Kitty's First Grow Spring 2017: LED & CFL & Sun

[Gauge Steel]

Kitty,
I have been on board and have watched you from the beginning. You have some amazing looking plants and an amazing grow setup. I want to tell you how well you have done. I follow a bunch of grow journals and the results like you are getting are not usually soil. Veg can be boring, trying and have you second guessing everything. Just as i was after reading your first post, i am confident you will forget more about weed than most of us will ever know. I am looking forward to flower, you will have amazing results there as well. These girls are gonna run! HAVE FUN!
420 buddy looking out.

Gauge

 

[Mondstern]

Re: Kitty's First Grow Spring 2017 - LED & CFL & Sun

Nice first run. I hope they are all going to be female. Crazy light and so lucky for you to have scored it.
Yeah veg can be boring. Flowering time is the most exciting one, you just cant wait for them to finish. By the looks of it, I hope they wont go crazy with the stretch, but these sure look like all indicas dominant.
Oh I forgot to greet you first before taking a seat. I am currently on my second grow. First grow was amazing, onto the second, I hope I can help other as I was helped and guided immensely too. This forum is good and friendly too. I learned so much and now I have found the methods of my choice. I am sure you will too . Good job again. Enjoy flowering phase!

 

[smokeywokey]

I'm doing the don't grow balls on me dance I agree with guage, nice big healthy plants

 

[bobrown14]

Good time to flip is a good time indeed! Good luck and many bountiful harvests in your future. All the ladies are looking great....

Hint on sexing... oh wait....That sounds a little creepy! hahahahaha

Anyway... the females show first, the males will try and "sorta" look female until there are flowers on the ladies then out of the blue, there's balls .. so in a few days you need to keep a very close eye out and check them every day maybe 2x a day once the females have shown the goodies.

Those few that are holding back ... talk them into being a girl.. everything helps.

You should probably think about an air filter at some point... without it, well you may find yourself with unexpected new "friends". I'd grow some indoor house plants and blame the smell on them... Nicotiana is one, they will stink up the house more than cannabis, can grow it on your balcony/porch if you have one. They flower at night, very very pungent in a good way will overpower any other smell in the neighborhood after sundown.

Or get a filter... it won't be something you will be able to ignore eventually. You should already be able to smell the ladies, they have pheromones just like us humans .. to attract the opposite sex, the less they feel the presence and smell of male pheromones, the more they want to stink up the place!

Sometimes I think I can tell the difference from a male and a female before sex shows just from that smell. The male plant is distinctive, more of a fresh grassy smell ... females don't smell much until flowers.

Anyhow... good luck with the next phase... you're going to need a bigger watering bucket!! A good thing for sure!

Woohoo the fun begins, I'm excited for you!

 

[Mike420husker]

Kitty you are doing great watching and learning. I gave my girls a sun tan today. They seam to be happy.
happy growing

 

[TheFertilizer]

Good time to flip is a good time indeed! Good luck and many bountiful harvests in your future. All the ladies are looking great....

Hint on sexing... oh wait....That sounds a little creepy! hahahahaha

Anyway... the females show first, the males will try and "sorta" look female until there are flowers on the ladies then out of the blue, there's balls .. so in a few days you need to keep a very close eye out and check them every day maybe 2x a day once the females have shown the goodies.

Those few that are holding back ... talk them into being a girl.. everything helps.

You should probably think about an air filter at some point... without it, well you may find yourself with unexpected new "friends". I'd grow some indoor house plants and blame the smell on them... Nicotiana is one, they will stink up the house more than cannabis, can grow it on your balcony/porch if you have one. They flower at night, very very pungent in a good way will overpower any other smell in the neighborhood after sundown.

Or get a filter... it won't be something you will be able to ignore eventually. You should already be able to smell the ladies, they have pheromones just like us humans .. to attract the opposite sex, the less they feel the presence and smell of male pheromones, the more they want to stink up the place!

Sometimes I think I can tell the difference from a male and a female before sex shows just from that smell. The male plant is distinctive, more of a fresh grassy smell ... females don't smell much until flowers.

Anyhow... good luck with the next phase... you're going to need a bigger watering bucket!! A good thing for sure!

Woohoo the fun begins, I'm excited for you!

Huh, I always heard it was the opposite, the males show first. GOod to know, because I am going to be harvesting pollen.

Hi Kitty, I've been lurking around, haven't had much of value to say. Nice looking plants. If you ever wind up short on soil to fill your pots again, having a bag of perlite around helps make up the difference, and I've never heard of "too much" perlite. Those pots don't really hold the volume they say, some of them go by "standard" numbers (Number 3, Number 4, etc.) and some go by diamater, and then the ones by volume you don't know where along the pot they're calling the volume--at the rim, a few inches down, etc. So yeah, it's a headache, but I have found that just spending extra money to get a extra bag of soil or perlite around is a good idea. It usually helps incase you need to burry a seedling deeper or anything.

Cool grow so far, love seeing a 4x4 tent floor invisble through leaves.

 

[Mike420husker]

Kitty just ordered 1 more mars 300 so maybe I can grow 2 plants in my tent. I really like them. I should have just ordered a bigger one to begin with. Live and learn right.
happy growing

 

[Mike420husker]

Kitty I started out running 24hrs. on then dropping to 22 hrs. then 20hrs. on do you think that stresses out the plants in 3rd week of veg. dont want to stress my plants.
happy growing

 

[CannaKitty]

Breaking News...

My largest plant. My first born. Plant A. aka Anistasia. Grew balls on me today. Good news is I do have four confirmed females and 3... that could go either way. I knew the day was coming.

They are very small but I have tried multiple photo positions, programs, and edits and this is the best I could get. Can a few of you out there help to confirm that it is male so I can come to terms with this disappointment and chop him down...

 

[CannaKitty]

He's gone. I did it. There was no question about it. He was a male. He was my largest and potentially highest yielding plant. This is a really big bummer... why did it have to be my favorite? I'm really hoping I get at least 5 females. Thankfully all the larger plants left have identified female and it is the ones that were germinated last that still aren't showing.... They will by tomorrow though. I will be happy to have 5 females. I have 4 confirmed now.

But... with every end comes a new beginning and I just dropped two beans to soak. Time to start a second journal. Kitty's going perpetual with a White Widow and Amnesia Haze from RQS... both feminized... nothing too special. I bought them back when I was having such trouble germinating in the beginning. So I'm going to smoke a joint and try not to be too upset. Two new babies to busy myself with!

.....

RIP Plant A aka Anistasia... You were my first. I will never forget you. lolz.

 

[MrGreene]

I just dropped two more seeds this morning also.

Sorry you found balls.

 

[TheFertilizer]

Yeah it was definitely a male. Are you interested in making your own seeds at all? I'd have saved the pollen from him. If you have access to where you threw him away, you can go cut a branch off and put it in water on a window sil or something like that (away from your girls) and collect the pollen.

Males tend to be the most vigorous and fastest growing individuals. Good not to get attached until you sex them. If you're interested in taking clones, you could also take some cuts off of them now an put them in 12/12 to sex the clones and see which of your plants are female.

 

[smokeywokey]

Bummer about the balls but at least you caught him and he didn't get to sully any of your girls.
Breeding would be so cool and having heaps of homemade seeds would save a lot of money

 

[Guru02]

Just found this and read all the way through. I have to say awesome job so far! Love your writing and to me it makes it more fun. I will for sure be following this journey through flowering!

 

[CannaKitty]

Kitty's First Grow Spring 2017 - LED & CFL & Sun

Thank you everyone for taking the time out of your day to visit my garden... even if only virtually! It means so much to have all you out there in different corners of the world sharing in the experience and me sharing in yours.

Before I catch everyone up I will try to address some of you that have written...

@GuageSteel... don't get my ego too big now! Trust me... I can be a total nitwit sometimes. I have always been good at expressing myself in writing... but that doesn't mean I know it all. I just do a good job faking it

@bobrown14... thank you for the constant support. Your hints have helped tremendously. Your description of how my plants would show their sex was spot on.

@smokeywokey... the dance didn't work. But I still have plenty of ladies! Again, thank you for your support!

@Mondstern Welcome... it got crowded in the tent but... as you will see below... it's spaced out now . but at least the ladies have all the space they want to grow and I'll have more plants to go in soon!

@Mike420husker... i got you back on your thread. Xx.

@MrGreene... I have my '2nd Grow' in the works now. Both my white widow and amnesia haze popped and now I'm just waiting for them to break ground in my veg closet! So fun I get to start the process all over!!

@TheFertilizer... to answer your ???'s I have over 50 more seeds of the strain I am growing now. They were gifted to me by friend/grower who is trying his hand at breeding. So... no pollen from this batch needed. As far as clones... my plants are actually in flower now. They were VERY slow to sex... 7 weeks and 5 days after switching to 12/12 they started showing those minuscule balls... seriously smaller than a pin top... I may try to reveg cuttings when I lollipop with my last trim three weeks into flower but I'm not going to take anything a wouldn't otherwise be taking in the trim.

@Guru02 Welcome! And thanks for joining. I am glad you enjoy my writing. It's something I have always enjoyed doing. I feel I can express myself better than when I speak ... being raised in a multilingual household is great but confusing! I write this journal for my own records but having awesome people like you stop by and reading my stuff really puts a smile on my face! Thank you!!!

Okay... if I missed you... and you commented I am sorry... I try my best. I am pretty sure I have addressed everyone who has addressed me since I did the switch to 12/12 update.

So now it's been one week since I flipped the lights to 12/12 and with less light the plants FINALLY showed their sex. Out of 8 plants, 3 were male. I did better than 50/50 so I can't complain but I also can't sit here and smile and pretend it wasn't a big ass bummer. The plants to go were my eldest,Plant A, as I have mentioned before. The other two to go were coincidentally the ones I chopped the top 5 or so nodes off in an LST accident. They were never going to catch up with the others and part of me believes that stress can cause higher male ratios. If being sawed in half by someone who is NOT a magician doesn't constitute stress, I don't know what does. Either way... they are gone. Good bye boys.

The 5 plants I have left (I started with ten germinated seeds in hopes to get 4-5 healthy females in the end and that is what happened) are healthy happy and stretching out nicely. They have plenty of room now both vertically and horizontally.

They are drinking faster but not as fast as I think they should be. Maybe the stress of the switch effects them more than I believed.

When I pulled the males, I of course got a proper look at the root balls which were pretty damn big. BUT they were pulled about 12 days after my last transplant so although they had reached the bottom and sides of the pot, they weren't swirling around or anything yet so that's probably why the girls aren't drinking as fast as I'd like in flower.

I have only had to water them once in the past week. But patience is key... even though I switched to 12/12 the plants don't switch to flower IMMEDIATELY.... it takes them a while to notice the change and react. We already know these plants are sativa Dom and slow to show, despite their size and stature.

So here are a few pictures. They are quite healthy and little white hairs are JUST starting to show. All these plants display only female preflowers... no true buds forming yet but I don't expect that only 7 days into 12/12.

I have been able to capture these photos by adjusting the white balance on my camera... with a 3rd party app... which is cool.

Here is one without the white balanced...

So I really don't have much to report... other than losing three plants to balls... I have started a second grow which I had typed up a nice funny intro for but my computer decided it needed an update when I left it to run errands and I just left the window open I had been typing in... so now I have to start all over again. I will link my 2nd grow here... well more of a 'going perpetual' grow... when I am finished typing it up.

As always thank you for your support and may Mother Mary Jane bless your beautiful babies!

XxKitty

 

[CannaKitty]

Oh!!! I completely forgot one of my best discoveries of the week.

I have mentioned before that in Italy we don't have central air conditioning. We use ductless units, called mini splits in the States.
Because the room my tent is in is sealed and has blackout shutters, I have discovered I can use the mini split as my air conditioner, heat pump, dehumidifier, AND scrubber!!!

I don't use the room for anything else. I just discovered that the unit was also a dehumidifier actually when researching mini splits. Apparently, they are used for Grow rooms specifically all the time!

Because they don't suck your air out... they promote higher CO2 levels, they are extremely efficient, and I just bought little carbon inserts for the filters., to aid in odor control. The unit sits right above my tent... it's the happiest accident ever. People buy these units just for their grow rooms and I just happen to have one already.

I use the thermostat remote to manually control temperature and humidity. The dehumidifier setting is great to run during lights on... when I do not need heat or cooling but still wanna keep that humidity down, especially in flower. At night I set the thermostat at 21 so the heat pump kicks on before the plants get too chilly. I haven't had need for the AC yet... even during lights on... but as it starts warming up... I'm sure that AC will help tremendously!

Minisplits are also ridiculously more efficient than central air or traditional window units. I had no idea how helpful my unit could be until I was trying to help another grower here on 420 who was looking into air conditioning their grow. Then I stumbled upon the endless information on mini splits in grow rooms!!

That connects to a unit hung outside but only with cords and a tube for freon. No ducts. It's a 12,000 BTU unit which is more than enough for the room it's in! You can hook up multiple blowers to one outdoor unit but these were put in by my Father who is an air conditioning junkie. He wanted every room to have its own compressor. I could hang meat in my closets in the house I grew up in as a kid... room temperature to my father is 65 Fahrenheit.

Just awesome... I think the air conditioning filters plus these carbon inserts will be pretty effective but we will see if I need more odor control. I have also been looking into adding C02... but I have spent a lot of money on my grow already.

I think any major upgrades will have to wait until after my first harvest. It's really hard to spend money on equipment, nutes, etc. while still paying for my medicine elsewhere.

Honestly, Cannabis is one of my largest monthly expenses... After my first harvest, I will have so much more 'fun money' which I will undoubtedly be pouring back into my grow.

Okay... that's all. Lol.. wasn't expecting to write a novel about an air conditioner.... but it's just worked out so perfectly!

XxKitty

 

[mostarda]

You are like a Terminator for cannabis male plants...
I'm kidding.
So,
returning serious,
i'm sorry for your loss @CannaKitty.
Anyway you have an amazing little jungle!
Keep going!

 

[MrGreene]

Thanks for sharing with us about the mini splits. I was planning to buy a couple for my new place since they look easy to install and that place only has wood heat right now.

I just got the carbon insert for the electrostatic air filter in this house. It already takes out all of the smells but I thought an extra layer of freshness wouldn't hurt. I even cut a hole in the closet wall that connects to the furnace return air duct.

 

[Mike420husker]

Hi Kitty I pulled my plants out today and I think 1 of my mystrey seeds is a auto and the other 2 are fems. Yea still waiting on my Sour ds. to show sex. But all is good on this side of the pond.

happy growing

 

[Mike420husker]

They are on 20/4 hrs. I have never had a auto before I think it could be
happy growing