Newb's First real grow .. let me know your thoughts!

First and foremost I'm an amateur gardener and a bit of a green thumb. Mom is a master gardener and that's where I turn most often for advice or information above/beyond me.. So not at all unfamiliar with growing green things, but this is the first real stab at my favorite green things.

Long time lurker, first time poster. Going all organic using a modified super soil mix with a mystery sativa, and a mystery indica from bag seed..

Sprouted 4/20, flipped to flower 6/20
Vegged under 400W MH, flowering under 600HPS
Subcool mix using Fox Farms Happy Frog as a compost additive, horse manure compost, and some high end local stuff from a nearby org. farm.
Current crop:
1x large sativa bag seed
1x large indica bag seed
2x small sativa cloned from mother
1x small indica cloned from mother

I'm calling the sativa #1, and Indica #2.They'd all been in flower since 6/20 so I figure they've got about 3-4 weeks yet.. Each large plant was FIM'd and LST'd. I topped 1 small sativa, fim'd one small sativa, and topped the indica which resulted in a natural 3 way stalk!! Side note, the fim'd plant took 2-3x as long to recover compared to the topped plants..

The two large plants got 2 months of veg, and the little guys got about 3 weeks from clone to pot before I put them in the flowering room.. Sort of a test to judge yields. I've got 7 clones from each, will be mothering one of each, and hopefully will be able to get timing down on a SoG over the next couple harvests.. I'll probably LST/Scrog them and do a few more tops on the the next batch.

- Took a vaca right after going into flower and left them on hydro-spikes which #2 happily drank from until the water was gone.. 4 days shy of my return. When I got home I thought she was a goner - fabulous recovery! You'll notice some nute burn as well as some physical burn on a couple leaves and some singed cola tips of #2.. Guessing from drying out and having a massive spike in nutrient concentrations. A good flush and a light molasses mix and she's going gangbusters now!

PICS!!

FIM'd small sativa


Topped small sativa - notice the difference. This plant and the one above were nearly identical height and growth prior to fim/topping. Topped plant recovered and took off. FIM'd plant not so much.


Topped small indica - natural 3 way stalk!


Large Sativa - #1




Large Indica - #2





Topped natural 3 way Indica! w00t!


Indica Colas 1 of 4 primary stalks..





The garden

Bump with lights on pics..

These guys are all 28 days into flower, flipped 6/20. Another 20-30 days you think?

#2 and #1 respectively

Well I have no problem telling which one is Indica and which one is Sativa.

99.9% of first-time growers harvest way too early. Just keep that in mind and update every week or so and hopefully we can get you a fully ripe crop on your first go. That Sativa will take much longer than the Indica - perhaps 4 to 6 weeks longer. They look good so far.

Thanks, I've been trying to read as much as possible and will resist the urge to pull early. I'm trying a little experiment to see what sort of yield I get out of a big 2+ month veg plant, and a small 3 week veg plant.. Not sure if more and smaller is better, or fewer and larger. Mainly interested in a regular turnaround so there is always some on hand vs. having big hauls and then a long wait, so it's all about trying to find a sweet spot. Using 1/2 my tent right now but I have 2 ballasts and lamps so I'm leaning one of two ways.. 1.) Use the 600 for flower and a 400MH for veg, splitting the tent down the middle. 2.) Run both together for a combined 1000 HPS. 2a.) Run both together, one 600HPS, one 400MH. I realize 2a results in a lower lumen output, but will provide some cross-lighting in the blue band the HPS is not providing. Again, not sure how big a difference that makes.. I'd keep the plants on a lazy susan to keep them even with 2a.

Question on the Indica, I'm seeing some clawing (can be seen in the larger set above) on the larger fan leaves. Is this simply a result of the plant devoting more energy to the buds? The bud leaves are showing no such signs nor other stresses. I generally don't water until the soil is dry to the second knuckle of my index finger or if they look thirsty. Generally a gallon each in a raised tray, and about 1-2 days a week I'll do 1/2 gallon tap (dechlorinated, ph 7 or slightly lower) followed by a half gallon + 1/2 Tbsp molasses. All the water is tap and bubbled. Lots of green but no signs of N burn so I'm thinking N isn't too high, nor too low. PH runoff is about 6.4-6.6 which is what I'd expect to see. I don't supplement aside from the molasses and an occasional topping of supersoil when it starts looking like it needs it.

Also curious about using pond/tank water conditioners that dechlorinate and set ph.. Are these safe for the soils/bacteria? Cause salt buildup? They require exceedingly small quantities to do the job, I use half a capful for a 500+ gallon pond to rid ammonia, chlorine and balance the PH.

Of course I could always just leech from the pond itself which has a healthy fish population..

looking beautiful man

The plants look so happy, good growing bro

Thanks!!

I decided to add my second lamp for the remainder of flowering. Was considering using it for 400W MH during veg but I have a 360W CEW Retro Ace HPS conversion bulb just sitting there.. so now it's running along alongside a 600W unknown HPS bulb for 960W HPS in total.. Raised the lamps another 3" each to adjust for heat and will monitor for signs of stress.. I like the retro ace color spectrum a lot more. I'm try to pick up a 600 to replace the other, aging bulb. Considering what 400 and 600 have done so far, i'm very curious.

Temps went up about 5F into the 90's so I had to open a few vents and am thinking i might now need to vent the heat from the lamps. Until now the one 600W kept a consistent 85 inside with a drop to the low 70's at night.

Got my camera back and decided to take some photos..

looks good for the most part man, are some of those spots still from the nutrient burn? was thinking maybe needed some cal mag if not?

CoreyATX420 said:

looks good for the most part man, are some of those spots still from the nutrient burn? was thinking maybe needed some cal mag if not?

Click to expand...

Yeah it's probably the remaining nute burn, I have misgivings about too much defoliation.. Which pics specifically? I figure if the leaf is burn halfway down, but the base and the tip are still bright green and not dying I generally believe the leaf to be still functioning and viable albeit at reduced capacity so I didn't want to go scissor happy.. I've been slowly trimming obviously dead/burnt areas and I did end up having to clip the burnt cola's as they were quite dead and I didn't want to introduce any rot or mold..

I did add some epsom salts to a big flush last week, and have been doing 1Tbps/gal of molasses every other watering.. Keeping tabs, but they sure do like that molasses!

There are some yellow spots developing you can see in the first pic, and #11 is i'm pretty sure the heat damage+drying+nute burn.. I'm not sure if #1's yellowing is just normal due to the plant putting no energy into the leaves any longer or if it's actually a sign of something but they are still going gangbusters and are now coated in trich's..

Update - found what appeared to be a seed forming in one of the clones, and am noticing banana's in two others.. Wondering if these are just the normal stages of late flowering? Pick the nanners out? Would a seed form in a calyx - ie looks like a calyx (two hairs) but grows a seed? Most importantly - do I need to move these away from the girls? I have no idea if it's hermaphrodited, or if it's actually pollinated. There is a mystery male out back and while I'm careful that's not to say it's 100% guaranteed no pollen sneaks through..

Few pics of the nanners and what I think may be more seed pods. Curious for your thoughts.

I'm not opposed to cross-breeding as it looks like I have nanners from each.. I could pollinate an indica with sativa pollen, and a sativa with indica pollen. I have the clones. I can rebuild them. Curious what a mix of this stretchy sativa and bushy indica would produce!

Pics:

Nanners


Seed pod or calyx?


More nanners

PICK THE NANNERS !!!!!!! You on;y have a week or so left, but the energy the plant will focus on seed develop will take away from your bud girth.....HOWEVER, a few seeds from those girls will be an added bonus, most likely feminized seeds. Nice grow.

Bump w/ Pics!

So last update was bad news and things were looking grim. Turns out heat and excess light were too much. The 600W is now up to 17" above the canopy, and the 400W is floating around 14" give or take.. Also have hooked up a blower and ducting to vent the hot air from the hoods - huge improvement! need a bigger blower though.. 150CFM for a 400W and 600W is just not enough. Still mid-high 80's, would like to see steady 80-82 during the day. So now that the lights are set, and cooling, i mixed up a big batch of tea for recovery/finish..

Mix 2 cups dry ingredients below + a handful of soil in a 5gal bucket:
1/3c high N guano
2/3c high P guano
2/3c bone meal
Mix together and use 2c dry mix to 5gal water. Add 5tbsp molasses and 5tbsp kelp. Sort of a witches brew of other recipes I've found here, and generally knowing what is needed in flower vs. veg..

I use the above tea @ 1c per large plant directly at the base between waterings, and 1c/gal diluted each watering.. small plants get a half cup, but the same dilution.


The laboratory:


Fixed my cooling issues - 150CFM blower pushing fresh air through both hoods and out the high port on the far side.


Nice turnaround once the temps came down!! Thick mats of new white hairs all over.. Plucked bananas off a few of these guys however I do spy some beans in the first plant below, however it appears limited to 1-2 of the lower buds only.. My hope is that I now have a batch of proper female seeds for the indica dom! The fat indica smells of grapefruit and citrus. The sativa has yet to really start stinking but a slight touch will spread a lovely skunk aroma. So if I had to guess, I've got a grapefruit indica dom and a skunk sativa dom, both of which have crossed my path in the last year or so..


I just like this picture for some reason.. I can't believe the 1000W of HPS light and 100% mylar room didn't completely overexpose.


Have been looking for some good spreadsheet to help me track intervals, timings etc. What do you guys do to track your grows? pencil/paper? calendars? spreadsheeets?

Cheers!

Bump

Little guy is getting close... mostly clear trichs, maybe 75/25 clear/cloudy. 5-10 days?

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Foxtails on the sativa's.. heat? light stress?
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Pistils everywhere! a few nanners in there too.. Seem to be moving through a second or final push.
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All in all I'm thinking 5-10 days for the smaller clones, and more like 15-20 for the mothers.. Will keep an eye on that large sativa and keep her going until I see mostly cloudy w/ some amber..