First grow @57th lat, Hybrids From Hell, Questions

[roboo]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Hi guys.
I have several questions and I'm sure you will be able to help me out with some advice.
I have spent some time by studying the process and have prepared quiet well for this grow.
This will be my first outdoor grow. I'm located @57th lat. As you can imagine, I chose some of the HFH strains after reading so much good things about the genetics for northern climates.

I contacted Esben and ordered some seeds. (Thanks for some freebies, Esben) Here is a list of what I have for this year:

13 The Monk
05 Danish Gold
05 Leb27S
05 Leb27 V2
13 Wild1

To kickstart it, I have seedlings 24/0, 24/under some LEDs for several days now, first green things are starting to appear. In 10 days or so I'm planning to move them under 400 MH light. Would use 20/4 for a while and gradually synchronize to the reality outside, which at the time of bringing them outdoors would be around 16-17h of daylight.

So here are some questions:

1) I have prepared some nice spots, but the area is limited and I would like to avoid killing males outside. How long might it be under the 400mh until I can see the sex of the plant?

2) Having the previous question in mind, what would be the best grow bag size for this period? I would like to save some space indoors under the MH, so would be good to know how small of a pot is not too small?

3) I would also like to do some topping and later LST when outside - I'm wondering what is the best time for topping? Inside under the MH or better to start it outdoors?

I guess that it at the moment. Thanks in advance for your replies! [/FONT]

 

[Buddah Watcha]

Hey Roboo! Welcome, and good luck on the season!

You started off well, for your first grow, by choosing the right strains for your location.

I would try to match the day lenght of the outside to the inside as better as you can, to avoid shock and early flowering when they are moved to the outside!

Some strains show sex relatively early, around week 2-4, some might take a while longer to show sex.. Males do usually show their balls a bit earlier tho!

When are you trying to put them outside?

I would keep them in 1 gallon bags for at least a month or two, if they are looking a bit rootbound by transplant to the outside type, slowly break the roots that are rootbound a bit.

You can also just move them outside and plant it relatively close and expect to chop 50% of the plants, therefore creating more space. 2 or 3 per hole would be smart! That way your odds of ending at least with 1 female is high!

Regarding the training techniques, I like supercropping outdoors, you are able to easily train them to grow into bushes and the bending of the branches also make them stronger, which then can support higher winds.

I also would recommend, using some bamboo stakes and trying the main branches to give some extra support.

Anyways, hope this helps!

Best of luck!

 

[soil margin]

1) I have prepared some nice spots, but the area is limited and I would like to avoid killing males outside. How long might it be under the 400mh until I can see the sex of the plant?

It might be awhile honestly depending on the strain. I'd suggest waiting until all the plants are 15-20 days old then put them in flowering light period inside until you see which are males, then chop those dudes and re-veg the rest outside.

2) Having the previous question in mind, what would be the best grow bag size for this period? I would like to save some space indoors under the MH, so would be good to know how small of a pot is not too small?

Growing outdoors with no security concerns, bigger is always better. So you will have to decide what's the size you can handle. Something in the 20-30 gallon range would give a decent yield while not being too hard to move around by hand.

3) I would also like to do some topping and later LST when outside - I'm wondering what is the best time for topping? Inside under the MH or better to start it outdoors?

Most people who top or LST are doing it to maintain yield indoors with a limited growing height. If security/size isn't a concern outdoors, I'd probably avoid those techniques altogether. If you are gonna top them, it's imo better to wait until they are in their final resting place. No need to increase stress by topping and then transplanting.

 

[tokersmoke]

A 30 gallon pot that was just watered is pretty hard to move around!^^^lol

 

[roboo]

Thanks guys for your ideas. It made me thing about it and i did some research.

It might be awhile honestly depending on the strain. I'd suggest waiting until all the plants are 15-20 days old then put them in flowering light period inside until you see which are males, then chop those dudes and re-veg the rest outside.

What do you think if i grow them for 3 weeks, take a clone from each plant and bring those clones straight to 12/12 for sexing and then just kill the plants that which gave me the male clones?

I guess it would be less stress for the plants and save some time.

Would it be a good idea to combine cloning with topping the plants just to make them bushier?

When are you trying to put them outside?

It all depends on the sexing process. I was planning to plant them outside in the end of may and then the daylight is around 17h. So thats more than a month from now and the seedlings are under 24/0 for 4 days now.

Thanks

 

[roboo]

Any other opinions, guys?

 

[The_Core]

I am running 4 strains by HFH.

WILD 3
WILD SUPER07
MONK
SE12

I soaked the seeds for 24 then planted on May 1st. After about 2 weeks of growing I moved them outside into 30 liter bottomless grow bags with just potting soil. I have fertilized 3 times with 2 or 3 times with Bio Bizz organic. They have been growing for about 28 days now and still have not shown sex.


https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=285139


Hope this helped. If you have more questions let me know. Look in my photo gallery to see more updated pictures.