Beebop76's Promix OC+ LED White Widow Grow 2011

[beebop76]

Bucket Size - 3 gallon/5 gallon
Medium - Promix
Lights - LED 300
Nutrients - OC+
Strain(s) - White Widow (2/4 feminized seeds and 2/4 regular WW seeds)
# of Plants: 4
Indoor Grow using Tent
Temps: 80 day/75 night
Humidity: ~60%

First thanks to all of you, I've spent a ton of time here researching, esp DocBud as you helped me choose my lights and nutes.

This is my first grow and thought I'd start a journal which I hope ends up being worth your time and also allowing me to ask you guys for help. I got all my equipment for my grow last year but wasnt able to start until 5/3 and 2 of my feminized WW seeds sprouted 5/5. Today is 5/19 so those are 2 weeks old. I messed up the other two seeds and had to plant additional seeds, so two just sprouted on 5/17 (not feminized so hoping for females!).
I am using only Promix and OC+ after researching and deciding that would be easiest medium/nutes for me to start off with. One of my bigger issues will be temp even thought they are okay right now. I am in the northeast and only could do this in my attic. I will however add an A/C to control temps soon as I know it will get much warmer up there.

Grow set-up:

Plant #1: My healthy one

Plant #2: Sprouted same day as #1, but much weaker with some issues. Most recently, on this third set of leaves, one side is growing much faster so it's asymmetrical. The seed bank, light placement, water, etc have been the same as Plant #1 so I can't figure it out:

Plant#2: The first fan leaves almost immediately after it sprouted became very curly, bending all over the place. Not curling up symmetrically but bending in all different directions (cant tell how weird/shrivelly it looks from this out of focus picture, but you can get an idea from this and the photo above):

Anyhow would love your input. I'm hoping I don't overanalyze and it grows up to be strong as the other one.

Couple mistakes I already made:
a) Overwater!!! Probably most common rookie mistake. I got algae which i was able to remove but I killed one seedling this way (thus two seedlings now).
b) Anxious: Umm. So I got impatient that one of my seedlings wasn't sprouting so I dug unto it a bit with a stick and well...yes, it was just about to break soil and I broke it. I rule.

Thanks all and hope to get your input along the ride.

 

[SexyKushMomma]

Re: Beebop76's Promix OC+ Spectra LED White Widow Grow 2011

Looks like there off to a great start! Not sure about the whole leaf issue but if the plant seems happy i would leave it alone. If you dont mind ill be watching your grow as i to am looking to purchase the 300W Spectra for future coming grows. Again Great Job.

 

[beebop76]

Re: Beebop76's Promix OC+ Spectra LED White Widow Grow 2011

Hey,
Thanks for the comment and yes, thought I was going to keep a grow journal to myself which would've been fine but the more the merrier. Will post more pictures next week.

 

[beebop76]

Where are all my followers? Okay, anyhow updated pictures. Plant #1 had all those leaf issues and just looked weak overall but has really taken a turn for the better. She's the same size as Plant #2 which was my healthiest plant that sprouted the same day. I just started LST and I'm using ribbon (the stuff that you put around presents, thin but strong?) and just taping it to sides of my pot for now. Plants #3 and #4 are coming along as well but per my earlier description they started much later. I'll continue to LST and see where this goes.
Pictures below:
Overhead shot:

Overhead, closer up:

Plant#1 on left, Plant #2 on right:

Plant #1, looking much better!:

Plant #1, side view:

Plant #2, LST started and this is side view:

Plant #2, Front view:

Plant #3:

Plant #4:

 

[paw-paw]

i'm in.

 

[beebop76]

hey pawpaw, welcome. Plants #1 and #2 are on Day 31. Plants #3 and #4 are on Day 19. I've LST'd both #1 and #2. I've topped 3 of the plants (#2, #3, #4) and will only LST #1 just for my own comparison. Since last week, I added an A/C to control temps better (at 77 degrees) and I've also added the carbon filter as the room was starting to smell. Pictures below, thanks.
Shot of all four (carbon filter added):

All four closer up:

And even closer!:

Plant #1. LSTing these plants has been harder than I thought. The fan leaves are everywhere and huge and the nodes are very close together making the plant very dense to being with:

Plant #2:

Plant #2: Sideview before I LST'd further. You can get an idea of how dense and bushy the top is as I wrote above:

Plant #2: Topped and starting to "Y":

Plant #3: Yes I know the pictures looks better out of the LED but I was being lazy so only a couple like this. This plant had a strange leaf issue (you can see it in the right side of plant) which I posted a thread on and many people said to just ignore it and it wasnt a big deal. One fan leaf had a few spots where the top layer of the leaf looked "eaten" away. However, definitely no pests and all the conditions have been consistent for all the plants so not sure what it was. The spots did spread all over the leaf as you can see:

Plant #3: Topped worked perfectly. Nice "Y":

Plant #4: This was the smallest of the bunch but catching up slowly to Plant #3. Also recently topped this:

And finally, I lost a fan leaf by accident while LSTing. This gives you an idea of how big the fan leaves are:

Thanks all, give another update in a week or so and maybe a few others will get interested at some point to join

 

[paw-paw]

there's lots of lurkers out there. those people r just trying to learn something. funny how everybody thinks other people always know more than they do! haha! read the instructions on how to ask for help, on this site. another thing...don't worry about that leaf too much. it's like having a girlfriend w/a big butt or one big floppy ear....don't mean she can't cook. just enjoy!

 

[beebop76]

Today is 6/20 so plants 1 and 2 are Day 46 of veg and plants 3 and 4 are on Day 34. I know the pictures look better without the LED, sorry just too lazy but will take them with LED off for next time.

The plants are all doing well, but here's the latest:
a) My A/C is causing my surge protector to shutoff. I'm not an electricity guru and wonder if I should just plug the A/C directly into the wall socket so the surge protector doesnt blow but scared if the surge protector is shutting off it's because I'm overtaxing the circuit? Anyhow, no A/C right now so temps are around 90 and get as high as 95. Definitely a bit worried esp for flower (since I hear it affects potency) but the plants are thriving in these temps. Wonder if you can get away with higher temps with LED?
b) Plants 1 and 2 were under LST but I stopped doing it. I was using thin ribbon ties and probably was doing something wrong but many parts of the plant that I had tied down seemed to be choked off from water or nutes and yellowing/dying. I just gave up on the LST and untied them and they are happy.
c) Notice that all the plants are around the same height, as plants 3 and 4 (the front two in my tent) have now caught up because they were never LST'd. They have however been topped and growing quite bushy. I hope they are females as the front two are not feminized.
d) I still have a lot of height to grow so will continue to veg for at least a few more weeks.
e) I lost power twice due to surge protector issue and lights were out for 15-20 hours but was told this is fine and the plants seem okay.
f) Plants #1 and #2 (back two) had much thicker leaves and especially after stopping the LST the bottom of the plant was yellowing due to lack of light. I highered the light considerably in order to get them to stretch since the nodes were so tight on these two. Important lesson learned, I had the lights on way too low on these two initially.

View of all four:

Again all four:

Plant #1:

Plant #2:

Plant #4:

All four one last time:

 

[paw-paw]

wow, for all that heat, they sure look healthy & happy.

 

[beebop76]

Today is 6/20 so Plants #1 and #2 (top two) are on Day 62 and Plant #4 (bottom plant) is Day 50 of veg. Plant #3 which was formerly on the bottom left was killed as preflowers showed he was a male.

I'm definitely hitting a point of much higher confidence and pretty happy with my plants right now for my first grow.

Updates:
a) The heat remains an issue and during day temps are getting into the mid 90s but plants are doing really well. I'll put the A/C on during the 6 hours of dark period from time to time when I think it's really hot (I can't have A/C AND lights running at same time per my last post). The two fans in there also are providing a cooler temp directly on plants. The fact LEDs give off so little heat is key for me.
b) I started LSTing the crap out of the plants again, and there are TONS of bud sites, especially on my littlest runt in the beginning which is Plant #4. There must be at least 40 bud sites all over it. I topped all the plants a couple of times and then straight up LST.
c) Plants #1 and #2 had female preflowers but now when I look at them I can't find any pistils. I've tried to research online and this seems to be normal that preflowers disappear, but Plant #4 still has her pistils everywhere. Should I be concerned at all? I'm thinking since #4 sprouted almost two weeks later it's normal and her pistils will also disappear eventually?
d) I have to go on vacation July 29-August 8. I'm having a friend water but I'd rather do the entire flower period myself since I dont want any risk of accidental light etc. This means they will be in veg for 3 months. My height is not really unmanageable especially because I'm LSTing these so hard but if they grow much more than I expect between now and July 29, I will start flowering earlier.

I'm pretty psyched and optimistic about my yield just based on what the plants look like right now....but I know I'm jumping the gun

View of all plants:

Closer view:

Plant #1, top left plant in tent:

Plant #2, top right plant in tent:

Plant #4, bottom plant in tent. Feel like this picture doesnt show all the different mini colas. It's a pretty wide bush right now from LST.

Group shot outside of tent:

Female Preflowers in LED:

Female Preflowers in regular light (with camera flash):

I think I only have a couple of you following my grow, would love your input esp on the preflower question I had above. Peace.

 

[paw-paw]

i think i'd have those in flower NOW! ya know, they're gonna almost double in size from now till harvest. they're tryin' to flower, even w/the long light cycle. i'd flip to 12/12. just my 2 cents.

 

[beebop76]

Thanks Paw. I know they are definitely ready, but I wanted to try to avoid flowering until I'm back from my 1 week vacation last week of July. I'd rather trust my buddy just to water than ensure he doesnt come in during dark period etc. I also have TONS of vertical space due to LST so the plants can go about 6X their height right now and I'd be fine. I figure the side benefit as well is bigger yield.

 

[paw-paw]

u're absolutely right about the power of veg, since u've got the room. this is gonna be great to watch, what w/all the lst'ing u've done. like i said before "I'M IN" for this one! just wondering if the space crunch will be horizontal instead of vert. lol!

 

[beebop76]

Funny enough after I wrote that and I was watering the plants, my excitement to start flowering took over and I just threw them into 12/12. I do have tons of vertical room but I'm hoping I still get a heavy yield with the plants looking the way they do. And so, 7/8 flowering begins with plants 1 and 2 total veg of 63 days from seed and plant 4 after veg of 51 days from seed.

 

[paw-paw]

wish i'd known that. i woulda' told u to move u're "lights on" time to night time. more convienient & it would help w/the heat prob. i guess u still could.

 

[beebop76]

Yup I have it set up like that already, off is during day.

 

[paw-paw]

of course, what was i thinking. u did u're research instead of jumping in & killing a couple hundred plants.....like i did. haha! when i started growing we didn't have ANY info...or internet...or.....wait a minute, i'm dating myself...scratch all that!

 

[beebop76]

July 11, Day 13 of Flower.
Plants coming along well. They've had a good growth spurt since the switch to 12/12. Watering every 3-3.5 days. Temps remain relatively high, but I've kept my central air on throughout the house to keep it cooler. Also lowered my lights considerably, they are about 14" away right now. As long as there is no heat stress or bleaching of leaves this is fine I assume? One thing is I feel like I'm losing coverage by going low and I do have 3 very bushy plants. Ahhh. decisions decisions. I've read that lights close as possible is key, so I'm going with the lower lights. Would love any feedback, thx.
All three, overhead view (I brought lights up for picture, they arent this high up):

Overhead view (added water bottle for scale):

Overhead view, closer up:

Sideview:

Sideview (with lights the actual distance I've kept them from plants since flower):

Close up flower:

 

[paw-paw]

that appears to be about the right height for the light. i wish i could give u more info. i don't have any experience w/LED'S, but that looks about right. u've got a very nice little garden growing there. impressive.

 

[beebop76]

August 8, Day 31 of Flower.
Sorry for the delay in updates but the plants are doing great. All of them are caked with crystals and everything is very healthy. I am getting very high humidity at night (~70% RH) so I know I need to lower this. I have two fans constantly blowing on the plants, would that be enough to prevent mold? The humidity is dropping to ~50% during the day with my a/c on? I dont want to risk it so will get a dehumidifier up there soon but I've read many accounts of folks being fine with high humidity with enough air circulation.
All three under LED:

All three outside of tent:

Sideview:

Top view 1/3:

Top view 2/3:

Top view 3/3:

Buds!

Sideview of Bud:

next to waterbottle:

Plant 1:

Close-up Bud:

Close-up Bud #2: