First grow... Using 2 68W CFL's

So, this is my first time growing and I'm also a New Member to RIU. The set up is DWC, 2 68W 2700K CFL's, 5 gal Bucket, 6" net pot lid, 3.2L air pump.
Nute's are from Dutchpro: Multi-Total, Take Root, Grow A & B, Bloom A & B, and Explode.

Okay now to the good stuff.

Brief background, I am a newbie to this beautiful hobby of horticulture. I have done about a year of research on pretty much everything that will show up on the web, personal interviews, etc... I have tried growing about a 6 months ago with the first few seeds that ever came into my possession. the first 2 had slightly been cracked and would not germinate, had them in a damp paper towel for about 2 weeks each. The third, germinated, and them the tap root rotted in the plug from over saturation with the water. Finally, about 15 weeks ago, I put 3 seeds into a plug, without germinating (I'm betting your shaking your head, and thinking Whiskey Tango Foxtrot). But, all three sprouted, the last to sprout i gave away, the second showed itself male at the end of the first week of flower so i killed it, and this baby has proven to be a bonafied lady the whole time in flowering.

But for my first time, I'm coming to the community to see if this beauty is looking good for someone who has never done this before, I just want honest opinions, maybe a little advice if it seems needed would be appreciated. Also, I know that you will see some yellow leaves, but I had a slight deficiency that is being corrected as the days move on, and believe me when i say it looks 10x's better. So I am on Week 5 of flowering. I started these seedlings(reference above) with 3 23W 6500K CFL's. I have been using Advanced Techniques through the Vegging Stage; ie: super cropping, topping, LST. The first listed light set up is my flowering lights. But all in all, does it seem to you experienced veterans that I'm doing a decent job? BTW they are very dense when touching the nugs.

Doesent look too bad man I can see the deficiency but really its minor, not a bad grow especially for first time (mine was a lot worse lol) if you weren't already in flowering Id say to trim her up a little, take out the lower branches to make the top buds bigger, also watch out nuting during flowering it can give the plant a lot of trauma, typically people will nute until a week or two before you plan to start flowering and they flush it out it remove the excess so your end product won't taste like chemicals

So, about how much yield would you estimate from this girl by the finish? I'm guessing shes a 8-10 week flowering strain. but I'm not sure. i know shes indica-dominant, if its not pure indica. This was a seed I had gotten from a buddy(not a close friend) who grows professionally. However, he never told me how long the flowering cycle would be or even what strain it is. I can't contact him to ask now as he dropped off the grid like he does after ever crop for just under a year before the next crop is ready.

73T_M3_!N_M@$T3R_W00 said:

So, about how much yield would you estimate from this girl by the finish? I'm guessing shes a 8-10 week flowering strain. but I'm not sure. i know shes indica-dominant, if its not pure indica. This was a seed I had gotten from a buddy(not a close friend) who grows professionally. However, he never told me how long the flowering cycle would be or even what strain it is. I can't contact him to ask now as he dropped off the grid like he does after ever crop for just under a year before the next crop is ready.

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Id say you could make 2oz+ easy if you did all the LST and super cropping

Trynax said:

Doesent look too bad man I can see the deficiency but really its minor, not a bad grow especially for first time (mine was a lot worse lol) if you weren't already in flowering Id say to trim her up a little, take out the lower branches to make the top buds bigger, also watch out nuting during flowering it can give the plant a lot of trauma, typically people will nute until a week or two before you plan to start flowering and they flush it out it remove the excess so your end product won't taste like chemicals

Click to expand...

Actually.... I don't know anyone that flushes before flower, not saying there isn't but i don't know any. Even in the beginning stages of flower or pre-flower the plant still uses NPK. As a matter of fact if you look at any nutrient feeding schedule from most manufacturers it tells you to continue to feed. Plus the plant needs PK during flower so that it gets what it needs to flower.

Not to mention Every strain is different...

73T_M3_!N_M@$T3R_W00 said:

So, about how much yield would you estimate from this girl by the finish? I'm guessing shes a 8-10 week flowering strain. but I'm not sure. i know shes indica-dominant, if its not pure indica. This was a seed I had gotten from a buddy(not a close friend) who grows professionally. However, he never told me how long the flowering cycle would be or even what strain it is. I can't contact him to ask now as he dropped off the grid like he does after ever crop for just under a year before the next crop is ready.

Click to expand...

It all depends on your environment... You could end up with 2 zips but highly unlikely as your lights aren't close enough plus the strength of your current light setup. You know you can grow successfully... Time to upgrade to HID, LED or at the least T5. All in all looking good

Week 6:
I wanted to update the progress of my girl. They are starting to really show the Trichs now. The def is almost completely corrected now. Still not sure if I should flush on week nine or ten, I'm not sure if she'll be ready to flush by then. Looking at these pics I can't tell how close she is. Anybody got an idea?

73T_M3_!N_M@$T3R_W00 said:

So, this is my first time growing and I'm also a New Member to RIU. The set up is DWC, 2 68W 2700K CFL's, 5 gal Bucket, 6" net pot lid, 3.2L air pump.
Nute's are from Dutchpro: Multi-Total, Take Root, Grow A & B, Bloom A & B, and Explode.

Okay now to the good stuff.

Brief background, I am a newbie to this beautiful hobby of horticulture. I have done about a year of research on pretty much everything that will show up on the web, personal interviews, etc... I have tried growing about a 6 months ago with the first few seeds that ever came into my possession. the first 2 had slightly been cracked and would not germinate, had them in a damp paper towel for about 2 weeks each. The third, germinated, and them the tap root rotted in the plug from over saturation with the water. Finally, about 15 weeks ago, I put 3 seeds into a plug, without germinating (I'm betting your shaking your head, and thinking Whiskey Tango Foxtrot). But, all three sprouted, the last to sprout i gave away, the second showed itself male at the end of the first week of flower so i killed it, and this baby has proven to be a bonafied lady the whole time in flowering.

But for my first time, I'm coming to the community to see if this beauty is looking good for someone who has never done this before, I just want honest opinions, maybe a little advice if it seems needed would be appreciated. Also, I know that you will see some yellow leaves, but I had a slight deficiency that is being corrected as the days move on, and believe me when i say it looks 10x's better. So I am on Week 5 of flowering. I started these seedlings(reference above) with 3 23W 6500K CFL's. I have been using Advanced Techniques through the Vegging Stage; ie: super cropping, topping, LST. The first listed light set up is my flowering lights. But all in all, does it seem to you experienced veterans that I'm doing a decent job? BTW they are very dense when touching the nugs.

View attachment 3501438 View attachment 3501439 View attachment 3501440

Click to expand...

Might be kinda late with this post but i was introduced to the importance of getting a LUX METER to assist me in my grow to help get maximum use of CFL's ( lux meters measure light intensity).

My buddy who has grown for years introduced me to the meter, he positions the plants or lights to the plant itself he gets incredible yeids.

I got mine for $32 (LX1330B) bucks on Amazon DK shipping I have prime (don't pay for shipping) i just pay a one time fee $100 bucks but you get 2 day shipping i do crazy shopping online spent close to $250 on shipping cost last year, you do the math, anyhow back to the thread, they have less expensive ones I can't tell you how well they work.

BTW he only does CFL grows, i heard it won't work with LED's.

BTW he makes sure to use the meter at the last couple of weeks of flowering, thats where the best growth happens!
B4L

Dude those aren't even close! Your fan leaves haven't even started dying off yet! Be patient!

So tomorrow actually starts week 7 of flowering and she doesn't seem to be filling out as much as i had originally expected. However, she is super frosty. Just compare the pics from Monday's post to the ones now. I'm at a loss for words as I'm not sure how long this girl needs to flower. Does any veteran grower have any idea/advice that might help with my dilemma and confusion? Or should it be putting on the weight in its last 2 weeks of flowering before its ready to be harvested and am I just worrying for nothing?

Start Week 7 Flowering:

She seems to be putting on some growth in the buds. I found the answer to my previously posed question. The answer to all those questions is yes I was wrong for worrying, and to be honest I was being impatient. After all this is my first grow. So I'm still a new grower among the masses of knowledgeable growers. But she is getting some weight, I can see the difference in just a couple of days. I hope you enjoy the pic's, she has some serious crystal formation on her though. Hope that means she will be potent as hell, cause I could use some good smoke like that when she is done.

Start of Week 8:
Still seems to continue adding more weight. The buds are mostly turning purple, leaves are still green. Trichs keep forming, and I am completely unsure how much longer to let her go. Well I hope you like the pic's. If you have any input please feel free to write it down.

Start of Week 9: Flush before Crop
She stopped adding weight. I believe it is because of how much unfocused light I am losing due to the light reflectors I am using. However, I know this will be a low yield grow, after all this is my first grow. This plant was about learning, as all grows for me will be about learning. I have learned a lot. She continues to turn purple though, but its spreading to her leaves now.

Things look good for the first time, congrats... before you cut take a read of this, patience at harvest is sometimes worth it or staging your harvest... http://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/harvest-marijuana-plants-trichome-ripeness/

Also, read the posts on here for harvesting, drying and curing, it makes a huge difference, you dont want the hard work to be wasted.

Remember, good things come to those who wait and have patience...

Good job..

End of Week 9:
Cropped Enigma Saturday night after a 1 week flush. I realized also during this grow that my biggest and most critical factor during this grow was my roots just would not take off... And after Reading and Re-Reading forum upon forum about DWC/Bubbleponics, and every thing else for that matter, it finally clicked. I in my noobish confidence thinking that I could just manually run the solution over the pebbles by hand a few times a day and that would be enough for massive root growth. Which is why I didn't invest in a top feed system. I know now that in my over-confidence on the first grow I failed my plant. My plant did not fail me. However, on a great note, I had hung her up in a blackout box. Again this is about learning, so i wanted to try something in the Drying process.

I have read that there are Several methods to drying. But only one method guarantees the best quality, according to many professional growers and way more veteran growers than me. That being said, I wanted to see if I could find a way to decrease the number of days before placing the buds into jars for the curing to actually begin, but doing it without heat, without piling it up, with out any of that dirty sounding crap that some people do to dry the buds..... So I modified a box I had already made, when I started my 2nd seed, in my journal here on RIU. I turned the fans around so they would pull air out of the box, and I had the plant hanging inside at the top of the box just below the fold-able lids, which i closed. The box may not be a vacuum, but it does lower the pressure inside the box due to its very restricted air flow capability and the fact that the fans exhaust the air. That creates a lower pressure which, in turn lowers the vapor temperature of water into a gas. Thus, the theory I had, was if I lower the pressure enough to drop the evaporation temperature I could quick dry naturally without losing any potency.

I took the buds off last night and according to the drying/curing how to's here on RIU, they felt, looked, and smelled like they were described to be, before going into a jar to cure. So I placed them in a jar. and now they a curing. All the buds are popcorn nugs... I don't think I have one that weighs more than a gram by itself... Lol, but hey i got around 8 grams of buds, and about 8 grams in trich covered trim, and I do believe that will make good use later. So I learned that top feeding on hydro type set ups is a requirement, not a recommendation.

Here are some pics of the bud, hope you like it.