Xlr8's "Flo N Gro" Hydro Multiple Strains 2011

[Xlr8]

Grow Update October 12th - Day 20 Bloom:

I've always been a bit old school about trimming fan leaves - typically I've only trimmed any that were really in the way of prominent bud-sites, etc. My preference has always been to "tuck" leaves whenever possible, and create openings by tying and manipulating branches. Fan leaves serve a purpose, and it's a heavily debated topic. I've seen great harvests both ways, so there probably isn't a clear cut answer.

Well, I've been telling people for a while that I'd try plucking more of the fans at some point - to step out of my comfort zone and make my own determination of defoliating vs. not defoliating. So... today, being day 20 of bloom seemed like a good opportunity to "go there". I decided not to get too radical with it, but instead "thin" the leaves a little. I filled most of a 5 gallon bucket with fan leaves, and it's definitely looking more airy in there.

I realize I could have done a lot more, but change is hard and I have to ease into this. I tried to primarily eliminate the fan leaves that were blocking bud sites or just clogging the middle up. I left many lower fans that weren't blocking anything.

Oh, and the buds are really building noticeably each day. Getting a little frost on the sugar leaves already, too. I love this part of a grow!

I still need to figure out how to reduce the reds in my pictures better...

 

[Closet Farmer]

Looking Great! You sure can tell those plants are healthy. Those bucket leaves have very nice texture!! The buds are starting to form nicely! Lots of tops! Your plants are going to fill your tent like a jiffy pop popcorn popper!!!

 

[4twenty4all]

They look very nice and clean! Sweet! That's what I do, a little at a time and I find it really helps in the final yield and amount of qualitybuds you get. I find that most strains only stunt for a few days at most if you really go crazy, but only a day or so if you do it just a little like you did. Great work.

 

[4twenty4all]

It increases airflow as well and overall light penetration which helps with drying the top of the soil in moist environments.

 

[ClearCrow]

looking very nice my friend. keep up the good work.

 

[Goldengoose7]

sorry if im not around much, hectic here. if i dont find a job asap we will be on the streets. never been in this situation and im getting depressed a little. I know the Lord will see us through though .peace and God bless you my friend .
GT

Hang in there GT!

I'm really sorry to hear that you are being forced to go through that! I would have been in the same boat if I had not destroyed my left knee in a fall in 2004 and after years of denials followed by appeals was finally granted permanent SSI disability. A meager monthly sum, a fraction of my previous income that barely pays the bills and doesn't leave much for anything else. But it is an income. More than a lot of folks have right now.

Do you have access to unemployment benefits? Those got me through well over a year of waiting with no job, while I was appealing my SSI disability denials.

RANT ON!

What kind of country do we live in where people who have lost the ability to move around like a normal person now consider themselves "LUCKY" for being crippled because the disability check they receive is the only way they can put food on the table, while able bodied folks are losing everything, and going hungry all around them? MY GOD! How did we sink so low?

Sometimes it takes great pain to the levels we are seeing today before the people WAKE UP and start realizing who actually cares about their welfare, and who simply uses and exploits their fears for their own personal gain.

The revolution is already well underway. Whether it remains peaceful, or turns into a violent overthrow of our current Plutocracy with rows and rows of money grubbers, biggots and hate mongers hanging from every light post on main street remains to be seen. But either way, the status quo hasn't much longer to live, and THANK GOD FOR THAT!

If there is a hell, these selfish, hate filled "creatures" that created this mess for the rest of us and continue to exploit other's pain and suffering have front row seats reserved for them in the Lake of Fire.

EXTRA CRISPY section of course!

RANT OFF

Hang in there GT, and if you need to talk, I'm here! Feel free to PM me anytime!

 

[Xlr8]

looking very nice my friend. keep up the good work.

Thank you ClearCrow!

 

[Xlr8]

Hey Goose -

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I hope you are right. The status quo can not continue, and we need to see this ridiculously outdated system of "haves" and "have nots" crumble. The middle class needs to take back our country, quickly, before we are all dead or in poverty.

To me, these are some of our biggest problems as a nation:

• Large financial institutions have too much power and are dangerously perceived as "too big to fail". Despite being bailed out, they are not extending credit to those who need it. This needs to change.
  
  
• Corporate influence on political processes. Many large companies spend many millions on lobbying. We NEED to stop this practice. It's almost single-handedly ruining our country. Scarily, we've gone the wrong direction with some of this recently by allowing corporations to contribute to political campaigns without previously set limits. THERE IS CURRENTLY WAY TOO MUCH CORPORATE INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL POLICY.
  
  
• Partisan politics have created gridlock. It's time for new voices, new ideas, and modern thinking.
  
  
• The current generation in power has not kept up with societal change. They are not in touch with the generations who will soon be in power. This is where much of my hope lies. (Note, I'm not condemning a particular generation, just a general statement about the majority of those currently in power).
  
  
• Failed, wrong-headed drug policy is creating "criminals" who are not criminals. It's costing us a fortune in funding that could go to much better use. It also tears apart lives, families, and civil liberties. Don't even get me started on the tax implications.
  
  We are becoming Zombies because of big pharma. They have deep pockets that help them keep their position as some of the scariest dope peddlers ever to roam the earth. I'm still swimming in negative side effects from medications that I no longer even take, from medications that fill my dreams with horror and should have never been made legal in the first place. Anyone ever taken nerve pain meds?!?
  
  
• Apathy. People need to wake up quick. Change doesn't happen without action, and we're still not fully accepting the depth of the problems we have as a nation. Ignorance is a part of this as well. I'm amazed at the ignorance of some people who have been so fortunate as to keep their middle income jobs, and think the rest of us are over-reacting, lazy or not trying hard enough. Are you people kidding? Wake up! There aren't enough jobs in our economy anymore. Not even close. You can't expect unemployment to get better if there are no jobs for people to do!

 

[Closet Farmer]

The last time things were this bad was during the depression. That lead to the abolishment of alcohol prohibition.

If anything good comes out of this. It will be the end of Marijuana prohibition.

The People and the government are going to be forced to look at the stupid laws and wasteful spending that have that cost tax payers billions of dollars a year.

If it gets worse than this. Our closets full of buds will be worth more than the money the government prints. Commodities will be the new currency.

 

[Goldengoose7]

Well said you guys!

That Citizens United Decision that opened the door for "unlimited undisclosed" political contributions by faceless corporations and wealthy individuals was the last straw for me!

Now the government that was founded on the principal of "For the People By the People" has been reduced to government for the disgustingly wealthy by the disgustingly wealthy!

Their motto? "I've got mine! F the rest of you! They are a truly disgusting form of human that need to be exsponged from our society one way or another! Jail would be a nice place to start!

Hope they have an exit strategy! They're going to need it in the not too distant future!

 

[Siscokid]

RRRR! I hear you brothers, Rage against the Machine is playing in my head.. I'm just hoping that 12-21-12 is some sort of "RESET" for us...cause honestly, I really don't see it getting better.

 

[Siscokid]

Girls are booming by the way...

 

[Xlr8]

Well said you guys!

That Citizens United Decision that opened the door for "unlimited undisclosed" political contributions by faceless corporations and wealthy individuals was the last straw for me!...

Me too. I honestly was about as shocked and disenfranchised as I've ever been the moment this happened. I told anyone who would listen, that this would be the ruin of our nation. I'm still dumbstruck that this happened. Completely the opposite of what needs to happen. We need more big corporate involvement in politics like another hole in the head. Apathy and ignorance allowed this - we need to wise up, wake up and take our country back!!!

 

[Xlr8]

RRRR! I hear you brothers, Rage against the Machine is playing in my head.. I'm just hoping that 12-21-12 is some sort of "RESET" for us...cause honestly, I really don't see it getting better.

I hear you brotha! Wake up muthaf*ckas!!!!! Ahhhhh!!!!

Check out this video - pretty cool example of the people fighting back. Will we wait this long, until it gets this bad?

NOTE - I just noticed this video won't play on this forum because it's restricted from certain sites by SONY. How f*cking ironic??!?!!

Please watch anyway --- and see what I mean. It will just end up playing on the Youtube site, but it cracks me up that a video intended to be revolutionary against big corporate interest, is restricted by --- SONY, who own the rights to Rage Against the Machine's intellectual property. What a world we live in. ARGH.

RatM - Water War [© SME] - YouTube

Girls are booming by the way...

Thanks man, I'm always stoked at the way the flowers start booming at this stage.

 

[Xlr8]

Quick note/grow update:

The Chocolope is finally starting to show pistils and build tiny little buds. Gave all the ladies a good once over last night, and they are all really looking healthy, and happy since their defoliation yesterday. I might try to elevate her somehow to get her closer to the light in there, but not sure if I can.

Oh, and one of my Exhale brand CO2 bags had a slight tear near the breathing patch (it's a bag with a mycelial mass in it that produces CO2). It started to grow green mold in it! I'm a little nervous about it having spread infection somehow, but so far I see no ill effects. If anyone tries these and has a tear/hole of any kind, remove it from your grow space right away. I know OMM has one or more of these, and I think they do help in a small space/tent, but this is something to be wary of!

Argh. Ive been trying to catch up on other peoples journals all day, and I still have 40+ threads with unread posts. Sigh!

 

[420GodsTrichome]

love RATM!!!!

 

[Aaron Quix]

Hey Goose -

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I hope you are right. The status quo can not continue, and we need to see this ridiculously outdated system of "haves" and "have nots" crumble. The middle class needs to take back our country, quickly, before we are all dead or in poverty.

To me, these are some of our biggest problems as a nation:

• Large financial institutions have too much power and are dangerously perceived as "too big to fail". Despite being bailed out, they are not extending credit to those who need it. This needs to change.
  
  
• Corporate influence on political processes. Many large companies spend many millions on lobbying. We NEED to stop this practice. It's almost single-handedly ruining our country. Scarily, we've gone the wrong direction with some of this recently by allowing corporations to contribute to political campaigns without previously set limits. THERE IS CURRENTLY WAY TOO MUCH CORPORATE INFLUENCE ON POLITICAL POLICY.
  
  
• Partisan politics have created gridlock. It's time for new voices, new ideas, and modern thinking.
  
  
• The current generation in power has not kept up with societal change. They are not in touch with the generations who will soon be in power. This is where much of my hope lies. (Note, I'm not condemning a particular generation, just a general statement about the majority of those currently in power).
  
  
• Failed, wrong-headed drug policy is creating "criminals" who are not criminals. It's costing us a fortune in funding that could go to much better use. It also tears apart lives, families, and civil liberties. Don't even get me started on the tax implications.
  
  We are becoming Zombies because of big pharma. They have deep pockets that help them keep their position as some of the scariest dope peddlers ever to roam the earth. I'm still swimming in negative side effects from medications that I no longer even take, from medications that fill my dreams with horror and should have never been made legal in the first place. Anyone ever taken nerve pain meds?!?
  
  
• Apathy. People need to wake up quick. Change doesn't happen without action, and we're still not fully accepting the depth of the problems we have as a nation. Ignorance is a part of this as well. I'm amazed at the ignorance of some people who have been so fortunate as to keep their middle income jobs, and think the rest of us are over-reacting, lazy or not trying hard enough. Are you people kidding? Wake up! There aren't enough jobs in our economy anymore. Not even close. You can't expect unemployment to get better if there are no jobs for people to do!

You forgot ENTITLEMENT brother. It, above all, is killing this nation, in that it is deeply rooted in the MOTIVATION of all the above detriments mentioned.
Our children are being indoctrinated with the shit. Hell, my generation was indoctrinated with it, and I know a great many assholes who were layed off from their jobs, and took ALL 99 WEEKS of unemployment. Hell, I was let go from my job in '08 too-- 3 months of day labor, living in a homeless shelter for that same 3 months, and a desire to rise above it with MY OWN two feet, brought me back from the brink. I felt guilty the whole time I took unemployment. But I needed it, as many do. I dont get angry when someone is genuinely unable to work, I get angry when someone REFUSES to work when they have the ability. Hell, I took a damn pay-cut when I went back to work. And I mean a cut from what UNEMPLOYMENT was paying me, but I wasn't going to sit around and take from others to support myself.
But others do, and don't feel bad because they honestly feel entitled to sit on their ass, party and waste their lives (And our money) for selfish, lazy reasons.

Sorry for the rant, and to beat an old (day old) horse. Just drove through the "OCCUPY DENVER" gathering on the capitol today. Was surprised to see a few people I actually knew down there. I yelled out the window to them.."Hey, what are YOU GUYS doin here? One's answer was "WE NEED JOBS!!"....This douche bag fucking QUIT his job a year ago siting "Hostile work environment" Yeah, he doesn't do SHIT to get back to work. The other douche bag yells back "I'm just hangin out with him" as they chuckled. Its a joke to a lot of people, just makes me mad.....

Much love X! Plants look like they loved the trim!!

 

[Goldengoose7]

Couldn't disagree with you more about the whole Entitlement MYTH!

You make it seem like unemployment benefits is akin to winning the lottery. And getting laid off from your job through no fault of your own, and then living off the unemployment benefits that you paid into your entire working life makes you an Ass Hole in your view? WOW! I don't even know how to respond to something so absurd as that statement.

I went through all 99 weeks of my unemployment. Its the only reason I am still living on this property! Without it, we would have lost everything!

FYI: For most, and including myself, those benefits are about 25% of the monthly income we were getting before we lost our job. Do you honestly think that people would prefer that over the job they had before? I sure as hell didn't!

That tired old line of BS about people being lazy and kicking back and collecting money for nothing may have fooled some back in the day, (those who don't know what real hardship is) but when there are hundreds of applicants for even the most menial and low paying jobs these days, I don't know how anyone gets off calling people lazy for not being able to find work!

Hell! Most employers won't even hire someone that doesn't already have a job somewhere else when they apply. What kind of F'ed up situation is that?

And that whole pride thing about taking unemployment benefits? Misplaced pride like that is a luxury for people that don't have others relying on them for their next meal and a roof over their head!

Those social safety nets were put there for a reason. If you think people are pissed off right now, imagine what kind of total chaos we would be living with right now if none of those people had any assistance of any kind, like some in this country actually believe should be the way things are done. Its bad enough that millions have gone through all 99 weeks of unemployment and now have nothing to live on.

My answer to the arrogance of the right is this...

You can't pull yourself up by your own boot straps when you don't have any boots! Unlike them, some are not born into wealth or high social standing and struggle for even the most basic of human needs from day one!

Thats a concept that the silver spoon fed social conservatives will never be able to wrap their tiny little reptile brains around! Most of them wouldn't last 10 minutes in the shoes of the less fortunate that they so love to hate on! They'd be crying for their mommy to come and save them from the desolation of it all, just like you'd expect from a bunch of the milk toast wussies and cowards!

 

[Siscokid]

I'm sorry but there are idiots out there that take advantage of UEB, they get real comfy and forget to look for work... I think that is what Q was saying.

 

[Goldengoose7]

I'm sorry but there are idiots out there that take advantage of UEB, they get real comfy and forget to look for work... I think that is what Q was saying.

Of course there are, but lets not make it out to be more than the .00000001% of the unemployed out there right now! There are CEOs of failing banks that are pulling down 7 figure bonuses too! No problem with that though huh. :icon_roll

Do you really believe that someone can live the "Life of Riley" on less than $600.00 bucks a month? You can't even rent an apartment in most areas of California for that!

I have yet to meet anyone without a job that prefers collecting unemployment benefits to a real job that pays a living wage.

The reality is quickly changing, and the very vocal conservative minority in this country is about to realize just how tiny their actual numbers are when compared to the previously silent majority. Especially when that majority starts kicking some long overdue whack job ass at the polls!

Yep. The tipping point has been reached, and heaven help the poor fools who find themselves on the wrong side of history. Its much harder to call someone lazy, or a loser when they are standing in front of you holding a 2x4.