Black Cloud - Blue Mystic - Coco - 600W MH/HPS

[Black Cloud]

have been browsing forums for a while, this is my first so please bear with me. I have not found a grow quite like the one that I am trying so I figured I should start my own. Thanks in advance for commenting and helping. I don't know any other growers and I don't talk about it with anyone so I appreciate the interaction.

This grow is sort of an experiment. I am trying to be as cautious and basic as possible with my little gals. No stress ever. No bending, cutting or pinching. 24/ 7 lights on. The only risky thing I am doing is PHd tap water. I live far from RO water but they seem to be doing okay with it

Several years ago some old friends and I pitched in and bought some gear and gave the grow a shot and failed miserably. After everyone had a turn and gave up I inherited everything and moved away. I tried a few times last year and failed as well, but this year I am optomistic. Lots of rookie mistakes but much wiser now. Below is my current setup:

What Strain is it? Blue Mystic feminized from Nirvana
Is it Indica, Sativa or Hybrid? What percentages? Hybrid, mostly indica
How Many Plants? 4
Is it in Vegetative or Flowering Stage? Vegetative
If in Vegetative Stage... How Long? 3 weeks from seed
If in Flowering Stage... How Long?
Indoor or Outdoor? Indoor
Soil or Hydro? Soil coco
If Soil... What is in your Mix? 100%
If Soil... What Size Pot? 3 gallon
Size (Wattage) of Light? How Many? 1 600 watt MH
Is it Air Cooled? Yes
Temperature of Room/Cabinet? 78-84
RH of Room/Cabinet?40-55
PH of Medium or Reservoir? 6-6.5
Any Pests? No
How Often are you Watering? Twice a day
Type and Strength of Fertilizers used? Flora Nova Grow. One tsp per gal
Size or Square Footage of Room? 5' x 3' x 6'

I will post up pics as soon as I figure it out

 

[Black Cloud]

Hopefully that works. The only issues I have are wrinkly leaves. One plant has weird leaves that turn. Not sure what that is all about. A few days ago I sprayed with neem oil in case it was a bug problem. Today the tallest is 11" after 3 weeks from seed. I plan on switching to 12/12 and changing the light to 400W HPS in 8 days. Let me know what you think

 

[Black Cloud]

I am going to pick up my HPS bulb next week, is it okay to get it from home depot? I just don't want to get ripped off from the hydro store

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Howdy Blackcloud. I am also a newby and therefor i have become familiar with what Not to do. First off your plants look healthy. Secondly, watering twice a day is too much but dont worry this is a Very common newby issue. To tell when they need water you can stick your finger 1" into the dirt and if there is no moisture/no dirt sticking to your finger then its time to water. I water mine once every 3 to 6 days and water until you get 20% runoff. What kind of pots are those? I have never seen any like that before. A home depot bulb should work just fine. Looking good though and you will have your first harvest soon.

 

[Black Cloud]

Howdy Blackcloud. I am also a newby and therefor i have become familiar with what Not to do. First off your plants look healthy. Secondly, watering twice a day is too much but dont worry this is a Very common newby issue. To tell when they need water you can stick your finger 1" into the dirt and if there is no moisture/no dirt sticking to your finger then its time to water. I water mine once every 3 to 6 days and water until you get 20% runoff. What kind of pots are those? I have never seen any like that before. A home depot bulb should work just fine. Looking good though and you will have your first harvest soon.

Thanks Nicholas. The hydro shop guy told me that if I use coco instead of soil I can feed them several times a day. They only take about a cup and a half per feeding. They haven't wilted or clawed on me yet so I am going to wait and see. I already have roots coming out the bottom so that is a good sign. The pots are just regular 3 gallon pots with heavy duty trays

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

My bad i thought you had soil. I dont know anything about coco but there are many good coco growers around that will surely be stoping by soon. Is the funky lookin leaves on all or just one or two? Sometimes it can just be a funky plant. One of my Liberty Haze has been weird and twisty looking from the beginning. But its still green and growin. Some guys will start a bunch of seeds and then only keep the best plants. That is not an option for me because i only have a limited amount and they cost nearly 10 bucks each.

 

[Black Cloud]

My bad i thought you had soil. I dont know anything about coco but there are many good coco growers around that will surely be stoping by soon. Is the funky lookin leaves on all or just one or two? Sometimes it can just be a funky plant. One of my Liberty Haze has been weird and twisty looking from the beginning. But its still green and growin. Some guys will start a bunch of seeds and then only keep the best plants. That is not an option for me because i only have a limited amount and they cost nearly 10 bucks each.

The really funky leaves are just from one plant but they seem to be getting better. Maybe they were too close to the fan one day. I hear ya on the limited seeds, mine cost me an arm and a leg too but after my last crop I had 100% males from bag seed so feminized is totally worth it. I checked on them this morning and they are over a foot tall. So exited to see the pistils

 

[Black Cloud]

There are no local hardware stores that sell 600 watt HID lights so I had to go with Amazon. I got the Apollo brand, it is supposed to be here tomorrow. Last night after feeding I spotted 2 out of 4 had pistils! That is 25 days from planting the seed. They are all about 17" each and have filled my grow tent. I will post up pics this weekend. I plan on going 12 hours of darkness tomorrow night. I have never had female mature plants so that is a huge milestone.

 

[Black Cloud]

Flowering time!! I light leak proofed the tent and switched the bulb to HPS and 12/12 cycle. The single plant pic was the one that was the worst off. Looks like she is doing alright now. I think the only issue I have is that they are a little crowded but I am going to stick to the experiment and not bend or cut off any leaves unless they are dying. I only have enough room vertically to double in height. Hopefully they don't stretch too much.

 

[shottafire]

Thanks Nicholas. The hydro shop guy told me that if I use coco instead of soil I can feed them several times a day. They only take about a cup and a half per feeding. They haven't wilted or clawed on me yet so I am going to wait and see. I already have roots coming out the bottom so that is a good sign. The pots are just regular 3 gallon pots with heavy duty trays

Yes water them three times a day even depending on root health and size of plant and vigor. 2 times will work great good on the hydro shop for the good info. Coco is great but its all about a balance and never letting them dry out, when you let that pot dry out it slows the plants growth and also wreaks havoc on the roots and can burn your plants fairly easily from the concentration of nutrients on the roots.

Flowering time!! I light leak proofed the tent and switched the bulb to HPS and 12/12 cycle. The single plant pic was the one that was the worst off. Looks like she is doing alright now. I think the only issue I have is that they are a little crowded but I am going to stick to the experiment and not bend or cut off any leaves unless they are dying. I only have enough room vertically to double in height. Hopefully they don't stretch too much.

Remove some of the largest fans and try to keep the apical cola from towering over the secondarys. keep shit even and get better weight. or follow through with your experiment, so you can be the judge. Hope i dont come off like some know it all just want to see people yield dank. GPW should always be a growers goal. although it wont happen everytime, when you hit that number its a great feeling.

 

[Black Cloud]

Thanks for the response shotta, much appreciated. I am torn on defoliation. Won't that stress the plant? I wish there was another thread that somebody else did a side by side comparison. I'm thinking about defoliating 2 plants and leaving 2 alone. I just don't want to screw myself. Have you personally grown without cutting leaves? If anyone has any experience please share

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

Hey Cloud I Like your idea of two with defol and two without. I have read alot about defoliation and it seems there are tons of opinions and arguements between growers. I did some light defoliation but I honestly like to tuck the fan leaves down and behind the bud sites. And also do a little bending too. It just feels safer for me. Maybe I will try a good defol on one of mine after the stretch is done. I have a Bubblicious that im sure will volunteer. The worst that can happen is a little less bud at harvest, or she could have bigger buds. We will find out. I have another Bubb right beside her to compare. Are you with me?

 

[shottafire]

do what you want to do. This is all a learning experience but canopy maintenance and keeping things flat and uniform are paramount in my opinion. Opinions are like a-holes everyone has one.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

I want to defol one plant and not defol one plant, both plants of the same strain and then compare outcomes. So i can learn for myself. Cloud also suggested possibly doing some defol on one or two also. Only then can we have an honest opinion on the subject.

 

[Black Cloud]

I slept on it and I decided I am going to remove the top fan leaves on 2 plants and have a side by side comparison. The reason I am on this forum is because of the experience from other growers and I do trust their opinions. I am keeping an open mind to everything. Since I am still a beginner I don't trust myself lol. I tend to learn best from failure but I really need this to be a decent harvest. From what I read so far I think it is best to wait until the second week of flowering. Back to combing the internet.

 

[shottafire]

I feel like you could benefit from a topping bro. Day 21 from the flip is a good time to do some defol, again at day 42 from the flip. The topping will help your yields, Just keep shit simple brotha. The internet can be a very misleading place for info.

 

[Nicholas Flamel]

I feel like you could benefit from a topping bro. Day 21 from the flip is a good time to do some defol, again at day 42 from the flip. The topping will help your yields, Just keep shit simple brotha. The internet can be a very misleading place for info.

True That

 

[PTSDgrower]

I just started the defoliating this grow, I did one plant while it was vegging and it turned out great, its only been in flower for 11 days now. I read that it all depends on the strain. I did do some pretty heavy defol at day 21 in flower(read thats when to do it, so you don't stress it during the strech) and been pulling fan leaves since, only if the flower site has at least an inch of growth and shadowing another bud site. Right now it is my best looking grow so far. Many things have changed though, new strains for me, and a new double ended bulb(1000 watt). I have yet to hit the GPW, but I did just have my biggest plant off a 600. It ended up being 11 oz.

 

[Black Cloud]

I was going to post an update this weekend but I can't wait. I'm freaking out and need some advise. These trees are getting too tall! They are 31" and I can only raise the light another 8". I know they are in the middle of the stretch but I'm worried they are going to get too tall. Also it doesn't look like the bud sites are showing any flowers. Is this normal? I was just thinking about defoliating all of the tops instead of just 2. It's a jungle in there! How many fan leaves should I take per plant? Also early this week I got some nute burn so I cut the nutes in half and that seemed to work. I still want to keep them as stress free as possible, what do you guys think?

 

[Black Cloud]