Girl Scout Cookies By Homer Simpson

[Bill284]

Glad you could make it, hashfart. Happy to hear you like my pics. I do enjoy making nice pics of my plants and since I am so lucky this journal is part of such an epic event I plan on trying to take my nicest pics for it.

Hello @Homer Simpson I'm so glad you got your seeds and things are working out.
Bill

 

[Homer Simpson]

Hello @Homer Simpson I'm so glad you got your seeds and things are working out.
Bill

Thanks, Bill284!

 

[Weed Seeds Express]

I have been enthusiastically anticipating my seeds’ arrival for this epic comparison grow with curiosity piqued, appreciative for the opportunity to partake and finally today is that long-awaited day of my seeds arrival.



Homer likes to keep his growing method simple. Simple is as simple does.

If I am noted for anything in this journal, which I wouldn’t bet on, I believe it will not be for what I do but instead for what I don’t do. No tent, no fans, no adjusting nutrient water pH, no flushing, no watering enough to get run off, no training just topping, no fancy soils or amendments just the cheapest; Pro Mix HP, no complicated additives; just inexpensive one part MegaCrop, and so on. Forgoing tents I simply have my plants under LEDs in the unfinished end of the basement out in the open and for environmental control just keep the house in the comfortable range for humans for both temperature and humidity.

The biggest lesson for me in my time growing here is that the Golden Rule when it comes to light, water and fertilizer is less is more. Although my MegaLight can run over 600 W I keep it at 200 W and 24 inches. Even trying to go to just 240 W caused leaf burn. The manufacturer’s maximum dosage recommended for MegaCrop in flower is 6 g per gallon but I rarely go over five or 5.5 depending on what my leaves are telling me. The only plant I ever had die in flower I believe in hindsight I drowned so I let my pots get pretty dry between waterings even in flower. They seem to like it.

The essence of my pragmatic grow method has been to eliminate anything not beneficial to the plant making growing as cheap, easy and simple as possible so I am genuinely curious how my plants will compare to those that employ every growing doodad and additive available. It should be quite illuminating to discover what other growers do with the same seeds and what they get from them with their more elaborate systems. I’m not certain myself so what could be cooler than that? Going to have to stock up on popcorn!

Now that I have my bare-bones system pretty much settled and stable in future grows though I would like to experiment with some organic fertilizers and such but I didn’t want to do a big comparative grow introducing anything new that I wasn’t certain about.

Good luck to all my fellow comparators.



Strain: Girl Scout Cookies Feminized From @Weed Seeds Express

Sativa/Indica: Hybrid (OG Kush/Durban Poison)

Veg: approx. 8-10 weeks

Indoor Now / Outdoor possibly later but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Grow Medium: ProMix HP

Final Pot Size: 10-gallon indoor

Lights: NextLight MegaLight 650W ( set to about 200 W at 24”)

Room Temperature/Humidity range: 75 to 78F, 35 to 50% (whatever the basement is depending on time of year and humidifier/dehumidifier use)

Soil PH: not tested and nute tap water pH not tested or adjusted

Feed: MeagCrop



Here is where all the magic and hopefully a minimum of disasters will take place. As a requisite for being in this comparison grow is to use a sponsored light I will be vegging and flowering in this room under my MegaLight from NextLight. It is a happy coincidence that my MegaLight gives off a beautiful soft glow that is not only beautiful in photographs but colour balanced nicely so putting up a backdrop I bought for $20 along with my iPhone turns my grow room into a cheap nice little studio.

Here is the obligatory seed-pack shot.

Here are the seeds I will be starting minus one. I am planning on bringing 2 plants to maturity indoors and hoping to give 2 away for outside to friends so I am actually starting five seeds assuming one will not sprout, the fifth which I added after these photos were taken.

Here are the girls soaking it up in a warm bath of plain tap water. I will keep them in water for 24 to 48 hours depending on how long it will take them to crack and start to sprout a tap root and then transfer them to a wet paper towel for a few days after that. I used to just drop them in soil but this way I can see how they are doing so I spend less time waiting for duds.

I find heating my seeds to between 78 and 80°F when germinating makes a marked improvement in growth rate and I believe a higher success rate but a little too early to draw that conclusion. I can pretty accurately adjust the voltage on the output of my controller with my multimeter so I can dial in my temperature within a degree or two. Being a tinkerer I had the controller and multimeter already so I didn't have to buy anything to heat my seeds. I do try to make my system as simple as possible but when I find something beneficial like heating my seeds I go for it because being a pragmatic grower I only eliminate that which has no benefit.

Thanks for stopping by.

what an amazing place for an amazing grow!! Enjoy!

 

[SmokeyB]

 

[VetSmoke85]

 

[Homer Simpson]

what an amazing place for an amazing grow!! Enjoy!

Thanks, Weed Seed Express. And thanks for being part of this epic comparison event!!

 

[Homer Simpson]

I must confess to not being overly impressed when I checked my seeds that have been soaking for about 24 hours. So far only one has split and is showing a bit of pulp but its taproot hasn’t even extended beyond the perimeter of its shell. Recently I had a seed crack and develop a taproot about one quarter the length of its shell within 12 hours but to be honest I haven’t found a big correlation between how quickly seeds first start to develop and how well the plant later performs.

I have mentioned before how it seems to me seeds are a fraction of the size they were 40 years ago but no one agreed with me so I don’t know if I’m delusional or not but the one seed that did crack within 24 hours is approximately 50% bigger than the other seeds which seem tiny to me; coincidence, I have no idea. It struck me recently that maybe the reason seeds are smaller is because all I ever grow are feminized seeds and maybe they are smaller than regular seeds?

Anyway, in summation, I was expecting them to be further along at this point but it isn’t time to panic yet. Later in the day, I will put the cracked one in a moist paper towel.

 

[Homer Simpson]

When I looked at my seeds after dinner at about the 30 hr mark since placing them in water I didn't think things had changed much since this morning since it looked still like only the one had split.

But to my surprise and relief, two more have now split so after about 30 hours that's three out of five. I'm being a nervous Nelly as this is the most critical stage because if these things get tap roots a quarter of an inch long within a day or two I am pretty much guaranteed to get a mature plant out of them.

The next pic shows how I have the cracked seeds on the lip of my plate covered in a paper towel so that water will wick up and keep them moist without drowning them and I have a good reservoir in the plate so they don't dry out. I top up the plate a couple of times of day though so as not to throw off the temperature too much. Once the ones still in the container under water reach 48 hours I will take them out of the water whether they are cracked or not and put them on the plate under tissues because I read they can drown although I've never tested the theory.

I find having them crack and starting a taproot is a major hurdle but I have had seeds crack and start a tap root and then just go dormant and eventually die so I'm not out of the woods yet so the next 24 hours I really hope to see some good taproot growth. Here is a former seed I had after days 1-2 and three showing the kind of growth I am hoping for.

Hope everyone is well.

 

[Modest Grower]

good signs! I hope all is well!

 

[Homer Simpson]

good signs! I hope all is well!

Yes, Modest Grower, good signs yesterday and more today!

When I first looked at my three seeds this morning that had cracked yesterday I was a little disappointed to see how little the taproots had grown. Usually, by this time I would expect them to have taproots close to the length of their shells or longer.

Being at the 48-hour mark I took the last remaining two seeds out of the container where they were submerged and I was delighted to see the one seed cracked overnight and has the largest taproot, unfortunately, the fifth one has yet to crack.

It's a big relief to see four out of five of my seeds cracked and starting tap roots but I am a little concerned about the sluggish rate of growth because they are definitely lagging the norm in my experience but hopefully they will grow out of it and all be viable. One thing I have learned is to expect the unexpected with cannabis plants because they all seem to behave a little differently. Also, I have been growing a lot of tall lanky hybrids lately and I am thinking maybe they sprout faster than Indica's which may explain their sluggish taproot growth. Once I put them in soil and have actual plants started I will breathe a big sigh of relief.

The digital thermometer I am using to monitor my germinating water temperature has an alarm that goes off if it reaches 80°F and I had to get up a couple of times in the night to adjust the voltage when the alarm went off; the things we do for our kids.

 

[Modest Grower]

Happy Friday Homer! Happy to hear you are up to 4. I totally get the nerves involved but you are doing everything right in my opinion and things are moving along.

I was going to ask you about the temp as I was a little surprised at the rate as well but as expected you have that dialed in. The two I dropped in rockwool took off at a dramatic pace to be honest so I am wondering if it just comes down to luck of the draw. I did cherry pick the biggest seeds with color to drop. I have one in soil I dropped yesterday so we'll see how that one does for timeline.

Keep it up and soon you will be in much smoother waters.

 

[Homer Simpson]

Happy Friday Homer! Happy to hear you are up to 4. I totally get the nerves involved but you are doing everything right in my opinion and things are moving along.

I was going to ask you about the temp as I was a little surprised at the rate as well but as expected you have that dialed in. The two I dropped in rockwool took off at a dramatic pace to be honest so I am wondering if it just comes down to luck of the draw. I did cherry pick the biggest seeds with color to drop. I have one in soil I dropped yesterday so we'll see how that one does for timeline.

Keep it up and soon you will be in much smoother waters.

A bit of a relief to read you think I am doing everything right and that you were also a little surprised at the rate of growth because I don’t see what else I could be doing to help them along anymore. So yes, I will just stay the course and hope they pick up a bit.

And yes, I have the temperature dialled in at about 78°F and have never gone over 80°F so I think my temps are fine. As you say, hopefully, those smoother waters are just around the bend.

 

[Moto258]

I must confess to not being overly impressed when I checked my seeds that have been soaking for about 24 hours. So far only one has split and is showing a bit of pulp but its taproot hasn’t even extended beyond the perimeter of its shell. Recently I had a seed crack and develop a taproot about one quarter the length of its shell within 12 hours but to be honest I haven’t found a big correlation between how quickly seeds first start to develop and how well the plant later performs.

I have mentioned before how it seems to me seeds are a fraction of the size they were 40 years ago but no one agreed with me so I don’t know if I’m delusional or not but the one seed that did crack within 24 hours is approximately 50% bigger than the other seeds which seem tiny to me; coincidence, I have no idea. It struck me recently that maybe the reason seeds are smaller is because all I ever grow are feminized seeds and maybe they are smaller than regular seeds?

Anyway, in summation, I was expecting them to be further along at this point but it isn’t time to panic yet. Later in the day, I will put the cracked one in a moist paper towel.

Hey Homer I'm just taking a seat but I have some seeds that might help you with seed size haha (lol but not sure they make the 40 year mark)cause I was thinking I had some crazy super man weed seeds from these massive seeds that came out of an outdoor train wreck I grew last fall.
The big buds belong to trainwreck the other two strains are from the unknown I grew outdoors years ago.

 

[Homer Simpson]

Hey Homer I'm just taking a seat but I have some seeds that might help you with seed size haha (lol but not sure they make the 40 year mark)cause I was thinking I had some crazy super man weed seeds from these massive seeds that came out of an outdoor train wreck I grew last fall.
The big buds belong to trainwreck the other two strains are from the unknown I grew outdoors years ago.

What a cool pic Moto258!

The big ones on the top are pretty much the size I remember seeds being in my youth and the others seem like today's sized seeds in comparison. I did some reading though and I didn't find anywhere where it said seeds are getting smaller but it did say they vary widely in size between different strains. A mystery for the ages.

 

[Moto258]

What a cool pic Moto258!

The big ones on the top are pretty much the size I remember seeds being in my youth and the others seem like today's sized seeds in comparison. I did some reading though and I didn't find anywhere where it said seeds are getting smaller but it did say they vary widely in size between different strains. A mystery for the ages.

Homer I must be thinking above the clouds with this one, but my mind always trys to take me to when dinosaurs roamed freely. What a sight it would have been to be in the presence of such young indica and sativa breeds. Guaranteed seeds were massive then or maybe tiny lol I'm going to have to stop eating dirty brownies so much lmao or else your going to get this guy talking like he's in a cloud himself! I blame 420 for hooking me up with this dang machine that makes tooo many goodies!

 

[Brett Blaze]

Nice start Homer. Mind if I tag along?

 

[Homer Simpson]

Homer I must be thinking above the clouds with this one, but my mind always trys to take me to when dinosaurs roamed freely. What a sight it would have been to be in the presence of such young indica and sativa breeds. Guaranteed seeds were massive then or maybe tiny lol I'm going to have to stop eating dirty brownies so much lmao or else your going to get this guy talking like he's in a cloud himself! I blame 420 for hooking me up with this dang machine that makes tooo many goodies!

I can’t say I remember spending time musing about dinosaurs but being retired and living alone and in isolation because of the pandemic with a bountiful garden I have certainly had my fair share of unique thoughts the last year or so.

 

[Homer Simpson]

Nice start Homer. Mind if I tag along?

Welcome aboard, Dano999. Glad to have you following along.

 

[Mdlroad]

Hey Homer I'm just taking a seat but I have some seeds that might help you with seed size haha (lol but not sure they make the 40 year mark)cause I was thinking I had some crazy super man weed seeds from these massive seeds that came out of an outdoor train wreck I grew last fall.
The big buds belong to trainwreck the other two strains are from the unknown I grew outdoors years ago.

Seeds could be getting smaller because of cross breeding so many hybrids

 

[Homer Simpson]

Seeds could be getting smaller because of cross breeding so many hybrids

As likely a scenario as any other but according to my reading I can't find anywhere that verifies seeds are getting smaller. Maybe I am getting bigger!