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PROJECT 26 UPDATE!
Happy Friday!
Well, week three of the stretch is progressing and we have our predicted (and very welcome!) appearance of the first flower clusters! Yes, the center of nearly all the branch ends show the tender tiny beginnings bursting forth.
Overall, it's a forest...
The branches are still stretching, but slowing down, and the flowers are popping all over.
I have looked everybody over (to the limit of the access I have) and don't see any early bananas but everybody knows if one or two are in the mix I probably won't ever see them...just the resulting seeds. We don't want that this time around so no news is good news. I'll be watching like a hawk.
A couple views of the rows...right side:
Center:
Actually the left side has become clearly the most vigorous and the density is greater as well...all LED forever! That is, after this grow...I feel like all this growing stuff is more than anything a chance to make revealing comparisons and improve my knowledge in a lot of ways, and the evolution from HID to LED, etc., has been fun to experience firsthand. I feel this grow has proven conclusively that the LED light source is superior to the HID, period. I have already obtained another main LED array and plan to replace the remaining HID fixture after this grow. That gives me the chance to compare the LED to both types of HID bulb.
I switched the Metal Halide bulb out for a new HPS bulb.
The final observation will be comparing the rate of growth on the right side now that the light has changed to red spectrum. From what I've seen it won't make that much difference, the LED clearly kicks ass. But it will take a pretty good bit of construction to reroute the ducting and replace the HID fixture and I hesitate to try to do all that directly over the plants in mid-grow, as one drop of any of the parts will wipe out a lot of my garden. Soone enough...next grow will be all-LED.
The little Holy Grail is still trying to catch up...it's hopeless but to her credit she is still hanging in. She has the smallest stature by far but sports some of the biggest fan leaves. Gonna make one huge succulent bud.
Not even a single yellow leaf anywhere nor a bad leaf tip. Not bragging but that's pretty damn good at nine weeks.
I have always been an advocate for simplicity, partly so I can understand things
but also because it works. Sooooo many nutes out there but I still feel the basics used sensibly is all you need to succeed.
Here's all I use. It's true.
And I use about 1/3 of the recommended strength. That's because despite the concentrations required in the solution to enable uptake, the plants really don't extract very much, which means it mostly stays around even though you top off the reservoir many times. The plants are transpiring a lot of water, but they only take in minute physical amounts of the various salts and minerals and they invisibly build up. IMHO a lot of people's problems, especially in the later stages of flowering, are the result of too much supplementation.
I also never have to monitor PPM because I don't get the build-up. Personally I lean towards PPM not being that important anyway. Just my take. I've had grows with a sustained 2,000+ PPM that did fine, I think once again that was simply the result of too much nutes over time and I get good results now using them much more sparingly.
Maybe someone can show me how ramping up to the recommended strengths will give me a better result? I'm always open to new advice.
However, the primary reason I write about my grows on this website is the belief that I am helping others to learn, and I've had reasonable success so I share all that I can about what works for me. It's all about sharing the love.
So we flower on. It should become very interesting from here to Christmas. I promise some of the most stunning images you will ever see before this little party is over!
Peace, Hyena
Happy Friday!
Well, week three of the stretch is progressing and we have our predicted (and very welcome!) appearance of the first flower clusters! Yes, the center of nearly all the branch ends show the tender tiny beginnings bursting forth.
Overall, it's a forest...
The branches are still stretching, but slowing down, and the flowers are popping all over.
I have looked everybody over (to the limit of the access I have) and don't see any early bananas but everybody knows if one or two are in the mix I probably won't ever see them...just the resulting seeds. We don't want that this time around so no news is good news. I'll be watching like a hawk.
A couple views of the rows...right side:
Center:
Actually the left side has become clearly the most vigorous and the density is greater as well...all LED forever! That is, after this grow...I feel like all this growing stuff is more than anything a chance to make revealing comparisons and improve my knowledge in a lot of ways, and the evolution from HID to LED, etc., has been fun to experience firsthand. I feel this grow has proven conclusively that the LED light source is superior to the HID, period. I have already obtained another main LED array and plan to replace the remaining HID fixture after this grow. That gives me the chance to compare the LED to both types of HID bulb.
I switched the Metal Halide bulb out for a new HPS bulb.
The final observation will be comparing the rate of growth on the right side now that the light has changed to red spectrum. From what I've seen it won't make that much difference, the LED clearly kicks ass. But it will take a pretty good bit of construction to reroute the ducting and replace the HID fixture and I hesitate to try to do all that directly over the plants in mid-grow, as one drop of any of the parts will wipe out a lot of my garden. Soone enough...next grow will be all-LED.
The little Holy Grail is still trying to catch up...it's hopeless but to her credit she is still hanging in. She has the smallest stature by far but sports some of the biggest fan leaves. Gonna make one huge succulent bud.
Not even a single yellow leaf anywhere nor a bad leaf tip. Not bragging but that's pretty damn good at nine weeks.
I have always been an advocate for simplicity, partly so I can understand things
but also because it works. Sooooo many nutes out there but I still feel the basics used sensibly is all you need to succeed. Here's all I use. It's true.
And I use about 1/3 of the recommended strength. That's because despite the concentrations required in the solution to enable uptake, the plants really don't extract very much, which means it mostly stays around even though you top off the reservoir many times. The plants are transpiring a lot of water, but they only take in minute physical amounts of the various salts and minerals and they invisibly build up. IMHO a lot of people's problems, especially in the later stages of flowering, are the result of too much supplementation.
I also never have to monitor PPM because I don't get the build-up. Personally I lean towards PPM not being that important anyway. Just my take. I've had grows with a sustained 2,000+ PPM that did fine, I think once again that was simply the result of too much nutes over time and I get good results now using them much more sparingly.
Maybe someone can show me how ramping up to the recommended strengths will give me a better result? I'm always open to new advice.
However, the primary reason I write about my grows on this website is the belief that I am helping others to learn, and I've had reasonable success so I share all that I can about what works for me. It's all about sharing the love.
So we flower on. It should become very interesting from here to Christmas. I promise some of the most stunning images you will ever see before this little party is over!
Peace, Hyena
. Cheers!