# First grow pics



## Nilla420 (Jan 29, 2006)

This is my first attempt to grow cannabis. My closet is 6ftlong x 3.5ft wide, I can only get my lights bout 4ft high cause of slanted cealling. For vegative I used 6 4ft tubes, I added a 250 watt mini horrizontal hps( I think thats the biggest I can go with out getting too hot) for flowereing at about 6-7 weeks old. I Made a lot of first time mystakes. I used miracle grow soil. I over watered, over fertilized, and over analyized every flaw on every plant. My plants were in undersized pots for a long time. I cut off too many fan leaves. I'm sure there is more that I have done wrong, I just don't know it yet. Thank god its a weed, or I would have nothing to smoke. LOL 
I knew I would make a lot of mystakes my first grow so I used commercial seeds. I planted 10 seeds, 9 germinated, and 6 out of 9 were females. Yay. Well I think things are gonna turn out ok, I'm not gonna get the yeild I wanted, but I learned a lot and will have smokeable buds that I'm sure well get me high.
well worth it to throw some seeds in some dirt instead of the trash.
Here are some pics 42 days into flowering. Hard to keep waiting.


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## Nilla420 (Jan 29, 2006)

Thankyou everyone who has taken the time to give me advice.  I have planted 30 more seeds in a second room.  I am sure I will have more questions and pics in the future.


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## Stoney Bud (Jan 29, 2006)

Nilla420 said:
			
		

> This is my first attempt to grow cannabis. My closet is 6ftlong x 3.5ft wide, I can only get my lights bout 4ft high cause of slanted ceiling. For vegetative I used 6 4ft tubes, I added a 250 watt mini horizontal hps( I think that's the biggest I can go with out getting too hot) for flowering at about 6-7 weeks old. I Made a lot of first time mistakes. I used miracle grow soil. I over watered, over fertilized, and over analyzed every flaw on every plant. My plants were in undersized pots for a long time. I cut off too many fan leaves. I'm sure there is more that I have done wrong, I just don't know it yet. Thank god its a weed, or I would have nothing to smoke. LOL
> I knew I would make a lot of mistakes my first grow so I used commercial seeds. I planted 10 seeds, 9 germinated, and 6 out of 9 were females. Yay. Well I think things are gonna turn out OK, I'm not gonna get the yield I wanted, but I learned a lot and will have smokable buds that I'm sure well get me high.
> well worth it to throw some seeds in some dirt instead of the trash.
> Here are some pics 42 days into flowering. Hard to keep waiting.


Well hey Nilla, you've done an outstanding job for a first grow, man!!!

You seem to have learned a great deal for having done only one crop. You may be one of the naturals!!!

You're into your 7th week of flowering now. Keep it up until between 8 to 10 weeks of flowering, you'll notice that the hairs on the flowers start turning a nice golden color. When about half of them have turned, you can harvest your crop man. It's tempting to do so sooner, but the THC production is maxing out right now and will continue to increase until the point I mentioned. Harvesting sooner will just limit the strength of your buds. Harvesting too late will do the same thing because the THC will start to degrade.

Pick no bud before it's time...

Great job man!


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## Insane (Jan 29, 2006)

Yeah Nilla, for your first grow, thats very impressive! Nice job! But like Stoney Bud said make sure to let about half of the white hairs turn gold/amber/brown and then harvest it, so just try and be patient for another 1-3 weeks, I know its hard but its worth it trust me! Good luck and happy growing!


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## MMilitiaR (Jan 29, 2006)

wow, you have, a green thumb, and those plants look great!!!


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## Nilla420 (Jan 29, 2006)

This is my first time growing, but I have been reading about it for a long time.  I bought "Marijuana Grower's Insider's guide" by Mel Frank  8 years ago.  Its been like a bilble for the last 3 months.  Pretty much every thing I have read says the two biggest factors in losing thc is time of harvest, and curing method. So like you guys say, I am drewling and waiting.  Hard to do, my computer is in same room as my garden, the smell makes my mouth water, and I am smoking pinches from the last of my sac to make it last.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Most of my plants won't be harvested at the same time.  One is real close, not many buds but maybe 30% red hairs.  One that I topped looks like it is  maybe two weeks behind.  She was the last one to show gender.  Was thinking of putting the one that has a lot of red hairs on an 8/16 light/dark and leaving the rest on 12/12.  I read that will speed up ripeness, but you won't get max yeild.  I won't yeild much from that one anyways, and will be easier to wait for the rest.  I'm not sure what I'll do though.      Thanks for the compliments.  I love smoking, talking bout, and reading about Weed.


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## Mutt (Jan 29, 2006)

Killer dude.


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## Nilla420 (Jan 31, 2006)

I harvested one of my plants, It has the fewest budds and rippend  a lot faster then the others are.  I guess thats because it has seeds.  Not sure how it happened, maybe left a male in little too long, and that female was faster then the rest.  I don't think any of my other plants have seeds, but have to wait for lights to turn on to make sure.  I thought some pods looked like they had seeds in them, but being newbie I thought the budds were swelling cause they were close to done.  Can some hermaphrodite budds cause seeds?


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## Hick (Feb 2, 2006)

Pistil color change isn't an accurate refference for harvesting. Here is a c/p from DJ Short(one of my favorite authors/authorities)

Harvesting Marijuana! When To Harvest Your Marijuana Crop

By DJ Short

There are several important points to consider when choosing the optimum time to harvest your marijuana crop. There are different factors to consider between indoor and outdoor marijuana plants. There is the difference between Sativas and Indicas in bloom duration and final effect.

There is the difference between early and late harvest to encourage head to body high respectively. There is the issue of chemistry because what we are really considering in terms of the ripeness relates directly to the chemical nature and state of the plant at harvest. Last, but not least, is the concept of the window for marijuana harvest, where I will begin.


Window For Harvesting Your Marijuana Crop

This term indicates the period during which the plant is at its optimum state of ripeness. The window opens when the plant is first ripe. Somewhere along the line the plant becomes over-ripe which signifies the closing of the window of harvest.

For most Indicas grown indoors, the window of harvest is about two weeks long give or take a couple of days for various strains. Indoors, if going directly from an 18/6 hour vegetative light cycle to a 12/12 hour bud cycle, most indicas take about eight weeks to fully mature.

As to outdoors I can only speak from experience at the 45th parallel and the bloom times there. At the 45th parallel I've found most Indicas to be at peak harvest starting at the beginning of October, sometimes very late September, and running until the end of October, sometimes running into November during mild years or in a greenhouse. My favorite time to harvest a nice Blueberry Indica outdoors is in the second to third week of October.

For Sativa grown either indoors or outdoors, the window may be open much longer. Some Sativas take up to thirteen weeks to mature indoors. Outdoors many will go well into November and even December, if conditions are right (again, this is near or at the 45th parallel). Head High or Body Stone?

An important consideration has to do with one's preference for a head high or more of a body high. A good head high can positively influence one's mental state much like a psychedelic; whereas a good body high is more similar to a narcotic effect. Generally, head highs tend to be more up and body highs tend to be more down. Suffice it to say that a good healthy mix of the two is a fine goal to achieve.

Sativas and early window harvests tend to be more of a head high, whereas Indicas and late window harvests tend to be more of a body high. Given this rule of thumb you can pretty much come up with what you want. That is, if you prefer a very psychedelic head high, then an early harvested Sativa might do best.

If a very narcotic body high is desired, then a late harvest indicas would probably do best. For that best-of-both worlds high, experimentation with late harvested sativas and early-to-mid harvested indicas usually proves interesting.


Magnify Your Buds

When we speak of various highs experienced by different products, we are noting variations in plant chemistry. The chemicals we enjoy are produced within the glandular stalked trichomes, along the surfaces of the bud flowers (calyxes), bracts, leaves and stems, starting in or around the fourth week of the bud cycle. More and more of these trichomes develop as the plant matures.

I highly recommend that the serious cannabis student acquire a 30X power, illuminated magnifier. These can be found at most local electronics stores, often for under fifteen dollars. With the aid of the magnifier one can learn more about the detail of trichome development and ripeness.

As far as trichomes are concerned, the tall ones with swollen, clear, bulbous heads are what to shoot for. The denser the concentration, the greater the potency.



The Cycle Of Marijuana Plant Maturity

Starting in the third or fourth week of the flowering light cycle, glandular stalked trichomes will begin to form along the surfaces of leaves, flowers, bracts and stems. At the same time, more and more flowers (also called calyxes) develop into densely-packed floral clusters.

The pistils of the young flowers are bright white and turn reddish brown with age. The pistils and flowers develop from the bottom of the bud to the top. The older, lower pistils are the first to turn reddish brown. For most basic indicas this usually happens by the sixth week in the flowering cycle. It is about this time that the calyxes begin to swell.

Calyx swelling is a major indicator of peak maturity. The lowest, oldest calyxes swell first and the swelling works its way up to the highest, youngest flowers on each bud. At peak maturity about 90% of the calyxes will almost look seeded, they are so fat.

Three quarters to 90% of the pistils will have turned reddish brown as well. For a basic Indica this takes well into the seventh week of the flowering cycle.

By the end of the eighth week most of the calyxes will have swollen and a surge of trichome development has coated most of the buds. It is now that the development of a very discerning palate comes into play to determine the finest harvest time. Remember - patience is a virtue and often a discipline.

The ripening signs for most Sativas are highly similar, except extended over a longer period of time. Occasionally, some Sativas have windows of peak harvest that actually open and close. That is, for a week or so the plant may exhibit signs of peak ripeness.

However, a week later the plant may have a growth spurt, which lowers the trichome-to-fibre ratio and overall potency for a little while. Usually a fibrous growth spurt is accompanied by a corresponding trichome increase. Again, time and experience are the key elements in this regard.



Changes In Marijuana Chemistry

As the plant matures through its window of harvest its chemistry changes. As the window closes, the more desirable compounds begin breaking down into less desirable ones. Primarily it is THC breaking down in CBNs and CBDs.

Which particular combination of chemicals is the most desirable is purely a matter of taste and choice, developed over time and with experience. Set and setting also play an important role in determining which type of product is best appreciated.

Pleasant head highs are often desirable for social occasions, whereas a narcotic late-window Indica may work better as an evening medicinal herb. The main point is that these differences are chemical in nature and more research is needed to more fully understand this phenomenon.

Another important point is that much can be done to further enhance the chemical process, especially in regard to bouquet, aroma and flavour, given the proper curing process.


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## gqone333 (Feb 25, 2006)

great crop i thinking about ordering commercial seeds too.where did you get yours
and dont worry those seeds ,there strait chronic same ass the onces you grew, but better because your cross breeding


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## Hick (Feb 25, 2006)

> Can some hermaphrodite budds cause seeds?


..absolutely!! and those seeds will also inheritantly carry the same hermophrodite tendency. "Shit can" those seeds. They are a detriment to _any_ breeding program, with the a goal to improve on medicinal/drug quality. 
  Here's why...MJ let go "feral", degrades in thc quality dramatically, and becomes hemp over a few generations. This is due to the fact that left to "natural selection", the earliest flowering males AND hermi plants are usually the ones that pollinate the fems. Further degrading the gene pool generation after generation.
  There is even a "theory" that the north  american "Ruderallis" (Russian for 'by the side of the road'), or Russian hemp, actually never came from Russia at all. But from breeders, breeding only their earliest flowering, fastest maturing males to their earliest, fastest females. In an attempt to cut overall grow time. 




> and dont worry those seeds ,there strait chronic same ass the onces you grew, but better because your cross breeding



"Cross breeds" or "hybrids" do often express what is referred to as "hybrid vigor". Usually meaning fast vigerous growth, and at times exceptionally large plants. But breeding for "potency" or any specific trait, requires _selection_. And if those seeds are from rogue male flowers in female buds. They are *pioson pills*.(credit ganjguru with that term ) to not just 'your' next grow, but quality mj genetics in general.


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