Clean slate

[Pedro de Pacas]

I can't even call this Day 1 since I've just harvested what's left of a pitiful Afghani Special grow...several problems arose, I believe it was too tall a plant for my cabinet, it became rootbound in the plastic popcorn container, the leaves were yellowing and curling up dry in spite of wet soil...

Anyway, I salvaged what I could of that female. I cleaned the inside of the cab with a wet cloth to remove any residual pollen (I hope it'll be enough) and thoroughlly sprayed the exhaust fan with Lysol, just in case stray pollen may have lodged in there.

I did some more research for a good medicinal strain and it would seem that Blueberry has some nice pain relieving and anti-anxiety properties, plus it matures in 7 weeks...sounds good! Grower's choice carries Blueberry seeds at an affordable price, so it seems that Pedro's goin' Blueberry! :hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

As luck (or lack thereof) would have it, the Blueberry was out of stock. Growers Choice doesn't seem to have the same reliability as Dutch Passion anyway (e.g. you want Dutch Passion Blueberry, bite the bullet and get Dutch Passion, Growers Choice was described as even less reliable than KC Brains).

The sales person strongly recommended Magic Bud by Paradise Seeds for the "pain relief with added anxiety contol" effect...more affordable than the DP seeds and better quality than KCB or GC...we'll see.

The flowering periods of DP Blueberry and PS Magic Bud are very similar (7 weeks vs 50 days, same range) and grow an average of 3' tall (manageable in my cabinet)...

Here's the dilemma: I'm still experimenting with LED but after paying $96.00 after taxes for the Magic Bud seeds I don't want to mess around too much...

LED: lower cab temps, lower yield
CFL: moderate yield, higer cab temps
HPS: optimal yield, but keep that AC on cold...

Maybe I could try LED with a CFL for the added orange spectrum?

[Pedro de Pacas]

Okay, so I guess that "officially" 07/29 is day one. :thumbsup:

I just planted 4 Magic Bud seeds in moist soil (I find soil germination hassle-free) and I'm "blasting" them with all the LED lights I have - the UFO, the blue LED panel and the red LED bulb.

Rather than a 12/12 from seed schedule I'll give them 24/0 until the sprouts grow their second set of leaves and then switch them to 12/12, I might replace the red bulb and blue panel with a pair of warm white CFL's...reinstalling the HPS would be a major hassle at this point!

If all goes well, I should see some healthy sprouts by August 1st!

Wish me luck! :hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

All right, I just gave the soil a close look and I can see one sprout making its way out of the soil.

The great thing about LED is that heat is no longer a factor, I'm no longer worried the sprout might dry out from the heat generated by a CFL or HPS light...keeping my fingers crossed!

:hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Okay, checked again, there are now 3 tiny sprouts showing their pretty green leaves! :thumbsup: #4 is still shy but there's time yet!

I swapped the red LED spotlight with a 45 watt cool white CFL ... those seeds were 'spensive so I want the vegging and blooming to go without a hitch.

From what I've read, the UFO grow light and CFL combo yields better results than UFO alone or CFL alone...

Still on the 24/0 schedule until the sprouts grow a second set of leaves...

Goin' good so far! :D :hippy:

[Shovelhandle]

Best of luck with this new grow, kitteh.
I just harvested a crop of Mazar, Blueberry and Super Silver Haze. The Blueberry (from Dutch Passion) had two phenos. Both looked alike, one smelled sweeter. It is wonderful, strong pot. The sweeter pheno really rocks. I get wicked head rushes while smoking and for a while after.

It's really good shit.

ps, the blueberry was harvested at 10 and 11 weeks.

[Pedro de Pacas]

Best of luck with this new grow, kitteh.
I just harvested a crop of Mazar, Blueberry and Super Silver Haze. The Blueberry (from Dutch Passion) had two phenos. Both looked alike, one smelled sweeter. It is wonderful, strong pot. The sweeter pheno really rocks. I get wicked head rushes while smoking and for a while after.

It's really good shit.

ps, the blueberry was harvested at 10 and 11 weeks.

Thanks! Only this grow is Magic Bud rather than Blueberry...I was basing the flowering time on what the online description said (of the Growers Choice BB)...

Short description from Paradise Seeds:

Magic Bud is a fine blend of Indica and Sativa. This plant produces beautiful resin coated nugs in a relatively short time, approximately 56 days indoors.

Her appealing velvet looks during flowering are a pleasure for the eye, and you have to be careful that you (or your friends) do not give into the urge to cut of a branch before she is fully ripened! Your patience will be royally rewarded with very tasty aromatic buds.

It's a pleasure to see this plant grow in your garden. Because of the somewhat bushy growth patterns, a little more space will show the full potential of this plant. The yields are medium to high and with the short flowering time and excellent quality she is the perfect choice for a successful crop.

When dried and cured the Magic smokes smooth with a pleasant floral aromatic taste. The body relaxing effect combined with a strong potent high is magical, you will feel at ease with everything you do.

Type: Indica/ Sativa
Flowering: Approx 56 days indoors. Outdoors Middle of October (n.L.)
Yield: 400 grams per m2 indoors. Outdoors approx. 500 grams per plant
Environment: Indoors. Outdoors between 50? n.L. and 50? s.L.
Effect/Buzz: Pleasant Sativa-Indica high
Smell/Taste: Floral ?aromatic
THC: 12-15%


Oh, BTW - 4 sprouts out of 4 seeds! Hurray! :D :hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

So I guess that makes today day 1? ;) The four Magic Bud sprouts are doing well. Since the popcorn containers weren't deep enough and the plants became rootbound in the past grows, I figured a good compromise would be to share one large deep pot and snip out any males...restricted space has its drawbacks!

:hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

More info on the Paradise seeds Magic bud strain:

Magic Bud Seeds from Paradise Seeds - Marijuana Seeds Review (http://www.onlinepot.org/OGStrainGuide/Strainguide/Paradise_Seeds/Magic_Bud/2036/index.html#g2036)

Day 2 of flowering (53 to go I guess? We'll see ;) ) and based on the reviews of that particular strain, Magic Bud grows bushy...height can vary between 18" and 3' ... I'll have to keep an eye on that. If it tops off at 2' tall, that would be ideal, but even 3' tall wouldn't be too tall for my cabinet...I hope!

[Shovelhandle]

"Thanks! Only this grow is Magic Bud rather than Blueberry...I was basing the flowering time on what the online description said (of the Growers Choice BB)..."

Right! I finished reading your post after my reply. :jointsmile:

Sounds like a winner.

[Pedro de Pacas]

"Thanks! Only this grow is Magic Bud rather than Blueberry...I was basing the flowering time on what the online description said (of the Growers Choice BB)..."

Right! I finished reading your post after my reply. :jointsmile:

Sounds like a winner.

I sure hope so! I rotated the pot so the CFL is located between the sprouts rather than right on top, so that when the stretching starts I won't be so worried about heat damage...

[Pedro de Pacas]

So far the CFL and LED combo seems to be working out nicely, none of the "legginess" I'd seen in the prior grow.

[Pedro de Pacas]

I think I've struck a happy compromise: the CFL/LED combo seems to provide just the right amount of the appropriate light spectrums while keeping cabinet tempertures manageable.

My "24/0 vegging until the sprouts grow a second set of leaves" seems to have allowed the plants to grow short and bushy and avoided the legginess the 12/12 from seed seems to give. To save time I initiated 12/12 once the sprouts seemed healthy enough. This is what they look like now! :hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

I guess this is where I went wrong last time: I started the grow 12/12 from seed using the HPS light. Too intense and too hot. I then switched from HPS to LED and I hadn't cleaned the cabinet of stray pollen from the prior grow...

I mean look at the Magic bud sprouts now, I germinated them in soil, from sowing day I had them on 24/0 for 7 days and 10 days into12/12 look at them now! (17 days total from sowing).

[Pedro de Pacas]

No nutes yet since sowing...pretty darned good I'd say!:thumbsup:

[Pedro de Pacas]

2 of my babies may be boys, I spotted balls at the top of two plants...is 18 days into 12/12 average for the plants to show signs of sex?

[Pedro de Pacas]

Snipped off the confirmed male, snipped off yellowing laves at the bottom (lack of proper light you see) added a bit of Shitz bloom mix to the soil and watered the remaining plants...

At this point it's hard to tell if the remaining 3 are male or female...

[Pedro de Pacas]

Or late night day 18! ;) Swapped the 45 watt cool white CFL with a soft white one of equal value, for extra reds and oranges...

So 45 watts of CFL, a 90 watt UFO and a 14 watt blue panel...that's about 150 watts, not a great saving on the electricity front (150 watts HPS is optimal for my grow closet, but I was getting too much heat stress from my HPS)...

so far the LED/CFL combo seems to be working out okay, the plants are short and bushy as opposed to the leggy plants I got from my last grow. Keeping my fingers crossed that my remaining three turn out to be healthy girls!

[Pedro de Pacas]

It's a bust, out of 4 seeds, all 4 were male...time to start over! :(

[ForgetClassC]

how can u tell, they are still vegging.

[Pedro de Pacas]

how can u tell, they are still vegging.

No...19 days of 12/12 is no longer vegging...and all 4 plants had balls.