I am Melvan

[Melvan]

Hi everybody. I'm a long time grower looking around for a new place to hang out, old spot went offline. I think the best way to introduce yourself is with your grow so I thought I'd would start a journal to give you all a chance to ask me questions and get to know me.

Since I'm in the middle of a cycle that will be changing beginning Jan. 25th, I thought I would begin with a list of strains I currently grow:

Skunk OG18-Favorite
Kushberry Skunk-Not so favorite
Skunk Sleestack
Super Skunk
Hog aka Hogsbreath
Indicas XXL
White Widow
Strawberry Cough
Blueberry
Pre 98 Bubba Kush (personally verified lineage, but you neve know)
A breeding of Northern Lights/White Widow
Some old, local genetics that who knows what it is, but it rocks!

I am an avid cutter/rooter and very seldom do a seed grow, only when I find a strain I've really been looking for. I say why pay for girls when there are hundreds free sitting in the veg.

When I take cuttings I use Rapid Rooters and Clonex gel.

They go into a 2 level nursery, I attached a pic. The top shelf is used for clone trays and rooted cuttings lighted with 2 40w T12s, the bottom shelf is for vegging plants for the flower room. It's light is a 2' 4 bulb T5.

There is a small exhaust fan installed in the floor of the cab that you can't see that pulls air from outside, small hanging fan circulates it, then it's pulled out a vent in the top, I would say a total exchange 3x per minute. Temps range from 77-80.

Next post I'll discuss my flower room and the changes I'll be making to my grow cycle. I look forward to getting to know you all and sharing the best hobby ever with a great community.

 

[Tobor the 8th Man]

Welcome and Happy New Year! You have a nice variable selection of strains to keep boredom and tolerance at bay.

I love my T5's and use them for veg also. They make nice tight internodes.

 

[Melvan]

Hopefully nursery & nugget pic attached

Maybe it's because these are my first posts that my attachment wasn't there. I'll try again. I hope I don't have to wait to post pics, it's really hard to show your grow without them.

Also attached a pic of the Indicas XXL that I'm smoking now, been in the jar about 2 months.

 

[Melvan]

Yesterday was day 43 of flower for the Skunk OG18, Hogsbreath, Northern Light/White Widow, and Kushberry Skunk. I had a small lower branch break off one of the SOG18s, attached pic is of one of the buds from that branch.

My flowering area is built in a storage space under a stairwell. I have room for 6 plants in a 2x4 space. Beginning the next grow the light in there will be upgraded from a 400w hps Hydrofarm system w/Hortilux bulb to same brand 600hps. Additional side lighting is provided by 2 4bulb T5's, just like the one in my nursery, with 2 red spectrum bulbs replacing 2 of the vegging blues in each fixture.

The space is right above a 100 year old sandstone basement that maintains high humidity and moderate temps. I utilized this by cutting a vent in the floor and using an exhaust fan to pull the air from the basement up into the room, a second exhaust fan pulls the air to the top step of the stairwell and out a vent into an upstairs bedroom, where I keep a window cracked at all times. This enables me to hold a rh of about 40% all the time without a humidifier. Using my CO2 reader I know I average a complete exchange of air 4 times per minute. 2 small desk fans mounted to the side walls provide the light breeze and air circulation within the room

I will also be putting my girls on a stagger. For years I've just put 6 in and let them go. My next grow, which will begin around Jan. 25th, I'll put in 4 girls to start, when they kick back to 12/12 I will set a 5th to veg under the T5 in the nursery, when it goes to flower, I'll start the 6th, etc. By the end of April I should be harvesting one plant every 2-3 weeks, beginning with the original 4, depending on the strain.

 

[Melvan]

Thought I would add a few bud pic of my current grow. These were taken on day 38.

 

[Papa]

welcome to the farm Melvan


nice pics!





Papa

 

[mal]

Nice Buds

Sweet bud shots, that staggered/perpetual harvest sounds cool. Welcome to the farm



mal

 

[Melvan]

Thanks. I'll start cutting tops around the 15th, which is day 55. I've grown all the strains in the flower room right now multiple times so I know when they finish. The earliest finisher is the Skunk OG18, I've had her at 10% amber as early as day 50, the longest is the Northern Light/White Widow cross, she usually comes in around 67.

The 4 that will be starting off the next grow will be Blueberry, Pre-98 Bubba Kush, Strawberry Cough, and my favorite Skunk OG18.

 

[HeadGrow]

welcome to the farm man. You have quite the selection of strains. I see you are hanging your T5 or T12 or whatever florescent fixture that is with the white fishing line recoil hangers. Be careful with those. i used those for a bit with wing reflectors and didn't have much of an issue but once I tried them on a heavier fixture one actually released unexpectedly. Luckily I was in the process of building the room and no plants were crushed. Just thought I'd let ya know. The buds are looking good though, keep it up.

 

[Melvan]

welcome to the farm man. You have quite the selection of strains. I see you are hanging your T5 or T12 or whatever florescent fixture that is with the white fishing line recoil hangers. Be careful with those. i used those for a bit with wing reflectors and didn't have much of an issue but once I tried them on a heavier fixture one actually released unexpectedly. Luckily I was in the process of building the room and no plants were crushed. Just thought I'd let ya know. The buds are looking good though, keep it up.

Those are actually plant yo-yo's. I attach them to my hps in the flower room and they hold heavy buds upright and help pull wayward branches tighter under the light. Here's some pics. I like them because as the plant grows the line automatically retracts to maintain tension unless you put the stopper in.

Thank god none of your girls were in there, that would have really sucked. For heavier fixtures I use proper light hangers, and the 2 T5s I use as side lighting in the flower room are mounted directly on the walls.

Thanks for looking out for me.

 

[Melvan]

Northern Light/White Widow crossing

A few years back a friend of mine bred his Northern Light #5 with an unknown breeder's White Widow. Lots of seeds were grown out to find this pheno. All were excellent smoke, but this one surpassed all others when it came to the buzz.

The thing is, her structure is totally wacked. She's very spindly and requires a lot of support with staking & tomato clips. She grows only two large main colas, with just a few more "sub buds" way down the plant. Outdoors she is an amazing producer, which is where she was grown first time around, indoors she almost looks like she's not worth it, I do well to pull an ounce off her under the 400, and 99% of that from those 2 big colas.

She is very nute sensitive. When feeding I always "short" measure her nutes. She reacts first to any stress in the environment too, at least a day earlier, if I see an issue in her I know to head it off at the pass in the others.

But then you smoke her and you really understand "good things coming in small packages." She has a massive head buzz that floats down the body, sometimes with a light tingling if you haven't burned too much that day.

The attached photos are current lady from week 1 of flower, she is currently on Day 43 of flower of 65-67. You can clearly see the crazy structure. I currently have 2 rooted clones of her in the nursery, one plant flowering.

 

[mastacheeser]

shalom

 

[Melvan]

Skunk OG18

This is a personal favorite of mine. She actually came as a freebie seed from attitude when I ordered my Indicas XXL. I love the skunks, and this one is in my top 3. She's from DNA Genetics, part of their Trainwreck line I believe.

Beautiful structure, very dark green foliage. She has amazingly plump buds and delivers excellent weight. She has a classic skunk stink. I have 2 in day 44 of flower right now and they're about to stink us out of the house. I've had this one come in as early as day 50, but usually between 52-55.

I take her at about 10% amber to maintain that big skunk head buzz. She hits your head hard, but doesn't leave you too foggy when it wears off. I've taken her as late as 25% and she did do a nice settle down the body. She's very fuel like in her taste with a bit of lemon. She has the most gorgeous bag appeal too. I can't wait to get her under the new 600hps.

The attached pics are from around day 35. I'll have them out tonight and I'll get some update pics to you later.

 

[ShivaSkunkPunk]

Welcome Melvan, this is a wonderful place for like minded people, I also got the SKUNKtrain freebies last xmas, have only run to finish the kushberry and La Con x's thus far, I have a OG#18 @ about 2wks from seed, thanks for the eye candy and what to look forward to, Peace SSP

 

[Melvan]

I think the Kushberry is a major disappointment. She grows so beautifully, excellent structure, amazing floral smell and taste, weak ass buzz. She has it all, except what really matters.

I'm only running her this time because I had a rooted clone that was so healthy I just couldn't throw her out. Plus, my good friend who's a light toker loved her and I want to keep stash for him for awhile.

The Skunk Sleestack is excellent too, she'll be in my next run, it'll be the 5th time I've grown her. She smells like pine-sol, weighs real heavy.

I never ran the LA Con, but I did run LA Woman, another huge waste of time indoors, at least for me, but what a kick butt stone outdoors, the difference was amazing, 100x better than indoors, and the cutting came from my pheno.

I attached a pic of some of the Kushberry from my last grow, can't find any of Skunk Sleestack and I have no stash right now.

 

[Melvan]

Found a pic of the Northern Light/White Widow from my last grow. I think she looks like she's giving you the peace sign.

 

[Melvan]

Worked in the nursery today

Spent some time today with the youngins. Right now I have 12 rooted cuttings on the top shelf under the 2 40w T12s. A few of the young girls got a feeding of 1/8th strength Earth Juice Grow. Strains show in pics are Skunk OG18, Northern Light/White Widow crossing, Kushberry Skunk, and Hogsbreath.

The lower shelf just got fed & watered day before yesterday. Down there I have a Strawberry Cough, Pre-98 Bubba Kush, Blueberry, & White Widow.

I also did my weekly preventative spraying for critters. Just taking the time to do that each week has kept me from having an infestation for more than a year.

I can keep as many as 30 rooted clones on that top shelf, and quite often do. Only having 12, and nothing rooting in the trays, is very rare for me. I'm a cutting fool, I can't get rid of them when I top or trim, so I always have way more plants than I need.

 

[Melvan]

Hog Bud Porn

Here are some shots from one of my Hogs. Today is day 46 of 55-58.

She came from a 10 seed grow of which I kept phenos. This is from seed #9, the other is from seed #3, no pics of her, and I may be letting that one go. I kept them both originally because they each had such a different smoke. #3 is that heavy body stone you expect from a 100% Indicas strain, her odor is very light and earthy.

The #9 is a totally different story. Much more uplifting and her odor is very fruity and tropical. I've decided that she is the better of the 2, so this is the last run for pheno #3.

Outdoors she's a heavy producer with a short bushy structure, excellent if you like to peg your plants. Under the 400hps she's a moderate producer at best, can't wait to have her in the next run under the 600hps. Even with the side lighting helping out the 400 I'll be lucky to pull 2 oz.

This pheno is the best pot I grow. The most noted effect from this pheno is it's activation of your more "primal" urges. It's a very uninhibited high.

The Hog a.k.a Hogsbreath is from THSeeds and was the CC Winner in the Indicas category in 2002.

 

[Jeezer]

I can see in some pics you defoliate your ladies. I do as well. Really helps out the yield.

 

[Melvan]

Usually about day 30 I do a pretty heavy pruning of the majority of the large fan leaves, and then I just keep them snipped as they pop out. Even with the T5's helping out on the sides, I feel it helps the 400 penetrate deeper.