AK Greenlovers Garden Featuring - 2 x 400 XTE 5W LED Lights - Top Genetics!

So last night I gave them each 4 gallons of water and we spent some time weaving the tops back into the net as the stretch has begun. Seeing as how full the net is already I don't think we can grow them like we usually do. In previous grows we would flip before the net was full. While stretch was taking place we would continuously weave them into the screen keeping them the same height they were before the flip even took place. It looks like this grow we are going to have to let them do much more vertical growth then usual. The net is also getting clogged to the point that not much light is getting though the canopy. Ten more days until we do a defoliate. Seriously it can't come fast enough haha. Not only do these XTE's create a lot of leaf growth, the leaves themselves grow bigger than I'm used to seeing. Any other XTE growers out these experiencing the same thing?
 
Hey everyone!

So here is a bit of news. On the 7th day I took out those Blackstar lights. I'm not exactly sure what they were doing to the girls but it seems they hated those lights. The leaves were looking really wilted and droopy. I know it wasn't due to the pots being too dry and it wasn't a nute overdose. The other half of the plants were doing just fine so I concluded it was the lights themselves. This is actually a bummer as I don't have enough light to cover the entire canopy with core coverage from the XTE's. It is what it is I guess... I'd rather have healthy plants than plants that look sickly. After taking those lights out one day later the leaves are much happier! Things seem to be back on track now with growth other than the core light problem.

Yesterday I gave them all 3 gallons each of week two Fox Farms nutes. Today is day 8 of flower. All of the tops are starting to transform pretty hardcore now. There is 7 more days until defoliation day! The screen is so clogged I wish I could do it now haha!

Here are some picturs. :MoreNutes:


Here is a picture of the core light issue I'm facing. I might actually reap most of it out on the 15th day.
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Closeup of the side view of the canopy and pots. As you can see not much light is making it through.
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Here is a top shot of the canopy fully clogged.
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Closeup of the tops transforming into those pretty flowers.
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Here is the day 1 flower picture for comparison.
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Here is day 8 of flower HUGE difference and a lot of LST net weaving later!
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I was actually thinking of doing that. I have some on hand with makeshift reflector hoods. My main concern would be a temperature rise in the tent during lights on. I might go and Jerry rig a few in there sometime today and take some temperature readings. At least I know the CFL's wont kill my girls.
 
Hey Hungaluz. I wouldn't do any defoliation for the first 30 days if you plan on doing 12 hours from seed. It's possible you will stunt your plants without a big root system in place. I defoliate a bunch just not a lot in veg or in the very early stages. When I reap in veg I wait about 5 weeks for the root system to grow. During that first 5 weeks I'm doing a lot of low stress training by tying the tops and branches really low to stimulate bushiness. Once they start to flower though go with the 3 stage reaps with the time schedule I have posted.
 
I got everything all pulled out and could only find 2 of my CFL hangers I made way WAY back in the day. I would have needed 4 to fix the issue so I decided to go and play Destiny instead HAHAHA!! I only have one day off a week so I couldn't miss the chance to hang out with the family. I raised the 400 XML's up to 22" above the canopy. I still have a very slight core light problem all around the edges. I'm hoping those lights will be here in a week to pick up the slack.
 
Huge update on day 14 of flower. :cheertwo: ​

We gave all the girls 3 gallons of week 3 Fox Farms nutes today with cal / mag supliment. We were both going to be busy tomorrow so we decided to do the defoliate a day early. We also reaped any remaining undergrowth foliage that didn't make the screen. After that was all complete we weaved all the stretched tops back into the net. It was tight but there was still space for the nodes to grow. Enjoy the pictures. It represents hours upon hours of work to get it all done. I always hate doing the first reap in flower as it's so much work. I love spending time with the girls but damn hehe. The things we do for quality medicine...

Enjoy the pictures. Things are finally going to start getting interesting for those who are following this journal. You're all going to finally see in real time the benefits of this growing method. :high-five:

Here are the girls in their fully stretched glory!
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A shot with those bad ass XTE's doing their thing!
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A closeup of one of the day 14 tops.
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They stretched about 19" total. If I let it go another week it would be much worse.
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Canopy shot with the CFL on.
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My thumb for comparison on top size so far.
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Most of the defoliation is complete. Starting the LST weave now.
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Closeup of the weave.
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No seriously... This is taking forever...
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The ultimate game of Tetris is complete.
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Day 14 flower canopy shot. Time to start the reap under the screen.
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Reap complete of all foliage that didn't make the screen.
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Easily a couple pounds of leaves. Man that was crazy!
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Things that you should take note on. Now that the first reap is complete you will notice that all of the tops and off shoots are all back on an even playing field again. This is very important now that we have completely stopped the stretch. They will now be able to have even and perfect light as the flowers develop. There wont be any places where some flowers get more light than others. It is now all even again with a perfect platform for upward flower growth. Over the next few days the girls will heal and go into ohh shit mode. The root systems mission now is to hyper stimulate the sugar leaves in order to create more nodes where fans can grow. During this time sugar leaf size increases dramatically and rapidly.

The next reap is scheduled for day 30 of flower! Stay tuned for mini updates as the grow progresses! I'll do another update in a few days after the tops turn to face the light again. Until then keep it green people! ;)
 
I figured it would be a shock to some LOL! Earlier in the grow a member asked what was the whole deal with stripping fans and what I was trying to accomplish by doing it. Well now that they are all stripped of fans and all re-weaved back into the net the nodes are about two inches apart from each other. When we weaved the stretched tops we did in a way that they didn't over lap bud sites. Even in places that look like a tic tac toe board. All of those little nodes we have vined into the net will now turn into vertical banana tops, and there will be a ton of them as you can imagine. This is the best way I have found to squeeze every extra gram per watt I possibly could.

Another thing I forgot to mention for anyone who wants to try re-weaving after the stretch. You need to be careful or you will break your branches off. Where you want to bend the branch pinch it really hard until it crushes. Then go ahead and bend it however you want it. I like to pinch right at the net level.
 
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