McToker Grows Again ~ CFL/HPS Hempy Bucket ~ Bag Seed

Mrs. McToker and I were not able to get our second grow going after Xmas as we had originally planned. One of our kids moved back in with us after getting out of the Military. But, heâ??s moving out soon to take a new job up north. Whoopie!!! I told the Mrs. that weâ??ll be free to get naked or grow another crop. She insists that nobody wants to see me naked so, it looks weâ??ll start another grow.:D

We thought seriously about ordering some beans but ultimately decided to grow from the same batch of bagseed that we used for the last grow. Because we are making a couple changes in our setup, we wanted to see just how much quantity and quality might improve. We figured the best test was to grow from the same batch of seeds. The changes are Hempy Buckets instead of soil and HPS lighting for flowering instead of the CFLâ??s we used last time. CFLâ??s will still be used for vegging.

We are anxious to get this second grow going and apply all that we learned on the first grow.

The last grow was all CFLâ??s in soil.

For this grow, hereâ??s the plan:

Homebox S indoor greenhouse ~ 31.5 x 31.5 inches (6.9 sq. ft.) x 63 inches tall

4â?� Vortex fan

Carbonaire CA-4 carbon filter

Hempy buckets

Regular household CFL bulbs for vegging. 6500k ~ 26 watt bulbs

250 watt HPS for flowering (havenâ??t bought the light yet ~ it will be an air-cooled hood with, most likely, a Lumitek ballast)

R/O water

Nutrients will be Cal-Mag, Botanicare Pure Blend Pro Grow, Pure Blend Pro Bloom, with a little help from Molasses and Sweet

The plan is to LST all the plants ~ No Fimming or Topping

This grow should use up our supply of bagseed. If all goes well (knock wood), weâ??ll go for some â??store boughtâ?� beans next time.

Weâ??ll start germinating in the next couple days. Gotta get the timing right. In the meantime, Iâ??ve been brushing up and catching up on the forum.:jointsmile:

Glad to see you and the Mrs. back in action. I'll be very excited to see the step by step progress in the hempy buckets as well, my friend.
Count me in.:jointsmile:

beSafe:cool:

Thanks for tuning in BeFree. We're anxious to get started up again.

I'm checking out different germination methods right now, trying to find a good method to go along with using the Hempy Buckets rather than soil. I'm thinking that I might be able to use the "damp paper towel under a bowl method" and then place the sprouts directly into their buckets. I'll be using a mixture of vermiculite and perlite in the buckets.

It doesn't seem that the "start small and transplant to larger container" rule applies to Hempy Buckets.

But, I could be wrong. If I am, I'm hoping someone will point me in the right direction.;)

I noticed that killa put his sprouts into jiffy cubes in one of his grows. Hopefully I'll get some input in time.

McToker, your last grow was a great one, so I'm looking forward to following this grow. I think you have the right idea to go back and look at killa12345's grows to really get a hang on the hempy buckets; he seems to have them well under control.

Glad to hear you have your house back to you and the Mrs. Good luck with you grow, my friend!

can't honestly say i remember your first grow mc, but i will be following along with this one!

best of luck and good growing!


-shake

The house isn't OUR's, yet, Jakezking. But, SOON.:thumbsup:

He'll be gone by the end of the month.

headshake ~ Thanks and welcome aboard. Our first grow was a quite an education for us. This time, we're hoping to put all that learning to good use as well as try some new (to us) tricks.

Jakezking ~ I hooked up with Killa through his log and he hooked me up with the info I was looking for.

It has begun. We started germinating 16 beans today. It's roughly half of what we had left. We're ultimately hoping to end up with 3 or 4 healthly females.

Good luck man and I will be watching you and the Mrs. grow so please keep it detailed an updated.:jointsmile:



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

I saw the question on transplanting...i plant my jiffy pellets USUALLY(90%) in to their final resting containers.....the only time i tranplant my hempys is when im vegging a ton of plants....i go with syrofoan 16oz cups so i can stuff my veg box....but its is a way unneccasary step with should be avoided if can be avoided! it will save you nutes in the long run if you transplant....just trying to give ya the pros and cons!

KBG ~ Thank you and will do.

Killa ~ Thanks for stopping by. Even though I've been saving up, I only have 6 plastic coffee cans. I do have some slighly smaller containers like 2 liter soda bottles, though. I guess we'll just play it by ear and see how many sprouts we get, first. Although, I did see nice sized paint buckets at the hardware store. A little bigger than the coffee container, but not by much.

Last time we just planted seeds straight into the Jiffy Pellets. I don't know how many we planted but we ended up with 9 plants. From that we got 2 healthy females and a hermie.

A side note: We kicked the hermie outdoors and let nature take its course. We're now down to burning the buds from the hermie. It took a while to clean out all the seeds but while not as tasty as the girls were, still acceptable.:hippy:

Good to see you with a new log. I'm sure we'll be enjoying the updates.

Shov ~ Thanks for tuning in.

I picked up some 2 1/2 quart paint buckets at the hardware store today. They look to be just about the same size as the 2 pound plastic coffee containers I've been saving up. At a $1.29 a piece, they'll work. I just need to wrap some duct tape around them as they are tranluscent.

Just checked on the beans. Nothing yet but, it's only been about 23 hours.

Took a peek at the babies earlier today. At least 4 have cracked and are starting to show some root. :thumbsup:

I have to admit that I was getting a little concerned when nothing was showing at the 23 hour mark. This is the first time we've used the damp paper towel under an up-side-down bowl method to germinate. Last time we just placed the beans directly into the Jiffy cubes. Usually, it did take 3 to 5 days, or more, for them to break the surface.

Right now I'm in the middle of getting everything set up for the kids. The Homebox is assembled. Now, I'll leave you while I go back to work setting up power, light and ventilation. I just have to try and remember where we stashed all the components.:):)

make sure to unplug anything that has to do with power while working! (i'm sure you do this already, but i shocked the piss out of myself the other morning!)

everything sounds good. any pics?


-shake

headshake ~ Nothing much to take pics of, yet. But, you can bet, when those babies break ground the pics will start coming.

We hope to be moving some beans into Jiffy cubes later today. :)

I'm also heading into town in search of Vermiculite and Perlite that is not of the Miracle Grow brand. Finding products without any added time realease fertilizers is dang near impossible around here.:(

now sure what stores are "in town" but i found vermiculite at lowes for like $4 something. i think it was the 8 quart bag. and i've only seen perlite of the MG variety at walmart and home depot.

hopefully you have some nurserys near-by?


-shake

The only place that had either Vermiculite or Perlite was Lowes and then they only had one bag of each. The Perlite is the MG stuff but the nutrient level is pretty low.

Just checked the babies and we have 8 sprouts. We're waiting for the Jiffy pellets to plump up. Using 1/2 strength nutes to start them.

Since someone, and I won't name names, headshake, can't live without pics, here is one of the setup.:D:D:D

There will be plenty of pics to follow as the babies grow up.;)

that's a sweet setup! is that a velcro or zipper cover to keep the light out?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fluid69

that's a sweet setup! is that a velcro or zipper cover to keep the light out?

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It uses both but primarily zippers. It's a Homebox S.

The sprouts are now in the Jiffy pellets. Turns out that out of 16 beans we got 10 sprouts.

McToker, I need to start saving up for an indoor grow tent - I think when I finally move indoors, it will be to a tent. I'll be watching your grow even more carefully. I'm glad to see your setup and that you already have a pretty high success rate for bag seeds. I know you will have much success, my friend.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks jakezking. We were very happy with the tent on our last grow. Since we don't have an extra room or even a spare closet we could use, we opted for the tent.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McToker

Since someone, and I won't name names, headshake, can't live without pics, here is one of the setup.:D:D:D

There will be plenty of pics to follow as the babies grow up.;)

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lmao. thanks mc, i feel special!

for real though, nice setup! that's awesome. i can't wait to see how the details of the story unfold.


-shake

Headshake ~ I'm glad you have a healthy sense of humor.:thumbsup:

We checked on the babies earlier today. No sprouts showing, yet. We've never used this method so we really don't quite know what to expect.

Still keepin' an eye out McT. I'm anxious as hell to see you and the Mrs.' hempy adventure.

beSafe, friend. :jointsmile:

always mc!

-shake

As of this morning, two sprouts have poked their heads out of the soil. We're hoping the rest will follow suit by tomorrow.:jointsmile:

After that, it's lights, camera and action.;)

Yeeeeaaaahhhhh.:jointsmile: Bongrip to that. :stoned:

beSafe

As of this morning, only three sprouts have broken ground. The first two are about a inch and a half tall so we moved those two out of the little incubator and into the tent. The lights, only 8 CFL's to start, are set on 18/6 on the timer.

Initial humidity was at 20%. I misted the Jiffy cubes and left a little water in the tent. I'll check on the humidity later to see if I need to put the humidifier in the tent, as well.

c'mon you little f-ing sprouts!

*crosses fingers*


-shake

I had some pretty bad luck with my bag of old bagseeds. I hope you have much better luck - I'm sure you will, as my last name should be Murphy (for Murphy's Law). I'm looking forward to some pictures of your seedlings, as well as more pictures of your setup from top to bottom.

Like headshake - I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, my friend!

Well y'all. It doesn't look good.:(

The first two sprouts turned yellow and fell over. They're dead.:(

A couple of the others broke ground yesterday.......... and just stopped. None of the rest broke ground.

I'm thinking maybe the beans were too old. Perhaps 1/2 strength were still too strong. Who knows, though?

Plan B

We decided not to try the remaining few bagseeds or the seeds we got from the hermie from the last grow.

We'll be ordering some beans later today. I'm thinking Beanho's AK-47 and Joey Weed's Blue Apollo if they're both still available.

Order placed late yesterday. We opted for the AK-47 and Blue Apollo.

I guess it was just meant to be. The new beans will arrive after our houseguest is gone. It's been tough to spend enough time on preparations and such with him here.

We'll germinate the new beans like we did them on the first grow, starting the seeds in the Jiffy pellets under a cool white flouro lamp.

Jakezking ~ In the meantime, I'll try to get you some detailed pics of our setup.

Can't wait to see you get them under way will stay tuned good luck:thumbsup:



~One~:rastasmoke:
~BudG~:rastasmoke::rastasmoke:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McToker

Well y'all. It doesn't look good.:(

The first two sprouts turned yellow and fell over. They're dead.:(

A couple of the others broke ground yesterday.......... and just stopped. None of the rest broke ground.

I'm thinking maybe the beans were too old. Perhaps 1/2 strength were still too strong. Who knows, though?

Plan B

We decided not to try the remaining few bagseeds or the seeds we got from the hermie from the last grow.

We'll be ordering some beans later today. I'm thinking Beanho's AK-47 and Joey Weed's Blue Apollo if they're both still available.

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thats a bummer about them dying :( i'm thinking you were right with 1/2 str being too much... i've never used jiffy cubes, are you suppose to give them nutes right away? gorwing in soil your suppose to wait about a month before nutes... kinda seems ot me like you just instantly over-nuted them and they burned up :\

sorry about the losses.....the perlite and vermiculite can be found at home depot in LARGE bags....usually found at Large garden center home depots...i have to travel past about 30 to get to one that stocks 4 cu ft bags of this stuff! But once you find it, trust me you will be back....ALso Walmart sells a brand without nutes like the MG.....i have a bag of mg and i just use it for my outdoor flowers...lol good luck....call around some store stock it other dont...sometimes its even high on the racks so you cant even see it! Its there!

Killa ~ I've tried the nearest Wal-Mart with no luck. I'll try one of their other stores next week.

Jakezking ~ Here are the setup pics you requested. Frankenlight is in there but not in use. Went back to a flouro, to start. When we fire up the Frankenlight, we'll start off with about 8 bulbs and add more as the plants get bigger.

One lonely sprout is up and GREEN. Kinda tiny though. Another one has barely broken the surface. We'll see what happens.

nice! hope these seeds work out for ya this time :rastasmoke:

McT - I'm really sorry to hear about the seedling sorrows. I don't know about readying the seedlings for the hempy buckets, so I won't question the application of 50% nute solution to them; however, I start my seedlings out in jiffy pellets too, and I don't add any nutes whatsoever while they are in them. It sounds like you may have had some other issues with lack of humidity and old bagbeans? I'm glad to see you still have a viable seedling though.

I just threw all of my old bagbeans into the wet paper towel on a plate on my cable box this last go 'round, and only about 8 out of 30 popped; some of the beans were not mature, but the remainder that didn't pop - who knows? Maybe they just were not stored well enough? But, those that did pop and those that did survive the first dog attack and those that have survived an unfortunate over-concentrated Neem Oil spraying incident are really showing how hardy they are!

I'm looking forward to your ordered beans arriving. I've got some nice new ordered beans sprouting outside right now. I'm really impressed with the sheer viability of them over bagbeans - the taproots on my new beans "feathered" with what seemed like thousands of lil' roots fanning out from the taproot itself. I'd never seen anything like it - almost like a rooting agent had been applied, but nothing but tap water and paper towel had touched them.

Your setup looks clean, and I'm all about that Frankenlight, my friend! Is that a serious carbon scrubber up top that exhausts back into the tent? I've been talking about moving indoors since last year, but I haven't got the guts just yet. I know watching your grow will help me figure things out.

Keep on keepin' on - hopefully those new beans will be there soon!

Jakezking ~ On the scrubber; the exhaust tubing runs out of the top of the tent, through the fan and into the carbon filter. It just takes the hot air from the top of the tent. We decided to have the fan pull rather than push the air. The filter is just sitting on top of the tent. Placing the filter inside the tent, at the top, would just take up way too much room and seriously limit the height available for plants and lighting.

We tried a homemade carbon filter and even supplimented it with fabric softener sheets with limited success. With the new, storebought scrubber, trust me, odor is NOT an issue.;)

When we add a HPS light for flowering, our plan is to use an enclosed, air cooled, light fixture, probably the Arctic Sun. Most models, including some of the Cooltubes are just too long to fit inside the tent once you figure how much the exhaust tubing will add to the length. We'll leave one end of the fixture open (for intake) and connect the other end to the exhaust tubing.

We're looking forward to the storebought beans, too.

syde00 ~ welcome aboard.

heya McT.:D With the Beanho's F4 AK47 and Joey's Blue Apollo, I was curious to know if you are going to be selecting any favorites at the end and consider a re-veg. Because the pheno's vary with hybrids. Some may be leggier, some stinkier, some with higher calyx to leaf ratio. Also, beanho's Ak is consistent with scandalwood and cherry flavored pheno's. A cherry AK mom and a blueberry apollo mom. Jeeze, makes me wish the 'stork' would drop a baby carriage full of gourmet genetics on my front step.:hippy:

be good McT. :jointsmile:
You and the Mrs. have a wonderful day.:)