My first legal grow!

[rob feature]

You are about to learn why running all of one strain is ideal.... take this as a learning time. Always run the same strain under a light. Because if you dont they will grow at different rates and either some plants dont get enough light. or you will have some take over. its just a mess I have tried running different strains together too many times too count. See which out of the 4 you like? then run 4 of just that next time happy trails and good luck! ALSO!!!! THEY DRINK 5x as much water in flower as they do in veg. be PREPARED to water often and alot!

Yeah, this is already sort of a thing. I have one plant sitting on top of a pot. Another is on an upside down tray to try to even out height a bit. I already have a difference of about a foot between the shortest & tallest plants, but I wanted a variety. I'm gonna see if I can work around the growing pains...maybe use buckets or something if need be for the shorties. I agree - ideally I'd just do similar strains under this light, but I like learning things the hard way obviously

My next lesson comes tomorrow. I'm gonna try cloning for the first time.

Got my hardware today

And some juice

2 free samples in there

I love my local grow store


Oh, and thanks for the heads up on the water. After that little spook, I started keeping a good bit ready.

 

[rob feature]

So last night I took my first stab at cloning. It's really a lot simpler than I'd made it out to be in my head. The time-consuming part was mixing the solution. I only took cuttings from 3 as the AKCL didn't have anything ready for me...still super bushy, but stretching out some. I hope to be able to take some cuts in the next few days.

I think I'm doing something right so far. I compared these to the stuff I tossed in the trash and it looks much better

After a good bit of reading, I think I'm just gonna let these hang out in my living room about a foot under 27W CFL that stays on. I haven't figured out how I'm gonna veg these while the others are in flower just yet, but that'll give me something to do over Spring Break

 

[rob feature]

How's about a little update for the 8th day of flower? I can't get over how fast the plants are growing now...especially the runt. Funny how things shape up given a little time, huh?

I have changed a few things I was doing. I've started feeding every watering now - about every other day. I'm up to full power with the veg + bloom & all seem to be taking it well. Err, they aren't getting full tits each feeding. I just take the weekly number in grams/gal and divide by the number of feedings in a week - which I've determined to be 3.

Before this regimen, I was feeding the full amount (adjusted for size) in one go & then providing water only until the next scheduled feeding - one week later. This makes things simpler on me. Since they're drinking at different rates, it was becoming difficult (without making notes) to keep track of who needs to be fed and who's already been fed. This way I don't have to worry about that. Also, while it may appear like more work, it streamlines the process & cuts waste. I just break the gallon into fractions & plug that into my formula for the appropriate time frame. I know that the smaller plants will hold just under a half gallon when dry and the big girl will hold 2/3 gallon when dry. I mix only what I need & use it all. I've been able to read the girls pretty well regarding how much liquid they'll take after some practice. At this point, it takes less than 5 minutes to prep the food & water unless I have to microwave a bunch...no biggie and it seems to get quicker every time.

To make things faster, I've been keeping at least 2 gallons of water filtered and ready. I leave the caps off to let any gases escape. I keep another empty gallon container with these for fractional gallons. Once feeding time comes around, I pull 2 cups into a borosilicate cup, heat it for 60 seconds in the microwave (repeat as necessary), and bring the temp up to something below bathwater. The water comes out of the tap just above 32F here this time of year and it stays in the 60s without intervention, so I feel like the plants probably appreciate the warmer water. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm warming it to somewhere between 70 and 75 degrees...about greenhouse temp.

I promised to modify my lighting for the pictures since the growth has made photography in there a bit more challenging. And I'm making good on that, however I'd intended to get a little fancier with off-camera lights. What happened is I was feeling too lazy to dig all that stuff out and went with the oh so horrible on-camera flash. It washed out about half the detail, but I'll post 'em anyway. If I get inspired later, maybe I'll go there, but it's been a long day and more work sounds like more work.

The stunner du jour has to be the AK Cherry Lime. I'd started to think it was just gonna be a shrub and I'd just live with it. But just over the last 24 hours it's stretched out a couple more inches. It keeps doing this. It's still super-thick in there, but keeps surprising me with all the sudden vertical.

This is what I meant by washing out detail. On-axis flash just hides stuff. Master Kush is looking amazing - trying hard to catch up with the Blueberry and bushing out at the same time

Mendocino County Diesel keeps stacking on & improving on all fronts. It's still the lightest in green mass above the soil. Its main stem is still dinky compared to the others and not woody yet. I'm convinced I slowed it with overtrimming & giving just water when I should have given nutes, but I'll take that as a learning experience. I'm still keeping my expectations low with her, but she survived the guillotine.

And once again stopping by at oh tall thirty, the Blueberry.

She's looking as healthy as ever and back to growing at full-tilt.

I've also managed to keep some clones alive for 3 days

I keep waiting on them to do something haenous in revolt, but still look as happy as right before I took them. I still don't think I'll be able to keep this set, but it's good practice.

It seems too easy so far. I'm really doing very little to them and they're not upset about it. They aren't on a heat pad, have no special light, and get no more attention that opening the dome and spraying it twice a day. Okay, I wiped the inside once. Still way less delicate than I figured. They've been moved around a few times - less than gracefully. Hootie hoo!

'till next time,
peace & cheese!
feature

 

[rob feature]

For size reference I snapped this one last night for another forum. (AKCL has a few inches of 'help')

Left to right; top to bottom:

MCD, Blueberry, AKCL, Master Kush

 

[whiteberrieS]

Helluva lot nicer than my first one haha. Stay frosty

 

[rob feature]

Okay, so a mild inspiration floated by. I kinda wanted to see how my trusty old manual Nikkor 85mm 1.4 portrait lens would see the ladies. I haven't shot this thing in forever and forgot how crazy finicky it is about focus. Not bad with a tiny aperture though. She's still got it. I still need a good macro lens.

 

[rob feature]

My strain selection was sort of a shot in the dark. I haven't tried any of these, but am confident none will go to waste. I stopped by for some supplies this afternoon and noticed some Master Kush on the shelf! I kinda hesitated as it spoils a little of the surprise, but that passed pretty quickly.

My limited experience with it so far has been overwhelmingly positive. It vapes at low temps, which tends to preserve flavor a little longer. It's much frostier than appears in the photo. Flavor it tremendous and dynamic - hard to describe because it seems like it's ever-changing, but in 2 bowls I noticed something similar to Pez both times. And I loves me some pez :yay:

Actually, flavor-wise, I'm blown away. This will be a new favorite. High is mellow & clear & motivating. I'm about to dig into a couple hours of homework...we'll see how that goes. This plant is eager to put out so it looks like I'll have a bit more of it to sample. Can't wait!

 

[Brother Bear]

Hey Rob Very nice grow man !

 

[rob feature]

Thanks Brother Bear

If my Master Kush turns out anything like I got my hands on today, I'm gonna be a happy camper

 

[rob feature]

Oh, and howdy back

 

[tech138]

Holy crap Rob..I go off the grid for a week or so and your grow is blowing up! Looking very nice

 

[rob feature]

Thanks Tech! Yeah, it really took off in the last couple weeks. They seem to like everything I'm doing, which is very little, so I think I'll keep it up. Ima try to get in there and take a few more pics later tonight....

 

[rob feature]

2 weeks ago tonight I began flowering these lovely ladies. And I'm personally stunned at how quickly they're coming along. I needed some good news too. I won't bore you with the story, but rest assured spending time in the garden is a much-welcome break from some of the shit that's been coming at me this week. And good vibes from the garden always make my day better.

The girls are all still putting on vertical - roughly an inch per day.

The tops are giving me plenty to look at as well.

This is where I've been really surprised. I didn't expect to see flowers developing so quickly, but there they are

......................

 

[rob feature]

Master Kush

This is a plant that I intend to keep around as long as possible. I even stopped back by today to see if I could put back another quarter, but it was all gone. It disappears from the shelves very quickly apparently. And I know why.

Mendocino Diesel's acting like nothing happened. She's still smaller than the rest for the most part, but she has 2 reachers making her the 2nd tallest plant in the garden. It seemed to respond well to cutting off all those funky fan leaves. Maybe I'm a nutbag, but I can't help thinking maybe a few bad leaves might put out a bad vibe & keep the plant slow. Either way, it seems to have appreciated it. Not only that, but they were huge and gave me way more light inside the plant.

Blueberry's still being silly. Everything about it - just silly

AKCL's still climbing nicely, but still the shorty. It's still almost annoyingly dense, but lots of flowery stuff going on in there right now. I'm seeing some frost actually, but am having a hard time getting an image of it. I'll try to make good on that later.

I'm starting the +Size tonight along with 1.6g/gal v+b @ each watering. Looking forward to the next few weeks!!!

 

[rob feature]

I got the +Size all mixed up and passed out. Only 2 needed water, so only 2 got it, but something pretty awesome happened as I was getting a pipette and the acid:

uhm



This means no adjusting pH for at least 2 weeks.

I know this company formulates this stuff for tap water in specific limited markets, but I'm starting to think this one might be just for the Denver market. If so, that's just bad-ass! If not, it's still bad-ass!

So as it is now, I'm using 4 items: tap water; Veg+Bloom @ 1.6g/gal; +Life @ .1g/gal; +Size @ .3g/gal. Gets me perfect pH. Nice way to end the week

 

[rob feature]

I was flippin' through the macro thread & got the urge to pull that 85 out again. I can't get any closer than 4 feet, but this thing's still fun to play with. Day 16 flower.

Had to take this one from about 10 feet away

AKCL

Blueberry. Pretty much all the buds on the upper side are look just like it - dozens

 

[rob feature]

Also got the bright idea to maybe make my own macro. Maybe a loupe through the cel phone will work?

Not so much

 

[tech138]

Those ladies are already stacking frost! That is so awesome. It looks like things are progressing very quick. You are in for a great harvest.

 

[rob feature]

A good harvest sounds just fine

Still snowy tree season in Colorado

 

[rob feature]

Man, Frosty Claus brought stocking stuffers last night. I thought I was just a little sleepy this morning, but they're looking even fatter tonight.

The canopy pretty much fills out the 4x4 tent now. 19 days flower; 49 days in soil

I'm starting to think about propping some of 'em up somehow. Anybody think it's too late to go cramming sticks in the soil? I don't wanna damage roots. Maybe I'll just tie the troublemakers to the top of the tent. Then again, how far can they really go?

Most of the blueberry plant

Oh, I haven't brought up the clones lately. Probably because there isn't much to talk about. Because I wasn't sure when it would be counted as a plant, I ditched all but 2 clones to keep my plant count in check. I'm thinking clones are included in your plant count...anything in a medium counts. Anyhoo, it's been a couple of weeks or so and they look exactly the same as they did when I stuck 'em in there...like EXACTLY the same. No changes at all. It's kinda freaky. I'm just gonna let 'em hang for now & see what they do.

Starting to think a little about bubble bags too & if I wanna give that a go. Never made hash before. I kinda like the idea.

Got a new bulb on the way too. This one's flickering & is still quite new, so kinda seems like I need to replace it. Then again, the plants don't seem to mind. Maybe I should leave it? This is just a cheapo Apollo ($14 shipped) from Amazon, but it seems to be handling things.