Vanayakananda
Member
[FONT="]Mi amigos,
Again, the wisdom on this site about growing high-quality smoke has saved my sorry ass. Thank you to all who gave advice and brought a little comfort to me during the difficult time when we discovered one of our daughters is not, in fact, a daughter at all. I thought she was just going through a phase, but this morning, my suspicions were confirmed- our little girl is neither a girl, nor a boy, but rather BOTH! As the parents, my wife and I were crushed. We will be holding a wake for the poor little hermie. Fruit baskets, deli trays, and weed will be appreciated.
Now, I would like to give a summary about where my small crop is, and where it's been, especially in light of the hermaphrodite and hopefully, some of the extremely helpful and generous fellow growers will help me make it down the home stretch.
I started with 12 "Shiva Shanti" seeds from Amsterdam and started them in Jiffy pots in mid-May. Eight of them germinated and grew into seedlings nicely, and six were up to being transplanted into 3 gallon pots with Miracle Gro potting soil on May 28th.
During the seedling stage, They were kept within an inch or two of 4 foot fluorescent lamps- the ones labeled as "for aquariums and plants. During vegetation, I used a MH 400W and gave the six plants 18 hours light a day. Plant tops are 2 feet from the lamp.
Now, the spec sheet from the seed company says that this strain, Shiva Shanti, grows to 50cm-80cm (app. 20"-30"). It is a sativa-indica hybrid, primarily indica, has a 9-week flowering period, and is a snap to grow indoors. Well, apparently nobody told the plants this, because by June 28th, after 31 days of vegetative growth, the plants were over 40." I e-mailed Amsterdam and asked if it was time to go to flower and they said yes, so I switched to Sodium lights and went to 12/12.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We're now at day 23 of flowering. As soon as I saw signs of sex I joined in . . . just kidding, I wanted to be sure you were all paying attention. As soon as I saw signs of sex I started to watch them like a hawk, and as soon as I saw 2 males, out they went. Then, of course, earlier today, after days of watching one of the four develop differently than the others, I spotted male sex organs, posted a pic here on this forum, and immediately got confirmation that it was indeed a hermaphrodite.. That plant has been taken for a little boat ride with my brother Guido. . . .
Here are a few pics of my remaining plants. They are now in excess of six feet tall, and I don't know why the plants are triple what I was told to expect. I began 15-30-15 fertilizer a week ago. I'm hopeful that no male sperm, uh, pollen has spurted on any of the female's fac, uh, flowers.
I think I'm going to do well with my three remaining plants, but what do you folks, my betters, think? Do they look like they are doing well for their age? When do you think I can go to harvest? Can a plant only be harvested once? What is my likely yield? Oh, I forgot to start clones during vegetation- can I still do it now? And why are they so frikkin' tall? Do I have a green thumb? Mismarked seeds? The aliens are feeding them something special?
Also, I have seen tiny, gnat like bugs flying around the base of the plants for a couple of weeks, but there is no leaf damage that I can see. A few, not many, have yellow splotches, but no evidence of bugs under a loupe. The closet is between 75-83 degrees during the day, 72 at night. The humidity is 45-65%. A 16" pedestal fan keeps air on the move.
Thanks, folks. You guys are lifesavers. I think what we do is a beautiful thing, and I look forward to the day when a century of hypocrisy is corrected and weed becomes legal everywhere.
And I promise not to write such long letters too often. It makes the type too damn small.
Peace.
[/FONT]
Again, the wisdom on this site about growing high-quality smoke has saved my sorry ass. Thank you to all who gave advice and brought a little comfort to me during the difficult time when we discovered one of our daughters is not, in fact, a daughter at all. I thought she was just going through a phase, but this morning, my suspicions were confirmed- our little girl is neither a girl, nor a boy, but rather BOTH! As the parents, my wife and I were crushed. We will be holding a wake for the poor little hermie. Fruit baskets, deli trays, and weed will be appreciated.
Now, I would like to give a summary about where my small crop is, and where it's been, especially in light of the hermaphrodite and hopefully, some of the extremely helpful and generous fellow growers will help me make it down the home stretch.
I started with 12 "Shiva Shanti" seeds from Amsterdam and started them in Jiffy pots in mid-May. Eight of them germinated and grew into seedlings nicely, and six were up to being transplanted into 3 gallon pots with Miracle Gro potting soil on May 28th.
During the seedling stage, They were kept within an inch or two of 4 foot fluorescent lamps- the ones labeled as "for aquariums and plants. During vegetation, I used a MH 400W and gave the six plants 18 hours light a day. Plant tops are 2 feet from the lamp.
Now, the spec sheet from the seed company says that this strain, Shiva Shanti, grows to 50cm-80cm (app. 20"-30"). It is a sativa-indica hybrid, primarily indica, has a 9-week flowering period, and is a snap to grow indoors. Well, apparently nobody told the plants this, because by June 28th, after 31 days of vegetative growth, the plants were over 40." I e-mailed Amsterdam and asked if it was time to go to flower and they said yes, so I switched to Sodium lights and went to 12/12.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We're now at day 23 of flowering. As soon as I saw signs of sex I joined in . . . just kidding, I wanted to be sure you were all paying attention. As soon as I saw signs of sex I started to watch them like a hawk, and as soon as I saw 2 males, out they went. Then, of course, earlier today, after days of watching one of the four develop differently than the others, I spotted male sex organs, posted a pic here on this forum, and immediately got confirmation that it was indeed a hermaphrodite.. That plant has been taken for a little boat ride with my brother Guido. . . .
Here are a few pics of my remaining plants. They are now in excess of six feet tall, and I don't know why the plants are triple what I was told to expect. I began 15-30-15 fertilizer a week ago. I'm hopeful that no male sperm, uh, pollen has spurted on any of the female's fac, uh, flowers.
I think I'm going to do well with my three remaining plants, but what do you folks, my betters, think? Do they look like they are doing well for their age? When do you think I can go to harvest? Can a plant only be harvested once? What is my likely yield? Oh, I forgot to start clones during vegetation- can I still do it now? And why are they so frikkin' tall? Do I have a green thumb? Mismarked seeds? The aliens are feeding them something special?
Also, I have seen tiny, gnat like bugs flying around the base of the plants for a couple of weeks, but there is no leaf damage that I can see. A few, not many, have yellow splotches, but no evidence of bugs under a loupe. The closet is between 75-83 degrees during the day, 72 at night. The humidity is 45-65%. A 16" pedestal fan keeps air on the move.
Thanks, folks. You guys are lifesavers. I think what we do is a beautiful thing, and I look forward to the day when a century of hypocrisy is corrected and weed becomes legal everywhere.
And I promise not to write such long letters too often. It makes the type too damn small.
Peace.
[/FONT]
