John Rollwan
Well-Known Member
I hadn’t grown in almost 2 years. Had an old T5 seedling starter and an older series Mars hydro 600w single 48” ballast LED full spectrum, which was one of 4 I used to run as a young cat pre dad life. Loved the brand have zero clue on newer models. Also had all nutes (new earth liquid out of Louisville, KY, they rebrand some dyna grow stuff and pump their own smart teas, awesome hydro chain and 50 random bottles and bags of flying skull, big foot mycorrhizae etc…PPM, PH electronic diggies, cvault curing material and everything stashed, 8 in ac infinity exhaust. Got married, new house, way more room. Wife is chill said she’d rather me do that than hit dispensary’s wasting cash. so it’s all for personal now. We live in Appalachia, so we all have live stock, guns, and grow lots of seasonal outdoors etc as part of life.
In the first time back it brought back all the memories and adrenaline of my first time again. I felt myself wanting to immediately top, train, pinch, net, and max out my yield per sq./ft.
As I let the 2 seedlings slowly stretch (1 was male, RIP later on in journal) I made a commitment to force myself out of my comfort zone. While I knew what to expect on that path, when to perform each action, and how, I realized that robbed my plant, and me of the entire experience. The mystery and fear of new combinations is what kept stimulating the adrenaline and fun. If all else failed, every dispensary in America has me covered. I’d learn, try something else new, and move on. Refusing to grow another cookie cutter batch until I’d learned new things about the plant.
So stretch they did, I built their new home in the basement/garage area, tucked away in a new 4x4x8, with a small veg room attachment for future ladies. Off they grew, no training, no defoliation, having to resist every urge I taught myself to give her room for air, train the canopy to one even height, lollipop and bend her… and I did, I never broke. we transplanted, flipped from the seedling starter T5, and strapped down for 6 solid weeks of veg under the LED.
As they stretched up past 36” it became obvious we’d need to flower soon in order to keep from exceeding our height limit of 7.5 feet to the light. We flipped from a 22/2 to a 12/12, and they took the bait. Immediately throwing long white hairs from our lady, and a half banana on the other. At this point it was removed and trashed. Sad day. But it opened up room for the lady and she took it. Up she went, no training, no plans on stopping. Removed an 8” flooring I had her on, dropped it down as she passed 60”, and on day 28ish of flower today, I’d say she’s almost done stretching around 71” just shy of 6 feet from the ground.
After a combined maybe 5-6 years of growing, maybe 10-12 good harvests, returning and choosing this path was so rewarding here’s some amazing things I learned that I missed early on with Cannabis plants.
1. When they aren’t trained, they’re much more resilient to the environment having time to focus on that adaptation vs. recovery.
2. They don’t really grow anything like “Christmas trees” inside, even the bottom 2 starter branches made it all the way to the top secondary level canopy, where all main colas pressed through the foliage naturally with no help. Pics will be attached. Only primary cola is higher up. All other branches, from newest to oldest, finished within 6” of one another in canopy height. Adapted to the lighting structure completely.
3. Fan leaves have their own natural life cycle ranging from 60-100 days. I’m not sure why some last longer than others, I tried to see if it was light exposure or another variable but couldn’t find it. I did notice for sure that upon the end of this cycle, they’ll stop extending. Becoming lost in the foliage as healthier new growth extends out claiming the light. The down stem will also purple and swell on these ancient leaves. They don’t seem to die and fall off. Read a lot of theories on the function, most conclude they’re pretty useless. I want to cut them off SO BAD. But again I made a commitment to myself and the plant.
4. I should’ve gone with a 5 gallon pot instead of a 3 gallon pot because the plant structure absolutely chugs water. 2.5 gallons every other day since 2nd week of flower. Was every 3rd day before.
5. Untrained cannabis given the proper light, and nutrients is gorgeous. I have an entirely new respect for shows like strain hunters where these guys are growing out of sand in a river bank off the Nile that produce good product. Hats off to you.
As I said we’re on day 28ish of flower I’ll post all dry weights, final pics and finish the journal. Hope the knowledge is fun for someone. Feel free to post any positivity, or serious questions about method. Not currently seeking any advice as she’s a happy girl.
good luck growers
Next up, SoG, zero training, 6x fem photos, 2x lemon Kush autos. Will continue there after we complete this grow.
In the first time back it brought back all the memories and adrenaline of my first time again. I felt myself wanting to immediately top, train, pinch, net, and max out my yield per sq./ft.
As I let the 2 seedlings slowly stretch (1 was male, RIP later on in journal) I made a commitment to force myself out of my comfort zone. While I knew what to expect on that path, when to perform each action, and how, I realized that robbed my plant, and me of the entire experience. The mystery and fear of new combinations is what kept stimulating the adrenaline and fun. If all else failed, every dispensary in America has me covered. I’d learn, try something else new, and move on. Refusing to grow another cookie cutter batch until I’d learned new things about the plant.
So stretch they did, I built their new home in the basement/garage area, tucked away in a new 4x4x8, with a small veg room attachment for future ladies. Off they grew, no training, no defoliation, having to resist every urge I taught myself to give her room for air, train the canopy to one even height, lollipop and bend her… and I did, I never broke. we transplanted, flipped from the seedling starter T5, and strapped down for 6 solid weeks of veg under the LED.
As they stretched up past 36” it became obvious we’d need to flower soon in order to keep from exceeding our height limit of 7.5 feet to the light. We flipped from a 22/2 to a 12/12, and they took the bait. Immediately throwing long white hairs from our lady, and a half banana on the other. At this point it was removed and trashed. Sad day. But it opened up room for the lady and she took it. Up she went, no training, no plans on stopping. Removed an 8” flooring I had her on, dropped it down as she passed 60”, and on day 28ish of flower today, I’d say she’s almost done stretching around 71” just shy of 6 feet from the ground.
After a combined maybe 5-6 years of growing, maybe 10-12 good harvests, returning and choosing this path was so rewarding here’s some amazing things I learned that I missed early on with Cannabis plants.
1. When they aren’t trained, they’re much more resilient to the environment having time to focus on that adaptation vs. recovery.
2. They don’t really grow anything like “Christmas trees” inside, even the bottom 2 starter branches made it all the way to the top secondary level canopy, where all main colas pressed through the foliage naturally with no help. Pics will be attached. Only primary cola is higher up. All other branches, from newest to oldest, finished within 6” of one another in canopy height. Adapted to the lighting structure completely.
3. Fan leaves have their own natural life cycle ranging from 60-100 days. I’m not sure why some last longer than others, I tried to see if it was light exposure or another variable but couldn’t find it. I did notice for sure that upon the end of this cycle, they’ll stop extending. Becoming lost in the foliage as healthier new growth extends out claiming the light. The down stem will also purple and swell on these ancient leaves. They don’t seem to die and fall off. Read a lot of theories on the function, most conclude they’re pretty useless. I want to cut them off SO BAD. But again I made a commitment to myself and the plant.
4. I should’ve gone with a 5 gallon pot instead of a 3 gallon pot because the plant structure absolutely chugs water. 2.5 gallons every other day since 2nd week of flower. Was every 3rd day before.
5. Untrained cannabis given the proper light, and nutrients is gorgeous. I have an entirely new respect for shows like strain hunters where these guys are growing out of sand in a river bank off the Nile that produce good product. Hats off to you.
As I said we’re on day 28ish of flower I’ll post all dry weights, final pics and finish the journal. Hope the knowledge is fun for someone. Feel free to post any positivity, or serious questions about method. Not currently seeking any advice as she’s a happy girl.
good luck growersNext up, SoG, zero training, 6x fem photos, 2x lemon Kush autos. Will continue there after we complete this grow.
