Blazer420
New Member
I know I'm more of a lurker than a poster, but I thought I would change that a bit with this thread.
First a little background. I grow for the pure fun of it. I love trying new things and way out there ideas I come up with after having some special time with my vape.
Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't but one thing is for sure I'm always learning something and I always get a surprise. Added bonus, I usually get some good stuff at the end for my trouble.
Having said that, I have a 4' x 4' x 80" tent that I call "The Lab." Its in there that I play with all sorts of techniques, strains, ideas, etc. The tent is set up very basically so that I have certain things that are always constants so when I do try something new, its that new thing that stands out. Here is what never changes...
1000w air cooled HID (carbon canister -> 44cfm fan -> light hood -> exhaust)
UltraSun MH for veg, Hortilux Super HPS for flower
7 gallon Smart Pots
VermiFire soil straight from bag
Earth Juice Grow, Bloom & Catalyst applied exactly according to label instruction (no aerating for PH as I never have seen a need)
RO water
NEVER more than 5 plants - usually 4
All plants in there come from seed not clones
With those "constants" dialed in and never changing, it allows me to play with other things as I mentioned above.
So with this run, I have decided to try a new "plant starting method." Note I did not say seed start, since I think this goes beyond that as you'll see. The grow consists of 2x HSO Em-Dog, 1x Super Strains Amnesia, and 1x Paradise Seeds Original Cheese. These are all strains I have grown before and I know them pretty well.
This run started with a simple question - "How can I veg longer and have a more mature plant prior to flower without having a monster & hard to control plant?"
What I came up with started at germ. I got the seeds going with the paper towel method. Once the tap roos just started to show, I filled 4 2"x2"x2" starter pots with FF Light Warrior right from the bag, then soaked them with RO water, let the soil settle, re-filled with soil and heavily watered again. Then the seeds were planted.
Once the seeds started to break through, I put them under a very old T5 with an old "yellowed" plastic lamp cover about 36" above the plants. The seeds sprouted and began a massive stem stretch - just what I had hoped for. In about 10 days the plants just started getting their first set of true leaves and the coly's were about 5" above the soil. Once the second set of true leaves started poking out I went on to my next step.
I filled my smart pots with the straight from the bag VermiFire. I dug down to a depth that when the seedlings were transplanted, that there would be barely 1/2" between the soil and the coly's. I dropped the original Light Warrior "plugs" into the hole and back filled with more Light Warrior to act as a buffer before those tender plants hit the hot soil. These were put right into the tent with the 1k light set at 75% power and raised about 30" above the soil.
For about the next 12 days only RO water was used and at a rate of maybe 3 oz/plant every 2 days. It was obvious from the get go that I had stunted the hell out of the plants. Very little growth happened. The plants grew one more set of leaves and maybe gained 1.5" in height at most. Everything looked very healthy but growth was at an absolute crawl. Then when I went to check at day 17 things had seriously changed.
It seemed as though the plants suddenly got serious about growing. Almost overnight, there was a surge of leaf growth and several branches started to get going. The height, however, stayed very small - about 3". I then turned the 1k up to 100% for 2 days and then lowered it about 6". The growth continued and the plants were very healthy looking. 6 days after lowering the light, I started the Earth Juice using the "basic" method right off the bottles. I am watering approximately 1/3 gallon per plant every 2-3 days depending on dryness of the soil, and feeding every 3rd watering.
All this started on 8/15 and today is 10/8. The plants are still somewhat short for their age, averaging about 12"-14" tall except for the Cheese which is at 8"-9" but just as dense with foliage. What is really amazing is just how tight the internode spacing is. My best guess is that the widest spacing is on one of the Em-Dog plants at about 5/8" between nodes. Equally amazing is the thickness of the main stalks on all the plants at ground level - easily 3/4"-7/8" in diameter and very woody.
I am about a week from flipping the plants to 12/12 so I have swapped the UltraSun MH for the Hortilux Super HPS for these last days of veg and took 1.5 hours off the light cycle. This is something I have always done prior to flower. I honestly can't tell you why I do, just something I must have picked up from some grower years ago. Who knows?
Once I get the new filter for my camera (to get rid of the yellow from the HPS) I'll post some pictures.
Obviously the real test in all this is what the end result will be. To be honest I'm not sure what to expect from production, or potency. What I'm really interested in, however, is what the root system looks like at harvest. My guess is that the really long stems at transplant really added to the root mass and developing that root structure is what caused such a delay in growth.
If my calculations are right (but they could be off considering the big stunt in veg), I believe I will begin to consider harvest around the 15th - 21st of December.
First a little background. I grow for the pure fun of it. I love trying new things and way out there ideas I come up with after having some special time with my vape.
Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't but one thing is for sure I'm always learning something and I always get a surprise. Added bonus, I usually get some good stuff at the end for my trouble.Having said that, I have a 4' x 4' x 80" tent that I call "The Lab." Its in there that I play with all sorts of techniques, strains, ideas, etc. The tent is set up very basically so that I have certain things that are always constants so when I do try something new, its that new thing that stands out. Here is what never changes...
1000w air cooled HID (carbon canister -> 44cfm fan -> light hood -> exhaust)
UltraSun MH for veg, Hortilux Super HPS for flower
7 gallon Smart Pots
VermiFire soil straight from bag
Earth Juice Grow, Bloom & Catalyst applied exactly according to label instruction (no aerating for PH as I never have seen a need)
RO water
NEVER more than 5 plants - usually 4
All plants in there come from seed not clones
With those "constants" dialed in and never changing, it allows me to play with other things as I mentioned above.
So with this run, I have decided to try a new "plant starting method." Note I did not say seed start, since I think this goes beyond that as you'll see. The grow consists of 2x HSO Em-Dog, 1x Super Strains Amnesia, and 1x Paradise Seeds Original Cheese. These are all strains I have grown before and I know them pretty well.
This run started with a simple question - "How can I veg longer and have a more mature plant prior to flower without having a monster & hard to control plant?"
What I came up with started at germ. I got the seeds going with the paper towel method. Once the tap roos just started to show, I filled 4 2"x2"x2" starter pots with FF Light Warrior right from the bag, then soaked them with RO water, let the soil settle, re-filled with soil and heavily watered again. Then the seeds were planted.
Once the seeds started to break through, I put them under a very old T5 with an old "yellowed" plastic lamp cover about 36" above the plants. The seeds sprouted and began a massive stem stretch - just what I had hoped for. In about 10 days the plants just started getting their first set of true leaves and the coly's were about 5" above the soil. Once the second set of true leaves started poking out I went on to my next step.
I filled my smart pots with the straight from the bag VermiFire. I dug down to a depth that when the seedlings were transplanted, that there would be barely 1/2" between the soil and the coly's. I dropped the original Light Warrior "plugs" into the hole and back filled with more Light Warrior to act as a buffer before those tender plants hit the hot soil. These were put right into the tent with the 1k light set at 75% power and raised about 30" above the soil.
For about the next 12 days only RO water was used and at a rate of maybe 3 oz/plant every 2 days. It was obvious from the get go that I had stunted the hell out of the plants. Very little growth happened. The plants grew one more set of leaves and maybe gained 1.5" in height at most. Everything looked very healthy but growth was at an absolute crawl. Then when I went to check at day 17 things had seriously changed.
It seemed as though the plants suddenly got serious about growing. Almost overnight, there was a surge of leaf growth and several branches started to get going. The height, however, stayed very small - about 3". I then turned the 1k up to 100% for 2 days and then lowered it about 6". The growth continued and the plants were very healthy looking. 6 days after lowering the light, I started the Earth Juice using the "basic" method right off the bottles. I am watering approximately 1/3 gallon per plant every 2-3 days depending on dryness of the soil, and feeding every 3rd watering.
All this started on 8/15 and today is 10/8. The plants are still somewhat short for their age, averaging about 12"-14" tall except for the Cheese which is at 8"-9" but just as dense with foliage. What is really amazing is just how tight the internode spacing is. My best guess is that the widest spacing is on one of the Em-Dog plants at about 5/8" between nodes. Equally amazing is the thickness of the main stalks on all the plants at ground level - easily 3/4"-7/8" in diameter and very woody.
I am about a week from flipping the plants to 12/12 so I have swapped the UltraSun MH for the Hortilux Super HPS for these last days of veg and took 1.5 hours off the light cycle. This is something I have always done prior to flower. I honestly can't tell you why I do, just something I must have picked up from some grower years ago. Who knows?
Once I get the new filter for my camera (to get rid of the yellow from the HPS) I'll post some pictures.
Obviously the real test in all this is what the end result will be. To be honest I'm not sure what to expect from production, or potency. What I'm really interested in, however, is what the root system looks like at harvest. My guess is that the really long stems at transplant really added to the root mass and developing that root structure is what caused such a delay in growth.
If my calculations are right (but they could be off considering the big stunt in veg), I believe I will begin to consider harvest around the 15th - 21st of December.
