Wecome to the jungle

[Green Cross]

first off.....sorry to hear about the cancer. my step mom just recently got diagnosed with MS. i can relate there.
good choice on the sheers. i use the exact same pair myself everyday
sad i missed the whole process, new to the site. looking to have a box about the same setup that you had, except im planning on having one 400 MH and 4 T5 floros. thanks for sharing the pics dude.

Thanks for stopping by atomicronik, T-5's are probably the best light for veg. I only went with CFL's due to space limitations in the veg cab I'm using. Thanks for the comments.

A couple notes to myself:
The first part of this harvest is now curing. BMS purple pheno got a double asprin water yesterday.
The 2 DD (daydream) clones got full strength grow nutes, and silica-blast.

Have a great weekend folks

 

[Green Cross]

With harvest about a week away, I thought I'd post some pics of the clones - which are now in the vegatiative phase.

Strains: blue moonshine, gigabud, indica bagseed AKA day dream
6" containers except for 1 in a taller ghetto pot

Daytime temps in the 80's - humidity 40%

Night time temps in the low 70's humidity - 60%

Soil: worm casings in a soiless mix, w/1/4 cup dolomite lime per Cu Ft

Nutes applied every watering: full strength earth juice (grow), 1/2 - full strength fish emulsion, full strength silica blast, 1 drop super thrive per gal.

Lights: 10 - 65k CFL's total watts 230

Please excuse the blue light, I had the camera improperly adjusted for incandescents.

2- DD

2 - GB

5- BMS

Stretchy "S" pheno, fimmed and LSTed

 

[newbieneedshelp]

Hell yea I swear I feel as excited as you do to get the smoke report on those buds. I come here every day looking for an update. Tell the buds to hurry up and cure. I was wondering about heat, do you think the CMH will be to hot for a grow tent vented in the same room? The room does have central ac and stays about 70. Im just worried about it getting around a 100 with cmh the tent is 63x24x36. 1 fan at the bottom for intake two fans at the top for out take. I got all my stuff minus the bulb and flipflop between cfl and cmh everyday.

 

[Green Cross]

Hell yea I swear I feel as excited as you do to get the smoke report on those buds. I come here every day looking for an update. Tell the buds to hurry up and cure. I was wondering about heat, do you think the CMH will be to hot for a grow tent vented in the same room? The room does have central ac and stays about 70. Im just worried about it getting around a 100 with cmh the tent is 63x24x36. 1 fan at the bottom for intake two fans at the top for out take. I got all my stuff minus the bulb and flipflop between cfl and cmh everyday.

hiya newbieneedshelp

I keep saying "another week", but I think, because I lowered the nighttime temperatures - to help bring out the colors - it may have slowed the ripening process... or so I've read.

400W will keep an average size room warm, but it should be manageable.

1 - 400w was a lot easier to manage in my space than 2, and I eventually ended up having to Mod a window A/C at the last minute.

Hope that helps

 

[canefan]

Cross your babies are looking superb, are those the same ones you took in flower? Mine sure aren't that nice looking right now. Glad to see you back hope the holiday was good.

 

[Green Cross]

This Tutorial will attempt to explain FIMMING in a clear and accurate way, and to improve (taking the guess work out) on previous FIMMING techniques. After reading all I could find on the subject, I was still left scratching my head, and unhappy with the results... so I figured I better get this info up, so others may benefit from my mistakes

FIM is performed in order to limit plant height and encourage lateral branching. This technique and others like it (SOG, SCROG, LST, Topping), are especially beneficial, when growing under artificial lighting, which has very limited penetration/capability. In other words it's good to keep your plant growth within the penetration area of your lamp. I believe FIMMing is preferable to topping, so reasons I'll go into later, but first a chart which shows the optimal penetration range for most HID lamps.

I've seen the other tutorials on FIM, and they all seem to be somewhat confusing, or downright inaccurate.

FIMMing isn't rocket science, it's pruning the growing tip of a plant - just as topping is - but do it wrong, and you'll soon know why they called it FIM (F*ck I Missed)

For clarification: Topping is the removal of the growing tip at or above the 2nd or 3rd visible node, whereas FIMMing is the removal of the uppermost growing tip above the uppermost visible node - this growing tip is only visible, and accessible, if you part the tender new fan leaves. Clean fingers, a knife point, or a pair tweezers works well for this.

Note: When doing plant surgery always start with clean hands, and sanitized equipment.

First let's look at what happens when you FIM incorrectly. When removing the top "80%" of the uppermost growing tip - as I've seen in some FAQ tutorials - you are likely to miss the growing tip entirely, and end up trimming your tender new fan leaves instead, and it's never a good idea to trim fan leaves! You can think of fan leaves as the plants solar panels; this is where the energy comes in, and the more energy in, the more bud out, hopefully.

In this first pic it's still unclear as to whether, or not, the growing tip was pruned out, or not, but what is clear is the fan leaves were pruned, and this is what you want to avoid - for obvious reasons.

In this second Pic you can clearly see the results of a failed FIM attempt, which, again, resulted in clipped fan leaves, and a growing tip that continued to grow. This plant was later re-FIMMed (properly), and LSTed.

The next Pic is the same plant in the second pic - properly FIMMEd and LSTed. As you can see this plant already has lots of branching, which will become the new tops. I'll try to get a better closeup of a successful FIMMing and have it up shortly... the tiny growing tip was removed, while leaving the precious fan leaves intact, and that's what constitutes a proper FIMMing.

This is a good graphical image, but again, where it says "FIMM cut location" is NOT where you want to cut! First you want to gently spread the tiny "new set of fan leaves" out of the way, find the actual growing tip, and then make then nip it out. Only then can you be sure you are pruning out the growing tip, while at the same time preserving the surrounding growth.

So lets recap:

1. Cleanliness

2. separate the new growth (fan leaves) using your fingers, knife tip, tweezers, or whatever works for you.

3. locate the growing tip - that would be the main stalk - ONLY- where it says to cut, in the above pic.

4. Now comes the FIM: Using a very small knife, scissors, or clean finger nails, carefully remove the growing tip, while being careful not to clip the surrounding growth. Be especially careful if attempting this with a razor blade, because they have a way of cutting through more than you intended.

I was able to find this pic, and doctor it, but again it shows the cut being made across the new fan leaves (wrong). In order to make the correct, more precise cut, you must first spread the leaves marked with the red X, and use a much smaller scissors... but this Pic does however show the growing tip we want to nip out (follow the red arrow).

Again don't make the cut as shown in the above Pic, go back and read the last paragraph (in green).

Remember, Just cutting through the uppermost growing tip is a crap shoot, at best, and you're liable to cut the new fan leaves, which isn't good.

FIM isn't much different than topping, but it's less drastic (stress), and leaves more auxin's, and more nodes. In my opinion FIM gives you more natural growth, and stronger branching, and it doesn't limit you to 2 tops as topping does. I also understand some people are getting 4 tops using the old topping technique, but to achieve that result, you need to top at a specific time, or node. There are no restrictions using FIM - to get multiple tops - other than the normal ones; never prune a seedling, or a plant in flower.

If I can manage to get a clear closeup Pic - of a proper FIMMING - and add it later, but from the feedback I've already received, it seems like everyone understands this (refined) FIM technique more clearly now.

 

[Green Cross]

Cross your babies are looking superb, are those the same ones you took in flower? Mine sure aren't that nice looking right now. Glad to see you back hope the holiday was good.

yeah I hardly recognize them either LOL One day I just opened the doors and they seemed to be thriving, but transplanting into better soil also helped give them a growth spurt.

I made many mistakes cloning, and I may have even used dirty/used cups when I took the cuttings (a lazy newb mistake). i also overdosed them on super thrive, they like 1 drop per gallon, like you said.

Next time I'll add heat, and use rapid rooter plugs, or seeding mix, and take cuttings before flower of course.

 

[canefan]

yeah I hardly recognize them either LOL One day I just opened the doors and they seemed to be thriving, but transplanting into better soil also helped give them a growth spurt.

I made many mistakes cloning, and I may have even used dirty/used cups when I took the cuttings (a lazy newb mistake). i also overdosed them on super thrive, they like 1 drop per gallon, like you said.

Next time I'll add heat, and use rapid rooter plugs, or seeding mix, and take cuttings before flower of course.

I think I have become a believer in cloning when they are in flower. I know that if it was commercial it would take lots of planning. Growing just for myself with lots of time, I really like the end results even though it is taking me about 4 weeks to get where many are at in two or three weeks after rooting. What I like best is that when they reveg you get so many shoots coming out. My first generation clones are my only true results so far had an avg of 8 wild looking branches I took for clones while I shaped my plant. Second generation is still up in the air but now they are looking like they will be more controlled growth, but different strain also. Keep up the good work and if you need somemore inaccurate FIM photos let me know getting lots of practice here....lol.

 

[c5rftw]

I got a FIMMING going right now, still unclear if it is gonna go right. you can find that thread here... https://www.rollitup.org/advanced-marijuana-cultivation/238486-just-fimmed.html .. here is a better graphic IMO

 

[tahoe58]

won't let me rep u again ... awesome tutorial ... many thanks for the thoughts and the effort to put them down for sharing! Walking On!!~~~

Ok I'm still learning, and since I'm not finding clear answers on the Internet, I figure I better get this info up, so others may benefit from my mistakes

FIM is performed in order to limit plant height and encourage lateral branching. This technique and others like it (SOG, SCROG, FIM, LST, Topping), are especially beneficial, when growing under artificial lighting, which has very limited penetration/capability. In other words it's good to keep your plant growth within the penetration area of your lamp. I believe FIMMing is preferable to topping, so reasons I'll go into later, but first a chart which shows the optimal penetration range for most HID lamps.

I've seen other tutorials on FIM, and they all seem to be somewhat confusing, or downright inaccurate.

FIMMing isn't rocket science, it's pruning the growing tip of a plant - just as topping is - but do it wrong, and you'll soon know why they called it FIM (F*ck I Missed)

For clarification: Topping is the removal of the growing tip at or above the 2nd or 3rd visible node, whereas FIMMing is the removal of the uppermost growing tip above the uppermost visible node - this growing tip is only visible, and accessible, if you part the tender new fan leaves. Clean fingers or a tweezers works well for this.

Note: When doing plant surgery always start with clean hands, and sanitized equipment.

First let's look at what happens when you FIM incorrectly. When removing the top 80% of the uppermost growing tip - as I've seen in some FAQ tutorials - you are likely to miss the growing tip and end up trimming your tender new fan leaves instead, and it's never a good idea to trim fan leaves! You can think of fan leaves as the plants solar panels; this is where the energy comes in, and the more energy in, the more bud out, hopefully.

In this first pic it's still unclear as to whether, or not, the growing tip was pruned out, or not, but what is clear is the fan leaves were pruned, and this is what you want to avoid - for obvious reasons.

In this second Pic you can clearly see the results of a failed FIM attempt, which, again, resulted in clipped fan leaves, and a growing tip that continued to grow. This plant was later re-FIMMed (properly), and LSTed.

The next Pic is the same plant in the second pic - properly FIMMEd and LSTed. As you can see this plant already has lots of branching, which will become the new tops. I'll try to get a better closeup of a successful FIMMing and have it up shortly... the tiny growing tip was removed, while leaving the precious fan leaves intact, and that's what constitutes a proper FIMMing.

This is a good graphical image, but again, where it says "FIMM cut location" is NOT where you want to make the cut! In reality you need to gently spread the "new set of fan leaves" out of the way, find the growing tip, and then make the cut. Only then can you be sure you are pruning out the growing tip, while at the same time preserving the surrounding growth.

So lets recap:

1. Cleanliness

2. separate the new growth (fan leaves) using your fingers, tweezers, or whatever works for you.

3. locate the growing tip - that would be the main stalk - ONLY- where it says to cut, in the above pic.

4. Now comes the FIM: Carefully remove the growing tip, while being careful not to remove the surrounding growth. Be especially carefully if attempting this with a razor blade, because they have a way of cutting through more than you intended. RUI's MBlaze - whom I have much respect for - FIMMs his plants, by pinching out the growing tip, with his fingernails, and he gets good results, but I wasn't able to grasp his technique - in detail - from his tutorial.

I was able to find this pic, and doctor it, but again it shows the cut being made across the new fan leaves (wrong). Of course, in order to make the correct, more precise cut, you're going to need a smaller scissors, but this shows the growing tip we want to cut.

To be continued...

 

[Green Cross]

won't let me rep u again ... awesome tutorial ... many thanks for the thoughts and the effort to put them down for sharing! Walking On!!~~~

"Wont let me rep again" LOL
Damn that's a hot cowgirl avatar! LOL
I'm just now putting the final touches on this tutorial, now that I've confirmed you and C5 both get it.

I nipped out the new growth (FIMMED) on one of mine this morning, using a small paring knife, but I wasn't able to get a clear pic.

Thanks for all the comments

 

[Green Cross]

I think I have become a believer in cloning when they are in flower. I know that if it was commercial it would take lots of planning. Growing just for myself with lots of time, I really like the end results even though it is taking me about 4 weeks to get where many are at in two or three weeks after rooting. What I like best is that when they reveg you get so many shoots coming out. My first generation clones are my only true results so far had an avg of 8 wild looking branches I took for clones while I shaped my plant. Second generation is still up in the air but now they are looking like they will be more controlled growth, but different strain also. Keep up the good work and if you need somemore inaccurate FIM photos let me know getting lots of practice here....lol.

I understand what you're saying, because I see my clones exploding - and now I'm afraid they are going to outgrow the veg space! BUT the only reason these clones branch like this is because the flowering tip had to die, before new growth could be pushed out all the available nodes. That explains the branching, and I can't complain... BUT if you continue to reveg, or take clones in flower you are losing a piece of genetic material (due to the amount of stress...) and after doing it a few times (I've read 5), you will end up with damaged genetic material that will result in decreased yield...

I can't talk you out of it, and some things we need to learn from experience, but I've read enough about that subject, from reputable sources, to know this isn't the way to go. From here out, I'm only taking cutting from plants in vegetative. Clone ,from a clone, from a clone, doesn't degrade the genetic material, even up to 300 successive generations.

By the way, here's some fresh bud porn

In the next grow; I'm hoping to see less leaf in the bud, and more weight, using HPS in the flowering phase.

 

[canefan]

I understand what you're saying, because I see my clones exploding - and now I'm afraid they are going to outgrow the veg space! BUT the only reason these clones branch like this is because the flowering tip had to die, before new growth could be pushed out all the available nodes. That explains the branching, and I can't complain... BUT if you continue to reveg, or take clones in flower you are losing a piece of genetic material (due to the amount of stress...) and after doing it a few times (I've read 5), you will end up with damaged genetic material that will result in decreased yield...

I can't talk you out of it, and some things we need to learn from experience, but I've read enough about that subject, from reputable sources, to know this isn't the way to go. From here out, I'm only taking cutting from plants in vegetative. Clone ,from a clone, from a clone, doesn't degrade the genetic material, even up to 300 successive generations.

By the way, here's some fresh bud porn


In the next grow; I'm hoping to see less leaf in the bud, and more weight, using HPS in the flowering phase.

mmmm I can almost taste those beautiful buds. Looking really good. I hear what you are saying about doing this for a period of time. I hope that with the timing of things now growing that I don't have to do it too often....lol. Until I can either add more room or get to lengthening days I am full up of room....lol. That is interesting about the genetic material in flower. I am certainly going to have to do somemore reading on that. Thanks Cross for the advice and coming research I am about to embark in.

 

[Green Cross]

mmmm I can almost taste those beautiful buds. Looking really good. I hear what you are saying about doing this for a period of time. I hope that with the timing of things now growing that I don't have to do it too often....lol. Until I can either add more room or get to lengthening days I am full up of room....lol. That is interesting about the genetic material in flower. I am certainly going to have to do somemore reading on that. Thanks Cross for the advice and coming research I am about to embark in.

I know what you mean, there's only so much space for clones.

I've read that some folks have success keeping cuttings in the refrigerator - for months - for future use, but all it would take is for my fridge to get a little too cold, and I'd be smacking my forehead again lol anyhow I might as well give that a try since I have many branches to prune anyhow, and I'm interested to see if it really works.

You basically take the cuttings, then put them in a Tupperware container, propped up on one end, and with the cut end submerged in water. Then you change the water every couple weeks so it doesn't get slimy. I know this is a good way to keep lettuce fresh indefinitely, so I don't see why it shouldn't work.

Updated pics shortly

 

[Green Cross]

I'm hoping if I update more the plants will ripen faster! lol

Actually they get thier final flush in the next day or 2, and then come down soon after. Hopefully they'll have time to dry out for a while first, but with few leaves left, they no longer respire much.

Trich report

BMS all cloudy a few amber

GB All cloudy top, 1/2 amber on lower plant.

Bag seed 10 - 20 percent amber, and the lower buds almost ripe now.

I'm not sure why some pics have lines in them, when uploaded, any thoughts?


Sativa leaning bagseed

Indica leaning bagseed AKA daydream
Those are Black leaves

Lower buds ripening in a staggered harvest

BMS

More BMS, but the giant cola in the center is gigabud

Comments/questions welcome as always

 

[c5rftw]

omg that looks good. nice man

 

[budhuger]

Nice flowers !!!!! Hey green do you have an idea of how much electric compsumption of your ac ?

 

[Green Cross]

omg that looks good. nice man

Thanks for stopping by C5

Nice flowers !!!!! Hey green do you have an idea of how much electric compsumption of your ac ?

It's a little one 5000 BTU, but kind of a power hog for its size. If you can afford a 2 hose portable, and can find a way to intake and exhaust properly, that would be the most efficient.

 

[Green Cross]

I added these pics and
The finished Tutorial can be found in it's entirety here: FIM Tutorial (taking the guesswork out)
__________________

This first pic shows the top we're gonna FIM:

In this pic I've gently moved some of the new growth out of the way, using my fingers:

In this pic you can see the actual growing tip we want to cut. A pen knife works great for this! Go slowly, and be gentle, because this tender new growth is extreemly easy to snap off, with only slight pressure! If you break a tiny fan leaf off, don't sweat it; you'll get better at this the more you do it, and you've still done less damage than you would using the old technique.

This Pic shows the growing tip - removed. If you look closely you will see the removed tip @ 1 o'clock. If I had come back later in the day to make the cut, I may been able to make an even more precise cut - because this growing tip is constantly changing shape - but I'm happy with the results:

The next 2 pics show the removed tip, as well as the scale we're working with here.

Here you can see how a V shaped cut might do an even better job, but we'll tackle microsurgery some other time LOL

Thanks for all the great comments,
If you have any questions feel free to ask away

The finished Tutorial can be found in it's entirety here: FIM Tutorial (taking the guesswork out)
__________________

 

[Dr. Greenhorn]

awesome thread brokeep it up