Donpaul.p's Latest 400 Watt HPS Grow

@JTG, its all good my friend, its all harmless fun, so was my comment, so no need to worry,

thanks for the info harley,
thanks for the comments everyone

@Tweation, i dont normally let my 2ltr dwc hempies get this big, i usually do a small amount of lolly pop treatment so im usually left with the main stem and 2 or 4 lower side branches, but this time round the plant was doing well so i just let it do its thing, plus it lets me see how big i can go with a 2ltr dwc, the roots are not to packed in the res and root growth has slowed now its further into flower so ive not noticed much root growth in the last 2 weeks, so hopefully the 2ltr will be big enough for this grow, if the yield turns out good i might grow the next 2ltr the same as this, how ever i do miss my huge 2ltr bottle size buds, not had another one of them since my lolly popped 2ltr dwc hempie,

im also planning on cutting my plants numbers down and either go for a longer veg or try a 2 plant scrog, so the next grow will be some new strains and autos then i might go down the dwc scrog route with 2 strains, really not made my mind up yet but im sure i can hit similar yields if i grew a big scrog to fill the whole room or even just grow and trained say 2 plants,

but you no me, i just cant stop planting them seeds.
plus to many strains to try and got a load of new ones on their way so will be planting some new autos when they get here, my male kc45 auto is huge now and full of male pollen sacs so ill be getting lots of lots of auto pollen of that kc45, pluts its a big male as well so should be a good plant for using pollen from,

im really thinking about the scrog option, since i started growing i was going to give it a try but never got my plant numbers down where i can start a scrog, or if i do a scrog ill grow 1 or 2 plants under cfls as ive got around another 400 watts of cfls i can rig up so as i done well with cfls in my first journal im not concenred about using them again as cfls work and work well as long as you got enough of them, ive got a small seedling and veg cupboard and all ive got in their is 3 x 30watt 6400k cfls, i have anything up to 8 or more seedlings and clones growing under just 3 cfls and none stretch so if i do choose the scrog option then ill use the cfls to supliment the yield with or use to to continue with my auto breeding program,

ive just gone through the seedlings i got growing as well and found out i did actually plant the drangons breath fem seeds, its suppose to be a really nice strain and it was free from herbies a while back and i forgot i planted it until i cleaned out the small seedling cupboard and checked the labels,

to many strains and waiting to grow them all out is killing me, god id love to be able to grow outdoors or have a nice big set up that was legal, but till that happens its low key with low numbers, but im self sufficient so i grow what i need and need what i grow. its a win win
 
thought id ask as ive come across this info in a few places now,

anyway basically this info is relating to fruit trees and edilbe crops, now a method to increase yield in these and proven to work is to give the plants this schedule 21 hours 36min of light and 12 hours of dark, you suppose to do this for a couple of weeks once the plants are in full flower then go back to 12-12 till finish,

so it would be 12-12 for 4 to 6 weeks, then 21 hours 26min light and 12 hours dark for the next 2 weeks then 12-12 till finish,

ive read of this method on a few sites now and its also on this site as well, one of the mods posted it in 2007 if i remember right,

now since ive started growing ive always asked about giving the plants more than 24 hours per day, so for example we could give the plants a 36 hour day or what ever we choose, but this info is on the net but not really been tested much and no actual results posted, just comments where some growers have used it and it worked well,

so has anyone else came across this, i know plants need 12 hours of dark to go into flower, so would it be possible to even go something like 14-12 or 16-12 or the whole of harvest,
the extra light hours would mean more growth so might mean more bud, the 12 hours of dark would keep it in flower, so im wondering if their is some sweet spot where the plant gets extra growth but just stops short of going back into veg, so something like 14-12 or 16-12 might work, if i set up some cfls i might give it a try, the 21 hours 36min and 12 hours of dark seems a bit harsh to me but its a proven method used by many commercial food growers, so its suppose to also work with mj, but i think its just a bit off that the time they statet is always 21 hours 36min of light, i mean where do they get 36min from let alone the 21 hours,

i know its proven with edible crops but dont want to go to drastic if its not going to work so hopefully one of my many followers has come across this before and can add to it,

but from day 1 ive always wondered about giving plants longer days, i know they need 12 hours of dark to stay in flower but would something like 14-14 work or 16-16,.
or would a better option be something like 14-12, a bit extra light hours to give extra growth might work, but does a plant need the 12 hours to flower or do light and day have to be the same 14-14 or 16-16, its a question i have asked many times, but i guess ill just have to find out myself,

if their was a way of keeping plant in flower but also on the edge of veg then this surely would keep the plant growing and in flower longer so should produce bigger buds and yield,
 
i personally do not trust this method with MJ yet. im certain that if you give a plant repeated 12 hours of darkness then you tell it to flower, follow that by any more than 12 hours of light and i honestly believe you risk hermie.

it all depends if the plant can handle its flowering hormone constantly reaching activation level then being destroyed back down to veg mode. however, that being said, if you dont care about hermie, ie are a fem breeder. then this system may have some fantastic unseen benefits in triggering mutations that are related to photoperiod...for anyone thats brave enough and can afford to throw plants away, i say go forth and open pandora's box ;)
 
i think i might just set up some cfls and give it a try, here is the exact info relating to 21.36-12
[DISCLAIMER]: This information is provided as experimental data and not fact.

The only photoperiod manipulation from years of experiments that offered discernible improvements was this adjustment made for 1 or 2 calendar weeks at the point of maximum flowering rate: Daylength of 21 hours, 36 minutes with a dark period of 12 hours. To accomplish this, you need a 7 day, 24 hour digital timer. During a 7 day calendar week on Earth, the "sun" only cycles 5 times. This permits easily switching back to the regular 12/12 at your discretion. You may want to only alter during peak flower production to stimulate the plant's metabolism. Using this photoperiod throughout the flowering cycle will cause this:

A variety that takes 49 days of 12/12 to mature, won't see 49 - 12 hour dark periods under 21:36/12 until almost 10 calendar weeks have passed.

The total increase in light energy is almost 80%, which will produce larger yields, if all of your other enviromental conditions are kept optimal.

The total increase in flowering period is only 40%, half the potential room for improvement. This means you don't have to be perfect to win out.

Selective application of the 21:36/12 photperiod for only 1 or 2 weeks extends the wait only 2 to 4 Earth days, which makes up the missing 2 complete day and night cycles each week on Planet Ito. This permits the additional light energy to be provided without purchasing additional equipment or overloading existing circuits, which maximizes the existing system's capabilities. The main advantage is that matched with co2 and optimal nutrition, the plants metabolism will increase dramatically. I have only successfully tested this photoperiod for two weeks. The potential for a net increase of 40% over the entire cycle (80% increase in light energy vs. 40% longer wait) is worthwhile. Don't be afraid!

Day 1 - Sunday, 6:00am til Monday, 3:36am
Day 2 - Monday, 3:36pm til Tuesday, 1:12pm
Day 3 - Wednesday, 1:12am til Wednesday, 10:48pm
Day 4 - Thursday, 10:48am til Friday 8:24am
Day 5 - Friday, 8:24pm til Saturday 6:00pm

Last modified: 19:39 - Nov 07, 2000

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now im not willing to give that schedule a try just yet, its obviously easy to set up with a 7 day timer so thats not the issue, but id prefer to go with something like 14-12 or even 16-12,

its the dark period thats important here as the 12 hours of dark is the part that lets the flowering hormones to build up, but does it need to be 12 hours ever 12 hours or can it be pushed further, ill set up a cfl flower room at the start of my next round of flowering plants and ill give 14-12 a try,

21.36-12 seems a bit harsh to me.


ok now i got some new seeds to add to my grow program and not sure which to go and plant, my flower room is about half way through so i can plant a few more seeds, ive all ready got some growing
dragons breath
jack flash
the new white widow x skunk thats not released yet but free samples from herbies
kc45 auto
my own fem seeds x2,
so thats what ive got growing in seedlings stage at the minute,
now i want to plant an auto and 2 regular seeds.
so heres the list
00 seeds auto northern lights x1 fem
female seeds auto bubble x 1 fem
female seeds big grapefruit x1 fem
nirvana blue mystic regular x2
nirvana ice regular x2
sativa blackberry regular x2
big buddha cheese fem x1, suppose to be true uk cheese
now the free seeds i got are
delicious cotton candy fem x1
samsara green love potion fem x2
more white widow x skunk#1 x5 regular seeds (got 2 in seedlings stage so far)

so theirs my choices, i want an auto and 2 none autos, so big budda will be one of the none autos so as anyone grown any of these in the list and if so was it a good strain to grow,
 
right ive chosen 2 seeds to plant, ive planted the big buddha cheese fem and the auto bubble which is an auto version of the bubble gum,
i got room for one more plant so really not sure what to go with now,
 
the blue mystic was a strain i tried to grow a while back but the strain i tried had bad genetics and many growers had similar problems, so ive not tried it again since, but does look like a nice strain, i only bough 2 seeds though but hopefully 1 or both will be fem,

also can anyone who knows about plant problems and nute def or lockout please check this link out, a fellow grower is having some problems and ive not had the problem before so cant really comment to much on what it is or how to solve the problem, it looks like some def possibly cal/mag but ive not come across this myself so cant help much, hopefully someone can come to the rescue and tell the grower what it is and how to sort it out,
he got other plants that are not having any problems, its just this one plant,
Brown spots on leaves and some yellowing late in flower bud porn inside!
the problem is leaves turning yellow in patches with brown patches as well, im more inclined to think its a def issue but would like someone who has seen this before to have a look and offer some advice,

thanks everyone
 
northern lights is a nice strain, not one ive tried myself, ill have room to plant more as i get closer to flower but i dont want to much in the small veg room as its not set up as a big room, at least its not for now, might get myself another dual spec light and set up a veg room, i think its whats needed,
 
i reccomend avoiding the green potion for now. im about to pop at least half a dozen of those babies, so when they are done you can grab a nice handful off me to sample, save the spot for one none of us are growing ;)

in my current collection over the next few months are....

il diavolo auto (couple weeks)
sweet tooth (4-5 weeks)
coming soon
1 fem-reg ketama (landrace sativa)
1 fem-reg pakistani valley (landrace indica)
6+ fem-reg green love potion (multi blend hybrid)
10x fem-aut white label super skunk
2x fem-reg THC Bomb
1x reg-aut big bad john
4x fem-aut il diavolo
and finally 20+ fem-reg critical sensi star.

man, until i listed it i didnt realise how backed up with stock i am.....need to grow faster!!
 
my 2nd veg room has cfls..its small..they grow short and slow..time it right and when the 1st bunch goes to flower rm...cfl bunch can go to veg rm..you're good with numbers..start you a perpectual grow...this bagseed i got under cfl its nodes are so close...the fan leaves are touching...how many nodes do your plants have when you flower..or do you just go by height...i think you should go by veg time..veg time and pot size..i believe is the key to larger yield...gotta check how the roots grow..might tell me what kind of pot...short and wide...or tall and narrow...then you got to get your feeding program down right...
 
love potion on hold as i can see how it goes when GiGa grows his out,

dont worry i got the ww x skunk growing, planted some a few days back and they just sprouted,

@miwa, i go on height really mate, i flip to flower around week 6 or 1ft tall, cfls keep the nodes very tight early on but as the plant gets bigger it sorts itself out, the other option would be to put it out in open daylight near a window, that will make it stretch a little, or raise the cfls a few more inches, cfls are great for keeping plants nice and bushy, pretty much get nodes on top of nodes

@dhama, got 2 growing mate, i wonder what its going to be called when it is released for sale, sounds like it could be an interesting strain.
i might not need to plant anymore seeds, for the last 2 weeks ive been using paper towel method as i had real low germ rates with the gdp male cross purple cheese auto and lower rates with the a47 x uk cherry cheese fem pollen cross with auto purple cheese,

so i through 10 seeds in to paper towel to check germination rates, now i soaked them about 10 to 14 days ago, yesterday they still had not sprouted, i went out today and was going to throw them out if they did not germ, i just checked and so far 2 have sprouted and i just planted them, so thats gdp male cross with purple cheese auto now growing, hoepfully more will germ over the next few days, but for some reason the seeds are like stones, so hard once i scuffed them they was black like coal, i thought maybe the gdp and an auto was not a good cross, but lets just hope these seeds where a pain to germ because their going to turn into something good,

now i just need a male and female from the gdp x purple cheese auto and cross them with each other so i can start working with the strain and cross the best pheno types from the bunch, so will be a while but i should have a pretty decent strain, im hoping the gdp genetics and the purple cheese will make a very nice plant, but ill guess ill find out in the next 3 or 4 months.

so in veg i now got the following
1x jack flash fem.
3 x gdp male cross auto purple cheese fem,
1 x auto bubble fem,
2 x white widow x skunk#1
1 x dragons breath fem
1 x mazar x white rino fem
1 x sour diesel fem
1 x sensi star fem thats 3 weeks old and pretty big, will be a nice plant once its been under hps for a few weeks of veg
2 x clones not rooted yet but both will be used for 2ltr dwc hempies if they root,
2 x kc45 auto seedlings
1 x kc45 male auto in flower

i best not get planthing anymore for a few weeks, i will soon run out of room but some are a couple of weeks older than other so hopefully i can do a staggered harvest and ill have the hps on veg schedule but the plants i want to flower off early will be taken out the veg room and placed in a dark place for their 12-12 cycle

so i wont be planting anything else for 2 or 3 weeks or even not till i harvest the plants in flower, ill be planting the cotton candy next though as its a really nice strain that ive grown before, its a strain that herbie was giving away a while back so he must of got another batch due to buyers asking for that strain again

but for now i got plenty going on, cant wait to harvest this lot i got in flower then after the next round of plants ill cut my numbers down and go for bigger plants or might even go for a 3ft by 3ft scrog with 2 plants
 
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