SHRuuM's 1st Grow Journal Of NL - TW & EM

[SHRuuM]

This grow is Early Miss, TrainWreck and Northern Lights[one of my personal favorites]. All three are feminized and auto flowering from CKS seeds that arrived March 1, 2016.

Early Miss is 60% Indica,30% Sativa,10% Ruderalis.
TrainWreck is 30% Ind., 60% Sat. & 10% Ruder.
Northern Lights is 70% Indica, 20% Sativa.

These strains were picked because familiarity of Northern Lights and wanting to experiment in Indicas and auto flowering strains. My expertise comes from guerrilla farming mostly Sativas in the 70's and 80's when in '88, seeds of Afghan and Northern Lights were ordered from the Netherlands for cross breeding. I usually do an ebb and flow hydro but since I want a near 100% survival rate for cloning later, soil and Rapid Root starter plugs were chosen, on a 50 to 50 ratio after germination. The soil mix is a standard potting soil with 50% mix of perlight.

I'm already a week into the grow and here's the progress so far.

It's Time For A New Grow Journal Contest!

 

[SHRuuM]

re: SHRuuM's 1st Grow Journal Of NL - TW & EM

Its been exactly one week to the day that I received my seeds from CKS and started soaking them. I must say that I'm surprised and happy with the results from CKS. A NL popped her head out of the soil today and she'll be introduced to light tomorrow. There's only one seed left of NL to pop open and that will be 100% of viability of the 6 seeds started. Since there was black spot on the last NL I'm not sure if that will happen, but, here's hoping. This NL photo is Day 4 from when she was put into soil.

 

[SHRuuM]

So today the TW and EM seedlings started in Rapid Rooter were transferred to pots and the results of CKS is astounding for viability and growth. The only seedling that hasn't shown any signs of life is the NL that had a black tail, in germination, and was put in a Rapid Rooter plug hoping for the best, but alas, I believe the fault is with me since I forgot to add 1/4 tsp of bleach per gallon to my starter seedling formula. But hope springs eternal and if nothing happens by 3/13/16, this coming Sunday, I will call it quits on her.

So now the feeding formula has been changed to 1 tsp of Dyna-Gro, 9-3-6, and 2ml of Goldentree to 1 gallon of water with a corrected ph of 6.5. This was started today and all pots were soaked with said solution, so the next watering will be in 4 or 5 days depending on how fast the soils dry out.

One week and 1 day after receiving CKS the room looks like this, which I find very pleasing.

The 5 seedlings on the right are the only ones from CKS and are what this journal is about. Starting on the back row from right to left is NL, EM, and TW which were planted in soil after germination. In the front from right to left is, EM, and TW, which were started after germination, in Rapid Rooter plugs. The other 3 plants are feminized seeds from an unknown sativa strain that I have been experimenting with for the last year. These were started on the 1st of Feb and have a month head start on CKS but I suspect the CKS seeds should over take them in about 6 weeks.

 

[Stinky Snid]

I'm in shruum. Glad you found the right spot for your journal. Everything is looking dandy up in there. Keep the posts coming

KiG cheers

 

[SHRuuM]

thanks a bunch for the help. Even a blind squirrel can find a nut sometimes.

 

[Stinky Snid]

What kind of light are you running? You have some stretching going on. They'll need stakes or a backfilling so the stems don't bend/break. Depending on what you run, get the light closer and leave it for 24/7 for a few days to keep first few nodes tighter. imo. They stretch in the dark the most, but they need a certain intensity of light in order to stay tight.
Hope that helps some with those lanky stems. Glad to see you get started, it's quite a fun pastime.. To tend to my girls, and watch others's girls grow aswell.

KiG cheers

Edit: maybe just a cfl Or two could keep those seedlings healthy for weeks. Save power and keep the nodes tighter. ☺need more details on your setup

 

[SHRuuM]

What kind of light are you running? You have some stretching going on. They'll need stakes or a backfilling so the stems don't bend/break. Depending on what you run, get the light closer and leave it for 24/7 for a few days to keep first few nodes tighter. imo. They stretch in the dark the most, but they need a certain intensity of light in order to stay tight.
Hope that helps some with those lanky stems. Glad to see you get started, it's quite a fun pastime.. To tend to my girls, and watch others's girls grow aswell.

I'm running my old standard a 400w sodium. The stretching came from germinating in the dark over night and it got away from me. They were a LOT taller but when I put them intheir new pots I back filled them, but, I have little wire stakes to tie them up if necessary[since wood starts molding after a few days]. I've lowered the light today to about 3ft above the plants. I'm only in a 2x3x8ft closet so I have to watch the heat even though I do have fans and passive intake and outtake. This is only a small rig compared to my '88 hydro room of 10x10 with an ebb and flow system I created. I was doing hydro, cloning and breeding before anybody new what that was thanks to an idea I got from the great guru Ed Rosenthal, my hero, mentor and muse. Alas it was only up for 1 and1/2 yrs before I was taken down, snitched on by a fellow grower no less....loss everything BUT the knowledge. LOL SOOO I'm back at it for a couple of years but what I've noticed since I've been away is that the species through all the hybridizing has weakened the over all strength of the weed. Killed quite a few and had hell getting seeds to start, probably due to the formaldehyde used to make commercial weed more potent although its just a false potency. Therefore CKS was the answer to my prayers and is MUCH easier that getting seeds from Amsterdam back in '88.hehehehehee

I too luv to work and cultivate the stuff and I'm always open to new ideas and takes on growing. Please feel free to critique me any way you can. My next little project is co2. I had a hamster water bottle filled with vinegar and slow dripping into baking soda. But that old bottle failed and I've bought 4 more only to have them unload all of the vinegar in less that 2 hrs. But I'll keep trying, even if I have to buy a tank and regulator, which seems like overkill in such a small place. Again thank you for interest, advice and help, keep it coming. Cheers mate


KiG cheers

Edit: maybe just a cfl Or two could keep those seedlings healthy for weeks. Save power and keep the nodes tighter. ☺need more details on your setup

Had to add this since I kept getting an error message that there was only one character and I needed more.

 

[Stinky Snid]

Well, you got it under control. That backstory was quite a trip huh? But all that knowledge will be put to good use for this grow. Good to hear you are up on the stretching from the dark. Till next time...

KiG cheers

 

[SHRuuM]

Today is the 11th day from soaking the seeds to this day and some changes were made. First off, the room [2x3x8 ft] was getting too warm with the 400 watt sodium, [85 degrees], so the light was pulled and a 250 watt sodium with 3 LED's that wifey got me for Christmas, were installed in place and brought the temp down to a respectable 76 degrees. Also I add a bottle of "Enhance" CO2 as a stop gap measure until I find a more permanent solution of providing a stable and measurable amount of CO2. Do I hear a tank and gauge in my future? I'm not sure how much or effective "Enhance" CO2 is, but a meter will being coming next week, so I'll be able to give quality readings on the product. The ads claim it will provide enough CO2 for a 10x10 room but I doubt that.

I also took measurements today of the girls and a weekly update will follow the growth process. So far we have:
NL started in soil at 2 1/4 inches
EM started in soil at 3 1/2 inches
EM started in Rapid Rooter at 3 3/4 inches
TW started in soil at 3 inches
TW started in Rapid Rooter at 3 1/2 inches

These measurements will be the base line start since I can't guarantee they were all put in their pots at the same depth.

And just for comparison, my other 3 plants, which are unknown Sativas started a month earlier, and all started in soil after germination are:
H-1 at 3 inches
H-2 at 4 1/2 inches
H-3 at 6 1/4 inches
So check back in from time to time to see the upgrade progress of the room and the CKS seedlings.

 

[SHRuuM]

Update on the last NL seed. I know I said I would give up on it last Sunday, but decided to try CKS emergency germination method. I re-soaked the seed over night on Monday and Tuesday morning placed it between the napkin on my germination pad set at 74 degrees. I will give it till Friday to pop and if not call it quits. But all in all I'm still very happy at 5 of 6 seeds growing like, uh, weeds.

 

[NastyAce05]

im in for your run.

 

[SHRuuM]

Today the CO2 controller/metering device came in. While I'm waiting on the regulator and tank, I'll be conducting experiments with CO2 generator systems that I already have. I'll start with the "Green Pad" generator units then move on to the "Enhance" unit once I get the re-charge for a fresh fill. This will give definitive proof to see if these products work, and, will let everyone know if its worth the time and money.
This controller is pretty nifty since it has a light detector so it will only charge during light periods, and a high and low range to turn on/off the regulator.

 

[SHRuuM]

Hmm I'm having a little trouble with getting the image to fire up. Lets try this...

 

[SHRuuM]

Today is the 18th day from soaking the seeds, so I took the room partially down to do some cleaning, re-arranging electrics, and mounting the new CO2 controller. While I was working on the room I soaked down the pots thoroughly with straight well water that has a PH of 6.8. Before mounting the controller I took it outside and calibrated it to 400ppm per instructions, then brought back inside and mounted it so it would gauge across the entire garden. Tomorrow I'll start my CO2 experiment starting with the "Green Pad Generator". I'll start it in the morning, give a baseline measurement, then after adding the pads, I'll take readings to see if there is any significant rise to CO2 levels.

I also took my first measurements from last weeks baseline and the the results are:

NL started in soil is, 3 inches, a growth spurt of 3/4 of an inch
EM started in soil is, 4 1/2 ,inches, a growth spurt of 1 inch
EM started in Rapid Rooter is, 4 inches, a growth spurt of 1/4 inch...hmmm
TW started in soil is, 3 3/8 inches, a growth spurt of 3/8 of an inch
TW started in Rapid Rooter is, 4 1/4 inches, a growth spurt of 3/ of an inch

And my non CKS plants started a month earlier and all started in soil are:
H-1, is 4 inches, a growth spurt of 1 inch
H-2, is at 6 inches, a growth spurt of 1 1/2 inches
H-3, is at 7 1/2 inches a growth spurt of 1 1/4 inches

So now the room looks like this...

 

[Stinky Snid]

I'm keen on hearing about your Co2 experiments. I'm sure my girls could use some excess love gas. The only Co2 they get is when I'm talking or coughing on them. Lol.

You'll be busy very soon with all those little ladies. Keep up the good work and as always KiG cheers

 

[SHRuuM]

This morning I'm starting a CO2 experiment with the "Green Pads" which is pretty easy, just spray down the pad, the porous side NOT the solid plastic side, and hung the pad up on a hanger provided in the 5 pad kit. Cost is $27 from Amazon. The room started with an 880 ppm 3 hours after the lights come on. I'll post up later today with 1 day results. Remember this is a small room, 2 x 3 x 8 foot room so your results may very. What I'm looking for is the best bang for the buck across a growing term. The picture below is the package of 5 pads and 2 hangers. Each pad is suppose to last a week and spraying with water once a day. After 1 week you introduce the next new pad BUT leave the first pad in until the second week which is replaced by a new fresh pad. Simple, right? Maybe not as simple as a hamster watering device dripping into a bowl of vinegar, but simple enough.

Being my fist journal, I forgot to mention that my light is on an 18/6 light cycle for now, but I'll post up when I change to a 12/12 cycle even those these are auto flowing seeds.

 

[SHRuuM]

After a full day I am surprised at the findings. When I started this morning, the room was at 880 ppm and later after placing the pad in the room, I looked in on the meter and it had dropped to 405 ppm! I thought the meter has got to be bad but just to be sure, I placed a bowl of baking soda in the room and poured vinegar into it twice. Within 2 hours the room was back at 725ppm. So the test has to be repeated and I'll call the meter company Monday just to be sure of my findings. Since I received the "Recharge" I'll be proceeding with that part of the experiment as well. If the findings on the "Pad" repeat with the same results there can only be one conclusion, the "Pad" is making oxygen [or some other gas] and not CO2. If there is a flaw in my logic, I'm open to suggestions, but this first run will not deter me
.

 

[SHRuuM]

Today I repeated the same test of the "Green Pad". The room was at 925ppm when the pad was re-sprayed with water per instructions. Just to be sure, I re-calibrated the meter before testing and like yesterday, the door stayed shut[no peeking] for 6 hours. When I opened up about the same thing occurred, the readings went down not up as it should have. The meter reading was 525ppm. I'm still talking with the tech tomorrow to make sure everything is on the up and up with the meter, but right now I have to conclude that the "Green Pad" is a bust and does not provide any benefits. I kind of surmised this last month when I started using the pads on my Sativa's started a month before CKS. When I used the vinegar an baking soda there was a noticeable growth spurt after 3 days of use, whereas, I saw no improvement when using the pads for 2 weeks. But again, I'll be discussing this with the tech tomorrow and if the meter is in proper working order then its a positive find of the "Green Pad" being a bust.

 

[SHRuuM]

After talking to the tech at CO@meter.com all my questions were answered. LED's do not affect the meter's readings and neither does any other light source like HPS or Halides. So with that in mind I started another test, this time with the CO2 "Enhancer". This product costs $40 for the 1st bottle then $20 for each recharge. The bottle and the recharge both lasts 2 weeks each. Seems a bit pricey since over a 4 month period it will cost you, $40 dollars for the bottle, then 7 recharges at $20, for a total cost of $180!! That's the cost of 20lb co2 tank and regulator. Today the room started at 357ppm when "Enhancer" was introduced and after 2 hours the room was at 690ppm and still climbing. So at least this product seems to be working and I'll give a total later. Here is what the product looks like.

 

[Stinky Snid]

Once your done with these experiments, you should start a thread in a specific forum to show and tell about your findings. I know I would appreciate it, looking good shruum!

KiG cheers