In other news though, we’re down to six plants. I think it was the right thing to do, they were beginning to get cramped, and once they’re all in 11L pots, eight would be way too crowded.
Of the six remaining, two were successfully topped around two weeks ago and are really spreading out nicely (front right and front centre). One was butchered by a poor n00b attempt at FIMing (back centre, obviously 
), but she’s powered through, and was topped properly, along with the three others about 5-6 days ago.
I chose to top at different times simply as an experiment. If I need to build a little shelf for the shorter ones to even out the canopy during flowering, so be it. The three I delayed topping have definitely grown taller, and with larger leaves, although the ones I topped earlier are catching up.
I double-topped the self-topper, and she’s responded fine (as the pic on my last post shows).
I’ve decided to leave the LST etc. alone for this first grow, as I realise that frankly I have a decent amount of height to play with in my cabinet, and I’ve managed to keep stretch pretty minimal by keeping the 250W CFL nice and close from day 1.
I’ve just finished converting a wardrobe into a veg box with a little propagation chamber built in, and I think I’ll struggle to train wide and stout plants in there. Maybe I’ll start a new thread detailing the build if people would be interested. I’m really pleased with how it’s come out, and can’t wait to start cloning from one of these babes and get a little perpetual on the go 
Tx
10 Likes
Ahhh time to do that Happy Dance! Ya look in those areas described above for what some people call them crab-claw shape flowers or I like to describe them as tear-drop shape as well .
3 Likes
Day 44 from seedling
Think it’s nearly time to flip to 12/12… although the two that I topped earlier are both yet to show sex. Guess it’s worth waiting for them…?
The other four are definitely female though! 
12 Likes
Plan is now to take some cuttings from a couple of them, and get some clones on the go. Figured while we’re at it, a bit of defoliating wouldn’t hurt…
They’re getting bushy! I don’t wana overdo it, so any guidance based on these pics would be appreciated massively.
I’ve done my reading on this contentious subject, so I’m basically none the wiser for all the opinions! Haha!
Tx
10 Likes
I can’t recall are these auto’s or photo period plants? If auto’s you won’t have any success taking cuttings plays are looking GREAT btw!
1 Like
Plants are looking great! Nice and healthy an happy 
Personally I wouldn’t worry about defoliating them right now as there isn’t much to take off…If photo’s its better to take cuttings now so 1 node becomes 2 and let that lower growth come up more and really fill in that long node spacing then in a couple weeks (or by the 2nd week of flower) start defoliating to get more air flow
8 Likes
Ya they don’t look like they need any defoliation. I’m pretty conservative about it in veg, I usually only take off leaves that look bad or are blatantly blocking something important.
After a week or so of bud I get more aggressive, anything thats really blocking another bud site, or air flow, gets chucked.
Veg box sounds cool, would love to see a pic. Its always educational to see other people’s building ideas!
7 Likes
They’re photo period plants, not autos, so should be all good 
3 Likes
Thanks for the advise @MomOnTheRun & @beacher
I’ll leave them be for now then, and keep an eye during flowering.
I did a post the other day about my veg box here if you want to see it
Tx
5 Likes
No problem…always learning something new
3 Likes
We’re at day 49 since seedling, and the canopy’s really filled out.
I’m itching to flip to 12/12, but taking my time and not rushing anything has worked for me so far. I’ll take cuttings right before flipping (I don’t want the clones getting too far along in veg before I’m ready for them in the flower cab, hence I’m holding off til the last minute).
They’re all showing pistils, it’s just that the two I topped first have taken longer to show sex, and their pistils are small and harder to see. I don’t want to flip them too soon, but some of the others are crying out for it, with their big pronounced preflowers.
Tried to get a good picture of the less developed pistils, and this is the best I could get out of my phone…
TO FLIP OR NOT TO FLIP!?
12 Likes
You’ve managed to keep that canopy nice and level. Your girls look super healthy. Just remember that when you flip they will double in size at least maybe even triple. I’ll be watching the outcome when you decide to flip the lights. 
6 Likes
Pre-flowers and alternating nodes usually indicates she is ready to flip.
7 Likes
Thanks, yeh they seem to be doing really well. I looked in this morning though, and they’re charging upwards. It’s definitely time! @ReikoX thanks for pointing out the alternating nodes as a sign, I didn’t know that was an indication, but I had noticed it on several plants!
So my plan for today is to take a few clones from my two favourites, repot them into 11L pots, then give them a nice long 12 hour snooze to recover. I’m really excited!
Thanks for the advise and support 
Tx
7 Likes
Alternating nodes is the indication the plant has reached maturity and is ready to flip to 12/12
7 Likes
So I’ve taken six clones (two each from three favourites) and got them in peat pellets in the bottom of the wardrobe under a T5, and sat on a heat mat in their propagator. The light’s on the same 18/6 cycle as the main cabinet’s been working on.
I’ve also repotted my plants, watered them through with a slightly weaker than recommended nute mix with BioBloom added, then topped them up with water until I got a little bit of run-off.
I wanted to get all this done earlier in the day, but life got in the way. So I turned off the CFL only around two hours earlier than it would have gone off normally. Now the 12 hours night is starting 3 hours later than I wanted it to (to make their daylight hours work with mine!). So I’ve set my timer to give them 10 hours of night tonight as a start to shifting the light cycle to where I want it, but hopefully without stressing them out too much, especially since they’ve just been transplanted.
Do I have anything to worry about here? I really don’t want to stress them out and wind up with hermaphrodites or anything.
Tx
6 Likes
Nah you’ll be ok, just keep the cycle consistent from tomorrow on…and no light leaks ever during dark time. It should be 100% pitch black in there. I think you picked a good time those beasts are raring to go!
4 Likes
Cool, cheers. So what I’ve done is once the lights came on, I adjusted the timer’s on time slightly (only half an hour earlier than it came on this morning) which puts me where I want it. It’s now on a 12/12 cycle. As usual they look totally un-phased by anything I do to them, haha.
My cabinet now does the briefcase in Pulp Fiction thing when you open it 
8 Likes
I’m a bit concerned about temps though. I’ve got a 600W HPS about 60cm from the canopy, and I’ve intentionally put it higher than I might have wanted to kinda break them in to the new light after transplanting.
I’ve got two thermometers at the canopy - one standalone digital, and the probe for my Sonoff TH10 which controls my tube heater. You can just about see them both in my previous post. They both suggest it’s kinda high there already, although they differ in their readings by a few degC. The Sonoff says 28-29, and the standalone says 25-26 
The Sonoff also reads humidity about 8-10% higher. I’ve been working off the standalone unit so far, and everything’s been fine, so maybe the Sonoff’s over-sensitive. It is just one cheap Chinese product vs another though…
I’ve turned my vent fan up to full power (happily had it running at half pace throughout veg)
I guess it’s just a case of keeping an eye on it. I’m not sure what more I can do, maybe another circulation fan over the canopy? I have a feeling it’s gonna be a challenge to keep them safe from burning as they grow upwards. Should be fun…
4 Likes
Here are the six clones I took last night. Some leaves are touching the roof/side of the dome, so maybe I should have cut them a bit shorter… I’ll keep a keen eye and see how much I can shift them around in there to minimise contact. Fingers crossed for those. It’s nice to have my wardrobe in action at last, even if it is just the propagation chamber.
Tx
7 Likes
