Photos, Soil, Mars Hydro Grow

Trying to figure out how to get my plants to do this. I need to find / see a picture of what this plant looked like after the trim but before it made the huge ass colas to know how to do it. Everyone says," cut off anything that wont make it to the top so that's what I did in my eyes.
When I look at this plant it looks like what I did to me; but maybe not. Just not sure how to get a plant to do this. Someone care to enlighten me ??? This is Sparkey's plant. Hope he don't mind that I used it as a reference for help. All I want to know is how to get these Big Ass Cola's.
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InTheShed said:
I leave the fans and take the lower buds usually. I never want to see the pot when looking down from the top, and I don't want larf. But lots of growers take your approach and have great harvests, so fear not!
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So you only cut the Buds off the lower branches? Hell, I cut every small branch off the bottom & only left the big ones.
You say you never want to see the pot when looking down. May I ask why ? I figured the more light penetration the better so that's why I did it.
What is the definition of Larf ? I think of it as straggly, little buds that aint worth a shit.
 
You have to start with a plant that will grow colas like that! Most of that cola growth is genetics. Then there is knowing when to flip based on shape and training, and then there's thinning. All the training and trimming in the world won't make every strain grow and look like Sparkey's.

By way of example, here is Grandpa Tokin's GG that won NOTY for 2019:
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Doesn't look anything like Sparkey's colas because that's not how GG grows.

Buds Buddy said:
So you only cut the Buds off the lower branches? Hell, I cut every small branch off the bottom & only left the big ones.
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Before flip, I cut off the branches that won't reach the canopy (wherever they are on the plant). After flip I cut off the ones that I thought might make it but didn't, and ones I missed. I also take off all the lower buds that I don't think will stack and connect to the buds on the ends of the branches that I've left.

And sativas need to be thinned differently from indicas.
Buds Buddy said:
You say you never want to see the pot when looking down. May I ask why ? I figured the more light penetration the better so that's why I did it.
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You don't need light to hit every flower to make good buds. A lot of what can be larf can have great light but be too far down the plant for the plant to bother sending the growth hormones there. The plant knows which buds are at the top and will attract the pollen.

To me, if you can see the pot, then you are wasting a lot of photons that should be striking fan leaves (that power the plant) and are now lighting up the pot and the floor.
Buds Buddy said:
What is the definition of Larf ? I think of it as straggly, little buds that aint worth a shit.
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That's my definition too!

Here is my Golden Tiger pre-flip thinning:
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Thanks ITS. Well, I don't grow Sativa's so don't have to worry about that part. I only want couch lock weed. Didn't know all strains wouldn't grow that way. Thought it was all in the Trimming & Training to make it do that. You know of any Indica's that are over 20% THC that I can grow that way? Anything with the "OG" or "KUSH" name in it would be more along the lines of what I like.
Do you happen to know if "Incredible Bulk" can be grown that way? Can't enter these contests with the shit I'm growing. Need to get better at this shit. Been 3 years since I started growing & although I've learned a lot, I've ignored a lot of stuff people do to get huge colas, etc. Wasn't ready to move forward then & just wanted to hurry & get weed. Now I'm looking to make it more of an art & get better at it so trying to figure out the Big Cola part which is the most appealing to me.
I think a lot of what I try to do gets lost in terminology. Some of the words people use I don't have a clue what they mean. I keep looking for the Glossary in the back of the Forum but it's not there.
I've been reading Preston 9mm threads & so many words & terms I've never heard previously that I'm not sure what he's talking about at times. Interesting journal none the less.
I'll start making a list of these words & terms to try to find out the meanings. Then I'll post that list in it's own Thread to find out the meanings. Maybe that will help.
Where's the "How to Grow Huge Cola" Thread ???
 
Just post the word question where you see the word! No one has a problem defining a word for you that you don't know.

In terms of big-ass colas and contest-winning plants, that can be a goal (it's less important to me than quality weed though). If it is, you need to look online for pictures of each strain you're interested in and see how it grows. Grow the one that Sparkey is growing and see if you can get it to look like that.

And not every big-ass cola plant wins contests :). Here is last month's winner, and here was mine.
 
Hey @Sparkey224 what kind of training/thinning did you do to this girl to get those big cola's
Buds Buddy said:
Trying to figure out how to get my plants to do this. I need to find / see a picture of what this plant looked like after the trim but before it made the huge ass colas to know how to do it. Everyone says," cut off anything that wont make it to the top so that's what I did in my eyes.
When I look at this plant it looks like what I did to me; but maybe not. Just not sure how to get a plant to do this. Someone care to enlighten me ??? This is Sparkey's plant. Hope he don't mind that I used it as a reference for help. All I want to know is how to get these Big Ass Cola's.
1585814661093.png


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Hello peeps,
Yeah, ive been experimenting training for some time now. Thats only about a 4oz or 3 1/2. Not that big but not bad for 5 gal.
This was a clone, so i started bending/tying down
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at a young age. She is the one up front of pic.
The other two are Amherst Sour Diesel that are seed plants i topped only 1 time at the 4th node. Which hurts my yield a little cutting off my main tap root. But it was only an experiment. Going back topping at 6th node and quad line after that..like this
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Then do so thinning out after she recovers a couple of weeks. I believe the most important part of training is making sure she recovers from pervious stresses. Bending,pinching etc.

20200205_052357.jpg

Thanks for the compliment. Hope this helps
 
I just want to do it to know that I can & for some cool pics of one of my own plants. I have pics of 7' tall plants, 3' tall plants, foot long skinny colas, etc.... but none with just the big colas so time to improve my photo album. I may need these photos for a Resume someday....LOL.
Anyway, since I'm totally laid off now (Since last Thursday / Been a long week) I'm going back to working on my grow shed. I was planning to sell this place next month; but Realtors say that's about impossible right now & I need to wait till at least September. Well if I'm stuck here I may as well finish the grow room. I can have it ready in less than 2 weeks. I'll post pics of it soon.
 
Buds Buddy said:
I just want to do it to know that I can & for some cool pics of one of my own plants. I have pics of 7' tall plants, 3' tall plants, foot long skinny colas, etc.... but none with just the big colas so time to improve my photo album. I may need these photos for a Resume someday....LOL.
Anyway, since I'm totally laid off now (Since last Thursday / Been a long week) I'm going back to working on my grow shed. I was planning to sell this place next month; but Realtors say that's about impossible right now & I need to wait till at least September. Well if I'm stuck here I may as well finish the grow room. I can have it ready in less than 2 weeks. I'll post pics of it soon.
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Hey LST is really easy that's how I grow my big ladies just grab the top pull it down lower then the next branch then when that grows pull it down and just keep doing that until you get the bush that you want here is 1 of my ladies in a 10g pot
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this is just 3 weeks since I flipped the lights to 12/12
 
That's a beauty to you and me Fast, but it would never live up to Buds' cola standards :).
 
InTheShed said:
That's a beauty to you and me Fast, but it would never live up to Buds' cola standards :).
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LOL ... Not True. That's a very good looking girl & she isn't done yet. It kind of looks like my Afghan is growing similar to that.
I'm not sure but may have screwed up my yield on the GG since I over trimmed. Wait & see how things turn out ... all I can do.
 
Fastass419 said:
Hey LST is really easy that's how I grow my big ladies just grab the top pull it down lower then the next branch then when that grows pull it down and just keep doing that until you get the bush that you want here is 1 of my ladies in a 10g pot
20200330_185209.jpg
20200330_185216.jpg
this is just 3 weeks since I flipped the lights to 12/12
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Those buds are going to put mine to shame brother. Going to be whoppers and i tell you why. Other then 10gal, we do similar growing techniques but i planted them a little too deep causing to loose a little yield.
Your planting depth is perfect @Fastass419 in the 10gal. Going to be a least 6 zips or higher bro.

Train them young @Buds Buddy . Theyre more pliable younger, you can bend them, tie them down. I would recommend looking up how to quad line. @Backlipslide explain it better than me or @InTheShed .
 
Fastass419 said:
Hey LST is really easy that's how I grow my big ladies just grab the top pull it down lower then the next branch then when that grows pull it down and just keep doing that until you get the bush that you want here is 1 of my ladies in a 10g pot
20200330_185209.jpg
20200330_185216.jpg
this is just 3 weeks since I flipped the lights to 12/12
Click to expand...
I'm doing the LST. Only 5 gallon pots though. Mine are 3 weeks also but only 1/2 as developed as yours are.
 
It really doesn't make sense to compare one grower's results to another, even for the same strain. So many things influence the final product. But like I said earlier, if you want colas that look like Sparkey's you have to at least start with the same strain (or a similar one that grows like that).

In all of my plants, only one had a cola like that in the end, and it was an auto!
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Sparkey224 said:
Those buds are going to put mine to shame brother. Going to be whoppers and i tell you why. Other then 10gal, we do similar growing techniques but i planted them a little too deep causing to loose a little yield.
Your planting depth is perfect @Fastass419 in the 10gal. Going to be a least 6 zips or higher bro.

Train them young @Buds Buddy . Theyre more pliable younger, you can bend them, tie them down. I would recommend looking up how to quad line. @Backlipslide explain it better than me or @InTheShed .
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I think I ended up quad-lining my GG by accident just doing LST from the looks of the branches.
Not planning on doing much more to these since I'm 24 days into flower now.
Next grow will be in 6.6 gallon Auto Pots so I'll be shooting for the stars on that grow.
 
If anyone wants a good tutorial on quadlining, Dutch put one together here.
 
Good Morning 420 ! Well after 3 Feedings of MC at 5.5 gr. there's no difference in the Clawing & Droopiness in the upper leaves. I'm convinced it's not an "N" def as it's gotten slightly worse & I'mm getting some yellowing on my lower leaves. I need to up the MC again.
I think this is wind burn. Today I noticed that the side of the plants that are closest to the fan look more droopy then the opposite sides. Going to add a 2nd fan but run both on low instead of 1 fan on high to see if that helps.
On the bright side ... I got 2 more walls done in my grow room build yesterday. Back at it again today. Sure is a lot of work making this thing right (Running electric, Insulating, framing, sealing, paneling, etc....) People have their doubts that it will work since it gets to 122 F here in AZ. but I love the challenge & a chance to say "IT WORKS". I think I'll be fine with all the extra sealing & Insulation & 8000 BTU A/C . It's only a 5' x 8' room that I'll be growing 2 Lg. plants in Auto Pots in. 1 TSW 2000 per plant.
 
OK you guys; How can you tell the difference between a Copper Def. & a Nitrogen Toxicity? Someone said they think I have a Copper Def. They say that the leaves would be Dark Green if it were N toxicity & since the leaves are lighter green they say it's Copper Def.
I'm not sure what to think. The GG looks like it quit growing to me & just staying the same. Still has leaf clawing (mostly on the top) & is lighter green then the other 2 plants. I dropped the MC down to 5.5 for this plant from 6 gr. about 3 - 4 feedings ago but the only thing that happened so far is it got lighter green.

The Afghan Kush does look a little better since dropping the MC from 6 to 5.5. She's still a little on the Dark Green side though. The new top growth looks much better than before. I'm wondering something ... Will the Hooked / Claw leaves straighten back out when the problem is fixed or will those leaves remain that way? I keep waiting for them to straighten out, like when you water an under watered plant the leaves go back to normal. Maybe they don't straighten out like some other issues cause. Won't know unless I ask. Other then that she's developing much faster & nicer then the other 2.

The Gorilla Girl .... Now this girl seems to want more MC. I haven't lowered her dose. Kept her at 6 gr. per gallon. I keep getting yellow bottom leaves on her every couple of days. She seems to be developing at about the same rate as the GG. Maybe slightly faster. All her other leaves are a nice green color & there's no clawing at all.

I was thinking the clawing on my 2 plants were wind related (Fan too High) but it doesn't make sense. The Gorilla Girl is closest to the fan & she's fine. But it does seem that the side & tops of the plants closest to the fan on the other 2 are where I see the clawing. I know it's not heat related as I've held my hand under the light for over 5 minutes & barely even warm. Not sure if lights being too close could cause the clawing. I'm about 12" above canopy.

Thinking about doing a Flush on all 3 plants to see if I can fix things; but not sure if I should because I don't know for sure what the issue is. Almost seems like there could be a Nute Lock out. Give me your thoughts.

Didn't post pics this time because I need to go buy batteries for my camera today. They don't look much different then my last pics anyway.

So far out of the 3 different trim jobs I'm liking the Afghan the most. The plant with the least trimming seems to be out doing the other 2. Tomorrow will be 4 weeks in Flower & they still look a little on the slow side to me. Not sure if these will finish by Mid-May or not. Might take till the end of May. Kind of wishing I ordered the BE & Sweet Candy now. Oh well, next time.

I've been trying to diagnose this issue myself with the Plant Symptoms charts. But I'll find 2 or 3 things that look like it could be the issue & one thing I'd need to increase my MC & the other thing I'd need to decrease MC, etc. Makes it tough to know which way to go. That's why I was considering just Flushing it & starting over with the nutes. Thoughts ???
 
Spent most of yesterday working on my shed / grow room. All the main walls are up & paneled with White Hardboard. Got to do the walls up by the roof peak today & possibly start putting the ceiling up. I insulated the roof too but I'm also using 1/2" Styrofoam Insulation board with the Shiny Silver Side over that to double insulate it & have a reflective ceiling. Bitch is I run into a Scorpion here & there & those things scare the hell out of me when they go running past me when I'm working. So far I've seen 5 & was able to kill 3. 2 got away. Going to start the Scorpion Killer Treatment this week as it will take 30 days to get things where I'm comfortable . Went out to the shed during the night with my Scorpion Light & didn't see any inside. Killed 1 on the ground just outside the shed & seen 1 I can't get to.
That brings me to another question : Is there any problem with growing a Lavender Plant in the grow room with my weed? I guess the Lavender Scent keeps Scorpions away from what I've read.
Just don't want my weed to smell like Lavender too.
 
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