Colorado High - Soilless - LED/CFL - Skunk Red Hair - 2014

[David Bowman]

I forgot to add that I moved the LEDs up another 4", to accommodate the latest growth spurt, thus maintaining their 18" distance from the canopy. The lights are ~12" from the top of the grow box and if I remove the ratchet hangers and hang the LEDs directly by their clips, I could gain another 10" of headroom which would mean that I could easily grow plants up to 30" in height. Anything above 30" will be growing up into the LEDs. If that happens, I will report on how the tops are affected by the increasing intensity and proximity of the LEDs.

 

[MaPilot]

I forgot to add that I moved the LEDs up another 4", to accommodate the latest growth spurt, thus maintaining their 18" distance from the canopy. The lights are ~12" from the top of the grow box and if I remove the ratchet hangers and hang the LEDs directly by their clips, I could gain another 10" of headroom which would mean that I could easily grow plants up to 30" in height. Anything above 30" will be growing up into the LEDs. If that happens, I will report on how the tops are affected by the increasing intensity and proximity of the LEDs.

I am interested in knowing the results, as I am in pretty much the exact situation.

 

[Mars Hydro]

 

[David Bowman]

 

[David Bowman]

You can always leave the bandage, and tie a loop around the branches, above the bandage to keep them together and provide support for the LST, then slowly start some LST

Great idea, Antics! Even if I don't do it this grow, for the next grow, I will bandage the "Y" nodes prior to any LSTing. That should help to support them enough not split in the first place. Of course, something will give if I get too rough, but a branch is less of an issue than the main stem IMHO. I will have to monitor the bandages closely and readjust them as necessary as I don't want to restrict their growth in any way.

 

[David Bowman]

Day 20 of flowering and the ladies appear to have nearly completed their stretching phase with the left lady at 20.5" in height and the right lady at 22" in height. I removed the rope ratchet light hangers and hung the LED light as high as possible using just the clips that were supplied with the light. Now it hangs 5" from the top of the grow box, add in the 10" of pot height and out of the 60" of total height, there remains 45" of grow space. As it stands now the ladies occupy approximately half of the total height available to them. Of course, one must take into consideration the distance from the canopy to the LED lights, which currently stands at ~23", but since the lights cannot go any higher, I'm letting the ladies grow up and into the lights and let them determine how far away they prefer to be from the lights. The grow environment remains very stable with temperatures staying between 70° and 85° and with the RH staying between 40% and 80% throughout the 24-hour light cycle. I'm counting on the RH dropping as fall, and the harvest, approaches bringing it down to more acceptable flowering stage levels.

Overhead shot of the ladies on day 20 of flowering -

Two-shot of the ladies on day 20 of flowering -

Single shot of the left lady on day 20 of flowering -

Single shot of the right lady on day 20 of flowering -

Close-up shot of pre-buds on the left lady on day 20 of flowering -

Close-up shot of a developing cola on the right lady on day 20 of flowering -

So far, due to heat issues, I have not used any sidelighting for the flowering stage and I'm impressed with the growth and development of the ladies under just the LED lights. It will be interesting to see the difference with my next grow where sidelighting can again be employed once the temperatures drop. A week ago I gave the ladies their first feeding of Growology Step 3 and they seemed to enjoy that very much since it had been over 3 weeks since they received any nutrients. Each lady was given one-half gallon of their standard flowering nutrient mix - Growology Step 3 and Molasses, both at 1 Tbsp/gallon, and Cal-Mag Plus, at 1 tsp/gallon. For the time being, water uptake has slowed while the roots continue to spread out into their new larger environment so watering intervals have increased significantly and currently stand between 7-10 days. It sure is nice for me and the ladies to finally have a stress-free grow. Here's hoping that it stays that way until harvest, which should occur sometime during September, and that everyone's grows are green and happy.

 

[grannyT]

Nice update CH, all the ladies looking very healthy and so pretty...Here's hoping no problems here on out,,!!! Just sit back and relax ,,watch them flower without stressing.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks, grannyT! I'm trying to remain relaxed about the grow but always ready for the unexpected.

 

[Antics]

Looking great! Keep up the good work

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks, Antics!

 

[skunnymonster]

Nice healthy looking plants with great structure This is the start of the fun part & I hope the bud gods are smiling on you

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks skunnymonster!

 

[bigjack]

Perfectly shaped little plants

 

[Grayhawk]

looking nice CH , looking really good.

 

[David Bowman]

Thank you bigjack!

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Grayhawk!

 

[B A R]

Will do a full read later Slim...

 

[David Bowman]

Sounds good BAR!

 

[B A R]

Shoot, I hadn't even noticed your new title. Congrats Slim.

 

[David Bowman]

No problem BAR! Thanks!!