Inkdot's Tangerine Dream Grow In Soil - LED/CFL

[Inkdot]

Hello !

This is a long time coming. I wanted to start this grow many months ago but a long journey abroad and a general fear of the law stopped me. However sometimes you need to follow your interests and not let stuff like that keep you, so finally my Tangerine Dream grow is on the way!

Before we go any further, we all heard the horror stories about the strain Tangerine Dream and Barneys Farm. I have to admit I was blissfully unaware at the time when I purchased the seeds some year ago. Lets not make this thread a place to vent those concerns or frustrations you might have with either TD or BF but clean the slate and go on this journey with open eyes and hope for the best. I will for sure!

This will be my second grow and first journal. So I'm a rookie still wet behind the ears.

Data sheet

Lights: (1) 65W CFL 6700K, (1) 65W CFL 2600 K, (1) 240W Hydro Blackstar LED.
Strain: 2x Tangerine Dream from Barneys Farm, purchased from Dampkring seed store in the DAM.
Strain genetics: G13 x Nevilles A5 Haze, Sativa dominant strain.
Medium: Regular potting soil mixed with sand perlite and vermiculite.
Nutes: BioBizz line of organic nutes. I'll roughly follow their 'all mix' schedule and I'll water once the medium looks dry not on a set schedule.
Room temp: 75 -85 F at day, around 70 F at night.


I'm growing in a small closet (don't have exact dimentions). To the closet I have an air outlet with a carbon filter at the end. Due to heat reasons I cannot use HPS or HID lamps so I use a 240W LED array (composed of individual 3W chips with several different bands) I also use two CFL's of different light temperature to mix up the emission spectra and add some more diffuse light.



First week
Put two seeds in a water towel and they both popped within 24h.

Seedling#1

Seedling#2

Watered with tap water and a few drops of BioBizz Root Juice.


Second week

Everything moving along nicely. I'm very happy with the progress that happened in the first week. Noticed some slight discoloration on some leaves but they quickly turned green again so it seems to not have been a problem.

The seedlings started to look strong so I turned on the 240W LED lights for the first time.


Third week

I repotted both plants. The big one was put in a big airpot, the small one just got a size upgrade. I also topped the big one at the third node. I'm probably gonna leave the small one untrained and untopped so I can compare the results. I have no idea how tall they are gonna grow, hopefully I wont have to tie them down mid flower like I had to do with my mystery seed sativa I grew last time.

I had just cleaned the leaves with water spray before the pictures were taken.

I just started feeding them with a little fertilizer.


Thats it for now. I'll update once something happens. Photos were taken with my cellphone so the quality sucks. I'll probably get a friend to come over with a proper camera once the flowering is underway.

 

[Icemud]

Re: Inkdot's Tangerine Dream grow in soil (LED/CFL)

Very nice journal you have going so far, I'm subbed!

 

[Inkdot]

Re: Inkdot's Tangerine Dream grow in soil (LED/CFL)

Thank you Ice! I will provide a new update on the weekend, unless something unexpected happens.

 

[JASPL]

Looking good Inkdot!

Tangerine Dream is on my to do list.

I'll follow along.

JASPL

 

[Inkdot]

Hey JASPL, welcome along! I'll check out your grow man. How is the Durban Poison going? I'm really interested in that strain. Is it partly South African genetics? Your specimens look more like trees than bushes he he! I wish I could grow outdoors too. Using electric lighting is not very Eco-friendly, but laws and northern climate makes it difficult here.


New update 04/07

It's only been little more then two days since the last photos were taken and my babies seem to have finally become fully accustomed to the new bigger pots because in just two days there has been an explosion of new growth.

BTW, until I flip them I only give them 18h of light. I believe in letting mother nature rest a little bit and not work in the sun 24/7, seems kinda stressful lol. Next week I'll decrease the cycle to 14/10 and then a couple of days more and it's down to 12/12, all depending on their progress of course.


Let's start with a picture just like the one above for comparison. The bigger one in the air pot is getting some huge fan leaves longer then my hand!

There is one strange thing: A new branch, or leaf set, is randomly starting to grow just under one of the round 'embryo leaves'! Whaaaat? I never knew this could happen!

Picture is kinda blurry, but you get the idea. Please comment if you experienced this before.

Top side pictures of both plants

Thats it for now. Nothing funky to report except the mutant leaves coming out of the stem under the embryo leaves on the bigger plant. I guess I'll wait about a week before next update so you guys can see some proper progress not just a new set of photos every time a new little leaf pops up lol!

Peace!

 

[Icemud]

Wow, your right, they really did explode with growth in there new pots!!! very nice!! Healthy looking leaves as well!

 

[Smokemupm8]

Hello Ink.. Well firstly i must say top job! Thats some fairly good growth there, nice bushy dark green, seems you have your light system well thought out and doing good work with cfl's. I dont know but it seems my seedlings like my hi output cfl over my 400w MH? Ive compared a couple of seedlings grown various ways n my cfl growth is usually same if not slightly bigger? Anyway im really lookin forward to seein these buds! Goodluk and Happy Harvesting

 

[freetheweedni]

Hey inkdot looking good im subbed.


check out my journal

FTW

 

[Inkdot]

Hey Smokemupm8, I've heard the same about seedlings and CFL. I don't know the reason but I have two ideas. One is that the seedlings in nature often are overshadowed by grass or other bigger plants and therefore have adapted to not require as high light intensity in order to thrive. Another is that perhaps the CFL better simulate the cooler spring sun then high energy discharge bulbs like MH and HPS? I dunno.

Btw I was just in Aussie before I started this grow working at a University in Adelaide. It was pretty cool, I was living in a sharehouse with mostly students. None of them were really stoners but once they found out I was one they were practically throwing weed at me lol!! So friendly people.


Welcome freetheweedni! Glad to have you along mate.

 

[Smokemupm8]

Hey Smokemupm8, I've heard the same about seedlings and CFL. I don't know the reason but I have two ideas. One is that the seedlings in nature often are overshadowed by grass or other bigger plants and therefore have adapted to not require as high light intensity in order to thrive. Another is that perhaps the CFL better simulate the cooler spring sun then high energy discharge bulbs like MH and HPS? I dunno.

Btw I was just in Aussie before I started this grow working at a University in Adelaide. It was pretty cool, I was living in a sharehouse with mostly students. None of them were really stoners but once they found out I was one they were practically throwing weed at me lol!! So friendly people.


Welcome freetheweedni! Glad to have you along mate.

No worries mate! Yeah, in Adelaide is pretty good for getting some nice smoko, as its decriminialised somewhat, there are a fair few old skool aussie growers there that usually grow mad outdoor weed. I was homeless on the streets there for 3 months and i met some great ppl in my stay.. I lived their when i was 17 for 2yrs. But yeah, there maybe something in the frequency or spectrum of light from CFL's and LED's, Dont get me wrong a MH can grow great plants, but im looking into this CFL/LED grow light development and will maybe try a setup at one stage.. Anyways buddy, all the best and will chat soon. Later. Goodluk and Happy Harvesting

 

[Inkdot]

What the hell, I'll upload some new photos just for the heck of it.

Turned off the CFL's to show the color of the LED lights. It dosent show as much with the CFL's on because our eye is so much more sensitive to yellow and green wavelengths. When you turn the other light sources off you can see how powerful the LED really is even though my LED is a budget version of the various 3W chip sets on the market.

 

[Easeedoesit]

Looking REALLY good. I'll mos def be following your grow. Happy growing

 

[Fluttershy]

Oooh, those airpots look intriguing. I'll be following, definitely!~

 

[Inkdot]

Fourth Week

Day 22 since the seedlings broke the surface. Here is what's happening in my garden.

Gave them a feeding today. The light cycle is down to 14/10 and I will soon switch to 12/12. In probably a week or a little less.

Life is good, things are going almost too well. The little one is catching up and the big one has a teenage identity crisis, thinking it's a kush plant... Tangerine Kush... Silly girl.


Untill next time,
Love and peace

 

[Hardgraf]

Hi mate. Going great!

I think the LED's induce much faster growth than just CFL as your plants are much more developed after 22 days than mine were under 1525w of CFL.

Are you topping any fan leaves, training the plants or do you just plan to let them grow out. They are leafy and bushy like mine...

 

[Inkdot]

@Hardgraf. Maybie the combination CFL + LED is really good, I don't know, but I can take no credit as it was not a conscious choice on my part. I had never intended to be a hobby grower really but one day I bought some bud that contained a few seeds so I decided to put it in some dirt to see what happened. First I bought some cheap CFL's to test, then I bought a LED to test. Now I use them together simply because I wanna use all the light resources I own and this is what I happened to buy.

I would also think that just LED's leaves something out, something seems lacking when you have only bands in the red and blue region. Sure they do pack a punch when it comes to energy transfer to the chlorophyll A and B molecules but these plants evolved under the sun and the sun is a black body radiator with a broad emission spectra ranging from UV to IR and everything in between. There is gotta be some other benefit to the yellow and green light, even tough it doesn't get absorbed much by the chlorophyll. I bet there are some subtle secondary processes that are beneficial to the plant in other ways then just simple energy transfer to a molecule.

I have topped the bigger plant in the airpot once. No other training, but I tucked some fan leaves away to stimulate the growth of side branches.

Do you have a journal? I would love to see your plants!

 

[southernboy30]

I plan to follow this thread. I am thinking of a using a Secret Jardin DR60II with HGT 240W 7 band LED Lights. In the past, using a 400w HPS, I had to battled heat and electricity cost. If I can get 4 to 6 oz from 4 plants under LEDs, I will be a happy camper. I have 2 white rhino seeds and a shit load of unknown seeds. So if I can get 4 nice mother plants, I wont run the risk of getting unknown street crap.

Show us a picture of your setup. What is the height of your leds from the top of your tallest plants? What are the dimensions of your grow space and average room temp compared to grow space temp? Heat control and stealth is an absolute in my case.

 

[Hardgraf]

Hey, yeah I do- Hardgrafs Black Sugar CFL grow

Be getting some more pics up over the next 2 days

 

[Inkdot]

Update time!


Just started 12/12 the last day.


Here is the overview

This is my setup and grow room. I don't know the dimensions or the average temperatures since I haven't measured them.

Here is a closeup of the small plant. It appears to be growing healthy but is starting to look a little suspect. You can see some intervenal chlorosis starting to show. I don't know what the fuss is about. I haven't feed her too much. I haven't fed her too little. The pH is between 6-7.

Gave her a flush of pH 7.0 water with some Biobizz Bio Heaven (mineral supplement). Hope that sorts it.



Here is the Tangerine Kush wannabie. Finally started stretching a bit!

Here is a cool picture.

 

[Hardgraf]

Looking good. So are those 2700k CFL bulbs?

How much weight are you expecting to harvest roughly from these two?

Mine are a similar size now and will be going into 12/12 this weekend I think My strain is known to stay very short so don't expect much stretching during 12/12.