Wanna Ask The Old Farts A Question?

[afghankushryder]

cheers bud my seeds have just popped and rooted well

 

[Gold123]

Good karma,
I have a little question: We just switched from legal hour to one hour ahead.. My timers of course remain with the old timing, but I would like to reset to the previous hour schedule but without harming light cycle etc etc..
Now I run 10:00 p.m.-10:00 a.m. lights on, and I would like to reset them at 09:00 p.m.-09 a.m.
I thought to visit this afternoon and set the switch on at 09:30 p.m. and the switch off at 09:30 a.m. .... after another 3-4 days make the same and set definetly at 09:00 p.m. 09:00 am.
Is it a correct method ?
Bye

From what I think is sound biology, the plants detect how many hours of light they get not how much dark, so I always wait till lights out and adjust the lights then. Tomorrow the lights go on an hour diffrent but still for the same duration. I do the same fall and spring.

 

[grahambond]

Thank you Gold123.. That's a biological confirm..

 

[HempKat]

im having a little bit of trouble with my first grow, im growing an afghan kush ryder and a cole train (both feminised), i soaked the seeds last friday and planted the into root riot cubes, ive kept them damp, warm and under light, i was wondering how long do you think it will be until i have germination. because im such a nooby grower im just worried about it. any help would be greatly appreciated.

It's hard to say for sure since I'm not familiar with the cubes. Generally speaking a seed can take anywhere from 3 to 7 days for a sprout to show above surface. I don't know about these cubes but in soil sometimes a sprout is blocked by something in the soil and ends up growing sideways a bit before breaking the surface. This can make it seem like it's taking longer then it should. Now while taking longer then 7 days is not unheard of it's rare unless there is some environmental factor that's being overlooked. For the most part though seeds taking longer then 7 days aren't very good seeds. You say you keep them warm but how warm is warm? Seedlings like a temp range of around 78 - 80 degrees F. If the temp is closer to 70 that could slow things down a bit.

 

[HempKat]

You guys have been so very helpful... Yesterday was a bit stressful. I didn't realize how much work it is trimming bud. I got about 1/3 done. I'm going to trim for a bit after work today. I sure wish I would have only harvested one girl at a time...And, trimming for me isn't as fast as seen on youtube! I anxiously await my rewards.....

Thanks to you seasoned experts....Gabs

It gets better with practice

 

[HempKat]

Good karma,
I have a little question: We just switched from legal hour to one hour ahead.. My timers of course remain with the old timing, but I would like to reset to the previous hour schedule but without harming light cycle etc etc..
Now I run 10:00 p.m.-10:00 a.m. lights on, and I would like to reset them at 09:00 p.m.-09 a.m.
I thought to visit this afternoon and set the switch on at 09:30 p.m. and the switch off at 09:30 a.m. .... after another 3-4 days make the same and set definetly at 09:00 p.m. 09:00 am.
Is it a correct method ?
Bye

Personally, for a 1 hour shift, I'd just do it all in one shot. If you feel better doing it in 2 1/2 hour shifts though, that's okay. What I do is just either extend or shorten the lights on period to make the necessary change depending on whether the time moves forward or backward. What the plants key off of for flower is the length of the dark period. So if you either shorten or length the light period by one hour, to the plant it's like the day ended a little quicker or dragged on a little longer then normal.

Actually I only used to do this, now I just leave things be. I came to realize that I was only making the change because it made sense to me since we're used to changing the clocks for ourselves. Also it's partly because we make a schedule around our plants needs so to change the timers makes the plant stick with the routine we've established. Then I got to thinking about why I picked the times I use for flowering. Right now it would be 9pm on and 9am off, in the fall it would be 8pm on and 8am off. I pick those times mainly because I grow when temps are cool or cold outside and my growroom design depends on those temps for good temps in the grow room. If I run my lights at night like I do that's when the outside air (which cools my light) is coldest and does the best job cooling for me. During the day is when outside temps are warmest helping to keep my grow room from getting too cold during lights out. I realized that if I shift the timers to keep the same schedule, I shift myself a bit outside of the best times for maintaining the temps where I want. So I just leave them where they are and adjust my routine by an hour if need be. That way the temps stay more where I want and I don't have to worry about changing the timers twice a year.

 

[HempKat]

From what I think is sound biology, the plants detect how many hours of light they get not how much dark, so I always wait till lights out and adjust the lights then. Tomorrow the lights go on an hour diffrent but still for the same duration. I do the same fall and spring.

Actually that's incorrect, it's not how many hours of light they get but rather how few hours of light. Or to say it a different way, flowering is triggered by decreasing the amount of light which is really increasing the amount of dark. The actual monitoring of this is based on a chemical reaction that goes on in the meristem (grow tip) in the case of marijuana. This reaction is triggered when the light source for the plant grows dark enough and when that reaction is sustained long enough to match the required time length set genetically in the plant, the plant goes into flowering.

This doesn't go into quite that detail but here's a link that talks about it as well as other ways plants respond to light.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortihints/0012b.html

 

[Gold123]

Actually that's incorrect, it's not how many hours of light they get but rather how few hours of light. Or to say it a different way, flowering is triggered by decreasing the amount of light which is really increasing the amount of dark. The actual monitoring of this is based on a chemical reaction that goes on in the meristem (grow tip) in the case of marijuana. This reaction is triggered when the light source for the plant grows dark enough and when that reaction is sustained long enough to match the required time length set genetically in the plant, the plant goes into flowering.

This doesn't go into quite that detail but here's a link that talks about it as well as other ways plants respond to light.

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/hortihints/0012b.html

Thank You

 

[ericcalif]

cheers bud my seeds have just popped and rooted well

There you go... they popped and you're smiling Thats the attitude, enjoy the process and you'll be golden.

 

[FC89]

Hello HK,

Thanks for answering everyones questions, I'm sure not only me but thousands of others thank you for what you do and the info you give us. I have a quick question, or opinion rather. I'm growing some autos Russian Rocket Fuel and Onyx, to keep things short, I planted 4 seeds, 3 Germed, all males, I germed 1 when the 4th seed didnt make it and shes female! However I'm running into a slight problem? The leaves are somewhat drooping and curling, I've been trying to get my watering technique down but since its my first grow, the lift method is kind of hard to get down right. But I've only watered them a couple times, here is a couple shots of her



Here is some info about what I'm using, as you can see 16oz beer cups, FFOF soil, I gave them some tea on day 10, tea consisted of Fox Farms Happy Frog and some Maxicrop. Its not drooping to bad, but I'm just curious as to what I should do to help counteract the drooping and curling. Any Info would be a great help man. Once again thanks for the help!

 

[hoosierdaddy]

16oz beer cups I can help you with.
Get a fresh cup and put some FFOF in it. Now feel it.
That is what it is supposed to feel like before you water.
Now, when the cup does feel that light (and you will catch on to this like second nature) add 6-8 ounces of feed water. I use a cow syringe from the farm store for like $3. (one of my most used basic grow tools) Wait for them to be light again before watering again.
You can move this same technique on to larger pots or bags. Before long you will have that second nature built in and will know when to water no matter what pot it is in.

Your seedlings do not look too bad at all. It may be that they are over watered a bit, but it may be they look that way due to genetics. (shrug) In any event, you now know how to precisely water them in cups.
BTW...I use one cup with holes in the bottom to hold my lings, and I set that cup inside another cup with no holes in the bottom. It serves as a reservoir to catch any excess water.
It may take on a few drizzles after you water, but it will remove that little bit in no time, and you don't need a tray or anything to catch to overage.

 

[grahambond]

Personally, for a 1 hour shift, I'd just do it all in one shot. If you feel better doing it in 2 1/2 hour shifts though, that's okay. What I do is just either extend or shorten the lights on period to make the necessary change depending on whether the time moves forward or backward. What the plants key off of for flower is the length of the dark period. So if you either shorten or length the light period by one hour, to the plant it's like the day ended a little quicker or dragged on a little longer then normal.

Thank you very much HempKat.
So it's confirmed... . As far as I understand (i'm not english) it's better, in this case, to change the lenght of the lights period and not the dark period. I didn't do anything yet, so this afternoon I will set my timers on one hour before at the strart up(lights on) , after 12 hours dark for 12 hours, and so on.

Actually I only used to do this, now I just leave things be. I came to realize that I was only making the change because it made sense to me since we're used to changing the clocks for ourselves. Also it's partly because we make a schedule around our plants needs so to change the timers makes the plant stick with the routine we've established. Then I got to thinking about why I picked the times I use for flowering. Right now it would be 9pm on and 9am off, in the fall it would be 8pm on and 8am off. I pick those times mainly because I grow when temps are cool or cold outside and my growroom design depends on those temps for good temps in the grow room. If I run my lights at night like I do that's when the outside air (which cools my light) is coldest and does the best job cooling for me. During the day is when outside temps are warmest helping to keep my grow room from getting too cold during lights out. I realized that if I shift the timers to keep the same schedule, I shift myself a bit outside of the best times for maintaining the temps where I want. So I just leave them where they are and adjust my routine by an hour if need be. That way the temps stay more where I want and I don't have to worry about changing the timers twice a year.

I do this schedule for the same reason, avoid excess warm during light period. And it is also for this reason that in a short future ending the light period at 10:00 a.m. could be too warm in my places..
Maybe making the same as you: 09.00pm-09.00am and 08.00pm-08.00am could be a good choice.

Bye

 

[Fat J]

Hey, HK
I was wonderin if you have any input on a technique a friend recently told me about... They said I should wait till I think they r ready, and chop all the tops and let the canopy ripen for another week.

Normally I wouldnt consider this, but the plants i have this round have some huge main colas and slightly underdeveloped canopy flowers. I'm wondering if you have used this method and if so how well it works...

Heres my canopy im considering for the method(the 2 in the foreground), they are GDP:

 

[Pineydoobey]

I'm looking for some information on generators and growing with them.
Well generating the power used to grow with them
I'm trying to pick the safest route for growing and I'm pretty much dead set on this method.
Any information would be much appreciated.

If you want to make this thread a little less crowded you can stop by mine and deposit your 2¢

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=166710

 

[Pineydoobey]

Hey, HK
I was wonderin if you have any input on a technique a friend recently told me about... They said I should wait till I think they r ready, and chop all the tops and let the canopy ripen for another week.

Normally I wouldnt consider this, but the plants i have this round have some huge main colas and slightly underdeveloped canopy flowers. I'm wondering if you have used this method and if so how well it works...

Fat J

I recently finished my first grow with my friend. We had 2 plants. (One clone each)
When we got them they were both lanky so we trimmed the majority of the branches in order to let the main cola grow bigger.
Only the biggest popcorn nug branches were left on the plant other than the main cola.
Near the end of flowering we noticed the main cola's matured tremendously faster. So, we left everything but the main cola's on the plants and it was well worth it.
They almost doubled in size and the trichomes produced on the finished product was 3 if not 4 times more than what it would have been had we chopped it all at the same time.

If I was growing a plant with a main cola and any number of less dominant branches I am certain I would almost always do this.
The difference just 2 weeks made was incredible. You will probably see a huge gain with plants as big as yours. I certainly did

 

[Gold123]

Hey, HK
I was wonderin if you have any input on a technique a friend recently told me about... They said I should wait till I think they r ready, and chop all the tops and let the canopy ripen for another week.

Normally I wouldnt consider this, but the plants i have this round have some huge main colas and slightly underdeveloped canopy flowers. I'm wondering if you have used this method and if so how well it works...

Heres my canopy im considering for the method(the 2 in the foreground), they are GDP:

It all depends if you need the room for the next grow or you have time. A few grows back I took the ripe tops and let the bottoms go another week. They did fine.

 

[Cindiwaa]

lights, how far above canopy? I mean if a 1000 watt light was like 80 degrees would you put it inches from the canopy? so a regular hps would be what? is it 12 inches? 18? 24? Does it depend on the plant? is there a sweet spot in the middle?

 

[ericcalif]

lights, how far above canopy? I mean if a 1000 watt light was like 80 degrees would you put it inches from the canopy? so a regular hps would be what? is it 12 inches? 18? 24? Does it depend on the plant? is there a sweet spot in the middle?

Take a look at this thread...

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=112662

Part way down on that first page is a chart that is a great guideline.
General rule I use is closer the better, without burning leaves. Watch your plants reaction, that's a good approach.

 

[ericcalif]

Hey, HK
I was wonderin if you have any input on a technique a friend recently told me about... They said I should wait till I think they r ready, and chop all the tops and let the canopy ripen for another week.

Normally I wouldnt consider this, but the plants i have this round have some huge main colas and slightly underdeveloped canopy flowers. I'm wondering if you have used this method and if so how well it works...

Heres my canopy im considering for the method(the 2 in the foreground), they are GDP:

I did that with my first crop, though the quantity was much less than yours. I found the lower stuff ripened a little bit, but as for swell or added mass, it was little to none. It just seemed to help with a more even maturity of trichs.

 

[ericcalif]

question on dominance

question on dominance

Another question for Hempcat, and others...

I posted this on a strain thread...

I've just gotten a couple SLH beans for the next run, and reading this thread I have a question...
How is it that one particular strain (in this case SLH) can have pheno's that are both indica dom and sativa dom? Wouldn't dominance run thru the strain? I've only read a little about breeding but I don't remember reading that a stabilized strain would produce pheno's with varying dominance.

Any input?