COGrows 400W HPS - Soil - Blue Plant Nutrients

[COgrow]

Just started a dark period to try and help fool the plants into using the last of their stored energy reserves and amp up the THC production. I will cut sometime tomorrow after approximately 24-36 hours.

Pics of harvest to come tomorrow. I'll be spending some time tonight trying to figure out a way I can stealthily cure. I'm in the process of renewing my lease, and although it is completely legal, I obviously don't want my landlord to ask ANY sort of questions. He may have to come over sometime during the week, and I'm afraid he may want to peak in our two bedrooms for whatever reason to ensure the house okay as far as damages are concerned. Hopefully we can just sign an extension that references everything we've already signed in the original lease.

I don't want to compromise my drying! How do you guys do it stealthily?

 

[COgrow]

Well it looks like my journal is pretty dead now, so just posting for my own reference.

Chopped them both last night, spent hours trimming and hanging. What a pain in the ass, I was up all night. But it looks like I should get at least, if not more than 8 ounces. Going to have a decent amount of popcorn buds, but after they dry I'll decide what I'm going to make hash with.

The small one was my early finisher, looks the best (tightest nugs, more finished than the big one), but due to time constraints I was forced to cut the bigger one when it could have probably gone another 5-7 days to really finish up.

They'll be drying for about a week then I'll trim the rest of the sugar leaves and jar them up.

Thanks for viewing, thanks for all the help, and a big thanks to Blue Planet Nutrients. I've surely surprised myself and surpassed my goals for my first grow. I'm extremely happy and cannot wait until it cools off so I can put everything I've learned from this grow into an even better second grow with better genetics, temp and humidity monitoring, etc..!

 

[Mr Mud-Pie]

omg dude thats sooooo nice i want some!!! haha

 

[BudTester420]

Great grow man, seriously nice work for a first grow. Can't wait to see your second one.

 

[COgrow]

omg dude thats sooooo nice i want some!!! haha

Thanks MMP, I appreciate it!

Great grow man, seriously nice work for a first grow. Can't wait to see your second one.

Thank you very much BlazinThat, I appreciate it as well.

The little plant filled a shoebox, less popcorn than the large one. Large one probably netted 5-6 times as much as the small one. All depends on density I guess, and the small one seemed more dense overall. If my room wasn't so small (I can't back far enough away from my 4x4 tent) I would upload some pictures, but the ones I did take have no reference and are hard to distinguish what's all going on.

Nonetheless, thanks guys.

 

[DEAN420]

Brilliant grow myfriend... +REPS

 

[420Farmer]

You chopped before any amber trichs?! Whyyyyyyy your buds were packing on density!!! Final weeks are KEY!! Oh well, dank looking buds my friend.

 

[COgrow]

Brilliant grow myfriend... +REPS

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

You chopped before any amber trichs?! Whyyyyyyy your buds were packing on density!!! Final weeks are KEY!! Oh well, dank looking buds my friend.

Yeah, I completely understand and was extremely disappointed. I have to be done drying by this coming Tuesday. So, it was either cut them a little early (I saw amber trichomes on the small one, not the big one) or lose them all together... It sucks I had to make that choice, but I did.

I also don't feel as bad as I thought I would. There are a lot of people out there that believe letting the trichomes become amber loses potency, just as harvesting when everything is clear loses potency. I know for a fact I harvested the big one at 90-95 percent cloudy/milky and the small one with 5 percent amber. It's one of those things where I don't know what to believe, there's so many false ideas floating around the forums. I need to find what my plants and I like, not just what the internet says. But with that said, I definitely do appreciate any and all comments that you guys have for me.

Thank you for the compliments 420farmer and TBD.

 

[Icemud]

Hey CoGrow!!! sorry to be gone for so long...been putting in crazy hours trying to get a job so I haven't been online much lately. Anyhow, your grow looks amazing and I too have harvested with cloudy trichomes and been very happy with the results. I like having both effects, an energizing high for the day (cloudy) and the heavy couch lock medicated feel for evenings/night (amber trichomes). I think your buds look amazing and can't wait to hear how the smoke report goes!!! I'm definitely in for your next round!

 

[COgrow]

Hey CoGrow!!! sorry to be gone for so long...been putting in crazy hours trying to get a job so I haven't been online much lately. Anyhow, your grow looks amazing and I too have harvested with cloudy trichomes and been very happy with the results. I like having both effects, an energizing high for the day (cloudy) and the heavy couch lock medicated feel for evenings/night (amber trichomes). I think your buds look amazing and can't wait to hear how the smoke report goes!!! I'm definitely in for your next round!

No worries! We all have real lives, and my grow didn't have many pretty pictures haha.

Thanks for the kind words and I hope to see you for round two after the summer!

 

[COgrow]

I'll have some pictures sometime this week, but...

Final weight after drying was just under 9 ounces.

Large plant: ~6.75 ounces
Small plant: ~2.25 ounces

Gives me ~ 6. grams per watt for my first grow. Wish I could have let it go another week+, but next time we'll see.

Small plant was more dense, with less popcorn. The big one ended up with 2-3 ounces of popcorn, not bad. Next grow I will have at least 1k watts in my tent, going for more plants, keeping them smaller (my 400w hps only penetrated 6 inches and towards the last inch or two the buds still stretched away from the main stem), and lollipopping much more. I'll definitely have a MH for vegging and use the HPS for flowering as well.

I'm contemplating the idea of not using any pH up/down in the next grow as well...

This journal is done. I'll see you guys with another journal after the summer months!

 

[COgrow]

Update totals:

250 grams dried, trimmed, cured.

Smoke is nice, but it could be smoother. I think a little bit more cure could help. It has a sweet, fruity taste with a hint of skunk, but I was left with a little harshness. Maybe I could trim better, I don't know. I'll definitely be trimming when it's wet, rather than dry. What a pain...

.625 grams per watt from two plants, blue planet nutrients, ffof/promix, 400w hps entire grow, ~6 weeks veg, 65 days flower, 5gallon pot and 3 gallon pot finished in.

Thanks again everyone, this journal is done! See you next time.

 

[BudTester420]

Great work dude. Wish I could come close to that on my first grow. Can't wait to see your next one

 

[COgrow]

Great work dude. Wish I could come close to that on my first grow. Can't wait to see your next one

Thanks BlazinThat, I appreciate it! Hope to see you in for my next one. Check back in early September for germination. I'm going to start in jiffy pellets and then be using promix the entire rest of the way with BPN 3part + LB Bloom Booster, JD Lighting 1000k watt ballast with their air cooled hinged hood, and mh/hps bulbs. MH for veg and HPS for flower. The only thing that could change is if I end up making some super soil or getting my hands on some from my buddy. I definitely would not mind having a pot with super soil and 2 with promix and bpn to compare (if I use two of the same strain the comparison will be much truer).

Once I get the first set into flower, I'm going to get a closet or a 2'x2' veg area set up for 3 new plants to go into flowering when the first 3 are done. I want to stay within the laws of my state, so no more than 3 veg and 3 flower at any given time (6 plants total, and I've heard 3 and 3 is how the law comes up with 6 total). I'll use the 400w in there and just try to get as many harvests in before May of 2013, so somewhat perpetual but not as rigorous as some. I may do a cycle with 1 new plant every 2 to 3 weeks depending on the strain for quicker harvesting, but I'm not sure.

And about the time I start this grow my girlfriend will be signing me over as her caregiver (while my caregiver is still technically a dispensary) so I'll be able to up my operation to 6 veg plants and 6 flower plants. I'll still probably have the same square footage to work with, but it'll double the variety i'll be able to have. Lacking variety was the worst part about my first grow.

 

[420 Girl]

Thanks for sharing your grow with us, COgrow!

I'm going to move this to Completed Journals now.

Lots of love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!

 

[Smokemupm8]

NIce grow mate My last grow was with a 400w MH AND HPS in soil, single plant not topped or scrog'd gave me 8 oz of dry cola's and some popcorn, maybe 16 g??
I like the looks of those buds bro nice job.. Im hoping my current goes something like yours Later buddy,
SMOKEMUP...

 

[Smokemupm8]

here's a bud..

 

[Sphnx]

awesome work! Wish I could have gotten a hold of the trim lol hash hash hash