Skywalker grow day 1

well heres my second grow,
im gonna keep a log of this after a sucsess with the first bagseed grow, ive gonne an purchased some skywalker and some nevilles haze x jack herer.
might try my hand at cloning and will be lst'ing the sativa a bit to see what i can do this time round. ill be using the same 400 grolux HPS light

ive heard mixed opinions on the skywalker, but its heritage and expensive price got the better of my curiosity....it should be a good powerfull bud

im also gonna use a slightly more sophisticated soil mix. the compost is just cheap stuff from B&Q, its called john innes No.2 and is made of loam, peat moss, sand and lime. ive also got some perlit and vermiculite, im thinking of a 75% compost. 12.5% perlite and 12.5% vermiculite?

fancied tryin a good indica and a good sativa.
first ups the skywalker, put 5 seeds in towels to germinate this afternoon.

any comments/suggestions welcome, more to follow as things happen

Day 3, approx 53 hours and we have 100% germination....result!

ive got to say that was quicker than previously, especially as the seeds looked smaller than average and quite pale...i was expecting atleast one faliure....but im certainly not complaining.
today they were transplanted into peat pots and put in a heated propigator, which i purchased earlier, as the weather has got a definate chill in the air now with the onset of winter.

they will rely on natural light for the next week or so, and once they have a reasonable set of "true" leaves, will go under the 400watt grolux HPS, which will be set at max height, about 6-7 feet above the plants.
at this point i will remove the lid on the propigator depending on the temp situation.
I was struggeling to keep heat down on my previous grow with the heatwave we had in the UK, but i think the heat from the HPS will be most welcome this time round.

my inline fan is quite powerfull, so if it starts sucking out too much warm air i may have to buy another slightly more sophisticated timer, so i can have one hour on, one off or what ever is suitable to maintain temps.

so far so good....more updates as they happen

just a quick update, soil ph is currently at a straight 7 and they are in plain compost for now.

another update,
i just noticed the pots were warm and soggy/sweating, so ive taken them out of the propigator ( talk about green house effect lol ) and put them back in the boiler cupboard where they were germinated, much less humidity there, but good room temp warmth.

the heat pad in the propigator was a bit more hardcore than i thought, lol.

cest la vie

in retrospect, the heated prop was a good idea, but combined with a plastic humidity dome resulted in too much damp...once theyve dried out a bit, i will put them back in the prop, but without the plastic cover.

ello there babystarbud.. i just looked through your thread.. sounds like your going to have a good time with your plants.. i saw how nice your first harvest came out.. so im sure this 1 will be even better;) ... i was tempted to get skywalker too.. but i went with blueberry instead:p .... i allso had a bastard of a time to say the least with my last grow coz the summer heat.. so this go my girls will apreciate the cooler weather... i must say tho when you put your plants under your 400hps.. start them at bout 20inches.. then work your way closer.. i get mine at bout 12inches in winter even like 7-9 inches to the canopy of the plants but i allways use a fan or 2.. im just saying as you mentioned you was going to have your light something like 4-6 feet away.. thats way to much.. anyways im gonna roll a joint b4 i take my dog for his night time walk... good luck on your grow:thumbsup:

thanks for the advice mr.berrys, i think your right about distance, im still in the mind frame of a hot summer! i think i will be able to put the light much closer as you said.... ive got a couple of thermometers so im planning on getting it as close as the temps allow me.....ive not fired the hps up in the cooler weather yet, it was running hot in summer so i guess it will be a pretty much perfect for winter....watch this space :)

cheers

day 5 and its sprout city down on skywalker farm :)

under the hps lamp now for about 10 mins, just seeing how the temps and humidity are.
they have quickly hit 25 degrees c without the fan on, or 28 degrees c with the humidity dome on, hopfully the temps will creep up a bit more so i can use the fan without having to mess about with extra timers. ive unplugged the propigator for now so the only heat source is the light.

temps have just crept up to 34 degrees c with the hunidity dome on, so now ive started the inline fan running and turned off the central heating for that room to see where that leaves me....hopefully it will drop to the low 20's

i think ill have to be carefull i dont dry those little pots out to fast.

still no joy, now tried killing the extractor fan and using a normal fan at plant level...

bingo! my three thermometers are reading an aveage of 26 degrees c! its only that low right next to the pots because of the of the fan position (pretty much direct), so i may have to have a re-think as they grow.

ello babystarbud sounds like you have things pretty much under control.. im sorta glad temps have droped my plants are very cool.. sept night times very cold n our heaters are playing up hmmmmmmm... but i have my babys on 20/4 so only 4 hours in cold.. i think the love i give them will pull them through;) .. just the fisrt few months seem to go very slow ... fuck it time for another spliff.. best of luck to your babys:thumbsup:

hi and thanks, but i do find the temps creeping up into the 30's after a few hours...
infact ive just had a thought...im gonna look for a small table with a glass inlay, kinda like those see-through coffe tables, but asmall one that you get in those nest sets, if i find one cheap i think it would help a bit as its not the ambient temps that are the problem, its the direct glare from the bulb. hopefully the glass might bounce enough heat back up to sort the problem

maybe somthing like this i found in argos, would help?

day 8 and things seem to have settled down a bit.
temps are good and plants slowly growing.
a slight hickup thismorning where one seedling wasnt shedding the remains of its seed shell, i gently pulled it off because thatplant was starting to fall behind the rest.
the baby leaves popped upen straihgt away, and aside from a plale tip from light depravation, is doing ok now.

currently taking about 25 ml of water twice per day per plant.
ive been rotating the pots a bit to try and keep the stalks straight...is about all there is to do for now...

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Originally Posted by babystarbud

day 8 and things seem to have settled down a bit.
temps are good and plants slowly growing.
a slight hickup thismorning where one seedling wasnt shedding the remains of its seed shell, i gently pulled it off because thatplant was starting to fall behind the rest.
the baby leaves popped upen straihgt away, and aside from a plale tip from light depravation, is doing ok now.

currently taking about 25 ml of water twice per day per plant.
ive been rotating the pots a bit to try and keep the stalks straight...is about all there is to do for now...

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ello babystarbud.. your babys are looking good.. unlike mine lol.. i think you will find that your growrom getting alot cooler in the up and comin weeks due to the cold weather.. last 3 days has been freezing.. so your babys will be alot happier.. i wouldnt go with the glass thing if i was you.. ive read that it bounces heat back so wouldnt be too good.. anyways happy growing:thumbsup:

look a lil stretched there

yeh the glass table thing was a bit silly, and it dosent look like ill need it now, temps have evened out and settled down to solid mid 20;s

yeh mine always look a bit streched before they get a good set of leaves,
once some have grown they'll fatten up cos they'l be able to catch a bit more light from the hps.

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Originally Posted by smokeweederday

look a lil stretched there

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brother welcome to world of the weeds haha.. shit i just noticed.. that was your first post on this fourm wow... 5 words.. hahaha:dance:

just a quick update, its now day twelve and looking healthy.
this is the boring bit...not much happening...waiting for growth...
damn things aint growing fast enough lol

they are starting to get the second set of leaves now. there is a nice purple tone to the bottoms of the leaves, shame about my crappy camera...should be getting a 3megapixel cam from a friend soon so hopfully better pix!

oh, and theyve just been watered in these pix incase anyone wondering why they are a bit soggy-looking:D

hi there peeps

nothing much to report, still growing (bloody fucking slowly):D
so this post is more for documentary puropses than to post anything interesting/relevant
is it me or are these growing slooooooooooow..
my last lot were grown under natural light for the first few weeks and seemed a bit (no, alot)faster (that was in summer, on a windowsill)
this lot has been uder artificial from the start, they have never even seen daylight.

the bong in the pics is some "skunk special" grown by a friend, and is a good smoke.

the next step for skywalkers young padawan's will be re-potting, which is a little while away yet, thank god because i hate getting soil all over my carpet.

the seedlings are currently listening to AC/DC's "kissin dynamite".

Great start so far. Keep up the good work and that bud in the bong is making me fien, so stop it. lol I am currently on day 22 and I am using a 400w hps and I am growing Papaya and Bubblicious.

thanks for that, and good luck with yours...theres somthing about the word papaya....it just sounds really nice :)

OH NO!
the reason your seedlings are going so slow is cause they know what you're going to do with them! :) looks great, though! i have 4 seedlings myself and i'm about a week or so behind ya! the "day 1" thread is mine for the first week, then we'll see which way it turns... KEEP IT UP

probably, lol, the poor little things.
thanks for the comments, i will look in on your grow...theres a few going on at the mo, its hard to keep track of who;s doing what!

here a quick update, nothing much to tell, so ill just post a few pics..

Hi babystarbud,

I am currently growing the exact same strain as you are. Mine a little older and had a hard time, a friend of mine started the seeds on his window a few weeks back.

Using the same compost as you too, trouble is mine are gowing yellow :( Starting to think he over watered them, or they could be lacking N.

Hope yours turn out alright, I'll be watching this to try an compare mine...never done this before!

hey lookin good. im still waitin for my 10 dutch passions to arrive, and my flour and 1000 watt hps...for now i decided to start germinating 4 bc strains i had from qp of bud my friend harvested, decent seeds. first time germninating, just wondering did you just put them between a damp paper towel and cover, leaving on a warm object? i have mine sitting between damp paper towel, on a plate with one on top sitting on modem which stays nice and warm. just hoping these sprout nicely and give me a lil practice for the nice dutch passions coming. good luck

thats interesting to see event horizon, i hope its not the soil thats yellowing them!! thinking about it i should have probably got the no.1 compost, which is more for seeds...rather that the no.2 which is for re-potting.

what lights ferts etc. have you/plan to use....id like to know how you get on.

smokin dope, i put them on about 5 layers, with about 5 layers covering. kept in a dark cupboard thats slightly above room temp.

I've got them under a 400 Watt Sylvania Grolux Dual Spectrum Lamp in a 1x1x1.8 BudBox.

As for ferts, I have no idea yet. Starting to think they are lacking Nitrogen rather than being overwatered, I got myself one of those moister probes and only water them when they are dry.

I have head that tomato food works well....not watered them today, hope they are ok when I get back home!

Mind you, at the moment they are drinking water from my mates water butt...good old fasioned English rain water.

I'll take some more pic tonight and post them up...almost up to 6" now, but too damn yellow :(

Hello Eventhorizon
Have you checked the PH of the water?that could be given you the yellow leafs.dont use that tomate food it dosent have all the micros& trace elements a good 3 part nurts feeding formula dose.You may have too get some cal-mag plus for the water.Test the TDS ppm and the PH so you know
what kind of water you are useing.Let me know how thinks are doing.

Erm??? :confused:

crazywill, thanks for the info....but I have to admit I am a little confused.

Testing the PH, easy. Not got the stuff to do it at the moment, but should not be too hard. What PH should I be aiming for?

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micros& trace elements

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Eh?

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3 part nurts feeding formula

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Any suggestions?

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cal-mag plus

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You really have lost me now :(

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Test the TDS ppm

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ppm = Parts Per Million. TDS? And how do I test?

Ok, I probably seem really stupid now....but I am very very new at this. Is there a dummies guide anybody can point me at?

freaky thats the exact same lamp ive got also:smokin:

you should be looking for a PH between 6 and 7.
by micronutes and trace nutes he means very small quantities of various minerals etc. that are in some specificly formulated plant feeds.
a 3 part formula is just that, you mix the three parts together to form a compleate feed. its in seperate parts because certain ingredients interfear with each other if mixed up, so you mix them right before you feed.

but get your ph checked before you start worrying about all that....my soil is actually acidic...see below

im on day 19 now and still groooowing sloooly.
got bored and mixed up my final pots ready for transplant, 20 liters of john innes no.2 compost, 10 liters of perlite and 10 liters of vermiculite.
in the bathtub.
made a bit of a mess.
girlfriend now not talking to me.
its a good job to because the PH reading of my new concoction is about 5.5...a bit too acid.

ill be doing a fush of the new medium and re-testing the soil shortly.
other than that im quite happy with the mixture....feels much more lose and airy...however, im not sure if there should be more actual soil in the mix....it looks good but only a 50% overall soil content sounds like not enough to me.

and....dunno if anyone can shed any light on this, but speaking of acid soil....

ive got one of those cheap PH probe things, and so does my friend ( his is a different make to mine) experimenting in cups with sodium bicarbonate and vinigar we came across a problem...

cup of tapwater, with a capfull of vinegar ...registered as acid on both meters....about PH 4-5 cant remember...great.

cup of tapwater with bicarb...registering neutral????? wtf....on both meters.
i was expecting like PH 8??
are both meters broken or am i missing somthing?:yippee:

anyway, without further adoo, here for your viewing pleasure, some pics of the sloppy muck that i created earlier!

:stoned:

Ok, now I am scared....same strain, same compost, same light....

Anywho, cheers for clearing that up. My poor little mind was having a hard time. Any recommendations though as to where to get these from? We have loads of Garden Centers here...but TBH most are staffed by people who really have not got a clue.

Where did you get the PH tester from? I have only found a rather strange cartridge looking one, I have a moisture tester which you just stick in...that works really well. Want a PH tester like that.

As for the tap water, I was under the impression that it was slightly acidic anyway?

hiya, yeh the PH meter ive got was from a garden center, it looks the same as a moisture probe they are cheap, but im not sure how much confidence ive got in mine.

well ive had some good news and some stange news,
firstly, my PH of my soil mix has (if im to belive my meter) changed to about 6.5 PH, after a good flushing session.

also, my seedlings are looking a bit strange. generally they are looking quite healthy but they look a bit droopy, and theres purple bits on some of them....ive read its due to cold...but they are a bit warm if anything.
also there seems to be a bit of yellowing, but only on the ends of the most developed leafs:upsidedow
any ideas anyone?

and some pics showing the purple-ness:question:

Hmmm,

the yellowing looks almost identical to mine...considering the similarities between our setups I would think that this is not a coinsidence. However mine do seem to be perking up a little.

As you the purple...no idea at all!

Have you started feeding them yet? I have still not got any nuts just yet, but have been watering them every two days now and not every day. Seems to have done the trick.

This is my strongest plant, still yellow at the bottom...but nice and green at the top. Anoying thing is though, it is quite a bit taller than the others :( Going to start feeding tomorrow...will pop to local gerden center(s) and find some good food for them.

Hope your plants pick up soon, I'll let you know if feeding them has any effect...(hope I don't kill mine!)

hi, i would hold off feeding just yet till you get the ph at a good level,
reason being is i re-potted mine last night, because the soil in the baby pots was acidic, and also the soil i was going to use for my main compost was acidic....
so i gave the new soil a good flush before i transplanted and got the ph somwhere between 6.5-6-9.....it was like 5.0-5.5 before.

my plants seem to have perked up a little bit overnight.

im sure somone will know better than me...but my guess is that the acidity of the soil is preventing uptake of nutes causing the yellowing, rather than there not being enough nutes as the soil does have some ferts in it. hopfully somone else can offer thier input on that one.....? anyone...

some pics of my plant in thier new home..

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Originally Posted by babystarbud

hi, i would hold off feeding just yet till you get the ph at a good level,
reason being is i re-potted mine last night, because the soil in the baby pots was acidic, and also the soil i was going to use for my main compost was acidic....
so i gave the new soil a good flush before i transplanted and got the ph somwhere between 6.5-6-9.....it was like 5.0-5.5 before.

my plants seem to have perked up a little bit overnight.

im sure somone will know better than me...but my guess is that the acidity of the soil is preventing uptake of nutes causing the yellowing, rather than there not being enough nutes as the soil does have some ferts in it. hopfully somone else can offer thier input on that one.....? anyone...

some pics of my plant in thier new home..

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hi babystarbud.. well im no expert.. but your babys look just like mine did when they was in the too rich soil.. so mabe your soil was too rich ?? but seen as you have repotted and flushed got the ph right in ther new soil i think your babys will start to pick up... i have faith in your babys... heres 2 of my survivers for you too see how much they have improverd within 12days.. best of luck to you:thumbsup:

your plants died because you used those peat cups I promise.

they are transplanted into pots now, and not dead lol

day 23 and things are going well,
the re-pot was a sucsess, they have some healthy new growth now and are back on track.

looks like my problems were down to acidic soil.:D

some more piccies