Well I've cleaned my 4x4 and set up the FC-6500 I won in the Thanksgiving contest, thanks again
@MarsHydrofactory! One thing I like about the FC6500 right off the bat is that it's light enough for one person to set up without fear of damaging it or myself. Getting my Medic Grow Fold-8 taken down was rough, that thing is much heavier and more awkward to maneuver. The setup was simple and for now I've decided to leave the driver on top of fixture, rather than run it outside of the tent-BUT I love how easy it is to take off and set up outside, that's a new feature for me that I'll probably insist on for all future lights. It worked great from the moment I turned it on, so I set it at 50% and moved in my 4 plants for this grow after potting them up to 2 gal air pots. I've decided to try 2 gal pots this round over 3.5 since I'm planning on fewer primary bud sites this grow (and who doesn't like saving on nutrients and media).
For this grow, I decided to do something different and grow out a bunch of the same seeds as my IRL circle of grow buddies, who tend not to grow the same stuff that I like. Honestly, I'm excited to try some some stuff that I would never ordinarily buy myself, since we all traded seeds and coordinated our grows last December....plus if any of us find something special, we'll trade cuts, and now I have a couple of people willing to help me pheno hunt for good breeding material. My theme this round is "fotm crosses" so I ended up with 2 In House strains, Jelly Breath S1(Mendo Breath X Dosido), and FlapJacks (MacFlurry X Pancakes), Solfire "NSFSHEEESH" (GSC X Bahama Mama), and an Apples and Bananas cross from Starfire...or is it Firestar....I get these new breeder names mixed up. I thought it was one of the Compound crosses, but then later my friend "remembered" it wasn't LOL. I'll post the exact name of it once I find out. Anyway, I will be watching VERY carefully for herms, I'm looking at you Flapjacks, I've heard so many of the In House Pancake crosses are loaded with hermies.
I'm really happy with these plants so far, they are all good growers that responded well to topping. So far all I've done is top at the 5th node and keep either node 3/4 or 2/3 depending on node vigor and then train the branches straight out while they were in smaller pots. I just transplanted these yesterday and will resume training tonight. I'm planning on 8-12 nodes max per plant and will flip in 1-2 weeks.
This is the NSFSHEEESH, really excited about this one, she's a beaut!
This one is the A&B cross
Jelly Breath, got a bit of N tox due to my Spirulina experiments lol
FlapJacks
Been feeding Jacks 321 at .9 EC, also adding 1 ml Mr. Fulvic per gal, 1/2 t yucca extract (per 4 gal bucket), 1/2 t spirulina (per bucket), and once per week I'm feeding .3 ml Grow Genius silicic acid per bucket and also giving it as a foliar once per week. I'm dosing with Photosynthesis + once per week and rolled the root balls in Dynomyco at transplant:
I've been testing Spirulina out as a biostimulant (substitute for seaweed extract). All of my plants showed signs of N toxicity when I was feeding Spirulina at 1/4 t per gallon, which surprised me until I remembered reading that Spirulina is 60% amino acids...well, my soy amino acid supplement is 80% amino acids, so Spirulina comes very close to being a serious amino acid supplement (even though the aminos aren't hydrolyzed). I'm loving it as a substitute for seaweed and I think we're going to see a big industry push into microalgae supplements in the next few years.
Hmm, I always forget major details at the start of a new grow, so I'll just fill them in as the grow continues. I will be getting a PAR meter soon, so I'll post my results using the FC6500 at different heights, and compare those readings to my Lux meter and see how those conversions match up, just for fun. I'm also going to practice my photo skills this time around so I'm hoping for some pretty plants. Thanks for stopping by and checking out my new grow!
