First soil grow

[berrydizzle]

Hello everyone. I have wanted to do a grow journal for the longest time and now i finally have the balls to do it. I am finishing up my first soil grow, have done hydro for the past year in a bloombox but it wont fit in any of the rooms in my new house so, i had to convert to soil. This journal will cover the end of my current run (i am doing 7 blueberry and 1 bubblegum). They are on day 45 of flowering. Only two more weeks, i am so excited. Then I will start my next journal from start to finish so you guys can see my work. Here are some pics to catch you up to the present time.


These are the little guys vegging under a 1000W MH.


Here is my light setup. Air cooled 1000W MH/HPS switchable


The plants after about one week of flowering. Saved 1 BG and 1 BB for mothers for my next time.


Here they are at 44 days.

I topped all 8 plants while vegging, something I won't do the next time around. More pictures of my new project as soon as they get approved.

[berrydizzle]

Is a lockout problem different then nute burn? I think it is. If so how would i fix that...can I add stuff to the soil before potting my next plants to prevent lockout. The pH is right at 6.5 in all my pots. All i am using is cheap unfertilized potting soil.

[berrydizzle]

So here are the babies that you will be following over the next three months.
And a few closeups of the buds that are growing as we speak.


These are the clones that have already rooted. 5 blueberry and 3 Bubblegum. The bubblegum in the back right isn't going to make it I know.


This is my veg setup in my bathtub when i am flowering in the closet. Holds mothers too. As you can see still waiting for the other 6 bubblegum's to root.

Now pictures of buds:)








Notice the buds aren't to fat. Didn't use co2 this time but have reaped its benefits before with a bloombox. Any way i can initiate co2 into my grow without spending a ton of cash?

[Akornpatch]

Actually CO2 works best with a regular dosing system, and they can cost a ton. You're probably better off just making sure to have a good supply of fresh air flowing thru. You can get your buds to fatten up with proper PH and feeding schedules. they do look tastey I have to say.

[berrydizzle]

Yeah blueberry is a tasty strain but I have found it is very fluffy. Is it going to hurt the plants if I have a fan blowing on them at all times or should it just be in the room pointed away from the plants but still keeping the air moving. The door to my closet is always open except when the light is off just for heat issues. Damn my next grow will be nasty.

[Akornpatch]

a fan directly on them shouldn't hurt anything. But keep in mind they will transpire more fluids and you'll have to water them more often.

Looking forward to the next one!!!

Akorn

[berrydizzle]

Yeah me too. Am going to do a couple of things differently this time. First I am not topping any of the plants (topped all this time). I am also going to wait till they are at least 2 and a half feet tall before I flower them. Hopefully they will end up around 5 feet tall. And I am changing nutrients and the schedule that I water. Any members have any good hints about how often to water with nutes and then plain water.

[berrydizzle]

OK so i just did some research on different nutrients. I will be using General Hydroponics Floro Grow, Micro and Bloom for my next grow. On the website it says to water with the nutrient solution once every three waterings so hopefully that will deal with my nutrient burn situation. I will still be using a few drops of superthrive per gallon of nute solution. Should I add anything to the plain water that I use in between the nutrient waterings. Probably pH balance it right? But what to?

[Herban Legend]

I find flushing every 30 days seems to help out alot with both lockout and nute burn ( build up of salts ). Lockout is mostly a ph factor. If the ph is not right, the membranes covering the roots close up and probelms accur real fast.
I gave topping a shot on quite a few grows and regetted it every single time.
Plants from seed seem to loose some of its hybrid vigor and you just seem to end up with smaller buds. Pruning works well but topping destroys they chance of developing serious size main colas.
Why would you want a five foot indoor plant? Guess you don't mind trimming popcorn buds cause you will have a lot of them.
I prefer flowering seeds around 14 inches or so and clones around 16 to 18 inches with a fan giving them a really good dance during veg to strenghen the main stalk and the laterals you prefer to keep.

[Janjaweed]

heya Herban welcome!
great tips i can tell your good at this, woot =)

hmm the best topped plants i saw also vegged for a hella long time, 3 months at least!!
not very efficient on time and energy but was very cool...

i like big plants they are like people 5 feet sounds good actually to me heh =)

[berrydizzle]

Thanks for the info Hurban. What do you mean popcorn sized buds on a five foot plant. My friend did 5 plants under a 400W HPS and they were about 5 feet tall, they had crazy big buds. I didn't keep track of how tall my plants were when i flowered them last time but they arent even three feet right now with two weeks to go. Bigger plants means more bud right. I have a 1000W HPS so productive lumens will go far down the plant, at least thats what I'm thinking. I will definately flush my plants at least once during flowering next time. I am dealing with all clones, no seeds. You said put a fan on them so they will be stronger from being blown around. Thanks guys.

[berrydizzle]

Im frustrated cause i tried to upload about 12 new pictures to post but I got up this morning and they weren't in the gallery. I'll get them on here eventually, i love looking at pics so im sure you other guys do too. OK so I flushed all 8 of my plants with plain water yesterday. The reasons were to fix the lockout problem and start removing the nutrients for harvesting which is happening in about a week and a half. I flushed the three gallon pots with three gallons of water and the five gallon pots with 5 gallons. Had never flushed before but it seemed like that was plenty of water for them. I took the plants outside two at a time so they could adequately drain before bringing them back inside. It wont hurt indoor plants to take them outside will it. They probably weren't outside for more then an hour each. Now i have some questions. After I flushed the soil, the soil line in the pots dropped about an inch each. What is the reason for this and should i put more soil in to the pots up to their old lines? Also I was told by a friend that if you put a layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot where the holes are and then pot your plant it will be more healthy because the roots will be able to recieve more air from the bottom of the pots and it will be easier for the soil to drain. I did this to two of my plants but with the lockout problem I cant really tell if it has helped. Anyone know if I am wasting my time with the gravel. And also one more thing. I just got my new nutrients but I am not sure if I should give them to my new babies who have had 2 waterings of the Advanced Nutrients. Should I flush their 4 inch pots before I change the nutrients or can I just switch and it be ok. Ill post the pics as soon as I get them approved.

[fallen]

actually, if you want to take them outside for a couple hours a day, it'd really fatten up the buds, due to the real sunlight, but be careful not to burn them.


not sure about the nutrients though :x

[berrydizzle]

Yeah, i cant really bring them outside for hours a day. If I had all 8 of them out there at the same time, the neighbors would be able to smell that shit if they walked outside, im sure. I do have a privacy fence but there are some cracks, just cant take that chance. i only had 2 outside at a time, right up against the house so no one could see them. So I am waiting for pictures to be approved. Its taking forever. My 6 Blueberry clones are doing great. You can already see the roots in the bottom of the 4 inch pot so they will be ready to go in the closet to veg under the 1000W MH as soon as I harvest next wed. So they can go in on thursday. The Bubblegum clones are a different story. the three that are already in the 4 inch pots have not shown any vertical growth since I planted them. The 6 that are left in the clone dome are not showing any roots out of the rockwool, but the tips of the leaves are turning yellow, a sign of rooting. I just hope it happens soon so they wont be to far behind the blueberry (although im afraid they might already be). I am traveling to Bonnaroo this weekend with my GF so if I dont see roots by then I will have to wait till monday night when I get back. If there are still no roots i am going to discontinue my use of the bubblegum that I have. Im thinking I might have kept a mother with bad genetics. Plus the Blueberry is better in my opinion. Will probably order some AK-47 seeds as soon as some come available. Or White Russian, that shit is crazy. Both from serious seeds.
I am glad to say that I think I am seeing some nice fattening of the buds since I flushed my plants on Sunday. Going to water today and then thursday before I leave since i wont be around for 5 days. Ill be sure to soak them. Well I gotta run to work. Will post pics ASAP. Bye for now.

[Janjaweed]

glad to hear your blueberry is perking up! i love that stuff :D
always helps to get ample flushings done in soil, or coco.

since your trying new things out you may want to pick up a bag of Botanicare Coco to test..
im bet with your background in Hydro you might like the results a lot better. and you get to go crazy on the nutes and waterings, for the most part very easy to flush and fix issues.

ps- "I am waiting for pictures to be approved. Its taking forever"

yeah me too, must be a huge backlog by now. hope everything is ok down in the pic dept! :D