Seedlings are sprouting in coco - what now? First grow!

[Guest]

hotc, thanks for the input, man. No, I'm talking about the hairs and not the trichs. I figured the color change in trichome color shouldn't be far behind the hair change but I'm again showing my inexperience. I really want the buds to fatten up more before the plant starts shutting down so I kinda am hoping it's not imminent.

gaius, sup man. No, the bulb isn't in the water, lol. It's actually a double walled tube and the water is flowing through the space between the walls of the tube and the bulb's in the airspace in the middle. Sorry I wasn't very clear. Yeah, it was the fact that the lack of heat would change the way our grow areas were constructed that was the really amazing part to me. When you hold your hand underneath the ligth, there is a tiny bit ot radiant heat that you feel but probably equivalent to what you feel about 2 feet under a light in a normal setup.

Peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

yea the harvest window is another important part of growing. take them early and you can end up with a product that doesn't quite satisfy. so it's very important to check the trichome heads. the pistil hairs can turn ripe for other reasons too, so it's safer to rely on the trichome heads. as ripe trichomes = ripe cannabis. after waiting 3 months it would be a terrible shame to be impatient at the end. specially as the full taste and effect are only developed by the plant towards the end of 12/12. as you probably read, you need a scope to check the heads of the trichs, to begin with they will have see through heads on the stalks, with time they get milky and then the odd amber one shows up, at this point its a matter of days only till you have a good 10% amber trichome heads. i start to flush with the first sighting of amber trichome heads. (not on the pre flowers of course.) after a big flush i'll let the pump water automatically, with plain ph'ed water, for the last 5 days or so before chop. apart from clearing out the left over N from the medium, we get a great tasting product within days of being dry, which only gets even better with the cure. added to this the medium is perfectly cleaned for the new start. that coco will be full of beneficial bacterial etc, with an ec of below 0.9, i find the coco works even better the second time then the first. i'm not looking forward to chucking my slabs out at the end of this run, but it has been 4 times and they need to go, lol. i can't wait to harvest the SDv3, not that i don't look forward to the widow, but i still have some ww while my sdv3 is down to maybe 3 gs that stuff is sooo tasty to smoke it's a real treat. i actually want to enter it for the 420 at one point, as it is distinctive enough to make a mark in the growers category. not this year though, i could only get a few judges high with 3 gs lol.

happy easter old chap, keep up the great work you are doing and maybe give us another update when you can man.

how is the trichome coverage looking? any close ups?

peace and good growings

 

[Guest]

Good info, dude. Least you got something to smoke, lol. Been a looooonnnng dry spell for me. Last was before this grow and was kinda hung out to dry a couple of times. Oh well, another story for another time. That's the whole reason I'm growing my own now. Not gonna be as good a grower as you but close maybe, lmfao. I've got to tell ya man, your grows are excellent!

Information about the harvest timing is really appreciated. Don't worry my friend, not gonna get impatient and jump the gun on it. I'm of the same mind as you, always thinking about time invested and not wanting to have done it for inferior quality. I'm thinking the yield on these two plants is gonna be pretty good. Top cola on the Widow is over 14 inches long and at about 3.5 inches in diameter now. Aurora's cola's about 8" and over 4" in diameter. Side growth is out the ass on em. And I think I'm probably still about 2-3 weeks from harvest unless things start happening really fast.

Still got the leaf spots dude and they seem to have gotten slowly worse on the leaves that were originally affected. No other leaves have developed the spots, just those. And nothing on the Widow, all on the indica. I'm cutting the A+B back from 6mL/gal to 4mL/gal, then in a week maybe to 2-3 mL/gal. In a week, I'll probably give them another shot of PK for a couple of feedings then ride it out with just the reduced A+B till about 5 or 6 days from harvest, then probably 50/50 straight water, pH 5.8 for the final days.

Sure would like to keep these two as moms till I can get some better. Is that gonna be possible, or are they gonna fry during the week of famine?

Looks like I'm in the home stretch, dude. I owe you a lot, gaius. 420 next year, dude. Wife'll be comin with me so ya gotta swear ya won't tell her the shit I've been saying bout her on here, lol. Not pussy whipped, just addicted if you know what I'm sayin. lol.

12 more days for you? Be safe, have fun, and get layin on your face stoned for me, dude. Like I could keep you from it, lmao.

Pictures as requested. I'm tired so you sort em out, man.

Peace bro

 

[gaiusmarius]

marvelous looking updates, i agree 2 to 3 more weeks needed. but they are definitely in the end phase, which means that the old fan leaves will start to die off. despite the spots on the leaves i don't think you need to go any lower with your nutes, it's too early to lower them, the buds still look totally white. although the WW still looks darker then the Aurora? those buds are still making them selves, so don't stop giving them the petrol they need to do it. the WW will not mind you going down a bit, but the aurora is already looking like she's been flushed.

at this point in the plants life you have to concentrate on keeping things smooth, any stress can stop the new pistils from growing and switch her over to ripening up. admittedly it's getting to be that time anyway slowly, but you still don't want to rush them. let them show you when they are ready to have their feed reduced.

i must say, you have done a great job. and at this point you can't really do much wrong. even if she starts ripening up right now, they still will make massive colas.

how much floor space is being used by the plants? i'm wondering how many watts per square meter you are giving them. it will be very interesting to see what you manage to yield.

later.....

 

[Guest]

sup gaius, these two are filling up the closet. The Aurora's up against the wall on three sides and crowding the WW in the middle. You can see from the shots that they're overlapping a bit in the middle. Widow's got a foot clearance from the side wall. So, closet's 7.75' wide X 27" deep X 8' tall and that means the two plants together are spanning about 6.75' and they both have their branches leaning on the front and back walls. I haven't been able to take them out of the closet for weeks now for fear of ripping off branches coming through the door.

Got them under 1000w - 400w on the left side of the closet over the Widow and 600w on the right over the Aurora. Got some tip burn on both plants so today I stopped the PK that I had been giving as the second dose began about 4 days ago. Checked the ec of the runoff today and got 2.3 after giving them 1.9 in their feed. A lot of that ec was Cannazyme and pH down. A+B has been at 6mL/gal and I mixed nutes tonight at 4mL/gal and fed to about 20% runoff to try and get some of the salty shit out, hehe. Probably gonna go back up to the standard 6mL/gal tomorrow and see how they do. Gotta tell ya, dude. PK is strong shit even after reducing the A+B while giving it. I was only feeding PK at 6mL/gal along with about 5mL/gal of A+B and the tips of the leaved curled and burned a little. I won't starve them dude I promise, lol. But thanks for bein concerned. I'll tell the girls uncle G is lookin out for them.

Peace bro

 

[gaiusmarius]

cool, you really do have it under control.

yeah man, the pk 13/14 is strong shit indeed. very easy to over do it lol. it seems to do such a good job on first application, that one is tempted to give some more, but that can already be too much for some plants.

anyway at this point a burned leaf tip here and there is no longer such a big concern, as long as the buds and the bud leaves have a healthy look to them you are good.

at this point you do want to keep a very close eye on the main colas, as mold can arrive very suddenly and it starts on the inside. the only symptom is often a single small bud leaf that looks dried up and dead, when you pull said dead leaf out you can then see the mold inside the bud. so keep a sharp eye on any irregularities in the main colas. just so you know what to watch for, although with low rh and enough air movement your buds should be safe.

peace out

 

[Guest]

Thanks man. rh is at 35%-40% right now and I've got the blower that pulls the air into the closet through the passive intakes, scrubs it with the carbon filter and exhausts it back into the main room blowing 24/7 and always have had. Used to have a fan inside the closet circulating the air but ran out of room for it a few weeks back. I'm thinking the low rh along with the 275 cfm fan going ought to keep the air freshened enough to eliminate mold, RIGHT???

Put the fan on the floor (only place I could find room, fucking plants too big!!! lol) yesterday and turned it on. It blew the heat from the top of the closet down and put the plants in a 84 degree environment instead of the usual 78-79 range. Thought the heat would be more of a problem than not having the extra circulation so I turned it off.

Exhaust fan is exchanging the air in the closet twice a minute so I would think that's enough.

 

[gaiusmarius]

Hey mojo,

when do we get another update? plants must be looking juicier every day, lol. keep up the great work and you will soon be enjoying the fruits of your labors

 

[Guest]

Picked up the camera to take some pics and the batteries were dead, lol. When they're charged I'll put some up. The wife's been using the camera and she never puts the batteries on charge. Started to get pissed about it but then I remembered IT'S HER CAMERA!!! lol.

 

[Guest]

Not much going on. This stage is sort of like watching paint dry. Watered three times today to make sure my ec buildup in the coco is over with. ec and pH going in 1.5/5.8 - ec coming out 1.45/5.8 so I think I've got it whipped.

Thought maybe I'd make a list of reasons I hate growing in coco.

1. Was looking forward to being able to fill up the set of shelves I bought with really cool nutrients. All I ended up with were A+B, Canazyme, Rhizotonic and PK 13/14. Tried to get fancy and bought some Cal-Mag+ but ended up almost making the plants puke with it so that's out.

2. Wanted to work really hard at growing so my wife would be impressed. Have to stay in the grow room and kill time by looking at internet porn just so she'll think I'm working hard at growing.

3. Thought maybe I'd be able to learn a lot by having to deal with all the root problems and resulting ailments my plants would get during the grow. Fucking coco refuses to let things get out of whack!

4. When I get bored, I get into trouble and lately I've been apologizing a lot to the little woman.

5. Thought maybe I'd be able to have some stuff around the house here that was just mine and nobody else's. Found out a couple of weeks ago the wife's been sneaking around and using my coco and nute water to re-pot and feed her patio plants.

6. Felt sure I'd really be able to exercise my mind by having to remember formulas and so far this is all I get to learn because I grow in fucking coco:

Water - 50/50 mix of tap and RO
pH 5.8
ec 1.5 - 1.75 depending on the stage of the grow
A+B for the entire grow
Rhizotonic whenever I want to
Canazyme if I want to reuse the coco or if I just feel like using it.
PK 13/14 the second week of 12/12 and again at week 4 if I want to burn my plants a little so I'll have something to correct for a change. This one was actually fun cause it gave me something to worry about for a day or two - not because I needed to worry but because I wanted to worry.
Almost forgot to add FLUSHING! In coco, any problem I get I apparently just FLUSH out with pH'd water and the problem's gone. I mean really gone! I don't get to mix up any cool shit to doctor my plants with or anything! Fuck!

Anyway, here are the plants. Can't seem to get the things to start having problems. lmfao. I really need to get a hobby so I'll have something to do besides writing bullshit like this.










Oh yeah, after previewing my post, there's one more thing that's pissing me off. I hate the fact that I'm shorter than one of my fucking plants!!!

 

[gaiusmarius]

Lol mojo,

what a list of complaints to have eh? poor you

i had to laugh about your woman using the nute water for her house plants, hehe. from now on tell her she is only allowed to use the run off, rofl.

dude your plants are coming along perfectly, they should really start putting on the trichomes and swelling the calyxes now. by the way, i'm still waiting for a nice macro of the top colas.

specially now as the buds start to make more and more trichomes.

peace out

 

[Guest]

gdude, sorry. I totally forgot to do that. My camera, ooops, I mean the little woman's camera will only get just so close to the subject before it stops focusing. I'll get as close as I can but you may have to take it to 007's headquarters to have it analyzed. lol.

These two just to show some of the growth on the Widow.




Side bud on Indica


Side bud on Widow


Part of top cola on Indica - see the nute damage - stopped it


Top cola on Widow


Side growth on Widow



Well how are they looking? I'm really impressed with the bulk on both plants, but then I'm easily impressed at this stage of the game, lol.

Is there anything that will increase the trich production? Feeding A+B as usual at 6mL/gal. ec at 1.3 and holding steady at that. Got rid of the PK and eased back on the A+B a little bit while I was doing it, but back at full strength on that now. Oh yeah, I'm adding 6mL/gal of Zyme too and that's all they're getting.

Peace gman. Less than a week for you till party time, huh? Don't forget your toothbrush and toothpaste, hehe. 420 get ready for the Gdude. All rise! And bow! WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO GET STONED ON YOUR SHIT, SALUTE YOU! lmfao.

BTW, how do I post LARGE pictures?

Peace bro

Edited:
These pics didn't even come out as large when I clicked on them as they did in my editing software. Might have to save them and reopen them in your picture editing software to get a large enough shot of them to see what's going on with the trichs.

Edited again, damnit!:
Forgot to mention - Day 50 of 12/12 - but then you should have some right at the same age if I remember correctly, lol.

 

[Guest]

i think they are looking great

 

[Guest]

i think they are looking great

Thanks man. Me too but then all us dads think our kids are perfect. They may not be perfect but they're mine and they're the only two I've got, lol.

Peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

yeah the trichomes should really start kicking in soon, just keep things steady, it will probably still take 3 more weeks until they are ripe maybe longer maybe quicker. but they do need to produce more trichomes. how are the temps? in nature towards the end of the cycle the weather gets colder. i have noticed that plants that have cooler temps in the last weeks seem to have more trichs on them. but in the end it's a matter of time and genetics. your WW should have more trichs on it in my opinion. they probably just need time.

anyway, to post a full size pic use [img ] tags at the front and back [/ img] of the full size url. just no space. click on the pic in your gallery and then right click the pic and select properties, copy past that url between the img tags as above without the space. if you are using a mac you just ctrl click on the full size img and select view image. again, copy paste that url in between the [ img ]url here[ /img ] tags. it's best to use it with a bit of moderation for bandwidth reasons and for folks browsing with a slow connection, lol. otherwise have fun. ipe:

 

[Guest]

Gdude, temps begin at 70F at their sunup and end at 79.5F at lights out. rh is stable at 38%-42% all day. I'm counting on the trichs beefing up a little and hoping they beef up a lot. Don't really know what to expect though. After this grow I'll know a little better. Have a safe holiday, friend.

Peace

 

[gaiusmarius]

those temps are fine for the day time, but what are the light off temps like?

anyway the trichs just need time, if they arrive too early it means the yield will not be so good. you are gonna have a full yield so the plant is doing things in the proper order and not rushing any one stage. i'm sure you will slowly see more trichomes every day now.

yeah i intend to have a great time at the 420. i just got the good news about my stash having arrived, so that makes the fun complete, lol. there is nothing like getting other ic mag'ers stoned with your own thc goodies, hehe.

did you get the img code thing?

peace

 

[Guest]

Sorry to be so long gettin back, been hitting the books all day. Sorry I wasn't clear on the temps. When I said they start their day at sunrise at 70, I meant that's what it got down to during the night before their lights came on. There's a steady increase in temps all day till it hits a high of 79-80 right at lights out.

Yeah, man got the img code thing but haven't posted any pics since then so I haven't tried it out. I just right click on the image while it's still in the gallery and add the little thingys you said before and after the full url addy and that will override the small pic url. I then just post them as normal and they pop up full size, hun?

Cool shit about the stash makin trip. Be the shits if it didn't. hehehe. Some customs dude would be happy though.

Spent about an hour tonight tying branches to the stem of the WW so they wouldn't break off. Little shits are heavy. Then I tied the main cola to a bolt on one of the lights, lmfao. Dude I'm not shitting you, the main cola looks like it's gonna be about 15-18 inches long by the time it fills out. Took some more pictures after I tied them up. If you look, you'll be able to see the wife's panty hose - and knicker hose just doesn't sound right so don't come back with that shit, lol. Real good shot of the piece I strung from just under the top cola to the light. Anyway look at all the side buds and how they're plumping up. Indica's got about that much too, it's just not as tall. I'm happy so far with how the potential yield's lookin.

I smelled so good after brushing up against all the buds while I was tying branches, I wanted to smoke myself, lol.

Incidentally, that door is 31" wide, so you can see why I haven't been able to move them in and out of the closet. Matter of fact, as much as the branches sway due to their weight, I'm afraid to move them at all! Nice problem to have I guess. I'd say I've never seen anything like it but then this is my first grow so of course I haven't. lmfao.

 

[gaiusmarius]

nice one on the img code mojo

great work tying them up, this allows the plant to spend most of her energy on flowering, without the plant sending herself signals to stop flowering due to the weight already on the branches. the plant will put some resources to thickening the stems, instead of continuing to expand the buds, if she's not supported. specially in coco as well as other hydro setups, you need to support your buds.

those two ladies are really looking superb, very well formed buds. i think you are gonna be a very happy chapy when you weigh the dry buds

i would advise you to take a lower twig off each plant once they start to look interesting, give the branches a few days on your desk and you will have a nice little early sample to give you an idea what to expect and also to tell you how good it already is. it also helps one to stay patient with the main harvest. with a new strain i will some times even take a couple of samples a week apart. to check out progress on taste and high. it's always helpful to know when the earliest worth while harvest point is for a given strain.

 

[Guest]

Thanks man. Idea on sampling the buds is great.

Would like to re-veg these two after harvest till I can do better for moms. Are you in favor of doing this or is there a reason not to. I couldn't take clones before 12/12 as I didn't have accommodations for them. I will after harvesting these though as I'm going to set up a 2 or 3 (maybe even 4) tray recirc drip system in the middle of the room and use the closet for moms and vegging clones. Intend to have 4 to six plants in each tray at different stages of flower. Closest I can get to a perpetual harvest. And since I only grow for myself, I'll be happy with whatever I get.

Speaking of a recirculating drip setup, I was wondering if this would cause a buildup of salt in the res. Didn't know if ec is an accurate measurement of remaining NPK in the water or if ec of returning water would be influenced by residual salts after the plants have removed the actual nutrients. dusto2k3 has a thread going about this and I asked the question there but figured if anyone would know, it'd be you, dude.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=992253#post992253

Peace bro.