1st time Ebb & Flowing

[stickytasticbud]

Hey people this is a first time grow, and went with some hydro.

Botanicare Pure Blend Pro organics, Liquid Karma, and sugar daddy.
400hps eye Super hps bulb, grow room at 76 degrees, mist with soda water.

They are almost 3 weeks. (from seed, so 4 weeks that way) They are around 8 inches tall so im thinking about putting them into flowering soon. I know you should wait till full veg from seed...but I will not have the grow room for that and these girls are taking off and are bushy as hell.

They have some light purple stems but slowly going away..noob mistake. And I just changed the timing of the feeding so they might not be as perky as when they first wake up.

looking for opinions about light height.
They have been vegging under the hps 18 a day. When i move to flowering how close should I have my light away?

-research tells me 20-45 cm, so was thinking 20 but just wanted some other opinions.

Also opinions on a 36 hour dark period before inducing flowering?

 

[upinarms]

Beautiful absolutely Beautiful!! Talk to them at least 30 min. a day and kiss them each before you go to bed at night, lest you forget these are living creatures of God. they just can't move around like you and I or like any other quadruped, so their life kinda sucks in comparison. Just think of the sacrifice these plants are going to make for you. Well feed them good, in fact feed them plant food the equivalent of Iams... take care of yourself !!!

 

[stickytasticbud]

I forgot to add the money shot picture...

The one in the back right corner is a local strain called hold em.

The front right is just a shwag strain..its a sativa im thinking...its wanting to get really tall i can tell and doesnt like the nutes as much as the others.

The other 4 are bag seed from some goody good..they are the bushy ones.

 

[Sticky_Budz]

looking great nice and green and bushy will be looking forward to seeing more pics in the future good luck with your grow peace

 

[stickytasticbud]

thanks man. Any advice on some of my questions?

 

[choking_victim]

put your light at 20 for now, if they show signs of stress, wilting, or discolor then lift the light a little, it wont be a problem as long as you have good air circulation to the 400w.

and also make sure your ph is around 5.5. a lot of new growers go on the 6.5 like I did at first. but hydroponicaly it should be 5.5.
good luck man..

another 3 months and you'll be smokin' some good herb.

 

[stickytasticbud]

just a little update...

One female for sure of the unknown bag seed! One of them is showing white hairs already..a month from seed.The others are from seed but just beginning to show signs of development..should know soon i would think. The shwag is 1ft tall..the rest 8ish except for a lil tiny one thats bushy and like 6.

The plants are going through a 36 hour dark cycle right now. And then the flowering begins.

Changed the reservoir water to a mild mix of veg and bloom nutes, liquid karma, and sugar daddy.

A couple questions...

1. Is it ok to have the water the way i have it even though they are in the dark for a day and a half?

2. Is it ok to also take clones at this time when the lights are first turned on again after the dark cycle? Or would this not be the best since the bloom nutes have been started...or does it not matter..cause im thinking it doesnt matter much.

Thanks to those that answer.

 

[Growdude]

Why the 36 hour dark period?

If you want clones take them now, a little bloom nutes can help them root.

 

[stickytasticbud]

I read it in the Marijuana Horticulture:The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible book my by Jorge Cervantes.

He talks about how a 36 hr dark period is used by growers to help trigger flowering faster. It goes into detail about 48 being too long.

basically...he says to do it..but i have not seen it done by other people really..or atleast they dont mention it too much. ill quote it a little later tonight

 

[stickytasticbud]

I checked on the sleeping girls today with a green light...and it looks as though they are showing their sex already and the plants looked awesome! They look like all girls but i dont want to get my hopes up. The hold 'em is for sure which is awesome.

"Give plants 36 hours of total darkness just before inducing flowering with the 12/12 photoperiod. This heavy dose of darkness sends plants an unmistakable signal to flower sooner. Growers using this technique report that plants normally show signs of flowering, such as pistil formation, within two weeks and develop pistils after a week of flowering.
Growers have experimented with giving plants up to 48 hours of total darkness to jump-start flowering and have found that 36 hours-three contiguous 12-hour nights-is most effective."
-Jorge Cervantes

I just realized your using a botanicare microgarden also. Have you tried using it for more than just clones and veggings? Just wondering as I plan to flower them and do very little lst...just let it get like one giant bush..haha.

 

[stickytasticbud]

hey here they are waking up for their first 12/12 day.

Also a pic of the female.

 

[Growdude]

Plants look good!
I have never tried to flower in mine, its just a bit small for my size plants.
But am eager to see how these turn out for you.

 

[sweetnug]

Good looking plants man. You want to keep the light about 12 inches away. Just put your hand out for 1 minute under the light, if you cant stand it neither can the plants. I would cut up from the base about 3-4 inches, remove all vegetation so the plant can focus its energy on less branches. It will still fill out just fine. good luck

 

[stickytasticbud]

thanks guys.

I actually lowered the light to about that height after taking the pics.

And thanks for the tip sweetnug.
I was going to take clones today anyways..and was going to start from the bottom and work up.

Since i am un sure about sex...should I take clones now...or once i can tell for sure? Or would taking the clones after sex is determined be bad since they will prolly have a week of nutes under their belt?

I know you can clone fruiting plants back into vegging..but just wondering if it that applies to these youngins.


Although I may pull 2 of these to turn into mothers...its so hard to decide!

 

[sweetnug]

Take clones from a plant that you know is female, otherwise its waste of good realestate since you may have to pull some. Looks like the female that you know will be all you need, do you know how to clone them? You can revert back to veg but its not recommended cause it can be a long process.

 

[stickytasticbud]

well this is a first ever grow for me. But I had experience with some magic mushies and turned out some kick *** caps so Im pretty good at being clean and getting **** right.

Oh and i know about the wasted space..but my dome can fit a good like 50 clones..

Sooo i was thinking clone them all before they get too far along...and LABEL everything...then when they all start showing signs ill know for sure..and can throw out the male clones.

But that way I have an abundance of clones...since I will only want 8 to really develop for the next cycle.

What are thoughts about taking a clone and turning your fastest clone into a mother once you know the grandmother's sex? Cause i was thinking about doing this for the hold em strain.

 

[sweetnug]

Thats a good way to go, you can always kill the males. I wasn't sure what space you were working with. Yes do that with the largest you KNOW is a girl. Give her time to get large before you cut of that grandma

 

[tleaf jr.]

nice plants

 

[stickytasticbud]

Hey so they are all starting to show sex...annnd

4 females from the bag seed
1 female shwag
and then the local strain is starting to show so prolly a couple days.

So only 1 male so Far!

I trimed up about 3-4 inches and took clones from all of the plants except the one that turned out male, because i had a feeling it would turn male cause it was the fastest growth.

Question: Should i keep the trimmings to use for hash later? and if i do how do i store them? just snip and put into a trash bag for later?

Can i use the male plant for hash? as in the leaves and stuff.

Anyways here are some more pics.

Question: what should i do about the plant in the back corner..its the shwag...its much taller then the rest of the canopy but i dont want to do any LST really..but could i snip off the top? OR what are my options?

Thanks guys.

 

[dj_destroyer]

Advice:
- Always clone during the vegetative stage! I have personally cloned plants that are vegging and plants that are flowering. The flowering clones go into shock when they revert back to 24h lighting (or 18 in your case), and this is the last thing you want for your little plant thats trying to grow some roots. However, that being said, you can still do it and get away with it. The plant may look slightly deformed sometimes, don't be alarmed. Another tip for people who are growing from seed: clone your vegging plants anyways even if you don't need clones and you can find out the sex early. You just flower the clones right away, they should show sex and if you have labeled properly, you can determine which of your original plants are female.

- Keep the trimmings from all female plants for hash. Proper way to store is to put into a freezer bag, get as much air out as possible (you can use a vacuum), and throw it in the freezer. It will stay good until you decide to make hash.

- Your options for the taller shwag plant = LST, topping, do nothing or even scrog it. Training would be best IMO. Topping is just stunting growth, taking away from your plant, and promoting veg growth of two more shoots. You'd rather the energy be put into BUD production. Do nothing could quite as easily work, plants often shoot for the light during the first phases of flowering. However, this should slow down as more energy is put towards the bud. A modified method of SCROG could work, but that is again training the plant, which seems like you don't wanna do.

Comments

I like the idea of 36 hours before flowering. On paper, it seems logical; I can't wait to try it out.

The plants are looking really healthy, really nice. It's always nice to see a first time grower do his homework. I'm also on my first grow ever, and it's also hydro. I'm about 2-3 weeks ahead of you. Check it out!

Keep up the good work, your lighting and venting and grow room in general looks very professional.

Good Luck with the rest of the way, however I dont think you need it.