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- #61
CFL White Rhino + Northern Light Grow
- Thread starter growGuRoo
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- #62
So i've read multiple times that the most accurate and proper way to determine the sex is to wait until flowering has begun, within the first week. but i know i can determine the sex during the veg stage, right? there is no way i can veg 18 in that closet until the first week of flowering.
i read that a few people brought their plants into flower for a week determined the sex then brought the females back into veg.
this is my plan, i'm going to give them until march 3rd and if the majority of the sex is not shown i may put them on 12/12 for a week, i know putting the females back into veg may stress them a bit, but the males need to be plucked and the 4 strongest females need to be in 5 gallon buckets soon. let me know what you think?
i read that a few people brought their plants into flower for a week determined the sex then brought the females back into veg.
this is my plan, i'm going to give them until march 3rd and if the majority of the sex is not shown i may put them on 12/12 for a week, i know putting the females back into veg may stress them a bit, but the males need to be plucked and the 4 strongest females need to be in 5 gallon buckets soon. let me know what you think?
Lil Neutrino
New Member
Jorge is the man from what I hear...I have only read a very limited amount of his stuff but it was very informative.
Preflower will show up during the veg stage after about 4 weeks, give or take. It is more stressful on the plants to flower them and then force them to reveg...I have not personally done this so I have no advice from that perspective, just what I've read elsewhere on this site. Another method is to use a paper bag over a branch to manually simulate a 12/12 light cycle on just that branch:
Paper bag method
I have not tried this method either...I just wait for preflowers to show up although if I'm successful with my clones I won't need to bother with that for a while
Preflower will show up during the veg stage after about 4 weeks, give or take. It is more stressful on the plants to flower them and then force them to reveg...I have not personally done this so I have no advice from that perspective, just what I've read elsewhere on this site. Another method is to use a paper bag over a branch to manually simulate a 12/12 light cycle on just that branch:
Paper bag method
I have not tried this method either...I just wait for preflowers to show up although if I'm successful with my clones I won't need to bother with that for a while
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- #64
hey guys
finally got to see the plants today for the first time in a week and they were lookin big, but the tops of the plants next to the fans were blown over. I think this is happening because they started to grow so fast since the heat was lowered, the stems now can't support the top weight with the fans blowing on them.
After we moved the plants away form the white window fan and the two back fans they slowly "popped" back up. Since we are working with a tight space the fans have to be placed close to the plants and i feel it may be too close. So i turned the back fans off and we are keeping the white window fan on medium strength exchange. (in and out)
I'll have some pics uploaded tomorrow night. Hopefully they will be all upright.
finally got to see the plants today for the first time in a week and they were lookin big, but the tops of the plants next to the fans were blown over. I think this is happening because they started to grow so fast since the heat was lowered, the stems now can't support the top weight with the fans blowing on them.
After we moved the plants away form the white window fan and the two back fans they slowly "popped" back up. Since we are working with a tight space the fans have to be placed close to the plants and i feel it may be too close. So i turned the back fans off and we are keeping the white window fan on medium strength exchange. (in and out)
I'll have some pics uploaded tomorrow night. Hopefully they will be all upright.
I think you have enough CFL watts to be producing bigger and healthier plants. IMHO the problem is that you don't have reflectors and so you must be losing ~50% of your light - as was mentioned in a previous post.
Even some card board covered with white paper over each light would be better than nothing. It's true that CFL light does not penetrate and that's exactly why reflection is key to a successful CFL grow. Your walls are kind of far from the plants and you have no reflectors over your lights which means you're making the least out of the - not bad - amount of light you currently have. Just my 2 cents.
As far as sexing goes, the tutorials suggesting you can see pre-flowers in 100% of plants by week 4, I believe are referring to those using NM/HPS lights. I don't think you'll be seeing an signs of pre-flowers for a long time into 12/12 unless those light drastically change.
If you check out my CFL grow, my plants have been a lot bigger in comparison and their coming up on 6 weeks veg and I don't see any signs of pre-flowers. I'm just going to have to wait for 12/12 to find out. Again, with my 200 watt CFL, I don't expect to see signs of sex at 7 days into 12/12, because that's what you see with high powered lights. It will probably take a week or more longer. That's what I've seen in the many CFL grows I've read.
I hope that helps some. Good luck, I'm rooting for ya!
Even some card board covered with white paper over each light would be better than nothing. It's true that CFL light does not penetrate and that's exactly why reflection is key to a successful CFL grow. Your walls are kind of far from the plants and you have no reflectors over your lights which means you're making the least out of the - not bad - amount of light you currently have. Just my 2 cents.
As far as sexing goes, the tutorials suggesting you can see pre-flowers in 100% of plants by week 4, I believe are referring to those using NM/HPS lights. I don't think you'll be seeing an signs of pre-flowers for a long time into 12/12 unless those light drastically change.
If you check out my CFL grow, my plants have been a lot bigger in comparison and their coming up on 6 weeks veg and I don't see any signs of pre-flowers. I'm just going to have to wait for 12/12 to find out. Again, with my 200 watt CFL, I don't expect to see signs of sex at 7 days into 12/12, because that's what you see with high powered lights. It will probably take a week or more longer. That's what I've seen in the many CFL grows I've read.
I hope that helps some. Good luck, I'm rooting for ya!
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- #66
thanks for the quick response Ugwad!
we are going to be picking up some mylar within the next few days for the walls.
and since there is not enough space to bring all 18 plants to the flower, we put the lights on 12/12 starting last night. i'm hoping they will start to show sex soon. Once they do we will bring the lights back to 18/6 on the best looking 4 females
we are going to be picking up some mylar within the next few days for the walls.
and since there is not enough space to bring all 18 plants to the flower, we put the lights on 12/12 starting last night. i'm hoping they will start to show sex soon. Once they do we will bring the lights back to 18/6 on the best looking 4 females
Hey Growguroo, this isn't from experience, but I've read a number of times you definitely don't want to go from flower back to veg. This apparently has a significant negative effect on the growth of your plants.
I think the mylar is a great idea, but also you need some kind of reflector over the top of your lights. Think about it, half your light is going up upwards and completely wasted. You can see this for yourself by simply putting some white paper or mylar over the top of the lights and look at how much brighter the light on the plants gets. I think your plants will really perk up if you just get reflectors over the lights, bring them closer together and closer to the mylar on the walls.
Even if you go 12/12 they will never show sex in 7 days with your light situation and their immature state - i.e. it doesn't matter if you've had them in veg for 6 months, they currently have the maturity of sickly 2 or 3 week old plants. For example I currently have 2 plants 3 weeks into veg and they have 7 complete set of nodes and are almost twice the size of your plants. My CFL plants are probably small compared to what would be grown with an MH light.
I'd suggest getting the light situation in order, so they get a bit healthier and get some veg maturity. Again, I think you have enough light, it's just being wasted. Not that there's anything wrong with getting more light.
I hope that makes some sense. Good luck!
shmicky
Well-Known Member
250w hud cfl, dose wonder's cheap at
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- #69
Lil Neutrino
New Member
The plants look a lot healthier compared to the previous pics. There's a big space between them and the wall in one pic. So you're loosing that reflective surface. Perhaps you could build a temp wall covered with mylar and bring it in nice and close. They really need bigger pots at this point, so there's a bit of dilemma for you. I just don't think they will sex for you any time soon.
I'd suggest figuring out how many large pots (3-5 gallon) you can fill that room with. Then pick your strongest plants and transplant them into the big pots. Get some more lights, reflectors, mylar... and you'll be doing fine. You can convert square/rectangle garbage pails or containers into pots. It's a huge space saver.
Anyway, which ever direction you go, I'm wishing you luck.
I'd suggest figuring out how many large pots (3-5 gallon) you can fill that room with. Then pick your strongest plants and transplant them into the big pots. Get some more lights, reflectors, mylar... and you'll be doing fine. You can convert square/rectangle garbage pails or containers into pots. It's a huge space saver.
Anyway, which ever direction you go, I'm wishing you luck.
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- #72
whats good guys?
the 'teenagers' are looking good.
i added some mylar yesterday to the walls and mylar above each light socket.
i also made some makeshift cardboard walls covered in mylar to keep the plant-wall distance closer together.
i still have to make some more reflective adjustments, but it is much better than it was. we might consider making some soda can reflectors on some of the lights and then tape mylar to underside of the cans as well.
As far as the lights go, they are still on 12/12. i know it’s not the best idea but it’s what we decided to do considering the situation we are in. i really wish i went with the fem seeds for this grow, it woulda made things i bit easier.
but once the sex is determined later on next week we will be picking the best 4 females and putting them into 5 gallon Home Depot buckets with a farm fox soil mix and plenty of perlite.
here are some pics…
the 'teenagers' are looking good.
i added some mylar yesterday to the walls and mylar above each light socket.
i also made some makeshift cardboard walls covered in mylar to keep the plant-wall distance closer together.
i still have to make some more reflective adjustments, but it is much better than it was. we might consider making some soda can reflectors on some of the lights and then tape mylar to underside of the cans as well.
As far as the lights go, they are still on 12/12. i know it’s not the best idea but it’s what we decided to do considering the situation we are in. i really wish i went with the fem seeds for this grow, it woulda made things i bit easier.
but once the sex is determined later on next week we will be picking the best 4 females and putting them into 5 gallon Home Depot buckets with a farm fox soil mix and plenty of perlite.
here are some pics…
Wow, great job! I'm impressed. + reps for that. You can see how the Mylar lights up the wall in one of those shots. That's obviously going to make a big difference. I'm excited to see how things turn out.
Instead of going back to veg after sexing them, you might want to just head straight for harvest. It will be interesting to see what happens either way. Maybe a more experienced grower will weigh in on the best way to go.
Just a lil tip on the next grow. There's a lot of discussion about having the plants stay in the dark for 24-48 hours before going to 12/12. It's supposed to cause the plants to show sex earlier. Lot's of debate about that, but it seems the majority of those that have tried it believe it works. I just finished doing that on my grow. They're only about 1 hour into 12/12 now, so I can't comment. I'm hoping for something sooner than 2 weeks - which seems common for the average CFL grow. I'll let you know how it goes.
Instead of going back to veg after sexing them, you might want to just head straight for harvest. It will be interesting to see what happens either way. Maybe a more experienced grower will weigh in on the best way to go.
Just a lil tip on the next grow. There's a lot of discussion about having the plants stay in the dark for 24-48 hours before going to 12/12. It's supposed to cause the plants to show sex earlier. Lot's of debate about that, but it seems the majority of those that have tried it believe it works. I just finished doing that on my grow. They're only about 1 hour into 12/12 now, so I can't comment. I'm hoping for something sooner than 2 weeks - which seems common for the average CFL grow. I'll let you know how it goes.
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- #74
Reflection UPDATE!
the closet is looking real nice and bright!
its been 4 full days of 12/12 and i am noticing some small changes on some of the plants.
i noticed some signs of too much nutes; curling tips and some real dark green leaves.
so we are going to hold off on the nutes till later next week. (flush them out)
we are going to keep the plants in the small pots until we determine the sex, there is a better chance of getting more females with 18 plants than keeping 10 plants with bigger pots.
on most of the current pots there is not a significant amount of white roots popping through the bottom anyway.
here are some pics...ill take pics of the inner nodes later next week
the closet is looking real nice and bright!
its been 4 full days of 12/12 and i am noticing some small changes on some of the plants.
i noticed some signs of too much nutes; curling tips and some real dark green leaves.
so we are going to hold off on the nutes till later next week. (flush them out)
we are going to keep the plants in the small pots until we determine the sex, there is a better chance of getting more females with 18 plants than keeping 10 plants with bigger pots.
on most of the current pots there is not a significant amount of white roots popping through the bottom anyway.
here are some pics...ill take pics of the inner nodes later next week
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- #76
What’s good guys?
so out of the 18 plants 7 were females
Last Friday we transplanted our best 4 females into 5 gallon buckets with happy frog farm fox soil with perlite. In the upper part of the closet we have three “clone” plants in a plastic flower bucket that are tied down to avoid touching the light above.
Currently there are 14 26 watt daytime CFL’s and 2 42 watt Softwhite CFL’s, totaling 448 watts of actual CFL light. The lights are on a 18/6 schedule.
Today the plants looked a bit droopy? Not sure why?
The PH has been reading low around 4 but we just added some crushed lime to the soil to fix that.
The heat is also stable at 71 to 75 F.
What could be causing the plants to droop?
Oh and I experimented with the FIM technique on the 4 plants and it seems to be working well. I can already see 2 fresh spouts popping out.
Here are some pics….
so out of the 18 plants 7 were females
Last Friday we transplanted our best 4 females into 5 gallon buckets with happy frog farm fox soil with perlite. In the upper part of the closet we have three “clone” plants in a plastic flower bucket that are tied down to avoid touching the light above.
Currently there are 14 26 watt daytime CFL’s and 2 42 watt Softwhite CFL’s, totaling 448 watts of actual CFL light. The lights are on a 18/6 schedule.
Today the plants looked a bit droopy? Not sure why?
The PH has been reading low around 4 but we just added some crushed lime to the soil to fix that.
The heat is also stable at 71 to 75 F.
What could be causing the plants to droop?
Oh and I experimented with the FIM technique on the 4 plants and it seems to be working well. I can already see 2 fresh spouts popping out.
Here are some pics….
Lil Neutrino
New Member
^^^
Those two things above could be causing your droopage. Transplant shock doesn't always show up right away in my experience, a little drooping is normal after a transplant though and considering the size of those plants it's quite possible they are just "noticing" the effects of the move now.
That is a very acidic pH for a hydro grow much less a soil grow...as you know. The lime was the right thing to do. How long has the pH been showing 4.0? Be aware that a large swing in pH can stress the plants in a bad way but they should recover just fine provided it's not an ongoing thing.
They could also be beginning to get thirsty and just starting to droop. If it's been a few days since you watered I would wait until tomorrow and then water. I like to let mine get a good droop going between waterings (within reason) to ensure I'm not starving the roots for oxygen.
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- #78
the ph has been around 4 for about 4 or 5 days. but its beginning to come back up. as far as the watering goes we give them about a gallon of water between the 4 buckets every day. beneath each bucket is a 16fl oz (2 cup) bowl that catches the runoff water. every time we water each bowl usually fills up. so i feel like they are getting enough water. maybe too much? we will try spacing the watering out more
Sungod
New Member
I think your roots will get more oxygen if you wait 2-3 days in between waterings. When I first transplanted I watered less than 1/2 gallon per 5 gal bucket/plant every three days. Now after 30 days of veg I was up to 1.25gal per plant every three days. This will allow the soil to thoroughly dry between watering.
Note too much water can cause droopy plants as well.
Note too much water can cause droopy plants as well.
Lil Neutrino
New Member
If you're getting two cups of runoff out of each of those buckets with only a gallon between them and you're doing that daily I guarantee you your roots are unhappy as Sungod mentioned...unless you're injecting a ton of oxygen in to said water but I doubt it
Definitely give them a few days in between watering to allow the roots to breath a bit. The only time I water two days back-to-back is if the plant is really drooping but I don't have enough distilled water for a full watering; I will pour most of what's left in my spray bottle in but if she perks up I won't add water again until she droops. If she's still drooping the next day after adding the spray bottle water I will go to the store, get more water, and give a full watering...but ONLY if it's still drooping from the previous day's water.Similar threads
