420 Magazine's Official Girl Scout Cookies Comparative Grow By Brett Blaze

[Baron Von Blurple]

As I prepare for the first move from the paper towel to the Jiffy pods, I set up my tent with the proper lighting, temperature and RH. I did several environment tests over the last week using the room humidifier, portable A/C and the fogger to get temps and RH where I feel I can control them throughout the grow.

I'll keep the seedlings in the jiffy pods and in the dark until the cotyledons open. After they first show cotyledons, I'll turn on the lights but I want the lights low and temperatures below 80F (26.7C). I don't have to worry about the low temps here as it will always be above 72F (22C). RH will be higher than the shown 49% as the seedlings will be in a dome until I see some roots coming through the jiffy pods. I'll monitor inside the dome to keep RH around 70% to 75%. Once roots start to show they will be transplanted to the grow bags.

For the first part of the seedling stage I'll position the LEDs about 28 inches above the plant area and reduced the power to 84W (1/4 power). This gave me a Lux reading of 11000. The Demon light from @Budget LED allows me to adjust the light from 30W to the full 330Ws. I use a separate energy monitor for the lights so I can see exactly how much power I'm using. The lights are also monitored as part of the total power.

Until tonight.

Interesting....my last grow from seed to harvest, I tracked @ 6.7 cents / kwh and I came up with this for my entire grow.

20210414_140732.jpg

• Baron Von Blurple
• Apr 14, 2021

$38.63 for electricity alone.

 

[Brett Blaze]

Interesting....my last grow from seed to harvest, I tracked @ 6.7 cents / kwh and I came up with this for my entire grow.

20210414_140732.jpg

• Baron Von Blurple
• Apr 14, 2021

$38.63 for electricity alone.

I pay 13.5 per kwh. My last grow used a lot of energy. This one will too because of the heat and dry air. Probably $125 for electricity. It's cool to be able to monitor that accurately.

 

[Brett Blaze]

Stage - Germination: Day 6

Temperatures here dropped today to 75° F with humidity at 25%.

The seeds have been in the jiffy pellets for 60 hours. I think the change of water has helped. One seed never sprouted and the fourth I think had too much damage from the PH issue but could just be that the radicle was damaged when it was transferred from the paper towel.

I'm still concerned the growth may be stunted for the remaining two. The two I germinated Saturday night have been transferred to jiffy pellets.

The two seedlings are growing slowly but they are growing.

 

[Elevated Lighting Company]

Stage - Germination: Day 5

After 4 days, two days in the pellets, I expected more progress and #3 looks to have stopped altogether. I'll keep it for now.

I believe I may have a PH issue when I prepared these pellets. When testing for PH my best meter was inop and even my Bluelab Guardian was completely dead. The move last year really messed a lot of stuff up. Most of my stuff was buried in the garage by the movers even though it was labeled "Study". The garage in the desert can get to 140° F (60° C) in the summer. A lot was either ruined or just didn't work. I'm going take the Guardian apart and have a look. I have an electronics background so maybe I can see why it's completely dead. It's too expensive and just over a year old.

When I prepared the water, I calibrated and used my backup PH meter. I also tested the water with a chemical "drops" test kit so figured it was close to 7.0. I ordered another quality PH meter to replace my inop one and it arrived yesterday. When I tested the water I've been using it read 8.0 instead of the 7.0 I expected.

After making a new batch of water and adjusting with the new calibrated meter, I flushed the 3 pellets with the new water. #1 never sprouted and has been removed.

Just in case I started two more seeds last night. Both have sprouted already.

Looking good! If you are considering an alternative to the jiffy plugs, QPlugs have been my go to. Less mess and hassle. Also won't hold a ton of water like the Jiffy ones and drown the seed.

 

[Brett Blaze]

Looking good! If you are considering an alternative to the jiffy plugs, QPlugs have been my go to. Less mess and hassle. Also won't hold a ton of water like the Jiffy ones and drown the seed.

Thank you

I'll use next time. I have never used the Jiffy plugs before. And yes I believe that the main issue was too much water depriving the seedling of oxygen. I have them outside the dome drying out some. Lights are at 1/3 power 28" above the plants.

They look a little better today but nothing to brag about.

 

[Elevated Lighting Company]

Thank you

I'll use next time. I have never used the Jiffy plugs before. And yes I believe that the main issue was too much water depriving the seedling of oxygen. I have them outside the dome drying out some. Lights are at 1/3 power 28" above the plants.

They look a little better today but nothing to brag about.

Just an alternative. I have lost a few plants to the dreaded jiffy plugs.

 

[Brett Blaze]

I'm not happy with them at this point. I lost one for sure. One of the four never germinated.

 

[Freak Brothers]

Nice set up, I been looking at getting WiFi cameras just haven't seen any

 

[MotaFina]

Wow Dano, your techniques are so meticulous. And your explanations and photos are thorough - even photoshoping in the sticker! I aspire to reach your level of journaling!

 

[Brett Blaze]

Wow Dano, your techniques are so meticulous. And your explanations and photos are thorough - even photoshoping in the sticker! I aspire to reach your level of journaling!

Thanks Mota

Now if I can stop drowning the seeds I would be happy. I put two more in Iffy pellets a few days ago and nothing. The Iffy pellets were just damp not soaked and still are. Maybe I'm just impatient.

 

[Brett Blaze]

Stage - Germination: Day 8

After a week in the pellets they look pretty healthy and are starting to grow. Here are the latest pics.

Here is the camera setup I use for macro shots. Nikon D850 with Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro Lens sitting a Neewer Pro 4-Way Macro Focusing Focus Rail which sits on a Markins ball head which sits on a Feisol tripod. The focusing rail allows for small changes forward and backward as well as left and right to get sharp focus. I shot these pics at 1/25 sec f/22 ISO 1000. With Macro shot you need a wide open aperture to get as much of the subject in focus.

 

[CigNv]

Amazing pics !

 

[Brett Blaze]

A little Photoshop magic.

 

[Freak Brothers]

Nice picks mate

 

[Moto258]

For lighting I selected @Budget LED Demon 300W LED light. My previous lights, although worked well, ran hot and were very heavy.

Budget LED always packs the lights very well. Even my UPS guy can't destroy these and sometimes I really think they try.

The lights are simple to set up and install and are very light.

Some info from Budget LED's Demon page.

I added a 6" clip on fan above the light to provide some cooling. The Demon comes with a dimmer that allows settings from 30W to 330W.

Hooking up the portable AC should help this time. It wasn't hard to set up and the window kit removes easily. I used some weather stripping and a little duct tape to make sure it was sealed. There is also some opaque window film to black out the windows. I use a pegboard mounted to the wall that holds all the timers. outlets and monitors.

I have two other monitors that are wireless that I can monitor on my phone. One measures the amount of electricity used and the other monitors the temp and RH. I have everything going at full speed and the total power being drawn is a little over 11 amps.

Keep on growing.

Dano

Ya always can tell a ups truck driver compared to the trash truck! Seems the trash has more value than what's being sent by mail these days! Haha I swear my road has pot holes the size of craters and these guys hit them so hard you can hear the packages being lifted and then slammed back down lmao! Get with it ups these lights aren't cheap! I'm in for the grow if space will let me in nice set up Dano999!

 

[Brett Blaze]

Stage - Germination: Day 9

Latest pictures. They are growing slowly. The pellets have dried a bit and I put both in some standing water for a few minutes to moisten the bottom of the pellet.

In the meantime, one of the two seeds I germinated popped up last night. I dropped this seed directly into Coco/Perlite after sprouting. The Coco was buffered so I ran some water through to get the TDS readings below 200 ppm.

This may beat the two in Jiffy pellets.

The other seed I germinated was put in a "dryer" Jiffy Pellet and popped up last night but it has it's own problem. I moistened the cap and will watch today.

Have a great day fellow growers.

 

[Brett Blaze]

Success

 

[Brett Blaze]

Yesterday I opened a box I had for a few days. I thought it was something else. To my happy surprise it was @Sierra Natural Science 209 All Natural Systemic Pest Control. Thank you @Sierra Natural Science and all the Sponsors who have contributed to the @Weed Seeds Express GCS Comparative grow.

 

[Lime]

Mind if I tag along?

Looks like we are at around the same stage.

Love the close ups!

 

[Brett Blaze]

Welcome Lime. The more the merrier. Yes I think we are about the same stage. I've been watching yours closely.