LED+CFL Closet Coco grow

Chronikool said:

Well, when you do go looking...dont get lost in the jungle...

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I've gotten lost in the jungle so many times haha, I hit this Skunk #1 BHO earlier then some Chem Valley Kush and went searching for preflowers got lost for quite a while.

Ahhh yes, getting lost in a females bush....

In my opinion, you may as well flip now. I dont think you will see much benefit continuing on for another 1-2 weeks in veg.

Get that stretch started, so she can show us her long legs.

OK, will agree to disagree but I say 2 more weeks of veg

I was planning on vegging for a little while longer seeing as I have one plant I want to grow her big. Any suggestions on how to prepare for flowering? Flushing or anything?

No flushing. Thats for the end of flowering. I like 36 hours of dark before flower but it's not needed. Take cuttings a week before 12/12 if you intend to clone.

I'd like to clone but my problem is I don't have anywhere to keep a mother and flowering plants seperate so how can I take clones? This looks like it may turn out to be a nice plant so I wouldn't want to lose it, but how should I really proceed?

You dont have to do much to prepare for flowering. Make sure your lights are up to it. Sort your timer. What nutrients are you using. Will have to change them.

I'm using Advanced Nutrients, I have quite a bit of the bloom nutrients left as I had to get rid of my very first grow shortly after switching to flower. Can I switch right from grow to bloom, I normally feed with every watering. I don't need to water with just plain water first? I believe that would be considered flushing? Is there anything anyone would like to suggest? Additional nutrients, techniques, etc... I have seen countless times to just keep it stupid simple so I'm trying to do so.

As far as lights go, my plan was to remove the blue CFL and place 1 red CFL on each side of the plant and keep the UFO above as it is a full cycle light. Would there be any benefit to keeping the blue CFL on as well or would it just be a waste? Also what PH is suggested for flowering in coco? I've been using between 5.5 and 5.8...


Supplies:

I personally just do a straight up switch to flowering nutrients when i flip the lights. But there are many ways to skin a snake, so get some other opinions on this.

There are already a lot of the vegetative nutrients in the plant as you start to flower, so to the plant it will be seen as a gradual transition as you add the flowering nutrients.

It is always good to have 'vegetative lights' in the flowering cycle, so i say keep the blue CFL there. The plant will still use this spectrum.

I also use blackstrap molasses every other watering to keep my calcium/magnesium levels up. It is also thought to sweeten the bud. (not sure about that last part)

Not sure about coco PH sorry.

Sounds good, thanks. She (hopefully) is really starting to explode with growth so I am going to leave in veg for a little longer, I'm in no rush and I assume with one plant vegging longer just means more yield.

As far as the lights go, I ask because my lights are currently

180W LED
1X 200W CFL (blue)
=380W total

that is what is growing the plant currently with amazing results

My plan for flowering is:
180W LED
2x 200W CFL (red)
=580W total

Would having the blue CFL really be worth a 34% power increase? Also the temperature in my closet is already at 89º at the canopy which is ok for using Prosource LEDs; 85º would be optimal but the plant seems ok. Not sure how much heat adding even one more of these CFLs is going to generate, might get too hot to even run the 2 reds. I guess I'll just have to wait it out and see, maybe try different thingsas I go. Being in an apartment I can't cut holes so I can't really have ventilation (unless I buy a new closet door and cut holes in that which I would prefer to avoid) so I think if I'm already at 89º I may have to just do the LED and 1 red CFL.

The LED is rated to do the plant on it's own I'd just like to use the CFLs to really buff it up.


Cues mentioned taking clones...

What would be the best way to keep clones if I'm working with 1 big closet? I don't really have another room but I guess I could build a box of some kind. Any ideas?

You don't need a mother plant or another room/area. You just take clones just before you go into flower and that becomes your next plant. Take 2 and choose the best (or the one that makes it!)
Clones need little light. A propogator on a windowsill (£5) is cool. A heated one (£15) is better. If you can stretch to a pack of root-riot cubes, better still. A couple of 23w cfls in a tiny cupboard (only need to be about a foot by a foot and a half) even better still. It's all dirt (no pun intended) cheap compared to buying seeds. Oh, and you need cloning gel.
It sounds like hassle but it's all a one-off cost that will last years. The whole lot will cost less than a decent set of seeds.
And you then know what you are working with. i.e. you can confidentally grow a plant knowing it's not ony a girl, but an exact copy of your favourite plant.
Lots to learn but so worth it. Cloning isn't hard if done right, but it MUST be done right or you will fail. It's not very forgiving but if done correctly will give at least 75% success.
Even stealth isn't a worry as the propogators mist up and no-one can see what's in there anyhow.

Thanks Cues, I'll definitely consider that.... Won't the clones have grown quite a bit while this one has been flowering though? I already have Rock Wool cubes and a few CFL bulbs and desk lamps I could throw something together with. I've rooted clones previously but immediately put them into a hydro setup never had to keep them around for a little while.

I just noticed a few preflowers appearing on the upper nodes, they aren't developed enough to tell if it's a male or a female yet but they are definitely there, hopefully I'll be able to tell by tomorrow!

SativaGrows said:

Seriously considering taking a few clones after preflowers develop a little more, I don't know much about growing, but the genetics of this strain seem to be thriving in the conditions I'm providing so it may be worth holding onto.

I guess I am mainly worried how much damage will be done to the mother if I take clones; Will taking clones significantly hurt my yield/quality? How many should I take? Being in a medical state I can have 12 plants but I don't think I have the proper lighting for 12; I am growing for personal use, so quality is important. I also plan on diversifying the strains in my next grow by picking up some seeds/clones so I guess I could just take a few. How much would quality/yield be impacted?

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That early in bloom your yield wouldnt suffer at all. And the sooner u clone the better. Your plant will recover faster and u will not have to revert ur clones back to veg.

Thank you! So how many would you suggest to take? I've worked with clones before and my buddy had given me 12 clones and they ALL rooted with just water and rock wool, looking into the genetics I was given, Pineapple Punch, that sort of rooting success is normal; I'm assuming most strains are not like this.

I'm thinking 3-4 would be ok to take, I'd like to have at least 1-2 of these plants in my next grow, I can always clone the clones later if I want right?

Put up a second CFL today, decided to add in a warm maybe to help those preflowers develop quickly, so far temperature is holding at 89º at the canopy which is what it has been at this whole grow. I have one more warm light and was planning to swap out the blue for the second red, not even sure where I would hang a third light, I do have another wing though, just worried about temp. I'll leave this second CFL on for a while and see how the temp holds up.

What do you guys think?

Being that I am working with very bright lights here they tend to screw with the camera a bit so I exposure lock on different points to show color/detail/etc... And reproduce what my eye is seeing on the camera. The picture at the bottom is exposure locked on the plant to show light intensity.



Just the CFLs:


Exposure locked on the plant to show light intensity:

Looking really good man....make sure you update us on the preflowers!

One suggestion....get a pc fan or a couple (i cant see one) and hang it blowing into the plant....will help with mold.

My first grow i didnt have one and there was his fuzz growing on top of the soil surface half way through flowering. Not for me.

I will definitely update on the preflowers!

Thanks for the tip about the fan! I actually already have a fan, and an air purifier which has carbon prefilter, hepa filter, UV light to kill the mold, and an ionizer. I run it all the time on low setting

Adding in the second light brought the canopy temp up to 93º and the room temp to 89º humidity at 30% I can increase this significantly if needed by turning on the humidifier. Cracked the closet door for the time being to bring temps down a bit.

With this LED from ProSource they suggest a canopy temp of 85º I've been successfully growing this whole time with a canopy temp of 89º and room temp of 85-87º and have been doing just fine, will the increase to 93-94º canopy temp and 89º room temp cause damage? I may only be able to run this with the one CFL and the LED

This is maddening! What do yall think? Male? Female? I'm thinking it looks female but am worried I don't see pistils yet.