Well...here goes nothing 420 Magazine! This is going to be my first journal, and I'm going to be completely out of my element, and might need some guidance along the way! While I'm nervous about a few things, getting assistance from my brothers and sisters here is not one of them! 
I'd like to start off by offering a huge
to 420 Magazine, and all the great members here that have made me feel like part of the family right from the beginning. It's because of you I'm where I am now...so again!
I'll be including a lot of details along the way, mostly for me, but also for the benefit of any new growers that happen to stop by. I would also encourage anyone to jump in and ask questions if there's something that needs more explanation. The best part of a journal is the interaction...so don't be shy!
Here's the rundown:
The strain I'll be growing is Nirvana's Ice. The mothers were from a feminized seed. It's a 50/50 Sativa/Indica hybrid that a strain guide lists as a Skunk/White family cross. It also list the flowering time as 63-70 days, but I only use those numbers as a guide. Here's what else it said about it.
Here's what the breeder says:
This is a new strain for me. While I have grown the mothers, I've yet to flower one out , so I guess we'll have to wait and see. So far this pheno seems to exhibit mostly Indica traits. The mothers are compact with broad leaves...also seems to be a fairly heavy feeder, and very hardy.
To go along with the new strain, I'll be trying a new growing style as well. This run will be my first SOG... I got my inspiration to try a Sea of Green from folks like 420fied, Twelve12, Mr. Krip, and many others along the way. In the past I've grown much smaller numbers of much larger plants, some as large as 5 ft tall, so this will be a learning experience. I'll be growing 49 plants in a 4'x4' tray under 1000 watt HID lighting, in a Magnum XXXL hood, powered by a Lumatek digital ballast. I'm using a MH bulb now, but will switch over to HPS for flowering.
The ballast is dimmable. There's a dial to choose 600W, 750W, 1000W, and Super Lumens which is supposed to be 1100W...all settings work on a 1000 watt bulb. It's also a true multi-watt ballast, in that you can screw in a 600 watt bulb and use it on the 600 Watt setting.
The girls will be in .8 gallon (3 liter) Superoots Air-Pots. I have been using these exclusively for everything other than my moms for about a year, and love them. If you grow in soil and haven't tried Air-Pots, I think you'll be impressed. Here's a couple videos I think are worth watching.
Air-Pots-Overview - YouTube
How to use Air-Pot Containers - YouTube
I've also used the .3 gallon (1 liter) Air-Cells, and the 3.4 gallon (12.5 liter) Air-Pots, but for a SOG I think these will be ideal.
This brings me to the growing medium! I've been growing in soil from the start. I've played around with Hempy a bit, but there's something about growing in soil that I really love!
When I started looking at soils, there was a couple things I took into consideration. First, being on the East coast, many quality soils and composts that folks are using on the West coast just aren't available here. Some of the larger names like Fox Farm and Roots are, but it's been my experience that most items marketed for cannabis are overpriced and over hyped. I've also heard that the Fox Farm soils here are a different formulation than what's sold out West. I have used FFOF and still use Light Warrior for starting my clones, but I began looking for something new.
When I looked locally, it didn't take long to discover that the absolute best organic products available here are from a company called Coast of Maine. All of their soils contain compost and are actual living soils right out of the bag. They have many different products geared towards many different types of plants, but Ill be using their Bar Harbor Blend...heres another short video.
Bar Harbor - YouTube
I've used various nutes along the way, including one of my favorites, Osmocote Plus. While OC+ grows excellent cannabis, I have been itching to switch over to organics for quite a while...which brings me to high brix! Stay tuned...on my next post I'll pick up right here!
I'd like to start off by offering a huge
to 420 Magazine, and all the great members here that have made me feel like part of the family right from the beginning. It's because of you I'm where I am now...so again!I'll be including a lot of details along the way, mostly for me, but also for the benefit of any new growers that happen to stop by. I would also encourage anyone to jump in and ask questions if there's something that needs more explanation. The best part of a journal is the interaction...so don't be shy!
Here's the rundown:
The strain I'll be growing is Nirvana's Ice. The mothers were from a feminized seed. It's a 50/50 Sativa/Indica hybrid that a strain guide lists as a Skunk/White family cross. It also list the flowering time as 63-70 days, but I only use those numbers as a guide. Here's what else it said about it.
Here's what the breeder says:
This is a new strain for me. While I have grown the mothers, I've yet to flower one out , so I guess we'll have to wait and see. So far this pheno seems to exhibit mostly Indica traits. The mothers are compact with broad leaves...also seems to be a fairly heavy feeder, and very hardy.
To go along with the new strain, I'll be trying a new growing style as well. This run will be my first SOG... I got my inspiration to try a Sea of Green from folks like 420fied, Twelve12, Mr. Krip, and many others along the way. In the past I've grown much smaller numbers of much larger plants, some as large as 5 ft tall, so this will be a learning experience.
I'll be growing 49 plants in a 4'x4' tray under 1000 watt HID lighting, in a Magnum XXXL hood, powered by a Lumatek digital ballast. I'm using a MH bulb now, but will switch over to HPS for flowering.The ballast is dimmable. There's a dial to choose 600W, 750W, 1000W, and Super Lumens which is supposed to be 1100W...all settings work on a 1000 watt bulb. It's also a true multi-watt ballast, in that you can screw in a 600 watt bulb and use it on the 600 Watt setting.
The girls will be in .8 gallon (3 liter) Superoots Air-Pots. I have been using these exclusively for everything other than my moms for about a year, and love them. If you grow in soil and haven't tried Air-Pots, I think you'll be impressed. Here's a couple videos I think are worth watching.
Air-Pots-Overview - YouTube
How to use Air-Pot Containers - YouTube
I've also used the .3 gallon (1 liter) Air-Cells, and the 3.4 gallon (12.5 liter) Air-Pots, but for a SOG I think these will be ideal.
This brings me to the growing medium! I've been growing in soil from the start. I've played around with Hempy a bit, but there's something about growing in soil that I really love!
When I started looking at soils, there was a couple things I took into consideration. First, being on the East coast, many quality soils and composts that folks are using on the West coast just aren't available here. Some of the larger names like Fox Farm and Roots are, but it's been my experience that most items marketed for cannabis are overpriced and over hyped. I've also heard that the Fox Farm soils here are a different formulation than what's sold out West. I have used FFOF and still use Light Warrior for starting my clones, but I began looking for something new.
When I looked locally, it didn't take long to discover that the absolute best organic products available here are from a company called Coast of Maine. All of their soils contain compost and are actual living soils right out of the bag. They have many different products geared towards many different types of plants, but Ill be using their Bar Harbor Blend...heres another short video.
Bar Harbor - YouTube
I've used various nutes along the way, including one of my favorites, Osmocote Plus. While OC+ grows excellent cannabis, I have been itching to switch over to organics for quite a while...which brings me to high brix! Stay tuned...on my next post I'll pick up right here!
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What, I can easily keep a very small mother that is capable of providing 10, 20, or more cuttings at a time? And I can keep as many as 24 of these small moms in a 2’x4’ space so that I have a variety of genetics to choose from? It was like the clouds parted…a ray of brilliant light shined down from the heavens, and I was instantly enlightened…I felt like Jake or Elwood Blues. I was now on a 
I had wanted to wait until I was in my new grow room...but there's just been delay after delay... It will get done at some point, but I figured now was as good a time as any to start one. 
