It's Been Too Long Journal, Critical Kush

[Mike Connor]

Lol. I just had to post this.

 

[Mike Connor]

Captains log - update - Star Date - Day 6

For clarification sake, I began my day count from the day they germinated, not the day they rose thru the soil.


A random shot of one of the girls.

All 3 seedlings are moving at a good pace. The odd problems noted just after germination have resolved, but I've made my notes for future reference.

So far, so good.

Cheers!

 

[Mike Connor]

You could build a 49watt Cobb(super powerful don't let the watts fool you) for around 50-60$ and out perform what you have now

Bulletooth, I have a question, but first a bit of a story.

I had two other friends who were also growers some 20 years ago. They argued back and forth that two 400 watt HID lights could do almost as good as a single 1000 watt bulb. Two of us figured that the two 400's making 800 watts total would do 20 % less than the 1000 watter. Seemed reasonable to me.

However they decided to have a grow off. two 400's against one 1000. Same plant from my clones, same soil, same light regime. Same everything to make it a fair competition.

At the end of it all, the 1000 watter did indeed out preform the two 400's. But it was not by 20% It was a whopping 40% difference. The 1000 watt system blew 800 out of the water.

We attempting to reason why. We could only come up with one thing. From 8 or 10 feet away, you could look at the two 400's without your eyes burning out. However not so with the single 1000. It was hot and bright like the sun, it was not comfortable to look at for any length of time. Based on that we surmised that the one 1000 set up produced a brighter single point source than the 400's. i.e. photons far more concentrated.

So now on to the question.

Since a COB set up is a multi point light set up and not a single intense source, would a COB set up suffer the same faith as the two 400's? Cover more area but not as intense?

Cheers

 

[redmud]

Sounds like my kinda grow I'm in

 

[BulletTooth]

No. Cobs have a bunch of led in a small chip with a predetermined array. Most of the light we see is invaluable to plants(most of the spectrum) par (pur would be the more correct term here) is different. The penetration and par value of the chip is much stronger. Let me just grab some examples. That might be easier. Brb

 

[BulletTooth]

Ok the easiest info for me to give is this. You need 1cob every square foot at 25-50w(depending on how hard you wanna drive them. Harder you drive them the higher you can get them.) At 1200 watts of cob power you will have greater quality,higher terp and tric production, and a higher yield than 2000watts of DE HPS. this has been proven. Cobs that are build correctly operate at 0.05per hour, and HPS at .
0.11 per hour. The biggest reason is that you can get bigger plants with better buds at a fraction of the wattage. Home built cobs can be made as cheap as 25$ for each. There is a lot of info online if you search diy cob grow lights. There is enough proof for you to see if you wanna switch. For me top quality and higher yields at half the price of electricity is definitely a win/win.

 

[Mike Connor]

Sounds like my kinda grow I'm in

I saw your latest journal. Very nice work indeed. Congrats.

Right now we are just getting our feet wet again so to speak. Things and strain have changed over the years I've been away from growing so I think a little testing it in order.

We're off and running with 3 Critical Kush girls from barneys farm. We have also ordered Liberty Haze as its 60% sativa. We're hoping its more of a cerebral effect than the straight indica's. Our ideology is to have one plant for late in the evening when you are looking for an elephant tranquilizer and the sativa for a more uplifting effect on the warm Saturday afternoon.

So we have a small 140 watt grow box up and going. It will allow us to access the plant and draw enough clones for a larger grow. Assuming this plant clones well.

And a larger grow it will be. Just yesterday I walked into a pawn store and walked out with two 1000 watt HID set ups for a 100 bucks.

We are in process of converting an entire bedroom. We will split it in half. 18 hour side and a 12 hour side.

Stay tuned.

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Ok the easiest info for me to give is this. You need 1cob every square foot at 25-50w(depending on how hard you wanna drive them. Harder you drive them the higher you can get them.) At 1200 watts of cob power you will have greater quality,higher terp and tric production, and a higher yield than 2000watts of DE HPS. this has been proven. Cobs that are build correctly operate at 0.05per hour, and HPS at .
0.11 per hour. The biggest reason is that you can get bigger plants with better buds at a fraction of the wattage. Home built cobs can be made as cheap as 25$ for each. There is a lot of info online if you search diy cob grow lights. There is enough proof for you to see if you wanna switch. For me top quality and higher yields at half the price of electricity is definitely a win/win.

I'm afraid to ask in fear of violating the rules. But where do you get these things? Maybe pm me might be best.

See, i'm kinda old fashion. Considering how things are, and what we do, when I buy supplies I like to roll up to the store, pay cash and be on my way. My gut is telling me that might not be doable.

One of my primary interest in cobs is heat reduction. I'm really not that worried about electricity costs. But a plant in the 70's is a happy plant that's for sure. And if the total available lumens are higher and yield is better, it certainly makes sense to look into all this.

Cheers - Thanks very much for your help.

 

[Mike Connor]

Captains Log - Star Date 7

One week of growth. All is well.

These photos are 7 days from first germination and 5 days from sprouting in soil.

Growing at a good rate, can't help but notice #3 is much larger. 1 and 2 are similar in size.

This is the part of growing I dislike the most. Such tender young plants, so many things could go wrong. I'll be happy to see the 4 and 5th node. But, all is calm and going well.

Added some small fans in the grow box to keep leaf temp down to earth.

Enjoy.

 

[Mittin]

Looking good Captain!

Two 1000w HID's for $100!!!??
That's a fricken good deal!

 

[Chipay]

They look great! I'm checking your progress and see how that compare to my babies. I was all paranoid thinking that they were not growing fast enough (I guess I'm not alone here haha). I have a couple of Critical Kush that I got as freebies when I bought my Liberty Haze! I'll probably do them next. We are looking for the Saturday afternoon cerebral kick with my girlfriend

 

[Mike Connor]

Looking good Captain!

Two 1000w HID's for $100!!!??
That's a fricken good deal!

Yea! And its not over! He has a 400 MH and a 1000 HPS still there he has agreed to sell me the pair for 80 bucks. So that's 4 HID systems for 180 bucks. The only down side is no bulbs. No big deal for me.

Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

They look great! I'm checking your progress and see how that compare to my babies. I was all paranoid thinking that they were not growing fast enough (I guess I'm not alone here haha). I have a couple of Critical Kush that I got as freebies when I bought my Liberty Haze! I'll probably do them next. We are looking for the Saturday afternoon cerebral kick with my girlfriend

Oh, I know that paranoid feeling well. You put lots of time an energy into it and you want to see it go right.

I'm an old grower who's just come back to the trade. Done many kinds of hydro, but in the end I found dirt better.

Stick around for my big grow. It will be dirt based all organic and will use no chemical fertilizers. Only natural organic nutrients. Covers, leach feeding and different kinds of emulsion's. The forgotten old fashion way.

Liberty Haze I'm just waiting for my seed pack to come

Cheers

 

[BulletTooth]

DIY LED basics: getting started building your own grow lights: (pt 1/7) - YouTube

 

[Mike Connor]

DIY LED basics: getting started building your own grow lights: (pt 1/7) - YouTube

Great tutorial. Thank you very much.


Now to find reasonable prices for quality parts.


Cheers

 

[Mike Connor]

Well noticed another problem today I should have noticed a week ago.

The plants on one side of my 140 watt grow box weren't growing quite as well as the other. Not a big difference but noticeable over the last 24 hours.

This was a self inflicted problem. At the outset, one of the ballasts in the grow box quit. I found another, a better one and installed it with its new lamp. It was a 70 watt globe electronics HPS "super bulb". Turns out it wasn't so super after all.

When I noticed the different grow rates from one side of the box to the other, I took a good look at the bulbs. A GE Lucalox on one side, and the globe super bulb on the other. Turns out the globe bulb had a much more red spectrum to it than the GE. In fact, the GE's spectrum was almost identical to the Hortilux bulbs.

So the fix was simple. Put the original GE lucalox back in. This fixed the issue. The spectrum is now the same on both sides of the box. Turns out the plants didn't like the deeper red spectrum.

I have a new found respect for the GE lucalox line. I have a few 400 watt Horitilux HPS bulbs on hand and the GE lucalox bulbs are extremely close to the same tonal spectrum. This is handy to know if you are cheap like me. You can get the GE bulbs at a 3rd of the price of a Hortiliux bulb.

In case you would like to see what a full blown 1000 watt, full sized glass envelope metal Halide bulb looks like, here it is. Its massive! 115,000 lumens! You cant look at this boy when its running. Talk about an artificial sun.

Cheers - I'll go sit in the dark till I can see again

 

[Mike Connor]

Here are some of the bulbs I have to work with.

From left to right.

1000 watt Metal Halide
400 watt Metal Halide
150 watt High Pressure Sodium
70 watt High Pressure Sodium

Cheers

 

[Chipay]

1000w...wooow. You should share a pic of your full setup. I'm glad you spotted and sorted the issue that quick.

 

[Mike Connor]

1000w...wooow. You should share a pic of your full setup. I'm glad you spotted and sorted the issue that quick.

Thanks Chip

Right now the seedlings are in a small 140 watt HPS( two 70 watt) rickety grow box I built 18 years ago. Its not much to look at, but its always worked well for what it is. In the past this little grow box has always produced 4 to 6 oz of output, which I thought was pretty darn good for its size. For now while we ready the grow room, I'm bringing up the seedlings in it for now.

My main grow is not set up yet. My wife and I have decided to custom reno a 12 by 12 bedroom with two 1000 watt systems. One veg the other side flower. It will also have an area for cloning.

So at this point I am gathering equipment new and old and working on the room. I'll get some photos when theres something interesting to see.

Tomorrow I will post a two week update. The seedlings are growing like wildfire. For now heres a crappy shot of the inside of my rickety old grow box. Photos under HPS always look crappy with odd lines turning up in the photo as you will see.

 

[Mike Connor]

Captains log — Star Date 14 / 12

**Warning** You may find this report somewhat terse or scathing. Some assembly required, Batteries not included, Void where prohibited. May cause red watery eyes, extreme hunger, sleepiness and in my case, grumpiness.

Its been two weeks since germination and 12 days since sprouting in soil.

I have decided to rate this strain in 3 stages. 1) Germination and initial growth 2) Vegetative growth and 3) Flowering and end stage results

Germination and Initial Growth — 2 of 5 Stars

I am giving this strain low marks at this stage due to the fact its not really a strain. Radically different Phenotypes have emerged. Phenotypes are differences within a family. However the differences displayed here are pretty extreme. In fact I leave the door open to the concept of mis-packaged seeds. However I see others have had the exact same experiences, hence I will label this as a phenotype issue for now. Simply put, this isn't a pure strain. Imagine a family of really short people. And then a child turns up to be 7 feet tall. Right off the bat I would imagine the Paper Boy, Milk Man or Post Man was tall too. But one thing is crystal clear. When you buy a pack of these seeds, you really have no idea of what you are truly getting. Due to the fact one of the dominant phenotypes is touchy, I don't recommend this strain for a beginner. And due to the varied types, you will need to be a marksmen at cloning. Another good reason its not a great place for a beginner to start off.

Phenotype One

This plant is currently displaying small narrow leaves and is generally smaller than Phenotype Two. It is also somewhat fragile displaying stress very easily. A tad too much water, temperature below 72 or above 84 degrees and it has a snit fit. It even displays stress towards the end of an 18 light cycle. Developmentally it is keeping up with phenotype two, more or less.

Phenotype Two

This plant is very robust. Large wide leaves and generally much larger in size than Phenotype One. This aggressive grower and rooter has yet to show any kind of stress. It's quest for water and light seems never ending. The only negative aspect to Phenotype Two is that its not growing symmetrically. Leaves on one side of the plant are larger than the other. Considering its other traits I find this genetic defect somewhat disheartening.

Going Forward

I will endeavor to document and clearly identify each phenotype. It has been mentioned in other grows but not clearly defined.

I will attempt to bring both phenos to the end stage. However, If phenotype one is fragile and flaky, I have no time or patience for a plant that's a pussy. I won't kiss its a** throughout the entire grow cycle. If it does turn out to be flaky, It will likely go out for one of those walks. A walk where two go out, but only one comes back. Sorry, I'm like old and grumpy.

Weekly Growth Report

Both phenotypes seem to be at the same stage of development more or less. Type one is a much smaller plant, but is relatively keeping up developmentally with type two.

Both seem to be growing well. However based on the emergence of two significantly different phenotypes, I have decided to germinate my two remaining seeds of the strain. I started out germinating 3 of 5 seeds and tucking the other two away in case disaster strikes. Right now I have 2 type ones and only 1 type two growing. If type two is the holy grail I would have to clone the tinkle out of it to get a decent grow off the ground. This will set me back some time I didn't expect to invest. So, I've started the other two seeds hoping to gain another type two. Or maybe a type 3! After all I paid almost 100 bucks for these seeds and I expected them to be all viable and somewhat homogeneous. A grower expects some phenotype variations, but not like this.

Plant One — Phenotype One

This was the first seed to germinate and is now trailing its two other siblings despite the exact same growth environment. First node of one leaf — complete. Second node of 3 leaves complete. Third node of 5 leaves in progress. This seedling is the most susceptible to stress of all 3 seedlings. Stressors are noted above. Photo shows reasonable rapid development from week one to week two.

Plant Two - Phenotype One

This was the second seed to germinate and still remains the middle child. First node of one leaf — complete. Second node of 3 leaves complete. Third node of 5 leaves in progress, but a bit further along than plant one. This seedling susceptible to stress. Stressors are noted above. Photo shows reasonable rapid development from week one to week two. Note it is a tad larger than plant one, but not by much.

Plant Three — Phenotype Two

The last of 3 seeds to germinate but has burst forth with rapid size development and root formation. Large wide leaves delineate it clearly from type one. This plant displays only rapid growth and no sign of stress whatsoever. This plant is at least twice the size of type one. The photos will depict the non symmetrical leaves from one side of the plant to the other side. I am hoping this issue resolves later on in the vegetative state. But I'm not holding my breath.

The Growth Environment

All 3 plants are in an organic soilless mixture of my choosing. For the most part especially type two, they seem to be thriving as well as can be expected. I did have an issue with one of the lamps in my grow box that I suspected may have been part of the size difference issue but now 24 hours on, I sadly find this not to be the case. The differences in phenotypes are now clearly the issue and clearly visible. This grow from start to finish will be entirely organic. No chemical fertilizers will be used at all. Only covers and emulsions. I fully expect the rapid growth displayed here to continue straight through to the end stage.

Phenotype One — Identification

See photo below. Leaves are thin and narrow. Plant is overall smaller than type two by 50%.

Phenotype Two — Identification

See photo below. Leaves are wider and much larger than type one. Plant is overall 50% or larger than type one.

Summary

Maybe both of these plants will end up with an acceptable result. Or maybe they won't. But one thing is for sure. I'm going to find out. I'm like a grumpy old dog with a bone on things like this.

At this point if I had to make an educated guess, the type one plant is a Critical Mass throw back and the type two plant is an OG Kush throw back. (or variants thereof) Since Critical Kush is supposed to be an OG Kush and Critical Mass cross, this seems a likely explanation. And if that's the case there should be a 3rd phenotype out there. One which is the true result of that cross. And it just might be the Holy Grail. Makes me wonder what the two other seeds I am germinating hold in store. Stay tuned. Same Bat time, Same Bat channel.

I will end this report with a request for your help. If you or anyone you may know has grown this strain from Barney's Farm, I would appreciate hearing from you in order to open up a discussion and get this sorted out. I believe public information on products publicly sold is a good thing. I don't believe in censorship of any kind in this area.

In order to improve communications on this issue I have started another thread on this subject in the appropriate area.

You can find it here > Barney's Farm - Critical Kush - Phenotype Identification?

I guess for now we will have to find out the hard way. Unless Starfrit comes up with a a home DNA sequencer / separator that I can buy at the local hardware store for the Billy Mays low low price of $19.95!

Cheers