Big Bud Weisman First Grow [Archive]

budweisman

05-01-2007, 11:41 PM

So, had a hankerin' to grow a few weeks ago. I'm a tropical plant grower hobby style. Since having a hard time over the past year with gettin' I figured to grow my own and use my tropical skills in a different venue.

The good folks at Nirvana shipped me 10 Big Bud seeds in exchange for some moolah. Through the miracles of snail mail the little balls of glory arrived not more than 8 days after ordering.

Having never done this before I have been researching the specifics of growing indoors. I'm keeping things inexpensive and plan to do the whole process with flouro's. I purchased a $10 4' shop lamp and one Ecolux Warm White and one Ecolux Cool white bulb to start. Plan on adding compact flouro's later as necessary.

I used the paper towel method to germinate 5 seeds using filtered water...with the hopes of getting atleast two ladies....hopefully 3. Now where the fuvk did I put that wood? I started the germination process on the night of the 25th.

By Sunday the 27th 4 of the 5 had sprouted. The 5th sprouted about 6-12 hours later. I bought some of those pots that decompose and filled them with Miracle Grow Seed starter soil. Watered each pot pretty good just so they werez good and damp but not soakin'. Added 4 germinated seeds to the pots on the 29th and the other on the 30th. 4 Seeds found air and light by the 30th with the other busting through on May Day.

All are under the lights by May 1. You can see from the pics that I have the lights as close as possible right now. Not sure where I am going from here but looks like I may need to move the light up by tomorrow some time. Although they are still tiny they look healthy so far.

I'll keep you posted as I make progress.

BW

sombro

05-02-2007, 01:18 AM

good luck matey, there's nothing to beat smokin your own!

cheers

StoninStanley

05-02-2007, 05:58 AM

very nice :gthumb: ill be keepin an eye on this grow.

only reason i wouldnt keep growin with floros was cause i had to move the lights constantly :mad: sometimes i would spend an hour positioning my 1 plant so all the lights were 1-2 inches away. easiest way i think you can do it is wait till they get taller when you cant get light to the lower limbs, then lean that shop light against the wall and put the plant between the wall and the light. add more shop lights and cfl's in clamp lights around it. sounds like a bitch to do, and it is, but your plant will grow well. grow em single cola like that and youll probably get good yield. that's how i grew my first grow

good ol lemonjello is the floro guy round here i think (correct me if im wrong) and he grows good buds with em. maybe he'll chime in with some tips

might want to get a little fan in there to circulate some air bro ;)

budweisman

05-02-2007, 10:18 AM

Thanks for the attaboy's, tips and guidance. Plan on getting some cfl's and a fan this weekend. Right now getting away with opening a window to let in fresh air and blow the plants around a bit. Wasn't expecting everything to show up and take off quite this quickly.

Was wondering whether or not I needed to lst them...but I like the idea of the single cola...keep it simple this first time around. I still have another 5 seeds I can use to try different things next time around.

Also planning to check PH soon...sounds like it can be a big deal.

BW

StoninStanley

05-02-2007, 03:44 PM

its hard to keep them short enough to get light through to all the plant if you lst them. if you do lst them id say a SCROG is better than just lst, it's easier to keep the plants the exact height you want em.

:pass: happy stonin

Thoth

05-02-2007, 03:59 PM

Hey Bud Weisman. Welcome to the boards my friend.

Looks like you're off to a good start. :p Really is easier to prepare before you start growing, but that's okay just work with it. The fluoros work fine, it really just matters how long you plan on vegging them and how big you want them to get. To disagree with Stanley, I think LST helps light penetration tremendously. It helps to open up the plant. The lowest stems will be in a completely different spot than the uppermost stems and that helps with light penetration; as opposed to big fan leaves shading everyting underneath it. My first grow I had 4 plants, I topped 2, LSTed one of those, and let 2 grow naturally. By far, the one that I both topped and LSTed yielded the most. Other than ease of maintenance and visual appeal, I don't see benefits in letting them grow naturally when compared to LST. ( That's purely my opinion. )

Lots of good peeps around here. Just shout if you've got a question, I don't think i've ever seen a question take longer than a day to be answered, usually it's within the hour for sure. I will be around to check out your stuff.

Peace dude.

StoninStanley

05-02-2007, 04:11 PM

yes, g-mang, i am a big fan of the lst as well. not with floros tho! its just so much easier to keep an even canopy with the SCROG, id imagine that if you could keep your canopy as even as possible you would get the best light coverage to all the plants happy little buds. imagine sitting with your floros and yer plants with uneven canopies, and then trying to get the straight shop light to get 2 inches away from all the tops :eek: been there done that shit and its a big hassle. im just anal i guess and try to get as much light to my plants as i can.

but the benefits you dont see are in the labor of moving the lights. if you grow a stick and light it with a light that shaped like a stick, its easy.

i agree with you tho that lst plants look alot better :gthumb:

another thing i remember is that where i put the CFLs the buds grew fatter and a lil denser. cant remember the wattage its been too long.

if i had to do it again, single cola. hands down

budweisman

05-02-2007, 05:28 PM

So having never seen a live plant in person let me ask the obvious. It sounds like using a natural grow that there is one cola where the bud grows? Assuming this is a true statement...Stanley's argument is that lighting this single "stick" with a straight 4 ft shop light (plus I plan to add many more CFL's) is easier than trying to light multiple cola's of varying height and angles.

If there are multiple cola's with a natural grow then I assume there is an issue with trying to get enough light to all of them. Or....Thoth...are you saying that getting light to all of the plant so that it grows to it's potential (even if there is a single cola) will be difficult using a natural grow? Basically saying that you can't ignore the rest of the plant while focusing on the Cola....this would cause a loss of output?

My plan at the moment is to put CFL's all around the base/mid sections of the plants plus add another 2/4 ft shop light. I'm also assuming I'll be down to 2-3 plants at most during a large portion of the flowing period. Meaning...less to light.

Just want to say I appreciate all the encouragement and help. Mostly I'm doing this just for the fun of it....love learning new stuff. I'm sure there is room for error...but I sure don't want to be totally ignorant.

Thanks!
BW

budweisman

05-02-2007, 05:33 PM

So here's a question I have not seen an answer to in all of my research so far. What determine's a plants sex? Is this already determined in the seed or is it totally based on growing conditions? I have read that certain elements can lead to more males/females so it can't totally be determined by inside the seed...but do they start out leaning toward being female or male?

The reason I ask is that two plants are growing faster than the others...I'm thinking...does that mean they are probably male? Or does it just mean that different micro conditions inside their pots are causing this to happen?

Just wondering.

StoninStanley

05-02-2007, 06:15 PM

So having never seen a live plant in person let me ask the obvious. It sounds like using a natural grow that there is one cola where the bud grows? Assuming this is a true statement...Stanley's argument is that lighting this single "stick" with a straight 4 ft shop light (plus I plan to add many more CFL's) is easier than trying to light multiple cola's of varying height and angles.

If there are multiple cola's with a natural grow then I assume there is an issue with trying to get enough light to all of them. Or....Thoth...are you saying that getting light to all of the plant so that it grows to it's potential (even if there is a single cola) will be difficult using a natural grow? Basically saying that you can't ignore the rest of the plant while focusing on the Cola....this would cause a loss of output?

BW

well you see thats the thing, cannabis plants have a lot of variety and grow differently.

think big bud has lots of phenotypes and so you'll probably have some variety between plants.

go here: http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/ogfaq/index.htm

read it all, take it in. lots of priceless info there

grow it how you think is best for you, man. weed grows any way you want it to. you might enjoy lst'ing more than any other method just cause it gives you a reason to mess with your plants and feel under their bras :cool:

Fred Lemonjello

05-02-2007, 06:32 PM

Hey there Bud..... nice to have ya at HGB.

Welp..... when I was using Shoplights the SCROG method was preferred. But then I was using 10 lights with 20 bulbs total for flowering.
I would generally flower the clones after they were 10"-14" tall..... yes they would havta be trained and moved under the large sized chicken wire..... yes it is a bit of a hassle, but you get some awesome light coverage that way!
I would just tuck the buds under the wire to the next hole..... using the knotch on one of the smaller off shoots to hold it in place.
About half way thru flower, after the stretch, all I would really do then is raise the lights one chain knotch as needed.... keeping the light 1"-2" off the tops.

LST is really (Kinda/Sorta) like SCROG..... except you tie or pin (anchor) the stems instead of using fencing, either plastic or metal the choosen material for SCROG.
Either way, the goal is to maximize the amount of light the whole plant can receive.

Have a look at my old GJ for a few pointers about Fluorescent light grows.... try to pay lil attention the mindless rambling I tend to do.... plenty of pics to gaze at though.
SSL > https://svr52.ehostpros.com/~homegr52/forums/showthread.php?t=620 (https://svr52.ehostpros.com/%7Ehomegr52/forums/showthread.php?t=620)
Non-SSL >... Ah hell I cant remeber how get to the Non-SSL link... and damned if recall how to hard type the addy :slap:.... Oh well..... just look fer my old GJ.... Fred's Funny Farm.

Fred

budweisman

05-02-2007, 09:01 PM

Thx Fred. Been reading through you'z journal. Think I'm only page 5ish but already learned lots of good stuff. Mostly I'm paying close attention to the amount of fluo's I will need for veg vs. flower. I'm also debating whether or not to scrog them.

budweisman

05-09-2007, 03:24 PM

Just updating the pics. Only bottled water so far. Plan on a light feeding this weekend. 24/0 since they germinated 11 days ago. Planning on going to 18/6 but not sure when to do it. Maybe I'll start weening back to 18/6 this weekend as well. Mostly though I don't like to make too many changes at once since it makes it tougher to troubleshoot any issues....so I might wait another week before going 18/6. Also not sure when to pot up...or what size to use. 1 gallon or 2? Anyway...just wanted to provide an update. Making progress.

BW

Mr Burns

05-09-2007, 04:22 PM

Interesting.

http://www.homegrownbud.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10609&d=1178745813

Try and keep em all in the same watering schedule. What's wet can carry pests and alternate watering gives grounds for the egyts to hop and breed on. Dry them pests to death!

Are they going in the ground or pots, & does humor belong in music?

B.

budweisman

05-09-2007, 04:38 PM

Right on Mr. B. Thanks for the tip. Interestingly they all got a light watering yesterday but the plants on the ends seem to have dried up faster on the top of the soil. My guess is that they didn't get as much water so I'm going to try and be better about consistency.

They will be going into pots. I'm not sure when that should happen so any feedback would be most welcome. Also.....1 gallon or larger? I don't want to veg them any longer than necessary...but don't want to short change them either. I know some plants like to be root bound but from what I read it sounds like these guys like plenty of room to stretch out.

Thanks,
BW

Mr Burns

05-09-2007, 04:50 PM

.....1 gallon or larger? I don't want to veg them any longer than necessary...but don't want to short change them either. I know some plants like to be root bound but from what I read it sounds like these guys like plenty of room to stretch out.

Thanks,
BW

Hard one to answer. For a full natural plant go large and spend oodles of hours surfing and reading.
The smaller the plants resting place the more reliant on you for input. This I believe has benefits though. I see smaller and especialy micro pot growing as nearing, if not, hydroponics.

05-09-2007, 06:47 PM

seem a bit legy to me so i would bury them up to there cotys in a one gallon pot to start with for a couple weeks then go from there

peace

:pass:

budweisman

05-09-2007, 07:25 PM

Thanks CB....was thinking about how far I was going to bury them when I transplanted. Not sure how I can keep the legginess down since I have pretty much had the lights within an inch the entire time....usually moving the lights multiple times in a day. Maybe if I put lights on the sides as well as the top. I have also added the dull side of aluminum foil to help with more side light.

Thanks for the tip.

BW

05-09-2007, 08:54 PM

I have also added the dull side of aluminum foil to help with more side light.

be better off with white cardboard than foil :) or anything painted flat white

usally mine stop the leggy BS after the first transplant when buried deep

didnt see the wattage on ya lights, I use the 40 watters x 6 for veg first 2 weeks.... just the plants way of say'n HEY could use a bit more lumens here duh!

peace

:pass:

high2dsky

05-09-2007, 09:56 PM

good luck and best wishes amigo.

budweisman

05-09-2007, 10:55 PM

be better off with white cardboard than foil :) or anything painted flat white

usally mine stop the leggy BS after the first transplant when buried deep

didnt see the wattage on ya lights, I use the 40 watters x 6 for veg first 2 weeks.... just the plants way of say'n HEY could use a bit more lumens here duh!

peace

:pass:

I have the 32 watters.....I'll work on more lighting this weekend. First 2 weeks will have already happened...but should help going forward. Nice getting all the help....really appreciate it.

budweisman

05-11-2007, 10:56 AM

So last night one of my plants decided to bust out and do some growing. Before I went to bed I tended to the plants and adjusted the lighting height... leaving about a 1/4 inch of space from the top leaf of the tallest plant to the light.

When I went to check on them this morning one plant (the tallest) had all leaves either touching or up in the light fixture between the two bulbs of my shop light. I have been monitoring growth pretty closely each day and this was by far the most growth I have seen in a single night. Don't know what happened unless its just reaching that age where it will start growing faster. To be honest it hardly looked like the plant I left when I went to bed. Pretty cool! Here are some pics...I'm including a few of the pics i took a few days ago as well for comparison.

It's the plant on the far right in each pic...although it looks like it is reaching it is starting to get a nice full top. I'm adding more lights this weekend and potting up to a one gallon pot. Note...the first two pics are from Day 11 and right two pics were taken today (Day 13).

BW

theyorker

05-11-2007, 02:31 PM

Hey Bud. Your plants are looking great man. Kudo's on the lights. Try and get as much on them as you can. If I could offer one suggestion on the pots it would be to use at least 3 gallons now so you don't have to transplant again. If you go to flower in one gallon, you will have a fairly small plant with a corresponding yield. :2cents:

budweisman

05-11-2007, 03:34 PM

Just in time Yorker! Just got back from getting some 1 gallon nursery pots. I'll take them back and replace with 3 gallon per your recommendation. Planning on transplanting either tonight or tomorrow morning.

Thanks!

BW

budweisman

05-11-2007, 03:43 PM

So all the talk about soil acidity on multiple sites led me to get a PH tester today. Looks like the PH is just under 7.0 so looks to be good. I'm hoping to not really need to deal with the PH much if at all but was curious and it will come in handy if something does go wrong along the way.

BW

Trailer Park Boy

05-11-2007, 03:57 PM

I wouldn't get rid of those 1 gallons yet. those are seedlings, you are going to want to veg them for a while. besides, 3 gallons each is alot of dirt to waste on males and weaklings. I veg everything in half gallon nursery pots. Under fluoro's OR a 1000W and never had problems getting big plants.

Say you veg 6 weeks from seed before you go to flower, are you going to transplant then to a 5 or 7 gallon? time that by 10 plants and you are talking a big pile of dirt! Besides the fact that a plant three weeks into flowering in a 5 or 7 gal pot is HUGE! Much bigger then your light can effectively reach.

If you veg in a one gallon for 6 weeks and then transplant to a three gallon a week before flowering you won't have any problems at all. Nice sized plants for optimum indoor bud growth.

Here is a Dos mofeta in a half gallon pot. it's been in the same pot for close to 7 weeks veg time in this pic. It would have been bigger if it wasn't recovering from multiple FIM's. Sadly this was plant was lost in a LEO raid on a friend of mine. She lives on in her clones, which have been spread to anyone willing to grow one.

Keep the one gallons, or smaller if you wanna save space. save the three gallon pots for flowering, you'll be glad you did

Ricky

budweisman

05-12-2007, 01:08 PM

As promised, I have been working on my garden this morning. I have transplanted cinco flora's into one gallon pots. I took a bunch of pictures just to document my approach. I'm using some of my general tropical growing knowledge in combination with the tips provided here. In theory this should help me produce a few nice plants. In reality we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Again, just let me say thanks for all of the help so far. For the record, I haven't smoked in over a year while I have been in training for an Ironman triathlon at the end of this year. I tell you this because I am doing this almost purely because I enjoy growing plants and I thought it would be fun just to see if I could do it. I'm interested in the final product mostly because I like to know that if I work at something I can be reasonably good at it. When/If I get to harvest I won't be able to touch it until after my event in November...but I digress...let's get back to the grow.

So I used some ingrediants I had around the house and bought a few extra...here is a list:

5 One Gallon Pots
Sun Land Garden Potting Soil with Beneficial Microbes
EB Stone Cactus Mix
EB Stone Perlite
Osmocote Slow Release Plant Food (19-6-12)

I started by adding ingrediants to the one gallon pots in the following order:

Step 1: Add a base of Sun Land Soil
Step 2: Add Perlite
Step 3: Add Cactus Mix
Step 4: Add 1/2 Teaspoon of Osmocote
Step 5: Mix all ingrediants together.

Pics are included below of the 5 steps.

After that I cut the existing decomposable pots on the bottoms...basically just cut some holes to better allow the roots to escape.

My Random Theory Number 1
I'm not sure this is necessary but the theory is that the slow release fertilizer is near the bottom of the pots. I want to force the roots to work their way to the bottom to both encourage a full root ball and to find the food. There should be less chance of burning both because the fertilizer is slow release AND the roots are growing to the food as opposed to being right on top of the plant. The existing decomposable pots will disintegrate but hopefully not before the roots find it easier to escape from the bottom. Hopefully this will provide a solid foundation for the rest of the grow.

Also, since the fertilizer is supposed to be good for 4 months they shouldn't really need to be fed again during vegging...although I plan to feed them very lightly (prob less than 1/4 strength) with a water based fertilizer along the way. I will use a different fertilizer for flowering later and will probably increase the dosage. I use Osmocote with all my plants around the house and so far it seems to work well.
End Random Theory Number 1

Once I cut the pots I added the plants to the plastic one gallon pots and then used 'Mad Scientist' style to add more cactus mix, perlite, and Sun Land mix until I had filled the pots to a comfortable level (up to the cotys).

I did not water at this time because I realized I had no water other than bottled. Since I wasn't really willing to give up my Fiji water I decided to fill a bucket with water and give it some time to allow the chlorine to evaporate and I would water either late tomorrow or early the next day. Each plant had already been watered in their existing pots before the transplant anyway.

Once everything was complete I placed them out in a sunny place in my back yard to get some fresh air and sunshine. Then...I thought...they have never really seen direct sun before. This could be a bad idea. So I did some micro positioning of the plants in the understory of my back yard jungle so they would get a more filtered sun light. This would only be for the day as I prepared their indoor lighting. I also monitored them closely as any changes like these can be cause for shock.

Is this too long? Have you lost interest? Does humor belong in music? (Don't have a good answer for this yet Mr. Burns) Why am I so enthralled by this process? This post would be much more interesting if I were actually smoking something. Ok.....ever onwards.....

Once everything was complete I realized that keeping track of the plants by number isn't all that exciting or interesting so I decided to name them. To give me a theme I decided to use the names of the first five people to respond to my initial journal post with some twists so as not to make anyone uncomfortable. Keep in mind that when looking at the pictures of the plants, they are numbered/named right to left.....Divehi style. So here goes:

Plant 1: Elegansia S
Plant 2: Senorita Cannibi
Plant 3: Miss T
Plant 4: "The Lovely" Jello Haha
Plant 5: Princess Bunsy

I don't know why but plant number four insists on being referred to as "The Lovely" Jello Haha. I argued that it's too hard to say that every time but she insists....so if you need to reference her by name I must insist that you use her entire name...calling her Jello Haha just infuriates her. Now, we know that they cannot all be females....but at this point since we have no way of knowing we must be hopeful and assume the best.

So without any further blabbering jiberish I give you my five flora starring The Lovely Jello Haha. In case you cannot tell....so far my favorite plant is the Lovely Jello Haha....she is a nice shade of dark green and very lush looking...let's hope she is really a she.

BW

budweisman

05-12-2007, 01:14 PM

I'm all out of creative writing....so just more pics for you. The one pic has Elegansia S on the right and Senorita Cannibi on the left. The other pic shows from right to left....Miss T, The Lovely Jello Haha, and Princess Bunsy.

BW

05-12-2007, 01:20 PM

the filtered light is perfect for those plants :) dont want to sunburn them from the get go like.

will be watching to see how fert mix works at as well :watch:

nice start on your grow bro

:pass:

budweisman

05-14-2007, 06:03 PM

Thanks CB.....watching them like a hawk this week since they have undergone so many changes. In a few days I think I'll start feeding from the top. Don't want to change to many variables at once. Especially since the plants look pretty good so far.

I have added some more lighting. Two different versions of Ott lamps. They are low wattage but are very specific to growing plants indoors. 3 of the 5 plants are getting an additional dose of these lights (along with the flouro's) to see how they compare with the other two. Did notice that the plants started "facing" the additional lighting...meaning their leaves were positioned specifically to get light from the new source. Since the new light was more from the side than the top it was very noticeable.

BW

budweisman

05-20-2007, 12:07 PM

So basically just let the plants do what they do best this week. Didn't really give them much of anything until yesterday. I did spend time each day adjusting the lights. By the end of the week some leaves were starting to fall outside of the single 4' shop light that I currently use. Yesterday I added another pair of flor's in an additional 4' shop lamp with the new tubes being Philips 40 watt Natural Sunshine Full Spectrum Lights. Rated at 5000k on the color scale.

I also took the plants out for pictures today and to give them a watering/feeding. The pots were pretty dry and light as they had not been watered since last weekend. Yesterday I filled a half gallon milk container with tap water and added 1/8 teaspoon of Epiphyte's Delight rated at 17-9-26.

I should note that "The Lovely" Jello Haha being a diva has been under an Ott light specifically for her. It does seem to make a difference as she is very compact and a much darker green. Diva's....pffft.

Here are this week's pics.

First Pic from right to left:
Elegansia S, Senorita Cannibi, Miss T, "The Lovely" Jello Haha, Princess Bunsy

Second Pic right to left:
"The Lovely" Jello Haha, Princess Bunsy

Third pic right to left:
Elegansia S, Senorita Cannibi, Miss T

BW

budweisman

05-20-2007, 01:22 PM

gorilla

05-20-2007, 11:37 PM

I've read through the FAQ's....well not completely but I have read quite a bit. I still have a few questions for you folks.

First, will my plants put off multiple branches if I don't top them and force them to grow multiple branches? Some plants, like Plumeria for example, do not branch until they flower. The reason for this question is after reading I feel like it would be a good idea to take some cuttings but I'm not sure I want to top them. I'm hoping, based on pictures I have seen of adult plants, that my plants will grow some branches and I can take cuttings from them just before sending them into 12/12.

My second question is what happens to these plants after they flower? Will they only flower once and then die? If you cut them way back after flowering would they continue to live? I'm guessing once they flower that's it. I don't seem to read anything about after flowering except cutting them up and drying.

Thanks for the help,
BW

Hey BW.

Your plants will probably branch before going into 12/12, give them a few more weeks to veg. Topping is pretty cool too, and if you haven't done it before it might be a good experience to do it to one plant and see how it works for you. There are pros and cons to everything.

Left to it's own devices a plant will die after it's done flowering, but long after the time you want to harvest the buds. Getting a plant to grow again is called a Reveg. Here's a link with some pictures (https://svr52.ehostpros.com/%7Ehomegr52/forums/showthread.php?t=630&highlight=reveg), It's not a how-to or anything. CB reveges all of the time too, and fing has one growing in his 'Outdoor '07' thread.

Plants look great and I love the strain names. What is an Ott light?

Peace dude.

budweisman

05-21-2007, 12:18 AM

Hey BW.

Your plants will probably branch before going into 12/12, give them a few more weeks to veg. Topping is pretty cool too, and if you haven't done it before it might be a good experience to do it to one plant and see how it works for you. There are pros and cons to everything.

Left to it's own devices a plant will die after it's done flowering, but long after the time you want to harvest the buds. Getting a plant to grow again is called a Reveg. Here's a link with some pictures (https://svr52.ehostpros.com/%7Ehomegr52/forums/showthread.php?t=630&highlight=reveg), It's not a how-to or anything. CB reveges all of the time too, and fing has one growing in his 'Outdoor '07' thread.

Plants look great and I love the strain names. What is an Ott light?

Peace dude.

Thanks Gorilla. Guess I'll think about topping one of them. I was going to start 12/12 at 4 weeks...but I think it's too soon and I'll wait until 6-7 weeks. Those extra weeks should allow me to take some cuttings and allow a topped plant time to rejuvenate.

I guess a guy named Something Ott came up with a light that works well on plants. Recreates artificial light conditions better than standard lighting. Anyway...they had them at the depot so I figured I would give it a try. Main problem with this one light is that it's just too small. However, when used on a single plant it does seem to help that plant grow differently than the rest. In my case "The Lovely" Jello Haha looks fantastic. Definitely better than the rest of the plants. I'm hoping she delivers. Here is a link for you.

http://www.ottlite.com/productdetail.asp?product_id=42

BW

budweisman

05-28-2007, 12:05 PM

Hey folks,

So I'm going to top two of my plants. I want to veg another 3 weeks or so and two of the plants are just getting too tall. I know there are lots of theories on what node should be used for topping...does anyone have experience with where I should do it? Also, can I turn the cutting/topping into a clone? I have been reading the FAQ and haven't really found anything that addresses these questions.

If I cut above the third node there are two good sets of leaves that should turn into two nice new branches. It also allows a large new segment for cloning if that is possible. Is that too low? I estimate the third node to be about 7 inches tall.

Could be that these are males as it seems like the faster and taller ones tend to be male..atleast from the journals I have read. In this case I am topping for no real good reason other than height. But obviously this is all speculative since at best that's probably just a very general rule.

Thanks in advance,

BW

gorilla

05-28-2007, 12:20 PM

I think CB told me to top third or fourth node down from the top of the plant. You said top at the third node, 7 inches.. how tall is the plant to start? You can clone the cut top, yes. It may take a bit longer to clone than a skinny side branch, but it will be worth it and provide a stocky cutting.

budweisman

05-28-2007, 12:49 PM

Without an actual ruler....they are in the 11-13 inch range. I was counting up nodes...you are saying to count down? Looking at the two plants closer it appears..based on new node leaf size (the new growth of leaves that are coming from the lower nodes)...that one of the tall plants would be better topped at node 3 from the bottom and the other at node 4 from the bottom. I have to go out and look at how many that would be from the top.

I have trimmed and taken cuttings many times before on other plants....why can't I bring myself to chop my Cannibis? I'm nervous.

Fred Lemonjello

05-28-2007, 12:58 PM

Topping is a lil different then cloning.... although YES they can be one in the same, depending......

If you want clones just give em a good whack, the size of plants you have one node is good enuf to be below the soil.... shave/ scrape a lil of he stem below that node, this helps promote root growth.
Also a lil root power or gel will work wonders!
You can take clones from any branch/ stem, does not have to be the top.

Also, you can "Top" any branch.... how bushy do ya want it?
Topping is basically when you pinch off the very top growth of any branch or stem. This causes the two nodes below that pinch point to take over, becoming the top of that branch/ stem..... you get two for one...... but not realy size nor weight wize....
Basically what your doing when "topping" is reducing the size of the main buds on that branch.
A plant is only going to produce so much finished product....... mostly that weight will depend on care given during it's growth from veg thru flower..... and pot size, or root area available.

Throwing pennies at the well
Fred

budweisman

05-28-2007, 01:16 PM

Thanks Fred!

Yes...due to size I want to top. Which really sounds to me like a taking a cutting....just that it's typically the main growing branch. Sounds like it may even be more general than that meaning to cut any general growing branch and cause multiple stems to grow at the node where it was cut.

I was just curious about whether or not I could clone the cutting from the main branch rather than just trash it. All the cloning docs I found talked about cloning a secondary branch. Sounds like it shouldn't be an issue.

I'm not really familiar with the term "cloning" from propagating tropicals...mostly it's referred to as "taking a cutting"....and different plants like it to be done in different ways. Some allow you to just take a leaf while others need a pretty stout stem.

Thanks for the quick response...I'm going to do this today so it really helps.

BW

budweisman

05-28-2007, 02:38 PM

So I am in the contemplative mood today and been thinking about my grow. I took the girls outside to get some of Mother Nature's best. I have a small greenhouse that right now has day time temps of about 86 degrees with humidity of 75%.

There is an opening that allows a natural breeze from about 11a-sunset. We have a good amount of wind almost every day. The girls are right now positioned near this vent and so they are getting some wonderful cool breezes blowing them around a bit. Night time temps are about 50ish degrees and the wind comes to a stop. Sunrise about 5:45ish and sunset around 7:30-8ish.

For the past 10 days I have been weening them back to 18/6 from 24/0. This weekend they have been on 18/6. I moved them outside today and just for giggles put them in a spot in the greenhouse and created a privacy area. They are under a shade cloth so they are getting filtered light. Was really just taking them out for a short while with plans to bring them back inside tonight.

I have been watching them like a hawk and noticed within a few hours that they looked "perky" with their leaves reaching up. I have seen them do this on occasion but they are all doing the same thing now. So...I started thinking it might be a good idea to leave them outside for the remainder of their vegging process...I'm in no hurry for them to grow...as I have only a small space to flower them later on. I still want to flower indoors.

So....anyone think this is a problem? Think they might react poorly to the change? Does going from artificial to natural to artificial lighting cause any problems?

I know this post is kind of long but wanted to give as good a description of the changes as possible. Seems like it might be good but maybe it won't be enough hours of daylight. I don't want to use artificial lighting outside for fear of attracting attention. I could also bring them in at night for more light...but I'm really wondering if 13-14(days are only getting longer) hours of filtered sunlight is better than 18 hours of artificial light.

Things that make you go hmmmmmm.........

So again.....thanks for everyone's thoughts. Hopefully some of these questions will help people in the future and some might help those of you with experience think through past experience to formulate a theory.

Happy hypothenisizing,

BW

high2dsky

05-28-2007, 02:39 PM

good luck mann.:D

Fred Lemonjello

05-28-2007, 02:43 PM

Yes, 'Cutting' is the proper term to use.
No, The main stem is not an issue..... can take the cutting from any growth.... even from a stem from any branch. Of course response to rooting from a stem from a branch will be slower and chances decrease of survial too.

I hear yas on the Not Wanting To Waste issue.... if yur gunna "Top", then "Top" enuf for a cutting...... tis why I mentioned...... "" although YES they can be one in the same, depending......"".........
It's not rocket science.... tis eazy smeezy like. Fer once ya do it the firs time, it's like ridin' a bike there after.

Tell ya one thang Bro...... at this stage of the game...... yur gunna have plenty ta smoke.... experimanting with the plant and its cutting will do it lil harm.
Unless yas screw up the ferts, water, or lights......
Tis good to experiment..... ask..... read/ research.... As a person once tol me, and continues to say the same to this day, "Tis but a weed".

ENJOY!:erm:

Fred

Fred Lemonjello

05-28-2007, 02:56 PM

[quote=post #40] :blah: [/qoute]

Get Yur Grow On!
Has a green house N shit!
:mmmm::bananna:

Fred

budweisman

05-28-2007, 04:38 PM

[quote=post #40] :blah: [/qoute]

Get Yur Grow On!
Has a green house N shit!
:mmmm::bananna:

Fred

Not quite a proper greenhouse...but definitely a controlled grow area where the temps are more stable than outside. The reason I say it's not totally proper is that it is not sealed. Even then....temps here are very mild and from Spring to Winter again are pretty much the same every day...very consistent.

My plants do very well inside and I notice that plants inside tend to be about 3-4 weeks ahead of plants outside in terms of starting their growth after winter. Plus because of the roof I control the water. I've just been trying to figure out security...and now I have that figured out.

Funny thing is....as I have been doing yard work and thinking about my questions...I'm thinking...why am I overthinking this? It is a weed and of course it will do well outside! Not sure if growth will slow down or not but if it does that's fine. Would seem to be more of a question as to would it do well inside under fluoro's....and so far they have.

So thank you very much...guess I just needed to hear it from someone else. Feel like I have quite a bit of time and energy invested and really want to see some good results. I'd be cool with a half and ecstatic with an oscar.

Thanks for all the support!

BW

budweisman

05-28-2007, 05:52 PM

Moved them into their new digs for the next 3-4 weeks. Will be watching them closely to make sure they like it. No complaints from any of the ladies so far. Without any experience and just going on purely what I have read about males and height it looks like 2 males and 3 ladies. Of course this is based on one trait so most likely I will be completely wrong...just thought I would throw that out there. Hopefully I don't jinx myself and get 5 dudes.

BW

05-29-2007, 04:41 PM

Without any experience and just going on purely what I have read about males and height it looks like 2 males and 3 ladies. Of course this is based on one trait so most likely I will be completely wrong...

never know untill they drop there nickers :D

been fooled many a time here but yes general rule of thumb is the males grow taller.

will know in a few weeks thats for sure :)

plants look real happy so keep on keep'n on :D

grow on

:pass:

Permagrin

05-29-2007, 06:55 PM

budweisman

05-30-2007, 12:23 AM

Hea Budweisman,
Real nice grow. I have been real busy for quite a while trying to build my first home. We finally got moved in last sunday. woo hoo finally. Anyway. I wanted to say I have been trying to catch up on posts and I am impressed that your plants have grown so well in less than one month. Keep up the good work. Hopefully when your triathalon gets finished youll have some nice bud just waiting for you to pop open and enjoy.

Yea....been thinking about that. Was thinking how hard it will be not to just have a little taste since it should be ready well before the event.:D We'll see how good my discipline is in the end! I mean...a little taste won't change anything.

Fantastic on your new house...so much work to move into a new house but great fun all the same. Lots of fun getting it dialed in so it becomes a home and not just a house. I've spent a ton of time on my back yard planting many exotic tropicals that I have spent years collecting. I can't even imagine moving to another house and leaving it all behind.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I'm very happy with the grow so far...the help I get here really has been valuable and fun in the process. Feel like I live in this whole other world...kind of cool.

BW

budweisman

06-11-2007, 11:34 PM

OK folks. 2 weekends ago I topped all the plants. Tried to make 2 cuttings out of each "topping". The cuttings appear to be well at the moment, even showing more growth. They are in water still rooting. But...that's just additional info. The real reason I am posting besides providing an update is to get help identifying sex. I'm still getting used to using my camera in Macro mode so bear with some of my pics. I have tried to provide multiple pics of the same thing to help out a bit. If you need more pics let me know.

The first picture is a plant that has been topped and you are seeing the plant that is still in the pot. Looks almost certainly like a male to me...but I have never done this before. Is that enough to say it is a male and I should get rid of him? The second two shots are of a cutting of the same plant. The 4th and 5th pictures are a different plant. This is the picture I don't think has enough detail for you....so just let me know if you can tell one way or the other. The last picture is a cutting(not sure which plant)....that's the growth tip. Is that just more leaves coming out or something else? Anyway, things are starting to change and I plan to officially put them under 12/12 starting this weekend.

All the plants have recovered well from the topping and are doing very well. I plan to take some more cuttings of a couple of the plants and hope that they are female. I'm also considering moving the male(s) to another area of my yard and continue vegging them. Wouldn't mind using one to create seeds with a female clone for future use. That way I know I'll be good on seeds for a long time.

Thanks everyone,
BW

gorilla

06-11-2007, 11:49 PM

first, second, and third pics are males. I'm not sure about the fourth or fifth. The sixth picture is female.

defined balls are males. when you see clusters of these balls, you know it's a male for sure.

femmes are a little bit more tricky. most of the time they start off a little more oval shaped than a male ball, but are sometimes almost identical. a female truly gives herself away when she produces a hair, or a pistil, like you see in your sixth picture.

06-12-2007, 12:29 AM

4th looks male and 5th looks female to me :shrug:

time will tell :)

:pass:

budweisman

06-12-2007, 07:37 AM

budweisman

06-12-2007, 07:22 PM

So here are the results so far:

Elegansia S - 60% Sure Female
Senorita Cannibi - 100% Male
Miss T - 85% Female
The Lovely Miss Jello Haha - 90%+ Female
Princess Bunsy - 90%+ Female

Even if the just the 3 plants end up female I'll be ecstatic. I can't seem to tell for sure but it really looks like Elegansia S may be female as well...I have really thought all along she would be a male due to her size. I'm almost positive that The Lovely Miss Jello Haha and Princess Bunsy are girls...Senorita Cannibi is definitely an imposter. He is the one in the pics with all the dangly balls. This weekend...if not before they are destined for 12/12.

BW

Cel

06-12-2007, 09:17 PM

gorilla

06-12-2007, 10:06 PM

Agreed. I would kill the males a.s.a.p. unless you plan on pollenating.

budweisman

06-12-2007, 10:46 PM

Done. Did it tonight. Moved him out. Thank you very much for the advice...this rookie much appreciates it! I'm thinking about pollenating so I moved him to a separate part of my back yard a long way from the girls and down wind to boot. Was thinking about taking one of the female cuttings and using it to pollenate at a later date so I will have an abundance of seeds for the future.

theyorker

06-12-2007, 10:56 PM

Whenever I've had a plant that was male it always showed sex much earlier then the females. I would suspect the rest of your plants are female. Plants are looking good man.

budweisman

06-15-2007, 12:23 PM

heya Weis :)

Nice grow you got there matey!
just wanted to add a lil bit of my experience incase you'd like to hear :)

When i know which is male for sure, off it goes, straight in the bin, unless i plan on pollenating...
but i dont fawk with that ish hehe
the thing is, those balls look almost mature mate, and well, over a period of 24 hours they can pop and dump all their crap :mad:
so best to isolate them if not kill them asap :)

Hope this helps

Grow on :D

Thanks Cel and Gorilla for the kind words...I took the male out that night and the next day I noticed the little flowers on top opening...then I noticed today that one of the ball sacks has opened. Whew...that was close!

Cel

06-15-2007, 01:45 PM

now if that aint a bitch hehehe!

One time i discarded some males in a black bin bag, semi closed it cuz i had loads to do...sure enough the bastard popped the balls over night.. even after being cut and broken into shape to fit in the bag...
Lost quite a few buds that way, so im super safe from now, its a literal quarantine or disposal in several black bin liners, just to be on the safe side hehe :D

Glad u caught the traitor in time matey :)

Celective

gorilla

06-15-2007, 05:35 PM

Whenever I've had a plant that was male it always showed sex much earlier then the females. I would suspect the rest of your plants are female. Plants are looking good man. I have seen this happen as well, but for the record I have had females show before males. It is easy enough to spot a male before he starts opening pollen sacks, anyway.

budweisman

06-23-2007, 03:55 PM

Been a while so here is another update for you....lots to report so multiple posts to come. At Day 47 I took another set of cuttings from each plant. The reason I took these additional cuttings was stalk size. The original cuttings were taken from the main stalk as a part of topping the plants. I was concerned the stalks were very thick and might not root properly...if at all.

I used the simplest cutting method of just soaking them in a cup of water until roots form. At the time of the first cutting they had not vegged long enough to send up secondary shoots from lower on the plant. I waited an extra week and half before sending them to flower so I could take a cutting from these lower stalks. By the time I took the second cutting each plant was putting up two 3-4" secondary stalks along with the two main stalks that came up due to topping the plants.

So...it has taken 3 weeks for the first of the larger cuttings to put out roots. A second large cutting is putting out roots but not enough to yet plant. Should be ready in another day or two or three....exact science and all. :) None of the smaller cuttings have roots yet...and they were cut 10 days ago. However, they still look alive and well. This method seems to take some time although I believe I will be successful in rooting most of them. Knock on wood. Whether I get them to grow once they are rooted remains to be seen.

I have noticed a white stuff that forms at the stalk. It seems to preceed the roots. The larger stalks get it....the smaller ones don't have it as of yet. I am including pics of the rooted large stalk and another that hasn't rooted yet but does have the white stuff. My plan is to get the cuttings back into vegetative growth once they are rooted. They all want to flower right now.

BTW...these pics were all taken today....Day 56

BW

budweisman

06-23-2007, 04:06 PM

Alright...so here are some pics of my Flowering closet and new flowers. The first flower is from Princess Bunsy and the second I believe is from Elegansia S. I seem to be making progress but the quarters are cramped and it is a pain in the rear to keep moving lights/plants around. Have had some leaf burn as they get close to the lights before I move them. Guess it's a fact of life with Flouro's. I can see why they are frowned upon in general when flowering.

I made a mistake and learned from it...so here is a tip. Last Friday (Day 48) I was finalizing the setup of the closet. I got a shower rod to use for hanging the lights and to make it easy to move the lights up and down. I also added some reflective stuff to the sides of the closet. The next day I opened the closet to find I hadn't tightened the rod enough and the lights and rod had fallen to the ground. I thought........holy shite Batman....that could have been ugly! So, I put in some eyescrews into the top of the closet and used some twine to tie the rod to the ceiling.....along with tightening the rod tighter to the sides. The twine helps to make sure the rod doesn't fall anywhere if it comes loose on the sides...and its easy to adjust when I move them up.

Don't have the best setup in the world but I'm making due with what I have and it is working so far. FYI...today is day 56

BW

co-d

06-23-2007, 04:26 PM

that setup reminds me of a macguyver episode i once saw..

lookin good so far :D

budweisman

06-23-2007, 04:29 PM

Alright....so I'm learning....and learning the hard way. I noticed some balls after the fact...like male balls on my females. Not lots...just a couple. I first noticed them on my cuttings. Elegansia S, Princess Bunsy and The Lovely Miss Jello Haha all had 1-3 balls. I thought....effin mother effer I bet that's a hermie...looked it up...and yup. Two of the balls from the cuttings dumped...I pinched off the other 2. One dumped inside the flower room :mad: :mad: :mad:. However...it was very low on the plant with no flowers under it....but with the fan who knows where it went.

Now....the only good I can see is that there aren't very many balls. 2 on Elegansia S, 2 on Princess Bunsy...including the one that opened. The Lovely Miss Jello Haha showed one ball on her(m) cutting but has shown nothing on the main plant save one ball that was more oval and looked to be female...I pinched it off just in case it was a male ball. I dont' know if that will be it or if more will develop...needless to say it's a pisser and at this point it looks as if Miss T is the only true 100% female. Oh how the tides turn!

So I have some questions:

1. Can you take a hermie plant and send it back to veg in hopes of it not happening again? Since I am going to place my cuttings back into veg I was hoping I could try again with them. The main flowering plants at this point are going to continue to flower...I'm in it and if it doesn't work out perfect then that's ok.

2. Since they are only showing a few balls does that mean they might be ok? Meaning since I pinched those off...maybe they won't product any more...or will they continue to produce them throughout flower?

3. Since the one pollen sack opened....could it mean that only a small part of the plants might have been pollenated and the others could be ok?

I have to say...I'm a bit dissapointed but it's alright. They seem to be doing pretty well and producing some nice flowers...I was pretty lucky to start with 4 females...and if one actually remains female and I get a couple of her cuttings to take I will still be in good shape for the future. Thanks for everyone's help and listening to my rambling.

Hermie Theory:
The plants went outside during the vegging process. This changed the light timing....I am going to say it was like 13-14 hours of light and the rest either very low light or darkness....maybe this change in lighting is was caused the plants to go hermie...but I gradually reduced the light from 24/0 to 18/6 before moving them outside trying to emulate going to fall...but real plants don't get 24/0 so my guess is that the strange changes in lighting caused the problems. Hard to convey in an email but I can't think of what else might have caused it.

Take Care
BW

budweisman

06-23-2007, 04:30 PM

that setup reminds me of a macguyver episode i once saw..

lookin good so far :D

There's duct tape in there....so one of the main ingrediants is fulfilled!

budweisman

06-23-2007, 05:16 PM

Been reading about Hermaphrodites and while mine do have male pollen sacks there are very few and don't look to be any more on the way. Have read a few people just pinching off the few they found...one person says the final product was still good...another says it was a bad crop in the end. Any experiences?

I'm hoping for someone to pat me on the back and say keep going lil' trooper....it might still be good in the end.

06-23-2007, 06:02 PM

keep going bro.... doesnt sound to bad to me but keep a close eye at all times ;)

any seed ya find toss in the trash :)

myself i would trash any clones taken from the plants that hermie and start some fresh seed like yesterday

peace

Sticky_Budz

06-23-2007, 06:08 PM

Hey bro nice plants u say that ur female has balls too (hermie) well ive had two that were like that and the finish product was awesome just as good as my females for awhile i was picking the sacs off one was working out the other one was growing them back fast but only on the bottom of the plants the colas were huge and no seeds in them at all i just wouldnt recommend that u keep them with any other females so that way they dont get pollinated good luck peace

budweisman

06-23-2007, 06:18 PM

OK...cool. Thanks guys....appreciate the feedback. The plants seem to be very healthy and producing nice flowers so I'm going to keep it going and keep up my twice daily regimen of checking on them. I could have caught them sooner had I known what I was looking for...once I saw the one open I knew there was an issue.

Since only 3 sacks have opened(one in the flowering closet, 2 in the greenhouse with the cuttings)..and one had already fallen inside the greenhouse it could be that only two are hermie. The one that fell could have been from a different plant than where it landed.

Also, I may have pinched off perfectly fine female preflowers/sacks(looked kind of oval) thinking they were going to be male. Anyway, I'm keeping a watchful eye and atleast two have gone that direction at this point.

Lots of speculation....going to continue and see what happens.

Thanks,
BW

The Hooded Claw

06-24-2007, 06:38 AM

BW.

I had a hermie when I first went indoors and thought I was about to crop a pile of seed. I panicked and thought chop, then I thought let em etc etc. In the end I chopped them just before time and the amount of seed was negligible. It was a good smoke and I look back and realise I should have been cooler.

I'm not aware of what seed you're using but I found cheap seeds (Nirvana etc) were not very good. Quality seeds speak and produce quality, however when using the same mom over a period of time I found hermie traits late in the flowering scale accelerating to mid flower the older the mom was.
I can't blame the plant for wanting to hermie having been put through such a long veggie schedule so it ended, but this quality seed mom produced very handsomely.

I think having experienced hermies you can tick that chapter in your book and move on. Experience counts for everything I suppose BW?

Good luck and grow on....

budweisman

06-24-2007, 10:19 AM

Mr Burns

06-25-2007, 02:08 PM

Yep I wouldn't worry BW. I think the fat that you got through a grow is an achievement and had you used expensive seed stock and failed, it would have hurt that much more.

I like you chose Nirvana to start out with and I believe its the correct attitude. I've seen people rely on good seed stock for a good grow, and then not return when they feel let down.

Good attitude BW.

THC.

budweisman

06-26-2007, 10:20 PM

Hey folks....couple of more questions have popped up:

1. When should I start to expect a fragrance to start being noticeable? I'm 1.5 weeks into official flowering and although there is some fragrance when I touch the plants...nothing really major at this point. Keep in mind I'm using Floro's so I'm expecting it might take longer.

2. I'm getting some yellowing on the lower older leaves...and have lost some lower leaves as well. Is this normal at this stage? They should have fertilizer available from the slow release I added at the beginning of the grow...the last watering I used only water with plans to use a flowering fert on the next watering. They had received a flowering fertilizer the time before the last water only. I did let them dry out pretty good this last time and they started to wilt a bit. I know if I do this with my Hibiscus they will yellow some leaves.

Thanks again...
BW

06-27-2007, 07:07 AM

1. When should I start to expect a fragrance to start being noticeable? I'm 1.5 weeks into official flowering any day now :D

2. I'm getting some yellowing on the lower older leaves...and have lost some lower leaves as well. Is this normal at this stage? [/QUOTE]

thats normal at this stage :)

peace

The Hooded Claw

06-27-2007, 01:42 PM

2. I'm getting some yellowing on the lower older leaves...and have lost some lower leaves as well. Is this normal at this stage?
BW

Not to rub your nose in it, but I have trouble getting mine to yellow off in NFT. However, I'd say use a mild secondary liquid fert.
TBO I'd rather see nute burn than nute def and especially 1.5 weeks into flower. My own opinion is, the budding is gonna be stripping more and more from the plant and progressively until flower end, so I'd be inclined to keep as many leaves as possible cause if you loose too many, your yield will suffer.

Try a 50% liquid feed each watering cause the worst that can happen is your slow release kicking in resulting in nute burn, but you can then switch back to a quick flush and regular watering. I don't think you'll get nute burn though, I think slow release is too sketchy for this kind of growing and only any good for hanging baskets and trough flowers/annuals.

Like CB says its normal at this stage, but I'd try and keep that foliage at 1.5 weeks in.

Good luck BW.

Cel

06-27-2007, 02:09 PM

hey Weis mate :)

About the fragrance thing...
I can tell you that it's alot more noticeable if they are indoors, but outdoors or in a greenhouse it will fade or mix with other odours easily...
but eventhough i can smell mine without even getting close to them i still like to rub their legs a little, smells awesome and gets me sticky fingers...it's a nice thing to do since it shows you're almost there :)

And as for the yellowing...
I'm now a week into flower, and believe you me when i say im gonna be tearing the lower bits of my plants off...it's just extra work for the plant to keep them going. So not having them allows the plant to work more on parts exposed to more light.
For your plants to exhibit yellowing on the bottom leaves or even dropping them is in my opinion natural, since it's trying to put more effort in the parts that get more light and so produce dank colas.
Though be advised that at one point or another before the buds start to form properly, that the yellowing and wilting should stop until maturity, when again the leaves drop.
What i try to do is remove any secondary growth that looks stunted, or not properly exposed to light, since the plant wont do that for you, it will only drop fan leaves.
I've noticed on my indoor growing that plants who will get big dense colas tend to drop their lower leaves more readily because of the abundance of nutrients it can pump into the main parts of the plant, meaning it has a superior structure/fatter stems.

Hope this helps mate

Cel