Goldbud's Ebb and Flow White Russian - 2011

[Goldbud420]

Hey guys.

Just wanted to share some pics I took over the past few days to show some of the developing flower sites and some of the first flowers.

8 days into Flowering

10 days into Flowering

This next shot isn't fantastic, but it does show some of the first flowers.

The next few shots are copies of the previous photos with the color balance corrected to compensate for the colors of the LEDs, so the photos accurately reflect the true color of the plants.

Starting to get excited...

 

[djkurisu1]

looking real nice, i think mine are showing about the same right now. what program do u use to fix ur pics? i would love to use it on mine to show everyone how mine are looking also. i dont like using filters and my cameras wont pick up the right colors thats for sure. I just posted some new pics of my room tonight, come check it out. day 7 today =) we are almost on the same day, how cooooooool.

 

[dean47]

Very nice GB. Keep up the good work.

 

[Goldbud420]

Thanks Dean and dj.

looking real nice, i think mine are showing about the same right now. what program do u use to fix ur pics? i would love to use it on mine to show everyone how mine are looking also. i dont like using filters and my cameras wont pick up the right colors thats for sure. I just posted some new pics of my room tonight, come check it out. day 7 today =) we are almost on the same day, how cooooooool.

I've used iPhoto on Mac and Nero on Windows. All you have to do is correct the color balance (it gives you the chance to screw with the Red Blue and Green levels of the photo). I don't remember off-hand where I found this in iPhoto, but in Nero, all you have to do is open a picture, click "edit" on the top toolbar, and go to "color balance" on the right side of the window. Once there, just click on "autofix" and it should make everything look about right. Or you can adjust the RGB levels manually to get it to look proper.

I imagine most photo programs have this option, and it should be pretty easy to find. Just remember that the "color balance" is key.

Another thing to try tweaking is the exposure. This will allow you to minimize washout and overexposure due to the massive amount of light you have in your room.

Good luck, let me know how it works.

 

[Goldbud420]

Day 12 of Flowering...

Today, I topped off the res with ~3.5 gallons of RO water, bringing the nutrient strength down to 950 ppm. To bring the solution back up to ~990 ppm, I added 24 mL Grow, 16 mL Micro, 30 mL Bloom, and 10 mL Bloom Booster. After correcting the pH to 5.6, the nutrient strength was 997 ppm.

I also continued to remove the lowest leaves and any branches that were completely overgrown by more vigorous neighbors. To open up the canopy for tops that were only partly overgrown, I trimmed neighboring fan leaves.

Lastly, I removed a few main branches that were turning hermaphroditic on two plants. I will have to keep a close eye on the plants to make sure that more of the branches don't turn. I'm pretty sure that I caught them before the flowers opened, but I guess I'm going to have to wait and see.

To fill the gap left open by the removal of the hermaphroditic branches, I have used some baling wire to train the remaining branches into the empty space.

This should accomplish a couple of things: filling the empty space makes sure no light is going to waste and it opens some of the lower branches to more light, hopefully leading to some new tops. In a couple of weeks (if all goes well), there should be no noticeable gap at all.

 

[dean47]

Make sure you dispose of the clones you took from the plants with the hermaphroditic branches. It will save you heartache and hassle later.

Bending the plants is a good solution. A lateral branch that once held the growing head will shoot out new "tops".

I see many flowers in your future.

 

[Goldbud420]

Day 16 of Flowering...

On day 15, I boosted the res volume to 45 gallons by topping off with RO water. After correcting the pH to 5.7, the nute strength was 810 ppm. To boost it back to 990 ppm (initial strength of nute mix), I ended up adding 120 mL Grow, 80 mL Micro, 150 mL Bloom and 50 mL Bloom booster.

After that, I upped the nutes to the "monster bloom" level. This is 12 mL Grow, 7 mL micro, 20 mL Bloom, and 10 mL Bloom booster. To achieve this, I added 225 mL each of Bloom and Bloom Booster. That left my "micro" strength a little high (~8 mL instead of 7), but I will adjust this the next time I remix nutes.

On day 16, I did some more thinning and trimming of the fan leaves.

As usual, here are some pics. The girls are starting to look tasty.

Here are the last three pics with the colors corrected.

 

[Goldbud420]

Sorry, forgot to mention in the last post that after upping the nutes to the "monster bloom" level, the nute strength was ~1180 ppm (@ pH 5.7).

 

[dean47]

Your attention to detail is inspiring. I'm sure your results will be too.

 

[djkurisu1]

wow brother, looking very nice. Cant wait to see how they bloom and seeing mine at the same time, looks like they are right on par. keep it up brother, looks we are gonna be smoking the good stuff right at the same time. just posted some new pics, check them out..

 

[fncg]

Sorry, forgot to mention in the last post that after upping the nutes to the "monster bloom" level, the nute strength was ~1180 ppm (@ pH 5.7).

Nice! I've got to get a pH and ppm meter for mine, I've been running in the early veg strength, but no idea what the actual ppm's are.

How are the plants doing, any updates?

 

[Goldbud420]

Flowering: Day 29

Hey guys. Sorry for the hiatus, I have been away for the holidays. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and I came home to this.

Today, I did a bit of pruning to thin out some crowded stems and trim some fan leaves to let a little more light into the canopy. I also flushed my res and refilled it with 45 gal of RO water. I am onto the "monster bloom" step, which is 12 mL Grow, 7 mL Micro, 20 mL Bloom, and 10 mL Bloom Booster each per gallon. After correcting the pH to 5.5, the nutrient strength was 1170 ppm.


Now for some close-ups. This first set of shots is unaltered. It is tough to get a true gauge for the true color of the buds, but it's rather psychedelic, which is always a plus.

And, as usual, some color corrected shots to give a better feel of what's actually going on.

Needless to say, I am very excited by the bud development. I am a couple days shy of the half-way mark on maturation (63 days is the recommended harvest), so I still have plenty of time to pack on nug.

 

[dean47]

Happy New Year, GB!

It looks like your hard work and attention to detail are really paying off.

Don't forget to bend the taller ones before they get too close to the LEDs.

It looks like you've got some potential mind benders there.

 

[Goldbud420]

Thanks Dean, happy new year to you too.


Flowering, Day 36


The girls' vertical growth has finally slowed down a bit. It's a good thing too, I was starting to run out of space. They range from 3.5 to 4 ft tall, a bit taller than I would like. They still fit, however, and there is a bit more room to raise the lights.

Today, I topped off the res and boosted the nutes back to their original strength. I did this by adding ~4 gallons water with the nutes equivalent to 2 gallons at 12 mL Grow, 7 mL Micro, 20 mL Bloom, and 10 mL Bloom Booster each per gallon. After correcting the pH to 5.5, the nutrient strength was 1140 ppm.

I also thinned some of the upper fan leaves to let some more light into the canopy, and removed some of the lower leaves that were beginning to die back due to lack of light.

Here are some pics. No color corrections today; for whatever reason I couldn't get the colors to look right. As you can see, though, the girls are starting to get frosty and are starting to smell pretty sweet.

 

[Blue Planet Nutrients]

Your girls look fantastic.

 

[dean47]

Wow! Look at those trichomes!

It looks like you should have some pretty big, greasy buds in about a month.

Your scientific approach and methodical precision continues to impress.

 

[Goldbud420]

Thanks a bunch, guys. It's nice to know that I am on the right track.

Also, congratulations on 420 member of the month, Corey. 420magazine is lucky to have you as a sponsor. And thanks for making such a kick-ass line of products. I have been truly amazed at how the girls have responded to your nutes over the course of this grow.

 

[cooljay]

After a week of growth, my seedlings are doing pretty well. I have been feeding them every other day with a solution of 2.5 mL each of BPN Grow, Micro, and Bloom per gallon (ph adjusted to 5.6, 268 ppm). The seedlings are now 9-10 days old, and are putting out their 2nd set of leaves.

Likewise, the roots have begun to emerge from the bottom of the rockwool cubes, so yesterday (11/12) I transferred my seedlings into my hydroponic set-up. I am using the Ebb 'n Grow system from C.A.P products. It has 12 sites, so I selected my 12 best seedlings to load it up with.

I am growing in a 4'x4' grow closet that I have re-built with a frame of 2x4's. Though a good closet, the original frame was as sturdy as a wet noodle, hence the obligatory rebuild.

I am lighting the space with 4 x 100w LED lights with a 18:6 light period. This is a first for me, but so far I am impressed with the amount of light that they are putting out. They are BRIGHT, and put out virtually no heat. We'll see how the bud is, but so far so good.

There are two modes for the light; currently, only about half the LEDs per light are on, so it will be even brighter when the plants get a bit more established.

I've planted the seedlings in hydroton thoroughly washed in RO water. I've filled the reservoir with 30 gallons at 2.5 mL/gallon each of Grow, Micro, and Bloom. My source water (RO) is 17 ppm; after mixing and correcting the pH to 5.5, my solution is at 275 ppm. The system is set to flood for 15 minutes every 3.5 hours.

Ventilation is maintained with a 6" inline fan and a clip-on oscillating desk-fan.

Hey bro i found the Chinese company that makes the lights for advanced and im ordering some direct and saving a crap load of Money i cant wait to post, thanks for all your detail in this grow

 

[Goldbud420]

Nice, Cooljay. Glad that my journal could help you out in getting your set-up dialed in. I hope the lights work as good for you as they did me. Let me know when you get started up, I'd like to take a look at your journal if you decide to do one.

 

[253Chiefin]

Goldbud your plants look great, i havent been to your thread since november but im glad i found it again. White russian is the strain ive been researching the best seeds for all over the net and have decided to grow some after i harvest. Its genetics are amazing (ak-47 x white widow) and i wanna congratulate u on a great grow and admire you for your green thumb. u have a great journal cant wait to see u harvest these WR's