AKGramma's Perpetual Grow

Here are some closeup pics of the lady halfway through flower. She has grown right up into the lights, and she is surrounded by 23W CFLs, 6 above and six down low. Yes, there are some spotted leaves, but the mites are long dead. Not Good Housekeeping quality, but will be my first BBL harvest. Hoping she will be ready mid July.

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I listened to my intuition and removed BBL#4 from flower, so it could grow some more root mass and some more height.
 
Doggone it, I hit the wrong button and exited my web browser in the middle of writing a post, lol.

Assuming you bought the light from M-H, they have either two or three warehouses in the US, and one of them is in San Leandro, California. According to the inventory updates that SmokeSara posts in her thread, they generally keep a pretty good stock on hand. So it's not like your panel would have had to be shipped from the PRC and go through Customs, lol. Still, that does seem to be pretty quick for shipment to Alaska.

I'd guess that you'll see a measurable yield increase from the added illumination, even though you're halfway(?) through flowering. And next time, of course, you ought to see an even greater improvement. Just remember to start with the LED panel a little higher than you would expect to ordinarily run it at and lower it gradually to that distance over the course of, IDK, a week or so. Sort of like when you "harden off" plants that will be going outside permanently.

BtW, you mentioned that your plants seem to have... sativa characteristics? Perhaps you aren't halfway through flowering after all, lol? They might go ten weeks or even (slightly) longer. Did you happen to keep track of the number of days (counting from the first day of 12 hours' darkness to the last day that you saw measurable vertical growth) of the stretch period? That number can be used to calculate a real close - pretty much exactly, lol; but depending on the grower's personal tastes/needs, of course - estimate as to the expected harvest date by using the "40:60 rule." IOW, the stretch is 40% of the overall flowering period. See: The 40:60 Rule .
 
TS, it's hard to decide just when the lady in question started to stretch. She was outgrowing her veg area at abou 3 months of age, and I kept topping her, hoping she would become bushy. Not to happen, tho. She stayed long and lanky and I kept topping. She finally stopped growing 2 or 3 week ago, and broke out in flower soon after.

Looking back, I had her under flower March 15, 2016, so it's been 87 days (over 12 weeks) in flower, growing by leaps and bounds every day. If I hadn't topped her before the flowers appeared, she might have easily gotten to 4 or 5 feet tall by now.

So, I guess I have to agree with you. Even tho Lady #4 looks more indica than sativa, she certainly took her time maturing! No sign of amber yet anywhere, but one branch, shown first in the pics above, is full of trics. That will be the first branch to harvest, and to watch for amber.

None of my plants (the OGK or BBL) have followed any of the "rules", except the BBLs growing more quickly and more vigorous in the juvenile stage, as advertised. But they are also slow to show any preflowers at all, even at 4 and 5 months of age. The clones aren't any faster, either.

So, if Lady #4 follow suit, I should be able to start harvesting her at 100 days in flower. Her smoke is going to be AWESOME!
 
Alaskahermit's First Bubbelicious Grow

Read through all this today and will be following along for the rest, I'm also in Alaska in the golden heart area, I'm going to start with autos in my greenhouse and eventually build a room for indoors, I found you and docs convo reg mediums interesting, so far I've looked at Home Depot lowes and holm town nursery, it appears peat moss and perlite from lowes will be my cheapest option, I want to try hydro over soil, I could also use the Internet and prime some stuff up here, as far as nutrients goes this will also be cheaper, mites are the second thing I was wondering about, I have a friend whose crop was decimated by them I guess they are a real problem here, do they need soil to be a problem? Nothing for them to live in with hydro? When I asked the lady at the nursery store about it, she said it's just a indoor cannabis problem, also in the interest of staying legal, I heard recreational is now allowed 6 veg and 6 flowering as long as there is 2 adults in the household, heard anything about this?


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Stock up on mite spray. Neem oil is best, and also have a supply of off-the-shelf Garden mite and bug spray with pyrethum in it to alternate between treatments. You will always need to spray for mites, regardless of what medium you are growing in.

Everything else will be common sense and personal preference, plus your budget. I grow cheap, with 23W CFLs, but am stepping up to a MarsHydro 300, when it arrives tomorrow. I will be supplementing with CFLs.

Welcome to 420! You will learn a lot, get even more ideas than you know what to do with, then you'll choose something you can 1) understand and 2) afford.
 
BTW, there are a lot of Alaskans on this 420 site! We compare techniques and watch each other's journals. We are so lucky to be in a legal state, tho we do have to be discreet and secure our grows from thieves.
 
AKgramma said:
WOW! I was expecting the MarsHydro300 to arrive between the 10th and the 15th. Tracking says it's coming TOMORROW! That is a 7 day turnaround. Let's hope it arrives undamaged.
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Hmm, I misunderstood the tracking chart. The tomorrow arrival is at the end of the sliding bar. I guess it's still enroute. Somewhere in Kentucky ATM. The old brain interprets things the way IT wants to, not necessarily what is true. That's OK. Gives me more time to clean up the unused shelving unit.

I'm trying something new to reduce the heat buildup in the grow room. Rather than have both units on at the same time, I've set the veg (which is on gaslight) 12 hours ahead, so that veg is on while flower is in sleep cycle. I can keep track of the room temp with a separate wall thermometer outside the units.

I did see a 20 degree drop in the room this morning. So it is working.

If I set up the third unit, I'm going to have to split the difference, so its schedule overlaps the other two.
 
A Landmark! BBL # 5, the one who looks very sativa is showing hairs today! It is a SHE!!!!!! She also presented with mite webs overnight, so got a good neem oil treatment. She showed 13 days from the switch to 12/12.

The lady in full flower is starting to show amber pistils on two of her lower branches. So, I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'll be doing a gradual harvest, as each bud gets to the point where I like. Each bud receives full light from above and below, so maybe they wont be so larfy this time.

The plants seem fine after bumping the veg tent ahead 12 hours to reduce heat. It's nice to go into an 80 deg room instead of 100 deg!
 
Got my Mars HYdro 300 today. It is a nice looking unit! The 300 does not have a switch bet veg and bloom, so you get all spectrums. You just adjust the height during each stage. No instructions came with the unit, but the Amazon site had them posted.

24" = 30" distance from seedlings
18" - 24" for veg
12" - 24" for flower.

Will try it first in the veg tent to see how they respond, and to handle any heat issues. I have my tent down to 75 def F now that I alternate the ON time between both units. (a 25 deg drop!) Not so many bulbs on at the same time. (Veg on 10 PM to 10 AM plus 1 hour in the middle) (Flower on 10 am to 10 PM)
 
I mounted the LED unit in my veg tent, after removing all the CFL lights and wiping down the floor of the unit. After careful measuring, I settled on taking out all booster shelves and set the pots on the "floor". I mounted the light 18" above the tallest plant in veg. I will check the temp after an hour, give everyone a good watering, and then hope for the best.

The veg unit's day begins at 10 PM and goes till 10 AM, with the one hour "gaslight" set to come on in the middle of its sleep cycle at 3:30 PM. No, that is not a mistake. See post #309 to explain my unusual lighting schedule.

EDIT: as a reference, the veg unit is approx 36" x 32" x 60" tall, and is two sets of wire shelving set one in front of the other to give me the extra depth. The LED is mounted 46" high, to the underside of a shelf set at 48". The "floor" is an appliance pan that fits under a washing machine to catch water. This protects the carpet in the grow room and is easy to keep clean.
 
OH
MY
GOD!!!!!!

It is so spooky having a purple glow coming from under the grow room door! The LED unit seems to cover a 36" x 36" footprint just fine, and puts out no more heat than an equivalent in 23W CFLs. I will know in a couple days if I need to raise the plants any, if they start to stretch.

I am definitely going to order another one!
 
I hour to go for the "day" cycle in the veg unit to turn off. The new LED unit has been going all night and the temp in veg and the grow room has stabilized at 80 deg F, which is what I consider normal for that room. It feels cooler to me, maybe because of the extra fans I have going.

The Mars Hydro 300 has eliminated the need for the CFLs for now, but I do see a couple areas down low I might want to supplement. I ordered a second LED unit, and its on its way. Will be here next week.

Not sure just where I'm going to use it yet. I have a very tall lady finishing up in flower, accompanied by a very short lady just starting to show her stuff. It will be awkward mounting the LED in the closet. I will probably have to mount it in the spare veg unit.

I know my journal is old stuff to anyone bothering to read this, but, since I'm not taking notes on paper anymore, it's as good a place as any to record what's happening. I may stop journaling, except when something really important happens, tho, since most people are out enjoying the summer and not reading this anyway. We'll see how I feel about it down the road.
 
AKroughneck said:
Use two LEDs for flower and veg on CFL?


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Hey! A fellow Alaskan!

No, my grow areas are too small for two LED panels. I'd turn my plants into crispy critters with the heat and light. This light is INTENSE! One per grow area seems sufficient. I'm only working with approx 8 or 9 sq. ft per, with limited headroom. I put the plants as low as I could, and will raise them on blocks if they need more intensity over the next week or two.

If the plants need it, I can clip a few pair of my CFLs down low, as I did before I installed the LED light.

The closet I use for flower is too cramped and awkward to mount an LED in, with few passive ventilation opportunities, so after harvest, I will use it for early veg with cfl's and move the flower area to the spare shelving unit with the second LED.
 
I think a lot of newer people follow along and read up on stuff with out posting, so even if it seems like no one is around you could still be inspiring a new grower to contribute to our cause, I say keep it up :)


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AKroughneck said:
I think a lot of newer people follow along and read up on stuff with out posting, so even if it seems like no one is around you could still be inspiring a new grower to contribute to our cause, I say keep it up :)


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TY for the encouragement! :-)
 
AKgramma said:
I may stop journaling, except when something really important happens, tho, since most people are out enjoying the summer and not reading this anyway.
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I'd guess that lots of people read grow journals throughout the entire year (well... maybe not on Christmas Day ;) ).

AKgramma said:
The closet I use for flower is too cramped and awkward to mount an LED in
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Such a shame. Most folks, when running both vegetative and flower areas simultaneously, place the stronger illumination in the flowering area. Lots will have approximately the same strength of lighting on each side. But I don't believe I've ever seen or read about someone using their strongest lighting for vegetative growth.

Maybe you should think about switching your areas around, lol? Flower in your vegetative area and do the vegetative phase in the flowering one?
 
TorturedSoul said:
I'd guess that lots of people read grow journals throughout the entire year (well... maybe not on Christmas Day ;) ).

Such a shame. Most folks, when running both vegetative and flower areas simultaneously, place the stronger illumination in the flowering area. Lots will have approximately the same strength of lighting on each side. But I don't believe I've ever seen or read about someone using their strongest lighting for vegetative growth.

Maybe you should think about switching your areas around, lol? Flower in your vegetative area and do the vegetative phase in the flowering one?
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Isn't the intensity of the sun less during autumn and flowering time? I don't understand the logic of switching this around. Thoughts? There is a real possibility of setting up the spare unit for flower, with the LED. But I need to understand why.
 
Uhh... We're more concerned with big buds than with big leaves, lol?

Plants stretch for the first 40% of the flowering period, so you'd tend to get a fairly significant amount of growth during flower - and the flowering period is when the buds form/grow/etc., after all.

In terms of the more traditional (MH/HPS) lighting, it was a general rule that one wanted a minimum of 30 watts per square foot for vegetative growth, but a minimum of 50 watts per square foot for the flowering phase.

Greenhouse growers, who grow under natural sunlight, might still supplement with artificial lighting (yes, even during flowering/fruiting phases).

If you have sufficient quantities/conditions of everything else (nutrients, decent root growth, environmental conditions, et cetera), you'll almost always see more/heavier/better yield when you add (reasonably correct) lighting during the flowering phase. Having less, well... that's sort of like removing light, lol. Will removing light grow more buds? ;)
 
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