First Grow Fem Bubblelicious And BlackJack

[bradd820]

I wanna thank you for checking out my first grow. I got myself some feminized Bubblelicious (BG) and BlackJack (BJ), and I'm just gonna dive right in here.

I started doing my research and such, because I really didn't know anything about growing. I noticed that, while a lot of people would probably disagree with me, there's no real RIGHT way to go about it. It's really simple to do, but much harder to get that 100% out of it lots of people go for. So I decided to stick an attitude of "simple is best" for this first grow. I get a T12 light and decide to do 4 plants in my closet, 2 of each.

Well I try the paper towel method on the first 4 seeds. Only 2 germinate. So I end up with a BG and a BJ. I was gonna stick with that, but a week later decide to do one more of both. So this time I use the cup of water method, and it works much better. They all did pretty good until I moved the sprouts into the big pots. The first BJ didn't survive the transplant I guess. So I ended up with a BJ and 2 BG. Oh, and I started this on Jan 13th of this year.

Here's my general setup. Normally the light is MUCH closer. It was raised so I could take the pictures.

Well this is actually the second setup. You can't see the shelf above, but that's where I had intended on letting it grow for a little while. As soon as I put them into the pots though, I couldn't see the sprouts anymore. So we end up moving it down eventually, as I put it off as long as possible thinking it was gonna be much harder than it was. They were growing fast by then though, and were getting up around the bulbs.

Thats why the fans I have are set up like this. I realize it's probably not the best way, but I can't think of how else to place them. See at first I had the cardboard piece taped to the wall, and the emergency blanket I've been using as a cheap reflector/cover, was taped to the other side. I had them pointed out at first, blowing the air out. Unfortunately, having the cover taped to the fans turned out to be a bad idea because it became impossible to get into the area back there. So now the fan is set really low, and I rotate the plants everyday so they get equal time in front of it.

I'm using regular soil I got from a store. Scotts, or something like that. The nutes I got are Miracle Grow, but it's pretty mild. 8-7-6 it calls for 10-20 drops per qt, I gave it 20 in a gallon. So about 25% strength I would say. Probably the hardest thing I have to do is balancing the ph of our water. I'd say on average it takes me 8-10 drops of lemon juice per gallon of tap water to get it to around 6.5-6.6.

So anyway I gonna put up the pictures of the newest, most favorite things in my life. I'm hoping I've filled my quota of Murphy's Law for my first grow. I'm at 50-50 success here so far. Things seem to be going very nicely since then though. I can't say I have anymore complaints about what I do have.

The BlackJack. I was really excited about this strain, and I wish one of the others had made it. By the way all of these pictures are from Feb 13th.

Just a reference for size. Remember cigarettes are bad for you.

Bubblelicious B. Or at least that's what it was supposed to say. This one and the BlackJack are both the 2 I germinated with the cup method. I'd recommend it now.

Size reference for Bubblelicious B.

Here's my only survivor from the original 4. Bubblelicious A. I feel kinda fond of it.

So that's about it for now. I think it's going pretty good so far. I'd love and helpful advice or criticism. I'll be posting more pictures next week. Later all

 

[bizz]

yo brad

i think you need a bit more light than that if you want to see good results, just my opinion

the light from that thing doesnt penetrate very far, i would have that thing an inch or 2 above the plants

 

[bradd820]

Yeah I hear you on that. Like I said before, the light are normally much closer. They were just raised up to make taking the pictures easier. I got a friend giving me another T12 and a T5 pretty soon here. I figured the one light was good enough to start out with, but I want to increase the amount of light I use as they get bigger.

 

[bizz]

instead of lemon juice you could use vitamin c powder/ascorbic acid, sold at most health and grocery stores

i used some to remove chlorine/chloramine from tap water and ph down my worm casting tea i brewed, a lot of brands also throw in stuff like calcium and iron, so you actually give the plants some extra nutes, doesnt take more than a few tea spoons, you could crush up pills but powder is easy to work with...

 

[bradd820]

Sounds like a pretty good idea. I think I started with the lemon juice because it was what my friend recommended. We live in the same area, but his water is different than mine is. He uses about a mL per gallon he said. I feel like I'm making lemonade every time though. Anyway, yeah I'll definitely check into it.

 

[Hypo Hippy]

Looking nice my man! I am on my first grow too and this site has been invaluable! Listen and learn to these guys and you will be GOOD TO GO!

 

[bradd820]

I'm gonna try to get some picture's posted today, because I think the BlackJack needs some help. I think, at least according to this Cannabis Plant and Pest Problem Solver: Pictorial, it has an iron defiency. I'll describe it more in detail here in a second.

So last week I added one more T12 and a T5. I put the T5 on the wall behind the plants to get some light to the sides and underneath the growth on top. I also topped all 3 last week, between 4-5 branches up depending on the plant. Trying to clone them for a friend. He's gonna be doing a hydro grow with these 2 strains and some ak-48 and jockhorror.

So the topping seems to be going well I guess. I didn't know quite what to expect when I did it, I just went off a friends advice. Today when I looked in on them though, the BlackJack is looking like it may be developing a problem. It look to me like the tops of the branches aren't getting something they need. Just 3-4 of them, on the sides I believe. The small leaves look wilted and yellowish. the new growth is the only place I'm noticing a problem so far. I know it's almost impossible to ask for help off my description though, so I'm gonna get those pics up today! By whatever means necessary.

 

[bradd820]

A quick edit: It looks more like a browning now that I'm looking at it. Its starting in the vein of the new growth and working it way out to the edges of the leaves.

 

[bradd820]

[

Here's part of my new setup. You can see the other T12 behind the first one. You can't see the T5 yet though. We bought some poly today that I'm gonna hang up around the setup. I may do the wall inside too. The order of the plants here is BG B, BG A and the BJ

Here you can see the T5 and how we set it up. The top bulb is cool, and the bottom is warm. I have no idea if I'm right or not, but my reasoning is trying to keep them from leaning towards the T5. I thought I saw evidence of that after I put it in. I rotate the plants daily anyway, so I make sure to turn them some so both sides can benefit.

Here's the BlackJack. An overall view of the plant you can compare to 2 weeks ago.

Now here's the problem.

I'm not sure what that could be, but I don't like the looks of it at all. It's on all the new growth and only on the BJ from what I can tell. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, feel free.

Bubblelicious A.

Here you can see what it looks like a week after the topping. My understanding of it is the 2 top branches are supposed to become tops, right? You can also see the nick I gave it when taking the top

Bubblelicious B, my allstar plant.

The top of BG B.

So other than the problem shown above, everything seems to going well. I'm ditching the MG in favor of the Big Bloom and Grow Big I picked up today. So, for all I know, that may fix the problem. I'm gonna put that poly up all around the setup too. I'm also gonna try to get those fans attached to the poly, and setup more of an intake/exhaust thing with the fans blowing outwards. I may make a separate thread for the problem, in case no ones answers the question here. I really want to get whatever it is under control asap.

 

[Hypo Hippy]

Not a pro, but the burnt tips could be caused by being too close to the light (very tender shoots are obviously more likely to be damaged by the heat. Might be pissing in the wind, but don't know why only the growing tips are burnt if it is nutes causing the burn. Plants are looking nice, though.

 

[bradd820]

Yeah what I'm starting to think is that it's just to hot in the room for the BlackJack. I wasn't able to get the poly done last yesterday like I wanted it. It was very late by the time I got all the other stuff done yesterday, so I tried to put it up by myself. That turned out to be a big mistake. That stuff is just too big, and the space I have to work in is too small. I don't know if I cut it wrong or what happened, I may have just been too tired to think straight, but I couldn't make it work like I wanted to. So instead of trying to make the poly into two walls, I'm just gonna throw one piece over the entire setup.

 

[mrniceguy101]

Im growing Bubblelicious too. (You gotta love typing Bubblelicious in all day) I got 3 of them and 2 of them are LST'd and I topped one that I plan on getting rid of due to space. Our start dates have to be pretty close. Mine are at day 34 from germination.

I am using the big bloom and grow big now and the Bubblelicious out of the 4 strains I am growing tends to do better with a bit less nutes. I nute burned one (the one thats gonna die) the tips on that are all yellow but its still growing ok. I nute burned them at approx 1/3 strength and I wouldnt recommend going over the 1/4 strength at first.

I'll definitely be checkin in on your grow to see how they are comin along.

 

[bradd820]

Im growing Bubblelicious too. (You gotta love typing Bubblelicious in all day) I got 3 of them and 2 of them are LST'd and I topped one that I plan on getting rid of due to space. Our start dates have to be pretty close. Mine are at day 34 from germination.

I am using the big bloom and grow big now and the Bubblelicious out of the 4 strains I am growing tends to do better with a bit less nutes. I nute burned one (the one thats gonna die) the tips on that are all yellow but its still growing ok. I nute burned them at approx 1/3 strength and I wouldnt recommend going over the 1/4 strength at first.

I'll definitely be checkin in on your grow to see how they are comin along.

Awesome man, I appreciate your interest. I am going to start the Grow Big and Big Bloom at 1/4 strength. I doubt I'll change it too, unless there's a good reason.

 

[mrniceguy101]

I kept it at 1/4 Strength a little too long and some got a nitrogen deficiency. Nothing serious but I had to go up to 1/2 strength tonight to get the leaf color to be a darker green. Your plants will tell you what they need.

 

[bizz]

Not a pro, but the burnt tips could be caused by being too close to the light (very tender shoots are obviously more likely to be damaged by the heat. Might be pissing in the wind, but don't know why only the growing tips are burnt if it is nutes causing the burn. Plants are looking nice, though.

Aside from that issue the plants look nice!

I dont think you can get too close to that light... altho if there isnt enough air circulation then hot air spots could build up...

If I had to guess your PH got too high and some lock out of micro nutrients occured.

Do you check PH every watering?

 

[bradd820]

I have been checking the ph every water, but I don't know how good I am at reading those color charts so I'm getting a digital one soon. I was told today that the FoxFarm can raise the ph, so it was advised to check the ph after adding the nutes. The problem with that though, is it colors the water. So I don't think I can get an accurate reading from that neither. So the digital is gonna be the way to go I think.

I'll throw a quick update in here as well. I watered them with the FoxFarm nutes today at 25% strength. I also trimmed a few fan leaves off of each, hoping it would stimulate some new growth. So I'm looking forward to seeing some changes here soon.

 

[bizz]

Yeah you need to PH after doing nutes, then adjust to proper range. Some nutes push ph up, some down. What is your PH out the tap?

Trimming fan leaves will direct some energy to new growth but I would avoid this. Cutting away growing tips/branches will do more to direct energy. Fan leaves are mainly used for photosynthesis and storing nutrients for use later. By removing leaves you are taking away potential nutrient source and the plant has less ability to generate the energy it needs to grow. Also, every time you cut the plant you open it up to possible infection, just like when you get cut and the plant will pause growth momentarily as it recovers from the wound.

 

[SparQz]

Looking good man. You should come check mine out. Not gonna post a journal this go.

 

[bradd820]

Yeah you need to PH after doing nutes, then adjust to proper range. Some nutes push ph up, some down. What is your PH out the tap?

Trimming fan leaves will direct some energy to new growth but I would avoid this. Cutting away growing tips/branches will do more to direct energy. Fan leaves are mainly used for photosynthesis and storing nutrients for use later. By removing leaves you are taking away potential nutrient source and the plant has less ability to generate the energy it needs to grow. Also, every time you cut the plant you open it up to possible infection, just like when you get cut and the plant will pause growth momentarily as it recovers from the wound.

I can't tell you what the ph out of the tap is exactly, around 7.6 I think. I know it's very very blue every time I do the first ph, and I just work down from there until it's a greenish-yellow. You made me wish I had not trimmed those fan leaves now though. I think the plants had recovered from the tops. I was noticing lots of branch growth. It just seems like most of it came from the lower branches, instead of the top two like I was expecting. So the bigger, older fan leaves were sitting on top of my new branches and all, and I made a judgement call and trimmed them. I used a pair of small scissors I got just for this and soaked them in hot water and rubbing alcohol to sterilize. I took no more than 4 leaves from the BG's and 2 from the BJ.

 

[bizz]

They'll be ok without the leaves and the exposed tips will branch out more from the light.

My friend was worried he had a powder mold problem and chopped the entire bottom 2/3's of leaves, his buds look nice...