Aurora Indica: Should it be this simple?

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
So did you do the "36 hrs of dark" like some suggest as you move into the flowering cycle? Or did you go from 18/6 straight to 12/12?

Just curious, I dont think there is a wrong way by any means.
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Yeah I just went straight for the 12/12. Very little noticeable change from yesterday... The meristem has reoriented itself toward the light and I am thinking that I will have to retrain the growth in the next few days. The side growth is noticeable but not terribly so...
Here is a far away pic of my set up. It is still small and while there are only 3 lights it is still adequate, I feel, because the plant is still very small and each part of the plant is well lit!
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I have pics of my new clones and of the seedling that I am going to just throw into flower after its 7th day.
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It is considerably smaller than its older sibling because I have intentionally given only the barest scraps of light. This way, if it is a girl I will get some extra bud and if not I may get a bit of pollen and seeds. Either way I will have side by side proof of the importance of getting that light really close to the leaves.

So in this next picture you can see the main bend in the stem. I bent one of the side shoots back and away from the main stem hoping to get a bunch moree growth over the entire soil surface. If you look to the right of that white wire you can see the little oopsie that I made when I was cloning.
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Here we have the first primary node trained back and to the left of the main bend. I am already seeing MORE secondary growth from it and I hope that I don't hurt that one!
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Oh and an aside for anyone planning on doing this.... DO IT! But please be gentle! The mainstem bent without a problem but the first side shoot that I pinned down got the slightest break yesterday that I just noticed today. I haven't seen any negative side effects or wilting yet so I think she will heal up stronger than ever.

This is a top-down shot of the meristem. It is still green and healthy and if you are high enough you can kind of tell that it got some distance between the nodes as it was righting itself. Hell, if you are REALLY high you can even see it growing! :eyesmoke: DSC00226.jpg

Just one last away shot before I left her alone. I am hoping to notice the sex by the end of the week. I am still floored by the rampant growth! This entire LST endeavor is going to get rather complicated rather quickly, but the added yield is going to make it all worth it.... Just looking at the beginnings of what can happen with LST makes me want to only do this for the rest of my growing days.


Lastly, I would like to comment on the smell... It is very noticeable but not over powering. This is to say that you cannot catch the smell anywhere outside of the room the plant is in. The fan leaf that died as a result of the botched cut dried out and I sniffed it to see what kind of smell I should expect. While there is still that characteristic skunky smell, there is also a faint grapefruit/citrusy smell. So just imagine a ratty little skunk being beaten to death by an overripe grapefruit and there you go! I didn't have a taste, but I would be just fine and dandy with a great knock-me-down body high that tasted like a grapefruit.

Does anyone know if a dried fan leaf is a good indicator of the aroma of the dried bud?
 

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icurbyou

Well-Known Member
Damn bro.. So much to say about today's update!

1. Lighting looks good.

2. I like your extra seedling for female/male. My girlfirend and I were discussing Charlotte and #3 last night. Saying how if 1 was male and 1 was female we'd have WAY more room to grow the female PLUS we'd get a shit ton of seeds from pollenating. Everyone on RIU hates males... and 100% males would suck production-wise, but having males isn't so bad... I like the way you think!

3. I think I see your oopsie.. Was it a lower branch that got busted? WHOOPS!

4. So, I see the method of your LST. I am curious to this method. It appears you are pulling branches down... Isn't the point of LST, though, to pull the top of the plant down, in order to cause the branches to be highter than the top and trick the side branches into thinking THEY should create the cola, thus causing multiple colas?
Not trying to challenge your methods at all! Just curious!!

5. Your skunk VS grapefruit description was hilarious.

I hear a lot of people mention fruity smells. If anything my plant smells like a normal plant PLUS minty!... Even my buddy said "Smells minty" when I showed him.
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
4. So, I see the method of your LST. I am curious to this method. It appears you are pulling branches down... Isn't the point of LST, though, to pull the top of the plant down, in order to cause the branches to be highter than the top and trick the side branches into thinking THEY should create the cola, thus causing multiple colas?
Not trying to challenge your methods at all! Just curious!!
Nah! Nah! I know you're a cool cat and I wouldn't/didn't take it in a bad way at all. You are right, though! In a perfect system, the idea is to trick the plant into making multiple colas and my bits and pieces aren't exactly level with each other. After the getting them level however, my new goal will be just getting as much light as I can to those secondary nodes. That is where the pulling down and out of branches comes in. Hopefully I can make a kind of wreath of colas so I can just put that naked 65w cfl right in the middle of them all and get a LOT of great buds with little fanagling. I am sure that I will have at least 3 large colas, while the rest are truly being bent down more than they should have been. Thanks for noticing that! You may have just helped me net another month's worth of weed!

Frankly, I am not the biggest fan of grapefruit, but it would be better than the grease rag taste of the mid-grade that I have been smoking.

You and your girl have a pretty good outlook on the growing life, too! The plants are way too beautiful to hate the males just cuz you can't smoke them. If I ever had the space to do some growing I would be just as happy as hell to have a male so I could try my hand at breeding a perfect strain for my wants and needs.

Yeah! It was one of the very first full fan leaves... Broke my heart when I pulled the blade back. Just visions of the most horrible things running through my head. Armies of lumberjacks, fleets of locusts, golf courses.... Just everything that could spell out the destruction of a lot of plant life. This grow has changed my entire view of nature! Much more respect for life in any form. I imagine that if I found spider mites I would lament their imminent demise more than I would worry about the health of my plant... Maybe not...

Well, gonna smoke and go to sleep! Have a good one!
 

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
A wreath of colas.. Nice idea, with a 65w CFL in the middle.. That's something that hasnt crossed my mind. Now im even more eager for your flower to kick in completely!

I am a fan of marijuana's odor.. but for my safety I would prefer my room/house smell of grapefruit than chronic. My girlfriend tells me that the plants dont smell. She says "They just smell like dirt and plant". Haha. She doesnt smoke herb, she is only supportive of my growing because I think she sees how excited I get about all of it. I have tried to get her to touch the plant to get a whiff of it but she wont, lol.

I can tell she's getting into it though. She's getting hooked... She will see me carrying the plant across the house (to the shower) and she will be like "What are you doing? Where are you going with it?" hahaha. It's okay! Im not going to hurt it!! lol

Your comment on "Armies of lumberjacks, fleets of locusts, golf courses...." made me laugh. HAHA your imagination is hilarious.

Next week can't come fast enough. I want to know the sex of your plants! Im getting excited and jittery about your grow! haha
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Dude, I know that I'm high and all full of love and all but, I have to say that even if your grow were to yield 1/2 a gram of the weakest herb, you would still have found yourself, the owner of a gem! That girl of yours is definitely a rarity! Hold on to her no matter what cuz that shit is healthy on so many levels! Successful relationships often have a shared passion.

Indeed! the wreath. That bulb is the size of my head and it is hella bright for an all-around 360 degrees and I want every last one of them to be within 3 inches of green. lol

I agree with your fondness for the smell for the first month I was smoking maybe 2 or 3 times a week and on the days I didn't smoke I would open the jar my stash is in, breathe deeply and shout "BITCH!" Even though it has that strong diesel aroma it is still mighty fine, indeed! Hahaha I love her to death, but the time your having with your touching the plant was time I was having getting my girl to accept my smoking. Everything is smoth now, though.

Yeah man the wet leaves smell totally different from the dry leaves. The wet skunky smell has actually evolved a little and intensified, what with there being so much more plant to stink. there is a kind of rotten fruit overtone now which kind of makes my mouth water when I hear on strain reviews of how so many strains that smell like rotten fruit when wet, taste like delectable fruits when they are dry and they get better with a proper cure... Leads me to strongly believe that the dried grapefruit smell is a precursor to the fruity delectability of my Johnnie O!

Hahaha! I knew someone would get a kick out of it the way I did when "golf courses" popped into my head!

Hahaha! I am nearly certain that you are every bit as excited as I am. in my mind I am seeing explosions of buds and every bud site swollen with the fattest cola, and that is just in class, you know? May be they will show early...

I hope.
 

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
Yeah damn, you are full of love right now. haha. I hear you on the whole "getting my girl to accept me smoking". We moved in together in Oct 07 and she expecting me to quit or some crazy shit. I told her I wasn't going to and I just kept smoking. I only smoke on the weekends (Fri/Sat) or if I have a day off or something. And my girlfriend can't deny that I am way more calm, goofy and loving while smokey then when I'm sober. Either way, many months of her being unhappy she has finally settled. She doesn't mind it at all now. I think her biggest thing against it was the negative stigma that "marijuana" has.. Ya know? The typical government-pushed shit.

I have never even smelled pot that smells like fruit. I really hope one of my plants has a fruity scent. Sounds like you've got a very odorful strain. Is Aurora typically a strong odor strain? I think you should take a jar, snag up some of the fruit air and mail it to me.. I want to smell it! lol

Edit: I just read about your strain on this website.. I didnt see anything about odor... BUT, I see it says to only veg for 10 days!! Dude, that seems REALLY short!

Marijuana Strain Library - Aurora Borealis
 

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
I totally just remembered, while reading another thread, that you are using neckties and shit to hold up your lights. LMFAO.. That's hilarious
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Day 2 of flower after 20 days in veg. I started LST about 2 days ago and I am so glad I did because I noticed this type of growth when I checked just before lights out yesterday, though I didn't have time to post it. There will be more pics after I make adjustments later. The soil has been shaded a lot more lately so I haven't needed to water or fertilize in about 6 days now. I am certain that it will be about 11 or 12 before I have to water again. About 2 hours after lights out last night I noticed that there are 2 lights on the ionizer... A red light and a green light are on almost constantly so I put a bit of tape over the red light and left the green light as is. I hope that red light wasn't as bright as I thought it was. Any how I just got home and haven't checked the progress yet, but I am going to make another update after my nightly smoke break. But with the pic I am leaving you for today, you will see all the growth from the sides that I am getting and it showed up in just a couple of days! Gonna have a skunky behemoth on my hands after a couple of weeks.

yeah man, I have a lot of experiements going at the same time which ensures that none of them are scientific. My intent was to go as low quality as I could go to see if yields were affected by the small stuff. I am seeing more and more everyday that high-end stuff is kind of pointless if you are not tryng to get commercial yields. If you are trying to make a profit, then it is in your best interest to get the finest foxfarm nutrients and accessories, but if you can make due with getting an ounce or so per month, then you could do better for your wallet with piss, all purpose instant plant food, and bloodmeal for veg. Yeah... I said piss... I used about a half cup of Hackel's Finest Miracle Water in a half gallon of pH'd water as my first nutes. Did much better than the second go around when I burned a couple of leaves with premixed fertilizer solution. Sick, but effective!

So, curb, you have any other odd methods of caring for your plants? I probably trumped it with the 'organic' nutes thing. lol
 

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icurbyou

Well-Known Member
.... uh... After sitting in awe for about 2 minutes I have mustered up the ability to reply... You PISSED on your plants (basically)!!! LOL.. You're crazy bro. You definitely have trumped anything I would have thought of.
I have barely even gotten to use my foxfarm nutes. I just read last night that with my strain you should be very modest with the nutes and the water so I am going to follow that word of advice. I may nute 2 more times throughout it's life, but for now Im good.
I dont think I could bring myself to feed my ladies some of my piss. It'd be all I could think about when I am smoking their buds! lol

I really like how you are doing your LST. Basically laying the plant on it's side in the long pot. That's brilliant man. I just hope the pot has enough room for the roots! How many gals of dirt does that thing hold?

It's looking good man. Keep it piss... I mean, Keep it up!
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
LOL Its the Circle of Life, Simba! I must say that even though it sounds disgusting, there are many trace minerals and a whole lot of nitrogen in human urine. It is quite gentle as a fertilizer as well.

Well, I was going to send up some more pictures of the LST last night but was unable to get to the computer so here goes the pics. I have been adjusting the growth so that it is all even and I have a side shot of the plant to show just how level it is. For me, there is now less fear of breaking the plant and also less actual breaking of the plant. I am thinking that I should have started this process much sooner.

I also added a thick tarpaulin to decrease the risk of light leaks extending my flowering time. I can't wait to see the sex. Well I have to go get ready for clinicals so I will just leave it here and I'll report todays updates before I smoke up ("get pissed" lol) and that is about all!
 

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icurbyou

Well-Known Member
"circle of life"... lol it's funny because I have that on my itunes.. as well as the rest of the lionking soundtrack. haha

So, what, 3 days in Flower now? ooooh, Im excited!

That side shot looks bomb dude. How many flowering lights do you have on it at this point?

So, you mention "clinicals" a lot. You're going to school to become a nurse?
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I am in my final semester of nursing school. Strangely, though... I have actually been doing better in nursing school ever since I have been smoking weed. And clinicals is where the weed's benefits shine the brightest. There is a lasting decrease in stress and anxiety and When my high is coming down I get sleepy so I use that drowsiness to help me get to sleep at a decent hour the night before clinicals. If you can find me a sleeping pill that gets me to sleep without being drugged the next day and instead leaves me relatively stress free... Well I wouldn't quit smoking but I would certainly smoke a bit less.... Not much less, though

Well I have got 5 shots set up here and they aren't too big of a change from yesterday. Just a bit taller a bit more pungent and a few more secondary nodes coming in. One is a picture of secondary nodes on a secondary node, so I am happy with the little bit of change that I got. I will wait until tomorrow to do anymore training because while the plant is now packing on another new set of leaves each day, the stems still feel much too fragile to bend like I want them to.

And one is just a little something that I took as a good sign. The newer fan leaves (which are actually larger than their older mates) are now sporting 9 blades. I am still aching to know the sex.

There is an unfounded claim that was even mentioned in Bud For Less about female plants tending to be more stocky and bushy than males. The author made this assumption in the book but ended up being right about the plant so... Any thoughts? Seeing as how the plant has packed on 3 inches of length in as many days of flower, I'm less inclined to consider it to be stocky. lol

Well, kids... Its that time again :eyesmoke:....
Take care.
 

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bxke1414

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I am in my final semester of nursing school. Strangely, though... I have actually been doing better in nursing school ever since I have been smoking weed. And clinicals is where the weed's benefits shine the brightest. There is a lasting decrease in stress and anxiety and When my high is coming down I get sleepy so I use that drowsiness to help me get to sleep at a decent hour the night before clinicals. If you can find me a sleeping pill that gets me to sleep without being drugged the next day and instead leaves me relatively stress free... Well I wouldn't quit smoking but I would certainly smoke a bit less.... Not much less, though

Well I have got 5 shots set up here and they aren't too big of a change from yesterday. Just a bit taller a bit more pungent and a few more secondary nodes coming in. One is a picture of secondary nodes on a secondary node, so I am happy with the little bit of change that I got. I will wait until tomorrow to do anymore training because while the plant is now packing on another new set of leaves each day, the stems still feel much too fragile to bend like I want them to.

And one is just a little something that I took as a good sign. The newer fan leaves (which are actually larger than their older mates) are now sporting 9 blades. I am still aching to know the sex.

There is an unfounded claim that was even mentioned in Bud For Less about female plants tending to be more stocky and bushy than males. The author made this assumption in the book but ended up being right about the plant so... Any thoughts? Seeing as how the plant has packed on 3 inches of length in as many days of flower, I'm less inclined to consider it to be stocky. lol

Well, kids... Its that time again :eyesmoke:....
Take care.
Interesting idea on stocky and bushy, my biggest and bushiest plant just showed sex (female!) before 12/12 at about 27 days of veg, so it could be true. Grow looks great tho I'll be watching.
 

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
I love the whole "If you can find me a pill that can do that.... well.... i'd still smoke.. just less.... but not much less" LMFAO

I'm with you. I have my reasons for smoking too. It's not just to "get high and have fun"...
Sorry I was going to write a bunch more but I had a meeting and now I have totally forgotten it. LOL

Looks great tho. I cannot wait to find out sex!!
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Well, the good news is that the house is empty... The bad news is that My camera was taken on a church retreat by my sister so I will have no pics til sunday...
I am pissed... I wanted to show that my clones have taken root. and that I readjusted the plant to an almost nazi-like precision.
 

icurbyou

Well-Known Member
Dude.. damn church goers! lol

Congrats on the clones! That's awesome!

I am going to refer to you as HACKEL SAW... Because you bend and twist your plant like the killer in SAW would do.. and yer name is HACKel. Like Hack-saw
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
Hackel Saw Is a fantastic name LOL I'm loving it.

Did a slight no-no, but still less risky than a detailed and extensively photographed grow journal on the internet. ROFL I showed my little brother my whole grow setup and let him smell the plant and look at the clones and everything and he was totally cool with it. It was kind of gratifying to see the jaw drop. I trust that he will never tell about it because he is going to be living with me after I graduate. Mainly, it was just a meet and greet for the status quo of our future situation. And it was well met!

Now there is only to see that these plants are female or not...
 

hackel

Well-Known Member
ahh just a few years younger than me. I am still sweating my camera that is NOT in my possession. I think I used up all the "Grace of God" I had left on the success of Johnnie and I can't pay up for no one seeing the 12 or 13 pictures of weed on it.
 
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