Dame Blanche in my MJ tanner

[curlybud]

Welcome to my grow journal! This is my very first grow - totally exciting. Although I'm probably going to need tons of advice along the way

Whilst finishing building my MJ tanner, I have begun sprouting one feminized Dame Blanche seed that I hope will become the mother plant. Once she is old enough, I'll take a few cuttings and flower the two most promising ones in the tanner. (tanner construction progress can be viewed here - it'll probably be ready before the plant).

What strain is it?
Dame blanche - Indica dominant with "a diverse sativa background"
Is it in Veg or Flower stage?
Still veg
If in Veg... For how long?
couple of days, still a seedling
Indoor or outdoor?
Indoor
Soil or Hydro?
Hydro
Size of light?
12 2' T5 bulbs
Is it aircooled?
Yes, it will be
Temp of Room/cab?
90F non ventilated, hooking up fans tonight
PH of media or res?
5.5-6.2
Type and strength of ferts used?
250ppm flora nova grow
1 drop/gallon hydrothrive
Tap water ppm
170

 

[curlybud]

The first seed that I germinated ended up dying in the rockwool, it was weak and flimsy and had passed away one morning when checking on her

I planted another which is doing great now

I'll keep feeding her a 250ppm flora nova grow solution with some hydrothrive until I see the roots poke out the bottom of the cube (any idea how long this will take?), at which point I will put her into my bubbler. My hydroton is soaking in a 250ppm pH6 solution, ready to be used, and the average temp of the mother closet non-ventilated with the door ajar is around 26 celsius. With the door closed and the fans on it reaches about 21.

The mother box. I modified it a tad and there's now a CFL chandelier hanging down from the top, very close to the seedling.

This is where I need you help am I missing anything? Doing anything wrong? What did I forget?
Thanks in advance!

 

[flyfishinrock]

looks good, cant tell is there an exhaust vent at the top? dang that babie is bright!! Is it two levels?

 

[dagermankid14]

Nice step up

 

[curlybud]

Thanks flyfishin' and dagerman! Yep, there are two levels! I'm hoping to use the top section to root my clones in before puttin them in the flowering box..

Here's a few more pics of my little one.. She seems to be doing great.. I have the water level in the bubbler at about 1" above the bottom of the basket and the rockwool seems to be staying fairly humid. I guess there's no telling the roots are growing now until they pop out the bottom of the mesh basket? Is there a need to keep giving her B1 at this point?

 

[Dr. 215]

Are you only gunna have the one plant in the chamber? You could get some awesome results with just the one, let it go nice a big... What are your plans? Best of luck man there are some hydro experts lurking around these forums.

 

[Stizz1e]

Im using a cabinet that is basically the same as yours just two doors instead of one. I have temp issues with mine, how about you?

 

[four20friend]

The mother box looks nice. you did a great job with that omniflect.

 

[curlybud]

Are you only gunna have the one plant in the chamber? You could get some awesome results with just the one, let it go nice a big... What are your plans? Best of luck man there are some hydro experts lurking around these forums.

Yep, only one plant. The white box is the mother box.. I'll be flowering hopefully 2 clones in a seperate box that I'm building, dubbed the MJ tanner... crazy temps in there - check it out

The white mom box is a pimped up IKEA cabinet that suited the mother-box purpose quite well Eventually when I switch strains I expect I'll flower the mother inside her own box alongside the 2 cutting in the tanner the and see how it goes.. it's definitely not airtight though so smell might be an issue!

I'm using a cabinet that is basically the same as yours just two doors instead of one. I have temp issues with mine, how about you?

No heat issues as of yet in the mom box, but I've been keeping the door ajar to let fresh air into the box while the seedling grows... I live alone so I don't really have any problems there,, With intake & exhaust fans on and the door closed the temp is around 22-24C I think

The mother box looks nice. you did a great job with that omniflect.

Thanks four20friend - I appreciate it!

 

[flyfishinrock]

lets hear some more about the light set-up, from where I'm sittin it looks wicked sweet!! Are those t5's on the door and back wall as well as above? bad ass man, this is your first grow huh, looks like you been reading up quite a bit. Good job, tossin some reps your way!

 

[curlybud]

Thanks for the rep!

Hehe yeah I've been doing a lot of reading around here and getting tons of useful advice from the grow team. Starting off very carefully and trying to get as much info as I can before doing things, to try & make sure I do em right!

About the light setup.. I ordered a small T5 fixture (4 2' bulbs) and then thought I'd try and compensate the lack of lumens from floros with yet more bulbs so I added 4 individual fixtures on each side. The side fixtures can be moved up and down, there's a 'slot' to set them in spaced out every 5 inches as high up as I can go. It gets pretty damn bright in there... i read 2k lumens per bulb bring the total up to 24k lumens... obviously not on par with HIDs but we'll see what I can get with these

Lots of heat though, I was at about 33C without the fans running, hooked em up last week and the temps are still about the same. My therm is smack in the middle of the light though, not sure the effect that has, or if it would make any diff putting it in a shady area.. plus if think the temps will go down once I space out the side T5s a bit...

This is day 4 of my little one.. Is this a new set of leaves I can see making its appearance?

 

[curlybud]

Day 6

New set of leaves getting slowly but surely bigger.. do you think she's ready to have her nutes increased to 600ppm now or is it still too early? I might try putting her in the tanner with only the overhead lights on to keep temps lower..

 

[four20friend]

I have not grown Dame blanche so I cant say for sure but I would stay under 300-400 ppm until the end of week 1. try not to burn her until she has a real nice root structure.

 

[curlybud]

Thanks four20friend!

Speaking of roots... here's what she's at so far

 

[NoLogo]

love the dwc buckets. i really like how you have the air stone setup, ive seen another grow do the same thing but never tried it myself.

i can see two big advantages with it, one that the air is going directly to the heart of the roots and that res changes would be much easier since you dont have any aitstones attached to the bucket part, you can just prepare a bucket away from the grow area and straight swap them when its time.

i do have two questions for you, or anyone else who has used this idea, and you may not be able to answer them yet due to the age of your plants, so maybe just something to look out for.

do the roots grow around the airstone and affect performance of it? and second do you have to monitor water level more closey since the air stone is near the top of the water level as opposed to most dwc grows where it is usually at the bottom of the res?

 

[curlybud]

Hey NoLogo!

Thanks man. I took inspiration form another grow in setting up the airstone this way. At first, I thought it would diminish the vibrating sound the airstone creates, but turns out (as you've seen in my airstone thread) that it doesn't help much.

Your first point is definitely correct and that was one of the main reasons I set it up this way - to bring max air to the root bulk as effectively as possible. However, I have the air tube running through the side of the bucket so I can not just swap the buckets. That's a great idea though and I might just put that into practice

regarding the roots growing around the airstone and affecting performance, I have to admit I have no idea as this is my 1st grow. Ragemonkey's grow thread shows a pic of his roots completely surrounding the gear in his bucket so I would expect performance to be hindered a little. See below. I've only got one tiny root for now, hehe, and am wondering when more will appear.. Oh, and is it still worth giving vit. B1 to the plant at this stage, do you know?

 

[stratlogic]

Thanks curlybud, I've found it! I'm tuned in now.

 

[curlybud]

Moved her into the tanner.. Keeping a close eye on temps.. they seem to be around 28-29C so far but it's only been an hour or so.. also the fans constantly keep the plant shaking a little.. I've heard this strengthens the stem but can this be bad in the long run if it's constant?

Question here.. probe on the right is 2 degress celsius lower than the one on the right... any idea why? Is it because it's on the hydroton and the water bubbling beneath is keeping it cooler? Which one should be trusted?

 

[stratlogic]

Moved her into the tanner.. Keeping a close eye on temps.. they seem to be around 28-29C so far but it's only been an hour or so.. also the fans constantly keep the plant shaking a little.. I've heard this strengthens the stem but can this be bad in the long run if it's constant?

You have nothing to worry about. The constant movement will definitely make the plant stronger and the plant will adapt. It's a weed after all.

Question here.. probe on the right is 2 degress celsius lower than the one on the right... any idea why? Is it because it's on the hydroton and the water bubbling beneath is keeping it cooler? Which one should be trusted?

Try putting both sensors in the same place to see if they measure the same reading. They could be calibrated differently or just be slightly off. But like I said earlier, it's a weed and exact temps aren't that imperative. A couple degrees is nothing to be very concerned about. Keep it up!

 

[flyfishinrock]

is there a fan circulating the air inside?