Couple of questions???

[dbfr3sh]

how can you tell if your plant is nute-hungry? i mean i water every two days and they always look fine, but i dont know if they could use more nutrients. there green as healthy as could be so i know there not underfed but i want to squeeze as much out of my bonsai plants as i can. Oh, also its organic soil and organic nutrients.


another question....do you think the lower branches need to be cut to allow for a t5HO setup to penetrate the canopy and also to provide better airflow?

 

[Weedninja]

There's no magic bullet to tell you when your plants are hungry. I would recommend that you familiarize yourself with the symptoms of macronute deficiencies (N,P and K) and the 2 biggest micronute deficiencies(Mg and Ca). Then you can deal with them as soon as you have a problem. But other than that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I would probably hack some some clones out of the lower growth. Are they bonsai moms or are you going to flower them?

 

[dbfr3sh]

ive taken some clones only about 10 as im not really going to keep the heritage going. its a beautiful plant like i said with NO DEFICIENCIES whats-so-ever. they are tottally healthy, and yes i am going to flowering them. this is a test grow for a later grow where i will be starting a breeding process in search of the most beautiful strain. there being flowered under 340w t5HO and t8 bulbs. this is only a personal amount for me to test quality and dial in my organic skills. i decided to grow scrog to help with the shitty light penetration and get all my buds around the same height but unlike scrog im keeping lower buds (under the screen) producing buds. i wanted to remove leaves just to help with lower bud production and so i dont get moisture build up and prevent mould.

Very healthy and only 8-10in tall with 15 main branches per plant (X5 plants) in a closet 2'w X 4'L

 

[Weedhound]

They look great to me too! I totally agree with Weedninja....if it aint broke.....

 

[dbfr3sh]

you guys still think that with the low penetration strength of the t5 it would be in my best interest to leave it alone? so if i do that will definatly lead to smaller popcorn buds below the screen?

 

[theHIGHlander]

take some off the lower branches off bro, thay wont be getting much light, it will work out better for you plants as thay wont have to put any energy into growing lower growth thats only going to be popcorn bud at the end of the day, (that energy/food/water is better of going to the top buds)...

it will also help with air circulation and help prevent againt bugs hiding in the lower growth

keep it green
highlander

 

[dbfr3sh]

thank you. thats what i was looking for.

 

[Weedninja]

take some off the lower branches off bro, thay wont be getting much light, it will work out better for you plants as thay wont have to put any energy into growing lower growth thats only going to be popcorn bud at the end of the day, (that energy/food/water is better of going to the top buds)...

it will also help with air circulation and help prevent againt bugs hiding in the lower growth

keep it green
highlander

Agree 100%

 

[pokerfish]

Just had to chime in, even with the t5's, keep all the larger fan leaves below the netting... only cut the growing shoots during your trim. They will still get some light & process energy. Likely they will die back late in blooming, but keep them as long as they can contribute. Also, you'll need everything you can get contribution wise under the t5's.

I run the t5's for my veg trays & wish I hadn't due to the heat. They work, but when you get several banks running w/o ability to air-cool, they contribute a considerable amount of heat. You already mentioned "shitty" for flower, so you know. But, if you air-cool a 600hps, from my best estimation, this will put off less heat than a bank of 6 t5's (324w). The ballasts & bulbs do add up. Funny no one mentions this & only that the bulbs are "low-heat"...

 

[dbfr3sh]

Just had to chime in, even with the t5's, keep all the larger fan leaves below the netting... only cut the growing shoots during your trim. They will still get some light & process energy. Likely they will die back late in blooming, but keep them as long as they can contribute. Also, you'll need everything you can get contribution wise under the t5's.

I run the t5's for my veg trays & wish I hadn't due to the heat. They work, but when you get several banks running w/o ability to air-cool, they contribute a considerable amount of heat. You already mentioned "shitty" for flower, so you know. But, if you air-cool a 600hps, from my best estimation, this will put off less heat than a bank of 6 t5's (324w). The ballasts & bulbs do add up. Funny no one mentions this & only that the bulbs are "low-heat"...

i totally agree with you, they give off alot of heat. i run 4t5s at the top along with two t8 bulbs on each side, giving it like a 4ft "dome" look. it gets very hot in there so i have one fan at one end between the lights and the tops and another that blows air right under the screen in the middle. with no air coming up until it reaches the other end of the closet it gets very hot in my grow room.
but i dont agree about needing all the leaves becasue of the t5s, mine plants love it and are very very healthy with no signs of deficiencies or anything. they are small no doubt but that was the idea for me, considering im using t5s. but what i did was use the scrog screen to sort out the tops and keep them all the same height but also let the lower buds develope becuase ill use some of the smallest ones for tincture. ive been trimming the middle of the plants a little bit to help light penetration into the heart of the plant, as you can see by my pictures that there is little light wasted. ive crammed 5 plants from seed under a 4ft lamp. these plants seem not to care about being trimmed as there is still hundreds of leaves fighting for light. as the top buds are the biggest prize they have 100% direct light but as there are soo many lower buds i need to get them some light as well. there are over 80 main branches on 5 plants and each of those has 8-10 smaller budsites on them, making about 600budsites under the t5s. i know the buds wont be as big as a 400w hps but im hoping with the tons of smaller buds i will make up for it. there only on day 15 and there developing buds really well. in just a couple days from flowering there was already a tiny coat of trichs on the leaves. NOW at two weeks there completely covered with them and everyday they bulk up more and more.

as this is my first real thought out indoor grow i dont really know how developed they need to be per week, i know they dont swell towards the end but im used to doing outdoors for the last 4yrs so i dont really get to see the progress as much.

anyways thanks for reading ill leave you with some eye candy at LESS THAN TWO WEEKS....