First CFL Grow Using 30 Watt CFLs

[grogreen]

these are well in flower now, with these i pruned all the leaves to open the plant up, i spent ages making sure that every bud site is getting full light, at first i though i made huge mistake as growth stopped, but now the small pop corn buds that would normally not be very big have all started growing, so their not hugging the stem their on anymore their turning into big buds, ill take some pics and show you what i mean, ill try and get them up tomorrow

That's what I'm talking about DP I find when I defoliate it takes one day for it to bounce back, but I've been defoliating since day one, my plants are used to it and seem to love the haircut, the buds seem to be taking on the responsibility of the leaves and producing energy for the buds to swell, and I don't think I will have any popcorns because I'm cutting enough leaf off that even the small bottom bud sites are receiving light. I'd love to see pics of what you got, +reps for giving defoliation a chance.

 

[Greenhouse250]

im curious, would the tank water from a meat eater fish provide different nutrients to pankton herbi fish?

I would have to say no, cause i had to change the water every week - biweekly. If i didn't keep up with water changes they would get sick. I do miss them, had to get rid of them cause we moved and really didn't have the space for the tank. Now i could have a tank twice as big.

 

[GigaGrew]

I would have to say no, cause i had to change the water every week - biweekly. If i didn't keep up with water changes they would get sick. I do miss them, had to get rid of them cause we moved and really didn't have the space for the tank. Now i could have a tank twice as big.

ke?

bi-weekly...as is opposed to the 6 weekly mentioned eairler in the thread. also, when i talk about nutrients in the water, im refering to nitrates to be given to our MJ plant that have been put in the water. just like as a general rule its all good to use horse manure, but dog manure...not so much, lol.

 

[spring2012]

ke?

bi-weekly...as is opposed to the 6 weekly mentioned eairler in the thread. also, when i talk about nutrients in the water, im refering to nitrates to be given to our MJ plant that have been put in the water. just like as a general rule its all good to use horse manure, but dog manure...not so much, lol.

Checked your new strain. Looks nice! I like the mixes it has. Should do well under any light cycle.

 

[Foghorn]

I have started to set up a cabinet with a fish tank on top to disguise the noise, and have a reason for the cabinet to even be there. I like my original idea but iv got to thinking... Have you seen those topsy turvy tomato growing bags that hang from your porch? The soil and roots are in a bag and the plant grows below. Would it be possible to the roots in a fish tank, then the plants growing BELOW the tank, into a cabinet with a 400w light on floor, with the hood directing the light UP towards the hanging plant? Too crazy? Too stupid? Possible?

 

[fish cake]

well you have taken your test now you have to wait for the results fingers crossed hope you passed

 

[GigaGrew]

I have started to set up a cabinet with a fish tank on top to disguise the noise, and have a reason for the cabinet to even be there. I like my original idea but iv got to thinking... Have you seen those topsy turvy tomato growing bags that hang from your porch? The soil and roots are in a bag and the plant grows below. Would it be possible to the roots in a fish tank, then the plants growing BELOW the tank, into a cabinet with a 400w light on floor, with the hood directing the light UP towards the hanging plant? Too crazy? Too stupid? Possible?

Upside-Down Gardening

 

[Green Knight]

Best of luck with the test today dp

 

[donpaul.p]

hi everyone, it looks like all the good karma paid off, i passed the test with no problems, just witing for the start date now, should get it in 2 or 3 days, so im chuffed its all done and i got the job, cant wait to start and earn some money again,

with this defoliation i honestly thought id made a huge mistake, my plant looked like a few twigs with tiny buds, but after a couple of days these normally little pop corn buds are getting big and growing upwards towards the light, so now it looks like ive got the lower branches growing outwards but then all the growth this is normally shaded is now growing like crazy towards the light, so these normally pop corn buds are getting bigger and growing so they wont be pop corn buds anymore,
now to improve on this idea i did something else, well you know the main cola at the top, well the top of the plant the very top shades the rest of the growth just below is, so i wedged a piece of card under each pot just to raise the one edge slightly, this got the whole of the main cola on the light, so instead of the light shining from the top and creating a shadow below the very top of the plant, now its getting full light, so every day ill turn the pot so it gets even light all the way around the main cola, but so far so good, ill see how this plant goes before i do with with all the plants, but by the looks of it this will give me bigger buds and less pop corn buds,

with the twin ill keep it growing and see how it goes, if its weak and wont grow then ill know if it ever happens again that its not worth growing, but if it grows well and gives me a nice plant then ill breed it and see if i can get the same happening to the resulting seeds,
im thinking ill need to do some lst work once it gets big, ill need to tie the 2 stems so they grow apart from each other else its going to end up with been tangled up and light will be an issue, so if it grows well ill use some minor lst and grow the stems away from each other, this should keep the light getting to both parts of the plant.

thanks for all the karma everyone, it seems like it worked, i passed and had no problems what so ever,

 

[fish cake]

hi everyone, it looks like all the good karma paid off, i passed the test with no problems, just witing for the start date now, should get it in 2 or 3 days, so im chuffed its all done and i got the job, cant wait to start and earn some money again,

with this defoliation i honestly thought id made a huge mistake, my plant looked like a few twigs with tiny buds, but after a couple of days these normally little pop corn buds are getting big and growing upwards towards the light, so now it looks like ive got the lower branches growing outwards but then all the growth this is normally shaded is now growing like crazy towards the light, so these normally pop corn buds are getting bigger and growing so they wont be pop corn buds anymore,
now to improve on this idea i did something else, well you know the main cola at the top, well the top of the plant the very top shades the rest of the growth just below is, so i wedged a piece of card under each pot just to raise the one edge slightly, this got the whole of the main cola on the light, so instead of the light shining from the top and creating a shadow below the very top of the plant, now its getting full light, so every day ill turn the pot so it gets even light all the way around the main cola, but so far so good, ill see how this plant goes before i do with with all the plants, but by the looks of it this will give me bigger buds and less pop corn buds,

with the twin ill keep it growing and see how it goes, if its weak and wont grow then ill know if it ever happens again that its not worth growing, but if it grows well and gives me a nice plant then ill breed it and see if i can get the same happening to the resulting seeds,
im thinking ill need to do some lst work once it gets big, ill need to tie the 2 stems so they grow apart from each other else its going to end up with been tangled up and light will be an issue, so if it grows well ill use some minor lst and grow the stems away from each other, this should keep the light getting to both parts of the plant.

thanks for all the karma everyone, it seems like it worked, i passed and had no problems what so ever,

 

[donpaul.p]

so id say for someone who smokes 1 or 2 spliffs/joints a day then 2 weeks is whats needed to pass the urine test, i had to do a maths test and a literacy test as well, plus i found out that ill be passing some qualifications while im their so after 12 months i can apply for a team leader position if i stay their that long, which i will do, just got to wait for the start date then ill be back in work

 

[donpaul.p]

so i can have a smoke when i get home and sample the auto i harvested, they dont do any random testing its just an entry requirement so all been well i should have no further tests,

time to relax and stop worrying and get back to normality

 

[GigaGrew]

aw man im well pleased for you!
have a smoke for me too buddy. its getting close to a week myself now and im goin insane. especially as i normally have in a day what you have in a week or two, lol.

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks mate, ill have an extra smoke for you mate, plus i think ive earned it by going nearly 2 weeks without anything, i wouldnt of minded but i have jars full of bud and could not touch none of it, but now i can, so cant wait till i get home, can sit down and relax and have a smoke,
plus smelling my plants every day didnt help the situation much, but i managed and passed the test so alls good,

 

[TaylorMade420]

congrats mate

 

[Green Knight]

That's great news mate, really pleased for you - congratulations on the new job - and for the willpower; it really can't have been easy not smoking when you've got all that bud lying around!

And pleased to hear the defoliation seems to be paying off - I like the idea of tilting the plant so the main cola gets some side lighting.

 

[spring2012]

Great news DP!! Happy for you!

 

[grogreen]

Congrats on the new job DP, I'm proud of ya man, way to stick it out and resist temptation I know I couldn't have not smoked knowing I have lots of quality buds sitting in my cupboard......so I'm here on grow related business, I have 14 sprouts for my next grow, 10 of which just broke soil (sleestack x skunk) and 4 royal queen: power flower x 2 and critical x 2. Being that this is only my second grow can't say I remember when I first started offering my plants nutes, the RQ has its second set of leaves forming and I'm curious when is the best time to offer nutes? I have seedling nutes called plant prod seedling starter, details as follows:

10-52-10 is a fully soluble starter formulation that supplies the necessary high phosphorus levels for young plants to initiate rapid root development. A very safe fertilizer with a low salt index, contains no sulphates or harmful chlorides. Use when transplanting seedlings or bedding plants or whenever a high phosphorus fertilizer is required.
Any insight on when should i begin feeding ? They are due for a watering today, just wondering if i should begin a diluted feeding today.....cant quite remember when i began nutes my last grow....brain fart

 

[donpaul.p]

thanks everyone, its wasnt easy but i needed the job so it had to be done.

with the nutes mate i use bpn and i start giving mine nutes as soon as i see the first set of leaves after the seed leaves, as your nutes are for seedling and root growth then id start it about the same time, around week 1 or just over, now im not sure on the product your using or how hot it will make the soil, so id start with 1/4 strength feed to start off with then slowly work it up with each feed, i dont want to give you wrong advice and kill your plants mate, i just dont know the product your using, but id start at 1/4 strength for the 1st couple of feeds, growing in soil means the soil is hot enough to grow the plants for a few weeks without any nutes so it all depends whats in the medium your using, but a weak 1/4 strength should be ok to use,
if it was me id try it on 1 or 2 of the plants first then wait 24 hours and see what happens, if the plant is not suffering then use it on the other plants, this way if its to hot then it wont kill all the plants.
with bpn their is a feed schedule to follow, so for the first week you use a very weak mix and follow the feed guide it keeps upping the dose every couple of weeks so id do the same with what you got, a lot of growers dont use any nutes until they see the plant needs it, you will notice the new leaf growth will be a light green, this is telling you the plant is lacking in N in the soil so this is when people start with the nutes, so really mate you could give it a try or wait another week and wait till the plant tells you its ready, but using a seedling stage feed means you will only use it for a couple of feeds then you will need to move onto a veg feed,

sorry i cant be anymore hep, i just dont know the product.

the defoliation is working great on the plant i done it on, i made sure the light is getting to all parts and i pulled the branches down as well to make the buds along the branches all even like a scrog, i did this as i noticed the buds at the highest point on the branch are getting bigger a lot quicker so i used pipe cleaners and pulled the branches down so they was running level, this put all the buds on all the branches at the same height, within 24 hours i noticed these smaller buds started putting on more weight a lot quicker, even the stems the buds on started growing, so getting the buds all level muse get the plant to switch where it sends the nutes and growth, this is why a scrog works so well,

so now on this test plant i have got all the side branches growing level, all the buds along all the branches are at the same height, so the bud at the end of each branch is not the highest bud, as all the buds are the same height i think this has forced the plant into making these buds the main buds, so they are all getting fatter now, ill see how this plant goes before i do it with any others, but so far so good, the main cola at the top i took the leaves off to get the light to the whole length of the bud, i also tilted the pot slightly to get light to the whole bud, this method is also working well and the whole bud is getting a lot bigger,

 

[spring2012]

Great info DP. I would like to try tying down some of my flowers as well. Im out of room with the 4 girls. I could try and moe stuff around. Let you know how it works out. Glad your girl is working out with an invisible SCROG!