Auto 250w cfl Cupboard grow - 3x Ultra Lemon Haze

lowblower

Well-Known Member
Ive moved my thread because my set up has changed, so its still the same grow as before, just dont wanna confuse any newbies
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
Just a bit of techincal info:

Pots: The ULH autos are each going in 3 gallon smart pots. There is a heat stunted/mutated AKR in like a 2 litre pot or something along for the ride

Lights: 1x125w white spectrum cfl for propagation and 1x 250w red spectrum cfl after 1-2 weeks veg (gonna eventually use 2x 125w red cfl in a twin reflector hood to spread the light and heat)

gonna be on an 18/6 light schedule (because i feel like a bad dad making them work with no breaks) but this may be reduced if the fans are too loud (stealth grow)

Soil: Biobizz light mix AND added perlite AND 'J arthur bowers' garden lime (for cal/mag and stable pH) and Myco madness for soil/root bacteria

Nutes: ALL AT 1/8-1/2 strength:

Superthrive from week 2-4
Baby Bio veg feed from week 2-5 at 1/6th strenth, and from week 5-7 at 1/8th strength
Dutch pro Auto flowering BLOOM nutes A+B from week 5-finish, starting at 1/6th strength and working to full strength by week 8
Humbolt nutrients 'Honey ES' (molasses) from week 4- finish (this will feed the soil bacteria that i will be adding from week 1-4)
some PK13/14 for around 1.5 weeks at heavy flowering, im guessing this will be around week 8 (gonna use this in the lightest concentration because its so pure)

ALL FEEDING AND WATERING WILL BE pH BALANCED with humbolt nutrients pure silicate called 'structural integrity' and using a simple pH test kit

Ventilation: 240m3/h extractor with a 4" rhino carbon filter. 180m3/h intake, plus a 9" desk fan for internal circulation and a 6" desk fan on the reflector

Using a 'powerstar' light contactor so my equipment doesnt overload my timer



^ some pics of one of my ULH from my last grow (my first grow :D) I was happy with how well the genetics were lol coz my management was crap! I learned alot though, so theoretically, ill produce even better buds this time. We will see! (they flowered under 20/4 photoperiod last time and went under 18/6 for the last couple of weeks)
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member


*I originally started with 2x 250w cfl's but it was way too hot (hence the stunted AKR and heat stress) so turned one off.

*thanks to slipon for encouraging me to get the superthrive and molasses/bacteria
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member


got 100% germination here how i did it:

1) put 3 ULH seeds in a small pot of water and the single AKR seed in its own small pot of water and put them in the dark for 12 hours.
2) after 12 hours i poked each seed into the water to test if they sank, which they all did
3) then used the moist paper towels method to germinate
4) as soon as the root was coming out like 1cm, i put the seeds in the propagator in a seedling tray to keep them moist, each one about 2-3mm under the soil. and left them under the 125w cfl light, ready to recieve their first rays as soon as they surface.

SO they are officially 2 days from opening the packet, and i hope they continue to please

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I would invest in an electrical propogator, and you can do the paper towels phase in there. I would have got one this time but the store ran out so i had to wrap my sealed sandwich box in foil (to keep it dark) and placed it about 6" under a 125w cfl. This kept the box WARM to the touch...which is optimal. And the seeds were cracking open after like 5 hours and had 1cm roots after 10 hours.

Seeds germinate by water permeating through the shell and activating enzymes. If youve done biology then youll know that enzymes have optimal temperatures. To get the best out of your seeds youll need to supply them with the optimal environment (dark, warm, moist and sanitary) and keep an eye on their development
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member


Just a quick update: 3 days from emerging from the soil. Looking healthy, i think ill repot them tomorrow evening or saturday afternoon into final pots
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
8/21/2012

All plants under just one 250w cfl because of unforseen heat issues. I think the 240 m3/h extractor would be fine but the outddor weather is so hot here that it doesnt provide any cool air to circulate the growroom. I will go back to using 500w for a week at the last week or so of flowering. And ill use 500w through winter too.

Was just gonna give the AKR to my friend but i decided to repot it to a smaller container. It seems a bit mutated from the seed so its not much concern to me now, but if it gives me a free bit of smoke ill take it!

The third ULH i got, just topped it just above the 5th node, at 2 weeks from seed. Dunno how it wil turn out. Ive heard to top at the 2nd node, but i was on holiday so shit happens. Ive just topped this one for experimental purposes. The other two ULH are both on their 4th nodes now.


Razor cut at 5th node, woops, rookie camera job!
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
8/25/2012

19 days



^ Just a couple of group shots. The ULH in the front right corner is the one that has been topped at the 5th node




^ My mutated (i think heat stunted) AKR and the topped ULH






^ some rust spots appearing on a couple of the ULH. This could either be calcium deficiency or from heat stress. It may be damage from when i had both lights on (i started this grow at 500w), which has only just started to show. I wouldnt think it was calcium deficiency so soon, but im just gonna see how it develops and if it gets worse then ill get some cal-mag. I thought the garden lime i added would provide enough calcium/magnesium. So we will see! Hope you enjoy my grow
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
8/27/2012

3 weeks today

i think they are growing really well, but the rust spots have got a bit more pronounced (ok ill say it, worse) but like i said before i think its just heat stress showing up from when i had both lights on, the new growth looks good. I was also wondering if its the baby bio nutes i used for veg feed. Even tho i fed at 1/6th strength, i just dont think its a good enough quality feed, ive had it for years too, so its prob just pure acid by now. Gonna get good organic veg nutes for next grow im not using this one any more.

this is the topped ultra lemon haze, as you can see the top two shoots are growing out fast


my new temp probe is showing 30oC, which i believe is the top end of the healthy range :/ a couple of the leafs beside where i stuck some wire into the soil have drooped, so i might have peirced a root or something.

my other ULH, she is growing very nicely. All of my plants are getting bigger by the day so im really happy. The only thing im concerned about is heat stress and nute burn.

the mutant AKR. I will say no more.

water info. I think its purified by RO, but its shop bought. Its got pretty low values compared to alot of others so im only using this especially.

Hope you enjoy!
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
8/28/2012

just moved the reflector up and had to move a few things round my growroom. Pretty depressing doing all this again lol i didnt think id have to buy any more hardware, but i think im gonna need an air cooled reflector. I presumed the cfl's would be fine because ive got ventilation but the ventilation really needs to be going to/from outdoors not my room lol its still way too hot. Even after moving the lights up another foot, the temp probe is reading even higher than before at 32oC so i wont be surprised if they get alot more heat damage before they start to flower. I think the reflector is so wide that the heat has problem gettin up and round it, which i didnt think would happen. It has these vents in the side which are advertised as 'allowing the heat from the reflector to rise up through the hood' but its a load of bullshit because when i place my hand above one of the vents its cool like shade, but underneathh the reflector is crazily warm. Well, this is only my second grow, so its not surprising ive come to another obstacle. Its just ive spent sooooo much money on the shit i got and it just dont work together
think i might do a seed run straight after this and then just sell all my shit and get a completely new set up in a tent by my window, instead of in my cupboard which is on the other side of the room to the window.

I hope this helps anyone else planning on making their own set up! Ill update with pics on friday morning, so hopefully they will still be healthy
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
8/30/2012

23 days


Left and top = regular ULH autos
right = topped ULH
Bottom = heat stunted (and possible partly mutated) AKR auto

They seem to have grown like 2 inches since i moved the reflector up yesterday so im happy. There is alot of signs of heat stress showing still, though. My temp probe has reached around 32oC i think yesterday or something, so they are doing very well considering the circumstances. What i am planning on doing, is selling both my 250w cfl's and buying two 125w cfl's to go in the double reflector. So my total wattage would be 250watts, but it will be shared over a wider distance, and it will refelcted with maximum efficiency, so light will be increased, and temperature will be dispersed. I think i was being greedy wanting a 500w grow, its just not possible for me and my situation right now, so im gonna stick to 250w growing now. The plants are growing really well so i think 250w is enough for me and what i wanna accomplish
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
9/3/2012

28 days

- the topped ULH has grown out very fast and has 4 main colas (i topped at the 5th node just before week 3) the other plants have just one cola under the light
- Ive started using a new product 'myco madness' from humbolt nutrients, which add beneficial soil bacteria for healthy roots - ill be feeding the bacteria with my 'honey es' mollases, also from humboldt nutrients
- No pistils yet but smelling very funky. Im expecting pistils to show from now till next monday as they have now entered the 4th week of growth
- I have had to reduce the photoperiod to 16.5/7.5 because the noise of wind from the fans is loud late at night - this is a VERY stealth grow - must be careful in this house
- I have cut all of the side branches of the 1st main node on all plants, because watering them was a nightmare and all the leaves would sit on the soil and get all filthy. Its alot easier now. I think the girls are developed enough to not get stunted from this, as they are literally the lowest side branches and wouldnt harvest sod all anyway.



^ The mycomadness and its contents



^ i think its safe to say already that the topped ULH is gonna harvest more buds. There is way more light surface area to those 4 main colas
The girls are looking a little sorry for themselves as they have just been watered, but they perk up within minutes of going back under the light.
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
*sorry bout the pics, i had to copy and paste them. From now on it will be easy to scroll through*

I hope you all enjoy the grow and some of you can learn something. If you have any pointers or general positive contribution about my grow/strains/setup please feel free to comment! Thanks for viewing :leaf:
 
nice report, keep posting, i subscribed :)

im curious how the harvest will be with 250w and 4 plants, but right now they look great
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
nice report, keep posting, i subscribed :)

im curious how the harvest will be with 250w and 4 plants, but right now they look great
If i can get an ounce of nice frosty bud per plant ill be really happy! You might have seen the pics of my first grow (second post of this thread) and they went through so much shit, so im hoping that as long as i work on reducing the temps in there this time, i should harvest alot more this time. But im as curious as you lol Thanks for subscribing :D p.s. the afghan kush ryder in the small pot is just a free bit of smoke, im not including that in the report coz its really damaged from heat in the first week. Ill probably get about an 1/8 off that which will be kool :leaf:
 

Dameon

Well-Known Member
Looking good LowBlower! You can def get an ounce per plant.How do those fabric pots hold up? I was thinking about trying some. I'll be looking out. Stay Crunchy! Crunch*
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
Looking good LowBlower! You can def get an ounce per plant.How do those fabric pots hold up? I was thinking about trying some. I'll be looking out. Stay Crunchy! Crunch*
well ive heard alot of good about them, and i cant really say they do the root structure any good because well, i cant see it :) but from whats above soil, id say they must be doing a good job of preventing damage from heat stress. The plants are growing nicely even though the temps can get to like 86-89oF (32oC) in there. Just a few heat damamge spots but nothing too worrying. Ive gone one step further and used the myco madness soil bacteria, which added to the self-pruning abilities of the smart pots, should give me a really healthy root structure. I need that healthy root structure so they can handle the PK13/14 too, coz its so pure i think the roots will need some help....it works in my head. We shall see in the following weeks! :D Thanks for following it means alot :D good luck on your grow it looks great, im looking forward to the flowering phase, i cant wait to see if the resin production on the trans siberian is what the breeders claim
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
ill keep my fingers crossed for you! i read a little bit about ULH and i think i will grow them after my current shiva skunk grow, seems to be a tasty strain :weed:
Thanks and yeah its a tasty strain, it says on the site to leave them on 15/9 lights and to leave them for 90+ days. Last time they managed to flower on 20/4 and i harvested a week and a half early (the trichs were getting milky so i chose to chop them, but the hairs were still 50% white) so this time im gonna leave them to flower for that extra couple of weeks and see what happens lol Im sceptical about the strain, because perhaps there are different phenos out there (im confused that the company recommend a maximum of 15/9) so im waiting at the moment for calyxes to appear as im at that time now. The mutant AKR has two tiny calyxes now, and i THINK one of the ULH is beginning to form some calyxes so i really hope they all flower for me this week. If not, ill probably not use this strain again. I guess i wanted to grow it again to see if my last grow was a fluke. Ive had to reduce the light ratio to 16.5/7.5 because my fans are too loud at night, so its not exactly 20/4 but if it wasnt an auto it would'nt flower till 12/12 anyway. Sorry im rambling lol thanks for following it means alot, i hope i can provide! :leaf:
 
Thanks and yeah its a tasty strain, it says on the site to leave them on 15/9 lights and to leave them for 90+ days. Last time they managed to flower on 20/4 and i harvested a week and a half early (the trichs were getting milky so i chose to chop them, but the hairs were still 50% white) so this time im gonna leave them to flower for that extra couple of weeks and see what happens lol Im sceptical about the strain, because perhaps there are different phenos out there (im confused that the company recommend a maximum of 15/9) so im waiting at the moment for calyxes to appear as im at that time now. The mutant AKR has two tiny calyxes now, and i THINK one of the ULH is beginning to form some calyxes so i really hope they all flower for me this week. If not, ill probably not use this strain again. I guess i wanted to grow it again to see if my last grow was a fluke. Ive had to reduce the light ratio to 16.5/7.5 because my fans are too loud at night, so its not exactly 20/4 but if it wasnt an auto it would'nt flower till 12/12 anyway. Sorry im rambling lol thanks for following it means alot, i hope i can provide! :leaf:
wow. 90 days of flowering is a long time, my Shiva skunk needs 45-55 days, thats more than a month lesser.
did you try to dim the fans? at night its colder so maybe you can dim it to a tolerable volume wihout the room getting to hot?
 

lowblower

Well-Known Member
wow. 90 days of flowering is a long time, my Shiva skunk needs 45-55 days, thats more than a month lesser.
did you try to dim the fans? at night its colder so maybe you can dim it to a tolerable volume wihout the room getting to hot?
nah i havent got a fan controller, but if the lights are on they need to be going full whack anyways to cope with the temps. Its averaging 30oC with frequent highs of 32oC. Im gonna put the lights on 12/12 for the last couple of weeks of flower (once half the hairs are orange) because ive seen a few breeders suggest it makes the buds more compact. Its worth an experiment. Plus i can start my durban poison 12/12 from seed grow :D Im also concerned about the elec bill. Im getting a digital timer so i can vent the room once the lights turn off in the evening, for 1 minute every half hour up to 12 o'clock at night, and then leave the fans off till the lights come back in in the morning. This set up isnt ideal but the girls are hanging in there so im gonna be real happy if they give me an ounce each! :leaf:
 
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