12"x12" Beside Table

keefyfinbar · Jan 24, 2014

This is my first grow. No odour is compulsory and my space is very limited. I am using Expert Seeds Northern Lights Indica.
Using a 40W CFL, Carbon filter and a PC Fan as an intake. Started Veg on October 21st however I made a serious newbie mistake and trimmed all the leaves off for space in the bedside table, which made the plant freeze with shock for about 1-2 weeks. It pulled through however. Using BioBizz Bio Grow & Bio Bloom. Just recently got some molasses too.

Growing Diary:
Oct 21st: Seedling planted.
Dec 1st: Switched from 6400k CFL 24hrs to 2700k CFL 12/12.
Dec 15: Flowering Started.

As of today, the plant is at the end of the 6th week of the Flowering Stage.
Tri's are 75% Milky, 20% Clear and 5% Amber.
My questions are; Is it too late for molasses? Why haven't my buds fattened up?

keefyfinbar · Jan 24, 2014

Any predictions on how long before harvest and how much I will yield would be grateful aswell

ajswag420 · Jan 24, 2014

Given me inspiration for my stealth grow, waiting to see yields!

rwbrock · Jan 24, 2014

Couple things....Why do you want to add molasses? Do you understand what it is for and how it works? You can add it last couple of weeks still if you want will it do anything is debatable. For organic growers it adds microbs to soil which helps the roots of your plants. Typically buds swell more last couple weeks and pack on weight. If you started Dec 15th you are in day 39/40 and I believe that strain runs 55 days or so? So you may have a couple more weeks there. Although you are starting to see some Amber. And finally you can't expect large, dense buds if your only using I 40W CFL. Have you considered adding more light? Cool little cabinet and nice little plant though.

avrum · Jan 24, 2014

More light bigger buds! How much vertical space have you got from top of the pot to the lights?

CoolDudeStuff · Jan 24, 2014

70w hps if you can get it cheap.. And some plexiglass for a cooltube would work I think.

Cheers!

keefyfinbar · Jan 25, 2014

I thought Molasses helped fatten up buds and promote more resin, allowing the buds to frost up even more? You are correct, the seed c9mpany states flower lasts 55 days. I'm going to check the tri's every day for the next two weeks, do you suggest I stop nutrients and begin flushing, just incase the plant reaches its peak before the 55day estimate? There are 2-3 inches between the plant and the CFL. As you can see the main bud is tied down because it was orginally 1 inch away from the CFl, however the pistils came out all brown and withered due to heat. Heat is the biggest problem for such a small grow box like this. Right now the extractor fan connected to the Carbon Filter does a good job of sucking the heat out the box. However If I increased the wattage of the lamp, temps would rocket. If I were to up the lighting power, I'd have to get a bigger grow box. Anyway, thanks for the help and information.

keefyfinbar · Jan 25, 2014

There is about 9 inches between pot and light. The plant had some partial LST during veg to utilize space.

Abiqua · Jan 25, 2014

keefyfinbar said:
I thought Molasses helped fatten up buds and promote more resin, allowing the buds to frost up even more? You are correct, the seed c9mpany states flower lasts 55 days. I'm going to check the tri's every day for the next two weeks, do you suggest I stop nutrients and begin flushing, just incase the plant reaches its peak before the 55day estimate? There are 2-3 inches between the plant and the CFL. As you can see the main bud is tied down because it was orginally 1 inch away from the CFl, however the pistils came out all brown and withered due to heat. Heat is the biggest problem for such a small grow box like this. Right now the extractor fan connected to the Carbon Filter does a good job of sucking the heat out the box. However If I increased the wattage of the lamp, temps would rocket. If I were to up the lighting power, I'd have to get a bigger grow box. Anyway, thanks for the help and information.

No, its psuedo science. Bacteria and fungi in your soil eat molasses essentially. Then they poop out enzymes and other things and are eaten by protozoa that also poops out stuff and then these can be assimilated directly by plant roots. Adding sugar to the soil, a few weeks before your harvest, will do nothing.

All a waste of money. Keep your leaves green, that is what makes bud, a healthy vibrant plant from start to finish, don't let them change color. Its the little things that are often overlooked for growing. We often want to go Whammy! on the yield, but keeping your leaves healthy, maintained and green throughout the whole cycle and maintaining a good root structure will help you yield the best.

. You just need to wait and get a scope if you can 30x to gague the ripening of your trichomes. That will give you the best determination of when to harvest. Throw the days out the window, its like pizza box instructions. I cook by eyeball not time.

I know you probably weren't rigid in your day count and hopefully you assumed it was just a guideline to begin with, everything looks good, just might not have enough PAR to fatten up yet.

Keep doing what your doing. :peace:

not4n · Jan 25, 2014

Full of crystals and looking good, man!!!

I like the idea of adding a 70w hps and using plexiglass as a heat barrier....I've done pretty much the same thing, except I used the glass from a picture frame from the local dollar store. I used 42w cfls and found they were just not adequate, so I jumped to a 100w hps. I made a thread earlier..but not sure how to link it to my signature like other people.

Have you seen the thread someone put up...it's how to turn a cfl into a remote ballast type deal. A few wires here, a few snips there and viola...remote ballast cfl..check it out and see if you can manage it! google to the rescue!

Good luck, friend!! keep up the good work!!

rwbrock · Jan 25, 2014

Would you have room for 2-3 (23 watt) CFL's in there? They run cooler and (2) would put out more light than the (1) 40 watt (typically)...

keefyfinbar · Jan 25, 2014

Abiqua,I have a x60 Scope. The tri's are around 75-80% Milky, 15%Clear and 5% Amber. Do you think I should start flushing? Also what does PAR stand for?

Not4n, I was looking at HPS lights and noticed that most were sold with a balast. What is a balast and are they essential? I am assuming they are like light dimmers, but then I think, why on earth would you want to dim light haha.

Rwbrock, I guess I could fit one other lamp in there. For the majority of the grow , the interior of the box was the white shade the bedside table was painted in. It's only in the last few days that I covered it in mylar, and it has certainly made a difference, lower leaves that drooped now perk upwards and look more healthy.

Abiqua · Jan 25, 2014

^ Nice 60x is even betta!

PAR is photosnythetically active radiation, it is essentially the wavelengths that a plant will consume which generally corresponds with most visible light as well, 400nm to 700nm.

Not all of the light being emitted by the CFL is usable light, as heat is light too. In fact over 50% of light from most Cfl's is being put out as heat, which is good for maintaining cabinet temperatures, but does little for plant growth directly.

You are also using an omni-directional bulb pointed down, where the least amount of light will generally penetrate especially over 1-3" inches of distance. More energy is being directed out the sides than straight down in an omni-direction. That's why most people turn them sideways and get their plants REAL close.

Once you start hanging them straight down and at distance, like say over 6", then the plant could be receiving 25% of the lamps usable light, than say turned sideways and only at 3" of distance. Big difference.

Cfl's just don't have great penetration, not a bad thing, just why you see so many growing successful scrogs at close range with CFL's.

Undoubtedly some big ass CFL's would prove me wrong and provide possibly better penetrations, but they are losing PAR too.

keefyfinbar · Jan 29, 2014

Hey guys, got round to taking close ups of trichomes, just used a zoom on a digital camera. This was at the same bud site, however its more or less the same ratio of trichome colours throughout the rest of the plant.
The first two pictures are the same, however I have circled the amber trichomes in the 2nd one.

How long would you say I have left? Thanks.

keefyfinbar · Jan 29, 2014

Here are some more

Spanky's Monkey · Jan 29, 2014

Personally I would have started flushing already. I like an "UP" type of high to lift my spirits and such and you're already there and gone. You're gonna get some serious "couch lock" by the time you flush and harvest. That's gonna make for some good "calming" pain relief.

keefyfinbar · Jan 29, 2014

Hey Spanky's Monkey!

I prefer that type of high too. Thing is am I really too late to harvest? I used organic nutes, and around a week and a half/two weeks ago I gradually brought the nute doses down millilitre by millilitre. Eg. The highest dose I gave my plants was 5ml about 2 weeks ago, the last dose was around 2.5ml. I flushed the plant with pure water on Sunday. Could I essentially harvest now? Or maybe give it one more flush?

keefyfinbar · Jan 29, 2014

Also throughout the whole flower period I gave it the occasional "mini-flush". So it's not necessarily going to be choked up with nutes if I harvest it now?

I'd also like to just point out that the 2700k CFL sometimes give off an amber colour to the clear trichomes when I take photos inside the cabinet. If I remove it from the cabinet and take a photo using the daylight from my window a vast majority of what I thought were "amber trichomes" are in actual fact clear. The first few photos in the second post of close ups experience this "dodgy camera" phenomenon.

avrum · Jan 29, 2014

You should look at the trichomes on the buds and not on the sugar leaves.. from your previews pics it looks like it's not ready yet. Can you post some new non-closeup pics of the buds and the whole plant?

keefyfinbar · Jan 29, 2014

Here you go Avrum.

I will admit that since I started this thread (about a week ago) there hasn't been much growth. However the calyxes have definitely swollen. Started from the bottom to top on all 5 bud sites.

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