First Grow Space Bucket 1.0

[Mittin]

Did you switch over to the lights you posted and a bigger space? I'm interested to see what you ended up coming up with and how your girls are doing.

Hey Smokie

Yeah...I got a tent and hung up two lights. Will likely add another or maybe two more.
Been having some issues. Nute burn....I know I was warned...lol

Anyway....things are under control now. Hoping to give an update tonight

 

[Mittin]

Hey....It's been a while.

It's been a very eventful week and a half. The space bucket is toast. Got a tent, 32" x 32" x 5'.
Both Bravo and Charlie had minor issues. Their first set of leaves were turning yellow. Not sure why, but I transferred them into a larger pot and since then they have been coming back nicely. Both are still behind Alpha but at least now they are growing, and looking healthy.

Alpha went through some nute burn....at least I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Her leaves were turning yellow/brown on the tips and curling up. I attempted to flush her but probably didn't run enough water through....not sure about that. But she was still growing well and the yellowing subsided. A learning experience. Now I can understand the color difference and hopefully can see when the leaves are getting a little too dark green...or too light.

After reading all kinds of stuff on LST, FIM, Super Cropping, etc., I decided I would attempt to main-line Alpha. This morning she had five sets of nodes/leaves. I topped it just above the third node. (That was a bit nerve wracking but I did it). Then I trimmed everything below those leaves. So we shall see how this works. So far (12 hours after the trim), she seems to be doing good.

My plan is to try some other form of training on Bravo, probably a FIM and some LST. I will wait at least a few more days before I do that. Right now I think I'm just going to let Charlie grow out naturally, just so I can hopefully see the difference between them all.

The lighting is now HPS, 150 watts per light. Right now I have just two, but I will be adding at least one more, maybe two for flower stage.

 

[Mittin]

February 19th - 3 weeks old

I think both Bravo and Charlie are a little behind schedule. Charlie has been slow from early on and Bravo took a bit of a beating being transplanted 3 times. They both had some yellowing on their first set of leaves early on as well. Not sure what that was from but since then both have responded and are growing well it seems. At least they are looking healthy.

Alpha had some major nute burn and I chopped nearly all of her off when I did the main-lining thing. That was 2.5 days ago and she's growing well, starting her second set of nodes on her two main colas.

side view of Charlie

Top view of Charlie

side view of Bravo

top view of Bravo

Charlie and Bravo

top view of Alpha

side view of Alpha

Close up of the two main colas. I'm amazed at how thick they've grown in two days. Good to see all energy is going to only these two colas. In a few days I will likely trim off the fan leaves, leaving only the two colas coming off the main stem.

 

[smokiebear]

I wouldn't too much about them being behind schedule. With photoperiod plants, you can veg until you're content with the size before flipping to a 12/12 schedule meaning that they have more recovery time than autos.

 

[Mittin]

I wouldn't too much about them being behind schedule. With photoperiod plants, you can veg until you're content with the size before flipping to a 12/12 schedule meaning that they have more recovery time than autos.

Very true, but that just means longer till harvest time

I'm thinking it'll take Alpha some time to build out her 8 main colas. I really have no idea how long that'll take. I'm guessing about a month more before the switch.

As long as they all stay healthy, I'll be happy.

 

[Stinky Snid]

Came for the bucket grow, but I'll stay for the tent grow I suppose. Lol. That topping looks clean, good luck with the mainline/fluxing. A little Lst'ing and she's gonna look great.
Keep it green mittin

 

[Mittin]

Came for the bucket grow, but I'll stay for the tent grow I suppose. Lol. That topping looks clean, good luck with the mainline/fluxing. A little Lst'ing and she's gonna look great.
Keep it green mittin

Yeah, sorry about that. Wanted to change the title but couldn't.

Thanks for the luck!
I'm going to FIM/LST one plant and let the third grow out naturally. Hopefully I will able to see a difference between all three in the end.

 

[Mittin]

February 23rd - Day 25

I trimmed off the last set of fan leaves from Alpha. Also did a little lst on her. Now need to wait for her to grow two more set of nodes and then will trim her once more. She looks to be growing nicely.

Bravo is getting some new growth where eshe was FIM'd. Waiting to see what affect that has. She is growing very well I think.

Little Charlie is still chugging along. Still the runt of the three. Maybe one day she'll get a growth spurt!

 

[Mittin]

February 27 - day 29
No major problems so far.

Alpha is doing her main-line thing. Probably 5 days or so till I do the final trim on her, leaving her with the 8 main colas.

Bravo is growing great. I tried to FIM her but I FIM'd the FIM...lol. I guess I didn't trim her low enough and basically just cut her leave tips. So that was a fail, but on the plus side, she's grown like a champ since then. She's really filled out since.

Charlie continues her slow weasily growth. But....I have a new idea for her! Going to give her a few more days, then she's going back to the space bucket. Out of the tent and on her own. My plan is to switch her to flower and she what she does. This will make her ready for harvest a month before the other two are ready. Hopefully she will produce just a little at least. We shall see.

Alpha

Bravo

Charlie

 

[Mittin]

March 1st - 32nd day for these girls....and they are still alive!

It was movement day today. Charlie got moved from the tent back to the space bucket. No transplant was needed. She continues to grow but slowly. She's also getting some yellowing on her leaves. I'm thinking maybe a ph issue or cal/mag issue. Bravo seemed to have the same thing a few weeks ago, and I gave her a shot of some cal/mag and now she is healthy as can be. Doesn't look life threatening, but doesn't look too healthy either. Anyhoo....she's back in the bucket and will be going to 12/12 lighting tonight. Lights out as soon as I'm done posting this. My guess is that Alpha (main-liner) will need three more solid weeks of veg before the ten goes to 12/12. When that happens, Charlie can go back into the tent. So for three weeks minimum she will be confined to the bucket with 6 23w (I believe) cfl's.

Bravo is growing great. I failed at the first FIM, and I tried again but figured if I miss and at least get a Topping, that's cool. So it appears that I topped her and she'll have two main stems now ( at least I understand that's how it works...lol) I need to keep her as low as possible for now I think, so Alpha will stay the same height. But who knows....I have no idea how this will pan out...haha

Alpha is doing great. She's got her four node points now (on each side), but I am going to wait until at least tomorrow to do the trim. She'll get topped at the third node on both sides and then I will remove the second node as well, leaving her with two nodes on each side for a total of eight cola's growing. Then it will be just a matter of trimming off leaves I don't want and maintaining the eight cola's....or so I understand.

As well I am getting a six inch fan and filter/scrubber package tomorrow which I desperately need to install. Why didn't someone tell me these ladies reek even before they get to flower stage!!! Yikes....but the funny part is I have always hated the taste and smell but now I'm loving it!!

Here's a few shots....more photo's coming tomorrow on Thursday after I get the fan/filter installed.

The space bucket. It' pretty half-assed because I cut off the fans when I moved Alpha to the tent. Still works though...thanks to good old Duck Tape!

A few views of Charlie inside the bucket. It's pretty cramped quarters in there. Hopefully she likes it.

And the to main girls all alone in the tent. For now I have just the two 150w HPS lights, but I will add one more, maybe two for flower stage. Actually I may add one more this weekend if time permits. I'm sure they would both like that.

 

[STIHL LOGGER]

Everything looks great Mittin! Great update man!

 

[Mittin]

Everything looks great Mittin! Great update man!

Thanks Logger!

 

[Mittin]

Finally the weekend!! I've been under the weather for over a week now. Cold and fever that just won't go away.
Thank you to my beautiful loving girlfriend for giving me her percocet so I could make it through the work week. Those pills are amazing!
(She suffers from fibromyalgia, which is the main reason for my gardening.)

I received my new fan and filter combo. Holy shit!!!, those units are WAY bigger than I imagined...lol
I nearly killed myself installing them on Wednesday night. Feeling like a bag of shit, sick and after a day of work, let alone installing them is hardly a one man job. And the space I had to work with was small and awkward. I did get it done though...and it's working great!! No more smell...and it was getting bad. I know my neighbors could smell something at least one day. After that I was using several bounce sheets in the exhaust to mask the smell. That's all fixed now...thank goodness!
That fan is fucking powerful!! Thank God I added the speed control to my order! At full speed that thing created a hurricane in my condo...holy shit!!

Anyway...for now I only have a photo of my little Charlie. I'm too lazy right now to take out the other two from their tent...and photos don't work well in the yellow light. I'll get shots of them later today when I am done being a totally useless lazy ass....lol

She's been doing okay since being stuck back in the bucket. She does however have some major gold spots on some of her leaves. What's that from?? Is it water drops that burned her leaves? I really don't know...they just showed up over night. Other than that she looks ok and her eight colas are growing acceptably.

Here's my fan. I have no idea what the standard setup is for the fan/filter combo, but my space is limited so I installed the fan inside the tent and the filter outside the tent.

Here's the big mother filter...which I imagined to be about half the size...lol. Luckily it fit above my tent! It works amazingly though!

 

[STIHL LOGGER]

Nice big ass motha filta! Lolz Glad ya feelin better Mittin my friend! The leaf discoloration could be from water layin on them, providing it was given the chance to.. Could also be a sign of a deficiency or early lock out.. What are your stats lookin like as far as ph and whatnot bud?

 

[Mittin]

Nice big ass motha filta! Lolz Glad ya feelin better Mittin my friend! The leaf discoloration could be from water layin on them, providing it was given the chance to.. Could also be a sign of a deficiency or early lock out.. What are your stats lookin like as far as ph and whatnot bud?

I had just watered it on Thursday I think..or Wednesday...and there was likely some water on the leaves. I just noticed these spots yesterday. What is lock out???
Stats?....oh boy...I don't have any stats.
As far as ph goes, I only ph down my water to the 5.0-6.0 range, and I am using the sensi grow ph perfect nutes...which I chose so I didn't have to worry about ph levels. Maybe a bad idea...I don't know.
What other stats should I being keeping track of?

Thanks for any help Logger!!

 

[STIHL LOGGER]

Now that I took a zoomed in look at the leaf and the shape of the leaf damage does look like it is very likely just from some spillage. Other than that she looks just fine brother. Was just curious "stat wise" as to ph, temp and humidity bud. All looks to be right where it should be.

 

[Mittin]

Now that I took a zoomed in look at the leaf and the shape of the leaf damage does look like it is very likely just from some spillage. Other than that she looks just fine brother. Was just curious "stat wise" as to ph, temp and humidity bud. All looks to be right where it should be.

Well I looked more closely at it appears to be some kind of deficiency. The very lower leaves have it on the tips as well, and I can see some lighter discolorment (good word lol) on the bigger leaves.
I don't see any of it on the top two fan leaves and none on any of the cola leaves.

I don't have any control over temps and humidity in the bucket. I know the humidity is way down as its extremely hard to keep it up...the humidity that is...haha.
I have a humidifier in the tent and even then my humidity is low.

I did give her a dose of nutes with her water the other day. The Grow nutes and Bloom nutes. 1/2 mil of each...I think some Cal/Mag too. I guess I'll just wait and see how she reponds in the next couple days.

Do I need to keep all those fan leaves, or can I trim them off without a problem?

 

[Mittin]

OK, I mustard up enough energy to get Alpha and Bravo out of the tent for some photo action.

I'm pretty pissed off about screwing up my first FIM attempt on Bravo. It ruined the tips of two sets of leaves. Grrrrrr....
But apparently she didn't mind and is growing very well. I did a second attempt which is officially a Topping...lol
She didn't mind that either.

I'm a little annoyed that I tried the Main-lining technique now because both Bravo and Alpha would be a nice size to turn to flower mode. It's gonna be another 3 weeks before I switch...so me thinks Bravo is going to be a pretty big bitch by then! Hopefully that man-line thing pays off....at the least it's a cool experiment.

As long as Charlie can bring me a couple G's in 8 weeks I'll be happy. I hope that's not too much to ask from that little runt!

Anyhoo....here's a few shots of Alpha and Bravo.

Bravo

Alpha, I think it was Thursday morning that I gave her the final trim, topping her at the third node on each side as well as removing the second nodes on both sides. That leaves her with 4 growth points on each side. I'll let her grow for 3 weeks...or so I imagine it'll be around that much time and then I will finally switch them both to flower.

Alpha and Bravo

 

[Mittin]

Well I think the Girls hit the big Four O today. 40 days...and all is well.

Not too much to report, other than I was late in giving the girls their nutes. I was scared to give them nutes as I think I gave Alpha nute burn weeks ago...but I'm still not 100% positive on that...lol
So both Alpha and Bravo were hurting for nutes. Both were sucking everything out of the lower fan leaves, leaving them brown and wilted. I added water and nutes on Tuesday morning and today they kicking ass. Alpha's leaves were all pointing upward...you could tell she just wanted to go go go!

Bravo got some major lst done this evening...and some trimming over the past few days. I spread her wide open...mmmm. So now the light can penetrate deep into her. (lucky girl).
My work is done with Alpha. Now I just let her grow grow grow.

And Charlie....she's doing fine in the bucket. Been a week for her in Flower. No signs of flowering or buds yet, but hopefully next week sometime I'll start seeing some action.


Alpha

Bravo

 

[Stinky Snid]

Wow, bravo is looking great! Very nice training going on, keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing ☺

KiG cheers