My Hempy Top 44 CFL Grow Journal

panhead said:

The best thing you could possibly do for your grow is to STOP COUNTING DAYS as some kind of indicator to harvest & let the buds tell you when their ready,i too grow top 44 & i'd be willing to bet you have a full month left to go,top 44 is a fast finisher but there is no way in hell the strain will be ready to cut in 44 days,no matter who grows it,its a good strain but IMO the whole 44 day deal is hype to help sell seeds.

If you chop in 44 days you will loose massive amounts of bud weight because thats when they really start to pack on the pounds like a depressed fat girl.

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Thanks for the advice, I'll just have to keep posting pics as I get closer and looking at more finished journals. Trust me, I'm not ganna take steel to stem until I'm certain this time lol

Edit: Do you know anything about molasses or how to finish off the watering stages? Any links to your T44 journal(s) if you have them?

fierybong said:

Thanks for the advice, I'll just have to keep posting pics as I get closer and looking at more finished journals. Trust me, I'm not ganna take steel to stem until I'm certain this time lol

Edit: Do you know anything about molasses or how to finish off the watering stages? Any links to your T44 journal(s) if you have them?

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I dont post journals for several reasons with the number 1 reason being security.

I use molasses through the entire bud cycle,i use 2 tblspns with ph'ed water every 3rd watering,nutrients,plain water,molasses ect,i do this right up to harvest time then i let the plants skip a few waterings then chop,ive given up on flushing also,i want my buds packing on grams of weight right up to the last second of their tasty lives

panhead said:

I dont post journals for several reasons with the number 1 reason being security.

I use molasses through the entire bud cycle,i use 2 tblspns with ph'ed water every 3rd watering,nutrients,plain water,molasses ect,i do this right up to harvest time then i let the plants skip a few waterings then chop,ive given up on flushing also,i want my buds packing on grams of weight right up to the last second of their tasty lives

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What is molasses? You don't mean, from-a-tree?

yep fiery go to the grocery store and get some I use grandmas myself, add it too your water you wont regret it, it is a natural source of sugars and carbs for your ladies (at least thats what I have read I am no scientist) but I use it and I am very happy I do, I am also a hempy grower....

Boil the molasses down in like a couple of cups of water before mixing it in with the rest of the 1 tbs per gallon ratio. You dont want the thick brown sugar undisolved when you pour it into your plants.

Things look great though, sorry its been some days... Get us some photos!
OB

First pic is from a week or so ago... we are in day 31 of 12/12.

You can't tell but the lighter is being held right against the plant. (that is, perpendicular to it)

Sorry for the blur in some cases, the camera I have is crap.

This is day 40 of 12/12. The big CFL in the middle is a 200w replacement, it's like 5 inches across.

I think I burnt them slightly, I flushed and they seem to be doing ok. No more MG. Going to get molasses tomorrow.

1) Dirt 'mom' look at how thick that is
2) other dirt 'mom' top
3) Clone top
4) Clone top
5) Grow

Looking good man...or at least I think it is. When you harvest u should consider selling some to save up for a new camera LOL. Just kidding, any pics are appreciated.

Gmrpr7 said:

Looking good man...or at least I think it is. When you harvest u should consider selling some to save up for a new camera LOL. Just kidding, any pics are appreciated.

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This weekend I will get the webcam out and take some proper photos of them, I want to have some good ones anyway (to show the grandkids... "you know johnny, the gov't didnt always give out free 'dro")

I think you will be impressed. They are very nice looking plants, they aren't massive 5000w HPS monsters but for what my op is they are fat, dense and frosty. They are really booming right now, very very noticably much larger than the most recent pics.

First three pics are the "A" mom, rest are the "B" mom. Just watered the clones and didn't want to get them out to take pics.

I need advice... I have to be away for about 2 weeks in about 2 weeks.

I have thought it through a lot... I have two options...

1) Harvest in 9 days on the 11th, drying while away and getting a chance to see what smell problems I might have,

2) Remove all the lights with just the 4 in each large hood and move them about a foot above the plants and let them keep going, harvesting around the 27th or so.

So basically, do I give them 1.5 more weeks or 4 more weeks? (day 55 or day 72)

This is day 46 btw

that is a bit of a dilema, even if you put the lights way up the plants cant go 2 weeks wth no water????? and if you dont have anyone to watch them I would say go ahead and chop before you leave, but leaving them out to dry while you are gone is risky expecially since you dont know what the smell will be like.... tough one

And....if you leave them ot to dry for 2 weeks.. you will very likely get

1. super dried out bud

or

2. Bud that didn't dry fast enough and is now moldy... (and that sucks!!!)

Garden Knowm said:

And....if you leave them ot to dry for 2 weeks.. you will very likely get

1. super dried out bud

or

2. Bud that didn't dry fast enough and is now moldy... (and that sucks!!!)

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thanks for the reply knowm!

So what should I do? Which choice of keep them growing or cut them sacrifices the least?

I would even cut them right now, they honestly are probably close enough - the color change in the entire plant has become readily apparent now but is not finished - I don't know how much herb it would cost me at this point but the nuggets on the hydro stuff are as dense as rocks -

I could dry them now for ~9 days by the time I read a reply but would they be safe sealed in glass for 2 weeks immediately after or am I risking mold then too?

added: is plastic a compromise (semi-permeable?) what about certain food storage options or even freezing? could i just cut them tomorrow, dry them until the day and then seal them in plastic and throw them in the freezer?

Also, my time away is more like 10 full days from end to end or 240ish hours than it is 2 weeks, if I was trimming and hanging them as I walk out the door

We have a visitor, it seems... an alien from another dimension has come to guard over the final days of the virgin mothers who are destined to give their lives for the cause. The vanguard of Tokalot hath arrived! All hail Lord Hydronicus!

Wow, that was pretty heavy.

bigd921 said:

that is a bit of a dilema, even if you put the lights way up the plants cant go 2 weeks wth no water????? and if you dont have anyone to watch them I would say go ahead and chop before you leave, but leaving them out to dry while you are gone is risky expecially since you dont know what the smell will be like.... tough one

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I can probably take care of the watering problem, if that's the best route.

OK well, no more replies yet. I need a plan of action. I have been researching and looking at pics for days. I have determined to the best of my ability that the mothers are on the very edge of ripe and the clones likely need more time. I am going to have to remote dry them but its only around 10 full days and that should be about perfect from what I learned on my last attempt.

The clones are not really showing ripeness yet, the mothers have fully yellow lower leaves all over and turning that ruddy red/green pot color that I've only seen in plants up top big time... they may yet have a few days growing to do, whoever said it was completely right: they are still packing on the pounds.

I wish I knew what I was risking by cutting late, I suppose as I've read it turns your bud into uber couch-lock stuff and that there are different highs for different cannaboid combinations depending on when you harvest... I just have no experience with the strain or with large plants. Seriously, the lower branches on this are like the colas on my first grow in some cases.

The dro is quite simply frosty as fuck. I don't know what I did, but the "A" clone looks like it was flash frozen while soaking wet... in some places you can hardly see what's behind the crystals.

I can say this: as long as I don't fuck it up now, I will be insanely happy with whatever I get.

I also learned this: That crushed and compacted crap weed we buy on the streets is not in any way shape or form proper weed. Even what they call 'mids' around here is complete crap compared to this stuff and this in no way is as good as it gets.

I've also learned that even in the same strain, which all these definitely are, genetics vary widely. I can plainly see between the sets of clones the similarities between mother and child and the many differences between genes. Both plants have a crisp but dank almost citrus quality to them... I was guessing that with T44 I wasn't getting anything special but compared to bag weed this stuff is far and beyond special.

Also, I set the Mantis free. I found him stuck to some tape and decided that wasn't the best place for him. I hope I didn't hurt him much getting him unstuck, he was still walking and climbing though.

you do run a risk letting them go too long as they will start too loose potencey at a certain point ,also a female left to flower for too long will hermi....just some things to keep in mind

Thanks for the reply bigd921, I have decided that I am indeed going to cut them about a day before I leave - the mothers are shedding fans like mad and definitely turning ripe, the clones cannot possibly be far behind.

I did get a good digital camera too which should arrive soon, so for the harvest any loyal readers will get great pics

PICS!!!

Thank you to everyone at RIU! I won't be growing again right away, so I'll see you guys next year maybe I'll let you know how the smoke turns out though!

Oh yeah, and some spots look a bit thin or are missing a branch or two 'cause I got too impatient. Also, at the risk of going to RIU hell for it, you _shouldn't_ microwave your buds, but you can. It does work. The samples I nuked got me way high. I'm sure it's way superior done right though.

Some interesting things about this grow:
The two clones were put into 12/12 shortly after cutting.
The plants were watered using distilled water only their whole entire lives. (or MG Bloom or GH nutes mixed with distilled water)
Because I used MG perlite and horticulture grade vermiculite the hempy clones required almost no nutrients whatsoever.
I didn't PH right or enough. I almost didn't monitor it and I never adjusted it. It 'looked fine' mostly.
The mothers were root bound to the point where I emptied their 10" pots by lifting them by the stem nub. I should have transplanted them, but honestly I didn't want them to get 4 feet tall.
I love weed.

I made butter from the trimmings mmmmmmmm I did it right this time too, going to be way more potent esp. with those crystal coated trimmings in there.