# First grow - Afghan + Sativa - advice needed



## Thorn (Oct 12, 2007)

Ok this grow was started in the middlie on july from seeds. 3 plants germinated; 1 Afghan and 2 easy sativa. The first pic is of them is at 3/4 weeks - unfortunately the sativa on the right, Ginny, turned out to be male.

So now we have one easy sativa the one on the left, and one afghan on the right. The afghan was quite bushy but has unfortunately suffered some stretching at the beginning of flowering.

They have been flowering now for 4 weeks on sunday. However, the first week was stunted due to light leak which was resolved by moving the plants.

They seem to be doing well - lots of white hairs, but some of the lower leaves on the sativa have gone brown and curled at the ends (as shown in pictures) and one of her upper leaves in yellowing (as can be seen in the second pic).

The afghan's leaves have started curling slightly at the sides, as shown..

They were quite damp yesterday, so i'm leaving them be for now, incase it was over watering. They are under CFLs (unfortunately I do not have room or money for anything more), and in soil mixed with perlite and vermiculite, on 12/12 and are being fed a NPK solution of 16-10-27. The pH was just above 7 - it always has been, but I was going to try and lower it with the next feed/watering, incase it helped.

Any advice welcome, thanx


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Oct 13, 2007)

*Looking good mang. What are your temps and how close do you have them from the lights? You should also try and get that PH down to about 6.5  *


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## Thorn (Oct 13, 2007)

They are only 2-3 inches below the light - I try the keep them as close as possible. Temp is hovering around 18-20 C - I have a heater in the room. I have one fan circulating air.

Yea man i'm on it with next feed  thanx for lookin


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## Thorn (Oct 14, 2007)

Ok no change in the leaves and I pulled off some of the dead ones around the bottom..just hope this isn't anything more serious..


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## GrandDaddyToke (Oct 14, 2007)

Looking Real Nice Thorn!!
Good Luck On The Sativa Mine Out-grew A Six Foot Area. I Transplanted Outside And They Died. :fid:  We Had Rain For A Week  After I Transplanted. I Think They Drowned.:spit: 

*:aok: NICE LOOKING SETUP YOU HAVE :aok:​*


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## Thorn (Oct 14, 2007)

Cheers man, I've decided to flush them through slowly this week with just distilled water with added lemon juice to lower the pH, as I think a nutrient solution I used last week raised the pH. Some of the leave are more brown now, but just gonna flush and see how they go.

I was growing them in a space of only 1m height.. but soon realised they were gonna boost out of there as soon as they went into flowering time! They have as much space as they want now


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## dj_destroyer (Oct 16, 2007)

its too bad you cant up the lights! those ladies would love to soak up some sun


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## Thorn (Oct 16, 2007)

Yesterday I trimmed the fan leaves off the ladies so that the light can get to the lower branches. Today i watered them with distilled water mixed with lime juice to lower the pH (this took several attempts as I botched it) and they seem to be doing ok.

Will upload some pics when there's more of a change (their lookin a bit bare without the leaves!) and hopefully more bud..


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## Thorn (Oct 19, 2007)

Heres some new pics of the ladies that I just took. Sorry the quality is crap, i was usin my old phone.

I'm hoping their gonna bud up a bit more soon, but have a nasty feelin they won't :confused2:


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Oct 19, 2007)

*Whats up Thorn. Trimming off fan leaves is a big no no as they are being used by your plant. In the future no more trimming. As far as your buds fatting up not sure. How many lights and how many lumens do each of your lights put out? You should have atleast 3,000 lumens per square foot of grow space most go for 5,000.  *


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## Thorn (Oct 19, 2007)

I've only got 2 20W CFLs not sure what lumens they give out, but i really can't afford to get anything else :S

Didn't know that about fan leaves, I thought it may help as there wasn't much light at all getting to the lower nodes.

The afghan started showing thc glands on the top a few days ago.

Thanks for your help man.


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## Thorn (Oct 19, 2007)

Ok been thinking and just wanted to see what you guys thought of this lamp system and what lumen output it would give?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/150w-GIB-Ligh...hZ004QQcategoryZ43555QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem


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## mastersativa (Oct 19, 2007)

That e-bay light would help alot, and the price is spot on also. I have just replied in another thread that was looking at the same light, lol. And also, cfl's are pretty cheap bro, thats all i use, simply for the fact that they run cooler, they use less energy, and are readily available at any local store. I am currently running eight of these bulbs and have not seen any increase in my electric bill. I also went through the house and replaced most of my other bulbs with cfl's at the same time, maybe thats why i saw no increase.


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## Thorn (Oct 19, 2007)

Thanks man, yea i replied to ya in the other thread. I should be around half way through flowering now, but their not the best lookin girls!


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## Thorn (Oct 22, 2007)

Ok the plants have been moved (yet again) but are ok. I've just bought the 150W HPS so am hoping that'll come in the next few days and then they can finish off just nice.

The pH is still a little high although I don't want to give them anymore water, as the soil is very damp atm.


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## Thorn (Nov 4, 2007)

Slight update just incase anyone's watching. The plants are officially at 7 weeks flowering today, but remember that forst week was a bit messed up with light leaks.

I did manage to get the 150W HPS lamp and it is brilliant but by the time we'd had it delivered and set it up it didn't make any difference to bud growth. So my girls have very little bud, but its ok as its all trial and error and to be honest smoking anything i've managed to grow is amazing!

Heres some pics, sorry i couldn't be bothered to move them out of the grow space. The last pic is a bit blurry and is of the Afghan. The other one (sativa) is looking alright, but i'm not really sure when to harvest them. They smell sooooooo good!  Afghan's pistils are startin to look nice and brown..


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## jash (Nov 4, 2007)

hey Thorn, ,just found the thread man,give them some time with the hps and you'll see how they love that light:hubba:,you still have time to get your sativa buds fattened,good luck with your ladies man


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## Thorn (Nov 5, 2007)

Cheers Jash.. yea the hps seems to be doing them so much good. Will keep u updated!


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## 85cannabliss (Nov 5, 2007)

maybe that afghan will go a little longer too, did you sort the yellowing leaves on the sativa, it looks similar to what was happening to a few of mine inthe early days of vag, they only needed a bigger pot and they were fine, maybe if id thought of it a little earlier, i would have saved the 3 i lost lol.

great looking plants there THORN, keep it up man,


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## Thorn (Nov 5, 2007)

Yea I cut the leaves that were going yellow and also the biggest ones to let more light to the lower buds .. at the time i didnt realise i shouldnt have done that. But have had no other yellowing since apart from the leaves right at the bottom.

I'll take pics of the when they reach 8 weeks, and see what everyone thinks.


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## Thorn (Nov 9, 2007)

Ok, not quite 8 weeks yet but my fella got a new phone with 3.2 megapixel camera and I got a bit excited about the pics it took so here we go...

Pic 1: Both plants together
Pics 2 & 3: The top of the Easy Sativa
Pic 4: Top of the Afghan
Pic 5: Detailed Afghan buds :fly:

Gotta love it.

I've ordered a 30X magnifying glass which i was hoping would come today, but now hoping tomorrow! Let me know your thoughts...


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Nov 15, 2007)

*Whats up Thorn. Yes the ladies are looking much better once you put the HPS in. :aok:  Like ya said use this grow as a learning experience.   Crap mang i can remember our first grow and it was a disaster. Gave them full strength nutes using MG soil and turned them into Freddy Krueger plants.  They were so crispy you could pull the weed right off the plant and smoke it. :rofl: Your next grow will be much better trust me mang.  *


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## Thorn (Nov 15, 2007)

Cheers man! Yea u gotta learn somehow eh!

Can't wait to do another grow with the knowledge i've gained from this site.. i'll know what to do from the beginning and not do anything stupid to the plants lol!


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## Thorn (Nov 19, 2007)

Ok the ladies hit 9 weeks flowering yesterday so i took some pics. I also snipped a bud off the afghan that looked like it had the most brown pistils and its drying in with the plants as a taster of whats to come... we couldn't wait!

The loupe came (finally!) but the ladies aren't awake yet. I did look at the bud i already snipped with it and from what i could tell the glands looked pretty clear.

Anyway here's some pics..

1) Both plants (they've swapped over as they were leaning.. see sativa's growth spurt)
2) The top of the Afghan
3 & 4) Close-ups of some afghan buds
5) Top of the Sativa
6 & 7) Close-ups of some sativa buds

To me the sativa looks no where near ready yet, but let me know what you think. I mean should i have been giving the sativa some nutes?


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## Thorn (Nov 19, 2007)

Ok I just managed to take some pics using the loupe and thought i'd add them so here's what we got..

First 2 are of the sativa, second 2 are of the afghan..

:ignore:

Let me know your thoughts.. :watchplant:


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## DankCloset (Nov 19, 2007)

wow, how'd i miss this, yeah at the start it did look like u were having a problem lighting up the whole plant, looks like things are lookin up for ya, happy growin

Dc


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## goddog (Nov 19, 2007)

cut the tops if they get too tall....  keep them bushyer....

then bend them to max your indoor light.


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## DankCloset (Nov 19, 2007)

goddog said:
			
		

> cut the tops if they get too tall....  keep them bushyer....
> 
> then bend them to max your indoor light.




who in there right mind would top a plant in flower. take advice from those who seem like they have some common sence. no offense goddog but that was not useful.

Dc


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## Thorn (Nov 19, 2007)

maybe he meant cut the tops when their ready and leave the rest closer to the lights to do? i dunno :S Thanks for input anyways,

any body else got any thoughts?


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## DankCloset (Nov 19, 2007)

lol a partial harvest, well the top should mature before the rest of the plant due to the light.

Dc


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## Thorn (Nov 20, 2007)

Got a few more close ups of the afghan buds. The trichs look like their goin amber in this pic, but i looked at them last night and couldn't see any amber tichs


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Nov 20, 2007)

*Whats up Thorn. It's gonna be hard to tell from the pics if they are ready to harvest or not. That job is gonna be yours mang. I would check them about every 3 days or so for amber trichromes. That's what we do when it get's close to harvest time. By the way them ladies do have some serious trichromes on them don't they. :aok: *


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## Dr.Dro (Nov 20, 2007)

Very nice thorn, they are looking great bro!
Dro:cool2:


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## jash (Nov 20, 2007)

hey Thorn! great improvement now with the hps man!:hubba: soon you will smoking your own nice buds! hps all the way man!


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## Thorn (Nov 20, 2007)

Cheers guys! Yea man i can't wait to smoke these babies...smokin me own home grown weed! gonna be such a good feelin! So glad i got the hps now.. also means when i next decide to grow i can have the option of a veg space and flower space at same time 

Yea that afghan's full of juicy trichs, the sativa not so much, but theres sh*t loads more bud sites on her.


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## Thorn (Nov 26, 2007)

Ok the ladies are at 10 weeks, 1 day today. I'm really struggling to see the trichs clear enough to tell their colour but haven't enough time to get anything better now.

They need to hurry up as we are moving soon so on friday i changed the light to be on for 10 hours every day.

Here's a few pics but they're not great quality this time.

Pic 1 - Both plants together
Pic 2 - Close-up Afghan buds
Pic 3 - Top of the Afghan
Pic 4 - Top of the Sativa

Almost all the pistils on the afghan are brown now, but i'm struggling so much with the trichs i just dont know whether to pull her now or let her keep going. So worried i'm gonna leave her too late.

Any help appreciated


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## Thorn (Nov 28, 2007)

Got some new pics i've just taken..these are better quality.

Pic 1: Both plants
Pics 2 - 5: Easy Sativa
Pics 6 - 9: Afghan

I'd really appreciate anyones opinion on how far along they look from these pics. Thanks.


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## Dr.Dro (Nov 28, 2007)

Nice update bro!
Looks like they put a little weight on 
Good luck on the rest of your the grow man:hubba: 
Dro:cool2:


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## Thorn (Nov 29, 2007)

Cheers Dro. Anyone got advice that might help?

I don't know whether their taking their time because of the crappy light i used to have, or if their actually done and i can't see it :S


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## Thorn (Dec 1, 2007)

Anybody?


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## choking_victim (Dec 1, 2007)

looking great man. keep up the good work, and keep em' green!

 they look about 3-4 weeks into flowering to me.


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## Thorn (Dec 2, 2007)

actually their 11 weeks today. their skimpy because of the poor light they had at the beginning of flowering. They should be done by now but i'm struggling to see any colour change in the trichs.


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## Dr.Dro (Dec 2, 2007)

What kind of lights are you using?
Dro:cool2:


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## Thorn (Dec 2, 2007)

now using 150W hps, but did only have 2 cfl's for a while. its all written here anyway in the journal.

Anyway i think i could actually notice some difference earlier when lookin at the trichs, rather than them just all lookin the same.

The easy sativa's have become really white, but there are still a lot of pistils to change colour. The afghan now looks like their cloudy. but hey i have no idea wht i'm doin lol


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## Dr.Dro (Dec 2, 2007)

Yea maybe the sudden switch, I'am not sure.
They still look good bro
Dro:cool2:


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## Thorn (Dec 3, 2007)

nah man that was a while ago. 

i jus wanted some help with the trichs.


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## Dr.Dro (Dec 3, 2007)

I would help you but I'am not sure myself
Dro:cool2:


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## Thorn (Dec 3, 2007)

no worries, thanx anyway man. I'm gonna be moving house in less than 2 weeks so need to get things going


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## jash (Dec 3, 2007)

at this stage a microscope will be a great help to tell if theyr ready.its difficult to tell by eye-color of pistils


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## Thorn (Dec 3, 2007)

I've got my 30X jewellers loupe and they are cloudy from what i can tell. i just reduced the lights to just 8 hours on so they can hurry up for this last little stretch. Decided they gonna be pulled end of this week latest.


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## jash (Dec 3, 2007)

you have your loupe so your ok!


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## Thorn (Dec 3, 2007)

yea but i'm still really struggling to tell any difference. anyway i'll keep trying.


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## Thorn (Dec 4, 2007)

Today we smoked a bud i cut off  the afghan 2 days ago and were buzzing for hours!! Such a nice smoke. I cut the top bud off last night to dry but then today after that smoke decided to cut her down completely. Just finished picking flies off her with tweezers as they were stuck. She's very sticky. Am very happy so far even though she's skimpy. Gonna try and save some of her for xmas 

Left the sativa under for another day or two. her trichs are definately milky, but only about 40% of the pistils have turned brown.


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Dec 4, 2007)

*CONGRATS on your harvest Thorn. :aok: *


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## Thorn (Dec 4, 2007)

Thanx man, felt so good smoking my own grown weed and feeling battered


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## THE BROTHER'S GRUNT (Dec 4, 2007)

*The great thing is the more you grow the more you learn. The more you learn the better the weed gets.   :hubba: *


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## Thorn (Dec 4, 2007)

yeah... i can't wait to start growing some aurora indica or white widow


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## Ganja_Greg (Jan 31, 2008)

Thorn said:
			
		

> Ok this grow was started in the middlie on july from seeds. 3 plants germinated; 1 Afghan and 2 easy sativa. The first pic is of them is at 3/4 weeks - unfortunately the sativa on the right, Ginny, turned out to be male.
> 
> So now we have one easy sativa the one on the left, and one afghan on the right. The afghan was quite bushy but has unfortunately suffered some stretching at the beginning of flowering.
> 
> ...


 

man some sativa just look wierd.. all skinny and stuff i wonder what strain my plant actually is cuz it looks nothing like this sativa.


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## Thorn (Jan 31, 2008)

yea mine didn't have much light tho..started off with just one 20W cfl for 3 plants. then i only got another light cos one of my pets chewed thru the wire of the other one lol! then fixed that one and had 2. Still usin them lights now for my new grow, but in a much smaller space and for only 1 plant. Also those sativa's were my free seeds from the seedbank and on all the other seedbanks that sell them, sell them as an outdoor plant :S


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## longtimegrower (Jan 31, 2008)

Just wondering do you have a fan blowing on your plants at all. Slim Yea and i think those sativas don`t do well at all indoors.


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## Thorn (Jan 31, 2008)

this grow is finished btw longtimegrower and i did for a while but then it was too noisy and they were open enough anyway in my bedroom so they did ok. my yield was okay well great seeing as i wasn't expecting anything at all off my first try lol! there seemed a lot there but not much in weight. it lasted me and my fella 1 about 1 month of smoking 1-3 joints a day.


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