Ol' Doc Aroma Grows Sadhu, God Bud, & LA Woman

Update @ Day 26


Things are moving along steadily, if not quickly. I'm not quite sure if they are growing slowly (compared to previous grows) or just not stretching. But they seem to be healthy, so I can't complain too much. Maybe they'll just need a little more feeding this time with that used soil.





Here are the God Bud. You can see the two little ones are now sharing bags with their older sibs. I've had two of these share a bag before with no problem, but I wish I would have put them in with the smaller two of the group. Didn't know at the time. If they produce anything at all, it's still a bonus.





Here are the two Sadhu. The older one, on the left, is about the happiest of the group. Its leaves are always standing up, reaching toward the light. The other one has some strange leaves. Notice the horizontal-facing pair are kind of oddly proportioned and bent. But it seems healthy enough and is growing steadily.





And here are the LA Woman. Or are they? The two in the back are the twins sharing a bag. You might notice that I started training the larger one on the right to give the littler one some more light. Remember, these were grown from an original, freebie seed I got with an order.


The one in the front is from a seed I produced from another original freebie plant. For some reason, I got it into my head that the mother, from a feminized seed, must have hermied and self pollinated, even though I never saw any male flowers. But looking at my records, I noticed that from that grow I got about half a dozen seeds each from that LA Woman and from a Sadhu. But I got about 30-40 seeds from a God Bud. Makes me think it was the God Bud that hermied.


As if that wasn't enough, now that they all have gotten a bit older, I think its parentage is getting pretty obvious. The LA Woman in the front looks nothing like the two in back. Its leaves are shorter and wider, and more God Bud-like. And the ones in back have well-developed side branches, like the original LA Woman, while the one in front is not very branchy at all. So I'm officially calling that plant an LA Woman (f) X God Bud (m) F1 hybrid. Regardless, since its father had to be a hermie, it should at least be female. And should be a very interesting smoke.


Only other thing to mention is that I switched the light to 18/6 this week, down from 20/4. I'll drop it down again to 16/8 about week before I start flowering. I think that significantly reduces stretch. I'm guessing about a week and a half until 12/12. I like to wait until the lower branches grow up enough to have buds above the screen. I think about 6 weeks should do it. Stay tuned.

 

Update @ Day 33


Going on five weeks, and there just doesn't seem to be much of a growth spurt going on. My last grow I flipped at 31 days, and at that time there was a pretty solid canopy. Looking down, you could see pretty much all leaves. This time, not so much.





The Sadhu left-rear is the older one, and it is growing steadily. And slowly. The younger Sadhu in front is catching up a bit, but it's no speed demon either. At least it's outgrown those weird leaves.


The two LA Woman twins are moving right along. The smaller twin is actually growing quite well now, and the bigger one is really branching out. Last one I grew had LOTS of colas, and these are looking the same. Tying down the bigger one has helped with its lower branch development I think.


The LA Woman x God Bud is about the only one that could remotely be described as stretching. I tied it down this week, and already its side branches are growing out and up.


Finally on the right are the God Bud. The two smaller ones on the left have their own bags, while the two on the right are sharing with the little late starters. I'm starting to think those little ones will never make it above the screen by the time I flip to 12/12. This week I tied down the large GB on the far right, and by next week I'l probably have to tie down the one in the right rear.


Overall, they appear quite healthy. I've feed them twice and they seem fine with that. They're just not growing very quickly. I'm starting to wonder now if 6 weeks of veg is going to be enough.

 

Looking good Tony! I suggest you call your hybrid LA Goddess

 

You GO, baby!


Hey, from one of my all-time FAVE movies, "Saturday Night Fever", "Hey, Tony...I love ta watch ya dance...I mean, I really love to watc ya dance..."

 

Thanks. I really like the name LA Goddess!


And how'd you know I was wearing my white disco suit?

 

They're looking nice :thumbs-up:

 

Could This Be The Reason?


I've been complaining about slower-than-normal growth for some time now, and I have been wondering what could be the problem. Here's a thought:


My cabinet is in a little "room" off of a larger room. I put room in quotes because it's just big enough for my wardrobe on one side and some shelves on the other -- about the size of a small walk-in closet. When growing in the summer, I put a fan near the door to exhaust warm air into the larger room, as it tended to get too hot in the little room. But growing in the winter there is no heat problem, so I removed the fan this time.


Last couple of days it's been pretty warm, and I noticed that the area where my cabinet is is noticeably warmer than the outside room. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before, but that means that there is very little air exchange in my little room. Could this be the reason my little ones are growing so slowly? Not enough fresh air.


So yesterday I put my little oscillating fan back by the door, and already I noticed a difference. No more stale, warm air around the cabinet. It may just be wishful thinking, but after only one day the plants look a little perkier. I think they may even be growing a little faster. For the first time last night I started thinking it's getting close to flipping time.


What do you think? Could stale air be the culprit? Will my plants now finally start their growth spurt?

 

not sure about the stale air thing Tony but they do really look nice and healthy..

 

OF COURSE you're wearing your white suit!!!!!! I cant imagine you any other way!


...love ta watch you dance....


Dix

 

Oh dear...I got so excited there, I forgot to even include my comment....


I dont know! But I need to know...because I have a similar sitch. I veg in my bedroom closet and have the same issues. In the winter I have to keep the closet door closed because the temp in my bedroom is too cool. Keeping the door closed PLUS the heat mats and light keep it about five degrees warmer in the closet. But in the summer, it's way too warm to leave them in the closet without the door open and then I use a little fan, too.


Now, I have not noticed any change, neither bigger nor smaller, in vegging plants, tho.


Do you turn the light OFF four hours each day? Somebody...I think Useless....posted a test that he showed plants actually grow better with 4 hrs of dark than they do in 24/0.


Or....might be your veg nutes? What do you use and at what strength? Also, is it just your current strain or all strains started in the small space?


Dixie

 

plnats need fresh air to exhaust their gasses. If they can't "breathe" they can't grow. Without fresh air circulating, they're basically choking. So yes, providing a steady flow of fresh air can and WILL produce a faster growth rate.

 

OK Dixie, just settle down and take a deep breath. I know I have that effect on people.


The plants do look healthy enough, which is why I don't think there is any kind of deficiency.


I started out with the light at 20/4, which is supposed to be optimal for vegetative growth. About a week ago I switched to 18/6 and will soon switch to 16/8 before I start flowering. I've fed them three times now, which is more than usual. Other than the soil amendments, I usually only feed once or twice during veg.


I've grown all these strains before, and have plenty of pictures to compare these to. They are definitely behind where they should be. The God Bud, for example, at almost 6 weeks looks like my last God Bud grow at 3 weeks. So I'll have to wait and see if the improved circulation helps. I really think it will.

 

If everything else is the same, I guess that MUST be it.


Hmmm. Im glad it's getting warmer and I can leave the closet door open....


HUG


Dix

 

Just thinking, there is one more difference. During my summer grows, I go 16/8 from sprout to flower. So even with four hours more light per day, this current grow is still behind. All things being equal, that much more light alone should have them growing faster, not slower.

 

or at the very least, it should have no effect. I haven't really noticed a big difference anywhere except the power bill between an 18/6 and 24/0 veg cycle. It's the air. I swear it.


If you're really hard off for the time being, you could always try some sort of small scale CO2 booster like a yeast bucket, mushroom bag (on sale at hydro stores for about $30) or just a little dry ice a couple times a day. It won't replace fresh air in a veg room, but it'll help nullify the difference a little bit.


Or wait? is it not circulating? like there's no air moving, period? That's BAAAD juju, man. there's a pic of what that does in the Grower's Bible... Basically, all of the CO2 right around the leaf gets used up, but the CO2 in the rest of the room doesn't move in to replace it nearly fast enough. It creates a leaky oxygen bubble a hairsbreadth thick around the leaf. Strangulation, like Shadow said.


Additionally, a plant's metabolism peters off SUPER fast after the optimal 78 degrees. having even an 85 degree grow room could do the exact same thing as too little air circulation... just the signs are more apparent, IMO. The outer ridges (and often veins too, since the slowed metabolism messes with nute uptake levels and usually causes lockout and salt buildup) pop up instead of kinda slowly wilting down around the outsides like with CO2 if I remember right. This is why a lot of growers choose to keep a 72-76 degree ambient temp in the room... so the temps closest to the light don't go above 78 and slow production in the most valuable part of the plant.


Do you think it's at all possible that your veg room has been consistently too hot, and this might have caused your consistently low veg nute requirements that a couple people have commented on already? If I remember right, having strains that are hardy and don't need to be super overfed are kinda a big selling point for Mandala, but for half used (meaning half flushed and leached) dirt, only 3 feedings in 6 weeks without any weird signs at all seems a little abnormal to me.


EDIT: just double checked the picture. looks like you're having signs of multiple nute problems (N tox most obvious, can't remember the others), maybe a little salt, heat, and CO2 deficiency in one plant or another. Flushing, dropping the heat in the room and circulating the air should completely fix the problem. Don't have to flush, but I'd be willing to bet it would make a difference.


My 2 cents, anyway.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.


I too noticed a couple of plants (like the LA Woman) had a few curled-under leaves, which typically means too much N. But I don't see how that's possible. The newer leaves are not curled under at all. And I use only organic ferts, so there's definitely no salt build-up, and not much use in flushing. Temps are in the low 80s, where they've been except for a few days the temp went up just a few degrees.


Just to be clear, I have an exhaust on my cabinet, as well as two PC fans inside, so there is constant air movement inside the cabinet. It's the little room the cabinet is in that was not getting much air circulation. But it is now, and I think they are looking perkier already.

 

Update @ Day 43


about the poor picture quality - I had to take these picts with my iPod. No idea why some have horizontal dark bars.





Today, day 43, marks the beginning of the end. After the lights went on today, I flipped the timer. That means tomorrow is the first day of 12/12. And for the first time today, I checked and found lots of pre-flowers of the female variety. I don't want to jinx it, so I'll wait until full-on flowering gets underway before I make any pronouncements.


Hard to tell from the pictures, but they are generally looking pretty perky. Maybe that extra circulation helped. Maybe they're just growing slowly above ground and have been secretly developing massive root systems to produce monster buds. Could be.





Here are the two Sadhu. They are both looking great! Even the smaller one (2) is catching up, although it still does have an occasional oddly-shaped leaf. You can't see it from this shot, but both have lots of side branches.





Here are the LA Woman twins. The big one has been tied down, and I topped it this week. Notice the funny coloration on one of its many lower branches. If it weren't limited to just this one branch, I'd say it looks like some kind of deficiency. And notice how great that littler twin looks! I thought it would never make it. Just smoked the last of my previous LA Woman this week, and was reminded how great this smoke is.





Here's the LA Goddess (that name is now official). It's always been the droopiest of the bunch, yet pretty stretchy. You can see how the side branches have shot up since I tied it down. And it will eventually perk up, it just takes longer than the others after the lights come on.





And finally, the God Bud. They are all doing great! Even one of the little late starters (6) has suddenly shot up. Unfortunately its late partner (5) is still pretty small and not likely to make it above the screen. Plants 3 and 4 are the biggest and tallest, and I topped 4 this week. And since I tied them down, their lower branch development is improving.


So now we wait. Should know the outcome in about a week. Wish me luck.

 

that extra air flow definitely helped, they're looking GREAT!!

 

Update @ Day 11 of 12/12


A lot has happened since my last post, most importantly the females have shown themselves. And it's a little disappointing. Here's the final tally (females/total):


Sadhu - 1/2


LA Woman - 2/2 (feminized seeds)


LA Goddess - 1/1 (hermie seed)


God Bud - 2/6


As you can see in the photo, the males are gone (almost) and the screen is in. I'm not sure the screen is really necessary this time, as the plants are not that tall. But at least it makes what training is left to do a bit easier. Also over the last week I changed the bulb to the Hortilux HPS, and I top dressed all the remaining girls with bone meal.





I decided to keep the Sadhu male around for a while, maybe make some seeds. We'll see. If you've been paying attention, you might notice that I swapped the two Sadhu so the female is closer to the light. You can see it's been bent over so the side branches are now more exposed.


The two LA Woman twins are also doing well. The little one is just poking above the screen, and the big one is as branchy as ever.


I don't know what to make of the LA Goddess. It's always been relatively droopy, and now it's looking downright strange. It's new leaves are all twisted and bent. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's also the only one to show significant stretch since flipping. It is now mostly horizontal with lots of well-developed side branches.


Good thing I didn't kill off those late God Bud, as one of them turned out to be female. So I got one large and one small female, and FOUR males. This has been the case every time I've grown God Bud. (One grow I got zero GB females.) Luckily, the little one (GB2) grew relatively fast and has almost made up for it's late start.


Nothing much for me to do anymore but wait.

 

Good looking grow Tony! As always!


About your slow growth and previous lack of air exchange. That is most definitely a big factor in their growth rates. They need Co2 to grow and as they use it up, if it's not refreshed they will be struggling to breathe. Especially in higher temps, plants will absorb more Co2 at a much quicker rate, so as temps rose they were sucking up the Co2 faster than it was being replaced into the room. In cooler weather they probably uptake a bit less Co2 at a slower rate and therefore maybe that is why in the winter you need less air circulation to satisfy their needs. Make sense? I'm betting that you will see them growing much more normally now that you added the fan back to bring fresh air into the room.


just for reference. I keep my room at 82 degrees at the canopy. If I turn off my Co2 for a few hours in my sealed room, the Co2 PPm will drop from the normal 600-700 PPM down to 200 PPM in just a couple hours. So that shows you how quickly the plants will actually absorb the Co2 in a room that isn't getting any enrichment or fresh air exchange.