Pics of, and notes on growing my cannabis

Thanks for sharing with us! I always look forward to reading your threads.

Just curious, how long was the SFV OG vegged for?

^^^ One of the great things about sfv is that it needs very little time in veg. Mine generally get three weeks in 3 gallon pots before they go to the flower room. Topping them is an almost futile practice as they will just continue stretching from where you topped... So I usually top them once at the 5th or 6th node, while still in beer cups, and that's it. They stretch, but IMO their stretch is absolutely perfect... Same with strains like Sour Diesel. Perfect stretch for big yields.

Crazy Composer said:

^^^ One of the great things about sfv is that it needs very little time in veg. Mine generally get three weeks in 3 gallon pots before they go to the flower room. Topping them is an almost futile practice as they will just continue stretching from where you topped... So I usually top them once at the 5th or 6th node, while still in beer cups, and that's it..

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Huh. . . pretty much goes against everything growers in SoCal would have you believe. Most guys I know who grow it say it takes a ton of veg to get a good yield. Makes me wish I had kept it when I had the chance!

Thanks for the knowledge!

I know... when I first started growing SFV, and getting yields above 3 ounces in 3 gallon pots, almost no one believed me. I now, regularly get 5-6 ounces in 3 gallons of coco coir with only a few weeks of veg. As I alluded to before, one of my favorite aspects of SFV is that she doesn't need much veg time because she grows straight upward in a hurry. She can be flowered relatively short, too... I like to throw her in between 12-18 inches, to get a finished plant of about 3-3.5 feet. Every garden is different; light intensity, temps and humidity, etc. If I get less than 3 ounces from an SFV... I would get very depressed because I KNOW something went wrong... Thankfully, I have not seen this happen yet, so I have not been depressed. Knock on wood.

Beautiful plants Crazy Composer ... as usual.

Nice flowers

Your Awesomeness is simply awesome

Anyhow, there ARE still some good ole friendly faces still around, who I really enjoy seeing. And no doubt there are many, many newer faces with the same good qualities that I just don't know yet. So, since the good fight still has good fighters, I will try to participate more often.

As a tribute to the good ole days, I have a special friend to show to you... She's only a young clone at the moment, but the old-schoolers will be happy to see her again...

Sharon Widow... Sharon was collected by Lonestar many years ago. She has slapped many a smoker across the face with her unusual potency. Not many varieties can say they pack SUCH a uniquely potent punch. Even the peachy/sweet/licorice smell is unique, and hints at an unusual chemical profile that is probably responsible for the unusual potency. The resins are extremely present, gooey and stick to your fingers like hot mozzarella on a hotter day.


This is my favorite production plant... Chem 4. She is my favorite for a couple reasons... Low odor, easy to clone, perfect structure (not too stout, not too stretchy), BIG YIELDS, can be harvested on the early side and still be potent and have great bag appeal, and IMHO it has one of the greatest highs of all the well known clones. I know some people completely agree with me on the potency, while others completely disagree. My buddy, Joeshmoe told me I HAD to try her. I did, and at first I didn't like her very much... Then I gave her another whirl, and sparks flew... I finally got it, I understood what he found so good about Chem 4. Thank you Joe! I hope life on the outside is phenomenally happy for you and the family, brother. Please get a hold of me, I lost your info. I've changed phones about a dozen times since I last had your digits... and everything was lost during a factory data reset.

Chem 4


Next is MOB. MOB (apparently) stands for "Master of Berries". This clone was closely held by growers in northern Maine for a long time, but it got out sometime in the last year. Having been to Maine many times, and spent ample time there, I recognize that Maine FUNK in the smell. The finished bud has blue calyxes, but retains the green leaf. The smell... OOOF!!! Even the slightest jostling of the plant will make the room smell like sweet berries, especially when the plant is given organic or organically-based nutrients... I have grown MOB with both non-organic and organic nutrients... the organic nutes REALLY make that smell pop! Very, very, very strong sweet berry thang going on with this plant.

The draw backs of MOB are: slow to veg, very stout, leafy plant (but not too leafy in the bud, thank God). Being a stout plant that finishes fast is certainly one of the reasons the Maine growers kept this plant and held it in such high regard. The smell profile reminds me of other plants with high tolerance for damp, chilly conditions... likely to be very mold resistant.

She won't stretch much in flower at all... so it takes a lot longer to veg her out to flowerable height. Not the best indoor production plant, but if you like an super sweet berry smell, and that certain, indescribable Maine pot FUNK, MOB should be on your wish list.

As for a high, well, most good pot has a similar level of high, to be honest. The differences seem almost unmentionable for most pot. This one's the same, gets me baked like most of the elite clones and their offspring. This pot's best attribute has to be the smell/taste.




And here's a regular visitor to my garden. They seem to have taken up residence in my house, up in the ceilings, most likely. We have recessed lighting in the house, providing access for critters to get up into the ceiling. We get ladybugs appearing randomly all year long. I take them down to the garden to live their lives out in relative peace and good weather. Never rains!

Those are some nice healthy nugs, man!

Awesome you got Sharon back!

there ARE still some good ole friendly faces still around, who I really enjoy seeing.

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Likewise!

I see you're still rockin the Apollo genetics.

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Yeah, that pathway will always be there for me.

Hope you're staying dry today.

Lookin' good. Just curious, for production with the Chem D. . what is your routine with that plant in terms of pot size, topping routine, veg time & rough yield?

Thanks for all the pics, I can't believe this thread has been up this long & I missed it!

very nice thread CC, great pics and infos

Awesome thread CC! Just goes to show, when you listen to your plants and give them what they need, they will reward you greatly. U def know what your doing my man. Im getting ready to put in a veggie garden, I could use some tips from the soil man himself. I was thinking about putting in a series of raised beds. I have loads of top soil and other amendities at my disposal. Hit me up with a pm sometime. I have a few questions for ya. Peace to you and yours.

B. Self Reliant said:

Lookin' good. Just curious, for production with the Chem D. . what is your routine with that plant in terms of pot size, topping routine, veg time & rough yield?

Thanks for all the pics, I can't believe this thread has been up this long & I missed it!

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Chem D production... Well, I do almost all varieties the same, here's the basic routine:
Clone goes into beer cup with LARGE holes at the bottom (not just for water to drain, but large enough for air exchange at the roots)... they stay in the cups until about 6-8 inches tall.

While in the cups, Chem D gets topped once between the 5th and 6th node (some plants may get it at the 4th, depending on variety). After topping, it's just a waiting game until they are 6-8 inches and ready to transplant to their final container. While waiting to achieve this 6-8 inches, the plant should branch out due to the topping at the 5th or 6th node.

Then they go into their final containers and allowed to veg until the appropriate height is achieved for flowering. Things to take seriously about this time are... Make sure the root system has colonized the container very well, not root-bound, but firmly entrenched in the growing medium. Why? Well, most indoor varieties are indica dominant or hybrids thereof, and indicas come from areas where there are very definite growing seasons, spring, summer, fall. During the srping and early summer, the plants are growing new branches, leaves and roots... then, when they begin to bloom, all their growth energy is diverted to flowering. This means that these indica varieties will stop producing new roots after they are firmly in flower stage, so, if the roots have not completely colonized the container they're in, they never will. Problems arise when you are flowering a plant with more growing medium than the roots need. Uncolonized growing medium is a breeding ground for troubles, like bacteria, fungi and pH and toxicity issues caused by adding nutrient to the medium that has no roots there to use it. After a while, these areas devoid of roots can become toxic, and the plants will start to exhibit strange problems that drive growers crazy because they don't know what the hell they did wrong.

The moral of that root colonization story is... make sure you allow the plants' roots to thoroughly use up the space in the container BEFORE setting them to bloom.

There IS an exception to this rule... sativas. Sativas can be transplanted immediately before setting them to flower because they come from places where the growing and flowering seasons are blurred into one long season. Therefore, sativas will grow their roots and their buds at the same time. Longer-term sativas (90-120 days) can even benefit from transplanting DURING the first half of bloom. The general rule with sativas is... the buds will grow as long as there's room for the roots to grow.

You asked about veg time... I can only guess, since I go by eye... when they're ready, they're ready.... whether it takes 2 weeks or 2 months. But I would guess the Chem D gets 3 weeks in the cup, 2-3 weeks in the 3 gallon container, then flowered.

Yields with this method, for me, 4-6 ounces is average, with the occasional plant (probably the odd plant that gets an extra week or two in veg) can go to 7-8 ounces. We have even seen ECSD clones do 8-10 ounces with this method. They were flowered tall, though, maybe two feet tall when they went into the flowering room.

If I had to attribute my yields to a couple of key points, they would be...
1. Making sure the plant is fully rooted in the container it will be flowered in (for most plants, exempting sativas).
2. Keeping all aspects of the garden even-keeled and stable (temps, humidity, pH, ppm). Any fluctuation, even moderate, will decrease potential.
3. Giving each plant as much space to grow as possible, ESPECIALLY during it's first month in flower... after that, they can be packed in a little tighter because bud set has finished.
4. Flood the room with light, don't skimp on light if you don't have to. Every corner of the room should be vibrant and bright. Shadowy corners, even behind plants, is a sign of lack of light potential. Light should be bouncing all around the room. If you can't add more light to achieve this brightness, let me suggest making the grow area smaller around the light you DO have to work with, so as to concentrate it's power on a smaller area. Light intensity is very important to these monster yields, can't be stressed enough.

Hope this helped a little.

Mad.Dapper said:

Awesome thread CC! Just goes to show, when you listen to your plants and give them what they need, they will reward you greatly. U def know what your doing my man. Im getting ready to put in a veggie garden, I could use some tips from the soil man himself. I was thinking about putting in a series of raised beds. I have loads of top soil and other amendities at my disposal. Hit me up with a pm sometime. I have a few questions for ya. Peace to you and yours.

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MD, I am pretty good at indoor growing methods, I can say this confidently. However, outdoor growing is not my area of expertise. I can do it, but there are guys in the organic forums that would be much better at explaining what to do for an outdoor veggie garden than myself.

Actually, my knowledge of indoor gardening has made it more difficult for me to have a garden outdoors, because I end up trying to micromanage my outdoor garden like I do my indoor garden, and in the end the two methods are as related as apples and oranges. Outdoors, you need to worry about drainage, acidity, alkalinity, weeds, pests, it's a whole thing... and I'm not the guy to ask for expert opinions on outdoor gardens... and that's my expert opinion. I will, however, be doing a garden outdoors this year... and I will also be researching the work of the outdoor organic gurus.

As you know, getting complete & concise answers around here can be a rare thing. I appreciate you taking the time to type out that amazing response! That's some real knowledge and every word was absorbed. . .

My veg area, like many smaller veg areas seen around here, is lit solely by T5's & can really only support moms, clones & vegging plants up to 6" tall or so. After that 6" height they seem to stop growing new nodes and just stretch between the nodes that already exist. It sounds like I could greatly benefit from a separate veg area with a higher intensity light source that would allow me to veg for a few weeks in larger containers. Like many growers, I tend to shy away from vegging in my flowering space because of the time it adds between harvests. Sounds like the veg time in larger containers and the corresponding increase in yield is well worth the added couple of weeks though (assuming you follow your rules stated above). . .

I'll have to give your routine/process a try. We'll have to see how my AK-47 cut likes that whole topping thing. I'm excited!

In your first post you mentioned your feeding routine. When you water with the full-strength nutrients do you allow 10-15% to drain out the bottom each time? What about when you use water every third time? Are you full on flushing with the water or are you just adding it until it saturates the container and then letting the plant feed off the resulting "mix"?

Good luck with your outdoor garden. As a systematic guy who likes the absoluteness of the numbers involved with hydroponics, I had quite a good time growing my first couple outdoor organic crops over the last two seasons. It was a huge change & it drove me crazy that I couldn't micromanage the plants as you call it, but in the end it was amazing to see the plant in it's natural environment! I can now appreciate the systematic world of indoor hydro as much as I can appreciate the outdoor world of organic topdressings!

I am a minimalist, and a purist. As such, I still must maintain three separate growing stages...
1. the cloning/cup stage, where I do my cloning and also do stage one vegging, under T-5 lights.

2. I use one of those grow tents with T-5 lights in it... This provides great humidity and in such a perfectly enclosed area, you can get away with using only T-5 lights, and still get veg results like mine. I use a 4x4 tent with a single, 6-bulb, 4 foot T-5. Amazingly, this light is enough to do all my vegging at this garden. It's all about the light retention of the grow tent. I love that thing! hehehe

3. Flower room, where I use as much wattage as I can squeeze in.

Haha. . . not what I expected to hear! I'll have to give it a shot. I can throw that together with gear I've got layin' around I'm sure. . .

What part did you not expect to hear?

I guess given your philosophy of packing in light wherever you can during flowering, I thought you'd have a similar line of thinking with the veg area supporting that flowering space. I think it's encouraging to hear that you get such epic results with a very modest & simple vegging space.

Like most things I've learned around here in the last couple years, my issue has been with me as a gardener and not with a lack of equipment or space. . . so I had to laugh a little!

Crazy Composer said:

I am a minimalist, and a purist. As such, I still must maintain three separate growing stages...
1. the cloning/cup stage, where I do my cloning and also do stage one vegging, under T-5 lights.

2. I use one of those grow tents with T-5 lights in it... This provides great humidity and in such a perfectly enclosed area, you can get away with using only T-5 lights, and still get veg results like mine. I use a 4x4 tent with a single, 6-bulb, 4 foot T-5. Amazingly, this light is enough to do all my vegging at this garden. It's all about the light retention of the grow tent. I love that thing! hehehe

3. Flower room, where I use as much wattage as I can squeeze in.

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so what bulbs do you use in the T5 ?

how many watts per foot for the flower room, also what reflectors and bulbs do you use ?



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