My 1st Grow Journal - 3rd crop, coco grow.

[MadMike]

Quick update:

Re-oriented the lights and added back in the shade canopy. I was running pretty low in light levels at the perimeter so I needed to turn back on the veg setting for the 600w. Now most of the room is reading around 650 micromoles and the fringes mostly in the 370-400 range. A couple of spots on the highest buds is a little over 700 but I feel bringing up the total light level is more important than protect a few choice spots.

Today the Herer buds look like they are putting on a spurt of growth. New clusters of white hairs seem to have popped up overnight. I haven't seen that on the rest of the plants but who knows tomorrow.

On the pH front, much faster progress than I expected! Today's runoff is reading 5 - 5.5. Everyone moved up .5 from two days ago. Still gave them 8.0 today, but will move that to 6.0 for the next waterings and see how it moves.

[MadMike]

Let's talk about my lighting some more --

Over the last few days I was thinking that perhaps light levels needed to be reduced while flowering. Didn't make sense to me though since cannabis is semi-equitorial plant. So I just went out and did a quick search for info.

Here, a lighting manufacturer cites a popularly cited study by Chandra. The recommendation is to maintain 700 micromoles/s for the grow. Links to Chandra's papers are given but I haven't looked at them.
https://loudbank.com/maximize-cannab...-%C2%B5molm2s/

This forum post mentions that Chandra's research is not credible, which I think I have read elsewhere, and also supports the increase of light levels during flowering.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=311713

Another manufacturer indicates that light levels should be increased to maintain the optimum light absorption during flowering. It also gives a nice breakdown of calculating moles/m2/day.
http://pllight.com/demystifying-ligh...annabis-grows/

This manufacturer has provided a comprehensive explanation of all aspects of lighting and how they relate to exposure intensity, and energy efficiency of various types of lamps. This is a fantastic resource for those interested in learning about measuring light levels!
http://www.inda-gro.com/IG/sites/def...PlantLight.pdf
Looking at pg. 17 gives a great chart for converting micromoles/s to moles/day based on hours of light exposure. (It saves you the time for doing the math yourself. )
At 700 micromoles/s over an 11 hour day (my current lighting timing), the moles/day = 28

The pllight.com/demystifying source give the suggested moles/day target of 32.
The inda-gro.com article (pg 19) shows that roses (highest requirement plant) do fine at 20 moles/day.

So, long story short -- Nearly everyone says 700 micromoles/s is an appropriate level and 28 moles/day (for 11 hours of light) is well within acceptable good growing, with 500 micromoles/s producing 20 moles/day which is good enough for roses. It's sort of relieving to read that since the outside of my room hits the 400-500 micromoles/s range for the most part, dipping to 300-400 towards the corners.

**********

So I'm left with a little confusion on why my plants show light burn (that's what I'm calling it anyway) on some sugar leaves as seen in my photos above. This is especially confusing since these sources seem to indicate cannabis can take much higher light levels than 700 micromoles/s, again something I have read elsewhere on the web, and reasonable since sunlight is in the range of 2000 micromoles/s!! I've considered that my meter may be inaccurate and is reading low, but even if it is off by 20% -- an unlikely and extreme level of error -- that would mean they would be getting somewhere around 900 micromoles when my meter reads 700. Still within acceptable levels even if it is not entirely used by the plants.

Saying all of that, light burn is a common concern for indoor growers, and shows as yellowing of the leaves which I did see on my last grow in dead center of the room. Of course, I'm not seeing yellowing of the leaves on any of the plants now. But I did see browning of the pistils at the tops of buds near the maximum light exposure areas of the room, and the buds recovered and began producing new healthy pistils once I lowered their exposure (shade cloth)... They were getting around 850 before shading if I remember right. I'm sort of left a bit baffled. ???

I wonder if anyone has seen early ripening of trichs from over exposure. I didn't mention it before but I did have one sample leaf where the pistils had gone from amber to black/near black and this was under the most intense areas of light in the room. I saw some of that during my last crop and the leaves I show above were certainly headed in that direction.

*** I should make this a dedicated post. I'll have to take some better photos and put it up within the next day or two.

*** I posted a review of the Hydrofarm Quantum Meter on Amazon and I recommend reading it since there are some (correctable) flaws in its manufacturing design.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-r...SIN=B0055F59LA

[MadMike]

Shelving my lighting questions. I think I get it now.

Looking at the ladies more closely I see we are getting closer to the end than I thought. Using photos is better than a hand lens I now think, and this forum has really pushed me to photograph more. Nice!

I'm seeing amber trichs in a bunch of areas and after looking at the photos for a third time... I think it's time to flush.

I also did some defoliating yesterday. Mainly to open up the canopy so lower buds can get some light. Pulled a handful of leaves from beneath the canopy that were yellowing as well. I think it looks even more productive now. This is going to be a much, much better harvest than last crop.

Took a photo of the White Widow auto in the lonely corner and I think she's about ready to pull so everyone gets flushed this week. She has never shown a problem with tip burn, deficiencies, or anything. Just some foxtailing and going about her business. I haven't touched her for defoliating since started because she's hard to get to being lower than the others. It's a bit of a bush back there from what I can tell.

[Campesino]

Looking very nice!
I am thinking the same about my girls... closer than I thought just a couple days ago.
What day are you at and what are you thinking? How long do you plan to flush? Just water?
I still haven't tackled your Lights post...
Trying to update my journal but having trouble posting pics -

[MadMike]

@Campesino
I think the lighting issue is maybe more moot. I'm seeing amber trichs on sugar leaves on many buds and perhaps the brighter areas were just advancing them more quickly. I'm going to keep the issue in mind for the next grow and see what is consistent or changes. Still, it puzzles my mind.

On harvest date... I think I'm starting flush (yesterday) and so in a week -- so I guess that is around the 7th. I think that might actually be a little late for some of the top buds but I'm aiming for an average overall. Just water ph'd to 6.0 unless I see some big swings. I don't think I will though.

And when I harvest I tend to do it in stages since sitting down for 20+ hrs in a go feels onerous. I usually pull a few branches, trim them and hang them and repeat next day. So harvest can extend over a week itself. Not a bad thing since I can take the most ready buds first. I haven't flushed for a week before so that means some branches will have a longer flush. Interested to see how that looks.

Like I said on your post, I feel like my plants are pretty ahead of yours -- maybe by two weeks. But things seem to be changing quickly now so I could be wrong on that. *shrug* But I didn't see any amber trichs in your photos. I say let yours ride for a while longer if you can. (I know there are new recruits ready to take their place.) I really think my plants are putting on some heavier weight over the past week. That third photo above really shows that bud putting out some dense new growth. It's the highest above the canopy and in a good place light-wise so it's the champion of the room.

I'm really curious to pull the white widow though. It's going to be a mess to trim, and I'll likely pull it first all in one go. But maybe not first since it doesn't show any yellowing at all or tip burn. Hasn't dropped a leaf the whole grow. It's really a mystery plant since I can't see 60% being tucked in the back corner. Suspense!

[Campesino]

MadMike
I replied to you about my plants in my thread.
Yours really are looking nice! I agree that you are ahead and agree with your decision to initiate flush.
Exciting times!!!

[MadMike]

Flowering - Day 56 (I think)

Looking at them, I wonder if I should have started flushing earlier. Then I remembered that I harvested early last time. So I must be in the right spot right now.
Last nutes was on the 25th and still they look pretty green. I think flushing to the 9th or so might be in order.

For the next crop, my seeds have sprouted -- all within about 10hrs from first. Pretty consistent.
Purple Kush
Blueberry
Purple Bud
Girl Scout Cookies
Negra 44
Diesel Berry Cough

I have them in an 'AeroGarden', though I am not using it as intended. It was a gift from a friend who it was gifted to originally and she never used it. It's basically a table top version of a DWC. It has a water reservoir with an air-stone and cones, with concordant peat plugs, that sit just at water level when inserted into the top. I have serious doubts about the air-stone being sufficient but I think it's a decent cloner since once the roots breach the cones you can transplant them up. I haven't done that however.

So I have the cups under it since it has a fair cfl output if the light is close. Interestingly, the height shown is the lowest it can go. Woe to the little sprouts that get their start under those lights.

Sprouts in cups just fit perfectly and there is room to raise the light. I plan on shrouding it in mylar to boost the light levels and to help keep in the humidity -- a bonus of the air-stone reservoir!
Oh, you can also see that I have numerous holes in the cups. I'm always worried about root rot in sprouts so getting O2 to the soil and letting it dry out a tad lower while I keep the upper surface wet is the goal.

Also, I started the seeds in Miracle Gow Potting Mix soil - their sort of all-in-one 20-11-16 soil. I wouldn't grow in it but I had one seedling in miracle grow soil in the last start as I had run out of coco. It out performed my coco seedlings and was pretty much a 'don't worry about it' seedling. Interesting considering it's nute ratio isn't ideal. So I decided to go with Miracle Grow Soil for all the starts this time.

[Campesino]

BTW, I love the shape of those Colas! Looks awesome!

[MadMike]

Thanks on the shape comment. They are starting to fill out in a way I want to have people chime in on but I'm too tire to shoot a dedicated photo. Soon though.
On the Miracle Grow, I really like the buffer it gives me. With seedlings, they seem so fragile. The small amount of the Miracle Grow - 8 oz in a 2.5 gallon pot doesn't have any real impact on nute management down the road.

[Campesino]

Yeah, I think I am going to sprout in paper towels and put directly into Coco next time. I am not sure if this will be better, but I really felt it was the combination that screwed with my little plants. If you have a good strategy that works... do it!

[MadMike]

Day 59 of flowering...

I haven't given them any nutes since the 25th and damn it all if they don't want to just keep growin'. I'm starting to see some yellowing of the leaves but I'm surprised it isn't advancing faster. I was planning on beginning harvesting on the 9th, but I think that will be pushed back to the weekend -- so maybe the 10th or 11th. I don't harvest all at once since sitting down to trim the room is too much for me. In the past, I have been pulling a handful of branches, 5-7 or so, and then repeating the next day. It takes me a handful of days to go through the room. That means some will go an extra 4-5 days.

Tonight I went in a did some more mild defoliating. I'm targeting any leaves that aren't really encrusted with trichs. This is opening up the canopy to let more light fall on the smaller buds below which feels right to me. Plus, it's kind of doing some trimming early.

I do this while I am watering. I water them by bailing out water with a solo cup and making a pass on all the plants and then letting that sit. Look around the room, give 'em another cup and repeat. I believe watering them slowly helps let the water fully wick into the medium preventing really strong channeling. I'm not sure about that, but the science sounds right to me and experience with watering plants over the past 30+ yrs supports that. So I have time to muck around the room as watering takes me 30-45 minutes. Lots of time to pull leaves that strike me as 'ones to go'.

Couple of observations -
the pH of the plants hasn't moved during the flush. Strikes me as odd since absorbing nutrients is the main driver for pH changes. I've been watering them at 6.0 since the 25th and the pH has stayed at the 5-5.5 range with one of the skunks in the scary range of 4.5. *shrug* I expected them to move towards 6.0 pretty quickly.

I've also noticed that the leaves have become quite brittle. They are a bit 'crinkle-y' if that makes sense. I noticed this trend in the Herer with it's Mg deficiency but it is pretty consistent across the room now. Not sure if that is an anomaly or par for the course. It seems a bit too brittle to my eye however. Not too worried about it at this point but it's pretty curious to my minds eye.

Oh, on the seedling front...
The aero garden cfls look at bit tired to me. Seeing grey fringes at the ends. Surprising since I didn't think it got any real use. I don't plan on replacing them since they are pretty high cost for what you get in terms of output. Haven't made the mylar shroud yet. Been too busy. And... too busy to check on their water I guess. Today they looked a touch dry. Yikes! They don't need any wilting! I caught it in time but it's poor growmanship. Will be staying on top of them better.
They are so tiny. So delicate. So calling out for gentle care...
I hear you little sprouts! I won't abandon you in my times of distraction!

[MadMike]

Interesting. Hmm... My water pH is 8.0 so I figured I should lower it. But I now see your point in that it's moot if no nutrients are being absorbed. Even though my pH is a bit high, I'll go straight water going forward. Saves me the time to adjust it.

[MadMike]

@campesino
On a total side tangent, since my posts on experiments and my diatribe on lighting, commenters have narrowed down to you. Of course, that is correlation and not causation (the skeptical science head rises once again), but it did strike me as funny -- as in a comical way, rather than a weird way. Not an issue since I only noticed just this minute. But I am glad you're following my grow so closely.

[Campesino]

My pleasure, I always appreciate your input on my grows!
Can't account for the rest... I doubt that you scared them off with any diatribes though.
Re pH, I am certainly not a chemist, but I have been reading a lot about flushing techniques and that certainly seemed to fit my understanding. The only problem with 8.0 water is plants can't absorb many nutrients, but we don't want them to, so yeah, I think that's the way to go.

[MadMike]

Day 61 Flowering -- Time to start havesting

I was going to wait a couple of more days but looking at them, I feel I need to start pulling them. It's going to take me a few days to finish so better start now.

Of note:

Cut a couple of branches (not the main cola) from the White Widow Auto. Plant still doesn't show any sign of yellowing and nary an amber trich to be found. I've been worried I had let it go way, way to far but looks o.k. Not being able to reach it for trimming and more training, it's a bit shaggy underneath with fairly airy buds.

Looking over the several skunk branches I took, I'm seeing enough ambers to make me not want to wait a week to finish pulling them.

The AK 47... The smell is so strong it almost makes my eyes water when I am trimming it -- literally... I've never experienced that before. Sort of almost ammonia in feel with a sour-ish odor. Hard to explain but whoah! What a powerful smell.

I've decided to try to leave some of the lower buds on some branches and spread out my harvesting among the plants to give them a few extra days. Not sure it will make a difference but I'm curious.

Excitedly, these buds feel dense and heavy. A big improvement over the last crop, which was the exact same line up of strains sans White Widow. I've been trimming them a little closer than I have before.

I haven't made a dent in the room yet, even with staying up a few more hours to trim. Lots of work ahead.

God, I have to use a different pen for scale next time. Amazon should be sponsoring me for these photos.
"Amazon Basics Markers -- The choice of independent cannabis growers the world over!"

[Campesino]

Nice looking Buds! Excellent work... I thought we might be closer than you suspected.
I gave 5th dose of FloraKleen tonight, so am technically ready to start harvesting Skywalkers when I want. I may pull a couple as you have done on Friday night, but I am leaving until then. I am going to start the flush on one of the GG4s on Friday as well, the others are still shooting out white pistils (happily, they are going to be the best I think).
I hope you have a big smile on your face! You did a great grow!! The rewards are coming soon!

[MadMike]

@campesino
Thanks! It seems like mine keep wanting to grow but on the major buds it the calyx don't open their hairs really, but just swell. Filling them out so to speak. Pretty cool looking.

[DingusKhan]

Congratulations madmike! Nice harvest.

[MadMike]

Thanks!

[MadMike]

Harvest Tally:

Skunk - 4oz -3g (two plants)
AK 47 - 2oz -6g
Lithium - 2oz - 1g
Jack Herer - 2oz-5g

Interesting that all the plants finished at 2oz each.
I took a look at some of the buds from the previous grow and these seem denser and have more crystals so it's great to see some hard work payoff.
I will say that the best in show buds (see photos) don't have the really deep density I see from some buds I see these days so there is some work still to go.

I am most impressed with the Jack Herer. It's super crystal-ly. That was the plant that had the deficiency problems. Maybe a little extra stress gave it a little boost?

This gave me a little under 1oz / sq. ft. Seems like there is potential there to improve. Next grow might run shorter though since I don't want to grow over the summer. I'm too busy and it's too hot and humid.
I have my next sprouts underway and I'll be starting a new journal for them.
Off to revamp the room so I can get the new little guys in there.

[Campesino]

Great harvest!
I have been thinking a lot about the density of buds and what provokes it. Two of my GG4s produced buds pretty similar to yours. The third, in identical situation produced much denser buds with many more crystals - revealing itself even more now as curing. I am struggling to account for the difference - just happy one of my plants decided to be awesome.
Your plant x plant consistency is pretty interesting too. I ranged from 18-84 grams across different plants. Interestingly, the 18 and the 84 gram plants shared a light, so thinking that has a lot to do with it. Are yours generally receiving the same light and space?
What's our target for the next harvest?

[Canuck147]

Great job madmike. Now that you figured out how to get about 60 grams from each plant - set your bar a bit higher and work towards 100 grams per plant.