Bag seed grow with 3 different strains

[freeskierpj]

First of all I am keeping this more as a journal for myself than as a growlog however it will be updated regularly so everyone is welcome to burn one and pull up a chair and wait for the pics to start coming in...

Seeds:
Bagseed 1 (12 seeds and have 2 plants)
Bagseed 2 (1 seed and have 1 plant)
Bagseed 3 (2 seeds which never germinated)

Not a very good ratio but it is what it is for my first real grow attempt.

Thursday May 10th

11:00am - Seeds from bag numbers 1 and 2 are put in cups of room temp water to be germinated under a small fluorescent light until the roots break through the seeds.

1:30pm - Seeds from bag number 3 are put in cups of room temp water to be germinated under a small fluorescent light until the root breaks through the seeds.

7:00pm - 3 of 12 seeds from bag number 1 and 1 of 1 seed from bag 2 and 1 of 2 seeds from bag 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

Friday May 11th

2:00am - 7 of 12 seeds from bag 1, 1 of 1 seed from bag 2, and 2 of 2 seeds from bad 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

7:30am - 11 of 12 seeds from bag 1, 1 of 1 seed from bag 2, and 2 of 2 seeds from bad 3 have dropped to the bottom of the cup indicating that they have become filled with water.

9:30am - Seems like 1 of the seeds from bag 1 won't end up germinating so I took it out of the cup. I also put a 23w 6500k CFL for some light during germination as well as to keep it warmer cause it's been a bit chilly recently.

Saturday May 12th

7:00am
Alright so as of now, 3 seeds from bag 1, the 1 seed from bag 2 and both seeds from bag 3 have cracked and started to show their hypocotyls. I think that's the right term from what I saw in this picture:

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

Current lighting setup for germination (the incandescent light has been removed due to advice on another forum and cause it burnt out lol but I would have removed it anyways...):

I will be getting more CFLs once I get them in the jiffy seed starters I bought:

 

[freeskierpj]

Sorry for the rambling ahead of time, this is more for me to keep the links and the math here in the thread rather than asking for suggestions but any input is greatly appreciated especially if you have any experience using these specific MH/HPS systems.

I'm looking into lighting now because I know that the CFLs will hold these plants as they mature but once they outgrow the 18oz party cups I have I want to provide them with the best lighting possible. I was checking around and on ebay and amazon and I found these HPS/MH kits:

For 163.95 (free shipping) it is a 400w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 400watt HPS MH Grow Light Set System kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

For $199.95 (free shipping) it is a 600w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 600 watt HPS MH Grow Light System Set Kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

The reflector I'd be using is the CT27 (cool tube) for either light system I would pick.

I also found 42w CFLs that with 12 of them as well as the twin bulb sockets and the socket to plug adapter came to 149.95 total but then when it comes time to flower I would need to replace the 6500k CFLs with 2700k CFLs thus spending even more money so I decided that an MH/HPS system would be more cost effective in the long run.

Now it's only a $36 increase from the 400w to the 600w so is it worth it to pony up and get the 600w because this is my first grow of many to come and I figure that once I get some more money I'll be growing more than just a few plants. Would the 600w be fine to be used with only a few plants in the grow area or should I get the 400w and then eventually upgrade and buy the 600w. I just feel like getting the 600w is a better investment as it will be useful for when the time comes that I can have 16-20 plants growing rather than just a few.

Also both have a 6" cool tube reflector which will be very helpful so I can get some ducting and an inline fan/carbon filter combo to keep the smell down seeing as I live in an apartment and they can be dimmed if the heat gets to be too much so that is a huge plus even though I heard it puts a strain on the bulbs and gives them a shorter lifespan. The actual bulbs aren't too expensive however so I'll probably keep a single backup MH bulb as well as a single backup HPS bulb.

Now they do have a 1000w system however that's 259.95 and I just don't feel like I would need such a strong lighting system (maybe in the future but not for now...

I basically have my eyes set on the 600w system where the MH bulb has 61k lumens and the HPS bulb has 86k lumens compared to the 400w system where the MH bulb has 36k lumens and the HPS bulb has 54k lumens. So the MH 600w bulb produces 1.7 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb and the HPS 600w bulb produces 1.6 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb...It seems like the 600w is the best bang for my buck...

 

[DamnUglyDogE]

Sorry for the rambling ahead of time, this is more for me to keep the links and the math here in the thread rather than asking for suggestions but any input is greatly appreciated especially if you have any experience using these specific MH/HPS systems.

I'm looking into lighting now because I know that the CFLs will hold these plants as they mature but once they outgrow the 18oz party cups I have I want to provide them with the best lighting possible. I was checking around and on ebay and amazon and I found these HPS/MH kits:

For 163.95 (free shipping) it is a 400w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 400watt HPS MH Grow Light Set System kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

For $199.95 (free shipping) it is a 600w light system with both HPS and MH bulbs and it comes with reflector hangers (called Yoyos) and a 24 hour timer:
Apollo 600 watt HPS MH Grow Light System Set Kit Dimmable Digital Ballast

The reflector I'd be using is the CT27 (cool tube) for either light system I would pick.

I also found 42w CFLs that with 12 of them as well as the twin bulb sockets and the socket to plug adapter came to 149.95 total but then when it comes time to flower I would need to replace the 6500k CFLs with 2700k CFLs thus spending even more money so I decided that an MH/HPS system would be more cost effective in the long run.

Now it's only a $36 increase from the 400w to the 600w so is it worth it to pony up and get the 600w because this is my first grow of many to come and I figure that once I get some more money I'll be growing more than just a few plants. Would the 600w be fine to be used with only a few plants in the grow area or should I get the 400w and then eventually upgrade and buy the 600w. I just feel like getting the 600w is a better investment as it will be useful for when the time comes that I can have 16-20 plants growing rather than just a few.

Also both have a 6" cool tube reflector which will be very helpful so I can get some ducting and an inline fan/carbon filter combo to keep the smell down seeing as I live in an apartment and they can be dimmed if the heat gets to be too much so that is a huge plus even though I heard it puts a strain on the bulbs and gives them a shorter lifespan. The actual bulbs aren't too expensive however so I'll probably keep a single backup MH bulb as well as a single backup HPS bulb.

Now they do have a 1000w system however that's 259.95 and I just don't feel like I would need such a strong lighting system (maybe in the future but not for now...

I basically have my eyes set on the 600w system where the MH bulb has 61k lumens and the HPS bulb has 86k lumens compared to the 400w system where the MH bulb has 36k lumens and the HPS bulb has 54k lumens. So the MH 600w bulb produces 1.7 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb and the HPS 600w bulb produces 1.6 times the amount of lumens than the 400w bulb...It seems like the 600w is the best bang for my buck...

Ya cant go wrong with a 600w- Not 2 small-not to big- room to grow and lumes to get you there. You can always add a 400w
Later for a 1000w total once you get to the need.
Yep-2 cents.

 

[joejusttyped]

Your lighting should be based on staying within your budget and the size of your flowering room/tent. I use LED so I cant really help ya with HID suggestions, but you may want to check out htgsupply instead of amazon.

Also youre keeping your cfl's on while those beans germ in the cups of water? Room temp water in a warm closet will do the trick just fine. You don't need light in the germination process.


Goodluck. I'm always interested in bagseed grows.

 

[freeskierpj]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I had kinda forgotten about my account here but I decided that I'm gonna put more time into my account on this site.

So I've decided to transplant from the solo cups they were in and and good thing I did cause of what was happening here...there were a bunch of roots at the bottom kind of spinning around the bottom of the cup on my oldest plant (Bag 1 Plant A or 1A) so I checked the other two and what do ya know...same deal on all 3. I quickly got together some 2 liter soda bottles threw some holes in the bottom for good drainage and transplanted.

Here's what I mean (if you can see it) by the roots going around the bottom:

Here's 1A (had problems with this one where the leaves turned all spotted brown so hopefully the transplant will help...

Here's 1C

 

[freeskierpj]

And a cool pic I thought of a leaf with 8 fingers on 1C:

Then here's 2A:

And finally a quick family shot (the lights are much closer while the plants are under them I just lifted them up to get a better picture):

Oh and just to show what my lighting setup is...I have 6 23W and 4 13W for a total of 190W and around 12.5k lumens:

 

[Guest 263194]

looks over-water'ed, i'd wait abit more next time you water. check the ph level, give little more N, use RO water.

 

[freeskierpj]

I do think they were being given too much water during their time in the solo cups but I have cut back on their water severely (not so much that they will die but just so that the roots really work to find their water) and what do you mean by RO water? Do you mean bottled water or would water that's been purified through a Brita filter be sufficient?

As for the nutes I haven't been giving them anything so if I were to give a little more N should I use something like fish emulsion?

 

[freeskierpj]

Alright so I moved to my new house yesterday and have my temporary setup running. Turns out that for right now the best way to have my lights is vert (that is until I can get my shit unpacked and get a proper setup unless I like my setup like this then I'll keep it like it is)

So here's how they are set up currently (lights off)

And a shot with the lights on

1A is at the top of the pic and 2A is at the bottom of the pic here

And finally here's 1C

For rigging this up in 2 mins I'd say it's pretty good and I'm happy about the area that they are in now cause it's about 2'x2'x7.5' with removable shelving so I have options for them . Also the lights are running 24/0 for now (as opposed to the 18/6 they were at before) cause my timer is in one of the boxes I have somewhere so until I find it the lights are gonna be on day and night...

If anyone has any suggestions to tweak this setup a bit then let me know otherwise I will have the lights back on top of the plants when I find which box my tools are in and can get the lights supported cause right now it's too heavy to keep itself horizontal.

 

[exploziv]

I'd put those bulbs somehow at the same level and I'd spread them more, or at least I'd put that lights set-up horizontally for better light coverage. You are just wasting energy by having that much cfl's together and one above eachother.

& sorry but I had to edit you post and remove that link. If you want your journal here, post it here, you can't link to other cannabis websites.

Good luck with your grow!

 

[freeskierpj]

I'd put those bulbs somehow at the same level and I'd spread them more, or at least I'd put that lights set-up horizontally for better light coverage. You are just wasting energy by having that much cfl's together and one above eachother.

& sorry but I had to edit you post and remove that link. If you want your journal here, post it here, you can't link to other cannabis websites.

Good luck with your grow!

Thanks and sorry for the link I was just being lazy not wanting to post all the pics from over there to over here lol. As for the lights, I have had them horizontally for the majority of this grow however my tools are in a box somewhere because I just moved yesterday morning so once I find them I can rig up something to get them back horizontally. Until then (since the weight of the lights won't let their current fixture keep them level horizontally) I can deal with some wasted energy but I will be getting a more proper setup soon...thanks for the concern though .

 

[freeskierpj]

So I transplanted because my leaves were getting droopy and I guess they I was overwatering my babies but now they are in a much better mix not just the MG Seed Starter that I used throughout the first month of growth.

Hopefully this mix will do better for my plants I used 3 parts peat moss, 3 parts perlite and 1 part vermiculite so here's my babies in their new and probably final pots:

 

[freeskierpj]

Well the new soil-less mix is doing wonders for my babies!!! They're really perking up and enjoying the room for their roots to spread out...

1A

2A

1C

 

[freeskierpj]

So now that my soil problems have been fixed I started this morning to do some LST on my babies so that I can promote bushier growth and get a more even canopy.

 

[freeskierpj]

So I went to Walmart to get something to keep the plants in the shape that I want while I'm training them and I found these garden staple things which are looking good so far:

And here's how I'm doing my LST right now, the side branches will be getting a lot more light now that the plants have started their training (going to end up circling around the pot over the next month before they are put into flowering although it would be a lot easier if I had actually filled the pots to the brim rather than leaving a little bit of space at the top but oh well...):

1A

1C

2A

 

[freeskierpj]

So I put in another light fixture which is holding 11x 23W 2700K CFLs as well as adding 2x 23W 2700K CFLs to my original light fixture, I did this just to add to the spectrum as well as to get some light towards the back of the grow area...This equals out to:

13x 23W 2700K CFLs - 299W and 20,800 lumens
6x 23W 6500K CFLs - 138W and 9,600 lumens
4x 13W 6500K CFLs - 52W and 3,400 lumens

For a total of 489W (basically 490W) and a total of 33,800 lumens.

This is pushing my temps up a little too high but I'm adding another fan to take care of that...The plants are LOVING the extra wattage/lumens though!!!

 

[freeskierpj]

So I planted 21 more seeds which I'm going to veg a lot shorter and most likely flip within the next 3-4 weeks while my original 3 plants will be flowering after about 2.5 months of veg, lst fim/topping and pruning however many of these new seeds are female I will basically run a small SOG setup for them.

The best thing about my closet is that I'm only using about 2.5' of height in there right now and its maybe 2'x2.5' on the bottom BUT I still have a total of 7.5' to use for my growing area so I still have a 2'x2.5'x5' area to set up probably 2 more growing areas and a space for all the ventilation and electrical work that I'll be doing over the closets lifespan as a growing area...

So here's the jiffy pellets with 21 seeds in currently planted all germinated very quickly and I might try to take some clones from the plants that are pictured below this picture:

1A

1C

2A

 

[freeskierpj]

View of the Closet From the Front:

Fan Blowing Air Over a Bucket of Ice Into the Grow Area (it's a block of ice rather than ice cubes so that it keeps the grow area cooler for longer this is similar in theory to a swamp cooler but much cheaper. I just have 4 buckets that I fill with water and freeze and then put one in front of the fan then swap that out for another frozen bucket once the first one has fully melted and the grow area starts to get hot again):

I took 4 clones today and put them in the seed starter pods without rooting hormones so we'll see if they end up rooting but I made the cuts very long to give the most surface area possible for roots to grow from. The 2 clones at the top are from plant 1C and the 2 below them are from plant 2A and since plant 1A doesn't have enough shoots right now for me to take clones I left it alone. I also had to remove one of the seeds from it's starter pod because it wasn't stabilized enough so it fell over and the stem broke in half but right now I have 16 seedlings from 20 seeds and I expect at least 2 more to grow in as well so even if these 16 are all I get I still have an 80% germination success rate which makes me very happy !!!

Here's the diagram I'm using to keep track of which seeds/clones are where in the mini greenhouse:

 

[freeskierpj]

Sorry for the lack of updates...been busy with work lately, however my babies are doing great It's been pretty hot out lately so my temps have been a bit rough on them (staying around 87-90) so I may have to move them and set up in my bedroom closet where I have air conditioning...that is if my fiance lets me :lol:

Anyways I'm thinking it's about time to throw these babies into flowering (also this way I can have the lights off during the hotter hours of the day and have them on when it's cooled down at night). Also I'm hoping that I have girls and I'm anxious to find out so that's another reason that I want to throw them into flower...if I move them into the bedroom closet I might keep them in veg for another week or so though just so they can adjust to the temperature change.

So here's the plants as of yesterday, 2A is doing especially well, the fimming left it with about 6 tops that are all looking great and the LST has been doing wonders for it as well as the other 2 plants. If you can see in the top of the picture of 1C it has a little bit of burning on the new growth which I'm not too happy about but nothing I can do about it now, let's just hope that I have girls in there!!!

1A

1C

2A

 

[freeskierpj]

Alright guys time to get this show on the road! Flowering started yesterday and I'm doing lights on from 8pm to 8am to try and keep the temps lower and more even throughout the day which has proved successful after yesterdays temps were under 85 during lights on and under 82 during lights off with a pretty constant 45% humidity so now it's just a waiting game