Nutrients!

[TorturedSoul]

Yeah, or whatever the actual voltage is at the electrical outlet you plug it into. One assumes it'll be pretty close to 120V, but if it's off by a few volts then it'll affect your calculation.

If you have a Kill A Watt device and it's still in calibration, it'll have a button you can push to get the actual wattage (and other basic stats). If you have one that isn't reading correctly (perhaps because it got a little "burnt up," lol, and you had to repair it) there is an unofficial calibration procedure floating around on the Internet that looked pretty simple.

The... ah... non-square rectangular shape of the light matches the non-square rectangular shape of your grow space, so that should help.

 

[NolaGrow]

Yeah, or whatever the actual voltage is at the electrical outlet you plug it into. One assumes it'll be pretty close to 120V, but if it's off by a few volts then it'll affect your calculation.

If you have a Kill A Watt device and it's still in calibration, it'll have a button you can push to get the actual wattage (and other basic stats). If you have one that isn't reading correctly (perhaps because it got a little "burnt up," lol, and you had to repair it) there is an unofficial calibration procedure floating around on the Internet that looked pretty simple.

The... ah... non-square rectangular shape of the light matches the non-square rectangular shape of your grow space, so that should help.

Hey man I got everything rolling along and the light fits the tent really well. Waiting for my AC Infinity CLOUDLINE S4 fan to come in to finish it off. I also have a tower isolating fan that the top and bottom swivel independently from each other with is pretty cool. But anyways......! I got two plants growing in there from the seeds I would occasionally come across in the dank I’ve smoked, but I ordered those auto seeds from this company called Ministry but now I come to find out sense there out the country it may be over a month until I receive them. So my impatient ass is looking for a recommendation on a quality seed bank in the USA that I can get within a week or so preferably autos.

 

[NolaGrow]

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[NolaGrow]

@Virgin ground Who’s your preferred seed bank......?

 

[Virgin Ground]

@Virgin ground Who’s your preferred seed bank......?

I like Cannapot,The Vault and Seedsman. I've had zero problems with them and all of them answered any questions and concerns promptly. Hope that helps.

 

[TorturedSoul]

The Vault is in the UK, but the deliveries were pretty quick (and I assume they still are).

Gorilla Seed Bank is a former sponsor that also gave great service and reasonably quick deliveries, and is also in the UK.

Seedsman is popular, gets a lot of repeat business, and I don't really see much in the way of complaints in regards to their delivery times.

Crop King is a former sponsor, and they had a domestic reshipper to get around that whole Customs thing. The person must have been a good (imho - personal experience), and as many people seem to dislike the business as there are people who like it, lol, but my experience was that deliveries were quite timely (the actual business is located in Canada).

There's another one that has a domestic re(?)shipper. Mephisto, maybe. No information on speed of delivery, but people seem to be happy.

Now that I think of it, there are probably more cannabis seed suppliers that have a domestic "partner" to facilitate domestic shipping, all things considered.

I think I MIGHT have read that Fast Buds did that, too, but I don't remember. To be honest, after I did a web-search on the company and read something about it pulling some kind of serious shenanigans over at... that autoflowering place and getting their sponsor agreement terminated (and being banned in the process), I figured that was all I needed to know.

If you want to order from a "fully domestic" supplier because you're in a legal state... I'd order from within your state or else from a non-domestic business. But that's just me, lol; I'm kind of paranoid.

IIRC, Ministry of Cannabis has a decent reputation, but I don't have any specifics and have never bought from that business.

Check our "Sponsors" page, lots of seed Banks listed there, and they should all be reliable because 420 is pretty serious about not allowing scammers and such to be advertisers here.

I once - this was pre-2000 - found a random (and relatively rudimentary) website and bought seeds. Guy was going by Jock, Jocko, something like that, and he shipped from Europe (the former West Germany? Been so long, I cannot recall). I had money back then, lol, do I thought, "Why not?" Ended up being pretty happy and ordering several more times (not more than $500 per order, but I spent a big chunk of change, altogether). The last time I ordered... The seeds came in a tube like they use for rolled up blueprints. I thought that was kind of odd, but no worries, right?

Enclosed were THREE ROOTED CLONES with a note telling me he thought I might enjoy the strain and wanting my opinion!

Scared the... Feces were frightened out, . So much so that I never contacted him again. I later became pretty sure that what I had been sent was what was newly popular and being called White Widow, although I was probably wrong. Some kind of strain that tasted faintly of lemon and greatly of, well, hash, lol, slightly sativa dominant. I always felt bad about severing contact, but my arse is exit-only, so I started worrying about getting busted.

Just rambling, it appears. . . .

 

[Hdinkleman]

my advice is grow a normal plant first.
just top once.
dont do any crazy LST and just let it grow to see how this plant does naturally at first.

advice on the nutes. follow the directions and the feeding schedule of your nutes if using them. probably should if its first grow.
dont add nutes to a companys line of nutes, except for maybe calmag.
especially in soil its easy to think adding topdressed nutes will help.

use water without chlorine if going all organic.

those are all things i wish someone would have specifically told me first time i grew.

hydroshop guy will always lie and have no clue WTF he is talking about to sell you nutes. know what you need and gtfo of there

 

[TorturedSoul]

just top once.
dont do any crazy LST and just let it grow to see how this plant does naturally at first.

Wouldn't "naturally" sort of strongly imply "not topped," lol?

advice on the nutes. follow the directions and the feeding schedule of your nutes if using them. probably should if its first grow.

hydroshop guy will always lie and have no clue WTF he is talking about to sell you nutes.

The few indoor gardening store employees/owners I've talked to pretty much universally suggested that I run less than the manufacturer's suggested amounts, and only increase if/when the plant showed signs of being deficient in something. Which would probably be doubly-recommended advice to newbies (I'd think).

That advice mirrors about 99% of the advice that gets given on these cannabis-related Internet forums, BtW.

Yeah, they want to move product out the door; that's how they make a profit. On the other hand, they can probably sell considerably more, long term, to a customer if their first bit of advice and first sale doesn't cause burned plants .

But what do I know? I got out of retail a long time ago. Turned out that the customer isn't always right - but he/she often thinks he/she is. Which caused me to wonder why more store clerks don't end up becoming raging alcoholics. Or end up in jail after leaping over the counter . . . .

 

[NolaGrow]

my advice is grow a normal plant first.
just top once.
dont do any crazy LST and just let it grow to see how this plant does naturally at first.

advice on the nutes. follow the directions and the feeding schedule of your nutes if using them. probably should if its first grow.
dont add nutes to a companys line of nutes, except for maybe calmag.
especially in soil its easy to think adding topdressed nutes will help.

use water without chlorine if going all organic.

those are all things i wish someone would have specifically told me first time i grew.

hydroshop guy will always lie and have no clue WTF he is talking about to sell you nutes. know what you need and gtfo of there

I’ve been using my tap water which has a ph of almost 8 but after adding my Nutes im around 6.7 which I think is fine...? Is distilled water better? Also my last question my plants are working on there third set of leaves. When do you usually top?

 

[NolaGrow]

I like Cannapot,The Vault and Seedsman. I've had zero problems with them and all of them answered any questions and concerns promptly. Hope that helps.

Are any of them located in the USA?. I’m in Louisiana..........

 

[Virgin Ground]

No, they are in Spain and Scotland etc. You get into more trouble moving seeds across state lines in the US than you do from importing them in from over seas, if I remember correctly. It's weird, I know.

Otherwise there are quite a few seed banks in the US of you want to go that route. I'm not familiar with any of them though. In my case I could always go across state lines and buy them at a dispensary. I haven't found the need to do that just yet.

If you are worried about a time line or something to that effect, they generally take 7-14 days to get to the US and into your hands. If you only buy Made in the USA, I'm not going to be of much help to you, sorry.

 

[TorturedSoul]

I’ve been using my tap water which has a ph of almost 8 but after adding my Nutes im around 6.7 which I think is fine...? Is distilled water better? Also my last question my plants are working on there third set of leaves. When do you usually top?

Well, I sort of consider distilled water to be "dead." It's such an unnatural product that 0 PPM water won't even stay that way - open a jug and leave it sitting on the counter for a little while, and it's now (non-zero) PPM because it's absorbed something from the atmosphere. Drinking nothing but distilled water will mess your electrolyte balance up. Storing (most of the inexpensive) pH meter probes in it tends to ruin them. Etc.

On the other hand, it makes calculating your nutrients a breeze, lol.

One thing you might consider is finding out the contents of your tap water. With a pH in the 8 range, it might be "hard," in other words, full of calcium and such. Nutrient companies advise people to use water that's not too hard (better not freeze it, then ). Some, like General Hydroponics, even offer a "hard water" substitute for one of its nutrient components that'll typically have less calcium than the standard formulation.

But you can look at a water analysis report (which you should receive yearly if you're on a municipal water supply) or, even better, run your water for at least 30 seconds (a minute would probably be better) to ensure you won't just be getting a sample of water that's been "sitting" in your pipes/lines for a while, and have that analyzed. At that point, you know more or less exactly what's in your water (although bear in mind the fact that this can change over time, such as seasonally). You can then compare your water to what the various nutrient companies recommend...

...and then mix it with distilled / reverse osmosis / etc. water in order to bring it down to within the recommended range. I'm making these numbers up to provide a lazy-math example, but if your target calcium is 100 parts per million, and your water supply has 200 parts per million, then mixing it 50:50 with distilled water would put you there.

 

[safeman]

You'll find nutrient-related information all over the forum. But here is a section that is specifically for discussion of autoflowering cannabis strains:

Auto-Flowering

With the introduction of Ruderalis to indica/sativa genetics, auto-flowering cannabis allows growers to achieve incredible results much faster

www.420magazine.com

A good rule of thumb in general with nutrients is "Less is more."

Less is Best !! is another one

 

[Hdinkleman]

I’ve been using my tap water which has a ph of almost 8 but after adding my Nutes im around 6.7 which I think is fine...? Is distilled water better? Also my last question my plants are working on there third set of leaves. When do you usually top?

6.7 would be fine in an organic soil grow with unchlorinated water.

ideally 6.3 in soil during veg

 

[TorturedSoul]

No, they are in Spain and Scotland etc.

There are several in the UK, too, and Canada. And, of course, in the Netherlands. Years ago, I read that sometimes packages from the latter get "irradiated" to kill any cannabis seeds that might be inside. I don't know if this is true (or if it ever was true, for that matter). I did, however, get pretty paranoid about having seeds shipped from Amsterdam, lol, since it was known as "the" cannabis location.

But now cannabis seed breeders and vendors are all over the place. A couple of friends of mine (one of whom I know only via my interactions here on the forum) sent me a "little" Christmas present last year - some THC vaporizer cartridges - and they came from California. I think I was more paranoid over that than I was while awaiting the last (commercial) cannabis seed delivery I received, LMFAO. The seeds came "factory-sealed" in a piece of merchandise, whereas my friends just stuck the cartridges in a USPS box and mailed it. Both arrived safely...

You get into more trouble moving seeds across state lines in the US than you do from importing them in from over seas, if I remember correctly. It's weird, I know.

Well, technically speaking, either way you're going to be transporting cannabis seeds across state lines (unless you live in the state where they originated or live in one of the three(?) states that has one of the international shipping clearinghouses or whatever they're called) - but when ordering from a foreign business, you're also importing them. Which is an additional bit of smuggling. (Might as well call it what it is, yeah?)

But some foreign seed sellers now have domestic reshippers - people located within the USA, who somehow get bulk shipments and then parcel out customers' orders. And even if the business you're thinking about using doesn't, only a small percentage of packages gets hand-searched by Customs agents. Take advantage of any "stealth" delivery methods that are offered. If for no other reason, they often come with a free second try (so to speak) if the first package gets caught.

One important fact to bear in mind is that, to date, there have been a grand total of ZERO reports of small-time cannabis growers having been busted because Customs found their cannabis seeds. What happens (in the unlikely event that they actually do find them) is that the package is opened, the seeds are removed, and a nice generic form letter is put in their place. I'm paraphrasing because it's been a few years since I saw one, but it's basically "Dear Sir/Madam, Customs has determined that one or more items in this package are contraband and have been confiscated. If you'd like to dispute this, please call (###) ###-#### at your earliest convenience to set up an appointment where you can come discuss this with us." Then they reseal the package and allow it to continue on its way to you. At which point you email a picture of the letter to the seller and hope they resend (which they generally do, assuming you didn't cheap-out and refuse upgraded/stealth shipping).

So it's really the same either way in that respect, but with a small additional risk of having the seeds get intercepted if they're coming directly from another country.

But, see, the thing is, that's only part of it. If you do business with a foreign entity, located in a different country, and hopefully on a website that's on a server that is also physically located in another country - browser extensions such as FlagFox for Firefox make it easy to see where the website's server is located, by placing a little flag icon (of the country) to the right of the link address box - then you have lots of additional protections.

How so? Servers in other countries may not be required to keep activity logs, for one thing. Even if their country's laws require them, our domestic LEO can't simply pick up a phone, call the business, and demand a copy of them (well, I suppose they could, lol, but it'd be about as productive as "p!ssing up a rope"). They can't just go to a local judge and get a warrant (to any useful purpose), either. They have to convince the other country's government to cooperate - which is no small thing, and takes some time even if it is successful (and it'd probably have to be in regards to some kind of major activity, methinks). While that time is passing, any server logs that might exist can "get recycled." And so on.

With a domestic business, it's still not highly likely that your business will get noticed in the first place. However, if it does, the process of forcing the business to turn over information about the transaction is far simpler/easier for LEO.

If you live in a legal state, it would seem that the closest thing to "perfect" would be to use a seller located within your state - and to do your shopping in person. But that might not offer you the variety you seek (there are literally thousands of strains to choose from, worldwide). Your state might not be so "legal" that it openly allows seed vendors to exist. Or the nearest such business might be a three-hour car ride (each way), and you don't actually own a vehicle. Et cetera.

I rarely order seeds, but when I do it's to a foreign business. One with a non-domestic server whenever possible (and NEVER one that runs on Cloudflare).

I don't have them shipped to my home or the grow location, either. I know that merely receiving contraband does not constitute proof that I'm the person who actually bought it - and I don't use a personal credit card to order, so even if the shipment was intercepted, and LEO could convince a judge that it was grounds for a warrant to search my bank (etc.) records, they wouldn't come up with anything in the way of evidence. But, still, I'm paranoid - and it's a simple thing to go for a walk and find a vacant house, or to figure out who's going to be on vacation and have the package sent there. Or, alternatively, if I want to p!ss away my security and let someone else know that I intend to grow cannabis, I can have a friend agree to receive the package. Since most people don't open other people's mail (when they actually notice that it's for the other person, at least), I could, in theory, just tell someone that I wish to order a gift for <person> and don't want to take the chance that <person> will see it arrive at my house and spoil the surprise, and they'd most likely never even know that they were the middleman in the transaction, so to speak. <SHRUGS> But I figure that's much the same as growing on someone else's property without first asking their permission - which is not cool, IMHO.

Use your own judgment. It's not rocket surgery or brain science (lol).

 

[NolaGrow]

@Virgin ground @TorturedSoul @Hdinkleman well the girls made there journey... Hope all goes well with the first indoor grow and these Blueberry domains come out great! I especially would like to thank y'all three for the great information and tips. As I will be posting updates and pictures throughout the process I won't mind any two cents thrown in the pot. As I'm absorbing information like some healthy roots do nutrients lol Here's a picture of the seeds... They even threw in a extra....!

 

[NolaGrow]

Also in the meantime while I was waiting on my seeds I started growing two seeds out my collection I would occasionally come across.... Always top notch smoke, which always made me wonder how they got there to begin with... Anyways here's a picture of each. One looks great, very healthy and from what I've read it looks like a indica. Correct me if I'm wrong.. but my question is about the other plant. It has "deformed" looking leaves to me... Is this a bad sign of anything? Also I was thinking I should wait until I can tell the sex of these two before I start my bank seeds. There going on 3 weeks old but had a very rough start outside for a week before my tent was set up but have done 1000x sense. Would it even okay to grow the autos at the same time as these as I'm assuming they are not.

 

[NolaGrow]

@carcass @TysonOG @Nunyabiz Forgot to tag y'all also, nice hearing back from knowledgeable growers! Who knew how exciting growing could be I'm loving every bit of it. Thanks again!

 

[George Mc]

Don't believe everything you hear

do you mean I'm not supposed to believe my girlfriend when she says Size Doesn't Matter?

 

[Nunyabiz]

Also in the meantime while I was waiting on my seeds I started growing two seeds out my collection I would occasionally come across.... Always top notch smoke, which always made me wonder how they got there to begin with... Anyways here's a picture of each. One looks great, very healthy and from what I've read it looks like a indica. Correct me if I'm wrong.. but my question is about the other plant. It has "deformed" looking leaves to me... Is this a bad sign of anything? Also I was thinking I should wait until I can tell the sex of these two before I start my bank seeds. There going on 3 weeks old but had a very rough start outside for a week before my tent was set up but have done 1000x sense. Would it even okay to grow the autos at the same time as these as I'm assuming they are not.

Pretty damn hard to tell anything in those pics.
How old are they?


And no don't do both the photo-period and autos at same time.
Unless you got just tons of auto seeds you want to blow through or you are going to just SCROG the photo-period until the auto is harvested no matter how long it takes.