3 strains - 1000w MH from seed - Organic Soil Mixture

Ok so I've decided to get a grow journal going finally. I could not find that much info about keeping your seedlings directly under the HID lamps from birth so I am going to find out for myself. Any questions, comments, constructive criticism, are more than welcome throughout the length of the journal. Here is the basic setup (being very crude, gimme a break...):

*1 room - 10x12x8
*Mylar covering the lower portion of the walls
*6100 BTU Air conditioner with digital thermostat for cooling/circulation
*18 inch oscillating fan
*1000 watt MH for veg, 1000 watt HPS for flower

I also took the light fixture from the ceiling out and rewired it to a 6 inch inline duct fan controlled from the light switch that is blowing on the bulb to keep it cool. There is no defined exhaust system.

I've been keeping tabs on the room and it is kept around 75° with light on, with only 1-2 degree fluctuation. Humidity is a little too low around 45-50 percent. So Ill be trying to get that to slowly raise. Dont want my babies to dry out!

The first strain, Medi Bud feminized seeds from marijuana-seeds.nl. ordered 10 and germinated 8 with a 100% germ rate within 24 hours using the paper towel method.
The Second, is 5 Mazar x Afghan seeds that I received with my original seed order. Still 100% percent germ rate.
The third, is bag seed. 100% germ rate still remains. I also tried to germ some bagseed from some Kush but I dont think the seeds were mature enough. Figured it was worth a shot.

So to sum it up, 8 Medi Bud, 5 Mazar x Afgan, 3 Bag seed.

I've never had to wait more than 2-3 days for a seed to germinate. Ever... It's never taken the commonly said 2-9 days amount of time. usually it happens within 48 hours or they don't germ at all.

My soil consists (ratio is a rough estimate) 1 part MG Organic Potting Mix, 1 part Scott's Topsoil, 1 part Perlite. No nutrients will be introduced for another 3 weeks or so.

So here's an update at day 3. There is some life starting to spring up and the light cycle is now a steady 18/6. The first of which being one of the Medi Bud feminized seeds.

One of the cotyledons from the Mazar x Afghan Strain has a nice purple color on the end! looks kinda cool

The humidity is a little too low for me to be comfortable with at this point so I put a half cup of water to evaporate in the room. I will check within 24 hours to see if/how it has changed. The light is about 3-3 1/2 feet from the seedlings.

Hello there fellow RIU'ers. So here we are at day 11 for an update!! I've been keeping close watch on everything and all seems to be well so far.

Growth is steady and everything looks healthy for the most part. I'm very pleased with how the feminized Medi Bud seeds from marijuana-seeds.nl are doing! So far the genetics seem pretty stable and all the seedlings look more or less consistent. I considered moving the light a little closer, but the inter-nodal spacing is very tight already!! Check out pics 3 & 4. And they look happy so why mess with it right? Right...

There is a such thing as over-caring for your plants. In addition to the 1001 other things you can over do. So if they look happy and healthy, continue with your normal regimen in my opinion. (unless your experimenting with something).

The free seeds I received (mazar x afghan) seedlings look kind of scraggly. Who knows though... Maybe they will grow up and be female! By the looks of it right now I doubt it. Time will tell...

The bag seed aren't doing too bad either! Hopefully I can get a nice vigorous female out of the bunch. I took them from someones brick weed and would like to surprise them with some nice kind bud from it!

I originally germinated all seeds using the paper towel method. All seeds germinated and were planted. However, I think it was 4 of them that died and never made it to seedling stage. I suspect it might have been the germination method itself and possible damage to the taproot sometime during the process. (I never touch the taproot and always use tweezers). So I removed the dead seeds, and instead replanted new seeds directly in new soil. So far 4 out of the 7 seeds have sprouted.

Pic 1: Medi Bud
Pic 2: Medi Bud nodal spacing
Pic 3: Another Medi Bud side shot
Pic 4: Mazar x Afghan seedling
Pic 5: Mazar x Afghan seedling
Pic 6: Bag seed seedling (anyone recognize the weird crimping on the outermost single leaves? Not too sure what that was...)
Pic 7: The Whole bunch

Pic 8: I practice this method on ALL my seedlings with great results. Especially beneficial for indoor grows. When your seedling reaches a height of 1-2 inches, carefully bend the stem back and forth between your thumb and pointer finger, moving your way up and down the entire stem. Because there are little external factors acting on your plants, they will not grow as strong and vigorous as their outdoor counterparts. Bending of the main stem encourages the fibrous tissue to rapidly accelerate its growth and strength and will be able to support more foliage weight when the seedling grows up.
Even after only doing it 2-3 times in a week, the difference between ones that I bent and ones I did not are like Night & Day! MUCH stronger. You can actually feel how the stem is tougher than another newer seedling.

As far as my watering goes, I use distilled water and wait until the soil has dried at Least a half inch off the top. I watered today when the cups were completely dry and soaked them until I received a good 10% as run-off. I also tested the PH of the run-off and looks like I'm sitting right around 7.

Well thanks to anyone that is following! +rep for any helpful knowledgeable opinions or comments. Or just anyone that is enjoying it!

More good news!! I got my seed order today from marijuana-seeds.nl, and it only took 4 business days to get here!

I wanted to throw some pure sativas in the mix because im so in love with the high. So i ordered the Buddha seeds. Its suppose to be %100 sativa.

I don't know about anyone else here but I stand behind that seed bank %100. This is my fourth order from them and has always been super stealthy. They are priced right and I never had a problem with germination yet either. The packaging is perfect, you would never suspect anything. I use my real name and address every time. (although I dont grow where I live).

But for these sativas, i think i will top them after they grow 4 or 5 nodes. I know how much they like stretching so I will top early on, use LST and maybe FIM or supercrop. I threw the seeds in the paper towel already and will be checking on them tomorrow. I expect at least half to be germed.

happy growing

Ok so heres a nice update at day 35 from seed... everything is in the final growing space. So whatever lives or dies (knock on wood) from here on stays....

My approach to this grow and technique will be based on the number of plants I project to have until harvest. So It'll come together more in a month or more...

the double potted ones are just ones that didnt look so great as seedlings. I'm kind of just seeing what happens with them... And the sativas which I am concerned about, even if they end up male I think I will try a little bit of seed making by crossing the 100% sativa male with part of one of my
females... who knows...

Also, in pic 7 & 10, did I FIM that correctly? I've never tried FIM'ing until now and are not even sure if I pulled it off right lol.

The bottled stuff is what i'm using to try and combat fungus gnats with right now. I suspect I will need something else with it though...

Pic 8 is one of the free Mazar x Afghan seeds I got from my marijuana-seeds.nl. looking good so far...

I'd really appreciate anyones input

bump

how was the medi buds yield compared to the rest, and how was its potency, bag appeal and smell? please respond to me on a message or something. I have medi bud too