KGB420TIME
New Member
Hello Everyone
My First Grow! Haven't really told anyone I'm Growing yet. Aside from my wife . So I am excited to share with you what I have been up to, and being able to talk with you about it. I am already 6 weeks into flowering(it's taken me a while to get here). I will do my best to bring you up to speed. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. I apologize in advance for the pictures, they all looked right when I uploaded them, which are now in all directions. Now, without further ado... My Grow.
Grow Journal
First Grow
First time growing anything.
Received clones on Oct 18th & 21st. They had been outside on a friends porch in a box with about 8-9 others. My friend said I should take some. Said it was a rare strain, Death Star, and wasn't really even supposed to say they had it. Otherwise it would go to waste. I thought about it for a minute and decided to take one. Started a little research. A few days later while at the hardware store picking up a few things... a couple clamp lights, some 5000k lights, PH balancing kit, a pot and soil. I decided that my one plant would be lonely Got two pots instead of one and stopped by my friends on the way home to pick out the next best clone. Having chosen what I thought was The best as my first. They were already 2-3+ weeks old(not really sure). And I'm pretty sure they were thinking of flowering, having been on the porch for a week in mid October. They were in 16oz plastic cups. Placed under x2 25w 5000k LEDs at a 24/0 schedule, having read that this light schedule might be the best way to reverse possible flowering
On Oct 21st I transplanted them to 3.75gal pots, into some organic soil with very little nutrients(0.05-0.0-0.0). From what I understand, it's best to start with low nutrients for seedlings and clones. A fair portion of my free time is now spent researching how to grow cannabis. Also added a new light. A 300w (100 X 3w chips) 9-band LED w/ x2 heat sinks and fans.
Did some more research and decided to do "scrog"(screen of green).
Nov 6th, I built a 50"x30" screen with wood, nails and some mold and mildew resistant string(2" x 2"grid), to fit the back of my closet. Also received second light. They are now under x2 300w 9-band LEDs & x2 25w 5000k LED flood lights. Total of 650w, LED!
Plants were a little tall, so I "Super-cropped" the central stalk about halfway down. Crushed'em and bent'em in half! It hurt ... Placed the screen on top at the level which I had bent them(19" from the floor), tucked branches here and there, and it was up and growing!
Nov 10th, I lined the walls with 2mil Mylar. Also, with x2 50" wooden dowels, I made a Mylar screen/sheet that I can raise and lower to access the plants. The lights can be raised so that the bottom of the light panels (where the light comes out) is 43" from the top of the scrog screen. The mylar on the walls and the hanging mylar sheet all run up 43" from the scrog screen. There is also a mylar lined lid that I can open or remove to help with airflow and humidity. The lights have built in cooling fans pushing air up which helps to circulate the air. Essentially, they are in a 50"W x 30"D x 43"H mylar box.
This one's right side up
They seem to like it in there
Sometime around Nov 18th, I discovered Spider Mites! Went and bought some insecticidal soap. Treated plants thoroughly! Two days later, still saw some life. Treated again after 3days. Ordered Azamax. Treated them thoroughly with Azamax. Supposed to wait 7days between Azamax treatments. Checked repeatedly during those 7days. Found nothing. Still did second treatment. They appear to have been eliminated. I have no photos of the mites or affected areas of the plants. Battle waged with mites from Nov 18th - second Azamax treatment on Dec 2nd. At which point I declared myself the Victor!
.
Nov 21st... Up until this point, I've been running an 8" non-oscillating fan to maintain some airflow. Replaced today with two 8" oscillating desktop fans. One is positioned in front of the screen on the floor at the center angled up. In this spot, it's range is such, that it blows air up through the plants from one side to the other across the whole screen. The second fan is set about 1' above the screen and 2' back. It blows across the tops of the plants, anywhere from 2-6 hours, during their dark period.
Kept plants in Veg through Nov 25th. Tucking and bending... Learning how to scrog. I just kinda went with what felt right as far as a watering schedule. Which led to them getting a half gallon each on Mon, Wed and Fri. On Monday they get a full dose of nutrients. On Wednesday they get a half dose of some. On Fridays it's just PH balanced water. Initially the light cycle was 24/0. The nights leading up to the 25th I reduced the light period by 4hr increments, reaching 12/12 on the 25th. They seemed to handle it well and flowering commenced. Tucked a couple times after 1st and 2nd weeks of flower, then let them go. The next 3 shots are at 2wks flowering...
Dec 20th... Have been flowering for almost 4wks. I think they are looking pretty good...
Here they are at 4 1/2wks...
They appear to be doing well. But I really don't know.
Here is a night shot at 5wks. I'm using a green LED horticulture light, so as not to disrupt their light cycle.
Here's an oops, the flash went off during their dark period.
I began to feel like my canopy was looking a bit thick. As you can see above. More research! Pruning/defoliation during flowering? Is it ok? Yes! Even recommended by some. Could possibly increase my yield as well! I decided I would get in there and do a little, and see. By the time the plants looked and felt good to me, I had pretty much removed almost every large fan leaf. All that was left were the small to medium/large leaves at the bud sites. There was still an abundance of those. You could almost call it an extreme defoliation. And I said to myself, 'Self, that's a lot more than you was plannin' on takin' off of them'(I don't really talk like that . They looked real nice though. And it felt right. It's a little hard to tell in these before and after pics, because they are night shots.
Before
After
It seems to have lowered the rooms average humidity a bit. Things seemed to, maybe, slow down a bit. I let them be for a week and here they are at week 6...
Also during week 6 I bought a pocket microscope so that I might view my Trichomes better as I approach harvest time. From what I've read, Death Star has an 8-10 week flowering period. Here a few close-ups...
On day 1 of week 6, I replaced the x2 25w 5000k LEDs with x3 23wCFLs(=100w). With those 3, and the x2 300w LEDs you could either call it 669w or 900w equivalent... What do you think? Heres what it looks like now..
Well, I think that pretty much gets you to where I'm at. They are now at 6wks 2days of flowering. I will continue to update and post pics. I will also try to respond to any comments or questions in a timely manner. Life can be rather busy sometimes. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for taking the time to read my journal.
KGB
My First Grow! Haven't really told anyone I'm Growing yet. Aside from my wife . So I am excited to share with you what I have been up to, and being able to talk with you about it. I am already 6 weeks into flowering(it's taken me a while to get here). I will do my best to bring you up to speed. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. I apologize in advance for the pictures, they all looked right when I uploaded them, which are now in all directions. Now, without further ado... My Grow.
Grow Journal
First Grow
First time growing anything.
Received clones on Oct 18th & 21st. They had been outside on a friends porch in a box with about 8-9 others. My friend said I should take some. Said it was a rare strain, Death Star, and wasn't really even supposed to say they had it. Otherwise it would go to waste. I thought about it for a minute and decided to take one. Started a little research. A few days later while at the hardware store picking up a few things... a couple clamp lights, some 5000k lights, PH balancing kit, a pot and soil. I decided that my one plant would be lonely Got two pots instead of one and stopped by my friends on the way home to pick out the next best clone. Having chosen what I thought was The best as my first. They were already 2-3+ weeks old(not really sure). And I'm pretty sure they were thinking of flowering, having been on the porch for a week in mid October. They were in 16oz plastic cups. Placed under x2 25w 5000k LEDs at a 24/0 schedule, having read that this light schedule might be the best way to reverse possible flowering
On Oct 21st I transplanted them to 3.75gal pots, into some organic soil with very little nutrients(0.05-0.0-0.0). From what I understand, it's best to start with low nutrients for seedlings and clones. A fair portion of my free time is now spent researching how to grow cannabis. Also added a new light. A 300w (100 X 3w chips) 9-band LED w/ x2 heat sinks and fans.
Did some more research and decided to do "scrog"(screen of green).
Nov 6th, I built a 50"x30" screen with wood, nails and some mold and mildew resistant string(2" x 2"grid), to fit the back of my closet. Also received second light. They are now under x2 300w 9-band LEDs & x2 25w 5000k LED flood lights. Total of 650w, LED!
Plants were a little tall, so I "Super-cropped" the central stalk about halfway down. Crushed'em and bent'em in half! It hurt ... Placed the screen on top at the level which I had bent them(19" from the floor), tucked branches here and there, and it was up and growing!
Nov 10th, I lined the walls with 2mil Mylar. Also, with x2 50" wooden dowels, I made a Mylar screen/sheet that I can raise and lower to access the plants. The lights can be raised so that the bottom of the light panels (where the light comes out) is 43" from the top of the scrog screen. The mylar on the walls and the hanging mylar sheet all run up 43" from the scrog screen. There is also a mylar lined lid that I can open or remove to help with airflow and humidity. The lights have built in cooling fans pushing air up which helps to circulate the air. Essentially, they are in a 50"W x 30"D x 43"H mylar box.
This one's right side up
They seem to like it in there
Sometime around Nov 18th, I discovered Spider Mites! Went and bought some insecticidal soap. Treated plants thoroughly! Two days later, still saw some life. Treated again after 3days. Ordered Azamax. Treated them thoroughly with Azamax. Supposed to wait 7days between Azamax treatments. Checked repeatedly during those 7days. Found nothing. Still did second treatment. They appear to have been eliminated. I have no photos of the mites or affected areas of the plants. Battle waged with mites from Nov 18th - second Azamax treatment on Dec 2nd. At which point I declared myself the Victor!
.
Nov 21st... Up until this point, I've been running an 8" non-oscillating fan to maintain some airflow. Replaced today with two 8" oscillating desktop fans. One is positioned in front of the screen on the floor at the center angled up. In this spot, it's range is such, that it blows air up through the plants from one side to the other across the whole screen. The second fan is set about 1' above the screen and 2' back. It blows across the tops of the plants, anywhere from 2-6 hours, during their dark period.
Kept plants in Veg through Nov 25th. Tucking and bending... Learning how to scrog. I just kinda went with what felt right as far as a watering schedule. Which led to them getting a half gallon each on Mon, Wed and Fri. On Monday they get a full dose of nutrients. On Wednesday they get a half dose of some. On Fridays it's just PH balanced water. Initially the light cycle was 24/0. The nights leading up to the 25th I reduced the light period by 4hr increments, reaching 12/12 on the 25th. They seemed to handle it well and flowering commenced. Tucked a couple times after 1st and 2nd weeks of flower, then let them go. The next 3 shots are at 2wks flowering...
Dec 20th... Have been flowering for almost 4wks. I think they are looking pretty good...
Here they are at 4 1/2wks...
They appear to be doing well. But I really don't know.
Here is a night shot at 5wks. I'm using a green LED horticulture light, so as not to disrupt their light cycle.
Here's an oops, the flash went off during their dark period.
I began to feel like my canopy was looking a bit thick. As you can see above. More research! Pruning/defoliation during flowering? Is it ok? Yes! Even recommended by some. Could possibly increase my yield as well! I decided I would get in there and do a little, and see. By the time the plants looked and felt good to me, I had pretty much removed almost every large fan leaf. All that was left were the small to medium/large leaves at the bud sites. There was still an abundance of those. You could almost call it an extreme defoliation. And I said to myself, 'Self, that's a lot more than you was plannin' on takin' off of them'(I don't really talk like that . They looked real nice though. And it felt right. It's a little hard to tell in these before and after pics, because they are night shots.
Before
After
It seems to have lowered the rooms average humidity a bit. Things seemed to, maybe, slow down a bit. I let them be for a week and here they are at week 6...
Also during week 6 I bought a pocket microscope so that I might view my Trichomes better as I approach harvest time. From what I've read, Death Star has an 8-10 week flowering period. Here a few close-ups...
On day 1 of week 6, I replaced the x2 25w 5000k LEDs with x3 23wCFLs(=100w). With those 3, and the x2 300w LEDs you could either call it 669w or 900w equivalent... What do you think? Heres what it looks like now..
Well, I think that pretty much gets you to where I'm at. They are now at 6wks 2days of flowering. I will continue to update and post pics. I will also try to respond to any comments or questions in a timely manner. Life can be rather busy sometimes. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for taking the time to read my journal.
KGB