Grow Project #1 A few concerns

[Lemon Paradise]

Hey Mao, how's it been?
that mylar sounds good,, as for ONa, it says it neutralizes it,, but I can still smell my girls once in a while...

as for seeds...
just a FYI,, we can talk about everything having to do with them, except for the purchasing or shipping of them...

so with that being said,, I love attitude seeds..

 

[Lemon Paradise]

oh,, and I use the whole Canna line (I use the Bio canna line--- it's their organic lineup)
the whole thing, flores for flower, vega for veg, cannazyme, rhizotonic for roots, boots for flower development, and PK to pump up the buds during their initial formation.. it is more expensive,, but I love them... And they are real easy to measure out the dosages..

YMMV,, so here are a couple of other links to look at..

A top nutrient study - Which is the best? Produces most?

A Poll To See What Kind Of Nutes Are Preferred

 

[MaoZebong]

Man, thanks for all that great feedback, Herb. The nutrient links are priceless. I might go all out on the additives after a harvest or two. Right now, I can't justify the expenditure. I bet it does wonders though.

And as for seed store, I was basically looking for a site I couldn't have made myself. Makes it less likely to be a scam, but I admit, the technique isn't foolproof. The Attitude site is well beyond me. Lol.

 

[MaoZebong]

Ah, lovely. I decided it was time to stop mucking about. That just gives me enough time to set up their nursery, and I f-ing can't wait!

 

[Lemon Paradise]

sent you a PM,, might want to slightly edit the wording of last post

I am super psyched you liked the site,, and saw some northern lights that caught your eye..

I was basically looking for a site I couldn't have made myself

that's funny.. hehe

I love looking at the porno seeds lineup... haha that michelle moist looks

can't wait to see the nursery setup

 

[bigjake]

Moa you may want to set aside a small place for cloning .I forgot to do
that when i set my room up but lucky for me there was a small bench
i enclosed for my clones.Good Luck setting up the room was the most
work of it ,But do it right the first time sure makes things easier .

 

[MaoZebong]

Moa you may want to set aside a small place for cloning .I forgot to do
that when i set my room up but lucky for me there was a small bench
i enclosed for my clones.

Thanks for the tip, buddy. I originally had a cloning room figured in the plans, but considering just making a ledge in the veg room. Its mostly to save on expenses, so I'll save a space for it for when I can afford the extra lighting.

Good Luck setting up the room was the most
work of it ,But do it right the first time sure makes things easier .

That's what I figure as well. I've taken a lot of time deliberating on the "right" way of doing it, and due to a sudden influx of cash, I've been able to execute on the most vital parts. Hopefully, the rest will come along soon enough. I'll update with a pic when I get the basics up. Still having some space issues in the apt. but believe I am close to a solution.

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[MaoZebong]

Hey, when they say "days to flower" is that from 12/12 or is it from seed? Because on the northern light they list 55 days to flower. That's a bit short from seed, no?

Edit: Oh man, oh man, I have so many (probably dumb) questions. I'll just trickle some of them out here, and hopefully someone will be able to answer.

I'll start with something I've not seen covered anywhere. To increase air circulation in the dirt, and also provide some extra fertilizer, I'm thinking earthworms. But would they be detrimental to the plants? I could just provide them with cuttings from the plants for food, and they'd make it into compost. In my limited knowledge, it seems like a no brainer, but I'm sure there's a perfectly logical reason why it won't work.

 

[Lemon Paradise]

the days in flower, is days in 12/12.. as for the worms,, I don't know.. someone else will though I am sure..

 

[MaoZebong]

I'm back with a few updates, no pics yet though..

I've built the wardrobe, and put mylar in the flowering room. I'll do the veg room tomorrow. This is the first time I've seen the whole wardrobe, and I have to say that within the limits I had, this was the closest to perfect among my options. The flowering room part could have been bigger, I can't fit a 10L/2.5gal carbon filter anymore, so I'll use a smaller bucket, and change it out more often. Maybe I can work something out with a jigsaw, but I'll worry about that later.
My main concern at this point (aside from the grow itself) is light integrity. This being an Ikea furniture, it's not exactly vacuum tight. In fact, there are quite large gaps around the doors. In the future I might go so far as building a second pair of much more precise doors, but unless anyone has any suggestions, I'll just go with that stuff around refrigerator doors. I bet it's possible to get something like that in home depot type stores. And with the ventilation, I'll probably even get the suction effect you get in fridges.

I bought a fan, slightly overkill, but I'm hoping the extra circulation will mean I won't have to use up valuable space inside for an extra internal fan. It's one of those 100mm radial fans, good for 160 m3/h. Also, the fan is supposed to be silent in the first place, so if I turn it even lower with a fan controller, so since this is standing in my bedroom, I'm hoping it'll be next to silent with the doors closed.

I also put up a thermo/hygrometer.

So to recap what I've got:
Wardrobe - Needs holes cut for ventilation and electricity.
Mylar - Need to finish veg room.
Fan - Need to mount and attach cable.
Nutrients - Canna Vega & Flora. Do I need something else?

The missing pieces:
Lights - Coming soon (TM). Store is summer closed. Just a few days to go!
Activated Carbon - Coming soon (TM)
Ona Block - In the mail.
PH/EC meter/fluids - Not found any outside the internet. May have to order..
Dirtmix - Have no ideas about this. Well, I do know I need dirt, and I probably want some perlite thingite and somethingelsium, but I haven't yet got that far in the How to Grow guide. Any simple tips for a n00b is mucho appreciated.

Anyway, I've definitively forgot a bunch of stuff, so if anyone spots something, please call it out.

Thanks again, for your attention.

 

[Lemon Paradise]

very nice.. can't wait to see the pics
for the doors, you miught just want to get a piece of panda film (it's a thick black/white plactic sheeting), and put a zipper on it,, it does a good job on my cab,,,

 

[MaoZebong]

Well, here are the long awaited pictures. As you can see, there's quite a lot left to do, and there is also not as much space as I had originally planned in earlier posts. It does still look a bit like a construction site...

Anyway, Flowering room on the left, vegging room on the right, with the ventilation chamber above the veg room.

The obvious things still to do with the construction itself are ventilation holes (two in the roof, one in the separation wall and a big one for the filter), seal up all the gaps between doors and such, and also to make some mounting system for the lights. I suspect the two bottom rooms will be used for 1. Storage and 2. Drying.

 

[Lemon Paradise]

looking good,, nice looking unit, can't wait to see if completed and in action

 

[MaoZebong]

looking good,, nice looking unit, can't wait to see if completed and in action

You and I both, buddy. Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.

 

[MaoZebong]

Right. I'm about to post my most ignorant post yet...

So I got some seeds, and am close to completing the box, so I've started looking at some germination and soil tutorials in the "How to grow Marijuana" thread.

As a complete n00b, here are my conclusions:

Germination. Some people say "NO light", some say "leave in windowsill in a clear container", some say "leave in paper towel and tap water", some say "plant directly in soil", some say "soak in sterilized water", some say "use additives". Everyone says theirs is the only one that works. What I get from this is, done right, every method works.
And using my logic (which admittedly is probably flawed due to lack of experience), and a fair bit of wild extrapolation, I think I'll go with: damp paper towel, airtight and opaque container in a warm place. (Either that or Col. Mustard in the library with the fire-poker.) Anyone have any objections to my reasoning?

Ze soil. As with the germination topic, the soil topic is extremely divided, and everyone claims their method is the best. There are three things that often repeat though; Some drainage medium (perlite etc.), some potting soil (pro-mix etc.), and some composted stuff (wormcasings etc.), but the ratios always differ. I guess there really aren't any kind of rules. I have some questions, though.
Does better drainage lower in the pot matter? How do I prepare my growing medium before sticking the germinated seed in it? I've seen a few mentions of sterilizing the soil before planting the seed and such, but I've never seen it explained how to do this. Is it really necessary?

Anyway, wardrobe is getting close to finished mocked up. Do I have to prepare/clean it with anything before starting up? would be practical to do that when it's all off again.

EDIT: Oh yeah. Just one short (probably stupid) question before I lose the right to edit this post.

Are you 100% guaranteed to get female plants from feminized seeds?

 

[Lemon Paradise]

Right. I'm about to post my most ignorant post yet...

So I got some seeds, and am close to completing the box, so I've started looking at some germination and soil tutorials in the "How to grow Marijuana" thread.

As a complete n00b, here are my conclusions:

Germination. Some people say "NO light", some say "leave in windowsill in a clear container", some say "leave in paper towel and tap water", some say "plant directly in soil", some say "soak in sterilized water", some say "use additives". Everyone says theirs is the only one that works.

lol
so true,, and some people get real pissed when you try to tell them that.. haha

What I get from this is, done right, every method works.

that and a fair amount of luck

And using my logic (which admittedly is probably flawed due to lack of experience), and a fair bit of wild extrapolation, I think I'll go with: damp paper towel, airtight and opaque container in a warm place. (Either that or Col. Mustard in the library with the fire-poker.) Anyone have any objections to my reasoning?

whatever works for you .. I don't like the wet paper-towel method for 2 resons,, 1. if I forget to keep damp,, poof,, all gone (I am a stoner after all.. ) and b. gives me too much temptation to check on it and in my stoned state, damage the taproot, and poof,, all gone... (I am a stoner after all.. )

we tried just dropping them into the rapid rooters, two grew upside down, and we had to .. carefully.. (well my buddy did it) ... flip them around... that was scary.. te other two grew right up and our of the rooter no problems. Next time, we are gonna just try and put it in dirt...

Ze soil. As with the germination topic, the soil topic is extremely divided, and everyone claims their method is the best. There are three things that often repeat though; Some drainage medium (perlite etc.), some potting soil (pro-mix etc.), and some composted stuff (wormcasings etc.), but the ratios always differ. I guess there really aren't any kind of rules. I have some questions, though.
Does better drainage lower in the pot matter? How do I prepare my growing medium before sticking the germinated seed in it? I've seen a few mentions of sterilizing the soil before planting the seed and such, but I've never seen it explained how to do this. Is it really necessary?

don't know enought really,,, me, I just use canna terra soil, but it is getting expensive,, so my buddy and I have been contemplating cutting it with MG,,, we spray the inside and outside of the pot with our neem solution before putting the dirt in,, just want to give an extra barrier for bugs...

Anyway, wardrobe is getting close to finished mocked up. Do I have to prepare/clean it with anything before starting up? would be practical to do that when it's all off again.

EDIT: Oh yeah. Just one short (probably stupid) question before I lose the right to edit this post.

Are you 100% guaranteed to get female plants from feminized seeds?

nothing is ever 100%

now with that being said,, I got 6 seeds, attitude seeds,
2 died in germing,,, one never did,, one grew in the rapid rooter upside down, and we did not catch it in time.., out of the other ,,, all 4 were female.. they were also al fem seeds,, I consider my self lucky... I was expecting one to be male..

 

[MaoZebong]

whatever works for you .. I don't like the wet paper-towel method for 2 resons,, 1. if I forget to keep damp,, poof,, all gone (I am a stoner after all.. ) and b. gives me too much temptation to check on it and in my stoned state, damage the taproot, and poof,, all gone... (I am a stoner after all.. )

Lol. Glad it's not just me!

Uhm. When paint wargame miniatures, I use damp paper towels between two sheets of waxed baking-paper to have paint on. The waxed baking-paper makes the moistness in the paper towels last a whole bunch longer. On occasion, I had a drop of paint on the baking paper for two days (in open air) without the paint drying out. Might be a slight aid.

I'm thinking that using a padded tweezer, and being super careful just holding lightly in the seed-shell, should minimize stress on the seed when transplanting from the towel to the rockwool. Anyway, I have no idea. I guess I'll try a couple different methods to see which works for me.

we tried just dropping them into the rapid rooters, two grew upside down, and we had to .. carefully.. (well my buddy did it) ... flip them around... that was scary.. te other two grew right up and our of the rooter no problems. Next time, we are gonna just try and put it in dirt...

I'm really looking forward to seeing how that works out.

don't know enought really,,, me, I just use canna terra soil, but it is getting expensive,, so my buddy and I have been contemplating cutting it with MG,,, we spray the inside and outside of the pot with our neem solution before putting the dirt in,, just want to give an extra barrier for bugs...

MG = Miracle Grow? Neem solution = ?

nothing is ever 100%

lol. I know. I'm just a walking hyperbolic statement...

 

[Lemon Paradise]

lol..
yeah, MG = miracle grow,, I know most people hate it and bash it.. but some have had decent results,, my buddy wanted to try and reduce cost of soil, so he said he wanted to try mixing it 50/50 with the canna soil,, we will see what happens,,

neem solution = , just neem, water, and dish soap as a emulsifier... in a spray bottle..

 

[Gman]

Though maybe a little off topic but may suggest when your seedlings sprout and start to grow(they will)save one so as you may use to cut clones with.

 

[MaoZebong]

lol..
yeah, MG = miracle grow,, I know most people hate it and bash it.. but some have had decent results,, my buddy wanted to try and reduce cost of soil, so he said he wanted to try mixing it 50/50 with the canna soil,, we will see what happens,,

neem solution = , just neem, water, and dish soap as a emulsifier... in a spray bottle..

Why do people hate it? If it makes some peoples plants grow better, then good for them, right? Anyway, I'll look for updates on your experiment on your blog. Great job by the way. Awesome grow. Here's to my plants becoming half as good as yours.

I'll see if I can't get some of that neem solution and try that. Have you personally had disease/insect/fungus problems with your plants?

Though maybe a little off topic but may suggest when your seedlings sprout and start to grow(they will)save one so as you may use to cut clones with.

Hey G-man! Thanks for stopping by and pitching in. I was thinking I'd grow a couple, take cuttings of them all before flowering, then seeing who performs better in flower and using that plants clone as a mother. But is it better to have a plant grown from seed as a mother?

Thanks again for your input, and if you have any criticism, please feel free to let me know. I'm just out to grow the best bud I can, not to build my ego. Well. Maybe just a bit of that then.

How's your grafting going by the way?