Wanna Ask The Old Farts A Question?

[HempKat]

Probably is.

OK, I have a real world questions about my babies. Some of the leafs are curling. I am thinking this is a PH issue. No nuts or anything. It seems I did not PH balance the jug of tap water. Or I am not sure.

When I've seen curl like that it's usually heat related like from the plant being too close to the light. Now it doesn't have to be a super hot light. Even a normal tube fluoro can burn a plant that's touching it for a long enough time. I've also seen that on plants that constantly have a strong breeze from a fan constantly blowing across the plant. To me it appears as if something is making the air around the plant very dry and the result is that moisture is being sucked out of the plant and the edges curl up as it dries. If this makes sense for your situation maybe try foliar feeding just water inbetween waterings. I think you mentioned before that you use a dehumidifier maybe set that to allow for a higher RH? I typically let mine get to 55-60% during lights on.

 

[HempKat]

Hello all, first time ever posting, have read for awhile and just harvested second ever grow, thanks to all of you here. I'm growing to help a friend with cancer and a card.
Since this thread is 'ask a question'... I'd really like some input from the experienced folks here on timing the harvest, particularly input on what I just cut.
I've read alot, and covered the parts about watching trichs for targeting the harvest. My first grow was a locally obtained diesel that turned out fine. This run was clones of that, and some unknown bagseed. This is the one I'd like some input on...
Seeds given to me, the description was "im not sure what they came from, there were just a few of them in a bag from a dispensary, don't remember the strain".
Vegged very nicely for 7 weeks, then flowered a bit over 8. Grown in FF happy frog with extra perlite, Jacks Classic ferts and a bit of molassas. Ph'ed tap water. T-5's and cfl's for veg, 400 HPS for flower in a stealth cab. I Kept my eyes on the trich's nearly daily, waiting and waiting for the majority to turn cloudy with some ambers. Within one week, the trich's went from 90% clear to 90% cloudy, hardly an amber to be found. But....
In that week, the tops went from a pretty healthy looking green, to the color you see in the photo. That one is the purple-ist... but most of the tops had at least a little. What surprised me is that it seemed like all of a sudden, the plants were dying. Fan leaves browning, flowers turning purple, tips all over turning, etc. It's a bit hard to describe but when I looked at them, you could "just tell" they were dying, like a maple tree starts turning brown and dropping leaves rapidly at that certain time in the fall.
I've read where purple may be encouraged by low temps, however there haven't been any below 60. The light is on at night, and the temps read from 70 to 80 when i've checked it.
Whats the take on this from experience? Normal for 'purple strains'? Nute problem? Anything else?

FWIW, the harvest looks nice, lots of frosty mids but some decent tops.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Well your analogy to a tree in fall is fairly appropriate except that the tree will come back in the spring whereas a marijuana plant will not except thru dropping seed and having a new plant grow. Essentially it has hit it's peak and is now in decline. The purpling reminds me of pics I've seen of strains like GrandDaddy Purple which was popular in the dispensaries the past couple of years. The coloring of the leaves and bud ends up being like your pics and this is a genetic trait. Using the fall analogy it's like how some trees the leaves turn yellow, some turn red, some turn orange, etc. Marijuana plants for the most part do not look super healthy when the buds are ready for harvest.

Now I'm sure there were other signs developing before this change in appearence took place but you were just so focused on the triches the rest escaped your attention. Look at the actual bud (overlook the leaves), to me it looks swollen and I dare say if you reflect back a week or two the buds did not appear as swollen. This swelling typically happens at the end of the flowering cycle just before the plant is ready. Also I bet that a couple of weeks ago not all of the pistils (hairs) had changed color and shriveled. It could probably also be said that no real new growth was occuring. All those things are noticeable signs to the naked eye that a plant is nearly done. If this was a known strain where you had a suggested flowering time from the breeder, I bet that time would correspond with when you started to see those changes in appearence.

Typically what I do, even with known strains, is ignore the breeder suggested time because it can be shorter then that or longer. All that's really good for is just a real rough estimate of how much time you'll need to grow the plant. What I really do is watch for that bud swelling mostly but also the hairs, changes in leaf color, decline in new growth, etc. When I see the bud swell, that's when I start watching the triches. Not seeing the triches though, if the bud in that pic was mine I'd be harvesting it, then again I like my triches mostly to all cloudy, that's when the THC is at it's peak. The more amber that shows up the more of that THC has degraded to other cannabinoids that cause that narcotic couchlock effect. That's also where alot of the medicinal benefits come from (the degraded THC) so if this is just for your cancer patient friend then you might want to have more amber?

To answer your question I'd say what we're seeing there is normal strain related purpling. Does the bud have a grapish smell or flavor? If so it's almost definately GrandDaddy Purple. Although it could also be another purple strain popular in the dispensary circuit called Purple Urkle, which as I understand it both GDP and Purple Urkle are related. An indication that it's strain related would be if the ones that purpled the most were the ones closest to the light. I've not grown many purple strains but from people I know that have it always seems like the more intense the light, the deeper and more widespread the purpling will be in the plant. Nute related purpling I believe you have to deliberately cut off certain nutrients to achieve it and so usually growers know if that's the cause. Temp related purpling is more spotty and tends to show up radomly on the edges of grows where the plant is likely to experince the coldest temps but if your temps were never below 60 it shouldn't be temp related.

 

[obscuredbycloud]

When I've seen curl like that it's usually heat related like from the plant being too close to the light. Now it doesn't have to be a super hot light. Even a normal tube fluoro can burn a plant that's touching it for a long enough time. I've also seen that on plants that constantly have a strong breeze from a fan constantly blowing across the plant. To me it appears as if something is making the air around the plant very dry and the result is that moisture is being sucked out of the plant and the edges curl up as it dries. If this makes sense for your situation maybe try foliar feeding just water inbetween waterings. I think you mentioned before that you use a dehumidifier maybe set that to allow for a higher RH? I typically let mine get to 55-60% during lights on.

Oh well yes. What you describe is accurate, there is a breeze, the RH is not above 50 and they are under a 1k, however they are 5 feet or so away, the temps at the highest is in the low 80's.

And I thought it was the Ph. Thank you and I will make the corrections. Looks like I might have put them in the hut to soon. Good to know, I've only worked with rooted clones.

Thank man for taking the time that is way cool of ya.

 

[ericcalif]

HempKat

HempKat

Well your analogy to a tree in fall is fairly appropriate except that the tree will come back in the spring whereas a marijuana plant will not except thru dropping seed and having a new plant grow. Essentially it has hit it's peak and is now in decline. The purpling reminds me of pics I've seen of strains like GrandDaddy Purple which was popular in the dispensaries the past couple of years. The coloring of the leaves and bud ends up being like your pics and this is a genetic trait. Using the fall analogy it's like how some trees the leaves turn yellow, some turn red, some turn orange, etc. Marijuana plants for the most part do not look super healthy when the buds are ready for harvest.

The diesel that I've run twice now was originally from a dispensary and was 'diesel daddy', supposedly a diesel strain and granddaddy purple. It had next to no signs of purple, except for some reddish stems and leaflet veins. Very few amber trychs when cut, maybe I didn't give her enough time... I'm happy to hear that your take on this harvest is that it's genetic and not something I did to her environment. That was my concern.

Now I'm sure there were other signs developing before this change in appearence took place but you were just so focused on the triches the rest escaped your attention. Look at the actual bud (overlook the leaves), to me it looks swollen and I dare say if you reflect back a week or two the buds did not appear as swollen. This swelling typically happens at the end of the flowering cycle just before the plant is ready. Also I bet that a couple of weeks ago not all of the pistils (hairs) had changed color and shriveled. It could probably also be said that no real new growth was occuring. All those things are noticeable signs to the naked eye that a plant is nearly done. If this was a known strain where you had a suggested flowering time from the breeder, I bet that time would correspond with when you started to see those changes in appearence.

I have been trying to take in the 'whole' of the process, I was watching trichs at the end but also trying to watch the whole plant for signs she gives. I would say the major swelling happened 2 to 2 1/2 weeks back. Still a good amount of white pistils at that time. After that the growth slowed to nearly nothing, a few newer white pistils on the tops of flowers, (colas and mids) here and there. What you described was nearly exactly my experience, except for slightly earlier swelling.

Typically what I do, even with known strains, is ignore the breeder suggested time because it can be shorter then that or longer. All that's really good for is just a real rough estimate of how much time you'll need to grow the plant.

I pretty much figured that was for comparison between varieties, but dependant on too many factors to be concrete.

What I really do is watch for that bud swelling mostly but also the hairs, changes in leaf color, decline in new growth, etc. When I see the bud swell, that's when I start watching the triches. Not seeing the triches though, if the bud in that pic was mine I'd be harvesting it, then again I like my triches mostly to all cloudy, that's when the THC is at it's peak.

Thats where she was at, nearly all cloudy, but hardly any amber. I was concerned about letting her go any farther because of how she looked, like emminent death. Maybe I was over-reacting? Is it possible the the trichs would have rapidly turned amber within a day or two timeframe.

The more amber that shows up the more of that THC has degraded to other cannabinoids that cause that narcotic couchlock effect. That's also where alot of the medicinal benefits come from (the degraded THC) so if this is just for your cancer patient friend then you might want to have more amber?

That is what I have been going for. The last harvest (of the diesel) seemed to be ok (as my friend reported) but I'm wondering how much more helpful to her it would be had there been alot of amber showing. BTW, I don't smoke, I'm doing this to be helpful to her and discovering its a relaxing hobby. So in a way, it's been theraputic for us both

To answer your question I'd say what we're seeing there is normal strain related purpling. Does the bud have a grapish smell or flavor? If so it's almost definately GrandDaddy Purple.

No, not at all. When she was still in dirt, it was (to me anyway) skunky/pungent/stinky, not strong in the grow area. The result is drying now, and smells similar, but a bit stronger, can smell it one room away.

Although it could also be another purple strain popular in the dispensary circuit called Purple Urkle, which as I understand it both GDP and Purple Urkle are related. An indication that it's strain related would be if the ones that purpled the most were the ones closest to the light.

The tops of the colas close to the light were like the photo, very little if any elsewhere. In the photo, what you see lower is the same branch below the main top cola, nice medium green. Thats what most of the plants looked like, with the intense deep purple only on the very top.

I've not grown many purple strains but from people I know that have it always seems like the more intense the light, the deeper and more widespread the purpling will be in the plant. Nute related purpling I believe you have to deliberately cut off certain nutrients to achieve it and so usually growers know if that's the cause. Temp related purpling is more spotty and tends to show up radomly on the edges of grows where the plant is likely to experince the coldest temps but if your temps were never below 60 it shouldn't be temp related.

I wouldn't say never, but not during the last 2-3 weeks of flower. The cab is in an outbuilding with no heat or a/c, lights on at night to even out the overall temp range. (cooler during the day, warmer at night)
Thank you very much for your time responding with your experience, it sounds very much like genetics and not something I'm doing wrong. I currently have 4 clones of the same 2 girls well into veg, going to flower in the next 2 weeks or so. Hopefully this last experience will help improve the next round, at least I'll have more idea of what to come and what to look for.
BTW, one more ? My friend uses a vaporizor, due to her overall health. I've not read anything about the best harvest timing for vaporizer vs smoking. What's your take? Thanks for taking the time to respond, very cool of you. :friends:

 

[gabjaz]

More expert advise, please.....

More expert advise, please.....

Hello,

I'm thinking I'm almost ready for harvest? It looks to me like 70% of the hairs on the tops of the plants have changed to an amber color. The bottom flowers have not changed as much as the tops. On the one plant that got heat stressed the leafs are looking pretty bad curled and crispy . I looked at the resin on the leafs under magnification and it looks just a little cloudy, but then I really don't have the experience to know for sure what I'm looking at.

The recommended 12/12 time is 60~65 days and to wait for 70% of the hairs to change color. The lights went to 12/12 on Jan. 30th, so if I go by that harvest should be 03/31 at the earliest still a week out. I just don't want to harvest too soon or too late.

Also, I would like your opinion on long term storage. What I was thinking was using a "food saver" and vacuum sealing them. Good idea or not?



Gabs

 

[Wilson!]

Hey you old farts!!!

I'm curious are frosty more potent than no frost or not much as seen by eye? At the very least the bag appeal is much higher.

Is frost strain dependant? Are there really good organic means to fatten and sparkle em up?

Also thinking of upgrading to a 600 or 750 hps adjustable. I'm in a tent with a 32.5" footprint now running a 400hps. Will the extra watts be overkill and a overheating issue?

thanks in advance for your gaseous windage.

cheers.

 

[HempKat]

BTW, one more ? My friend uses a vaporizor, due to her overall health. I've not read anything about the best harvest timing for vaporizer vs smoking. What's your take? Thanks for taking the time to respond, very cool of you. :friends:

I have tried vaporizers and didn't like using them (just too different from the joints I've been smoking for the past 35+ years). So I've never had reason to look into if harvest needs to be done differently. My guess would be you shouldn't need to do anything different because you still need to get the THC in the triches to the right point.

It's going to be tough to judge the proper ripeness for your friend with you being a non smoker. I would bring her more into the process if you don't mind her knowing the details. What I would do though is first concentrate on what strains she likes by trying a wide variety of strains. Then once I narowed it down to what strain she does best with I'd then grow a crop of it and harvest different plants at different stages to let your friend sample, until you figure out what level of ripeness works best.

You also asked earlier about how quickly triches can turn amber. I suppose the majority could go mostly amber in a day or two but in my own experience it's been more gradual. I've heard people mention that it changed to almost all amber in just a few days but you would either have to really push it well beyond normal harvest times or have something unusual happen to match the scenarios those people had.

 

[HempKat]

Hello,

I'm thinking I'm almost ready for harvest? It looks to me like 70% of the hairs on the tops of the plants have changed to an amber color. The bottom flowers have not changed as much as the tops. On the one plant that got heat stressed the leafs are looking pretty bad curled and crispy . I looked at the resin on the leafs under magnification and it looks just a little cloudy, but then I really don't have the experience to know for sure what I'm looking at.

The recommended 12/12 time is 60~65 days and to wait for 70% of the hairs to change color. The lights went to 12/12 on Jan. 30th, so if I go by that harvest should be 03/31 at the earliest still a week out. I just don't want to harvest too soon or too late.

Also, I would like your opinion on long term storage. What I was thinking was using a "food saver" and vacuum sealing them. Good idea or not?



Gabs

They're looking mostly done but based on you decription and the pics I'd give it to March 31st. You could probably harvest now and be happy with it and I don't think it's going to get much bigger but if you're not seeing any amber triches then it could ripen some more.

As for long term storage, yeah vacuum sealing is the best way to go for long term storage but air exposure is only one thing you need to watch out for, you also need to guard against light, heat and moisture exposure. Moisture would be taken care of by vacuum sealing as well. So really it's just light and heat. So after you seal them try to store them in a cool dark place. Ideally a refrigerator would be a good place as long as you didn't have to worry about others finding it there.

 

[ericcalif]

I have tried vaporizers and didn't like using them (just too different from the joints I've been smoking for the past 35+ years). So I've never had reason to look into if harvest needs to be done differently. My guess would be you shouldn't need to do anything different because you still need to get the THC in the triches to the right point.

It's going to be tough to judge the proper ripeness for your friend with you being a non smoker. I would bring her more into the process if you don't mind her knowing the details. What I would do though is first concentrate on what strains she likes by trying a wide variety of strains. Then once I narowed it down to what strain she does best with I'd then grow a crop of it and harvest different plants at different stages to let your friend sample, until you figure out what level of ripeness works best.

I was thinking along the same lines. It's just reassuring to have someone chime in with similar thoughts. Trying too many varieties is hard though due to space constraints. I've worked 2 now, we'll see how this random purple does, it "looks" better than the 5 diesels I've run.

You also asked earlier about how quickly triches can turn amber. I suppose the majority could go mostly amber in a day or two but in my own experience it's been more gradual. I've heard people mention that it changed to almost all amber in just a few days but you would either have to really push it well beyond normal harvest times or have something unusual happen to match the scenarios those people had.

I've read about the wisdom of getting to know one particular strain/pheno and this purple might be one to get to know well. I have 4 in veg and I'm thinking a staggered cut will be educational. I was concerned about over ripening this last one but with 4, I could let the most likely canidate go longer and see how the amber development progresses.
Hempcat, thanks again for taking the time to post some input to help a rookie. Very cool of you.

 

[HempKat]

Hey you old farts!!!

I'm curious are frosty more potent than no frost or not much as seen by eye? At the very least the bag appeal is much higher.

Is frost strain dependant? Are there really good organic means to fatten and sparkle em up?

Also thinking of upgrading to a 600 or 750 hps adjustable. I'm in a tent with a 32.5" footprint now running a 400hps. Will the extra watts be overkill and a overheating issue?

thanks in advance for your gaseous windage.

cheers.

It's probably incorrect to think of frostier as more potent. I mean would you say a case of beer is more potent then a six pack? Frostier really just means there is more resin visible, the potency of the THC in that resin isn't greater because there is more but it is more concentrated so you need less to consume enough THC to feel it, giving you that one hit kind of weed.

So you can't just say "it's frostier then that last crop I grew so it's going to be better." What if the THC content was lower such that even though there was more resin you got less THC? Also there are strains out there that are well known for being potent but also known for not being terribly frosty. So yeah to some degree frostiness is a genetic trait. Also some strains the triches form differently. Some strains the trichome stalks are long with small heads and they bend in different directions. Other strains have triches with shorter stalks and bigger heads and tend to be straighter and more uniform in thier formation.

While there is a genetic connection there is also an evironmental response aspect too. See as far as the plants go, it's just coincidence that humans get high off the resin. To them the resin serves several functions to help the plant cope with the environment and to protect the flowers and/or seeds if the flower becomes pollinated. For one thing trichomes have been discovered to have excellent uv radiation absorbtion capabilities, so it acts as a sunscreen which makes sense since the sun is usually very intense in marijuana's native environments. It also serves as a layer of insulation to help protect the plant from sudden temp changes from day to night. It also acts as a sealent helping the plant to retain moisture in conditions that might otherwise dry it out. Based on these things there is one widely accepted organic technique for increasing frostiness and that is to tweak your environment to create the need for the plant to protect itself from these sorts of things. Mainly this is done by letting the humidity drop into the low 30% range during lights out and by trying to have the temps about 20 degrees cooler during lights out compared to lights on. Some also add special lights that give off uv radiation like tanning lights, but uv radiation can be harmful to humans so I don't recommend doing that.

I myself do the temp and humidity thing though and the buds do seem frostier but it's hard to be sure. Maybe I just think they are because I want to believe what I did helped? On the other hand during certain times of the year when temps are higher, it's hard to maintain the right temp and humidity and on those occassions the bud is definately less frosty.

As for your light question I can't really answer it with just one dimension. Assuming a square shape you're talking a box less then 3 feet on each side which is pretty small even for a 400W so I'd be inclined to think a stronger light will give you lots of problems. Plus I don't trust those tents/huts. Some have been known to give off harmful gases so raising temps could potentially cause more problems then the usual if it exceeds the tent's/hut's safety specs.

 

[HempKat]

I was thinking along the same lines. It's just reassuring to have someone chime in with similar thoughts. Trying too many varieties is hard though due to space constraints. I've worked 2 now, we'll see how this random purple does, it "looks" better than the 5 diesels I've run.



I've read about the wisdom of getting to know one particular strain/pheno and this purple might be one to get to know well. I have 4 in veg and I'm thinking a staggered cut will be educational. I was concerned about over ripening this last one but with 4, I could let the most likely canidate go longer and see how the amber development progresses.
Hempcat, thanks again for taking the time to post some input to help a rookie. Very cool of you.

We were all rookies once and when I was there were others who helped me, so I'm just paying it forward.

As for variety, well you could narrow your search down some by identifying which medicinal properties your friend needs and then ask around in the medical subforum here for what strains best provide those benefits. Then just grow a couple of different strains from that group each grow until you find which does the best job.

On the purple thing, many purple strains have been known for having good "bag appeal" because they're purple which is new and different to many people, yet they end up being just average in enjoyment. So don't get your hoped too high (no pun intended )

As a final thought, if you want to talk cool, Cool is taking the time, energy and resources to help a friend out by growning something that carries a social stigma and is something you yourself don't enjoy. That's extremely cool.

 

[gabjaz]

They're looking mostly done but based on you decription and the pics I'd give it to March 31st. You could probably harvest now and be happy with it and I don't think it's going to get much bigger but if you're not seeing any amber triches then it could ripen some more.

As for long term storage, yeah vacuum sealing is the best way to go for long term storage but air exposure is only one thing you need to watch out for, you also need to guard against light, heat and moisture exposure. Moisture would be taken care of by vacuum sealing as well. So really it's just light and heat. So after you seal them try to store them in a cool dark place. Ideally a refrigerator would be a good place as long as you didn't have to worry about others finding it there.

Hey HempKat,

Thank you once again...

So the amber triches are what I see under magnification, right? And they should have an amber tint as well as the hairs? I had a second opinion and it was that they look "milky". I was going to pull leafs from different areas of the same plant to see if they change color uniformly.

I think I'm thinking too much about this.. As long as I get through another week I think I'll be happy with what I get.

Thank you so much for your help. You are so much easier to understand than reading books and tons of posts....

Gabs

 

[ericcalif]

We were all rookies once and when I was there were others who helped me, so I'd just paying it forward.

And there-in may lay one of the best secrets to a happy life.

As for variety, well you could narrow your search down some by identifying which medicinal properties your friend needs and then ask around in the medical subforum here for what strains best provide those benefits. Then just grow a couple of different strains from that group each grow until you find which does the best job.

We just received 5 different strains of seed from Attitude. Exactly my thoughts too.

On the purple thing, many purple strains have been known for having good "bag appeal" because they're purple which is new and different to many people, yet they end up being just average in enjoyment. So don't get your hoped too high (no pun intended )

I'll try to report back with a brief review after it's cured, just for kicks.

As a final thought, if you want to talk cool, Cool is taking the time, energy and resources to help a friend out by growning something that carries a social stigma and is something you yourself don't enjoy. That's extremely cool.

As I mentioned previously, the side benefit has been that I've been enjoying it, finding it a little theraputic as well so it's a win-win. And its not that I wouldn't enjoy it if I could ( and did, back in the day) but I'm under random testing...

In your last post, you hit on the UV protection aspect of resin and trichs. What has been your experience with reptile lamps? They can be had in various intensities and I would think turning off just that lamp at times when you're in the garden, the exposure would be minimal.

 

[HempKat]

Hey HempKat,

Thank you once again...

So the amber triches are what I see under magnification, right? And they should have an amber tint as well as the hairs? I had a second opinion and it was that they look "milky". I was going to pull leafs from different areas of the same plant to see if they change color uniformly.

I think I'm thinking too much about this.. As long as I get through another week I think I'll be happy with what I get.

Thank you so much for your help. You are so much easier to understand than reading books and tons of posts....

Gabs

Well that's the whole point of this thread, to try to provide a way to get plain, simple, basic answers to questions new growers have, in a manner that is easy to follow. It's good to know that it's working.

Yeah the triches are what you see under magnification, they generally appear in three colors, clear which indicates that trichome is not ripe, cloudy or milky which indicates it is ripe and amber which indicates it's over ripe. Now within these clors you can have variation, at least with the cluody and amber ones. Some times the cloudy is just barely cloudy which would indicate it's ripe but just recently became ripe. It could also be full on cloudy white in which case it's completely ripe and will probably start turning amber before too long. Same with amber, you can have just a slight tint of amber or it can be full on dark amber in color the darker it gets the more the THC in that trichome has degraded.

Now one might think that amber being a sign of THC degradation then letting triches turn amber is bad. That's not necessarily true. When THC degrades it turns into other cannabinoids (THC is also a cannabinoid) that do have medicinal properties as well as properties that influence the high. So whether amber is good or bad depends on what sort of high you want. Generally speaking the more amber you have the more narcotic the high will be. The more you'll just want to sit on the couch and space out on tv with a bowl of munchies in front of you. The less amber and more cloudy, the more the high will be an up kind of trippy high that makes you want to go out and do things rather then sit around.

Now as for reading trichomes, yeah it's best to get readings from several points on the plant and then kind of estimate and average. If you just look at one spot you could read it wrong because maybe that one spot had something happen that slowed down or sped up the aging of the trichomes there.

 

[HempKat]

And there-in my lay one of the best secrets to a happy life.



We just received 5 different strains of seed from Attitude. Exactly my thoughts too.



I'll try to report back with a brief review after it's cured, just for kicks.



As I mentioned previously, the side benefit has been that I've been enjoying it, finding it a little theraputic as well so it's a win-win. And its not that I wouldn't enjoy it if I could ( and did, back in the day) but I'm under random testing...

In your last post, you hit on the UV protection aspect of resin and trichs. What has been your experience with reptile lamps? They can be had in various intensities and I would think turning off just that lamp at times when you're in the garden, the exposure would be minimal.

Bummer on the random testing. I really hate that, especially when it's connected to a job. Parole and probation I can understand but employers should not be able to drug test applicants or employees unless they've demonstrated thru unusual conduct on the job, that they might be high. If the person comes in on time, does thier job and doesn't get high while at work, then employers should not be able to test. What employees do after hours away from the job, is none of the employer's business. The problem is that testing doesn't show when and where the person got high. In the case of marijuana a person could have gotten high one time a month before the test and still come up dirty.

As for the UV thing, to be honest I never tried it. Even if it was safe the circuits available to my grow are loaded down and so I just really can't have anything else of the breaker will keep shutting off. I would think like you're saying, that turning it off while a person is in there would minimize the risk. You could try it if you want but I've yet to see any hard evidence that it makes a difference. In theory it should but nobody I know has posted up anything that supports that it does. I did read somewhere though that the UV doesn't have to be on the whole time. Just and hour or two supposedly is enough to do the trick according to what I read.

 

[ericcalif]

Bummer on the random testing. I really hate that, especially when it's connected to a job. Parole and probation I can understand but employers should not be able to drug test applicants or employees unless they've demonstrated thru unusual conduct on the job, that they might be high. If the person comes in on time, does thier job and doesn't get high while at work, then employers should not be able to test. What employees do after hours away from the job, is none of the employer's business. The problem is that testing doesn't show when and where the person got high. In the case of marijuana a person could have gotten high one time a month before the test and still come up dirty.

I couldn't agree more but it is what it is. It's not the most important thing in my life. It is job-related for me and that argument went through the courts years ago and at this point it's moot...

As for the UV thing, to be honest I never tried it. Even if it was safe the circuits available to my grow are loaded down and so I just really can't have anything else of the breaker will keep shutting off. I would think like you're saying, that turning it off while a person is in there would minimize the risk. You could try it if you want but I've yet to see any hard evidence that it makes a difference. In theory it should but nobody I know has posted up anything that supports that it does. I did read somewhere though that the UV doesn't have to be on the whole time. Just and hour or two supposedly is enough to do the trick according to what I read.

Thanks again for sharing your experience. I have enough variables to focus on at the moment so I'll leave that for the future. A side by side comparison would be interesting but since I can't directly compare the two except for visual observation, I wouldn't be the best one to try.
Peace.

 

[slmndl]

Really nice of you to help

Really nice of you to help

I think it is really really kind of you that you are still willing to help all of us newbies. Even us "old fart" newbies. I'm into the whole botany aspect of the plant. I'm not interested in commercial hydro etc. I am growing old school strains from seeds (when I can find them) in soil and outdoors. I have so many questions and the forums -are not really newbie friendly. Not in my experience. And so many rules. It feels so "conservative" for us liberals, and its all about MJ-so I don't get it. I keep getting into trouble trying to get decent sativa seeds. I either get bad seeds, or no seeds.
Anyway-I have a special baby plant from seed that was damaged-the stem was almost severed. All that remains connecting the growing leaves and the lower stem with
its roots is a hair thin brown piece of stem. How is she surviving?
I'm spraying her leaves (she's still a seedling of course) with
a mild nutrient solution meant to be sprayed on leaves and soil-but she won't be able to survive long will she? Thank you

 

[Gold123]

I think it is really really kind of you that you are still willing to help all of us newbies. Even us "old fart" newbies. I'm into the whole botany aspect of the plant. I'm not interested in commercial hydro etc. I am growing old school strains from seeds (when I can find them) in soil and outdoors. I have so many questions and the forums -are not really newbie friendly. Not in my experience. And so many rules. It feels so "conservative" for us liberals, and its all about MJ-so I don't get it. I keep getting into trouble trying to get decent sativa seeds. I either get bad seeds, or no seeds.
Anyway-I have a special baby plant from seed that was damaged-the stem was almost severed. All that remains connecting the growing leaves and the lower stem with
its roots is a hair thin brown piece of stem. How is she surviving?
I'm spraying her leaves (she's still a seedling of course) with
a mild nutrient solution meant to be sprayed on leaves and soil-but she won't be able to survive long will she? Thank you

Don't take this as expert advise, however, If it were mine I would dab it with some cloning gel and bury it to a little above the cut (un-bent paper clip for support if needed) keep spraying like a clone, and it just might make it. A dome of some sort might help also but be careful not to let it stay too wet, use the cut off bottom of a plastic bottle. Take it off and let it breath through out the day and spray it again and cover it up again.

 

[gabjaz]

Help again...

Help again...

Hello again, as you know this whole grow has been rather stressful (for me and the plants)... I have been thinking one thing or another has been wrong with the plants from the get go.... They have been treated for things they didn't need to be treated for overfed/underfed, heat stressed, wrong lights and so forth.... Actually it's amazing they are still alive!

Anyway, one is really looking bad. This is the one that has had such a rough life. I stopped the feeding about 2 weeks ago in anticipation of a harvest (and it was not looking good then). I don't think they are ready yet, but I'm afraid that at least one is dying.

HempKat, would you take a look at the pic's and give me an opinion as to weather to harvest plant #1? The other two I think will make it another week or so.

I see my labels for the pictures don't show. Anyway the first two pictures 1246 & 1247 are the plant that took most of the abuse and looks to me like it's dying fast. Plant #2 pic 1248 looks bad, but like it will survive a bit longer and Plant #3 1250 actually looks pretty good.

Thank you for holding my hand through this,

Gabs

 

[HempKat]

I think it is really really kind of you that you are still willing to help all of us newbies. Even us "old fart" newbies. I'm into the whole botany aspect of the plant. I'm not interested in commercial hydro etc. I am growing old school strains from seeds (when I can find them) in soil and outdoors. I have so many questions and the forums -are not really newbie friendly. Not in my experience. And so many rules. It feels so "conservative" for us liberals, and its all about MJ-so I don't get it. I keep getting into trouble trying to get decent sativa seeds. I either get bad seeds, or no seeds.
Anyway-I have a special baby plant from seed that was damaged-the stem was almost severed. All that remains connecting the growing leaves and the lower stem with
its roots is a hair thin brown piece of stem. How is she surviving?
I'm spraying her leaves (she's still a seedling of course) with
a mild nutrient solution meant to be sprayed on leaves and soil-but she won't be able to survive long will she? Thank you

It's hard to say, with the way you describe it I would think it couldn't survive but plants can fool you. If you can get it into the position it was in before it got damages and tape it up with a stick or toothpick or something as a splint, there's a good chance it'll repair itself. If it does, when it's all healed the damaged area will be stronger then before.

In a sense you almost have a clone there and clones can go for a good week or so before their roots have developed if they're kept in a humid environment or foliar fed like you're doing. If you bandage it up and it's not taking, I figure it'll be clear that it's dying by two weeks from the injury.