Getting Somewhere (Taking the main line)

[Starris]

Bigdate:

Okay so this blackjack. THIS BLACKJACK...is so stressful. I've wanted so hard to make it work for my first grow, but it's just so delicate compared to the strawberries. I understand this is my fault really. I just wasn't skilled enough to make it bend without breaking. Pretty much every step of the way had one issue or another.

http://i.imgur.com/7aZdSUI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DcgzBrx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZlTYYJj.jpg (after a second attempt at supercropping)

All of this was bad, but I still wanted to go through and keep it to the end, until I broke a stem again. It was one that I tied down, and it was okay at the time, but it broke while I was away for a minute. I immediately wrapped it up, but it was holding on by a thread.

http://i.imgur.com/n2Wd8Pm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Iz3NXxb.jpg

After a day or two I noticed it wasn't bouncing back, just getting droopier and more dead looking. I realized why when I looked closed, and saw that it was starting to fall out of the tape because it was completely detached. I was left with a mangled, 7 headed main lined plant.

I decided to change it up and make this a strawberry cough run, MAIN LINE VS TOPPING. Main lining has been a good learning experience, and I'm glad I did it, but I'm not sure if I want to do it again. It was a lot for my first run. All the cutting and bending and risk, I just had a much more stressful time doing this than if I had done a more traditional grow. If mainlining can really get the yields I'm after, then it'd be worth doing more and perfecting, but I want to see if I can get similar yields with just the normal stuff. If I can, the smaller margin for error might be worth it. I worked on my other cough than I'd been pretty much neglecting after topping. I started off by just cleaning off small undergrowth that was just wasting energy. I'm a bit worried that maybe I overdid it since it almost looks like lolipopping and I'm still in mid vegetative stage, but it seemed to be okay with it.

http://i.imgur.com/n2PT6Vt.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/v3piemB.jpg

I ended up transplanting the two coughs into 10 gal pots. These will be their final homes.

http://i.imgur.com/BmXWMG8.jpg

The next day I got more soil and decided to move the blackjack up as well. I set to work tying all of their branches into position, and did some defoliation.

http://i.imgur.com/Uj3bdFX.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iREYQkI.jpg (topped cough#3)
http://i.imgur.com/7r8YkQi.jpg (mainlined cough#1)
http://i.imgur.com/yLXD0XA.jpg (painlined blackjack#1)

I will probably separate the black jack soon and grow it under my fluorescent lights. I do want to clone this plant. It has beautiful leaves and I think it has the potential for purp. This is it after a night I forgot to close a window and temps dropped to 64.

http://i.imgur.com/ACwHqFx.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vt1GUez.jpg

It also smells amazing. I bit of tang, skunk, and even a touch of mint, all in the vegetative stage! I feel like, in my future self's more experienced hands, this could be a real winner. I'll have to brush up on GWE because I'll admit, cloning was kind of lost on me the first couple times I read through it, but now it's a necessity, so I'll have to learn. As a final question here, could the blackjack's fragility also be caused by me, via a nutrient deficiency? the stems weren't hollow and I saw no spots that would signify a lack of calcium, but perhaps it's something I don't know of currently. As always, comments, critiques, tips, tricks, suggestions, and scoldings are all appreciated and welcome!

edit: I realize that it's not a perfect comparison, since the two coughs are from seed and don't seem to be the same phenotype, but it's more of a general idea thing haha.

With the blackjack, I forgot to mentioned that it almost looks sparkly. Like it has trichomes or something, though I know that's not possible. Does anyone know what that means?

[kingfish]

I can't wait to see the final product.

[Royal Nugs]

could the blackjack's fragility also be caused by me, via a nutrient deficiency?

I don't think so. Look into adding silica to your nutrient regiment if your want sturdier plants.

With the blackjack, I forgot to mentioned that it almost looks sparkly. Like it has trichomes or something, though I know that's not possible. Does anyone know what that means?

It's probably the resin glands. They can get sticky, even in veg. I think it just means the plant is mature enough to go full bore into flower. Put a magnifier on the sparkly parts if you want to check for sure.

[NebulaHaze]

All your plants look really good! I saw you mentioned you "painlined" a plant (it was just a small typo) and it made me giggle.

I love the manifold vs topping debate! It's so neat to see you try it both ways! The cool thing about topping is it takes less time in the vegetative stage to get the same number of main colas, because your plant gets bigger, faster. The way you've trained your plant that was topped is great. You've basically got the same thing as a manifold, but you did it in way fewer steps than manifolding so it took less time and that plant is bigger than all the others! Yields depend a lot on strain, but if I had to guess, I'd guess the topped one will end up yielding the most if you switch them to the flowering stage all at the same time because it's likely going to end up being a bigger plant than all the others!

I feel like the thing about manifolding is it takes the thought out of it for some growers, while almost guaranteeing good results if you follow all the steps. Manifolding only takes a few minutes over a few sessions, and then I'm basically done training. With manifolding, you don't have to make any decisions about which stems to keep and which to get rid of, and there's overall less pruning. But if the process of making the manifold feels like a pain, you can definitely get the same results doing just topping and training like you have, and you'll shave a week or two off your grow! The main goal is to get a flat shape with tons of evenly spaced colas, and any way you achieve that will get you similar results as far as yields

I definitely wouldn't worry about breaking off any main stems. You have plenty of others to take its place! Your plants look really good and I think they're going to start growing a lot faster now. They're just at that size where they start growing fast enough you can see the difference each day.

[Starris]

Update:

http://i.imgur.com/2SUCzxch.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LfwgUXDh.jpg (cough #3)
http://i.imgur.com/n30IvvYh.jpg (cough #1)
http://i.imgur.com/e9pTR6Xh.jpg (blackjack #1)

Well o-fricking-kay. I'll take it. thanks to green and nugs for making me less nervous about taking the plunge into defoliation. So much new growth. Probably gonna pick up a trellis net tomorrow since they're reaching the end of the pots. Also a question for nebula in regards to your blackjack/wonder woman grow. You said you let more than just the 8 colas grow and that increased your yields over nugbuckets' original method. Did you keep everything over the lolipop line, or should I (when I get to that point) take down more/is there a good way to tell what will do more harm taking away energy from other colas than the good from growing out?

[NebulaHaze]

No, we made decisions to keep the best ones, but we still got rid of several. We only kept stems that had made it to the top of the canopy by week 3 or 4 of the flowering stage. Any skinny stems with larfy buds, or anything that wasn't able to get direct light had to go

Your plants look close to perfect, I think as long as you stay on this path you're going to get really good yields!

[Starris]

Ahh, decision making, my old nemesis haha. Well, after what I've done already, I hope I'll be able to handle that. Thanks!

[Starris]

Update: First off, thanks to everyone for your guidances and assurances. I stripped them again about 5 days ago, and here they are today.

http://i.imgur.com/CThvHxHh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Lv4CEw4h.jpg (cough #1)
http://i.imgur.com/yRcDprfh.jpg (cough #2)
http://i.imgur.com/Lp5WmlSh.jpg (blackjack #1)

It's a bit odd, but I feel so proud of them, as if they were children getting all a's in school! I'm guessing people here understand that feeling.

After stripping them again, I felt like I was going a little too hard on them and wasn't letting them recover enough, so I decided to give them a full week of healing before I do any more training, and I think they appreciate it.they all have many colas, and are each about 2ftx2ft. the two coughs are around 11-12 inches tall, and the blackjack is about 14-15.

I understand that the canopy still has 2x2 of unused space now, but could I still get full usage of it? I would think that, once they went into flower, I could set up a trellis net and bend them out as they stretch up. It seems like my colas are pretty densely packed to the point where I SHOULD do this just to prevent crowding, but that's why I'm asking here haha.

I could also just keep going them outwards and fill up the space totally before flower, but I wonder if the time spent doing that (probably one to two weeks) would be shown in overall yield. I plan to let them grow out a bit more just for vertical height. If I could get the same results without a couple more tying down sessions, my wrists would really appreciate it haha. That being said, if there would be an appreciable difference, I'd be willing to go through a lot more trouble even.

[Starris]

Hi all, just another quick update.

http://i.imgur.com/JKtb6ho.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2rQLPPH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SZj1fkH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SfM8LlB.jpg

I saw how healthy they were, and how many nodes were getting covered up, and I just couldn't help myself. This trim is less drastic than the last one, but It'll allow me to do it more frequently without risk of tiring them out. I think I'm going to let them heal from this, Wait for a bit more vertical growth, then do the deed and switch them to 12/12. After stripping them a bit, it let me see how many top canopy nodes they have, not to mention the ones that will be gained after this defoliation, clearly, and I would think there's plenty to fill this out comfortably (still open to corrections on that assumption).

My blackjack is still kicking booty and smelling great. today I opened my tent and thought I smelled coffee, and upon more focus, I realized it was skunk! She's just getting smellier by the day, and I can't wait to see what she does in flower. I have noticed a bit of striping going on with her stems. It's pretty cool looking to me c:

http://i.imgur.com/vXqNhTu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Rj9jyIm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/dhVanKs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XfL7oV3.jpg

I'm fairly sure that this is due to my night time temperatures, which usually hover in the mid 60s. I've heard that it can also be caused by phosphorus and calmag issues, but I don't know of any obvious differences in appearance, so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing for now. Feel free to tell me I'm wrong. I'd rather be wrong but be able to fix the problem than just go on and let it get worse.

The last time I watered was a bit of a hack job, only using 5 gal's for all three, and I barely got any runoff. This was partially do to time constraints that day, and the fact that I didn't really have a method of dealing with the 10 gallon pots the girls are in now. I rigged up a solution today with a large bin and their old pot saucers. I ended up using 5 gals of my well water ph'd down to 6.1-6.3 and mixed with recharge on each plant, and was able to get acceptable runoff ph. Soon I'll have pot elevators and a wet dry vacuum, so I won't have to carry them for watering, which my back will appreciate I'm sure. This is them in their new positions in the tent all watered and happy.

http://i.imgur.com/20dvbQf.jpg

Something that I realized tonight is just how big these pots are. Moving them is tough, but the real problem in my mind is leftover nutrients upon switching to flower. At this point I realize that I probably don't need 10 gals in the future. 7s or even 5s could probably suit me fine, but that's for tomorrow. Today I am wondering if it would be safe or even effective to flush them with flora clean before flowering so there's no more nutrients in the untouched ocean forest. Since Nutrient balance is extra important in flower, I want to make sure I can control it as best as I can.

As always, thanks to everyone on the forums for sharing knowledge and experiences. I'm so excited to be doing this, and I'm glad that I can have others there along the way to push me in the right direction. You all rock!

[Green75]

Looking great....keep it up...so healthy

[Royal Nugs]

I think you could easily fit those in 5 gal pots. I'm sure they love the extra leg room. Those 10 gals must weigh a ton.... I've seen a 4x4 filled with one plant in a 10 gallon. The thing was the size of a washing machine...

[Starris]

Hi, I'm just gonna bump this thread for one of my questions. Would it be possible to use flora clean and a bunch of water to leach everything from the untouched ocean forest at the bottom and the sides of the 10 gal pots? I can then water with recharge to get the microbes started again, so I don't think it would be much of an issue, but I'm just not sure. Sorry to press this, I've just been getting more and more worried about them getting a disproportionate amount of nutes for flowering.

[Starris]

Did a little defoliation, and found these two. No other leaves like them, so I'm not that worried, but I'm just curious at this point. Any idea what these are?

[Starris]

Update:

Finished night one of flower, and the stretch is already upon me! Had quite a bit of vertical growth. I did some light defo and fed each 5 gallons of general organics nute mix of veg and bloom nutes, both at 1/4 strength. I'll continue to use my mh for the first week, then switch to hps.

http://i.imgur.com/vBHvtQB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9IjACTn.jpg (BJ)
http://i.imgur.com/H81kq6w.jpg (C#1)
http://i.imgur.com/WUSM6We.jpg ( C#3)

[Starris]

Flower Update - Day 3 :

http://i.imgur.com/VjlKDrQ.jpg

The vertical growth continues at a brisk pace. I still have about 15-17 inches of raising the light, so I think I'll be okay on that front.

http://i.imgur.com/poKCUJY.jpg

This blackjack was almost pulled a few times, but I'm glad I didn't because WOW is it growing well. I actually took some clones of this girl before switching, and they're hanging out with some rockwool cubes in the humidity dome. I'm hoping to get a full run of just these next, and possibly keeping a mother if it continues to develop so well.

http://i.imgur.com/BNy7tXi.jpg

Cough 1 is just kinda doing its thing, nothing too amazing, but it's keeping up. Still no real smell from it, but I'm pretty sure that'll change soon.

http://i.imgur.com/JSWbnlC.jpg

Cough 3 is kind of the odd man (girl) out, being the only non mainlined plant, but it's still doing pretty well. It's not quite stretching with the other two, so I'll probably have to lug some cinderblocks to the grow room soon. I do still love the effects of the frequent toppings. It's just so thick and bushy. I'm sure it'll yield well if I bring it up to the light with the others.

http://i.imgur.com/rKWCYAw.jpg

Just as a bit of behind the scenes, here are all the things I've given my plants throughout the grow. The only one missing is the maxicrop liquid seaweed, but I ran out and tossed it. I just started the sweet carbo and terpinator in my last feeding, and they'll be here all through flower.


Added note:

http://i.imgur.com/4ReBy49.jpg

Ialso got a something in the mail today! I got this from a link to a sign up on dude grows. The site is currently down ( :c ) but here's the link for when it's back up

https://www.dudegrows.com/mammoth/

(Edit:it's up!)

I was surprised how easy getting it was, since I assumes it was out of date and wouldn't work. But it was a simple sign up and here it came! On the left is a normal test sample, but they gave me a full 250ml bottle as well! I'll have to wait for my next feeding to start it up, but I'm very grateful for their generosity, and look forward to using it. I haven't used it myself, but seeing the effect it had on growmau5's garden made at least worth a try.

Added personal note:
I'll admit this run has been a bit of a possible snake oil one. I've gotten a lot of the big ticket items in the "not really sure if it works" department, at least in the sense that they haven't been used by enough growers to be fully tested. A lot of this stuff were things that were talked up by some of my influences. People like The Capn, Cali Green, Growmau5, and websites like dudegrows and GWE (obviously!). Looking at this mishmash makes me a bit worried about the possible interactions but it also makes it feel like I've got all those sources at my side (or at least in my grow room), and of course, I have all of the real life experiences of the talented growers here to learn from, so thanks again to everyone for coming together to share, and thanks to Nebula and Sirius for making it all happen!

[Royal Nugs]

Everything looks great Starris. I love Dude Grows too! Funny and informative. I think you'll be fine.

I can taste the strawberry already!

[Starris]

Quick update:

http://i.imgur.com/L9zZqHXh.jpg

I swapped out the mh for hps. It's sad not being able to see their true colors, but the orange hue is very warm and inviting. They're continuing to stretch, and I think I'll be able to get near maximum heights for the the tent if they continue like this for the rest of it.

http://i.imgur.com/Tz6H30vh.jpg

Cough 1 continues to be an average but solid plant. Still nothing in the way of smell, but good structure and pretty even growth.

http://i.imgur.com/CYQW9fDh.jpg

I see a long future with this one. less flower development and those classic sativa leaves.

http://i.imgur.com/9l4hYYph.jpg

Goodness gracious. I was content to get more strawberry cough than blackjack, but it looks like they'll be closer than expected. This thing is taking up half the darn tent. Smell is starting to increase slightly, and I can't wait for the blast of stank in the coming weeks.