Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

[SamSmith]

Goals:
Try to learn while providing myself a source for flowers without getting into buying on the street. My job/career is very sensitive to keeping this activity under the radar. I have had a lot of medical issues (digestive) that seem to only get better when I partake. I went to a legal state this summer to test some things out and set out on a path to grow my own. The selection of the Nirvana strains was based on ease of growing and availability with little exposure (their shipping is pretty darn good).


Hardware:
Mars Hydro Epistar 320 in a Mars 4’x4’x 6.5’ tent.
Active ultrasonic humidifier 4 gal per 24 hours
4” Can Fan extraction fan with carbon filter

Strain description:
All stock is Nirvana genetics.
AK48 – Sativa/indica hybrid. Medium hight, higher THC plant
Jock Horror – Sativa/indica hybrid. Taller plant, higher THC plant
Northern lights – Mainly indica short, medium THC plant.

Growing medium:
Straight General Hydroponics Coco in 2-3 gallon fabric pots. Rinsed until runoff was negligible and charged with a light nutrient solution and Cal Mag.

Nutrients:
All Fox Farm hydro nutrients
Cal Magic solution
Great White mycorrhizae
Silica Blast

5 out of 6 seeds dropped into Rockwool cubes under a humidity dome. A single CFL bulb over top for light/heat on November 11th 2017. Dropped into solo cups with Coco on the 18th.

 

[KingJoe83]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Can I make a suggestion Sam. Look at adding some z7 flying skull to medium in coco it would last your for ever and helps with hash environments , maintain a healthly root system prevent slime
Bud rot etc.
But dang girl you got a nice little set up going .

Mind if I take a seat and follow along ?

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Conditions in the tent are stable at 60%RH (running the humidifier constantly) and temps are 72ish lights on and 68 or so lights off.

Plants are all healthy and growing well. Mixed up 7ml cal mag to 148ppm + 40ml big bloom+25.5ml Grow big with 5gal RO water = 780ppm PH set to 5.6 as it should rise overnight for a target 5.8 before feeding. Temps and RH are stable at 68-74 and 50-65%.

They blew roots out of the solo's in a big hurry so into the fabric pots they went.

Northern lights

Jock Horror

AK48

Added another AK a week and a half after the originals. Germinated in coco after a soak in warm water for a few days so the little guy is behind. He went under the LED from the start and from what I have seen in stem development that is the way I will do it from here on out.

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

On 12-3 I topped and took off some of the first leaves. On 12-5 I tied the buggers down a bit.

Northern Lights

The AK48

The Jock Horror

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Today I defoliated and re-arranged the tie downs for the LST. Pictures look a little out of spectrum due to the lights that I had on by the trim table. I have a hard time seeing in my old age so I blast the light when I am trimming and tying down. The plants are much more green in person.

A few notes at this stage. I use RODI water as I make it for the salt water aquariums that I run and it's a consistent norm to start with. It starts out a around 6ppm. I then up that to 150ppm or so using Cal Mag and then add the base nutes. I have brought those up gradually so that the Cal Mag and Nutes are at about 840ppm. I always adjust the PH to 5.8 before feeding. I mix up nutrients in large buckets so I am not mixing everyday. The first few days after the mix the PH always rises slightly so I adjust it back down until it settles in.

I will say for being hybrids they all pretty much have an indica structure and leaves. The plants are dense. So dense with nodes so close it's hard to tie them down and trim them. These shots were after I trimmed some fans and tried to re-adjust the LST ties but you can see the stem structure in a few shots. They are pretty thick.

The AK48

One of the Northern lights.

The little AK that I started late is coming along nicely.

And they are all tucked back in their tent probably glad the molestation stopped for the moment.

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Can I make a suggestion Sam. Look at adding some z7 flying skull to medium in coco it would last your for ever and helps with hash environments , maintain a healthly root system prevent slime
Bud rot etc.
But dang girl you got a nice little set up going .

Mind if I take a seat and follow along ?

By all means join in. All the advice is welcome. Read about the Z7 but I thought that was more for full on hydro with reservoir systems like DWC/RWDC and Ebb and flow type systems.

 

[nivek]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Nice Christmas colours Goin on there. Coco looks interesting. Might I ask why you chose coco?

I gotta check into that maybe,, cheers friend,, coco karma sent

 

[Asesino85]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

I'll join up for this. I am a coco grower as well. Nirvana seeds are probably my favorite breeder. This is going to be fun to watch!

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Nice Christmas colours Goin on there. Coco looks interesting. Might I ask why you chose coco?

I gotta check into that maybe,, cheers friend,, coco karma sent

I selected coco because of the ease of it. With all of these nutrients available and how/when they are used the ability to just flush everything out quickly and recover made sense to me. After reading Cultivators thread on it and some others it just seemed like a no brainer for my situation. The DWC/RDWC systems look awesome but changing reservoirs out and the plumbing just seemed like more than I wanted to bite off right from the start.

 

[Planter420]

Sam's 1rst grow, Nirvana JH, NL and AK48 in Coco

Subbed up Sam, I'm along for the ride!
Great job on the bowl training! Should be some nice bushes for you.

 

[Van Stank]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

I am just going to grab the recliner over here in the corner next to the cooler Sam. I brought some Cheesy Poofs with me too....several bags!

 

[Pennywise]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

I'm in, coco is a fantastic medium to work with. Follow cults advice and you're golden

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Damn... Got the whole crew and Cheesy Poofs. Thanks Guys. This is a bit intimidating for a newbie but watching you guys and trying to learn is fun.

 

[Pennywise]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

You're doing well so far Sam

 

[TheMadDabber]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Hey Sam. Hope it's okay if this poof joins too. Everything's looking so far so good. Coco or die!!!

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

You’re doing well so far Sam

Thanks. I am just trying to learn and listen to what the plants. You guys make this stuff look easy and so far it kinda has been. I am sure I will run into trouble sooner or later.

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Hey Sam. Hope it's okay if this poof joins too. Everything's looking so far so good. Coco or die!!!

Glad to have you. The personalities around here are top notch entertainment. With my job and home life I don't get out much so this is a welcome site to log into when I get a few minutes to relax and wind down.

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Subbed up Sam, I’m along for the ride!
Great job on the bowl training! Should be some nice bushes for you.

Coming from the craziest stem/tap root grower along with the training I have ever seen I will take that.....

 

[Pennywise]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Just keep it simple and you'll be fine, remember that temp and rh are crucial. Good light is very important and don't get all wrapped up in nutrients. There are no secret mixes to be found. Give them what they need no more no less and they will do the rest

 

[SamSmith]

re: Sam's 1st Grow - Nirvana JH, NL & AK48 In Coco

Just keep it simple and you’ll be fine, remember that temp and rh are crucial. Good light is very important and don’t get all wrapped up in nutrients. There are no secret mixes to be found. Give them what they need no more no less and they will do the rest

Very glad you chimed in and I am grateful to be able to ask a question or two. I was looking for a medium to ask a few things. Seems like the grow journal is where it's at.

Temps are low. Right around that 70F mark and it doesn't seem to move. Should I make an effort to raise it 5-10 degrees F?

Second question.
RH right now is a challenge. I live in a northern climate and the forced air heat is on. RH in the house is in the 30's. I am running the active humidifier to keep the tent around 55RH. Is this enough?