3LB From seed to weed Growing LUI w/ the 3LB - From seed to weed!

Twas 10 days before Xmas, and there at the nest . . . Not a creature was stirring, not one single pest . . . The fluoros were hung over the seed beds with care . . . In hopes that sweet seedlings soon would be there . . . Back in October the birdies had cried . . . Where can we find LUIs weve looked and weve tried . . . Then ~RC~ himself answered one fateful day . . . Ill get those seeds for you through Heavens Stairway . . . Then Poppy and ~RC~ packed And within a fortnight the A loud shout of hooray was Then birdies were plotting those 3LBs heard which lil seeds with care . . . order was there . . . through the nest . . . start date was best . . .

Tonight those little seeds are nestled in right . . . Packed tightly in moist earth theyll sleep through the night . . . But soon they will grow up to be big and strong . . . And their sweet buds will be smoked in the 3LBs bong . . . So the story continues of those LUI seeds . . . And the three little birds, and their growing deeds . . . when it comes to organic soil alternatives, there should be plenty of options. generally we look for something called "organic" and then start reading the labels to see whats actually in the soil. we avoid soils with chemical fertilizers and chemical wetting agents but dont have any special preferences beyond that. when we see a decent soil on sale we tend to buy 10 bags and ask questions later. for that very reason there are several bags of FoxFarm OceanForest here at the nest as well as a couple more bags of that GardenSafe soil. theres a bunch of bagged mushroom compost. a few bags of composted humus and manure. a full bale and a half bale of plain peat. and also a bag of earthworm castings still hanging around from before we decided to raise our own worms. about peat pellets. weve tried those ourselves in the past and were generally disappointed with the results. they seem convenient and look simple to use but they always caused us more trouble than they were worth. it all begins with a seed. one of the most important factors in growing good cannabis is the genetics you start with. when choosing seed. a new grower should consider their gardening skills and physical abilities and how that might effect their strain choice. they should also consider the specifics of that particular strain and think of how it will meet their personal needs. good strain information can be found using the search feature here at CW to look at what folks have said a particular plant. the overgrow strainbase and heatherbuds wonderful cannagenetics.com site can also provide information provided by real life growers on specific strains. for this thread the three little birds will be growing Legends Ultimate Indica. often known as LUI. the seeds were produced by Breeder Steve of Spice of Life Seeds and purchased through ~RC~ and the friendly folks at Heavens Stairway. btw - we do want to offer accolades to Spice of Life Seeds for choosing to sell their breeding efforts in 15 seed packs! we greatly appreciate the breeders who follow this practice! We actually prefer to start with at least 30 seeds when trying a new strain, so the 15 count packs are a great convenience. Kudos! LUI was chosen for a number of reasons. primarily for its medicinal use at the nest. its just one strain weve tried in our search for the ultimate

herb to alleviate pain and insomnia. LUI has a reputation as being good for pain relief so it was worth a try at the nest. LUI is billed as 100% Indica and that usually indicates a heavier more sedative or "body stone". many recreational users may find this effect boring and prefer the more soaring high of a sativa or sativa dominant hybrid. however a heavy effect is just what tthe doctor ordered for medicine at the birds nest. Indicas are generally easy to grow indoors compared to sativas. overall, they tend to stretch less and feature quicker finishing times. all of which makes for an easier grow for some medical users with physical disabilities. For all of those reasons the LUI is a good prospect for our garden. and as an additiona benefit. lots of folks at CW have experience growing it our already. so it also happens to make a great example of what the 3LB can do in our organic garden. in the end it all starts with a single seed. an investement in good genetics is almost always handsomely rewarded! 001 Seed Germination Instructions expectant-seedbed. once you have the genetics then it comes time to plant them. at least for most folks that is. weve heard of some folks with seed collections numbering in the hundreds of strains. and while we have nothing against collectors. we just hope that thier seed collection will get used to grow some great herbs. a lil seed embryo sitting on a shelf in a jar or pack that never gets grown is a sad waste in our opinion. our philosophy is and always has been to share the seed and then grow great weed! anyway. as you can see from the attached picture. fifteen standard 4 1/2" square pots sit waiting for the seeds they will nourish. (week old clones are in background) some folks germ in paper towels or use other similar methods. we prefer to put our seeds directly into these planters to eliminate potential stress from handling. so the planters you see will get theirs seeds after just a lil bit of prep work. 002 expectant-seedbed we get lots of questions about our soil preferences so wed like to take a moment to describe the soil well be growing the LUI seedlings in. we call this our Wally-World soil mix since all of the ingredients can be purchased at a Wal-Mart. as many folks are aware we re-mix and reuse our soils pretty much endlessly. but seedlings and cuttings are the one spot in our garden where we use a store bought soil mix. this is the exact soil mix we use these days for all of our cuttings and seedlings and have had great success using it. even with hard to clone strains like Herijuana weve experienced 90% + success rates in rooting cuttings! The base is Schultz GardenSafe potting soil which is 100% organic and even OMRI listed. OMRI is the Organic Materials Review Institute and which certifies products manufacturers pay to have tested and certified if they meet OMRIs organic standards. weve seen it in aqua-green bags at many Wal-Marts weve visited. so hopefully its something available pretty readily across North America. We simply mix equal parts of perlite and vermiculite into the GardenSafe soil to get a texture that has good aeration and still holds water to protect tender young roots. so the standard formula is. 50% Shultz GardenSafe soil mix 25% perlite 25% vermiculite just about any soil could be substituted here. we originally choose the GardenSafe because of its easy availability and because it is slightly cheaper than FoxFarm OceanForest. the FFOF tends to be a lil "hot" in terms of nutes. we use mushroom compost a lot as a soil base/amendment for

blooming plants but would guess its also too hot for tender seedlings and clones. the GardenSafe will work great & weve used an organic potting soil called FertiLoam before and it worked great as well. organic Promix or Sunshine Mix in the same proportions should work too. the specific soil isnt going to matter as much as simply paying attention to purchasing a quality soil that is organic. in the attached picture you should be able to see (if you look closely) that most of the 4 1/2" planters have been heavily soaked with warm tap water. normally wed never consider using water straight from the tap. but preparing soil for seeds is where wed make our only exception to that rule. we like to use warm water to get the soil heated up a lil bit before we plant our seeds. seeds will germ faster in warm soil so this helps give them a jump start. the little bit of chlorine that may be in some folks tap-water might retard potential mold on the seeds and certainly wont hurt anything. finally we should add that underneath these planting flats are a pair of the seedling heat matts often found in garden centers. they are fairly expensive and not absolutely necessary and frankly they are of limited use. as soon as the seedlings start popping their little heads above ground we will shut them off because we dont want to "cook" any tender lil roots. so at most they will probably only be on for two or three days. they may contribute to a slightly faster and slightly higher germ rate so we do go ahead an use them. 003 wetting-down-the-seedbed at this point. with the future home of our seeds warm and moist and all cozy for germination. some folks would just push their lil seeds down under the soil a bit and be done. and certainly thatll work. it may even be a lil simplier than what we do. the problem w/ just pushing the seed underground in at least one birds mind is potential problems for folks who migh have lost some feeling in ther extremities due to various chronic illnesses. those tiny lil seeds can be hard to feel and once fingers are wet things have a way of sticking to each other. if a person pays $50 for a pack of seeds then each bean is $5. and were not wanting any potential confusion with odd seeds sticking to our fingers. so we make lil seed holes. they are slightly smaller in diameter than a pencil and only two or three seed lengths in depth. that is our general rule of thumb with lil seeds. 2x or 3x the actual seed depth down into the soil. and that works if you are pressing them into the soil our making the little indentations like we use. in the next pic you will see the lil holes in the center of each square planter. At this point were ready for those lil seeds. 004 lil-seed-holes 15 seeds were carefully dropped into their new homes and are waiting to be tucked in for the night. After all the seed were dropped in their soil depressions they were gently covered by the warm moist soil. Transparent humidity domes cover our seed beds but not too tightly. They are in place to hold warmth and humidity to encourage germination. As soon as the plants beging poking above the soil surface well lose the plastic covers and unplug the heating mats. 005 seed-in-the-hole 006 tucked-in 007 Humidity Domes 13 of 15 seeds planted are already above ground. strong and green and proudly basking in the 24/7 glow of fluorescent light. thats an 87% germ rate (so far) and its still just 48 hours after planting so

theres still hope for the remaining pair of seeds that remain unsprouted. Take a look at one of the sprouts. 008 7-of-8-LUI-tray 009 lil-lui-seedling One of the secrets to getting nice seedlings is of course genetic. good genetics will produce stronger more vigorous plants which are easier to grow. like anything else this is in general - there are exceptions to every rule as certainly a 100% Sativa variety like "Haze" may be great genetics but not so simple to grow indoors for the less experienced). but one secret to strong healthy seedlings is to provide them with good strong light as well. while the seedlings are young and tender too much intense light could bake them. so extreme caution is necessary if trying to use a HPS or MH for this job. its much easier to use fluorescent shoplight fixtures or similar lights. the rack holding the seedlings is 4 long and with the planting flats its 18" deep. that area is lit by 220 watts of T-5 VHO fluorescent light. this works out to to about 36 watts per square foot. because of the high humidity domes covering the seedlings the light above is raised higher than normal which protects the seedlings from too much heat or too intense light. the 110 watt VHO fluoro fixture is probably 10 inches above the seedlings right now. just above the top of the humidity domes height. we have a seedling / cloning cabinet which is not pictured or in use at this time but it is lit by 2 standard 4 shoplight fixtures with 2 bulbs apiece. with that cabinet being a foot deep and just over 4 long its lit at a similar rate. our veg area actually has a greater capacity than we need and we choose to germ the seeds out on the shelf to make this pictoral grow along easier to photograph. besides a decent amount of light our seedlings also need the correct environment to thrive. making sure they stay warm and cozy is they key. we dont want to cross a line and make those tender lil plant too hot or too wet either. when using our 4 1/2" square planters in standard nursery flats the humidity domes covering the tender seedlings do not fit tight. this is actually our preference. when humidity domes hold excessive moisture it can cause problems for seedlings. a common seedling problem is called "damping-off". heres a definition of damping-off from the University of Minnesota Ag Extension service . . ."Damping-off generally refers to sudden plant death in the seedling stage due to the attack of fungi (see figure 1). These fungi are soilborne and are stimulated to grow and infect the seed or seedling by nutrients released from a germinating seed. However, seedlings may be injured or killed by something other than fungi, for example, toxic materials in the soil, excess or deficient soil moisture, seed defects, temperature extremes, toxic gases in the air, etc. A correct diagnosis is the key to effective control measures. " http://www.extension.umn.edu/distri...ure/DG1167.html is a link to the article where that defintion came from. the humidity domes are simply protecting our seedlings from environmental extremes at this time.holding in a lil heat and a lil extra humidity but not enough to get the air inside "saturated" to where the domes fog up or hot enough to where the seedlings could suffer from heat stress. knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:00 PM LUI Day 2 some stem elongation and the 1st set of full leaves developing. well keep the humidity domes off for several hours to "harden off" the seedlings but put back on before tucking them in for the night

010 day-2-seedling (pic) LUI DAY 3 humidity domes were taken off for good. soil surface was "cultivated" gently with a finger.seedlings were rotated inside their flats. when using a good organic soil its very common for algae to grow on the soil surface. sometimes even the white perlite will turn greenish in color due to algae growth. the algae doesnt really hurt anything but they can compete for nutrients so we usually just smooth the surface of our soil mix gently with a finger. often times a peat based mix will shrink and pull away from planter sides. roots exposed to dry air in the "side cracks" can die back so when cultivating the soil surface we are always careful to "fill in" by pushing some extra soil along the edges of our lil plastic planters. the soil surface was still damp from the original soaking so there is still no need to consider watering for several days. cultivating the soil surface helps to level and even it and will contribute to a more even drying of the soil as well. even with the strong light we are using (35+ watts per sq foot) the seedlings on the outer edges lean slightly towards the light. so to encourage straight growth we also rotated the seedlings. moving the lil babes from the edges into the center. the seedlings themselves show little change. perhaps increasing slightly in size. the slightest signs of a 2nd pair of leaves show so wed expect to see those showing up enough for pictures tomorrow. LUI Day 4 heres a close shot of a LUI seedling at day 4 from germination. all 13 seedlings are looking happy and healthy and a wider shot at day 4 showing all 13 seedlings - looks like 13 will be the lucky number on this one! 011 day-4-LUI-seedling 012 day-4-LUI-seedlings wider angle LUI Day 5 LUI seedling at day 5 from germination. temp and humidity control are essential. temp 89F at plant level, relative humidity 42%,the room temp is only 76F so even fluorescents can put off a fair bit of heat. Day 5 final notes . . .considering the warm temps at plant level we decided that a very light watering was in order to assure our lil seedlings would have plenty of moisture. just before "closing up" for the evening each tray of seedlings was watered from below. one quart of water was poured into the actual nursery flat that holds our planters. so the water was absorbed from underneath. normally we water from the top but little seedlings like this are the exception. their root systems are still developing so we prefer not to risk washing away any soil from around the roots and will water from below if needed for a few days until the plants are a lil more fully developed. 013 day-5-LUI-seedling 014 temp-control-in-action LUI Day 6 Seedlings showing wonderful growth at day 6 015 day-6-lui-seedling 016 day-6-wide-shot

LUI Day 7 The one week mark from breaking through the soil. the soil surface was cultivated gently again w/ a finger to disturb algae growth and to test soil moisture. soil was still slightly damp. strong root tips show at bottom of 4 1/2 inch planters in drain holes. the lil seedlings will likely get their first watering in the next day or two and well likely include a very mild organic fert along with the watering. day-7-LUI-seedling LUI Day 8 heres a nice view of a lil LUI seedling at day 8. so far so good! tonight the LUI seedlings were fed a very mild solution containing fish fert and liquid kelp. the plants werent soaked. just a light watering from above for each container. the fish fert is a 2-4-1 fert and heres the catalog description . . . NEPTUNES HARVEST Liquid Fish Plant Food is a natural organic fertilizer made from fresh North Atlantic fish. It is a highly nutritional plant food made by a unique cold process, unlike fish emulsion which is cooked. This cold process protects the vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, and growth hormones; and since the nutrients are already chelated, they are readily available for your plants consumption. heres the catalog description on the maxicrop . . . MAXICROP LIQUEFIED SEAWEED An extract from fresh growing Norwegian Ascophyllum Nodosum seaweed. It contains a huge complex of chelated minor elements, important bio-growth stimulants, and organic sugars. The plant growth stimulant properties of Maxicrop will enhance natural-growth processes, leading to greater rooting, while producing strong healthy growth with improved resistance to environmental stresses. we like this combination of fish ferts and kelp since it makes a complete feeding w/ the full range of major, minor and micro nutrients for healthy plant growth. for a normal feeding wed use 1 TBSP of Fish fert and 1 tsp of Maxicrop per gallon. since these are tender lil seedlings we cut everything in 1/2. so the actual ratio for this feeding was 1/2 TBSP per gallon of fish fert and 1/2 tsp per gallon of the seaweed extract. some may be wondering why we arent using a high nitrogen fish fert since these are vegging plants. we will be in future feedings but a fertilizer higher in phosphorous will help to stimulate a strong and healthy root system and thats necessary before the plants put on a whole lot more foilage up top. 018 LUI-Day-8 019 2-4-1-Neptunes-Fish-Fert 020 maxicrop-liquid-seaweed LUI Day 9 wow. thanks for all the kind comments folks. well try and come back and answer everything individually here in a sec. but before we can post a day 10 update we need to show our girls on day 9. no special action or care was taken on day 9. the lil seedlings were simply checked on and admired. LUI-Day-9

since we provided "ad copy" for the ferts well follow suit where possible with all the products we use.heres the info on the GardenSafe soil . . . Garden Safe All Purpose Potting Mix. Arent all potting soils organic? No! Most contain synthetic fertilizers and other synthetic additives. Garden Safe All Purpose Potting Mix is great for growing organic herbs and container vegetables like tomatoes, but its also excellent for all potted flowering and foliage plants! Makes a great soil amendment for organic gardens, too! Listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in production of organic food and fiber. Premium blend of Canadian sphagnum peat moss, composted organic matter with humates, plus perlite for excellent drainage and aeration. Organic plant food with high microbe content, humus and organic matter feeds up to nine months. Organic wetting agent extracted from the desert yucca plant increases water penetration and uptake well attach a pic as well to help folk look for this product if they are interested. FoxFarm OceanForest would probably be a good substitute though it seems to be a lil bit "hotter" in terms of nutes. any good organic potting mix really will do! in all honesty Dandy Don we dont remember which side of the border we picked this soil up on. we have friends and family on both sides and tend to pick up a good sampling of this type of product when we see it on sale at the end of season. we do specifically remember it being a Wally-World though. the soil is amended so we could probably go further than day 8-10 for the first feeding. we like adding some fish fert / kelp though to make sure those lil seedlings never lack for anything they may be hungry for. but to directly answer your question DD - there was nothing else added before this first feeding as for the temp and humidiy guage its manufactured by Extech. And heres that ad copy . . . HYGRO-THERMOMETER CLOCK (Model 445702) Features: Attractive indicator is ideal for desktop or wall mounting applications Three large bright LCDs display temperature in both C and F, Humidity and Time Provides Max/Min readings for temperature and humidity.Measuring ranges include Temperature -4 to 122 F (-20 to 50 C) the accuracy: 1.8 F ( 1 C) Humidity 25 to 95% RH the accuracy: 6% RH Resolution: 1% RH; 0.1 C or FClock Function automatically displays 12 hour time with AM/PM indication when in F mode, and displays in 24 hour time when in C mode Memory with reset function stores minimum and maximum measurements for both temperature and humidity Complete with built-in tilt stand, wall mounting bracket and 1.5V AAA battery Dimensions: 4.3 X 2.8 X 0.8" (109 X 71 X 20mm); weight 4 oz 022GardenSafe-Soil 023 hygro-thermometer-clock LUI Day 10 Our lil LUIs arent so tiny anymore. heres a day 10 shot. 024 LUI-Seedling-Day-10 LUI Day 11 The lil LUIs continue to show great development. individual plants were rotated in their planting flats to make sure everyone grows straight and any outer edge seedlings do not lean in towards the light.today the seedlings got a soil drench with a light fert solution. weve recently decided to try Age Old Organic fertilizers in our garden so thats what

well use for this feeding. but any complete organic fert will do here. well use the ferts at about 1/2 strength again to make sure that we dont over feed the lil plants. wed normally use 1 to 2 tablespoons of the Age Old Organic Grow ferts per gallon so well cut the mix on half. our adjusted rate is 1 tablespoon for every 2 gallons of water. the Age Old ferts are short on Magnesium so we also added 1/2 teaspoon of epsom salts to the same 2 gallons of water for this feeding. each plant was gently soaked until it showed a dribble of runoff. 025 LUI-Seedling-Day-11-Closeup 026 LUI-Seedlings-Day-11 wider LUI Day 12 as for printing our exact fertilizer routine. thats somewhat hard to do since it varies some from grow to grow and strain to strain. we watch and observe our plants closely and feed accordingly. also. weve been experimenting with Age Old Organics and are still "dialing in" our use. well also use Earth Juice products and guano teas too before its over. folks will see everything we feed these girls (for better or worse ) and get an idea of our feeding patterns as we go. the idea behind the thread isnt to get folks to copy our technique step by step. the idea is to get folks to understand the reason and thinking behind our plant care. then folks can re-create as much or little of our growing style as they wish. the concept behind the the very first light feeding was a very weak nutrient mix with a lil extra phosphorous to encourage strong root development. it wouldnt matter if you used a fish fert / kelp mix like we did here at "the nest" or if you used a different fert. any weak "bloom" style fert with some N and K and a higher concentration of P would work. the second light feeding was a more balanced fertilizer. its heavier on the N than the P or K and is 2-1-1 ratio of nutes (the Age Old Grow is actually something like 12-6-6). so instead of using Age Old Organics like the 3LB did here at the "birds nest". any complete organic grow formula with that kind of balance should work. our next feeding will be high in nitrogen to really spur some strong vegetative growth. we may use a mexican bat guano tea or perhaps a 5-1-1 fish fert. either one would work. its far more important to understand why we are feeding the plants what we are than to try and use the same exact fertilizers as the 3LB. well probably throw everything but the kitchen sink at these babes before its over. every fert in our array can be easily replaced with an alternative (with the exception of kelp and alfalfa which contain plant hormones - and SuperThrive has the hormone in the alfalfa). thats one of the beauties about organic gardening. theres a lot of ways to get great results.were interested in showing the variety of choices available to the organic gardener and what can be done. 027 day-12-LUI AGE OLD GROW is a fast acting natural high Nitrogen with a 2 to 1 nitrogen ratio to encourage continued growth and vigor. Age Old Grow is manufactured by combining fish, seaweed, and naturally occurring nutrients to form a stable odorless liquid plant food. its our experience that it really is odorless and convenient to use and measure. it probably wont replace Earth Juice fertilizers as our "standard". but the Age Old nutes certainly offer great advantages in terms of ease of use. weve decided our next feeding will be a guano tea.its still at least a day or two before the LUIs will need another watering / feeding. and since guano teas need time to "brew" well need to start work on this today. heres the info on the primary ingredient in this tea.

MEXICAN BAT GUANO This Hi-Nitrogen (10-2-0) Guano from south of the border brings important nutrients to plants, and adds active micro-organisms to soil. These tiny organisms unlock nutrients bound up in the soil and break down the compounds in the guano, releasing major soluble and trace nutrients to eager plant roots. The result is increased soil porosity and a healthier root system. this stuff is "hot". meaning its nutrients are concentrated. it is an organic fert that has the potential to "burn" plants thru over fertilization. 028 age-old-grow 029 mexican-bat-guano knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:07 PM LUI Day 13 Weve got 13 LUIs on their 13th day. our lil plants required no actual care for day 13. but we did mix the guano tea today as advertised. in essence we are already preparing the first watering of 2004 for these babes. we mix our teas in 5 gallon plastic gasoline containers. they are easy and convenient to use as well as durable and affordable. and they are a great way to "brew up" a good bat or seabird guano tea .we fill the gas can with 4 gallons of water and then add 3 tablespoons of Mexican Bat Guano and 3 teaspoons of powdered Maxicrop kelp concentrate. the mexi bat poop is so strong it has a urea smell to it like. inhaling the dust from powdered guanos is not very healthful so its best to wear a mask while preparing the dry portions of this tea. after dumping the guano and kelp into the gas can its shaken vigorously. swished back and forth to mix the ingredients and to help aerate the liquid. teas brew up best if actually aerated by a cheap aquarium pump bubbling through the water to make sure the tea stays well oxygenated. a good thorough swishing every couple of hours can be substituted for the aqua pump but dont forget! well let the tea "brew" like that for at least 48 hours before use. and since this is a concentrated tea we will also dilute it before watering our plants. Heres a pic another lucky #13 shot. this pic will be the same seedling from the last picture. its a different angle and separated from its brothers and sisters to give a better perspective on this individual plants growth 030 LUI-Day-13 031 LUI-Day-13-mugshot LUI Day 14 heres a shot of the whole bunch of our lil LUIs on their 14th day. Louie LUI. oh baby. say we gotta grow now. yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. maybe our secret is that we sing to our plants. 032 LUI-at-2-weeks I have a question though, how do you judge when to water with these big containers? do you lift the corner, stick your finger in the soil or what? I am havin a harder time judging when to water with such big containers. we literally just feel the soil w/ our fingers. and over time weve just gotten into patterns of simply "knowing" when they need water through observation and experience. there are thin lil moisture probes that can take readings w/o distrubing roots and we actually have one but havent used it in quite some time. when we water a 2 x 3 container its usually

with a gallon of water for the entire container. on an extremely rare occasion maybe as much as a gallon and a half if the atmosphere is dry and the girls seem especially thirsty. with a moderate watering like that we are usually watering our blooming girls every other day. but your mileage may vary depending on strain and your relative humidity and temps. Although these big containers can be quite heavy when filled with dirt, plants, etc, IF you can lift even part of em and judge how they feel....the lighter they feel the dryer they are, thats probably the most fool proof way of judging moisture content. That being said, (And Im going to disagree with tlb about using these meters & "disturbing" roots....Im thinking here about what you do when you areate your lawn with one of those pluggers. Last time I checked my lawn LIKED that. Though not as radical, your pot plant will too!) theres NOTHING wrong with sticking that probe of an inexpensive moisture meter into the soil for a reading. In fact, I believe that this "areation" procedure is beneficial to overall plant health, the reason being precisely that it does areate the media. I use my meter mostly for this areation procedure in my larger containers, although I still use the lift method mostly judging when to water/feed. And I poke the shit out of em!!. All the way across the top of the dirt. Not all the time but a couple of times during the grow, areating the soil around your plants (especially if they have been in the container awhile and are rootbound...think about it) will also assist in even watering and feeding by eliminating dry spots in the soil. So poke away. Even if you dont use it like I do, using it when you have a question about your containers moisture content will only ease your mind AND help your plants imho. Good luck!! GD (Ganjaden) I am using 10 gallon containers, one with 2 plants and one with 3 plants. Ive been giving them a lot more water then the birds seem to at almost 2 gallons each. I have not really observed any signs of overwatering except slight drooping right after the watering which goes away within an hour or 2 Id say and they perk right up. Do you think this is an acceptable method of watering as well? What do you think the advantages are to using a much smaller amount of water more frequently? LUI Day 15 the advantage of more frequent light waterings is better soil oxygen levels and therefore better plant vigor and health. we believe in geting the soil good and damp throughout but never sopping wet. plant roots like a mix of water, nutrients and oxygen and light waterings provide this. as for the moisture probe. we think they are great tools but after a couple decades of gardening such things tend to languish on our shelves . we dont use our pH meter much either. when we were starting growing such tools were very useful. the best way to describe the evolution is to say that over time we learned to watch our plants and learn what they were telling us. the tools (like a moisture probe) served to teach us what we were seeing in the plants and now we understand what the plants are telling us without the meters. we did water w/ our MexiBat Guano tea on day 15. it was diluted 1/4th parts tea to 3/4th parts plain water and each of the plants was thoroughly soaked. they were not left in "standing water" but each pot was watered until they began to dribble some run-off. heres a day 15 shot of a LUI. 033 Day-15-LUI-seedling LUI Day 16 the intermediate step is usually gallon or 5 quart "ice cream" buckets. from there wed normally step up to our 2x 3 containers but in cases where the babes are not sexed yet well use 3 gallon or 5 gallon containers as the

final destination. heres todays pic 034 LUI-Day-16 the guano tea got used over several days. teas will certainly be good for at least a week as long as they are kept aerated. but the LUIs arent our only vegging plants so they didnt get an "exclusive" on the tea as it was also shared with others. we actually had some very thirsty vegging plants. you might say we had a "tea party" over the new year. so well be looking to mix up a different fert mix the next time our lil LUIs need a feeding. a normal usage for the tea would be to use about 1/2 of concentrated tea as described (mixing it directly into water). when the can is about 1/2 empty well then "top off" the can with another couple gallons of straight H2O and use that undiluted until its gone. it makes a strong tea that will give a great boost to vegetative growth.the LUIs are showing some great growth and yes they will be ready for transplanting soon. we usually top clone our girls before transplanting. but these are growing so well with such tight internodes that we may end up transplanting first and then taking our top clones afterwards. well watch them over the next few days and decide based on the plants needs. right now the plan would be a day 21 transplant. thanks again for all the nice comments. were proud of the progress these plants have been making so far. and were very proud that this grow and thread are helping to teach and inspire others. its that thought. of helping others grow their own medicine. that makes the actual time and effort of documenting and explaining everything worthwhile. LUI Day 17 Day 17 Care . . . soil surface was "cultivated" gently with a finger at the begining of the day. by the end of the day the lil LUIs needed a little drink. the soil surface was dry to the touch and the planters were light in weight. since theyve already recieved 3 feedings in their young lives we simply watered the whole bunch lightly but evenly with a single gallon of plain water. Heres todays progress pic and a different look at the same plant. the 2nd picture shows the "undergrowth" on the lower nodes. 035 LUI-Day-17 036 Day-17-LUI LUI Day 18 today we gave the LUIs a light spray with a liquid kelp solution. this is a form of foliar feeding. for now growers this means our plants will actually absorb nutrients and hormones directly through their leaves. first the lights in the grow area were turned off as a precaution. cold water hitting hot lamps can actually cause a bulb to explode so this is primarily to protect our light bulbs. under intense light its sometimes possible for water spots to occasionally cause leaf burning. so turning off the lamps also protect the plants. 1 teaspoon of MaxiCrop liquid Kelp concentrate was then poured into a gallon of water and mixed. a quart of this mixture was poured into a spray bottle a fine mist was applied to all plants in our grow portion of our garden (not the bloom room). all leaves were thoroughly drenched top and bottom with the liquid seaweed solution until moisture dripped freely off the leaf tips. once the plants were thoroughly soaked we increased air circulation in the grow room for a hour until the plants had dried. then we turned the grow lights back on. a nice leaf drenching foliar feeding is just that simple.kelp is magical stuff. it contains a complete range of micronutrients and also provides a nice boost of potassium. kelp also contains some very nice plant growth hormones. applying kelp sprays can speed plant growth and actually increase final plant yields. it also

helps to provide increased resistance to pests, diseases, and a variety of stresses. 037 LUIs-Day-18 LUI Day 19 as for interrupting the light cycle thats a good question and something that is pretty commonly misunderstood so thanks for asking! the critical time for plants is in bloom. Cannabis reacts to extended periods of darkness and if blooming plants nighttime is interrupted it can cause problems. but vegging plants are certainly more forgiving. and even with blooming plants having the lights turned off for an hour or two one day isnt going to cause problems. the rule of thumb is not to interrupt your cannabis girls beauty rest at night while they are blooming. but an interruption in the day cycle isnt such a big thing. the 12 hours of darkness for bloom are the ticket! we currently use our vegging lights around the clock so letting our plants have an hour or two of darkness once every great while is not any big thing. 038 LUIs-Day-19 thanks again for the nice comments obie and DutchMasterZ. were very happy with these plants progress but will give credit where its due and also say that these have been easy plants to grow so far. another question has come to us via PM that wed like to address publically and that querry concerns epsom salts and the organic grower. epsom salts is actually magnesium sulfate so the basic question was how such a chemical salt can qualify as "organic". the simple answer is to say that there are many definitions of the term organic and one definition includes pure mined minerals which have not been chemically processed. a couple of examples would be soft rock phosphate and greensand which are considered organic supliments in some circles. a more common example would be the dolomite lime that is a part of many many soil reciepes. we use a "natural" mined source of epsom salts (when we have to use it). http://www.epsogrow.com/ is the website of the product. and again in keeping with our practice of providing manufacturers "ad copy" well do the same for the epsogrow. EpsoGrow is: 100% natural Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) originating from natural deposits in Germany. A quick acting magnesium and sulfur fertilizer for dry or liquid application. Clean and odor free! Safe to use around the house, children and pets. Non-burning even if recommended application is mistakenly exceeded. Used and recommended by professional landscapers and gardeners. Used by commercial growers of many crops such as tomatoes, melons, potatoes, grapes, pineapples, ferns, wheat and many others! Being used by professional sports teams to keep their turf green and healthy. Widely used by greenhouses nationwide. A Natural Source of Magnesium and Sulfur A Vital Supplement for More Vigorous Plants The all natural way to grow like a pro! Brighter flower coloration, longer bloom duration. Bigger vegetables. Stronger trees, greener leaves. Enriches soil fertility.

The secret of the European garden: Europeans have been using Epsom Salt on their gardens for generations to improve plant growth. Finally there is an all natural source available here in the U.S. thats the EpsoGrow advertising department talking. not the 3LB. but this is a good choice for Epsom salts if they are needed. were not going to say we are big advocates of regular use of epsom salts. in general we believe that dolomite lime is a better source of magnesium since it also contributes to pH balance. some organic ferts like Age Old Organics are short on Magnesium. and its also absent in some common salt fertilizers like Miracle Grow. magnesium is an absolutely essential element for healthy rapidly growing cannabis. so epsom salts are a good tool to have available in the gardeners arsenal of resources. were actually in the pleasurable position where these girls are ahead of our expected schedule. its hard to believe that they are not quite 3 weeks old yet. but the real easy part is behind us. were going to be top cloning them soon so weve got to make room for clones. and these girls are quite ready to be transplanted up to larger containers as well. so the 3 birds will actually be having to do some real work with this grow soon! knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:11 PM LUI Day 20 our normal routine would be to top-clone these babes and as soon as were sure that the new cuttings/clones are rooted. then the originals (from the seed) move to bloom. so looking at a calendar well be doing some top-cloning in the next few days. then its probably a couple week wait to be sure our new "back-ups" are all good. then the originals move to bloom. if for instance we top-cloned this upcoming weekend. then these babes would move to bloom sometime in the last week of January. these babes are growing fast. if we were in a hurry theyd be ready to clone tonight. since were not in a rush well likely transplant them first. then a couple days later well top clone. and then well bush them up pretty well before moving them to bloom one of our "secrets" is patience in veg. healthy and lush vegetation going into bloom leads to more (and better) final herb. Let me know if you see a predominant dark green/black/purple coloration in the fan leaves in Vegatative/Early Flowering. I dont think its a nute deficiency. as the plants are exhibiting perfect fertilizizaiton signs (ever so slightly burnt tips) IMO the sign of perfect fertilizer regimen 039 LUI-Day-20 hey there ~toothy~ . . . its good to see ya round these parts. we affectionately call them Louies too and they do already show (at only 20 days) some of the coloration you mention. we wrote it off to the "daylight fluorescent" effect that sometimes happens under strong fluoro lights of either sunlight or daylight spectrum. its something weve noticed with plants grown under lights that are predominantly above 5000K in terms of their color temp. weve seen Milly Blunt comment of this effect too. how fan leaves can exhibit a blueish / black / purple / indigo coloration under daylight fluoros. and certainly its not something we see with every strain. and you are absolutely correct. it does not appear to be a deficiency in any manner shape or form. anymore we simply associate that coloration with extreme health and vigor. wed guess that the plants who show the darkest coloration like this are generally also the ones who will show more of these hues when maturing under the correct environmental

conditions. as for the slightly burnt tips being the sign of a perfect fert regimen. in general we tend to agree. its actually the sign that weve pushed our plants ever so slightly beyond the edge but that regimin tends to also push out the biggest buds. in our Herijuana grow we recently have found an especially hungry couple of plants that have yet to really exhibit that slight leaf tip burn in bloom. even after repeated double strength feedings with EarthJuice. some strains and some particular plants will always be an exception to the "normal" rules. Day 20 Care and Feeding . . . At the beginning of day 20 we felt the soil of our babes and it was still slightly damp. by the end of the day the soil was dry to the touch and the 4 1/2" planters were light in weight. so it was time for a watering/feeding. todays main ingredient will be . . .Alaska Fish Fertilizer 5-1-1 All purpose deodorized fish emulsion.Made from 100% sea-going fish. Contains over 19 different trace elements, plus 11 different vitamins (5-1-1). OMRI Listed-approved for use in production of organic food. Stimulates soils micro-organisms to help build soil content this feeding will be a fairly heavy one. the first truly full strength feeding weve given these babes. we mixed 1 Tablespoon of the fish ferts and 1 teaspoon of the liquid Maxicrop kelp concentrate per gallon of water. and soaked the soil of each plant until there was some runoff from the drain holes on each plant. a few minutes later we went back and dribbled just a lil more into each planter. in all we used 5 quarts of the mixture to water/feed the 13 "Louies". wed like to point out again that its not necessary to purchase every individual product we use in this thread to recreate our results. the mexi bat guano tea we applied recently provides a similar nutrient benefit to this fish fert feeding. we are trying to show a wide variety of products and explain the thinking behind each feeding so our results can be recreated with whatever product is available locally. wonderful grows can thrive with as small a selection as 2 or 3 different ferts to recap what weve done so far in terms of watering .the very first light feeding was actually a bloom fert mix very diluted - in what was basically a 1-2-1 ratio of N-P-K. if memory serves correctly we then watered with a very diluted balanced fert mix with a 2-1-1 N-P-K ratio. and we followed that with a high nitrogen tea similar to a dilute 5-1-1 fert. then our plants got a light drink of pure water. now weve hit them with a full strength 5-1-1 fert again enhanced with kelp on day 20. a folair feeding with diluted kelp extract finishes off the listing of what these girls have gotten so far. thats everything through their first three weeks. 040 alaska-fish-fert after discussion amongst "the flock" its been decided that tonight will be the night we work some cloning magic. woodstock is our magic cloning birdie. so well be documenting our cloning techniques later on and the next time you see the babes theyll be getting "topped". LUI Day 21 - 3 weeks of LUI heres a couple of shots at day 21. wed planned on cloning tonight. but even the best laid plans oft go awry. we didnt have the soil mix we use for clones (which is identical to the seedling mix). so well have to put off our top-cloning for another day or two. the babes are doing great so waiting another day wont hurt a thing. but it would have been nice to get moving. shot two shows the whole bunch of girls. the rack is 4 long and the trays are 18" wide. so that means that these 13 LUIs have basically filled in a 6 square foot canopy in only 21 days. from seed! not bad for a bunch of old dirt farmers.

041 LUI-Day-21 042 LUIs-Day-21 LUI Day 22 tonight we top cloned our babes. if were fortunate enough to get a 100% success rate at rooting this will provide us with a prefect set of back-up clones so the original babes can be moved to bloom. our soil mix for clones is the same mix as seedlings. 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite, and 2 parts good organic soil. we suggest wetting down the vermiculite and perlite before mixing to cut down on potentially hazardous dust. and we also suggest wearing a protective mask. gloves arent a bad idea either when mixing soil. though to be honest we kind like putting our hands in the dirt like the original seedlings. well again use the square 4 1/2" planters. each planter is filled to the top with soil mix and then soaked very thoroughly. a broken piece of bambo stake is used to prepare the hole in the center of each planter for the cutting. and then we get ready for some action as the powdered rooting hormone is dumped out onto a plastic lid. 043 clone-step-one---prep-the-soil 044 clone-step-two---prep-the-hole 045 clone-step-three---prep-the-root-hormone when top-cloning seedlings its important to begin keeping specific track of individual plants. so we label each LUI with a number 1 thru 13 and create 2 sets of labeled ID stakes. one for the clone and one for the original parent. while the original seedlings move through the bloom cycle well be able to nurture their back-ups and save the keepers. in essence this top-clone will turn into a "mother" plant for any keepers we might select. we use a exacto knife with a razor sharp edge to actually take our cuttings. any razor blade edge should work. weve also tried using pruning shears and other similar sissors type impliments but found that they cause more "crushing" plant damage and result in a lower rooting success rate. the actual cutting is taken at an angle across the stem. immediately after the cutting is taken the entire freshly cut top is dropped into a waiting pitcher of plain room temperature water. we get all of our garden water from two sources. straight from the cold water tap or from our dehumidifier. we always let our tap water sit at least 24 hours to adjust to room temp. 046 clone-step-four---prep-labels 047 clone-step-five---take-cutting 048 clone-step-six---cuttings-into-water the next step after letting the fresh cutting sit in water for a few moments is to prep the cutting itself. we tend to take fairly long cuttings and trim off at least one node of leaf growth. our experience is that roots can develop all along the surface of the cutting which is underground. but the first roots usually start showing where the original cut was made and where other leaf nodes have been trimmed. we use a plastic lid to hold our rooting powder since it is flexible and can be gently curled around the cutting to help coat what will be the underground portions of the stem. we use a nice thick layer of powdered rooting hormone all around the stem. the powdered rooting hormone sticks nicely to the freshly wet stem. with the holes already prepared all thats left to do is place our cuttings into their new homes and gently push the wet soil into contact with the plant stem. its that simple! we have great success with this cloning technique and rarely have anything less than a 90% success rate. and finally a pic of a pair of finished clones. nestled into soil and ready to start shooting out roots

049 050 051 052

clone-step-seven---prep-cutting clone-step-eight---roll-in-powder clone-step-nine---put-in-soil finished-clones

Oops, sorry to break the apparent trend, but I have a slightly technical question. Im just curious about your opinion of the Age Old nutes. I see you have used them already (I think... not completely sober right now). the Age Old Organics look to be very good ferts. in a direct comparison to their most popular competetors (FoxFarm and EarthJuice) wed say that the Age Old Organics beat the FoxFarm "hands down" in terms of overall quality. They beat the EarthJuice in terms of ease of use the EarthJuice line of products will likely remain our primary choice for complete fertilizers. but we certainly wouldnt steer anyone away from the AgeOld Organics. and for folks who have issues with odor or dificulty mixing fertilizer mixes in advance. then the Age Old would become the choice. Hey do you use a dome with your clones, or spray them with water? the correct answer is . . .C - none of the above we dont use a dome (we found them more trouble than they were worth) and we dont mist our clones either (ditto). we just keep them in a moist high humidity environment. for the first few days after cutting well maintain an inch or two of water in the bottom of the nursery flats that the 4 1/2" pots are in. it keeps the soil damp and relative humidity high w/o the bother of a dome or misting. for the record well be keeping an eye on the clones too as part of the "grow along" and reporting on their progress and care. so well keep everyone informed about both sets of babes! LUI Day 23 today is Day 23 for the seedlings and Day 1 for our LUI clones. the 13 original seedlings were watered tonight with about a gallon of water shared equally between them. we used the Age Old Organics grow formula to feed the babes with this watering. when our seedlings were top-cloned last night they were all given a tiny drink of pure water. and tonight they were already dry to the touch and light in feel (or is that dry to feel and light in touch?). the babes are drying out pretty quickly now and are pretty good sized for plants in a small 4 1/2" planter. so theyll need to be repotted this weekend. its very likely our next LUI post will end up being a few pics and a lil mini description of repotting. it sure looks like our lil darlings have already outgrown their first homes! 053 LUI-Day-23---1-day-after-topping 054 LUI-Day-After-Topping LUI Backup Clones Day 1 heres a peak of the little top-clone babes that were taken last night. no action was necessary. they were just admired. our "cloning cabinet" is just over 4 feet in length and about 10 inches deep. it comes out to something like 3.75 square feet if memory serves correctly. after some searching we were able to find standard 4 fluorescent fixtures which were slim enough (with the bulbs set close enough together) that a pair of fixtures would fit in our cabinet. so thats a total of 4 x 4 fluorescent bulbs lighting our cloning cabinet. 160 watts of mixed daylight spectrum, sunlight spectrum, and growlight bulbs. thats more watts per sq foot than most folks use to root clones. its a fairly recent discovery here but weve found that the increased light has also increased our success rate. if using this level of

light with clones it critical to pay attention to temp at the clones level. while we want to provide lots of light energy for vigorous growth. we also need to avoid "cooking" the leaves before the plants develop roots. 75 degrees F with humidity something around 60% or 70% seems to be ideal. 055 LUI-Clones---Day-1 weve generally run our vegging lights on 24/7 so rarely do we have much "sex expression" while in the veg state. weve actually been planning on cutting our veg room back to only 18 hours of light per day in order to cut down on our hydro bill. in some cases that change can be enough to trigger sex expression. well be seeing soon for ourselves how the LUIs react on this one! LUI Day 24 the LUIs are looking very nice and filling in the canopy nicely where the top clones had been taken. heres a few views. 056 LUI-Day-24-Top-View 057 LUI-Day-24-Under-Canopy 058 LUI-Day-24 knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:14 PM LUI Backup Clones Day 2 these clones were given a little drink of pure water today to make sure they stay well hydrated. 059 LUI-Day-2-Clones Today we plan on repotting our original 13 LUI babes into little bigger homes. as you may remember we started back on December 15 with these babes in standard 4 inch square planters. they are quite convenient since 8 fit to a standard planting flat. we usually count on them sustaining at least 3 to 4 weeks of growth before transplant. the next step up here at the birds nest is to 5 quart utility buckets. ice cream buckets of a similar size are often available for folks who indulge in such. and generally any 1 gallon or 5 quart container will do. our current preference is for buckets where the plastic is kind of "frosted" but still somewhat translucent. it allows for observation of the root balls condition at a glance. we can literally watch waterings seep down into the root ball and can watch root development through the sides. one of our growing friends from CW turned us on to the potential of the "see thru" sides in terms of observing root growth and watering (thanks KK!). and it certainly doesnt seem to bother the plants at all that their roots get a lil bit of diffused light! Our planting mix will be all commercial products. were doing this in keeping with our hope to make this grow as accessible as possible. we want folks to be able to reproduce our efforts and not think that what they see is due to our magical soil re-mixes. in general we do believe that our harvest weights and final quality are better when using our re-mixed soil which has literally been built and nurtured here at the nest for the last few years. perhaps when we show the clone generation growing out we can put them in a composted soil re-mix for comparison. were going to mix together 3 basic products for the LUIs to grow in for the next stage. well mix one part mushroom compost with one part FoxFarm Ocean Forest potting soil and then well add perlite until it all feel right. so the basic recipe is as simple as a bag of the FFOF and a bag of the shroom post. and then enough perlite to make sure the soil will be well aerated. Heres a description of

mushroom compost weve copied from another online source . . . MUSHROOM COMPOST . . . Commercial mushrooms grow in a specially formulated and processed compost made from wheat straw, hay, corn cobs, cotton seed hulls, gypsum and chicken manure. The 3 to 4 week long composting period is closely supervised and managed to assure that the composting temperatures exceed 160F for a few days in addition to a steam pasteurization which occurs about one week before mushroom. spawn is mixed with the compost. Finally, a layer of sphagnum peat moss mixed with ground limestone is top dressed onto the compost, and mushrooms grow on the peat. When the harvest if finished, farmers steam pasteurize everything in the growing room and dispose of the peat moss and compost that remain. This product is sold as mushroom soil, spent mushroom compost (SMC) or spent mushroom substrate (SMS). Mushroom soil is great for gardens as a slow release organic fertilizer (2-1-1, pH 6.8) when mixed into soil or as a mulch one year and a soil amendment the next. With SMC there need be no concern about heavy metals or pesticides since the compost ingredients have very low levels of heavy metals. Mushroom farmers have used integrated pest management practices for decades and pesticides are rarely used on mushroom crops. With steam pasteurization, all weed seeds are dead as are any insects and other pests that might be present. So thats a description of the mushroom compost which is a great soil amendment or even stand alone soil medium. for this grow were going to mix it with FFOF. th FoxFarm OceanForest is a great stand alone soil medium itself. but for most folks its very expensive. weve heard of some lucky folks finding it through their local Home Depot but this seems to be the exception rather then the rule. mixing it with the mushroom compost cost averages a great cheap soil medium and a great expensive one heres a product description for the FFOF soil mix. . . FoxFarm 100% Natural & Organic Ocean Forest Potting Soil. FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil is a powerful blend of Pacific Northwest sea going fish, crab meal, shrimp meal and plenty of earthworm castings, natures finest soil amendment. FoxFarm has added composted forest humus and selected peat mosses to create the optimum organic medium for a versatile planting environment. Ocean Forest Potting Soil starts seedlings naturally so they can become strong, vigorous plants. Plant directly into FoxFarm Ocean Forest Potting Soil for exceptional results, its ready-to-use. No additional ingredients are required. Use as a potting soil for indoor or outdoor potted plants. Perfect for vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers and berries. Also makes a great soil amendment for gardens, trees, shrubs and roses. Super start for seeds and seedlings. Light texture for excellent aeration and drainage properties. No additional fertilizers needed for as long as 30 days. Ideal for flowers, gardens and houseplants. Loosens clay and rocky soils while promoting nutrient uptake by plants. Contains composted forest humus, sphagnum peat moss, Pacific Northwest sea-going fish, crab meal, shrimp meal, earthworm castings, vermiculture compost (bedding material and manure), sandy loam, perlite, fossilized bat guano, granite dust, Norwegian kelp meal, and oyster shell (for pH adjustment). thats the "story" on the FFOF soil. mixed together with mushroom compost it has the potential to be a great soil medium for our little LUIs. add a lil perlite and were sure the babes will be in heaven! its a busy day at the nest. but well try and be back later with some transplant pic. ok then . . . on to describe a simple soil mix. As indicated well be using the FoxFarm Ocean Forest potting soil and mushroom compost. the FoxFarm comes in a 1.5 cubic foot bag. we dumped a bag and a half of the FFOF (2.25 cubic feet) into a 50 gallon rubbermaid container where we mix soils. and then we added an equal amount of mushroom compost. we have mushroom compost in 1 cu foot bags. so 2 and one quarter bags of mushroom compost were added (2.25 cubic feet). heres a pic of the mushroom compost and FFOF side by

side in a container. 060 FFOF-and-Mushroom-Compost next we mixed the FFOF and the mushroom compost together. this mixture was rich and heavy. so comparison in the front of this pic is a smaller bin of our "seedling/clonining mix" which is 50% organic potting soil and 25% each perlite and vermiculite. as we said it was a nice rich organic mix. but a little bit "heavy" for our taste. so well add perlite for areation. we added a total of 25 quarts of perlite to the 4.5 cubic feet of potting mix and the perlite spread on top of our soil mix is shown in the second photo. 061 Patrially-Mixed-FFOF-and-Compost 062 Perlite-Added-to-FFOF-and-Compost as weve said before here and in other threads. when handling perlite (or vermiculite) its best to wear a mask. we also tend to wet down materials like this if possible. the same rule holds true when working with other potentially hazardous organic materials like bat and sea bird guano. they cant really be wet down like perlite. but they may harbor bacteria which cause respiratory inflammation or infection and are of special concern for folks with pre-existing lung related illness or compromised immune systems. dust masks are always prudent when handling powdered garden materials! this final soil shot is the finished product all mixed together. its darker and richer than our seedling/cloning mix which is shown for comparison. more mature plants get a richer and heavier mix to sustain heavy growth!. but it is significantly lighter than the mushroom compost or even the FFOF alone. since we want to keep the roots well aerated. 063 Final-FFOF-and-Compost-Mix that container is just for soil mixing and storage Badtolz. tonight were going to be transplanting 13 LUIs into 5 quart containers. that means theyll barely touch the soil we mixed up. theres probably 40 gallons of soil mixed there. when we use our 2x3 containers each holds more than 20 gallons of soil. so its pretty easy for folks to understand why we learned to remix our soil endlessly and effectively. LUI Day 25 Well be showing these girls getting transplanted. but wanted to get the day 25 group shot shown. the next time these babes are shown as a group they will be into new homes. someone mentioned stretch and these girls show a lil bit more stretch than might be expected for a couple of reasons. the topping/cloning we did took the best / tightest growth off of these plants. that does some funny things to plant growth hormones for a few days. most of the plant growth hormones are concentrated at the growing tip. topping causes the plant to "redistribute" growth and spreads those hormones for a time. we cut each plant back to 3rd complete pair of nodes. 6 total branches per plant. so these remaining branches were lower / smaller branches that had been fairly well shaded. with transplanting and a lil time to recover from topping (which difuses growth hormones out throught the plant). things should tighten back up well and soon. 064 LUI-Day-25 here we show the first three pics of our LUI getting transplanted. the babes are watered lightly using plain water to help make sure their root ball slides out of the planter more easily. then we squeeze the sides of the 4 1/2" planters lightly to help encourage the root ball to come our whole.

and with a little shake to help get them moving. we gently slide it out of the planter. the final pic of these three shows the root system these babes have grown in less than a month. 065 repot-1 066 repot-2 067 repot-3 the LUI was gently placed in its new home. the 5 quart buckets arent a big step up from the 4 1/2" pots. but theyll serve nicely for a two or three weeks until these babes are basically ready to move into bloom. a couple inches of fresh soil mix are placed in the bottom of the container. we used three heaping handfuls of dirt. after sliding the seedling into place. we gently add enough dirt to fill around the edges and shake it down to compact it without pressing. its just that simple and our LUIs already look happy and content in their new homes! 068 repot-4 069 repot-5 and heres a final Day 25 photo with the plants in their new "digs" 070 LUI-Day-25-After-Transplant quote: I can also see you gave them another nice drink after you put them in their new homes. Absolutely DutchMasterZ . . .thanks for pointing this out because its something we forgot to mention. we review the thread over the last few days from time to time to make sure we havent missed anything. so we probably would have caught this omission. but we appreciate you noticing and not letting us forget! yes, the babes were given a good drink once they settled into their new homes. when transplanting we like to use a "root drench" with kelp concentrate. folks have already heard us rave about the "magical" properties of kelp concentrate. about how it has a complete range of micronutrients and provides potassium. and how it also provides some nifty plant hormones. so we wont bore them with a complete recap. simply suffice it to say that we like kelp at transplant time too!. we think it helps to ease plant stress and generally provides a nice tonic for our babes. A teaspoon of kelp concentrate per gallon of water provides a nice root drench for general use or folair feeding. two teaspoons per gallon is a significantly stronger mix and is our preference for watering at transplant time. after transplant the LUIs in their new homes got about 1.5 gallons of the kelp solution spread out between the 13 siblings. LUI Day 26 todays shot. 071 LUI-Day-26 there is no real odor to these soils beyond a sort of general earthy aroma. the FFOF has a kind of a forest litter sort of smell but nothing strong. the mushroom compost is darker and richer but didnt carry much scent at all. the perlite has a nasty white dust if its not wet down and is actually the most bothersome of the bunch to work with. DAY 27 though the plants appear to be looking great overall they did show some minor

transplant stress. the mushroom compost/FFOF mix actually seems to be a little bit rich in transition from the seedling mix. a couple of the babes showed the slightest bit of burn on thier leaf tips. as these plants moved up in containers they also moved under a different light array. weve got about 300 watts of bright white fluorescent growlight at this stage. its something a growing friend passed us recently in trade. a 6 x 54 watt T-5 4 Foot fluorescent fixture. covering a 4 x 2.5 or 3 footprint thats something like 27-32 watts per square foot. a couple of the plants show a slight sign of heat stress on the leaves. it looks somewhat like a radiant heat/light burn. this isnt logical since these plants are actually short and squat examples. they actually sit slightly below and further away from the light source than their siblings who show none of same "burn" symptoms. probably this is a reaction to the stress of repotting. the lights were raised far enough that heat should not have been an issue. and siblings next to them and higher than them in the canopy look perfect. so its probably nothing of concern. likely well give a light folair feeding tomorrow to ensure continued vigor. as you can see from the attached Day 27 pic. we are being somewhat hyper-critical. the plants look great at a glance. once these babes get over any stress associated with transplant. this will be the the stage where we expect most strains to really "beef up". the 5 quart containers support strong growth to more than a foot in height. and the strong white light will promote good vegetative growth and short internode length. 072 LUI-Day-27 knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:20 PM LUI Day 28 yesterday was DAY 28 . . . due to a uncooperative camera battery and a limited schedule we dont have an "in progress" shot for this day (which marks the end of their fourth week). the battery is now fully charged. and soon well be purchasing a back-up battery so this wont happen again since the babes were a little stressed from transplant we did raise our light array for 24 hours. we only raised it a foot and lowered it again to a normal height as soon as a day had passed. the 6 x 54 watt T-5 fluoro array is by far the brightest fluorescent light weve ever seen. so we decided to give our freshly transplanted babes a lil break from the intense light. the lights were raised part way through day 27 and lowered on day 28. our normal height for this light array is something in the range of 6" to 10" from plant canopy (depending on air circulation and room temp). so we raised the whole array up to about 18" for a day to give the babes a little break in intensity. we did water with plain tap water yesterday. since the soil mix was a rich organic base they should have plenty of available nutrients to support vigorous growth without any added nutrients for a watering or two. when we say "tap water" we suppose wed better clarify. were talking water from the cold water tap that has been allowed to sit for a minimum of 24 hours. hot water heaters tend to concentrate mineral content. so water from the hot water tap is avoided. we work hard to build and maintain healthy populations of beneficial microbes in our soil. so using water with chlorine isnt on our agenda. thats part of why we suggest that water sits at least 24 hours before use. the chlorine gas which is dissolved in many water supplies will disappear within 24 hours if allowed to sit uncovered. the other reason is to allow the water to moderate to room temperature. during the winter season some tap water can come out cold enough to shock plants and their roots. some nutrients become unavailable at colder temps so we try to use water thats near room temperature. EDIT - we want to add that letting the water sit on a cold cement floor is only a little better than cold winter tap water in most cases. if your water is standing on cold cement we suggest sitting it instead on a cheap plastic

mat or similar insulation. LUI Day 29 The LUIs are continuing to look great overall. strong growth has resumed and our babes are turning into little bushes! heres one, and the same plant from the side. 073 LUI-Bush---Day-29 074 LU---Day-29-Side although they were just repotted a few short days ago. these bushy babes have already pushed some nice looking roots to the sides of their planters. 075 LUI---Day-29-Roots and a peak at the clones. they arent looking like much but the work is going on underground (hopefully!). some folks mist or spray their clones. or use humidity domes. we just rely on the moisture held in the seedling mix. 076 LUI-Clones---Day-29 LUI Day 30 if you look back a page or two you see that they were all top cloned a few days back. each plant has 6 ver nice arms. some are more symmetrical than others. but all were cut back to the same node when top-cloned to make later comparisonss easy. on feeding theyve been fairly normal. the mix of 50/50 Mushroom Compost and FoxFarm OceanForest was a lil bit "hot" for them for a day or two after repotting. but they were growing great again in no time. and heres day 30. 077 LUI-Day-30 in this close-up folk can more clearly see the very minor leaf tip burn we mentioned. they can also see the nice short internode length were getting on the new growth. 078 LUI-Day-30-Closeup and finally for day 30 heres a group portrait. here folk can see a little more of the leaf tip burn we referred to and some plants that express a little bit what looks like radiant heat burn on portions of large fan leaves. looking back at our log and pics it appears that this likely occured the day of transplant. some of these babes may have grown up a lil bit too close to their light source the day of transplant. either way its fairly minor damage and the plants are certainly not showing any lack of vigor today due to this small prior stress. we do watch our plants pretty closely. and we try our best to notice all the details. were determined to show all those details as best we can. and a lil leaf tip burn and a tad bit of radiant heat burn on a few odd fan leaves is evident. were just being honest. 079 LUI-Day-30-Group-Portrait LUI Day 31 One month from popping their heads above the soil. 080 LUI-Day-31

Heres a group shot of the LUIs. they are getting so big its almost hard to call them babes. they are turning into legitimate lil bushes. Day 31 care included a watering with Age Old Organics. 2 oz of Age Old Organics grow formula and one heaping teaspoon of epsom salts were mixed with 4 gallons of water. we then added a tablespoon of molasses to the mix as a "sweetener" to help encourage the growth of beneficial microbes. the whole mix was shook vigorously. about 2 gallons of this were used to give our thirsty LUIs a sweet frothy soothing drink. 081 LUI-Day-31-Group heres a little closer look at a clone on Day 31. fluorescent bulbs come with a variety of sizes and outputs. the T-5 bulbs are much smaller in diameter than the "standard" T-12 Flouros. because they are smaller in diameter they can be placed closer together to create a more intense and effective fluorescent light array. the T-5 bulbs and fixtures are more expensive than standard fluoro fixtures & bulbs. but they offer increased efficiency and they certainly give us better light penetration then standard fluoro bulbs. 082 LUI-Day-31-Clone LUI Day 32 - Group Portrait heres the (no longer so lil) LUIs. these babes are turning into quite the bushy little plants. heres a nice one. and pictured with an individual LUI @ Day 32 for perspective is a Gallon of FoxFarm GrowBig fert. its not our favorite fert and we honestly believe that the Age Old Organics and Earth Juice are superior products. but its something we purchased a while back to try and we do use it once in a great while when the mood strikes. we mix the FFGB at the rate of 1 TBSP per gallon. the thirsty girls in our garden soaked up about 2 gallons on Day 32. in keeping with our standard practice of providing "ad copy". heres what the Fox Farm ad wizards say. FOXFARM GROW BIG Works fast to encourage lush, vegetative plant growth by providing an extra boost of nitrogen (12-7-7) and important trace minerals. Huge plants in a hurry! Spectacular green growth which leads to larger, brighter flowers. A complete, organic-based liquid plant food blended from blood meal, earthworm castings, and Norwegian kelp. Suitable for all plant types as a foliar or soil fertilizer. One-two tbsps. per gallon. 083 LUI-Day-32-Group 084 LUI-Day-32 LUI Day 33 Here they are on day 33. no additional care today. we just admired the beauties and gave them encouragment. 085 LUI-Day-33 LUI Day 34 these babes are growing like weeds. everyday we go to the garden the growth is visible and obviously apparent. the vigor of these plants is certainly impressive. as for DutchMasterZs comment that they are ready to be forced. we agree that they are certainly at the point where they could be moved to bloom. if we were in a hurry we could have moved them to bloom at about day 31 or 32. were letting them go a little longer for 2 reasons. the first is personal preference. the second reason is simply practical circumstance. first off our preference is to veg our plants a little bit longer than the average grower. were usually rewarded with above average yields as well.

getting a few days extra veg growth can increase yields by ensuring plants have a strong well developed root system and also a few extra nodes of growth. circumstance also dictates that the LUIs wait a few more days before their move to HPS light and a 12/12 light cycle. we did not anticipate that the LUIs growth was going to be quite this explosive. there is no room in our bloom room for them yet. even if we felt the LUIs were ready to bloom. the rest of the garden isnt ready for them the LUIs were a thirsty bunch on day 34. we gave them a drink of about 2 gallons of water total between the bunch. since theyve grown to a pretty good size and are in 5 quart containers. well anticipate that they will need to be watered every day from now until they get transplanted into larger planters. 086 LUI-Day-34 allrighty . . . time to answer some questions . . . part of the reason for chosing to move our plants from the 4 1/2" pots to 5 quart containers instead of their ultimate destination is space considerations. if we moved them straight to 3 or 5 gallon containers they would take up more space in veg than we prefer to devote. normally the pattern is to move from the 5 qt buckets to our 2x3 containers with 2 or 3 plants per container. since the LUIs are not sexed this isnt so simple. the 3 gallon or 5 gallon buckets they will move into are really a compromise. Artful . . . this was actually a very good observation. if room allowed thered be no reason to have the intermediate 5 qt buckets. and wed be able to transplant directly into 3 or 5 gallon planters. a transplant from 4 1/2" container to 3 gallon planter would be a fine move. as for your particular plants Artful. dont think of them so much as on a time table but instead watch them and observe their growth. when they are 12" to 16" high then its time to start thinking about a move to bloom. thats also somewhat dependent on how much the plants streeeetch too. to answer your question more directly. basically wed forget about time your plants sat and didnt grow. think of them as almost new babes from the point you started feeding them and they started growing again. as for the questions from 23 . . . well have to look back on the calendar to be sure. but its around two weeks now on the clones and they are all still alive. were planning on shooting some clone pics tonight. some clones look better than others (as is usual) but it looks as though all will survive and eventually thrive. the clones sit as "back-ups" and will continue vegging while their parents grow out. the very first grow on a plant doesnt always indicate its full potential so well be watching and noting differences. as we make decisions on keepers the process will continue. after one grow we usually eliminate 1/2 of the girls and cull the ones we dont like as much. well top clone again and repeat the process with another grow (or two) until weve found our final keeper(s). we expect that we will transplant all of these babes before moving to bloom. moving them to bloom first and only transplanting the females is certainly a good alternative option . but since we reuse our soil we dont lose anything (but a lil time) by transplanting them all. since we have back-up clones on the whole bunch. we can simply cull males after they show sex and compost the plant remains. if we decide later we want any LUI male pollen for a breeding project the back-ups will be waiting. and last but not least - the alfalfa tea question. yes wed planned on using some as a foliar feed and and for a root drench too. but the alfalfa has a growth stimulant and these babes are growing like weeds! were already concerned they will be a lil taller then we prefer when moved

to bloom so giving them an additional growth stimulant seemed redundant. LUI Day 35 Our LUIs at Day 35 continue to show strong growth. they were watered again (more lightly) with plain water for a second consecutive night. 087 LUI-Day-35 088 LUI-Day-35-Group-Portrait knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:22 PM heres a peak at one of our LUI clones. looks as though they are rooting fine. 089 LUI-Clone its interesting that someone mentioned sparse undergrowth. actually its very good timing since we did a little pruning last night and the exact purpose was to avoid similar problems. let us explain. when we top cloned these babes we left 3 pairs of branches on each plant. some plants have responded to the topping/pruning by growing 6 strong arms. but some others have only grown 4 significant branches with two branches that are smaller and are more than just undergrowth. our experience is that smaller lower "sucker" branches contribute little. the do not recieve enough light to be significant resources for photosynthesis. and they do not generally produce any significant yield after harvest either. in fact all the stem growth that goes into these "sucker" branches can actually sap plant resources. this lowers final total yield. adding insult to injury is the fact that the buds that are produced on these lower branches tend to be of a lower quality as well. in the first pruning pic we see a plant with a couple of weak arms that are only going to detract from her final production. so we take corrective action with our pruning shears in pictures 2,3 and 4. the final pruning shot better illustrates what was removed. 090 091 092 093 094 LUI-Undergrowth-1 LUI-Undergrowth-2 LUI-Undergrowth-3 LUI-Undergrowth-4 LUI-Undergrowth-5

there certainly is some difference between plants grown from seed and those propigated from clones in terms of their structure and growth patterns. weve found that trimming of undergrowth is even more necessary with our cloned babes. but your mileage may vary. our timing for this pruning is deliberate. we normally do this ritual removal of "sucker" branches about a week before a plant is rotated into bloom. these babes are growing fast. so it wont be long before they are forced to flower. the LUIs were originally "on the calendar" in our minds for a move to bloom about this time next week. our garden is in constant motion with a few plants going into the bloom room and others being harvested on a pretty regular rotation. with the LUIs growing so fast itll be interesting to see how we manage this "problem". undergrowth can be pruned at any time. there are a couple of times it seems to make particular sense to us. we generally will prune about a week before moving our babes into flowering and then do some "touch up" again a week or two later. throughout bloom well keep an eye on this lower stem area and keep pruning "suckers". the pruning we did is small enough that it is not very visable except from those lower branch shots of the undergrowth. from above those branches were completely shaded by the other branchs aggressive growth. to illustrate the difference between individual plants the developed

4 strong branches and those that formed 6 strong limbs were including a comparrison pic. the plant on the left had 4 strong arms and had some undergrowth pruned. the plant on the right developed 6 good limbs and didnt require any pruning at this time. 095 LUI---L4R6 Quick question: those branches youve just cut off, can they be cloned, and get new plants out of them, or are only "suckers" to be used, for clones? . . . DD . . . they sure could be used for clones. absolutely! thats a great point and were glad you brought it up. since these babes havent been sexed yet and it appears we have a rooted "back-up" clone for each. so there was no need to take any more clones here at this time. using these smaller sucker branches for clones is a great method to propagate more of a particular plant ready to move to bloom without much effecting its final yield. wed be looking to do exactly that if any of our numbered back-up clones had failed to root. our trimmings from this stage will get composted back into our soil re-mixes. our general rule of thumb is to compost all old fan leaves and all veg trimmings. this way no garden trash ever exits the grow area and its also an effective way to recycle the nutrients contained in the plant refuse sometimes it pains us to "throw away" perfectly good cuttings. but we do have limit our plant numbers. LUI Day 36 and friends Heres a Day 36 shot. we caught some of our garden helpers in action. the gnomes are the real secret to our success. at least since the Hobbits moved out. and a closer look at a growing tip to show the internode length. 096 LUI-Day-36-and-friends 097 LUI-Day-36-Branch I have a simple question...will you be keeping the plants grow from seeds as a mother. Or will you use one of the clones as a mother? And why? well be blooming the originals from seed and keeping the "back-up" clones as potential mums and dads for any "keeper" plants. they why is simple. the parent and clone are identical in terms of genetics. the original parents from seed are already maturing and are at the size to be bloomed. so in terms of efficiency it just makes sense to bloom the original. the clones will continue to grow as their parents flower. they will be ready to be mother/father plants in their own right by the time the originals are done blooming. we cant make selections based on quality until we see the end product anyway. LUI Day 37 another day and more visible growth from the LUI. since they are growing so quickly and with such vigor we again used just plain water. a balanced grow fert would have been appropiate but these girls just dont need any extra encouragement. 098 LUI-Day-37 099 LUI-Day-37-Sea-of-LUI we missed getting in pics or posts on Day 38. sorry about that. life happens even for birds. the plants did get one more drink of plain water during Day 38. we could have used any of our standard grow fertilizers again but chose

not to. since these babes are already as tall as we want when we move plants into bloom. we didnt want to encourage any further vegetative growth. today is day 39 and later today we plan a transplant into 3 gallon planters and a move to the bloom room. we should have pics of all that later. in terms of when we first feed from above. its just by watching the plants not a specific day. and thats generally true with everything. we grow based on the plants progress and needs rather than any artificial timetable. we made the move to bloom today. this included a transplant to 3 gallon planters and a move to the 12/12 light cycle under HPS lights. details and pics should follow if time allows. LUI Day 39 - the backup clones first we wanted to give the "teaser". we had 100% success with our LUI back-up clones and want to show them off first. the LUI appears to clone easily since its grown nice extensive roots already. some of the other strains we grow are really just starting to get decent roots at this point. the LUIs backups have a strong root network. one reason we want to show this first is to remind folks its best not to move your plants to bloom until youve established that your back-ups are rooted and ready to go. clones can still be taken from a plant after its been moved to bloom but they are usually much slower to root. 100 LUI-Clones-on-Day-39-from-Germination 102 LUI-12-Clone-on-Day-39-from-Germination 103 LUI-Clone-showing-roots-Day-39-from-Germ we culled our first LUI today as well. LUI 13 is showing some male pre-flowers and was culled today. although we are considering the LUI for potential breeding. we dont want a male whos so eager to show off his stuff in veg. 104 LUI-13-male-pre-flower when we culled LUI #13 we also pulled the back-up clone. heres a peak at some of the root system it developed. 105 culled-LUI-Clone-showing-roots-Day-39 106 culled-LUI-clone-roots here they are their final moments in the "grow show" before they move to the "bloom room". for soil we used the same mushroom compost and FoxFarm OceanForest mix wed used previously in the prior transplant to five qt buckets. this time the step up was to three gallon planters. after transplant each LUI bush was given a good drink of pure water. between the dozen babes we transplanted we used about 5 gallons of water total. 107 108 109 110 111 LUI-Day-39-Group LUI-pre-transplant-day-39 12-three-gallon-planters-waiting LUI-mid-transplant-day-39 LUI-Day-39-in-3-gallon-planters

since the LUIs were a little "fast". their vegetative vigor was better than anticipated (a good problem to have). they pushed us into moving them into our bloom room before we had planned. this entailed a minor reconfiguration in our bloom room for a few days. our "normal" bloom room array is 10 2x3 containers arranged to give a footprint of 12x5 under three 600 watt PL Lights with air-cooled hoods. we also use track light movers to spread the

light and eliminate "hot spots" directly under the bulbs. 12 x 5 = 60 sq feet 600 x 3 =1800 watts 1800 watts / 60 square feet = 30 watts per square foot thats our "standard" bloom room array. but one of the beauties of the 2x3 containers is the way we can configure them in multiple ways inside a 12 wide footprint. eight containers can fit a 12x4 footprint. and twelve containers can fit into a 12 x 6 footprint. since the LUIs were "early". we accommodated them by a temp reconfigure of our bloom room to fit 12 containers. the temp footprint is 12 x 6 = 72 square feet. under 1800 watts that actually lowers our watts per square foot to 25 watts per sq foot. its below what wed suggest to new growers but some growers such as "the Tick" at OG have had success with this seemingly low watts per sq foot. in our opinion it takes a very experienced gardener and a tweaked garden to pull off. this change in footprints is only possible because of our light movers. in a few seconds we can change a screw setting to allow a longer run and spread the light over a little more garden. weve got a couple containers of Herijuana very near harvest. and well be culling LUI males from this grow. the garden will be back to its normal footprint before the week is out. but for now we wanted to share how we accommodated our fast growing LUI friends. weve placed 4 LUI each in their 3 gallon planters inside our standard 2x 3 tubs ( they serve to catch any watering runoff or spills and to keep our garden configuration neat ). so that means there are a total three 2 x 3 containers of four LUI eac. a total of twelve LUIs moving to bloom. well anticipate something close to a 50/50 sex ratio. so wed expect something around 6 females. maybe 7 or if were really lucky 8 girls. depending on how tightly we want to pack them in their final array this means wed expect them to likely occupy two or perhaps three of our 2x3 containers once the males have been culled. this is why we put them 4 to a container now. they already occupy the largest footprint wed expect from them. and culling the males will make more room for the girls as they grow and bush out. LUI Day 40 - Day 1 Flowering heres a beauty at day 40, then a look at the nice tight internodes, and a couple wider shots including one of the whole bunch of LUIs. the three LUI buckets are in the foreground backed up by a container of Herijuana which is not too far from harvest. in these pics the redish orange quality of the HPS light really shows. 112 113 114 115 LUI-Day-40 LUI-Day-40---internodes LUI-Day-40-Sea-of-Louie LUI-Day-40-against-wall

and the report wouldnt be totally complete without a couple of clone pics. the clones were fed a full strength Age Old Organics Grow mix yesterday. this was simply what we were feeding our other vegging plants. it proved to be a little bit on the "hot" side for the clones first feeding. and we experienced a little leaf tip burn. normally wed feed a more diluted fert mix for clones first feeding and then increase the dose from there. feeding them a full strength fert was simply a moment of absentmindedness. they should be just fine but we will want to use plain water for their next watering.

116 LUI-Day-40-Clone-10 117 LUI-Day-40-Clone-12 want to know our secret to cloning? . . . we learned to clone on a difficult strain so now everything else seems easy. there really isnt anything special besides the garden gnomes. weve read the book chapters and magazine articles and internet posts etc on the subject through the years. and we really dont see anything very difficult about learning the skill. although we have one bird with a particularly good touch that does most of our cloning. all of the 3LBs have cloned with 90% or better success. although we all had agricultural backgrounds. its not like we learned cloning "down on the farm". this is one skill that we learned along the way. just like everyone else. way back when we started cloning our success rates often were very low. our techniques were only slightly different but wed often only have 40% success. the big change happened when we learned to use a razor blade to take our cuttings rather than sharp scissors. knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:25 PM LUI Day 41 here are the girls on Day 41. the LUIs recieved little care besides a simple "rotation". we simply repositioned our 2x3 containers that hold the LUIs in their 3 gallon planters. since they are on wheels (the containers sit on furniture movers) this is simple and takes seconds. we spun one container 180 degrees and moved it to where its neighbor was and then did likewise with the others. it took less time to actually do than to describe here the rotation helps to keep all the canopy growing straight and even. 118 LUI-Day-41 119 LUI-Day-41-Sea-of-Louie 120 LUI-Day-41-after-rotation on Day 41 we had to mix our nutrient mix for Day 42. this is the downside of using Earth Juice organic fertilizers. they are quite acidic from the bottle. we mix them 24 hours in advance and aerate. for this feeding we are using Earth Juice fertilizers. they are the organic "standard" in our minds. all the others are good but Earth Juice seems to really provide the most explosive growth. they are also the most expensive fertilizer in our garden. we used what we call our "bloom micro-blast" recipie. this is a one time feeding we always give all our blooming plants soon after their move to bloom. for every gallon of water we add . . . 1 2 1 1 1 TBSP EJ Grow TBSP EJ Bloom tsp EJ Catalyst tsp EJ Microblast tsp EJ Meta-K

this mix will "brew" for a day before use. as per our usual practice well show the ad copy from a website describing these products . . . EARTH JUICE GROW AND BLOOM The Worlds Proven Choice in Liquid Organics. EARTH JUICE is NO borderline organic. There are NO hidden NPK boosting synthetics such as urea, calcium nitrate, potassium nitrate, precipitated bone meal, muriate of potash, phosphates, etc. EARTH JUICE doesnt add any chlorine or use formaldehyde. EARTH JUICE contains no artificial additives or colors. Nor is EARTH JUICE a simple plant tea or a fish based fertilizer. Its the most complex active & complete liquid organic formula available today. EARTH

JUICE contains an array of natural nutrients & treats for plants. The active nature of EARTH JUICE lets plants focus their energy on growing, flowering & fruiting rather than on searching for food. EARTH JUICE will not burn your plants or harm the soil. In fact, itll encourage the microbial activity in the soil, thus improving it. EARTH JUICE fulfills the concerned gardeners need for a nontoxic and safe alternative that will provide thriving plants, abundant yields and peace of mind. EARTH JUICE MICROBLAST Earth Juice Microblast contains essential trace minerals your plants need. Critical for hydro-organic growing, these minerals are found naturally in soil but need to be added to your hydroponic garden. Earth Juice Microblast is a crucial supplement to Earth Juice Grow and Earth Juice Bloom in your hydroponic garden. EARTH JUICE CATALYST Use the Catalyst to complete your fertilization program and provide that crucial link to maximize results. Add 1 teaspoon per gallon to your fertilizer to give aid in production by providing the missing enzymes, hormones, vitamins, amino acids, sugars, and plant acids. For use with Organic or synthetic fertilizers in soil, soil-less, rockwool, hydroponics and hydro-organics. DO NOT use with synthetic slow release fertilizers. EARTH JUICE META-K A natural potassium formula for those plants that require more potassium, such as maturing tomatoes and peppers. Recommended for turf and especially for plants growing in areas hot, dry climates to help build drought tolerance. 121 122 123 124 EJ-Grow-and-Bloom EJ-Microblast EJ-Catalyst EJ-MetaK

LUI Day 42 heres a look at our LUIs on day 42 and then a couple closer views. on day 3 of 12/12 HPS light the last pic shows a budsight under construction. 125 126 127 128 LUI-Day-42 LUI-Day-42---BIRD-S-EYE-VIEW LUI-Day-42-JOG LUI-Day-42---COLA-UNDER-CONSTRUCTION

your males should be popping up real soon so keep your eye on them luis and keep us posted. you are exactly right DMZ . . . for sure well say "timber" and chop em before the pollen starts to fly. but were not in a terribly great hurry to cull the males. well want to watch them carefully as they continue to develop and take some mental notes. if the LUI is as potent as some folks report we may want to find a Louie "stud" to cross with some of our other girls. LUI Day 43 heres our LUI "kids" on day 43. they are way too big to be called babes these days it seems. and they are just starting to "enter adolescence" and start down the road to sexual maturity. you might say they are just hitt ing

puberty. the LUIs show some continued growth/stretch every day. with a strain like this which was growing with such great vigor thats to be expected. no watering or special attention was necessary for the LUIs on Day 43. like a teenager they were content to be left alone to "hang out" with thier friends. at least these "kids" wont ask to borrow the car! and these boys and girls wont sneak out at night either. however this is the age where we have to start keeping them away from the gnomes! - hehehehe 129 LUI-Day-43 another look at the LUIs on Day 43 . . .they seem to be looking good the "bloom micro-blast" feeding we gave them on Day 42 is our way of giving them the best nutrient boost we can during this critical time. the first two weeks of bloom are a critical time for flowering plants. not only are the plants changing from a grow metabolism to a flowering one. this is also the time of the most "explosive" growth we usually see from our plants. "capturing" this growth spurt now is one of our secrets to having beautiful and bountiful buds later. 130 LUI-Day-43-from-above only day 4 of the 12/12 cycle. we do already have some, at least one male "showing his stuff". they do develop quickly and certainly arent shy about "showing their stuff". likely well get into the culling process more seriously this weekend. 131 he-has-balls 132 LUI-Day-44---dude LUI Day 44 heres the bunch of babes on day 44. Day 5 of bloom. the "Louies" needed no care this day. we just checked on and admired them. the soil surface was dry for most of the plants. but upon inspection the soil beneath was still damp. so no action was necessary. the LUIs were probably 14-16 inches tall when moved to bloom. thats probably about normal but every strain has its own quirks. we tell when theyre ready to bloom by size and vigor. if a plant has a definciency or problem wed delay moving them to flower until thier problem is well resolved. six 3 gallon buckets can fit into a 2x 3 container. but we usually grow bigger plants and limit the final count to between 2 and 4 plants per container. 133 LUI-Day-44 134 LUI-Day-44-side 135 LUI-Day-45 LUI Day 45 heres a couple pics of our LUIs on Day 45. if folks are curious about how much theyve stretched so far. the door jam and hanging electrical cord can serve as a frame of reference from earlier photos. theyve stretched a few inches it appears. later today well cull some males. then see whats left behind in terms of "plants of the feminine persuasion". 136 LUI-Day-45 137 LUI-Day-45-closer

its been a little while since weve shown our LUI clones. so heres what they are looking like today. definite 100% success rate with the LUI cloning and they are all looking pretty good. the clones were given a nice drink of plain water today until there was some slight runoff from each planter. and then a little closer look at one of our LUI backup clones on day 45 from the plants germination. some minor leaf tip curling and some leaf tip burn are evident in this shot. this goes back to the accidental feeding with full strength ferts a few days back. it wont effect any future growth and the plants are really thriving now. so in the end "no harm no foul". 137 LUI-Day-45---LUI-Clones 138 LUI-Day-45---LUI-5-clone we culled 5 LUI males today. one was culled earlier. so we had a total of 6 LUIs express as male out of 13. 139 culling-LUI-males 140 more-LUI-males so that means we had a total of 7 LUIs out of 13 (54%) expressed as female. the LUI girls were watered today. 1 TBSP of 2-4-1 fish fert and 1 tsp of Maxicrop liquid kelp concentrate were mixed in each gallon of water. each of the seven LUI girls got a 1/2 gallon drink. the water mix is very slowly and carefully poured on to cover and wet the entire soil surface. we also rearranged these babes in the 3 containers they had been sharing with "da boyz". that means there are two containers with 2 plants each and the third 2 x 3 container holds the 3 smallest of the LUI girls. its kind of a toss-up at this point if we use two or three containers to hold our 7 remaining ladies. using 3 containers (18 sq feet) allows more light to penetrate and will likely lead to somewhat higher overall yields. thats what were doing right now. using 2 containers (12 sq feet) would likely lead to a somewhat diminished overall yield but a greater final gram per watt figure since these babes would be using less of our garden space and some other plants could then move into our bloom area. at least thats what wed logically expect and project in yield expectations. heres a day 45 look at the girls all spread out and "sunning" themselves. 141 LUI-girls-after-segregation LUI Day 46 we checked the LUI girls for moisture. no watering was needed. we did take the time to "cultivate" the soil surface on our LUIs. smoothing the soil surface with our fingers and pushing loose soil into the inevitable "crack" where the plastic 3 gallon container and the soil meet. as soil dries it contracts some so filling in around the edge like this is a regular thing. the soil surface "cultivation" (cultivating means smoothing the soil surface with our fingers and pushing loose soil around and into the inevitable "crack" where the plastic 3 gallon planter and the soil edge meet. as soil dries it contracts. with some soil mixes the soil surface can develop a hard crust. smoothing the soil surface by hand helps to avoid cracks and depressions where water might pool or run-off. and smoothing off elevated areas that might shed water helps to ensure that plants get an even watering) is something we try to do every few waterings. it helps the entier planter full of soil to absorb moisture (and nutrients) more evenly. if soil settling occurs well normally "top dress" with composted/remixed soil or mushroom compost. we didnt rotate the actual containers but instead rotated the individual plants. turning each one between 90 and 180 degrees to encourage even growth from all the LUI girls. the amount we turned each

plant was dependent on our eye and experience with plants. normally we are growing with the entire 2x3 container full of soil and dont have the luxury of turning individual plants. caring for our LUIs and tending to the rest of our garden for the evening took less time than the Super Bowl awards presentation. 142 LUI-Day-46 LUI Day 47 the first two pics show how our LUI girls continue their vigorous "stretch". as weve said before its hard to call it stretch when its just a continuation of the strong growth this strain exhibited while it was vegging in the "grow show" portion of our garden. each of the 7 remaining LUI girls got a nice slow 1/2 gallon drink with plain water. because the soil surface had been "cultivated" the day before. this watering soaked in very evenly. weve shown some close looks at the boys who started "showing their stuff", so the third pic is a closer peek at one of the girls 143 LUI-Day-47 144 LUI-Day-47-side-view 145 LUI-Day-47-closeup LUI Day 48 heres how the LUI clones are doing on day 48 from original germ. and individual LUI clone @ 26 days from cutting 146 LUI-Clones-Day-48 147 LUI-Clone-Day-48 LUI Day 48 - Day 9 of Bloom and heres a look at LUI on day 48. the 9th day the LUI girls have been on a 12/12 grow cycle. the LUIs didnt need any attention other than to be admired, but on day 48 we had to raise the HPS light to avoid burning the delicate new growth. 148 LUI-Day-48 149 LUI-Day-48-raise-that-light knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:28 PM LUI Day 49 heres a look at the whole bunch of LUI girls on day 49. we normally run at about 30 watts per sq foot. we can get away with less. and certainly more light is an option. but with top-notch reflectors 30 watts per sq foot is what we consider to be the "standard" in our garden. 150 LUI-Day-49 LUI Day 50 heres a look at the LUI babes on day 50. they were each watered with 1/2 gallon of our standard fish fert and kelp mix (1 TBSP of 2-4-1 fish fert and 1 tsp of Maxicrop per gallon of water). a different look at the LUIs on day 50. if youve been watching the "landmarks" in the pics. ie the plants progress against the door jam and the hanging electrical plug. you can see that the LUIs continue to stretch at a pretty good rate.

considering that theyve been topped and each plants growth is divided 4-6 ways between each of thier individual branches. their continued vigor is certainly impressive. in addition to their "seafood" diet of kelp and fish ferts. most of the LUIs were rotated on day 50 to encourage even growth. since the LUIs are in individual 3 gallon planters. its simple to move and rotate both the individual plants and the 2x3 containers they are in. a third pic offers a closer view. 151 LUI-Day-50 152 LUI-Day-50-side-view 153 LUI-Day-50-cola-construction Thanks 3LB! I especially like your common sense approach to most things in your garden. Your very concise explanation of how to is great for everybody...especially us new growers. Youve confirmed a lot of what Ive found to be true through the years, and cut through all the mystery. Take cloning for example. your method is straight forward and old school. I know that a lot of newbies get confused with all the elaborate cloning methods, equipment and all. when in reality it couldnt be simpler. I have been cloning all kinds of plants for years using the simple method my mother taught me. I take some cutz (using a very clean sharp instrument) and simply put em in a cup of water mixed with willow bark tea for a day or so, and put the cup right under the lights. I then rinse the cup out and refresh it with plain old tap water. the chlorine in the water definitely helps. every other day or so for about a week. No wilting, and the leaves remain lush and green! By then little bumbs appear all over the stem. I then simply take the cutz trimming the very ends once more and pop em right in the soil mix. No fuss, no mess, no misting, and no special equipment. Works every time! Once the leaves start to yellow slightly, I know its time to feed em! LUI Day 51 heres our LUI babes on Day 51. thats the 12th day in bloom. they continue to "bush up" and stretch. although it looks as though the vertical stretch is slowing some. no special attention today. the Louie girls are on an every-other-day watering schedule right now. getting 1/2 gallon per plant each watering. nothing is "written in stone" and we water based on need rather than a schedule. but thats where the LUIs are at for the moment. 154 LUI-Day-51 LUI - Day 52 the LUIs each got 1/2 gallon of our standard fish fert / kelp fert mix on day 52. heres a beginning look at LUI Day 52. they are going to get some special attention later today. 155 LUI-Day-52 156 LUI-Day-52---side the first two pics are a look at the buds which are forming on Day 52. which is just short of 2 weeks into the bloom cycle. and to add even more excitement to our day. we got a very kind PM from a very well respected source who gave us a few hints on some settings with our camera. thank you from the bottom of our avian hearts S. weve already seen an improvement in the color quality of our photos. our earlier day 52 shots were nice, but this is a significant improvement. thank you again. we are in your debt. 157 LUI-Day-52---side-budlet 158 LUI-Day-52---budlet

159 LUI-Day-52-top 160 LUI-Day-52-top-b in birdie lane there is a barber showing photographs of every "head" theyve had the pleasure to know and all the birdies that come and go stop and say hello in the corner is a container with some bushy plants we see the LUI sitting waiting for a trim . . .our apologies to John and Paul. the LUIs were trimmed tonight. we strip some of the lower growth to "focus" the plants energy upward. lower branches usually produce thin wispy buds yet use lots of plant energy producing stem and stretching for light. so we generally strip a few inches upward from ground level. this also serves the purpose of increasing airflow through the lower portions of the canopy. 161 LUI-Day-52---Sitting-Waiting-For-a-Trim 162 LUI-Day-52---Sitting-Waiting-For-a-Trim-2 163 LUI-Day-52---Sitting-Waiting-For-a-Trim-3 and heres a peek at the LUI clones on day 52. they continue to show outstanding vigor. as for LUI clone transplant? the LUIs are ready to be moved up into bigger homes today if we want. want to come help? in all seriousness. they truly could be transplanted into bigger containers now, but as fast as these LUIs grow, theyd be full sized and ready to move into the bloom room again in no time. were not quite ready for that yet. so we may have to use a variety of "tactics" to slow them down. one of those methods will be to delay transplanting. this will slow growth some but this can cause its own set of problems. as plants become root-bound they are much more likely to experience nutrient deficiencies. and they become much more sensitive to other problems like heat and water stress. well also have to do some growing tip pruning. probably another "top-cloning" like we originally practiced to get these clones. thats at least a few days away. but thats likely where we are headed with this 1st generation of LUI clones. 164 LUI-Day-52-Jungle-of-Clones 165 Mothers-and-Others-Against-Prohibition so if i was to trim up the bottom leads from the stalk of the flowering plants would it increase my yield? or just increase the size of the top buds? it might increase your yield bigmak. mostly because your plant doesnt spend as much energy building stems with flowers that wont collect any light or really contribute anything. the primary benefit. at least from our perspective. is that it increases the quantity of better quality buds. lower buds tend to be skimpier and less potent anyway. Have been afraid to trim lower branches during flower, as had read posts claiming that it might cause stress that could lead to hermaphrodites. Any truth to that in your experience? weve never had any problems like that obie. we usually do our trim somewhere about a week before the plants move to the 12/12 light cycle. and again around the 2 week mark in bloom. LUI Day 53 here are the LUIs on Day 53. they are developing very nicely.

166 LUI-Day-53 167 LUI-Day-53-Side-View 168 LUI-Day-53-close-view what were using is considered a bloom fert. we consider it an "early bloom" fert. well try and illustrate / explain. as an example . . . Age Old Organics Bloom formula is 5-10-5. lots of folk use that as their bloom fert with good result. that figures to a 1-2-1 nutrient ratio although fish ferts are often associated with a vegging fertilizer. thats primarily true of fish emulsions. the fish emulsions we have seen and worked with are generally in the range of 5-1-1 nutrient ratio. thats a good vegging fertilizer. but you are right. it would be a poor choice for blooming plants. for LUI bloom nutrients we are using Neptunes Harvest Fish Fert which is 2-4-1 nutrient ratio. were using that in combination with Maxicrop liquid seaweed which is basically 0-0-1. so in effect our Fish Fert and seaweed mix is 2-4-2 in composition. thats the same basic 1-2-1 nutrient ratio as the Age Old Organics. we believe this is the correct ratio for the first few weeks of the bloom cycle. since plants are "exploding" in growth during this time. some nitrogen is in order to help fully capture the growth spurt that often happens when a plant begins to bloom. after that well shut off the Nitrogen entirely by switching to EarthJuice Bloom or an Indonesian bat guano tea. as for analyzing the stretch these babes have experienced. it is absolutely within the expected range. we figured on a doubling in size. and after more than 2 weeks in bloom they are still short of that. If you were to use this solution ,made of Neptunes harvest, and the maxicrop liquid seaweed. How would you incorporate it with the age old organics? Would you add age old with seaweed and fish fert, or would that be to hot? bleedgreen . . . what you suggest is possible. but the outcome when combining a variety of different ferts is more unknown. the simple answer would be to alternate rather than combine the 3 different ferts. for example. wed use the fish fert / kelp mix for one watering and then the Age Old Organics for the next. in fact. using our ferts that way is fairly normal at the nest. as weve said before. its more important to understand the thinking behind our gardening decisions than it is to follow the exact products or methods we use. LUI Day 54 LUI Day 54. we rotated the LUIs into a new position in the grow room. take a look and then a little closer look at the developing flowers. 169 LUI-Day-54 170 LUI-Day-54---closeup LUI Day 55 heres the pic of the Day 55 LUI girls. 171 LUI-Day-55 16th Day @ 12/12 heres a little closer look at the developing flowers. 172 LUI-Day-55---cola-construction 173 LUI-Day-55---budshot-1 174 LUI-Day-55---budshot-2 Day 55 LUI Care & Feeding

our sweet LUI girls got a little attention on Day 55. first we mixed up a fert mix using Age Old Organics Bloom Fert and some Epsom Salts. our standard method of mixing ferts uses 5 gallon gasoline cans we bought specifically for our garden. we begin with 4 gallons of tap water thats been allowed to sit for about 48 hours. allowing the water to sit moderates its temp. if you are using treated municipal water this also allows chlorine to escape. for 4 gallons of water we added a total of 4 oz of the Age Old Bloom. the Age Old Organics comes with a built in measuring mechanism which is very handy for measuring and pouring out ferts. so this is simply one "measure full" per gallon. since the Age Old Organics lacks magnesium. we added one heaping teaspoon of epsom salts to the 4 gallon fert mix. this probably equals 1/3 teaspoon of the Epsom Salts per gallon. as weve explained before we use a pure mined mineral form of epsom salts. and heres the description of this particulars and pics to help id them to help should either end up on your shopping list. AGE OLD BLOOM A fast-acting natural high Phosphorous combination of two of the oldest forms of fertilizer known, with added micro-nutrients. The odorless concentrated liquid will encourage early growth, better fruit set, increase germination rates, help flower and bud formation, and will help overcome stress caused by natural or chemical damage. EpsoGrow: 100% Epsom Salt originating from natural deposits in Germany. A quick acting magnesium and sulfur fertilizer for foliar application. 175 age-old-bloom 176 espogrowepsomsalts LUI Day 56 this "portrait" was taken to demonstrate the actual height of the LUI. as you miight be able to observe. they are almost exactly 2 feet tall from the top of the planter to the plant tip. and then a couple more looks at the LUI on thier 56th day from germination. the LUIs didnt need any watering. but we did rotate the plants to make sure they were getting nice even lighting. the fourth pic is a budshot of a developing flower. 177 178 179 180 LUI-Day-56 LUI-Day-56---group LUI-Day-56---cola-construction LUI-Day-56---budshot

LUI Day 57 heres a look at the LUIs on Day 57. the fert mix for these babes was mixed up on Day 56 and allowed to "brew" for a day. using 5 gallon plastic gas cans that were bought specifically for gardening. we started with 4 gallons of tap water which had been allowed to sit for about 24 hours. then we added 6 TBSP of Earth Juice Bloom. 1 TBSP Earth Juice Meta-K. and 1 TBSP Earth Juice Catalyst. this mix was agitated vigorously and allowed to sit for 24 hours. the soil surface of the LUIs was "cultivated" to help make sure that the water and fert mix was absorbed evenly. then we gave each one of the LUIs a 1/2 gallon drink. now have a closer look. 181 LUI-Day-57 182 LUI-Day-57-closer

knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:32 PM LUI Day 58 Phenotype - the physical appearance of an organism. Genotype - the genetic constitution of an organism . . . (Definitions from - Botany for Gardeners) so the Genotype is the sum of the genetics that the seed carries. in essence this is the plants potential. Phenotype is the sum of how the plant actually grows. this is influenced by the environment the plants grown in. the parents of the LUI are reported to be a Sweet Tooth and an Ortega. both Indicas. reports from other growers indicate that some F1 LUIs will express with more of a Sweet Tooth like pheno. and some more Ortega dominant. were going to post pics from all 7 of the female LUIs on Day 58 so you can see and perhaps make some judgements for yourself. the markings on the right hand margin of these pics are measured from the top of one of our 2 x 3 containers while resting on the furniture movers that hold them. since the soil line for the container plantings is slightly above where the soil line is in these 3 gallon planters. the markings in the right hand margin will be a couple inches short of the actual height. these plants are all somewhere around two feet in height. the tallest example are about 24". and the shortest examples have probably stretched to about 23 inches in height. 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 LUI-Day-58 LUI-Day-58A LUI-Day-58B LUI-Day-58C LUI-Day-58D LUI-Day-58E LUI-Day-58F LUI-Day-58G

LUI Day 59 here are the LUI girls on Day 59 and three of closer looks on Day 59. thats day 20 of the 12/12 light cycle. just short of 3 weeks under the HPS lights and a bloom cycle. since were projecting the LUI to take around 8 weeks to finish, theyve still got about 5 weeks left to grow. the stretch has certainly slowed. at 3 weeks it might be a little premature to say it is totally finished. but it does appear to have pretty much run its course. its not a strain weve worked with before so we cant say for sure. but wed expect a couple more inches in height at most. 191 192 193 194 LUI-Day-59 LUI-Day-59-closer LUI-Day-59-closer-2 LUI-Day-59-closer-3

we gave the LUI babes another 1/2 gallon drink of water instead of fertilizer. for this watering we added another ingredient we recently started experimenting with. Fulvic Acid. its something weve been wanting to try for a while. then a couple of months back we noticed that Milly Blunt had been using Fulvic Acid too. we corresponded with Milly on the topic and weve now just begun our own experiments with it. as has been our practice. heres the product description . . . DIAMOND NECTAR We offer only the highest quality, most effective Fulvic Acid available. Fulvic acid is the most plant active of the Humic Acid compounds, offering physical, chemical and biological benefits. Diamond Nectar can be used in

hydroponic solutions or combined with soil or foliar applied fertilizers. It is rich in both organic and mineral substances essential for plant growth. Natural buffering, chelating, and extremely high ion-exchange properties convert many mineral elements into forms easier for plants to absorb. This results in increased plant vitality, resistance to environmental stress, and improved crop quality and yields. we used it at the rate of 1 TBSP per gallon of water and then applied 1/2 gallon of that mix to each of the LUI babes. 195 diamond-nectar LUI Day 60 heres a fun look at LUI for day 60. 3 weeks into bloom with 5 weeks left to go. and look at the visible trichs. and a look from a little further back. the LUIs are still looking great. 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 LUI-Day-60---extreme-closeup LUI-Day-60 LUI-Day-60---zoom1 LUI-Day-60---zoom2 LUI-Day-60---zoom3 LUI-Day-60---zoom4 LUI-Day-60---zoom5

the average stretch is going to vary a lot from strain to strain. genetics are the biggest determining factor but there are other influences. for example, some sativa strains will stretch and continue growing in height for many weeks. often these are strains like original Haze with very long flowering periods - blooming lengths well in excess of 10 weeks. there are some strains that are known for the exact opposite. very little stretch after the plant begins flowering. most plants developed 4 nice cola arms. one only developed three good branches and a another produced 5 good branches. we we originally trimmed to allow for 6 (3 pairs) per plant but did additional pruning as needed. our general experience so far is that lower branches and arms that are shaded out look to produce little with the LUI and should likely be trimmed. were using about 3 sq feet per plant at the moment for the LUIs and it seems to be working great. your personal gardening style will decide whats right for you with the LUI in terms of space. the minor move you are asking about. reducing each plants "footprint" from 21" to 18" squared would likely have only minor effects. wed not anticipate any problems with such a layout and it might even be a more efficient use of space. since we use 2x3 containers as the basis for our modular grow layout. we are limited to choosing between 2 or 3 (or more) plants per container. the current LUIs are growing in 3 gallon planters. and those are certainly workable for any grow. it was our "standard" before the container grow evolved. the advantage of the container planting is that is give much more room for roots to spread out and usually leads to higher yields. LUI Day 60 - Clones the LUI clones continue to look great. a few days back they were trimmed/pruned some. the lowest branches on each LUI were pruned. generally it was 4-6 small lower branches removed from the mainstem of each plant. these clone LUIs are much taller than normal for when we top / top clone. but at the same time we did our lower branch trimming we also topped / tipped

each of the LUIs. we are experimenting with our first attempt at "tipping". a technique also known as F.I.M. (which stands for Fuck I Missed). its a partial topping technique that works to spread the growth hormones that are usually concentrated in the main growing tip. topping spreads the hormones out to the other tallest branches. tipping doesnt remove the entire growing tip so it can spread out the hormones and encourage multiple branches while still allowing a strong main cola. its something we are just beginning to play with. so we experimented with seeing how much of the growing tip should/could be removed. heres a peek. 203 LUI-Day-60---Clones LUI Day 61 they are currently around 2 feet in height. some just over and a couple just under that . . . although we didnt measure with a tape measure (perhaps we should have). our eyeballs say the plants were in the range of 12 to 14 inches in height when moved to bloom. on day 61 five of the seven LUIs got 1/2 gallon of the same Earth Juice fert mix we used last time. 204 LUI-Day-61 LUI Day 62 heres the LUI look for day 62. the 2 plants who didnt get watering on day 61 got 1/2 gallon of the same fert mix for themselves on day 62. 205 LUI-Day-62 LUI Day 63 the LUIs continue to do very well. they are happy and strong and continue to grow beautiful flowers. were a little beyond 3 weeks into bloom. the three_little_birds dont harvest based on a calendar. instead we harvest our plants when they are ripe and ready. but a planning calendar can help to project when the babes might be finished. LUI is usually considered a strain that matures at about 8 weeks. so the LUIs are closing in on what wed expect to be the halfway mark of their time in flowering. on Day 63 the LUIs who needed watering got another drink of the Earth Juice fert mix we mixed up a few days before. just to recap that fert mix. we start with 4 gallons of tap water which had been allowed to sit for about 24 hours. then we add 6 TBSP of Earth Juice Bloom. 1 TBSP Earth Juice Meta-K. and 1 TBSP Earth Juice Catalyst. Earth Juice ferts are pretty acidic from the bottle so we always mix them up at least 24 hours in advance to give the pH some time to stabilize. 206 LUI-Day-63A 207 LUI-Day-63B 208 LUI-Day-63C LUI Day 64 the Legends Ultimate Indica (LUI) continue to thrive here at the birds nest. on Day 64 they got no special attention. since these are not clones weve not used our normal rotation of our 2x3 containers. instead weve adjusted the LUI females to try and encourage as even a canopy as possible. this was necessary since were dealing with 7 varying individuals rather than copies of only a single plant in each container. this is why we grow plants in 3 gallon planters rather than in container plantings until the "keeper clones" have been picked.

209 LUI-Day-64 LUI Day 65 heres the bunch of the LUI babes on day 65. take a closer look at their progress. on the 65th day of LUI the thirsty girls received a cool drink of water. 6 TBSP of Fulvic acid was added to 4 gallons of water. each of the Ultimate Indicas got 1/2 gallon of this mix. 210 211 212 213 LUI-Day-65 LUI-Day-65A LUI-Day-65B LUI-Day-65C

LUI Day 66 LUI LUI oh baby say we gotta grow now yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah . . . Get your kicks on Day 66 . . . the LUIs didnt require any special attention on day 66 from germination. we did "cultivate" the soil surface. gently rubbing and smoothing it with our fingers. it takes less time to actually cultivate a 3 gallon planter than it does to type in the words here. of course being birds. we are "hunt and peck" typists. and now on with the show. 214 215 216 217 218 LUI-Day-66 LUI-Day-66A LUI-Day-66B LUI-Day-66C LUI-Day-66D

LUI Day 67 were just finishing our 4th week of bloom. and if these babes need 8 weeks of flowering that marks the 1/2 way point of 12/12. on day 67 the LUIs got 1/2 gallon of a water/fert mix containing per gallon of water. 1 1/2 TBSP of Earth Juice Bloom. 1 1/2 tsp of liquid kelp concentrate. 1/2 tsp Earth Juice Catalyst. 219 220 221 222 223 LUI-Day-67 LUI-Day-67A LUI-Day-67B LUI-Day-67C LUI-Day-67D

LUI Day 67 Clones heres a peek at the current state of the LUI clones. 224 LUI-Day-67---Clone-A 225 LUI-Day-67---Clone-B LUI Day 68

here are the LUIs on day 68. if our count is right they are just beginning their 5th week of bloom. so that means theyve just started on the downhill portion of their trip through flowering. we think the pictures are showing it well. they are really looking frostier and frostier every day. weve noticed that our experiments with fulvic acid really seem to be bringing out the most in all of our girls. not just the LUIs. there are always times that gardens look better than others. in fact, one standing joke among our gardener friends is that whenever a person might tour another friends garden the standard phrase is. "you should have seen my garden last week". hehehaha. we wish we could give tours of our garden right now. but with these LUIs maybe its not so simple either. were thinking that anyone seeing our garden today would end up disappointed in a different way. disappointed to not see these babes in about 3 more weeks. thats when they should hit their visual peak. Breeder Steve . . . we have to give you your "propers". these are some sweet plants to grow. and they are sure looking good! 226 LUI-Day-68 shmokin . . . the fulvic acid is an additive weve been experimenting with. it can assist in the efficient uptake and use of nutrients by our plants. there are a couple threads discussing its use in the indoor forum. a quick use of the search feature here at CW would fill you in on fulvic acid in short order. when buds start growing big and heavy we tend to increase airflow and make sure humidity stays moderate. mold is the concern and its always better to prevent problems before they occur than deal with them after the fact. knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:33 PM LUI Day 69 what number are we thinking of? 69! dude! our apologies to Bill and Ted and their most excellent adventure. and now the 3LBs most excellent experience with the LUIs continues. on day 69 the LUIs got a drink of water than had 1 TBSP of Fulvic Acid per gallon. each of the babes got just under a 1/2 gallon of this fluid to help sustain them. 227 228 229 230 231 LUI-Day-69 LUI-Day-69A LUI-Day-69B LUI-Day-69C LUI-Day-69D

LUI Day 70 Legends Ultimate Indica on day 70 continued to thrive. and we poured on the nutrients to continue to encourage them to bloom big. each LUI got 1/2 gallon of a nute mix that measured out at 1 1/2 TBSP of Earth Juice Bloom and 1 tsp of Earth Juice Catalyst. Day 31 of Bloom. we had to check the calendar just to make sure. day 70 from germination figures to be day 31 of 12/12. 232 LUI-Day-70 233 LUI-day-70---day-31-of-bloom and bigmak . . . of course were going to cure our LUI. just drying da herb isnt going to produce the top quality smoke we desire. how we dry and cure our herb depends on our plan for eventual use. the cure isnt as critical for

cooking or hashmaking. but for buds that are going to be smoked it does make quite a difference in final quality. usually we trim large fan leaves upon harvest. well trim down the smaller leaf at this time as well. then we hang our herb from a clothesline by their stems (indoors - were not hanging out our herb like our laundry). its best to keep the plants in the dark as much as possible for the dry and cure to help eliminate some of the "green" chlorophyll taste. how long the herb hangs depends on relative humidity. usually its between 5 days and 2 weeks. they hang until the outside of buds feel dry to the touch. they certainly arent fully dried at this point. but this is where wed normally finish our trim. the buds are trimmed from the stem at this point. then the actual cure begins. mason jars are a classic for curing herb. though when dealing with a "bumper crop" they can be somewhat inconvenient. if several plants mature at the same time we are often forced to use larger plastic containers. the secret is a long slow cure which breaks down sugars. improves flavor. and mellows the smoke. LUI Day 71 here are the LUI on Day 71. for day 71 care. our LUI got another drink of a fert mix with earth juice bloom and catalyst. we keep pouring in the nutes and these babes keep eating them up. heres another day 71 look. day 32 of bloom. and yes. they sure are looking frosty for only being 1/2 way through flowering. if nothing else they will likely prove to be a nice plant for hash making. the camera work in the most recent couple of shots was by Woodstock . . . she and Tweetie are the award winning photographers. Woodstocks the youngest of the birds here at the nest and the quietest. shes a lurker. we usually have to prompt her to post here. heres one last day 71 shot before moving on. 234 LUI-Day-71 235 LUI-Day-71A 236 LUI-Day-71C LUI Day 72 - Day 33 of Bloom on day 72 from germination (their 33rd day of bloom). our LUIs continued to thrive. and they continued to drink too. several of the LUIs were dry to the touch again to a full fingers depth. so we watered one more time with the same Earth Juice Bloom and Catalyst mix as used with the last watering. for day 72 heres a little bit different perspective. heres abother look at the 33rd day of bloom that hopefully will give a better perspective of these fattening flowers. 237 LUI-Day-72 238 LUI-Day-72A LUI Day 73 we found powdery mildew on less than a dozen large fan leaves which had been sitting directly against a wall in the growroom. the "white scourge" was confined to 2 plants and was not severe. in fact it was barely noticeable without a very keen eye. fortunately there are 3 pairs of "eagle eyes" here at the birds nest. and this problem was found very early on. the first thing was to remove all leaves which showed any possibility of involvement with powdery mildew. were closing in on the end of week 5 in bloom so we are truly at a critical point for taking action. much later in the bloom cycle and this problem becomes increasingly difficult to treat. even now it poses a dilemma. Neem oil is a very good fungicide and insecticide and is one favorite choice

for eliminating powdery mildew. its an organic product from the Neem Tree. but it can certainly effect final flavor. so we opted to use another organic method for powdery mildew control. baking soda. also called Sodium Bicarbonate, or Bicarbonate of Soda. we mix 1 TBSP of baking soda with a gallon of pure water. this mix is sprayed on the entire garden as a fine mist until it coats all leaves and runs off. the baking soda changes the pH balance on the plants leaf surface and makes it undesirable for the powdery mildew. well spray the LUIs in a day or two with a good soaking with plain water to make sure her pores dont clog and to help rinse away the baking soda residue. then well increase ventilation and hope for the best. the worst case is that our treatment cause more harm by encouraging even more destructive bud mold. thats not likely but well want to make sure our LUI babes dried out well where the colas are forming. bud mold loves moisture inside or between buds. the next worse case is that we effect the final quality of our product but manage to kill the PM. if we use the LUI for cooking or bubble hash then a lil baking soda residue can be rinsed away. and considering that were still over 3 weeks from harvest. this isnt necessarily going to be a problem. well keep our fingers crossed. the best case scenario is that the LUIs barely respond to the few lower fan leaves that were removed. the PM doesnt return and the baking soda residue is rinsed away. this is our hope since there were little or no signs of damage by the PM and the baking soda should rinse away with a little effort. we expect the best case. and are prepared for the worst case. The baking soda sounds like a good idea. If you are concerned that there might be some residue left of the plants at harvest, and you have a good way to dry the buds out, you can always soak the plants in room temperature water for about an hour right after cutting/trimming to make sure the residue is gone. The additional water will have no effect other than slightly wetter buds - the risk is mold in the drying room. Its a tough choice, but Im sure youll choose what is best for your situation . . .b4edgan20 . . . b4edgan20 . . .b4edgan20 our most favorite Bud Composer. wed thought of the harvest rinse idea too. sounds like another case of great minds thinking alike. if we go that route we could rinse and then trim the flowers off of the stem at harvest time and lay out on a screen. that almost assures that the chance of budmold disappears. the buds dont look quite as pretty this way and it does leave a few of the trichs stick to the screen or rack. but life is always a compromise. 239 LUI-Day-73 240 LUI-Day-73A ? 3LB How is odor on your girls now that their flowering? Was there a lot of stretch after 12/12. pepsi . . .odor is a tough one pepsi since there are usually 4 or 5 strains going at a time in our garden. we also run a constant carbon filter to remove odor from the grow the best we can tell so far they havent been especially strong in odor. in terms of stretch they roughly doubled in height. actually just under that. but we topped our plants so growth was divided between several colas for each plant. this slows down stretch some. with a single cola LUI that hadnt been pinched or topped wed expect the plant to double in height. maybe a little bit more. cant say for sure since youve seen our

current experience with the LUIs. but that would be our experience with similar plants / strains. midsummer . . . you are watching us like a hawk. lol. we grow mostly in 2x3 containers. and we still do. but this is our first run of LUI and they were moved to bloom unsexed. when plants are going to have to be culled they need to go into smaller containers. so we use 3 gallon pots. the next round of LUI grown at the birds nest will be in 2x3 containers. now that they are sexed and were growing from clone thats easy to do. the Bubba Kush S1 we are growing is expected to be all female. so were still deciding if they will go directly into large containers for their first grow. or if well stay with the 3 gallon pots their first time through too. ? Have you already decided which of the luis your going to keep for a mother. Or are you going to have to go through another cycle with them before you can decide. If you have chosen one, what is it that you are looking for, ease of cloning, yield, veg speed etc. . . ddftre . . . ddftre . . . our primary interest is medicinal. so our first concern is potency. and theres not a good way to know the best plant(s) until theyve been sampled. we can "eyeball" for trichomes. but choosing based on trich coverage is no substitute for sampling and long term comparison. and for that the herb has to be dried and cured. so its a good thing we are old and patient birds. eh? all of the LUIs rooted well upon cloning. and all have done well in terms of vigor throughout their life-cycle. so theres not much to choose between from those viewpoints. if potency is equal and general vigor is equal across the board, then the selection comes down to flavor. if two plants are equal there, then yield is the next factor. one other thing weve used as "selection" is exposing plants to pests or disease to test for resistance. a friend with a terrible uncontrolled spider mite infestation can sample various clones. if one shows more resistance its the keeper. so theres lots of factors that can go into choosing the "keeper". bigmak . . . Earth Juice Catalyst has oat bran, kelp, wheat malt, molasses, and yeast. and according to the manufacturers statement. "Natural enzymes, hormones, vitamins, amino acids, nutrients, sugars, plant acids and surfactants encourage compact growth, nutrient uptake, increased yields, and enhanced flavors." its up to the individual grower to decide if its really all that. but we do view it as a great stimulant for beneficial bacterial activity. LUI Day 74 our LUIs on Day 74 were treated to a drenching spay to rinse away any baking soda residue which might have clogged plant pores. 1 TBSP of fulvic acid was mixed into a gallon of water and applied liberally as a drench. we really hate getting water anywhere near our buds this late in the game . . . but we felt that this was a better option than to wait and see if these babes ended up heavily effected with powdery mildew. as we said before, there was only the slightest sign of PM infection, so we expect a complete and full recovery. all of the LUI babes also got a 1/2 gallon watering with plain water. and thats the way it is. LUI day 74. this is Foghorn Leghorn signing off for Woodstock. Tweetie. and the whole 3LB cannabis collective. day 74. the 35th day of bloom. thats finishing week 5 and looking into the final 3 weeks of bloom. they are looking so nice already that patience may be a challenge. the LUIs are maturing very nicely. a good friend has suggested they will continue packing on the weight from here to harvest. and the buds are already impressive for a 5 week plant. our only concern is the good soaking we gave them to assure the powdery mildew didnt cause any problems. we move the LUIs as close as possible to our fans to encourage them to dry

well. and well just have to watch and hope we havent encouraged bud mold. 241 LUI-Day-74 242 LUI-Day-74A some folk might be wondering how those LUI clones are doing. heres a look. 243 LUI-Day-74---2-clones-in-a-2x3 244 LUI-Day-74---3-clones-in-a-2x3 and the cycle continues. 245 LUI-Day-74---the-next-generation LUI Day 75 we gotta get our AFLAC birdie bud a garden that looks somethin like this! 246 LUI-Day-75 heres are two "budshot" looks at the LUIs on the 36th day of bloom. these are some nice dense tight fat buds. even under "only" 30 watts per square foot. the third pic is a better perspective on a LUI cola. this is one of the colas on the shortest of our LUIs. 247 LUI-Day-75A 248 LUI-Day-75C 249 LUI-Day-75D LUI Day 76 250 LUI-Day-76 LUI Day 77 on day 77 the LUIs got a nice drink of the current bloom "standard". Earth Juice Bloom @ 1 1/2 TBSP per gallon and 1 tsp of EJ Catalyst per gallon. each plant got a 1/2 gallon drenching after the soil surface had been cultivared gently by hand. 251 LUI-Day-77 LUI-Day-77A.jpg first pic is day 38 of bloom. and then a "birds eye" view. we actually feel like they are looking a little "weather beaten" after our recent round of treatments which included a baking soda solution drench and a folic acid foliar feed rinse. but we arent complaining. they are looking pretty darn good! 252 LUI-Day-77A 253 LUI-Day-77B Hey 3lbs - Ive been lurking around your posts for a while and Ive got to say you are fine and dedicated cannabis creators. I gave my last grow a shot of Benomyl for powdery mildew. Otherwise I would have lost everything. They say one can apply it on cherries up to like 2 days before harvest. Strange, no? bye now, delisted. knowledgequest

Mar 4, 2006, 02:49 PM LUI Day 78 nothing but loving words were fed to the LUI babes today. heres a look at the bunch. 254 LUI-Day-78 LUI Day 79 on day 79 our LUIs got what is likely to be their last feeding. we are considering one more watering with a bat guano tea. but this is the last time they will get a commercial fertilizer "soup". the original LUIs are entering "the beginning of the end". they will begin their final two weeks before expected harvest this weekend. so its time to cut off thier food and let them "finish whats on their plate". some styles of growin require a flush. with organic ferts a true flush isnt possible. we say that in the sense that organic nutrients arent soluble salts that can be flushed easily from the soil. especially if its amended soil containing supplements like kelp meal, bone meal, bat or seabird guano. while we dont truly flush our babes. we do cut off the feedings for the final two weeks before expected harvest. in one sense this is about economy as much as quality. since organics are slow release ferts anyway. theres no sense in pouring in nutrients that will never get to our babes. one old organic adage is "feed the soil not the plants". since its the beneficial bacteria and fungi in soil that convert our organic ingredients into plant food. and at this point our soil is pretty well done eating. 255 LUI-Day-79 LUI-Day-79A.jpg as wed said. this was the last feeding well give the LUI girls that includes any commercial fertilizer. so we finished with a flourish. instead of 1 or 1 1/2 TBSP of Earth Juice Bloom. this feeding was at 2 TBSP of EJ Bloom per gallon. folks may have noticed that with EJ products we usually add 1 tsp of Catalyst per gallon. but for this final "meal" thats increased to 1 TBSP per gallon. as per our normal practice all of these ingredients were mixed in advance and allowed to "brew" for at least 24 hours. this particular heavy feeding was allowed to "stew" for 48 hours before use. as we said before. we may give these babes one final drink of a tea. then move on to plain waterings. 256 LUI-Day-79A 257 LUI-Day-79B LUI Day 80 - Day 41 of Bloom 258 259 260 261 262 LUI-Day-80 LUI-Day-80A LUI-Day-80B LUI-Day-80C LUI-Day-80D

LUI-Day-80E.jpg phlegmbae . . . we strongly agree that the growers attitude has a dramatic impact on the growth of their plants. and the chefs observations are similar to ours as well. Timothy Leary spoke of the dramatic impact that "set and setting" had on someones psychedelic experience. it seems to have an impact

on our plants as well. as for our plants fearing their ultimate ending. we certainly hope not. weve told our babes that after harvest they will be cherished even more. perhaps they have even "seen" the care with which we treat their harvested "cousins". and they should know our great joy and satisfaction with our finished herbal products. besides. even as they are harvested. they live on. their clone back-ups sisters are growing right next to them. they "know" if they are exception they will literally live forever. isnt that some incentive to express their very best? we also are thinking that these LUIs are kinda vain. they sure seem to like having their photographs taken every day. weve also told them they are stars here at CW. lots & lots of folk stopping in to look at them. just another reason our LUI babes are always "looking good". they are primping and posing for the camera. and for their audience. 263 LUI-Day-80E LUI Day 81 on day 81 the LUIs got plain water with the addition of Fulvic Acid. 1 TBSP of fulvic acid per gallon of water. the 7 LUI babes share 2 gallons between them. Group Portrait 264 LUI-Day-81 265 LUI-Day-81A 266 LUI-Day-81B 267 LUI-Day-81C 268 LUI-Day-81D LUI Day 82 got no special attention. they were admired and encouraged. phlegmbae . . . were still fairly new ourselves with Fulvic Acid use. and are experimenting with its use here at the nest to see how and when its most effective. were not so sure ourselves about foliar feeding this late in a plants life. we know some do it. but in some environments and with some strains its an invitation to bud mold. and were also not so sure we want to smoke herbs that have been sprayed with anything in their last couple weeks of life. heres how were looking at it right now. one of the effects of the fulvic acid is as a chelating agent. it helps to make nutrients more available to our plants. so in this instance were using the fulvic acid like a flush. added to the plain water it helps to bring the remaining nutrients in the soil into a form the plants can easily use. so were using it to encourage one final explosion of growth in our LUIs. 269 LUI-Day-82 270 LUI-Day-82A 271 LUI-Day-82B LUI Day 83 this is our favorite pic so far of the LUI. on day 83, the 44th day of bloom, our LUIs again got nothing but attention. we admired and encouraged the babes but did nothing else but take the pretty pictures. 272 273 274 275 276 LUI-Day-83 LUI-Day-83A LUI-Day-83B LUI-Day-83C LUI-Day-83D

LUI Day 84 the LUI babes are looking great. on the 45th day of bloom for our LUIs they got a light drink of plain water. 277 LUI-Day-84 278 LUI-Day-84A 279 LUI-Day-84B LUI Day 85 the colas keep putting on weight. a good friend (our wingman) told us wed be amazed at the way these babes continued to pack on the weight up to the end. and as usual, he was absolutely correct. this is day 46 of bloom. 85 short days since germination. the LUIs in need got a light drink of plain water. they were admired and encouraged as well. and they posed very pretty like for the camera. 280 LUI-Day-85 281 LUI-Day-85A 282 LUI-Day-85B PHENOTYPE: Dictionary Entry and Meaning__Pronunciation: feenow`tIp__Definition: [n] what an organism looks like as a consequence of its genotype - the physical appearance/observable characteristics of an organism. genotype is the genetic makup of an organism. how it grow up and expresses that genotype is its phenotype. there are two major phenotypes that have been described by prior growers of the LUI. some plants look more like their SweetTooth parent. and others express more like the Ortega parent. hope that answers your question. and ceteris paribus . . . your answer is 3 to 5 colas per plant. depending on the particular plant and its general vigor. some plants developed 3 great colas. others grew 4. and at least one plant grew 5 strong arms. LUI Day 86 on day 86 for the LUIs, they got a small drink of pure water. and kind words of encouragement. about 2 gallons of water was shared between the bunch. and thats the way it was. LUI day 86. this is Walter Chronic signing off. 283 LUI-Day-86 Hiya birdie buds! Since yall know of my recent discovery of all my plants haveing such very small root balls. In the collectives knowledge, would the Seedling Starter mix may have too may nutes in it for a good root system to develop beyond the seedling stage? What I mean is, could that "maybe" at least me a part of why the root system didnt grow as normal because it had (along with me adding nutes along the way) all the nutes they needed in the soil & added nutes, right at the top of thesoil, therefor the plants didnt need to grow better root systems?!? Just a theory I wanted yall opinions on. . . Artful Dodger . . . Artful . . . buddy. its probably not the soil itself. if it was a seedling starter mix it likely had even less nutes in it then the soil we used. when you fill your cups with soil do you pack it at all? maybe its a compression issue. soil packed too tightly can retard root growth. of all the grows we

wish we could help. sigh! keep thinking and throwing ideas our way. well sort them through and sooner or later get and answer. LUI Day 87 the LUIs got a little attention on day 87. since they are growing so huge. we decided to rotate these babes. we ended up moving them to the outer edge of our garden to help assure they get as much ventilation as possible. we want to make sure that air keeps moving around these babes to diminish the likelihood of mold. the first couple pics will be of the LUI babes before they were moved. then a closer look at some of the LUIs on day 87, the 48th day of bloom for these babes. 284 285 286 287 288 LUI-Day-87 LUI-Day-87A LUI-Day-87B LUI-Day-87C LUI-Day-87D

fog horn . . . we have heard about using a sulfur vaporizer from another person on the boards a while back. but are hoping we wont have to go that route. the big PM outbreak was before the LUI and it seems we had one particular plant that was a carrier. now that shes gone from the garden, the white scourge has not shown again. it took a while to lick. and weve got some neem oil sitting here just in case we feel the need to make a preventative spray on our vegging girls. LUI Day 88 LUIs Day 88. and a "birds eye" view down at the smallest of the LUI on day 88. their 49th day of bloom. completing their 7th week of bloom! they are starting to look very tempting. even to patient old birds! 289 LUI-Day-88 290 LUI-Day-88A DMZ . . . they havent gotten any ferts since ending week 6. and only got hit with a couple shots of fulvic acid since. as our version of an organic "flush", they will - of course - get only plain water from now until harvest. bigmak . . . was never any great shakes in math so ratios arent something we think much in. but these LUIs are pretty typical in terms of calyx to leaf ratio for an indica. and most certainly they will be a big yielder. some of our LUIs are showing a little color. so heres a look at one of the more stunning leaves. knowledgequest Mar 4, 2006, 02:54 PM LUI Day 89 291 LUI-Day-89---LUI-12-leaf LUI Day 89 - LUI 10 __ heres the first in a series of individual LUI portraits. 292 LUI-Day-89---LUI-10mugshot 293 LUI-Day-89---LUI-10Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 12 __ the 2nd in the LUI portrait series.

294 LUI-Day-89---LUI-12mugshot 295 LUI-Day-89---LUI-12Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 2 ___ the 3rd of the LUIs. 296 LUI-Day-89---LUI-2mugshot 297 LUI-Day-89---LUI-2Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 3 ___ the 4th in the series of LUIs. 298 LUI-Day-89---LUI-3mugshot 299 LUI-Day-89---LUI-3Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 4 ___ the 5th of the LUIs. 300 LUI-Day-89---LUI-4mugshot 301 LUI-Day-89---LUI-4Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 5 ___ the 6th little LUI. 302 LUI-Day-89---LUI-5mugshot 303 LUI-Day-89---LUI-5Amugshot LUI Day 89 - LUI 9 ___ and the final LUI of the magnificent 7. 304 LUI-Day-89---LUI-9mugshot 305 LUI-Day-89---LUI-9Amugshot Those LUIs are filling out nicely! Amazing job on the grow and pics! Cant wait for the smoke report! . . . sensiologist . . . how about one last shot of them LUI Clones that should be huge monsters growing threw the roof by now!?!?! . . . DutchMasterZ . . . thanks for the kudos bigmak and sensiologist. . . kind words are always appreciated by the flock. well see what we can do for "clone" pics there DMZ. ya probably know those babes have moved to bloom themselves and are just starting to bud out a little. as for the original LUIs. a variety of factors and influences have led us to plan a nearly imminent LUI harvest. the best looking examples are quite ripe and the trichs are starting to cloud. wed considered allowing the slower example more time to finish but well more likely bring the whole garden down at once. so its about time to have those garden gnomes start calling "timber" as they get out their little axes and begin helping us with our LUI harvest. a couple folks have privately asked for a peek into the pruning process here at the nest. and certainly we can do a mini pictoral on trimming these babes as time allows. and were not quite to harvest day yet. so . . . the show must go on! LUI Day 90 heres a peek at day 90. these babes are a couple days into their 8th week and harvest is looking closer and closer. 306 LUI-Day-90 thanks again for everyone whos chirped in. certainly this LUI grow has been a real labor of love. unfortunately we had catastrophic incident within the last 24 hours while our trusty Nikon camera was attached to a tripod. the intersection of an unstable tripod and a less than perfectly stable photographer brought about a terrible fall with the associated

crunching noise and resulting inoperable camera. sigh. so further "eye candy" from the birds has been called off until we can get a decent working camera back into order. as for our LUI babes they are doing well and awaiting their destiny. losing the camera right now has really got us down. we were very close to the end on this thread and it bothers us to leave it somewhat incomplete. a couple of the LUIs are really showing some nice colors (more reddish than purple in the fan leaves). so its sad to not be able to post those pics. and when the LUI came down wed planned to post a mini trimming tutorial in response to a request. so thats all the bad news. the good news is the LUIs are close to done anyway. so there was not that much show to miss. skinnypuppy . . . the simple answer to the question of LUI streeeeetch was that they didnt quite double in height during flowering. so if forced at 12" youd realistically expect about a 20"- 24" finish. thats topped plants. growers whos style is more for a single cola could probably expect a bit more stretch still. pepsi . . . the LUIs are far superior to the Herijuana in yield. the Heris strong point is potency not yield. and. no need to be sorry or think you embarrassed us birds. we know your intent was to honor our contributions here at CW and so we are truly honored - that simple! btw. thanks for the kudos DMZ. but isnt it your turn for a "grow-along"??? - hehehehahaha. the LUI growalong was a true labor of love. but in all honestly the 3LBs are enjoying this current vacation. catching up on some sleep too! thanks for the kudos Candide . . . kind words are always appreciated from our friends - this thread was a true labor of love for the birds and our only regret is not being able to finish it with more style due to the "floppy fingered foggy" incident - in the end it shows everything but harvest so we are certainly proud. but we also know well do even better "next time". and thanks for chirping in Artful . . . as you know you are like family and our only regret is that we simply cant step in and grow with you for a few months until youve got everything dialed in just right. and Aerofreak . . . the jurys still out on the fulvic acid - to really know for sure wed need to test it more. but early signs were promising. it does appear to make a difference if everything else is already dialed in. but we dont want to start "crowing" about it until weve tried it over a more extended time. March 30th,2004 . . . although many have reported a lemony flavor for the LUI . . . weve found a more complex "fruity" undertone rather than a "citrus" taste . . . this is before anything approaching a proper cure . . . just a preliminary taste potency (in medicinal terms) is more than good enough to satisfy a jaded old bird . . . again this is a preliminary analysis . . . but in terms of a medicinal indica wed rate it a 8 on a scale of 1-10 . . . yield was absolute top notch . . . lots of top quality dense buds . . . among the best yielding plants the 3LB have yet grown . . . as weve said in a couple of threads . . . the loss of our camera served as

a catalyst to encourage us to take a vacation . . . weve taken a break from our responsibilities and are currently off soaring on the spring breeze . . . the birds are on an extended vacation from the nest . . . so when the first Robin of spring arrives on your window sill (if it hasnt long ago) . . . you will know the birds are flitting by your abode in our travels . . . __________________________ Calling All Growers! Sinsemilla Sanctuary ~ My Cannabis Chronicles !! GROW MORE POT !! I found the 3LittleBirds Grow Along "From Seeds to Weed"! And here is some more recovered 3LB stuff This is not mine its ThreeLittleBirds. 1 Gallon of water 1 TBSP of guano (for a flowering mix wed use Jamaican or Indonesian Bat Guano - f or a more general use fertilizer we would choose Peruvian Seabird Guano.) 1 tsp blackstrap or sugar beet molasses We mix the ingredients directly into the water and allow the tea mix to brew for 24 hours. Its best to use an aquarium pump to aerate the tea We also use molasses to sweeten and enrich Alfalfa meal teas. Our standard recip e for this use is: 4 gallons of water 1 cup of fine ground alfalfa meal 1 TBSP blackstrap or sugar beet molasses After a 24 hour brew, this 100% plant-based fertilizer is ready for application. Alfalfa is a great organic plant food, with many benefits above and beyond just the NP-K it can contribute to a soil mix or tea. We do plan to cover Alfalfa and its many uses in greater detail soon in yet another thread. We prefer to mix our alfalfa meal directly into the tea, but many gardeners use the stockingtea bagmet hod with great effectiveness, both work well, its really just a matter of persona l preference. The alfalfa tea recipe we described can be used as a soil drench, and also as a foliar feed. And foliar feeding is the final use of molasses wed like to detail. Foliar feeding, for the unfamiliar, is simply the art of using fine mist sprays as a way to get nutrients directly to the plant through the minute pores a plantb reathesthrough. It is by far the quickest and most effective way to correct nutri ent deficiencies, and can be an important part of any gardeners toolbox. Molasses is a great ingredient in foliar feeding recipes because of its ability t o chelate nutrients and bring them to the table in a form that can be directly abs orbed and used by the plant. This really improves the effectiveness of foliar fe eds when using them as a plant tonic. In fact it improves them enough that we us ually can dilute our teas or mix them more lean - with less fertilizer - than we m ight use without the added molasses. Of course it is possible to use molasses as a foliar feed alone, without any add ed guano or alfalfa. Its primary use would be to treat plants who are deficient i n Potassium, although molasses also provides significant boosts in other essenti al minerals such as Sulfur, Iron and Magnesium. Organic farming guides suggest a pplication rates of between one pint and one quart per acre depending on the tar get plant. For growing a fast growing annual plant like cannabis, wed suggest a r

ecipe of 1 teaspoon molasses per gallon of water. In all honesty, wed probably suggest a foliar feeding with kelp concentrate as a better solution for an apparent Potassium shortage. Kelp is one of our favorite foliar feeds because it is a complete source of micronutrients in addition to be ing a great source of Potassium. Kelp has a variety of other characteristics tha t we love, and we plan that it will be the topic of its own detailed thread at a future date. But, for growers that cannot find kelp, or who might have problems with the potential odors a kelp foliar feeding can create, molasses can provide an excellent alternative treatment for Potassium deficient plants at an affordab le price.