A Grouchier Grow - LED 3Wx100 - Hempy - 9 Plants - 3 Strains - Lucas - Mainline

[FiveToMidnight]

absolutely! looks like a lot of reading lol. I'll get started right now!

Lol yes it has grown quite a bit very quickly, unlike my plants hahaha

You may want to skip through it a bit but I will post up new pics tomorrow when I get home to show the latest situation as I'm away for the day, but my house mate sent me a pic this evening and they're looking a bit better since I raised the nutes a bit.

Very happy to get any suggestions or comments you have. Both positive and negative are very much appreciated!

 

[Grouchy]

UPDATE:



Hey everybody! Long week with bad sleep so sorry for the lack of posts... but its the weekend! I transplanted my potential ladies. I believe the containers are about 2-2.5 gallons. I compared them to my 3.5 gallons and they looked about a gallon...ish less. After transplanting, I had no room for one of my flowering plants so I had to harvest that sucker but she was already at day 5 of flush. Still got one more in flower with new 5 so they're under 12/12 light right now. I might harvest the other one tonight so I can move the light down closer to the new 5.

When I flower with these new 5, I'll hopefully have 2 P300s in there because after my recent harvest, I felt like 1 wasn't enough. I think that's due mostly to lack of penetration with the 3w diodes but the top buds were not bad at all.

I decided to go with 100% coco to try it out. So no hempy.

I did feed them a dosage of 5ml/gal of FloraNova Bloom after I transplanted. Lights go on in about an hour so I'll take a look and see if they perked up. Hopefully I don't have 5 dead gals

QUESTION:
Since I only have 1 Femenized of the new 5, and the other 4 could be male or female, could I leave the lights on 12/12 until I see signs of gender then weed out the males and switched back to veg?

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Here's the before and I'll post pictures of the after later on today! So, stay tuned for more pics of the girls in their new homes!

 

[Grouchy]

How's it toking everybody!?

Sorry for the delay but I come with pictures!

 

[cogreen]

youngins are coming along nicely my friend...

when do you think you'll start mainline training (e.g. your 1st topping)??

 

[Grouchy]

youngins are coming along nicely my friend...

when do you think you'll start mainline training (e.g. your 1st topping)??

Hey buddy! I was going to wait until there is 6 nodes then top. I just took a peak at the plants and I think today or tomorrow might be the day I do so. I really took into consideration what NugBuckets (the creator of mainline I believe) has said about when to do your first top. He says, after much testing, he found out the root structure is strong enough to recover the fastest when the 5th to 6th node is developed.
If topped earlier or later than the 5th-6th, recovery/development would be slowed longer.

This is only what NugBuckets has said but most people seem to agree with him. But now that I'm thinking about it, screw it. I'm going to start today. I only have 2/5 plants that are big enough right now, but I'll do those 2 then do the following ones on the coming days.

 

[glimmergrass]

Great looking girls, Grouchy -- I'll be watching your training with great interest

 

[Grouchy]

Great looking girls, Grouchy -- I'll be watching your training with great interest

Thanks Glimmergrass!

UPDATE:

Well I topped the girls and started to train them. Only 2 are mature enough to tie wire down but so I tied those 2 and let the rest be for now. The very next day after I topped them, I saw new growth. It's crazy to see how fast they recovered. All 5 plants had 5 nodes before I topped them. None had fully developed their 6th node for reference. I was impatient and knew they'd respond well.
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What is this on the leaf?

 

[cogreen]

Nugbuckets would be proud man!

Yeah I'm quickly learning that with mainlining it's key to time your cuttings to minimize veg time (like you're doing)... I'm 100% sure I cut out a few weeks of growth in this 1st mainlining endeavour.

Are you planning to top again at the 1st node of your new mains, or going to let them grow out a few nodes first?

 

[Grouchy]

Nugbuckets would be proud man!

Yeah I'm quickly learning that with mainlining it's key to time your cuttings to minimize veg time (like you're doing)... I'm 100% sure I cut out a few weeks of growth in this 1st mainlining endeavor.

Are you planning to top again at the 1st node of your new mains, or going to let them grow out a few nodes first?

dude, I didn't even give it any thought until I read your comment this morning and I tried to google as much as I could about the matter. I decided that I would wait until there were 5 nodes and then cut down to the 2nd or 3rd node. I wanted to cut at the 1st node because I figured why not? The root mass is already established and it can support the frequent chops and tops. In the end I decided that I would wait until 5 nodes have grown before I chop it down to the 3rd stem. I am doing this because I think it will give the branches time to bulk up a little bit more before chopping. After all, these are going to be the ones that support everything.

UPDATE:


Hey everyone! I finally tied down all of them! I managed to break 2 branches on 2 different plants but its okay because I taped them with aluminum tape and they both recovered fine. The northern lights was one I broke and it managed to stunt the growth of one branch. I'm kind of lost on what to do here but ill make do with what I got! It will be an uneven mainline grow (probably defeating the purpose ) but it's fine. This was my first time mainlining and knew something was going to happened at least once. Every other plant is doing fine. I got some discolored leaves on one plant but it doesn't seem to be on the new growth so I'll not worry about it for now.

I also haven't watered them in a really long time (like 4 days) but they finally sucked all the moisture out of the top few inches. I'm going to water tonight at 75% (6 ml/gal bloom) and with 4 ml/g of CalMag.

I had a lot of money in amazon gift cards so I decided to spring for a Mars Reflector. I think its the 480 amazon calls it but it is the one that pulls 170-200 watts. So this second light is going to double my LED watts and I intend to pull much more than half a pound for this harvest.
This also leads me to a question about the Mars reflector series. There is so much misleading information on mars website that I cant draw my own conclusion. What size are the diodes. 3w or 5w? From what I've read, they are 3 watt usually but when they run out of 3 watt ones, they resort to using 5 watt diodes. I would prefer the 3 watt ones because I want heat as low as possible but we'll see what happens. I also got another grow tent. A 4x2x6 footer. With the extra light, I need extra room. The extra 2 feet of height will allow me to hang my fan and filter from the top and will free up the entire 8 square feet of grow space which I might need if all these 5 survive or turn out to be female.

Mainline Lessons Learned:
-When you make that first top, leave a little stem on the top. If you cut too low, it lessens the strength of the nodes and they will split a lot easier


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Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this? they don't have symmetrical sides. SUGGESTIONS?

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This one I broke right down the center. Its doing fine now though.
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This one is the one with some possible nute burn or some kind of problem but is only on older growth and not the new growth.
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This one is the second one I broke but mended with aluminum tape. It is doing okay now but one branch is stunted now.

 

[cogreen]

Looking very nice!!

I didn't even give it any thought until I read your comment this morning

I went back and read my comment to you -- I was clear as mud.. What I was trying to say is that I think I added time to my veg by waiting too long between toppings... Glad you could gather what I was even trying to say there

I decided that I would wait until there were 5 nodes and then cut down to the 2nd or 3rd node.

gotcha... I'm thinking next time on my 2nd + 3rd topping I may just top right away after the 1st new node forms. I may also take the approach of when topping to leave some of the fan leaves below the topped node to help power growth for a few days (obviously would chop growth tips below) if needed.

I taped them with aluminum tape and they both recovered fine.

Will that tape come off them easily?? The aluminium tape I have is pretty damn sticky.

I think its the 480 amazon calls it but it is the one that pulls 170-200 watts... What size are the diodes. 3w or 5w?

I noticed this on their site too; I had assumed it was a programming error... Anywho - I got this light last week -- was 3w in mine.. But maybe it's a gamble what you'll end up getting.

Side note -- one of my 48x3w reflector's grow bulbs are broken in less than 1 months use (bloom lights work, veg don't). I'm hoping the exchange goes smoothly and this isn't a testament as to the quality of this brand.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do about this? they don't have symmetrical sides. SUGGESTIONS?

Looks like the 1st node on the left is symmetrical isn't it?? You *could* top back to that one... As you know its my 1st grow/mainline so I obviously don't have experience to back this up.

 

[Grouchy]

I'm glad you got the 3w lights CoGreen. It gives me hope that I will get 3w diodes as well. That aluminum tape though... works like a charm. It gives stability to the branch and allows you to bend then however you like. When the branch outgrows the tape, it easily breaks apart by itself about as easy as aluminum foil. The stickiness of the tape is pretty sticky but it comes off really easy if the reason arises.

As far as the plant that's not symmetrical, I topped it at the 3rd node on both sides. It turned out that the first 2 nodes were messed up but the 3rd had 2 shoots. So, that's good news. I also noticed the same plant showed me her sex. There was one tiny hair poking out from a node. I don't know if this is a 100% indicator of a female being that its so early but it was definitely a pistil from a calyx.

 

[Grouchy]

question.

What is rep and how does it work?

 

[Camo420Grow]

Hey grouchy I was wondering how the P300 worked for you and your area? I saw you got the mars 2 now, I was looking to start my first grow and I'm gathering supplies and what not. I'm trying decide if a P300 in a 4'x4'x6' diy tent with 4-6 plants would be enough? Or should I go ahead and save up to get 2 P300 ?

Also read your entire third grow and loved every second ! Look forward to your future posts and thank you for you prior service and all the help you post on here for beginners like me!

 

[ganjazz]

Just read journal and subbed.

 

[Grouchy]

Hey grouchy I was wondering how the P300 worked for you and your area? I saw you got the mars 2 now, I was looking to start my first grow and I'm gathering supplies and what not. I'm trying decide if a P300 in a 4'x4'x6' diy tent with 4-6 plants would be enough? Or should I go ahead and save up to get 2 P300 ?

Also read your entire third grow and loved every second ! Look forward to your future posts and thank you for you prior service and all the help you post on here for beginners like me!

Hey man! Wow I'm your first post? Now ya got me blushing! Only kidding... But not really.

I definitely like the P300. It pulls about 180 watts from the wall and I got 0.9 grams per watt on my last grow so I am definitely a fan of it. I've literally had no problems with it and not to mention the 5 year warranty is awesome. Hopefully I won't ever have to use the warranty...
The downfall is the price. It costs about $380 last time I checked which is pretty damn high. But The quality is supposed to make up for that I guess. But I was happy with yield.

I actually ordered the Mars reflecter series not the Mars 2. The Mars reflector uses 3 watt diodes opposed to the 5 watt diodes that the Mars 2 uses.

As far as one P300 for your 4x4, that's probably not gonna be enough. It will absolutely work and you will get good yields but it's wasting a lot of tent space. If you could get either 2 Mars reflectors, or 2 P300s, you would have awesome yields in comparison.

Thank you for your thank yous

Just read journal and subbed.

And I follow yours man! Keep up the good work and thanks for subbing!

 

[Camo420Grow]

So your liking the mars reflector, sorry misread earlier lol! But yeah your my first post (idk how to put cool smileys yet) I was actually gonna do a simple DWC in a tub till I saw your hempy pots! Then I had to research them, so it's between those 2 which I'm gonna do the first grow. The hempypots just seem simpler, 3:1 perlite to vermiculite coorect? And then use the lucas formula thanks to you again!

I'm on the verge of getting out and super excited bout getting out and starting the next phase of life, but before joining always loved good bud with friends and the old lady ! And I've ALWAYS wanted to try my hand at growing ! Also I'm gonna look into getting 2 of P300 or mars reflector. Question on the P300 you leave both switch on thru out veg and flower to pull full 180?

 

[Grouchy]

Well, first off... WELCOME TO THE CIV DIV! You can now call out of sick work without fear of NJP! (to make smileys, click the smiley face above the text box and choose one)

I haven't received my Reflector yet but I should be getting it in the mail on Monday according to tracking number. My grow tent was shipped separately so I should get that soon too hopefully!

Hempy and DWC are like night and day. DWC takes constant maintenance and is probably not the best choice for a first grow. Hempy is very forgiving and requires almost no maintenance.

Now you mentioned the 3:1 perlite/vermiculite ratio. That is a good method and will work, but I think most people use Coco (aka coco coir) for their Hempys now. In case you are unfamiliar with what Coco is, it is the brown husk part of a coconut and is ground up to small pieces. This growing medium is PH neutral and holds moisture almost better than any other growing medium but also allows oxygen to get to the roots which is a necessity. My last grow, I bought a small bag of CHUNKY perlite from my local hydro shop and put that at the bottom of a 3.5 gallon bucket about 2 inches high from the bottom. I then filled the rest of the bucket with coco. The bottom 2 inches of perlite act as the "reservoir" or the simulated water table (since it is supposed to mimic real world conditions of a water table below the surface). This grow, I did all Coco because on my last grow, there were more roots inside the coco than there was in the perlite so that let me to believe the roots liked the coco more than growing into the perlite. If that is true, that means I wasted 2 inches of grow bucket space where the roots could have gone. Bigger roots, Bigger fruits, right? Also, perlite does not hold moisture

ANYWAY! If I were you, I would include some coco in your Hempy bucket or you could start with the original (perlite) and maybe It will work for you. Either way you do it, I would not use vermiculite. I don't believe it has any benefits other than holding very little moisture. Different methods work for different people but Coco has been proven to be one of the most stable growing mediums that is very easy to correct nutrient problems with.

Sorry to sound like a coco commercial.

Also, if you want to use the Lucas formula and you want to keep it very simple, try either MaxiBloom (Cheap, powder nutrient that is the perfect Lucas Formula ratio in a single bag that can be used for the entire grow, both vegetative & flower) or FloraNova Bloom (A liquid, more expensive nutrient than MaxiBloom but also the perfect Lucas Formula ratio and can be used for the entire grow, both vegetative and flower).

Question on the P300 you leave both switch on thru out veg and flower to pull full 180?

For veg, I have been leaving only the veg light switch on and they seem to be doing great. Id rather use less power if possible.

 

[glimmergrass]

question.

What is rep and how does it work?

Hi, Grouchy!

Your reputation or rep is represented graphically by the green bar under your name and title. You can check your own rep (the actual number) by going to User CP > Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of that page (which lists all the latest posts in the threads your subscribed to) and you'll see a box that gives your total reputation plus info about the last five times someone has given YOU rep points and tells you how many points you bestow to someone else (the number of points you can give rises with your own reputation), and the last five times you've given rep points to someone else.

To give someone rep points, say, for a particularly useful post in a thread, click on the star at the bottom of the post (between Blog this Post and the warning triangle) -- then you can award some rep points to that poster plus leave them a nice comment if you like

 

[Camo420Grow]

No no you can sound like a commercial all you want. With your persuasion I just make do my first grow with coco coir! You say I can just do 100% coco and the plants will do good? How often are you watering just coco?

Thanks for the welcoming too ! I'm actually still over seas doing one last tour & just finishing up this last year and when I get home I'm done! Which leads me to maybe lean towards packaging up the wifey & kids and moving to a legal state once I return home. Sad thing is tho many employers still scrutinize with drug policies even tho its legal in the state. Read a court case about a guy in Colorado who used medicinally, failed a random and the fired him. He sued and the employer won the case because it's their lawful "federal" right to enforce mo tolerance drug use! So really having to look into route I'm going once leaving the military due to "laws" and company's policies.

On another note, just got me a tent in the mail to the house as well! So now I'll know my Sq ft so I can get the right light, it's 2'7"x2'7"x5'3"! So I'm looking at around 9 Sq ft x 40watt. 360 watts needed correct ? Leads me to the question for the P300 or a mars reflector(just using P300 as reference) it pulls 180 watts. So is that actually watts or just electricity used? So pretty much what is the actual wattage put out of the P300 ?

 

[Grouchy]

Hi, Grouchy!

Your reputation or rep is represented graphically by the green bar under your name and title. You can check your own rep (the actual number) by going to User CP > Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of that page (which lists all the latest posts in the threads your subscribed to) and you'll see a box that gives your total reputation plus info about the last five times someone has given YOU rep points and tells you how many points you bestow to someone else (the number of points you can give rises with your own reputation), and the last five times you've given rep points to someone else.

To give someone rep points, say, for a particularly useful post in a thread, click on the star at the bottom of the post (between Blog this Post and the warning triangle) -- then you can award some rep points to that poster plus leave them a nice comment if you like

Awesome! Thanks Glimmergrass. I appreciate it. +rep?