First grow, bagseed, 400hps, growbox - PICS!!

[Prot3us1]

This is my grow journal. I also have another thread called prot3us1's grow box where i discuss choices ive made, reasons behind the choices and plans and ideas for future grows.

Details on my grow:
Box dimensions: 1m x 1m x 1.5m
Lighting: 400w Sunmaster Super HPS Deluxe
Nutrients: Dutch Master "Grow Croissance" 2 part
Ventilation: 1 x Ceiling Exhaust fan + 1 x Floor fan
Seed: Bagseed
Medium: Soil (+Jiffy Peat Plugs)

I'm now counting the days from the day the leaves opened.

Day 1:

Today the seed came out if its shell...the shell was stuck to the leaf, I gently blew on it and it came off after fluttering for a few seconds.

Day 2:

A little growth today, nothing massive above ground, but I'm sure the root system is developing.

Day 3:

More growth of the first true leaves, Almost doubled in size since day 2.

Day 4:

Plant is progressing great, seeds will go into their peat plugs today or tomorrow.

Day 5:

I decided to give the seed another day to get a bit more taproot out...

Transplanted the seedling today into its first pot. Starting to look good, the milk leaves are yellowing and drooping...they will fall off soon.

Feel free to comment and post pics of your setup...Ask anything you want...cheers

Prot

 

[mared juwan]

Cool. What kind of soil are you using exactly? Is it 4 seeds you are doing?

 

[Prot3us1]

Hey I got a generic sterilized potting mix, a client of mine sells it so i get it free...not sure how its gonna work...should be ok..ill be adding perlite to the remaining 2 seeds when the time comes.

Theres 3 seeds, the other plug was strawberries but they are outside now..one seed is almost at the veg stage..ill start the veg stage count from when the milk leaves are gone.

the remaining 2 are about a week behind..that way ill test things on the one thats older, if it dies i have 2 left....hopefully at least one is female.

Prot

 

[mared juwan]

OK. I was gonna say that since you're going with bagseed you may want to pop a couple more in. If you have enough resources and common sense to put together the setup you have then the chances are reasonably good that you can successfully grow. But expect at least 50% males so if you are left with one or two plants you won't be able to make full use of that 400watt. I think 4 females would be the optimum number for that light and space. If you wait too long to start any more seeds than you will have plants at drastically different ages and heights which will cause problems when you want to switch the lights to 12/12. What do you do with the younger plants at that point? So maybe you've already got a plan but that's my two cents.

 

[Prot3us1]

You are right, of course...this is just a run to try to get all the noob stuff out the way, i have some genetics on the way..when the genetics get here everything except them goes into flower...once all flowering plants are done the seedlings will be ready for veg...if the seedlings are ready first i have a smaller space they can veg in for a while...

this is my first grow, i consider myself a smart person, ive read loads of journals, the faqs, all the info on everything i can find..knowledge wise im all set to get started..but stuff like how dry is too dry before you water etc...this is what i need to learn...

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok guys, this mornings update:

Things are going as they should. nothing to really say...I gave the seedling a very weak nute feed today...see how it goes...

Ive updated the pic to include today's growth. These comparison pics will only work for a little bit longer but I will keep taking them until its too hard to see new growth...

No word on my seeds yet, The money has come out, but i haven't got an email to say they have been shipped. Its only been a few days so I will let it go till about tues then see whats going on.

Prot

 

[Kriegs]

Good luck, bro.. that was my first grow, too -- 400W with bagseed. For the same reasons - I figured I'd get my mistakes out on some bagseed rather than paid beans. As it turned out, I could've started with paid beans.. but talk about learning by doing! Looking good so far; you should do well -- you've already aced the first test (ie. get enough light!).

One little thing, tho... Don't give nutes to any plant before at least 2 weeks.. I prefer 4 wks myself.

 

[Prot3us1]

Thanks man,

I'm sure things will go fine here! Still...better safe than sorry right!

I get pissed off at myself..I cant stop looking at the plant and shit..I wish I could just leave it alone...I don't fiddle with anything, just like to look...I guess its the whole pride/new hobby thing...It will wear off an as long as I'm not touching its not hurting anyone...(I never open the box during lights out.)

Prot

 

[Kriegs]

Thanks man,

I'm sure things will go fine here! Still...better safe than sorry right!

I get pissed off at myself..I cant stop looking at the plant and shit..I wish I could just leave it alone...I don't fiddle with anything, just like to look...I guess its the whole pride/new hobby thing...It will wear off an as long as I'm not touching its not hurting anyone...(I never open the box during lights out.)

Prot

Aww, man ... don't get pissed at yourself! It's fucking awesome, isn't it? Weed growing in your own space.. making progress every day right in front of your eyes! Fuck yeah... it's awesome! Celebrate it.. as long as it's just looking, no harm can be done.

 

[Prot3us1]

Well I just got back in, had to install the exhaust fan finally, lol its winter here.. (South Australia...winter = 20 - 30 deg C)...I just checked and it was 40 degrees in the cabinet, i caught in within an hour though! I guess its good that I went in there to look...I guess that's another reason I keep checking. Its the first grow and I'm unsure what to expect with stuff..so Ill keep a close eye out and by the time I'm ready for bagseed ill have it dialed in, I hope.

Gonna check temps again in a sec (been half hour or so) and see if they are going down...If not I have an Omega Altise portable refrigerated air con I can chuck in there.
Heres a link to its specs:
http://www.omegaaltise.com.au/Product.aspx?Category=Portable%20Air%20Conditioners&id=39&PageID=5

Its great, and we got it at the local whitegoods haggle place for $400...thats $200 less than direct from manufacturer!!

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok so this morning I went to check on the cabinet and temps have held at 25 - 27 C during the day, and around 20 - 21 at night...Pretty happy with that.

Watering once a day in the big pot now, the 2 seedlings are in their peat plugs, and they usually need 2 waterings per day..I only water lightly...I got more by weight with these...you can really tell how much water they contain by their weight.

Seed 1 - I think I'm seeing a new set of leaves poking their heads out in the middle....should know by the end of today I hope.

I think I need to move the light up a little...I want it to stretch a bit so I can LST it. I'm not going to top it for the purpose of bushing it out. I am going to take a few cuttings though, off one or 2 of my plants before I flower. These will go in with my second grow genetics. I'm not growing to sell, however I am growing for myself, my girlfriend, her brother and his fiancee as well as my mates. So perpetual is the plan.

This first run is to gt coling right, overwater, overnute, generally get all the bad habits out of the way with this crop and hopefully still get something out the end of it...the next grow is going to be perpetual, few weeks veg, take clones, flower mothers, so on and so forth...

So here's some baby photos for you all to look at...And a pic of the cabinet they are growing in. I made it myself from timber and MDF board. All up I've spent maybe $500 and I had to buy EVERYTHING. HPS reflector ballast and lamp cost me $195.
Materials for the cabinet cost $160, but I had to buy some tools as well.
The rest is on peat plugs, timers, nutes, soil.

I also spent $100 or so on genetics. This isn't included in the $500. For those who are interested I got the following seeds on the way:

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok so this morning I went to check on the cabinet and temps have held at 25 - 27 C during the day, and around 20 - 21 at night...Pretty happy with that.

Watering once a day in the big pot now, the 2 seedlings are in their peat plugs, and they usually need 2 waterings per day..I only water lightly...I got more by weight with these...you can really tell how much water they contain by their weight.

Seed 1 - I think I'm seeing a new set of leaves poking their heads out in the middle....should know by the end of today I hope.

I think I need to move the light up a little...I want it to stretch a bit so I can LST it. I'm not going to top it for the purpose of bushing it out. I am going to take a few cuttings though, off one or 2 of my plants before I flower. These will go in with my second grow genetics. I'm not growing to sell, however I am growing for myself, my girlfriend, her brother and his fiancee as well as my mates. So perpetual is the plan.

This first run is to gt coling right, overwater, overnute, generally get all the bad habits out of the way with this crop and hopefully still get something out the end of it...the next grow is going to be perpetual, few weeks veg, take clones, flower mothers, so on and so forth...

So here's some baby photos for you all to look at...And a pic of the cabinet they are growing in. I made it myself from timber and MDF board. All up I've spent maybe $500 and I had to buy EVERYTHING. HPS reflector ballast and lamp cost me $195.
Materials for the cabinet cost $160, but I had to buy some tools as well.
The rest is on peat plugs, timers, nutes, soil.

I also spent $100 or so on genetics. This isn't included in the $500. For those who are interested I got the following seeds on the way:

10 x KC Brains Northern Light Special
10 xWhite Label Double Gum
1 x Free Haze Seed.
I MAY have qualified for the 1 x Nirvana seed but I'm not sure about conversion rates.

I've read reviews for the strains I ordered..Some people swear against KC Brains. They are apparently not stabilized..I don't mind a genetic raffle...The way I see it is I've paid for 10 seeds, and they might all be different (slightly) from each other...no problems. If I like one I'll make a mother.

 

[mared juwan]

Awesome dude. You can't go wrong with Northern Lights. For what it's worth I've had the Sensi seeds NL #5. One of my favorite all-time smokes. Hopefully the KC version is similar. I also have a bubblegum strain. They're fun. My avatar is a Bubblelicious plant.

May I suggest a slight change in watering habits? It's best to soak the soil very well until water pours out the bottom of the container, especially when the plants are young. If you pour water just in the middle the roots won't be encouraged to grow throughout the entire pot. So I know it's hard not to tinker with them but I would just soak the one in the pot really well and then leave it alone for a while. Pick up the pot every day. It will be very heavy when wet. It will feel empty when dry and ready for water again.

 

[Prot3us1]

Of course! I have done as you said, (the soil is evenly soaked all the way to the edge of the pot and I had some runoff also..I guess that would help with salt flushing too..I had about 1/3 of the water i put in come out..is this too much? How much should i aim for in regards to runoff?

Thanks for the help guys, and if anyone else sees something i can change please let me know...

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok so a little more detail to my watering schedule:
I will water once a day, with my very weakly nuted water...the plants arent showing any signs of not liking it so why not?
I will water until i get some runoff out of the bottom of the pot
I will flush 3 times this grow cycle. When the milk leaves fall off i will flush the first day. When i go to 12/12 I will flush the day before. and i will flush a week before my harvest.
I'm not particularly looking for large plants this cycle. I am looking to see how I like my end product...trich colors etc. I am seeing how i like to flush, cure, dry and trim also.
I will be going 12/12 when i feel the plants are ready for it...

Not for a week at least though...

I will be looking for some molasses also...I hear its almost a necessity for the price/benefit...so im sold lol

 

[mared juwan]

Oh OK just wanted to make sure. I used to flush pretty frequently when I started growing but now only at the end just before harvest. It never hurts to flush though. I can tell you that. I grow in coco so I can't use molasses. Apparently it works pretty well in soil.

 

[Prot3us1]

Thanks, my old watering schedule was the same, with no flushes and less water each watering...so thanks heaps for the tip i will +rep u if it lets me

Got my perlite today so all pots from now on will have perlite mixed in. I wont repot the seedling though..there's no need to cause him that stress.

Over the course of today i hve had the oppurtunity to watch a new leaf go from nothing, to a little bud, to a tiny little leaf...so cool.

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok so I ended up repotting the seedling. There was a brown spot on the leaf, and I decided if there was anything wrong with the soil anyways I may as well. I was very careful. I did this yesterday, overnight there was about 100mm growth on a new leaf, then over today while the lights are on that new leaf is forming so fast!

Rearranged my box today...I just can't get those temps down from 31 - 32 no matter what I try. I think in such a small box I will need a cooltube.

Thats about 88 f.

Temps are taken at plant level, with the light shining on the probe. ITs not really much cooler outside the box...25 - 30...so I may have to run the air con. I realised a problem with this solution though also...The temp probe for the air con is internal..this means i have to run it on a timer...its a digital air con though, so the timer giving it power wont turn it on, the on button needs to be pressed.

The cooler has a timer built in, that i might have to set each day...(ie, manually turn t on thn set it to turn off at a certain time..then before it turns back on again manually set to to turn on at the right time.

The plant itself seems mostly ok...no burning or leaves pointing up or down...does that mean its ok to have the temps at the level they are...if its not exhibiting signs of stress should i just let it go until such a time as it does show signs?

prot

edit: -
I think I have it far enough away from the light to be ok...Perhaps i need to get the humidity up...hmm

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok guys, so i got my ventilation working perfectly last night. Inside temp = outside temp + 5 degrees c.

I was so happy, so I go to bed, sleep...get up and its RAINING outside. OMFG. Now the plants cold! lol..I think its ok...its between 20 and 25 degrees c.

So I got a few more seeds today (3). And put them in my "germing device"..lol 2 paper towels and a small plastic dome to keep a little moisture in. There's enough ventilation to stop mold.

Lets see how they go.

On to the original plant...we will call it missy from now on.

I'm 99.9% sure I'm wrong...This plant cant be showing sex can it? Are the things in the middle new leaves? Lol..I'm so newb..help

Pics attached

ALSO:
Got PH tester
Got soil based nutes. Will take pics tomorrow. Remind me if i forget.
Got cloning powder.
Got price on ec meter, and a few other supplies.

They have an ebb&flow table there for 350, 40 or 50 site one too...good for sog thats for sure.

Prot

 

[Prot3us1]

Ok so day 13 is here.

Over the last few days Ive been seeing new growth. At first it looked like tiny little hairs. Now its definitely a leaf.

It reminds me of the little tiny transformer thing..it looks like a leaf spider is crawling out of the stem on top...very cool.

I'm not overwatering anymore. It took a bit of mental re-wiring to get used to the idea that less water is better. The way I got there was to think:
If I don't water the roots will grow to find water. The bigger the roots the more material the plant can absorb to make new growth. the more new growth the more energy the plant has to put in to roots etc.

Some pics attached...enjoy...and please comment, I feel all alone in here haha.