Come Grow With Me: A Beginners Guide

[Buds Buddy]

OK, back with some pics for you. First off I'll post some pics of the equipment. Cleaned up pretty good & so far everything works. Just not sure about the Ballast yet. I have to do a search for a manual to see how to change the program that's in it. Not sure if they will even work without hooking it to a light; but we will see. Didn't take a pic of it because I already have it sold for $75 if it works. But these are the things I have a use for so keeping them.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I took these pics of the Flower Room the other day, but finally have time to post them. This was 2 days ago. I checked Trichs on the Peyote Wi-Fi this morning. About 80% Cloudy, 10% Clear & 10% Amber so we are in the ballpark for harvest.

And the other 3 girls.
1) Bruce Banger
2) White Widow
3) Gorilla Girl

And as usual, a couple group shots.

 

[Buds Buddy]

And some pics of the 5 x 5 as of this morning.

@farside05 , @InTheShed , @Mr. Sauga , what causes this to happen in the pic under this ? I keep having this issue with the V3 MC. This is what happened to the Big Peyote Wi Fi before all the branches fell over. But it's only happening to the Peyote Wi Fi plants & not the others; so it can't be the MC. So what the heck is the problem ?

 

[farside05]

And some pics of the 5 x 5 as of this morning.

@farside05 , @InTheShed , @Mr. Sauga , what causes this to happen in the pic under this ? I keep having this issue with the V3 MC. This is what happened to the Big Peyote Wi Fi before all the branches fell over. But it's only happening to the Peyote Wi Fi plants & not the others; so it can't be the MC. So what the heck is the problem ?

I'm gonna go with weak branches due to growing in an inert medium, and no natural source of Silicon, combined with a strain that isn't real sturdy/woody. My current Gelatos have weaker branches. Was only feeding them Mega Crop. Now I'm adding in a Silicon supplement but I don't know if it's too late. The Zkittlez I have growing right along side of them, and have gotten the same feed and light, have much thicker and sturdier branches and don't have that issue

 

[bluter]

the phloem in the stem is not developing as fast as the plant is growing. causing the weakness and bending. it sort of fills in last.

in essence the plant is growing faster than it can keep up with itself. this does happen a fair bit in mc and even other nute lines. if they grow fast enough, you can cut the stem and it will be hollow like a straw inside.

farsides advice is dead on. adding Si deters this and will make for a stronger plant.

 

[InTheShed]

What farside said! More silica. I just ordered Alchemist Stout MSA silica from Amazon. All mono-silicic acid, no potassium. I'll be using that with all my plants from now on.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Will Si change NPK ? Don't have any to look at the bottle. I'm using 6 gr. MC, 3 ml. of Cal Mag +, 3 ml. of Terpinator per gallon right now. Not even sure what that NPK ratio is but it doesn't seem to be bothering the plants any. Actually, the frostiest buds I've had yet. How much Si would you add to that ?

 

[InTheShed]

Most Si supplements are made from potassium silicate and tend to be around 0-0-4, so they will definitely change the NPK. That's why I went with the mono-silicic acid. No potassium and can be immediately taken up by the plant.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Most Si supplements are made from potassium silicate and tend to be around 0-0-4, so they will definitely change the NPK. That's why I went with the mono-silicic acid. No potassium and can be immediately taken up by the plant.

Just looked up the acid. Holy Shit is that expensive ! Someone on the bay has a 1 ltr. bottle for $125 + $10 shipping.
If I had the cash at the moment I'd jump on it.

 

[InTheShed]

Way cheaper at Amazon. Search Alchemist Stout MSA and you can get a quart for $32. At 5ml/gallon that's 189 gallons at $0.17/gallon.

 

[1ne eye]

Would Silica Blast be the same?

 

[1ne eye]

Would Silica Blast be the same?

Thanks.

 

[InTheShed]

Would Silica Blast be the same?

Silica Blast is also derived from potassium silicate, so even though it has less potassium on the label, it might not be as readily available as the acid form of Si.

Here is the general wisdom of potassium silicate vs mono silicic acid:

"Take potassium silicates as an example. Its molecules are too large to penetrate our plant’s cell walls. Microbes will have to convert it into silicic acid before the roots can take up the silicon. This process is called silicification, and it can take weeks or months before it occurs in any meaningful amount.

"For most applications, however, speed and bioavailability are critical. Crops are often harvested in a ... couple of months.... This ... minimizes the silicification process. Silicic acid is, therefore, the most effective silicon additive since it’s 100% bioavailable. And not all silicic acid is created equal! In nature, silica exists in polymer form because it is stable. These are long chains of molecules. In order for plants to use silicic acid, it must be in monomer form (single molecule, mono-silicic acid)."
Source

 

[farside05]

Would Silica Blast be the same?

If you do use the more standard Potassium Silicate type product, see my signature link on how to make your own for about 1/3 the cost of bottled Silica supplements, aka Faux-Tekt®.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I started the chop on the Peyote Wi Fi. Might have 1/3rd - 1/2 of it down & hanging to dry so far. Should have her chopped down completely by Sunday morning. The Bruce Banger is right on her ass too. That one has about 50% orange hairs & 90% Cloudy at the moment so she may be ready by time I finish harvesting the Wi Fi. Going to be a busy week with harvesting, up-potting, cloning & moving plants to different areas for the next growth stage. I'll have plenty of weed after these grows are done so I'll just be growing 5 plants at a time after that. Just needed a good stock 1st ... lol.
I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

 

[Buds Buddy]

I'm back ! Got the Peyote Wi Fi down & drying. Shitty Ass yield on this one. I wont be wasting a bunch of time trying new things next grow. Trying to get a bigger yield got me one 1/2 the size as usual. Then the HPS lighting sucks ! I'll take LED over HPS anytime. Buds aren't tight & hard like usual either. I'm looking at about 4 oz. dry weight. Waste of time in my book. Lesson learned .... (*Note to Self*) Do not Top too many times or you'll get a bunch of weak branches instead of a few less, but much stronger branches. Here's some pics of the crappy yield.

Looks like a lot of this may end up Brownies.

 

[Buds Buddy]

On the bright side, I got some room cleared out in the Flower Room so I was able to move 3 of the Cherry on Top plants out there.

Here are a few pics of the White Widow. She's looking pretty good. Buds are good & Frosty. She'll most likely finish in 2 weeks or less.

And this is the Bruce Banger. This girl is ready to cross the finish line real soon. She's a good 95% Cloudy & 5% Clear. Only a few specks of Amber here & there so far. I dried a single bud to test it out. It had a really good taste & I love the way this stuff breaks up. It comes out all soft & fluffy with no stems in it & puts off a good strong pungent scent while breaking it up. I have to go at least 15% Amber on this one; maybe more. So far this one seems right up my alley for the way I like things.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Up next is the Gorilla Girl. Bitch has got some long legs on her. Her buds are swelling up nicely at the moment & she is also full of sugar. Pretty sure she will be the last to finish.

And a couple group shots of the Flower Room Girls. This will change as the other 3 finish up. I plan on having all 6 Cherry Wi Fi out there soon.

 

[Buds Buddy]

Here is the 5 x 5 that I flipped to 12/12 on 2-14. Cherry on Top are off to the races. I'm using Sweet Candy instead of Terpinator on these girls to see if it does any better.

And to finish things off here is the 3 x 3 veg girls. This will be changing in the next 2 days also; as you can see the little ones aren't getting any light. Buying soil tomorrow to get things up-potted, cloned & moved around. The 3 big Glue Cookies will go to 5 gal. & into Flower within a few days.

End of Story !

 

[RetiredRN]

You got alot of nice plants. Don’t beat yourself up too much about your low yield of your other plants. They could turn out to be some great smoke!