Boxpipe's blueberry/hawaiian & Afgan Grow Journal

[jcool09]

Boxpipe- I started on your journal tonight (saw you began posting in May) thinking I would see the end result. In a way I'm glad that you did take a 4 month hiatus so I'll be able to enjoy the pitfalls and progress with your retrospective commentary.

The first pic cracked me up. I saw golf clubs and computer equipment. Golf is my #1 hobby and I have been in IT for 20 years. So I see the Cisco router on the bench in a later pic and you say "I set about making a better hole in the wall. I do an amazing Red Green impression as I lift my router up to the hole..." I'm like WTF? Doesn't he know that a router is used to segment networks and that you need a switch to make a proper hole in the wall? I also use Photoshop batch processing to automate the resize of my pics for posting- a huge time-saving tip.

I was feeling really sorry for your plants until the second week or so. Those were some skinny-a** seedlings before you started the nutes! They really beefed up in the last two weeks of pics. I also noticed your pump/drain tubes were tinting green; I'm sure you know now that light+nute solution=alge problem and to use black tubing for hydro apps. Alge can be a real killer, I'm sure you got it under control b/c you had something to make your cookies with!

Enjoying the journal, keep up the posts!

 

[boxpipe]

Boxpipe- I started on your journal tonight (saw you began posting in May) thinking I would see the end result. In a way I'm glad that you did take a 4 month hiatus so I'll be able to enjoy the pitfalls and progress with your retrospective commentary.

The first pic cracked me up. I saw golf clubs and computer equipment. Golf is my #1 hobby and I have been in IT for 20 years. So I see the Cisco router on the bench in a later pic and you say "I set about making a better hole in the wall. I do an amazing Red Green impression as I lift my router up to the hole..." I'm like WTF? Doesn't he know that a router is used to segment networks and that you need a switch to make a proper hole in the wall? I also use Photoshop batch processing to automate the resize of my pics for posting- a huge time-saving tip.

I was feeling really sorry for your plants until the second week or so. Those were some skinny-a** seedlings before you started the nutes! They really beefed up in the last two weeks of pics. I also noticed your pump/drain tubes were tinting green; I'm sure you know now that light+nute solution=alge problem and to use black tubing for hydro apps. Alge can be a real killer, I'm sure you got it under control b/c you had something to make your cookies with!

Enjoying the journal, keep up the posts!

Router.... LOLOLOL. Would account for the rotten hole I carved out. I've since bought a jigsaw.

Yeah it's amazing to see the plants take off when you give them some nutes. The directions say to wait a while but I think you can give them nutes as soon as the roots hit the reservoir. I've confirmed that since.

My hose is tinted green. I bought some black hose then discovered it was the wrong size. Bah me. Bah!

Thanks and welcome to my journal!

PS: I don't play nearly enough golf. Sigh.

 

[boxpipe]

I'm bored and working on something mind-numbing, so.... Day 27!

Day 27
- BBY1 is looking like hell. I'm not crazy about the rest. The picture of AFG3 looks the closest to reality, colour-wise. The other pics look yellowy.
- I added 2 or 3 litres of water to the reservoir. Then I stood back and took a good look at the plants. AFG3 is definitely drooping. Lack of nutes? I just can't win. So I added 5ml of A&B directly to the reservoir.

(Oh a cliff hanger. I love it!)

 

[Sonzor]

Good luck with your issues, I hope someone with a lot more experience than I will be able to help you out. One thing you might want to consider is are you sure its not enough nutes and maybe over nutes, Just a thought.

 

[boxpipe]

Day 28
- My Day 27 pictures were all taken around midnight (or about 12:30 this morning). Next morning, around 10:30AM, I took new pics. So there's only 10 and ½ hours difference between day 27 and day 28 pics:

- How much of a difference did the nutes make? It's pretty clear, but I did some before and after pics anyway:

- I'm still trying to figure out what pre-flowers will look like. I took some close-ups, but I still don't know what to look for:

- I've been reading up on scrog like crazy. I really want to try it. This walkthrough is amazingly helpful: sorry, this is an outside link. And it doesn't seem to be working anymore anyway. Oh well.

 

[jcool09]

Wow your plants look(ed) great! No pre-flowers of either sex that I could see. Keep those posts coming I really want to see how they came out.

 

[boxpipe]

Day 39
- Wow, I can't believe I don't have an update in 10 days. Well there is a reason for that. I embarked on a new project to completely renovate my workbench... and prepare a new stealth chamber. I will try to post that separately. It's taken up so much of my time, I barely have a chance to check in on the plants.
- They're getting huge, up to 18inches.

- And the group shot:

- Today I flushed and changed the water. I added 5ml of Gro A&B directly to the reservoir. I set out a pail of water hoping that I would do the flush on Monday, but things were looking really bad/clogged — The water draining to the reservoir had slowed to a trickle. So I couldn't wait.
- I cleaned the reservoir and flushed the pump & hose out thoroughly under the tap.
- The new water only sat out for a couple hours, hopefully the chlorine won't harm anything.
- I think AFG3 is going to be a male. I see a nub sticking out, and from pics in Urdedpal's journal, I think I see the same thing on his original C1. Too bad, it's the biggest, strongest, healthiest looking plant.
- I went to 12/12 last week, I'm going to guess September 3. Of all the things not to write down. I'm an idiot. I added Gro formula today, but next time will be adding Bloom.
- I also noticed yesterday that I'm going to have to keep an eye on the roots near the drainage. Can't have them clogging things. The canal is crazy with roots.
- Momentary panic when I opened the door today and the oscillating fan wasn't running. But we had a power outage, and it doesn't turn on automatically. I don't think this fan will fit in the new grow room. Groan.
- Oh yeah, about a week ago I turned off the main exhaust fan. It was just making too much noise and there was a lot of smell coming out. Not a big problem, as it only smelled directly around the grow room. But I turned it off anyway. I'm still undecided on how I'm going to use my fans in the new grow box.

 

[Setting Sun]

looks like they're growin'!

when are you gonna tell us about the hash episode?

I'm curious because while I've never '"OD'ed" on hash, I have smoked too much on occasion and barfed, lol.

 

[boxpipe]

Oh man it was funny. I was sooo very wrecked. Can't tell it yet, though. Haven't made it!

 

[Sonzor]

Looks like you well on your way and will keep my fingers crossed for some ladies for you good luck and + rep

 

[Aberration]

Oh man it was funny. I was sooo very wrecked. Can't tell it yet, though. Haven't made it!

Rofl!

I'm enjoying this thread.

 

[Setting Sun]

whattup boxpipe?

haven't heard from you in a while and hoping everything is cool.

 

[PlugJug]

GOOD JOB....

HAD A GOOD TIME READING THIS HOLE JOURNAL. LOTS OF GOOD INFO AND GOOD PHOTOS..

AT THIS TIME I HAVE A BLAST JUST GETTING OUT THE HAMMER,SAW,DRILL A FEW SHEETS OF WOOD AND A BAG OF NAILS. (OR WEED) AND BUILDING SUMTHING....

GOOD JOB...

 

[The Butcher]

How did this grow turn out?
We would love to be updated with some pictures and info!

I am moving this to abandoned journals until we get updates.

Thanks and hope all is well in your world!

Love and respect from all of us here at 420 Magazine!

 

[boxpipe]

Ok so it's been a while. Bite me! Or smoke me! I'm not particular!

This is a long update. Lots of pics! Lots of drama! Lots of action! Lots of exclamation marks so you know it's good! (not Sex Panther good, but still very good)(.

Day 43
- Finally got the mylar up in the new grow cabinet. Looks good, but there are a lot of crinkles. I hope they don't create hot spots.
- Here's what's left of my old grow cabinet.

- Shot of the new cabinet with mylar up. Notice the nifty ducting. Air flows through duct to the bottom right corner. Gets blown up the exhaust chimney in the back. Everything is internal to this chamber except the ballast for the light. It sits on top of the workbench, hidden by some crap.

- Group shot. Getting single shots now is too difficult (and confusing). From left to right, and it's easiest to follow the stem up from the pot, BBY1, AFG1, AFG2, AFG3:

- The following set of pics should tell me whether these are male or female, but my experience is telling me very clearly that I don't know what the fuck they are.

- Update: AFG3 is a female! Yay! How do I know? The internet, of course! I just kept searching until I got to this wonderful, wonderful page. Everything you could possibly want to know about sex. Incidentally, it occurred to me today that most noobs will either think all of their plants are female, or all of them are male, until they learn.
- Anyway, here is the confirming pics:

- Still a little early to tell on the others. Another day or 2 will show me some pistols.
- AFG2 was getting too close to the light so I tied it down. This pic is a little odd, it actually bends straight toward the camera then to the left. The pic makes it look really really bent, but I was careful to not break it. Shortly after this pic, I did the same thing with AFG3:

- Can't remember if this is AFG1 or AFG2, but it looks promising:

- I never thought I'd get this fan in there but I did. I shoved it down to it's smallest height and it just barely fit, maybe ½ inch to spare. Perfect! The fan you can see on the left is the bad noisy fan that I hate. Here it isn't hooked up to any amplifiers (duct), I'm just using it to cool the light and reflector.

- And pretty much the final touch to my new workbench. This is two pieces of bathroom panel that I had leftover from a shower stall project. They don't even match, which I kinda like. I glued them to the bench and caulked the join.

- What else did I do today?
- I spent about an hour sealing up all light holes. Caulking is now my best friend. I applied liberally inside, but sparingly outside. I don't want to attract attention to why I'm caulking a workbench. It's tough to light-seal a cabinet with a high intensity light inside, yeesh.
- I accidentally spilled water out of the NFT tub and got it all over the place. So I topped up the reservoir with water fresh from the tap, PH adjusted then added 5ml of bloom A&B. It's way less than recommended, so I'll just see how the effect goes before I add more.
- Stuff left to do (some day):
- Though the new cabinet is far quieter than the old one, it's still too noisy for my like. I gotta get a better fan.
- The new cabinet runs around 90F with the light on and 70F off. Too hot! Too much variance! I gotta get a better fan. (I think I see a pattern).
- My next grow will be scrog. I love the idea, I think it's perfect for this kind of cabinet. Thus I need some kind of net. Home Depot has the red fencing for use on constructions sites, farms and shit. It's perfect. But $50cdn for a roll. I don't need a roll, just a few feet. I'll probably just keep my eye open for one in a field and cut some from it.

 

[Sonzor]

Looks like a lot of work, but you did a wonderful job. Plants are looking very nice also and congrats on the lady... + rep

 

[boxpipe]

Thanks Sonzor!

Day 44
- Sigh. Pretty frickin obvious at this point.

- I put a kink in AFG3 trying to tie it down. It didn’t break, but it’s obviously squished.

 

[boxpipe]

Day 45
- Today I cut down AFG1 and AFG2. They were both obviously males.

- The roots were so incredibly thick in the tub I couldn’t just pull out the pots, I had to cut the roots with scissors. I have no idea what will happen to the roots that are left in the tub. What happens when they die? I suspect the roots are like this from nute deficiency. They were searching for food.

- Two plants left. Poor little BBY1 and AFG3. I’d like to move AFG3 to the left but I can’t with the tangle of roots.

- Various close-ups of BBY1 and AFG3. You can see pistols in each of these pics:

- I topped up the reservoir with water. I added 10ml of bloom A&B to about 4 litres of water, then added about 3 litres to the reservoir.
- I can see what looks to be light burn on AFG3.