Colorado High - Soil - CFL - Easy Rider - 2013

[Light Addict]

Yep both me hinks

 

[David Bowman]

Day 5 of flowering and my ladies have survived the turmoil of transplantation into 3 gallon pots and they are stretching around an inch a day on average. They range from 11" to 20" in height and pistils are sprouting everywhere as they seem to be enjoying their environment. My new 6"x14" Carbon Filter/Fan combination has effectively eliminated any smells emanating from the grow box. To minimize any light intrusions during the 12-hour dark cycle, I close both side air inlets and the folding closet doors. Below is a picture of the flowering stage setup -

Close-up of my four beautiful females -

One interesting thing that I've noticed is that the two largest plants, which were the first to pre-flower, have non-offset nodes, while the two smaller plants, which were last to pre-flower, have offset nodes. Knowing that offset nodes is one indication of sexual maturity, I thought it interesting to note that a plant can reach maturity without showing any offset nodes.

Non-offset node on largest plant -

Offset node on smaller plant -

 

[stealthgrow]

Looking great Colorado, great luck on the female ratio, 4 out of 5 is awesome.
Keep up the good work.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks stealthgrow!

 

[GreatLife4All]

This is actually an interesting topic.

Genetically - MJ is pre-programmed to come out 60% female.

The actual sex is not determined until the fourth or fifth week of veg. Depending on environment - I believe you can go as high as 90% males. There was a study done by Dutch Seeds - it is still available on the web - which included this result:

Of the 5 above-mentioned environmental factors the first three are the most practical:

Level of nitrogen and potassium of the seedbed: A heightening of the standard level of nitrogen makes for more female cannabis plants originating from the weed seeds. A lowering of the nitrogen level shows more male cannabis plants. A heightening of the level of potassium tends to show more male marijuana plants, while a lowering of the potassium level shows more female marijuana plants. A combination of a higher nitrogen level for the period of a week or two and a lowering of the potassium level is recommended.

Humidity and moistness of the seedbed: a higher humidity makes for an increase in the number of female cannabis plants from weed seed, a lowering for an increase in male cannabis plants. The same is valid for the moistness of the seedbed.

Level of temperatures: lower temperatures make for a larger number of female marijuana plants, higher temperatures for more male marijuana plants.

Colour of light: more blue light makes for female cannabis plants from seed, more red light makes for more male cannabis plants.

Hours of daylight: few hours of daylight (e.g. 14 hours) makes for more female individuals, a long day (e.g. 18 hours) makes for more male cannabis plants.
​

Thank you Light Addict! Is sex determined environmentally or genetically, both? I've always wondered how that works with cannabis plants.

 

[David Bowman]

This is actually an interesting topic.

Genetically - MJ is pre-programmed to come out 60% female.

The actual sex is not determined until the fourth or fifth week of veg. Depending on environment - I believe you can go as high as 90% males. There was a study done by Dutch Seeds - it is still available on the web - which included this result:

Of the 5 above-mentioned environmental factors the first three are the most practical:

Level of nitrogen and potassium of the seedbed: A heightening of the standard level of nitrogen makes for more female cannabis plants originating from the weed seeds. A lowering of the nitrogen level shows more male cannabis plants. A heightening of the level of potassium tends to show more male marijuana plants, while a lowering of the potassium level shows more female marijuana plants. A combination of a higher nitrogen level for the period of a week or two and a lowering of the potassium level is recommended.

Did not attempt to control N, P, or K specifically for this grow. I just used a modified FF Nutrient Schedule. Thanks to all the information I gathered on this site I avoided over-ferting.

Humidity and moistness of the seedbed: a higher humidity makes for an increase in the number of female cannabis plants from weed seed, a lowering for an increase in male cannabis plants. The same is valid for the moistness of the seedbed.

Humidity was typically 40-60% and was stable whenever the house evaporative cooler was running. This will probably prove more difficult to maintain during heating season without some sort of humidification. The seedbed, once I got the watering schedule under control, was relatively moist. Interestingly enough the male plant came from one of the waterlogged pots.

Level of temperatures: lower temperatures make for a larger number of female marijuana plants, higher temperatures for more male marijuana plants.

I guess I dodged that bullet since my temps were regularly topping out in the mid 80's. Nightime temps bottomed out in the low 70's. In fact. I'm dealing with high temperatures right now in flowering due to the increase light wattage and lower CFM of extraction system, 130 CFM (w/Carbon Filter) compared to 191 CFM from 6" clip fan. I'm hoping that since they vegetated in a high temp environment, that the high temps during flowering won't induce any shock or hermaphrodism.

Colour of light: more blue light makes for female cannabis plants from seed, more red light makes for more male cannabis plants.

I used all blue light (6400K/5000K) throughtout vegetation.

Hours of daylight: few hours of daylight (e.g. 14 hours) makes for more female individuals, a long day (e.g. 18 hours) makes for more male cannabis plants.

Sounds like in my case, GLR might be the biggest contributor to my female ratio. Good news since I plan to adopt GLR for all of my future grows.

​

Very interesting information! I will keep a better eye on these factors during my future grows.

 

[Light Addict]

+reps for informative post great topic!

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Light Addict!

 

[David Bowman]

Day 9 of flowering and the ladies are doing well. They range from 15" to 22" in height, with the tallest one showing the least amount of growth. Not surprisingly, the two largest plants suffered the greatest shock from transplanting, becoming a little droopy and losing a few leaves due to N-deficiency. I removed all of the ones that were completely yellow as well as a couple that were almost completely drained of N (for journaling purposes only, I typically leave the N-deficient leaves on the plant until completely yellow and wilted) -

I also added a small shot of Grow Big to the last nutrient feeding to help them recover from the transplant shock and give them a good start in flowering. They are all stretching and filling out with pistils so I do not think the transplant has been that deterimental to their growth, but I'm glad I did it early on in flowering rather than later. I'm still battling heat issues due to the increase of light wattage, from 434 to 586 (an increase of 35%), as well as the reduction of the rate of extraction due to the lower CFM fan and carbon filter setup. Nightime temps are typically in the mid 60's, but daytime temps are in the mid 80's topping out around 90 near the end of the daylight cycle. I really don't want to reduce the lighting and I cannot do without the carbon filter so I'm keeping a close eye of things. I'm periodically opening up the grow box to help reduce the temps, but since they regularly experienced mid 80's during vegetation, I'm hoping that they are already tolerant of these temps and will handle them without any significant issues.

Group shot of the ladies -

Close-up shot of the bushiest top node filling out quite nicely -

 

[stealthgrow]

Looks good Colorado, but do you not plan on topping them, or are you just gonna let them grow 1 main stalk?

 

[David Bowman]

I do not plan on topping them for a couple reasons. First, since this is my first grow, I did not want to complicate matters and potentially cause problems trying to do too much too soon. I'd like to get one good grow under my belt so that I know what to expect as I try new things in future grows. Second, this is the shortest strain, 24", that I have and I have plenty of room for them to max out their height during this grow. The other strains are between 28" and 35" and will benefit more from topping or LST since my grow box height is 60" and that does not take into account pot height, lights and fan/carbon filter, which take up ~2' of vertical space.

 

[KingJohnC]

your plants are looking good.

 

[GreatLife4All]

I do not plan on topping them for a couple reasons.

Good plan my friend. Walk... next Jog... and then Run with the best

It takes experience to understand the plants. Not all plants like to be defoliated. Not all plants like to be topped. If you don't know what to expect under normal growth conditions - how will you ever know if changes in technique work with the plants you have selected? Any plant will grow well if left to it's own devices and provided certain essentials by the gardener.

++reps for your well thought out plan and sticking to it.

 

[puffpass]

I love the set up right On Awesome I hop everything goes well according to your plan

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks GL4A and puffpass!!

 

[Light Addict]

Yep well done on the self styled steady learning curve. When I started up I went at it like an idiot, went for everything all kind of muddled and lost quite a few plants along the way! Finding your own path is what its all about. Best of gregariously green girls to you!

 

[shottafire]

What everyone else said and subbed. Looking really good.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks LA and shottafire!!

 

[David Bowman]

Day 15 of flowering and all is well. I'm watering about every 3 days now, feeding them every other watering. My ladies range from 17"-24" in height and the yellowing of the lower leaves is starting to abate. It appears that the addition of Grow Big to Big Bloom and Tiger Bloom seems to have the desired effect of reducing the yellowing with no significantl over-stretching evident so far. Pistils are appearing in every nook and cranny and it looks like pre-buds are forming in the higher pistil concentration areas. The side-lighting really seems to be helping the flowering at the lower areas of the plants. To help some of the lower pre-buds get some more light, I'm spreading the fan leaves around those pre-buds that are pushing up into the fan leaves from below. I'm trying to avoid defoliation at this point given the loss of some of the lower fan leaves due to the transition from vegetation to flowering. I hope all is well with everyone and that your grows stay green and healthy.

Group shot of my ladies on day 15 of flowering -

Early pre-buds forming on top of plant -

Close-up of a top pre-bud forming -

 

[Light Addict]

Very nice indeed my friend keep the good green work up!