coredump
Member
Hiya all.
I wanted to first say that I have been lurking on these boards for a while and have learned a lot. I appreciate everyone that has added to this site. The information you all post is invaluable. Thanks! I am by no means, a expert at this. I will be more than willing to listen to any feedback.
That being said, one can only learn so much by reading before the desire to have a hands-on approach takes ... root.
So the following is a record of my first attempt at a grow. I chose an AF due to the quick turn around and near instant satisfaction. After much study, I decided to go with the Auto Flowerring AK-47. I picked up a 5 pack from "The Attitude Seed Bank". Seeds were delivered in a cursory manner and I was pleased with the customer support's reponses prior to placing the order.
Germination: I placed one seed into a sterile shot glass filled with tepid sterile water and placed it in a warm/dark place. This was done with all 5 seeds.
I chose this method over the napkin method after having read that the root has miniscule hairs that attach to the napkin and can damage the seedlnig when transplanted, if handled roughly.
I should mention a few preparations that took place prior to ever having touched the seeds! I choose to grow in my master bathroom due to itss lack of "public" usage. I completely emptied it, cleaned the walls with 10-1 bleach water. I securely hung two 400wt HPS lights about 4-5 feet above the tub's surface. I ran the power from the ballasts into a surge protector and from there, into the extension cord. All power connections were placed into a five gallon bucket to prevent my untimely demise. So far, it seems to have worked. I am still alive.
Soil I added the stuff below... One part compost to 3 parts Lite premium potting soil. (0.85% nitro, 0.15%phosphorus, 0.10% potash) into a 5 gallon bucket. I added 4 handfuls of the Seed Starter and 8 handfuls of the vermiculite.
I know the phosphorus show in the pic is extremely high, so this is what I did with it. I took 2 teaspoons of the pellets, crushed them, and diluted them into a gallon of water. It took 2 days before all the particulate finally disolved. After thouroughly mixing the above mentioned soil, I filled 20% of each 1 gallon potter (holes on the bottom for drainage) and liberally poured the phosphorus laced water into it and let that sit for 3 days under a single HPS to evap the water. I don't know how its gonna work, it may be a waste if it all runs off after the first few waterings. I did this because I figured by the time the roots were that deep, they would be needing that good "P" lovin. Good idea? No clue. Feedback? I filled the remaining space with the semi-soil listed above. PH is at 6.6 according to my cheap Rapitest PH tester.
Ok, back to the shot glasses.... I have a 100% rate of germination after 36 hours! I was loving my choice in seed banks about then! I placed them no deeper then 1/4 inch into fully expanded peat moss tablets. One per tablet. I placed these on a plate. Placed the plate on a heating pad, put my HUGE popcorn bowl over the plate and heating pad. The whole thing sat in the dark bathroom for about 18 hours. At this point, water leaves strarted appearing. I could barely see them throught the condensation buiild up on the inside if the bowl. I should mention, I kept about a 1/4 inch of water on the bottom of the plate during this process.
So now I had leaves! I'm well on my way. I popped off the bowl and turned on ONE HPS light and they bagan thier 24/0 cycle. Temps were in the mid to lower 80's now. I waited until I saw about a one inch growth and transplanted them from the plate, into the one gallon potters I mentions before, peat moss tablet and all..
More to follow...
I wanted to first say that I have been lurking on these boards for a while and have learned a lot. I appreciate everyone that has added to this site. The information you all post is invaluable. Thanks! I am by no means, a expert at this. I will be more than willing to listen to any feedback.
That being said, one can only learn so much by reading before the desire to have a hands-on approach takes ... root.
So the following is a record of my first attempt at a grow. I chose an AF due to the quick turn around and near instant satisfaction. After much study, I decided to go with the Auto Flowerring AK-47. I picked up a 5 pack from "The Attitude Seed Bank". Seeds were delivered in a cursory manner and I was pleased with the customer support's reponses prior to placing the order.
Germination: I placed one seed into a sterile shot glass filled with tepid sterile water and placed it in a warm/dark place. This was done with all 5 seeds.
I chose this method over the napkin method after having read that the root has miniscule hairs that attach to the napkin and can damage the seedlnig when transplanted, if handled roughly.
I should mention a few preparations that took place prior to ever having touched the seeds! I choose to grow in my master bathroom due to itss lack of "public" usage. I completely emptied it, cleaned the walls with 10-1 bleach water. I securely hung two 400wt HPS lights about 4-5 feet above the tub's surface. I ran the power from the ballasts into a surge protector and from there, into the extension cord. All power connections were placed into a five gallon bucket to prevent my untimely demise. So far, it seems to have worked. I am still alive.
Soil I added the stuff below... One part compost to 3 parts Lite premium potting soil. (0.85% nitro, 0.15%phosphorus, 0.10% potash) into a 5 gallon bucket. I added 4 handfuls of the Seed Starter and 8 handfuls of the vermiculite.
I know the phosphorus show in the pic is extremely high, so this is what I did with it. I took 2 teaspoons of the pellets, crushed them, and diluted them into a gallon of water. It took 2 days before all the particulate finally disolved. After thouroughly mixing the above mentioned soil, I filled 20% of each 1 gallon potter (holes on the bottom for drainage) and liberally poured the phosphorus laced water into it and let that sit for 3 days under a single HPS to evap the water. I don't know how its gonna work, it may be a waste if it all runs off after the first few waterings. I did this because I figured by the time the roots were that deep, they would be needing that good "P" lovin. Good idea? No clue. Feedback? I filled the remaining space with the semi-soil listed above. PH is at 6.6 according to my cheap Rapitest PH tester.
Ok, back to the shot glasses.... I have a 100% rate of germination after 36 hours! I was loving my choice in seed banks about then! I placed them no deeper then 1/4 inch into fully expanded peat moss tablets. One per tablet. I placed these on a plate. Placed the plate on a heating pad, put my HUGE popcorn bowl over the plate and heating pad. The whole thing sat in the dark bathroom for about 18 hours. At this point, water leaves strarted appearing. I could barely see them throught the condensation buiild up on the inside if the bowl. I should mention, I kept about a 1/4 inch of water on the bottom of the plate during this process.
So now I had leaves! I'm well on my way. I popped off the bowl and turned on ONE HPS light and they bagan thier 24/0 cycle. Temps were in the mid to lower 80's now. I waited until I saw about a one inch growth and transplanted them from the plate, into the one gallon potters I mentions before, peat moss tablet and all..
More to follow...
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