Day 1 flower. Here we go!

Day 46 from seed: First time grower here (and legal, woo!), so needles to say I'm pretty stoked about today's light switch. Yesterday I went and bought some black sheet plastic to seal off my box, and 5 55w 2700k CFL's (one over each plant) for the switch. Tore down my veg setup, reused my Reflectix and here we go.


4 out of 5 confirmed female as of a couple days ago. Need to check for the fifth again soon. Besides, I can't remember which one it was...say "No" to drinking and gardening.


Anyway, on to the pics!


BTW, these are a five pack of TGA Ace of Spades that I'm workin' with.

(Not sure what's with the sideways pics)

They look really healthy! Pretty nice to get 4:5, a better chance of getting an interesting phenotype with that many ladies.

looking good...keep us updated

Thanks! That's awesome guys. I have been overly attentive to them, some might call it OCD, I call it a hobby haha. My only real hiccup so far has been white fly larvae (self diagnosed, limited to 1-2 plants, lower foliage only), but even that's not that bad anymore after manually removing every one I see.

Today I did a re-count and was able to confirm my fifth female. That makes 5/5 females, which, from what I read is an unreal ratio. The shop I bought these said they were feminized. Does that really make a difference? Or is that just some term they coined to get you?

I can already see the stretching as these babies are starting to branch out more and more. Main stems have become more like sticks and I'm afraid to even attempt LST'ing in fear of snapping one. Is it more helpful to bend perpendicular or parallel to the node you tie around, or does it matter? They've grown maybe 1-2" in height and radius just in the last 24 hours. Seem to really be loving their new pots they were moved into 6 days ago and their half strength Fox Farm nutrients every other watering. Trying my best to not get super nute crazy and burn the shit out of them.

Here's a pic of one of my girls spreading real wide for us.

Looking really good mate if you brought feminised they will always be female, they have been in my experience. If you have enough room for the extra growth i wouldn't attempt LST they usually stretch the most in the first 2 weeks then slow down abit.
I usually do a feed with nutes then a feed a few days later with just a bit of water but again thats my personal preference.
Sold777

Almost through their first week of the light switch, and everything is going great. Haven't seen a lot of new growth, mostly just exisisting growth adding 2-3" of stem length. With the exception of plant #1, the fastest growing, who has started to show new leaf growth along internodes. All 5 have pistils on at least 2-3 nodes now.

Heres a few pics of the beginning of flowering (9/11/13) and of this morning. You'll notice the streeeetch and also bud sites starting to develop - almost a lime green color!




Im considering buying a couple more clip reflectors and using a couple spare 23w 2700k CFL's for side lighting as I keep having to raise the lights. Again this morning, after raising her light one inch last night, I found Plant #5 stuffing herself into her light.

Day 9 flower (Day 55 from seed) update:
Just thought I'd throw you guys an update. Almost halfway through their second week, not a ton to update on but here we go:

Stretching has started to slow as growth is now starting to focus on production of bud sites. Plants have grown maybe 2 inches the last few days after the initial 3-5" upward/outward spurt in the first few days of flowering. Pistils have started to show lower and lower on the plant and have begun multiplying at upper bud sites and main cola. Basement (where my "grow room" is) smells WONDERFUL, so far more fruity than skunky, but still weedy, especially when the fan is blowing during the day.

This weekend I plan on picking up some Tiger Bloom to go along with my Grow Big and Big Bloom (in order to follow the Fox Farms feeding chart). Plants seem very happy besides their minor white fly larvae problem that I continue to battle by spotting and picking them off one-by-one. Plants don't seem to be effected too badly by the larvae leaf feasting (bastards).

I think I have got three different phenotypes on my hands; one plant, Pheno A: very tall and bud sites close-in to main stem, two plants, Pheno B: tall an lengthy, with huge stretch among all nodes, newer and older, "very airy", and two plants, Pheno C: the "Goldilocks" plants that are average height and are very bushy, with bud sites and newer growth concealing most of the view of the stem.

Anyway, here are a few pic for everyone...

First is Plant #5 (Pheno A) showing her pistils multiplying and collecting in her top
cola, second is again Plant #5 (Pheno A)'s bud sites starting to really develop, getting denser and showing pistils. I've been trying to tuck, rather than cut, huge fan leaves under bud sites in order to accommodate for more light.

Comments/questions/suggestions are welcome!

Thanks for reading!

Just fooling around taking pictures today, no huge major updates. First pic is Plant #4, the slowest/shortest growing plant, but probably the healthiest looking overall. Slowly but surely I guess? Picture two is of Plant 1's newest pistils on the plant's newest growth. Photo is taken with my iPhone 5 (not yet my 5S, as of yesterday) fooling around with my new $4.98 + free shipping 30x jeweler's loupe with LED from Amazon.

Comments welcome, friends!

Day 12 of flower; Day 58 total.

Just some comparison pics for you guys showing the EXTREME growth in just the last 12 days of flowering. Pic 1 is Day 1/Day 12 flower. Pic 2 is of the buds finally starting to come together. I guess I haven't messed up too badly yet!

Its really nice to see a first time grower doing so well. Your plants are so beautiful!
Keep up the good work!
Only suggestion would be get an HPS. You'll love what you can do with it.

Thanks for the friendly words of encouragement! It's nice to see all my research and hard work in the grow room starting to pay off.

Even without ever using HPS, I think I can already see where I can benefit from it. I've actually got a buddy who has a friend that is wanting to sell two of his HPS's for dirt cheap. An offer I can't pass up. So I'm planning on picking those up for my next grow (look at me, already planning round 2) and also trying some new techniques such as LST or fimming to try to tame these ladies inside their box. This first grow has been a great learning experience.

Day 16 flower, Day 62 from seed.

Update: Pistils, pistils, everywhere! Bud sites have started to become very pronounced as plants have fully shifted into flowering phase. I was doing some reading and believe I am now starting "Stage 3" of flower - pistils have already become bunched up into balls at bud sites, and I am expecting to start seeing the formation of actual buds grow amongst these pistils for the next few weeks. I have noticed a few new green leaves poke their tips out of these pistil balls too as well as pistils at almost every node along the stem as well as branch nodes.

I picked up some Tiger Bloom finally this week, and gave them their first flowering nutes today. I'm going to continue running half strength nutes (Big Bloom & Tiger Bloom), every other watering, for the next few weeks. I'm guessing 3-5 weeks until I begin the 2 week flush to finish these babies off. Crazy to think I am already pre-planning my final flush!

Heres some pics for all you guys.

Pic 1 will be Plant #5's top cola starting to come together. Pic 2 is of Plant #1 and #2's bud sites really standing out now. Pic 3 is Plant #1's stretchy ass and her stalk/stems/bud sites. Pic 4 is of all the ladies, the Spice Girls as I call them, outgrowing their box!

Sidenote: I chatted up the guy at the hydro shop where I got my Tiger Bloom, and he said he could hit me up with a 400 watt HPS system including bulb, reflector, and ballast for $185, and everything to make it MH as well for $225. You guys think this a good deal?

Dont get me wrong, I'm all about supporting your local hydro shop. Buuut as far as lighting goes you can get the whole MH and HPS setup for $118 (Apollo Horticulture) on that big online store that starts with A#####.
Fair warning though, each 400W HPS setup I use increases my electric bill 30-40 a month.

Good to know. I guess this is where the whole HID vs CFL debate comes into play? So if I'm running 55watt x 5 = 275watts, and a 400watt HPS is going to run an extra $35/month, what's the additional 125watt difference reflect in yield? Is the $35/month x ~3 months worth the additional cost?

I figure in buying 5 CFL's, 5 12" clamp reflectors, surge protector, 2 48" T8 fixtures + 4 48" 6500k bulbs for veg all equals about $235. At first I thought I was saving money by spreading out my purchases, but after adding a few months expenses together, I probably would have been better off (little did I know) splurging at the beginning. Note taken!

125W difference in yield? A little, not a huge enough margin to justify it is superior. High output bulbs like MH and HPS are good because of the light penetration (SoG) and ease of use for me personally. I would love to go to CFLs but I'm a lazy stoner , I'll get to it eventually.
I use Fox Farm nutrients pretty religiously, I love there products but the one thing I would recommend using is Molasses. I use 1 tsp per gallon once a week when its feed time and it really finishes the buds off nicely.

Alright, update! Today is day 20 flower, almost through their 3rd week. One plant has completely topped out her maximum light height, so I'm gonna have to Jerry Rig somethin really quick (either modifying the clamplight, or my first attempt at tying down, opinions?) for her in the morning. Others are between 4-8" shorter than her. I think next time I'll definitely consider trying my "skills" either topping/fimming or LST'ing. Either way, I really need them to stop growing vertically lol - something I never thought I'd say.

Today is day 66, this first pic is from 3 days ago when I first noticed something new: TRICHS! Noticed them first around the top colas, now, 3 days later, I can see them spreading to lower flowers and further down the top cola onto bigger leaves.

This morning I also noticed that my calyxes are turning purple. I'm hoping for some of this infamous purple Ace of Spades! I'll snap a few pics of these purple features tomorrow.

Speaking of purp, check out this Lucid Dream I recently acquired.

Excited to see how this turns out!

Pics as promised! Check out these purple calyxes! These two plants have them, while the other three seem to to be leaning towards "boring green" weed. Enjoy!

Hey dudes, a little Day 69 update.

Same stuff still going on - massive pistil clusters everywhere and starting to form into bigger colas. Also they are beginning to frost up all along the main stalk and outwards. Fan leaves are really starting to skinny up and are bigger than my hands. Newer, upper fan leaves are doing the same thing and looking nice and frosty as well, with trichomes extending outward. I noticed this morning as I was doing their morning check that I didn't need to raise the lights quite as much. Hoping they will have topped out on vertical growth and will now begin completely focusing on buds. I read a great article about the "40/60 Rule". Doing some simple math, at 23 days, this puts me at 41%, validifying this theory, so I'm expecting to see some real magic happen for the next few weeks.

Here's a couple pictures, one of my favorite girl, Plant #5 with her purple features, and one of all their fine, sweet, sexy asses. Notice in the back left just how tall #2 is!

Day 73 from seed, day 27 flower. After a few days of not noticing a lot happening, I woke up and saw a couple of things today. Firstly, #5 - the tallest, was leaning so bad from her new weight up top I had to tie her up to keep her under her light. Also, #3 (pic below) has started her swell. Her newest leaves are beginning to become wide and thick (the exact opposite of all the fan leaves which have become long and narrow), as well as her buds starting to fill in throughout the pistils. Also, it could just be me, but I feel like she has less pistils up top compared to previous days. Is this them starting to recede back into their calyxes, or too early for that?

Here's today's pic o the day. You can literally see the swell spreading outward and downward - notice the leaf front and center towards the bottom of the main cola.