[testymctester]

This is my first grow diary. I am interested in feedback and suggestions on how to make my threads better, so please share any tips that you think would make this a better show.

I am a few weeks into this grow now and will be playing catch up over the next week to get everything up to date. I had just about 3 months before my current lease was up, so I wanted to quickly flower a few 8 week strains before I move out. I went to one of the local clubs and picked up (1) Blueberry, (2) Blue Dream, (2) Cherry AK47, (2) Grand AK47, (2) Jilly Bean, and (2) Lilikoi.

I have done coco a few times in an ebb and flow with smart pots, but didn't care for it too much because of the salt buildup. I have read a few of the multi-feed threads in the coco forum and decided I wanted to give coco another shot with this method. I got a bag of Botanicare ReadyGro Aeration Formula, filled (11) 5" square pots, and ran a few gallons of half strength nutrients through the medium (600ppm [water is 150ppm] @ 5.8ph). I'm using Floranova Bloom and Floralicious Plus throughout the grow.

Here are a couple shots after transplanting the new clones. I wasn't sure how to best indicate each strain, but you can see my attempt in the first pic.

[testymctester]

I vegged them under a 250w MH for 7 days. Hand watered once per day with same half strength nutrient solution in previous post. They are all a bit lighter green than I like going into flower, but the nova will darken them up nicely in the next week.

The Blueberry is looking a little mutated, the Blue Dream is a little leggier than the others, the Cherry AK is looking nice and happy, the Grand AK is a bit slower than the rest, the Jilly Bean already reeks, and the Lilikoi is trucking along. All the clones were a little beat up when I got 'em, so they have come along nicely in the first week or so.

I installed my drip system and started watering them twice daily as I flipped the light to 12/12. I also topped up the res to a three quarter strength nutrient solution and dropped the ph a bit to make more nitrogen available. 1st week of flower was fed 850ppm [water is 150ppm] @ 5.6ph.

I've had them for 10 days in the pics below and they have been flowering for 3 days. I'll put up a few pics of my homemade drip system in the next post.

[testymctester]

I have used Sterilite tubs readily available from Home Depot, Target, Walmart, etc. to build DIY hydro setups for years. I put this one together specifically for this grow out of stuff that was laying around.

I used 2 tubs with the same LxW to create a flood table and reservoir. The deep tub is the res and the shallow tub is the table. I have mostly done flood and drain setups with this approach. All you need is a couple of water pumps (1 to recirculate the water and 1 to fill the table) and a couple of fittings (1 fill and 1 drain). I had previously used this res and table just like that, so I already had (2) 1" holes drilled in the table.

I can fit (10) 5" pots with the flood/drain fittings in the table. I could fit one more pot for a total of 11 with the fittings removed. I decided I wanted 2 drippers per pot, so I cut 22 sections of 1/4" tubing at the same size (about 12") and grabbed 22 drippers (1 gph) and 22 stakes. I'm running 11 lines through each 1" hole to make it all nice and symmetrical.

I also drilled a bunch of 1/4" holes around the bottom of the table so that no water will build up and the runoff will drain back into the res. I wanted to build a drain to waste setup with a separate reservoir initially. This was much easier and seems to be working well for now. The pics aren't the best, but they should give you a good idea of this little homemade recirculating drip system.

[testymctester]

These pics are from a few days into week 2. They have been flowering now for 10 days and everything is coming along nicely. The nova definitely greened them up and I'm seeing the lightest traces of burn on the tips. No need to up the strength or the frequency of feedings at this point. I did bring the ph back up to 5.8.

The Blueberry is looking a little less mutated, the Blue Dream is growing strong but not stretching too crazy, the Cherry AK is interesting me the most out of all of them, the Grand AK is looking a little runty compared to the rest of the ladies, the Jilly Bean is STRETCHING and SMELLING like crazy, and the Lilikoi is not as vigorous as I expected.

I have grown Blue Dream and Lilikoi a few times before and they usually stretch neck in neck with very similar profiles. You can see the Jilly Bean height compared to the others best in the 3rd pic. I don't really have room to bend any body over or anything like that, so I'm going to wait until they are just about done stretching and top whatever is above the canopy. I have not grown any of the other strains in this lineup, so I'm excited to see what happens.

[testymctester]

These pics are from the end of week 2. I had to top the 2 Jilly Beans because their tops were hitting the light.

I'm a little iffy on the Blue Dream height, but think I will just let it ride. The canopy is fairly even for 6 different strains and I don't think I need to do any more chopping. I am lightly starting to defoliate and will trim up the bottom quarter/third of the plants around 21 days or so.

I have been feeding 850ppm @ 5.8ph twice a day for 2 minutes each. I'm adding another feed going into the third week, so (3) 2 minute feeds daily. I have also been "flushing" with a tea at the end of each week to keep the salts in check. The tea consists of 3 gallons bubbled tap water, 1 tbs molasses, 1 tsp Floralicious Plus, 1 tsp Neptune's Harvest, and 1 cup of Earth Worm Castings.

Definitely getting a lot of fruit and funk aromas from these girls. I recognize the Blue Dream and Lilikoi scents, the Jilly Bean smells just like the flowers I have had before, the Blueberry is not too happy in this setup (oh well), the Grand AK is not doing much either (looking runty compared to her sisters), and the Cherry AK has me the most excited. The Cherry AK is already putting out nice frost and just has that look that makes me keep checking her out.

[testymctester]

Here are a couple shots from day 21. This post makes this thread up to date. These pics are from 2 days ago and I will update weekly until they're done.

I continue to defoliate a little bit here and there, and trimmed up the bottom quarter/third of each plant. The feedings and teas are pretty much the same as last update, 900ppm @ 5.8ph - 3x a day for 2 minutes each.

Now the bad news
I went out of town for Christmas and came back to a devastated veg tent. Leaves all blistered and clawed... it was horrible. I immediately threw everything away and started cleaning. I can see broad mite damage on these flowering plants now too.


I must have brought some mites home from the club. I always clean up/quarantine new cuts for a day or 2 with an aza product and full tea dunks, but I didn't break out any WMDs this time because I was going straight to flower. I know better, but I was in a rush to get another round flowered out and paid the price. I'm not too upset because the moms and clones I had are replaceable. I hope I can get these girls to finish without too much damage.

I need to figure out how to deal with these bastards with the least impact on my family or my plant's health. I know there are a couple of opposing perspectives on this topic. I use an imid product on my moms to keep their clones healthy through flower. That's worked for a couple years now without fail. I guess I need to step it up and figure out an IPM routine that will keep my girls healthy and not kill anything but bugs in the process.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated!

For now, I added some aspirin to the reservoir (CVS uncoated, 325mg, 1 per gallon) and superheated my tent to 130 degrees for 1 hour. I noticed a dramatic improvement in 1 day. These pictures are from the next day. I'm going to continue with the heat and aspirin regimen for now and determine if I need something stronger.

I have never had broad mites before, so I don't know what options (if any) are available in week 4-5 flower with 8 week strains.

I can't help with the broad mites, I've not had them yet...I would like to make a suggestion though; don't top your plants after stretch. I would just give the ones that are getting too tall a pinch to keep them in check. topping them at that stage in growth isn't a good idea. I'll be over here watching, God luck with you bm battle.

[testymctester]

Originally Posted by otis33

don't top your plants after stretch. I would just give the ones that are getting too tall a pinch to keep them in check. topping them at that stage in growth isn't a good idea.

Thanks for the suggestion on topping! I know topping in flower is a shitty way to manage canopy height... but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do, ya know.

I totally underestimated the stretch/vigor on the Jillybeans and had to reactively deal with the situation. I hoped the bottoms of the JBs would catch up with the other strain's tops if I cut 'em while they were still stretching. I could have folded them over or tried to train them without cutting, but I am really tight on space and didn't want to block light to any of the other girls.

In hindsight, I probably could have removed the Blueberry or the Grand AKs and had a better end result from training the Jillybeans in their empty space. Oh well, hopefully something good will come out of those 3.

In the future, if you pinch the tops, they should slow down the stretch and cause the bottom shoots to grow up...I know all about trying to manage several strains... you gotta do what's best for the canopy as a whole, and sometimes you gotta make sacrifices.... have a good new year!

[testymctester]

Thanks again man. I'll have to try that next round. I'm going to be popping seed packs and expect some variations in the phenos. I need to practice though because my results are inconsistent. I guess it's strain dependent too. Sometimes I feel like I barely pinch a stem, the whole thing flops over, and then it's sideways for the rest of it's life. Other times I feel like I crush the shit out of a stem and it's standing straight up the next day like nothing happened.

Have a great New Year bro! I'm looking forward to your show.