RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a Few N. Lights x Skunk & Some Bag Seeds Under CFL's

[RVgrower]

I am now growing:
(2) Fem "Northern Lights x Skunk", an Indica- heavy cross, both germinated around first of April. (1) almost died when it got buried too deep, & when I saved it, it's husk got stuck, & one Cotyledon broke off & it almost died! But it hung on & so I kept trying to take good care of it, and it actually survived! But it put it about 3 weeks or so behind in growth....it looks about 7-10 days old, even though it's the same age as the other, they are both about 4 weeks old.

(11) Bag seeds, feels like Indica or Indica-heavy crosses, 1st (4) started end of March, and are about 5-6 weeks old. started at end of March. Then I started 8 more bag seeds (in my 3rd attempt of germination), around the first week of April, and they are now about just barely 4 weeks old.

All in "Hempy" style buckets, that is, buckets full of Perlite with a hole about 2 inches from the bottom, w/ "Osmocote" layered every 2 inches in each bucket of Perlite.

Right now, I still have the plants all under the 104 actual watts of 6500K CFL's hanging above the plants under 8" reflector dishes that they were all started on. I added one of my (2) 55 watt 2700K lights on a short lamp stand last week in the middle of all the plants.
I have just ordered the "Advanced Nutrients" 3 part system, "Grow, Bloom & Micro", and also their "Big Bud Powder". I also have a Ph control kit, a TDS meter, and some calibration solution coming as well.

The plants were all started in a mixture of 50/50 Fox Farms Ocean Forest & Perlite in the top of the cups, with all perlite on the bottom half. When I transplanted the plants to their full sized buckets, they ALL had massive roots all the way down to the bottom of the cups! THANKS TO DOC BUD AND BLUEDOG!!! You guys ROCK!!!! My heroes!

Only used "Osmocote" every 2 inches of depth in the Hempy buckets, before that, only used "Miracle-Gro" once in their 3rd or 4th week, while they were still in their little starter "Hempy Solo cups" and they responded FANTASTICALLY!! WHAT A GROWTH SPURT THEY ALL HAD!!! (Only done on all the 4-5 week old or so plants, not on the N. Lites x Skunk babies!)


Well, HELLO! Everyone! I know some of you know me already as "RVgrower", and as the name says, I started growing inside my RV recently, but had to move into an Apt. temporarily, so while I'm here for the next 6-12 months, I will be growing my medicine in my bedroom closet now.
I have almost completed my "CFL hood", which will be a multi-spectrum, 200+ actual watts of both 2700K and 6500K CFL bulbs. Then all I have to do is change the lighting schedule, no bulb changes! I have also got the start on a vegging "tote", that I can put the little N. Lights x Skunk baby and maybe the other small bag seed baby, so they can continue to grow big on an 18/6 schedule while the other plants can go into flower for the next 8+ weeks now....they have already got 5+ weeks of veg now, so I think it's time, but maybe it isn't so much about time as it is about size....so tomorrow (today? Wednesday afternoon I hope!) about mid-day, I will have my newest pics, taken just late late last night, (Tuesday, May 3rd), so that you may all see my current status, grow area, etc...Then I can hear what all of you think of the HUGE improvements in size and condition of the plants since you all last saw pics in my last journal, & you can see the new grow area!
SO, till tomorrow, I hope I make this grow fantastic! I am already doing things I'd never thought I could do & I am already totally exceeding my own expectations on this grow, and I haven't even got into flower yet!!! NOW I gotta figure out how best to train these beasts! LST??? Supercrop??? Any ideas? Well, I guess you gotta SEE what the plants look like first, huh? DUH! Sorry I medicated before I posted! Oops! :token:


Okay bros and sistahs,
I'll be back tomorrow with the pics!
I'm SO looking forward to the finish of this grow! Till tomorrow, PEACE!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Also peeps, the green address at the bottom of my signature, is my link to my first journal, "RVgrower's Afghan Kush Ryder & Kannabia Special..." I haven't learned how to change the link address to read as the name of the journal, like everyone else's does....just an FYI! Be back later!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Hey RVG! Congrat's on the move. I just wanted to let you know you weren't alone here!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Hey RVG! Congrat's on the move. I just wanted to let you know you weren't alone here!

I know, you're awesome, as usual, Mr. Krip! Thanks for stopping' by...if you were here in person, I'd have a smoke w/ ya! lol! Oh well, have one and then remember i'm very thankful for your help and moral support!
I got a lot of pics taken last night, or I mean the morning before...my days run into my nights...my wife's on graveyard shift...I hate it, I never know what day it is! lol! Anyhow! Yeah, I'm finally almost settled in, but the plants are getting all the attention, as I'm sure they do in all our homes, huh? Yeah, my wife is SICK of listening me go on and on about this and that with my grow, and she says she just starts to hear that "wah wah wah..." like when the Peanut's listened to their parents, remember? That "wah wah wah" sound? Yeah, she says that's it...blah blah blah, she so doesn't get it, doesn't care too much, except that it's WAY better for me than prescription pills, they killed her mom, at her house, and she found her....yeah, she hates pills! So, she DOES love to grow veggies and such with me, and has helped me with the heavy lifting ( most of it!) that I'm not supposed to do...And she helped me wash all of the plants off and get them into all the Hempy buckets...well, I did the 1st 4 one morning after she went to work, and by 230am, I was WIPED out! And I had only got 4 done....I was trying to use the cover of darkness to my benefit...but yesterday, she helped me get the rest of them done, outside, during the day, when there wasn't too many people out for a bit, and we blocked our work area with other stuff and stood with my back to the outside and her facing that way, so we got it all done with no issues of anyone seeing my plants. I mean, I AM a legal patient, and have the right to cultivate, but I don't WANT everyone, or ANYone here except for the 2 guys I know I can trust, to know what's going on over here....
SO, on that note, now that you're caught up, and probably falling asleep, sorry!, I will say bye! so I can go post those pics, okay?

ANd thanks for your continued support my friend, and I have been creepin' around your grow as well, my friend, looking' good as always!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

PS! Excellent idea with that drying box!!! I SOOOOO Love it! That's something I am going to have to do when i get to harvest time in a few months.....that'll be my very first, true, completely grown out harvest! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! I already KNOW it's going to be great! Everything we put so many hours and so much love into ALWAYS tastes and feels good, and IS good for us!WOOOO- hooooo! Gotta calm down and medicate, be right back and then post the pics after I chill...

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Okay everyone, here's the latest pics! I will give you more of an update on grow details later today, look forward to hearing your comments then! (FYI: I did wash off most of the dirt and perlite around the roots before I planted each one in a perlite-only "Hempy-bucket". And I am having a bit of an issue with high humidity now that I'm in a closet lined with plastic, so I have been airing it out at night, and even as often as I can during the day, just until I get the 6" inline fan and 6" ducting I am ordering next, and running that up above on the closet shelf above the grow area, connected to the grow area through a hole in the plastic above, taping around the opening to seal it, and also an exhaust line running from the fan to the attic above, through a hole to be cut in the ceiling drywall....this all to be done ASAP, hopefully, within the next week or 2. It might take longer, I am praying not...

Here's "Stumpy" nowdays!

Here's "Shorty"!

Here's "Root-y"!!!

Here's my little N.Lights #5 x Skunk #1, the second one, the one that almost died! It had a broken cotyledon after it got stuck too deep in the dirt during germination, then when I went to save it and get it out of the husk, it lost it's cotyledon. Now look how she's recovered!!!

Here's "Waldo"! Which we DO still hope is a girl, Waldo is her MIDDLE name! LOL!

This is one we call "Kate" now.

This is now known as "GiGi"...

And this is "Gail"...

And here is "Dolores"...

And of course I had to have a "Betty"!

AND a "Bambi"!

And I named the 1st N. Lights x Skunk ( the one that sprouted 1st no problem), I named "LaLa", cuz I'm sure she's gonna make me go " la la la la "! lol!

Left side of grow closet....

Grow closet....

So I think I am missing a few, like the right side of the grow closet...but I will be posting more pics and info soon. This is really both the FINISH of my 1st grow, as I went right into germinating these seeds during that grow...but I never got to save any of those first seeds, the Afghan Kush Ryder, so I am REALLY on a new, SECOND grow, in that way. That's why I did it this way. I didn't finish that grow, but I sure learned a LOT of valuable lessons! And the start of some cool techniques as well, thanks to all my buddies who have been looking out for this sister of the green...
I wish all of you the best, and I appreciate all your feedback as usual! My 1st grow- "RVgrowers Afghan Kush Ryder & Kannabia Special" is the link at the bottom of my signature! I gotta learn how to change the name, so it reads the title, not the address...

Okay, catch ya all later! PEACE

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

AND! After these pics were taken, I did a top, an FIM I think, where I took the tops just between the 3rd and 4th nodes....now I am counting AFTER the first, single piece leafs, AND after the second, 3 finger leaves as well, BEFORE I started counting nodes! But they all look GOOD! I think I'm going to have all 4 to 6 or even maybe an 8 cola plant!!! So now go look at all the new green in the center of all the big plants, (I didn't touch either of the N. Lights x Skunks, or the tiniest of the bag seed plants in the big Hempy-buckets) and imagine that center new green growth gone! That's what they look like...but I hear it's for the best, and I chose this method because it seemed the easiest. I mean, just do this, and then I'm done, really! I mean, after I do this, I should have all these multiple colas, without having to do a lot of tying, bending, pinching, etc.....I need to keep things easy for me...I will see what you all say as they get into 12/12 here in the next week. I totally respect the opinions of our esteemed members....and my buddies I know I can trust! (I think you all know who you are out there!). So, I will take pics now with them after their cuts, and then again, you can tell me if you all think I did it right.

Okay, I hope all is well with all of you...hoping that DIME's water cure will save his crop! A sucky thing to happen, but a great lesson for us all in how not to freak out and ditch your whole grow when these unfortunate things happen, and we are all learning about a new way to cure! So I am watching a lot of grows right now as well as working on my own....studying other's grows is half the work for me!

Peace and love to all!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

So guys, and gals, where ever you all are.....I have had a few changes since I was last able to check in and write up this journal post...
1. I got my1st shipment of supplies for the plants from Amazon.com, where I buy almost everything I have to purchase......they have everything, cheap, and it gets to us pretty quick! Anyhow, I got this:

A "General Hydroponics" Ph test kit w/ the Ph UP and Ph DOWN chemicals.
A Hanna/TDS Instruments TDS meter.
A TDS meter calibration solution...they sent me "1000 ppm NaCl"....don't even know if that will work, and I certainly don't know HOW to calibrate the damn meter as they sent no instructions for such a procedure, and I am sorry, but science wasn't my stronger subject back in school 25 years ago, so I am clueless as to how to calibrate this darn meter.
A cute little pocket sized digiatl scale, that weighs to the tenth of a gram, and goes up to 500 grams....it has been INVALUable in measuring the "Big Bud Powder" I have to add to my nutrients....
AND! that brings me to the best (2) things I got!!! My Advanced Nutrients 3-part system, "Grow, Bloom and Micro", AND some "Big Bud Powder".

Now I KNOW I am bad at waiting, and I swear I am trying to get better about it. I mean, I already decided that I am going to go ahead and let these lance grow in veg another 4 weeks or so, more or less, till they have some decent branches and such to even GROW flowers on! They are still awful small...and I know it's cuz they've been light-starved....I think they still are! I mean, I got 11 plants in full size pots and 1 baby in a solo cup, and I only have 318 watts of CFL lights on them...and the lights have to stay up high above, about 24 inches or more, until I have my 6" exhaust ducting and 6" inline exhaust fan working, and the other small oscillating fan or floor fan that I have to get, because I tried getting the lights down by the plants the first night, and it's a damn good thing I checked on them a few hrs later, because I almost cooked them to death!!! it shot up to like 89 degrees or so in there!!!! I immediately lifted the light back up to where it is now, and the highest temps I've had, w/o the 6" fan exhaust or anything, was up in the high 80's, but usually it's down in the mid 70's when it isn't too hot, but summer's coming, so the 6" ducting and inline fan will be my key to keeping the hot air up out of there....

Another thing, which is really COOL to me, is that our water SUCKS BIG you know what! And is so alkaline, I have a TDS out of the tap of 189, and a Ph of about 7.0 or so....so cool thing is, is that when I mix up the nutes, and THEN I check my Ph, the Nutes actually bring the Ph down to exactly where it needs to be, about 6.0! But, I don't have money for a Ph meter yet....I have to work w/ the General Hydroponics brand of Ph solutions ( I THINK that's their name) & their color chart....not super accurate, but at least I have a general idea of what it is.

SO, the first night, about 3 days ago, I got so excited I mixed up nutes and fed the plants before I realized that I shoulda mixed it up at half strength to start! But it seems okay so far, I think....so the next day, I did it again....I thought they were okay, so I just did it. And I was seeing all kinds of green new growth on the tops and stems of all my plants, except the (1) N. Lites x Skunk baby that was SO healthy, just withered and died on me within 3 days of transplant into her big hempy bucket! That really hurt.....she was going on 5 weeks old & the other one didn't germinate at all, so all I have left out of the 3 I got, was the 2nd seed to germinate, but it was late & I found it buried too deep & saved it but it lost one of it's cotelydons & almost died! But she hung in there, & I babied her, & now she is growing at a normal rate again...just a month behind schedule....but she's in her little Hempy cup, not a mix this time, I mean I did to start her, but when I transplanted all the other plants last week, I did this one as well. right into the 100% perlite, I just put her into it when I did the other plants because she had such a short, kinda stubby, sideways root, so it was easy to plant her. She's my only true medical strength plant left, and I am so happy to see her responding so well in the straight perlite. But I don't see anywhere on the A.N. website about how often to feed the plants, so i'm guessing every other feeding, and if that's 2-3 times a week, it should be like 1 to 2 times week....but that seems like not enough to me with how they are just in perlite and all....if they were in a DWC tub, they'd have the nutes on their roots 24/7, but that's still a bit different from Hempy growing....I guess I may have to go back again, to Doc Bud's and Blue Dog's journals and study up on their successes...
I AM still bummed to have lost yet another medical plant, that's 4 out of 5 I have lost now since I started this whole adventure....I don't get this at ALL! I mean, I do the same thing for all the plants, at the same time, in the same fashion, etc....and none of the other plants have shown any signs of weakness or anything like that. Maybe these high class medical cross breed plants are SUPER sensitive or something! I mean, the bag seeds look so much better than I thought they would already, so this bag seed grow might turn out okay after all.

So Yesterday I knew we'd be gone all day, so I watered the plants w/ plain water ( yeah, I forgot to change the Ph!) so they'd be okay till I got home last night. So when I did, I noticed a tiny bit of yellowing bottom leaves, but it really looks like normal leaf drop off to me, but I could be wrong....it's not spotty, just slight yellowing on the very bottom or first leaves on only like 5 or 4 of the plants only...the others show absolutely NO yellowing ANYWHERE! I will just have to post pics...later tonight...
SO I fed them at HALF the reg. rate last night, and this am, again, plain water, ( and yeah, again, I forgot the Ph solution would make the Ph normal!), to try to "flush" a little bit, and make sure that it isn't what I'm doing that's affecting them...but you know, it probably is when I don't have the proper Ph...I don't know if "hydroponics Ph being right at about 5.8 is really a big deal to the plants when it goes up to 6.5 to 7.0 or so, when they were raised and germinated and all on that water just like that. No, I think it's just shock from the move into the Hempy buckets & my wife accidentally ( she didn't know what to do, nd so that makes it MY fault! I asked for her help due to my bad back and hands, so she did, and we had to work fast being outside, don't want any nosy neighbors seeing...Even though I'm a legal medical cannabis user I don't want to be ripped off.
Anyhow, today, I took my water jugs that are my supply of water for the plants, and I checked the Ph, then I adjusted it to about a 6.0...hell, on a damn color chart, that about as good as it gets! lol!
So that is about it for the update....I will post the pics later, too tired now, back hurts and gotta medicate, so I will put them up later so you can all tell me what you all think....

Enjoy your Monday evening my friends....I hope everyone's alright, I miss hearing from you guys, but I can see from your journals, that like me, you are all very buy with your own gardens, so I totally understand. And I DO appreciate all the help i have already received from those of you have helped me w/ any advice that you have so generously shared w/ me & all the others..PEACE!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

I guess everyone's busy with their gardens and lives as much as I have...I have been really sick at times, and somedays, can barely manage to look after my plants....luckily they are right here in my bedroom closet, about 4 feet from where I sleep...
So they have literally DOUBLED in size in the last 8 days! I have had them on their new nutes for about 10 days or 2 weeks, and they seem SO healthy and happy! They are growing thick stems, TONS OF FLOWER SITES!- LEAVES BUSTIN' OUT EVERYWHERE!!! And so I am going to let them stay in veg at least another 3 or so weeks....then they go into flower for 6-8 weeks....I am really willing to let them get big and fat, and take that extra week or two to be at their best before I harvest any...but I truly can't get it fast enough....the local Mexi-brown dirt weed is AWFUL! like >5% THC, it barely helps my symptoms....like the pain....but it still helps the nausea no matter how weak it is...Anyways...I will post pics later....they'll blow you away I think, they are SO BIG! And the little N.Lights X Skunk baby, the "once-runt", is now a happy and very well-growing plant!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Great work, RVG! We need pics!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Great work, RVG! We need pics!

lol! I hear ya bro! I'm on it right now! I should have a pic of all 12 plants and the CFL hood, grow area, and such on the site with in a few hrs, or less, cuz i'm doin it right now!LOL!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

OKAY MY GREEN GOBBLIN' FRIENDS!!! HERE IS MY LATEST PICS!!! I HOPE YOU LOVE 'EM AS MUCH AS I DO!

Okay, here's Bagseed "Waldo", on 5-3-11, just 10 days ago!!!

Here's Bagseed "Betty"! And she's healthy and happy as well!

And here is "Dolores"! A really healthy plant that is doing fine!

Here is a pic of our girl, GiGi! She has become a little monster! She is SO big for her young age! (All but 4 of these seeds are about4 weeks old, including GiGi)

And here is Bagseed "Kate"! A pretty lil' thing, kinda small still, but the nodes are very close together, completely unlike "Gail" for instance....Gail has only 4 nodes, but they are stretched apart, very far apart compared to the tightly stacked Stumpy, Kate, Dolores, GiGi, etc...

Here's Bagseed "Shorty"...This is one of the original plants from my very rocky start back about 2 months ago, but boy! Has Shorty proved her name wrong! She is the tallest plant I have now, except for MAYBE Waldo! She is healthy & second biggest only to Waldo! Very tightly stacked nodes that grew on top of other nodes as she has burst out all over! Very bushy and healthy!

Here's our girl, Stumpy...3rd biggest and one of the 1st 4 plants, so she is also about 5-6 weeks into veg, like the other 3 first plants that are that old right now.

And here is a cute lil' bagged girl that we have named "Bambi" for some reason....

Here is Bagseed "Gail"....who is the one that got her topping done tonight! She was the "runt" of all the bag seed plants that I got going the "3rd time", anyways...she was too little to be topped like the other 1st 4 were when they got their "Uncle Ben's Topping Method" treatment from me...that was about 2 or so weeks ago. Then this 1 lonely little plant was finally ready tonight it seemed, so I did it!

And here is my girl, Bagseed "Lucy"- A fine and healthy plant, that is starting to fill-in around the stalk and between leaves and so on....

And here's the famous, Bagseed "WALDO"! THE biggest plant I have now! He's about 9" tall now and filling in every available space with new leaves!! I had no idea it was going to go like this! This is so cool to see this process take place over the course of 3-4 months from a tiny seed, to a big, super great quality herbal medicine right here at home...the way it should be!

My plant "Shorty", who is actually the tallest plant I have now! How funny!

My grow closet at night...

And here shows the current lighting I'm using now that I finished the CFL hood..208 watts of 6500K= (2) 26 watt bulbs on a "Y" bulb splitter under each 8" reflector dish on each end, (they are only there until the plants go into bloom, then they will be removed.) Also have 110 watts of 2700K under the hood, and 104 watts of 6500K under the hood. That's all I'm going to use thru bloom, is the hood as it set up, a multi-spectrum.

Here it is in the closet working! (The CFL hood!)

And here is the baby N. Light x Skunk taken last month on the 17th...

Well, here's just a pic of the right side of the grow closet all crammed with plants right now until I get them into flower for about a week or 10 days till we see the boys pop up- then I can pull them and have MUCH more room in there, enough to start on my next project...

Bagseed "Gail's" top that I had to snip off today...it was actually done later than I had anticipated, but that's okay...It'll be just fine!

Now here is my PRIDE & JOY! My lil' #5 N.Lights X #1 Skunk, my last one too- the other 2 died already....1 during germination, and 1 after being transplanted to it's bigger permanent pot. This one that's still here is the 1 that almost died for real, when it was germinating, and it got buried too deep under the soil, so it couldn't germinate right...after the other 1 popped up at 72 hrs on schedule, I went looking for the lost 1....and I did, just a half inch deep, but that's too deep for tiny seeds. So then it tried to pop up and sprout a few times, but it's husk was really stuck on as well, ( since I ALSO had made the mistake of only soaking the seed in water for 1 day and didn't do a 2nd day of water-drip that encourages germination...Anyhow, she is beautiful! And growing like LIGHTNING!!! They ALL are now that I got them on some serious nutes! They are so green, growing so fast, and are very sturdy and healthy!!!

Our lady plant, "Dolores" has some great thick branching going on, huh?

And one last side view of Waldo! Look careful for all the "double- branching" that this plant did! And all the leaves are filling in nicely...I picture this big girl budding out all over these very same sites here in a few more months while in "flower", and becoming one MONSTER of a plant...

And notice the side view of Waldo that shows her "double- noding" as I call it...And all the thick bushy leaves that are filling in! Everywhere I trimmed a leaf, it seemed that 3 0r more grew back in it's place! And another odd thing...the lower leaves that are coming in around the stem and such, & the little tiny ones around the nodes & such, are in clusters...and groups of 3 all grown together! Is that odd? Or does it happen to all of you? Yea, I have no one here to talk to about these issues, so I am all alone on this, except for what I learn from you guys and what all I teach myself.

SO, I guess (and HOPE!) that you all read my earlier entries, and saw that I started my plants on the "Advanced Nutrients 3-part system", (it has Grow, Bloom, and Micro,), meaning that has all my "micro-nutrients" that our plants need to grow so big so fast and not fall all apart! LOL! Anyways, so I also put up the money for the "Big Bud Powder"...a MUCH MUCH MUCH better deal than the liquid!!!! I mean, you get the stuff in it's raw, undiluted form as a powder, and get like 15 times more nutrients in the powder...the liquid form is just like 3-5% ferts and the rest is a carrier liquid...a HUGE HUGE HUGE waste! Check it out for yourselves on this one....I figured this out one day, and checked the labels at the AN website, ands sure enough, it was true. Speaking of that, that's the chart I use to mix up my 1 gallon at a time of nutes for the plants, and I feed them exactly 12oz each at first, may be 3-4 oz for my baby plant in the little Hempy Solo cup... Then any extra I just go around, and pour that onto the plants that have no run-off int their drip trays, or maybe just on the ones that have very little run-off...


Hey, one more thing...is it okay for me to be pouring the few ounces of run-off from the drip trays under the plants BACK onto the plants again? I just can't see wasting so much fert runoff when it's SOOOO expensive! It's been said that you can just pour the runoff onto our houseplants...well then, if it's good enough to go on my other plants, then why can't it go back on my weed plants??? So I have been doing it...it's not much, and not all trays either everyday...in fact, there are less trays than more, that have a little run-off after I feed them theirs, which I am doing about once every 3-5 days, depending on how hot it gets here, and how much evaporation we had due to the very low RH here where I live.

Anyhow, I am lucky in that after I add my ferts/nutes to the gallon of water in my mixing bucket, I always check the Ph, and lucky me! The ferts and nutes act a bit acidic apparently, because it brings down the Ph for my mix from the plain tap water Ph of 7.0-7.5 down to just barely 6.0 or a bit less, close to the "5.8" I see is recommended for "hydroponic growing"... 5.8, isn't that supposed to be the right Ph for a "hydro" system??? But then again, I am not exactly "Hydro", I am technically, "soil-less media"...I have to figure that out I guess, and I wonder what effect, if any, does the Perlite have on things like Ph? Does it change it at all? Anyways, no big deal for me right now anyways....like I said, I'm okay with it all, & I recently just did what I saw called "Uncle Ben's Topping Method"....which was supposed to be ( now I am paraphrasing! just giving you all the idea of what I remember what they said about how to do this!) "...so you wait till you have about 5-6 nodes...then you cut just above the 3rd node....this should end up giving you at least 4 main colas in the long run. WEll, I asked around back when I first topped these girls a few weeks ago, or well, maybe a week or 10 days at the most, anyways no one could give me the same answer twice as to WHEN you start counting nodes! I thought I heard, that you don't out the first, single piece leaf, or the 2nd, "3-finger" leaf either, you start counting AFTER that and the next one is node #1, so then I count up to the 3rd node, and cut it just a 1/4th inch above that 3rd node on an angle....Well, I think I was off on node counting....because some of these plants have grown out SOOOo many new limbs and branches and such SO FAST, that when I am off on the node count to do this topping method correctly, it makes it so funny looking now! I mean, some plants are going to have 4 colas, some will have 6, or 7, or 8, who knows!?!?! I'm not freaked out at all! LOL! I think it's kinda funny! I can hardly WAIT to add the ferts each time, because I am so anxious to see these plants all grown up! And I am not done buying nutes either! I am going to get some root zone stuff to strengthen the roots and make them huge and fat and white! And, I already have the exhaust duct work, inline duct fan, and fan speed adjuster bought today and they are all on the way...The damn ducting itself wont be here till AFTER the 24th! But that will really help a LOT!!! I am getting some big temps in the closet lately, cuz it's on the West side of the Apt, of course, the sunny side! LOL! Anyways, I am all ready to run the exhaust to the attic up above the closet shelf as soon as the stuff gets here, and that will exhaust the heat build-up from the lights and the afternoon sun on that side of the building. I think that's about it for now....I have more nutes/ ferts o order in the next month as the plants go into the "flower phase"...I will be getting some AN " Overdrive", for the last 3 weeks of flower I think...and that "Big Bud Powder" I got was on the AN feeding chart as something to give the plants all the way from early veg thru harvest, so that's why I have been using it. Well, I messed up, and mixed full-strength nutes the first time, but they seemed okay for it anyways. So the second time, about 3 or so days later, I deem them all in great health, and mix up full-strength nutes again, and feed them well. So I let about 2-3 days go by without doing anything but letting them have a little drop of water here and there, like from their drip trays- I just pour the left-over nutes into the buckets again....I really hope this process is okay, because I just can't see how it can hurt the plants in any way, and secondly, I just can't stand to waste ANY water if I can help it!

So! I hope I get some great feedback/ comments, or whatever, and that you all have happy harvests!!!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Well, the plants got fed Sat. evening, & I am giving them plain water or drip tray water/nutes in between regular "feedings" when they are actually almost "dry" in their Hempy buckets, that is, to me, I have to tip the plant so far over to see if any water dribbles out that I am about to lose the plant from it falling out! So, if it hasn't dribbled water when I start to turn it almost upside down, I'd call that time to water....And my baby N. Lights x Skunk has been emptying her cup of water (in her reservoir in the bottom that is), everyday lately...so I looked where her drain hole was to see if I could see anything, like a root ball or whatever, so I took a pen or something to bend that lil' opening out a bit enough to grab it w/ my fingers and pulled it open a lil' bit more, just about a 1/4" x 1/2" opening....and YES!!! I DID see her roots down there through that hole! They were healthy, white roots and long, too! Tryin' to get down to that water res at the bottom! Doc Bud is my all-time ganja hero! To have developed this style of growing that is so simple for we newer growers...his "Hempy style" makes it almost fool-proof, so it's been awesome for me to get my "growing legs" back under me, if you know what I mean....Anyways, ever since I started them on the "Advanced Nutrients", I swear they have increased in size by 100-200%!!! in just about 11 days or so. I heard so much great stuff about their products by some very successful growers on this site, and I really liked the wealth of information they make available at their website, their free and easy to use "Nutrient Calculator", so you don't have to mess with charts and such at home, and the performance is all that I had hoped for and more!!! I have leaves and branches popping out all over every other leaf and branch on each plant!lol! Seriously, there is this CRAZY growth going on here, and I showed you all most of my pics on my last posting....but I found out that I did miss a few pics, so I'm going to try to figure out which is which and post the ones that were missed up here next....
You know, if I could, I'd take one of those time-lapse series of shots of my plants growing! That would be so awesome to see how they move about even when we are there and the house or closet or whatever is locked up and windows closed etc...and they still move all over, just at a very slow speed we can't pick up on...Anyhow....

I DON'T KNOW IF NO ONE HAS READ MY LAST ENTRY, OR MAYBE DID BUT HAD NO ANSWER TO MY QUESTIONS.....MY MAIN ONE BEING: "CAN WE OR SHOULD WE NOT (and please tell me why I can't, if I can't, if at all possible, or it will drive me nuts not knowing why I can't! Thank you!) POUR THE LEFT-OVER NUTES FROM OUR DRIP TRAYS WHEN WE ARE USING "HEMPY-BUCKETS" W/ A SOIL-LESS PERLITE GROWING MEDIUM, BACK INTO OUR HEMPY-BUCKETS IN ORDER NOT TO WASTE THE NUTES THAT JUST WENT RIGHT THRU AND WENT OVER THE "HOLE" IN THE BUCKET, SO THEY JUST DRAINED OUT INTO THE TRAYS? DARN IT, THAT SOUNDS WEIRD, I HOPE SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT IT IS I AM TRYING TO SAY...
okay, got to get some much needed shut eye....OH! I almost forgot! Latest status update!!!
THE 6" INLINE DUCT FAN (250C.F.M., ABOUT 160-175C.F.M. FREE AIR), 8FT. OF 6" EXHAUST FLEX HOSE AND A "VARIABLE FAN SPEED ADJUSTER" ARE PAID FOR DAYS AGO AND ON THEIR WAY, I'M HOPING THEY'LL BE HERE SOON, CUZ THE TEMPS IN THE CLOSET ARE PUSHING 90+ IF I DON'T LEAVE THE CURTAINS COMPLETELY OPEN WITH A FAN BLOWING COOL AIR IN THERE AT THE LEVEL OF THE PLANTS GREENERY....TOO LOW AND IT DOES NOTHING, TOO HIGH, AND IT JUST BLOWS HOT AIR ALL AROUND AND WOULD KILL MY PLANTS, NO WAY! SO THE "GOLDIE-LOCKS SPOT" IS JUST THROUGH THE PLANT'S CANOPY ZONE....AT LEAST, THIS IS WORKING FOR ME....ALL MY PLANTS HAVE NICE THICK STEMS, OR SHOULD I SAY "TRUNKS" ! LOL!
OKAY, WILL POST THE PICS I THINK YOU HAVEN'T SEEN YET NEXT, BY THE MORNING, WELL, THAT'S THE AFTERNOON FOR SOME OF YOU, BUT THEY WILL BE UP WITHIN 24 HRS...MIGHT EVEN HAVE NEW PICS TO ADD, SINCE I DID A TOTAL "TRIM JOB" ON ALL MY PLANTS THE OTHER DAY, SNIPPING OFF ANY LEAF TIP THAT WAS HALF-WAY TORE OFF, ANY LOWER LITTLE LEAF THAT IS OLD, BROWN AND DRIED UP, AND ANY EXTRA, SHORT, OR MIS-SHAPEN LOWER FAN LEAVES TO OPEN UP THE LOWER END OF THE PLANT'S STEM AREA SO THAT IT MAY DEVELOP EVEN MORE GREENERY! I do love growing this wonderful plant! It is so beautiful! I can and do, sit and stare at it for long periods of time......I just can't get enough of these girls! OH! And speaking of girls! I am going to hold off another week or even 2 if I think I need to, to make sure these plants are really good and ready for flowering.....I want to have as many branches and bud sites as possible beforeI go into it, and also, another HUGE reason is that I am trying to make sure I have the plants on the nutes for at LEAST a month, maybe more, before I put them into flower, because they all got such a slow start in life...with little light & no nutes till they were all about a month into veg (depending on how you are calling that...They were started in soil, so I was told that means day 1 above ground, thats about 5 to 6 weeks now for the 4 oldest plants- Waldo, Rooty, Stumpy and Shorty...the other 7 plants that now have names are all about a week or so behind the first 4, and they need some "catching up time"....so some plants going into flower will be huge compared to some that will be tiny...but they ALL get so much bigger in flower and will surprise us all, as they are so famous for doing.....As long as I keep up the way I am so far, I think I will be doing fantastic! And will hopefully harvest an ounce or more off of about 6 females or so I am hoping I will have...I'll know how many girls I have soon, I just can't wait till I find out!

Okay all, I will post those pics soon, much happiness and green harvests to you all, always! RVG

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Here is the underside of my CFL hood, just so you all could see how it turned out....

Side view of Rooty....

Extra thick branches on Dolores...

Side view of Shorty....

Side view of GiGi.....

So I got my 6 inch duct fan today, and my "Great White Mychorrizal Powder".....After TONS of research, I finally determined that Great White had the BESTselection of root enhancing organisms and such, specifically for "our" plants.....it has been given great reviews not just here or at one online website, but many....
My fan speed adjuster is on back order, as is my 8ft of 6 inch duct hose....
But I fed the plants today, still taking a gallon or so, with about a half gallon - 1 gallon "top up" or so, in between feedings, when some plants are looking a bit dry, and their pots are light and such,,,so i use plain water in between, I just gotta change the Ph on the water before I give it to them....

Also, I have a question: the water here is real really hard, the baseline TDS is 186....
So, if my AN feeding chart says that I should have a TDS of lets say 1116 for a 1 gallon solution of "Grow, Bloom, Micro", but I am also adding 2 grams exactly of "Big Bud Powder" each feeding, AND, I am getting TDS readings around 1000-1470....Does this seem right? and do I subtract the baseline TDS to figure my exact TDS numbers, as I'm sure the chart is based on a starting TDS value of zero.......

Any help from those wiser than me would be greatly appreciated,,,,

hell, any thoughts from ANYONE would be helpful....feeling so lonely since I had to start the new journal....I wish I hadn't now....no one ever stops by to say hi anymore....
I am going to have a perpetual journal from now on!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

oh and on todays feeding, I didn't check the TDS...an I DID add the "Great White" for the first time, even to they are 4-6 weeks old already..in fact, on the Advanced Nutrients website "Nutrient calculator", I changed the "Amount of weeks" to 9, because I figured I was coming in at a month into veg, but they are just now starting nutes...before this, hey only had what was in the Fox farms Ocean Forest and a good shot of "Miracle Grow" one day right before transplanting Hempys....also they have always had a shot of "Superthrive" during transplanting, and during germination especially.......I also put a few drops in the nutes once, during last weeks feeding.

Okay, any help, thoughts, ideas, suggestions, etc, are mucho appreciated!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

i just had a wicked thought as well.....I wonder if i should do some "calibration" on that TDS meter......It didn't come with any instructions....and I paid extra $ TO GET A BOTTLE OF "CALIBRATION SOLUTION", but I don't know how to use it, so I feel like the TDS values on the meter are really useless till I can calibrate that damn meter, but I have NO idea how to do that! I went straight from high school to work, no college, and no extra HS science classes either.....
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW I SHOULD CALIBRATE THIS HANNA INSTRUMENTS TDS METER?
ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

 

[Mr. Krip]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

i just had a wicked thought as well.....I wonder if i should do some "calibration" on that TDS meter......It didn't come with any instructions....and I paid extra $ TO GET A BOTTLE OF "CALIBRATION SOLUTION", but I don't know how to use it, so I feel like the TDS values on the meter are really useless till I can calibrate that damn meter, but I have NO idea how to do that! I went straight from high school to work, no college, and no extra HS science classes either.....
DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW I SHOULD CALIBRATE THIS HANNA INSTRUMENTS TDS METER?
ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!

RVG, I'm not sure which Hanna meter you have, and each model may use some different solution, but they all get calibrated roughly the same way.

Check this out:

YouTube - Plant'It Earth Tutorials - Calibrating the Hanna HI 98311 TDS Pen

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

Hey Mr. Krip! Thanks so much for the video! That was cool of you! I unfortunately found out by looking closely, that I actually have an "HM Digital" meter, (I guess when I bought it I thought HM was an abbreviation of Hanna Meters or something like that...and this one is apparently, "pre-calibrated to a NaCl 342 ppm solution...". Whatever that means.....I just know I am supposed to have these TDS levels in a certain range for my plants to be healthy....I am still learning so much about this plant itself, in it's many different forms. But it's SO much to learn! I don't have to tell you! lol! Anyways, I am studying a lot right now, have 12 plants to care for, and still have lots of personal stuff and health problems to deal with as well, and I am still trying to make time to have a life, and ride my scooter once in a while so I don't lose my mind. But anyways, for every day I spend "having fun or just doing normal things", I spend just as many days or some times twice as many, in bed paying for it....That's when, if I'm not in too bad of shape, I study, mostly here because there's so much more here ( on 420mag.com) than I could get in any high priced books I can't afford anyways.....And between you and me, I think real, honest evaluations by many people on the same product or technique, etc...is more valuable than any commercial or manufacturer's claims...I mean, I study all of it that I can, but I can't retain all of it, you know? It takes a while of repetitive duties and information input to have things stick for me, you know what I mean? But once they do, it's there for good! Anyways, I know that you have your hands full as well, and I am following your grow as well...I'm looking forward to your harvest! I just love the whole process of seed to harvest that I am seeing unfold in front of me here.....I am trying to do a relatively good job, relatively being the key word there! lol!
Okay buddy, I appreciate your help with that video again, like I said, and I have learned to pay closer attention to exactly what I have, lol! Anyways, I guess the answer to me is that if it's pre-calibrated, then I don't have any choice but to believe that is the way it is, no need to calibrate, although I did purchase some HM Digital "1000 ppm NaCl Calibration liquid"....and I just took my HM meter, dunked it in there, and took the reading.....949 was what it read, in a solution of 1000 ppm. Does that sound like it's in range then? Or what? What do you think? Yeah, I know it's a newbie mistake again, but they sure stick with ya, and you never want to make that "newbie mistake" again! lol!
So anyways, I won't run any longer, I know I can be long-winded, sorry for that! So okay bro, thanks again, and I am praying for you to have the best harvest EVER! You totally deserve it! And thanks so much again, for being so nice to me, beside when HempRocket used to stop in on my other grow, I never had any other regular guys stopping' in like you two did for me....I totally appreciate that, and won't forget it, ever. I hope HR is okay, I have been waiting to see a posting from him but it seems he's on vacation...well deserved I'm sure.
Okay, I know, I know, got to go already! okay my friend, thanks again!
HAPPY HARVESTS!!!!!!!! and a BIG TOKE to you brother!

 

[RVgrower]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

So today is the 19th of May, and I got into the closet today and pulled out each one of the plants, one at a time, and carefully carried each drip tray into the bathroom, emptying it, scrubbing it w/ Ivory soap & hot water, then drying it perfectly, (I do EVERYTHING anal! OMG! NO NO NO!! Not like THAT!!! OMG NO!!!!!! That's an outtie place only! ROTFLMFAO!!!) Anyhow, I MEANT that I am very particular about how I do things, everything must be in order, alphabetized, etc.....THAT'S WHAT I MEANT! OMG TOOOOOOOOO funny!

Anyways, now that I'm done laughing my ASS off, back to business!
SO, like I said, I cleaned all the drip trays, then pulled up the plastic sheeting I had on the closet floor, even tho it's got asphalt tile for flooring, below, no carpet, but still....it was wet under there from drip trays spilling and such, so I had to get it all dried up, which I did. Then I put in fresh perlite on top of every pot, because I think the stuff must break down after a while, or compact or something, because the level of perlite had dropped in all my buckets since I first planted the plants.....so I had more than enough room to add back 2 more cups of perlite into almost every bucket/ pot, only 2 buckets took but 1 cup of perlite instead of 2....So they all looked better, the fresh perlite covered the green algae that was starting to grow on top of the perlite. Anyways, so now, with everything clean again, I am keeping a VERY close eye on the last baby N. Lights x Skunk, as the other 2 have died already, 1 in germination, and the last 1 after she was transplanted to her bigger Hempy bucket...but I am to blame, as I made the dumb rookie mistake of thinking I had to get like very last pebble of perlite off of her so I shocked her to death by washing off her soil too vigorously when she was just a 2 inch tall, 3 or 4 node baby! My fault, and a very costly mistake to me, not financially as much as spiritually and medically.......but with every mistake I make, I learn, and I mean I really LEARN! I don't want to feel the pain of failure ever again, let alone the more important issue to me, the loss of another life! I know it's a plant, but it breathes, grows, eats, lives, and dies..But it shouldn't die needlessly, and especially from my needless mistakes. I really LOVE these plants! I love ALL life forms, especially animals, plants, veggies, and trees, and MJ, herbs, etc....anything that Mother Nature gives us that helps us, and doesn't hurt us, and that is our beautiful plants, the cannabis!

I think I will wait another day to feed the plants again....I fed them the day before yesterday, and the drip trays are still dry since today's cleaning, since I haven't watered them in any way since then, there is no "dripping" with a "Hempy" bucket, once the initial overflow of water/ nutrients has come out through that drain hole on the side.....unless you tip the bucket, you won't get anything more to "drip"....but I know there is still water/ nutes in those reservoirs at the bottoms of the buckets....And I want them to use some of that before I just keep pouring more in every time their water/nute levels start to just drop a tiny bit, I will never get the plant to grow bigger because I am not MAKING the plant look harder for that water, right? Does that make sense at all to anyone?
Is there anyone out there?
And if you are out there, do you think I have to supplement with some Cal/Mag of some sort, when it seems that the 3 part system I have from Advanced Nutrients has some Calcium and Magnesium already in them...plus I have very hard water here, lots of Calcium I can tell you that.
OH! And! Is it true there's a good and safe way to use "Epsom Salts" to give my plants Magnesium? And if I did do that, what's the rate? And what's the ratio of Mag. to Cal that I should have? And lastly, does any of this really matter THAT much, because I know these values ARE very important in hydroponics...but I'm not hydro- I'm "growing in soil-less media", ie; the perlite. These plants were all started in a 50/50 mix of FFOF & perlite, then transferred to 100% perlite Hempy buckets at about 4 weeks old.

As far as status for today, it's the 3rd day of the transition to 12/12, that is, they've been on 18/6 since they first popped out of the ground, but 3 days ago, I started to have the lights shut off an hour earlier each night, to transition to the "bloom or flower phase" of 12/12 for the next 6 to 8 weeks....

I mix up 1 gallon at a time, based on the info on the Advanced Nutrients calculator, with me using a 9 week plan ,the 9th week being the final "flush " week, and I basically, just "jumped in" at the end of week 4 with half- dosage nutes and then started the beginning of week 5 with full strength nutes...So now I am in week 8 of veg for my 4 oldest plants, and week 6 for the other 6 plants that I have left, that's another reason I think it's time to start changing over to 12/12....Another thing, as my buddy, Mr Krip reminds me, my plants will be doubling or even tripling in size when they go into flower, well, the 10 that I am going to be putting into flower now....
Okay, so I guess that's it for today....I also forgot to mention that I lost 1 of the "6 week old plants" yesterday after I had the tape that was holding the overhead lighting come loose because I forgot it wasn't very secure since I had just rearranged the lights, so again! another rookie mistake! Yeah, I AM claiming every damn one I make during my growing experiences, because I believe that's the only way for me to learn from it and also for other people to learn from it as well and to learn from my example of seeing me tell the truth about my mistakes....I'm going to share every one with you all, because last time I checked, I still can't walk on water, lol!

Anyways, enough for now, I look forward to any contact....any ideas, any thoughts, just anything....

Peace! RVG

 

[holysmokey]

Re: RVgrower's Indoor Closet Grow: a few N. Lights x Skunk & some bag seeds under CFL

wow lookin good buddy
how many diif bags you get them seeds from one looks purple