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- #21
Holy smokes! That is one monster you grew there, good work!
Slimm's Urban Hang Suite
- Thread starter slimm
- Start date
Holy smokes! That is one monster you grew there, good work!
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- #22
There are separate horizontal and vertical bulbs. I'm planning for some really long colas with the vertically stacked bulbs.
Subscribed and aboard my friend. Excellent synopsis on past grow experience and lessons learned. 
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- #24
Almost time to harvest Jillybean pollen.
I would like to say I planned it so that I would get only two males, one of each phenotype (indica and sativa), out of 10 Jilly-beans germinated.
I may be getting a handle on the nutrient issue - I believe it to be Mg lockout. Coco likes to hang on to Ca cations and, to a lesser extent, Mg and some others. The best way to handle this is to load it initially with CaMg before or in the first few weeks of the grow, then it will give some of this back over time. What I am learning is that one must balance Ca and Mg in coco through careful management of the ph. Ph lower than 5.8 results in more Ca available to the plant while ph above 5.8 results in favors Mg. This is what I am picking up form growers using straight coco. I'm sure modifications are in order with only 30% coco but I think PH management is still going to give me better results than trying to chase it with CaMg+.
I had planned on ph'ing to 5.5 and then picking up other nutrients as the PH in the medium drifted up to around 6.0. I am seeing runoff values around 6.0 but I do not trust them as runoff is not always an accurate way to gauge what is going on in the medium. Today I am going to steer the PH closer to 6.0 and see how this works. All of the experts claim that PH is the way to manage Ca / MG in coco...
Today I also must solve the physical stability issues with this medium. I am thinking about attaching some supports to the outside of the batos so I can have support but still be able to move my pots. The plants outside are getting blown over today.
I would like to say I planned it so that I would get only two males, one of each phenotype (indica and sativa), out of 10 Jilly-beans germinated.
I may be getting a handle on the nutrient issue - I believe it to be Mg lockout. Coco likes to hang on to Ca cations and, to a lesser extent, Mg and some others. The best way to handle this is to load it initially with CaMg before or in the first few weeks of the grow, then it will give some of this back over time. What I am learning is that one must balance Ca and Mg in coco through careful management of the ph. Ph lower than 5.8 results in more Ca available to the plant while ph above 5.8 results in favors Mg. This is what I am picking up form growers using straight coco. I'm sure modifications are in order with only 30% coco but I think PH management is still going to give me better results than trying to chase it with CaMg+.
I had planned on ph'ing to 5.5 and then picking up other nutrients as the PH in the medium drifted up to around 6.0. I am seeing runoff values around 6.0 but I do not trust them as runoff is not always an accurate way to gauge what is going on in the medium. Today I am going to steer the PH closer to 6.0 and see how this works. All of the experts claim that PH is the way to manage Ca / MG in coco...
Today I also must solve the physical stability issues with this medium. I am thinking about attaching some supports to the outside of the batos so I can have support but still be able to move my pots. The plants outside are getting blown over today.
ChicagoJoe
420 Member
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- #26
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- #27
I worked on physical stability today to deal with the monster colas soon to be popping up all over my grow room. I thought about some kind of a vertical screen and decided against it. I like to be able to adjust the position of the plants and even pull them out of the room to work on them or photograph them. I opted for stakes attached to each pot - it looks like it worked out well.
The bato buckets have a little rounded notches at the midpoint along the top on each of the two sides. I drilled these out and ran bamboo plant stakes through them then used a couple of long zip ties to secure them at the base of the bucket. I then secured the base of each plant to the stakes and tied the stakes together at the top.
The bato buckets have a little rounded notches at the midpoint along the top on each of the two sides. I drilled these out and ran bamboo plant stakes through them then used a couple of long zip ties to secure them at the base of the bucket. I then secured the base of each plant to the stakes and tied the stakes together at the top.
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- #28
Two weeks of flowering
Some shots of the plants at two weeks.
Let's use that rule in the corner on this plant. This plant was 10 inches tall when I flipped the light to 12/12 two weeks ago today. I have been managing the temperature to minimize stretch - I think I can safely let them run now as I have about another 27 inches of head room left. I vegged much longer than I wanted to while I was dialing in so many changed parameters. Hopefully this extra veg time resulted in an enormous and healthy root system. I will know in a couple of days when I finish the males and pull them out of their pots to inspect the roots.
It looks like the guys will start dropping pollen tomorrow. I trimmed the them up pretty drastically - I want a controlled amount of pollen, not a dust storm! The third photo below shows one of the flowers nearest the base of the branch is starting to open.
Various bud shots.
I'm still dealing with the lockout issue on the lower fan leaves - looks like a Mg deficiency no? I fed today with solution ph'ed to 5.8 rather than 5.5; included a couple grams of epsom salts. I think I am turing the tide here - kinda hard to tell yet. The good news is that the new growth is looking great and I'm seeing about an inch of new growth per day.
A parting shot of the outside gals.
I'm not going to let these ladies get too tall - I will apply some LST. I don't want them peeking to high above the balcony. The top dressing of hydroton adds a little weight and helps hold them down pretty well - we had some strong wind today and they held on.
Some shots of the plants at two weeks.
Let's use that rule in the corner on this plant. This plant was 10 inches tall when I flipped the light to 12/12 two weeks ago today. I have been managing the temperature to minimize stretch - I think I can safely let them run now as I have about another 27 inches of head room left. I vegged much longer than I wanted to while I was dialing in so many changed parameters. Hopefully this extra veg time resulted in an enormous and healthy root system. I will know in a couple of days when I finish the males and pull them out of their pots to inspect the roots.
It looks like the guys will start dropping pollen tomorrow. I trimmed the them up pretty drastically - I want a controlled amount of pollen, not a dust storm! The third photo below shows one of the flowers nearest the base of the branch is starting to open.
Various bud shots.
I'm still dealing with the lockout issue on the lower fan leaves - looks like a Mg deficiency no? I fed today with solution ph'ed to 5.8 rather than 5.5; included a couple grams of epsom salts. I think I am turing the tide here - kinda hard to tell yet. The good news is that the new growth is looking great and I'm seeing about an inch of new growth per day.
A parting shot of the outside gals.
I'm not going to let these ladies get too tall - I will apply some LST. I don't want them peeking to high above the balcony. The top dressing of hydroton adds a little weight and helps hold them down pretty well - we had some strong wind today and they held on.
Many intuitive tips and great pics Slimm. I didn't see all your posts when I posted last time; I only saw the first post. Really liking what you are doing here as you make growing look fun. 
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- #30
The plants are looking great so far! Well done!!
bubble grower
New Member
ChicagoJoe
420 Member
Happy 420
Green Utopia
New Member
Not sure if I missed it, but are you doing a combo of inside and out?
Happy 420!
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- #35
How festive!
Thanks Joe!
Not sure if I missed it, but are you doing a combo of inside and out?
Happy 420!
Thanks PG. Yes I have overgrown the garden - plants have spilled out onto patios, in my home office. They are everywhere.
To this day I have only grown cannabis indoors. It really is refreshing to grow under natrural light without all of the machinery, fans, artificial light sources, etc.
Happy 420 everyone. It's my son's birthday as well.
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- #36
Thanks. I have good news! I resolved the Mg lockout thanks to knna and an old post of his on growing in coco. According to knna, 5.8 is the inflection point for unlocking Ca and Mg in coco, due to coco's unique CEC. Lower than 5.8 releases more Ca, higher makes more Mg available. 3 mg of Epsom salts per gallon helped, but the kicker was two feedings with ph at 5.8. The first feeding was more of a flush. I ran normal nutrient solution to flush rather than plain RO. The reason being that coco does not respond well to plain RO flushing because the CaMg buffer will have to be re-established after the flush. This morning I fed again with the same mix at 5.8 and the plants are doing great!
I'm not sure yet if I will stay at 5.8 or I will alternate between 5.5 and 6.0. I will watch for signs of Ca or Mg def and ph accordingly. I' pretty surprised that this was an issue since i am only using 30% coco but now that it's understood I don't think it will be a problem any longer. I will just manage the ph.
ChicagoJoe
420 Member
nice catch
crypiter
New Member
Glad you caught the issue and are back on track.
Green Utopia
New Member
I hope you got it! Cause I wanna steal it. That L.S.D. has been a nightmare for me so far. Her stats are so good though - she's like an evil siren.
Its been SUPER sensitive to pH. And its super sensitive to Cal/Mag. It wants medium to strong nutes with medium to low dose of cal mag for me. Is definitely susceptable to rot and heat as well. Pretty much a spoiled little bitch.
Its been SUPER sensitive to pH. And its super sensitive to Cal/Mag. It wants medium to strong nutes with medium to low dose of cal mag for me. Is definitely susceptable to rot and heat as well. Pretty much a spoiled little bitch.
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- #40
Yep, she's a fussy one. I only have two of them indoors, the other 6 are Jillybean. I'm not stressing about the it; I'm making sure the JB is dialed in. If the L.S.D. decides to get on board then great, otherwise more room for the JB.