Pruning, Saving Cuttings, Adding Lumens and Just Talking About My Grow

[BROMAN]

I've just put my 3 plants into flower. 2 delicious seeds cotton candy and a world of seeds strawberry blue. the sb is the star but, the cc are looking great too. I had a lot of problems and the growth of all three was stunted for a while. I think it was an n deficiency though I'm running MP's amended coco buckets and was going with a tea. I believe I diluted it too much. the roots took forever to really develop and the plants stayed short. as advised I did fim early on and employed lst off and on. I've also switched over to the canna coco line. (??any opinions on these nutes??) now I've got bushes with thumb thick main stems and roots that I'm sure are in the res.

I'm under a 400w dual capable cool tube in my 8x2 closet. I've switched to hps now and panda provides me with a dark side( patchin those leaks). all 3 cant fit in the dark side so, I alternate. I'm pretty sure it's will soon be a pita. I wanted to scrog them all but I've only got the sb under screen with the cc's tied down till the end due to space. there are a lot of future bud sites.

now, I've got to trim some of that undergrowth. I wont do too much and, just a little at a time. mostly fan leaves that seem to be pointing down. the other thin growth seems like it is likely to reach strong light with the net and string in place. advice welcomed ??? I remember reading something about saving cuttings in the fridge.. does anyone do this? can anyone advise because I couldn't find it. our wise Hemp Goddess was in on that convo I'm sure.

I've done pretty much everything I wanted to do with this semi second grow. (I killed all the seeds I paid for). all that's left to do is to wire the ingenious light I found on ebay some years back to give these plants 800w of hps and order the phresh filter. ?? would an hps/mh combo be beneficial? local big hardware couldn't help. I've got to visit an electrical supply. with the weather down here the temps fluctuate a lot and I'm not sure I can maintain proper temps with the fam complaining "its too cold". I'm the only one who's not anemic. ?? what is the latest one would add more lumens and still reap maximum benefit?

I know its a book but, I've got no one but old girl to talk to. she's supportive though annoyed by my "obsession" but, not that interested in the details. oh and she conditionally asked that I post no pics. smoke makes her sleep.. cant wait to knock her out. lol

 

[samarta]

I too have a delicate balance that must be struck as my best half does not even partake. The only reason I get to do as I do is because it is the only way to roll. It's safe, clean, selections you will never get to unless you double fist all day every day. Still don't think you'll get to them all. :48:

 

[pcduck]

If ya got the obsession ya in the right place.
I'm all eats :bong:

 

[BROMAN]

yeah.. Smarta. I'm a pretty private person and I'm fairly new to my area so quality bud access has been sketchy. I've had to travel far and settle for high prices and trashy weed. it inspired me to finally take action. I've also vowed not to smoke until its my own. I want to grow the classics.. ak, chocolate, nl, ww, chronic etc. and, the cup winners. I let old girl know that even with the 40.00 jump in the electric bill and other costs I'm still spending less than my old weekly bill (even with reggie).

PC.. I'm hooked. any advice on pruning? you ever store cuttings? would adding the second 400w during this first week of flower be better than waiting until the last 3-4wks?

 

[BROMAN]

I found the thread in "Propagation" titled "refrigerated clones". it was said they can be kept up to a month. I'm gonna give it a try.

 

[Rosebud]

Hi Broman, how are ya? Glad my husband doesn't call me old girl, even though i am getting to be one..ok, i already am..

I am kinda stoned so please bear with me. you have an 8 foot closet divided in 2? With a 400 MH to veg and a 400 hps to flower?

You can take the bottom branches off to help eliminate popcorn buds. It is best to do that in Veg...and you can clone those...it is a win win.
Glad to see you back growing and soon smoking your own.. Nothing like it. You are at the right place for growing addicts. That is how we roll. Mojo for the grow.

 

[BROMAN]

lol.. hi Rosebud. the "old girl" is 9 yrs younger and calls me her old man. I've got two 400s a batwing and a cooltube. I've been using a mh conversion bulb for veg and now I'm on to hps. I've got a fixture that needs wiring to the batwings ballast that fits into the cooltube for 800w of light. since the plants went through a rough period I was afraid to prune but, now I've been taking a bit at a time. mostly I've been just getting at the really low fan leaves. the stretch hasn't started so I will continue and take some cuts for clones. thanks for the vibes. I'm trying to get my mojo working.

thanks multi. good to know it works.

 

[BROMAN]

oh.. any thoughts on when to add the lumens? I'm guessing folks will say from the start of flower. wont it help put on weight and resin in the latter part of flowering?

 

[blowinthatloud]

It will help alot i would get it setup asap. Flowering stage loves the light! BtL

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I am a little confused...do you have 2 spaces in your closet or just one? A 400W light is only good for about 9 sq ft, so if you are using the entire space, you need both lights, now. However, I believe that you are going to find that you have a real hard time controlling the heat with a batwing reflector, even with a good sized fan.

It is extremely hard to get closet doors on this type of closet to block out 100% of the light. I anticipate that you are going to have to go to extraordinary measures to make the closet totally light-proof. I ended up building a box within my closet with removable doors.

Do any pruning you have to do a week or 2 before you flip the plant. And do not just take the fan leaves off. These are the solar panels where the large majority of the photosynthesis takes place. When you prune, you will probably want to take entire branches if your growth is really too thick. Or to clean up around the bottom of the plant.

Pictures would help us out a whole bunch.

 

[BROMAN]

Btl.. I figured. Thg.. the closet is 2x8 with one end blocked of with sheets of panda, tape, staples and Velcro. its 3'x2'. I had planned to use this fixture I found that fits in the other end of my cooltube. I just have to wire it so it can connect to the batwings ballast. this way it can be air cooled. big hardware was no help so I'm going to enlist the help of my electrician cousin and an electrical supply co. I agree that the batwing will most likely make my temps soar.

I already flipped. I've taken some of the light starved large fan leaves that point downward and, the newest small shoots(there are plenty fans left). should I just leave them then? no cleaning whatsoever after the flip?

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Some people will trim up to 2 weeks into flowering, but I personally prefer to not, if at all possible, after flipped.

You can find info online on how to wire your ballast. I used to put new insides my old magnetic ballasts and always consulted the internet on instructions. I have done some pretty decent electrical work following directions on the internet. Electrical scares me some and I don't know a lot about it (there is as reason I am a plumber, if I screw up I just get wet), so I depended on concise clear illustrated instructions I find online.

 

[BROMAN]

Thanks Thg.. I was thinking it would be pretty simple with needing a heat resistant wire that would attach to the ballast (electronic) with the same plug configuration as the batwing. on a little trip now when I get back I will find a way online or otherwise. these girls have been through a lot and deserve the 800w.

 

[BROMAN]

I went away for a week and left the lady to take care of the girls.. she didn't kill em. lol she did ok considering she had to switch them from light to dark daily. on top of that she sees them as an obsession of mine and general pita. I left on day 9 from flip having fed them heavily the day before. she failed to feed them for 5 days and then she gave em o tap water only. it would have been nice for them to have a good feeding during that first real week of stretch. when I returned i expected to see something that looked like charley brown's Christmas tree. instead i was met with three plants full of buds! the strawberry blue was under the light and the scrog screen was in a shambles but it had grown above the screen and there were crazy new young buds just smiling. i fixed the the structure, removed the screen and restrung and replaced it. it has filled up all but two rows of the 38x21" screen. the two cotton candies were full of buds too, having grown taller and bushier with plenty of buds that managed to poke through to get at the light and others that i knew would really benefit from adding the other 400w to the cool tube. this being my first go round i couldn't help myself.. i counted buds. upwards of 70 per plant! the scrog has more than 90.

i then turned my attentions to getting the socket assembly together. i was searching the internet having no real luck and so i looked over the socket and ballast again. it then occurred to me that all i had to do was take the wire from the batwing and put it on the socket assembly. KISS. so now the ladies are basking in the light of my dual 400w cool tube. the increased light penetration is perking up those under lit little yellow leaf buds and the foot print is taking in all of my big bushy ladies. the temps are a little high at canopy level but i think a new oscillating fan will fix that. my current fan is kind of small. i have to order one because no local stores have any in stock.

my diy filter is doing a pretty good job but, i would feel better with a new phresh filter. the smell isn't as extreme as i thought it would be but one of those ona buckets or a diy one would be cool for when i have the closet open. ive got an old sharper image ionic breeze going but it needs time to cleanse an area. I've also been using "blunt power" air freshener. powerful stuff.

the canna nutes are really doing there thing as far as I'm concerned. I'm using coco a & b, cannazyme , boost and, soon pk14. i will say the boost smells of molasses. i hope its worth the money. those buds do look great. I'm going to need more of it.

anyway, that's what's going on in my closet. I'm hooked and looking forward to the next grow. oh wow i forgot to check on the cuttings i have in the crisper. i want to try my hand at cloning. gotta figure out how to dry these buds after harvest. I'm going to be short on space if i start up right away. okay I'm done for now.