Ripples' - Indoor - Basement - Soilless - Multi-Strain - Chronic/Cheese/LG/SS - 2015

Ripples

Well-Known Member
Intro:
Ripples Here! Thanks for checking out my first Journal. By suggestion I have decided to try a journal and see where this goes. This will be my 5th grow. My first 4 went well with each one improving on the previous. I am not an expert by any means but believe I have had some success and enjoy growing. My goal with this journal is not to increase yields but rather learn how to improve my growing skills. Feel free to make any suggestions or methods you think would help. Always enjoy reading what others do and learn from everyones experiences.

Tents:

*MOTHER PLANTS* (1) 4x4x7 / 400w MH / 4" inline-carbon filter / Passive intake / 18-6 light cycle...
*VEG/FLOWER (2) 4x4x7 / 1000w MH-HPS Air cooled / 8" inlines with Carbon Filters / Passive intake...
*CLONING* (1) 3x3x5 / 8 bulb t8 Fluorescent / Fan...

Mixture:
Atami B' Cuzz Hydromix 70% Canadian Peat 30% perlite...

Strains: ***All from Feminized Seed***
  • Chronic- 70% Indica 30% Sativa, 8-9 week flower time
  • Cheese- 60% Indica 40% Sativa, 8-9 week flower time
  • Super Skunk 65% Indica 35% Sativa, 8-9 week flower time
  • Lime Green No info other than it is a nice lady!

Nutrients: Fox Farm- I don't use the entire line the basic 3 (Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom) I have started to play with their remaining products.

Pot Sizes: Will finish in 7 gallon fabric...

The pics below are my little ladies plus one new mother starting "Chronic"... 2 plants of each strain listed above. I have been fighting a problem with thrips so this set of clones are not my best ladies. I believe I have things under control now but these young ladies have taken a beating and will need some recovery time. There are some pics of the mothers as well. The clones are 2 weeks old but like i said they have had a rough 2 weeks. Been spraying with SNS 203 and have since switched to Mighty Wash. This is not my first battle with thrips. My last grow started the same way. I thought i had them beat, haven't seen signs of any for 2 months then all of a sudden BOOM! there they are again. Don't think I fully got rid of them. Will follow through a little better this time around. If i am not convinced they are gone i will just finish up this grow and flip the mothers and start fresh after a complete cleaning of the grow room. They are not a big problem but I am a perfectionist and these little bastards are pissing me off! When in flower they are not a problem at all... We will see



This is my starter tent... 3x3x5


 
Not much change... ending week 2 of veg and just waiting for my 2 other tents to clear... Have last batch drying, should be ready next week at which point i will transplant these ladies into their final 7 gallon smart pots... The tent they are in now has no air-cooled light so the temps are a bit higher than I would like 86-88 but I have good air flow and they look pretty decent? RH running 45%... Going to make some adjustments after they are put into their separate tents next week... I put 4 in each tent and let veg till I feel they are ready... No particular time frame I go by size and looks... Usually around 30-45 days of veg... Possibly going with LED Marshydro Reflector 96 instead of the one I was just complaining about... Amazon has a sale 2 for $390... Thinking I'll try LED for veg in this one tent, less power less heat and wanting to see if I like them? Feel free to give an opinion!... My 2 flower tents are set up perfectly! Just trying to figure my system for veg tent... Expanded lately and haven't found my comfort zone yet!... Still new and always looking to improve my methods...


A couple pics of what drying now! (last grow, Chronic, Super Skunk, Lime Green) Sorry some are sideways? Haven't figured out how to correct yet! Working on it, Only happens once in a while... Not sure why?








Below are my current ladies in VEG... CHRONIC, SUPER SKUNK, LIME GREEN, CHEEZE 2 of each...




This is my Lime Green... She is a beautiful Girl. The smell is incredible... My wife can't get enough of this smell, wants it upstairs in the living room... NOT going to happen! The sideways pic of the plant is LG... She is not a great producer but is a beautiful plant...



These are my Chronic and Cheeze... Haven't grow the Cheeze yet, we will see... I have read it is much like my Chronic which is a HUGE producer!...

 
Harvest went well and cleared my tents! Transplanted them into their final pots 7 gallon... Set up both tents and we're ready to go again... I'm using these 7 gallon fabric for the first time... Always used 5 gallon buckets. They worked well but I thought maybe they would get better airflow to the roots? Had some problems with the last grow (nothing to serious) but want to see if this changes anything? This makes it a little harder to use the cages but we will see? Let them settle and next watering they'll get fed. Using my normal FF nutes but going to add some of the other products by FF that I never used... Try the entire line and see what I get? Always had good results with the basic three so it's worth a shot to try...
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Hi, Ripples!

Great journal :) Your plants look really good.

Personally, I love the smart pots. My first grow was in 5 gallon smart pots and they worked really well for me. No problems.

For the sideways pictures, they're the portrait oriented ones taken on a smart phone. My iPhone does the same thing. You can either edit them and then upload, or just take all your pictures landscape with the volume buttons down -- works like a charm!

Subbed in!
 
Update: End of week 3 in veg


Been 6 days since I last watered, I have had a hard time adjusting to these new fabric pots with watering... I feel I overwatered the first time and still waiting for them to dry completely... Wanted to water tonite but still believe they are holding water at the bottom, NOT quite light enough yet...(lift method) They will be needing water for sure tomorrow after work! I pulled some big fan leaves 3 days ago and cleaned them up a bit... I know many are against defoliating, but my girls don't seem to mind if done correctly... Slows growth a bit but they recover quickly... Thinking my overwatering and low RH has played a role in that as well... Bought a new humidifier today a large one to help bring the RH up... We're up to near 40% but still wanting more! We will see after a few days or it will be going back... 159$ so if it can't bring up 1 stinking room (says entire house humidifier)... Not too impressed as of now? Have more going on in the grow room than normal... Decided to flip the mothers as well and start with some new ones... They were getting a bit old and beat up, but have served me well for quite a while now... That makes 12 ladies going to flower in the next few weeks... Trying to ready the mother tent for flower too, she needs a bigger inline and filter and better air flow... All being done this week thanks to Amazon... Will be posting some pics after work...
 
I feel I overwatered the first time and still waiting for them to dry completely...
First, let me congratulate you on waiting as long as you have, plus a day, to water... trusting the lift method. I can almost imagine your roots growing as I write this note to you. Good job. Also know that the next wet/dry cycle will not take as long as this one did, simply because of the roots you are growing today as the weed seeks out the very last of the water in your container.

But along with that praise comes this comment generated by the statement that I quoted: Consider this as a truism: It is impossible to overwater a container by giving it too much water at any one time. Any additional water simply runs out of the bottom as run off, as you reach a point of saturation, and the soil simply can not hold one more drop of water.

It is our goal, and our job as gardeners of weeds, to fill up that soil with as much water as it can hold, and then it is our job to wait until the plant is able to use all of that water before we water again. Cloth containers take more patience to water correctly because if you water too fast the water tries to come of the sides. If you do it correctly though, and water slowly, maybe a quart at a time over 10-15 minutes, you can saturate the entire rootball, just like in a hard sided container.
 
Still having watering issues! It appears as though they have stopped growing since the transplant into the 7's? While watering today (very slowly I might add!) I still noticed the water run right through to the floor? Watching closely I noticed when pouring at the base of the plant very slowly the water would run right off the top as if it were water resistant! The rootball is so hard it wouldn't absorb water! After a while it finally started to absorb only to see it running through the sidewalls of the fabric about half way down. I "think" the rootball is so hard it isn't taking in the water as it should and that's why it runs through so fast and the plants are at a stand still? It's as if the ball is the size of a bowling ball (as hard as one too!) and the water just runs right off it to the sides and onto the floor. Having said that I went to see the mother I started at the same time and noticed the same thing! (not quite as bad) Only this one seemed very weak at the base as if the rootball was just sitting there under the surface. When I wiggled it side to side I could see the base seemed like it was floating? Pulled up with very little power and i could feel it going up and down as well? (just the rootball)... Decided I had enough of the guessing and pulled her right out only to see the ball had done nothing since the transplant? No root growth at all? The ball seemed very hard too? I can only image that's what's going on with the others!!!... Wondering if the low RH has something to do with this? The new humidifier I just bought yesterday is going back. Entire house humidifier my ass! Raised the RH in my grow room (20x20) about 7% if that. I will get two bigger single units, one for each tent and see if that helps? Never had a problem with the ones I'm using? But nonetheless they are NOT doing the trick this time around??? Plants look a bit stressed and have what looks like nute burn and clawing is getting worse. This is my 5th grow and the first to really give me problems. Very frustrated right now and not sure what to do? Thinking if I don't resolve this soon I will lose the plants to stress! I will get the new humidifiers tomorrow and see what happens. If there is no change with the girls I will likely try transplanting and seeing what I can do to the rootball to help? Having one problem after another with this grow. NOT HAPPY TONIGHT. Any suggestion? I'm all ears...... will post pics tomorrow... going to bed!
 
next time you water, go even slower. put a very small amount on the top the first time, like a cup. Walk away... 10 minutes. Come back and put another cup on them, see if it goes right down. If it doesnt, do another 10 minutes. Most likely it will, so this time add a quart. Walk away for 5 minutes.
Come back the next time and add 2 quarts... follow the same rules. If they are now taking the 2 quarts, add 2 more. Walk away again... 10 minutes.
Now the entire rootball should be wettened and ready to accept full water. 1 quart at a time, make the rounds on your plants, each in its turn, adding additional quarts until you start seeing runoff on your first plant in the rotation.
I would bet that by being patient like this, you would be able to get 3x the water in those containers than you have been giving them. There are no shortcuts with cloth grow bags... you get some great benefit from them, but you do have this little inconvenience when watering to deal with. Fast watering no longer works... it simply comes out of the sides. If you find your water coming out of the sides instead of going downward, you are watering too fast.
 
Feeling better today...

The encouraging comments and help certainly makes me feel better! Thanks Emilya and arteekay. The girls are looking better today after the watering. Took some pics last night but was too beat and irritated to spend time posting.

This is the rootball i was referring to. It is very hard? I see no new root growth since the transplant. I have been adding some (GO) Bio Root supplements. Not sure if it's working?

 
Here are some pics of the other ladies. They look stressed to me? The new growth is weak looking scrawny and with a yellow tinge? The clawing is still there although not as bad as these pics are showing (last nights pics). The growth is very minimal if any since the transplant a week ago! Usually these girls are exploding with new growth? Not sure what exactly is going on.




 
This is my LG. She is looking terrible but believe it or not she NEVER looks good! Granted she is looking extra rough here but I can never get here looking good till flower time! She always looks like a classic overwatering case but she can be bone dry and looks the same? When she goes into flower it's like she comes to life. The sideways picture is her in flower. The buds are very big but not to dense. She isn't a big producer but everybody loves this pretty lady!!! They all ask for it! Why does she look so sad?

 
That pic is immediately after watering... I could lift her with one hand, one finger before watering! She looks a touch better today but NOT MUCH? She always looks like she is sad! Wet or dry, I don't get it? if you would like a pic ill go take one now?
 
sounds like you definitely waited long enough to water...

Give us a shot of her right at lights on one of these mornings... does she raise up to greet the light? It would be rare to see a healthy plant not being overwatered, be droopy all of the time... then we need to look at other things... temperature the biggest one, but that would mean the other plant should be unhappy too. We have a mystery!
 
Take a look at the front row far right and back row far right, those two are LG... I can tell by the way the leaves droop so heavy? None of the others are nearly as droopy. They have a deep crease as well in the leaves, very very defined with a big claw look? These pics are from 3 weeks ago... I will take more pics and post what she looks like today.


 
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