Trimmed Leaves for Lower Growth

I trimmed two leaves off a couple nodes to get more light going to the bottom. One side of the bottom is growing very well but the side I trimmed needed a little extra juice.

-=BEFORE=-

 

-=AFTER=-



 

Stealth CFL Carbon Filter Grow Box

So this is the grow box I am using... this unit costs about $400 Canadian from eBay (http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Stealth-Soil-Grow-Cabinet-Odor-Controlled-Speaker-Box-Carbon-Filter-Included-/141559228875?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20f59669cb). It comes with a light timer, two pots with water trays, a few sheets of carbon filter for the top fan, and two boxes of lights (14 watt 2700K and 14 watt 6500K 900 lumen 60w equivalent CFLs). However... I changed the lighting out to three 26 watt 6500K and 23 watt 2700K 1600 lumen 100w equivalent CFLs.

Sadly, this tower doesn't come with an LST rack (lower set training) so you'll need to top your plants at least once. This fits under a computer desk and is just a bit louder than a desktop computer because of the fans... there isn't much light pollution from the box.

Trimmed Top Fan Leaves

I trimmed off the two top fan leaves so that a lot more light can hit the growth happening between the lower sets. Not sure if this is the smartest thing to do but I did it before and it turned out alright. Here's the pics...

-=BEFORE=-

 

-=AFTER=-

 



Topped Plant

I topped my plant today. I let it grow 2 sets of 5 leaves per fan (so the 3rd and 4th node) and top it. This is the earliest I've ever done it and growth has been great. I'll top it again in 2 to 6 weeks...

Veg Week 2

-=TODAY=-

 

-=1 WEEK AGO=-

Today is vegetation week 2 (of 8) on an unknown strain. I might top it sooner than expected at the rate it's growing. Again, this is under three 26 watt 6500K CFLs... (compact fluorescent light **small spiral).

 

One Plant Dead

I ended up killing one of my plants. It's growth was very slow and it's leaves were turning yellow, wilting, and dying. It's soil was also very hard and had some sort of mold growing on it so I scrapped the whole plant... funny... the one I didn't think would live is doing quite well.

Bad Habit of Turning Off Fan

Over the last couple days I've been turning off my fans on my grow box because they are quite loud (louder than a desktop computer) and I live in a bachelor suite. Usually it doesn't bother me but a few times a month I need to turn it off for the night to get a good nights sleep. Again, I need to break this habit as much as possible so that my plants get constant airflow.

Veg Week 1

-=TODAY=-

 

-=1 WEEK AGO=-

Today my plants finished their first week of vegetative cycle. Growth has been quite nice. I'm going to start them on Schultz Liquid Plant Food tomorrow... just 1 drop per half litre for a couple watering's then work my way up to 7 drops (increase 1 drop each watering).

Dead Mouthpiece / Different Strains

I noticed on one of my plants, the started mouthpiece turned yellow and died (top pic). The leaves are still growing but I've noticed a lot more progress on my second plant (bottom pic) which also happens to be a different strain by the looks of it. I originally thought the seeds came from the same source, but I guess not.

Unknown Strain - Veg Week 0

Today is day 1 of a 8 week veg cycle. Both plants are showing starter leaves. The plant on the left in the pic is missing one of it's "mouth" pieces so growth has been slow. Not sure if it's going to live or not, but it should.

Starting Leaves

My seedlings are now coming up quite well. One is still closed (top pic) but the other has it's starter leaves growing (bottom pic). I'll give it another day and a half or so before I start it on it's vegetation cycle.

Red Seedling Stem / Second Plant Added

The seedling has been coming up but still has its shell on. I noticed the stem is red for some reason. Usually red hasn't shown up until later in the grow. I also had another pot available so I planted a second seedling that I germinated (germinated three) so there'll be two topped plants.

Trans-planted Seedling

I just ended up trans-planting my unknown seedling into a small pot of Schultz Potting Soil Plus (with perlite). I don't submerge the seedling completely in soil when I plant it, I bury the root stem (taproot) but leave the seed shell above soil. I make sure the soil is completely dampened before planting so I don't have to water it again for awhile.

I'm growing it in a 22 inch speaker box that fits underneath my computer desk so I'll have to keep the plant quite small. It has a input fan and an out fan with a cheap charcoal filter system, and is lined in reflective foil. I'm using three 26 watt 6500K CFLs to grow it but will be switching to three 23 watt 2700K CFLs for flowering.

Germinated

So I germinated a few seeds my friend left here and they already popped in about a day and a half. I'm going to leave it in the wet paper towel for another day or two before I plant it in a pot of Schultz Potting Soil Plus (some old stuff I had) and placed under three 26 watt 6500K CFLs (100 equivalence each, so about a 300 watt equiv). I'm planning on topping it at about 3 1/2 weeks into veg then topping it again at 6 weeks veg to keep it nice and short (growing it in a speaker box under my desk). The only nutes I'll be giving it will be Schultz Liquid Plant Food.