Legal 400W HPS Soil Grow 4 Plants

[MotaFina]

I just skimmed through your journal. Well done! Looks like you and I flipped on the same day....I'm on day 49 also. It's hard to see the yellowing from the pictures due to the HPS lighting, but it doesn't look too bad and the plants look good overall. Yellowing is pretty common in the final weeks, and though not ideal, it's not something to worry too much about.
Flushing is a hotly debated topic these days. I'm not expert enough to give advice on that

 

[Aero808]

Hey Mota, I took a look at your most recent journal as well. Nice work over there! That bubble hash looks tempting

I'm not going mess around with the photoperiod, but I think I'm going to start going water only on the northern lights and white widow. Still undecided with the skywalker. But, this first grow has been a great learning experience for sure. I've been having some issues with high temps since spring officially sprung in my neck of the woods. I'll be moving everything in to the basement for the next round.

 

[Aero808]

Here are some pics taken right after lights out

 

[MotaFina]

You can see the color better in those photos. I'm not sure, but with the tips yellowing first, that could be nutrient burn. You could do a flush/leach by running a bunch of clear water through them. That could be pretty hard to do in a SCROG.

 

[Aero808]

I thought so too. I did a flush and dialed the nutes back to half strength a couple of weeks ago when I started seeing some signs of nute burn. They have been getting half strength since. It may be burn from prior to the flush? Not sure. I wonder if the guano top dressing I did about 5 weeks back is wreaking havoc? Possible. I'm just going to give plain water until harvest and hope for the best.

I've been doing some research on Plant Prod MJ nutes. They come in 1 KG buckets and you mix em with water yourself. They are reasonably priced and they have been designed for weed. If I spent 400 bucks I would have everything I need for about a dozen grows.

Not a fan of the Advanced Nutrients line up. The 3 part base nutes work great during veg, but they call for 5 more bottles of various high priced concoctions during flower, which blows my mind. I was already getting nute burn just following their sched for the base 3.

My long term plan will be to eventually switch it up to hydro, but I'd like to get a couple of more grows under my belt using different mediums first.

 

[MotaFina]

Yeah, I'd guess once the damage is done to the leaf tips, they're not going to green up again. But as long as it's not continuing to progress, you should be OK.

I use Nectar For The Gods line of nutrients and I'm very happy with them. They're pretty close to organic and very mild. They're calcium-based and kind of expensive. I use a super soil mix, so I typically don't feed much at all during veg and early flower. I'd love to try coco or hydro too, but I don't have much money for experimenting.

 

[Aero808]

I've given plain water a couple of times now and the leaf dying seems to have stopped. I'm not giving any more nutes for the last 2 weeks and will let them use up the nutes in the medium.

They look a little more mature from 5 days ago, but not ready yet. I have a little pocket microscope and it's a total pain in the ass. I ordered a little 30x magnifying glass today and feel like it should be wayyyy easier to use. Also purchased a trim bin and a bunch of mason jars. Things are getting exciting around here. haha

 

[Aero808]

I cut another bud from the Northern Lights 5 days ago to look at trichs and sample a doobie. I rolled that doobie this morning, and I found 2 little undeveloped seeds in there. One of my plants has either made nanners or I missed an entire male flower somewhere in my SCROG. Frustrating to say the least. The bud I cut was small and larfy, and from the bottom of the plant. I've read that hermi's often grow in the small underdeveloped areas of a plant. I'm hoping that the pollen wasn't able to make it's way to the top colas... or the other plants for that matter.

I don't see any visible nanners anywhere, and I don't see any male flowers either. It's damn near impossible to inspect the entire plant due to everything being packed in to the scrog net. I won't be growing SCROG any more, as I'd like the ability to turn and rotate my plants for inspection and maintenance going forward. Another valuable lesson for this first grow.

I took action and removed the lowest branches from the Northern Lights this morning. I have what I'd estimate as a little over a half ounce of buds. Not quite mature, but I felt like I had to do something. It will also be a cool experiment to dry and cure some at 54 days and see how it compares to the others I'll be harvesting later.

Hope all is well with your grows, Cheers!

 

[Aero808]

I took a little bud from the White Widow and Skywalker OG and discovered that they have started making seeds too.

I still have no idea which plant hermied on me. I've looked around the tent and don't see any male parts. I can't view the back of the tent at all due to the scrog. It's a little heartbreaking knowing that my first harvest won't be the cherished sensimillia. The buds still look pretty large and crystally, so it shouldn't be a write off, but damn.

I'm not going to attempt a scrog again until I know I have a well established momma that can put out stable clones. I definitely stressed the plants throughout this grow, but I haven't had issues with maintaining a dark period, the hottest the tent has gotten is 31c, I've since gotten it stable between 26-28.

I'm wondering if I should write off the Skywalker mom, as there is a 1 in 3 chance that she was the culprit. Or grow out some clones and keep a very close eye on them? I have about 15 seeds of varying strains I could start.

And the seeds from this grow... I understand that they are guaranteed to be female, as a feminized hermie has pollinated other feminized plants. Would the seeds have a high probability of going hermie if that is how they were pollinated?

 

[MotaFina]

Even without the SCROG it can be hard to locate the source of the pollen. My first grow produced 20-30 seeds. I was keeping a close eye on them and never saw a male sac or a nanner the whole time....it's still a mystery.

And, on my last run, I found a total of two mature seeds....no idea how they ended up there. There were some nanners on one plant in that grow, but they only showed at the very end, so there wouldn't have been time for seeds to develop. My guesses are 1.) a hidden male sac somewhere, or 2.) pollen that somehow remained in the tent from that first grow (despite thorough cleaning between grows, or 3.) some pollen floating in the air outside somehow got into my tent.

As far as using the seeds...most folks seem to advise against it. The chief concern is that if the seeds were produced from a hermaphrodite, then using those seeds will perpetuate the hermie trait in the offspring. It's basically a roll of the dice. But since a hermie can pollenate the whole tent, the consequences probably aren't worth the risk.

 

[Aero808]

Thank you for the informative response. I will toss the seeds in a bag and give them away with full disclosure that they came from hermie's. I don't want to risk it in my tent. A friend of mine would take them regardless.

Hopefully round 2 gives me a tent full of seedless buds. I'm going to plant a half dozen Sorbet Stash seeds from Riserva Privada and keep the best 4.

I don't know what to do with the Skywalker mom that I took from the plant currently in flower. If I had to wager, I would assume that the hermie came from one of the "freebie" seeds included with my order, but I don't want to risk it. I may just flower it or give it away.

 

[MotaFina]

Tough decision, for sure. You just don't know who to blame!

If there's a way to have the skywalker clones alone in the flowering tent, then it's not a problem. But if you're going to have other plants flowering at the same time, then you're gambling. And for me at least, keeping a close eye is not realistic. There's just too much hidden vegetation to monitor.

Definitely clean your tent really well before putting more plants into flower. Pollen is microscopic and viable for months.

 

[HutchBenedict]

I've given plain water a couple of times now and the leaf dying seems to have stopped. I'm not giving any more nutes for the last 2 weeks and will let them use up the nutes in the medium.

They look a little more mature from 5 days ago, but not ready yet. I have a little pocket microscope and it's a total pain in the ass. I ordered a little 30x magnifying glass today and feel like it should be wayyyy easier to use. Also purchased a trim bin and a bunch of mason jars. Things are getting exciting around here. haha

Those buds look fantastic. I love the shape and they look dense and sticky.

 

[HutchBenedict]

I guess I should have read a little further! So sorry you found seeds. Hopefully they are few and far between. I've kind of prepared myself for some seeds in advance so I wont be too disappointed if it happens. My guess is that you have some nice smoke there regardless.

 

[Aero808]

I guess I should have read a little further! So sorry you found seeds. Hopefully they are few and far between. I've kind of prepared myself for some seeds in advance so I wont be too disappointed if it happens. My guess is that you have some nice smoke there regardless.

Yeah, it's a bummer for sure. I have exceeded my expectations though, even with the seeds. This is my first time ever growing anything, I didn't even have house plants. Haha.

 

[Aero808]

My 30x magnifying glass arrived yesterday. I gave the northern lights a thorough inspection and saw that it was starting to make some amber trichs in certain areas. Mostly cloudy and a little clear in others. I chopped the plant at 55 days.

I'd like some of my bud to be a good day time smoke that won't put me to bed, hoping this fits the bill. Had I waited for 80% of the pistils to turn red, I would have been looking at pretty much all amber trichs. I'd say the northern lights has around 60 % red/orange pistils. I'd estimate that the harvest will be 3 - 4 ounces. Will post an update once it's dried and cured.

The colas are really dense and have some pretty golden/orange hues. They appear to be nice and frosty. It took a little over 3 hours to trim the buds and I was rewarded with a nice little glob of scissor hash. It tastes delish and gave me a pretty heavy buzz.

On a side note, damn does my house ever stink! I laid in bed and all I could smell is loud. I wake up and all I can smell is loud. I need to buy another carbon filter to run in my drying room if I'm going to harvest plants at different times. Maybe I should stick to one strain at a time in the tent so I can chop and dry them in there.

 

[Aero808]

I pulled the scrog net and moved the remaining 2 plants to the center of the tent. I watered until a heavy runoff. It's easy to manage the water now that I have all of this room in the tent. I was able to rotate both plants and pull dead leaves that I had no idea existed. The temps in the tent are sitting at a steady 26 degrees too. Amazing what a little more airflow can do. I'm tempted to run only 2 plants at a time in the flower tent from now on. It's just so damn convenient. I could be vegging 2 more in another tent and have somewhat of a perpetual grow going.

The white widow's buds are too heavy for her and a few branches proceeded to fall over. I've staked the pot and used some clips to hold the branches up until she's ready. The trichs are just starting to turn cloudy and about half of the pistils are red/orange. I'd guess she'll be ready within a week.

The skywalker built a really dense stem network and didn't require any staking to keep things in place. Some of the upper colas are starting to take on nice shades of purple and it's pretty to look at. The breeder (Reserva Privada) recommends 10 weeks to get the most from her. I'm going to listen and give it 2 more weeks for sure. I'd like the Skywalker to be a heavy couchlock bud that I can use at night to help with sleep. Shiftwork sucks.

Seeds or not, this process has been an amazing experience. I feel proud of what I've accomplished. Many thanks to everyone (especially Emmie!) for helping me out along the way. I couldn't have done it without you.

Cheers!

 

[Aero808]

Last update for the day, I swear

I picked up some pvc pipe and some fittings to create a handy little drying area.

 

[Aero808]

I gave a dose of final flush to the White Widow and gave the Skywalker a light feeding. Can't wait to get my hands on those giant colas

 

[HutchBenedict]

They look delicious!