Vanilla Kush CFL Grow First Time

[rocklobster4040]

I am ready to start my grow log. Thanks for all the help from everyone on this forum. It has been a wealth of information. Now lets see how well I can follow directions.


Here are the details...

Vanilla Kush Fem Seeds from Attitude-(I had a little germination issue only ended up with one plant-Clones Coming)

My grow box.
A custom made box..metal frame with insulation board walls
8-23w CFL's with homemade reflector
Mylar Emergency Blanket wall covering
Window Unit AC Vent
3" Passive Exhaust

Pre Packaged Potting soil
Fox Farm Trio nutes

So here are pics.

This is starting my 3rd week. Think that she is looking pretty good. Started nutes last week

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0049.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0050.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0054.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0052.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0053.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040
/GEDC0052.jpg


Thanks again for all the help

RockLobster4040

[camoxnhx]

Nice reflector man! Way better then mine. Sweet set up that you got! So just a few questions man.
1. What germination method did you do?
2. How'd you get your reflector to stay curved?
3. Have you started your sexing of your plant yet?

I will be watching this. For sure on that one. All I see out of this thread is sucess! Keep that thumb green and don't drink and drive when you can smoke and fly.

[rocklobster4040]

My first germination method was the paper towel. Where I messed up was after the seeds has cracked. I put them in the party cup and covered the cup with plastic and didn't poke any holes in the plastic for fresh air. I also think that the cups got too hot also...where i live the temps have been over 100 degrees and i didn't have my box finished. So the seeds just rotted.

My successful method was i just planted the seed directly in the party cup, kept it dark and a bit cooler and I had a sprout in few days. I just replanted this plant a few days ago into the larger pot you see in the photos.


As for the reflector, I just used a 2 ft section of 6" vent pipe. I just used the natural curve of the pipe and attached it to a piece of wood that the light fixture is mounted to.

and no...I have started sexing yet...I used fem seeds so hoping there is no problem


thanks


RockLobster4040

[shibbysurfrider]

Awesome grow man! I too am vegging some Vanilla Kush. Mine look a wee bit behind yours. I started soaking my seeds August 9th. Mine are in Hydro and yours is still WAY bigger... Makes me jealous. Definitely Subscribed.

Good Vibes:hippy:

[neceros]

Soil > Hydro :P

Looks good. I like your veg lights. What are you planning on for bud lighting?

[rocklobster4040]

I am thinking that I will change the bulbs to warmer light, might go to HPS.

And this is a soil grow

Thanks for the kind comments...Hope I can deliver a nice harvest


RockLobster4040

[ice887]

Lobster, what type of fixture did you use and where did you get ?

Thanks

[budlover13]

Looks pretty darn good! The only thing I might suggest is getting your lights as close as possible without touching. I like the box! Good luck!:stoned:

[camoxnhx]

now as for the warm lighting id wait untill your gonna flower but as far as the HPS are you gonna put it inside your box or are you gonna pull your plant when you run the hps? but yea ry to get that light closer like budlover13 said. your plants will get the most lumes out of the cfls! Keep the Thumb Green!

[rocklobster4040]

Ice...I made the light.

Here is what I did. I bought a cheap 4 bulb bathroom fixture from Home Depot.

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/da7902d4-6055-4bba-bb1b-df96f9bd6d12_300.jpg

I took off the all of the trim and just used the sockets and the base.

I mounted the fixture to a narrow piece of wood and drilled a hole for the wires to pass.

The reflector is a 2' section of 6" vent pipe that is not snapped together. I screwed the reflector to the wood. I just put some eye screws to mount the chain and wire it up.

I used y-adapters in each of the sockets.

RockLobster4040

[ice887]

Thanks Lobster, much appreciated. I am in the process of making my grow box and this will definitely help. Will be keeping an eye on your grow log (subscibed) :thumbsup:

[rocklobster4040]

More Pics...

Okay here are some updated pics and i have a couple of questions.

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0080.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0081.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0083.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0082.jpg


I think that things are coming along pretty good with my Vanilla Kush grow. The questions are...

My plant is about 4 weeks old, when should i consider moving to the flowering stage??

Is this plant big enough to take a few clones from??

And some of the older leafs are showing some brown spots...maybe nute burn?? any thoughts??


thanks

RockLobster4040

[PhatJay]

My plant is about 4 weeks old, when should i consider moving to the flowering stage??

This depends on a couple of factors, like what lights you are going to use during the flowering period and what grow style you are using. Assuming that you are going to continue using CFL's and let your plant grow naturally (no LST, SCROG etc) I would say kick it into flower now. Your plant is going to double in height before it is ready for harvest and CFL's have poor light penetration.

Have you lowered your lights yet?

Do you have any 2700k bulbs for the flower period? or that 150w HPS?



Is this plant big enough to take a few clones from??

Yes


And some of the older leafs are showing some brown spots...maybe nute burn?? any thoughts??

Nute burn shows on the very tips of the leaves starting at the bottom and working up. That isn't nute burn. Lower leaves that are not getting much light tend to die off, it could be that or may be an indicator of a slight nutritional problem. Don't panic... just keep an eye on it. If the new leaves look good then old leaves are generally old news

[rocklobster4040]

Great thanks for the information. I do keep the lights low. I raise them up to take the pics.

I am not worried about the spots, just wondering what they might be. The plant seems to be healthy otherwise.

I am planning on keeping with cfls and I do have some other bulbs for flowering.

And I am thinking about cutting a couple of clones this weekend. I will keep everyone posted.

RockLobster4040

[jaibyrd7]

:D your grow looks great! its so funny, i have the EXACT same lights for my kids strawberries in the kitchen! i,ll try to post some pics. great job!

well, i keep trying to insert photos, but it keeps asking me for a URL? wtf? :eek:

[camoxnhx]

UPDATES!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????? i wanna see!!!! i wanna see!!!!

[rocklobster4040]

Okay here is an update....I almost lost this plant several weeks ago, so I am not sure how the finished product will turn out. As I mentioned in the earlier post I am pumping in air conditioning into my grow box. I think that it was getting too cold when the lights were off and she almost bit it. This was right before I was planning on switching to flowering.

So, I figured that out and brought her back and started flowering about 3-4 weeks ago, i think. I am bad with keeping up with dates.

As you can see, I am getting some good buds, not too dense though. I am starting to see the Tirchs and will keep an eye on them. I am still following the Fox Farm Trio feeding schedule. I am guessing that this is not bad for my first time out. I have learned a lot and will try again soon.


http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0253.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0252.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0251.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0254.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0255.jpg

[shibbysurfrider]

Hey man, glad you were able to save your plant. I had to scrap my Vanilla Kush that were in hydro due to space issues. I did save a mom to clone later.

Looking good. The buds won't start packing on weight til after the 5th week of flowering. Make sure you give her enough time. This is a 9-10week flowering strain.

Seems like you got a sativa-ish pheno. Out of the 4 VKs I had 2 showed big indica/skunk leaves, 1 with skunk leaves and one got really tall and looked like yours. I'm excited to see how yours turn out!

Sending good juju your way

[tikiroom]

You might want to look into LST or Super Cropping for that main cola. Basically trying to bring the main cola down to the same height as your other buds. Allowing you to move the light down and increasing yield and density.
That's just my :twocents:

[shibbysurfrider]

I am a big fan of LST, but he is I think 4 weeks into flower? I don't recommend any training unless ABSOLUTELY necessary. I had to lst some plants week 3-4 in flower due to 3x stretch and they are going on their 8th week of flower with the end not for another 3 weeks atleast on an 8 week strain. Training will increase your flower time and you are increasing the chance of hermies.

I have never super-cropped, only topped and LSTed.

I am by no means an expert, just information based on my personal experience.

[PhatJay]

I think you should train down that main cola, so you can get the lights lower. Also if you can, spread the light you already have, around the plant (You might have to get more light fittings to do this).

Looking pretty good for a 1st grow, if you tweak your lighting now you should be able to get a reasonable harvest.

[rocklobster4040]

To train the main cola over, shold i just tie some string around it and gradually pull it over??

Also, should I add more lights or can I just re-postition some that I already have. I think that I can adapt some of my lights to hang lower.

Thanks for the advice

RockLobster4040

[shibbysurfrider]

if you are going to tie it over. Water the plants first and wait about 30min or so. This will help make your stems more pliable. Try to bend it over so the most amount of nodes get light. Go SLOW because you don't want to snap your main stem.

Good luck!

[rocklobster4040]

I decided that I am not going to mess with the main cola for now. I dont want to mess up anything that this point. So check out what I did. I added 4 more 23w cfl's for a total of 12 and hung them about mid way down the side. I hope that this will help with filling out some of the lower buds.

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0256.jpg

http://i859.photobucket.com/albums/ab156/rocklobster4040/GEDC0257.jpg

Thanks again and happy growing

RockLobster4040

[nuglover]

i like that box. could you give more details on its build. you should make a diy on that box it is very cool. your vk looks yummy. i might try one of those. next grow.

[rocklobster4040]

The box is a made from 1/2" EMT conduit and filled with 3/4" foam board insulation. I made a plywood top and base to finish off the sides. One of the sides swings open and makes the door. I wrapped the sides in Mylar and used foil tape to block out the light. It works great so far. I wished I would had made it a little bigger. After I finish my grow I can do a detailed post on the box.

Thanks

RockLobster4040

[PhatJay]

I added 4 more 23w cfl's for a total of 12 and hung them about mid way down the side. I hope that this will help with filling out some of the lower buds.

Those lower hanging CFL's should help out the lower buds.

[Farmer Rich]

Nice box! That was how I started growing as well, though I packed a 600 watt HPS in mine..

Really interested in your Vanilla Kush grow.. I have 3 seedlings that I'm working on myself. In my case, after soaking the seeds for about 20 hours, putting them in a damp napkin; they all germinated in less than 24 hours! Go Barney's!! The one thing that was odd, all of them had a difficult time dropping the seed husk and I have to remove with tweezers.. all are happy now.

That one you have is really expressing it's sativa genes.. I'm hoping for more of an indica profile and with 3, hopefully I'll have a choice!!

Good luck!

Peace,

Farmer Rich

[jon420]

Subscribed!!! Any updates?????

Thanks