First Grow 12/12 No Mercy Style Skunkberry 400W CMH

[Indicana Jones!]

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!!!

Your plants are looking awesome!


Great job bro .

Thanks SSun! They're filling out nicely!

whatup indicana. just found your journal and read it; nice grow man. I have a lot of interest in where this takes you as it is similar to my own project. the 12/12 system suits my situation as it seems to suit yours, and the yield:space ratio of a good LST has also caught my eye. good luck (though you dont need luck...!) ill be watching. +rep for some good ideas and great plants

Hi NEchronic, thanks for stopping in! The 12/12 system is a good one, while ideally a sog method with the idea of rotating plants through the grow room it's also got some pluses when it comes to stealth (at least for me). Once this grow is done I'm going to make a few mods to the grow room then hopefully start my 2nd 12/12 in containers with actual LSTing. I was going to try a 3 week 24/7 veg period but just can't work around having the light on at certain times of the day so I'm staying 12/12 for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of LSTing...

I pruned the 2nd of the bottom 2 nodes off each plant sunday since they were not getting any light, then I used some wire to do a half-arsed job of LSTing which is little more than pulling them out a little so the lower bud sites get some light, this also allowed me to lower my light a little..

Here is the family BEFORE my attack with the scissors. It may not look it, but there are 7 plants there!

Everything was going great until I was putting the grow tub back in place and fiddling around with the light when I dropped the bar the light hangs from onto my plants. Thankfully with their spacing it hit none of them directly.. But it did sheer off about 6 large fan leaves off 2, 1 or two more from a 3rd and broke a few too.

I waited a few days before posting to see if they're recovering and they seem to be doing fine. Budding is still going on!

This is the runt of the group, with the LST thing done she's now again getting direct light, before she was almost in perpetual shadow. Despite that she's a trooper and continues to bud up!

In fact it seems the runt is the first to show some frosting! Here's a zoom of the above frame.

All in all despite my clumsy hands the girls are still thriving! 40 days and counting down now! At least that's my official prediction (despite having just added some MORE stress to them). 40 days until the first scissor!

Thanks!

Indicana.

 

[Screwnuts33]

Looking good! Looks like a sugar starting to show. I am a sucker for the seed sites. My ADD gets the best of me and next thing you know there are seven strains (16 plants) going in my tent. Damn it is fun though.

 

[Indicana Jones!]

Looking good! Looks like a sugar starting to show. I am a sucker for the seed sites. My ADD gets the best of me and next thing you know there are seven strains (16 plants) going in my tent. Damn it is fun though.

Thanks Screwnuts! I'm like a kid in a candy store at seed sites, thankfully poverty keeps me from acting on my impulses! Planning my 3rd and 4th crops before #1 is done! Crazy!

I like your setup! 2 600 Watts and 16 plants should leave you sitting on a few pounds! I'd be happy with 3 and a half oz's and would crap myself if I got 5-7! All setups need tweaking and mine is no exception. I had planned to have all my ducks in a row before putting a seed in soil but then impulse got the best of me!

Indicana.

 

[AmGrowR]

This pic right here is @ M@STERPIECE!!! Keep 'em comin'!!!

 

[Indicana Jones!]

Heh heh heh! AmGrow!

I don't have a camera with true macro abilities so I'm essentially left with shooting from 3-5 feet back and cropping sections out of a larger frame sometimes with a little sharpening and white balance correction. My attempts to take anything resembling a clear pic with my Eyeclops has gotten me to use language my mother wouldn't approve of.

But I'll keep at it!

Cheers!

Indicana.

 

[Flurple]

ahoyhoy INDICANA, everything is looking great including the pics!

i hope you havnt broken anything from trying to swing over your plants with that whip of yours. watch out the trichomes shoot poisinous darts... hand me that garden hose will ya?... ahhh snake!!!

haha sorry your screen name brought back some funny memories.

keep up the good work, i want to see how they turn out.

 

[Indicana Jones!]

ahoyhoy INDICANA, everything is looking great including the pics!

i hope you havnt broken anything from trying to swing over your plants with that whip of yours. watch out the trichomes shoot poisinous darts... hand me that garden hose will ya?... ahhh snake!!!

haha sorry your screen name brought back some funny memories.

keep up the good work, i want to see how they turn out.

Hey Flurple, thanks for checking in! I've been lurking your grow, almost took a knife to my girls but was afraid I'd push back the harvest and I want some smoke for the silly season!

They're great movies! I had to sneak into Raiders because it was PG and I was under age! I just need to find a good indy/mj avatar! Of all the user names I've picked over the years, it's my favorite!

DAY 52...

They continue to grow.. I guess in many ways flowering is about as dull as vegging. They don't do a whole lot, get a little fatter each day, but at this point slow enough to be.. I hate to say it.. boring.

Still feeding every 3rd watering, slowly creeping the concentraion up mL by mL.

They don't seem to be suffering overly much, still not entirely happy but in general good health. I can't wait to see how much weight they gain over the next 4-5 weeks.

I get tempted now to go to the hydro store and buy a bloom enhancer!

Indicana.

 

[Setting Sun]

wow, those buds are looking great and look like they're going to swell up lots more!

nice job!

 

[Propa Gator]

Your girls will get fat, you'll see, just keep on denying pollen
Hair density amazes me, shine on the light till golden
I think that many recipes are more for selling than doing
Fundementals still applied, you'll reap that which you're sowing

 

[falcore]

damn Indicana they look good
it seems like 12/12 is a good way to go. mine are growing much faster than the 18/6 on my last grow.


about how tall are they?
do they smell?
are you tempted to take clones?

 

[Indicana Jones!]

wow, those buds are looking great and look like they're going to swell up lots more!

nice job!

Your girls will get fat, you'll see, just keep on denying pollen
Hair density amazes me, shine on the light till golden
I think that many recipes are more for selling than doing
Fundementals still applied, you'll reap that which you're sowing

Thanks! The buds are looking good but I think I'm seeing some N deficiency now in the lower leaves.

damn Indicana they look good
it seems like 12/12 is a good way to go. mine are growing much faster than the 18/6 on my last grow.


about how tall are they?
do they smell?
are you tempted to take clones?

Hi Falcore! The tallest girl got to 25 inches and the runt is about 15 or 16 inches. I do have one girl that would make a good mother if I was a cloner, but I'm not. 12/12 really works from seed best anyway from what I understand so I'm good with that! They are smelling now! A nice mix of general 'plant', skunk and a nice shot of sweet berry smell too!

Some of the lower leaves are turning light green/yellow which suggests I'm running low on N or have a PH issue. I wish I could take the PH of the soil, that's been one thing that's worried me for a while now. Oh well I'll give them a little boost of vegging nutes tonight and see if that helps.

Indicana.

 

[NEchronic]

Nice growing Indie...looks like you'll have some yummy new-years snacks there. Its cool to see what you've done with your grow; and its helpful for the rest of us out here.
Thanks man!

 

[falcore]

you'll tend to lose those lower leaves during late flower or it could be because of the light not being able to penetrate all the way through the canopy.
you could buy a couple CFLs to put on the sides to help out.
as far as yhe ph the can test the water as it drains out the container. if you dont have one you can buy a liquid test kit from a hydro store or online for like 8$ or you could get ph strips from a pool shop.

are you using tap water purified water or distilled?

 

[Indicana Jones!]

you'll tend to lose those lower leaves during late flower or it could be because of the light not being able to penetrate all the way through the canopy.
you could buy a couple CFLs to put on the sides to help out.
as far as yhe ph the can test the water as it drains out the container. if you dont have one you can buy a liquid test kit from a hydro store or online for like 8$ or you could get ph strips from a pool shop.

are you using tap water purified water or distilled?

I am using RO water. I don't get run off when I water but I did take a couple spoon fulls of soil put them in a metal strainer and ran 2-3 Oz's of PH 6.0 water through and the run-off PH'd at 6.3. My cheap moisture probe/ph meter has the soil PH between 7 and 8 so I'm wondering if I have nute lock out due to rising soil PH.. I was half expecting to see the opposite though since I didn't buffer my soil mix with lime I figured to see a falling PH not a rising one.

With transplanting not an option I need to find a way to fight this off for 4-5 more weeks..

Might be time to start a 'newby needs help' thread in the help section!

Indicana.

 

[NEchronic]

I checked back to your first page; you said you're using 'sea soil' of some type or another? If there is any way to check (or if you know) there may be a lot of shell material in that soil; usually that means carbonate ions, which mean high pH, and carbonate buffers well, so it could stay high potentially. I only mention it because I've got some Ocean Forest in the garden and the pH and nute levels seem high out of the bag. Each of the 11 seedlings I had got the twisty-leaf syndrome , and now at a month old are finally coming out of it. Maybe dilute some oj and try in on one of your plants? The sugars are good for soil critters too....good luck brother

 

[falcore]

do have drainage in your container? if so you can dump a bunch of non nute ro water untill your get run off i suggest this because you soil sample test might not be giving you a clear picture of what is happening throughout all your soil.
i thought ph 6 to 6.5 was ok for the girls

ps any more pics

 

[Indicana Jones!]

I checked back to your first page; you said you're using 'sea soil' of some type or another? If there is any way to check (or if you know) there may be a lot of shell material in that soil; usually that means carbonate ions, which mean high pH, and carbonate buffers well, so it could stay high potentially. I only mention it because I've got some Ocean Forest in the garden and the pH and nute levels seem high out of the bag. Each of the 11 seedlings I had got the twisty-leaf syndrome , and now at a month old are finally coming out of it. Maybe dilute some oj and try in on one of your plants? The sugars are good for soil critters too....good luck brother

Hey NEchronic, the sea soil I used is their original blend mixed with Vermiculite and Perlite. Here's what the Sea Soil people say about their product:

Created from a mixture of fish and forest fines. This top-quality product is rich in colour and in nutrients while maintaining a neutral pH. SEA SOIL contains all necessary micro and macro nutrients to grow a healthy garden, is weed-free, and is an excellent way to retain moisture.

With all my kids in one large container (my first and LAST experience doing it that way), trying something on just one is not an option... One plant is showing no yellowing at all, the rest only on the bottom leaves and one has it showing on bottom and middle leaves now. I'm about 30 or so days from the projected ripeness window and I'd hate to take them early.

If I was to try OJ on them.. How much? It's a rubbermaid tote with 32 liters of Sea Soil 5 Liters each of Vermiculite and Perlite. So 42 Liters (or 10 gallons) total.

I just need to keep em alive another month!!

Indicana.

 

[Indicana Jones!]

do have drainage in your container? if so you can dump a bunch of non nute ro water untill your get run off i suggest this because you soil sample test might not be giving you a clear picture of what is happening throughout all your soil.
i thought ph 6 to 6.5 was ok for the girls

ps any more pics

I have some small holes drilled into the bottom for drainage but none has ever come out. I'm not even sure how I'd catch it if some did. With these girls in there this tub of dirt is not the easiest thing to move around and I'd be scared I'd break one!

I'll take more pics tonight. Pics are the easy part, tonight is also supposed to be a feeding night but if I'm locked out due to PH throwing more ferts on isn't going to help.. cept I can PH the solution down to 5.5 or something and hope that brings the soil PH down enough, even if only for a short time, for the girls to take up some nutes... Maybe skip nutes and go with low PH water and molasses tonight.

3.5 hours till the light comes on, we'll have a look and I'll post some pics then.

Indicana.

 

[Indicana Jones!]

Hi,

Well after thinking about it and reading a little about it I'm thinking between Sea Soil and Advanced Nuts Iguana Juice (a fish based fert) that perhaps I'm driving the PH up that way. So tonight I watered with RO water and molasses only, PH'd to 5.8.

The lightening of the fan leaves continues to spread though...

Now to keep the PoRnO fans happy here are the bud shots.

And that's it for now.. I hope to have more updates later.. Positive updates!!

Thanks!

Indicana.

 

[falcore]

i understand about the tub but maybe you could put something under it to prop it up like a shoe or a block of wood then catch the run off on a small plate. i only say this because i see a lot of the elder growers say not to mess with ph until you know what your dealing with but im still a new at this so...... .

i posted right as you were posting pics lol

they look good but i see what you mean about the fan leaves i will burn some virgin bud as a offering to the green gods for ya.