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Starke's Story: An LED Tale
- Thread starter starke
- Start date
starke
Well-known member
Everyone knows by now that I grow in Hempy Buckets. Finding two, three and five gallon buckets without drain holes is easy. Pick your container, drill a hole and presto! Finding smaller containers to make intermediate transplant containers out of has been more of a challenge. Small (1/2 gallon, one gallon) plastic flower pots all have multiple drain holes already manufactured in. As a result I have used various different household containers: plastic ice cream containers, 2 liter soda bottles, etc. that I could poke my own drain hole in where needed. These have all suffered from various drawbacks such as fucked up shapes or being clear, etc.
The misses went to Dollar General last night for something and happened to see these one gallon plastic flower pots WITHOUT drain holes for a buck a piece. They are perfect for intermediate size veg containers. Just FYI in case anyone is interested.
The misses went to Dollar General last night for something and happened to see these one gallon plastic flower pots WITHOUT drain holes for a buck a piece. They are perfect for intermediate size veg containers. Just FYI in case anyone is interested.
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starke
Well-known member
Next Round
Next Round
The clones I had taken for the next round survived the russets and I transplanted them from beer cups to the one gallon pots the misses found.
I am bad about proper training and my method usually involves starting too late, bending and breaking branches like crazy and then hoping for the best.
Decided to take a stab at "doing it right" this time so the clones have been LSTd from about 10 inches tall to about 5 inches. Really hoping to get eight girls in the flower room on this next run so they will have to be smaller than the monsters I'm dealing with now.
Before:
After:
Next Round
The clones I had taken for the next round survived the russets and I transplanted them from beer cups to the one gallon pots the misses found.
I am bad about proper training and my method usually involves starting too late, bending and breaking branches like crazy and then hoping for the best.
Decided to take a stab at "doing it right" this time so the clones have been LSTd from about 10 inches tall to about 5 inches. Really hoping to get eight girls in the flower room on this next run so they will have to be smaller than the monsters I'm dealing with now.
Before:
After:
starke
Well-known member
Weekly Update Flower Day 21
Weekly Update Flower Day 21
Today marks the end of week three of flower. The ladies got a pretty extensive defoliation this morning and should now be good for the remaining six weeks or so of flower. This is the most I have removed and I am hoping my results are as positive as others I have seen on here. The pictures really don't show how much was removed due to the limited angle of view from the doorway.
The Liberty Haze has the most sparkle and nose so far and gummed up the clippers like you were trimming mature bud. Definite fuel smell at this point - not diesel - more like gas gone bad, kind of that varnish smell.
Working space was tight because these ladies are really too big. As a result I have browned the pistils on a lot of the buds just by repeated contact trying to move and trim. Hopefully they will return to throwing white hairs.
Before Defol:
Two pans removed from Liberty Hazes. At least a pan full was removed from each plant:
After Defol:
Going to get in the room tomorrow and yo-yo, tie, wire etc to get each branch in the best position possible. A few more pics tomorrow when that is done.
Peace,
starke
Weekly Update Flower Day 21
Today marks the end of week three of flower. The ladies got a pretty extensive defoliation this morning and should now be good for the remaining six weeks or so of flower. This is the most I have removed and I am hoping my results are as positive as others I have seen on here. The pictures really don't show how much was removed due to the limited angle of view from the doorway.
The Liberty Haze has the most sparkle and nose so far and gummed up the clippers like you were trimming mature bud. Definite fuel smell at this point - not diesel - more like gas gone bad, kind of that varnish smell.
Working space was tight because these ladies are really too big. As a result I have browned the pistils on a lot of the buds just by repeated contact trying to move and trim. Hopefully they will return to throwing white hairs.
Before Defol:
Two pans removed from Liberty Hazes. At least a pan full was removed from each plant:
After Defol:
Going to get in the room tomorrow and yo-yo, tie, wire etc to get each branch in the best position possible. A few more pics tomorrow when that is done.
Peace,
starke
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That's the way
That's the way
Here comes the best part. Swell, swell, and swell some more. More light and more focused use of nutes, it's got to help. Always wish I had cut off more after week 5. Keep up the good growing.
That's the way
Here comes the best part. Swell, swell, and swell some more. More light and more focused use of nutes, it's got to help. Always wish I had cut off more after week 5. Keep up the good growing.
starke
Well-known member
Update
Update
Just a quick update on the girls for the next round. Started their training last Friday and here they are five days later pointing those new apical shoots to the light.
Last Week:
','
This morning:
','
And a couple pics of the ladies after a little more defol and training. Pretty much stripped anything farther than about ten inches below the canopy:
','
','
This is absolutely the most uneven canopy I have tried to deal with and the fault is entirely mine. Kind of wondering if this run is going to be worth the effort and expense in terms of quality and yield. Really hoping my first experiment with real defoliation will make a difference in that regard. Oh well...I learn something new every grow so I guess it's not a complete waste.
Peace,
starke
Update
Just a quick update on the girls for the next round. Started their training last Friday and here they are five days later pointing those new apical shoots to the light.
Last Week:
','
This morning:
','
And a couple pics of the ladies after a little more defol and training. Pretty much stripped anything farther than about ten inches below the canopy:
','
','
This is absolutely the most uneven canopy I have tried to deal with and the fault is entirely mine. Kind of wondering if this run is going to be worth the effort and expense in terms of quality and yield. Really hoping my first experiment with real defoliation will make a difference in that regard. Oh well...I learn something new every grow so I guess it's not a complete waste.
Peace,
starke
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starke
Well-known member
Weekly Update Flower Day 28
Weekly Update Flower Day 28
Today is the end of the fourth week of flower and the ladies are doing well. They have shrugged off the defol last week and are growing quickly. All of them have begun putting out more nice white pistils so I don't think my rough treatment during the defol has permanently hurt them.
All have begun showing some nose but with four different strains in the room it's hard to tell what's what. Next week I'll take a shot at describing each and get some individual bud shots.
Last Week:
This Morning:
And the girls for the next round:
Peace,
starke
Weekly Update Flower Day 28
Today is the end of the fourth week of flower and the ladies are doing well. They have shrugged off the defol last week and are growing quickly. All of them have begun putting out more nice white pistils so I don't think my rough treatment during the defol has permanently hurt them.
All have begun showing some nose but with four different strains in the room it's hard to tell what's what. Next week I'll take a shot at describing each and get some individual bud shots.
Last Week:
This Morning:
And the girls for the next round:
Peace,
starke
Youre welcome
And that deffol they will of loved you for that.
And the next round looks good too.
starke
Well-known member
Weekly Update Flower Day 35
Weekly Update Flower Day 35
Today is the end of week five of flower. The buds continue to grow and have begun to swell some. As of today the Hawaiian Snow shows the most trichs.
The Super Lemon Haze and Hawaiian Snow both smell like citrus and dirty socks. The Liberty Haze smells like a straight up garbage dump on a hot day. Can't really pin down the Juan Herer. Kind of piney with a hint of dog shit if that makes any sense.
Going to do another slight defol next weekend just to clean up any stragglers.
This past week I managed to kill my laptop and cell phone
so please excuse any typos and the lousy pics.
The ladies last week:
The ladies today:
The next round. Had to cobble together another off the shelf LED fixture and split the girls up as all 8 had gotten too big to be on the one shelf:
Weekly Update Flower Day 35
Today is the end of week five of flower. The buds continue to grow and have begun to swell some. As of today the Hawaiian Snow shows the most trichs.
The Super Lemon Haze and Hawaiian Snow both smell like citrus and dirty socks. The Liberty Haze smells like a straight up garbage dump on a hot day. Can't really pin down the Juan Herer. Kind of piney with a hint of dog shit if that makes any sense.
Going to do another slight defol next weekend just to clean up any stragglers.
This past week I managed to kill my laptop and cell phone
so please excuse any typos and the lousy pics.
The ladies last week:
The ladies today:
The next round. Had to cobble together another off the shelf LED fixture and split the girls up as all 8 had gotten too big to be on the one shelf:
starke
Well-known member
Weekly Update Flower Day 42
Weekly Update Flower Day 42
Today ends the sixth week of flower. This past week has seem some interesting developments, most noteworthy of which, was one of the two Liberty Haze deciding to grow some balls. She was harvested yesterday and is drying for now until I decide what to do with her.
One interesting note: Even the orange bucket sides did not stop green algae from growing all the way around the outer layer of media and roots. I wonder if the algae is contributing to my nute problems noted below.
No sign of any balls on the other Liberty Haze or any of the other ladies. First time growing the Liberty Haze. Considering all the stress these ladies were put through from the beginning, including russets, I'm going to give this pheno's clones another run before writing off as hermie prone. I have decided not to stress them any further and did not do another defol at day 42 as originally planned. I will just continue to pinch off leaves shading individual bud sites.
This past week also saw the begining of nutrient deficiency/lockout affecting all the plants. Leaf symptoms look like Potassium or Calcium to me but I'm a novice at diagnosis.
I had bumped the feed to about 700ppm/.5 in the second week of flower and was beginning to see evidence of nute burn. Checked the runoff yesterday and found runoff ppm at 950 - 1050/.5 scale and runoff ph of 7.1.
Have flushed several times with 200ppm/.5, ph 5.6 solution. Runoff ppm now is 350 - 400/.5. I have not been able to get the runoff ph below 6.5. Going to wait a couple of days and see if there is any improvement then hit with some 400ppm food. Only about two weeks away from beginning the flush anyhow.
The four remaining girls as of today:
Still working off the grand kids' tablet so forgive the unedited pics and any typos.
Peace,
starke
Weekly Update Flower Day 42
Today ends the sixth week of flower. This past week has seem some interesting developments, most noteworthy of which, was one of the two Liberty Haze deciding to grow some balls. She was harvested yesterday and is drying for now until I decide what to do with her.
One interesting note: Even the orange bucket sides did not stop green algae from growing all the way around the outer layer of media and roots. I wonder if the algae is contributing to my nute problems noted below.
No sign of any balls on the other Liberty Haze or any of the other ladies. First time growing the Liberty Haze. Considering all the stress these ladies were put through from the beginning, including russets, I'm going to give this pheno's clones another run before writing off as hermie prone. I have decided not to stress them any further and did not do another defol at day 42 as originally planned. I will just continue to pinch off leaves shading individual bud sites.
This past week also saw the begining of nutrient deficiency/lockout affecting all the plants. Leaf symptoms look like Potassium or Calcium to me but I'm a novice at diagnosis.
I had bumped the feed to about 700ppm/.5 in the second week of flower and was beginning to see evidence of nute burn. Checked the runoff yesterday and found runoff ppm at 950 - 1050/.5 scale and runoff ph of 7.1.
Have flushed several times with 200ppm/.5, ph 5.6 solution. Runoff ppm now is 350 - 400/.5. I have not been able to get the runoff ph below 6.5. Going to wait a couple of days and see if there is any improvement then hit with some 400ppm food. Only about two weeks away from beginning the flush anyhow.
The four remaining girls as of today:
Still working off the grand kids' tablet so forgive the unedited pics and any typos.
Peace,
starke
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starke
Well-known member
Observations, Thoughts and Questions
Observations, Thoughts and Questions
So I use the original Hempy Bucket medium of perlite and vermiculite but use Jacks 5-12-26 and Calnit instead of the original GH nutes. I feed every other day at this point and shop vac between .5 and .75 gallon runoff from around each plant.
Hempy did not talk about having to flush the buckets but I am finding myself having to do so for the first time.
The vermiculite that my closest hydro shop carries seems very fine to me. I'm finding that it has a tendency to wash towards the bottom of the bucket over time, forming kind of a sludge in the bottom.
I have also discovered green algae growing on the exterior of the media and roots indicating too much light is getting through the orange buckets
So I'm thinking along these lines:
-- Ditch the vermiculite for either straight perlite or a perlite hydroton mix.
-- Switch to black buckets.
-- Plan on running a flush cycle about every two weeks.
Would like to hear any and all opinions, particularly from Hempy growers using Jacks. Thanks in advance.
starke
Observations, Thoughts and Questions
So I use the original Hempy Bucket medium of perlite and vermiculite but use Jacks 5-12-26 and Calnit instead of the original GH nutes. I feed every other day at this point and shop vac between .5 and .75 gallon runoff from around each plant.
Hempy did not talk about having to flush the buckets but I am finding myself having to do so for the first time.
The vermiculite that my closest hydro shop carries seems very fine to me. I'm finding that it has a tendency to wash towards the bottom of the bucket over time, forming kind of a sludge in the bottom.
I have also discovered green algae growing on the exterior of the media and roots indicating too much light is getting through the orange buckets
So I'm thinking along these lines:
-- Ditch the vermiculite for either straight perlite or a perlite hydroton mix.
-- Switch to black buckets.
-- Plan on running a flush cycle about every two weeks.
Would like to hear any and all opinions, particularly from Hempy growers using Jacks. Thanks in advance.
starke
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starke
Well-known member
AAAAHHHHHH FUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK
AAAAHHHHHH FUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK
Just went in to check on the ladies prior to lights out and discovered one half the COBS on the rear Optilux fixture not working. This is indicative of a driver failure and happened on the first of my two lights back in September. This is the other original light that has failed. Drivers are Mean Wells and I guess are supposed to represent quality but so far I'm not impressed. Will be in touch with URSA tomorrow for replacement. Six weeks into a nine week flower is a real shitty time to loose a light. They are in CA and I'm in FL. At least a week to get here if it were to ship tomorrow.
Have rigged up a freebie 100W Starlite LED fixture over the affected area but it is trying to replace about 320W of missing Optilux light. Oh well...
Peace,
starke
AAAAHHHHHH FUUUUUUUCCCKKKKK
Just went in to check on the ladies prior to lights out and discovered one half the COBS on the rear Optilux fixture not working. This is indicative of a driver failure and happened on the first of my two lights back in September. This is the other original light that has failed. Drivers are Mean Wells and I guess are supposed to represent quality but so far I'm not impressed. Will be in touch with URSA tomorrow for replacement. Six weeks into a nine week flower is a real shitty time to loose a light. They are in CA and I'm in FL. At least a week to get here if it were to ship tomorrow.
Have rigged up a freebie 100W Starlite LED fixture over the affected area but it is trying to replace about 320W of missing Optilux light. Oh well...
Peace,
starke
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Ahh I wondered why I was asked this not so long ago when I had an inquiry about the heat generated from these. Needed to crunch numbers for an AC.
