First major grow, 800w- sea of LST w/ hempy's.

[solace]

This isn't really considered a MAJOR grow from many standards on here, but for me, this is my first major INDOOR grow.
....

Medium: Hempy (coco/perlite 1:4 ratio)
Lights: 400w MH/HPS (switchable) and 400w HPS (400w for veg. and 800w for flowering)
Climate: VERY cold here in the Alaskan winter... so even indoors is a trick.
Elevation: 7,000 ft. above sea level.
Strains:Barneys 99% Fem. Sweet Tooth, 3-4 years old (i stopped growing for a while...). As well as these 3 year old beans i forgot about from a Turkish friend -C99, ice, Somativa and NYCD.
Room: its an L shaped room... i'm using about 5 by 7.5 feet for this.
Ventilation: I have an ozone generator that covers way more square feet than i need. thats for emergencies. i made a carbon scrubber i use to vent out. and to vent in I use ducting with the end capped off and holes throughout the tubing to shoot air evenly at the plants - the two inline fans i use are 250 cfm from homedepot.com. they aren't too loud and do their job. I should get an oscillating fan but whatever some other time when i have the extra cash.
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Pots: Dimensions: 9.75" square x 11.25" tall. They hold 3.1 gallons. They seemed perfect, so far have held up to be just that.

I modified the pots with some metal tree anchors, the size of a penny, they have U loops attached to them.. i cut slits in the rims of the buckets and implanted the U loop through the slit, the penny sized base goes flush with the rim side and I added super glue in case... Though this is all over kill, i could have just drilled holes all throughout the rim and used those for the wires..
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Here's the ozone generator i hope to never need -

Things were looking bad the first two weeks as seedlings. I just didn't have my grow supplies, had to use cups and peat which kept causing green mold and problems.





signs of nute problems was due to ph issue... fixed.






flash forward to now... here's how things are

I'm confident that my turkish strains are legit - all the somativa's went into autoflowering, while the other two strains held off, the c99 having longer shoots and longer internodal lengths plus they were getting pistils at the same time while nycd and ice still had not, the NYCD with it's leaves and way of branching I distinctly recognize, and the ice... which has to be ice since all the others check out good.

So that was all a good relief.

I started off with something like 29-31 plants... down to 15... I was hoping i could get it down to 12 but eh - I was expecting 15 and somehow came out with that lol.

Anyways, I'm really emphasizing the techniques of LST in this grow. I've nicely done each plant and even modified the buckets for easy training.

The Sweet tooth are by far the healthiest and strongest.



Here's how things looked around christmas


the somativa's autoflowered before i even put them into the transition on the 25th of dec.- 2nd of jan.


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[solace]

here's the update of things now... i have more pics but this is the only not blurry one... been sick as hell so am shaky.... this is about 1/4 of the sea of lst. the area shown in the pic is about 2x3 feet. They still have a ways to go, i'm worried i may have stunted them from the cold but that was expected with my elevation and inability to heat things up when the lights went off.... heater kept causing breaker to trip...

plus it was a pain on my power bill so whatever.... lowest temps it gets is about 55F it's gotten to about 45 before but that's past.....stays around 55-60... which according to jorge cervantes is ... 'ok'....but not the best.... damn i'd like some constant temps of 70 so they didn't get brightly lighter colored budding spots




Edit : here's the male (i could have been pretty sure it was my nycd.... but it also could be c99.... forgot to re label it...) and after pulling one of my other males i regretted it cause it had a great smell and great vigor... plus was a somativa so autoflowered... so i grabbed one of the tips and put it in a cup of water to harvest it's pollen. I hope to only pollinate a few bud sites... i only plan on having 10-15 seeds... I don't want my sensi's potency being lost.... i really don't care if the half those seeds don't even come out right.... just wanted to try doing some minor breeding.

 

[solace]

Thought i'd share my method of hanging lights....

Thought i'd share my method of hanging lights....

DIY Light hanger

These are the materials i used... just makes moving lights out of the way for watering and turning plants way easier, especially if the lights have come on. and more mobile of course... for slight modifications at directing the light how i want... nothin special or cool compared to those little black light hanging things that you can roll up and down but those would be a nice addition to this setup!

used a variety of S hooks... the small ones, forget about those.
the longest, thickest and lightest rod i could find that was threaded, so i could thread on some nuts (i accidentally typed bolts in the pic)
about...4 nuts. to tightly secure both sides. these thread onto the rod.
some washers... to attache between the nuts to hold the rod in place while on the ceiling. obviously had to be the same size as the nuts but slightly larger to smoothely slide on.
some screws with eyes/holes... forgot what they were called. Make sure the washer cant fit through the hole ...



I ended up not using the smaller s hooks... pointless... completely.. just easier and more secure to pry the ends of the chains out so they can hook....

it's really easy to set up.

here's how it looks setup... i had to get a bunch of pics cause it's hard to see with all the mylar.



here's the overall grow room... well half of it. the only portion i'm using to grow currently...dunno if i ever will expand cause hte extra space is WAY useful

 

[solace]

some more random stuff

some more random stuff

one week ago while moving things around snapped this off...this is the table of 'less important' strains lol.... i'm focusing mainly on my sweet tooths ^^


and i just liked how this looked....

 

[solace]

WHAT THE FUUUU

WHAT THE FUUUU



So check out one of the bulbs i had replaced when switching out the mh to hps.....

it's almost as though it's melting.... this was my mh bulb that came with the light so it doesn't even have a name brand on it.

 

[solace]

thought i'd mention.....

thought i'd mention.....

I never mentioned that I made this room completely from scratch... it was just a block of cement.... i had to put in flooring and walls for the cold, layers and layers of styrofoam..etc

here's the homemade carbon scrubber



here are the two homemade sound proofing boxes, insides coated with 3 inch padding similar to the kind of material used in recording studios but not for that.



this second one you can see the inline fan embedded into the ducting..



and here are some more goodies.






look at all the bud sites on just this one plant! Yes their small but they just started to bud too... so...wish them luck

 

[solace]

Damn am i feeling discouraged this week... I get the feeling everything is stunted because they arent packing on buds.... am i just being impatient for week 4/5 of flowering? maybe those somativa's just gave me the expectancy that things are suppose to happen quicker lol. Just not use to the indoors...
I hope someone shows interest by tomo and adds some input or suggestions.... guess it takes some final bud shots for that to happen eh? heh

In that case i guess i wont update till harvest.
unless asked otherwise

 

[MediScrogs]

Hey there, solace. If you'll put up more pics of your avatar, like maybe some full size one, I'll check back every 5 minutes, k?

Seriously though (actually I am serious ) , don't let yourself get discouraged. Give the plants time to do their thing. It sounds like the cool night temps are slowing them down, I think 65 at night would be great, less than 60 not good. I'm a noob here so not the most helpful one to comment on things. Just here to lend some solidarity to your cause.

Your plants may look small but the color looks pretty healthy. I see that you're in hempy's. Have you used them before? I've seen some growers having trouble with them, but it sounds like a lot of people like them. Again, your stuff looks pretty healthy from here.

I dunno, if you can't heat the whole space without blowing the fuse, if you could use a smaller wattage heater and at least keep the root zone under the canopy warmer, I think that would really help, if you cannot keep the whole room warm enough, at least the root zone....

Good luck, stick it out and do the best you can 'til spring. And send me her # pronto

 

[solace]

Hahaha sorry, i had to change it

No, I haven't used hempies before but i sure do love the extra growth speed they give!

it seems as though, no matter what size heater you get now-days.... it's gonna be over 1300 watts.... unless it's one of those oil ones... and even all of those ones i could find were 1500w...BAH! BUT, you make a very good point about the roots, which is why i have them raised from the floor on moving tables. I should do more for them though, allot more...

Like heated matts, if i could just figure out how to safely makes some for cheap..... or perhaps go out and buy an eletronic thermal blanket for beds ... those are what... 30 bucks im guessing/hoping? even then i doubt that i'd be able to utilize it very well... wintertime just sucks for indoor growing here wow...esp if your using an outside cement shed.

thanks for the input lol

Hey there, solace. If you'll put up more pics of your avatar, like maybe some full size one, I'll check back every 5 minutes, k?

Seriously though (actually I am serious ) , don't let yourself get discouraged. Give the plants time to do their thing. It sounds like the cool night temps are slowing them down, I think 65 at night would be great, less than 60 not good. I'm a noob here so not the most helpful one to comment on things. Just here to lend some solidarity to your cause.

Your plants may look small but the color looks pretty healthy. I see that you're in hempy's. Have you used them before? I've seen some growers having trouble with them, but it sounds like a lot of people like them. Again, your stuff looks pretty healthy from here.

I dunno, if you can't heat the whole space without blowing the fuse, if you could use a smaller wattage heater and at least keep the root zone under the canopy warmer, I think that would really help, if you cannot keep the whole room warm enough, at least the root zone....

Good luck, stick it out and do the best you can 'til spring. And send me her # pronto

 

[MediScrogs]

Who thought IC would make me go blind? And I thought it was the MH !

Yeah, heating blankets, hmmm, safe would be one of the operative terms. I cant' think of a better way to heat with less watts at the moment. Can you run some heat lamps in another space, maybe build a little box for them, and circulate in the warm air? I've seen a cool solar power generator to give you some more kw, but it's like $1700, and it must be pretty dark up there during winter.


Laterz

 

[solace]

Many a times I've been tempted to go out and buy a wood or coal burning type of heater thing.... fire hazard yes.... but, if i gave it a stone floor and lots of space around it so nothing gets too hot...might work. All I really need is a tiny one, just enough to heat that room - and i'd have to check it each day to keep it going so wouldn't be left for long. still a risk though. but better than nothing.....

 

[solace]

the pollen dropped today so it's time to go make some beans



Oh, and i decided i am going to sacrafice one of the lessers for making extra beans.

 

[MediScrogs]

Well, I'm sure I speak for everyone, we'll miss your avatar, what a cute smile. lol. have fun, be well.

 

[solace]

I have a question, cause afterall this is my first time with hempies, and i'm trying some new techniques (like molasses with budswell powder)

Do I have to give plain water for next two waterings? seems like that would be two waterings with high potential... why not just continue giving pbp nutes, LK and all that stuff, then just add the 5ml mollases/gal and 1tbsp budswell/gal into the equation?

I feel like this is my first time growing all over again cause everything is so different from soil now.

input much appreciated thanks

I'm an organic soil guy (dry mixes, topdresses, fish/kelp/tea), but I like to run a few hempy buckets with PBP through my room. I can't tell the difference in taste/smell/effect between PBP/LK hempy buds that got just kelp and or molasses for the last 2 weeks, and the organic soil grown buds.

PBP, LK, Maxicrop Kelp, molasses (kelp and molasses only the last ~2wks). Be careful at first, cause I have experienced nute burn with PBP in soil. Start @ 10-15 ml/gallon.

solace: get liquid karma as well and cal mag. for flowering : pbp 12 mls per gal. lk 7ml per gal.. and 1st 2 feeds of cal mag 6ml per gallon.then stop it. and like barletta said, week 5 of flowering, plain ro water for 2 feeds, then molasses(5mlpergal) an budswell (yellow label) (1 tablespoon per gallon) for the next 2 feeds.. an after that flush. do this an your nugs will have unbelievable taste..but go very easy on the mollasses.
i also would recommend rhizotonic by canna, for veg an flower. 2mls per gallon.. an your basically guranteed solid roots..unless you suck..haha.
hope that helps... best of luck.

The LK/molasses/kelp are just organic sources of trace nutes, humates and potash. They are not necessary.

Just let the plants starve for the last 10-14 days for better flavor.

Solace,
I have used nothing more than the pure blend line through all my grows. Great stuff and you will love the buds trust me and all the other users.

I grow in Coco with r.o. water so I dont use the soil formula of pure blend pro bloom. Instead I use the regular bloom formula with Hydroplex to give them what they need in flower but this is because I run flood drain tables also.

As for botanicares line I run Pure Blend Pro Grow through Veg. along with Calmag+ and liquid Karma occasionaly some silica blast and lots of beneficials.
p.h. around 6.2

For flower I also use all botanicare pureblend pro bloom with calmag+ liquid karma, silica blast and sweet. p.h. around 5.8-6.0

Ask your retailer to give you an updated nutrient mix sheet. I have the latest one in there catalog book. Follow it to the T and you should have know problems.
Make sure the chart you have is for your nutrients. Botanicare did some formula changes and if you are not carefull problems can and will arise... hope this helps later....

should i just forget the molasses and just start adding budswell to my feedings? Seems like my mind is conflicted with all this back and forth questioning i have, sorry

I don't think that the molasses i have is the right kind, I got it for taking camping when i was down in the lower 48...

 

[solace]

update 2/12

update 2/12

7th week of flowering begins today.

Here's an update via some shaky photo's
Their starting to come on nicely. but still small, and have 3-5 weeks left.


oh and the smell the sweet toothes are starting to give off.... just amazing!

 

[TeamZissou]

looking good man keep it up

 

[solace]

thx TZi and MediScrog


Oh, and here's something I'd like to get out:

As big of a fanatic as I am of LST,
damn, this is hard to say and let go of.

I really only recommend this for outdoors, seeing how that's how I've mostly ever done it.... you achieve FAR MUCH SUPERIOR results....definitely wont bush out indoors like they do out with full sun. The nug's and fan leaves produced just won't be as high of caliber - unless you're running a couple 1k bulbs.

But that's not what bugs me, it's the fact that I've put myself through such backbreaking LST'ing indoors on so many plants (half of them killed due to males). That in combination with the watering is just a pain. Sure, the results will come out great... but. Next run, I think i'm just going to grow out 3 monsters... or even just one... and just lst that..

But even more preferable, if i come up with the extra cash - I'M TOTALLY BUYING AN AEROPONIC SYSTEM! and i'm just gonna put a screen over the top make it simple with scrog... I can only imagine the crazy results of using LST in aeroponics but it would just be to much work. Too much. I'll save that for outdoors. I guess I just held to it like no other since I've been doing it for 5+ years now - it was hard for me to get over it when doing indoors.

Sure if you only LST a few times in the early stages it'll wont hurt to do, and will help quite a bit.. but if your going for the full effect of it like outdoors...hah. good luck me, not with my kind of lighting and night temps.

If ever I use lst indoors though, I'll definitely not make it so complex. Just probably tie them down twice for a few extra nodes and not go crazy... applying outdoor lst to indoors basically = OVERKILL./

Next time around, i'm just putting my two 400 watts very closely together, perhaps get a light mover so i can have them even closer... and they will focus on just one plant. I know i will get better results that way... as you can tell i'm not feeling so enthusiastic about how this grow may come out. But I'm always surprised by stuff like this so .... we'll see. ya never know

 

[solace]

So i thought i'd take some more pics. The trichs are coming on nice, But they still got a long way to go with developing those sticky icky glands. thats what i like about the 400's you can put them so much closer without the heat you'd get from a 1k damaging them.

i'd like to see some more girth though...

 

[barletta]

Yo they look great, sol You are dead on, lst DRIVES sideways growth outside, but inside, not so much, IME. I prefer to lollypop and supercrop to control canopy height. Whatever, your room looks killer, lol.

Hey, what are you feeding them? I'm an organic soil dood, but I run a few hempy's through my perpetual to get the overall yield #'s up a lil . I make my hempys with 100% perlite, holes ~2" (maybe less) from the bottom of the pots. I feed pretty much straight water (or with a splash of kelp) till the plant goes a shade pale, then full strength PBP (30ml/gallon w/well water) with the occasional 'straight' water. I'll add a few drops of grow (nitrogen) in the first few weeks, and I like to topdress with homemade castings and rare earth clay. I was topdressing with Pguano, but I don't think that it made a difference. The last ~4 feeds are water and a lil molasses (prolly 1-2 teaspoons per gallon) only.

 

[solace]

Thx for the input
I'm feeding them the line of botanicare stuf.
Liquid Karma
Hydroguard (aquashield)
CalMag+
Sweet (berry)
and the pbp flower for soil (cause it wont burn as strong as the stuff meant for hydro systems)

I just finished feeding at 75% strength.... which was something like
75-100mm pbp flower,
20mm cal mag (this doesn't go up... it goes down... to like 16mm then eventually nothing)
30-45mm liquid k
30mm hydroguard
30-40mm sweet
and just on the last feeding (7th week) i started adding budswell powder to the mix.

I've got some clearex and was thinking about using that 10 days before harvest, cut it real close (maybe even 8 days) so they can get the most out of everything ... or would i risk damaging flavor and smoke by doing that? then 3 days after that, just distilled water... then 3 days before harvest a little more distilled, .. no water 2 days before to help with drying... maybe i should just start at 15 days before... taste and burn is everything to me... as i imagine it is for everyone lol

I guess i'll try throwing in some molasses later idk if thats needed though as much as i'd like to, every little bit of good for these plants is always nice.