LA Confidential Indoor CFL

CMoney

New Member
Hey 420 members! Welcome to my first post and first MMJ grow journal. I'm extremely excited to join this community and show you guys my horticulture skills. My goal is to see this journal to the end and gain as much information as I can.

The goods:
Strain: LA Confidential
Seed/Clone: Seeds for local grower's personal stash
Soil/Hydro: Soil
Soil Type: 55% Fox Farms Happy Frog, 45% Fox Farms Light Warrior, and 10% Locally made organic compost
Pot Size: 10Gallon Smart Pots
Lighting: CLF, 6 x 300w @ 3k kelvin and 5 x 200w @ 6.5k kelvin. Approximately 600 actual wattage drawn
Room: 4'x4'x7' amazon grow tent.
Room Temp/% Humidity: 69-83*F for veg and flower / 40-55% Hum for veg and 30-45% Hum for flower
Water: RO water @ pH 6.5-7 as needed
Nutes: Fox Farms Grow Big for vegetative and FF Big Bloom for flower.
Nute Schedule: ~ 2-3 tablespoon per gallon every other RO watering

The Philosophy:

This is really my second grow; however, my first grow turned out to be male. Bummer, since that was 3 months of veg time. I grew that plant out using a style called "main-lining" I learned from Nugbuketz(sic). In short, main-lining is just systematically topping the plant to produce even colas with equal nutrient pathways. This technique allows for all training to be complete in the veg stage and allows the grower to easily manage 4, 8, 16, or 32 colas. Just my two cents on that. The draw back is rather large plants beyond and at 8 colas for indoors. With that being said, and wanting some product this time, I decided to grow four plants and top them twice and train the plants as if they were main-lined. Now, lets get to the grow!!!

Day 0: 01MAR14
Seeds are directly planted into pots with no soaking.

Day 4: 04MAR14
Germination of all 4 plants are successful. Seedlings are now visible.

Day 14: 14MAR14
Seedlings got a tad stretchy but no worries. Supported with green garden wire. Likely, got shady from being low in pots along with poor light refraction.

Seedlings_LA_2014.jpg

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Day 22: 22MAR14
As predicted the seedlings have stopped streching and now growing great.

Teens_LA_4.jpg


Teens_LA.jpg
 
Update # 1

Day 30: 30MAR14
It's been 30 days since the seeds have been placed into the ground and they have finally been topped. Attempting to grow some clones in an effort to find out sex.
First_Top.jpg
 
Update # 2

Note: The two plants in the back tuned out to be males and have been discarded so I won't be posting any macro pics of those or discussing much about thier life.

Day 45: 15APR14
Memorry is a bit fuzzy on when I actually topped these again but it was right around the 15th.
Plant on the LEFT is more in the style of main-lining since it has been topped to have four even colas.
Second_Top_Left.jpg


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Plant on the RIGHT was topped again but I left the lower side branches on and I am hoping the canopy will remain equal. This deviation will leave six main colas instead of the four.
Second_Top_Right.jpg



PS: Lights are on 18/6 and have been that way for the duration of the grow thus far.
 
Update # 3

Day 55: 24APR14

Finished the vegetative stage and flipping the plants to 12/12 light cycle tonight. The plants are about 6inches from soil to top. I plan on doing a flush with Epsom salt and then letting the pots dry out for 2-3 days at the end of week 2.

Here is how they are looking at the end of the veg stage: 55 days from seed till current.
Just_before_flip.jpg


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Day 70(Total): 09MAY14
Day 15 of flowering

The girls have completed thier strech. They now stand 2-3" feet from soil to top.
Epsom salt flush complete. I am going to wait about 2-3 days for the pots to dry out and just stress the girls a tad before I begin adding FF Big Bloom.

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Day 78(Total): 17MAY14
Day 23 of flowering

*Grow journal is now current*
I will continue to post progress at the start of each new week. This is how they currently stand.

Right Plant:
She is a bit taller with longer internodes and much more side branching from the lower nodes.
Smell is slightly sweet but with little intensity.
Left_Flower.jpg


Left Plant:
Much tighter internodes and little side branching. This lady is much more typical Indica as far as growth development. Smell is incredible! Nutmeg with earthy undertones and very intense.
Right_Flower.jpg


Tops are just starting to get "resiny" but are still producing vast amounts of pistils.
Frosty_top.jpg
 
Here are the leaves to the taller/linker LA I have growing. Picture is of a mid-hight leaf that is current as of 18MAY14. This is more for Phenotype comparison. I will update and post the other plant's leaf size shortly.

Size is 5' x 4.5' Nice and fat!
Leaf_size_flowering_LA_left_W.jpg

Leaf_size_flowering_LA_left_L.jpg
 
Day 82 (Total): 21MAY14
Day 27 of flowering(Week 3 of flowering)

Tomorrow really marks the end of week 3 and the beginning of week 4. I know I said I'd post at the top of the week but I will be busy so this will have to due till the week 5 update. That being said, the plants continue to look healthy and have started to "fatten" up a bit. Resin production has also started to increase. Here is some bud porn. Happy growing!!!

Right Plant: Super dense and loving life. Petioles are light purplish on some of the older growth like the other. However, they are still significantly greener all around. New growth is bright green with bright green petioles. Smell is getting pretty intense with a very sharp nutmeg with sweet undertones.
Right_Plant_4wk.jpg


Left Plant: Looking tall and strong. Petioles are purplish on some of the older growth. New growth is bright green with bright green petioles. Smell is still not that intense but is still nice and sweet.
Left_Plant_4wk.jpg


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Some top colas just for fun.
Cola_2_4wk.jpg

Cola_1_4wk.jpg



Side note: Just got my mind blow looking into Doc Buds High Brix grows. :420: has out done all my expectations. Highly recommend any serious grower check him out. He is my hero!
 
Day 85 (Total): 24MAY14
Day 30 of flowering (Week 4 of flowering)

What's up 420 members? Happy growing!!! Just got done doing some dusting and cleaning in the grow tent. It is paramount to always keep a clean and sanitary environment especially since I plan to use these babies for my personal medication. :Rasta: It is finally day 30 of the flowering cycle and I thought I would just upload a quick picture of one of the girls.

Day_308.JPG


End Note:
I am very, very, very against the defoliation of leaves in the flowering cycle except in cases when not defoliating could lead to other serious problems. (i.e. mold) Why you ask? Defoliation drastically reduces the overall quality of the final product. Sure, it will increase yield but who cares how much you can grow if it isn't any good? Unfortunately, I had to defoliate some of the fan leaves (but only a few) on the taller left plant since they were getting jam-packed. I know it won't really hurt the plant but I would rather not risk any type of mold or other avoidable problems. What's your take fellow growers...?
 
My apologies all 420 growers. I realize I have been unclear about my watering and nutrient routine. I will post ad hoc addendum in the following days. Haha... Just trying out/practicing my Latin. Troll me now. But for real, if you guys want, I will give a more detailed explanation of my watering/Nute schedule since day one.
 
Very nice CFL setup! cfl's can produce beautiful bud and it looks like yours will :) I ran CFL up until this current grow and had great luck.
I would be interested in hearing your nute schedule, also.
 
Very nice CFL setup! cfl's can produce beautiful bud and it looks like yours will :) I ran CFL up until this current grow and had great luck.
I would be interested in hearing your nute schedule, also.

Thanks! I really feel like CFLs get a very bad reputation. Also, I'm working on my Nute/watering schedule but it's really not that simple since I don't have great records and I base most of it off of "feel" rather than a set and unchangeable schedule.
 
Day 95 (Total): 03JUN14
Day 41 of flowering (Week 6 of flowering)

Welcome everyone!!! It's day 41 and things are still looking good. Approximately, 45/50 percent of the pistils have changed to a nice orange color. Average time for harvest seems to be ~ 7-8 weeks so there is still plenty of time to go. I think it might take longer since the earliest I would like to harvest would be 50:50 cloudy to amber trichome ratio. Who knows really...? I guess time will have to tell. And of course pictures!

Xena(Left Plant):
Flowering_Day_41_Lplant.JPG


Echo(Right Plant):
Flowering_Day_41_Rplant.JPG
 
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