Critical Jack

[Green demon]

Howdy @Sal81. In my flower tent I have a fan controller which opitimises the speed of extraction and intake to try and keep the temp at 25. I lack a heater so lights off the temp drops a bit but nought I can do about it.

In the veg tent I just have extraction fan on a dimmer and aim for 25 or a bit below. 

 

The effect of temperature on cannabis is a very, very important variable, second after light IMO. If with a 250w your environment is dialled in then use this, if a 400w throws the environment out, too hot, too dry, then it's not worth the aggro.

 

Ive seen it described as temperature being the throttle, in that the hotter it gets the faster the plant grows until it burns out and stops altogether. My experience at 30 degrees, is it's a pain but it's not too hot. 

During veg plants grow rapid, stretching like buggery and producing big gaps between nodes. Far from ideal, but workable.

During early flower high heat encourages loose, fluffy, far from dense, buds to form. Again not ideal.

If the correct temperature (around 25) is kept throughout flower and you get nice hard buds, then through accident I have found that some strains I've grown love high heat at the end, and it sent their resin production into overdrive. 

Again though far from ideal because the high heat seemed to destroy the terepines so flavour was lost for faster resin production.

Edited August 23, 2017 by Green demon
Typo

[Green demon]

Well I'm making the most of my leave of absense from work by whole heartedly enjoying my hobby. Hence two updates on the seedlings in one day  

The two CJs seemed to appreciate the feed, they've put their hands up in the air!

X2 XOs vvv

[Green demon]

Just a little update. The girls have had nothing to eat or drink since Wednesday. I wanted to make sure the pots are good and dry to encourage root growth. Today they all got fed @ 1EC, pH @ 5.8. Temps have been kept around 25 lights on, with the coolest being 18 degrees with lights off.

The two Critcal Jacks followed by the Exodus Cheese

[Sal81]

6 minutes ago, Sal81 said:

Can someone tell me if Atami Wilma 4 pots is good or worthless ? 

Please ! I'm new grower with hydro  indoor ! 

Every advice will be helpful ! 

Thanks !

 

1 hour ago, Green demon said:

Just a little update. The girls have had nothing to eat or drink since Wednesday. I wanted to make sure the pots are good and dry to encourage root growth. Today they all got fed @ 1EC, pH @ 5.8. Temps have been kept around 25 lights on, with the coolest being 18 degrees with lights off.

The two Critcal Jacks followed by the Exodus Cheese

Hi ...they look really healthy....

I wonder if you know how Atami Wilma 4 pots works  ? ( Hope you know the brand ).....Or is worthless as hydroponic system !!!! 

Thanks ! Is one of the cheapest one on the market .. and my badget is limited !

Edited August 27, 2017 by Sal81

[Green demon]

Cheers @Sal81 mate. No I haven't used Wilma but I know how it works. I don't like th look of them, plants look waaaay too cramped in their system. If I were you I'd follow the guide in this link to make your own. Cheaper and your plants can have as much space required.

 

 

[Green demon]

I got bored yesterday so I had a change up. The Big Bang got taken out of the flowering tent, and I stripped everything out. I then bleached everything down, swapped the Hps for MH, adjusted the timers, and hey presto the flowering tent is now the veg tent. The girls then went into their clean new home which has a few improvements. 

They'll now benefit from a slightly more stable climate with the fan controller running. Plus I've now got room for a rotating fan which is set to blow an indirect breeze above the seedlings, causing them to quiver and thus strengthen their stems. 

The wooden bud/cola drying stand was something on hand that I could stick the temperature probe into to keep it in the shade.

[Green demon]

I've used a few different training methods but my favourite is Uncle Bens topping for four colas. Here's a breakdown:

 

The untrained plant grows straight up like a xmas tree because of the auxins and hormones in the lead growth tip. Cut/top the lead tip and this redistributes the hormones, which triggers the lower branches to start growing. Instead of a main cola with few side shoots we get many more smaller bud sites, a bush.

 

With UBs topping for four colas, instead of a bush we get a plant that has the potential to output four colas. To achieve this we top above the second node when the plants are at least 6nodes tall. 

The plant only has so much hormone. If the plant is topped any where other than above the second node the result will be a bush. When cut above the second node there maybe just enough hormone to turn the four remaining branches into terminal tips, i.e. Big fat colas.

 

I like the look of mainlinning, building a framework from two branches, seen below. Everytime the terminal tip is cut (red lines) it divides into two. Using this technique not only creates a nice flat canopy, but because all buds are being feed from two branches, all colas grow symmetrical too. I also think that because it's only two branches the plant has enough hormone to create little beasts. 

So depending on how much veg time I get, I'm going to top for four colas, then potentially mainline esq from there.

 

 

[Dinafem-Mark]

Thank you so much for taking the time to draw and explain your training techniques I'm sure many members will find this useful and it will help to get a better impression for how the grow is progressing

 

Now the flower tent has been upgraded and is now your veg tent I'm sure the ladies are happy in there new home and going of the pictures they look to be doing very well

 

Give them a week to get more roots down and make the adjustment to there new environment then we will see much more vigorous growth

 

Looking great so far and thank you for the added pictures very much appreciated!

 

Until the next one

 

All the best 

 

Mark.. 

[Green demon]

Howdy Mark Hope the pics, although basic, convey the idea. I find it hard to process what people say sometimes unless there's a visual aid. It was good challenge, had to DIY a stylus for the iPad to be able to draw them accurately enough.

Ah yes they're going to love their new home. Those pics above were from yesterday and in these ones from today I swear they look a bit greener. 

Its a great benefit keeping a diary on here. Really allows me to track growth and wot not, whereas before I'd constantly forget. I noticed a couple of days ago the stems had purpled on all the seedlings, but with the increase in feed all but one have gone back to green.

Funny you mention roots, because today things have progressed in the root race. Right now it's neck and neck with one Critical and one Cheese poking a little root out of the bottom.  

 

 

[Dinafem-Mark]

They have already started to adapt to the new environment mate and looking really healthy

 

The visual aid was a great idea and much appreciated

 

Keep up the great work mate

 

Until the next update

 

All the best 

 

Mark..

[Guest]

Hey there @Green demon just thought I'd pop in and say hello! your little ones are looking happy, I'm about to get some critical cheese into moist soil today and start a Dinafem diary myself. Busy times at the moment refurbing my flower area and managing seedlings of multiple strains, like a whippet with a bum full of dynamite around my grow spaces at the moment!

 

I just wanted to say thanks for starting this diary, I'll be interested to see the GLR lighting schedule as I've read up about it a few times wanting to incorporate the 400w I use for flowering to increase the size of my plants in veg before going to flower. At the moment I use T5 seedling> 150w MH early veg> 250w MH to root out my final pots and then 400w Dual Spectrum for flower.

 

@Dinafem-Mark Pass my regards to your father for the GLR article, It's been dismissed by a lot of folk around the interweb but there are a few who have had the notion not to let their minds be influenced by the masses and have actually tried it with interesting results and hopefull Green demon here can give us a good showing and further show the benefit of this light cycle.

[Green demon]

Morning @SMEG HEAD thanks for stopping by brother! Thanks man I'm trying to look after these girls, pamper them a bit, and keep a watchful eye over them. After years of growing I got complacent, started making little mistakes, and fell out of love with the hobby.

Having a break has been good because I've come back to growing with that passion fired up again. I like you have recently resembled a whippet with dynamite up its ass  Look forward to seeing your Critical Cheese! After growing the very worst of greenhouse it's made me appreciate how good the genetics are coming from our Spanish brothers. 

 

Your welcome on GLR. I think it's a no brainier, it seems to create less stressed, happier plants for quite a discount on energy costs. Your approach to seedlings is very similar to what I normally do except I don't have a 150w and use the 250w. This run I've put them under the 400w way earlier than normal, not sure why, just felt like they were ready and could benefit. 

 

For flower I've had a 600w dimmable for years but since moving this is the first time I've been able to use a 600w without air cooling.  So I can't wait to see how these girls perform under her. The one Big Bang plant that actually resembled quality cannabis has put out such dense buds, it's been a good teaser of what these bulbs can do.

 

Like I said excited to be back in the saddle and even more so sharing it on here. It adds some extra pressure so hopefully I'll stay on the ball and keep Mr Cockup at bay! Drop me an @ when your Cheese is up and running, sounds like a monster cross! 

 

 

 

[Green demon]

I feel like growth has been a bit slow for my liking. Kinda thinking it's because it's been so cold so I have temporarily put the lights on 16/8. I can't run them any longer through the night becaus the fans drive my Mrs crazy  

So after a couple of days they still seemed pretty lazy and one CJ looks a lil illmatic. I fed my hem all at 1 EC and measured the run off at 2. I assume because I've been letting it dry between feedings there's been a salt build up that has caused the plants to slow down. 

I flushed them with a light mix to bring the waste EC down until it was inline with what was going in. I'm thinking I might start watering them everyday now and see how they respond. This is all so new so excuse the hiccups! I've also swapped out the 400w MH for the 600Hps. I can't remember how old the MH is, and it might just be me but it seems kinda weak.

 

[Dinafem-Mark]

Good call on extending the light period mate this should help to keep the temperatures up and spur on a more vigorous growth phase

 

@SMEG HEADMy dad sadly is no longer with us but his technique will always be with me and still relevant to this day the GLR is a tech rarely used today but is still very effective and very cool to see this technique back in play

 

Will be interesting to see how the GLR does mate

 

So far growth as you said has slowed down as you have upped the light on time and swapped out the 400w mh for your 600w hps this should definitely help up the temps

 

Looking great so far and I'm sure once more roots are down we will see them take off into more vigorous veg growth

 

Thank you for the added pictures very much appreciated and keep up the great work! 

 

Until the next one

 

All the best 

 

Mark..

[Green demon]

Cheers Mark! I think growth wise they're ready to take off, it's just my inexperience with coco has delayed them a bit. Once they get a bit bigger and more tolerant of my mistakes I'm sure they kick it up a notch. 

I'm broke as a joke at the moment otherwise I'd get some supplements like Canna Rhizo, as is they'll have to make do with just basic grow.

The 600 has already done a good job of raising the temps up, Im thinking of running lights 24hr now. When the 600 switches off with the fans I think I'll just plug in the two eco lights I've got dangling in the tent. 

So far the first Critical Jack seen above is my clear favourite. I'm putting money down now she's going to yield the best, and I'm getting good vibes that the first Exo seen above is going to stink the most.