MacEFL's First Grow - WW - NL & Cinex

Well, everything looks just fine in the room! They still have the over watered look and the soil is very slightly moist at three inches so I decided to wait until tomorrow to feed. When I say slightly I mean that it BARELY holds a clump. And even calling it a clump is too much. They aren't wilting so I figure no harm no foul. Let them get some oxygen to the roots. I may even wait until Thursday. I will just have to wait until tomorrow to evaluate.

I had to tie up a few more branches that were getting over weight. And had to add a stake to one of the Cinex's. I was able to pull three branches up into the canopy for their fair share of light. And I pulled three yesterday as well. I just love the way these two plants have grown. I was originally going to scrog them as they were branching out crazily. But I waited too long and the main branches got too stiff and I had already broken and repaired two or three branches so decided to just let them go naturally. None of the six were ever manipulated in any way. The two Cinex have a main branch that is only three, maybe four inches tall. One of the Northern Lights has six main colas and the other three have one main and several lesser colas. I can tell in order which are the best producers down to the lesser producers but I have no clue what I will end up with. Being my first grow I have no experience in judging that. But, I think that I will have come out WAY ahead monetarily taking into account my equipment and electric and incidental costs against the cost locally of donating for MMJ. And I get to keep all of my trim and tricomes!

So here are a few pics. I didn't remove them from the room, just turned the light off. So I didn't record which plant or bud is which.

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Sorry for the picture quality. A couple of them didn't use the flash for some reason but I wanted to put them here any way. And the one with too much light really shows off the trichs!

The two White Widows are hanging out with us the last couple of days. I am going to put something together in our den and use the CFL's. The Widows take a couple of weeks longer than the other two strains so after they are done I will put the Widows under the 600 again. Then I will wipe everything down and make any changes I want to make. Let me go take a couple of quick pics of them. I don't want them to feel left out!

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These two were outside for a few weeks and in that time developed a lot of purple in the buds. And for some reason the pistols aren't as white as they were. And I just now realized that they probably have the same low soil PH as the other four. They were last watered almost two weeks ago! And they still are too wet to water. I want the soil to dry out pretty well before I flush them. They are just barely starting to show deficiencies so I don't think that I am going to hurt them any by waiting. They also have shown no sign of any PM. And that is why they were put outside in the first place. But the other four have become accustomed to their space and I will leave things as they are.

So that is where things stand for now. So far I am happy with the way that things are progressing.
 
Thanks KingJohnC. It has taken a lot of love and hard work. When I checked on them yesterday I noticed that the pistils are starting to turn color on the two Cinex. The buds aren't getting as big as I had hoped but maybe this strain isn't known for large buds? I can't find much info other than it is a cross of Cinderella99 and Vortex. And that it is a fast finisher. The two Northern Lights look good but no color changes yet. The colas on these are getting much bigger. And they really seem to love their molasses. I had a couple of early mornings and when I went to check on the third day I was amazed on the changes. There were no trichs on the Lights and now they are covered. And the stems on the colas are starting to disappear. They are looking pretty tasty! We are on day 51 of flower and they Cinex are supposed to be the fastest finishers. I have the two White Widows in my den in a makeshift tent and as long as they still show no signs of PM they will go back in the room when the Cinex come out. They take the longest to finish.

One thing has me a little perplexed. I have read more times than I can count about the "stretch" during flower. I am guessing that they have grown less than a foot since being in flower. I haven't taken a tape to them lately but it just seems that they aren't getting much taller. I am not complaining as I originally thought that they may get too tall for my room. Now I am not worried about that.

Well that's all for now. I will check on them in a bit and will report back if there is any changes.
 
Things are looking good in there! They seem to have responded real well to the flushing. Thank you Light Addict for the advice on flushing them. I didn't PH the runoff and I probably won't as they probably only have one more feeding if that. They were last fed with AN Micro, Grow and Bloom at 3TBS per the five gallons of water. They recommend 2 per gallon at all phases if in soil. Look at my pics, when I tried to ramp up to that amount, they burned. I won't do that again. But, I have to say that the AN nutes have helped get them where they are now. I would suggest start out with just a 1/2 TBS per gallon in veg and increase only if needed. That being said next grow I will be using something that is actually formulated for soil.

I had to add some more string support to Cinex #1. The buds aren't all that big but there is so many of them. The Trichs are still mostly/all clear. They all seem to be responding well to the molasses. I also added a stake to Northern Lights #2 and ran a string around the whole plant and once around the stake. The colas were starting to lean because of weight. Now it is neat and tidy. Cinex #2 needed a little tying but not too much. We removed the small inside and lower branches that weren't going to do much. They had lots of trichs so we have them hanging. If they aren't smokeabowl they can stay in the jar until it's time to make some kind of concentrate.

I unplugged the inline fan. By doing that I am able to keep my temps in the upper 60's during the day when the lights are off and it gets around 75 or so with the lights on at night. My RH stays between 40 and 50%. Removing the inline also had the added benefit of lowering the RH. It was pulling in more water laden air and the dehumidifier couldn't keep up as well. By only using the duct fan in the ceiling it pulls in less air and the dehumidifier works perfectly. I am still changing my air plenty. I haven't done the calc's but the plants are happy and that is what counts.

Here are some more pics. Again I had some old age brain malfunction and didn't get any pics of Northern Lights #2. Or maybe it was THC overload.

Cinex #1

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Cinex #2

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Northern Lights #1 Yellow is from the HPS

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The trimmings

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Now, the White Widows. I hadn't looked in on them for a few days. Yesterday I took them out of their tent and I was pretty shocked. They were a little droopy from being a little dry but that's ok as they needed flushed any way. But the buds are purple and the pistils are almost all orange. The trichs are still mostly clear. I figured that since they were in a warm environment again that the purpling would stop. Not! The got flushed and left on the balcony to get some fresh air. The buds aren't huge but I will see how they respond to molasses on their next feeding. Or they may be done feeding i'm not sure yet. Any way, here is a couple of pics.

White Widow

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That's all for now. I'm starting to get excited about harvest. This journey started the end of June. Only a few more weeks.
 
OK Guys, I need a little help. I went out today and Looked at them with the loupe. I was amazed at the two Cinex. Both had nearly 100% clear trichomes with the very top bud of one having a few amber trichs. That's good, probably a week or so until they are ready to harvest. They were last fed Sunday I think with 1TBS ea per gallon of AN Micro, Grow and Bloom. That and some molasses. So I can give them a good flush in the AM. I would like to harvest at around 10 to 20 percent amber, I think. First grow so just guessing here. Any guesses on how long it will take to progress that far? I was suprised that there was that much cloudy as they were clear a few days ago. Should I get something like Clearex? I don't want to smoke nutes but I don't want them to get over ripe either. Any advice is appreciated.
 
Yesterday AM something was bothering me. Looked at the Cinex and Northern Lights and they were fine. I then looked at the White Widows and they looked good. So what was bothering me? As I was looking at the Widows it struck me. The pistils had all changed color! So I went and got my loupe and took a look. The trichs were almost all cloudy with an amber one here or there. So the lights got turned off after their light period. I will keep them in the dark for a couple of days. After that it is time for the chain saw! These two ladies have had kind of a hard life. They had PM and endured both Green Cure and sulphur. She had leaves torn from her in my quest to eradicate the pesky spores. Finally, they were banished to the outdoors after a couple of spots of PM showed up. So what did she decide to do. Why, just what a female does when she is pissed off and you want her to hurry. She goes and changes her clothes. She went from green buds to purple. Also, this strain is supposed to be a 8 or 9 week flower and they are finished at 7. They aren't going to produce as well as the other four either. Too many stresses I would say. Less light due to being put in the corners to keep them away from the rest. Put outside during cool nights and high humidity. Then brought back in the house and put under my CFL array. And, after we last found the PM on a few of their leaves and the leaves were removed, we haven't seen one little spot on them. Which is good. But they would probably have developed better under better light in the end. We will see how they look in a couple of days when they get cut. But I also think that the other four benefited from the extra room and light. I still moved the light every day to fill in the shadows but they were completely lit the whole time. As I have said before, next time there will be 2 600 watters in there and I won't be moving them.

The Cinex and the Northern Lights are looking GOOD! The Cinex don't have the size to the buds that the Lights have but they sure are frosty and feel firm. I am going to give them another good flush this AM and will probably harvest either the same day as the Widows or the day after depending on how my hands feel from trimming. There are a lot of buds to trim. The Lights are still not ready. The pistils are all still white/light yellow and the trichs are still mostly clear. #2 is developing some serious colas. There are a couple of lesser buds on each of the 7 stalks but for the most part there are 7 colas maybe 7 or 8 inches long. Won't get any popcorn off of this plant.

My wife and I made guesses as to how much dry each plant will yield. I am not going to post our guesses but they are written down and I may share them later if I am not too far off. I have no experience to guide me but am guessing based on the size and number of buds. Meaning this section has this much and that section has that much. I just hope that I am right and not my wife. Only because that means we will have more to enjoy.

So, my plan is to flush the 2 Cinex one more time today and give the Northern Lights their first flush today. On Tuesday the Widows will meet their maker. On Wednesday the Cinex will probably be hacked as well. And I know that the Northern Lights are going to dig being able to spread out and not have to share their light with any others. I will probably separate them enough to be able to drop the tube in between them, about even with the canopy to get a little more light down deeper. The Lights are a pure indica so I may let them get more amber than the rest. But maybe not. But I do see quite a few evenings sitting in my recliner with a smile on my face and a little snore escaping every once in a while. I am just looking forward to some properly cured meds. Hopefully we won't have to visit the commercial guys any more. Speaking of curing, I need to go get some 1/2 gallon jars. I have a few quart jars but am hoping that I will be needing the larger size. I also need to pick up a couple of hygrometers. I want this cured right!. I like just a little stickiness to my buds. That and a nice taste/smell. My weapon of choice is a bong so a tiny bit of moisture left works for me. Now I just have to figure out where I am going to hang all these stalks!
 
I'm just sitting here thinking about this journey I have been on and is soon to be over. There has been exactly three days that I haven't given these ladies love and attention. In the beginning I chased the sun around on our deck with 6 3 gallon pots. Outside in the AM and inside in the PM. I'm not bummed, just a little reflecting.

Well, the Widows have met their maker. Actually, I have been wondering if they truly are White Widows. I don't think I was lied to just wonder sometimes if they were some how mis-marked. They turned purple, admittedly after they were banished out side and it was cooler. They are not as frosty as the Widow buds I have seen. Probably due to being in the corners of the room and then outside in cloudy weather for a few weeks and then back in the house under CFLs. But it is two weeks ahead of time. Hopefully I have read my trichs properly. I looked at numerous buds, top, middle and bottom and all were cloudy with some amber. I decided that I want the strain attributes, not THC degrading into CBD's. As this is my first grow I want to learn the properties of the strains I am growing before I try and manipulate them. And the particular strains I have may have the exact properties that my wife and I are after. I guess that we will know in a few weeks.

We live in an "A-frame" house and I was wondering where I was going to hang for a few days to dry some before I put into paper bags. We have exposed beams upstairs and we put push pins in the beams every 8 inches or so going downwards. We did this on two beams next to each other. Strung a piece of yarn back and forth and Voila, a perfect place to hang the branches. As the roof is a pretty steep angle there is 3 or 4 inches between rows. They are loosely enclosed with plastic with an opening on top and the one side is open some to let a fan placed across the room to let in a very slight amount of air movement. The are is 4 by 6 by 8 or so. The air follows the roof from the bottom to the top hopefully taking any excess moisture along with it. It is about 65 degrees with 60 or so percent humidity at the moment. I can open it more or less to help control things. I am thinking that this will work!

I am a little confused about something. I alluded to it a few posts back but had no feedback. When I flipped to 12/12, the six plants were all between 32 and 36 inches tall. And they are finishing at 38 to 41 inches. A 6 inch stretch? I know that the Cinex like to be little bushes but the others are more traditional shaped plants. At first I was worried that I wouldn't have the height to raise my light enough. I still have 18 inches or so. Every one says that they will stretch between 150 and 200%. No 5' plants here. Now that is bad and it is good. It's bad as I could have vegged longer and my yield would have gone up, probably a lot. It's good if I can figure out why I didn't have the stretch. Then I could plan on vegging longer without worries of getting too tall. With 2 plants each of 3 strains, and none of them stretching much, there has to be something that allowed that to occur. Later today I will remove the stalks from the pots and see how big the roots have become. That will tell me if I need to veg longer after their final transplant. Or if a larger pot is needed.

Well, I know it didn't happen if there are no pics so let me go get my camera and post a couple.

White Widow #2

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White Widow #1

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Hmm, After looking at the picture of the top, I guess that they are pretty frosty after all.
 
Well, the White Widow and the Cinex are in their jars. On the Widows I got 3/4's of a quart of one and a little less on the other. On Cinex #1 I got two full quarts and on #2 I got almost 1 1/2. That and a bunch of sugar leaf. I hung just the stalks for 3 or four days until they had shrunk and the outside felt dry. That and they were firming up. After that I put them into paper bags to finish drying. 4 days or so later they were ready for their jars. They will not be opened for sampling for another couple of weeks but my wife and I did sample just a little of the Cinex and White Widow. My wife just had surgery a couple of days ago and she commented that the pain relieving properties of the White Widow were fantastic. I found a nice head high without any couch lock. Not the stoniest but it works for what my wife needs. Hopefully it cures into a good day time med. The Cinex is another story. The buds dried out smaller, no huge buds here. There would have been bigger colas but I trimmed the buds off of the stems pretty well. But that's ok as this knocks me on my ass. If I take one rip i can go about my day although I found myself looking at my recliner more often than normal. Things that needed to be done got done but things I wanted to get done were put on the back burner so that I COULD go sit in my recliner. And no watching TV for me on this. Three rips and I was fast asleep with a little drool coming out of the corner of my mouth. Our neighbors visited and they ran away after two rips. This definitely turned out to be a night time only med. And no, I am not exaggerating in the least. I started smoking in the mid seventies so I have some milage under my belt. Here are a couple of pre-harvest pics of the Cinex. The one showing the stem was broke at the bottom where the stem formed a "Y". I originally had two wire ties on it but I removed one and the other looked like it would rather stay. I am SO glad that it healed up. That would have been half of the harvest.

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And now the Northern Lights. They seem to be doing well. Actually, they are doing just fine. The colas do not seem to be getting any longer or joining together any more but they are getting fat.

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Looking with my 40x loupe it looks like the trichs are mostly cloudy. I bought a Radio Shack hand held microscope that goes to 100x but it is extremely hard to get a good focus. Even if I pluck a bud and look at it on the table. I may try and make a stand for it and see if I can get a better look. It looks like the time is getting near. But I am going to let these two get perfectly ripe. The other two may have been picked a week or so early but in the case of the Cinex I am ok with that. So I am going to let them go a few more days and check closely again. Until then, cheers! :roorrip:
 
Thanks KingJohnC! It has been fun. I harvested the two Northern Lights the day before yesterday. They are hanging as we speak. Everything else is in jars. I will post final weights and a full smoke report in a few weeks when the first jars get opened.
 
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