First time grower here..looking for constructive critiques.

[Albrecht]

Thanks for your input Hick. By "long legged", you mean that they've suffered some stretching? That's undesirable right? And for the next time around, how would one keep that from happening? Pruning the tops more than the one time I did? And could you please amplify on what damage you think has been done? I guess the buds from those two plants will be less dense and more spottily distributed along the stems?

 

[Albrecht]

Ah, the ecstasy of caring for flowering Marijuana plants! Today was the first day I've really gotten that KB smell, that I knew and loved so much which I used to smoke a lot of kind bud in high school, from one of my plants. I was rearranging and repositioning my plants (does anyone else constantly move around their plants for optimal light distribution, or is that just me? I've got this whole Feng shui thing going, where I love to get my plants arranged just right), and I decided to pull out one of the lower branches on my biggest plant out from the darkened corner it was in, and into a more lighted area that I had opened up by moving another plant around, and the buds on this one branch definitely have the most trichs on it of any of the branches on any of the plants. So I stuck my nose into it, and WOW, I was instantly transported back to high school when that smell, honestly, was all I lived for. The whole way I relate to drugs and MJ in particular is so much healthier now, but it's still such a viscerally pleasurable odor, that I'm even more excited about my grow than before. I have to go out of town for work tomorrow, but I can't wait to get back so I can take more pictures, and just enjoy looking at and smelling this bud! lol

Anyways, here are some pics. Fun stuff!

 

[PUFF MONKEY]

hey there,
i also use mg soil with a mix of un-nuted soil and floros.do you monitor humidity levels ?? i keep mine at around 65%...check out my journal and you'll see what floros and humidity will do for plants.you might get some ideas for your next grow

 

[Albrecht]

hey there,
i also use mg soil with a mix of un-nuted soil and floros.do you monitor humidity levels ?? i keep mine at around 65%...check out my journal and you'll see what floros and humidity will do for plants.you might get some ideas for your next grow

Wow! That is an amazing setup you put together. I'm really going to have to study it, as I've learned through this experience that I have a lot of room for improvement with my grow techniques. I'm just so limited in space, that I'm not sure where to go from here. But that is a thought for another day.

As to your question, I have a cheap digital thermometer that also checks for humidity in my grow room, and I'm pretty sure it shows the humidity level as being at around 60%. I need to check it again tomorrow when the light cycle is back on. What was your problem wit humidity?

 

[PUFF MONKEY]

try my method of the bucket and bucket warmer on a timer to regulate levels....more time on = more humidity.as for problems...i had none to do with the humidity in fact i think the high levels helped theplants grow so fast...just don't water too much when using MG soils

 

[DomsChron]

Dude it may be the fact that your not using correct reflectivity on the walls. The light can pinpoint and burn plants. Mylar puts a smooth layer of light across your plants and has 95% reflectivity.

Other than that all I suggest for next grow is get more ac, a higher cfm fam (faster spinning and more powerful for better ventilation) and if you wat to get really crazy make your outtake fan slightly stronger than the intake so it achieves a "sucking" or "dragging" effect.

Do you even have intake or outtake fans? If not, or even if you do, make sure they are as follows: Outtake at top of grow room and intake at bottom. Tis is so heat rises and is taken out of the room ac new fresh cool a/c air is at the bottom. This is a good circulation method.

Also, next grow try organics. I'm sorry I'm an organics freak but fox farms has beneficial microorganisms FILLED in the soil automatically managing your pH. Also plants grow crazy with a way thicker stock. They are also un nuted and pre pearlited. If you buy their organic nutrients they are great and you will notice way better results. Their line is Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom.

And heck, with that a/c in your room running 24/7 if your fans are too they will get your grow room down to low temps and the combination of low temps and organics leads to CRAZY COLORS!!!

 

[Albrecht]

Dude it may be the fact that your not using correct reflectivity on the walls. The light can pinpoint and burn plants. Mylar puts a smooth layer of light across your plants and has 95% reflectivity.

Other than that all I suggest for next grow is get more ac, a higher cfm fam (faster spinning and more powerful for better ventilation) and if you wat to get really crazy make your outtake fan slightly stronger than the intake so it achieves a "sucking" or "dragging" effect.

Do you even have intake or outtake fans? If not, or even if you do, make sure they are as follows: Outtake at top of grow room and intake at bottom. Tis is so heat rises and is taken out of the room ac new fresh cool a/c air is at the bottom. This is a good circulation method.

Also, next grow try organics. I'm sorry I'm an organics freak but fox farms has beneficial microorganisms FILLED in the soil automatically managing your pH. Also plants grow crazy with a way thicker stock. They are also un nuted and pre pearlited. If you buy their organic nutrients they are great and you will notice way better results. Their line is Grow Big, Big Bloom, and Tiger Bloom.

And heck, with that a/c in your room running 24/7 if your fans are too they will get your grow room down to low temps and the combination of low temps and organics leads to CRAZY COLORS!!!

Thanks for the input DC. I should have updated this thread with my current situation, but this is a good opportunity to do it now. The full story can be found here. Basically, I added a 6500 BTU window AC unit, cut a hole through to my bathroom wall for exhaust, and put two high cfm fans for exhaust, one at the top right of my grow area, to exhaust the hot air that the fans in my grow room blow to the top of my closet, and the other sucking the hot air the AC unit produces out of the hole I cut. Check out my pics.

As to your other question, my grow room is lined with mylar, with some areas just flat white paint.

As to your other comments, I agree completely. The two things I definitely plan on doing with my next grow is to not use MG soil, and instead use a better organic soil, that has no nutes. And also use organic fert from the start. I bought a big box of Seabird Guano 10-10-02, and organic Earth Juice Bloom fert 0-3-1, and have been using them along with my Schultz cactus food 2-7-7, all in various combinations, for the last month and a half.

So do those things, tweak my grow schedule quite a bit (I don't think I needed near that much veg time, though it obviously hasn't hurt), keep an eye from the beginning on the temps, and I'll be interested in seeing how my grow improves for round two.

 

[Hick]

Thanks for your input Hick. By "long legged", you mean that they've suffered some stretching? That's undesirable right? And for the next time around, how would one keep that from happening? Pruning the tops more than the one time I did? And could you please amplify on what damage you think has been done? I guess the buds from those two plants will be less dense and more spottily distributed along the stems?

.check out trillion of atoms "Super cropping" post next time, Al'. A pretty good low stress method of controling stretch.

 

[DomsChron]

Your the man Hick!

And hey albrecht, for first grow Nice Man.

 

[Albrecht]

Trichromes! :yay:

 

[PUFF MONKEY]

yummy

 

[Albrecht]

I think I've mentioned that my favorite thing to do is arrange and rearrange my plants, for optimal light distribution. I do it every day, but today I think I have the perfect arrangement. I got them spaced out a bit better, and have tied the tallest colas down, so that should improve the "sunburning" I was seeing on the very tallest leaves.

And my two largest colas, both on the same plant. They're looking really good, but I know they still have a long way to go, so they should be MASSIVE by the time they're ready to be harvested.

 

[Albrecht]

Just a couple more pics. The first is a shot of one of my girl's naughty bits. :hubba: :hubba:

And just a pic of my biggest bud. Can't wait to see it when it finishes filling out and really starts to sparkle. As it is it's 10" around! :holysheep:

 

[elwigum]

Albrecht
Your picture on 8-10 looks exactly like what I'm dealing with right now. My plants have mad weight but little to no trichs. I am in week 7 and 8 right now for 2 sets of plants. I was attributing the problem to heat and strain. I know it has to be one of these 2 problems because I have 3 strains total and the other 2 are coming along just fine.
You are a few weeks ahead of me in time but I would really like to know how you are still feeding them and at what point will you decide that it is time to flush?
I am not working with that MG soil just a good mix and been feeding with advanced nutrients throughout.
I would like to mention quickly a grow I had using soil with "9 month feeding." It was soil with little blue balls of fert. They were fruity smelling sativas and by trial and error I actually got something right for a change. It was basically like any other grow but once a week I would add approximately 20 to 30ml of the liquid advanced nutrients feed. The three 1 gallons I had were phenomenal. That was the last of that type of soil so I didn't get to play around with it any more. Anyway I guess my point is, go really light on feeding when using those kinds of soils.
Any help would be great.

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?p=303943#post303943

 

[Albrecht]

Well, I'm into week ten of flowering, and would be surprised if I don't have at least 3 weeks left. As for feeding, I've majorly cut down on the amount and frequency. I've also moved all organic. What I've been doing is taking a half filled gallon of store bought distilled water, dumping in a small handful, about 2.5-3 tablespoons of dried seabird guano pellets (10-10-02), and letting it sit for a week, so really get all the bacteria and microbes going. My plants are pretty thirsty, so I end up watering them with normal PH'd water 2 times a week, and on the third time, I pour some of my guano brew into the regular distilled water, followed by two capsules of Earth Juice Bloom (0-3-1). I've been slowly decreasing the guano juice to water ratio, and I figure in 3-4 weeks, when I'll be better able to see the finish line in sight, I'll just about have moved over to just water.

EDIT: oh, and I forgot to add that I sprinkle some Rock Phosphate (0-3-0) in the soil and work it in about every 3 weeks, just to bump the P up a little.

But that's just my crazy scheme. Nothing authoritative about it an anyway. I definitely have learned a lot from this first grow that I will apply to subsequent grows. Anyways, here's a pic I took today of the typical trich level of my plants, or at least my main plant. As you can see, they still have a ways to go, but seem to be getting there slowly but surely.

 

[smokybear]

The ladies look fantastic. Nice work my friend. That cola is going to be massive by the times its finished. I cant wait to see a pic of it. Definitely keep us posted. Take care and be safe.

 

[mclovin09]

prettyyy

 

[manels1111]

How did you tie your cola's down? I need to do this also. Did you tie it down and up so that it doesn't just snap? Or do you just tie it over. My babies are super stretched and i have them staked just to hold them up.

Any info would be greatly appreciatted.

 

[Albrecht]

I've found that, at least for the three plants I'm growing, marijuana stems seem to be very supple. What I do, to position my plants exactly how I want them, is to tie them down a few inches below the height I ultimately want them at, and tie this lower string the opposite way from which I want them to bend, as a counter force. Then I lasso them ~5" from their tops, and get down on my knees and slowly pull them down to where I want to attach the string at the bottom. I use thumb tacks tacked to the wall or the side of one of the pots to attach the string to. I think you'd have to be incredibly rough to actually snap a branch. As long as you position that first "counter" tie to allow for enough room so that the branch can gradually bend, as opposed to going to a right angle, you should be fine. But play it by ear, and kind of get a sense for how much your particular plants will bend.

 

[toke@smoke420]

is that whole ac unit completely inside?