First Time to Use 400W HPS and FoxFarm Ferts!

[Air Freshener]

This is my grow log for bagseeds sprouted in December and January. I have four plants of various sizes, with main stems from two nodes to eight nodes. It's my second time to grow indoors and the first time i've used a 400W HPS or any fertilizers.

The weed these seeds came from was pretty good, but the goal here is not so much to produce the most potent bud. It's more to improve my grow skills and see how much [weight] I can get out of these four plants.



I've always heard good things about FoxFarm products and my local hydroponics store guy recommended it. Been using this and it has really made everything grow fast!


Here are the fantastic four.


Here's the youngest baby. A very strong, vigorous seedling.


Here's the runt from the first three. It's finally making some headway after a very slow, stunted seedlinghood.


Next in line, this one had a kindof mutant childhood. It was putting out leaves in threes instead of twos, and as another surprise, the main stem divided in two at the fifth node. Talk about convenient!


Close-up of the self-split stem.


This is the fastest grower, it grew twice as fast as the others. Although it's from the same bag, its leaves are a different shape and color from its siblings. Who's my baby daddy?!


It was growing out of control so I took Young Giver's advice (thanks!) and played Gumby with it. It was really forgiving and let me bend it all the way over and secure with a shaped clothes hangar without any snapping branches. Hopefully that'll slow it down some!

I think I'll start 12/12 at the end of this week. That should have them finishing right around the middle of April. Don't want to be going any longer than that. Can anybody tell me how long into 12/12 before they'll show sex?

Comments appreciated!

-AF

 

[Air Freshener]

My light!

 

[mosess187]

Wow ...i have the same grow....same perdictiment as you ....i currently have some bagseed.....1bubba kush...1 ?......3 VBSxAK-47....just pulled 1?..she yielded 17g...picked her early though at 6 weeks.....i try to keep at least five plants going in a 39L tub.....under 1 400watt hps....i'm using all ff/ with a little ej bloom

 

[Guest]

Right on air freshener low stress treatment will always result in a more stalky plants thats have more branches all at even levals producing a whole bunch of equally potent budds. It also keeps things short. I have found that it always doubles yield so does super cropping.

 

[Jnugg]

Nice grow you got there Airfresh.

here is a little something to help you along your way with FF Nutes and I highly reccomend the new soluble tri-pack (Open Seasame,Beastie Bloomz and Cha-Ching)!






And in case you decide to go hydro and with FF's Hydro version og GB,TB AND BB then you could use this aswell.

 

[Air Freshener]

Good day to you all...

Jnugg, thanks for the tips. I will be using FoxFarms blooming ferts when i start 12/12. I think it's called big bloom? Have yet to go get it.

Young Giver, i gave #2 some big twisty treatment last night and today. trying to give those lower branches a bit more light.

mosess, cool, would love to see pics of yours!

Now on to today's pics...

The fab four...


#4. Looks like this little dude won't get the chance to grow big. He'll have maybe one more set of leaves before 12/12 starts.


#1. After some rigorous bending and twisting, the lower branches are catching up nicely to the main stem.


#3. This little one is also not going to put out much if it's female, but that's what it gets for being such a slacker in the beginning.


#2. Finally getting a little too tall, i pinched one of its growing tips and bent the other one way over. Give those lower branches a chance at the light.

I'm a little concerned about pot size...I should probably repot the two bigger guys before 12/12 starts, wouldn't you say? Will repotting *and* switching light cycles all at once stress them out too much?

Maybe I'll repot tonight and give them two days of 18/6 to recover, then switch to 12/12. Sound good? Guess we'll see!

Thanks guys,

-AF

 

[Guest]

Dont do both re-potting and light switch...

Dont do both re-potting and light switch...

I wouldn't try to repott them. And then switch them to 12/12 that might be a little to much shock in one day. I would say give it a couple days like you were talking about under 18/6 then flip them over.

 

[Air Freshener]

Is it harmful to repot AFTER switching to 12/12?

I'd like to know their sex *before* I go through all the hubbub of giving them nice big pots and new soil.

???

 

[Jnugg]

It's not neccesarily harmful to transplant after switching to 12/12 but the key is to give the the plants as little shock as possible,no shock being best,while flowering.

It could delay ripening of the buds,slow down flowering process.

Rule of thumb is to transplant and prune one to two weeks prior to switching to 12/12.Also flush the growing medium a week before switching to 12/12.

Fox Farms flower ferts are Tiger Bloom and Big Bloom and are to be used together (see the feeding chart).Their new line of soluble's are excellent (Open Seasame,Beastie Bloomz and Cha-Ching) aids in the flowering process,your local hydro store may have some sample bags of them left,if not they are expensive but well worth the buck.

 

[Guest]

The only fertilizer that I use use is rabbit and goat shit. Along with bloodmeal, bonemeal, and wood ash...

 

[Air Freshener]

Repot successful! I only repotted the three biggest ones, the little baby probably isn't going to get too much bigger. I bought all-in-one organic soil mix and 10" pots for the job. Now just a couple days to recover and on to 12/12!

 

[Air Freshener]

Well, today's the last day of 18/6, and these kids will be getting their first 12 hours of darkness tonight.

Here's their last unsexed mugshots, hopefully within a few days they'll show me some preflowers!



#1, height 10 inches. My pride and joy, this one has been the model for a perfect grow. With just a little training here and there, i'm managed to shape it into a flat top with over 12 budsites.

Here's hoping she's a she!


#2, height 10 inches. This one has been coming on with strong growth of the lower branches this week. More of a Christmas tree shape. Although the lower branches haven't gotten the chance to catch up to the top, they should still form some decent buds. This one really smells like *pot* so i'll be surprised if it's a male.



A deformed seedling, #3 has turned into a rather nice little 6.5-inch plant. Because it hasn't been topped, I'll be looking for a fat little cola on this one.



#4 was a late starter, but it's done pretty well considering, making it up to 5 nodes in just a few weeks. I've read that a plant this young won't flower properly, but I think this one is old enough to do something. At only 5.5 inches, it'll be interesting to see how much total stretch occurs on this little guy.

Let's hope i didn't jinx it by callin' him a guy.



Got my FoxFarm Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom all ready to go, i'll start administering them in a few days. My local hydro store guy said that I should start out only with the Big Bloom, and at half strength. He said that if i followed the instructions on the bottle, I'd kill the plants. Ya think so?

Well, wish me luck on getting lots of girls!

AF

 

[Guest]

congrats.

I wish I started on foxfarm, but I bought a "combo kit" that included DNF nutes..

I plan on still using foxfarm soluables though. Week 3 of 12/12 starting here, so I only need the last two or so.

 

[Air Freshener]

Update...stretch has begun...#4 has shot up from 5.5 to 8 inches in just three days!

Other ones are reaching for the lights as well...but not quite as dramatically. I'm waiting anxiously to see which ones are girls!! It's amazing how much you wish time away with these babies. I've never wanted to fast forward 55 days so much in my life! I think having grown before makes you even more anxious because you know what you're waiting for. It's good though too, because it teaches you patience and gives you something to look forward to.

57 days left!!

A Fresh

 

[Jnugg]

Stoked for ya!

 

[Air Freshener]

12/12 Day 8!



Well, I got a sneaking suspicion my biggest and most shapely plant #1 is, in fact, a boy. These two pics are a little fuzzy but it's pretty apparent that these are those dreaded little balls peeking out.




#3, on the other hand, has started to form tight rosettes (a 'plant pussy,' if you will) at the end of all its branches and I spied a couple of very tiny white hairs poking up out of one of the nodes, leading me to declare that I do in fact have a girl in my midst!


Now it's just a waiting game to see about #2 and #4 because neither of them have showed any signs of sex yet. They both have stretched quite a bit and I attribute alot of stretch to males, but I'm not gonna call anything until there's good evidence. Hopefully in a couple of days it will be abundantly clear who will be chopped and who will be allowed to flourish to maturity.

Finally, a pic of light broken into a spectrum on the wall. Light, the source of all our fun!