My first post and my first grow!

[NickyChicks]

Ok cool, I was a little worried about the temp. To my surprise, with the exhaust fan pulling air across the MH temp has only increased slightly to about 69-70°F. Idk, I just assumed the light was going to be much hotter. But everyone seems pretty happy and they all look good except one of the chocolate kush and one of the northern lights. Out of all the seeds I germinated it was the CK was the only one that cracked open but never had a taproot and never did anything after being moved to the rooter. I took that one out, the northern lights though looks like it has a chance still so I'm gonna keep it in there for now.

As far as the labels go, I think you may not have been clear what I was talking about. I was referring to the covers for the net pots not the labels I made. The labels seem to be ok, it's the damn covers that were blowing around. I had already removed them before I took the picture which was probably misleading

[Farmall]

Actually, no....I saw the labels stuck to the metal tape and wondered how good the ‘stick’ is long term. When I did these p-touch tz tape labels they were great. I could not unstick them when the two adhesive sides were stuck together... but, time, light, humidity, whatever is was after 2 months caused some to just fall off to my surprise not I’m trying to figure out who is whom.... I found two below the bags and the other two were easy as one was purple..black cherry

I ran a top feed for my entire hydro grow and did not use anything to cover up the area. My crop was terrific...for what it’s worth.

[NickyChicks]

Ok, i can see how the labels could come off. Once I move them into their individual buckets, I'll stick the labels on the side of the bucket as well as the top. Maybe a piece of packaging tape over top of them will help with keep them there longer

[DingusKhan]

Re: reflective net pot covers. I'm of the opinion that if you have enough hydroton balls to block light from shining through the net cup, you don't need them.

[NickyChicks]

First set of serated leaves are getting bigger and I can see the second set on all but one NL which is no big deal, because I can't keep them all. I definitely need to put a humidifier in or near the tent, humidity has only gotten as high as 40% but over the past couple days it got much drier and it's been sitting between 25-30%.

Today marks one week since I moved the seeds into rapid rooters and into the reservoirs so I will be exchanging the water in them today.

Solo cups have sprouts poking up, the coco mix cup is just creeping up with it's helmet but the DWC is standing, proudly showing off it's it's helmet.

[NickyChicks]

If they're happy, I'm happy! I love watching how fast they grow.

[Farmall]

Naturally it’s hard to not look every day but in about 2 weeks if you don’t peek for 2-3 days, you’ll walk into the room and find a monster taking over the room and wonder what’s next....

[NickyChicks]

Oh I can only imagine, however I don't see me missing a day to at least look at them. I'm trying to not be obsessive but it's so exciting!

[NickyChicks]

I made a separate about this but figured I should post it here too to keep everything logged.

Not really sure what's going on with my chocolate kush seedling. It has a couple spots that are faint but I can see they're slightly discolored and also noticed the veins going down the first set of leaves are turning a red-ish color. This seedling is in a reservoir with 3 green crack seedlings and they seem to be fine. I just exchanged the reservoir water Monday and added week 2 strength nutes. Using GH trio 1/2tsp per gal. PH on Monday was about 5.7-5.8 and is now 6.4. I'll add PH down tonight to get it back down. Any thoughts on what could be going on?

[NickyChicks]

It's been 18 days since I started the seeds and day 15 in the reservoirs. Just changed out the water in the reservoirs and everyone is looking good, except the one Northern Lights. She is a slow grower and I don't think she's gonna make the team. The chocolate kush that has the spots on it's second set of leaves seems too be doing ok, no worse and the new growth looks healthy. Other good news, I think I have at least one but possibly two people to take some of the seedlings I'm not going to keep. I'd love to see them all grow so hopefully it works out.

Solo cups are doing good I guess lol. I don't know what to expect from my grow but I really don't know what to expect from these solo cups. The DWC cup doesn't seem to be growing as fast as the coco cup. Also, maybe I'm wrong but the seedling in the coco is growing it's second set of leaves and it looks like it's growing 2 pair of leaves and not one. Am I seeing that right?

I'm excited for these next couple weeks, looking forward to LST these girls. I've read a lot of the articles on the GWE site about LST, manifolding, super cropping ,etc. I originally wanted to use Nebulas manifold technique to create 8 main colas but I'm not sure if that's going to be the most effective way or even possible because I plan to flip to 12/12 no later than Feb. 9th which is 27 days from today. Would topping and LST be a better option? What's everyone's favorite way of training?

[NickyChicks]

At the bare minimum I plan to top to the 3rd node once I have 6 nodes and then I'll bend and tie down as needed. Not sure where I'll go from there, I suppose I'll know when I get there

[dphipps1020]

I've been doing the manifold technique on GWE for the last couple grows and it's worked out great. This time I'm trying the quadlining technique and it seems to be going pretty good so far. Curiosity, are you wanting bigger plants or are you just trying to flower quick and get a little bit as quick as possible? Seems like you may sell yourself short if you only let them grow for 4 more weeks. Just my thought but I would see where they're at in a few weeks and go from there. Topping will add time to your grow so keep that in mind too. Also, a little trick with the magnetic ballast and taking pictures... Put a pair of sunglasses in front of your lens and the lines will disappear, at least most of the way. Looking good so far, good job

[NickyChicks]

dphipps1020 I'm trying to maximize my yield given the time constraint. I would love to veg for longer but I can't. Also, I've been trying to figure out how the hell to take decent pictures without having to wait until the lights are out because I'm usually sleeping by then so thank you I will most definitely be giving that a try.

[Farmall]

The manifold is a great way to achieve the 8 main colas but I ve seen some grows that just topping and LST provides an excellent plant and I’ve topped a few branches and those plants produced almost as good but topping will slow the process

[NickyChicks]

Yeah I really want to go the manifold route but I'm not sure that I'll have enough time to develop a strong plant. dphipps1020 mentioned quadlining which got me looking a few grow journals wondering if that could save me some time but still produce nicely

[DingusKhan]

To shorten your grow time, you might consider starting with bigger clones rather than seeds, especially if you can be selective, and get to working with multiples, and do, as you are already planning, a Sea of Green. But bigger plants, let them stretch a little longer in veg, that way you don't have to prune so much to give your colas room, and also LST a taler clone sideways to make a big, wide bush with long branches.

Of course, that means keeping a mother or finding a source or healthy, reliable clones. And if you can keep a small "library" of clone mother house plants, and trade with friends, that's all the genetics you need right there, man.

[NickyChicks]

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I guess the next question is when is the right time to start bending over the main stem? Do I want to let it grow out a little taller and then start tying it down?

[DingusKhan]

In the spirit of keeping growth-stunting stress to a minimum, I would wait until the main stalk is about 5 or 6 inches tall, but still thin and green, to start leaning it over. You will have to decide whether letting your stalk poke out at 45 degrees, or straight up then bend horizontal into a radial pattern, and then train according to your vision.

You plants looked pretty close in the last pics you posted looked like they were getting tall enough with the side nubs getting big enough to not smoosh when you touch them. Wait until they look like they can handle rough handling.

Your girls are so green and happy!

[NickyChicks]

Thanks! I'll keep an eye on them for now. I plan to put them into their own individual buckets soon, probably Sunday or Monday, which should make it easier to start training. Plus of the roots are getting very long and I don't want to make it difficult to move them into their new homes.

[Obi-Wan]

I think your original plan of topping to leave 6 mains is the best approach given your timing. If you want to fill your space using 6 week Veg times from seed I’d suggest running 6-8 plants trained in this manner. Trying to top more than once as is required with manifolding will actually lead to smaller plants when you’re wanting to flip. As you dial in your light with seedlings you’ll find that you can produce bigger plants in a shorter time and with lower wattage.

[NickyChicks]

I suppose keeping more seedlings is an option. Originally planned to keep 4, now plus 2 that are staying in solo cups per the challenge but I don't expect they will amount to anything massive lol. Being my first grow I didn't want to overwhelm myself but I definitely could keep more, I would just need to order another air pump and buy a couple more buckets.

[Farmall]

I believe the overwhelming feeling comes the day you decide to harvest.... trimming and cutting for hours are more back breaking than I’d ever thought but...it’s kinda like a good pain? Here’s hoping !

[NickyChicks]

No doubt the harvest is a ton of work. I got my first taste of trimming in the fall, I helped a friend who had 8 plants outdoors and it wasnt easy....but worth it

[NickyChicks]

Well my DWC solo cup idea sounded good in my head but I definitely overlooked the power and ability of roots to find a way out. I thought panty hose would contain them, I was wrong.

Plan B..... I turned the solo cup into the dwc res. I put a small air stone in the bottom and made drain holes a little above the air stone so I could keep the top feed and just have it drain into the 5gal bucket. My net pot fit nicely inside of the solo cup and I have a small air gap between the bottom of the pot and the water line. I hope it works lol

[NickyChicks]

Well I was so eager and excited to move the plants into their own buckets I decided to do it today, a day earlier than I planned. Definitely took a lot longer than I anticipated but time flies when you're having fun. No more top feed from now on, except for the dwc solo cup 2.0.

Looks like just about all the girls are starting to push out their 5th nodes. I will definitely start some training soon, I might try a couple different methods and see how it turns out. I'm guessing it's going to get pretty crowded come flowering. As long as I can keep them all happy, I'll be happy.

[NickyChicks]

Just a few more pics as I rearranged the buckets from how I had them last night.

Also, started bending the main stems on the ones that were larger and tying them down.

[SoOrbudgal]

NickyChicks I love it go big or ? LOL really think your going for a crowded tent but if your committed it can be done. I just love different strain grows and why not? I just look at the plants health and if they aren't being neglected do to having too many to deal with. So far I think your doing fab and these hydro folks here know their stuff. Great looking grow.

[NickyChicks]

SoOrbudgal I'm sure it's going to take quite a bit of tending to but I like to think with the help of the GWE community I can be successful. Looking forward to keep learning more as these girls grow

[SoOrbudgal]

I am rooting for you 100% you got this

[NickyChicks]

Again I made a separate post but I want to keep it all logged here too.

I have a chocolate kush plant that I think has a calcium deficiency. It's had these tiny little rusty looking spots showing up on it's leaves since about day 10ish, it's now day 22 and they are showing up on the new growth. Using GH trio 1/2 strength, hydroguard, and tap water. pH is 5.9, 647ppm, tent stays between 75°F-63°. Before Sunday it was sharing a reservoir with 3 green crack seedlings and they look fine, so do the other plants that were in a different reservoir same nutrients and water.
From looking on the GWE site I thought calcium deficiency, just wasn't sure if that made sense since my other plants aren't showing the same symptom. Any advice would be greatly appreciated 🙃

[NickyChicks]

I started topping some of the plants tonight. I topped to the 4th and clipped the 1st node, left the 2nd 3rd and 4th nodes and tied down to make a star pattern on 1 green crack and 1 white widow. I topped to the 4th, left everything else and bent the main stems on a 45° angle on 1 green crack, 1 white widow, and 1 northern lights. I have 1 green crack and 1 white widow that I just have bent on a 45° and haven't topped. The Chocolate kush and the other nothern lights I will let them do their thing, NL is a slow grower and the CK is probably unhealthy, didn't seem like a good idea to mess with it.

I didn't want to wait much longer because I'm flipping in 18 days. My thought was that if I wanted to do any topping that if I wait any longer I wouldn't have enough time to let the plants recover and grow bushy. Not sure how much they're going to really grow in the next 2.5 weeks, hopefully enough lol.

Honestly, it was kind of nerve racking to cut my girls but I think they look pretty good.

Let me know what you think! And if there is something I can do better or different I'd love to know.

[JohnEmad]

looks great! They should make a nice number of tops.I have always been too nervous to try that many plants at once but will try it sooner then later. SOG or scrog or maybe both back to back.
lol

[NickyChicks]

Thanks JohnEmad, Ill probably end up topping the other WW and the other GC today too. I'm sure it's going to become difficult for me to exchange the water in the buckets, and defoliating is going to be a challenge too. With that said, I am happy I chose to keep more than just 4 plants. SCOG is still kinda confusing to me lol

[NickyChicks]

One month in from germination and I gotta say I'm pretty pleased. I'm really excited to see the growth over the next 2 weeks before I flip. All the plants seem to be responding well to being topped, lots of growth happening. The only ones I haven't topped are the solo cups and I'm debating on whether or not I will. I might just top the one in coco and see what happens.

[NickyChicks]

The plan is to flip to 12/12 in 1 week. I know they aren't large plants and I'm keeping veg time short but should I consider doing ANY defoliating? Wasn't sure if it would benefit me or hurt my yields.

Also, I have been changing the water every week. Is it ok to go 2 weeks before changing? I've been super busy and couldn't make time to do it yesterday or today (my days off). My girlfriend would normally help me but she has the flu, so changing out 30 gallons of water and measuring and adding nutes to 10 different buckets by myself is complete and total time consuming pain in the ass. If I should change it, I will definitely make the time tomorrow to do it.