Soil, Cabinet, CFL, Supercrop, FIM 1st Grow

[Ugwad]

It's a boy!!!

I wonder if the cat attack turned the Big Bud into a boy? The plant has never been right since the attack and I don't feel too bad about losing him.

At times I thought it's kind of fun not knowing the sex, but I think if I buy seeds in the future I'll get feminized ones. Though, I wonder if they a lacking in some way?

Here are the ball pics. I think these might still be considered preflowers, but I don't have any doubt at this point and I guess I'll pull him some time this week.

I want to supercrop and FIM the Northern Lights plant one more time and then I'll put her in with the Bubblegum under the 200 Watt light. The Afghani can keep the 125 Watt light to herself. So, the Northern Lights plant will be going 12/12 a week early at 5 weeks. I'll stick her in the dark for 24 hours before 12/12 though.

So this will all take a few days. I figure I'll let the Big Bud grow while I'm waiting. I'm pretty sure those balls won't be ready to spue pollen for a while. But let me know if I'm wrong about that!

The balls are fuzzy, but I think unmistakable

More fuzzy balls...

Same fuzzy balls, different fuzzy shot...

 

[Slowpuffer]

It's looking like the Big Bud is a boy. But I'm going wait until sex is very clear before jumping to any conclusions. Both plants had little round things next to the stipules, but on the Bubblegum they opened up into something else. On the Big bud, it looks more like now there are bunches of little round balls. Regardless, at this point I'm looking at pre-flower structures and I'm going to wait until I see mature sex parts.

It will be good to see how these things start and mature. Then I'll have a much better idea about the whole thing. Besides, I'm a noob and these no point in jumping to conclusions and no harm in waiting.

Ugwad, the way you're describing the bigbud plant, it's a male !!

 

[Ugwad]

Big Bud Chopped

I decided not to wait and let the Bubblegum enjoy all the lumens for herself. He's now hanging upside down in my closet.

I was thinking about drying him out and having a smoke. That might sound ridiculous, but I'm curious.

When I was a kid I planted some bag seed next to some bushes by the side of the house. They probably grew about 7 to 9 inches tall, but not bushy at all. I'm guessing they were only growing for a couple of weeks. I took the 2 or 3 plants and hung them upside down in the shed for a few days and then I smoked them. I definitely got high off those green immature plants. I recall that the high only lasted about an hour and was less intense, but not bad. I was 13 and thought that was pretty cool.

So I figure this big bushy boy has got to be better than my first teenage grow experiment. I'll definitely give you guys a smoke report

Here's a last picture of Big Bud - with his attacker - just before the chop.

 

[lavendar]

Hey Lavender, thanks for your openness. So, what is a volcano? Is that some kind of huge bong Maybe a vaporizer, they use up more weed right?

I'm kind of excited about making some hash. Can you get enough trimmings off 2-4 plants to yield any hash? For example, I'm 100% sure now that my Big Bud is a boy. I'm letting the plant grow a few more days before pulling, but it's about 11 inches tall and fairly bushy. Do you think I could get a pea sized ball of hash out of that entire plant?

Also, do you know if bubble ice bags are the only way to make hash? If not, what's the best way to do it?

Thanks!

a volcano is a brand of vaporizer....the one with the bag...i dont know if others have bags or not...
just keep the b.shake in the freezer in brown bag, until you get enough...you want enough to make it worth your time...you'll get finger hash on your fingers and sissors (off mature plants)... never could spell that word....so you can smoke that first, then,... if you want...we do...and it is a b.. waiting to do it all....you could get a pea sized ball of finger hash when you trim....on how to make hash, wow, over the yrs, we probably tried alot of ways, but i like bubble bag the best...is just cleaner....no, bubble bags are not the only way, you can screen it, i think there is a machine that tosses it around in a barrel, and the tri's fall thru a screen there also...we tried the screens and it just took too much time for us, so we just went with the bubble....and that still takes time...but the result is great, so we chose that way...
keep up the good work and enjoy...next time, lavendar

 

[Woodsman]

Check this out for different ways to make hash. I made a tiny bit using my wifes old pantyhose.. Learned it from this site:Hash Making

 

[lavendar]

Check this out for different ways to make hash. I made a tiny bit using my wifes old pantyhose.. Learned it from this site:Hash Making

this is excellent....reading it from start to finish, thank you....lavendar

 

[Woodsman]

this is excellent....reading it from start to finish, thank you....lavendar

Roseman made a great tutorial, glad I could help! I followed his instructions for the pantyhose method since that was the only material I had.

 

[Ugwad]

Damn, am I bummed. I'm 90% sure my Bubblegum is a boy. I hate that they don't have sad face icons here :-(

Tornados don't blow this much :-( At least I have two back ups. But I really thought the Bubblegum would be a girly girl!

It's the story of my life, I can never get any girls :-(

I'm too depressed to take pics. I'll snap a few before the chop :-(

 

[Ugwad]

Now I'm 95% sure the Bubblegum is a boy :-( So, I decided to bring the Northern Lights & Afghani into the cab with the 200W CFL and place the Bubblegum into the temp closet with the 125W CFL.

To my amazement, the NL plant appears to be showing signs of female sex approaching the 5th week of veg. I could be completely hallucinating, but it definitely seems so at this point. That's helping with some of the depression over the loss of my sweet looking Bubblegum.

Since the Northern Lights is already showing preflowers, I suppose that means she's mature enough to start 12/12. I probably should put the Afghani in temp closet and veg her for another week. Dunno what to do. I guess I'll figure that out on Thursday (week 5).

I got a little over excited and suppercropped both plants and I also FIM'd the NL plant. I don't think I'm supposed to do SC & FIM at the same time. Ooops!

Even though it's a boy, I did get 3 tops after I FIM'd the Bubblegum. Not bad for simply removing a small piece of plant material.

 

[Woodsman]

Now I'm 95% sure the Bubblegum is a boy :-( So, I decided to bring the Northern Lights & Afghani into the cab with the 200W CFL and place the Bubblegum into the temp closet with the 125W CFL.

To my amazement, the NL plant appears to be showing signs of female sex approaching the 5th week of veg. I could be completely hallucinating, but it definitely seems so at this point. That's helping with some of the depression over the loss of my sweet looking Bubblegum.

Since the Northern Lights is already showing preflowers, I suppose that means she's mature enough to start 12/12. I probably should put the Afghani in temp closet and veg her for another week. Dunno what to do. I guess I'll figure that out on Thursday (week 5).

I got a little over excited and suppercropped both plants and I also FIM'd the NL plant. I don't think I'm supposed to do SC & FIM at the same time. Ooops!

Even though it's a boy, I did get 3 tops after I FIM'd the Bubblegum. Not bad for simply removing a small piece of plant material.

I feel so sorry for ya bud!. Look on the bright side, NL is one of the best smokes out there. So what ya bent a little here and ya cut a little there, it's all good and will work for ya, Your grow will continue with no more issues. It's a learning experience, Just think if ya didn't have anything waiting in the wings! Just a bump in the road.

 

[Ugwad]

I feel so sorry for ya bud!. Look on the bright side, NL is one of the best smokes out there. So what ya bent a little here and ya cut a little there, it's all good and will work for ya, Your grow will continue with no more issues. It's a learning experience, Just think if ya didn't have anything waiting in the wings! Just a bump in the road.

Hey Woodsman, that was really thoughtful. I appreciate it. I think I put a huge amount of work and thought into those males, but you're right on the money, I've learned a lot doing it.

It's pretty cool to know the NL is a girl while she's still in veg and I'm 100% sure of it. Pics tomorrow. There's a little bump on the Afghani which made my heart stop. But it's too early to tell. I just hope a pretty pistilate pops out of it instead of those ugly balls!

 

[Ugwad]

Update Week 7 (Bubblegum) Week 5 (Northern Lights & Afghani)

The Bubblegum was chopped last night for sex crimes - being male. He's hanging upside down with his bro, Bigbud. I'm gonna try smoking some immature males.

I'm down to my Northern Lights - who is a girl! - and the pure Afghani - indeterminate. They are both now in my DIY cab with the 200 W CFL. I need to do some alterations to my DIY fixture, so I can use the 200 W and 125 W CFL's together.

I'm going to let these gals veg for another week and then go 12/12.

Photosynthesizing in the cab...

Here's my NL GIRL

Her sex appeal...

Here's my Afghani

RIP Bubblegum...

 

[lavendar]

looking good, sorry about the males tho...got a close up of the doubtful one?'
the one with the thumb looks female to me....lavendar

 

[LeenieBean]

Your plants are looking lovely! sorry to hear about bubblegum ( I was rootin for you on that one. Looks like you're taking good care of your Girl (s!) keep up the good work

 

[Ugwad]

looking good, sorry about the males tho...got a close up of the doubtful one?'
the one with the thumb looks female to me....lavendar

Hmmm... doubtful one? There are only 2 plants left. The one with my thumb in the pic is definitely a girl. Don't you see the cute little pistilate? There are several on the plant. I dunno about the Afghani, it's not showing anything yet. It's got some oval nubs at the internodes, but not sure what's inside at this point. I'm hopeful.

Hmmm... maybe you were saying the same thing

Hey but thanks for the kind words!

 

[Ugwad]

Your plants are looking lovely! sorry to hear about bubblegum ( I was rootin for you on that one. Looks like you're taking good care of your Girl (s!) keep up the good work

Thanks Leenie! Long time no see! If you're commenting here I suppose you've updated your grow too. I'll have to check it out. I was really looking forward to the 45/55 sativa/indica on that Bubblegum. Hopefully in the next grow.

I'm a little concerned about my FIM job on these two plants. Their growth buds were shorter and fatter than the other two plants. So it was really hard to guesstimate 80% tissue removal. Someone said something once that made me think you could fuck up your "Fuck I Missed" and not get any kolas. That would be horrible! But I might have hallucinated that one.

 

[Woodsman]

Both the Northern Lights and the Afghan are looking terrific! You should have a great grow!

 

[Ugwad]

I found this interesting diagram on FIM'ing. I had assumed that the new growth coming out of the "growth bud" after FIM'ing, is what you count as the new tops. But according to this picture, I've got that wrong.

There are actually 2 points that form from the top growth point and 2 more at the internode below.

In the case of the Bubblegum I FIM'd, there were 3 new tops that formed out of the top growth I pinched off, so that would have given me 5 tops - if I'm understanding that picture correctly.

The FIM'ing tutorial I posted some pages back talks about 4 or 5 tops forming from a FIM job.

It looks like, on the current plants, I've got at least 2 points growing out of the very top point. So again, if I've got this right, I'm looking at 4-5 tops for the main kolas.

 

[LeenieBean]

ya lots of stuff happening, just been busy and too lazy to post pictures. Closets getting a little hectic. Seems I'm doing something every day in there I've got so many little things on the go, but I have rooted female clones from the original grow about to be put into 12/12. finally something to look at ) doing very nice on your first grow I must say.

 

[Ugwad]

Mini Update:

So I made alterations to my DIY fixture yesterday and now I have the 200 W warm tube and the 125 W cool tube CFL's side by side over the plants.

I think my DIY fixture has some efficiency problems and I was wondering if the 200 W by itself in the Wing fixture was as good or better than what I have now.

I realized by having the bulbs side by side that I would be losing a large amount of light because they would be blocking each other. In other words, the light coming off one side of each bulb would no longer be hitting the reflector, but rather, it would be blocked by the other bulb.

That seems like a huge waste of light! There's not enough space in the cab to make each bulb it's own curved reflector, so I ran a flat aluminum foil curtain between them.

My fear is I'm getting a lot of extra heat and not much more in the way of lumens. I guess a light meter would give me the answer. The biggest reason I'm NOT going to get a light meter and test it out, is that these freak'in bulbs are soooo fragile, I dare not take them in and out of the fixtures and the fixtures in and out of the cab. I knocked the bulbs a couple of times yesterday and was freaking out and cursing my ass off!

Perhaps something good is happening, because the plants seem to be growing like crazy. It's only been a day, but I've had to raise the lights twice. Luckily, I have a fair amount of vertical room in the cab. I dunno, it's these fan leaves at the very top of the plant, they are stretching up like crazy!

I'll try to take some pics of the fixture and plants later.

Supercropping... at first I wasn't sure what it was doing exactly - except making these funky nodules in the main stem. But it looks like it definitely causes lower budding sites to shoot straight up towards the top of the plant and poke their heads out into the light.

I had read in the tutorial on supercropping that LST'ing wasn't necessary if you supercropped. But I look at these LST journals and it looks like something good is happening, especially the ones that combine supercropping and LST'ing.

So I've started tucking the leaves. That seems to work very well with supercropping, because all the budding sites are fairly close to the top of the plants and by tucking the leaves I seem to have gotten all of the bud sites basking in lumens. The leaves don't seem to un-tuck themselves either. So there's not much effort on my part.

Females... now that I know what a female plants looks like - first hand - I have the feeling my Afghan is a girl too. I can't see hairs yet, but the budding sites look similar to the Northern Lights girl. I guess I don't recall the previous boy plants having budding sites like these plants do. Keeping my fingers crossed