PotChimp's Grandaddy Purple Soilless Grow

[PotChimp]

Flowering - Week 6, Day 5 :

Red Dwarf

Afghan Kush Ryder

Just wanted to get a few pics up.....
Better feed these autos again.

 

[BigIrishDoode]

they look good, one question tho, in the pics they all seem kinda pale, im assuming its the lights causing this look, is that correct?, with clones i think a dome is best for at least the firts few days, to ensure against wilting, if after the first day or 3 they prove to not wilt then no need for it, you could start them without a dome and hope they dont wilt, but in my experience if they wilt in the first day they are shocked more and root slower, thats my 2 cents bro!

 

[PotChimp]

About half and half, BID. The bottom part of the fourth pic above is the actual closest in color (and especially closest in contrast) to the real thing. I put up a sheet of white paper, hit the white settings, get to the measure function, hit and watch the camera adjust to the sheet of paper, but never get the exact colors or contrast. The tops always get overlit, which makes them look more pale. But part of it is that they ARE pale. I've tried letting them get a little overdry, keeping them wet, extra N, but no luck fixing it. It's so close to chop I'm only going to one or two more times, anyway. I think maybe I should flush before I 12/12 my plants from now on, though. It could have something to do with it.

 

[PotChimp]

Damn them seed sellin' dudes know just how to appeal to a chimp such as myself 'cause I bought more today. One DNA Genetics Stacked OG Kush fem and one Reserva Privada Skywalker OG Kush fem along with a few freebs soon on the way.....

 

[PotChimp]

Well BID, I figured out most of the problem. The explanation is a bit long winded, but here goes :
More light means more photosynthesis which equals more growth. Heat became a problem because I used multiple lights instead of one. This grow closet is 2' x 3' and the (3) 150w HPS enclosed ballast lights from a bird's eye view only leave about 1/2" around the perimeter of the grow area to pull air through (the sides of the ballasts touch they are together so tight). I pull air from the top of the closet, but the heat that the bulbs gave off mostly stayed in the plant area because it couldn't get past the ballasts and up to the output duct. So the plants all are suffering from extreme heat stress (this 4" inline fan @ 170 cfm barely cuts the mustard as it is). It's so close to chop that I'm not going to do anything except cut the tops of the branches off where the tops are dried up and let the remaining buds flower out. Underneath, protected by shade and more distance from the lights the buds seem normal looking with the exception of being small. That's probably because of the extra distance I have to keep the lights away from the heat source; there I have a poor lumen measurement. Someone from a hydro shop I called when I first started told me that there is no such thing as too much light if you can keep the heat under control, but I read in Ed's book yesterday that it can cause bleaching out of chlorophyll in the leaves (when you brought up the pale leaf issue I looked closer at the two autos I have in here. They are pale also, which lead me to look more into this problem. I also looked at the plant I took out of here to reveg, and it is returning back to the unbleached green it is supposed to be). I have a 400w MH/HPS air-cooled light system on the way so this next grow should be improved. That's both grow units I increased the lighting in. And in different ways they did the same thing because I didn't deal with the added heat build-up at the same time. I'll post a pic or two before I chop them.


once again the chimp fug zup.....

 

[JB42]

Easy Chimpman!!
Chill man you ain;t f'd up. What they look like now man , you got pics?? They looked nice last time. Get a bottle of frozen water in there man and tire the tall tops down.

 

[BigIrishDoode]

interesting, i have 666watts in a 2x3x5 space and nothing like that at all, they look uber green, i was thinking more along the lines of ph, causing n lockout, or co2 deprivation, but if you moved one and changed nothing else, that would rule out ph issues, i have no doubt you know your grow, i hope your right and its on to bigger fatter buds for pc!!!

 

[PotChimp]

interesting, i have 666watts in a 2x3x5 space and nothing like that at all, they look uber green, i was thinking more along the lines of ph, causing n lockout, or co2 deprivation, but if you moved one and changed nothing else, that would rule out ph issues, i have no doubt you know your grow, i hope your right and its on to bigger fatter buds for pc!!!

The one I moved out of this closet and put back into veg is starting to green up really nice, even though the green is in the old leaves and no new growth has occurred yet. I've done nothing to it but water it a few times. I've been cutting the tops off (to smoke and so the light can get to the undamaged lower buds) and they are crisp in the leaves and have the feel of buds that have been cut and hanging for a few days. I'll try to get a pic up tonight so you can see what I am talking about.

 

[PotChimp]

Flowering - Week 7, Day 4 :

I must have read something wrong. I thought it said to BAKE your pot plants (it took me 3 separate lamps to do it!). What they meant was to GET BAKED from your pot plants!

What I'll do is cut the dried buds off and let this underneath.....

.....go to full maturity. Oh well I thought I could get by cheaply, but it's all a part of the learning experience. Better planning next time.

 

[BigIrishDoode]

lol pc bake your plants ,, i figure what ever happens during the grow, its always different,and i always learn alot , the more pampered (within reason) i treat them, the more equipment i buy, the more they reward me! i just got my new tent,5kg block of coco,4 inch 2270 cfm blower/w charcoal scrubber ,couple totes (for cloner &dwc),new scale,(so i can measure improvement another way) .
funny thing is all i WAS gonna do was 1 or 2 plants in a closet w/cfl's for a little pain med,, then seeing how much better i could do and breeding ideas took over, i manage to stay within the 12 plant restriction but barely !! lol and all i wanna do is make the perfect environment, so i can maximize my efforts, and search for the perfect strains for my conditions, i think im making my gf bored with my constant chatter about growing and breeding lol guess i better talk about something else once in a while.....nah

 

[PotChimp]

lol pc bake your plants ,, i figure what ever happens during the grow, its always different,and i always learn alot , the more pampered (within reason) i treat them, the more equipment i buy, the more they reward me! i just got my new tent,5kg block of coco,4 inch 2270 cfm blower/w charcoal scrubber ,couple totes (for cloner &dwc),new scale,(so i can measure improvement another way) .
funny thing is all i WAS gonna do was 1 or 2 plants in a closet w/cfl's for a little pain med,, then seeing how much better i could do and breeding ideas took over, i manage to stay within the 12 plant restriction but barely !! lol and all i wanna do is make the perfect environment, so i can maximize my efforts, and search for the perfect strains for my conditions, i think im making my gf bored with my constant chatter about growing and breeding lol guess i better talk about something else once in a while.....nah

Wow 2270 cfm if you ever get a tornado in your area take it outside with a long extension cord and lay it on its side it'll suck the tornado right up (tie a fine mesh bubble hash bag to the output side just in case the tornado sucked up somebody's outside grow so you'll get a sack of kief out of the deal)!

Just kidding; I've seen your setup and it's really nice. I hope to get as good of results from these new setups I have (now that I have heat under control). In the future I want to replace the (2) 250 watt MH/HPS lights in my tent with another air-cooled 400 watt MH/HPS to further reduce heat issues and add depth penetration.
As you can tell, no need to apologize about the interest 'cause I'm pretty obsessed myself. The 300+ seeds I have refrigerated made me realize it.....

 

[PotChimp]

Stoned Chimp Note : I was leaning slightly into the grow closet to see if the tweaks I implemented were helping the heat issue any for the 2 autos and my long naturally curly chimp-like hair got pulled into the 6" fan which caused much chaos, including one of the lights dropping down just enough to hit me in the head. Lucky it was the ballast end of the light and I didn't break the bulb. The fan being cheaply manufactured in China broke out of its clamp-on fixture and just kind of stuck to the side of my head humming. I managed to get it turned off and even got almost all of my hair back even though I was high. So that sucked, but none of the plants got hurt because I got jerked over the top of them when it all happened and there was no one there to post a vid of it happening on Youtube so I won't have to be on Dr. Phil someday from the emotional scars all the public humiliation caused me.
oh the autos are getting a little color back to them even though they were probably white as a ghost from that stupid $hit.

 

[PotChimp]

After magnifying and seeing a few amber trichomes, I chopped all 5 of the plants yesterday. The buds are mostly popcorn, at least what I haven't poofed up yet
Oh well. Lessons learned again.
I took down all (3) 150w HPS light ballasts and replaced them with a 400w MH/HPS remote ballast system with an air-cooled reflector after vacuuming then washing the closet with dish soap and water. I had to reduce the 6" flange to 4" before I ran it out of the wall (space restrictions and adapting it down to fan size). The 4" inline fan barely does the job temperature-wise, but after the plants get big enough hopefully the canopy they create will help that. Summer is coming, and even though I tweaked the closet for temps with outside temp = to a hot Summer's night (I run this grow closet at night) I still may have to consider switching to a 6" inline fan. I like what I see so far, and with a 50w reduction in lighting I can increase the bulb size in my seedling/cloning/motherplant locker to 200w without the bill going much higher.
For everybody who watched this grow, I'll post a final summary soon and a few pics of what I had left and thanks for coming along for the ride.

 

[PotChimp]

A few pics before the jar.....

Well, this grow didn't go too well. Night temps too cold for roots, air temps excessively hot from too many lights on, all under a shortened GLR followed by 12/12 too soon led to small sickly plants. Strangely enough, the pot is decent. Didn't get very purple, but you can pelt the chimp with mangoes for that. As always, the worst grows I've done are the ones I've learned the most from. I've got Ken's original Grand Daddy Purple growing in this closet now with a 400w air-cooled MH/HPS and the heated seed mat under them at night until the Spring; this one should go well. Thanks for the input everybody and hope to run up on you all again soon! This one's a completed journal, and hey hey hey PotChimp say.....

Ooh ooh ooh, AHH AHH AHH!!!!!

 

[JB42]

Nah potchimp them buds look nice man,
We all learn on every grow, its how we get better. +Reps

 

[stedfast82]

good job let's seen what you can do for the next grow. i will keep an eye on your grow very nice.

 

[stedfast82]

nice job

 

[Twelve12]

Frosty looking nugs! Hope your next grow is how you wanted. Look back to see which parts of the environment needs tune up and adjust for optimal grow. Enjoy your harvest and looking forward to the next one!

 

[BigIrishDoode]

looks like a success to me!

 

[Happy Kitty]

Thanks for sharing your grow with us!

Don't forget to head over to the 420 Strain Reviews forum and post your smoke report there too!

I’m moving this to completed journals.

Have you started a new grow you would like to share with us?

Hope all is well in your world.

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!