My THC Bomb Grow Journal

Greetings growers and tokers. THC Bomb is a strain that has intrigued me for some time, apparently, from what little I can I gather, THC Bomb is a cross between Big Bud and PPP ( Pure Power Plant). As I have grown and smoked PPP before, and find it to be an excellent strain, I figured that this should also come out well. Various strain reports and smoke reports give it a very high rating

My setup:
A converted shed where I made up an 8 ft. x 8 ft. grow room and an 8 ft. x 8 ft.
flower room, temp control is iffy at the present, I just finished insulating in the
hopes that I can better maintain a good growing temp. I do have heaters, but
due to the lack of adequate electrical supply, no air conditioning. I did use a small
potable swamp cooler for my last grow, but the humidity had me very worried. I
treated my plants for Powder Mildew as a preventative measure and that seemed
to do the trick.

Grow room - CFL lighting or 400 watt MH
I use MH in the dead of winter so as to make use of the heat given off to help
maintain a warm environment, and cfls when I can to keep costs down.
Flower Room - (4) 400 watt hps lamps in an 8 ft. x 8 ft. room.
Medium - I grow in soil, usually fox farm OF. Although I am considering other brands.
Nutrients- I am trying to stick with my own compost tea over commercial nutrients. We
shall see how this works out.

I ordered 20 seeds from Attitude, and received them within days, making for a happy grower.
I placed the seeds on a damp paper towel, sandwiched between two plates, and in just 2 days seeds started popping. By the next day 18 seeds had sprouted leaving just two that wouldn't happen. Oh well, not bad. All seedlings where placed into FFOF in dixie cups and placed into my grow room. Three days later I took this picture, I have never seen seedlings stretch as much, or as quickly. I lowered my lights, thinking that maybe they where a little light starved.
If anybody else has grown this strain, and noticed anything that would be of help, please feel free to let me know. I will try and update this journal as often as something worth sharing
happens.

My compost tea recipe:
I use a 13 gal. garbage bin where I brew approximately 7 gal of tea.

All measures are approximate.

3 cups worm castings
1/4 cup Azomite for trace minerals
1/3 cup bat guano. 2 kinds , high N for early growth , high P for flower stage.
1/3 cup bone meal
1/4 cup blood meal for early growth, none in the flower recipe.
1/4 cup of lime for buffering
1/4 cup epsom salts for the magnisium
about 1/4 cup molasas

Aerate for 24 hrs.

I have been using this quite successfully on my outdoor grow exclusively. I'm curious on how it will do for my indoor grow

Notes on my grow/flower rooms:
The only place I had available to build my grow rooms was a run down shed in my back yard that measured about 8 ft. x 16 ft. I divided the room in half so as to have two 8x8 rooms by adding a partition and door. I then insulated using inch and a half styrofoam sheets. The kind with one side covered in metal foil. I covered the ceiling, the walls and even part of the floor where my plants will be sitting. ( see picture )
I hung (4) 400 watt hps lamps in my flower room and (2) 400 watt mh lamps in my grow room. I also made up light panels for cfl lamps that I use in place of the MH lamps. I find that the heat given off by my mh lamps acts like supplemental heating in the winter, and in the warmer months I use the cfl lamps to save on electrical costs.
For lighting control timers I use those nifty units that are made to control electric hot water heaters, as they are really heavy duty, and only cost around $50.00 each at the Home Depot. ( Picture).
For my air circulation and venting I found some squirrel cage fans at HTG supply for around 100.00 each. I also got my HPS and MH lamps at the same place. I recommend them over any other for their prices.
My biggest problem was the limited electrical supply to my shed. All I had to work with was (2) 20 amp lines. That is why I went with the 400 watt lamps instead of more powerful ones. As the lines where buried it would just be too much for me to upgrade to larger wire and a larger breaker, so be it, work with what you got and work around what you don't got.
Small space heaters and exhaust fan controlling for temp control in the winter and colder months, and a small swamp cooler for the hot summer days.
( I don't like using a swamp cooler, due too humidity problems, but I cant get an air conditioner into this setup just yet )

I bought an attic vent fan temerature controller for around $20.00 at the local hardware store that I wired into a 2 gang outlet. This allows me to plug my exhaust fans into it and control the temperature that they come on at. The unit I have allows me to have my extra exhaust fans come on anywhere from 60 deg too 120 deg. I recomend these over your much more expensive units at the hydro store. Simple, easy , cheap. (see picture)

I also have one blower in my flower room, and one in the grow room, that runs constantly, so as to ensure a good supply of fresh air. ( intake is through a filter so as to minimize any bugs or mold spores that may be in the air. This is important, as my last grow suffered from both those problems before I installed the filters.

Found several of my babies stretching to the point of falling over this morning. I didn't want to try transplanting them as I didn't want to do any damage or subject them to any stress. So after lowering my lights I came up with a unique way of salvaging the situation. I simply cut off the bottoms of a few dixie cups and made a 'second story' on the taller plants.

Day 14 from seed:
Found one of my sprouts with brown spots on the leaves, not sure what it means yet. I separated it from the 'herd' and treated with neem oil.
On a good note, all the rest are coming along great.

Anybody with comments or observations is welcome to opine.

THC Bomb - 19 days from seed.

Gave them their first treatment of Neam Oil yesterday. I was a little worried that, as young as they are, they might suffer a little because of it. But they look fine this morning. So I guess Neam Oil is ok for youngsters.

Pictures of my grow room showing how I did my lighting:



I picked up the lamps from Home Depot for around ten bucks each. They are the kind that you would use in your bathroom, with three or four sockets in a row. The cheapest they had. These I mounted on a wire rack and suspended them with chain below my MH lamps. This allows me to swap out lighting when I feel the need.

A picture of my Compost Tea brewing, just for the heck of it.:

Your setup looks sick man. Keep it up.

So the battle begins against PM.
Damn, went into my grow room this morning to check on my young uns and saw what looks like the start of Powder Mildew on a few of the leaves.
This really gets my goat because I had just completely washed down the inside of my grow room with bleach water. I treated with a new product 'Mildew Cure' by safergro. I was looking at the ingredients and apparently the main active ingredient is sodium bicarbonate, Backing Soda. I use backing soda + skim milk on my outdoor grows with some decent success. Its the only thing I trust on late season grows.
I gotta get me a sulfur burner.

Update on THC Bomb indoor grow - day 24:

Watered today, checked the root growth out. They are looking pretty good so far. No real issues to be concerned about. The Neem oil treatment seems to have done what it is supposed to do. My big worry is Powder Mildew as I have had that problem before. As well as the perpetual battle against spider mites. I don't know what it is about the area I live in ( NorCal ) ,but spider mites, mold and other nasties are a bitch to fight. My outdoor grow is a constant battle, so its not a matter of having enough air movement. Just something to live with and keep on top of. On a happier note I find that treating Powder Mildew on my outside plants with Backing soda and milk seems to be keeping it under control. I have been using Neem Oil to combat the spider mite problem as well, but I have found that I have to almost double the recommended amount of Neem Oil that I mix to do a proper job. Someone mentioned adding a bit of lemon juice to be helpful as well, but I haven't tried that yet as my bud development is too advanced. I don't want to add any 'flavor' to them.



Checked the root structure as well. They all look healthy and happy too me.

If anybody has grown this strain befor I could use a little advice on whether they should be topped, fimmed or trained. I know some of my strains benefited, while others did not.

you are crazy. for how many days i will veg? i will look at this thread. good luck.

Thc Bomb Update:

Oct 20th, 2011- Transplanted all to 5 gal pots, using Roots Organic 707 Potting soil + mycorzine (spelling?) I lost one
baby, my own fault, all the rest are doing fine.
One thing I noticed about this strain is how long it takes to show its sex. Some plants are at node 7 befor any sign of sex is shown.
Most are still unknown at this point. So far I'm pretty happy about their growth.

Awesome Grow man! I wanted to grow THC bomb for sometime now but i have other grows going right now so i gotta wait. I will Deffently tune in to the rest of ur grow man. Green Mojo

nice job mate been wanting to grow this also just the same other things going on but im def subbed to this keep it up

just some advice.. when planting seedlings .. start buy only filling cup half way.. plant seed.. let it pop soil and stretch.. then fill up the rest of cup with soil.. and ur good to go

i have a clone of this strain i was gifted by a friend.. a clone that was a nug.. on a branch.. that he rooted.. so i revegged it .. and am waitin to take clones off it .. he was doing 16 plants under a 4-1000 watt and getting 2.5 pounds per light.. with this strain.. and its a amazing strain man this smoke is fab the only reason i wasted time revegging the fuckin thing.. was stubborn as shit.. because it was just a nugget.. on a branch.. lol

THC Bomb - update:
I appreciate all the input from those that have grown this strain befor. That is the primary reason that I started this Journal in the first place. I could find very little info with an internet search. All advise gladely accepted.
Saw signs of spider mites this morning, so I gave them a Neem Oil shower. Its not like this was unexpected, as I had to use my Flower room for a drying room to hang my outdoor grow. I usually am fasitidious about cleanliness in the vacinity of my babies, and never introduce outside plants inside, but circumsatances dictated that I do otherwise. All my outdoor plants ( O.G. Kush, Blackberry Kush, C-99, and Power Plant ) pretty much all matured at once and I am scrambling to keep up with it. My flower room was about the only place I could run string for drying. Not good planning, I know, but at least I am making progress. All that trimming is giving me a sore back and sore fingers. I've been at it for 2 weeks so far, 10 to 12 hours per day, and have another 2 weeks to go. Next year I am making a bud trimmer for sure. Too much work for this old boy.

Week 8 - THC Bomb Update.
I still can not put them into flower as my flower room is still not ready, and won't be for another week or two. I am very happy with how healthy and happy they look. I gave them another Neem oil treatment this morning just to be on the safe side regarding spider mites and powder mildew.
Still can not determine sex with certainty yet, this is the only strain I have grown that has not shown sex at this stage of growth. I probably will have to put them into flower to tell for sure. All my other strains have shown sex by at least node number 7.
This is supposed to be a bushy strain so I will not be topping or fimming. Just letting them do their natural thing.
I think I read somewhere that the strain is a cross between Pure Power Plant, which I have had good success in growing, and Big Bud, which I haven't grown but which I have heard is a good mold reistant strain. As I had powder mildew and bud rot problems on my outdoor grows ( OG Kush and Power Plant mainly ) I am considering this variety for my next outdoor grow. The only strain that I have grown that showed good mold resistance so far has been Blue Dream, but I am not a big fan of it so I am constantly looking for another good mold resistant strain. Any suggestions are welcome.

Updated Pictures:

Thc Bomb: week 8, time to switch to 12/12

I decided not to top as I have 19 plants between 12 inches and 18 inches in height. I felt that with my limited area I should just grow it 'sea of green' style and go for large central colas rather than top them and have them spread out. I think with only an 8 x 8 ft. area if I topped them they would be much too crowded and suffer from lack of light.
I cleaned my grow room with bleach water and soap, as I had too use it as a drying room and contamination by mold and bugs was a real issue to be concerned about. I also 'bombed' the room with a can of Dr. Doom. It's about all I can do to prepare the room for my ladies.
Amazingly, I can not find a male in the bunch. Usually at this point of growth I have no trouble identifying sex in my plants. I'm beginning to wonder if I was sent a batch of feminized seeds by mistake. On only 4 plants can I determine sex, all female, so far.
A couple of weeks in flower and I should see their sex for sure, so I'm not too worried about it. The problem is that I had originally figured that about half of them would be male, so I sprouted my seeds with that in mind. Now I have twice as many plants than I intended to grow, and have too change my growing stratagy acordingly. I usually try for fewer plants, that are larger and topped, so as too fill out my flower room. But now I am forced to grow in a more sea of green style, leaving the plants untopped. Oh well...
Onward and upward.

Started my White Rhyno seeds for my next run. I still can not see any male plants in my THC Bomb, even though they have been under
12/12 for a week. Very strange. Several different pheno's are starting to show though. I have 3 plants that are shorter than the others, even though they where all started at the same time. They are all starting to branch out and the stretch is going fine. I figure in a week or so I should deffinately be able to sex all my plants.

THC Bomb, 2 weeks in 12/12:
Found 6 males that I culled from the herd, 8 are definately female leaving me with 5 unknowns. I swear I have never seen a strain that showed its sex so slowly. All are growing very well, although I may have inadvertantly overfed them on my last watering ( 3 days ago ) as several are showing signs of nute burn. Not a big deal at this time as I will not feed them for at least 2 waterings and that should flush them sufficiantly. Adjusted the temps as my little heater is keeping it a mite warm ( 80 deg. )
On my White Rhyno, I had all seeds but 2 sprout and where placed into dixie cups with 707 soil. All look nice and healthy so far.