Asmo's grow diary

[weedguru_asmodeus]

Tried growing last year, but after going on holiday and entrusting the feeding to my friend I returned to find he had savagely over fertilised and killed my beauty.

I am now giving growing a second, and hopefully more professional, attempt.

Im going to go for two plants to give me 75% chance of female, also saving me 1 seed incase of disaster. The variety is "Puna Budder", an indica / sativa hybrid of hawian / afgan origin - dont really know too much about it, but sounds incredibly delicious.

I have sucessfully germinated both the seeds using the wet paper towel in draw technique.

I have placed the seeds into biodegradeable pots to reduce the stress caused by repotting. the pots also contain miracle gro to help with feeding.

2nd day of being in these pots:


current (bare) setup:


I'm using a 400 watt hps light, and a cheap fan. I have some mylar reflective paper to go up, and just today bought some cheap bamboo canes to construct a frame to hold the mylar. will build it for when the plants get going, Im happy keeping the area open at the moment to keep the heat down as the small pots really do dry out pretty quickly.
The fan is on the floor (resting on bubble wrap to lower vibrations) pointing over the plants to strengthen the stems and at the light to cool the situation down.

Current schedule:
watered first day and also today as looking dry.
Light: on at 5pm, off at 9am (16hrs on / 8hrs off)


Im gonna update this little diary whenever theres any new developments in my babies so I can track when things should be happening in the future. If (when) you see me making any schoolboy errors please shout at me as soon as you spot them.



Wish me luck

[Sammy]

Looks nice and tidy man, keep us updated, and PM if you got any questions

[weedguru_asmodeus]

Cheers Sammy. Do have a question actually...

im not sure how much a plant grows after it goes into flowering, but i've heard its quite a lot. my roof isnt so high (5' 8") so i suppose, with the light and the heat from it, my plant should only grow to a max of about 4'?

so my question is - how can i maximise the yield from within that height.

I suppose i have three options

1 - let it just grow naturally, with pruning where required

2 - bend it down and round using a peg so that all buds are equal distance from light.

3 - find a way to shorten distance between each new set of leaves.

What do you think - which is best way or have I missed an option?

[Sammy]

Ahh finally something I can talk about.

Well I'll tell you of a similar situation, i had a 6 foot headspace in a small closet grow i did this year and I can't express how much i recommend low stress training.

Supercropping...supercropping is basically the growing of a multi-cola plant. There are two stages: Tieing for axial growth and tieing for canopy control. The first takes place only a couple weeks into life and the second takes place during the stretch in flower (as youre aware of). Low stress training is just that, a way of promoting growth from the branches below the top of the plant that doesnt stress it .

For first time grow, i wouldn't try cropping however, it can get confusing on choosing the exact places to die down and doing it gently enough not to damage anything. For this grow go with either fimming or topping, topping removes the center cola and leaves two colas out the sides, fimming, if done correctly can produce up to 8 colas, to FIM, top your plants but leave some of the new foliage growth. If you fim correctly its a lot better than regular topping, I leave about 10% growth up top,its better to cut too much than not enough.If you cut too much you just have regularly toped it, if you dont cut enough you will get node after node of "cut off" growth resulting in a clusterfuck.

I may be getting a bit ahead of myself, so for first grow I'd recommend topping. It's very easy and doesn't require a lot of precision like fimming, hell you can do it with your bare hands. Just pinch off the center stem that is rising from its 2 matching intersecting nodes, and the plant will do the rest. If its a successful topping, you'll have two very large cola's instead of one giant Cola, it's not so much a way of increasing yield as it is a way of being conservative with your space.

add kyleterry20@hotmail.com and ill show you some plants i topped a few weeks ago, cheers

[weedguru_asmodeus]

I topped with my first go (lost pictures) but i think I did it well although never thought about it being useful for height control - more as a tool to direct more of the plants effort into the top for yield purposes.

Not sure what you mean by fimming, I'll look it up though.

Also - my number three option of shortening distance between branch sets sounds like it could be compatable with these techniques - do you know if its possible to achieve this?

I have you on msn already, you might have to add me - tigerasmodeus@hotmail.com -currently entitled ..«<<{{ Steve }}>>»..

[weedguru_asmodeus]

I topped with my first go (lost pictures) but i think I did it well although never thought about it being useful for height control - more as a tool to direct more of the plants effort into the top for yield purposes.

Not sure what you mean by fimming, I'll look it up though.

Also - my number three option of shortening distance between branch sets sounds like it could be compatable with these techniques - do you know if its possible to achieve this?

I have you on msn already, you might have to add me - tigerasmodeus@hotmail.com -currently entitled ..«<<{{ Steve }}>>»..

[Sammy]

3 - find a way to shorten distance between each new set of leaves.

Well there isn't really a set limit to how many times you top your plants, you can top them in between every single node if you want, you'll just get tons of little budsites

Ah and i should add, topping is a means height control because it forces the plant to divide its energy into supporting two cola's and their seperate sets of branches instead of just one thick cola growing off a strong stem. A 400w will be perfect, i still use a 400w for small grows and its great, just make sure you adjust it accordingly. In very early veg keep the light pretty far away, as to not stress the plants and not dry out the soil too fast, in late veg still have it at a good distance but you dont have to worry about soil drying overnight as you should have larger containers and most is covered by foliage. Jeeze, i gettin off topic again, but what im trying to get at is during flowering, make sure your light is close, allow your plant to focus its energy on creating bushier and thicker budsites and foliage/stem, rather than having it use its energy on trying to reach its light source.

[weedguru_asmodeus]

ah - great tip about lighting, I had no idea of this.

but I think I didnt explain myself very well with number 3. I try again with some dodgy pictures I'm about to draw...

hehe, done it, I am an artist!

Pic 1 (original status)


Pic 2 (desired status)


you see what Im after? - To decrease the distance between each branch thus increasing yield per height of each plant. Possible / practicle or am I dreaming?

[weedguru_asmodeus]

Fimming technique - the original source.

http://www.overgrow.com/growfaq/727

what problems have you found trying to do this? I think I'll try with one of the plants in case I fuck up. Hmm still need names for my honeys, will wait till I see them sprout and know they have been born.

[weedguru_asmodeus]

In business...

first look at Beyonce:


Grow room built yesterday, Blue Peter would be proud:

Closed:


Open:


Still waiting on number 2, I actually planted a day later so no worries just yet. Although they were bone dry when I got chance to look today

[weedguru_animal]

hey asmodeus me old mate!!!
as those plants are been grown from OUR seeds, i assume half the moske will be mine???so i keep my eyes peeled for some retrun of the seeds so wisely entrusted ith you mate.....
animal

[weedguru_asmodeus]

lol, no worries, tuck in to your hearts content when you come up. Although it wont be ready while your in the UK. You had best take the £ and run boy.

Anyway - quick update. I think I killed number 2 due to thirst? soil was parched one morning. Beyonce is alive and kicking thankfully. Just transferred to a large pot to help with retaining water.

[Weedguru Higher]

Topping not only good for height, its also done so you get more branches for buds to grow oon..i do it to all my plants = more bud