Hi all, I am a total newbie growing a Sour Tangie clone purchased from a local shop here in CA. I am picking up the story 3.5 weeks (day 24) after flipping the lights to 12-12 flowering mode. Some details:
10 gallon cloth pot
Feit 2’ LED grow lights 12-12 cycle
Fox Farms Ocean Forest
BioThrive Bloom 2-4-4 (every other watering)
My girl is pretty leggy and tall (45") and has begun sprouting flowers. I took six clones from her right around the time I flipped the lights, probably should have waited a couple of weeks, but didn’t.
I should have topped and pruned her a lot more, but this was my first growing attempt and I was too much of a chicken to hack on her much. Probably why she is so skinny and I expect to end up with a less than stellar harvest.
The clones are doing well, I decided to grow the clones outdoors to see what the difference would be and all six seem to be doing well. I would really appreciate any advice you might have on the outdoor girls with respect to potting, nutrients and trimming
I’ll try posting photos of everyone at least on a weekly basis. Anyway, I’d like to hear any opinions you all might have and associated advice.
With that light, you’re gonna have some airy buds. The plant is to tall for that type of light. Looks as if you can still try tying those branch’s down some
She’s going to need more light than you’re using. If a new light isn’t in the budget, try putting her outside for 12hrs/day and then back into darkness for the next 12. It’s a pain in the ass, but sunlight is free.
@Drinkslinger thanks for jumping in. I was starting to get that sinking feeling in my stomach when @HornHead made his/her comment. Then after reading yours, I took a closer look at the specification of the LED system I am using and compared it to what is recommended in the ILGM LED guide.
It looks like I need an LED system with about 10x the output wattage of the one I am using . I could up the ante and purchase a beefier LED system, I have about 8-10 weeks left to my flowering phase, but do you think it is too late to switch horses or is it really likely to make a difference in this grow?
@HornHead I would top out around $150 and need to be cautious about heat. Currently my grow room is around 70degF and not ventilated other than the bedroom door that I leave open during ‘daylight’ hours.
I see there are a ton of LED solutions on Amazon starting at around 1/2 my budget - not sure which are good (or not). I read this review that was linked to from the ILGM LED guide article I mentioned above. Was leaning toward the ViparSpectra Reflector V600, but still I am not clear whether it is going to be worthwhile at this point in my current grow. Thoughts?
Yes, it will be worthwhile. Viparspectra are heavy on blue -good for vegg not so good for flowering. Although there is a guy on here that’s had good luck with them. I use roleadro myself. I would recommend getting two 300w lights over one 600w. That way you have a bigger footprint
@Burle how do you feel about diy lights? If you have a small amount of handy-ness you might get @dbrn32 to give you some help building a light that’s far more efficient than anything you can buy on amazon for $150.
I agree, the reason your plant looks like that is due to poor light intensity. Have to give it to feit though, super cool of them to give ppf and efficacy.
Putting a better light in now should make a pretty big difference. If you buy the right one, will probably be the best investment you make. $150 isn’t s lot to work with, probably why diy was recommended. If that’s not an option, go buy yourself an hlg-100. They’re sometimes available on amazon, otherwise check out growerslights
@Drinkslinger, good suggestion, it had crossed my mind to build my own but I’m racing with the clock, so what would be a good, middle of the road purchased solution to buy?
I guess the first question is what would I need to spend on an off the shelf LED lighting array in order to bring my grow environment up to spec. I am concerned that I will not be able to find plans, locate materials and build my own in time.
Hello all, I wanted to thank everyone for their help and to update you on my progress. I made one major change to my grow environment which was to upgrade my lighting system. I decided to go with a Phantom CMh 3150 light which puts out about 5x what I was getting with my little LED system. I’ll probably experiment with LEDs again the future.
The stripes in the picture probably have to do with the ballast switching my light on and off at about 7x the shutter speed of the camera. Anyway, the plant is progressing nicely, although I’m not convinced that the month that passed wouldn’t have produced the same results with my old light.
Also, after looking at images of Sour Tangie online, it seems my plant is near identical. Being primarily a Sativa strain, there should be no surprise that the buds are spaced out on lanky limbs like mine are.
So, the smell in my house is wonderful and I figure I have another 2-3 weeks before harvest. I am waiting for 70%+ of the pistils to become red and the Trichomes to start going amber and then I’ll begin harvesting.
Since the buds on the lower branches will not be ready when the top ones are, I plan on doing a 2-stage harvest, probably spaced out by a month. Would love to hear any experiences of people who do this.
. I could up the ante and purchase a beefier LED system, I have about 8-10 weeks left to my flowering phase, but do you think it is too late to switch horses or is it really likely to make a difference in this grow?
