Ice-Cream, mmmmm.... almost ready now...

Hey everyone, i've been using RIU for a while but only now decided to let everyone in on my stealth grow... its almost ready so theres a host of pics.
Its had to be a stealth grow, not even my house mates know about it and harvest is just a week or two away!

SEEDS
Ice-Cream (feminised) from Paradise Seeds

NUTES
Hesi Soil Nutrient Pack all the way through

VEG LIGHTS
2x 125w CFL's (one red spectrum, one blue spectrum)

FLOWER LIGHT
400w Grolux Dual Spectrum HPS

GROW 'ROOM'
I bought a cheap wardrobe and 'remodelled' the inside, clothes rail was obviously the first thing to go.

• Drawer at bottom removed and broken up, drawer front screwed back on, and tarpaulin laid in base to create a permanent drip tray
• Shelf (was above drawer) was put approx 15 inch from top with 6" hole cut in it to one side
• Approx 30x 10mm holes drilled in top of cupboard for ventilation
• Fan/filter setup hung in 'top space' that has been created (ceiling hooks, rubber rings to prevent vibration, shoelaces holding up fan/filter). Filter is being used in reverse (air pushed through it) but it works just as well.
• Acoustic ducting dropped through 6" hole in shelf and hung into the grow compartment beneath (suck hot air out from top)
• 3" hole cut in bottom side of cupboard as a passive air inlet. tried a computer fan running on batteries but was excessive as the fan sucking through is more than good enough!
• painted the inside of the grow space glossy white (no tinfoil etc, i find it rattles too much with an oscillating fan inside)
• pots are 6l 18cmx18cm square and 24cm high
• I used strips of thick black material staplegunned around all the cracks around the door which stops light and makes it fairly smell-proof when the filter isn't being used
• soil is cheap - i ran out of money at this point! (but mixed with a good amount of perlite)

GROW SCHEDULE

VEG
18/6 light schedule, grew them for 4.5 weeks after they broke the soil surface. Main fan not on (too much noise for this stealth, hence the CFLs because there's little heat) i opened the cupboard as often as possible to refresh the air!

FLOWER
12/12 (obviously) with the fan on the whole time the light is for heat management. The air extraction rate is so good for the small space that the 400w light can get about 20-25cm from tips with no sign of burn, i don't dare go closer tho! At the time of writing i am at approx 8 weeks in. Had various nute deficiencies, especially a Zn and Mg problem which developed quickly and badly when i was away for a weekend! i think i've done well to nurture them back to (almost) great health. Fan leaves are still haven't recovered properly but buds show no sign of nutrient deficiencies! yay!

don't post anything until i've got the photo's up, will put them up in order and let ya know when they're all up...

this is the small plants vegging at about 2 weeks (photo's don't have specific dates unfortunately)

put them into flowering at this point - introduced the 400w but gradually lowering it over the space of a 4 days - they loved it!

topped two of the plants to experiment, since the height of my cupboard is a concern (and general space, its only 74x45cm floor plan). Topped the two taller plants...

at about 1.5 weeks into flowering (with the light nice and close and the fan replacing the air every 10 min or so!) they started their growth spurt and its apparent where the tops will start to form...

at about 3-4 weeks flowering the tops started to form nicely - one plant in particular started an epic cola rising well above its lower branches! i left the lower branches on as decent tops had formed, but cut off most of the tops below the main canopy (at the joint between the lowest fan leaves, and whichever stem they're attached, i cut off the new growths, leaving the fan leaves to collect what little light penetrates)

by about 5-6 weeks of flowering the tops were covered in pistils but hadn't really started to bulk out much - i got a bit worried at this point thinking they'd never finish - but i'm an impatient kinda guy

by week 7 however, they'd started bulking up nicely! no more worries, just a waiting game now...

now just about week 8 (approx) and they're starting to fatten up rather nicely! a couple of minor nutrient problems over the last couple of weeks but nothing affecting the buds, just fan leaves...

i've been loving the massive 'baseball bat' of a cola on my fav plant! the other un-topped plant has also a big main cola, but not as impressive due not nute problems.

one of the topped plants (in the photo below) is looking almost done and so i'm thinkin of flushing it slightly sooner than the rest so i can have a smoke with buddies before we break up for xmas (and then i can have some cured for xmas day itself and then when i go snowboarding!)

(again at around week I played around with my DSLR and extension tubes today to get some super close up photos of the trichromes to see how they're progressing.

i can see a good number of cloudy trichs, but i think i can still see a number of clear ones...

thats as far as I am right now, feel free to post comment, suggestions etc...

if you're any good at spotting when the trich's show its ready for harvest it would be much appreciated, as mentioned earlier, i plan on flushing one that looks the furthest done in the next day or two...

GreenFingerz88 said:

thats as far as I am right now, feel free to post comment, suggestions etc...

if you're any good at spotting when the trich's show its ready for harvest it would be much appreciated, as mentioned earlier, i plan on flushing one that looks the furthest done in the next day or two...

Click to expand...

Looking good bro definately flush soon. Radio shack has a 15$ scope that can see the tris. good investment if your worried about harvesting early. Although when you get enough amber they will have an amber hue to them that you should be able to see just by looking at them

1st reply! thanks for taking the time... i don't really want to spend any cash atm, what did you think of the last set of pics, i can see some amber but struggling to tell much difference between clear/cloudy...

looking nice, i'm seed shopping currently and thinking about the ice cream. Good luck & let us know how it tastes