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- #61
I grew up around growers, always had the best bud around in my teen years. Sometimes they would show me their plants and explain to me what they were doing to maximize yield, increase potency, or improve flavor. It was cool but I never paid that close of attention. I picked up little tidbits of information here and there.
I've been reading this forum and several others for several years now and I've recently read a growing book (that I think is a little over-hyped but is ok) called Growing Elite Marijuana. But, I am a total noob.
When I finally began growing on my own it was because I lived in a state in an area that had garbage weed compared to what I was use to back home. I didn't have a lot of space and the area was strict, even on weed. it was in the south.
It was 2009 and I'd read a lot about Auto strains. Seemed easy to grow so I gave them a try. First strain I tried was Auto AK47. I topped them and they withered. They were sickly the whole grow and I got around 10 grams of mids; still better than what was available locally.
I've grown a lot of autos since then and I honed in my training techniques but I never topped again. I regularly pulled nice 1.5 - 2 ounce harvests out of a 24 inch hollowed out computer tower with 400W CFL equivalents, lined with Mylar, and two fans; an intake and exhaust.
I read about the manifold technique and decided to try it but I intended on following the guide in real time. With my internet down I chose to FIM instead of mainline. I've never fimmed before either but it seemed easy enough. A friend of mine told me that it is better to pinch the top with my fingernail instead of scissors and so that is what I did on the first 3.
I didn't feel like I was getting it right, maybe because I clip my nails regularly. So on the baby mango after doing it with my thumb and forefinger on the first 3, I tried it with scissors.
Now looking at the structure of the plants, it is clear that the FIM did not take on the first 3. I did it wrong. There is a central cola on all 3 but there is an explosion of bud sites all over the plant. I think I've effectively and inadvertently super cropped the first 3.
The Baby Mango though does have the intersecting wishbone structure resulting in 4 main tops that I was looking for. For the others I have gone back to an old friend, intense LST.
These pictures that I'm putting up now were from the 5th. I tried putting them up before, but have I mentioned that I have crappy Sat internet? I was hard throttled till this morning, this after the blackout. Living in the middle of nowhere I am learning all about the "Fair Access Policy."
The plants have gotten much bigger in the last 4 days. Mind you, I flipped the switch to 12/12 on the 28th of last month. I just fed again yesterday and switched the nutes from 'transition to bloom' to 'blooming and ripening.'
The growth at this rate is pretty astounding. They are quite a bit bigger than in these pics.
Here they are
I'll start here with the baby mango so you can see the structure that I am taking about. I took shots of the dual wishbones.
Here's another shot of her, I was trying to get in closer. didn't come out great.
This is what she looks like from the top. Since this pic, the 4 are much more prominent. In this pic two are slight lower than the other two but they've caught up.
This is the first Mango.
Here's a shot to show where I've tied down some of her branches. I tied down quite a few more on all the plants yesterday.
Here's a shot of the sex bud. I had to pull a ways back to get her in the shot. She's just about caught up to THC Bomb.
And here's a closer shot to show where I tied some of her branches.
Here's THC Bomb in all her glory.
I hadn't done much tying down on the bomb, just a couple lower branches, until yesterday. I did quite a bit of training yesterday and they keep getting bigger every day so I will need to get some updated shots soon.
I did not do what I wanted with these but they are still the biggest things I have ever grown and I am hoping for a good yield still, I am sure it will still be my biggest yield ever.
I've been reading this forum and several others for several years now and I've recently read a growing book (that I think is a little over-hyped but is ok) called Growing Elite Marijuana. But, I am a total noob.
When I finally began growing on my own it was because I lived in a state in an area that had garbage weed compared to what I was use to back home. I didn't have a lot of space and the area was strict, even on weed. it was in the south.
It was 2009 and I'd read a lot about Auto strains. Seemed easy to grow so I gave them a try. First strain I tried was Auto AK47. I topped them and they withered. They were sickly the whole grow and I got around 10 grams of mids; still better than what was available locally.
I've grown a lot of autos since then and I honed in my training techniques but I never topped again. I regularly pulled nice 1.5 - 2 ounce harvests out of a 24 inch hollowed out computer tower with 400W CFL equivalents, lined with Mylar, and two fans; an intake and exhaust.
I read about the manifold technique and decided to try it but I intended on following the guide in real time. With my internet down I chose to FIM instead of mainline. I've never fimmed before either but it seemed easy enough. A friend of mine told me that it is better to pinch the top with my fingernail instead of scissors and so that is what I did on the first 3.
I didn't feel like I was getting it right, maybe because I clip my nails regularly. So on the baby mango after doing it with my thumb and forefinger on the first 3, I tried it with scissors.
Now looking at the structure of the plants, it is clear that the FIM did not take on the first 3. I did it wrong. There is a central cola on all 3 but there is an explosion of bud sites all over the plant. I think I've effectively and inadvertently super cropped the first 3.
The Baby Mango though does have the intersecting wishbone structure resulting in 4 main tops that I was looking for. For the others I have gone back to an old friend, intense LST.
These pictures that I'm putting up now were from the 5th. I tried putting them up before, but have I mentioned that I have crappy Sat internet? I was hard throttled till this morning, this after the blackout. Living in the middle of nowhere I am learning all about the "Fair Access Policy."
The plants have gotten much bigger in the last 4 days. Mind you, I flipped the switch to 12/12 on the 28th of last month. I just fed again yesterday and switched the nutes from 'transition to bloom' to 'blooming and ripening.'
The growth at this rate is pretty astounding. They are quite a bit bigger than in these pics.
Here they are
I'll start here with the baby mango so you can see the structure that I am taking about. I took shots of the dual wishbones.
Here's another shot of her, I was trying to get in closer. didn't come out great.
This is what she looks like from the top. Since this pic, the 4 are much more prominent. In this pic two are slight lower than the other two but they've caught up.
This is the first Mango.
Here's a shot to show where I've tied down some of her branches. I tied down quite a few more on all the plants yesterday.
Here's a shot of the sex bud. I had to pull a ways back to get her in the shot. She's just about caught up to THC Bomb.
And here's a closer shot to show where I tied some of her branches.
Here's THC Bomb in all her glory.
I hadn't done much tying down on the bomb, just a couple lower branches, until yesterday. I did quite a bit of training yesterday and they keep getting bigger every day so I will need to get some updated shots soon.
I did not do what I wanted with these but they are still the biggest things I have ever grown and I am hoping for a good yield still, I am sure it will still be my biggest yield ever.
