First CFL Grow Using 30 Watt CFLs

[miwa]

Thats what i like to see...knowledge building...keepit up...stay focus...

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks GiGa, im just getting these soil plants out the way then im starting my scrog, everything is in flower now, ive got 2 kush in flower, i got 2 afgan skunk in flower, i got my 2 autos nearly done, so ive not got much to do before i set this scrog up,

ive planted some seeds so i can keep doing the 2ltr dwc hempies, plus i harvested the sour kush last night and left the 3 bud sites with seeds in on the plant, the main bud is huge, its over 1ft long and not far off the size of a 2ltr pop bottle, i took plenty of pics so ill upload them tomorrow, cant wait to sample the sour kush but i wont quick dry any as ive got enough bud to keep me going for a while now

 

[miwa]

Dam DWC...ain't nothing growing but the roots...i think shes under stress..trying to reveg and i cut two tops..lights are on 24/0...maybe i should put her under MH...my seeds haven't popped yet..i got my auto in a pot with a dome...and some seeds in rockwool with domes...maybe tomorrow...

 

[GigaGrew]

@miwa do you have any superthrive? i have to get some myself, but thats the anti shock stuff, i hope BPN finds an appropriate compound to match this stuff.

24/0? the more i learn my friend, the more i realise that 24/0 should be reserved for a very select few strains that seem to lke it, for everything else i wouldnt go more than 18/6 save yourself some electric and let that plant have some beautiful healing sleep

@ Donpaul a dwc, its a pop bottle with the top cut off, does this get filled with nutrient water and then the plant goes into the upside down lid with the roots going through the hole right?
how do you start a dwc, what if the roots are too short, you just grow it as a soil/soiless in the top till the roots reach the water?
do you think a piece of paper in the upsidedown lid is enough to contain your growing medium and allow roots to pass through?
what is the method for handling the water, does it drink it all (as far as the roots reach) or does it need to be replaced to prevent it going stale? im assuming you should rinse out the bottom of the bottle if it doesnt drink it all to prevent stagnaation and salt build up e.t.c

it sounds both scary to attempt and easy to achieve, lol.

i know i could probably go through all the how to grow posts, but i like having a conversation about it lol..help files dont talk back

 

[GoodSpeed420]

Just wanted to say thanks for peepin the grow Don. I gotta say; I wasn't expecting to see 100+ pages of well versed growing material after reading the title "30w cfl grow" haha but the proof is in the pudding. Can't wait for the picture upload friend.

GS

 

[GoodSpeed420]

@miwa do you have any superthrive? i have to get some myself, but thats the anti shock stuff, i hope BPN finds an appropriate compound to match this stuff.

24/0? the more i learn my friend, the more i realise that 24/0 should be reserved for a very select few strains that seem to lke it, for everything else i wouldnt go more than 18/6 save yourself some electric and let that plant have some beautiful healing sleep

GIGA, I notice your recommending an 18/6 cycle here as opposed to the 24/0.

I started using the 24 straight a couple grows back( i think on master kush) and it seemed like the veg had improved after a little initial shock. I think its time to get back to 18/6 although it would be nice to see a comparative grow.

if you find yourself with a little time, check out my journal (just started) to see some 1 1/2 wk old girls on a 24/7 cycle. I feel like the first week of sprout growth was TREMENDOUS, so its hard to think about changing their light cycle... although a little sleep would probably do wonders.. Just looking for an opinion, thanks.

 

[donpaul.p]

@GiGa my 2ltr dwc hempie is basically a 2ltr pop bottle, now i cut the bottle where the neck is so i have 2 3rds of a bottle as the res then the top i cut off i flip upside down so the lid you unscrew is now in the res, this gives you a pot to start the plant in, so i fill this top bit with a couple of inches of compost, then plant the seed, i keep checking it and as soon as i see roots when i lift the top part of the res i then unscrew the lid of the bottle so the roots can now grow out this hole and into the res, as soon as i see the roots starting to poke out the soil where the lid used to be i then fill the res with nutrient solution and i have an air stone in the bottom,

so now the roots are growing in the res with the air stone keeping the roots airated, most dwc grows dont use compost but i didnt have any other stuff to use to grow the seed in so i used about 2 inches of compost this grew the plant and roots big enough so the roots would be in the res, then as soon as the roots hit the liquid in the res the plants and roots go crazy and then you get the massive growth,

teSmp has got step by step guide on his journal

 

[GigaGrew]

thanks don! just one more thing, does light harm the roots? do you darken them or anything?

 

[donpaul.p]

the light does damage the roots, i cover the pop bottle with plastic wrap that light cant get through, then this keeps everything as it should, when the plants get big you need to fill the res ever 24 to 36 hours,

 

[GigaGrew]

the light does damage the roots, i cover the pop bottle with plastic wrap that light cant get through, then this keeps everything as it should, when the plants get big you need to fill the res ever 24 to 36 hours,

thanks buddy, thats everything i need for now, my only issue is PHing my water. got some crappy litmus paper but no chart that comes with it, lol. will see how it goes.
i also dont have an airstone yet so a 24h change will be mandatory for me no matter how much it drinks =/

 

[donpaul.p]

i used an air stone in my 1 dwc and i didnt use one in the other and i had no problems with either of them, the plant with the air stone did get slightly taller but it did not yield as much bud, but they was different strains, my afgan skunk is the one without the air stone and the sour kush is the one with the air pump

 

[GigaGrew]

thank you =)

 

[donpaul.p]

hi all, just uploading pics of the hempies i harvested and pics of what i got growing at the minute, cant wait till i get these soil plants out the way then i can give the dwc scrog a try, i will be growing in soil again but ill buy everything i can to make the soil i use as good as it can be, i have noticed a huge difference in growth when i made sure the pots where watered properly, so clearly compost strait out the bag is not much good for these plants, looks like ill be making my own mix of compost and see how that goes, im thinking perlite and vermiculite is what i need, but is their much more i can add to improve things that wont break the bank

 

[GigaGrew]

something i want to try in the future is dried, shredded seaweed as a medium, maybe mixed with other items to make it work.

 

[donpaul.p]

seaweed would be a good thing to try, ill have a day out at the garden centers and see what i can pick up,

 

[donpaul.p]

first few pictures are the harvest from the afgan skunk 2ltr dwc hempy with no air stone,

below is the sour kush harvest, these are the buds with no seeds in, the rest of the buds with seeds are still on the plant

got to keep my feathered friend happy,

below is the afgan skunk dry buds

now we move onto the plants i got growing at the moment, first off is both the autos, one is auto blueberry and the other is bluematic, the smaller one is bluematic

both the autos above are showing signs of heat stress, the edges of the leaves are curling up even when the plants are at a lower temp than regular cannabis plants
below is the reserva privada sour kush seeded buds, still on the 2ltr hempie till they finish and give me some seeds

as you can see by the picture below, their are no pistils left so hoping its full of seeds, i can feel the seeds when i squeeze the bud slightly,

below is ak47 cross uk cherry cheese in flower, this will be lolly popped as it grows more, so far any branches are less than 2 inches so hoping i dont need to prune to much, i will be putting pollen on some of the buds in this as i want to keep this strain

below is an nl x bb these are all in flower now after vegging under glr,

below is 1 of the afgan skunk clones, these have grown like crazy under glr, they are only a couple of weeks old so clearly glr is working wonders with this strain

below is the other agan skunk, now both of these clones where taken from the same point on the mother plant, just opposite each other, now the bigger plant has been fed the fish tank water and bpn, the smaller has had tap water and bpn, so their looks like their is more growth with the tank water

below is a side by side of the 2 afgan clones, both clones where the same size at the start and both where the same size when i put them in the bigger pots, but all i changed was the water

below is sour kush clone

below is group shot in flower room

below we have the seeds i planted, from the left their is sleestack cross skunk, then the next 2 are both big bud#2 and the last one you will see the strain in the next pic

i have also got a blue mystic sprouting as well, most of these will be used as hempies while im doing my scrog, so ill have something to harvest while i give the scrog a nice long veg.
below is the cupboard where i start my seedlings and clones, all bulbs are cfls and this keeps the nodes close and stops them stretching when i put them under the hps

 

[spring2012]

DP,
Damn the buds look great! I am impressed. Thanks for giving us the great pics. Its nice too see what your up too as your knowledge base is broader than mine. I like the Autos! I am trying to figure out how I can grow regulars 12/12 with Autos mixed in for my next grow. Just a waiting for Herbies to arrive and my final move into the new house on the 1st. Thanks again for the pics.

 

[donpaul.p]

you can grow autos at 12-12 as well as the regular seeds under 12-12, autos grow under anything so i wouldnt worry to much, ive been using 24-0 with these and they are still small so my next autos will be some dwc autos and ill try them on 18-6 and see if the night period improves things slightly,

thanks for the comments spring,

 

[gittergreen]

Wow very nice harvest that afgan skunk is awsome!

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks mate, it sure looks nice, now its dry ill be rolling a phat one when i get home and lie down and watch some tv,

i cant wait till my new job starts, then i can start investing in some decent equipment and get growing some huge plants, just waiting for the start date, then ill be shopping for some new toys for my plants