Second Grow Still Some Questions

Ok I am starting my second grow. My first one went very bad. I burned the plants with nutes once or twice, was using untreated tap water that probably caused more problems, when I first tried to shock them one died the other 2 lost all there leaves and took 2 weeks to start growing new branches. After they recovered slightly I reshocked them and they started flowering and turned out to be males so I had to kill them

Now the questions are when is a good time in thier growing life to shock them? Second what is the best way to do it? The first time I turned the lights off for 48 hours roughly and then tried to do a 12 12 light cycle but I didnt have a timer at that point. The second time I did it I left the lights off for maybe 36 hours then put a timer on the lights for 12 12 and in a week they started showing thier sex and flowering.

Now the questions are when is a good time in thier growing life to shock them?

Depends on how tall you want them before you sex them. Which also sepends on your grow area

Second what is the best way to do it? The first time I turned the lights off for 48 hours roughly and then tried to do a 12 12 light cycle but I didnt have a timer at that point. The second time I did it I left the lights off for maybe 36 hours then put a timer on the lights for 12 12 and in a week they started showing thier sex and flowering.[/quote]


I would say start with 24 hour light for veging and then when you are ready to sex, just go to 12/12

Hope advice helps

why do you want to shock them?

AGSteve said:

why do you want to shock them?

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I think he means sexing them

I was thrown off also by the shocking comment

keico said:

I think he means sexing them

I was thrown off also by the shocking comment

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by shocking them i would say he could be confident they'll go hermie.

AGSteve said:

by shocking them i would say he could be confident they'll go hermie.

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Well actually I am just not really up on the terminology. I read the shocking comment somewhere and it stuck with me since it was the same word a friend of mine had used once. I am refering to the time you induce flowering or sex the plants. However one of the males I threw out looked like it could have been a herm but I wasnt going to keep that either since i don't want old pollen in my grow area when and if I do get some females. Thank you all for the replies though.

repoocbd said:

Well actually I am just not really up on the terminology. I read the shocking comment somewhere and it stuck with me since it was the same word a friend of mine had used once. I am refering to the time you induce flowering or sex the plants. However one of the males I threw out looked like it could have been a herm but I wasnt going to keep that either since i don't want old pollen in my grow area when and if I do get some females. Thank you all for the replies though.

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ah ok, i understand what you mean now. just go 12/12. sex will show in about a week or two. you could just veg longer tho and that will tell you. all the best.

AGSteve said:

ah ok, i understand what you mean now. just go 12/12. sex will show in about a week or two. you could just veg longer tho and that will tell you. all the best.

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One last question based on my grow area. I have my plants under a dual 20 inch florescent light fixture with indoor horticulture bulbs. And that is on a pully system so I can raise and lower it as needed. And the total hieght they can reach is about 34 inches. So assuming I want them to get to about 32 inches or so before I harvest at what point would I induce the flowering? The last ones grew allot after I flowered them. By the time I was completely sure they were males they grew almost 10 inches and were nearly at the max hieght. I don't want these getting too tall for their area before harvest time.

repoocbd said:

One last question based on my grow area. I have my plants under a dual 20 inch florescent light fixture with indoor horticulture bulbs. And that is on a pully system so I can raise and lower it as needed. And the total hieght they can reach is about 34 inches. So assuming I want them to get to about 32 inches or so before I harvest at what point would I induce the flowering? The last ones grew allot after I flowered them. By the time I was completely sure they were males they grew almost 10 inches and were nearly at the max hieght. I don't want these getting too tall for their area before harvest time.

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i guess it would depend on the strain. you may be best flowering at around 10" to ensure you don't run out of space. all that i've read say's they will double or triple in size. my own experience is they triple in size.

10' is when I would start flowering in your situation. I think you would be better off getting an HPS light for flowering though. You will be much much happier with the yield.

SCORPIO13 said:

10' is when I would start flowering in your situation. I think you would be better off getting an HPS light for flowering though. You will be much much happier with the yield.

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Well I have issues with not wanting to spike my electric bill and the heat I can't really ventilate out. My only options were fluorescents and CFL's which I plan on adding at least one CFL to my closet soon. Just a little tight on the cash atm. Ty for the info on the time to flower though vey much appreciated. Hopefully the yield will be ok.

You can do it with CFL's. There is a lot of info on this site about them. I use HID lights so I couldn't help you with that part of you question.

SCORPIO13 said:

You can do it with CFL's. There is a lot of info on this site about them. I use HID lights so I couldn't help you with that part of you question.

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I never heard of HID lights so I just looked them up and it says they are the most efficient lights around. Do they produce much heat or use much power at all? Also they look expensive, but I was thinking I could rig a car headlight with it and use that for less than half the price which I figure would be pretty good since it already has a reflector to direct the light in one direction anyone know anything about the differences between car HID lights and normal grow ones?

HID stands for High Intensity Discharge. Metal halide and high pressure sodium lights are HID lights. I run a 150 watt MH and a 150 watt HPS for vegging, and for flowering i run a 400 watt MH and a 400 watt HPS.

hps! hps! hps! they kick ass. I live in the smallest apartment imaginable, and I live in south florida where the average winter day is like 80 degrees and in the summer it hits over 100. I have a 600 watt hps I flower with and its whatever. in the winter I dont use a/c, just my cooltube. and in the summer I run a/c all day long causing a big spike, like double my bill. but just grow when its not too hot and make a DIY cooltube and get a 600 watt hps. its like 20 or 30 extra bucks a month on your bill, just be sure to shut off and unplug things your not using. this will save you the electricity you need to run your light. I get such nice stanky ass fat buds. I use t5's for veg though. but an hps looks like the sun and the girls love it. just get one. if your paranoid about the spike of electricity then forget about it bro, the power company is a private company that loves makin money. they want you to get like 5 1,000 watt hps and keep your tv on all the time to have the biggest bill ever. make sure you pay it on time and your golden

i wouldnt shock your plants man

I pasted of pic of myself smokin some herb in my grow cabinet, and I think that shocked my plants.

Krayven Sumhead said:

I pasted of pic of myself smokin some herb in my grow cabinet, and I think that shocked my plants.

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LOL yeah I wouldn't do that either, but in response to johnnyt2184 I wont ever shock my plants again. I can't remember where I read that I was supposed to, but my friend said that is what he heard from a guy that had grew back where he used to live. As far as lighting goes I decided to stick with the cheap, easy to find, and cost efficient CFL's. I was using a regualr dual 24 inch fluorescent light with indoor plant bulbs. However I just put in a strip with 3x26 watt daylight CFL's and hung it from my pulleys like the other light had been. Then on the front of the closet I put a clamping work lamp with a 26 watt daylight CFL and on the back wall I have a reflective surface plus as soon as I figure out how I am going to hang it sideways I will put the regular fluorescents back in on seperate pulleys so I can move it up and down the back side of the plants as they grow. All in all right now I have 6400 lumens and when I get the other light back in I will have 8950 lumens in an area about 24"x18"x34" LWH. And only using 144 watts total if I felt safer I would add a pick but I am paranoid ... go figure lol