Volksball's Second Waltz With The White Widow, 2019

[volksball]

On the advice of of Graytail, I have been leaving the fans that adjoin the branches and just taking the branches. There's a load of info in that one post of his!

Perfect! I'll have a good read of it before the procedure. Ha. Thx Shed!

 

[volksball]

On the advice of of Graytail, I have been leaving the fans that adjoin the branches and just taking the branches. There's a load of info in that one post of his!

Alright, I read the section you linked. Great info and very thorough. So, correct me if I'm wrong:

Trim the fans that are covered and touching soil as well as bud sites that'll never see the light of the upper canopy. Leave the big older/lower fans on because they will store valuable sugars needed during late flower, fade, then fall off. Trimming those is really pointless, and even detrimental as the hormones I'm trying to divert to the upper growth would have bypassed older fans anyhow, so in essence, I'm just robbing the plant of sugars and doing little else.

Useless budsites and lower, covered fans are the target here...

I miss anything?

 

[InTheShed]

No, all good! If you have a bushy plant though it can be a pain to take off each branch and leave the adjoining fan, so don't feel bad if you don't have the patience to leave them all on.

 

[volksball]

No, all good! If you have a bushy plant though it can be a pain to take off each branch and leave the adjoining fan, so don't feel bad if you don't have the patience to leave them all on.

Perfect. I have a couple little bushes, so they may just be spared the haircut. The others may not be so lucky. It might be a good experiment to see the differences in effect.

Thx again!

 

[volksball]

Hey folks..

Anyday on the flip. Tent is about full. Just waiting for my backup bulb to arrive and it's showtime!

Fed them 5.5g of MC in 2 gallons each. Not a heck of a lot of runoff. Dried them out pretty good this time. Trying to get those roots to grow out wide before the flip.

Have a look! Pics are kind of the same, but who doesn't like pics? Even from slightly different angles??

Day 58

V

 

[InTheShed]

Waiting for the backup bulb to arrive before you flip illuminates a very specific aspect of your personality! Most folks would figure the bulb they're using has another week on it .

 

[volksball]

Waiting for the backup bulb to arrive before you flip illuminates a very specific aspect of your personality! Most folks would figure the bulb they're using has another week on it .

Ha! Perfect assessment. Take an already cautious personality and blow a ballast in early veg that blew out my MH (if you remember), and the universe has confirmed my life's worries.

And we wait...

 

[volksball]

Showtime! Kinda... ha.

If the universe wasn't laughing at me...

The lights come on at 7pm because the electricity costs are half of peak times rates. At 6:55, I had to fit the old HPS. It had to happen today. I'm running outta headroom to give space for stretch. Well, doesnt the bulb show up at 7:20...

Ah well, bulb switch tomorrow...at 6:55. Then, showtime! Ha..

They're getting 65k lux at the best spots right now. The weakest spots are around 45k. That'll only increase during stretch, so I'll likely have to dim the ballast to 750w to save burning and too much light.

Should I be under 50% RH and 24c (75f) starting now? They're still up around 60% and 26c (75f). If I crank up the fan and filter, I drop to around 40% and 24c. Too much too soon?

Thx
V

Day 60

 

[InTheShed]

It would be really nuts if the bulb blew tonight!

In terms of RH, it matters most when the pistils show and the buds start to build, so 60% should be okay for a while. 50% and 24c would be fine now too, since you're going to get there eventually.

Are the temps/RH the same during lights out?

 

[volksball]

It would be really nuts if the bulb blew tonight!

In terms of RH, it matters most when the pistils show and the buds start to build, so 60% should be okay for a while. 50% and 24c would be fine now too, since you're going to get there eventually.

Are the temps/RH the same during lights out?

Let's not jinx it, eh? Ha. I thought it but couldn't bring myself to say it. someone had to. Lol.

The humidity increases a few percent during lights out and the temps drop about 5.5c. So, say 63%/21.5c.

 

[InTheShed]

So when you get to 50% RH for flower, what do you think your temps will be?

 

[volksball]

So when you get to 50% RH for flower, what do you think your temps will be?

Well, if I dim the ballast to 75%, (which I'll have to if the numbers are what they are at this point), that drop a few degrees. Offset by the increasing plant height, I could probably get them to 24c, steady. There's also a 50% setting on the ballast if need be, but I'd like to not need to. Used that setting on my last grow. Good buds, but I'm shooting for better. Didn't have a good enough extraction fan last grow. The one I have now should allow for a cooler tent, so more light intensity.

I should mention, the fan/filter numbers above are using it on the lowest setting. If I crank it, more heat/humidity gets extracted. That improvement should provide for better conditions this go around. Some experimentation will have to happen to find sweet spots.

 

[volksball]

So if it could go bad, it would.

Just finishing prepping for leaving town for a few days, filled the humidifier, about to grab the door and.... I hit the main switch. Shut down the operation. Lights out four days after flip. Not sure how itll affect them, but hopefully they understand. No pistles yet, so maybe not quite into flower. Had to set up a light tower while the bulb cooled enough to light. Lights were off and under the CFLs fir about 15 mins. They gave off that "lights out" smell. Maybe they think it was a dark and rainy day? They got watered pretty heavy.

Any thoughts?

Day 64/4F

V

 

[InTheShed]

Get them back on schedule and hope for the best! There are growers who always do 48 hours of dark at flip so you just bested them.

Oh, and watch for nanners. That's about the only thing I can think of that might go wrong.

 

[volksball]

Get them back on schedule and hope for the best! There are growers who always do 48 hours of dark at flip so you just bested them.

Oh, and watch for nanners. That's about the only thing I can think of that might go wrong.

What are nanners?

 

[volksball]

Get them back on schedule and hope for the best! There are growers who always do 48 hours of dark at flip so you just bested them.

Oh, and watch for nanners. That's about the only thing I can think of that might go wrong.

Oh got it. Just read about nanners, or bananas. I'm not sure the stress caused by the 15 mins of dark will do it. It seems those, and herming in general is more caused by an interrupted dark schedule. 5 mins of dark, then 10 mins filled in light by CFLs should do much, I don't imagine? Or am I being a bit too hopeful?

I'm not sure if I was being clear the first time, or are you saying that a 15 min interruption in the light schedule can cause this? They're just on day 4 since flipping - not lights out for 4 days.

The worst thing is, after tomorrow morning, I wont see them again until Thursday night. How long until these nanners show?

Thx again.

 

[InTheShed]

What? I thought you left them in the dark for 4 days!

A 15 minute light interruption is fine.

And nanners usually show up later in flower as the buds swell. Still, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[volksball]

What? I thought you left them in the dark for 4 days!

A 15 minute light interruption is fine.

And nanners usually show up later in flower as the buds swell. Still, I wouldn't worry about it.

Ah cheers. Thanks for taking a look, Shed. Whatever is done, is done! No changes anymore. We're out!

The girls have been watered at 6g of MC per gallon, the lights reduced to 75% as they were getting 85k lux at the center at 100%. Now they're getting 55k, which gives them some room for stretch while we're away.

Day - 24c/60%
Night 19c/60%

I won't see them until the eve of Dec 26th, when we get home from Christmas travels where I can make some adjustments after they hit flower. Wish them luck!

Merry Christmas, everyone!
V

 

[InTheShed]

Merry Christmas to you and the whole VB clan!

 

[volksball]

Hey everyone..

The ladies made it through our time away and are stretching quite nicely. Pistles showing and fed them at 6g/gal today. It's a jungle in there. I probably could have defoled a bit better before the flip, but that seems to fit my conservative approach to this hobby. Next grow... ha.

Day 70/10F

V