Back to sub-zero outside temps, although the girl is shooting up at nearly an inch a day. Google suggests this is the stretch phase, so quite normal. Still worrying as the grow tent is only limited height, so can't keep this growth up for more than 3 weeks.
No sign of significant pistils yet, but they are starting to form, I'll hope it's just the cold slowing her down a bit.
Increased the feed slightly.. Still only half of the minimum recommended by the feed company :-
It took weeks to find the level where the leaves weren't clawing... At least for my second grow it'll be fairly spot on for the nutrient levels from day 1.
Did some mild defoliation to remove manky lower fan leaves and micro-bud sites from the lower 6" of the plant, and removed 2 big fan leaves from near the top that were blocking some of the higher bud sites
@biggreens420, It'll be another seed of the same strain. This is my first grow, so I haven't messed about with anything, just let it grow naturally and pulled off a few fan leaves. Basically figuring out the basics, and learning what not to do!
For the next one I'll probably try topping and LST to see if the yield increases. I'll definitely feed it less, and try to defoliate a bit more. The weather might be on my side by then too.
Cheers, it's been a nightmare battling the -7c outside temps, and getting the feed balance right with the weird cold behaviour. She's growing upwards nicely now though
@biggreens420, I was trying to heat my shed with an electric radiator... the heat just disappeared. She started growing better when I moved the radiator inside the tiny tent, and turned down the fan extracting the heat. It stays really warm in there now, but there's just enough airflow to prevent condensation and mould.
That's in addition to a tube heater directly under the pot, which is raised slightly on some timber.
@Truro, My light is red spectrum. I vegged and bloomed with it. If I was going to run 2 lamps together, I'd use both red spectrum, as it would probably be the best option for yield. But for a small tent one 300w lamp should be plenty
My tent is only 0.8 x 0.8 x 1.6. With topping and early flowering it should be possible to keep the plant a lot shorter
I've got no problem with heat... I've got a 50 gallon water drum outside collecting rain water. It's frozen solid tonight! That's 50 gallons of ice! :-o I'm having to burn an 1kw oil filled radiator inside the tent to stop the poor girl from freezing
@Jerboa, it looks like its doing a fine job. your bud structure is top notch, getting really good penetration all round. what do you think about a small grow tent (0.5x0.5x1) with a 300W 6500K as well as a 300W 2700K CFL? Was wondering if having both veg and bloom lights on at once would help with yield. Im sure the limitting factor would be combined heat output but say that could be dealt with - reckon its worth a try?
@Truro, Since it stopped growing upwards, I've had the lamp about an inch off the top of the cola. Before that, it was 3-4 inches. My CFL is about 10 years old, so I'm highly suspicious of it's lumen output. Still, it's made some bud!
Looks beautiful mate. I hope you've read up on trimming and manicuring, you've got quite a job ahead of you with that many buds! Great growing, wish you the best of luck with the next one. I'll be doing Creme de la Chem after easter (;
@biggreens420, Thanks, I had my doubts over the bulb - it's at least 10 years old, and nobody seems to rate CFL over LED or HPS, but it's doing the business! I'll definitely use some bloom booster for the follow-up though.
I might see if I can get a small HPS to use for flowering next time, if the bulbs are cheap enough and fit my reflector.
@biggreens420, The next grow is germinating as we speak :-) I'll start the diary in a few days - going to fill the space with 2 plants this time, I hope
Starting to get that golden glow a bit, good luck on the flush. You going to wait to harvest till the plant starts fading as it eats itself? I think you have to keep the temps warmer for it to properly dry, I've read at least 60F, but with no experience myself I'll be watching to see how it goes for you, good luck!
@TheMachinist, I'd like to see a bit of leaf fading before I harvest, but the leaves are so dark I don't know if that'll happen.. We'll see in a few days I guess :)
I'm loving my cold temps, otherwise my 1000W running at 1200W would require an A/C just to cool the hood lol. Then again I have a whole insulated tiny house to put my grow tent inside, with baseboard heaters.
@TheMachinist, I'm considering some sort of tent insulation for my next grow. The problem I face then is sucking enough airflow to prevent condensation/mould, while keeping enough heat in to keep the heating bills low! The building it's in is a bit too big to retain any heat, but it does keep the frost off. Roll on the summer :-)
More light is an obvious solution too, more heat as a by-product is a bonus in this weather 👍 Paying for heat with no light is just wasted cash..
@420_liquidsun, True, more yield is tempting, but I'll see how this grow pans out, and whether it's enough to keep me happy... Which basically means whether it runs out before the next grow finishes ;-)
The CFL is really easy to manage, it's cool, no ballast, and I already had it so it didn't cost anything.
It is -2c out there tonight though, so some extra heat might not be a bad thing..