highchome

Interesting... Sounds like its viable for fast smaller yields in general. I'd want to get seeds as fast as possible. I think seedlings ~2 weeks under CFL and then direct to flower is about as fast as it seems like that can go. I'll have to wait until after the chocolopes and then flower the two reliable strains I have. So many things to try

@Newbie any luck? If you are ok with bag seeds (i.e. some will be male) I think I can make a plan with white widow and cali orange seeds. But if you want reliable genetics, feminised, auto etc you are almost certainly going to have to order online. Take a look at the poll on this forum about local seed shops, if you stick with one of the top ones there is no reason you will have any problems.

Could it be early signs of calcium deficiency? Hopefully one of the pros can confirm... I'm doing pure coco&perlite and the coc needs to be buffered with calcium and magnesium to avoid this. I think you are doing 25% soil, so I don't think that is considered hydroponic anymore. I'd guess you would be wanting to target the soil pH range rather than the hydro pH range. Also I'd imagine that with a high percentage of coco you'd still be at risk of calcium deficiency. I buffered my coco, add a low concentration of calmag in my nutrients and also apply a calmag foliar spray (I got the calcium-magnesium-nitrate from hyrdroponics.co.za). (FWIW Personally I could not be any happier with the coco/perlite approach, I've seen a massive improvement in my plants since switching. However I've not grown in high quality soil so I can't actually compare. But I don't have much motivation to switch at at any point)

I can't remember exactly where I found these numbers, somewhere online... But these are the notes I have for how reflective the various options are foylon: 95% mylar: 92-97% flat white paint: 75-85% semi/gloss paint: 55-60% white plastic (panda): 75-90% aluminium foil: 55% Flat white seems like the best option value for money and simplicity wise. Like @Oolong83 though, I was not able to paint my grow area so then panda film seems like the best alternative, the others are way more expensive

Has anyone experimented with going from seed directly to 12/12, or from seed to 18/6 for a few weeks and then 12/12? It seems like this is a good way to quickly get to the flowering stage to be able to create feminised seeds. Obviously the yields would be low, but I'd still expect to get quite a few seeds by doing this... Right? Seems to me like this is a good way to start getting a good collection of seeds to keep and trade. (These seems like a good into BTW: https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/blog-how-to-grow-cannabis-from-seed-under-12-12-lighting-n330 and https://www.growweedeasy.com/is-12-12-from-seed-worth-it) I'd love to hear an experience people have had with this method

lol, yeah. Four out of five of the plants were male... So it made sense to chop up the remaining female for clones

Thanks @CreX, that is very interesting. (FWIW I've switched to 18/6 myself, I don't think I'll bother with 24/0 again)

Interesting. (I'm always open to people's 2c BTW, that's what the forum is for ). I'll take another look under the microscope and see what they look like now. I think I'd having done the water cure I'd say this: Odds are I screwed it up, so the issues are possibly me being too rough rather than a flaw with water curing itself. I chose to water cure mainly because it was my first time and I did not have a reasonable space to dry without worrying about mold. However I don't think I'd want to water cure again, even if I could get all the water cure issues resolved. For vaping / smoking it seems clear that a dry cure is clearly the best option. For cannabutter I could probably skip the curing phase altogether if I really wanted to. And thanks for the feedback

I went pure coco/perlite and twice a day watering, effectively doing hydroponics. There is a good deal of info here if you are interested: https://cocoforcannabis.com Thanks! That would be awesome. My skunk clones are not quite ready but I'll let you know when they are?

I used most of it in cannabutter, so the less taste there the better. I'm really happy with that result As for vaping, it still has a citrus taste so I'm also happy with that. I'm sure it is less than air dried, but I'm happy with it

They recovered really nicely in the coco/perlite. I should still have a few to trade in the near future. So yeah, please do let me know when you get either/both of those

Don't forget the seed/clone club when you reach 30 posts. There is also a Cape Town club which is pretty quite at the moment, but why not join anyway.

I'm actually out of space for seedlings right at the moment , but you are welcome to one of my white widows (maybe two, I need to double check a bit later). I'm not far from Table View so DM me and we can make a plan to meet at some point?

Hi. What type of skunk is it? I think I can part with two young (rooted) white widow female clones.

Same here. Happy to assist esp after the competition is done

Great :). I'm going to keep them under cheap CFLs, seems like a nice inexpensive way to keep the strains I like.

@PsyCLown I'm planning to have a couple of bonai mothers. This article explained it quite well: https://www.growweedeasy.com/how-to-keep-a-bonsai-mother-for-unlimited-clones Pretty similar to my "real" bonsai it seems, just more frequent pruning

Really? We could not find anything so we just selected something unusual as the cause. Imagine what else they are misdiagnosing. wtf

Good luck BTW what is the multimeter measuring?

@Jay420herb have you looked at the DynaVap? No need for making THC vape juice etc, it is high quality and relatively cheap (compared to a reasonable battery operated vape). Depends what you are looking for, but I'm very happy with it.

Yeah, exactly. That is what I think it is going to come down to for me. As I understand cannabis is C4 so this applies This is not my area so I'm not sure I'm getting all the detail. But as above, it does not see that the 25% extra energy cost is really worth it for most growers. However I do like knowing the relative tradeoffs behind the decisions. Thanks

I've seen several people here and other forums arguing about 18/6 vs 24/0. From the bit of reading I've done it seems like this is not clear cut one way or the other. It seems like the idea that a dark period is beneficial comes from two things. Firstly the idea that plants need "rest" just as we would, however this is rather unconvincing as plants are not animals and anthropomorphism is not a convincing argument in general. Secondly plants apparently have a "dark cycle" however it seems like this just means that there are things that can happen without light, not that darkness is actually required. Which as I understand it means that the pros/cons are 18/6 Pro: does no harm to veg stage Pro: 25% less electricity Con: potentially slower growth than 24/0 (but to what extent?) 24/0 Pro: does no harm to veg stage Pro: potentially faster growth Con: more electricity So it seems like the decision mainly comes down to electricity usage. Given the cost of electricity a 25% reduction in usage could be significant and make this an easy choice. Does anyone have any articles/studies/papers etc that discuss this? People tend to be quite adamant that one way is clearly better than the other... It would be great to have some concrete facts or alternative just to know that for now it is debatable and both ways are entirely valid. (Having said that, I'm now considering switching to 18/6 ) Some references The Cannabis Grow Bible 4th edition - argues for 24/0 https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/18-6-vs-24-0-the-science.425165/ - mostly pro 24/0 https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/cannabis-light-cycle-fundamentals-24-0-18-6-and-12-12/ - pro 18/6 (and fairly convincing I think)

For the record, I ended up repotting in coco/perlite late last week and the plants are already looking way happier even this soon after the transplant. I also think that perhaps some of the damage was from wind burn so I've switched off my main fan for now. Thanks again for the advice everyone.

As far as I understand what you are trying to do is gradually increase the nutrient dosage to get to the final result. You typically would not want to go higher than the maximum recommended EC or ml depending what you are measuring as that would cause nutrient burn. So I think you have two options 1) Start with the initial recommended dose, and then each week increase it a little so that by the end of the grow you are at the maximum recommended value 2) Start with the initial recommended dose, follow their schedule and then keep it at the maximum once you get there even if that is for a few more weeks. Perhaps one of the more experienced growers could say which is better (I'm guessing option 2). But whatever you do you'll need to watch the plan to see if there are any signs of burn or deficiency. I hope that helps

I've switched to coco/perlite, for anyone doing the same I think you can follow the EC targets on this page with hortimix: https://cocoforcannabis.com/ectargets/ Seedling Early Veg Late Veg Early Bloom Late Bloom Ripen Flush 400* – 500 1100 – 1400 1200 – 1500 1100 – 1400 1300 – 1600 800 - 1100 0 - 200 *EC units are expressed in microsiemens. 400 microsiemens = 0.4 millisiemens