Sponsored Grow Journal, Featuring The Cultiuana CT-720 LED Grow Light, 27gal SIP Containers & Clones

[Emilya Green]

Today we are at day 7 of bloom, and 14 days since the flip. I think we have seen the end of stretch. Far red has done its work once again and even the tallest plants only gave me about a 50% stretch. This is remarkable and has to also be attributed to the massive amount of light coming out of the @Cultiuana CT-720. The plants are perfectly happy to stay right where they are vertically and they are clearly getting enough light.

I think I am noticing with the SIPs that so much water is being used that the stalks and branches have become exceptionally strong. In the other room the plants are not needing any additional vertical support, and in here now that everyone is trimmed and settling in for the bloom, it looks like these plants are going to also be able to hold up a lot of weight and may not need any more tomato cage additions until right at the end. We shall see. So far, I am very impressed with everything you see here... the light, the SIPs and the clones themselves. This is shaping up to be a great run.

I do have the space heater set on 70°. I don't want to go crazy on power usage, but it is going to get down to 37° tonight and I don't want the girls to get too cold. I see no need to provide them with any more heat than that and I do have to be careful up here in the attic. When the RH is high, the roof gets cold, and I provide a heat source... the attic ceiling and walls can begin to sweat. It literally can start to rain up here! I have to strike a balance.

 

[Azimuth]

I think I am noticing with the SIPs that so much water is being used that the stalks and branches have become exceptionally strong.

That's been true for me. Kind of ridiculous actually and I'm going to have to modify how I train them. I have been using @Hafta 's weight training but the weights I've used for my other plants are simply inadequate. I may have to go back to a little light bondage.

No complaints though! A nice "problem" to have.

 

[Emilya Green]

We are at day 9 of Bloom and 16 days after the flip. I think we can officially declare stretch to be over with. We are at day 6 of the 2 week feeding cycle, and I think to give them a boost I will top water them a bit tomorrow to soak in more of the @GeoFlora Nutrients and see if the tubs will take another 5 gallons of water. It will also be a good day to rotate the plants around the room so that they get a different perspective on the lights.

I am starting to see a bit of an earlier finish with plants that have enjoyed 12/12 lighting all through bloom with the night time trigger light (far red) running for 15 minutes after the big lights go out. This puts the plants to bed at least an hour (maybe 2) earlier than they would without the trigger light, and I think evidence is pointing toward this allowing for an earlier finish... maybe 3-5 days earlier. I have no actual evidence with side by side tests that this is happening, but consistently my last several grows have ended quicker than I or the breeders had predicted. Again, I don't have the hard numbers, but this is my gut feeling. More experiments need to be done.

These plants are all clones of plants that were grown before in a light experiment gone bad, and they finished long and badly. This experiment today can not be compared to that last run where we were trying to extend the day far beyond 12 hours of light, using the far red lights to force them to sleep after 13.5 hours of light and still stay in bloom. Please don't attempt to repeat that experiment... the plants did not like it. Some day soon we will set up a proper experiment to see if the red light at the beginning of their night will ripen them faster compared to identical plants not getting that light.

For now, all is good and the plants are all strong. The only damage I see on any of the plants is on the tall Strawberry Lemonade who grew up into the light in the other room, obviously finding the blinding output of the @Cultiuana CT-720 to be too much for its liking at 1 or 2 inches away. A couple of the leaves have been burned and I have not allowed that to happen again.

 

[ReservoirDog]

That's been true for me. Kind of ridiculous actually and I'm going to have to modify how I train them. I have been using @Hafta 's weight training but the weights I've used for my other plants are simply inadequate. I may have to go back to a little light bondage.

No complaints though! A nice "problem" to have.

"I third the motion."! SIP stalks seem a bit bigger. The whole plant seems a bit 'juicier', lotsa really thick leaves. It's my estimation that SIP plants, based on my limited personal experience, use over 100% more water than standard 'drought and deluge' container gardening. So I'm thinkin' all that water and nutes have to go somewhere, don't they?

 

[Emilya Green]

Today was watering day and each of the 27g SIPs took 5 gallons of Terpinator and Sweet Candy water. That amount was a good guess. The SIPs are each using about 5 gallons a week. That is a fairly remarkable water usage per plant.

They all look good with not a trace of deficiency or bug damage. The only damage I can see on any of the plants is included in a picture tonight, where the tall Strawberry Lemonade was the first to get into the light.

The plants were also rotated round robin style to new places in the room and under the @Cultiuana .

We are day 11 of bloom and day 8 after the last feeding.

Here is the damage from the light:

 

[Emilya Green]

Day 13 of Bloom. The buds are stacking strongly on super strong branches that will be able to easily hold the weight.

SIP and a good strong light like this @Cultiuana is the right combination! We are at day 10 since last feeding and they will need more in 4 days. So far, I am seeing zero complaints about nutrition, so the @GeoFlora Nutrients seem to be doing fine after just that initial top watering on feeding day.

I have never seen praying like this, and I pride myself on being able to get the plants to pray. This is on a totally new level. Unlike most plants I have grown, without breaking them, it would be impossible to pull any of these branches down to horizontal... they are just too strong. Something is definitely going right here.

 

[Buds Buddy]

We are at day 9 of Bloom and 16 days after the flip. I think we can officially declare stretch to be over with. We are at day 6 of the 2 week feeding cycle, and I think to give them a boost I will top water them a bit tomorrow to soak in more of the @GeoFlora Nutrients and see if the tubs will take another 5 gallons of water. It will also be a good day to rotate the plants around the room so that they get a different perspective on the lights.

I am starting to see a bit of an earlier finish with plants that have enjoyed 12/12 lighting all through bloom with the night time trigger light (far red) running for 15 minutes after the big lights go out. This puts the plants to bed at least an hour (maybe 2) earlier than they would without the trigger light, and I think evidence is pointing toward this allowing for an earlier finish... maybe 3-5 days earlier. I have no actual evidence with side by side tests that this is happening, but consistently my last several grows have ended quicker than I or the breeders had predicted. Again, I don't have the hard numbers, but this is my gut feeling. More experiments need to be done.

These plants are all clones of plants that were grown before in a light experiment gone bad, and they finished long and badly. This experiment today can not be compared to that last run where we were trying to extend the day far beyond 12 hours of light, using the far red lights to force them to sleep after 13.5 hours of light and still stay in bloom. Please don't attempt to repeat that experiment... the plants did not like it. Some day soon we will set up a proper experiment to see if the red light at the beginning of their night will ripen them faster compared to identical plants not getting that light.

For now, all is good and the plants are all strong. The only damage I see on any of the plants is on the tall Strawberry Lemonade who grew up into the light in the other room, obviously finding the blinding output of the @Cultiuana CT-720 to be too much for its liking at 1 or 2 inches away. A couple of the leaves have been burned and I have not allowed that to happen again.

Damned.. Girl, You filled that space up. Beautiful to look at ! Great job again.

 

[Emilya Green]

It got a little cool in here this morning, but they handled it just fine.

Today was feeding day. They got the last of my @GeoFlora Nutrients BLOOM and got watered from the top and the bottom. The planters all played ring around the rosie again so as to get a new vantage point on the huge @Cultiuana CT-720 and the SIP containers were topped off with about 4 gallons of Terpinator and Sweet Candy water. The light was raised about 4 inches just to even out the spread a little more.

The plants look amazing. Aside from one runt (comparatively speaking) Green Crack, all the plants are massive and are stacking up buds along very strong branches. These plants are going to produce a lot of medicine.

I sat a small drip tray on the top of the soil in a couple of places to see what would happen. As I suspected, the area under that tray was noticeably wet compared to the open soil around it. I will be fashioning some simple plastic sheeting covers to fit over each planter, with a slit to allow it to be put in around the plant. This simple barrier is going to hold enough RH in that it will remain much wetter on the surface than in open air, and this has got to be a good thing when considering the top dressed GeoFlora pellets sitting there, and has got to help with nutrition and microbe exchange.

Here is everyone, looking in from the doorway and admiring their new positions.
We are at Day 18 of Bloom, and on autopilot for at least the next two weeks.

 

[Azimuth]

I will be fashioning some simple plastic sheeting covers to fit over each planter, with a slit to allow it to be put in around the plant. This simple barrier is going to hold enough RH in that it will remain much wetter on the surface than in open air, and this has got to be a good thing when considering the top dressed GeoFlora pellets sitting there, and has got to help with nutrition and microbe exchange.

Looking good as usual, Em.

Your plastic sheeting would allow for less air exchange up top than an organic mulch would. No concerns there? I'll add that the plastic sheeting is what the originator of this SIP idea (the Earthbox) recommends so it certainly comes pre-approved.

 

[Emilya Green]

Looking good as usual, Em.

Your plastic sheeting would allow for less air exchange up top than an organic mulch would. No concerns there? I'll add that the plastic sheeting is what the originator of this SIP idea (the Earthbox) recommends so it certainly comes pre-approved.

I haven't gotten to the plastic pot covers yet... too much going on with the harvest and drying from the other room, but I will get to it soon. I am glad to see that it is a proven idea though. Its not like its a vacuum under there... there will be a little air exchange and with black 6 mil sheeting, not a lot of light is going to get in there either.

Today is Day 21 of Bloom. Every one of the plants is a prize winner. I anticipate a wonderful harvest in about 6 or 7 weeks. Looking at these buds, I am very happy that I own a @Cultiuana CT-720, easily the most capable light I have ever used.

 

[ReservoirDog]

Looks like a Dino-park in there, EG. and from !

 

[Emilya Green]

@Emsrighthand , are you seeing this thread?

 

[Emilya Green]

Today was day 7 since the last feeding and rotation around the room, so today I spent some time going over each of the plants. In a couple spots in the room was some yellowing, so I wanted to top water a little bit more of the last application of @GeoFlora Nutrients into the soil. Each plant got 2 watering pitchers from the top, where it would take 3 or 4 to produce runoff. We are also trying a new room arrangement, again just to keep forcing the plants to reorient to the light as often as possible.

I also found my source of the yellowing leaves... I found a nest of bugs in there, on that one plant that I previously had called the runt. Turns out, she was justified. I think it's spider mites, but maybe thrips... and gods help me, there might even be a third bug in there.

My best guess is spidermites though and as you can see in the picture, some thrips too. I have had them before and beat them back, and I will do it again. This is all down low so far and not up into the buds, so we are going to move aggressively now to keep that to be the case. Since we are 24 days into bloom we still have a lot of options so I started treating tonight using the natural approach, @Sierra Natural Science SNS 203. This has been used as a foliar spray on all of the plants, especially concentrating on this one plant where I know something is in there. Obviously damaged leaves have been removed. In 2 days I will be back again with more, and 2 days after that. If this doesn't put the hurt on them, I will dig out the nuclear weapon, SNS 217c, especially made to destroy spider mites. If it comes down to that, they don't have a chance... but until I am I am forced to use it, they have a fighting chance... it just depends on who has the most endurance, them, or me spraying every 2-3 days until I break their life cycle. I am betting on me and the mighty 203.

Other than that, the buds are looking amazingly juicy for this early in bloom. Hat's off to the @cultiuna beast of a light... these buds look fantastic!

 

[Emilya Green]

The bug situation is looking a lot better today, after two applications of @Sierra Natural Science SNS-203. I will keep at this until harvest if I have to... the bugs are not going to ruin these buds!

I have added a space heater to the room. My electrician has not yet come through, so this required an $85 extension cord, for now. This is quite a step up from the light duty cord I used last year. Soon I will have a dedicated 220 circuit up there, but for now, we are winging it. The plants are much happier, and so far it seems to be working well.

The buds look very nice. We are at day 27 of bloom. I have seen 5 week buds not look this good. The difference has to be the @Cultiuana CT-720, an absolute beast of a light!

 

[Emilya Green]

Nighttime flash shot... yes, they do sleep.

 

[Emilya Green]

We are at Day 31 of Bloom. Thanks to the awesome output of the @Cultiuana CT-720 light, these buds look astounding for still being in the 4th week of bloom, as they could pass for 5 or even 6 week buds. One of the branches already has gotten so heavy with trichomes, that it needed additional support to be added to hold it up.

Today was also feeding day, and some of the plants are indeed looking a little hungry at the top. Today they got their prescribed 2/3 cup of @GeoFlora Nutrients BLOOM, which was watered in from the top with about 2 liters/9 cups of water mixed with 10ml/gal Terpinator, and two small scoops of Sweet Candy in the 5 gallon bucket. This should stop the yellowing.

The Thrips are being held at bay and I would say that at this time, I am winning. There should be a couple more rounds of them as the eggs hatch, but I am ready, and am still spraying @Sierra Natural Science SNS 203 every couple of days to dry out any bugs daring to show themselves. I have every confidence that they will be eradicated well before harvest time.

The SIP tubs still have water in them that I can see by looking down the sides, and my best estimate is that the plants are pulling about 2.5 gallons of water per week, maybe a little bit more.

So here are some pictures of my beautiful buds. If you look really carefully, you can see one of the Green Cracks showing some fall leaf coloration already, but I don't expect a lot more of that this early, since now I am keeping the room no lower than 65 degrees all the time.

 

[Big Sparks]

Wow! Im extremely amazed and blown away with the rapid and massive growth that you are getting with your sips. I personally also run a hand made/mixed living soil recipe, but i have yet to pull the trigger and try the sip style of growing yet. Thank you for taking the time to document not only your use of the sip's, but also for the detailed knowledge and notes that you are sharing about the new light setup. With that being said im just going to plop down here on a beanbag and continue to enjoy the grow show! Absolute great job so far Emilya!

 

[Azimuth]

Come check out #SIP Club where we discuss everything SIP from building them to the theory behind them. The pot design is great for new growers but as you've seen with Em's plants, even very accomplished growers enjoy the benefits.

 

[Emilya Green]

The girls are all sitting at day 35 of bloom, and 4 days since the last feeding. The Strawberry Lemonade is the largest plant in the room, and the only one showing signs of yellowing to the point that I know it is nutritional. I am going to give her another watering from the top tomorrow, to manually water in some more of the @GeoFlora Nutrients sitting on the surface and I am seriously thinking about feeding her extra.

I am seeing no progression of the bugs today and that latest hatch seems to have been dealt with with my continued sprayings of @Sierra Natural Science SNS 203. I always like the way the room smells after spraying this stuff, and I know it is drying out bugs on contact. I expect a third wave of the bugs, so I will keep spraying every 2 days. That next wave doesn't stand a chance, and by then I believe I will have broken their life cycle. We will not have bugs by harvest time.

There are 3 varieties in this room and all have different harvest windows here at the end of this year. The Green Cracks, 3 of them, have a very wide harvest window from Dec 6 to Dec 20, depending on how ripe you like them. I would guess that around the 18th looks to be reasonable. The Strawberry Lemonade will be done somewhere during the week of Dec 13 to Dec 20, but there is only one of those plants. The two Hulkberries will run the longest, and their window is Dec 20th to Dec 27. Looking at these plants and estimating harvests, conservatively I think we will harvest 24-30 dry oz of medicine before New Year's Day. 2023 is looking better all the time!

The buds that I am looking at all around the room are massive and tight. Everything is covered in trichomes, and we are still only at the beginning of week 5. What caused such amazing buds, you might ask? 720w of power beaming down at them from the @Cultiuana beast of a light, the CT-720. I am convinced that lights that I have used before this could not have produced these buds, and certainly not in 5 weeks.

 

[Big Sparks]

The girls are all sitting at day 35 of bloom, and 4 days since the last feeding. The Strawberry Lemonade is the largest plant in the room, and the only one showing signs of yellowing to the point that I know it is nutritional. I am going to give her another watering from the top tomorrow, to manually water in some more of the @GeoFlora Nutrients sitting on the surface and I am seriously thinking about feeding her extra.

I am seeing no progression of the bugs today and that latest hatch seems to have been dealt with with my continued sprayings of @Sierra Natural Science SNS 203. I always like the way the room smells after spraying this stuff, and I know it is drying out bugs on contact. I expect a third wave of the bugs, so I will keep spraying every 2 days. That next wave doesn't stand a chance, and by then I believe I will have broken their life cycle. We will not have bugs by harvest time.

There are 3 varieties in this room and all have different harvest windows here at the end of this year. The Green Cracks, 3 of them, have a very wide harvest window from Dec 6 to Dec 20, depending on how ripe you like them. I would guess that around the 18th looks to be reasonable. The Strawberry Lemonade will be done somewhere during the week of Dec 13 to Dec 20, but there is only one of those plants. The two Hulkberries will run the longest, and their window is Dec 20th to Dec 27. Looking at these plants and estimating harvests, conservatively I think we will harvest 24-30 dry oz of medicine before New Year's Day. 2023 is looking better all the time!

The buds that I am looking at all around the room are massive and tight. Everything is covered in trichomes, and we are still only at the beginning of week 5. What caused such amazing buds, you might ask? 720w of power beaming down at them from the @Cultiuana beast of a light, the CT-720. I am convinced that lights that I have used before this could not have produced these buds, and certainly not in 5 weeks.

So beautiful! I love seeing when the girls go into flower and show their true potential! And I've alaways been a sucker for fall colors and beautiful fades in the grow room. Everything is definitely on point and extremely happy under the new light Em! Very nice job!