Treat's Tent Tales

[tastyness]

So these are 69 days old. The two kush are girls. The blue has not shown yet, though I did think it was a boy back when... but I think I was too eager. Edit: 8/18 Wishful thinking this is a boy for sure... see other thread
The kush had magnesium troubles as did the blue. They are being treated with epsom salts and repotted with some dolomite lime in the mix about 5 days ago.

K1- Kush


K2- Kush



B1- Blueberry

 

[tastyness]

So these are my crazy "max autos" that need 12/12 they are fem seeds- ***? And the White Rhino from Greenhouse seeds (fem)

BBA1 - Big Band Auto 1 = 48 days old


BBA2 - Big Band Auto 2 = 32 days old



WR - White Rhino- 48 days old



The Rhino is like a bush. I can hardly get to the stem to count the nodes. It had a slow start but went crazy after being FIM'd 14 days ago.

 

[tastyness]

I love this plant- they were bonus seeds but I think they are cool.
also germed 4 out of 4 and 3 were girls. They are all 48 days old
Look how different they are :icon_smile:
BCD1- Blue City Diesel 1


BCD3- Blue City Diesel 3
This plant would be a magnificent stealth plant- doesn't look like MJ hardly at all. I could see these planted all the way along the side of a driveway or in hanging baskets. Currently one of my favorites.


BCD4- Blue City Diesel 4

 

[dman1234]

Very Nice, they dont look hungry anymore.

 

[tastyness]

Another freebie 3 out of 4 germed - none have shown sex yet.
Like the blue city the range of phenos is all over the place.

As you can see one has really been suffering- hope that one turns out to be a boy.
WCD1- West Coast Diesel 1

WCD2- West Coast Diesel 2

WCD3- West Coast Diesel 3

 

[tastyness]

dman-
It always surprises me what they look like when I get them out from under the HPS.
they sometimes look so sick in the tent- but under normal light they are healthy and really dark green
Pictures were taken right before they got fed today

 

[ozzydiodude]

So I'm getting ready to flip them. Have a few questions please so that I've thought things through.

1. Do you run the fan during lights out?

Yes even when plants are not photosynthesis light to make energy for growth they still breath and transpire water

2. Lights out- day or night? If you could have lights go at anytime, what would your preferred on time/ off time be? Assume you work from home and can visit garden anytime and are basically a morning person. I'm actually most concerned with keeping temps up at night when it is very cold here. My swing yesterday was 64 deg. - 81 deg. and that was with lights on.

If the heat allows it I like my dark time at night that way there is less change of a light leak if any causing problems
3. When to take clones? Should this happen right before the flip? Or can I wait till the stubborn non-sexed plants show before cloning? Not in a rush for these, just want to preserve any of the girls that turn out to be worth keeping. And I've only got one White Rhino and want to be able to try her again. (Though this is a fem seed and so I realize there may be some issues down the line)

I that clones a week or so before cloning. That was there is no stress on the plants once flowering starts
4. Trimming bottom branches- I see a lot of people trim the bottom branches off. I've been really restraining myself to not even pull of the first pairs of leaves that have gone all decrepit up until now. I know that often this is done to improve air flow and when outdoors to keep from giving pests an easy ride. How important is it for my indoor plants? They are super bushy with lots of stems growing straight up next to main stem. I have several strains going and all of them of course have their own personalities.

trimming lets the plant concentrate it's energy into the bigger top bud

5. I'm hoping to reveg these plants- is there anything special I want to take into account either at this stage (vegging) or when I flower them. I know that I need to take care when I harvest.

If you plan to re-veg you do not want to take off the lower growth this is the part of the plant that you will re-veg. You will harvest the upper/top of the plant, and leave this lower buds for the re-veg growth to come from
Any other advice, tips or tricks are much appreciated.
Thanks to all who have been checking out this grow- even if you don't speak up it is nice to have all this friendly energy watching. :aok:

my answers are in bold

 

[Dan K. Liberty]

hi tasty :icon_smile:

ozzy is a pro, and I'm with him on these issues you're asking about . . .

- yes, definitely keep the air moving at all times, because cool, dark, stagnant air is the most conducive environment for mold/mildew to start setting up shop and the girls need fresh vigorous air movement at all times

- you have some pretty wide temperature swings in the tent (even with lights on 24/0), and I'm wondering what kind of temps you're gonna get during a 12 hour dark cycle . . . maybe consider warming up the room outside the tent to see if you can get the inside temps to moderate a bit . . . the tent material should prevent light leaks, so you may want to consider lights on at night to keep em warmer, and off during the day

- I clone from the lowest couple sets of branches a week before flip. I cut above the first node on each branch and leave at least that one node on the main plant . . . which you will want to do also, if you plan to reveg . . . as ozzy says, two new branches will emerge at this node after you cut the clone off, and these are what will redevelop when you reveg

- there's no harm done if you remove the lowest fan leaves that were damaged by the mag deficiency, and then cut your clones from those branches. Once the girls are 3-4 weeks into flowering, alot of us lollipop the plants, removing all the leaves and branches from the bottom 1/3rd of the plant . . . as ozzy says, this allows the plant to give all it's energy up to the big buds . . . which is what we're all shootin for !!

They are looking much better . . . great job !!

jm2c :48:

 

[tastyness]

So I thought it would be a good idea to test the temperature range with the lights off.
After all, with them on and fans going 24/7 I'm getting ranges from 70 to 80 with normal being right around 74/75.

With lights out I've seen 62-68 but the longest they've been off for is two hours.

Coldest part of the night was used to test.
Just did a test with lights out and fan on for 1.15 hours - temp 62 - humidity 61. Oscillating fan was not on. Do I need to run a longer test? I don't want to confuse them too much since they've been on straight 24/7 and I'm going to flip them to 12/12 shortly.

So how will the ladies like this? Should I run oscillating fan? Do I need to get a heater?
I did have two plants (the boys I was using for experimentation) out in the dark in the main room with no light or extra heat for at least 3 days and they didn't appear to suffer any ill effects.

 

[tastyness]

So I"ve got 5 plants on day one of flower. The two older kush girls, the two "fake" autos and the blueberry.

Lights out temp was 62 deg with both fans on (extractor/oscillating) during the dark cycle. Based on all the great advice, I want to keep fans on if possible, but if 62 is too cold, then I can try adding a heater.

Daytime temps lights on/ 74-78 degrees.
RH ranges from 52-58%

New veggie/clone area is doing great- pics to follow

 

[ozzydiodude]

IMO as long as you dont get below 60*f you should be all right. IMO the RH range is fine

 

[tastyness]

Ozzie-Thanks for the quick response.

Do you have a preferred time to feed when in 12/12? Right after the lights come on? Or right before they are going out?

My instinct is after the lights come on - like the importance of a good breakfast or I could argue for night-time so that the food restores the plant while it is resting.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

 

[ozzydiodude]

I'm a as soon as the light come on, but I like to sat Hi to my ladies first thing in the morning

 

[Dan K. Liberty]

lights on temps at 74-78f and RH at 52-58% are optimal in my book

lights out at 62f is not all that bad imo . . . are you in the southern hemisphere, where it's gonna start to warm up soon . . . or are you in the northern hemisphere, where it's only gonna get colder ?

"like the importance of a good breakfast" LOL you are so hooked, girl :rofl:

 

[tastyness]

I have the perfect little oil heater to use in my tent (6X6) when lights are off to keep it warm. At least that is what I thought.
BUT- when it cycles on there is a red glow from the element heating up that you can see through the side vents. Worried about that interfering with flowering. I remembered to cover the red on/off light with black tape and was surprised there was still something glowing when I turned off the lights.

I'm thinking it would be dangerous to cover it up so that it is light tight with tape or something. After all it says right on it- do not cover. I did use this heater when germinating and had a big cardboard box around it with about 6" of clearance on all sides and that seemed OK. But that is when I can check on it often- not wanting to leave that unattended for 12 hours at a time.

Anyone have a clever idea? There is no heat in the room outside the tent, I'm wondering if I put the little heater by the intake flap if that might help.
My lights off temp is 61.5 with both fans going. I know that is in the acceptable range but a little close for comfort to something stressing them out.
They are still in early days of flower (first week) so there aren't huge bud sites that could mold so maybe I put fans on timers? That should keep it a bit warmer. And things should start to get warmer in the next 45-60 days. But not that much and that room is in a part of the house that is naturally shaded.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I do not believe that the glow from the heating coils is going to be anything to worry about.

 

[tastyness]

THG- that would be awesome news. I've read about power bar lights and desk lamps across the room causing potential problems and I want to be super light tight. The question would be- how do I know for sure if it is interfering? Any ideas from the scientific minds in the crowd?

Last night temps were 61.5 degrees and humidity steady around 53%.
High of the day was 79 degrees and humidity 66%.
So I'm in range, but feel like it is cutting it close.

OK- I mcGivered up something to keep the light hidden. Have the heater on 50% for today's lights out- so let's see how that goes.

 

[tastyness]

The older plants and the "max" autos have been flipped. They are on day three.

The new clone / vegging area is awesome. Don't they look happy?
Now I feel like I've got options and can do what is best for each plant rather than worry about having them all go to a certain stage at a certain time.

See post in propagation for my cute little IKEA/3M clone box.
http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62175

 

[tastyness]

Dan- since you posted that great explanation I thought I would try to see how I did with my first round of FIM'ing

http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62097
Post #18

Pictures are fuzzy- but you get the idea.

So some went really well and a few... well I missed.

And one plant was so bushy (she is my favorite- BCD #3) I didn't dare fim her!

Maybe you can help me figure out my grade (LOL)

Oops- last pictures are of BCD# 3 - look at that stem and how close the nodes are. Yikes!

Sorry pics are stuck- thinks they are attached to another thread but they are not. I'll wait a while and maybe it will clear itself up.


EDITED: see some pics of how it turned out: http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showpost.php?p=794330&postcount=170

 

[Hushpuppy]

The cool thing about Fimming is that if you don't cut low enough for the Fim to take, you can go back and just cut it out the rest of the way to Top it, and if you cut too low then you have essentially Topped it. So either way, you really can't go wrong. I miss mine on one side or the other about half the time.