FlowerGirl's 4th - Unknown Strains - 2011

[FlowerGirl]

First off just wanted to list a bit of background, primarily for myself. This is my 4th grow, and I have learned a lot in my previous efforts. With each new planting I get better and better results so I decided to treat this as a little science project, and track it properly. Feel free to respond, but please be nice.

I am a newbie to the wonderful world of smoking AND planting. ​

​

I plant for myself and for fun. But I do have a respect for the art and intend to treat my plants properly. My third grow is in its last week or so before I harvest...I'm just waiting for my amber alert! So with that in mind, here we go!

ROOM SET-UP
Indoor 4'x5'x3'
Lights - (1) MH/HPS COMBO BALLAST 400w
Ventilation - Air-cooled
Temp - 85 degrees (I know this is a little high, working on ventilation at the moment)
Pests - Occasional gnat, but perlite on top seems to do the trick, so no pests

MEDIUM & NUTES
Container (seedlings) - 1 quart
Container (plant) - 5 gallon bucket
Medium - 50% soil 25% sphagnum peat moss 25% equal parts perlite/vermiculite
Nutrients - FoxFarms Big Bloom, Grow Big, Tiger Bloom

So I had a bust on the last batch of seeds I started and only ended up with 6 seedlings and thats just not enough. So I have put another batch of seeds in to sink and then on to moist cloths until they show a root sprout. The seedlings are temporarily sitting under a 4 bulb 24" T5 light until I harvest (hopefully only another week). So I hope I don't have too much of a gap between my plants when this next batch of seeds are ready.

So until next time, happy plantings all!

 

[Magic beans]

T5s should b just fine for a couple weeks i would think. I veg the whole way under t5s.. Im a new grower myself. Last grow ihad a bad infestation of gnats..... Consider yourself lucky u dont get it bad but just a warning check frequently and tap the pots and look at the holes in the bottoms.. I thouggt i had wiped them out til it was too late than it turned into Battle: LA 2. But good luck and lookin forward to pics!

Magic Beans Flo N Gro Pineapple Chunk - Lemon Skunk LED Grow - 2011

 

[FlowerGirl]

Update!
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So I was mistaken. I have my six seedlings under a T8 system with 4 bulbs. So more lumens and a more efficient light. I only plan to leave them there for another week while my last lovely lady from my 3rd grow finishes getting ready for her big debut.

Woo-hoo! Tomorrow my seedlings will be 1 week old!
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The last batch of seeds that I put out to germinate are beginning to pop and the first signs of a tap-root is starting to appear. So I should be able to get them in the mix in another few days. That puts me at a two week gap, but I think I can make that work.



And finally, PICTURES!

I know this little one in the far corner is showing some spotting, looks like burning to me. I have a feeling it was a water bead or two.

As a note, I did decide to jump into larger pots than I normally would with week old seedlings. I have come to the conclusion that I have left my plants in the smaller containers for too long, causing them to go through periods of stalled growth. So I decided to eliminate that as a factor this time.

So I am making it a point to constantly check the bottoms for the first sign that the roots have hit bottom and then its on to the larger container. So we shall see.

Pictures of my room set-up to come with a better camera in another day or so!

Until the next time!

 

[thspot]

lookin droopy but still looks good keep it updated

 

[Twelve12]

Hi Flowergirl, good start! Mystery strain is always fun to see how they turn out. Right now I have about 10 mystery strains (aka bagseed) germinating. Grew them before they can be unexpected in height and bud formation. You're right, when seeing root at the bottom of the pot it is time for transplant into bigger pot. Sprouting seed on large pot (3-5gal) from the beginning will produce faster growth since there is no stalling growth (due to root bound) or transplanting shock (which can stall growth for few days to a week). For your new seedlings you can just let them veg out for 2-3 weeks without any nutrients. After that, introduce 1/4 strength and bring it up to 1/2 after a week. Will be watching a long!

 

[Dashiznet]

I'm very interested to see what your girls grow up to be! Guessing is half the fun! I'm defiantly subbed!

 

[FlowerGirl]

Thanks Dash & Twelve!

I've got 13 germinated seeds that I just put in soil to tonight so I'm hoping that most of them make it. I would like to get to 6-8 ladies in the end.

I have been contemplating trying to test this batch SCROG style, especially after seeing Magic Bean's lovely bushy ladies. And since they are waiting on their turn in my grow room I have the opportunity to setup for it but I'm still a little hesitant since it's so unfamiliar. Any thoughts?

I love watching these babies grow!

 

[Magic beans]

Hey thanks for the shoutout. I would definitely suggest scrog, Im loving it! but I would also suggest doing it with clones. Only reason being is the chance of a male getting in there and you having to remove it, along with a good portion of your canopy, OR the possibility of getting a bad seed that tries to HERM on you and infests your whole crop with pollen because you didnt catch a couple pollen sacs hanging from a lower branch. Just my opinion, though. But back to the point, YES do a scrog.

O and i think the Link above to my grow doesnt work, so here goes a link:
Magic Beans Flo N Gro Pineapple Chunk - Lemon Skunk LED Grow - 2011

 

[FlowerGirl]

Ive been working from seeds since I am still new to this. But to add to that I have only ever used bag seed. I haven't gotten into cloning yet since I haven't had anything worth making into my mother plant.

I'm looking into getting ahold of some worthwhile, or feminized seeds, here soon. So maybe my next grow will be a good start for SCROGging.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[Magic beans]

Marijuana Seeds - Worldwide Marijuana Seeds

AKA

the Single Seed Centre

i know totally blatant about it lol

they're a sponsor to 420mag too I believe but I knew of them BEFORE that. lol

thats where you wanna go. My first grow I got some female seeds from "female seeds" and they turned out nice. Ice kush was some good stuff. Anywhoo when you're ready, dont forget about that link.

 

[Twelve12]

Castle seed is a good one for single seed also. Getting what you want and feminized will help save time, energy, and money without spending on males (unless you're using them for your breeding program). Definitely try out ScrOG! It's great! Just started my first ScrOG with 4 mothers.

 

[thspot]

Ive been working from seeds since I am still new to this. But to add to that I have only ever used bag seed. I haven't gotten into cloning yet since I haven't had anything worth making into my mother plant.
QUOTE]


the more u clone the stronger it gets supposvily so always clone just for fun anyway so you ge tthe hang of it so when you really do need to clone you already know all teh steps and proceeedures

 

[FlowerGirl]

Ok so back online after a few weeks of dealing with major family emergencies.

Nevertheless, I am here again with photos!!! First off, a picture of my lovely room:

[/CENTER]
I'm due for a new MH, I'm told its dim, so this shall be rectified soon. I have a small exhaust fan draining the majority of the heat away from the bulb, and it has SIGNIFICANTLY reduced the overall room temp when the door is closed. Currently reading 79/80 upon first entry.

Simple, but it works.:icon_roll:​

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So, calendar update for my reference: The 6 larger plants are ending week 5 of age, from Day 1: soaking seeds. I have absolutely no idea how I'm supposed to define them in terms of age, but the 1st week starts with soaking the seeds and ends with being planted in its first container....so I guess 5 weeks is an accurate age.

**BREAK for TANGENT STATEMENT**​

Being five weeks old poses an issue for me....I'm using FoxFarm's Soil feeding schedule and it says I should have been fertilizing it since week 1, even week 2 if you call my week 1 the "seedling" phase (of the foxfarm schedule). Any advice????

**END BREAK**
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So the remaining 8 are ending week 3, and are also in their final containers except for the 3 in 1 QT pots. As you can see, I can't fit them all in, and so I'm hoping to identify some pre-flowering males to switch with.

So I will start fertilizing at a reduced rate over the next week (Week 6/4).
Here are most of my current babies, two of the pics disappeared.

 

[Twelve12]

The plants are looking great. Those are some nice pots. Does it have drainage holes under it or is it closed off? How long will you be vegging them for?

 

[FlowerGirl]

Thanks!
I like the large pot sizes because I seem to have a better time keeping a regular water schedule. Not too dry not too wet. They are drained at the bottom, and I'll make adjustments once I do my first flush.

As for vegging, I have wanted to go by the foxfarm feeding schedule because it seemed a good guide for overall feeding and time at each growth stage. But, according to the schedule, I am supposed to go to flower at week 5. But I'm in week 5/3 and even my biggest lady is not ready for that!

So....that's obviously not going to work.....I have a few ideas but they could be way off. Past efforts I have switched stages according to plant size not weeks. To add to that, I wasn't really accurate in my tracking so I lost count anyways.

But, this is my green science project so I would like to figure out how long I spend in each stage. 18-24" inches from soil top to crown is typically when I switch. Minimal trimming and grooming during this phase. But I am willing to experiment.

Any suggestions?

Maybe I should just get 6-8" plants and start them at week 1 of the feeding schedule. Then maybe it will correspond with the chart and...guess that puts them with about 6 weeks of baby/seedling stage......

rambling

 

[Twelve12]

Hey FlowerGirl, if your plants are not ready to flower you can extend the veg for another 2-3 weeks. Use MH if you can and keep the T5 just for moms. This way the plant grow as big as possible to ready itself for intense flowering. After 2 weeks sitting in new soil you can start week 1 veg feeding. Go light and use 1/2 of what is on the chart.

 

[FlowerGirl]

Thanks for the advice Twelve. So after week 2 I can start feeding, at a reduced rate of course, gradually moving it up to the full strength.


Yea! Off to tend my plants!

I really like just looking at them!

 

[thspot]

IM BACKKKK just checkin in on my jorunals i subscribed tooo how are ur plants coming along

 

[420fied]

Nice clean setup flower girl. Most MJ plants are likely to increase 2.5 to 3x the height they are at when you start to flower them so it all depends on how much vertical space you have. IE:If you flip to 12/12 at 1' you're likely to end up with 3 footers.

In my opinion, indoor plants underMH/HPS units produce better if kept small. Some people see large plants and their mouths water but the truth is that no light will ever imitate the big HPS unit in the sky and unless you defoliate indoor plants and/or keep them small, the buds from the middle of the plant on down, stay shaded.

Check out my SOG journal which explains defoliation. It's something you may want to try. Best of luck.

 

[Bruce Wheelman]

Is this grow still alive?

If so, please update us with some pictures and info.

How about posting a 420 Strain Review?

If you need any help with posting photos, please read the photo gallery tutorial:
Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

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!