Fncg's Grow 0.5/1.0 Hempy 2L Perpetual Sea of Green

[Mr. Krip]

THERE'S the thread I was looking for.

That two level shelf setup would be perfect for my grow space. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Thanks!

No problem. When you're done reading that one, checkout the Bonsai Sultan Method link in my signature to see what you can do with Bonsais for breeding!

 

[fncg]

No problem. When you're done reading that one, checkout the Bonsai Sultan Method link in my signature to see what you can do with Bonsais for breeding!

So.

Much.

To.

Learn.

Brain = FULL

 

[fncg]

So, question for the audience: How do I go about turning the tall skinny plants into bonsai moms? Options I see are:

Transplant into ~1 liter pots, and LST
FIM the tops and try to get them to spread out at their current height
Use the two that are shorter and bushier, top them, and let the tall ones go. Where would you cut something like this, for instance, to end up with a short plant with a several main stems?

The trainwrecks will be easier, I think, since they're little shorties already, with a couple good sets of fan leaves.

 

[fncg]

Day 3 on the Blue Planet nutes, and everybody's looking healthy. Taller plants, all except L3, are bushing out quite a bit.

Each plant is taking about 5-6oz of water, every other day now, with a little bit of runoff from the holes near the bottom of my "hempy" cups. I'm planning to steal 420fied's feeding schedule, as it seems to be producing amazing results over in his room. Feed, skip, feed, skip, feed, skip, water. (I got that right?)

Still welcome input on topping the plants to get some side growth going and make stout bonsai moms out of them.

Thanks!

 

[Mr. Krip]

That article I posted on Bonsai Moms tells/shows you exactly how to turn the plant into a Bonsai. In short, top it above the 3rd or 4th node.

 

[fncg]

That article I posted on Bonsai Moms tells/shows you exactly how to turn the plant into a Bonsai. In short, top it above the 3rd or 4th node.

Ahh, so it does.

*goes to read again*

Hmm, some of the girls have NO leaves down below that 3rd/4th node. Do I top them up high and wait for the lower nodes to sprout leaves?

Ehh, actually only L3 has that problem.

I guess I've got some topping to do in the next couple days. Gonna be tough, first time cutting off my girls like this. (Gawd, I'm so new at this. Haha. Gonna look back at this journal in a couple years and shake my head, for sure)

Thanks!

 

[fncg]

Whew. Been a busy couple of days here at the NorCalGuy compound.

The girls continue to do well on their 3-part BPN, we've gone through a gallon of it at 5.0ml.gal in the last week. Fed them every other day, drinking about 6oz per plant up until yesterday.

Got the room cleaned out a bit, making room for the grow shelves that will be housing the moms and clones. Other side of the room is going to be set up as a veg tent, I'll be building a knee-high deck about 1m square, and expanding it to 1m x 3m as the SOG continues to grow. In order to keep everything flexible in terms of size, I'm building my own framework and hanging double layer insulation on it, purchased a couple of 4x25' rolls at the hardware store, and some metal tape.

Here's the girls on their last night in their 27 gallon tote, we're moving up to a real grow setup now! 4/6 plants are tall enough that they're up in the lights, although with the addition of the little vortex fan there has been no burning or browned leaves.

Getting the shelf framed in, I built it off the wall, and plan on cutting sheets of 1" foil-backed foam insulation to fit against the wall behind each shelf. Bottom shelf is 30" up, which allows room underneath for all my electrical, and the oil-filled radiator I'm using for heat. Hopefully the insulation will be adequate to run the heater at 600w, cycling on and off every half hour or so, instead of the 900w continuous that was required to heat the whole room before.

Lights mounted, and the babies moved into their new home to check the height of everything before it gets wrapped up.

They've been growing like crazy, with several new sets of leaves since I checked in earlier this week.

With the lights set in place, I run all my electrical underneath (no pictures down there, it's a mess and I'm professionally embarrassed at how many extension cords and splitters I've got stuffed into a 2x4' space. ) I roll out the foil insulation stuff, it's somewhere between bubble wrap, panda film, and corrugated cardboard, and it seems quite durable and VERY reflective. Staples, metal tape, cut a hole for the 6" intake fan that cycles on and off with the radiator, and we're in business.

 

[fncg]

There's going to be one more layer of framing above the current top shelf, to hold two more T8 shop lights. Idea is similar to the one in the Bonsai Moms thread, with one shelf for moms and one for clones in their little rockwool cubes and planter trays.

Speaking of moms, I've got some girls to transplant. It's been just under 3 weeks since I brought them home on 11/29, and put them into their little red party cups full of perlite/vermiculite mix. Been watching them grow pretty well up top, time to see what's going on down below.

First ones to go are the Trainwrecks. These two have stubbornly stayed pretty small, as I've mentioned before they were $5 discount shelf clones at the place, but they've started to show some new leaves and are healthy, but short. T1 comes out of her cup, and although I wouldn't exactly call it a root ball, there's definitely strands that have been wandering around the cup looking for nutrients.

Those strands aren't really enough to hold the whole thing together, and it crumbles quite a bit when I flip it over into the waiting half-full 2l bottle. Fingers crossed we didn't lose too many roots, I still want to see the Trainwrecks do well here. Top up the P/V mixture, pack it in gently around the sides, and plant 1 is complete.

T2 looks and transplants about the same, and I move on to the Lavenders. L1 is tall and strong, I have a good feeling about it, and sure enough, she pops out of her cup well on her way to being root-bound, and barely a single grain of perlite falls free of the solid mass. L2 and L4 are the same, very well-developed roots throughout the cup, ready to move on to bigger things.

And then, with another read through the Bonsai Moms thread, it's trimming time.

Eek.

They're growing so nicely, and I have to CUT them!?

Scary first time stuff.

Out come the snips, and I choose a spot on each plant above the first couple sets of fan leaves, and SNIP off with their heads. For the trainwrecks, this was only a few tiny leaves, but for L1, L2, and L4, several inches of firm stem is removed, along with a lot of solid healthy leaves. L3 really has no lower leaves, so she gets bent over instead.

Took the tops of L1, L2, L4 and trimmed off about 1.5" of lower leaves, cut the ends at an angle, and stuck them into soaked rockwool cubes. Hopefully these will pop some roots in a week or so, and I'll have my first clones.

Girls in their 2l bottles, with tops removed, still fit nicely under the light. Everybody set up now in their new homes, and with any luck I'll be up to 9 plants instead of 6. Watered them in, they took about 2 1/2 cups of distilled water each before I saw any runoff from the hempy drain holes. Will have to mix up a bigger bottle of nutes, I don't think 1 gallon is gonna get me through another week. And if these three clones root, I'll have to fast-track my plans for the veg tent, and get them onto 12-12 for some flowering.

Thanks again, all. Can't wait to see how everything goes from here!

 

[Siscokid]

Plus reps for all the hard work you've put in lately.. I really like the shelfs and the look of those clones have improved 420% I don't know what's in that BPN but it looks like it works.

I just did a re-pot too, those are some great looking roots by the way.. clones look good... but maybe you could take 2 cuttings of of each one..that's just my 2 cents.

 

[fncg]

Plus reps for all the hard work you've put in lately.. I really like the shelfs and the look of those clones have improved 420% I don't know what's in that BPN but it looks like it works.

I just did a re-pot too, those are some great looking roots by the way.. clones look good... but maybe you could take 2 cuttings of of each one..that's just my 2 cents.

Thank you, Siscokid! I was looking at the clones earlier and thinking the same thing, given that they're 6-8" tall, I might be able to get 2 plants from each one. Cut midway, just above a node, and plant the upper half in it's own cube? Worth a shot, these are gonna be a trial run anyway if they do root.

 

[Siscokid]

Cool

 

[Mr. Krip]

Looks good, fc!

 

[fncg]

Thanks Mr Krip! If somebody with a grow like yours is saying this looks good, I must be doing something right.

Per the suggestion that Siscokid put out yesterday, I went back to my little wannabe clones, carefully picked a spot about midway up, with good leaves both above and below, and snipped my 3 plants into 6. Paired up now, there's still few enough that I can remember where everybody came from, but it's time to get labeling things.

Hit all the main plants with the 3-part BPN at 5.0ml/gal, they each took about 10-12oz before hitting the overflow holes on the hempy buckets. Everybody is looking okay, a little shocked from yesterday's excitement maybe, but we're on track.

Also, my temps in the "cabinet" are between 63 and 72, I turned the heater up to 900w from 600, hope to bump it up another 5 degrees or so.

Hope to see some good growth started before I take off for Christmas. Can't wait!

 

[Truth Seeker]

whats good fncg!!!

Just droppin by to let you know that I have updated the BPN Army Log!!! this journal is now in it!!! Happy growing brother!!!

 

[Smoke2Js]

Welcome to The Blue Planet Nutrient Army!! Subd, Lavender Trainwreck, sounds Delicious.

 

[Truth Seeker]

Welcome to The Blue Planet Nutrient Army!! Subd, Lavender Trainwreck, sounds Delicious.

it does! doesn't it!!!

 

[fncg]

Everybody's looking good. New little leaves sprouting on the main plants, looks like the topping is working as hoped, and all 6 clones are showing fresh leaves as well. Be back in 5-6 days to check on roots.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

 

[420GodsTrichome]

Great job!!! I see many dank buds in your future!

 

[Mark Green]

I will grab myself a chair.

 

[voltron]

Lookin good! I don't think you will be dissappointed with those clones.