First Time Grower - Dinafem Blue Widow

[MysterySeeds]

More light, bigger nugs.

Do you know how long they recommend for flowering on this strain??

On the Dinafem website it says, "Indoor flowering period: 50-55 jours". I'm taking that to mean until they are "Nug of the Day" quality and you salivate 50-55% of the time when peeking into the tent.

Whitty,
How close are those T5s? I ask because florescent lights normally do best a few inches away from the leaves. You gain light coverage by raising the lights but drastically lose light intensity, which could account for the smaller buds. Here is a diagram that explains the Inverse Square Law of Light (aka "why you should keep those lights close"):

They still have a few weeks left to bulk up, and it might help to tie those taller branches to the side and lower those lights as close as possible without burning the leaves. Next time, a ScrOG or a bit more LST could prove beneficial with the T5s by keeping a more even canopy allowing the lights to be hung closer to the buds. "Keep 'em low" is my motto.

That said, you have some very frosty nugs and leaves, so you must doing something right.

 

[Whitty08]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

On the Dinafem website it says, "Indoor flowering period: 50-55 jours". I'm taking that to mean until they are "Nug of the Day" quality and you salivate 50-55% of the time when peeking into the tent.

Whitty,
How close are those T5s? I ask because florescent lights normally do best a few inches away from the leaves. You gain light coverage by raising the lights but drastically lose light intensity, which could account for the smaller buds. Here is a diagram that explains the Inverse Square Law of Light (aka "why you should keep those lights close"):

They still have a few weeks left to bulk up, and it might help to tie those taller branches to the side and lower those lights as close as possible without burning the leaves. Next time, a ScrOG or a bit more LST could prove beneficial with the T5s by keeping a more even canopy allowing the lights to be hung closer to the buds. "Keep 'em low" is my motto.

That said, you have some very frosty nugs and leaves, so you must doing something right.

Mystery,
I've got my T5 fixture about a foot away from the top of the tallest colas. Think that might be too far away? I had tried to keep her as low as possible by LST, topping, and FIM she's still probably about 3ft tall after her stretch.

 

[Whitty08]

If they dont start producing you might half to go to 72 day flowering do you know how long the recommend days for flowering on this strain?? My two girls are built different one is bulky with fat colas the other look more of a sativa smaller buds and top colas, space out nodes and im thinking she's gonna go a little longer into flowering as far as bud swelling and development.

According to Dinafem flowering time is 55 days, which give me about 15 more days to go if that is to be accurate. The popcorn flowers on the lower branches look as though they have started to swell, just not the main colas.

 

[GuttaCannabis]

Sometime you cant go with the sites flowering time go with what you think is best and accordingly to your grow setup I totally forgot you was growing with t5s give them girls wat they want if they need more time give it to them.

Ps. You can bring them lights as low as possible as long as there not touching the canopy they don't put out as much heat so it would be safe

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

Mystery,
I've got my T5 fixture about a foot away from the top of the tallest colas. Think that might be too far away? I had tried to keep her as low as possible by LST, topping, and FIM she's still probably about 3ft tall after her stretch.

Personally, I think that is too far. I keep my CFLs a couple of inches from my plants without any burning. Heck, my LEDs are less than a foot away without burning any tips. If the main cola won't cooperate and lay flatter, try tying it to the side and then adjusting the lights to sit at an angle so as many buds as possible can be close to the light.

My boss is running the new LECs (Light Emitting Ceramic) at work and had a relatively small harvest compared to the HPS ran before. I keep telling him to ScrOG those plants out and drop those lights closer because they're cooler and less intense than the HPS, so well see if he follows my advice.

With sativa hybrids, major stretching is to be expected. The task then is to get the stretching to occur in a manner that fits to your needs and not the plants. Next grow, I'm sure you'll be much less afraid to really train those ladies to do what you want.

I saw an extra pot in the background. What is next up on the growing docket?

 

[Whitty08]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

Personally, I think that is too far. I keep my CFLs a couple of inches from my plants without any burning. Heck, my LEDs are less than a foot away without burning any tips. If the main cola won't cooperate and lay flatter, try tying it to the side and then adjusting the lights to sit at an angle so as many buds as possible can be close to the light.

My boss is running the new LECs (Light Emitting Ceramic) at work and had a relatively small harvest compared to the HPS ran before. I keep telling him to ScrOG those plants out and drop those lights closer because they're cooler and less intense than the HPS, so well see if he follows my advice.

With sativa hybrids, major stretching is to be expected. The task then is to get the stretching to occur in a manner that fits to your needs and not the plants. Next grow, I'm sure you'll be much less afraid to really train those ladies to do what you want.

I saw an extra pot in the background. What is next up on the growing docket?

After I saw your post I went ahead and dropped my fixture to about 3 inches away from the top of the main cola. Hopefully by doing that she is stimulated by the extra light.
Hahahaha, there's two pots in the tent with her. I have a pitcher plant (carnivorous) pretty much takes care of the gnat problem while helping another plant grow. The other container is a Cocoa tree (chocolate) very temperamental plant. Requires very specific temp and humidity to grow. I couldn't put her outside here in Colorado as you know it's quite dry and hot. But as for medicine I've got Moby Dick and Blueberry up next. The seeds are soaking in water for another day before I put them in the paper towel.

 

[Whitty08]

Sometime you cant go with the sites flowering time go with what you think is best and accordingly to your grow setup I totally forgot you was growing with t5s give them girls wat they want if they need more time give it to them.

Ps. You can bring them lights as low as possible as long as there not touching the canopy they don't put out as much heat so it would be safe

Yea, I'm thinking she's going to be more along the lines of 60+ days at the moment. I was hoping to have her cut and drying while I'm on vacation for four days. I think it might actually be a good thing she won't be ready in time for that.

 

[Whitty08]

Day 88/ Day 40 Flower, this morning I fed her what could potientally be her last nutes. I'm think I may have a few more weeks so I may be able to give her nutes one more time, before I flush her for two weeks. I've also decided with a little help from you guys that my light was probably too far away from my colas so I've dropped my fixture to about 3" from the top of the main cola. I hope it's not too late to help her stimulate some growth in the flowers. The bottom branches flowers are swelling up, hopefully it works its way up the plant. Come this weekend when I can spend more time with her I'll check the trichomes to see where we really are in the time table.

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

After I saw your post I went ahead and dropped my fixture to about 3 inches away from the top of the main cola. Hopefully by doing that she is stimulated by the extra light.

Hahahaha, there's two pots in the tent with her. I have a pitcher plant (carnivorous) pretty much takes care of the gnat problem while helping another plant grow. The other container is a Cocoa tree (chocolate) very temperamental plant. Requires very specific temp and humidity to grow. I couldn't put her outside here in Colorado as you know it's quite dry and hot. But as for medicine I've got Moby Dick and Blueberry up next. The seeds are soaking in water for another day before I put them in the paper towel.

I bet she's titillated.

Moby Dick and Blueberry sound like great strains from the Leafly reviews. Are you gonna try your hand at cloning this time around?

 

[Whitty08]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

I bet she's titillated.

Moby Dick and Blueberry sound like great strains from the Leafly reviews. Are you gonna try your hand at cloning this time around?

No, not this time. The Moby Dick and Blueberry are autos that I received when I ordered my seeds. I want to put another grow under my belt before I tackle Strawberry Cough a sativa strain.

 

[H1gher3]

Day 87/ Day 39 Flower, nothing new to report on our lady, at least from the naked eye. I really hope she starts putting on some weight or I'm going to fall quite short of the ounce that I was hoping for. Leaves seen to quite frosty, I'm sure that's the White Widow genetics at work. Onto other things I've started new seeds for Moby Dick and Blueberry Autos. The seeds are soaking in the water method for the next couple of days then to the paper towel method and then into red solo cups, from there they will rest in a 2gal container.

Put the autos straight into 2 gallons, autoflowers dont like to be transplanted.

 

[Whitty08]

Put the autos straight into 2 gallons, autoflowers dont like to be transplanted.

Thanks for the heads up. I will for sure do that then. The seeds have just cracked open so I'll get them in the containers tonight.

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

No, not this time. The Moby Dick and Blueberry are autos that I received when I ordered my seeds. I want to put another grow under my belt before I tackle Strawberry Cough a sativa strain.

You can still clone autos... it's just like taking a clone from a flowering regular plant. I just cloned my Bubblelicious Auto #1 and it has roots. I've read that cloned autos will revert back to their photo-genetics if you treat them like a photo after cloning. It's under 24-hour lights now, so we'll see if it reverts back to the vegetative stage. Stay tuned...

Also, I hear what H1gher3 is saying about planting directly into it's final pot to avoid transplant shock. I agree/disagree. The transplant will shock the plant a little, but leaving a tiny plant in a big pots causes watering issues - I know because I did that with my Papayas. If you do plant directly into a 2-gal pot (though I recommend bigger), then take care to gradually increase the amount of water you feed the plant. Start by watering the first inch or two around the seedling, then increasing that diameter every watering until you're soaking the whole pot.

Here is a photo of my Bubblelicious #1 in it's current 2-gal pot, which was transplanted once and had a variety of light sources during its lifetime (CFL, sunlight, LED, LED/CFL combo):

Here is a photo of my veg cabinet. The Bubblelicous Auto #3 clone in the back-right corner just grew some roots and was transplanted into HB soil. We'll see if she re-enters the vegetative state.

Happy growing!

 

[Whitty08]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

You can still clone autos... it's just like taking a clone from a flowering regular plant. I just cloned my Bubblelicious Auto #1 and it has roots. I've read that cloned autos will revert back to their photo-genetics if you treat them like a photo after cloning. It's under 24-hour lights now, so we'll see if it reverts back to the vegetative stage. Stay tuned...

Also, I hear what H1gher3 is saying about planting directly into it's final pot to avoid transplant shock. I agree/disagree. The transplant will shock the plant a little, but leaving a tiny plant in a big pots causes watering issues - I know because I did that with my Papayas. If you do plant directly into a 2-gal pot (though I recommend bigger), then take care to gradually increase the amount of water you feed the plant. Start by watering the first inch or two around the seedling, then increasing that diameter every watering until you're soaking the whole pot.

Here is a photo of my Bubblelicious #1 in it's current 2-gal pot, which was transplanted once and had a variety of light sources during its lifetime (CFL, sunlight, LED, LED/CFL combo):

Here is a photo of my veg cabinet. The Bubblelicous Auto #3 clone in the back-right corner just grew some roots and was transplanted into HB soil. We'll see if she re-enters the vegetative state.

Happy growing!

I'll be sure to watch your grow very carefully to see if cloning them reverts them back to veg stage. It would be nice to clone the blueberry. Unfortunately I can't accommodate much bigger that 2gal containers. I have 7gal containers but with the other plants I grow I have a very limited space in my tent. I would be great to have a whole tent for just medicine and a tent for my tropical fruit plants. Come the middle of September I'll have to bring my tropical plants back into my grow tent and they take up some space.
Your lay looks amazing for being in a 2gal container. What do you think the weight is going to be off of her?

 

[Whitty08]

Day 88/Day 40 Flower, not much to not today. She continues to baffle me. Pistils are turning brown but the trichomes continue to be clear.

 

[Whitty08]

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

I'll be sure to watch your grow very carefully to see if cloning them reverts them back to veg stage. It would be nice to clone the blueberry. Unfortunately I can't accommodate much bigger that 2gal containers. I have 7gal containers but with the other plants I grow I have a very limited space in my tent. I would be great to have a whole tent for just medicine and a tent for my tropical fruit plants. Come the middle of September I'll have to bring my tropical plants back into my grow tent and they take up some space.
Your lay looks amazing for being in a 2gal container. What do you think the weight is going to be off of her?

Oh, be careful about introducing bugs into your tent by bringing outside plants into it. I've introduced so many gnats into my house by bringing outside plants in.

If I had the space and money, I'd also have more tents or at least a bigger tent. As you can see, however, I'm growing in a tiny closet-sized tent. That said, good weed can be grown in small or tight spaces. If you're gonna bring those other plants inside, I suggest adding more light to the medicinal plants so you can pack those nugs tighter together. If a plant isn't getting enough light, it will use it's resources to stretch way more than needed to try and reach the light. I had a friend in college who grew in his closet with about 4 CFLs each over a foot from the plant. Needless to say, he grew a tall spindly plant that netted about 4g. Probably spent more money on electricity than the airy buds were worth.

Here is a great tutorial thread on CFL lights. It also has good information on other types of lights, light intensity and spectrum, PAR, placement, efficiency, etc. CFL Light Tutorial

While I'm at it, a link to the Wikipedia article on PAR (aka "what your plant really need"):
Photosynthetically active radiation - Wikipedia

If interested, Guttacannabis is doing some pretty amazing things with CFLs: GuttaCannabis Dank Bag Seeds 1st Indoor CFL Organics Grow - Grow Journal 2015

Guttacannabis's Flower Day 21

Flower Day 42

Oh, and to answer your question: I'm hoping for an ounce from that plant, but I'd be happy with a 1/2oz. For this first grow, I'm hoping to pull at least 8 ounces from the tent. That would come in at just over .5-grams/watt. We'll see though, still got 5-6 weeks left.

P.S. Your nugs look super frosty.

 

[Whitty08]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

Oh, be careful about introducing bugs into your tent by bringing outside plants into it. I've introduced so many gnats into my house by bringing outside plants in.

If I had the space and money, I'd also have more tents or at least a bigger tent. As you can see, however, I'm growing in a tiny closet-sized tent. That said, good weed can be grown in small or tight spaces. If you're gonna bring those other plants inside, I suggest adding more light to the medicinal plants so you can pack those nugs tighter together. If a plant isn't getting enough light, it will use it's resources to stretch way more than needed to try and reach the light. I had a friend in college who grew in his closet with about 4 CFLs each over a foot from the plant. Needless to say, he grew a tall spindly plant that netted about 4g. Probably spent more money on electricity than the airy buds were worth.

Here is a great tutorial thread on CFL lights. It also has good information on other types of lights, light intensity and spectrum, PAR, placement, efficiency, etc. CFL Light Tutorial

While I'm at it, a link to the Wikipedia article on PAR (aka "what your plant really need"):
Photosynthetically active radiation - Wikipedia

If interested, Guttacannabis is doing some pretty amazing things with CFLs: GuttaCannabis Dank Bag Seeds 1st Indoor CFL Organics Grow - Grow Journal 2015

Guttacannabis's Flower Day 21

Flower Day 42

Oh, and to answer your question: I'm hoping for an ounce from that plant, but I'd be happy with a 1/2oz. For this first grow, I'm hoping to pull at least 8 ounces from the tent. That would come in at just over .5-grams/watt. We'll see though, still got 5-6 weeks left.

P.S. Your nugs look super frosty.

Thank you very much! She's getting more and more frosty by the day!
Off topic, how did you get all the other links in your signature? I keep trying to put my other grow in my signature and it keeps kicking off the website when I go to hyperlink it.

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

Off topic, how did you get all the other links in your signature? I keep trying to put my other grow in my signature and it keeps kicking off the website when I go to hyperlink it.

Hmmmm... I don't know why it's kicking you off. I have work shortly, but I'll return to this question when I'm off this evening.

 

[MysterySeeds]

Re: More light, bigger nugs.

Looks like you got the whole signature link thingy. So exciting to have new babies!