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!!



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




The Frisian Dew



The Northern Lights - not doing as good as the others, but still doing OK.


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.



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


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..




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 Reviewed by Potberto on 11-05-2009. My first grow.. Closet, 400w HPS, a couple clones, and a couple seeds... 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! Rating: 5

[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?

And, an observation ; 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?

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 ; 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.