OG Kush, 1st time grow

[FastForward]

Thought I'd better keep a diary of what I'm up to, so I'll dump it all here if okay so others can either learn from or advise this old school caner.

I need to establish a mother room and clones, so that's up first. I've had 5x OG Kush (DNA) in a shotglass of distilled water for about 24 hours until they cracked. Today two have cracked with the white root showing inside and the three others are almost there. Mixed up a 5ml/ltr solution of VitaLink Plant Start and soaked 5 small rockwool cubes in them. Took the cubes out, gave them a squeeze to drain off the excess, and then planted the 2 cracked seeds about 3mm from the surface. The planted seeds are now back in the dark tent (currently 75f/23c, 45% humidity) with another tray upside down on top to try to up the humidity a bit.

NOTE: I spent an hour mucking about with pH levels....wanted to use Nitrozyme and Formulex but it brought the pH of my distilled water down from 5.5 to 4.0....didn't have any pH up and adding more water would screw up the concentration. So, found out that after adding the VitaLink my pH was 5.4 and that was the best I could do so went with it.

Am off to Dam on Monday and I need to get these in rockwool before I go...

Once these have sprouted then I'll start to veg them and select a nice one for a mum, then probably flower the others. I'm winging it so I'll worry about it when I need to :)

So, in about 2 months I should have my mother room ready and a couple of plants to flower/sex. They're feminised seeds but I think I might just sex her anyway to learn the skill.

At the moment I only have a mother room setup. In the next month or two as the others are growing I'll beg/borrow/steal/rob the money to get my flower room setup.

Currently: Medium Budbox, Nutriculture Mini ebb and flood tub, 2x fluoros (vislux fittings) for veg/clones, 2 tube brightwing (for mum), waterfarm (for mum) (this all came from a Growell Mother Room/Propagation kit)

Planned Flowering: XL Budbox, either a larger ebb and flood, or if I can afford it the 6 pot IWS system, 600w HPS

This all being done with rockwool and clay pebbles and VitaLink nutrients.

Will provide photos of setup and plant shots once I get back from Dam and fingers crossed my ladies will have sprouted.

Loving it already....am overfocussed and super obessive about it :)

FF

 

[sokalkush]

Hey bro,

good luck on your new grow, hopefully those OG's you got there are the real Cali flavor =)... no turning back now, hopefully this will be a lifetime endeavor for u!

-peace

 

[FastForward]

Time for an update. Firstly the bad news - I think either I cocked up the germ of the OG Kush or was just really unlucky (most likely the former). Lesson learned: don't use nice beans for practice. So with this in mind, I've been germing the cheaper seed as I have, so that I get something right eventually without an angry seed producer slapping me around. I've got Lemon Skunk, Kushberry, Pure Afghan (DNA) and G13 Haze (Barneys) in the fridge but am saving them until I'm better at this. Currently in sprouted and in prop:

Violator Kush, fem (Barney's) x 3
White Widow (freebie from DNA) x 5

Cracked, planted but not sprouted yet:

White Widow x 3
Reserva Privada Mix (DNA) x 3
OG Kush x 1

And currently being cracked/germed are 2 more Reserva Privada mix and 2 Lowryder#2 (partly experiment, part backup plan).

My setup in my mother room:

2 tube Brightwing fluoro, RVK100 extractor, desk fan (in corner), x-stream 12 propagator (GH flora nutes, rhizo, superthrive, alg-a-mic), ph 5.8, ec 0.4 (200 ppm). Root riot cubes in 2" net pots. Sprayer and lights on 24/7. Currently building an upgraded sprayer system for the x-stream using ultrasonic pond mister.



Room and tank temps:


Overview:


Violator Kush (born 10 Jul 08):






White Widow (born 13 July 08):






Roots and Sprayer:








The Violator girls had a rough start to life (and may well be boys now) as I left them too long and they looked like cress when I planted them. As you can see I don't think I planted them deeply enough and it looks like they're going to be in trouble when bigger - and if they survive will need staking or some kind of support. I'm concerned that they should be bigger by now...and the White Widow has almost caught up.

Anyhow, that's life on Planet FF atm...

 

[logic]

Looks like your off to a good start ill be watching this to the finish :)

 

[FastForward]

Update:

Things moving along nicely. Have upped the humidity to 60-70% by turning off the extractor and giving the place a good spritz. Have also left a damp rooting cube in front of a fan. pH of the tank isn't swinging quite as wildly but from what I've read it's most likely down to the rhizotonic being used up. Seems like other ppl use rhizo as pH up with distilled water and it's a known effect. I've also added in some fulvic acid into the tank today. Am setting the pH about 5.5 with the aim of keeping it around 5.8. Fulvic acid is also acidic, so handy pH down.

The Violator girls are doing nicely, albeit a bit slowly (compared to the White Widow). One in particular stands out a mile as the loveliest of the three and definitely a potential mother if things go well (Vio#1). Her root system is the most developed of any in the box with lots of smaller hairs up and down the main roots, and she seems strong and starting to pick up the speed developing. Vio #2 is a bit runty and Vio #3 is already too heavy up top to support the weight and is growing with its head on the ground - I put this down to me planting it too shallow and some of this should be below ground because otherwise she seems perfectly healthy. Will see what happens.

The White Widow has blown me away by just how readily and easily it grows. Every seed I've germed has come up trumps every time, and quickly. They're all looking good, but they're unfemmed so I'm expecting to kill a load of males hence a lot of them. They're also my main practice seed for germ.

The others in germ have been giving me a really hard time. The OG Kush and two of the Res. Priv. mix beans seem to be taking ages to break the surface. I'm starting to think they're dead from the transplant because I thikn they've been in there over a week now. Have taken photos - removed the surface plug (light plug, not tight) for the photo...usually relatively light proof with a bit of rootriot corner in the top.

Also have some Lowryder - one planted and waiting to break surface and another few germing.

Overall:

Violator #1
http://www.imagebam.com/image/c4f18d9830728
Violator #2
http://www.imagebam.com/image/06c4219830730
Violator #3


White Widow:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/69a91a9830734 http://www.imagebam.com/image/e31c4b9830738 http://www.imagebam.com/image/8e2d9e9830742 http://www.imagebam.com/image/6910cb9830746 http://www.imagebam.com/image/f5233c9830749 http://www.imagebam.com/image/daae2f9830752 http://www.imagebam.com/image/723ed89830761 http://www.imagebam.com/image/27b7d99830764 http://www.imagebam.com/image/059a739830766 http://www.imagebam.com/image/7cc28d9830769

Violator#1's root system:
http://www.imagebam.com/image/16db219830775

http://www.imagebam.com/image/ff89349830776

 

[logic]

Hey FF please dont host your images on free image hosting....if they close down we loose all your pics.

Host them on the farm and there safe for life! :D

 

[FastForward]

Hey FF please dont host your images on free image hosting....if they close down we loose all your pics.

Host them on the farm and there safe for life! :D

Cool as - was only doing it to save you the bandwidth costs and disk space...and also my grubby little seedling shots aren't worthy of going into a 'gallery'...but I'll start upping them here.

 

[power]

Looks quiet neat in there.

 

[mace]

So then the OG kush grow is out? dang, i have a few clones of it and was wanting to see how they take to things :)

Everything else is looking quite good. Keep up the work.

 

[FastForward]

So then the OG kush grow is out? dang, i have a few clones of it and was wanting to see how they take to things :)

Everything else is looking quite good. Keep up the work.

I'm ashamed to admit that I killed the OG :( I know, crimes against beans and all that...

At the mo am trying to save the whole lot - hot neut temps caused algae and browning roots... (widow and violator kush)

 

[FastForward]

Update:

Have spent this afternoon taking down the prop and installing the flood and drain (EF120). Most of the time was spent washing those f**king hydrotons. What a pain in the ass. Going to buy a 90p B&Q bucket and cut holes in the bottom as a massive sieve for next time.

Nutes have been set back down to EC 0.4, H2O2 added, no organics whilst peroxide is in the system (to help those browning roots). Planning on peroxiding for a few days and then will start adding in the goodies again. Got some Hygrozyme today at the shop's recommendation once the H2O2 is done.

Temps are better with the ice bottles in, early to mid 70s but still need to come down more. Need to freeze more and bigger bottles.

Quick photos:

errr...perm trouble.....look down :)

Flood timer set for 10 minutes every 4 hours at the moment - that might be a bit frequent for these youngsters so we'll see. Called Nutriculture and they said 1 flood a day...hmmm...but the guy also said I should fill the 45l tank full....which was bolx because if I had it would have been up to the brim....

Was going to get some Coco but (a) couldn't get the bag on the bike and (b) didn't want to spend money on more nutes...would prolly need coco specific nutes. So this is the root riot sitting on 2-3cm of hydroton, and then filled in with hydroton. Fingers crossed.

Oh yes, also got some nitrogen based pH down instead of phosphorus - I seem to be chucking in a lot of pH down when I put a fresh tank in, and I think nitro based is a better move...(it's the canna one btw, been using the grow tech one)

 

[FastForward]

photos

Overview and one of the Violators:

 

[ProGroWannabe]

They're lookin NICE FF. Job well done so far.

 

[FastForward]

Quick update - went outside to see how my little outdoor exile is doing - and it's amazing the difference between the great growlight in the sky and my 110w fluoros. Photos below - all WW plants approx the same age (or within a few days of each other) and have had exactly the same treatment....except the exile which has been outside for about 4 days now.

Growth in the exile is massively vertical - big internodes. Growth in my tent is much much shorter with tiny internode gaps. Maybe the exile is a boy? Dunno... but it tells me this: I WANT/NEED A PROPER HDI (400w MH for veg) :)

 

[FastForward]

Of 10 lowryders germ'd, have 8 rooted in cubes - two didn't germ/crack/pop. Am most likely going to do half of them outside in either coco or soil and the rest in the flood and drain (going to cull some WW to make room). I'm definitely feeling better and more confident about germinating, so I'm starting to look at my fridge tupperware of sexy genetics and thinking about trying a few.

Am trying to find the cheapest way to construct a 700 x 700 mini tent to house my propagator full time (it got displaced from my tent by the flood and drain) but it's hard whichever way you do it. Can't find anything in Argos to convert, MDF isn't that cheap when you can get a DR60 street for 60 quid, frame plus mylar is about 40. Need to spend 130 quid on a 400w MH and adjustawing for my main tent and then I'll move the 110w fluoros into the new propagator area. Then, when the flatmate moves out mid August I can get an XL tent for flower and I've got full cycle.

Here's a shot of another of my experiments....trying to make a small veg cabinet out of a small bedside unit, using an external tank housing a mister and nutes to feed down into the chamber below. Two fluoros go in above the green box (for seedlings) and 2" netpot holes are cut into the green box (i.e. aeroponic box). I ran out of piping...will try and get it done today because the lowryders have all already rooted the bottom of the RRs and they gotta go somewhere....ideally the aero prop but if not coco/soil outdoors and in my bedside aerothing....

 

[FastForward]

And here's another - this is also ongoing - it's just too big to put anywhere at the moment and what I really need is enclosed light space before I get into bigger projects. This is a cistern tank...sturdy and strong, deep and seemed ideal for an aero box (and light/water tight with the lid on). I've drilled a 2" hole in it, but the plan is to get a couple of different lids and drill in 3" and larger 6" holes to try putting a few plants through it full term rather than just propagation.

 

[Pender]

Sorry to hear about the OG, good to hear your feeling more confident about germing. The other ones are looking nice.

Are you growing the Lowryder#2? I grew this out not too long ago and loved the smoke, she was 13" tall and got 26g of frosty nugs from my plant. People either love it or hate it, I've heard people say it smells like ass and feet while growing, lol. Mine was the best smelling plant I've ever grown, no shit.

Peace,
Pender

 

[FastForward]

Yep - growing it - (low#2 non-femmed) although I'm down to 7 because I accidentally killed one today whilst fitting the new light. They've rooted way way faster and more aggressively than either the WW or the Vio Kush. Have put 2 in soil today for a try.....one with 10-15% hydroton and light mix, the other just light mix. Gave both a light watering with rhizo. The plan is for these two to go outside during the day to soak up this insane sun we're getting here and then come in at night. The other 5 are going to go into the flood and drain via the aero prop to give the roots a boost.

The plan is to see how many girls I get....and then try to keep one back to put someplace in the garden with a male to get some seed. Anything else is for flowering and smoking whilst I'm learning the ropes, before I start to use nicer genetics.

p.s. I found a pack of 5 freebies from those nice ppl at DNA - G13 x Martian Mean Green! Those are going in next :)

 

[ProGroWannabe]

Sounds great FF! I especially like the idea of using a cistern tank.

 

[FastForward]

HARDWARE UPDATE! Yeah, I killed what's left of my credit limit but it was for more light space so it's OK™ :) Got a small budbox for full time propagation and pre-veg, moved the 110w fluoros to there and bought a 400w MH and adjust-a-shade for the medium veg room.

Temps were initially a problem but I've got it sussed now. Light is approx 2ft/30cm from the tops and ambient temps around 85f. Tank temp is 68f - the answer was to open a side vent and point my aircon at it (as well as 500ml frozen water bottle every 8 hours). I've also put the side vent on the tank so it blows into the tank a bit - will cause more evaporative loss but it's worth it in terms of tank temps and humidity.

Also had to get an electrician over and he came into the room I grow in. I had hastily set the room up to look like a photographers studio - photo attached - I don't think it'll kid anyone who knows but it might work on cluebait.

Plants are doing much better...from all the reading I've done it seems that the spotting and curly leaves are due to wild pH fluctuations (my heavy hand and using enzymes with EC0 water, plus non pH soaked hydroton)....was going to flush but they seem to be doing fine...have not changed anything in the tank, keeping a low (EC0.6) nute strength and adding in 5ml/l H202 daily. Hygrozyme already in there. New leaves look fine and I think the Violator girls, who are in their 3rd week from seed could prolly do with more nutes, so I might up the EC in a day or two.

Have taken some pre-flower shots....I think the Violators are staying girls (femmed) but was worried they might freak out because they had a traumatic start to life, and the WW looks female too....I'm a nub so will need some help in a few weeks....

Also have transplanted a few of the WW into soil (light mix with 10-15% hydroton for some, 100% soil for another, some with clay tops, others without...to see what works). I'm going to use GH Nutes for it (flora) because I don't want to buy specific soil stuff....we'll see. Also want to get a bag of coco and some coco nutes instead but need more money. I think coco might rule for potponics AND hydro, which will suit me hugely.

That's it from over here :)