First Timer

[bonedaddy420]

Hey everyone, first I would like to say that this board has a TON of really really great information/people on it, and that I have been totally engulfed in reading threads for the past few weeks, looking to increase my knowledge about how to grow that sweet sweet sticky icky.

So since last november I've been laid off thanks to the wonderful economy, I thought I would try my hand at growing my herbs instead of paying someone else. I ended up ordering seeds through BCseeds, I got a strain called El Nina, as it was cheap and classified as an outdoor strain. All was good and about 3 weeks later I had my seeds in hand, and they were germinated on friday, march 27th. Of the 10 seeds, 9 germinated, using the paper towel on a plate, with a bowl over it, ontop of my satellite reciever method. They were then transplanted into expanding peat pellets and set on a heating pad on LOW. After about 4 days they all were up and at em.




After about a week in the peat pellets, the seedlings were moved to 4" peat pots, with shultz potting soil.




the rest are some pics of my plants from the start of may till today, including the few that are kinda 'tarded lookin, but I figure why cull them when I could just give them a chance and see what happens, which has been that they have gotten better!:thumbsup:

bonedaddy420 Reviewed by bonedaddy420 on 05-21-2009. First Timer Hey everyone, first I would like to say that this board has a TON of really really great information/people on it, and that I have been totally engulfed in reading threads for the past few weeks, looking to increase my knowledge about how to grow that sweet sweet sticky icky. So since last november I've been laid off thanks to the wonderful economy, I thought I would try my hand at growing my herbs instead of paying someone else. I ended up ordering seeds through BCseeds, I got a strain Rating: 5

[bonedaddy420]

Also about a week ago my father called me and said I had to come see something. So it ends up being 4 old film containers he had in his ammo locker, since who knows when. Well, 3 of them had old dry bud in em, but the other one had a ziploc with about 35-45 seeds in it. He told me these are seeds he planted about 10-20 years ago, but it had to have been at least 20, since I would remember it had it been 10-15 years. Anyways, figuring what the hell, might as well see if they germinate, I used the same method as above, and of the 9, 20+ year old seeds, ALL 9 GERMINATED(in 24 hours!!). I couldn't figure it out, but hey, I am not gonna question it. Anyways I have them in an "improvised" area where they are currently getting 24/0 with 23w 6500k bulbs for up to another week till the weather here warms up some more.

[bonedaddy420]

Also I should add, I have been watering them once every 2 days or so, and I gave the ones in the 4" pots their first nutes a few days ago, and they seemed to agree with them, so thats cool. But I just got my PH test kit from the pet store yesterday, and it looks like my water it highly basic, so i added a LOT of ph down, but my tests are still coming out rather blue, which is a bit confusing, as the bottle says add 1 drop to a fish tank per gallon of water to lower the PH .5. Is there something I'm missing? Do I have to really mix in the PH down with my water or will just putting some drops into my watering can be enough?

[bonedaddy420]

well, I was just gonna add this to my last post, but apparently I can't find the edit button. I got around to digging some holes in one of my spots today, they are all about 2x2x1 since the ground is rather solid still.

[headshake]

as far as using the pH down. i think mine says something similar. it's bs. i end up using like 35 drops for a 2 1/2 gallon container. and about 14 for a 1 gallon container. granted these might not be the same brand, they should be similar. my tap pH is WAY over 8!

but it is important to get you pH down to 6.3 - 6.8. don't forget that many nutes are neutral and will drop you pH a little bit.

just my $.02 cents.


-shake

[syde00]

heres kind of all the things i had running through my head as you wrote all of this..


they seem very small for being nearly 2 months old... they also seem quite small to be recieving nutes - old enough yes, mature enough no.

I;m guessing this has to do with lighting mostly (i;m speaking about the original ones you germ'd btw, not the second set).

the thing you had them in at first looks like it was blocking alot of light which looks to have caused them to stretch a bit.

also in this pic - hg :: may5 picture by bone_daddy_spf - Photobucket

it looks sunny outside, but doesn;t look like a whole lot of sun is actually coming in that window. Is that a south-facing window? (assuming you live in a northern hemisphere), a south-facing window will allow them to get sun all day long and should reduce the stretch a bit.

also in that same pic, looks like there is a screen over one side of teh window which is probably also blocking more light (I know this isn;t a problem once you move them outside though).

also the PH stuff...

your not suppose to use aquarium PH down, you need to get PH down thats meant for plants... i;m not sure on the specifics of 'why' but, if I had to hazard a guess, aquarium PH down probably uses different acids that are harmful to plants.

You should be able to find plant PH down at a local hydro shop or you can buy it online. Plant PH down is generaly either nitric acid [ preferable for the veg cycle] or phosphoric acid [preferable for the flowering cycle] either will work though... there are some organic options as well, but i've never a single person recomend them... just people interested in using them asking about it.



All of that being said... the seeds you happened to come across sound like they could be super interesting! You should totally try and polenate one of your females to get more seeds and keep what could be a long lost strain alive! :thumbsup:

[bonedaddy420]

Hey, thanks for checking it out guys. Syde, yeah they might have stretched a bit the first week because of that tray blocking light, but the plants are only nearly 1 month old, not 2! Also, yes, they are in south facing window right now, and they DO get a lot of light all day long, and I know I should probably take out that sceen to even things up, but thats why I have my 4 biggest and best girls on that side, as they seem to be doing ok with the screen still in.

As far as the ph down, I'm almost 100% sure I read on the site that buying the ph kit from a pet store is preferable to looking fr a hydro store, or ordering online, as its just doing what it says its doing, lowing the ph. I would think that if its safe for little fish, that it would be safe for plants as well. It has sulfiric acid in it. Here is a pic of the nutes I have, and the ph stuff, which is for freshwater.

[bonedaddy420]

Hey update time. So I think the plants ar ready to go outside, just in the process of hardening off. Got some more holes dug today, these ones are only about 1x1x1 but they are in an area with top notch black topsoil, so I figure the roots should be good. The only thing is the amount of grass in the area. Should I try to get rid of it?

Also today I got my soilless mix, I picked up Promix BX, which is peat with vermiculite, perlite, dolomite, and some other stuff. It was quite expensive at about 40 dollars per bale. but I figure why skimp out on what my babies will be growing in.

[syde00]

but the plants are only nearly 1 month old, not 2!

ah, in your orignal post you said they were germ'd on March 27th - which would make them exactly 2 months old tomorrow... maybe you meant to put April 27th?

As far as the ph down, I'm almost 100% sure I read on the site that buying the ph kit from a pet store is preferable to looking fr a hydro store, or ordering online, as its just doing what it says its doing, lowing the ph. I would think that if its safe for little fish, that it would be safe for plants as well. It has sulfiric acid in it. Here is a pic of the nutes I have, and the ph stuff, which is for freshwater.

Getting a ph test kit thats for fish water would be perfectly fine... but the solutions to actually modify the ph are a different story. i'd be pretty hesitent to put sulfuric acid... i;m sure it'll work, just be careful not to use too much... h2so4 is very strong stuff.

[bonedaddy420]

ah, in your orignal post you said they were germ'd on March 27th - which would make them exactly 2 months old tomorrow... maybe you meant to put April 27th?



Getting a ph test kit thats for fish water would be perfectly fine... but the solutions to actually modify the ph are a different story. i'd be pretty hesitent to put sulfuric acid... i;m sure it'll work, just be careful not to use too much... h2so4 is very strong stuff.

Hey yeah sorry I meant it to be April 27th. Also the fish ph stuff took a LOT to lower, and it was quite expensive, so now I am using lemon juice, which is probably stupid too, but I have a lot and it works.

Alright well, the update is this, the plants were all trasplanted into the ground, some last friday, some sunday. They were all doing pretty good it seemed up to yesterday, but then today when I checked my big plot(11 plants), most of my "new" plants were again wilted and shriveled. I am thinking this was from the temperature last night, as it dropped to about 5 or 6 *C. The other plot which has just 3 plants, seems to be ok for now, but today I went to check them, and I came about 5 feet from getting full on sprayed by a skunk. Ok well time for pics I guess.

this is from yesterday/today respectivley (sorry bout the crappy pics)


this was the biggest and strongest looking plant I had, and now its all f'd up. Sucks, but thats what happens. Most of them are looking similar, with the exception of the old seeds, which are still very small, but are not as screwed.