Magic Bud, take 2

[Pedro de Pacas]

Just luck of the draw that the first try ended up all male...let's try this again shall we? ;) planting three seeds today, 24/0 for germination and vegging...

[Pedro de Pacas]

Three days after planting, the sprouts are popping out of the soil, 2 are soaking up light while one is playing bashful...by tonight I should have 3 healthy sprouts!

:hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Thus far I'm questioning the wisdome of choosing the Magic Bud strain...out of a packet of 10, 4 turned male in my first attempt, two of the three sprouted out [of the second batch] the third seed sprouted and died - I didn't plant it deep enough.

So...what have I got to lose, I added the remaining 3 seeds to the current grow. I seriously doubt the dead sprout will rise from the dead and I need to get some females in there...

I have two healthy sprouts and three fres seeds planted today. I'll initiate 12/12 once all of them have grown their second sets of leaves. By Wednesday I sould see some action out of the 3 new seeds.

[Pedro de Pacas]

This grow...I dunno.

4 days after planting the remaining 3 seeds, only one has sprouted out...that's 3 out of the remaining 6. One looks shriveled and dead (the one that wasn't planted deep enough) and the remaining two are playing coy...

I've had seeds sprout out 10 days late so I'm not throwing in the towel yet.

I'll wait until the new sprout grows its second set of leaves and initiate 12/12...comes what may. It may be that I got a bad packet of seeds or that after my initial thoughts of the Magic Bud, it's equally unreliable... we'll see.

I still have Afghani Special seeds left over. All else fails I can fall back on those and LST them if they grow too tall like last time...

Mojo for the three sprouts I do have, in hopes they're all girls! :hippy:

[sunbiz1]

Why not use a seed starter kit? They work much better than simply popping them into the soil and are available for less than $5 at Wal-Mart.

[Pedro de Pacas]

Why not use a seed starter kit? They work much better than simply popping them into the soil and are available for less than $5 at Wal-Mart.

Never thought of that, don't those use peat moss pellets? I thought peat moss was too acidic for mj...:wtf:

[greenatik]

take your seeds and put them in a cup of water, cover it, and place it on top of your computer. once the seeds start to poke the tap through (and have sunken, you can tap them in a few hours and they should sink) plant directly into jiffy pellets or rapid rooters... 100% everytime if seeds are viable

:)

[sunbiz1]

They work well, that's how I started these:



Never thought of that, don't those use peat moss pellets? I thought peat moss was too acidic for mj...:wtf:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Wish me luck doodz and doodettes!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Took some drastic measures too...in past grows, I used popcorn containers which weren't deep enough (what, a gallon each?), the plants became rootbound.

This time, I tried multiple plants sharing the same 4 gallon pot wasn't much better; it may explain some of the problems I've been experiencing this time around (slow growth, seedlings dying after sprouting); so I had to do something, pronto.

If I understand the 12" per gallon theory properly, growing a 2' - 2.5' tall plant would require 2 to 2 and a half gallon pots. I already had a 2.75 gallon pot...looked for more but could only find 3 gallon ones. It's a tight fit, but the 3 pots fit just right in the cab.

I transplanted my 3 good sprouts into the 3 individual pots (any dormant seed would be at the very bottom I guess...oh well, I'm trying to focus on my healthy sprouts). And to provide appropriate lighting, I debated pulling out the HPS but it's a hassle to setup and I like the manageable temps from the UFO...so I pulled my trusty 125 watt CFL from the shelf (a boasted equivalent of a 300 watt HID if I recall...take it with a grain of salt) and I have it and the UFO side by side providing light to my 3 sprouts. I also added a fan to blow air on the stems.

Wish me luck...

:hippy:

Oh BTW I did lower the CFL, I just kept it higher for the pictures.

[Pedro de Pacas]

I need to learn patience...it's only been 7 days since flipping the lights to 12/12, and 4 days since I transplanted the plants into individual pots...I was beginning to wonder if I wasn't stunting their growth - the two original sprouts don't look any bigger or healthier; but the new sprout is growing new leaves, so something is happening in there...

[Pedro de Pacas]

Hm, the two original sprouts seem to have stalled while the third one is developing nicely...perhaps the stress of repotting stunted the growth of sprouts 1 and 2?

[rudy2010]

Looks like you have the setup and know how to grow. Are you using Fox Farms soil. Use Happy Frog for starting seeds and Ocean Forest when putting young plants in the ground or larger pots. The Michorriza (sp?) will attach to the roots and will result in a much larger harvest. Fox Farms also makes a starter soil that I have not tried. The Happy Frog works so well I have not found a need to try anything else. Use the coconut fiber starter pots. I can't remember what they call that stuff :smokin: but it is one of the supplements people add to the soil so should be safe.

[Pedro de Pacas]

Looks like you have the setup and know how to grow. Are you using Fox Farms soil. Use Happy Frog for starting seeds and Ocean Forest when putting young plants in the ground or larger pots. The Michorriza (sp?) will attach to the roots and will result in a much larger harvest. Fox Farms also makes a starter soil that I have not tried. The Happy Frog works so well I have not found a need to try anything else. Use the coconut fiber starter pots. I can't remember what they call that stuff :smokin: but it is one of the supplements people add to the soil so should be safe.

"Happy Frog for starting seeds and Ocean Forest when putting young plants in the ground or larger pots"

I'll keep my eyes open that sounds like it'll be useful in future grows! :thumbsup:

I wasn't paying much attention to the potting spoil make I bought, but I do have an organic nute blend called Shitz made of worm castings and bat guano...

A pinch at the base of the plant is supposed to work wonders! :hippy:

Well, all three plants have started moving! The two original ones are nearly touching the UFO and the younger one has developed new sets of leaves. But I have to agree with the forumite who said LED growing is slow...it is! :(

[rudy2010]

Last year was my first year so I did a test with Super Soil from Home Depot and Happy Frog. I used the same seeds and same peat pots. I started the ones in Super Soil one week before the ones in the Happy Frog. The ones in the Happy Frog bypassed the ones in the Super Soil in two weeks and just kept on going until the difference was ridiculous. So when I put them in the ground I used the Happy Frog to try to get the ones in the Super Soil back on track but they just never could catch up.

[Shovelhandle]

Cool article on an important part of seedling health. I like to even 'mini-mulch'. I'd put a sprinkle of dry peat peat moss, pearlite or something to keep a unfavorable environment for some insects and diseases.

Damping off (http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-faqs/36996-damping-off.html)

[Pedro de Pacas]

Good news-bad news deal: bad news - the CFL fixture slipped and damaged the youngest sprout...but I've had plants come back from direct contact to the CFL and still come out female, so I'm not giving up on it.

The good news: it took a while since the repotting, but sprouts 1 and 2 have grown bushier and their stems have thickened...I raised the UFO one rung to accomodate more growth!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Addendum - earlier today I figured a feeding wouldn't go amiss...so I tried my luck at fert tea: 2 pinches of Shitz bloom mix, diluted in warm water with a teaspoonful of molasses. Diluted that in one gallon of britta filtered water and shared it between the plants!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Plants 1 and 2 have been regaining health while #3 is still recuperating from the CFL burns...I do see tiny new leaves, so it is repairing itself!

[Pedro de Pacas]

I'm not dissing Paradise seeds, I might have just gotten a bad packet...out of 10 seeds, 7 have sprouted (1 seedling died, two never sprouted). Out of the 7, 4 turned male. Unofficially I have one likely female and one likely male, the damaged sprout is still catching up with the other two.

I'll give it more time...thus far, only one female out of the packet sounds pretty dismal.

[Pedro de Pacas]

One confirmed female, the larger one looks male at first glance....but I included a closeup, what do you guys think? The damaged plant is growing new leaves and regaining strenght...very encouraging!

:thumbsup:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Hurray! I've spotted pistils on big leafy, am I glad I waited! :D So out of the three plants currently growing, it's 2 girls and one unknown...when stubby is done repairing itself I can only hope it'll be a healthy girl too! :hippy:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Looks like stubby needs more light...

[Pedro de Pacas]

Re-arranged the lights. Stubby had a growth spurt, I wanted to avoid growing leggy... here's to hoping it turns into female #3!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Forgot to post on day 31... I spotted pistils on stubby too :thumbsup:

So the tally isn't that bad: 4 males on the first attempt. 1 seed died, 2 never sprouted and 3 turned out female. So if I were to assume that the 2 non-sprouts and the dead one were possible girls, the packet would be 60% female...not bad but still feels a bit of a gyp for the price I paid...

[Pedro de Pacas]

:thumbsup:

Likely not as big as if I was using my HPS (being realistic) but still pretty decent I say!:D

[Pedro de Pacas]

The UFO-CFL combo seems to stunt growth? Anyway, I think CFL are fine for vegging, LED for the transition to blooming (until sexing?) and HPS for flowering.

The UFO-CFL combo used 215 watts, the HPS uses 150 Watts and has worked wonders for blooming on past grows...the decision was easy.

Pictures to come...the server's a bit slow!

[Pedro de Pacas]

The server seems to be cooperating now!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Trimmed off yellowing, dry leaves; and on a hunch, fed the girls some of my old chemical ferts (20-20-20) ...somehow, the Shitz has left me feeling underwhelmed...I also lowered the HPS light a few rungs. I'd like some nice, dense buds here...

[Pedro de Pacas]

Fed the girls and took more pictures...and I think I've learned something new: when transplanting always use fresh potting soil...I tried reusing the soil from the old pot...the old root system seems to be stiffling growth...which might explain why they're all so short!

[Loafyboy]

Some nice looking trichs showing on them more recent pics dude! :jointsmile:

[bondjamesbond]

just gorgeous
and 40 some days is awesome!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Fed the girls and trimmed the yellowing, dry leaves from tall & bushy (in the white pot).

Here are photos!

[Pedro de Pacas]

Took those photos before leaving for work...

I might have exceeded the day to harvest, which is a switch since my prior grows were harvested on the early side...I decided to take my time with this one! :hippy::vap_smiley:

[Pedro de Pacas]

Surprisingly, not a lot of amber...no sweat, I'll give it more time! :thumbsup: