My first grow.. Closet, 400w HPS, a couple clones, and a couple seeds...

[Potberto]

Just figured I'd log my first *real* grow here.. I did try a grow about 3yrs ago with an old crappy 600w HPS, some Master Kush seeds from Nirvana. Got two females that were really stretchy and got me about an eigth of dried bud.. Not very impressive. Looking back, I did almost everything wrong. Wrong location, no nutrients, wrong soil, etc.

Well, FF a couple years, and a lot of reading.. I went and got a 400w HPS from HTGsupply. That bastard is wayyyyy brighter than my old 600!

Anyways.. On to some pics.. I must apologize, my Nikon DSLR is at my parent's house so I had to use a Canon point and shoot,,

I started by planting one of the old Master Kush seeds I was stowing away.. Just one.. I also grabbed two clones from a grow friend.. One is a Northern Lights/Blueberry, and the other is a Frisian Dew. All the clones have been going now for about three - four weeks. The Master Kush seed I never wrote down the date it popped so I'm going to guess about 5 weeks on the MK.

To my delightful surprise, two days ago the MK started busting pre-flowers - it's a girl!!! And a beautiful looking one at that!!

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/24/mkpf.jpg

I think they've all grown enough now. I've done a lot of LST'ing and a FIM on both the MK and the Frisian.. They look wonderful. I'm going to start the 12/12 tonight!!! Can't wait!!!

Some pics:

The Master Kush
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8741/mk11051.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/2231/mk11052.jpg
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1889/mk11053.jpg

The Frisian Dew
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9940/fd11051.jpg
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/83/fd11052.jpg

The Northern Lights - not doing as good as the others, but still doing OK.
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/2374/nl1105.jpg

Also I planted two Butterscotch Hawaiian x G13 skunks.. They're both 12 days old (12 days since popped out of soil). I'm going to move them to a veg box today so they can keep vegging while the others are budding.

Here's the two Butterscotches.
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/8696/bs11051.jpg
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/4691/bs11052.jpg

They've been under 400w HPS since popping.. But I keep them on the floor off to the side so they don't get too much light.. That one is looking great and is right at the surface of the soil. Interested to see how it turns out!!!

I also tried my hand at clones.. I took two clippings off the Frisian Dew yesterday. Today they look as green and healthy as if I just snipped them off. I have high hopes! My first clone attempts ever! Now I will have two clones of a clone. hahaaa
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/2481/fdclippings1105.jpg

Also for Nutes I'm using the GH Flora three part series for hydroponics. That's all. I noticed a HUGE jump in plant life when I started that. Got all three in 32oz bottles off ebay for like $39 shipped.

And the grow closet - completely light proof using weather stripping and sticky sheets of felt from Wally World. Worked beautifully. Also threw on a locking door handle in case of any nosy guests. Off shot are a fan blowing from an intake hole in the wall which gets fed cold basement air, and a hole up in the ceiling with an exhaust fan blowing into the attic. No carbon filters or any of that crap. I'm in a single family house and with venting to the attic I don't think smell will be much of an issue. Not to mention it's only a few plants at a time..

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/802/closet11051.jpg
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7387/closet11052.jpg

that's about it!!! Switching to 12/12 and will keep this thread updated with pics and progress.. Thanks to all for all the great help I've gotten while reading these forums!!!!

[Potberto]

I also wanted to ask - Anyone with the HTGsupply 400w HPS light? Does the ballast get very hot? The black part you can't even touch your hand to for more than a second or two.. Is this normal? I have fans in there, and the temps are low.. The exhaust is about a foot above the ballast anyway.. I just want to make sure that it's *supposed* to get that hot. Thanks And what's up, no love for my grow?!

[bluntpasser]

Looking Nice Potberto..I have the 400 watt from HTG and the ballast does indeed get too hot too touch, Its not a defect, just how the cheaper ballasts work..Looking forward to this log..:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Potberto]

Coool - figured, thanks!

And the two Frisian clippings I took on the 4th are still bright green and standing high two days later... HOPING that it was a success for my first try!

[frostedwonder]

Wish I could vent to my attic...way to much work from the basement tho.. I can actually touch my ballast and it is as warm as laptop after being on for a bit, I would never call it hot tho. I went with a digital switchable kind so not sure if that helped. Hope your clones take root! :)

[DreadedHermie]

Potberto, I dunno if I had the same ballast: a 400 watt Digital Greenhouse from HTG. It was a metallic lavender color, though. Not "switchable" but works with HPS or MH.

It did get hot enough to be uncomfortable to hang onto. If the heat's a problem, the ballast goes outside the flower room. And if it's "finned" you can mount the ballast so the fins run vertically. (Creates little convection currents as the warm air rises along the fins.)

I wanted to ask ya, what is the ring-looking thing around the stem of the NL? Are you doing a drip-feed or something? :confused:

And, an observation :D; when your Master Kush starts gettng rootbound, you can remove most of your drainage material (stones, whatever) from the bottom of the pot. Leave just enough to keep your new soil from dribbling out the drain hole; I just put one small stone blocking each hole to leave as much room for new soil as possible. Add enough new soil to raise the plant up so the top of the rootball is within an inch (or less, depending how you water) of the top of the pot. You should be able to get quite a bit of fresh soil under, and around, the rootball with it raised up a bit. New roots should populate that area quickly, so you won't have stagnant water/nutes sitting there.

This way, the plant gets the benefit of an upward transplant, but in the same footprint. Buys an extra week or two before a "real" transplant to a larger pot is necessary. :thumbsup: I like to keep that area of moist air trapped in the top space of the pot to a minimum, so I keep my soil level pretty close to the top of the pot.

Your plants look nice, though. I think you're out to smash your old yield record. :hippy:

[Potberto]

I wanted to ask ya, what is the ring-looking thing around the stem of the NL? Are you doing a drip-feed or something? :confused:

That yellow thing? If that's waht you're talking about it's a standing sticky gnat trap.. I've had a few in the closet and trying to keep them out. It's been working but still a few stragglers. If they're not gone a week or two into flowering I'll go with some sort of soil treatment.



And, an observation :D; when your Master Kush starts gettng rootbound, you can remove most of your drainage material (stones, whatever) from the bottom of the pot. Leave just enough to keep your new soil from dribbling out the drain hole; I just put one small stone blocking each hole to leave as much room for new soil as possible. Add enough new soil to raise the plant up so the top of the rootball is within an inch (or less, depending how you water) of the top of the pot. You should be able to get quite a bit of fresh soil under, and around, the rootball with it raised up a bit. New roots should populate that area quickly, so you won't have stagnant water/nutes sitting there.

Not 100% sure on what you mean - Are you talking about the FD clippings I took? Or the MK plant in the first few pics? If you're talking the MK I wasn't planning on doing a transplant any more - that was going to be his final pot. Do you think they're too small? They're each 2.5gl I believe.. Should I repot them?
Thanks!

[Potberto]

Day two of flowering.. Everything looking A-OK.

The two FD clippings I took are still bright green and standing up nicely. It's been over three days for them - can I assume they're OK and are currently rooting? Or can there still be probs?

Started the two Butterscotches on a light mix of nutrients this morning too..

Truckin along! :)

[Potberto]

Bump - Just wondering if I should repot these? The NL and FD is in a 2.5gl, and I think the MK is a 2gl.. Just turned 12/12 yesterday..
thanks

[Potberto]

Fuck it, repotted it. It's in a 3.5gl or so pot.. Not 100% sure on size, but definitely bigger than the 2.5 and by a good bit. I want to find one more bigger pot and do up the Frisian - I'll keep the NL in the 2.5 since it's smallish anyway.

I did it quick and lowest stress possible. Cut the other pot off of it and slid it right in the new one. Less than 3 min total.

[Dutch Pimp]

Did it look rootbound?...if so...you did the right thing at the right time, the right way....:thumbsup:

Never fiddlefuck around when transplanting....:D

[DreadedHermie]

That yellow thing? If that's waht you're talking about

No, this:

[attachment=o230961]

It almost looks like the rim of a peat pot.

I'd take a look at the roots, and if it's rootbound, pot up. If not, I'd at least add more soil and set it up higher in the pot it's in.

In fact, that's what I'd do with all of them. Don't worry about stressing the plants when you transplant them. Done right, they love it. Done wrong, it's still possibly better that leaving it severely rootbound. Your soil chemistry will quickly become unmanageable.

Woops, still typing and DP has chimed in. What he said, too. ^^^ :thumbsup:

[Dutch Pimp]

high...Hermie...:jointsmile:

[Potberto]

Yes, the bottom of the MK bush was definitely thick with white roots! I guess it was the right thing to do. There's a good 5" or so of new soil underneath and a couple around the edges..

Will do the same to the Frisian ASAP.

Thanks again for help.

That Master Kush is starting to smell like a dirty whore!!!

Oh, and Hermie - that was what it was in when my buddy was cloning them. He was doing hydro. It's filled with the brown balls.. The roots were coming out of it so crazy I just left it in there. The Frisian is in the same thing. The Master is straight soil from seed.

[Potberto]

Woke up this morning and beautiful Mrs. Kush is nice and green and standing tall at attention. It appears the re-pot had no ill-effects on this old lady!!

Going to try to find a bigger pot today for the Frisian.

Also, my Frisian clippings that I took four days ago are still bright green and standing tall in their party cups (with a clear lid). Is it safe to assume at this point that all is going well with the rooting? They're being rooted in 50/50 mix of perlite and vermiculite. Should I rinse that out and take a look to see if it has roots? Or should I just let it go and not worry about it just yet? I'm just not sure when it is OK to put them in a normal pot and go about their normal lives...

Thanks!!!

[Dutch Pimp]

Drill extra drain holes in any and all pots. Party cups, too...:thumbsup:...when you see roots coming out the drain holes its time to transplant..(during vegging cycle)

[Potberto]

Drill extra drain holes in any and all pots. Party cups, too...:thumbsup:...when you see roots coming out the drain holes its time to transplant..(during vegging cycle)

Got it.. Nothing that I can see yet. The two clippings are still bright green though!

I did repot the Frisian Dew this morning too.. Just a little bit bigger pot - that was all I had. For my next grow I want a few 3.5gl SQUARE pots. Can't find square ones anywhere!!!

The two Butterscotches are looking magnificent. I have high hopes for them :)

[DreadedHermie]

Potberto, I just gave away the last of my square pots. Some expert had written, "I prefer the square pots because they fit together with no wasted space" so I tried them.

But what's important is not how the pots nestle together, but how the tops of the plants fit together to form a continuous canopy. The corners on them dang square pots are a real PIA when you're trying to spin plants around in close quarters. The amount of "extra" soil contained in those corners was not worth the flexibility lost in not being able to turn the plants easily.

At least that's how it worked out for me. :twocents:

Hey, Dutch--thanks. :thumbsup:

I gotta spread some rep before I can hit you back. :rastasmoke:

[Potberto]

Hmm, never thought about it that way.. Makes sense..

Now can you tell me - how do I fast forward 6 weeks? :)

[DreadedHermie]

Now can you tell me - how do I fast forward 6 weeks?

Yep.

Switch to coco. :thumbsup:

[Potberto]

Are you talking the coconut soil? I read a little about that, I might have to look into it further for next time...

[Potberto]

Going on day 5 of 12/12 cycle. All are looking great. The MK is really starting to bush a bit.. The NL have some looooong pistils shooting out. Lookin good! No new pics, maybe tomorrow morning I'll grab a few.

:rastasmoke:

[Hocmat]

Wow lots of Colas :D How many times did you top/fim?

[Potberto]

I'm hopin so :)

The FD just grew crazy like that. It must have 30-40 potential bud sites. I did FIM one branch just to try, now there's three in it's spot..

The Master Kush I really only LST'd. All the shoots coming up are from that. I did FIM one node, but it only split in to two.

They're definitely healthy!

[DreadedHermie]

Are you talking the coconut soil? I read a little about that, I might have to look into it further for next time...


If you have to transplant any of them upwards, just do it into coco. I did a log...

http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-growing/171990-coco-vs-ffof-mid-veg-conversion.html

I continued the experiment and flowered those plants--one stayed in soil, the other in coco. The coco yield was about double, even though they were switched over rather late. :weedpoke:

And it's not soil. It's just shredded up coconut husks, kinda like rope fibers(?)... hard to describe. But virtually inert. You are basically growing in hydro--you use hydro nutes...

[Potberto]

Did some reading - I see that... very interesting.. I need to find some of this shit ASAP!

If not, I'll definitely switch over for my next grow. I use the GH flora hydro nutes anyway so this should work..

I almost vaguely remembering a local hydro shop having the bix square bag of the stuff... I gotta go back and check.. Thanks for the tip!

[DreadedHermie]

I just get the Botanicare compressed bricks. It's the least economical way but it's sure convenient--just add water to expand the bricks. Just know, some other brands contain salt and have to be flushed before use. Never did it with the B.care. :thumbsup:

[Potberto]

Day 6 of budding.. Took some pics this morning before they all went back to sleep :)

First though here's the two baby Butterscotch Hawaiian x G13 skunks. They're both 19 days since they popped soil. Do they look about on par?

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/4783/99551568.jpg
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8628/42661097.jpg

Couple forming buds on the Master Kush plant:

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/854/74402778.jpg
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4933/16489931.jpg

Nice long pistils on the Northern Lights:

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/531/66882924.jpg

And the garden:

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/148/41527267.jpg

That's all for now!

[Potberto]

Small update with a couple pics.. Flowering day 11 of my personal medical grow.


The Frisian Dew:
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/7420/43777135.jpg


The Master Kush:
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1465/13782794.jpg


And the Northern Berry x Blueberry (I call it Berry Blue :D)
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/2269/79848862.jpg


And the garden:
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/5480/97702862.jpg


Well within the legal limit of budding girls! :D Isn't life grand..

:)

[DreadedHermie]

Looking good...:greenthumb:

Are the Frisian cuts rooted yet? I was curious if you'd used any anti-wilt, rooting compound, humidity dome, etc. :weedpoke:

[Potberto]

I dunno about the clippings.. This is what I did:

Clipped, immediately stuck in distilled water. Used a blade to take a shaving around the stem, around the whole stem, and about an inch up it. Dipped in rooting powder. Stuck right into a shot glass sized seedling pot of 50/50 vermic and perlite. Took a party cup and misted the inside, and got a clear cup cap to go over it - misted that too. Dropped the clippings in, and at the lower part of the veg box (less light) in with the seedlings.

So, they sat in the covered cups, stayed moist, 80°, and were on 18/6 since 11/5.

They are still bright green, and they have noticeably grown, but zero root growth. The stem on one looks like it did the day I clipped it, and the stem on the other MIGHT have something.. Tiny white brain like growth on the end of it.. Nothing looking like a root but might be..

I dunno. My buddy said that using hydro on clippings works much better. He has a box with his clippings. He showed me one after seven days and it had a crazy spaghetti roots already.. I dunno. For now I guess I'll stick with the seeds. :)

[DreadedHermie]

If they've grown, they're getting too much light.

Last strain I worked with was 11 days from cutting till roots protruded from a rapid rooter, very consistent. So you still may see success with these. If not...

The sites where you're hoping to grow your roots shouldn't be visible to you. You will know you've been successful when your roots protrude from the medium. If you can see the actual tissue where you want roots to grow, it's not well-enough covered with your medium, and it's not dark enough.

Rooting clones is a race. You're trying to grow roots before the warm, moist environment grows pathogens that will kill your clone (hence the hormone / rooting potion and low light). And, before dehydration (via transpiration through the leaves and stems, primarily) wilts your cutting (anti-wilt sprays, leaf trimming, humidity dome, and again, low light all help you with this.)

Get yourself some anti-wilt spray (I use Vita-Grow brand; it's just a food-grade wax coating) and get those cuts into near-darkness.

Also, you must be lab-grade clean. Sterilize cutting blades between subjects. make each cut on a fresh, sterile surface. Blades should be sharp, or better yet, new. Single-edge razor blades, or Exacto #11 (my fave) should be cleaned to remove any rust-inhibitive coatings (oils, etc.) that might be on the blades.

Rooting compounds can be contaminated, and they can "go bad." I once killed a whole tray of cuts with some Clonex ($$$) I had contaminated by dipping a diseased clone right into the bottle. I now use Dip-n-Grow (cheap), and mix a fresh shotglass-full each time. I'd advise against the "bark removal" trick when using a rooting hormone. You're creating potential infection sites and possibly damaging vascular tissue, as well as possibly removing the cellular material that you're trying to differentiate into root cells.

Although I have used many perlite-vermiculite mix ratios, I think the rapid rooters have helped my success. They're also a little neater; probably easier to maintain sterile conditions.

Your mix looked good, though--I bet it'll work fine if everything else is tuned in.

There's a section in one of stinkyattic's stickies about cloning. I'll try and find it. Cloning is like having a goose that lays golden eggs--100% known females, already mature at 4" tall. :thumbsup:

[Potberto]

I guess I got some more practicing and reading on the clones! Thanks for the tips though...

Just some update pics on my first grow.

These plants were flipped to 12/12 on November 6th (17 days). They seem to be doing pretty good for my first shot!

They are under a 400w HPS. I only have three budding. One Nirvana Master Kush that I planted from seed. Got lucky on this one!

The Master Kush view from top:
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9260/86029413.jpg

Budz:
http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/2527/47480321.jpg


Frisian Dew from a clone:
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/6407/70279787.jpg



And a Northern Berry x Blueberry from a clone:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/598/33996224.jpg


Nutes are GH flora three part series, a little bit of Instant Karma, and Molasses. All were veg'd under the HPS which has an agro bulb for a little bit of the blue spectrum. They seem to love it!!! Can't wait till harvest!!!

[mainegrown]

i like what you have done im gonna watch how you go *bump*

[Potberto]

Garden is realllly filling in nicely!! Hoping the buds start to really bulk up soonn!!! Day 20 of flowering.. I guess I'm a little under half-way there??

[mainegrown]

they do look nice,,
thanks for being an example of what i want..
please post more pics
-J

[Potberto]

Day 24 of flowering. At the moment trying to figure out a small prob. Anyways, here's two nice bud pics.. The Frisian:
<P>http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/3985/14581105.jpg<P><P>
And the MK:<P>
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1962/88509619.jpg
<P><P>
'till next time :)

[Potberto]

Day 26 of flowering.. Aside from the extensive yellowing, the buds are looking great.. I flushed/fed and gave some cal-mag in case it was a mag deficiency..

Anyway, just going to let nature take it's course from here and see what happens.

DreadedHermie - ended up finding a block of the Cocoa Coir.. I don't think it'll make it to this grow, but I got two Butterscotch Hawaiian plants, and one more fem'd Frisian Dew that are veg'ging right now. Next transplant all three will be going in the Cocoa.

Here's a bud pic from each of the three flowering plants:

Frisian Dew:
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/1554/35470554.jpg

Northern Berry x Blueberry:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8594/10104931.jpg

Master Kush:
http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/4460/67771510.jpg

Any comments are welcome!

[frostedwonder]

Hey if that was on a menu I would order it everyday! That Fdew looks so nice I think I am going shopping for one. Great job..good show:jointsmile:

[Potberto]

Thanks Frosted! I really like the FD. This is a clone off of one my buddy harvested a few months ago. It is very tasty, earthy taste kinda.. Real nice. The buds are thick and dense as shit too. He had one plant pop off a cola that weighed almost an oz dry :D

In grow news - One of my ButterscotchxHawaiians looks like it might be a little boy. I should know tonight when the lights come on. If it is I'll finish it separately and get some sperm .

Which brings me to a Q - if I "paint" a bit of pollen on a single bud from each plant - will that stunt the plant at all? Or just that one bud? I'd like to do a little cross-pollination, but don't want to fuck up my end yield just to get a few beans.

Thanks!

[Potberto]

Anyone got any info on the cross polination? One of the Butterscotches is definitely a male.. It almost appears as the other one is too - should know in a couple days :(

I was hoping for at least one girl!

Thanks

[Dutch Pimp]

:)...http://boards.cannabis.com/advanced-techniques/141339-breeding-seeds.html

paint the lowest pistils...leave the colas sensi...:thumbsup: