First grow - Lemon Kush

[KeepORgreen]

Here's a few shots of my lovely ladies, mostly Lemon Kush, but a couple of Sativas as well. Indoors, LED, soil, lightmover, fabric pots, LOTS of air changes, and organic nutes.

Harvest day is coming....

 

[lootznbootz]

Looking good!

 

[KeepORgreen]

Anybody know if it's okay to start trimming leaves ahead of harvest? My buddy suggested this, and said the fan leaves are no longer needed this far into flower. I would love to cut the ones the mites have munched since they can't be doing much photosynthesis anyway. Are there any opinions on this?

Here's a few more pics:

 

[KeepORgreen]

Been reading the forums on this site, and it seems sharply divided over whether to prune in flower leading up to harvest. Some say do it for more energy to the buds. Some say it will stress the plants and slow growth. What's a newb to do? I'm taking the natural route because it seems safer. I will trim a modest amount of leaves from my scrog, starting with the compromised leaves (mites refuse to go on holiday). Overall I'm happy with the results so far, even though most of the time I have no clue what I'm doing. Thank you internet and all the helpful growers out there; I'm more confused than ever! Seriously, most of us are still learning and the voices of the old-timers who know what they are doing get drowned out by those who are going by hearsay instead of experience. Eventually the voices of experience will come through as we all become master growers!

I'm only in the 6th week of flower, contrary to what I said in other threads (7 weeks on New Year's Day). Colas are starting to fatten up and I'm pumped! Next time, it's not gonna' be scrog and I will try a perpetual harvest setup after I expand my grow area. When the warm weather returns I will see what outdoor growing is like in southern Oregon.

 

[KeepORgreen]

I haven't removed many leaves yet, just the most damaged. Nearly every leaf I remove is covered with mites and eggs. There must be hundreds of thousands of those critters and they have no respect for my ladies. Since I am close to harvest, I am staying away from most of the methods I've used before (Azamax, Neem Oil, SNS 209) and I've gotten too lazy to sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the soil each time I water. Actually it is less laziness and more being careful with the girls. I have extreme difficulty getting around my scrog for watering, dead leaf removal, and even mite inspection. I have lately taken to spraying with water. For the compromised leaves on the top of the canopy, I just lift the leaves and spray the underside with water. This is said to remove the mites since they hate water. Of course if they fall off when I spray, they have no place to fall but back into the canopy. I also spray the canopy thoroughly from underneath. I did see online something I'm interested in: a small squeeze bottle with a spray tube coming out along with a funnel to catch the mites. You fill it with DE (diatomaceous earth) and just puff a little on the underside of the leaf. This would be very labor intensive in my scrog, but I've seen DE in action and mites stand little chance of survival. I examined one of the mite-covered leaves under magnification as I sprinkled DE on its underside. It quickly decimates their numbers. The only ones I've seen still moving are underneath webbing they've put down to protect the eggs. DE cuts their soft bodies when they come in contact with it. Very quickly they stop moving and then dehydrate and die. Awesome to watch once you've gotten totally fed up with these little beasts!

I don't want DE near the buds because even though it is safe to consume the stuff (and many do for health reasons) it is absolutely NOT safe to breathe the airborne dust. You must be careful applying this (shut off fans, perhaps use a dust mask) and in particular, keep away from the buds. I do not want to be smoking DE any more than I want to smoke mites (although it is said that we all have done it unknowingly if we've been at it for more than a few years)! The same goes for the other products I've used: despite being natural and generally safe they would probably impact on the flavor of the bud.

Since this is my first time, I have no idea how far I am away from harvest. I'm just starting the 9th week after 12/12 flip, but I think it took a couple of weeks before I saw any buds forming. I don't know which point "time in flower" is measure from, but looking at the colors (trichomes/hairs) I'm guessing I may still be a few weeks from harvest. Since I have multiple strains (sative and indica dominant hybrids) and some were compromised severely enough to inhibit growth, I will have many colas not ready to cut when others are ready. My plan is to cut those ready for harvest and let the rest keep going. This seems like it could be problematic, but time will tell.

I will get more photos up and update the status once the girls wake up and I have some time to make a thorough assessment.

 

[BreakertripR]

Here's a few shots of my lovely ladies, mostly Lemon Kush, but a couple of Sativas as well. Indoors, LED, soil, lightmover, fabric pots, LOTS of air changes, and organic nutes.

Harvest day is coming....

Great pics

breakertripr