Misadventures of a First Time Grower!! Some Good INFO!

Hey Loto...
Right at the moment I don't have the space to grow like that or use a lamp of that high output... I'm using CFL's. I'm down to 3 plants now. Unfortunately the gnat infestation took 2 of my young O.C.'s. Just yesterday I replanted my last 3 in 5 gallon paint buckets, flushed the roots, & changed the soil. I switched from Miracle Grow Organic to Expert Gardener Organic. It has alot more nutrients in it (at least where I can see comparing labels side by side...) I gave them a light flush (about a half a cup of distilled, ph adjusted water) with Hydrogen Peroxide to make sure I got ride of the gnat eggs... I adjusted the ph to around 6.5 and mixed the water/HP 80/20 like I did the first time. I didn't water them because the whole point of transplanting was to dry them out to get rid of the gnats. Also, will prevent them from going root bound. So far so good! The last 3 are VERY strong and I'm hoping at least ONE of them is a female. The Orange Crush are very short but bushy and strong. One is 5 inches at 3 1/2 weeks and the other 7.25 inches at 4 1/2 weeks. The Sativa is at 4 1/2 weeks and 11.5 inches tall and 12 inches wide! All of their undergrowth is amazing. I'm also using Spray n Grow mixed with CoCo wet (wetting agent) 2 times a week. I really think that stuff makes them take off in Veg! It's all natural and all the micronutes it needs. I wrote another thread about it if you want to check it out. The growth has really taken off since I added lights (about 3 - 26 watt CFL's per plant) and started using spray n grow. VERY soon i'm going to be adding more lights. I'm using the daylight ones now (6500K on the light spectrum) and them switching to Soft White in the Flowering Stage (2700K on the light spectrum). I've read in a few places that 5 Daylight CFL's are equal to 1 600W MH lamp, which is needed during veg. They use more of the white and blue in the spectrum during Veg. Then 5 Soft White CFL's are equal to 1 600W HPS lamp which is used for Flowering. We are in a 2 x 2.8 closet with 10 CFL's going in total. They are getting hit in all spots and I've removed a bunch of fan leaves to promote the undergrowth. I've heard this is acceptable in indoor growing eventhough it removes alot of the energy because it focuses the energy to the other parts and also frees up space so the light can hit them better. Let me tell you it's WORKING. I don't even have to bend the main stem down... the side growth has grown larger on it's own. I think it's from removing the fan leaves. I'm going to wait til the soil dries out completely before watering again. I don't want the gnats to come back. I have 3 fans on them and the closet stays between 80 and 86 degrees right now. I'm going to get a swamp cooler with a built in Ionizer to keep it cool and cut down on odor.

So do you recommend I go into the 18/6 first then the 12/12 once they indicate? or should I go straight to 12/12 like I was planning on? I'm curious as to what you think I should do. Let me know if you get a chance. Actually ANYONE'S advice on that would ROCK!
Thanks Man. See ya soon. I'll get some new pics up soon. Let me know what you think.

Yo , Mov man hope your high!

I ate 4 pieces of weed cornbread to pass my memorial day weekend bye bye.

Boy , it sounds like that problem you had sucked. My friend is a very experienced grower and he just got white flies in his roots and tanks 4 weeks before Harvest. That sucks but great experience to learn from.

The Oc's starting at the rockwool on top are 14 by 14.Like you said real bushy. I have had much advice to start flowering now. They have about 10-14 major bud sites each. The left rez is at 1400 now. That was real gradual as far as the ppms are. I went from 500 to 1400 real slowly. This is a light nutrient requirement plant. You need to get a 600 watt HPS. The 2 watt MH lights that I have do not do the trick for even mothers . You would have more piece of mind with it. and bigger buds.

So I guess to give you a guide,they have been in the room for 22 days, they started as clones and they are more than ready to flower. I think you should wait another week or so, get the light nutrients to them , and then start 12/12 for 7 weeks. Look around for a 600 because you can get them cheap. I think some have a ballast built in, my 400's do.

I like that idea with the swamp cooler, we are going to be getting another heat wave soon. You should look at the odor section here, there is a bucket thing with a fan that you can build. I live in a network of people that just use that round 2000 dollar thing for odor. I have not been able to afford that yet.

Also in the special collectors edition from High times this year there is a long story of a women breeder who grew Orange Velvet. I aliken it to the crush. A lot of good info. I am starting 12/12 in two weeks. Waiting for the other tray to catch up. I cannot wait to post some pics.

Allright , talk soon.

I meant the 2 400 watt I have do not really do the trick.

Also one thing I keep hearing over and over is that the oc's will double or triple in size once you click over to 12 and 12. So keep that in mind with your particular light setup. Also look on craigslist in your area for used lighting equip. Just some ideas but I am off to borrow a camera right now. Look for pics in 7 days or so.

Later

Also mov to clarify I do not know if you can go from 24 hr lighting to a 12 and 12. I would imagine that you could but I am going 18/6 for 4 or 5 weeks and then to 12 / 12.

You don't have to worry about PH, if you use rain water...

Hey man! I think our one sativa sexed tonight!! Here's a pic of the ovaries...



I'm almost positive those are ovaries on the top left there next to the stipules. The other 2 O.C.'s are doing VERY well. I took off the bottom fan leaves so that the bottom branches aren't covered. I've heard this is great when using CFL's so that the main cola stops growing at about 12 inches while the undergrowth catches up to the main head. Then throw it into flowering. Not only did it make our Sativa bushy... our Orange Crush are getting bushy as well. Here's some more pics...



She's about half a foot tall and just as wide! It was an Orange Crush seed but I do believe this one is Purple Kush. So I guess Technically we have one Sativa, one Orange Crush, and One Purple Kush... Let me know what you think...









Well that's it for now. Can't wait to see your plants! Haven't seen much Orange Crush anywhere.

Hey Squirrel,

Yeah my wife tells me that rain water is great. I actually caught some and tested the PH and it was right on! Thanks for the message. We actually might try using rain water. Since it looks like it's going to be a rainy summer here I'm sure I'll have more than enough rain water.

i was going to say... i know of people growing at temps alot more extreme than that, as long as there is a moving wind slighty hitting the ladies... but still.. im soory about the damn whitefilys.. they are like tiny roahces with wings, mine has had no problems yet but if i run into any. i will be doing the same thing good post!

Hey Howie,

Thanks man! Yeah all the remedies have definately worked. However, ultimately when I transplanted them into new soil and the 5 gallon buckets they just turned around in a few days. I wanted to get rid of all the whiteflies and their eggs. ALL NEW GROWTH IS GREEN! No signs of nute burns and there is not a chance of me overwatering them ever again. I LEARNED MY LESSON! All the flies are GONE. I transplanted them on the 20th and I haven't watered them since. I've read you can go 3 -10 days without watering them (growing indoors). They are still damp a few inches down. I'm probably going to water them sometime in the next day or two. They aren't drooping so I know they are good to go. Temps are staying between 85 and 93 degrees. As long as I don't overwater them, flies and nute burns shouldn't be a problem anymore. Also going to pick up a swamp cooler to keep the humidity down and cancel out the odor. It has an Ionizer built in...

Ok , I am working on the camera thing and I figured out through discussion and brain waves that you can 12/12 after 24, that is for sure. But , with those pics, wait til you see mine. I dont know if you started the 12/12 yet but if you didnt I guess that I would wait. Why not wait when it only takes 7 weeks anyway. Also, if you wait you could make a clone or two to put on the side like I did. They are 7 days old so waiting a few more days .

later

Ok , I just took these. I installed everything with a friend. Notice the Fan thing that I built this morning.

Here is the rest for now. Look at the single tall trainwreck and then the mini trainwrecks, big buddha purple and 2 other starins that are trying to catch up. Next , the flowering room......................

MOVKushSmoker said:

I've even tested the bottled water we drink and that's around neutral. I don't know if Wal-Mart is really selling NON DISTILLED water and advertising it and selling it as "distilled".

Click to expand...

I watched a documentary type show on Purified bottled water, and they had tested a bunch of different suppliers, and they found that about 80% of them were just normal old tap water. There is a big difference between distilled and R/O water. If you had a PPM meter you could test your bottled water. Before i got my R/O filter I tested a few bottles of Distilled and R/O water, Some were as high as 650 PPM. I call BULLSHIT!!!!!