NY Diesel in SF. my first grow!

[maryjah]

A couple of my fan leaves are starting to look a little burnt. Is that because of the foil?

[The Weed]

Is this the flowering plant you are talking About? It is common for a late flowering plant to turn it's bigger fan leaves yellow. Can you take pics away from the LED on what you are talking about?

[The Lurker]

Welcome and congrats on your first grow, maryjah. Always good to see more women growing as well (and manufacturing LED's now, like Cammie from HGL!).

Pure Sativas can be a challenge to grow indoors, and buds tend to be lighter and airy compared with indica hybrids, but for those who like 'em, they're definitely worth it.

A few notes:

• I notice the HSS website (in the FAQ) recommends the PPF-400 for your size space, stating that anything smaller than 32x32in (i.e. 1024 sq. in) results in stunted growth from too much light using the -800. You're in 864 in. (24x36). So it's quite possible the PPF-800 you're using is overkill for your space.

One way to test that is to replace the 800 with the 400 for a few days and see how your plant responds; alternately, flip the switch on the 800 to the 'low' power setting and do the same (or raise the light if possible). Though perhaps with the height you have, it's ok - the inverse square law still applies, and a lot of the intensity is probably going unused (by the lower parts of your plant, at least).

• To increase yield in the future, you might want to consider doing some low stress training (LST) and keep the plant from spreading upwards so much vertically. You'll get more bud sites closer to the light, more uniformity, and the lower buds will get a lot bigger. I'm used to ScrOG, but that could get tricky with a pure Sativa...

If you like soil, stick with it - but if you want to get even better results, consider a bubbler. They're relatively cheap, easy to care for, and are a great intro to hydro. Switching is like going from a Honda to a BMW.... :)

These Haight lights have a 140 degree viewing angle, making me think these could be very good for a scrog setup. Keep them close to the canopy and generate a forest of buds all at the same height...

Anyway, good luck with your grow!

Cheers,

-TL

[sfhaze]

Keep the lights on high, you seem to have about 32"x32", plus didn't you use the 400 for veg? Once they are flowering, give them all the light they can get.

My little cabinet grow is tight also.

[maryjah]

Thanks for your help guys!!! I really appreciate it. My camera's been acting weird, but I hope to have some more pics up tonight.

One of the flowering plants is losing its fan leaves, it looks like it is just sucking all the nutes out of it or something because the rest of the plant looks really good. The buds are building up... And the other plant under the same light looks good; it still has all its leaves. I'll post pics soon so you can see what I'm talking about.

My closet space was just an estimate; I'll measure it when I get home so I can be more precise in my description of my setup.

I'll definitely look into trimming more on my next grow, which is just starting! I'll set up a new blog soon.

Again THANKS for your help - you guys are the shit. Really I love this board

[WarBux79]

Great grow I have been really interested in these lights. How big are the main colas?

[MeanBean]

Ya let's see the end product!

[HydroGrowLED]

Originally Posted by maryjah

ok here we are, just about week 6 of flowering. the buds are startin to look way plumper :)

By the way, these look tiny. Good job on your grow overall, and congrats that it's your first time, but I'm sorry about your overall yield and bud size. If you don't want people to call them tiny, take a photograph with an object next to the buds for reference. Later...

[maryjah]

Thanks, those pictures are from almost two weeks ago though, when the buds definitely hadn't filled out as much yet. they are taking a little longer but are doing fine, thanks.

[maryjah]

secondly there's absolutely no way to get a sense of the yield from a couple of close-ups when the plants are this big, so no need to apologize for where you're filling in the blanks.

[The Lurker]

Originally Posted by maryjah

One of the flowering plants is losing its fan leaves, it looks like it is just sucking all the nutes out of it or something because the rest of the plant looks really good...

Yes, that's normal once you get into flowering, and a good sign. The plant starts to direct all its energy into bud production and diverts nutrients from elsewhere to do so - even if you're still feeding them plenty of N. Just remove the fans once it's clear they're ready to go.

-----------------------

Not sure if HGL understood that this strain is almost pure Sativa. Average flowering time is between 9-12 weeks; you're probably looking at around 11 or so, just watch the trichomes. Sativas will put on a fair percentage of their weight in the last 2-3 weeks, they just generally take longer.

(But yes, they are a bit slender and stretchy, to my eyes. LED's just don't do the best job over long distances, even the 6 watters. They're best with plants 24-36" tall or less (the lower, the better), even with narrow beam units like HGL's, which is why training becomes important for these indoors. A fan would also help with resistance training as someone mentioned previously.)

But don't worry about that for now, just file away for use next time. You still have several weeks to go before these are ready. I've grown on and off since the early 90's, and I still learn something every time I do.

And as a first time grower, you can definitely be a proud mama of your baby girls. Congrats!

Regards,

-TL

[HydroGrowLED]

This is what you call filling in the blanks (IE having large solid colas vs a bunch of tiny buds that never come together)

I am very familiar with Sativas and how they grow, as I've had several in my garden over the years as I tailored my hobby. For example, this is a Maui Wowie (primarily sativa) that is currently about 8 weeks in my garden under LED. The picture also gives you an object for a size comparison, which allows you to make a judgment on potential yield for growers with experience...




P.S. Your plants aren't that big. They are about 3.5' tall, maybe a little higher (in the last pics), with lanky branching and not a lot of bud sites. I can look through all of your pictures to see the total size of your plants, and then compare that to the largest buds you've been so proud to show. Why not give us an update if they are SO much bigger now? Cause these pictures sure do a good job of showing me the size of your plants, and they're exactly as I described:





Did you really forget you posted those on the last page along with the pictures of the tiny buds I quoted above? You talk a good game, but it seems like you forget that you've already showed us things that you are claiming to be otherwise... expected from a newbie. Now it's time for you to back up your claims that the plants are so much bigger now, show us pictures of the plants from top to bottom (not that hard), and put an object next to your largest bud so that we can all make a comparison...

[scumbragger]

[QUOTE=maryjah;857379]Hi guys, this is my very first grow! Thanks for checking it out! Any advice you have would be awesome, too, and hopefully my grows will get better and better. I'm still trying to get the hang of cloning, etc., and my space is somewhat limited, but I'm super happy w/how they are turning out so far.

My two lovely ladies, both NYC Diesel, have been growing in my closet (in 3 gallon pots) since mid-June and should be ready to harvest by Halloween (maybe sooner!) They look beautiful. I'm so proud of them

I'm using soil, just regular potting soil from Safeway, but I veged them with liquid karma nutrients and now I have a few other supplements (I'll have to check on their names)... I'm using these new LED lights from Haight Solid State - I did veg with the PPF400 and am flowering with the PPF800, which is supposed to be an 800W HPS replacement. I know a lot of people are still skeptical about how well LEDs can grow, but these are turning out to be great and my power bill so far hasn't been much higher than before I started.

Right now I'm in the 4th week of flowering.. Check them out... nommmm :)
QUOTE]

Nice pics MJ, I have to get a better camera...LOL...I would really like to know what it is about LED lights that bring out the knives in people but we'll leave that for another day...Your grow looks very much like my first failed attempt at hydroponics some 15 yrs ago so believe me there's no way to go but up from here...LOL...I realize you have mostly a sativa strain but one or both things have happened here and that is either the light has been to far from the plants from the get go or the light is just "another LED light". As you can see from Cammie's pic compared to yours it's fairly easy to tell how big buds are or not when you can see the stalks and stems. My bud is testing 3 of her lights right now in flower and the lights are 3-6" away from the tops of the plants...how far were your lights from the plants?


Again it's your first try, trust me it will take you over a year to get things straightened out, but plants will stretch alot if they don't have enough light...right now the only thing to do is to put the thing as close to your plants as possible until they mature the buds you do have. When they get lots of light it's hard to tell how big they are...LOL...this bud is 7 weeks in and this is what I want to see these LED's do with my own eyes and my friend is giving them all the opportunity to prove it...

Only a week in so not much to report but..... and I'm sure I'll have a clearer picture in 4 or so wks.

[scumbragger]

Originally Posted by The Lurker

And as a first time grower, you can definitely be a proud mama of your baby girls. Congrats!



-TL

The problem I found with cheerleading is I thought I was growin "big girls"...LOL......stick around MJ and we'll straighten you out...LOL

[MeanBean]

Originally Posted by The Lurker

(But yes, they are a bit slender and stretchy, to my eyes. LED's just don't do the best job over long distances, even the 6 watters. They're best with plants 24-36" tall or less (the lower, the better), even with narrow beam units like HGL's, which is why training becomes important for these indoors.
-TL

We can all dance around it but the ture LED Unit winner is pretty obvious to me...

I mean no offense to maryjah, I am talking about the light

IMO that plant was dooomed from the start. There's simply not even enough nodes to say the HSS even Vegged this plant properly.

Here's a plant vegged never topped with a knock off 120W led from htg.



The HSS light cant even compare to this, let alone a real LED unit. ALSO look how spaced the leafs are on maryjah plants, I mean the leaves have 3 fingers! what happened to 5, 7, or more ? the plant is so light starved it could only bust of 20 3 fingered leaves....