Treat's Tent Tales

[tastyness]

THG- Picture didn't post that's why you don't see the leaf problems. I had it attached to a test thread I deleted and now even though I renamed the file, somehow the attachment manager knows I already uploaded that photo once.
Will take new pics today and try again.
It is some sort of leaf burn I think. That whole strain (West Coast Diesel) seems to be a bit sensitive at the leaf edges. A small bit of brown, yellow crispiness showing. It doesn't look like anything major, and plantslooks perky and healthy.
The GOOD news is that I made a big trip to the "city" and got some extras for my girls. Nutrients, Worm Castings (the secret sauce IMHO) and a new 600W light.
A few questions:
If I have two lights for my tent and the shape is about square what is the best way to hang them?
Topping-pruning- I have 3 plants that are 3 weeks ahead of the rest. Doing great very bushy and lots of growth. About 15-16" high (2 Kush & 1 Blue). I was thinking of either a bit of LST or trying my hand for the first time at FIM.
They are 6 wks from germination. What would you all suggest? I'm usually one that says- let mother nature do her thing- HOWEVER why not help her along if I can.

Lastly a total newbie question re: timing. When counting the age of my plants do I start from the time I germed them, the time I saw there pretty little faces break dirt?
Is "vegging" from after 2 weeks when they are out of seedling stage or does everyone consider that part of the veg cycle?
I plan to veg the older 3 just a little extra a flip them when I start to see alternating nodes.
I'm trying to guesstimate when they might be close to done. I'm guessing that the flowering times shown in seed catalogs are the time AFTER I go to 12-12.
I can't tell you how much I'm loving watching these grow. I've always been a bit of a gardener but the joy from these if off the charts.
You know if everyone was growing a few plants at home- the world would be a better place. I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[tastyness]

THG-
Here is sick leaf : Is it best to trim these off or simply leave them be?
And the room all nice and setup. These are some happy looking plants.
Thanks everyone for helping me learn enough to get to this point.

I broke my ph meter this morning- sensor bulb was a lot more sensitive than I realized. Will be a few days before I can replace it.

 

[tastyness]

Second light went in today. Now have 600W and 1000W.

Question should they be side by side with reflectors parallel or in a T shape? The 600 has a much bigger reflector than my 1000. Tent is 6'5" X 6'5" square.

Also regarding alternating nodes. Am I waiting to see them off of the main stem with the new growth? I see some on the little new branches around node 4/5. But main growth is still opposite.

And here are some new pictures. Yes - I love to take pictures!

 

[tastyness]

Should I FIM or LST these plants. They are 45 days old (from seed). They are 3 weeks ahead of everything else in garden.
Blue = 21"
Kush = 19" (This one really is flexible and would be the one I would try to LST)
Kush = 18"
Still at least 4 weeks from 12/12 I think.
This is only my second grow- and I've got tons of light to work with- I'm wondering if I should just leave well enough alone?
Thanks for stopping by.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I think that the leaf looks like you just might have spilled nutrients on it. I would just leave it. Your plants are looking a nice healthy green.

I like to fim plants. I also will give the stems a bit of a squeeze if I start getting too much internodal spacing. You are at about 6-1/2 weeks of veg now. I don't think that you will be 4 weeks to alternating nodes.

You are looking for alternating branches on your main stem, not the side branches.

If the cords on your 1000W reflector and your 600W are the same and you can connect either ballast to either hood, I would switch the 1000W to the larger reflector. Or it is usually a simply job to switch cords out, if you have basic electrical knowledge.

 

[tastyness]

THG- Thanks for the feedback, as always.
Where do you squeeze? And how much is too much internodal spacing?

I'll see about the lights (hubby will know if it is possible). Excellent idea.
The 1000W is older (second hand) and 110W with old style ballast. New light is 240W and a Son T plus with Grow Lush ballast (with the 110% mode).
All I know is that things are looking happy in there since my visit to the store.

With the addition of real ventilation (Fan and odorsok) RH has come way down.
I know that I don't want it to be too humid BUT do I need to worry about it being too dry?
Currently Hovering around 49-52% RH with temps at 72 deg. When I cycle fan off lights bring temp up about 6-7 deg. Before the fan it was closer to 65%RH.

Luckily right now lights are on 24hrs so it keeps room warm enough. By the time I get to 12-12 it should be warmer here so they'll be OK at night when fans and lights will be off.

I appear to have 1 KUSH Girl for sure- I can see the little white pistils in at least three place. The boys NEVER have pistils right? The other two are also looking pretty girlie but too soon to call. GIRL POWER!

 

[tastyness]

If I were to FIM- how old do the younger ones need to be before giving them the same treatment?

 

[Hushpuppy]

Hi, if you don't mind my intrusion into the girls' growing discussion, I would like to give you some advice for the Fimming technique. I usually wait until my plants have about 6 nodes before I FIM them as it will slow the upward growth a bit but will really make the secondary branches pop out and start growing which will make the plants more bushy. There is a trick to proper Fimming but don't worry, if you take too much then it is no different than topping which is similar to FIM but not as affective, and if you don't take enough then you can do it again.

Many people will use scissors but I like to use my fingernails so that I can feel the "bulb" of new growth. The key is to snip off about 2/3-3/4 of the "bulb". What you will have to do is gently push back the top-most leaves that have already extended out so that you get just the new growth that has not opened up yet. I am attaching a picture that shows the opposing branches that have not yet started alternating (the branches are coming out in pairs still), and the top growing "bulb" with a red line drawn through it to show where to cut. green girl mojo for your garden

 

[7greeneyes]

nice pic/explanation hush, :aok:

 

[tastyness]

Hushpuppy- Thanks for stopping by and for the great tips. I love chatting with others about "the girls." (Know I don't know the sex of a bunch of them yet the whole grow is from seed- but I believe in thinking positive) I'll take pictures and show you all how it turns out.
It looks like the Blueberry- one of the three "teenagers" - is a boy. At least I see one little bit that looks like a seed sized nob on a bit of a stalk. There is only one though. On a secondary growth node intersection. It is also the tallest of the 3 of that age, (middle blue bucket in pictures above) Since the other two are a different strain so I don't have anything to compare it with. This is my fav smoke of all time and harder to find now with all the newer more popular crosses. I was really hoping this one would turn out to be a MOM.
On the other parts there are some that look like they might be splitting with a hair emerging. I'll try to get some pictures - but my eyes are what they used to be. With the 10X I can see it- but I'm not so great at getting a photo that matches what I see.
The drawing helps so much. I've been gently spreading them to explore what is going on and have a good sense about what you are explaining.
I feel more confident now.

7greeneyes- thanks for stopping by- I've explored quite a few of your threads and find your comments on other grow journals really helpful.



Green Girl Mojo to all

 

[tastyness]

This one may prove the exception to the rule "no dumb questions" but I'm going to ask anyway.

Male Plants in my garden:
I know to expect that half my seeds will be boys. And that I need to get them out of my garden as soon as they are identified. I just didn't expect it to be so hard to destroy something I've nurtured for the last 6 weeks or so.

If the boys are in pre-flower stage (plants are 46 days olds and under 24hr light) can they spread any pollen? Is there any danger to the girls if I leave this one in there for a few days while I make sure it is really a boy?

And what do you do with the boy plants? What are some good ways to dispose of them without drawing any attention? Is there any thing I can do with them? The plant looks so healthy and happy I hate to kill it.

 

[Roddy]

:ciao: T!!

You can wait the one out if not definite on it's sex, just keep very close watch!! KILL the males, no good can come from them unless you're gonna pollen chuck...cut them up and throw them in the trash, throw them in a compost heap or whatever.

Be safe, my friend! :48:

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I think a lot of new growers fret over sexing their plants. However, once you have done it, you'll see how easy it is. You do have some time between when the male shows and when it drops pollen. I have some Master Kush that I have just sexed and I have not composted the males yet--I'll try to snap some decent pics when the lights come on.

LOL--on getting rid of the males--if you ever leave a male in there too long and get an entire crop seeded, you will have NO problem whatsoever making them into compost.

Hushpuppy--great picture and explanation on fimming. I also just nip the top off with my fingernails rather than using scissors.

 

[tastyness]

So I figured I would try on the plant I think is a boy. Less pressure.

So I think I got to the main nub- happy with the amount I pinched off.
As you can see- I might have been able to go in one more layer. The one with three is the nub gently separated after the fact.
The pencil is a golf one for scale.

So ladies- how did I do?

 

[tastyness]

So anyone able to help me here? I'm sure someone with more experience can probably spot this one a mile away.
I keep hoping the little ones that are opening will spout pistils and that one boy ball is a bad dream. :hubba:

 

[tastyness]

So plants are settling in. I FIM'd the remaining two older girls (Kush). I hope my technique was good. Everyone got water and some food today. Still no alternating nodes but tons of lower growth and they are filled in nicely.

Many of the lower leaves (first real set) are suffering from burn from water spots this is on at least 6 plants. Should I remove this? Seems like it would be distracting the plant into healing instead of growing.

I've been misting- and then did some more reading and need to quit that for a while, since it is probably cause water drops that are burning in the lights. Doesn't look like bugs and I've only fed them once (a little guano and organic tea) The leaves are getting really dried out either from lights (CFL extras) being too close or something related to my 600W or 1000W.

And the blue that I thought might be a boy- may be a girl. (fingers crossed) The second plant (same strain) is showing the same sort of little growths (ball like) but since the plant is only 3 weeks old that can't be preflowers. Maybe that is just the way this plant rolls. I think I saw one pistil trying to emerge today.

I have two Auto's going as well, but will post about them in the correct forum.
Thanks for stopping by.

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

I doubt that it is the lights causing your leaves to dry out. I keep my fluoros so close to my plants that sometimes the leaves grow into the light overnight. What are your temps and what is your RH? What did you plant them in? It might be time to feed them a little more.

Leaves do not heal themselves. Leave the leaves on the plant--do not pluck them. When the plant has taken all there is to take from the leaf, it will drop it.

 

[7greeneyes]

:yeahthat: A lil more specifics would b coo...

I'm one of those if it aint broke kinda growers as well. Never defoliate your plants. It'll never regenerate old growth but if it's in good enough health, will generate new growth to compensate if it has enough root space to grow.

eace:

 

[tastyness]

They are planted in the best soil (garden center) I could find. I have no idea what is in it (nothing is listed on the bag). Felt nice and crumbly though when I was working with it. Mixed with some perlite, coco and worm castings.
Temps are 75-78. RH is 50-60%.
The reason I thought it was the lights, is I had one plant that was getting some extra CFL lovin' and within half the day the leaf was brittle and dissolved in my hand.
I think the hardest part is simply leaving them to grow.
I just want to make sure if this is something other than bad watering technique I fix it early.
I've only fed them once with a guano super grow at 5 ml per liter. And they get a week organic compost tea.
Thanks 7GE and THG for taking time to help me out.

 

[Roddy]

So anyone able to help me here? I'm sure someone with more experience can probably spot this one a mile away.
I keep hoping the little ones that are opening will spout pistils and that one boy ball is a bad dream. :hubba:

Looks like a boy, sorry....