Deptrai's Soil Medical Mass - 2016

deptrai

Active Member
Medical Mass feminized from Royal Queen Seeds, purchased through Bonza Seeds
40% sativa, 60% indica, 10% +/- THC
Indoor soil grow in 6 gal space bucket (4 stacked buckets)
180W (109 actual output via 60 3w chips) UFO light with 5050 LED strip (26W actual) lining inside of bucket

Germination:
• Soaked 15 hours in 6 Ph tapwater. 31-January
• Placed in lid of prescription jar with cotton & distilled water, then set on top of warm cable box, covered with a paper cup
• Taproot emerged after 2 days
Seedling:
• Standard red solo cup filled with Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil
• Planted taproot down, ½” deep
• After only 24 hours she started to peek through the surface
1st peek - YouTube
• After 48 hours. 4-February
48 hours - YouTube

I’m only using the top sections of the bucket now with outlet computer fan (120mm), LED strip light & UFO on top. I’m running 18/6 cycle and temps are 82F – 84F with everything on. Relative humidity is 28% to 33%. I’d like it to be higher, but not sure what I can do. There isn’t much room inside the bucket. I have 4-5 small cups of water in there and have placed my large home humidifier next to the bucket and set it at 50%. I may move the whole setup to another bedroom where I know the humidity is higher. Eventually I will transplant to a 3 gallon Smart Pot and try to move the whole setup to the garage. I’m concerned that the garage temps will be too low for her when the lights go out.
I have a Smartthings home automation system and my power strip is connected to an Aeon Smart Energy switch. I have it programmed to turn on at 6AM and turn off at midnight.
18/6 veg smartthings - YouTube
I can also monitor energy consumption at any point in time as well as cumulative consumption.
No perlite in the Solo cup, but I’ve just ordered some and plan to mix it with the FF Ocean Forest in the Smart Pot.

I'll eventually get the pics moved over to photobucket.
 
Damn this looks all high tech. I will just pull the ole La z Boy up and get a comfy seat in the front for this grow show. Can't wait to see the results of your high tech garden art. Thanks again for the journal.
 
I've resisted watering until now. I last watered 31-January, before planting the seed in the Solo cup.

A couple more pics. I added a cardboard extension to keep light from entering through the fan openings.

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After 72 hours:
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So I’ve run into a couple snags. I was looking at my LED strip light wiring and it has an in-line dimmer switch (white). Since I have no intention of ever using it at less than full brightness, I decided to remove this in-line switch. The following day I noticed the wires were melting the tape where the connection is made due to extreme heat.
5050_wire_zps0vjazhrk.jpg

I disconnected the wiring to the strip and will re-do it today and put the dimmer switch back in.
dimmer_zpsqnqkghtm.jpg

My low humidity levels are really concerning. It was down to 25% yesterday. I cranked up my whole-room humidifier to 55% and pulled the base of my bucket off the edge of the counter (see lower left corner of picture below) to let the humid air be sucked in. I also wet a washcloth and laid it inside the bucket. I did some more searching and discovered (actually rediscovered, because I remember seeing it before) a quick & easy way to keep humidity in…a Ziploc bag around my Solo cup.
dome_zpsmx4pzakb.jpg

You can see the humidity was up to 41% this morning, but it always drops when the lights go back on.

Here she is in day 6:
day_6_zpsvsiplghm.jpg

The soil feels a bit dry so I may water again tonight. This time with General Hydroponics nutrients.
 
So I did some more research and it seems humidity is more important for clones than plants grown from seed.
I removed the Ziploc bag after only a few hours. It was working as there was condensation built up all inside the bag. So much so, that I was starting to fear root rot. What is worse? Low humidity or risk of root rot???

I also sorted out my electrical wiring issue with the LED strip lighting and all is good now.

I watered last night after 2.5 days. This time I included nutrients for the first time. My tapwater is about 7 Ph. When I ready a 6 pint jar of tapwater, I need 3 drops of Ph Down to get it down to around 6. With the nutrients, I mixed a batch of only 1.5 pints and added 1 drop of Ph Down. My Ph was way low...off the chart, dark red color. I poured it out and did it again without any Ph Down and am right around 6 again. The nutes lowered my Ph and I barely used any:
Micro = 1.25 fl oz/gallon, Gro = 0.6 fl oz/gallon, Bloom = 0.6 fl oz/gallon

Here she is on day 7. Seems like the watering with nutrients didn't do any harm. I'm concerned that the tips of 1st set of leaves are touching the soil. Medical Mass is known to be short & wide.

day_719.JPG


P.S. - the mods deleted some text, photos/video related to the LED UFO light I'm using. One of the forum rules for sponsorship reasons. I get it.
 
The plant isn't centered in the Solo cup and one of the leaf tips started to touch the side of the cup. Both tips of the 1st set of leaves are drooping sown and touch the soil sometimes. This morning I cut a wedge out of one side of the cup to make room and 3 hours later, shes already extended beyond the cup's edge. I last wtered 1.5 days ago and the soil is still moist. Day 8:
cut_cup_8.JPG


Why is she going sideways and down, but not up? I posted the question in the FAQ section also to try and get some help.
 
Hey Deptrai, Your doin just fine. She looks healthy. Try to take it easy on the nutes for the first few weeks. FFOF is a pretty hot soil. You should think about transplanting her to the final pot in the next few days. Wait a week after to reintroduce nutes. Give her a decent watering and when she is thirty again mix your nutes about 1/4 - 1/3 strength. With the ffof soil you will want to be on a water, feed, water, feed cycle. A week or so after you can gradually up the nute ratio. Anyhow. Good job so far! And welcome to the :420: grow room ! :thumb:
 
Day 14:
day_1414.JPG

Transplanted into 3-gallon SmartPot today. Pot soil was still wet from watering 2 days ago, but Solo cup soil was dry, so I just watered it a little in the middle.
transplant_day_14.JPG


Looking at the roots, I think I should have transplanted a couple days earlier. Next time I'll use a clear Solo cup so I can easily watch root growth.
day_14_roots.JPG


With lights & both fans on, humidity is 50% and temps have stabilized around 75F. Humidity has always risen when lights & fans go off. I'll check it at 6 AM tomorrow and see where it is then, just before "lights on".
 
Day 18:
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Top view:
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Only 3.75" tall, but we've got bush!
Greenhouse:
greenhouse11.JPG

Lots of light leaks in my Space Bucket, but it doesn't bother me too much because during "lights off" time (midnight - 6AM) the room this is in is completely dark.
 
Day 23:
day_2311.JPG

Watered (no nutes) yesterday. Pruned 3 fan leaves and topped one spot (you can see the dark circular spot dead center of photo on top). I really feel like I should remove 2 or 3 more fan leaves so light can reach below, but I'm afraid to. Never done this before.
day_22_trim.JPG
 
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