First Grow Journal - Wilma System

[digahdee]

Quick update with whats going on so far,

Females in the tent had a few side branches getting very close to the light, and with no more space for the light to be taken up I decided to pinch the tops to the side.

I did read in a couple of posts that it is a bad idea but thought that seeing that it is only day 19 into the 12/12 switch I would take the chance. All the branches that I pinched seem to be looking fine and the buds on top are still developing nicely.

Has anybody ever pinched whilst in flowering and if so how did it go for you?

Heres the pics..

 

[Mr. Krip]

Dig, you should be fine. I did supercropping pretty late into flower without any problems. I'd have to go back in my journal to find out how late, but it was at least three weeks.

That being said, after three weeks (and you're just getting close), when they finish their stretch, I'd recommend using LST instead of supercropping to help control height. It's much less stress on the plant.

Plants are looking good!

 

[JimmyMac65]

I think the dehumidifer is not to good, I left it on for about 6 - 8 hours and it only dropped a little so am going to take it back and look for another one.

Back to the plants - 4 in tent are 67 days old from seed - 17 from switching to 12/12.

5 SLH are 25 days old from seed. Growth seems slow with these due to only using a 125w CFL. I want to put them under a 400w MH but the electric is costing too much
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If Your worried about electric cost get yourself one or two of these TEC TWO lights they throw out 10,000 Lumen Each are not very expensive to purchase and use little electricity. Here's a link for the tec two HTG Supply - 2 Foot 2 Lamp PL-55 Tek Lamp here's a link for the tec four HTG Supply - 2 Foot 4 Lamp PL-55 Tek Lamp I personnally use two of the tec two's and supplement with a 190 watt LED Bloom light.

 

[JimmyMac65]

Also, why are you still on a 12/12 schedule, your well into blooming?
I usually switch back to a 20/4 schedule after a couple weeks into budding, I have never had a problem with plants switching back into veg state...

 

[JimmyMac65]

I dont use EC I'm lazy in my old age, My tds is 1683 ppm at this moment, buds starting to fill out nicely, I have spent the last several years working with Autoflowering Varieties , I Love them, they are great, I'm very close to getting a stable variety that will provide good yields, then I can finally clear my freezer out from all the pollen I have stored, lol.
Anyway where was I before I started Babbling? OK , I normally use my exhaust fan to control RH, and only use a dehumidifier when it get way outa control which hasn't happened in a very long time.

 

[digahdee]

Thanks for that Mr.Krip,

I wasn't to sure because of other peoples comments but thought I'd risk it.

Thanks for your input JimmyMac,

With the saving money on the lights I think I'm going to put the CFL back on the SLH that are growing instead of using the 400w MH. It's eating my electric really quickly.
I've got a few lights, 1 90w ufo led, 125w cfl, 400w and 600w ballast and a few bulbs of each.

I never knew you could switch back to 20/4 once flowering has started. Do you find the buds grow bigger once you switch back?

Only reason I use an EC meter is because at the begining of the grow I was overfeeding with nutes by quite abit, but once got the meter I got it under control.
I was trying to use my exhaust fan to lower the RH, but it didnt do much.

Thanks again

 

[Pericodaking1]

hmm .... never heard of switching back the lights, (notepad out and ready)

 

[JimmyMac65]

Some varieties will do great by upping the light times after forcing flowering, Some will form looser buds, not very compact, I have a strain that I've grown for years, Has no name, its my own mut, but after very selective breeding, I have what I have always wanted, my own plants. I have a few friends that love to grow it. I've tried making it autoflower by crossing it and gave up on that with this variety (drove me insane).

Some varieties, especially Sativas don't like the switch back to a longer light cycle, makes for very light buds, most of them require a longer dark cycle to fatten up their buds. But I've played around with a lot of Indicas that responded very well to lengthening the light after forced budding.

My suggestion would be to do as I did, have one space to experiment in, and one space as the control, just in case something goes wrong, always good to have one tent that you know will produce for you.

After I forcing flowering on 10/14 for 2 - 3 weeks depending, I will usually up the light cycle 4-6 hours for 3 - 4 weeks then for the last 2 weeks before harvest go back to 10/14 which I have noticed helps the buds fatten up nicely. I would not use this as a rule Any Questions , Drop me a p/m and I'll try to answer in more detail, I'm beat its been a long working day.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Also, why are you still on a 12/12 schedule, your well into blooming?
I usually switch back to a 20/4 schedule after a couple weeks into budding, I have never had a problem with plants switching back into veg state...

If your growing autoflowers, they'll continue to flower under 20+ hours of light, but if they're not auto's, then IMHO you'll risk forcing the plants back into veg or hermies.

 

[Pericodaking1]

I may have err on the side of caution for his one, I don't have much space to work with and am not willing to hermie my beauties lol

 

[digahdee]

As Im on my first grow and still learning about the wonderful plant I think Im just going to keep it at 12/12 - I dont wanna make a big mistake and mess my little project up. So far things are looking nice in there though, lots of bud development. I'll upload some more pics in a few days.

 

[JimmyMac65]

If your growing autoflowers, they'll continue to flower under 20+ hours of light, but if they're not auto's, then IMHO you'll risk forcing the plants back into veg or hermies.

I have had many a plant revert back into veg state. sucks but didnt do any real damage.
I do work alot with auto's, but I have had some awesome results with Indica's , I have also had some crappy results too.

I just like playing with genetics to see what I can come up with, maybe after I reach retirement age I'll make a go at growing as a profession, LoL. As if my wife would ever allow me to.

 

[digahdee]

Quick update - DAY 74 from seed, 24 from switch to 12/12.
The 5 SLH got messed up so I no longer have these. I am very disapointed but theres always a next time so for now just going to concentrate on the 4 in the tent.
They seem to be coming along well but have noticed a few fan leaves are going yellow and falling off. Is that normal?
Heres some photos. "Some look a little blured."

 

[JimmyMac65]

What nutes are you feeding them?
Looks like they are lacking something, to figure out what, we need to know what your currently feeding.

 

[digahdee]

Hi JimmyMac,

Im giving them :

10 ml of ferro Enzyme Plus
10 ml of ferro Bio Roots
25 ml of ferro Bio Crop
30 ml of ferro PK Bloombooster
Equal doses of ferro Bloom A & B untill EC reads at 2.0
PH Up/Down untill I get 5.7 - 5.9. "growing in clay balls"

All mixed with 30ltrs of water.

Its only a few of the lower fan leaves that it is happening to - everything else seems fine.

 

[JimmyMac65]

Could be just a natural occurrence, as plants mature they will naturally cut off supply to lower leaves, this may or may not be the case. Your plants appear to be healthy and I really don't see any Iron or Calcium Defs. But then again I'm only looking at a picture.
My Thought is just trim, do not cut them off too close to stem, thats not good, split the difference and you'll be good.

 

[digahdee]

Thanks for that JimmyMac,

Ive seen it on other people's grows but only towards the very end of flowering. Its only happening on 2 of the plants.

I have some new photos to put up, they are at day 75 from seed, 25 from switching to 12/12.

I have noticed that on the bigger plant that I pinched, the buds above the pinch are taking a little longer to grow. Is this normal?

 

[Xlr8]

Looks good to me! It might be that the yellow leaves are just not getting enough light or are just dying of natural causes so to speak. If it doesn't get worse/on more leaves, than you'll probably be fine. I think your buds are developing about right for where you are at (days from 12/12). Pinching your plant can definitely cause a slight delay in development - don't worry, it'll catch up.

 

[digahdee]

Hi Xlr8,

Im hoping it is that the leaves are not getting enough light. The plants are pritty tall, 2 were 6 foot tall, these were the ones I pinched and the over 2 are just over 5 foot. They are quite bushy aswell due to where I done a bit of LST'ing. Apart from that everything seems to be going well. Going to post some new photos at the end of the week.

 

[digahdee]

Day 79 from seed - 29 from 12/12 switch.
Things seem ok so far but did see a small black fly in the tent when watering today.
Was wondering if it was a gnat but when looked and inspected the roots I didnt see anything. I'm going to keep my eye on this and see if it gets worse.
Any body got any ideas on what to do regarding this issue?