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Portable Rubbermaid mini grow - 100W UFO LED
- Thread starter Merry Gardener
- Start date
Merry Gardener
Member
Flower day 39:
I noticed a few leaf tips are a little yellow, but I still gave the plants a strong feeding: 7 mL NPK 4-4-4 fertilizer, 4 mL Hesi Bloom, 4 mL BioBizz TopMax, 2 mL BioBizz BioHeaven, 2 mL BioBizz Algamic in 1 L Britta filtered water. This turned out to be the last feeding...
I noticed a few leaf tips are a little yellow, but I still gave the plants a strong feeding: 7 mL NPK 4-4-4 fertilizer, 4 mL Hesi Bloom, 4 mL BioBizz TopMax, 2 mL BioBizz BioHeaven, 2 mL BioBizz Algamic in 1 L Britta filtered water. This turned out to be the last feeding...
Merry Gardener
Member
Flower day 52:
In the past week I finally finished the growbox by adding the ventilation holes, extraction fan and a bit of cardboard to the edges of the box - I call this the "Bug Guard", because it's much easier now to put on the upper lid without squashing any developing buds.
The flowers are fattening up nicely and everything looks quite OK. A few leaves are obviously burnt by too much nutrients, that last feeding was really too much.
I checked the trichomes on macro pictures and I found a surprising number of trichomes are already brown, but still plenty of cloudy and some clear. Otherwise, the plants don't seem to be close to ripe yet, there are more white hairs than red, the calyxes don't seem to be swollen, and only one plant is showing a bit of yellowing on the leaves.
I also found Mandala's recommendations for safe fertilizing (http://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Fertilizing-Smart-Guide), and that made me realize that I was feeding too much. They mention that too much fertilizer can cause premature end of flowering, could that be the cause of early brown trichomes?
In the past week I finally finished the growbox by adding the ventilation holes, extraction fan and a bit of cardboard to the edges of the box - I call this the "Bug Guard", because it's much easier now to put on the upper lid without squashing any developing buds.
The flowers are fattening up nicely and everything looks quite OK. A few leaves are obviously burnt by too much nutrients, that last feeding was really too much.
I checked the trichomes on macro pictures and I found a surprising number of trichomes are already brown, but still plenty of cloudy and some clear. Otherwise, the plants don't seem to be close to ripe yet, there are more white hairs than red, the calyxes don't seem to be swollen, and only one plant is showing a bit of yellowing on the leaves.
I also found Mandala's recommendations for safe fertilizing (http://www.mandalaseeds.com/Guides/Fertilizing-Smart-Guide), and that made me realize that I was feeding too much. They mention that too much fertilizer can cause premature end of flowering, could that be the cause of early brown trichomes?
wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow.
Merry Gardener
Member
Flower day 61:
In my last post I forgot to mention that on day 52 I flushed the plants with plain water: I watered them thoroughly, waited for 20 minutes, and then watered them thoroughly again.
Lately I had a feeling that the flowers were ripening slower that usual. It seems the 100W UFO does not adequately illuminate my grow area for flowering. In order to get enough coverage I have to lift the light and then the intensity drops. It does work and the plants are flowering, but the buds are obviously not as big as they could be (and as I expected). I'm sure that I could finish the grow successfully with the 100W LED UFO, but more light would obviously be beneficial. But on the other hand, I also made plenty of mistakes during the grow so I shouldn't complain much...
Anyway, on day 56 I decided to add two 23W 2700K CFL bulbs to the growbox. The temperature is now 3 - 4 deg. Celsius above ambient, before it was only 1 deg. above. But this is still OK, the ventilation can handle it. However, I'm not sure what will be the effect of increasing light intensity so late in flowering...
The buds have visibly fattened and look quite nice. They are full of trichomes: mostly cloudy, some clear and some brownish. When I open the box it smells floral and a bit like coffee. The bottom buds are very small, though.
Only one plant shows some yellowing of the leaves and it seems the most ripe. It sits directly under the LED light and has the largest % of brown trichomes. Interestingly, this plant was watered/fertilized the least of all plants, because it always seemed heavier than other plants. I think this also indicates that I overfertilized the plants: the one with the least fertilizer looks the best and the ripest...
I don't intend to harvest yet, the majority of plants don't look ripe enough and I would like to get approximately 2/3 cloudy and 1/3 brown trichomes.
In my last post I forgot to mention that on day 52 I flushed the plants with plain water: I watered them thoroughly, waited for 20 minutes, and then watered them thoroughly again.
Lately I had a feeling that the flowers were ripening slower that usual. It seems the 100W UFO does not adequately illuminate my grow area for flowering. In order to get enough coverage I have to lift the light and then the intensity drops. It does work and the plants are flowering, but the buds are obviously not as big as they could be (and as I expected). I'm sure that I could finish the grow successfully with the 100W LED UFO, but more light would obviously be beneficial. But on the other hand, I also made plenty of mistakes during the grow so I shouldn't complain much...
Anyway, on day 56 I decided to add two 23W 2700K CFL bulbs to the growbox. The temperature is now 3 - 4 deg. Celsius above ambient, before it was only 1 deg. above. But this is still OK, the ventilation can handle it. However, I'm not sure what will be the effect of increasing light intensity so late in flowering...
The buds have visibly fattened and look quite nice. They are full of trichomes: mostly cloudy, some clear and some brownish. When I open the box it smells floral and a bit like coffee. The bottom buds are very small, though.
Only one plant shows some yellowing of the leaves and it seems the most ripe. It sits directly under the LED light and has the largest % of brown trichomes. Interestingly, this plant was watered/fertilized the least of all plants, because it always seemed heavier than other plants. I think this also indicates that I overfertilized the plants: the one with the least fertilizer looks the best and the ripest...
I don't intend to harvest yet, the majority of plants don't look ripe enough and I would like to get approximately 2/3 cloudy and 1/3 brown trichomes.
Merry Gardener
Member
Flower day 68 - partial harvest:
The plants are nearly finished and they finally started showing some yellowing of the leaves. I water them less than before, with plain water and only when they start showing some wilting.
I don't know if adding two CFL bulbs made any difference, but the flowers directly under 100W LED UFO look quite ripe to me. The rest could still go for another week, it seems. So I decided to harvest a few of the most ripe buds.
Here are some photos of the nicest looking bud, the one that shows nice leaf colors:
The plants are nearly finished and they finally started showing some yellowing of the leaves. I water them less than before, with plain water and only when they start showing some wilting.
I don't know if adding two CFL bulbs made any difference, but the flowers directly under 100W LED UFO look quite ripe to me. The rest could still go for another week, it seems. So I decided to harvest a few of the most ripe buds.
Here are some photos of the nicest looking bud, the one that shows nice leaf colors:
Merry Gardener
Member
Flower day 75 - harvest:
In the last week the plants ripened some more. I lowered the lights and the small buds in the center got brown hairs too. There is a lot of brown trichomes, approx. 1/3 on top buds. So on day 75 I harvested all the plants.
Here is a picture of the small buds in the center:
And here is how all 6 plants looked in the end:
This is one of the buds, more macros coming soon:
In the last week the plants ripened some more. I lowered the lights and the small buds in the center got brown hairs too. There is a lot of brown trichomes, approx. 1/3 on top buds. So on day 75 I harvested all the plants.
Here is a picture of the small buds in the center:
And here is how all 6 plants looked in the end:
This is one of the buds, more macros coming soon:
hooray! harv time!
congrats on a great grow. what is the plan for next run? 
i really enjoy looking at your pics due to your attention to detail, merry
iskaboy
Member
hooray! harv time!
[URL=https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=44733&pictureid=1093120&thumb=1]View Image[/url]
i really enjoy looking at your pics due to your attention to detail, merry
Quote, really thanks for the show and congrats for the hi-tech grow, keep us updated with the curing also!
wow that 1 flower looks very rich and tasty. yumm yumm.
nice hall u got.
nice hall u got.
Merry Gardener
Member
Hi everybody! I apologize for the late response... and big thanks to everybody for positive comments!
Thanks! For the next run the plan is to go with 2 clones of the same Black Russian plant, since now I know how it behaves. I want to prove to myself that I can grow more by improving my growing skills, not equipment. I'll use modular SCROG, be more careful with re-potting and follow guidelines from Mandala fertilizing guide. And I'll train that SCROG until it is perfect!
Actually, the second grow is already in progress, I just can't find time to post everything... I just can't post things out of order, or not completely finalized, I *have* to complicate...
Coming soon, I hope!
Thanks! I'll post the final results soon, and maybe even smoke report, if I will dare...
Thanks! Yes, a few buds turned out quite nice. Pretty dense, lots of trichomes, and quite nice to smoke too!
Thanks! By now it's dry, so I'll post the final numbers below!
Hehe, thanks, Happy Box is a great description! I often use it to "calm down": sometimes by tending to it, sometimes by enjoying the fruits!
Thanks! For the next run the plan is to go with 2 clones of the same Black Russian plant, since now I know how it behaves. I want to prove to myself that I can grow more by improving my growing skills, not equipment. I'll use modular SCROG, be more careful with re-potting and follow guidelines from Mandala fertilizing guide. And I'll train that SCROG until it is perfect!
Actually, the second grow is already in progress, I just can't find time to post everything... I just can't post things out of order, or not completely finalized, I *have* to complicate...
Coming soon, I hope! Quote, really thanks for the show and congrats for the hi-tech grow, keep us updated with the curing also!
Thanks! I'll post the final results soon, and maybe even smoke report, if I will dare...
Thanks! Yes, a few buds turned out quite nice. Pretty dense, lots of trichomes, and quite nice to smoke too!
very cool, let us know what you yielded after the harvest dries
Thanks! By now it's dry, so I'll post the final numbers below!
Hehe, thanks, Happy Box is a great description! I often use it to "calm down": sometimes by tending to it, sometimes by enjoying the fruits!
Merry Gardener
Member
Here are some more macros I promised earlier. Unfortunately, I was lazy and they are all taken from the same bud...
Merry Gardener
Member
Final results:
Before drying I just removed all big fan leaves, and then hanged the whole plants in a cupboard to slowly dry. I was interrupted by a visit once and I had to pack half-dried stalks in bags for approximately 12 hours. Luckily, everything went fine.
Here are the plants after drying:
And here are the trimmed buds grouped for each plant:
Final dry weight of the trimmed buds just before putting them in a curing jar was ~26 grams:
Together with ~5 grams I got from the first part of harvest that makes in total approximately 30 grams. I have to admit I was hoping for more, but on the other hand I made many mistakes, so in the end I'm pretty happy with the results.
The nuggets are dense and hard, probably in part because of that squeezing in the plastic bag for 12 hours, and even without curing they are quite nice to smoke. I can't really describe the flavors, because there's bunch of them, but there's lots of fruity/flowery with that "hashy" taste. The effect takes some time to start, but then you can feel it getting stronger and stronger. It mostly affects the head and it keeps me up at night, it's not good for a bed-time smoke. This is probably the most sativa-ish strain I've grown so far. It's definitely better to smoke than the "skunk" that I buy from the local dealer... And 30 grams should last me more than a month...
Before drying I just removed all big fan leaves, and then hanged the whole plants in a cupboard to slowly dry. I was interrupted by a visit once and I had to pack half-dried stalks in bags for approximately 12 hours. Luckily, everything went fine.
Here are the plants after drying:
And here are the trimmed buds grouped for each plant:
Final dry weight of the trimmed buds just before putting them in a curing jar was ~26 grams:
Together with ~5 grams I got from the first part of harvest that makes in total approximately 30 grams. I have to admit I was hoping for more, but on the other hand I made many mistakes, so in the end I'm pretty happy with the results.
The nuggets are dense and hard, probably in part because of that squeezing in the plastic bag for 12 hours, and even without curing they are quite nice to smoke. I can't really describe the flavors, because there's bunch of them, but there's lots of fruity/flowery with that "hashy" taste. The effect takes some time to start, but then you can feel it getting stronger and stronger. It mostly affects the head and it keeps me up at night, it's not good for a bed-time smoke. This is probably the most sativa-ish strain I've grown so far. It's definitely better to smoke than the "skunk" that I buy from the local dealer... And 30 grams should last me more than a month...
T
trem0lo
Very nice looking buds and a good show with the Blackstar. Enjoy the smoke (she won't keep you up after you develop a little tolerance!)
