Mystic River - Micro CFL Stealth Box

[Antics]

Looks like it might be a Nitrogen deficiency.

You have a lot of extra floor space on the flower side, I would look for some pots that are short and wide. Maybe those rectangular window type boxes might work? They're usually 14-18" long?

As for heat, you might need to add an additional fan, or even just a passive vent on top to allow heat to escape. I had a lot of trouble with heat with CFLs too, even when I was growing in a 7' tall closet, temps still hit 90 for me.

 

[Mystic River]

Quick update...

Well i haven't been able to buy nitrogen yet and subsequently my plants have gotten a little worse now. Tomorow I'll be going to the store to buy something with nitrogen. any suggestions as to what type of product to get? Blood meal, bone meal, worm castings? This is where I get confused. I grew a few times in the past successfully but I think it was a stroke of luck that I didn't have many nutrient problems. This time I want to do it right. Or should I just buy a good Bloom nutrient mix online somewhere that has the proper nutrients in it? Sorry, but I'm a little lost.

Antics, thanks for the advice. I uses the blue cups in the pictures because I thought having thin and tall containers encourages a narrow and short plant. I'm still learning here but I may try the using larger pots. I've seen your posts around the forum and they are always so informative... So I'll ask you what is a good handy tool to have in the garden besides a PH meter that could possibly help me keep the plants healthy? A hydroshop website that I saw has all kinds of things in their "meters & readings" section and I don't know what most of them do, just want to have the right tools for the job and make sure I'm not missing out on something that I could be using to keep plants in good shape.

Here is the pic of one of the plants, both plants have the same exact symptoms. The leaves at the top are curling down and droopy. The fan leaves at the bottom have dried up at this point and the ones further up are yellowing and getting close to drying out completely. I just flushed them both with plain tap water, so i hope that will help slow down the chaos while i get the proper nutrients on hand.
Oh, I also want to point out that the plants don't seem to be absorbing as much water as before. I watered yesterday and the soil was still moist tonight so I guess they are in a fragile state.
Any help please!

 

[greenlungs420]

Love your box, subbed

 

[Antics]

Training a plant is what controls the growth. The only thing a small container will do is lead to it becoming rootbound sooner, and reduces the level of nutrients available, since there's less medium to hold it.

I don't do organic gardening, so I couldn't advise you on what to buy. I buy my nutrients in bottles
Personally, I prefer using 2-part or 3-part nutrient systems, and am currently trying a 3 part nute system, plus a ton of additives from Humboldt County's Own.

I would avoid typical store products, like Miracle Grow. I would also strongly suggest you avoid using any pellets, granules, spikes, or any other types of time release fertilizers. When you flush, it releases a ton of nutes all at once, and ends up hurting,, or killing the plant.

Usual base nutrients in 3 part systems need 3 parts: Micro, Grow, and Bloom. The few I've used and read about require ALL THREE used throughout the grow, but in varying amounts based on the current stage of growth.

IE: less Bloom used in Veg, and less Grow used when Flowering.

For a soil grow, handy tools:
PH meter
Hygrometer (humidity)
Thermometer
and a set of decent nutrients.

A lot of soil growers don't even use their PH meter much, if at all.

My guess is that it's most likely just Nitrogen, especially since they're flowering now. Do a forum search, there's a few guys who have even used urine as a fertilizer, but it has to be properly diluted first, they'll have the info in their topics.

But the fact that they're not taking in water makes me lean towards shock, possibly from being root bound. At the height they're at now, transplanting is not a bad idea, and can only help the situation, if it's not too late.

As for your prior successful grows, you likely had a really good soil that provided the plants everything they needed. But not all soils are created equal, and beyond that, each strain has its own specific needs for nutrients.

Your best bet right now, in my opinion:

#1 Transplant into bigger containers. At least 1 gallon, preferably 2 gallon, short and wide will work.
#2a Visit a local hydro shop and pick up some base nutrients, 2 part or 3 part.

OR Option #2b Find out what organic items you need, and buy those, and add those as soon as possible.

 

[Mystic River]

Update on the grow

well, it's been a while since I last updated this grow log, so there have been a few changes since. I did what Antics said and re-potted the two plants into slightly (and I mean slightly) larger containers. I also flushed the nutrient deficiency away with tap water and it seemed to have halted the deficiency.

As of today, the two original flowering toxic blue 33 plants are very near their harvest. I've been checking up on them daily with closeup eye-loop viewings of the trichomes looking for indications of cloudyness or amber coloration. On one of the two ladies, there are a few amber triches and the lower branches are beginning to get cloudy, so I think it may be just a few more days for one of them. the other plant is still a few additional days behind the first one.

Aside from all that, I put two new clones into the flower chamber about 25 days ago, so they are developing nicely. My max height is 22.5 inches, so I've been bending the stem by tying them down with a string to keep them within height. Until I discover the right clone height to initiate flowering I shall just continue tying them down. The first set of two were flowered at 5 inches in height and they outgrew the space. The second set of two were flowered at 3 - 4 inches and they just barely outgrew, so this third set I started flowering at 1.5 to 2 inches and lets see if they outgrow the space or not.

Pics in the next post----

 

[Mystic River]

Re: Update on the grow

This is the one one that is almost ready to harvest. As you can see the stem was tied down about 30 days ago and the main cola has continued to grow sideways and upwards as well. Its been approx 55 to 60 days from preflowers

This one is just a few days behind the other one. Also tied down earlier and the tip of the main cola has done some "heat induced" stretching. Looks funny on the tip. Both these plants suffered a nute deficiency earlier during flowering but have recovered now.

Closeup of the previous plant

Another closeup of the same plant. Buds are a little airy, They are frosty underneath but not as frosty on the top because the heat issue I believe.

Another close up of the previous plant. Shows the heat induced stretching on the top cola

This is a close up pic of the one that is getting near harvest. The buds are swelling at the moment and triches are changing color

Same plant as above, only that the very top buds on the main cola are just a little behind the lower buds, so I imagine I will be harvesting the lower half first, then the top buds a few days later.

Close up of the triches with my eye-loop on the camera

close up of the triches again

So, this one is about 25 days into flowering, it just crossed my 22.5 inch threshold, so I had to tie it down and bend the stem.

This one is 25 days into flowering as well and this one was tied down a few days ago to keep it under 22.5 inches in height. You can see the stem bows gracefully and then continues growing vertically. Also the lower buds begin to stretch and take over.

Last pic. This one shows the two newest plants to be put into the flower box. They were put in at 1.5 to 2 inches, so hopefully they stay under the 22.5 inch height requirement.

 

[Antics]

A deficiency typically isn't flushed. That removes excess nutes and/or salts.

When a deficiency is presented, usually the course of action is to check PH of water, water/nutes, and check PH of the runoff after feeding.

If PH is in range, we increase nute levels slightly.

Being rootbound is still a concern though. If you can get your hands on larger containers for the next grow, it could help a lot.

 

[Mystic River]

Harvest time came around the other night. It was exciting and fun to chop down the first of my ladies.

The resin was very sticky and the smell.... well mostly like chlorophyll, but there was a little of what smelled like mango to me.

The buds were a bit airy and fluffy, yet covered in cloudy crystals, hardly any amber ones.

About a plate full of really good buds. Had a chance to smoke a little popcorn bud that was rapid dried and the high is absolutely great.
Overall, maybe 1/3 oz was harvested from this plant. I say that with ease even though I don't have a scale. But I can tell that it is a little bit more than a quarter oz. Luckily for me there is another plant that is almost ready to harvest, which I will be doing in the upcoming day or two.

The bud is just about dry so I'm going to start the cure by stuffing it into a bell jar. The only thing is that my GF just ran out of bud from the dealer and since this is our first harvest of homegrown, there is a chance that she will smoke it all before it gets a chance to cure.

 

[Mystic River]

 

[Antics]

Looks good man! Congrats on the harvest!

 

[Mystic River]

Just about to harvest the next two girls. Unfortunately, my gf smoked all of the last harvest in a matter of two weeks, and I didn't get to weigh it out either. This time, I'll weigh it properly and hopefully have a good cure on it as well. The high from this strain has been a very nice lucid high. Also, they are both Toxic Blue 33 plants, only one smells very fruity, like mango, and the other one smells toxic, like tobacco mixed with cough syrup... like an Indian hospital. Harvest is in 4 days or possibly sooner cause I saw a few spider mites (the red ones) on them and I don't want them to eat the buds.

 

[David Bowman]

Hope all is well in your world.

Thanks for sharing this grow with us.

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Sending you lots of love and positive energy.