Here we go again. This time we are running 2 new clones(taken from another of my plants), and a third clone that was taken from my last grow 2-3 weeks into flower. That clone was only ~2.5inches tall. It took almost 2 months to root and didnt start rooting until I cut the tiny flower off of the top with a razor blade and stuck it in some dirt.(It sat in a cup of water for over a month) Because it was so small it didnt have a lot of stem under the soil so its leaning pretty hard.
They have been in the tent for about a month now.
The plants are in 5 gallon pots of ocean forest amended with garden tone and mixed with the soil from the last grow, dead roots and all. Dont mind the clone in back, it went straight from water propagation to a 5 gallon pot so its struggling. Im going to keep it outside the tent during this grow and it should recover.
The plan is to switch to 12/12 and fertilize with 1/2 cup of garden tone the next time I water. Im also going to add some straw to keep the soil moist to hopefully improve the effectiveness of top dressed fertilizer. Im also also going to take a clone from the leaning plant to preserve it for another run.
How long do you plan to wait before flipping them into flower and taking clones? What are you gonna be amending in flowering and using for calcium source?
My tap water ec is like >600 so I dont need to add calcium. I have an RO system for if/when I need to add synthetic fertilizer.
I havent decided on my exact fert schedule but the current plan is to give them some gardentone (4-5-5) and flip the lights when I water them next. My partner has a small fish tank so I will be watering with the fish tank water whenever the aquarium gets a water change. I keep the water in a 5 gallon jug until I need it. The plants seem to love it.
After that Im thinking of hitting them with gardentone again ~4 weeks after flip so maybe week 2/3 of flower depending on how these plants react to the light change. (not sure of this schedule, still deciding) The last time I ran this cultivar it took a couple weeks to be visibly in flower after the light change.
Oh, and Ill take the clones whenever I flip, or I will wait a week or so after flip and see which branches arent developing properly and take those as clones. Maybe both if there are good candidate branches, I wonder how long after flip I can take clones before they have to flower and reveg to be grown out again? idk but maybe I’ll find out.
Clone 1 is from my last grow. Clones 2/3 are the same cultivar but taken from a different plant. The runt isnt numbered because even though its recovering Im pulling it from the tent on friday. It is from the same plant as clones 2/3.
I either didnt water thoroughly or this low humidity is making my plants tear through their water extra fast. I checked on them this morning and the 2 sensitive clones(Clones 2 and 3) were a little taco-y on top. I watered them which boosted the humidity from 29% to 44%, and turned the light up to 100% . I also raised the fans a bit above the canopy. I know the clones 2 and 3 are annoyingly sensitive to too much light(and too little humidity apparently), so Im going to start adjusting now to see how they react to get ready for flowering them; the plan is now set in stone they will be flipped on friday. Clone 1 dgaf about its environment and that makes it my favourite plant.
Earlier this week I found evidence of spider mites and their eggs on #1. I stripped all the leaves that showed evidence and all of the leaves near those that showed evidence of spider mites, then I sprayed all of the plants/walls of the tent with rubbing alcohol(its all I have on hand), then misted with water to get the humidity up so the alcohol took longer to evaporate, and held high humidity in the tent for an hour. Do not do this unless you know what youre doing, too much alcohol can kill leaves especially at full strength. I have a lot of experience with it, and still burned a couple leaves. I didnt get any pictures of this process unfortunately. I closely inspected all of the plants the last few days and I think I got them before they really got established. I didnt find any nymphs at all the entire time, and only found 2 adults, and 1 of them was dead. They were both next to eggs.
Anyway, I went ahead and added fertilizer today but I decided on 1 cup instead of 1/2. I also mulched with straw, and cut come clones. Light schedule changed to 12/12, and Im gonna start lowering the light over the next few days.
Week 1 since flip is over and I watered them today. I probably should have done it yesterday or the day before. Clone 1 didnt care but 2 and 3 were looking a little droopy. Still no signs of mites so I think I won that fight.
Today marks 2 weeks of flower and I had to do some trimming. I last watered 7 days ago and none of the plants are close to dry yet, so I didnt water them today. The light is about 10 inches above the canopy. I broke the top of clone 3 by accident and while its healed Im probably gonna have to support it as it bulks up.
Quick update, had to water yesterday. Plants 1 and 3 were a bit droopy, theyve since recovered.
Plants 1 and 3 have reached the point where how wet the soil feels is irrelevant to whether or not the plant needs water. This wasnt totally unexpected but it happened faster than I thought it might. Potting up would probably be the ideal solution but thats not gonna happen.
Watered again yesterday. They are looking pretty dark with some clawing appearing on #1 and #3, so I overshot the feed a little bit. Thats ok, it just means Im not going to feed them next week and we will see how they develop/finish. Im kinda surprised, I thought I might be going a tad light on fert but I guess not.
Clones 1 and 3 are losing a couple fan leaves below the canopy but nothing alarming. Mostly just getting rid of the leaves damaged by alcohol. Still no sign of spider mites so Im confident I won that battle. These pictures were taken yesterday just after watering, clone 1 was still a bit droopy.
Yesterday marks the start of week 4 since flip. I got to them a little late so once again they got a little droopy before I could water. Pics below are from before watering them yesterday. Clones 1 and 3 are starting to shed some lower fan leaves, clone 2 doesnt seem to be losing anymore at the moment. They do seem to be drinking a little bit faster now. Im a little worried about density but I think my low humidity and airflow should be enough to keep mold away. I havent found any leaves touching and leaving water behind or anything since veg.
Aloha, I am a first time grower and I am curious to know. What is the likelihood that clones actually take and will thrive. I have a couple of monsters and I think Id like to try to keep one for another grow.
The answer is it depends. The younger the plant is when clones are taken the easier they are to propagate,(water propagation is easy with clones from young plants). More mature plants dont take to water propagation as easily and may require some rooting hormone/soil or rockwool cube/humidity dome etc.(be careful, rooting hormone is carcinogenic, wear gloves). Clones taken the first 2 weeks of flower seem to take to living in water just fine, but getting them back into veg and rooting can take a long long time.(months)
Why dont you set up a grow log where you can post your grow and any questions you have? There are a lot of smart people here that have been growing for a long time. I would love to see what youre working on.
Clone #1 and #3 are starting to lose fan leaves more rapidly then I would like.
Clone 2 isnt really shedding any except 1 that was badly damaged by alcohol before flip.
This time last grow it was losing leaves like crazy. I decided it is probably a nutrient issue, since the biggest plant is the worst and the smallest plant is doing the best. I amended with 1/4 cup of gardentone for clones 1 and 3, but I ran out so clone 2 got leftovers. I then watered it in with ~3 liters of fish water for each plant. I cant find gardentone locally for some reason so I have to wait for it to ship before I can do any more.
I usually take the lowest branches, they tend not to develop well in flower anyway. If youre topping your plant, I would just keep the top. I have 4+ clones taken before flower that still havent rooted while the clones I took 2 weeks into flower, but lower on the plant, are already starting to root(water propagation). Every plant will be a little different though. @Budbrother has it right imo.
I missed last weeks update, so here is what they were looking like on the 15th, one day after watering. (nevermind, I cant upload a video)
I watered again today. I did not end up adding anymore fertilizer. I guess I still have trauma(lol) from the last grow. These plants are fading in a much more reasonable manner. During the last grow all of the fan leaves and a lot of the sugar leaves were dying off at this point in time. Im starting to think that was a mix of not enough nitrogen and/or excess phosphorus. Either way it isnt an issue for this run. I dont think I mentioned it before, but I water with ~7.5 liters of water +/- ~20% for every plant.
Ive got some brown pistils, but no sign of dongs that I can see. We will see what happens with that over the next few weeks. I also replaced the carbon in my filter and AC infinity is awesome. It was so easy…
