GC's First Indoor Cabinet Grow

[blo0]

Thanks Crawdaddy. I look at LED's now like big-screen TV's...there really isn't one too large. As long as you can control the heat, getting more direct vertical coverage can only be a good thing. My 700 has done an excellent job covering this 2.5'x3.5' area and I've no doubts with a little better lst I could improve on this grow so far. All the nugs are hard as rocks and so sticky it's almost dripping off lol. It's hard to see in the pics, but while little sis has gotten impressive lately, she has a few inches between bud sites and a good bit of exposed stem. Whereas big sis has slightly smaller main colas (she was topped, remember), her bud-spacing is so tight you can't see any stem on many of them.

Given the last 12 weeks, if I had a 4x4 square area I wanted to cover, I would look at the 900 as a minimum and the 1200 as optimum for my uses.

This grow is spectacular GOV. I agree with your statement can't go wrong with bigger. I read once that you still get quality bud from CFLs just less of it compared to HPS (something about light penetration) so I'm guessing it would be the same with the LEDs the more wattage the better and the more LEDs per unit the merrier for our little plants. This is the exact lighting method I need and I was going to go with the 700w but you got me thinking bigger is better might even go for the 1200w or 2 700w.

 

[Governmentchz]

What's the size of the area you want to cover blo0?

I can say this (re current status of my grow); Little Sis was impressive in many ways. The way she started as a runt, the way she stretched and got a bit "leggy" compared to her sister, and the way her trichomes filled in way out onto the sugar leaves, but...I did a second flush on Big sis this morning and checked her level of readiness. The resin on her buds is soooooo dense and thick it almost looks like there was an accident. The trichs don't stretch out on her sugar leaves as far and initial glances say she's not as potent (using visible resin as my only gauge), but upon closer inspection, I notice all of the little crevices on her fruit are so loaded with resin it simply looks white! Without placing any scientific measurement on it, I would say there appears to be about 20% more resin on her nugs and while she also looks less-impressive I can easily tell Big sis is considerably more dense with flowers as there is very little spacing between nugs on her stems. A few more days and we'll see. Looking at Friday morning as her target date for chop. At that point, the meds currently in the drying rack will come off the stems and go into containers.

Pictures pending...

peace all!

 

[yttocs1010]

subbed!!!!!

 

[Governmentchz]

Welcome yttocs1010.

 

[blo0]

I'm doing 6sqft. veg with CFLs at the moment and have a 12 sqft. flowering area 2 separate areas. In my other thread that was one of my issues whether to get the standard or the flowering marsII which by all accounts I'm like you can flower better than with the standard mind blowing.
Need insight on my grow

 

[Governmentchz]

For the 2x3 area a standard Mars II 700 will veg beautifully. For your flower area, depending on how long you veg, it may be a good idea to go with the 1200 flower spectrum. At least that's what I'd do at this point. I have no experience with the flowering spectrum, but again, Jon705's results speak for themselves and he grows BIG indoor plants. If I didn't go with the flowering spectrum, I would still feel comfortable with the standard spectrum as it has simply rocked my grow.

 

[Governmentchz]

Happy new year all!!

I have an update on the harvest. I took about 10 grams of mostly fluff (but still frosty) and mixed it with the last of the trim I had from little sis and made some bubble. I removed all the stems and put it all in containers this morning for cure. Final weight on little sis was 128 grams (4.5 zips) dried and jarred. I'm hoping the cure goes well. Fingers crossed.

Big sis is on day 5 of flush and is starting to show the effects. Trich check indicates she'll be ready Friday. I'll leave her schedule today and tomorrow and give her 24 hour dark period Thursday-Friday and take her down Friday evening. I also plan on washing this harvest.

So, the main differences I affected in the two during this grow;
1. Big Sis got topped. Little Sis got a failed attempt at a super-crop.
2. Little Sis got the standard 12 hour dark period. Big Sis will get a 24 hour dark period.
3. Little Sis did NOT get washed. Big Sis will get washed.

I expect I'll have final harvest pics Friday or Saturday.

 

[ronnie6690]

HAPPY NEW YEARS GC

 

[GrizzWald]

Well done gov, brilliant. Oh yeah, happy new year!!!

 

[B A R]

Happy New Year

 

[Governmentchz]

Hey thanks for all the good vibes, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! to everyone!
I was organizing a bit this eve and decided to post this pic of little sis as she sits right now:

 

[GrizzWald]

G'day gov, did you get any of your perlite turning yellow/green on top? Mines getting a bit, plants are fine. I got bottom 2 inches perlite, 50/50 coir perlite and half inch perlite on top, 13 litre pots. Initial watering filled res, have giving two light feeds since but not to add to res just small ones to be used by the plant and wet the top few inches of the pot. Humidity sits around 50 may drop to 45 and it's peaked at 62. Temps are right. Plants will be fine just curious if this is common. Peace

 

[Governmentchz]

Yes, it turned a little, but not drastically. To be honest, I didn't even notice it too much until I took it outside post-mortem because of the way the LED's effect my eyesight.

 

[Harley001]

Well G you've done a great job. I think you will find that the quality of the bud will be very good after it is cured Again Great Job!!

 

[Governmentchz]

Thx Harley001.

I've still got the finish line to cross in taking down "biggy" tomorrow and all the associated other "stuff" like trimming, washing, pictures etc, but I really am excited and pleased with things right now.

I was going to save the global thanks until I was 2+ weeks into cure and could provide a smoke report as well, but I will say here and now that this grow was made so much more manageable and successful due to the great community here at 420Mag. I think I've read the equivalent to a hard copy of Encyclopedia Britannica in the last 6 months, but it seems much has stuck and will only get better on this end.

 

[Mars Hydro]

 

[Governmentchz]

O.K. all, as promised, here are some somewhat random pics of yesterday's events. Things went really well.

Here she is. I stood there waiting for her to look away but ended up just bum-rushing her.

Here is a silly pic I took with my cell phone looking through my loupe

Here is her harvest yield. 9 grams lighter than her sis, but there are far fewer stems and also no popcorn whatsoever. I estimated Little Sis at about 20% popcorn and another 10% smallish, fluffy buds. She is in containers now for 3 days with daily burping. Big sis had every branch sporting a plump, super-tight spiral of bud all the way down to where I had lollipopped. So, 781 grams, less 217 for the box = 564 grams. We'll see in a few days after drying has progressed further.

Here is my washing line. Sadly, as I embarked on the washing process, I was so anxious to do it thoroughly, yet quickly while keeping things organized and not making a soggy mess of everything that I didn't take any pictures as I did it. These containers hold about 2.5 gal and I poured 1 full bottle of 3% H2O2 immediately before starting the process. The second bin had 1/2 cup baking soda and about 1/2 cup fresh-squeezed and strained lemon juice ( 3 lemons...lol). The last was slightly chilled RO water. I had a rudimentary line strung between 2 hangars over my work bin in the closet. I only left them to drip for about 20 mins. They probably could have stood another 20, but they weren't dripping and they were kinda tight on the line. They're drying as normal in the quick-cure right now.

Even though her harvest yield was 9 grams less, the quality is off the charts and exactly the reason I got started back into this wonderful hobby. I've no doubt her final yield will be higher, but more importantly, the quality is better than anything I've ever grown before (granted it's not a fair comparison, but still), but thus far, as a comparison, it would be considered "high" quality in my area. I'm sure neither will show their true colors until they've had a few weeks in the containers, so obviously this is only first impressions of harvest.

Little sis has a strong aroma of pine sap where big sis smells of straight-up pine sol. Similar, but one is just on steroids. Big sis' flowers are bright green compared to more of a sage green on little sis. Anyway, that's about it for now. Back to the football game.

 

[B A R]

Congrats Gov.

 

[KingJohnC]

Congratulations on your harvest!

 

[Governmentchz]

Congrats Gov.

Congratulations on your harvest!