple. Reminds me of my first grow with cfl. The buds probably won't be as dense as you hope but not much you can do with the limited lighting you have. One day you will upgrade to a 400 or 600 hpl for flowering and see a big boost! Couple things - I have been reading more and more that plants do not need to be flushed and or cut off from nutes last two weeks. It varies depending on how much you have been feeding up to that point. Also the 48 hours darkness theory. I have done both ways and noticed no difference. I got pretty wrapped up in buying the latest and greatest, reading about all the tricks and gimmicks. Found going back to basics just a couple plants topped just above second node not over feeding keeping the plant nice and green from start to finish to work out best. Do a search on here for uncle Ben. One of my favorite old school growers. Don't get caught up in all the other stuff at first. Get the basics down first! Looking good!
 
Well, my big mama is nearing the end now, it has been 71 days since pistils first appeared and about 77-78 days since the flip to 12/12.

I'm having trouble deciding when to harvest as the tirchs are about 50% cloudy, 45% clear, 5% amber (and that's looking on actual bud sites not the leaves), and the hairs are probably 70% orange/amber color with 30% still being white.

She's not smelling much, and it doesn't seem like she's producing much more. Over the past 2 weeks, there has been significant trichome development, but the past few days it does not seem like much has happened.

I know the pics aren't that good, but it's the best I can do. Anyone have any thoughts?
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rwbrock

Active Member
How powerful is the magnifier? Hard to tell from that view, need closer pic. But most people shoot for closer to 100% milky if possible. You have flowered for 10-11 weeks which for most strains is sufficient but with all the variables its always best to look at Trichs. Your real close...most of my grows are between 8 and 10 weeks for flower. Whenever I am on the fence about it I will usually give it one more week. From bag seed it is hard to tell genetics some plants will smell much more than others.
 
The magnifier is 60x...it's hard to get a good pic with an IPOD which is all i have at the moment. I think I'll wait a few more days and see if there are any changes, if not, it's chop chop time. Any thoughts on whether or not it should go into 48-72hrs. of dark before the chop? I heard it intensifies Trichome development, but also that it does nothing beneficial....

anyone tried this and had good results?
 
Lil' help please....

plant is CFL grown, unknown strain, soil. Seems like it's gone through its 2nd growth pistil/bud explosion. Tomorrow will mark the 11th week (77th day) since pistils first appeared, (approx. 12 weeks / 85 days since flip to 12/12).

The calyxs seem to have primarily all swollen at the top/mid section of the plant and the lower growth is following suit. Trichomes appear to be 60/30/10% (cloudy/clear/amber) and the majority of the pistils are "orange-ish" with some remaining white.

I'm not sure if I should give another week to let more amber trichs develop and the clear ones change, or cut and let them continue their change through the drying process? First plant - first grow, so any insight is super appreciated. Pics are a bit crappy, as I don't have a high MP camera, but they should give the "overall look" of the plant.

Thanks for any input!
 
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