Burmese Kush - CFL - First Time

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 41

I tried to remove the lower 33% of leaves. I think it ended up being more like 20%.

I probably need to remove some of the upper leaves as well. They are growing over each other.

Do other growers remove mostly fan leaves, smaller bud leaves, or a combo of both?

Like if a bud stem has 4 sets of fan leaves left, so 8 fan leaves, would you remove all 8 fan leaves? All the lower 6 bud leaves? Or just some fans and some buds that don't get the most light?

I have exactly 10 bud sites on each plant, so 30 all together.

A couple of the bud sites on the tallest plant are a full 12" lower. Cut em?

The tallest plant is now 32", middle is 26", and shorty is 18" (all + 10" for the 5 gal pots)

Here is where I FIMd a FIM

Guess I just slowed growth because the center stalk is now the shortest one (the tallest plant)

Here is the Top, which came out with 2 tops, but they never had a chance to grow Still it kept the center stalk lower / allowed the other bud sites to grow higher

That was the mid plant, also in the tent.

The shorty out in the closet has no topping. I tried to supercrop, but I don't think I bent it enough to be beneficial. Good, since no more veg time, anyways.

Last is a quick stem shot. The clones look fine, just waitin' on roots.

I probably will switch to posting once every 3 days after this, as I hope the stretch has stopped and the flowers won't change all that much from day to day.

 

[arteekay]

It has the flange, a cheap 6" fan, a 6" to 4" reducer, and a 4" Phresh filter.

Its all air tight. Whether your pulling the air through the filter first, then fan, then exit

Or exit, fan, filter, all the air is still forced through the carbon. The guy at the local hydro shop said it doesn't matter and they are designed to allow air to be pushed or pulled.

While I'd agree that as long as the smelly air comes in contact with the carbon long enough to react, it'll "work". The problem is the pre-filter becomes a post-filter effectively doing nothing, and anything that the pre-filter would catch instead ends up in the carbon, reducing it's lifespan and airflow faster that it should. I'd even argue that having the carbon inside allows for longer contact time before it's exhausted.

I've come to learn the local hydro shop guy isn't always the best source of accurate information. He just wants to make a sale, and if you have to come back after one year to replace your carbon filter rather than two, all the better for them.

One of mine told me to plant autoflowers in dixie cups and wait for them to become root bound a bit before transplanting, against the recommendations of the majority of autoflower growers here and elsewhere.

With all that being said, the tent was too small for 3 plants, so only 2 plants are in the tent. Even if it worked perfect, I still smell the 3rd plant.

It may not apply in your case of course, but cutting out 2/3 of the smell is a good start.

Since flower, the aroma is pinesol / pine / lemon / sour / old socks / skunk arse / in that order.

I felt like the filter did work when all plants were in it, but it is a cheap fan that probably does not push through it as well as it should.

Here is the exit. There really is no room for the filter or even the fan in the tent.

It looks like there's quite a bit of room up there for a horizontal filter, the fan can pull from outside still with just a foot or two of flexible venting. It looks like there is at least 6 inches between the front of your lights and the front of the tent, if not more. The lights could be moved to the front more and the carbon filter at the back, to reduce the length of venting. Would definitely require a ton of work of course.

Anyway, you know your setup better than I. I just wanted you to consider the pre vs. post filter issue.

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 43

About 7 days into flower

I'm tellin' ya'll, you can't leave me home alone on the weekends

These hands just start twitchin' and wantin' to touch stuff...

4' x 4' tent, 3 lights (I have 4, but need to get the clones ready before I turn on the 4th)

The clones did not root as well / quickly as I hoped, but I only used some cheap rooting hormone from Home Depot.

They are in a separate room with 100 watts of CFL over the 6 cuttings. A couple won't stop flowering, even though they have been under 24/0 light for 7 days...

The plants are looking good. I am not sure if the lights are too high, now, or if they are intense enough in the bigger room. I have the 2 smaller LEDs I could add, in addition to the 4th other. The small ones have UV and IR that the big ones don't.

I also bought an air conditioner, but I am apprehensive with the lighting alone for now. I will need to hire an electrician to run a couple more lines to the room to feel safe with the lights, as well as an AC.

Also have a 6" Phresh, and yes Arty, its in the tent, and an HV fan. Just need to tape em' up to get air tight. No smells, even without the tape

Watered the 2 big ones today outside in the bathroom (as I moved from one tent to the other). Very fresh pine smell, not sour any more

I will love to get some more plants started soon in the small tent, but again, waiting on an electrician.

I am a little upset. The seed bank had 1 time for flower, TH Seeds had another, and I swear I saw the 7 weeks I have been thinking of this whole time somewhere... Anyways, according to TH, its 60 - 65 days for flower... I can't determine when flower technically began since I forced the 12/12 too early. Oh well.

I have seeds for Critical HOG, Akorn, Lemon Amnesia Haze, and LSD, as well as some singles (and more BUKU, but this should be enough to last me all of 2016 . Still up in the air on which to try next, but I have a few weeks to think about it.

 

[1ofaKind]

I got a tower fan with an ionizer, too. It said "wide osculation" but I swear its only 30'...

I took a trip to a "scratch and dent / fell off the back of a truck" warehouse.

 

[1ofaKind]

Did all 4 lights. Angled the 4th towards the other 3.

Maybe tomorrow I will put the clones in there for the 12 hours, then put them under the CFLs the other 12.

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU DAy 44

Just a few pics.

So if you have 10 stalks per plant and the nodes are 3" apart, do you just keep the top 3? 4? Or am I still on the trim the lowest 1/3 and leave the rest? I trimmed a little more today.

Smells pine / spice now (in the tent). Keeps changing on me.

 

[arteekay]

Also have a 6" Phresh, and yes Arty, its in the tent, and an HV fan. Just need to tape em' up to get air tight. No smells, even without the tape

Good, I can sleep now. ;-)

 

[1ofaKind]

Investing in infastructure

I've been busy. Installed 3 - 20 amp breakers and ran 3 12 gauge grounded wires to the grow room! GFCI outlets. 14 gauge single piece extension cords.

Before I just had 2 polarized plugs with a ton on extension cords off them. And those breakers shared a couple other rooms, too...

Now I can run all the light I want, fans, ect... in both tents if need be. Safety, Serenity... Good stuff!

I just hooked up the LG portable AC. Temps are in the 80s and humidity is 55 - 60%.

I hope the AC will reduce to 75 and 40%... I bought a 12,000 btu, with the thought that I will just keep it on low, thus last a very long time and be very energy efficient. We'll see. I need to wrap the tubing that leads to the window in insulation.

The lights are already off for tonight and I have company coming for the weekend. Hope to get pics up soon.

 

[arteekay]

Nice! I'm scared to death of electrical so I won't be following in your footsteps there, now trying to figure out how to get an actual electrician into the basement to do some wiring, without having to take down my entire setup.

Safety first!

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 48

I took a couple pics of the buds and a couple of the breaker and outlets.

Crawling through the attic, which is only 3 ft high at the center peak, was definitely the big pain.

The attic has no floor boards so I had to climb from 2x4 to 2x4 with only drywall ceiling in between...

Adding breakers to a box, if you have room on the circuit, is extremely easy.

Its just popping off the old breaker, popping in the new, cutting wire, screwing it down.... Not much more than that.

All 3 plants were dry today. Watered all 3 will bloom food (last time was plain water)

They look happy. Maybe after these nutes I will see thicker flower formation.

I am considering adding one of the small lights to the tent.

I took a shot of the FIM and the TOP too. They both have 2 heads, but they are small.

I have not given the AC enough time to stabalize yet. I know it has a "dry" mode. Maybe that will lower the humidity.

Left the lights on last night for an extra 90 minutes, forgot to set the new timers.... Now I am on a later schedule.

Company comes tomorrow so I am going dark til Monday.

As for the clones: I see one large aphid (I think) it is a large white insect (4mm long) with a line separating its oval body.

I think I will just kill them. I don't want to risk getting any problems with what I have now.

 

[arteekay]

Great update, not sure on the bug. Luckily haven't had to fight off any yet.

If you don't get a helpful response, maybe repost the pic as a new thread in the problems, pests and disease control subforum.

 

[1ofaKind]

I no longer think it is an aphid. I think it is a weevil.

I decided to move the clones to the 2 x 3 tent. I could not see any gnats or the weevil.

And then there he was, clung to a light power cord. One flick and he was organically terminated.

Of course I don't know if he was the same one or the only one, so I will continue to monitor.

Also appears my pots are a bit too big for the weakly rooted clones.

Its been 13 days of 24 - 0 light. I was hoping for more vigorous growth by now.

Glad they are still alive. I am very interested in their difference from seed growth.

Still waiting to see what happens to the white pistils, too. They were already in flower when I took them

 

[ShiggityFlip]

When a clone goes into a big pot instead of a small one expect to wait a bit to see top growth. That's because it is spending all its energy into growing healthy roots. So fear not, it's all happening under the soil and then you will see explosive growth up top.

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 51

The Clones : They finally dried out some. So I just watered them with a little quick start and Supterthrive again.

I flipped a couple of them. Just 1 single, thick root straight down the center and out a hole, probably for O2.

I hope watering was the right choice. Here are some pics. The 2 that had flowers and alternating nodes seem to be struggling the most.

I upped pot size regularly with the seedlings. But these clones root to water in pot ratio may be unbalanced.

Next up: I have a lot of lower growth tiny flowers forming. Should I clip all those? Can I smoke those tiny buds?

Waste not, want not.

On to the the 3 plants: They are now distinctly short, reg, and tall. The tall plant is 51" with the pot, 41" without. That is just about 100 cm, or the height stated by TH Seeds, and a reason why I ordered this particular plant.

I have had some white growth on the leaves near the main buds! THC?

I ended up silk screening the tower fan. I found out all the brown marks on my lower leaves were from high wind.

Last is a pic of the AC with insulation. Maybe I showed this already? It jumped to 86 yesterday when I turned it off. Company...

The AC has a "cool" setting that claims it does not need a collection bucket??? I guess it is just throwing the water back in the air, which, at this point, I don't want. When I put it on "dry" I get water in my bucket, but they air is not cool....

Oh, and here is the wire set-up. I still need to figure out how to seal the outlets in the wall.

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 53

Getting a little more sugar on the leaves.

The tallest one actually has the least sugar... Its a day or 2 behind the others.

Watered yesterday with nutes and trimmed some of the interior fan leaves to help with light penetration and air flow.

I can't see the buds growing all that much. Guess its a slow ride from this point, but the white is like snow for Christmas!!

The AC has settled some. I am emptying 4 gallons of water every day. Temps are lower, as is the humidity, but not the 75' / 40% humidity I wanted.

Here are the fans with the silk screen.

Clones are starting to show some new growth... At least 3 in great shape. Hoping to pull all 6 through!

I am interested in starting 2 different seeds for my next grow and just running clones from both in the big tent.

 

[ShiggityFlip]

Nice perpetual set up. Plants in flower and plants ready to go. A good time to top the three clones in the center.

 

[1ofaKind]

Good call, man. I will wait a few more days to top, after I repot.

I am hoping to keep all 6 and keep them smaller (3 gal pots)

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 56

Watered today with nutes. Wondering if I should add more nutes to the water? Still not seeing the bud growth I want.

OR maybe the bud growth will just happen later on its own.

I know I am lazy now and am just watering enough that I see a little water in the bottom of the tray. But I am watering a quart every 5 minutes over the course of 30 minutes.

Tallest plants highest bud is at 53". That is plant B from before.

The clones are in 2 gal pots as of an hour ago, and in Vermifire soil.

All had great root growth.

 

[Amadeus Forzin]

 

[1ofaKind]

BUKU Day 59

20 days since flowers were evident.

Not much to show. With 45 days left of flower, maybe I will only post once a week.

Here are the ladies. I am still considering chopping more of the fan leaves...

I want to continue using nutes with every water (tomorrow). I have not seen any ill effects and I am still disappointed in bud size, so hopefully it will help.

And here are the clones. They have all been topped. Currently in 2 gal containers.

Everything should be ready to be watered tomorrow.