First CFL Grow Using 30 Watt CFLs

[donpaul.p]

miwa is spot on, get on herbies head shop train, he has some great offers and his prices are far lower than other sellers, if you go onto his site and look down the right hand side you will see pick and mix, click on this then this lists all the single seeds, then on the left pick price low to high and you get them in that order, you can buy just 1 seed and get 3 free,

but get to know herbie and you get a whole lot more, this time i ordered 2 auto seeds, and i got all this below for free
1 royal queen seed car sticker
1 royal queen seeds tin of mints, tin is perfect for keeping seeds safe
4 royal queen seeds plant pot markers, water proof and can be re-used
1 royal queen seeds amsterdam wrist band
now for the seeds the usual free seeds are
2 x sleestack cross skunk, regular seeds
1 x royal queen fruit spirit femenised,
now them 3 seeds are what you get when you buy even just 1 seed, but spend over a certain amount and you get a whole lot more for free
but as a bonus herbie sent me another free seed i got the seed below
1 x royal queen northern lights auto femenised
so as you can see herbie really does look after you,
all post is very discreet and he really does have some great offers, its the only place i go to, they ship world wide as well, but if its not legal to grow where you are then they strictly state for souvineer pourpose only, so their is no problem shipping anywhere, he sells single seeds for as little as £1.25 which is roughly $2.00 or their abouts, plus the free seeds you get are worth a lot more so its well worth a look

i took a video of my plants today, ill upload it tomorrow when im at my moms cuz my internet dongle is way to slow, so big update tomorrow,
when you place your order with herbies drop him a msg with my screen name and mention you are part of this site and herbie will look after you, he replies quick to msgs, i asked him about the big bang auto and he told me he had some big bang auto fems and to order them instead of the regular, so their is nothing bad i can say about herbies, i get me seeds the next day, delivery is discreet, i have had 100% success with all the seeds i have bought, so as you can see i have not had any problems,

their are other seed banks that sponsor this site but i have not tried them so cant speak about them, i choose herbies as he lets you order 1 or 2 seeds, some sellers charge higher prices for single seeds and prefer you to buy say 10 seeds, most wont give you free seeds till you have spent a certain amount of money or placed an order of over 10 seeds, so i find herbies has the lowest prices and if you only buy 1 or 2 seeds you always get 3 free seeds no matter what the price of the seeds is,

 

[donpaul.p]

here is a quick guide to air layering, this is taken from a book as someone was trying this on here and had no joy with getting it to work,
air layering is basically taking a clone without taking a clone so to speak, you basically grow the clone on the plant and only remove it from the plant when it has grown roots, so your not taking the clone and rooting it else where, your picking the clone and cloning it while it is still on the plant, its something i am going to try next time round, its not much good if your taking loads of clones as it can slow growth but if you have a plant that is hard to clone or only taking a couple of clones then this is a method worth trying.

here is how its done
select a vigourous growing tip from the mother plant and with a scalpel cut 2 horizontal lines just below the node, circling the stem roughly 1 cm apart, now join these 2 rings with a vertical cut and peel the bark away, cut through into the phloem, which is the layer beneath the bark that conducts food away from the leaves and into the plantt.
The phloam is tougher than the outer bark so its not difficult to feel the depth with a little practice, just handle the scalpel gently, scrape the phloam away with the blade, using gentle scraping action.
try not to do damage to the xylem, the layer beneath the phloam.
the xylem is responsible for conducting nutrients from the plant to the leaves, it must be left in tact to ensure the clone is fed during its rooting time.

next apply a coating of rooting gel to the node site above the cut. cover the whole area , including the cut with damp spagnum moss (compost may also be used).
use cling film wrap to hold the moss in place by wrapping it around the stem, ensure you leave the top and bottom of the moss exposed to aid watering and drainage, within 10 to 14 days you will see strong new roots developing, at this point you can seperate the clone from its mother, remove the cling film and treat the clone as a young plant.

that guide is taken from a european grow book i have, to me it sounds like its not that hard to do, but i would say that as i have not given it a try yet, it might be a nightmare to get right, this method is mainly used when taking a small number of clones as it should give 100% success, plus its worth trying if you have a plant that dont clone very easy as this method should get them clones rooted a whole lot easier

 

[teSmp]

Don't feel bad about me... I messed up with my first SCROG listening to someone I shouldn't have, that's done and over with.. I still lollipop plants and strip EVERYTHING beneath my SCROGs.. I don't take a single leaf above the screen though, or a single leaf all through veg, I don't get why people think a fan leaf is blocking a top from growing up, it will make it's way up to the light.. I lollipop and remove leaves below my SCROG so I only get buds on the top, I don't want to waste my time with worthless crap underneath the screen. I understand if you want to harvest in stages, but that's not for me.. I want to chop it and get to the next SCROG.

 

[donpaul.p]

what teSmp said is true, scrogs need a different growing technique, you dont want anything growing below the scrog, you should just have stems as you wont be getting any bud growth below the scrog, so keeping everything above the scrog will give the best growth and biggest buds as the plant is not wasting energy on trying to get any growth below the scrog to the top of the plant, so in this instance it makes sense to have nothing below thee scrog as it wont be getting any light anyway due to the dense growth at the scrog, so keeping any bud sites or leaves below this are a complete waste of time.

for harvesting in stages this would not be possible with a scrog as its all grown at an even rate so its ready when its ready, but when you have a 3ft or more plant then the top of the plant will be ready to harvest before the bottom, so harvesting the top half and putting the rest back under the lights will make the smaller buds below fatter and will give you a bigger yield, but for hempie grows this is pointless and the same for scrogs, it would also apply for lst as long as the canopy was even, but a plant left to grow as is will always have under developed buds lower down unless you have some side lighting and lighting between the plants, or having a light that is powerfull enough to do the job and make the plant develop at the same rate, but the lower down the plant you get the smaller the buds are, so once you have removed the top buds the plant then focuses its growth on the buds below so putting these back under the lights will make the bigger, it does make the grow take longer but i think this is a small price to pay for a bigger yield, i have seen this myself with the auto i harvested 3 times, i watched tiny little buds that would normally go in the box with the trim for hash turn into buds that are big enough to smoke, so to me it makes sense to let the plant continue to grow and harvest again a few days later, i harvested my auto in 3 stages and gave it a week extra after each harvest before i harvested it again.

 

[donpaul.p]

but check out teSmp's scrog and you will clearly see why having nothing below the screen apart from the stems makes sense, he really has got it dialed in this time and is going to smash what he got last time by quiet a bit, cant wait to see the end results mate

 

[miwa]

Yeah...learned about that air layering this winter on u-tube..when i was researching how to graft...never tried it though...about putting clipping in the frige..i wonder if that would work with rooted clones..i'm going to put one of each in the frig ...see how long they last..you say a covered glASS ?what about oxygen ? what about A mason jar ?

 

[donpaul.p]

couldnt tell you mate, ill try and find the journal again, cant see what it woldnt be ok in a mason jark though, half filled with water, the plant is sort of frozen so to speak so it wont be giving out much oxygen and taking in any co2, i dont know enough about it to comment on it, all i know is it was kept in the fridge and it kept it viable for months, it was in a jar that had a cover over it, but a mason jar should work just as well, id leave the lid off when you first put it in the fridge till the water and clone is at the same temp, keep the lid in the fridge as well, and when the water is as cold as the fridge then put the lid on, this would stop any condensation forming on the inside of the jar, this may cause a problem, but not sure mate,

if i can find the journal ill give you a shout, but give it a try and let me know how you get on, the grower who did it used fresh cuttings so he never tried using cuttings that had roots, just depends how the roots react to the cold temps,

 

[miwa]

great...now i got a important Q...what do you do when you have more budsites than you have net holes..i know you know what i mean because your plant has that crazy branching...the holes in my net is 7 " sq...and the net is 5 x 15 ft...thats 75 sq ft...if i keep bending the tops and putting them under the net...that is bringing lower tops up...a 7 " hole ain't going to hold all those tops..i got 2+ months till harvest

 

[JamesTheGreen]

I hear EVERYTHING You Guys are saying about Lollipopping Indoors, as Just an Outdoor grower these days, I tend to Only Think Like one as well, which is that everything will Find a way to do what it is supposed to Do. Were supposed to have a Record heat wave Here this week, I cannot wait!!! DPP, I do not believe You have ever visited my Journal, or at least did so and left a Post, I would be honored, if You, or any that have not dropped by, would do so,so You could at least See Why I think the way I do about certain Things. I have reconsidered a considerable amount on My Views of growing Indoors by having these Discussions with You Gentleman, By just sitting and Having Civilized Conversations about the merits of each persons Style of grow. They say a Fool Never learns, a Wise Man Does, that is why I am willing to hear any and all ways of growing, and take them into consideration, Only a FOOL would be taught a better way of doing Something, and not do it, so please do not think me a FOOL. I have learned much from all,even if I did not agree ATM, I was still willing to look at it from that Persons perspective, and GLORY BE, I actually Found the Merits in a lot of what is being said,PERIOD!!! So if You have never taken a look at My journal in Progress, I WELCOME YOU TO COME BY, and at least See, why I believe the way I do, on many things. My Plants are looking awesome this Year, it is one of the best grows, I have ever Done!!! All of the Plants are from Seeds I made Myself, Over the Seasons. If my Wife feels up to it Tomorrow, She will be Posing for the Pictures, if not, then maybe her Sister!!! But Please Stop By and have a Gander, and you will be able to fully grasp where My way of thinking comes from, and it would be an Honor as well!!! Take Care My Friends, SINCERELY, JAMESTHEGREEN.

 

[Smokemupm8]

Youre a bit of a handy man there bro!! You got a lot of info and your range is complimentary..
Good one..Smokem

 

[JamesTheGreen]

I think???That was directed My way, if so Thank You, If Not, Thank You, for being a TRUE M8!!! I'll try and say it one more Time, GOOD NIGHT, LOL!!! SINCERELY, JTG.

 

[donpaul.p]

@miwa, id smile mate, having more bud sites than you know what to do with can only be a good thing mate, as for what to do im not sure, might mean having more than 1 bud site in each hole, i have not tried scrog or anything like that yet, but if i had more bud sites then it would mean having more than 1 bud site in each hole, maybe teSmp can jump in and give you some advice on this,

im just uploading the video i made, its a crappy video done on my crappy fone, so its uploading now,

 

[GigaGrew]

I do appologise for necroing in this thread, but i lost track of it in the mountain =/
I will try to edit this post as fast as i can or will make a few more as i catch up

Everyone has their own point, and all points seem like good grow tips. One thing I read was dont take more than 3 leaves off a day. I wouldnt do that mate. Removing leaves everyday will never give the plant time to fully recover as they keep getting clipped off. If you are taking off leaves inside like I do also to give lower buds light, then take them off in one sitting as long as its not a big ammount. Then let the plant recover and all your buds will have good light coverage and just let dem grooooow.

Thanks for +rep Closet Farmer bro

It could be argued that a plant understands that its going to get eaten and somewhere there is a delecate balance between pruning and preserving that offers maximum/optimum overal plant growth.

Hi mate how are ya? I am having trimming probs with my girl.. Ive been told not to trim or to trim? Normally i follow my own instincts but still im being told dont trim during veg.
As my current grow is shaped like a SOG - an attempt at LST gone wrong or right - The under canopy is very dense and there are leaves squashing into each other blocking light and also causing the new tops to grow de formed, un even fan leaves, in an attempt to get to some light.

the romans had a word called decimation. it means to kill 1 tenth of their numbers. i suggest you could use this.
Take about 10% of the leaves off at once. Focus first on leaves that block good sites, then with your remaining plucks, just thin out and even up the canopy, could see how that works

 

[donpaul.p]

In the video we have the following.
the first 2 plants are the 2ltr dwc hempies, the one has the air pump in it and the other doesnt, im doing this so i can see if it makes much difference, so far its making a huge difference with the roots as you will see in the vid.
the 1st hempie is the one with the pump and has plenty of roots, the other which the video jumps to is the one without the pump and you will see the difference in the roots.
after the 2 hempies we have the 2 headed nl x bb fem, well in flower now and getting lots of trichs.
after the 2 headed lst we have the fruity chronic juice, also well in flower, the buds look amazing on this and has lots of pistils on each bud, looks real nice cant wait to try this one.
next we have the monster cropped northern lights cross big bud fem, this has got buds all over the place, its hard getting them all in the light so i turn the plant every day to get the light in as much as i can, i have also pulled some branches down using lst so it lets more light in so the buds can develop more, looks amazing also
next we have the 3 plants all together so you can see the height difference.
next we have the special kush, these buds are short but very fat, covered in trichs all ready, its grew like this the last time and had short fat buds,
now in the little pot we have the kiwi seeds unkown regular, its not shown sex yet, its ready for a bigger pot and this is 12-12 from seeds, the tiny clone next to it is a bit that broke off the auto and it grew roots and is still alive, not sure whats going to happen to it though

after them you will be shown the small veg room, this has the new autos just sprouting, it also has a clone from the nl x bb, seedlings that are ak47 cross uk cherry cheese regular seeds, also clones in water taken from the hempies, the clones with the domes on are also from the hempies, the auto in the square pot has been harvested 3 times and i left the smallest of buds on and put it back under the lights so ill see if it lets me harvest it again, id say i got about another 1/8th off it or slightly over that, wont know till its dry, all small buds but still big enough to smoke

sorry about the poor quality and lack of sound, for some reason their was no sound, not sure why, i have ordered a new camera so will be using that when it comes, it says its 16.1 mp so should be able to do decent pics and vids once i get it.

please ask any questions or leave any comments, thanks for looking
[video=youtube_share;goCOitvJTWo]

[/video]

 

[miwa]

good video...you got almost as many plants as i do...

 

[fish cake]

think you need another air pump and the 4 that are flowering look great
looking like don is not going to run out of bud after this next harvest

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks miwa, got more plants than im comfortable with though, but the seedlings are all regular seeds that i planted to get them out the way so their will be some males to weed out before they are finished so that will cut my numbers down.
plus my auto purple fem has not sprouted so i planted another auto, so i got 3 autos all together, one has sprouted and is growing and the one i planted last night is the bluematic i think, ill check when i get home,

@fishcake, im hoping so anyway, should keep me going a good while, at least till my next grow is done, im trying to get my grow going so that i have some in veg while im flowering the others off, then once the flowering plants have finished i can move the plants in veg and put them under the hps for a week or 2 before flipping to flower.
i have got another air pump and air stone but i wanted to see what the difference was in growth and bud, at least others then can clearly see if its worth having the air pump or not, the one with the air pump was smaller than the other hempie, but its growing 2 inches a day and is way bigger than the other one now, and the roots speak for themselves,

 

[donpaul.p]

when i get back home ill write a list of what i got going on, in the flower room their are 6 plants, and in the veg room their are more than that plus all the clones, so when i get back ill write them all down and list them here

 

[teSmp]

@miwa, id smile mate, having more bud sites than you know what to do with can only be a good thing mate, as for what to do im not sure, might mean having more than 1 bud site in each hole, i have not tried scrog or anything like that yet, but if i had more bud sites then it would mean having more than 1 bud site in each hole, maybe teSmp can jump in and give you some advice on this,

im just uploading the video i made, its a crappy video done on my crappy fone, so its uploading now,

More then 1 top per hole is not a problem, especially if you have 7" holes as I think he was saying.. You could have more then 2 in a 7x7" square... I'm not quite sure if that was his question, if not miwa please elaborate..

and james... I've been to your journal plenty of times, sorry for the lack of comments.. I'm trying to stay subbed to the current journals only because I have such little time to spend on here I at least want to read whats going on with people I've had the pleasure talking to already. Your plants are lovely, and I can see why you'd think the methods we do are a little abstract when you can grow such large plants with the full power of the sun, not to mention, the lovely soil you have up there, wind, etc etc.. But in my air conditioned house under my weak 400w HPS I'm going to do somethings that seem a bit weird, ironically they work better then when I don't do them at all.

edit: plants look great DP.. I had to skip through the video because I'm in a hurry but I'll be back!

 

[miwa]

More then 1 top per hole is not a problem, especially if you have 7" holes as I think he was saying.. You could have more then 2 in a 7x7" square... I'm not quite sure if that was his question, if not miwa please elaborate..

and james... I've been to your journal plenty of times, sorry for the lack of comments.. I'm trying to stay subbed to the current journals only because I have such little time to spend on here I at least want to read whats going on with people I've had the pleasure talking to already. Your plants are lovely, and I can see why you'd think the methods we do are a little abstract when you can grow such large plants with the full power of the sun, not to mention, the lovely soil you have up there, wind, etc etc.. But in my air conditioned house under my weak 400w HPS I'm going to do somethings that seem a bit weird, ironically they work better then when I don't do them at all.

edit: plants look great DP.. I had to skip through the video because I'm in a hurry but I'll be back!

thanks teSmp...my 1st time doing a sog..i think thats what you call it ...i thought the holes were too big and thought 1 top per hole...we'll let her grow...see what happens..just trying to keepem low...