First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gum

[danxavy]

Hi everybody!
My wife and I decided this year we would have a go at growing our own.
We were given a Lowryder by a friend who said are quite easy to grow for first timers. We also planted one Northern Lights and two Bubble Gum seeds, recommended to us again as they are quite easy to grow and they don't grow too high.
They are in 4 x 10litre buckets on our balcony which gets direct sun light from 9am to 6pm. They are now into the seventh week and the Lowryder and Northern Lights have begun to show signs of flowering. I know that the Lowryder is auto flowering and I guess the NL is too. Not sure about the Bubble gum.
We live in the Nordics so in June we had almost 24 hours light....however we are now starting to get darker nights.....22.30 sun set, 04.30 sun rise.
They all look very healthy, they are in good soil and we have watered them properly.
Are we on track with the flowering? How long does it take? Should we cover the Bubble Gum so they have dark to flower? Any other tips to make our first grow successful?
Thanks in advance for your help!

D

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Hi there and welcome to 420 =)
First let me appologise for the delay, occasionally the help threads move so fast that some get missed, but we catch most

sounds like you have everything under control.
personally i would leave the bubblegum alone for a while, enjoy the harvest of the autos while the bubblegum continues to get bigger.
use darkness to force flower if they get too big or the weather starts to get too cold again, our plants do not really like to go below 10c.

how long it takes it almost entirely strain dependant. i would take a look at herbies seeds and try to find your strains to get a rough idea.
for example a fastbud2 auto can go from seed to smoke in 6 weeks where as a custard cream (reg/fem) can take up to 14 weeks to finish flower plus what ever veg time you allowed it.

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Thanks very much for your response.
The LowRyder and Northern lights are coming on now, starting to form buds. I believe that I should wait until the 75% of the pistels turn brown/orange, is this correct?
The BubbleGum is still not flowering but I will leave it until I see more signs. Is there a timeframe where I should start to cover it if it doesn't start to bud?

Thanks again!

D

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

if the bubblegum are on 12 or more hours of light and are not auto's the will remain in veg.

if you cover them, do so in a manner that doesnt overly affect the airflow or humidity or you can make them very unhappy.
alternatively you could just use the autos to enjoy while the bubblegum continue to grow in the natural light, when the sun starts to go below 12 hours a day they will flower by themselves and probably be rather big =)

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

I'll give them a couple more weeks and see how they are then.
Thanks again for your help.
D

 

[420Farmer]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Thanks very much for your response.
The LowRyder and Northern lights are coming on now, starting to form buds. I believe that I should wait until the 75% of the pistels turn brown/orange, is this correct?
The BubbleGum is still not flowering but I will leave it until I see more signs. Is there a timeframe where I should start to cover it if it doesn't start to bud?

Thanks again!

D

Harvest when trichomes are cloudy/amber if you want a precision harvest. Judging pistol color is one way to do it, but will never be perfect. If you want to do it right, then go get yourself a pocket microscope from radio shack. ($10)

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Hi,
I have now started to cover the BubbleGum plants, I'm covering them for 12 hours, is that ok or should it be less/more? I have had to do this as I am out of the country in October so I would like to have them ready by then. I guess I could ask a friend to look after them if you think this a bad idea.
The LowRyder and Northern lights are looking great, flowering nicely and forming some great looking buds. I have now bought a pocket microscope so I'll be able to harvest at the right time.
I have one concern....all the plants have very small white dots on their leaves. Is this common, does it mean they need nutrients?
As always thanks in advance for your help.
Br. D

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

white dots could be powder mold and this could be caused by too much humidity and this can be agrivated by covering them.

you MUST keep a decent airflow on your plant, even protected from light or it will rot.

can you give us photos pls of the mold. you may need to order a product to save your plant. SNS one of our sponsors, almost certinly has something for the job

 

[StallionStu]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

can you tell me please how i start my own thread? haha i'm very new to all this but i'm sure i need help with my crop (first time grow), thanks

 

[StallionStu]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

can you tell me please how i start my own thread? haha i'm very new to all this but i'm sure i need help with my crop (first time grow), thanks

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Here are some photos showing the white dots and the week 11 status........


Thanks
Br.
Dan

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Go to Frequently Asked Questions and then click on "Post New Thread" (black box on right side)

 

[StallionStu]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Ill try that danx, cheers mate

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

super small white dots, looks like insect attack to be honest. time to look for bugs me thinks =(

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

I used my microscope and can see some very tiny bugs on the leaves.... What should I do now, some insecticide?

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

identify the bug in our help area, maybe little mini red spiders?
if yes then goto SNS to get spider mite killer

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Ok, I did a little looking around and I think they are spider mites. Can I use a natural soap water mix and spray the plants or do I need to go to the garden centre and get something stronger?

 

[GigaGrew]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

i refer you to Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver - Pictorial =)

Spider mites:
Spider mites are by far the worst pest to have, because they are the hardest to kill and can literally kill any plant. They are by far more active in warmer climates than cold ones, they also suck sup from the leaves leaving tiny white spots on the leaves from where they suck on. The damage they do is just like thrips, but with spider mites they pierce the surface of the leaves and can show tiny holesor white speckling damage, unlike with thirps they eat the surface of the chlorophyll. You can tell when you have infestation of spider mites , because you will have distorted growth, shortened internodes and petioles.
When you have bad infestation you will see webbing with larva in them. You get spider mites from either store bought soil mostly when your soil is not sterilized. Most brands do not state weather or not they are, chances are if you buy cheap soil, you have a less likely chance of the soil being sterile.Also, bringing outdoor plants indoors, or getting plants from someone else who was infected with spidermites.
Spider mites live on the plant itself and are under the leaves most of the time and are usually are so tiny you can’t see them with the naked eye. In order to get rid of spider mites one of the best ways to start to get rid of them is to use NO-Pest strips.NO-Pest strips work well and should always be used with other methods. Neem oil helps get rid of them as well. Also by raising the humidity in your grow room a lot will kill the spider mites off, by them absorbing to much humidity and will burst. You can use soap solution like Safer Insecticidal Soap to get rid of most aphid problems. Use some tobacco juice and chili pepper powder added to this for mites. (see below how to make tabacco juice)
Pyrethrum should only be used in extreme circumstances directly on plants, It starts to breaks down around a week and is easily washed away with clear water or. If your plants are in flowering and you have spider mites, using safer chemicals is your best bet. The tobacco and pepper soap solution works well and should be used daily, spraying on the underside and top leaves and later the whole plant. Since spider mites are very resistant to common products, you have to find or try any number of ones untill you get rid of them. make absolutly sure you retreat as stated, other wise you will get resistant spidermites and then you have a bigger battle on your hands.Also do not allow pets that go outside alot to be around indoor plants,mites have been known to be carried in from pets to plants. PLEASE NOTE, below are ways to get rid of spider mites, but no 2 mite infestations are identical, you almost always have to use different products to get rid of them, also make a habit to check for at least a whole month after thinking you got rid of them, that way your chances of the spider mites that became resistant breeding and then having a bigger problem. Make sure you spray your plant down very good and enough and on time.
Here are some more products that may help get rid of spider mites:

Chemicals
Hot Pepper Wax,Safer Yard & Garden Insecticide (which can be used right to the day of harvest),GNATROL( used in hydro in the water as well as soil),Doc's Neem Pest Soap,Safer Sticky Stakes,TR-11000 Pyrethrum. Anything that says dicofol on the back. ( should be used in vegging or early flowering)

Tabacco Juice recipe

Take 3 strong ciggeretes soak them over night in water
Boil it for 2 to 3 miniutes, let it cool off and spray the plants 3 to 4 times a week. You can add safer soap if you like to the mixture.
(make absolutly sure you use gloves/face protection while handling and spraying)
Neem oil works very well too!!
ZBQ has an excellent thread on how to use neem oil without geting your plants to oily!! Your Last resort is to use Avid.

Pictures 5 shows spider mites and there larva. Picture 6 shows spider mite damage. Picture 7 shows SPidermites larvae and spidermites closeup( Picture contibuted by sukalo)

 

[danxavy]

Re: First time grower needings some advice....Lowryder, Northern Lights and Bubble Gu

Thanks very much. I have a soap solution and I think I will add the tabacco juice option and then see how it goes. Damn spider mites!!!
You have been a great help!