Alchemist420's - Mystery Strain - Indoor - Soil/Coco - Grow Journal - 2016

[AngryBird]

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[Alchemist420]

Loving reading this so far really nice looking plants are you still using the t5 for flower with the red bulbs ? Thanks and keep up the good work

Thank you very much Crippled, and thanks for stopping by my journal.
Yes I am flowering under the T5 and I am actually using 50/50 on the bulbs. Half are Veg Blues, and have are Bloom Reds. I have pleanty of each to do all of each but I figured I would try with a 50/50 blend and give them a little more spectrum to Flower under. They were vegged under all Blue.

My phone pics are bad YOURS are professional She is a beauty
hi Cripp nice to see you found your way to journals

Thank you AngryBird. Phone through the Plastic view window was just a PIA... Couldn't get it to focus, and when I did they still looked washed out. No worries though I will be posting good pics tomorrow on the Saturday update

 

[Crippled]

Thats a whole load of hassle lol probably add it at some point though cheers

 

[Crippled]

Cheers mate i may consider just buying another 2ft 4 bulb t5 with 4 red bulbs and mix and match for the 2 t5s in flower think that would be enough for 6 plants in a 1x1x2m space ?

 

[AngryBird]

Thats a whole load of hassle lol probably add it at some point though cheers

please do you can come to my journal and post it then I can visit too

 

[Crippled]

Done. Cheers id love to have you jump on board any advice is welcome as is constructive criticism

 

[AngryBird]

Done. Cheers id love to have you jump on board any advice is welcome as is constructive criticism

Since I am a newbie I will help where I know or I will say,..this I have read.... otherwise I always call in for back up. I have some amazing friends with a lot of knowledge

 

[Alchemist420]

Cheers mate i may consider just buying another 2ft 4 bulb t5 with 4 red bulbs and mix and match for the 2 t5s in flower think that would be enough for 6 plants in a 1x1x2m space ?

Honestly you are going to want more light then 2 - 2ft 4 bulb T5 will provide in a 1M X 1M
You are looking a 1 square meter which is roughly 10.7 square feet.

This grow is a 4 ft 8 Bulb T5 - 430 Watts in a 2ft X 4ft or only 8 square feet, and my ladies could probably handle more light if I could fit it.

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask, If I don't have an answer there are plenty on here that do. Oh, and I visited your journal and commented on your lighting options over there also.

 

[Pennywise]

Ill be watching as well

 

[AngryBird]

Ill be watching as well

Hi and welcome to

 

[Alchemist420]

Ill be watching as well

Thank you Pennywise....got 5 more weeks maybe more on this ride. Thanks for following along.

Sent from my SM-N915V using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[TropicGrow]

Currently keeping tabs on your journal now Alchemist hehe .. Sorry if I didn't pick up but your using Apollo 400W T5 fluorescent from veg through flowering up to harvest? Does this work well for you? I also run apollo hort but LEDs btw.

Also, Im going to sound like a total dumbass here but maybe you can help me with this. You've said that you've been vegging these ladies for 70 days before flipping to 12/12 .. Many grow journals have veg time usually ranging from like 3-4 weeks but in reality is this just the bear minimum or do most growers actually grow large enough plants in that 3-4 week veg period. Reason Im asking is because one of my main challenges right now is how to yield more. I can definitely accomplish bigger plants if i left them to veg longer - I get that. But does a experienced grower achieve the same results in 3-4 weeks of vegging?

 

[Crippled]

Hi i may be wrong but its my understanding that there is basically 3 stages 1.germination/ seedling phase i think up to 3 weeks veg phase ( i believe most people just include the seedling phase in this) i believe after the seedling phase it can take up to another 5 weeks depending on size , lights etc etc and the flower obviously is normally 8-10 weeks. I plan on keeping mines for 5-6 weeks total (from seed) before flipping the switch if they can go before that excellent if not meh. Ive just judged this roughly off of others journals etc obviously everyone does things different. I could be talking absolute shite though this is just my rough understanding cheers

 

[Croatsan]

Many grow journals have veg time usually ranging from like 3-4 weeks but in reality is this just the bear minimum or do most growers actually grow large enough plants in that 3-4 week veg period. I can definitely accomplish bigger plants if i left them to veg longer - I get that. But does a experienced grower achieve the same results in 3-4 weeks of vegging?

I'll jump in, if I may, and say - no.

There's no substitute vor veg time. This is when the plant builds strong foundation and prepares itself for flowering and no amount of skill can replace it. To put it simply, the longer you veg, the stronger your plants will be.

And, ultimately, you will harvest more.

The only way you can speed up veg time is by going hydro. With a properly balanced setup, you can cut the veg time in half compared to soil.

 

[TropicGrow]

Thanks for addressing my questions Croatsan and Crippled. This actually does clarify some questions about veg time. Not that I strictly veg for only 3-4 weeks, matter of fact I kinda just wait until I feel like its a big enough plant to flip to 12/12. It absolutely does make more sense to leave the vegging plants in there longer to develop a stronger root system, branch out more and what not.

So according to Crippled the germination/seedling period lasts 3 weeks (I'm guessing this is week 1-3 in nutrients), after which time you can continue to let it veg for 5 or more weeks after, and I guess you feed week 3 nutes for this period of time?

I got a follow up question though, because I have read topics in where people will go from seed to harvest in like 11 weeks total.. So these growers are not maximizing their plants potential then? Why would anyone want for this? Are they just trying to turnover more plants quicker, and are just growing many more plants?

BTW sorry to kinda sidetrack your grow here alchemist, promise this is the last question haha.

 

[Crippled]

Like i say mate i may be wrong but im going seedling 3 week - veg up to another 5 weeks ( depending on size of plants and grow area etc) if needed then when i flip the switch itll be for 8-10 weeks. I would only veg for 3 weeks if i was growing smaller plants in a confined area. I feed 50% week 2 then 100% week 4 ( all depends on pot size) id love to hear others and id like to apologise aswell for hijacking your thread alchemist like i say if im talking shit then please tell me

 

[golfer420]

I'll add some of my thoughts and experience

When growing an auto plant (meaning it's going to flower on its own - regardless of the light/dark), they start showing sex around 4 week (I've seen from 26 to 32 days) and depending on the strain they can finish in 70 - 90 days from popping out of the soil. There is no ability to control when flowering happens in an auto.

Photo's on the other hand will only begin flowering when the light schedule shifts to 12/12 (equal amounts light and dark). Technically, you can put a photo into 12/12 directly from seedling and in about 3 weeks it should start showing sex/flower.

You can do some things with auto's to increase yield (lst and topping) and I've seen some ridiculous yields on autos. To get the huge yields, you'll see people go really long on veg and do extreme pruning and lst (look up Flux). These grows can veg 90 or more days before flower (flipping the lights to 12/12)

I don't have the patience for more than a 90 day harvest. The first time growing a photo is my current grow. One is being done as a flux with 10 main tops, the other I only topped and let grow naturally with some light lst. They both were in veg for 43 days before I flipped.

My girls are in 3 gal pots with sunshine #4 mix. Water/feed every other day. Up until last week I only water/fed 500 ml of water. I switched to a full liter every other day. I'm using advanced nutrients. I've also used fox farms. So far so good.

Hope this helps

 

[golfer420]

btw...the huge yields was for photo's. You can veg them for ever.

 

[Alchemist420]

Currently keeping tabs on your journal now Alchemist hehe .. Sorry if I didn't pick up but your using Apollo 400W T5 fluorescent from veg through flowering up to harvest? Does this work well for you? I also run apollo hort but LEDs btw.

Also, Im going to sound like a total dumbass here but maybe you can help me with this. You've said that you've been vegging these ladies for 70 days before flipping to 12/12 .. Many grow journals have veg time usually ranging from like 3-4 weeks but in reality is this just the bear minimum or do most growers actually grow large enough plants in that 3-4 week veg period. Reason Im asking is because one of my main challenges right now is how to yield more. I can definitely accomplish bigger plants if i left them to veg longer - I get that. But does a experienced grower achieve the same results in 3-4 weeks of vegging?

Hey there TropicGrow, thank you for stopping by my journal.
The only "dumbass" is the one that never asks questions or experiments to get the answer for questions they don't know.

To answer your question. 3-4 week veg is usually in reference to Clones under great conditions. Clones have already reached maturity so you are just vegging them until they are the size you want before switching to flower.
This current round was from seed. Germinating seed takes longer as you have to grow them up into maturity and veg them up to the size that you want before you switch to flower.
My next round will be clones from these ladies. They took 10-12 days to root and have been in veg exactly 4 weeks today since they rooted. They are large enough to switch now but I am going to give them another week or two to put on some more size.

I want to point this out to anyone reading. We are talking PHOTO not AUTOS

I see lots of people have replied to your questions below so I THANK them all!!!
I will also go through and summarize and comment on each of them, and reply to any additional questions I find

Hi i may be wrong but its my understanding that there is basically 3 stages 1.germination/ seedling phase i think up to 3 weeks veg phase ( i believe most people just include the seedling phase in this) i believe after the seedling phase it can take up to another 5 weeks depending on size , lights etc etc and the flower obviously is normally 8-10 weeks. I plan on keeping mines for 5-6 weeks total (from seed) before flipping the switch if they can go before that excellent if not meh. Ive just judged this roughly off of others journals etc obviously everyone does things different. I could be talking absolute shite though this is just my rough understanding cheers

Thank you Crippled
Yes if you are growing from seed this is a good general idea of time under good indoor growing conditions and decent genetics.
Grow Conditions and Genetics play a huge role in timeline.
The other factor is the goals of the grower. Are they looking for quickest turn around, or max yield for their space and how are they approaching their goal.

I'll jump in, if I may, and say - no.

There's no substitute vor veg time. This is when the plant builds strong foundation and prepares itself for flowering and no amount of skill can replace it. To put it simply, the longer you veg, the stronger your plants will be.

And, ultimately, you will harvest more.

The only way you can speed up veg time is by going hydro. With a properly balanced setup, you can cut the veg time in half compared to soil.

Thank you Croatsan!
Yes Veg is critical to your harvest, keeping optimal conditions while in veg helps maximize what your plants do while vegging in the time you choose to let them veg. The longer you can let them veg the more you can produce. That being said there are limitations on how big you can go and what you can yield but that can be another discussion.

Thanks for addressing my questions Croatsan and Crippled. This actually does clarify some questions about veg time. Not that I strictly veg for only 3-4 weeks, matter of fact I kinda just wait until I feel like its a big enough plant to flip to 12/12. It absolutely does make more sense to leave the vegging plants in there longer to develop a stronger root system, branch out more and what not.

So according to Crippled the germination/seedling period lasts 3 weeks (I'm guessing this is week 1-3 in nutrients), after which time you can continue to let it veg for 5 or more weeks after, and I guess you feed week 3 nutes for this period of time?

I got a follow up question though, because I have read topics in where people will go from seed to harvest in like 11 weeks total.. So these growers are not maximizing their plants potential then? Why would anyone want for this? Are they just trying to turnover more plants quicker, and are just growing many more plants?

BTW sorry to kinda sidetrack your grow here alchemist, promise this is the last question haha.

Not a problem TropicGrow.
Nutes schedule really depend on the many factors from your entire grow environment to genetics, but is most about learning to read your plants.
The 11 Week seed to harvest I believe, as others have stated, are Auto Flower varieties. Photo period varieties take longer, and you veg as long as you want before flowering. Or keep them in eternal veg as a Mother to take clones from.

Like i say mate i may be wrong but im going seedling 3 week - veg up to another 5 weeks ( depending on size of plants and grow area etc) if needed then when i flip the switch itll be for 8-10 weeks. I would only veg for 3 weeks if i was growing smaller plants in a confined area. I feed 50% week 2 then 100% week 4 ( all depends on pot size) id love to hear others and id like to apologise aswell for hijacking your thread alchemist like i say if im talking shit then please tell me

Thanks again Crippled.
Again veg time really depends on the goals of the grower. Another thing to consider From Seed is sexual maturity. They are not going to flower until they hit sexual maturity so a very short veg from seed may not finish as quickly as you would like it to if it has not reached sexual maturity. You can put a seedling under 12/12 but it is not going to start flowering until it is mature.
This is one of the benefits of clones. 1. Guaranteed Genetics 2. Guaranteed Sex 3. Already Sexually mature.

btw...the huge yields was for photo's. You can veg them for ever.

Golfer420

Now I am going to work on this weeks update to this Journal

 

[Alchemist420]

Good afternoon Everyone, Weekend update Saturday 8/27
Day 23 of Flower 12/12

I finally got my new PH and PPM meters. No More drops and comparing colors to the chart!
I found out that my tap water is fairly good straight out of the tap. PH 7.1 and PPM 125
Been alternating between distilled water and my tap water up till now and using the PH Drops and PH Up / Down to get my water close to where it should be.

I added the Nectar For The Gods - Herculean Harvest (0-10-0) to the feeding this morning to give the girls a boost.
Today they got 4 Gallons to run off
Tap Water
10 Mil/Gal - TFTG - Medusas Magic
45 Mil/Gal - TFTG - Herculean Harvest
5 Mil/Gal - CALiMAGic
Which brought my tap water up to 850 PPM and 5.9 PH before adjusting up to 6.2

I took clones of the clones last night since I will be moving the 1st round out of veg and into flower in another 2 weeks.

Here come this updates pictures. You can see the ladies are very cleaned out under the net. Above the net I have only been removing Fan leaves that are shadowing bud sites.
You can definitely see the difference in the two Phenos. Both were germinated at the same time, and have received exactly the same everything the entire time.


The 2 X 4 tent Filled with my 2 Ladies. Pheno#1 Left and Pheno#2 Right

Pheno #1

Pheno #2

Finally some Clones from the Clones that are about to be moved to Flower