benthegrate
Member
So this is my first grow. I'm not much of a pot fiend and not entirely sure why I'm doing this, but I tend to take on crazy projects, spend a few years mastering them, and move on to others.
Even the schwaggy pot we get down here along the border in my state is so strong for me that I have to take it shotgunned from someone else, so I'm not sure what guided my selection of varietals, but I went to the single seed company and ordered 4 feminized seeds:
Northern Lights (Nirvana) $18.00 per seed
White Widow (Seedsman) $15.34 per seed
The Ultimate (Dutch Passion) $37.28 per seed
Hawaiian Snow (Green House) $30.04 per seed
Before folks start criticizing my choices, I am well aware that these all mature and different heights, take different times to bloom, etc. My goal isn't really to maximize yield, it's just to learn the life cycle and see if I can do it.
The seeds arrived in about a week, discreetly packed. (I'm guessing I shouldn't mentioned HOW they were packed, but it was definitely stealth.)
I purchased a used hydro setup for $200 on Craigslist, that included a 400W HPS with a new bulb, seedling heat mat, pH meter, and a bunch of other stuff. At my local hydro store I got a used 3'x3' grow tent and a cloning tent together for $120.
Jan 29
I wrapped the seeds in wet paper towels and placed them on a cookie sheet on top of the heat mat set at 75F, then put plastic wrap on top to prevent the paper towels from drying out.
Jan 30
Less than 24 hours later, White Widow, The Ultimate, and Northern Lights had sprouted. Hawaiian Snow had not.
Jan 31
I soaked the small rockwool cubes in 5.0pH water (which I had lowered with vinegar because I didn't yet have pH down) for 1 hour to dissolve the lime, then flushed the cubes with weak nute solution. I'm using General Hydroponics Advance Nutrient System. Using tweezers, I gently placed the seeds into the cubes.
Hawaiian Snow STILL hadn't sprouted, but I assumed it's because it was a hot-weather variety and needed warmer temps to germinate. The cubes went into a Pyrex 9x13 dish covered with plastic wrap, set on top of the heating pad.
Feb 1
The Ultimate is growing like crazy and has already sprouted 2 pairs of leaves. White Widow is half as tall. Northern Lights' leaves were still trapped in the seed husk, so I gently removed it. Hawaiian Snow has sprouted a root and is climbing up the hole in the cube. I placed the rockwool cubes into plastic cups filled with vermiculite with wicks through the bottom, dangling into the covered pyrex dish full of nute solution, using General Hydro's recommended strength for seedlings, 1/4 tsp of each of 3 parts in one gallon of water.
Then they were placed in the grow tent under the 400w HPS light positioned about 2 feet above the seedlings. Temp was mid 80s. I left for a trip to Portland.
Feb 10
Upon arriving home, my babies were pretty fried. Yellow/brown on the leaf tips.
The temp of the air around the seedlings was in the high 80s/low 90s. Not knowing whether the discoloration was due to heat, strong nutes, or whether the pH was wrong because I had used vinegar to lower the pH, I immediately flushed with water. I replaced the nute solution with one about 75% less strong (on the recommendation of people from this forum), adjusted to 5.5pH using genuine pH Down from an aquarium supply, and returned them to the tent. I raised the HPS so that the temp at seedling level was 75-79 degrees and added a fan. And then I prayed!
Feb 16
As I was about to leave for Hawaii for a week, it was time to transplant. I soaked 6" rockwool cubes in pH5.0 water for several hours, then flushed with my garden hose. Made a weak nute solution of 1 tsp of each part of General Hydro in 5 gals of water (should have been 2.5 tsp in 5 gals per their instructions) and lowered to 5.5pH. I removed the seed cubes from the cups and all seedlings had EXTENSIVE roots coming out the bottom of the cubes and into the vermiculite. The Ultimate's roots had intertwined with the wick, so to avoid damage to the roots, I just left that part of the wick tangled in the roots. I cut out holes in the 6" rockwool cubes and inserted the seedling cubes into the larger cubes. Each plant then went into a black dishpan and I filled the pans 1/3 full with nute solution.
Feb 24
Back from a week in Hawaii, where I smoked the STRONGEST weed I've ever smoked! The plants are amazing...very healthy and robust, with 2 full sets of fan leaves each. All the nute solution was gone, so I made a new solution with 3 tsp of each part in 4 gals of water (should be 4 tsp per 4 gals by their instructions for veg phase.)
Feb 27
I moved all the plants into a large shallow pan (passive reservoir system), added an air pump and stone to increase oxygen content in the solution, added an additional fan, and an inline-duct exhaust fan at the top with a homemade charcoal filter (the panty-hose/pencil cup filter mentioned on this forum many times). I am a homebrewer, so I added a one-gallon CO2 generator (sugar water with wine yeast). I also topped (pinched) each plant.
March 9
Plants have bushed out CONSIDERABLY. Decreasing light from 24 hours to 12/12 tonight to force budding.
March 11
Hawaiian Snow has grown quite a bit and is taller than the other plants, but still "scrawny." All 3 other varities have stems as thick as my finger and are incredibly bushy. Plants are collectively consuming 1 gal of nute solution a day. Currently feeding 6 tsp of each part of solution in 4 gals of water (25% less than recommended) for transition phase.
Hawaiian Snow at 6 weeks (2 days into bloom)
(Northern Lights at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.)
White Widow at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.
The Ultimate at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.
Stem for The Ultimate at 6 weeks.
March 13
Plants had grown too bushy to remain in the same container, so I split them back into their original black dishpans. I flushed the rockwool cubes with 1 gallon of water each to remove built-up salts. The Ultimate and Northern Lights have roots poking out the sides and bottom of the cube, so I added 3 more inches of rockwool slab to the bottom of every cube. I poured off a quart of the yeast/sugar liquid in my C02 generator and replaced it with a quart of fresh sugar water.
That's up to date...more as it happens!
Even the schwaggy pot we get down here along the border in my state is so strong for me that I have to take it shotgunned from someone else, so I'm not sure what guided my selection of varietals, but I went to the single seed company and ordered 4 feminized seeds:
Northern Lights (Nirvana) $18.00 per seed
White Widow (Seedsman) $15.34 per seed
The Ultimate (Dutch Passion) $37.28 per seed
Hawaiian Snow (Green House) $30.04 per seed
Before folks start criticizing my choices, I am well aware that these all mature and different heights, take different times to bloom, etc. My goal isn't really to maximize yield, it's just to learn the life cycle and see if I can do it.
The seeds arrived in about a week, discreetly packed. (I'm guessing I shouldn't mentioned HOW they were packed, but it was definitely stealth.)
I purchased a used hydro setup for $200 on Craigslist, that included a 400W HPS with a new bulb, seedling heat mat, pH meter, and a bunch of other stuff. At my local hydro store I got a used 3'x3' grow tent and a cloning tent together for $120.
Jan 29
I wrapped the seeds in wet paper towels and placed them on a cookie sheet on top of the heat mat set at 75F, then put plastic wrap on top to prevent the paper towels from drying out.
Jan 30
Less than 24 hours later, White Widow, The Ultimate, and Northern Lights had sprouted. Hawaiian Snow had not.
Jan 31
I soaked the small rockwool cubes in 5.0pH water (which I had lowered with vinegar because I didn't yet have pH down) for 1 hour to dissolve the lime, then flushed the cubes with weak nute solution. I'm using General Hydroponics Advance Nutrient System. Using tweezers, I gently placed the seeds into the cubes.
Hawaiian Snow STILL hadn't sprouted, but I assumed it's because it was a hot-weather variety and needed warmer temps to germinate. The cubes went into a Pyrex 9x13 dish covered with plastic wrap, set on top of the heating pad.
Feb 1
The Ultimate is growing like crazy and has already sprouted 2 pairs of leaves. White Widow is half as tall. Northern Lights' leaves were still trapped in the seed husk, so I gently removed it. Hawaiian Snow has sprouted a root and is climbing up the hole in the cube. I placed the rockwool cubes into plastic cups filled with vermiculite with wicks through the bottom, dangling into the covered pyrex dish full of nute solution, using General Hydro's recommended strength for seedlings, 1/4 tsp of each of 3 parts in one gallon of water.
Then they were placed in the grow tent under the 400w HPS light positioned about 2 feet above the seedlings. Temp was mid 80s. I left for a trip to Portland.
Feb 10
Upon arriving home, my babies were pretty fried. Yellow/brown on the leaf tips.
The temp of the air around the seedlings was in the high 80s/low 90s. Not knowing whether the discoloration was due to heat, strong nutes, or whether the pH was wrong because I had used vinegar to lower the pH, I immediately flushed with water. I replaced the nute solution with one about 75% less strong (on the recommendation of people from this forum), adjusted to 5.5pH using genuine pH Down from an aquarium supply, and returned them to the tent. I raised the HPS so that the temp at seedling level was 75-79 degrees and added a fan. And then I prayed!
Feb 16
As I was about to leave for Hawaii for a week, it was time to transplant. I soaked 6" rockwool cubes in pH5.0 water for several hours, then flushed with my garden hose. Made a weak nute solution of 1 tsp of each part of General Hydro in 5 gals of water (should have been 2.5 tsp in 5 gals per their instructions) and lowered to 5.5pH. I removed the seed cubes from the cups and all seedlings had EXTENSIVE roots coming out the bottom of the cubes and into the vermiculite. The Ultimate's roots had intertwined with the wick, so to avoid damage to the roots, I just left that part of the wick tangled in the roots. I cut out holes in the 6" rockwool cubes and inserted the seedling cubes into the larger cubes. Each plant then went into a black dishpan and I filled the pans 1/3 full with nute solution.
Feb 24
Back from a week in Hawaii, where I smoked the STRONGEST weed I've ever smoked! The plants are amazing...very healthy and robust, with 2 full sets of fan leaves each. All the nute solution was gone, so I made a new solution with 3 tsp of each part in 4 gals of water (should be 4 tsp per 4 gals by their instructions for veg phase.)
Feb 27
I moved all the plants into a large shallow pan (passive reservoir system), added an air pump and stone to increase oxygen content in the solution, added an additional fan, and an inline-duct exhaust fan at the top with a homemade charcoal filter (the panty-hose/pencil cup filter mentioned on this forum many times). I am a homebrewer, so I added a one-gallon CO2 generator (sugar water with wine yeast). I also topped (pinched) each plant.
March 9
Plants have bushed out CONSIDERABLY. Decreasing light from 24 hours to 12/12 tonight to force budding.
March 11
Hawaiian Snow has grown quite a bit and is taller than the other plants, but still "scrawny." All 3 other varities have stems as thick as my finger and are incredibly bushy. Plants are collectively consuming 1 gal of nute solution a day. Currently feeding 6 tsp of each part of solution in 4 gals of water (25% less than recommended) for transition phase.
Hawaiian Snow at 6 weeks (2 days into bloom)
(Northern Lights at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.)
White Widow at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.
The Ultimate at 6 weeks, 2 days into bloom.
Stem for The Ultimate at 6 weeks.
March 13
Plants had grown too bushy to remain in the same container, so I split them back into their original black dishpans. I flushed the rockwool cubes with 1 gallon of water each to remove built-up salts. The Ultimate and Northern Lights have roots poking out the sides and bottom of the cube, so I added 3 more inches of rockwool slab to the bottom of every cube. I poured off a quart of the yeast/sugar liquid in my C02 generator and replaced it with a quart of fresh sugar water.
That's up to date...more as it happens!
