Thanks again Simpson. I'm making the Ph adjustment slowly now. I'll let you know how it goes. Next question if you are up for it. I was intruiged by your orinal post where you discussed pruning / training. Specifically the "pinching technique". Could you elaborate some time? Maybe with pictures? I've been topping my plants (once each) because they are getting to close to the lamps and I don't have more height to work with. Can't be taller than about two feet. I selected indica for this reason. Specifically Aurora Indica and Blackjack from Nirvana. BTW Nirvana rocks!
i will be glad to elaborate a little more on this.. i cant do pictures right now... my grow is currently in flowering.. but as soon as i can on my next grow i will start including more pictures... i also plan on going through and taking note of pages with "tutorials" and posting on the front page the number and "lesson".. to make things easier to find things... anyways..
when i refer to pinching i basically am talking about FIM'ing by using your fingers instead of scissors..
FIM'ing, which stands for (as the story goes) fuck i missed... it works like topping, but without cutting any nodes off or through the main stem..
now at the very end of all branches, during veg growth, is a "bud" of new growth... it is basically a little nub that opens up and is what the leaves and stem grow from.. you may have to pull back some leaves that are just starting to open to locate it.. but it should be fairly accessable...
in order to FIM it you simply pinch or cut about 80% of that little bud/nub off... this will cause the nub to grow into (at least) 2 tops, like topping does, without the amount of stress that topping causes... the less stress you cause the better..
the reason it happens is that you are removing an amount of new growth that contains part of the stem... the bud/nub growth grows around part of the stem... getting below the part of the growth that contains that little amount of stem splits the growth into 2... think topping on a very very small scale...
cutting with scissors causes a very clean uniform cut.. this will cause 2 tops.. sometimes 3... i like pinching because the break is more jagged... this can cause it to grow back oddly or heal oddly, which can cause 2, 3, and ever more tops sometimes.. as long as you pinch low enough you will always be garunteed at least 2 tops...
as i said i cant take a picture tutorial of how to pinch, but i will post some pics tommorrow of one of my girls i did this to and the results.. i think she has about 5 tops on 1 branch... it works well to get multiple tops, causes less stress than topping, works exactly like topping (will cause slower vertical growth for 3 to 7 days) as far as slowing growth, and is a lot quicker... just pinch and go!!
and please keep me informed about your grow...
Hey simpson have another question for you. My babies are just over 3 weeks old and are roughly 4 inches tall. They are are in 8 inch pots and was wondering how long should i let them grow before transplanting.
the best way to know when to transplant is when you start to see solid growth slow or stop... i would guess that if root growth is good that your almost there now... if you count from when the seed sprouted it would take about 2 to 3 weeks to grow a root mass about that size... imho i would probably transplant in about 1 week... you can be pretty sure the roots will have filled out or almost filled the pot by then...
simpson i have a ? i have the infamous spidermites i was going to try to no pest strips but i dont know. the plants were outside till it got to cold for them. now there in a home made chamber but these mites r killing me. i've grown before but never got them. I'm useing 6 24w cfls in the chamber i just took off the alumi foil thanks by the why im getting some paint. i have a fan going 24hrs day and they have already started show very long hairs can the damage from the mites be reverse or am i screwed. would really like some advice. nature already claimed one hopeing for some kind of harvest . plant that nature claimed had formed very nice bud. The strain of the plants is MK ultra cost me a penny or to. So if u have any advice please help..
i wrote this a while ago... should contain most answers you need.. let me know if you have any more.. and good luck battling those fuckers...
so here are a couple things about neem oil... i use it and swear by it so ill give you my personal experiences with it...
first i've used neem oil under HO satellite IV floros on a 24/0 crop with NO problems.. i didnt have any burn from the water or the oil magnifying light... no ill side affects at all.. so if you are using floros i would venture to say you'll be fine spraying during a 24/0 light schedule... just move the lights when you spray so you dont spray the lights themselves... make sure you get under the leaves and the "inside" of the plant just as well as the topside of the leafs and "outside" of the plant... like was said those little bastards live under the leaves so take time to spray well...
secondly neem oil can be root fed to your plants as well.. during the entire time i have an infestation i feed neem to my plants... ill explain what neem oil does and why root feeding is good in the next paragraph.. but i feed each plant about 6 ml per gallon of water every other feed.. you can just incorporate the neem into your regular feeding schedule... only do this if its soil though... i wouldnt recommend it for hydro...
here is how neem oil works.. neem oil is NOT a spot killer.. you wont spray your plants today and be gone of mite tomorrow... expect about a 2 week battle... neem oil works a couple ways.. first if you can spray the eggs well it covers them and suffocates them... no more eggs.. when the adults eat the neem oil it messes with their hormones... it makes it so they cant reproduce and lay eggs.. immature pests that eat the neem oil dont reach adult hood and are never able to reproduce... thats why spraying the plant well is so important.. you want to make sure the mites have no choice BUT to eat the neem oil... root feeding work very similar in that the pests hormones get fucked up when they suck the juices from your plant, but it also deters them from sucking on your plant because the neem oil tastes horrible... it also contains some trace minerals so its actually good to feed your plants,, i personally will root feed my plants every other time during and infestation, and spray them every 2-3 days.. the spray i use is 3ml neem oil per 1L of water with a few drops of biodegradable liquid dish soap... usually following this over a 2 week period.. then just go down to spraying once a week as a precaution... ill do this up to the 4th weeks of flowering.. havent ran into mold problems yet, or had neem flavored buds, or any other side affects due to the neem oil... its always worked for me.. like i said.. it just takes about a week before you see progress, 2 weeks before the infestation is gone... but its a natural way to get rid of them... if you want an immediate solution get some NO PEST STRIPS from walmart, lowes, home depot, ect.. they will work in a few hours and kill both mites and eggs... but it is a chemical strip (not a spray)... personally i dont want to think that what im inhaling was treated with a chemical... NO PEST strips work tho.. just make sure you arent in the area because they arent anything you want to breath in... also AVID and FLORAMITE are instant working sprays, but again they are chemical... chemical = instant, but it is a chemical you are using on your plant... natural = longer time fighting the pests, but its not chemical.. just depends on you...
also.. a couple smaller ways of helping slow down their life cycle and battle them is;
1) keep humidity up... they hate humidity... spraying with cold water will help by raising the humidity, spraying them off the leaf surface, and they dont like cold.. which brings me to number two..
2) drop the temps to between 65 and 70 if you can... it can take 10 days for mites to reach maturity in cooler humid temps, but as little at 2 days in warmer less humid places... each female can lay 100 eggs a day... they are 75% females anyways... in the right climate they can very very very quickly run your garden over... so until you decide how you are gonna deal with them and they are dealt with making the enviroment as unhospitible to them as you can will help slow their growth...
3) also you can use a tobacco, tobasco, garlic, cinnamon oil, peppermint oil, ect spray.. they arent pesticides, but will help deter them from your plants...
whatever way you chose is up to you... some say neem oil doesnt work and you should go with avid, floramite, or no pest strips... i swear by neem oil and wont use anything else... just make sure you get 100% neem oil from the first press... and not 100% neem oil from the second press or something that just has neem oil in it...
good luck with those bastards.. hope this helped
::edit::
i also want to stress cleanliness when going into your garden.. if you have been outside at all or have pets you need to change before entering your garden...
your clothes can carry eggs into your garden.. eggs hatch and waa-laa.. outbreak...
pets can carry eggs on them and spread them to you.. or if you let them into garden will carry them in themselves...
if your grow is in your bedroom or somewhere with carpet vacuum very very very very very very very very very well...
if you are less than 5 weeks into flowering, spray with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water...
bet prepared for the pistils tp brown/red from this.. its ok.. they will grow back in a few days...