New 150 Watt HPS, Emily's Garden, Aghan & N.L.

[HobbyGrower]

Day 23

Day 23

Here they are all together. A little bit of curling in the largest afghan (bottom left) some of the tips are beginning to yellow (very minor). Either underfeeding or magnesium deficiency. Some would say nute burn, i welcome your opinions. Began using epsom salt (1/4 teaspoon per gallon) dissolved as a foliar feed and top feed. They're also on week three of the my nute regiment which is at 1/2 strength.

Using tap water that's been filtered through a brita water filter. Starting ppm is at 170, still kinda high. so my overall ppms after nute is 750. kinda high for this early stage. if they don't seem like they're having a good time I'll go grab some distilled. so far so good.

150watt hps is at 12" from the top of the largest. I raised it even higher last night and they stretched a little overnight. Not a huge problem since they're on their 6th node and still very very short.

The last pic is the largest NL top-down.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Day 25 update

Day 25 update

So my grow tent is starting to smell but it's not really leaving the tent. All plants seem to be happy even with the high ppm and fluctuating pH. Thinking I'll veg them for at least another week and a half then switch to 12/12.

Anyone wanting to know about emily's garden:

pros: it's a pretty slick system, very easy to use, low maintenance. Once the roots hit the water, growth is phenomenal.

cons: The stones needs to be cleaned quite often which is a pain, will become increasingly more a pain when the roots start to grow over them. I would highly suggest if you use this system do not attempt more than one strain or only use feminized seeds. The reason is that all the plants share the same reservoir and some plants might have different feeding needs or respond to higher/lower ppm or nute strength. It's really important to make sure all your plants are the same age (sprouting around the same time). If you have a plant that's a week behind and you're on week 3, that younger plant may be getting too many nutes. So far I haven't experienced that but it's a strong possibility.

The reason I suggest using feminized seeds is when/if the roots become entangled, trying to remove a male would be quite a pain and might actually damage the female roots you're trying to preserve.

Overall Emily's Garden is a pretty good beginner system. I must admit though that I might not use it for future grows. I'm going to buy some black 5 gallon containers and I found a 6" net that fits right onto the 5 gallon container. I'm also buying an adjustable dual outlet air pump that moves 2 gallons per minute. Wish I would've known more about DWC I would've started with this.

 

[mmmcake]

how are you liking the 150 hps system? im thinking of getting one for my next outing. my last time around i used 2 65watt cfls with good results.

 

[HobbyGrower]

I would highly recommend the 150 hps over CFLs, only with such a small space, seriously consider getting one with a remote ballast. Mine has an integrated ballast and I've struggled with heat from day one. Now that I'm in a tent, it's much much better.

Ordering carbon scrubber tonight as it's starting to stink pretty good. Don't get me wrong, I love the smell, just I don't need the neighbors to love it also.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Day 29 update

Day 29 update

Today is the day! These guys are going 12/12!! One is a runt (lower left). It's older than the other three but, as you can see, much smaller.

The largest is Afghan and the two in the rear are both NL. The Afghan is 9.25 inches tall, the NL on the left is about 4.5 and the one on the right is 6 inches.

Hopefully in a week or two I'll start to see sex and will update from there.

Wish me luck.

 

[JHerbz]

Im watching this, i want to see how the emilys systems does because im lazy and would rather just buy all my stuff complete ;D

I found a tent/emilys system package seems like a pretty good deal.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Day 36 - Week 1 flower

Day 36 - Week 1 flower

What a difference a week makes!!

I'm super excited today because I walked into the tent to check them out and yep, I've got at least TWO GIRLS!!

The largest afghan and the largest NL! Man this is incredibly exciting!!

I've ordered my carbon scrubber which should be here today or tomorrow, early next week at the latest.

I've religiously monitored my ppm and pH on a daily basis only replenishing the reservoir with ~5.0 pH water since the rez is at about 6.1-ish. This seems to keep the rez steady at about 6.1-6.2. I've tried and tried to lower my pH to 5.8 but it's hard to keep it there so I'm not worrying about it too much. The girls don't seem to mind.

Last week's nute change did bring about some changes like canoeing leaves and a little bit of burn up front but over the week they did just fine. Now I'm debating whether to continue another week of my transition nutes or go straight into full strength flower. Ya, straight into full strength flower it is! I'll just use half-and-half tap and distilled to get my PPMs under control.

 

[JHerbz]

Lookin good. Cant wait for those budshots!

 

[stonedar]

grats on your girlies

 

[HobbyGrower]

Day 3 of Week 3 update

Day 3 of Week 3 update

Haven't updated in a week or so. The girls are on day 3 of week 3. The largest NL is now bigger than the afghan. I read somewhere that would happen. The NL like to stretch! I started using Bud Candy because it uses Sweet Leaf and Carboload... basically two products in one. So far so good. Now that they're in flower I check temp, humidity, pH, and TDS once a day and things seem very stable. Doesn't really get over 83 degrees unless it's a hot day. Then I use indoor AC to bring the temps down.

The only mishap was the largest NL plant stretching right into the bulb causing some burning of the leaves. The buds up there continue to grow with no problem. oops.

I also bought a fan and carbon filter. Now, there is ZERO smell. pretty awesome.

Both NL plants are covered with flowers all over the thing. No males detected yet. Funny thing about the Afghan is that it showed pre-flowers before either of them but doesn't have any actual flowers. What I think is strange is that the Afghan is supposed to be ready in 6-8 weeks and the NL ready in 7-9 weeks. So far, it looks like both NLs will be ready before the Afghan. Just gonna be patient and see what it does.

I'm going to take clippings of each at several different times to see what type of high I prefer. Gonna cure them in glass jars after about 1 week of drying. Might take a little longer cuz it's kinda humid in this part of the hemisphere. I'll document what date it was taken, the condition (color) of the trichs and how long it's been curing. Hopefully I'll have enough to let some of the bigger buds cure for a couple of months for some fantastic smoke.

Next grow is gonna be either Widowrella or Grapefuit from Female Seeds. I'm going to grow only one of each and plan on SCROGging especially since I've read the Grapefuit can be 12/12 two weeks from sprout to keep the plant short. Still doing my research and can't wait for the next 2.5 to 3 weeks to be over!! I'll report details on how both the NL and the Afghan smoke.

Happy toking.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Picture Update - week 3

Picture Update - week 3

Sorry for the lack of pictures last update. Here ya go.

The first is the top of the smallest NL, next is the top of the largest. Pic 3 is the top cola of the largest NL. It's literally an inch from the top. Next you can see how they've occupied the tent. The next two are of the main cola of the largest NL and finally you can see the pre-flowers on the Afghan but no flowers. It's older than both NL but still no flowers.

NL looks like it'll finish in about 3-4 weeks. I want to take a branch at 6, another at 7, and the rest at 8. I'll dry each for two weeks and cure them from 1 week to two months. A smoke report of each week will be provided.

 

[JHerbz]

looking good bro

 

[HobbyGrower]

Thanks jebs and jherbz.

Also, cut the lighting back 1 hour so now it's 11/13. Might go down to 10/14 in a week or so. I read that this speeds maturation but hurts yield. If I was that worried about yield I would've bought a bigger tent and more light.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Week 4 day 5

Week 4 day 5

I'm just about the half way mark into flower for the NL. The Afghan began blooming today. Because it took so long to flower I'll have to watch its progress pretty closely so I know when to harvest. Looks like I'll have to stager harvest. That's fine, I can't wait to smoke the NL anyway.

I had to perform some training on the largest NL as it has reached the top and was being burned by the lamp. Now its bent in the middle and the top is pulled over facing the light. This is taking away a little bit from the smaller plant but it's still receiving light. The training has exposed side blossoms to more light so those flowers are beginning to get larger.

If you haven't seen, these three plants share one reservoir, the same lighting in the same environment and only the Northern Lights were blooming which made no sense. Now, after almost 4 whole weeks it's just now starting to bloom. I was gonna chop it to so I could have more room. Glad I was patient.

The first picture (sorry for the quality) is of the top of the afghan and, I assure you, there's a flower growing there. The next two pictures are lower buds on the afghan. The final 3 are of the northern lights. You can see they've begun to become sugary and frosted. You can even see slight color change. My genetics supplier suggests NL goes 7 to 10 weks. I don't think they'll be ready in 3 weeks and 2 days given where they're at.

I've also acquired a whole lot of bagseed and i'm thinking those would be really fun to grow into something special since the weed it's from is very low quality (hence the large quantity of seeds). I can imagine you thinking wow, that money I spent on that crappy weed was well worth it just for these genetics.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Starting week 5

Starting week 5

The unthinkable happened... while LSTing my afghan I broke the top 1/3 of the plant off.

I can't believe I did that. Well, ya I kinda can. This is my first grow and I successfully tied the NL down but was a little rough on what I thought was the hardier of the two.

You can see in this picture that buds are still growing. They're just further behind the part that broke off and they're way farther from the light. Hopefully the plant begins to stretch and regrow.

In this picture is the top of the smallest NL. Gorgeous photo if you ask me.

Here you can see the top of the largest NL in all her glory.

And finally you can see how large the fan leaves are on the NL.

I figure I'm going to change the nute reservoir one more time before I begin flush. But that's the problem. The plants are all at different stages and they share the same reservoir. ACK!! So what to do?? To flush or not to flush... that is the question. I'm gonna put the largest bud in jars to cure for about a month or so (hopefully they last that long). In doing this I hope to mellow out the un-flushed flavor... maybe it'll just be fine. Hmmmm... suggestions?

 

[OrgAeroMan]

Shitty about the break, Hobby, but she'll yield something. They're so resilient They take a knockin' and keep on rockin'. Just another reason we picked the right plants for our hobby, Hobby.

 

[HobbyGrower]

Thanks for the encouraging words Aero.

 

[OrgAeroMan]

Any updates buddy? Do you like the Emily's garden? How does the NL smell, is it a really low odor strain like everyone says? I could certainly benefit from that. Thanks! Good luck man, and keep up the good work!

 

[stoney917]

dont take nething down bro they dont look close to done yet start flushin on day 56 wk8 and start takin them down 1 at a time a week from then if not longer its ur first grow dont harvest early u will be let down like many others learn from there lesson not the hard way. trust me bro

 

[HobbyGrower]

Hey Aero, no real updates. I'm just letting them do their thing. Haven't checked pH or ppm in awhile. They look just fine.

Emily's Garden is a good beginner system. It's very forgiving and the passive wick system makes maintenance almost non-existent. On the downside, I don't know that I can recommend this for a 6-plant SOG, even if you went 12/12 from seed with all the same strain. The problem is the reservoir is only about 2.5 gallons and with 6 plants, making sure the air stones are operating properly would be a major issue. Imagine reaching under all your plants' roots trying to clear and clean the air stone. Major pain.

On the other hand a 1-2 plant ScrOG is ideal!. Again, use the same strain and you won't be disappointed cuz remember, all the plants share the same reservoir so you can't get specific nutes to one without giving to the other.

As for the NL smell, it's wonderful. It is definitely a low odor strain. The Afghan, on the contrary, is not. Brushing up against the NL stems produces a piney, somewhat citrusy smell (lime), becoming a bit earthy as the smell lingers. It's really a beautiful thing. The trichome production is increasing here in week 5 and the stretch has stopped about a week or more ago.

Stoney: thanks for keeping my head out of the clouds. I just need to let these buds mature and stop messing with the plants. That's what I'm trying to do. I might go a little earlier because of my light schedule being 11/13 which speeds maturity while hurting yield. But, I agree, they aren't close to being done yet. I totally appreciate the sage advice and I'm sure I'd be wise to heed.