Everson's First Grow - Indoor Soil - Strawberry Kush - Pineapple Haze - Blueberry

[eversons]

Hi All,

Here is my plan (trying to keep it simple):
Growing in a walk in closet. It's about 10x5, but has overhead wire shelves that will work well for hanging lights and mylar sheets on all 4 sides to create a grow space about 3x4
6 plants in 3 gallon pots. Planning 2 Strawberry Kush, 2 Pineapple Haze, 2 Blueberry
Soil from a big box store (I'll find good quality without any slow release ferts)
600W MH for veg (18/6)
600W HPS for flower (12/12)
4 inch carbon filter with 4 inch 200cfm fan exhausting to outside
Small oscillating fan to keep air moving around
Jack's Classic 20-20-20 at 1/4 recommended strength, starting 3rd week of veg, every other watering
Jack's Blossom Booster 10-30-20 at 1/4 recommended strength, starting after first week of flower cycle, every other watering.
I got the kit with pH tester, pH Up, and pH Down, so I can make sure I keep it in right range.
Also got a temp and humidity monitor
I'll be looking for advice on topping or FIM'ing as I go
Plain water for the last week
Harvest based on trichs

Seeds from 420 - Strawberry Kush, Pineapple Haze, Blueberry (feminized)

I just got my seeds in the mail. Currently prepping for germ in jiffy pellets.
I'm looking forward to starting this journey.
I'll update when my seeds pop.

 

[dr.h00k]

......cheerz...h00k...

 

[eversons]

Last Thursday night, I soaked the jiffy pellets until they were fully expanded, placed the seeds into a hole about a 1/2 inch deep, and covered them. Since then, I've been keeping them moist. For the first night and all day Friday, I had a humidity dome over them. Then I read that might be bad, since it can deprive them of oxygen, so I've had the dome off since then, keeping them moist by misting with a spray bottle a few times a day.

For the first couple days, I had them in my grow closet, with no lights, where the temp has been between 68 and 70.

After starting to worry they didn't have enough warmth, on Sunday morning, I moved them to the garage, where the temp has been low 70's during the night and high 70's to 80 during the day. Humidity has stayed around 50%.

Now it's Tuesday morning(so 4.5 days since starting the seeds) and no sign of anything yet.

Should I start worrying yet?

 

[eversons]

Ok, I'm aware that messing with seeds during this phase is a no-no, but I was worrying I had killed all my seeds somehow and couldn't help myself.

I very gently used a toothpick to brush aside the top layer of peat on one of my peat pellets and there was a beautiful little white tap root about 1/4 inch below the surface. I gently covered it back up with the peat I had brushed aside.

So hopefully, the rest of the seeds are also doing their thing and just taking their time doing it. I'll be patiently leaving them in the garage, keeping them moist and keeping an eye on the temperature.

 

[eversons]

Yesterday morning, there was nothing above the surface.
Yesterday evening, there was 1 sprout, at least an inch tall. (not the one I messed with)
Today, 4 of the 9 I started have now sprouted above the surface, including the one I messed with yesterday.

 

[dr.h00k]

......cheerz...h00k...

 

[eversons]

One week after starting seeds.
7 of 9 so far.
2 of 3 Pineapple Haze in the front row
2 of 3 Strawberry Kush in the middle
3 of 3 Blueberry in the back
Sitting under a CFL until I get them into pots and put them under my MH light.

Should I go ahead and get the tall ones into soil or wait until I see roots coming out?

 

[tomtom1409]

Hey man , congratz on sprouts and happy growing , ill jump along and you can come to my just started grow as well

youre seedlings are wayy to stretchy , they're desperately searching for light !
you should move youre lights WAY closer to the seedlings , if they'll keep stretching like that they could fall over and die , i would HIGHLY recommend to transplant to a SLIGHTLY bigger pot and cover some of the stem to help them stand , but just a bit bigger pot though . good luck !

 

[eversons]

Thanks.
I was definitely starting to worry about that.
I've had them in the garage because the temps were in the upper 70's vs upper 60's of my closet and I was trying to get those seeds to sprout. The only light in there was an incandescent.
I moved them to my closet this morning and hung a CFL over them, about 6 inches away. I haven't fired up the MH yet because I don't have my exhaust vent installed yet and I was worried about it getting too hot. I was going to get the exhaust vent done yesterday, but found that my drill was dead. Amazon is bringing me a new one today and as soon as they do, I should be able to get everything done.

Would it be bad to go straight into 3 gallon pots now?
Should I first go into smaller pots or red cups?
I know I've read opinions both way. Some saying that too big of a pot for a seedling makes it too easy to overwater and others saying that transplanting multiple times can be a shock for the plants.

 

[tomtom1409]

They're both correct !
transplanting is shocking the root system every time ( whether its 1st or 10th time )
but 3 gal is way to much , and yes very easy to overwater , I would suggest to transplant strait in 3 gal ONLY if you have the expirience and knowledge of how to not over water them , if not , tranplants 3 times , and I personally wouldnt count that as the first transplant .
red solo cup is pretty good , and cheap , I prefer clear platic cup so I could easily watch the roots on the first weeks and know when its the perfect time for the
next transplant .
also 6 inch for cfl might be to far , depends on WATT .
do the hand test ( put the back of your hand under the light , feel the heat ? move the bulb away ,
dont feel anything ? move it a bit closer . )
I used 42 watt cfl on my 2 seedlings , at aproximatly 2inch , seriously .

 

[Skullman420]

Other than what the good folks above me is saying - that they desperately need light now! - besides from that it's looking good

 

[eversons]

Day 10 after planting the seeds.
Friday night, I got the grow room finished up and put the 4 stretchy plants into 16oz clear cups, with most of the stalk buried. I'm using organic soil mix I found at Walmart (Nature's Own or something), with added perlite.
Yesterday, the 3 seeds that were just barely showing really came to life and showed their leaves, so this morning, I moved them to the clear cups.
I'm doing 18/6 using a 600w MH currently at 50%, kept about 3 feet above seedlings. Didn't want to overwhelm them at first.
Temps in the room have been a low of 68F at night in the dark and a max of 83F in the afternoon. I'm keeping my eye on it to make sure it doesn't go over 85F.
Humidity around 40% to 50%

The mylar you see is mounted on cardboard with hooks, so it basically makes a 4th wall I can open and close as needed.

Seed 8 of 9 just starting to see light. Still holding out hope for 9 of 9 germination.

Anyone have tips on anything?
Including any tips on camera settings for better pics under the MH light?

 

[eversons]

Day 12

Bumped the 600w MH up to 75% yesterday and put plant 8 of 9 into a clear cup. 9th seed showing no progress so might be a dud.
Figured out how to adjust white balance on my camera.

How do they look?

 

[eversons]

Day 25 (since starting seeds)

Once I bumped the light to 75%, I was having some heat issues, so I replaced the plain reflector with an air cooled hood being exhausted to the outside. Turned light up to 100% and temps have been mid to upper 70's during the day with an occasional 80F or 81F on hot days when the rest of the house gets to the mid 70's.

I transplanted to 3 gallon pots a couple days ago. Plants look good except for a couple of brown tips on the Strawberry Kush and a little yellowing on the Blueberry. The Pineapple Haze looks the best.

 

[eversons]

Day 32

It's been a week since my last pics. I've given a light feeding twice since then. Jack's Classic All Purpose at 1/4 tsp per 4 gallons the (1/4 of the amount suggested on the label).

Girls seem to be looking pretty good. The yellowing has gone away and they are a pretty nice green now. And they've been growing nicely. The only issue is two of the Blueberry's have some leaf tip clawing and one of the Strawberry Kush's has a couple of funky leaves.

I'm thinking plain ph'ed water next time in case the clawing is from too much nutes.

Pineapple Haze 1

Pineapple Haze 2

Pineapple Haze 3

Strawberry Kush 1

Strawberry Kush 2

Blueberry 1

Blueberry 2

Blueberry 3

Leaf Curl on Blueberry 1 and 2

Funky Leaves on Strawberry Kush 2

 

[eversons]

Day 48

Lots of growth in the 2 weeks since my last post.

Since then, I've topped all the plants and they seem to be recovering nicely. The shortest plant is now about 11 inches, while the tallest is about 15 inches. I've got the shorter ones in the middle, so they can get more light and hopefully catch up with the taller. I got tired of watering them in saucers, so I got a 2' x 4' tray, which is elevated, with drain holes on one end, so I can water all of them and collect the runoff in a plastic container underneath.

I plan to flip them to flower when the Pineapple Haze hits 18 inches. Those are my only Sativa dominant plants so I figure they could double or triple in height during flower.

I had some brown spots show up suddenly on several plants a few days ago. From pics I've seen, looks like a possible Mg deficiency, so I added some Epsom salts when I watered yesterday. Haven't noticed a difference yet, which I guess is good, since the spots haven't gotten worse. If you have any thoughts on what the issue is, let me know.

Here are the girls:

Here are pics of the brown spots on 2 of them:

 

[eversons]

Day 55
I've upped my nutes for the past week and added CalMag.
Brown spots haven't gotten any worse and the girls are doing well.
I'm flipping to HPS and 12/12 tomorrow.

 

[eversons]

Day 60

I switched to 12/12 and HPS about 3 days ago. With the brown spotting, a little yellowing, and then what looked like a bit of nute burn, I figured a flush was in order, so I flushed, then watered with a light nute solution, including cal mag. Plants seem to be doing well. It's a little hard to tell in the pictures, but when I take a plant into the other room with natural light, they all look a little darker green than what you see in the photos.

One thing I'm a little puzzled by is that the Strawberry Kush seem to have thinner leaves than the Pineapple Haze and I thought Strawberry Kush was Indica dominant and the Pineapple Haze was Sativa dominant.

Some of the plants are a good 5 or 6 inches taller than the others, so I've got those on the outside, hoping the more direct light in the middle will help the shorter one's catch up.

How am I doing?

These next 2 pics below are Blueberry plants. They've been the fastest growing, at least in veg.

This is one of the Pineapple Haze in the middle. Not quite as green and fairly fat leaves for what was supposed to be a Sativa dominant, isn't it?

This is one of the Strawberry Kush. Seems like thinner leaves.

 

[eversons]

Day 69

It's been 12 days since the flip.

The pineapple haze have only grown a couple inches since the flip. Surprising to me since they are supposed to be sativa dom.
The strawberry kush have grown about 6 to 8 inches.
The blueberry are going nuts, about 10 to 12 inches in 12 days.

All the plants seem to be flowering nicely.
I continued veg nutes for the first 10 days, then gave them 2/3 veg and 1/3 flower nutes on the last feeding. I'll probably go 1/2 and 1/2 next time.

I heard lots of discussion about people having problems getting clones to root, but I had 100% success with the 12 I took before I flipped to flower. I took pretty small clones from the bottoms of the plants, with just a couple nodes and a growth tip. I dipped in rooting powder, then stuck them in jiffy pellets and stuck the jiffy pellets in a clear solo cup with my potting soil/perlite mix. Those cups got watered, then covered and misted several times per day for the first week. All water used had a very weak solution of calmag and veg nutes and was ph'ed to 6.4. Yesterday, I took the 2 healthiest looking clones of each strain and transplanted to 1 gallon pots. All of them had tons of roots.

Here are some pics.

The 3 tallest are the blueberry, the 3 shortest are the pineapple haze, the 2 middle height are the strawberry kush

Blueberry 1

Blueberry 2

Blueberry 3

Strawberry Kush 1

Strawberry Kush 2

Pineapple Haze 1

Pineapple Haze 2

Pineapple Haze 3

Flowers forming

Clones just transplanted to 1 gallon pots, under 2 23W CFLs, in a cabinet that I lightproofed, so they can stay on 18/6 in the same room as my flowering plants on 12/12.

 

[MotaFina]

Great looking plants....well done.