First Grow Journal - Fem. Jack Herer

[polypterus]

I am excited to be starting my first grow journal. This is my third indoor grow, I am a small space stealth grower. I just got 10 Jack Herer feminized seeds today. I picked this strain because so many of my friend rave about it, i want to see if it lives up to the hype. Also it is a fad strain near me and sells for an equivalent 30USD/gram. My grow attempts have been increasingly successful, much of that is thanks to information and advice from this website. I would love to hear your comments/concerns/insane babble in relation to my grow.
The grow space is an enclosed wooden box, painted flat white inside. It is about 6' by 4' by 2'. The top section has four 4' flouros and is the top two feet of the box. The bottom section is four feet tall and has a 400watt HPS light. Both sections have inline fans for ventilation as well as the light. The bottom of each section is covered in thick clear plastic.
I am using 2? gal grow bags, Ocean Forest Soil (I don't think i'll add any perlite this time) Botanicare's veg nutes if needed and Dr. Hornby's Iguana Juice as a bloom fert. The environment is a steady 66 or so this time of year. The humidity is very low, that is something I will have to work on. I use tap water with Clearex and ferts added every watering (after they are big enough.)
When I first tried to start this grow, with different seeds, very few of them sprouted. So right now, I have a couple babies and also two plants I was trying to save for moms. Unfort, I also seem to have an infestation of gnats in that section. They are black and annoying but don't seem to be affecting the plants at all. To eradicate them I was thinking I should just trash everything I have, scrub the box and start fresh later with the new seeds.
So I am planning to start germinating the seeds tonight inside peat pots filled with soil. Then I will move them under the flouros (24 hr/light) for a few weeks. Then I can transplant the peat pots right into the bags.
Ok, I'm going to start cleaning out the box for the new grow. I will update later on with pics of the set up, seeds, etc. Let me know what ya think! Happy growing everyone

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Any pics of the box or your previous grows from that box?
I am building a similar sized room and would like to see what it can produce.

Are you doing all 10 at once in there?

Any reason for not adding perlite this time?

 

[polypterus]

I'm uploading some pics now. I have smoked most of what I grew last time, but I did have 14 females grow up in that space last time and got a decent harvest! Unfort I did not weight it but some plants gave up to 2.5 oz (estimate) Yeah I plan on growing out all ten at once. I was thinking of doing LST, but i dunno... haven't decided. Last time I used 3/4 soil to 1/4 perlite and the water seemed to run right out of it, it could not hold onto it well. Also, every time I watered big holes would appear in the soil?

 

[polypterus]

Ok here are some pics of the set up. The first one is the top section, which I use for veg and also for drying buds. There is 250 cfm inline fan moving the air in here.
The 2nd pics is of the bottom section. The light is enclosed and has a 250 cfm fan venting it. The grow space has a 500 cfm fan as well. You can see the babies and moms here who are slated for destruction this evening. This is the section with the gnat infestation.
The 3rd pic is just another view of the bottom, you can see the light in it.
Last pic is the seeds.

 

[polypterus]

As of last night, 2/15, I started germinating all ten JH seeds. I decided to use the paper towel method. I'm hoping for good germ rates this time. I couldn't find any warm spot in my place so I just cranked the heat. I'll check them after about 12 hours.

 

[StopFckinSnitchin]

Good luck its a fine strain to smoke thats for sure.

 

[edux10]

Thats pretty sweet looking. I like those little bag pot things. They are clean everytime

 

[polypterus]

Good luck its a fine strain to smoke thats for sure.

Thanks! I am excited to try this strain, I just hope everything goes well with the grow!

 

[polypterus]

Thats pretty sweet looking. I like those little bag pot things. They are clean everytime

Yeah I love the grow bags they are great! Especially in a tiny space like I have you can pack them in there! I somehow packed in 14 last time! This time, i'll hope for ten!
A funny story about the grow box... It was built in the basement shop...it is pretty bulky and heavy at over 6 feet tall but we carried it up 2 flights of stairs anyway, it took 3 ppl! Then when we got it to the closet, it would not fit inside! The doorway was about 2 inches too small! We had to disassemble it upstairs and put it back together inside the closet. Its not perfect now, it was kind of difficult to do, so I had to patch up some spots. Black duct tape on the outside and white on the inside! Gotta love duct tape!

 

[polypterus]

So this morning, a little over 12 hr into germ process, some of the seeds are already cracking, though no white tips are showing yet. Today I am going to finish cleaning out the box for the new grow. I have been putting off killing my current plants, its going to suck when I do that later, but I gotta get rid of those annoying gnats! I already took down the one mother that was not doing so hot, now I have 4 seedlings in various stages of growth and one other mom left who I'd really love to save? I think I may try to dig her up and rinse her off and replant her? This way none of the old dirt or bags are there to harbor gnats? Sound viable? She is a dutch passion skunk passion girl and she was my fave smoke from last harvest. I'll post updates later.

 

[polypterus]

Ok, its now a little over one day into the grow and germ period. 6 of the 10 JH seeds had a little root poking out tonight, so I planted them into FF ocean Forest soil inside of peat pots. Hopefully, soon I'll see some sprouts. I'll take pics tomorrow.

 

[titleistbudz]

I'll be watching this grow. I'm interested in Jack Herer and you sound like you know what you're doing!

 

[polypterus]

I'll be watching this grow. I'm interested in Jack Herer and you sound like you know what you're doing!

Thanks, though I am really still learning! I checked out your new grow and it looks amazing! How do you feel that your Co2 supplementation has affected growth rates? I think I am going to try that method with this grow.

 

[polypterus]

So I have been busy today working on my set up. My main goal was to really clean and KILL all the gnats.
The first pic is of the box this morning, still a few stragglers left. The big one in the middle is Nirvana K2, i wanted to save it, but I need to end the reign of the gnats. It had preflowers and they looked male or at least I tell myself that to feel better!
The second pic is the same area an hour later, all cleaned out.
Third pic is the top grow area almost done. The buds hanging are the ones I cut off of the potential mothers several weeks after harvest and they are insanely crystally. I smoked some and the effect was so different than the normally harvested from the same plant. It made my body feel really weird and trippy almost. This bud had been "in flower" for over 15 weeks before I cut and cured it.
Fourth pic is my germ method.

 

[polypterus]

so far 9/10 seeds germed and were planted in peat pots. The first pic i of their temp. home in a cake keeper last night. 2nd is another view.
After I cleaned the box, I moved the few drying buds I had into another room in case they could somehow harbor gnats. Then I set up the pots under the flouros as you can see. 4rth pic i my temp and humidity, about 72 degrees F and 47% humidity.

 

[polypterus]

So I decided to try and save my Skunk Passion mother when I trashed everything else. I dug her up, and got off as much dirt as possible. Then I washed her entire structure clean and repotted her. AFter all that, I saw a just before!!!! Just one but till there will be more if I let it live. Any idea what to do? I put a shot glass w/ vinager and juice in there to drown them per advice from a friend. Any other ideas? Fly tape?
Check out the pics!

 

[polypterus]

Yeah so its the end of day 2 now and the grow is well under way. 9 out of 10 seeds have been planted and now I am just waiting on sprouts! My momma was stripped down and repotted so hopefully she can handle the stress and come back. I can't believe I still have a gnat in my box AHH! but all in all things are going well. Comments questions concerns etc are greatly appreciated! I'll update as soon as some babies poke their heads up.

 

[Ali Haji Sheik]

congrats on the success so far! My experience is that the Jack Herer is among the finest to smoke, though the "word on the street" was that it was a complicated grow, so I avoided it for my first grow.

I'm now a subscriber to your journal, and look forward to cheering your girls on!

 

[polypterus]

congrats on the success so far! My experience is that the Jack Herer is among the finest to smoke, though the "word on the street" was that it was a complicated grow, so I avoided it for my first grow.

I'm now a subscriber to your journal, and look forward to cheering your girls on!

Thanks I will be cheering for them as well (lots of positive energy to make them grow nice and fast ) I have not yet smoked the Jack but I hope in 4 months or so that will have changed! I'm going to go check out your grow journal now...
I need to stop looking at my peat pots 50 times an hour. A watched seedling never sprouts right?

 

[polypterus]

DAY FOUR So this morning is the beginning of day four (day one is the day I started to germinate) and there is not much to report on. I still have one seed that won't crack and nine peat pots with nothing sprouted. They have been planted in the dirt for 36-24 hours now so hopefully we will see sprouts soon. I gave them a little water this morning since the pots were dry on the outside as well as the very top layer of dirt. I'm off to school for the day...