Dr Bob Says Alakazam While Eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Your FiM's are good man! It takes roughly 3-6 days dependent on conditions to even see real good results from a fim, and a lot of people are scared away because you get all this retarded growth for a bit but rest asured you got it right. All your doing is slowing down the tops growth (without stopping it completely like topping) just enough for some branches get up as tall as the main top. so the closer you get to a correct fim the more effective it will work, if you just cut off the top leafs then its going to recover to fast for it to even work.

Keep in mind the more defoliating you do during your FIM the longer it will take for growth to take place, your already removing food source for the plant and it needs to recover from that fact first. Point is All your branches should get a jump on the top shoot.

 

[B A R]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Welcome to the Top LED Crew Bob & congrats on your harvest. As our MIA friend The Spimpster use to say; "without pictures it didn't happen".

 

[Jimmy6000]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Yea Doc.Mine all way's used to look like that.That's why I quit fimmimg.lol
Even when I did do it right,I just don't like the way they grew with multiple top's ,smashed together.
I now stick to topping so I can easily train big branches,instead of little bud site's on top of one branch.
If that make's any sense.lol
I would probably fim more if I had better luck with it.lol

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Topped it right. As for your fimms I cant really say for certain. How many days ago did you do it? The reason I cant say is because there are new branches forming well but I dont know if they were already there

Actually, the side branches are catching up a bit I suppose as the weren't there at all before, but it still seems most energy is going up the middle.

Your FiM's are good man! It takes roughly 3-6 days dependent on conditions to even see real good results from a fim, and a lot of people are scared away because you get all this retarded growth for a bit but rest asured you got it right. All your doing is slowing down the tops growth (without stopping it completely like topping) just enough for some branches get up as tall as the main top. so the closer you get to a correct fim the more effective it will work, if you just cut off the top leafs then its going to recover to fast for it to even work.

Keep in mind the more defoliating you do during your FIM the longer it will take for growth to take place, your already removing food source for the plant and it needs to recover from that fact first. Point is All your branches should get a jump on the top shoot.

Great explanation of it. I haven't really heard anyone explain the effect of a FIM before and why it does what it does. Now I think I get it.

Yea Doc.Mine all way's used to look like that.That's why I quit fimmimg.lol
Even when I did do it right,I just don't like the way they grew with multiple top's ,smashed together.
I now stick to topping so I can easily train big branches,instead of little bud site's on top of one branch.
If that make's any sense.lol
I would probably fim more if I had better luck with it.lol

And this is where I am I think. I like the clean look of the top vs the really bushiness going on now that will just seem to crowd to me. I think for the screen a top may be a better bet as I am seeing this come through. The main thing is I want to keep these plants consistent for a change and not have 3 beasts trying to burst from the tent but not producing like they could. After seeing your pics today from harvest vs my final pics before harvest, I like your more even buds vs the giant cola and a bunch of nice, but small, side buds.

I know everyone is saying to have patience with it, but I am concerned that in the end I am still going to like the effect of the top and train vs the FIM.

Hmmmmm.

Bob

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Really depends on your growing style and what kid of space you have. Some growers opt for FiM first then top top top all the branches after that.

You really need to judge what training method you use because all plant have different stalk and branch structures, you might Fim a nice looking plant with a thick thick stalk and you get 3-5 nice real thick tops that you can either keep or keep on topping. However on the flip side of the coin a small structured plant such as clones, you may only end up with thin lengthy branches that unless you veg for a few more weeks wont have much bud potential.

FiM's are real nice on most strong indica plants ( I'm not saying you cant successfully FiM a sativa at all) as the short bushy growth can build up those new branches real nice where as with pure sativa's you get a lot of stretching and that is where the strength of the structure comes into play.

Some growers opt for a FiM then 4 days or so later they will come in and super-crop to get real nice strong branches. Of course if your a scrogg grower FiM can help you get all your branches growing up if you FiM the main top you are training under the scrogg.

There is really no end to the madness of combinations to training, Everyone has a different setup and can acquiring a better yield by doing something but it might not work for me as well in my conditions.

Best advice, Don't stick like glue to 1 type of training because LST, HST it all has a place and using the methods should be circumstantial meaning I wouldn't plan to super crop my plant say 8 days from now, I do it when time is right and when My plant is NOT going through aggressive growth. I honestly cant tell you how many people wait to start training around 3 weeks of actual veg time, as it is best to start during end of week 1 to week 2. On the third week of Veg your plant should get a boosted PPM/EC and should not be messes with much as it will be starting some good growth. Training should resume 4-6 days after or when the daily growth starts to decrease.

Around this time your plant should be getting ready for budding either you bud it or wait for it to get bigger. Same thing with Defoliating around 21-28 days, Most growers have found this to be the best time to take off some leafs that are blocking bud sites and or not getting any light, so that you don't interrupt their "speed boost".

IMO any kind of super cropping during budding and definitely after buds have formed, will severely hurt your yield, or any kind of HST.

Hope everyone has a great day!

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

After re reading your post, You would probably much prefer the LST method(when you say screen you mean scrogg right? lol) just take a plant (if you wanna test it) and lightly tie a loop around the stalk a good part of the way up to the top and slowly bend the plant back and forth till she has some give and tie her bending over. Important part is to not snap her or break her anywhere.

The reason this works is because cannabis grows with apical dominance which briefly means that a cannabis plant is perfectly happy shooting 1 and only 1 top to the light. In nature if this plant got covered by something that made it impossible for the main top to get light the plant will say hey we need light and sends a shoot/branch to find light.

The chemical in the plant that makes it wanna do that are called Auxins and a straight growing plant will have auxins in the top shoot but has growth inhibitors on all the lower branching! This basically means by growing straight up Only 1 bud will reach full potential.

So by making the actual top no longer the best source of light, the plant will counter that by producing and distributing Auxins to potential tops, you will find that the closest branches to the light will be the ones to "take over" ( one thing i didnt mention is your main top still has auxins in it!) This means the more auxins you spread or the more tops you can make going to the sun the larger your yield will be ( of course genetics and conditions take their toll on the yield)

I much like bending my stretchy girls over, it helps keep everything contained and I get all my branches as shoots.

I start by bending one way for 1-2 days then I come back and bend it the oposet way for a day or 2 till get get all the branching coming up, Also to help yields, Every day i come in and bend back and forth all the way up the stalk and on most of the branches making them just a little limp ( if you don't over do it this is a FAST way to strengthen your plant) your goal is NOT to break or hurt the plant you just want to mimic what a vary vary heavy wind would do to the plant. Strengthen it of course.

You'll find there are several ways to increase yields and you'll find success in almost all different methods But I can tell you no matter what the stronger your plant is when it goes into budding and if your do not exceed 8-10 week veg the better it will be. ( if you are going to veg that long the plant will be strong on its own more then likely(given proper conditions)

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Can't wait for some more pics!

Have a great day everyone

 

[SmokerJoe]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Giving you a repup M1. Youve been helping some people around here and that is a good thing.

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Thanks joe, By this monday I will have some decent pics up. right now I got some and they are ok or as ok as you can get with a laptop's crappy webcam

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Really depends on your growing style and what kid of space you have. Some growers opt for FiM first then top top top all the branches after that.

You really need to judge what training method you use because all plant have different stalk and branch structures, you might Fim a nice looking plant with a thick thick stalk and you get 3-5 nice real thick tops that you can either keep or keep on topping. However on the flip side of the coin a small structured plant such as clones, you may only end up with thin lengthy branches that unless you veg for a few more weeks wont have much bud potential.

FiM's are real nice on most strong indica plants ( I'm not saying you cant successfully FiM a sativa at all) as the short bushy growth can build up those new branches real nice where as with pure sativa's you get a lot of stretching and that is where the strength of the structure comes into play.

Some growers opt for a FiM then 4 days or so later they will come in and super-crop to get real nice strong branches. Of course if your a scrogg grower FiM can help you get all your branches growing up if you FiM the main top you are training under the scrogg.

There is really no end to the madness of combinations to training, Everyone has a different setup and can acquiring a better yield by doing something but it might not work for me as well in my conditions.

Best advice, Don't stick like glue to 1 type of training because LST, HST it all has a place and using the methods should be circumstantial meaning I wouldn't plan to super crop my plant say 8 days from now, I do it when time is right and when My plant is NOT going through aggressive growth. I honestly cant tell you how many people wait to start training around 3 weeks of actual veg time, as it is best to start during end of week 1 to week 2. On the third week of Veg your plant should get a boosted PPM/EC and should not be messes with much as it will be starting some good growth. Training should resume 4-6 days after or when the daily growth starts to decrease.

Around this time your plant should be getting ready for budding either you bud it or wait for it to get bigger. Same thing with Defoliating around 21-28 days, Most growers have found this to be the best time to take off some leafs that are blocking bud sites and or not getting any light, so that you don't interrupt their "speed boost".

IMO any kind of super cropping during budding and definitely after buds have formed, will severely hurt your yield, or any kind of HST.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Great post! I totally agree that listening to what your plants want and working them for the space is the best route. Truth is that I have enough height, and my personal needs are pretty easy to meet just letting my plants do what they would naturally. I am doing this to learn and try new things. Just had never seen what a FIM is supposed to do or look like. FIMs and Fluxing (by any name) are both outside my old school knowledge base and so I am just having fun with it. Everyone on here does so much cool stuff it is amazing.

Your right there really is no end to the madness on styles of training (and everything else of course) but at least it is all really interesting, fun, and turns into delicious herb in the end no matter what.

I am doing a SCROG this time just to do one as I never have before. Is it needed for my space or needs, no, but darn if it aint fun and I can the post more pics! Isn't that what it is all about anyway? Bud porn?

Reps to you my friend.

Bob

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

And finally lazy Bob gets around to posting pics he promised everyone two nights ago...

Hey all! Let us take a final look at LA Woman and Fruitilicious as they move out of the way for the Journal Girls! Here is what the looked like right before the darkness set in and they waited in the black for 24 hours for the axe to come. (yikes, I scare myself sometimes!)

LA Woman up front and Fruitilicious looking over her shoulder.

First up was the Fruitilicious. Down she came and was trimmed. I don't trim quite as close as some of you do I notice. I am curious on everyone's thoughts on trimming (for personal use vs appeal as it were). Here is everything that came off of her. The board that is sitting on is about 20'' long I think.

Great looking buds with little foxtails everywhere and a very hard center. Nice!

Here is one of her buds close up!

Then I took down the LA Woman. It wasn't really possible to get a shot of it all and I was tired and might have forgot, but boy was she a leggy girl! Here is her top cola sitting with her tent mate's.

And close up of the LA Woman

They are all hanging in the tent with a fan. RH is right at 45 and Temp about 68. I think that will do nicely!

Gonna be a few days now but I will pull them down when the stems start snapping and into jars they will go for the cure. I will figure up a final dry weight then. I never bother with wet weights as I would be weighing a bunch of heavy stems that will end up trash anyway. So it ends up being an apples to oranges comparison in a way.

Love out to all of you. Hope your gardens are green, your vapes are preheated and the brownies are gooey.

Bob

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

In the end its all about the meds! or smoke whatever it is lol I have a buddy who probably smokes like 1/8 a week lol he grows 100% MH lighting no HPS not even for a day. There are dramatic benefits and Cons to doing it this way. Not using a HPS during flowering will put the plant in constant confused mode if you want to look at it that way, your buds will form tight small popcorn nugs all over but the actual THC content and all the terpenes in the resin that get you high are in levels wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy higher then reg bud from a HPS grow and the levels of CBD are lower. This makes for some really potent meds but your yields will suffer majorly. the other seemingly benefit to MH growing is the taste and smell, its amazing. ( for me it hit home when we grew the same plant (2 clones form the same mother) Mine produced but his buds the high the taste even just 5 days of cure was heavenly!

Personally I agree with using both ends of the spectrum to promote the best growth 100% of the time but I do know that switching from HPS to MH for the last week or so during your flush ( when ur plant is fattened and almost ready to be cut down) Can increase potency by a small amount without any adverse effect

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

In the end its all about the meds! or smoke whatever it is lol I have a buddy who probably smokes like 1/8 a week lol he grows 100% MH lighting no HPS not even for a day. There are dramatic benefits and Cons to doing it this way. Not using a HPS during flowering will put the plant in constant confused mode if you want to look at it that way, your buds will form tight small popcorn nugs all over but the actual THC content and all the terpenes in the resin that get you high are in levels wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy higher then reg bud from a HPS grow and the levels of CBD are lower. This makes for some really potent meds but your yields will suffer majorly. the other seemingly benefit to MH growing is the taste and smell, its amazing. ( for me it hit home when we grew the same plant (2 clones form the same mother) Mine produced but his buds the high the taste even just 5 days of cure was heavenly!

Personally I agree with using both ends of the spectrum to promote the best growth 100% of the time but I do know that switching from HPS to MH for the last week or so during your flush ( when ur plant is fattened and almost ready to be cut down) Can increase potency by a small amount without any adverse effect

Interesting points, but now I have gone off the deep end and my MH is now hanging over the vegetable garden (my office it seems) and has been relegated to tomatoes, peppers and greens. LED lights the way in my tent now as the temps seem to be so much more manageable. But I will get to that later with better data.

I must say I personally prefer to look of the MH light to HPS which means nothing other than well I have no idea really...


Bob

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

Yummy ! lookin good can't wait for the final report

 

[M1DRAGONACE]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

I stand by L.E.D 100% i grew with straight L.E.D's for almost 2 years. I actually live in a kinda cooler place year round and the only harp i have about L.E.D's is the temperature

I've posted about this before and it will be to the same effect, My only issue with L.E.D's is you NEED a higher temp for optimal growth. Your plant will not perspire enough moisture at 70-78F, the one benefit to H.I.D is yes heat may be hard to control but like in nature the radiating heat from the sun or ur bulb on the leafs helps pull moisture through for vigorous growth. ( the more nutes and water it drinks the faster it will grow)

So because I was looking for a decent amount of quantity ( I grow for personal use for 6 people, family and such) I ended up keeping my ambient temp during the day at 82-88, 85 being optimal.

When ur ambient temp is 75F under ur light or at the canopy the temps should be up around 81-85 dependent on airflow. with HID lighting of course.

That being said My plants much more love the LED then the HID, I get rigid strong healthy leafs instead of crinkled or droopy ones. When i grew with L.E.Ds after finding out that my temps were causing slow growth ( slow is based on my perception of time of course) I started growing with Co2 and temps of 85-89 during the day. Which made it a win win situation!

Can't wait to hear your experiences with LED's I know you probably already LOVE them I know I did!

as always everyone, have a great day!

 

[b.real]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

congrats brother! to trim I turn my plant upside down and clip as many fan leaves from their stalks as possible, then I trim back the remaining sugar leaves. I don't trim too close either.

 

[ecdriver]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

what a nice activity!!! triming...
lucky you Doc.
they will taste so good for sure in no time.
have a green day
ciao Doc.

E.D.

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

I have finally tasted the first small bud that wasn't super quick dried but was an arrent cut with the scissors and went in a warm spot for 2 days. Very tasty for sure. Can't wait for properly dried and cured though. Been a while. Not going to let that happen again!

Bob

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

congrats brother! to trim I turn my plant upside down and clip as many fan leaves from their stalks as possible, then I trim back the remaining sugar leaves. I don't trim too close either.

Sounds exactly like what I do! Virtual to you sir!

Bob

 

[Dr Bob]

Re: Dr Bob says "Alakazam" while eating Delicious Caramelo in the Northern Lights.

what a nice activity!!! triming...
lucky you Doc.
they will taste so good for sure in no time.
have a green day
ciao Doc.

E.D.

It was fun, sat there enjoying some of it that I dried up to test and watched the butter/oil bag fill up and the tent become laden with buds a drying. Happiness.

Have an awesome day !
Bob