Colorado High - Soil - CFL - Easy Rider - 2013

[PeeJay]

Things are looking really good. For my medium I'm using a mixture of FFOF 20%, Sunshine Mix #4 65% and perlite 15%. I'm really happy with this mix. FFOF has lots of good stuff in it, but many growers find it too hot. You can find countess journal here where folks have started plants in the FFOF and had problems with plant burning in early growth. It's even worse when they feed the plants before they have had a chance to use up some of the nutes already in the soil. The sunshine mix #4 is basically a soilless mix and is lean in the nutrient department.

The mix drains very well. I've noticed that the top dries out very quickly. I'm using 5 gallon fabric pots. One of the nice things about the fabric pots, in my opinion, is that I can feel where the moisture level is in the soil by pressing my palm against the side of the pots. Yesterday morning, I could feel moisture about 4" above the bottom of the container. The pots are 11.5" tall and the fabric was dry above 4" so I knew I was getting close to watering time. This morning when I checked the plants were wilting a bit, so I watered / fed them until I got a few Tb of runoff.

 

[GreatLife4All]

Subbed... I will catch up and comment later.

 

[David Bowman]

All is going well. Grow box temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees for the most part, RH maxes out at 60% and typically falls below 30% during the day. A few days ago I started adding molasses, at 1 Tbsp/gallon concentration, to help fortify the soil in between nutrient feedings. Other than a little stickiness from the dried runout, no real negatives to talk about. The heights of the plants run from 4" to 13" and all are thriving in their environment. As all but one have completed seven weeks of growth since the start of germination, with one a week behind the others, they are nearing the flowering stage. I was trying to get them all at or above 12" before I start flowering, but I'm not sure that is going to be possible. Knowing my luck, the smaller plants will turn out to be the females thus negatively impacting the potential quantity of my harvest if I start flowering too early. I will give them another week at least and see where they are at that time. Are there any negatives to extending the vegetative stage longer than is normal/typical for the plants that are already ready for the flowering stage?

Group shot of my grow at week 7 -

Star performer at 13" high -

Second best performer, germinated one week after the other plants, at 9" high -

Third best performer at 7" high -

Fourth best performer at 6" high -

Fifth best performer at 4" high -

 

[Harley001]

Colorado your plants are the same age as mine they're looking good here are some pics'

 

[David Bowman]

Actually, yours look much more dense and fuller than mine.

 

[Harley001]

I think it's the LEDs just gave you some reps+

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks Harley001!

 

[Light Addict]

Lookin lush and green really nice work,keep it up my friend!

 

[stealthgrow]

They are coming along nicely CH.

 

[David Bowman]

Thank you Light Addict and stealthgrow!

 

[GreatLife4All]

Your grow is looking very good Colorado.

That is a cute little tent that you are growing in - well set up.

Some reps for successfully getting this far. If I can be of any help, just let me know... looks like you got things under control for now.

 

[David Bowman]

Thank you GreatLife4All!

 

[David Bowman]

It appears that my plants are informing me of when to flip the switch instead of the other way around. This morning during my routine check of my grow, I noticed pistils on the top two nodes of the largest two plants. It appears to me that both plants are female and either pre-flowering or just starting the flowering stage, (I'm not sure what, if anything, is the difference between the two terms). If that is the case, then I'm a true believer of GLR and will continue to it for all of my future grows. I'm so excited that my two largest plants are both females.

I welcome any and all advice/opinions since this is my first grow and I would hate to make a terrible mistake if I am indeed wrong. If I don't hear anything to the contrary, starting tomorrow morning I will be beginning the flowering stage for all of my plants.

Second from top node of my star performer -

Top node of my star performer -

Top two nodes of my second best performer -

Different view of the top node of my second best performer, pistils are little harder to see in this one -

 

[GreatLife4All]

Congrats - those are looking very good.

And yes, the plant is now sexually mature enough for flowering. The only reason to delay is to control size and yield.

The larger the plant - the greater the yield... but the harder to manage.... especially given your small tent.

 

[David Bowman]

Thanks GreatLife4All! Yeah, my tent can handle the largest plant doubling in height, but not much more, that is the reason I'm flipping tomorrow. Considering this strain typically reaches 24" at full maturity and being that these two plants are at or over 12" already, I'm hoping for a good yield. BTW, thanks for the reps as well!

 

[GreatLife4All]

No problem my friend. You are doing really well on your grow.

I would agree, given your situation, that you did right by flipping the lights.

I have a 7' tent and seem to always wait too long to flip... I believe in big roots and by the time I get those I have large plants. Maybe I need more calcium in my mix...

Thanks GreatLife4All! Yeah, my tent can handle the largest plant doubling in height, but not much more, that is the reason I'm flipping tomorrow. Considering this strain typically reaches 24" at full maturity and being that these two plants are at or over 12" already, I'm hoping for a good yield. BTW, thanks for the reps as well!

 

[David Bowman]

BTW, two more plants look to be female as well. The fifth plant, which was the smallest of them all, appears to be male as little stamens are forming on the top nodes. I'm going to let it develop a few more days to see if they really are stamens then I will take a few pictures and post them here for confirmation. I will then pull the male plant and transplant the 4 females into 3-gallon pots, which is the largest size pot my grow tent can handle when there are more than two plants.

 

[David Bowman]

As I mentioned in my last post, out of my five plants, it appears that I have only one male among them and it turns out to be the runt. There are definitely pistils on the third and fourth best performers just like the two largest plants. Although the stamens are relatively immature, they are very noticeable as compared to the other females. Below are some pictures I took of this plant with its crab claw-like stamens. As before, I welcome any comments prior to the sacrifice of my runt.

 

[Light Addict]

Yep its a boy obviously. Well done on getting such a good ratio on your girls.

 

[David Bowman]

Thank you Light Addict! Is sex determined environmentally or genetically, both? I've always wondered how that works with cannabis plants.