Multi-Strain Grow - 1st time - Need HELP!

[h=2]Multi-Strain Grow - 1st time - Need HELP![/h]

flower the nl5, wilwonder, skunk 1 and god bud first
let the rest veg - practice cloning and training
these are all user friendly strains - hard to fuggup

meanwhile, read more info on identifying plant issues
spend a LOT of time tlurking the plant hospitals
go over to the seedbay breeder forums and post this questionm in the appropriate places

gl hf
riddle siad he'd seen a LOT of plants die from OVER fert - never seen one starve
be easy - enjoy your time with the plants - they'll reward you

indicas are easier
skunks are easy too

shagalicious said:

flower the nl5, wilwonder, skunk 1 and god bud first
let the rest veg - practice cloning and training
these are all user friendly strains - hard to fuggup

meanwhile, read more info on identifying plant issues
spend a LOT of time tlurking the plant hospitals
go over to the seedbay breeder forums and post this questionm in the appropriate places

gl hf
riddle siad he'd seen a LOT of plants die from OVER fert - never seen one starve
be easy - enjoy your time with the plants - they'll reward you

indicas are easier
skunks are easy too

Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply.

I am pretty good at spotting health issues in general (I also have a good library of books to reference)

I agree on the "over fertilization" statement.

I am more interested in learning more about stretching/traits, nutrient preferences between the hybrids as suggested by their lineage or specific to the plant (like, "on top of the nutrients you are using - plants X-X will need X during veg and X during flower - conversely, plants X-X" etc)

I am not brand new to this. I just had focused all of my efforts on OG Kush (primarily) and Blue Dream (and Blue Dream is a relativity easy grow and seemed to be just fine with receiving the same treatment as the OG, however, the Blue Dream wanted slightly higher PPM of the Bloom and wanted water much more frequently)

I am trying to figure out "best practices" for these strains. As well as some general information that seems to be hard for me to find (maybe I just don't know the right sites or something?) - I want each one to be close enough to its potential for me to make a proper judgement on who to keep, and who to kill.

PS: Williams Wonder is a true (if you have the correct version) fast turn. I simply have not grown this myself but I obtained it under the advice (and with the help) of someone I know longer speak with (he left the grid) - At the time (and he is a highly experienced cultivator and commercial level operator) he told me the turn-time expected for a proper (not a seed company wanna-be) Williams Wonder. I had to jump through a lot of hoops, make a lot of friends, say all of the right things, and make a trade (which required a lot of mutual trust) to get a clipping of this plant (that we could confirm). A true-blue Williams Wonder, in my mind, is something to appreciate and hold on to. I just wish we had not parted ways because now I don't know anyone to bring my questions to... The last thing we did together was get this plant... He left 2 weeks ago. He is an urban legend and I will miss him (but sometimes, you have to leave, and I would rather not try to track him down) - Anyways, Williams Wonder (I don't know about the seed version) is a really quick turn so it concerns me that you would make the suggestion to flip it before others (it is likely the last one I should flip) - Avoid giving advice if you are not sure.

Sauzaphobia said:

Multi-Strain Grow - 1st time - Need HELP!

Medium: 5 Gallon Pots with Lakeland Mills

Pre Flower: Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow Veg 3-2-4

Post Flower: Soul Synthetics Bloom 1.5-4.5-3

Room Size: 8.5 x 14.5

Lighting: 3 x 1K HPS

Water: pH is always balanced. No hard water issues (or the like)

Issue: Multiple strains I have never grown. Wondering if anyone can help me (either by experience) or by helping me in locating detailed information on the web (I seem to be having a hard time...)

I will list the strains. I will put genetic information next to them as that might help - Some of the strains I have been successful with, but will list so that if anyone here has experience with them, maybe they can give me tips, and help expand my knowledge of them - And by successful I mean brought to harvest without issue and had a product myself and others were very happy with.

The kind of information I am looking for: Stretch amount (which ones double, which ones don't, and which ones more than double?), flowering time, PPM (using the above listed that I am currently using - as well as suggestions to add), suggestions in general, and any information you have as to cultivating the plant in general (things someone might not know about it or should know about it):

Sour Diesel (successful)
Chemdawg (successful)
OG Kush (successful)
Head-Band (successful)
Blue Dream (successful)
Skywalker OG - CC (successful)

G-13
It is what it is...

Blackberry Kush (Help!)
Blackberry x Bubba Kush

Tangerine Dream (help!)
G-13 x Neville's A5 Haze

Skunk #1 (Help!)
Afghani x Acapulco Gold x Colombian Gold

Pink Panther (Help!)
Afghani Kush x ?

Purple Elephant (Help!)
Hash Plant x Purple Urkle x Sour Diesel

BC God Bud (Help!)
God x Hawaiian x Purple Skunk

Pit Bull (Help!)
P-91 x G-13 x Bull Rider

Northern Lights #5 (Help!)
Highland Thai x Landrace Afghan

Red Cherry Berry
Skunk #1 x California Indica

God's Gift
GDP x OG Kush

Strawberry Cough (Help!)
Strawberry fields x Haze

Blue Cheese
Blueberry x Big Buddha Cheese

UK Cheese
Skunk Hybrid?

Williams Wonder
Unkown (Afghani/Ruderalis - Super Sativa Seed Club 1973)

Right now every plant is in veg and at a variety of heights. I plan to veg and top/train the canopy even. I am trying to figure out as much as I can as soon as possible, and especially before flipping.

I know this is a lot to ask - But I am really hoping I can find some support. I just want help navigating these different hybrids. I have grown OG Kush almost exclusively and that is where 80% of my time has been spent (for all the right reasons in my book

- But I am collecting all of these strains to be grafted - And I want to test them first and know how to respect them (before I make the final decisions and graft)

- Sauzaphobia
​

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Grew g-13 several times. Can have powdery mildew issues but that came from when I first bought the clones. Is a nutrient hog.

Wanted to try Tangerine Dream but alot of people on here encountered the bad phenotype. So, ill pass on that strain.

Skunk#1 that will prolly be the most easiest to grow out of all the strains you listed. Extremely forgiving to mistakes. Very resilient strain and stable. Tolertes high nutrient feeding schedule.

Uk exodus is basically a skunk #1 that mutated over in Uk. Grow same as your skunk#1.

You'll really like Big Buddha seeds version of Blue Cheese. Did that and alot of my friends says its better than ones coming from other seed companies. For feeding on the phenotype that expressed most for me was like blueberry can be sensitive to nutrients but will let you know right away.

Thanks man

The G-13 isn't a favorite of mine but I promised a friend I would get it and try it out for him. Thank you for the advice - I will test pushing the nutes up on it a little bit as I go and see how it responds.

Ya, the Tangerine Dream is a tough call. I only agreed to take it because everyone (other local guys) swore up and down that this particular person had a legit mother plant. However, I will have to see for myself.

Skunk #1 is another one captain G-13 wanted (though, I don't have an issue with it, I might like it) - If it likes high nutes as well maybe I will see if I can match up its PPM with the G-13 (one of my main goals in this is to see if I can find common needs and simplify things) - I figured with the parents I might be able to get away with clumping the Skunk phenotypes together - But in the end I decided to just post all of them because you never know, and also, you never know which "side" of itself it favors, and considering I focused all of my time on one plant, I can't say I know much about what the different children want.

Blue Cheese just looked too interesting to me to pass up.

So than should I take that kind of precaution for the "berry" varieties I have in general? Blue Dream (Blueberry x Haze) seemed to be quite a bit of a nute lover and water hog - Is that maybe from its Haze side?

Thanks everyone so far. I am just hoping with enough info I can kind of write out a schedule.

If anyone knows the average stretching of some of these varieties that would really help me to (I'm concerned with my canopy for more than one reason) - The OG (and its friends) tend to stretch double, but the Blue Dream stretches more (in my experience and setup it seemed closer to three times)

Multi strain grows can be tough! I avoid doing a multi strain grow til I have a handle on each strain! Works better and less head aches!!
Good luck and Bsafe

budybong said:

Multi strain grows can be tough! I avoid doing a multi strain grow til I have a handle on each strain! Works better and less head aches!!
Good luck and Bsafe

Click to expand...

But I got a chance to get each strain from respected private people that are as picky as I am... I didn't want to pass it up. So... Yup... Would have been much easier though to bring them in slower over time...

I just tested my soil again today - I tried using another brand of soil - It came out Alkaline all the way up at 8! The fringes were standing, the leaves were starting to flip (trying to dissipate faster), and it showed signs of salt (they were getting large ridges) - I tested the mix with two plants. I removed one plant last night and transplanted her to my usual medium and within 2 hours the symptoms had all but cleared and the plant looks completely healthy this morning.

I also found a spot for a Blue Dream outside (its that time of year!) and this plant was also placed in the 'bad soil' - It was showing the same signs and I was going to remove it today and place it in the 'better' medium, however, it seems that this soil may be appropriate outdoors (this was a mix between the two mediums) as the plant seems to be very happy now - I think with the faster rate of dissipation outside, and the heat and power from the direct sunlight, the two are finding a happy middle-ground - So, for now it appears this mixes ability to retain that amount of humidity might be good outside -As opposed to the negative performance indoors. This plant is in a very large pot and I intend to let it take its natural course. I will need to spray it to prevent a few common insects around here and also work on preparing the plant for the cold that will arrive by the time it is done flowering (any suggestions on that would be great).

I have never tried this before so I have no idea what the results will be. My concern at the moment is that there was no realistic way for me to change my light cycle for this one plant, so the plant went from an 18/6 cycle to 15/9 overnight - I tried to lower the risk of issues by giving the plant the first 2 hours in the room before sunrise (so 2 hours in the current cycle - so the plant had 6 hours of photo) - Which I was hoping (by making the move one 17/7 cycle before 15/9 - The plant had a photo period of 6, than 7, than 9) the plant would be given a clear signal to continue to veg (even though it lost a few hours of direct light, it than never suffered a photo period longer than 9 hours) - As opposed to my other option which was to bring the plant out when I had another window (at night) which due to the light cycle, would mean the plant would have suffered a very long and sudden dark cycle (would have totaled a photo period of 14 hours) - It seemed more logical to me to NOT force the plant in to a long dark cycle and than place it in the 15/9 (natural) cycle - Thoughts? Though, in my experience so far, the majority of things people claim are OMG so SCARY when it comes to light cycles are not nearly as touchy as people propose or believe (most of the time - you may stall them a little but I think people over state the severity of the problem in the face of seldom and mild changes) - Also, the power of the sun is pretty amazing, and even though the hours of direct light have been reduced, the energy has been increased, which I am not positive and I am guessing, but I believe would slightly offset added photo time? - I really wish I had enough personal space (property) to put in a nice greenhouse...

I figure I will use this as a "journal" of sorts and use it to post any problems and give updates as I go.

At this point I have battled and won over many problems. I had a run in with pests (they won't be a problem any more), I had a salt issue (lock-out), and a problem with my nutes (I think it got contaminated - Bought a new one and the issue stopped).

So, every plant at this point is very happy. Very healthy, pretty, and I must say, the room is quite the eye candy right now. The plant I put outside is large and in charge (and really nice to see in the sun for a change).

Now... I have a new issue. I let them all mature and now they have fully filled the room. They are still in veg. and haven't started stretching, but I am switching them to 12/12 tomorrow, and because of that, I fear I may have a new problem.

The plants are much larger than what I would normally flower in this space. They are 30% taller than other plants I have flowered in the space, and those shorter plants had to be bent (some of them) - At least a few per cycle - Because even those got up and hit the lights. I can't move the lights up or down, so the solution has to be something else.

What can I do here?

The way I see it I have three options I am aware of:

1) Hard-Top the plants (cut them right on the main and force the hormones out, but shocking the plants) - I am not sure how safe this really is to do to a plant. I have done it before (not quite as much off) and the plant was fine, but those few experiences don't make me feel much better about it (anyone want to comment on that?)

2) Not sure if this would work... But I was thinking I could make a screen (with a pvc frame and tied to the pots to prevent being lifted) and see what that does. I was wondering if anyone has done anything like this and I am wondering what kind of effect that would have, what that would look like, etc. I have looked at pictured of screens but its too late for a normal scrog type deal)

3) Bend and weave the plants around the best I can and create an insane tetris configuration of some kind. I have bent many plants part way through flower to protect them and it seemed to have almost zero impact on its production. But that was for mild cases compared to what I think I am going to run into on this one, lol.

So does anyone have any ideas?

Grow journal part:

The Northern Lights and the Vanilla Kush are being removed from flower for several reasons.

I was able to collect a lot of the strains I wanted this time around and I am happy with what I have. From this I will know for sure what I am keeping as mothers and what I am throwing away (to be replaced by others)

I was worried before about the canopy but at least letting them mature for so long seems to have solved that issue, for now. I will be able to see which ones are taking off faster than others from this even start leaving veg. and at least know what will be a "bigger problem" - Still trying to figure out how I want to solve that. They all smell so amazing. Its fun to just walk around the room, rub a stem, and experience the wild differences. I love looking over the canopy and seeing so many different shades of green, different leaf configurations and sizes, shapes, attitudes, and overall look.

I went back to 800ppm as well and the plants simply seem to respond to that better than any other number. I had an issue with my pH (water changed on me, must be summer time issues or something, again) and had to get some pH down. Had to use some Clearex for the salt build up. Had to use Avid for the mites that appeared (on one plant, but I don't take chances, and the second spray was just to be sure). Took clippings but I wasn't happy with the way that I took them. They seem to be doing okay, but from now on I will use another method, I think I should have learned my lesson from last time but I was just lazy.

Some of these strains are really great grows. Some of them just stand out for whatever reason. Cheese has an interesting personality - Compared to any other plant I have ever grown it is just... So fem and thin - Has an interesting shade to it. Seems like a really sketchy strain though, really sensitive to things, and needs to be babied a little.

The Vanilla Kush is cool looking (and smelling). Smells like vanilla abstract with a hint of cookie or cake or something. The fan leaves are really interesting. The new growth starts pretty light, but the leaves mature to a darker green, and have this really cool shine to them, as though they have been turtle waxed like a green surfboard.

The Northern Lights is just charming (its a #1). I absolutely love the pine like fresh smell that just seems so intense from this girl. She has a great look to her, love the distance of the nodes, and she is just this really cool shade of green (she almost looks like she is made of dark and light green, smooth canvas).

The BC God Bud is a nice grow as well. The baby I got was great looking at the exchange (I would say top of the list as far as starts I got my hands on goes, just perfect and already a bit filled out). It has these really cool "fingers spread" leaves that look sharp and deliberate. At the same time, some of the leaves appear with a slightly softer look, just a few here and there, which gives the plant a unique look, and shows the blended heritage nicely. You can tell right away that this strain wants to be proud and will likely offer a nice yield.

The OG Kush is still the OG Kush. Sitting next to the Sour Diesel, Chem, and Head Band, it is interesting to look at what these plants have in common, and at the same time, what really sets them apart.

Blue Dream - They are doing well. They have been in there the longest and everything had to catch up these bushy chicks. Since I started growing Blue Dream I have always been amazed by how 'full' the plant gets. They have a really distinct look. Depending on which version you have (ya, there are two), you will either get long banana leaves, or wide rounded leaves (that still stretch out quite a bit) - In general, Blue Dream makes a lot of large fan leaves and many more little leaves throughout - Cool plant but a bitch to prune before flower. I have both versions this time in my garden. I have the version I already have (with the long banana leaves) and opted to also try the second version (which yields more, but isn't the same as the original clone only, in that it generally isn't as strong - just wanted to see them side by side). The smell on both of them is that same "blue" smell that I don't know what else to call (blueberry babies).

The Purple Urkle I used to fill the room out is really nice looking. I don't know much about this strain other than my friend likes it, so far its a great looking plant, and I needed something a bit veg'd to fill my room out, and it was available, the right size, and enough of them.

The Pink Panther is a pretty interesting plant itself. Looks quite a bit like the Urkle but is different in color. Not too sure about this plant yet.

The Purple Elephant is really cool. The smell is bizarre and reminds me of "dust" or something. I have never smelled a plant quite like it. Beside that, it has kind of a mellow smell to it that is also hard to describe, but reminds me of marshmallow or something.

The Tangerine Dreams smells like orange peel and looks healthy. Not sure about this plant yet but upon examination it appears to be legit, which was promised, and makes me happy (because there is a shit version going around and I don't need that mess).

The Skunk #1 is awesome. I almost killed the damn thing because it wouldn't grow. Suddenly, it took off and filled out. On the pot, instead of saying Skunk #1, it says Midget #1, and that will forever be its nickname. My friend convinced me to just leave it alone and not toss it. I am glad I listened and it looks great. It smells dank as shit. I really like the look of it as well.

The G-13 is G-13 and if it wasn't for my friend it wouldn't be in my garden. I am just not a fan. However, you can smell the Skunk genetics in it and its not a bad plant.

The Pitbull fucking sucks. I hate this fucking thing. Its a pussy for one and suffers worse than anything else the instant things aren't perfect, its not looking like something I trust to produce well, and its smell is non descriptive and unoriginal (if you know what I mean). I didn't take a clipping off of it. I will let this thing die out.

The Blackberry x BK is a great plant. Reminds me a little in look, but not smell, to the BC God Bud. Really awesome looking plant and has a really good vigor to it. The smell is unmistakable and I have a feeling I'm going to love its flowers.

The Williams Wonder will be kept as a mommy. I love this strain and the smell of it (and taste in the end) is unique and I just love it. The high is a happy laugh your ass off fest that rests in your cheeks and your belly. I cannot stop smiling when I hit it... Hell... I smile just looking at it. By far the hardest convincing needed to get my hands on something this time around was this plant. Not as thick as some of the others but still filled out enough. Has a pretty light, average shade of green, pretty average looking leaves, but something about how everything is oriented makes it stand out.

The rest of the strains I have thrown out. I got rid of the blue cheese and UK cheese in favor of Cheese. I didn't like the Skywalker when I finally got my hands some something dry to try. So on and so on. The Red Cherry Berry just died... Straight up.. I came out one morning and the damn thing looked sick as hell. I did everything I could think of but I think it was just damaged goods. He owes me one later. The Strawberry Cough... May it rest in peace... I will have to get a new one lol (watch where you are stepping... watch where you are stepping... watch where you are stepping... watch where you are stepping...) - The God's Gift was given to someone that begged me over and over again for it. He will send me back a clipping but at the time he asked for it it was too small for such an activity.

So far so good... Going to flower and all is well... Just hoping I can get some advice on the "over grow" issue.

I bought a cheap green house and removed 4 Blue Dream to provide a bit more space ($200 bucks - 10x10x. I also lollipopped and trimmed the plants. I plan to bend and train the plants the way I did it once before (with a few plants) - Which is simple with bamboo...

So... Hopefully that deals with my stretch and size issue enough. At first I was looking for another solution thinking they would just simply be too big for that method, but after lollipopping and removing a few plants and looking at the space now, I think it will manage. So, I am happy I can use a solution I know well enough for the problem still (because I don't think the net would have done it, though, now I am considering adding one to my room anyways later.