MacEFL's First Grow - WW - NL & Cinex

[MacEFL]

Hi all. I started thirty seven days ago with six tiny little "rooted cuttings". They were from mothers but the stalks were more mature looking than a clone. Starting this journal for my own uses to see what I did both right and wrong. But if I can inspire anyone along the way and get good feed back, both positive and negative, thats always a plus.

Strain Cinex
Sativa dominant
Vegging for 37 days under a combination of 6500K and 2700K CFL's.
Indoors in living room at the moment
In soil 66% 4 mix and 33% Fox Farms Ocean Forest
Currently in 2? gal. pots
Using Advanced Nutrients Micro, Grow and Bloom. Should have got Sensei, will get Bloom A&B at flower
2T Micro, 2T Grow and 1T bloom per gallon, using ~ 1/2 gallon per plant every 3 or 4 days

When I received the cuttings they were well rooted in cones. I transplanted into six inch pots with Ocean Forest soil. Kept watered and no nutes for two weeks. They were pretty willty looking but perked right up after a few hours. No pictures when they were small, bummer.

As you can see at this stage they are very compact. It may be hard to tell but there are tons of bud sites. My wife and I stopped counting at forty five or so on each plant. I have been reading a lot of journals here and I am thinking that I am going for a SCROG grow. I know that you would usually start this when a baby but the way these have grown seem it will work perfectly.

As you can see I have four other plants that I plan on continuing vegging under this CFL array.

I have four more 6500K bulbs that I will be putting two on each end to fill in the ends. So far so good!

And these are the girls today.

They have been stretching a bit unfortunately so I hope the new light gets here soon!

I am in the process of converting a pallet rack into my grow "room". I will be building a 48" x 40" screen and have on order a 600 HPS dimmable ballast with a "Cool Tube" reflector and a 400 cfm inline fan. I will be lining it with Panda film and it will be separated into a veg and flower area. My light should be here on Monday or so and that will be when I start training under the screen. I would do it now but I have no other lights. When the light gets here they will start at 50% power for a few days and then turn it up to 75%. After a week or so I think it will be time to go 12/12. My plan is to keep the light there until the last two weeks or so and then kick it up to full power. This of course is assuming that it will light my 40" X 48" screen. I am thinking it will do just fine. Time to go build the screen.

 

[KingJohnC]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

subscribed

 

[MacEFL]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Thanks for the sub. I hope that I can make the ride worthwhile.

Well, my wife and I built the screen. It looks fine although it sure looks like a LOT of holes. I hope that I can fill most of them with a bud!!!

Also I just checked with Fedex and they are scheduled to deliver my new equipment on Saturday. I need to get a move on. This strain is 50-56 days flower and If I can go 12/12 on the 10th of August I can hopefully pull a jar for October 29th, my lovely wife and I's anniversary!

 

[MacEFL]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well I just checked with Fedex and they say my package will be here on Tuesday. I am kind of bummed. I am starting to lose hope that it will be ready for our anniversary but, "no bud before it's time". I will NOT be taking any out of the jars before they are properly cured.

One thing about these two plants is the main stem is only five or so inches tall. They were trained that way when we got them. When we got them we really didn't have a plan so are flying by the seat of our pants. After reading here about different techniques I thought that a SCROG would be the best method to get the best yield. My wife was pushing down on the canopy one day and one of the three main stems broke almost all the way through. That would have been a third of the yield! I held it up while calmly telling her to go get some twist ties. I had her place one near the bottom of the break and one near the top of the break. After she was finished I both pulled and pushed on the stem and the whole plant moved with it. Never did one leaf droop! I am planning on doing a good trimming today since the light will be delayed. I didn't want to trim and change lights at the same time figuring that the stress of both at the same time would set it back more than doing them a few days apart. After the trim I will post a pic of the repair.

Although not part of this journal, I am starting to worry about the two White Widow's and the Two Northern Lights. They are starting to get tall! They have been under 24 hour light from the start and in the last week or so decided it was time for a growth spurt. Some may say that this is a good problem to have but I am going to be limited by a 7 foot ceiling and between the lights and the pots I will only be able to deal with a plant that finishes at 4 feet. They are at 2 feet now. I could probably fit one in with the Cinex but not two if I go with a SCROG. I don't have the cash right now for a light rail, that would solve all my problems. Does any one have any ideas on what I can do now to limit their height? The two Northern lights are growing fast as well but I think I can start bending and tying and be ok with them. I will take a few pics later and post them in the proper forum asking for advice.

 

[KingJohnC]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

if you give your White Widow's and the Two Northern Lights a defoliation removing the lower fan leaves and any buds that will not produce much that will stunt their growth, defoliation may limit their height. i keep my plants in vegetative growth with 18/6 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness, i read a thread on root growth and lighting schedules and plants kept under 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness produced the longest roots, 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness was not tested.

 

[MacEFL]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well I gave the Northern Lights and White widow a good trimming. They responded well to that. Already filling in nicely.

I put them under the new light a few days ago. Tonight I noticed that all of the bud sites are growing in a lighter color than the rest of the plant. Is this bleaching? I can take a pic tomorrow.

I am thinking that I will be putting all six plants into flower at the same time. As this is my first grow I think that trying perpetual is a little much. I am not quite ready to maintain two grow rooms. I guess I need to make a few mistakes and learn a little more before I invest any more. I still think that I can put the Cinex in a SCROG with the others outside that. I hung a four foot piece of barn door track and made a crude but effective manual light mover. As my wife and I are both self employed we can move it several times a day. They will all have direct light to the top but when moved the light fills in the rest of the plant nicely! I will take and post pictures tomorrow.

 

[KingJohnC]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

light bleaching takes effect when the plant is too close to the light source. waiting on photographs.

 

[MacEFL]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Here is a couple of pics of one of the plants. They all have the same light green look around the bud sites. They were flushed with PH 6.5 water twice due to a little over zealousness with the nutes when I was ramping them up. Just a little brown on the tips is all, not worried about that. This has started since they were placed under the 600W HPS.

They were fed and watered when they went under the HPS. I should be finishing up my "room" today or tomorrow and will post pics when I am finished. I want to get these into 12/12 asap as they are going to stretch a lot I am sure and don't want to have to tie them unless absolutely necessary.

 

[MacEFL]

re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well, all of my babies have been re-potted and fed. I went with 2-1 Sunshine 4 mix and Ocean Forest. I watered them in with 5 TBS ea. A.N. micro, grow and bloom to 3 gallons of water. I had to mix more as that wasn't enough. They are now in 7 gallon pots. That should be enough room for them to stretch their "legs". Here are 2 veiws of each plant:

White Widow #1

White Widow #2

Northern Lights #1

Northern Lights #2

Cinex #1

Cinex #2

So far they look happy! They are all between 28 and 32 inches tall. There is NO way that i am going to get the Cinex under a screen. I guess I will have to do my next grow SCROG from the beginning. I looked around and cannot find a way to change the title. The walls should go up today and the ventilation installed. I installed the doors yesterday and changed the orientation of the cool tube to distribute the light properly. The manual light mover works great. The light gets moved around the shadows inside the plant and helps all bud sites to get light. The 2 Cinex need a good trimming. I was waiting until put in the screen but now I have to do it any way.

They are currently getting light for 18 hours a day. They are off from 2PM to 8PM as that is the hottest part of the day. I plan on switching to 12/12 as soon as I determine they are ok from the transplant.

Also, none of these were manipulated in any way. No topping, fimming etc. I do plan on tying some of the branches, especially the Cinex. I will be trying to open the middles up some so I don't have to take all of the leaves to get some light into the center of the plant.

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

would you like to change the title of your grow journal? if so type the name exactly as you wish it to appear.

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Thank you mods for changing the title!

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well, I have all of the walls done and the vent fan in. All I need to do now is cover with Panda Film and install the passive intake. I am hoping that i don't have a heat problem. I have a fan i can duct to the light but I would rather not if I don't have to. If it gets too warm I will install that fan and the ducting and put the new one on the timer with the light and the other one on a separate timer to run when the lights are off. But i am a little tight on space on the sides and would have to use a 90* elbow attached to the cool tube. I know that this will work but will also be a little bit clunky and a little bit less efficient. And I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot of tying down if I don't get these into flower ASAP. Some one said that if I remove the two fans from the main stem that it would slow the growth of that stem. I am going to give it a try today and see if it works.

 

[J189RFC]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Mac subed! They look great so far! If you are worried about heat maybe try what I do when setting up a new room. Warm it up and break it in with testing.

HOW TO TEST YOUR GROW ROOM
BEFORE YOU PLANT ANYTHING!

Run only lamps for 1 hour, test heat and conditions in the room.

Run lamps for 2-8H with everything else test conditions

During testing I usually take this time to make a list of equipment or supplies I need. I fill up all my hydro baskets, make sure I have enough perlite/verm. Did I use the rest of the 20-20-20? How long has the bulb been running (in total H ) should I get a spare? How did the last one work out, can I make it better. Has my water ph changed? How is this going to look in 45-60 days? Do I need more charcoal? Etc Etc Etc. Run over the entire process all the way to you smoking it. It not only a visualization tool for positive success but it also helps prevent problems that may pop up.

So now your over half way done your test. If you have time, add a male or some random house plant in there for a full day(if using a house plant raise light to double recommended height!) And remember to keep checking the heat, humidity, listen for weirdness, look at everything almost under the microscope.

Now I hear you over there going Wow, so anal, why all the fuss? I am not one who likes to run out of something, or have something go wrong half way. Something goes wrong you could come home to fire or police or etc. You could come home and have nothing going on in your box in the middle of flower. Whole batches have been wasted through lack of prep and lack of testing.


Gl can't wait to see how these ladies turn out!

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well it has Been a little over a week since I last reported. The plants love their seven gallon pots as do I. The lip is a perfect place to drill holes to tie things down. The panda film is in and the ventilation system is in. There is a 6" fan ducted through the cool tube and out the top with a passive 4" intake vent near the floor. There is also a 8" can fan in the ceiling that comes on 15 minutes before lights out and turns off 15 minutes after lights on. So far I seem to have the humidity under control. I just have to finish the light block for the ceiling fan and make a curtain for the front and they go to 12-12 tonight. Actually I plan on them going nite nite this evening and going 12-12 tomorrow evening some time.

So here is some pictures: ( Sorry about the picture quality. A couple I only used because they were the only one of that plant.)

The first is the front of my "room".

This is White Widow #1

White Widow #2

Northern Lights#1

Northern Lights #2

Cinex #1

Cinex #2

All of the plants received their last hair cut for a few weeks and most have been tied in one way or another to open up the canopy. A couple of the still have a main stem that is higher than the rest of the plant but most have a pretty even canopy. Hopefully this will pay out in the end with some nice nuggets!

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

One thing I didn't mention is the two Cinex are 36" wide! Maybe I didn't need the screen any ways. I should be able to get a bud or two off of this.

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well, the "room" is finally finished. The curtain stops ALL light from entering through the doors. I spray painted a piece of sheet metal flat black and riveted it to the top of the ceiling fan. A little duct tape and Panda Film and there is no light entering from the main room lights. I was going to flip last night but I figured there is a small possibility that some ambient daytime light could get in. It would come in from a different direction. I doubt it but I want to check first as after I flip I can't really check for light leaks.

Here is a couple of pics of the room.

My RH is hovering in the mid 60's. A little higher than I would like. I'm not sure what I can do about it. It will be that high for a couple of days after I water/feed and then drop into the mid 50's. I have a touch of PM I have been dealing with and today I am going to finish my sulfur burner. I will test it outside and assuming it works I will run it my next dark period. All of the examples were for a 10x10 room. I decided that 2 hours should do fine and run it 3 times with 2 days in between. Then maybe 2 times more a week later to insure complete death to the spores. I have tried 2 things from the grow shop and they slowed it down but it came back. Time for the big guns. Does this sound like a sound plan?

 

[KingJohnC]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

sounds like a sound plant to eliminate you powdery mildew.

 

[J189RFC]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Rooms lookin great

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well, they are officially in flower! I ran the sulfur burner for three hours a couple of days ago and will give them another shot today. They were in the dark for 36 hours or so and the lights came on at 11:00. Now to see how much they stretch.

 

[MacEFL]

Re: MacEFL's First Grow, WW, NL and Cinex

Well I ran the burner again for three hours. I am going to do it one more time tomorrow and then once or twice a week later. I am only seeing the PM in the two White Widows and it was suggested that i remove them from the room. I don't want to do that as I have a lot of time and love into these. I am going to assume that this strain is susceptible to this as I have only seen the spots on these two plants and they have always been in close proximity to the others. I may not grow this strain again.

I am having a hard time keeping my RH under 65, especially when the lights are off. I have both vent fans running and they don't help much. I have experimented with both more and less ventilation and more and less intake area. But I live in the Pacific Northwest so humidity will always be a problem! It is better when the light is on but not great. I guess it is time for a dehumidifier! This "hobby" gets quite expensive.

At this point they seem to be growing at a rate of an inch or so a day. I am seeing a lot of pistils! It shouldn't be long and I can share pictures with fluffy white pillows of future goodness!

I am starting to think that for my next grow I want to add another 600 watt set up. I can't move the light as much as I would like to as it is on from 11:00 PM 'till 11:00 AM. This only gives me a few hours in the AM to move the light and do my chores. If I had two I wouldn't have to move them and I could have two different heights on the canopy. I will wait until after this harvest to decide unless I get a killer deal on a ballast and tube in the mean time. And I definitely need either one less plant or put them into flower earlier. It's just a little crowded in there but I will make it work. I may have to rotate or move the plants once in a while but it's not the end of the world.