GuerrillaRed's First Grow (Skunkberry in Soil)

[GuerrillaRed]

Hey kids, well here I am on ICMag because a trusted advisor on another board said this is a good place for growing knowledge and resources. My past experience is in growing mushrooms which I've done successfully a few times. I've tried to grow pot hydroponically a couple of times, however being stuck in apartment made it really difficult and not fun. So I decided to hold off on that.

However, I recently just move and got access to a small greenhouse with electricity woohoo so the growing is on baby. My philosophy with this grow is to keep it as simple as possible because in the past trying to do a hydroponic thing without really knowing what I was doing made it really not fun. I've researched quite a bit and I was consider myself having a limited amount of knowledge and some crossover knowledge from my time with shrooms, so I feel fairly confident this will be a successful grow.

To start off with

My equipment I'm using for this grow

- 125 watt CFL with hood for the Veg process

- An extra smaller (25 watt I think?) 6500k spectrum fluoro for the first week and to suppliment lighting

- A 1000 watt HPS big fucking light for the Flowering process

- Fox Farm Ocean Forest Soil (heard nothing but good things about this soil in my research)

- 3 gallon pots (I'm going to keep the plants in the same pots all the way through)

- Superthrive, Hydroguard, PH UP, PH Down, some other stuff I can't think of right now

- Skunkberry seeds purchased from the Vancouver Seed Bank. (http://www.vancouverseedbank.ca/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=33&products_id=210) I picked Skunkberry due to my personally liking it's genetics and it's reputation of being fairly forgiving to grow.

So today is about day four in the process. I'm going to try to grow three plants to begin with. The last three days my little friends have been germinating in paper towels in a special incubator with a heating mat underneath them. Today I'm going to put them in soil and put them out in the green house.

The past few days I've spent cleaning out the greenhouse which has been vacant for at least two or three years and the past owner left a whole range of pots and other stuff in there that I didn't want to use. Also the place while being relatively clean had a ton of cobwebs and other stuff in there that frightened me. As a former shroom grower I am absolutely obsessed with keeping a clean area and destroying any contaminants before they fuck with my little friends. Also from previous projects I know the more work you put in at the beginning the more problems you eliminate for yourself down the road. So the last two days have been sweeping out, throwing away, and Lysoling every inch of the room, also yesterday I set off a bug bomb in there. Hopefully any annoying little fuckers that want to play with my plants are in buggy heaven now.

I'm about to go put my seeds into soil and dial in my green house, hopefully this all goes well but I'm excited.

I'm hoping to complete this process 70 or so days as I'd like to harvest in late August.

Wish me luck and I shall return with pics.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Day Four

So my seeds in soil. Unfortuantely only two out of my three seeds seemed to germinate. The third seed looks to have cracked but nothing came out. I threw the two germinated seeds into the three gallon pots and they're going to be under 24/7 light for the first week or two until they become strong enough to change the light cycle down to 18/6. It'll be good to change the lighting cycle down during the hottest parts of the day here.

The seed that didn't germinate I've put in a pot half full of soil (It all kind of worked out since I only had enough soil for about 2 1/2 of my pots) and put it on the roof of my greenhouse. I doubt it's going to have much of a chance to live as the environment where I live isn't really condusive to quality marijuana growing. However, I think it'll be a good chance to see what kind of pests will attack a unprotected pot in the open, so I have a better idea of how and what I'm protecting my greenhouse against outside.

The temp inside the greenhouse may be a problem as we approach the summer months as yesterday it was swinging up into the 100s. I put a huge industrial fan on a timer to go during the hottest parts of the day. The fan was able to bring the temp down to the high 80s but I'm still extremely concerned about temp swings and how that's going to effect my little friends. I think I'm going to have to keep a constant vigilance on this.

I'm going to put up black plastic over the windows soon to eliminate light leaks. The only reason I haven't done it yet is I haven't been able to find a staple gun (I'm a cheap motherfucker haha) and also I have to think all the natural light coming through the windows is beneficial to my little friends in this stage.

I'm also concerned about humidity as it's too low. I understand the sweet zone for humidity for marijuana is between 50% to 80%. My humidity is hovering around 45% If this continues for a few more days I shall do something about this. Maybe put a humidifer in there.

My humidity is on average around 45%
Temp is on average between 70 and 90 degrees

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Day Five

I'm pretty sure I killed my little friends I haven't been around the last day or two to check on them. When I went to check on them the temp was near 100 degrees and the soil was bone dry. My associate who I asked to turn off one fan that was on a timer decided to turn over every fan in the room which shot the temp up and humidity down. It's my own fault for starting this when I couldn't give constant vigilance and before I knew the ins and outs of my greenhouse... but oh well

I'll keep waiting and hoping they come up. I'll probably give it until Saturday before I declare it a loss and try again. I'm kind of upset but oh well, you got to make mistakes to learn.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

So the award for the dumbest fucker of the day award goes too...

*drum roll*

GuerrillaRed!

Who-Zah!

The greenhouse had a ton a of windows... that open... with screens... that when open get the temp in the greenhouse down to a perfect 75-80 range...
:jawdrop:
You think I would've noticed that spending a couple days out there cleaning it out and getting it ready Ah well, first grow in a new room no worries.

Anyway the room is cool temp wise and beautiful now as a gentle breeze is blowing on my pots. I can't imagine my seeds are still alive or at the least too happy with all my fuck-ups so far but hopefully they're still sailing along. I'll give 'em until Saturday to see sprouts before I try again with a new batch. In my previous attempts I had several fuck ups as well before I actually nailed the sweet spot for shroom and weed grows. I got plenty of time, plenty of supplies, and a really bitchin' secure grow room so no worries.

I'll report back if anything new pops up.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

I decided to scrub my first attempt, it's been a couple of days. I don't feel good about the conditions in the greenhouse, I have some security fears, and it looks like something actually dug into the soil and pulled out the seeds (what the fuck?)

Alright attempt #2

I have four seeds soaking in water as I type this and today I'm going to blackout my greenhouse. I made a couple of rookie mistakes in the beginning. To start with I was around during the first couple of crucial days which was absolutely foolish on my part. There were crazy temp swings, low humidity, and just generally poor conditions that could've been easily fixed if I had been around enough to watch and make sure everything was cool.

Number two is I didn't know my greenhouse, it's temp swings, or habits before I attempted to grow in there.

And number three when I showed up at 4 am the other night, it looked like a UFO was landing in my backyard with how bright the growlights were.

Number four I tried to start this grow in three gallon pots which are way too big to be manageable (I now get way people bump up in pot size through the grow)

So hopefully this second attempt will be done right. I'm blacking out the windows by nailing up black plastic sheeting over there.

I'll soak my seeds over night then put them in rapid rooters. Do you guys think I should try to paper towel germinate them or let the rapid rooters do the work?

Thanks

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Alright guys

I got the seeds germing in paper towels... I dropped one of the seeds and it fell through the crack of the floor in my green house :banghead: but at the first sign that they cracked I'll throw them in Rapid Rooter plugs and get them under some lights.

I've also put up black plastic over ever window in my greenhouse and from the outside you can't really tell so I don't have any security fears anymore.

Hope this works.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Sorry the pics I linked too wouldn't come up.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Now I can't even get seeds to germinate. I'm getting extremely frustrated.

 

[Weedninja]

Do you want feedback, because I can see a few potential problems?

 

[Tafari]

Better luck next time bro, sometimes you just get the short end of the stick! I have some skunk berry going now.

Peace; Tafari

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Do you want feedback, because I can see a few potential problems?

Absolutely, I'm a n00b and I love criticism because I always learn and get better from criticism so please fire away.

By the way, I've moved the grow inside my house where the temps are much more consistent. That greenhouse just did not work as temps would swing as much as 30 degrees every day. The other day I walked out and the germination station where I had my seeds the temp was over 110

But please that's why I'm here is to learn so fire away.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Woke up this morning and one of my twelve seeds had germinated

Could not be happier. I hope some of the other twelve pop as well but at this point I'm just happy to be making some progress. I threw the germinated seed into one of those Rapid Rooter plugs after dunking it a few times in some PH balanced water. It's now sitting in my germination station with the 25 watt fluoro on it and a comfortable 79 degrees.

Moving inside was the best move I could've made. The temp has been a consistent 77-85 inside my germination station (thank you jesus) and I feel much more confident now. I'm pretty sure I blew up the other seeds with a ridiculous temps they had to face but I still got six more that didn't face those temps out there that I hope pop.

Unfortanutely I've run out of my quality beans and I'm having to use bag seeds now but right now it's about learning and getting the process down so I can become a better gardner.

Anyway that's the update from here. I'll keep you guys informed.

Also I appreciate the kind words yesterday and the offers for help and advice. Please keep it up, it makes me feel like I'm not tilting at windmills.

 

[Weedninja]

First, I have a question: Is there some reason(security perhaps) that you are planning to use artificial light in your greenhouse rather than natural sunlight?

Ok, since you asked , now for the critique:
#1- Put the Lysol away. Except for when cloning, bacteria and fungi are usually an organic gardener's best friends. If you're using Fox Farm soil, you are at least partially an organic gardener and that is a nice segue for #2

#2- Fox Farm Ocean Forest soil(FFOF) is great for adult cannabis when properly mixed with other ingredients. On its own, it is too rich and it will burn plants. I try to help out in the plant infirmary here and growers are constantly burning plants with it. A commercial seed starter mix is a better choice for seedlings and is a good amendment for adult plants with FFOF. Most growers also add anywhere from 10-40% perlite(I use around 20%) to create air pockets and prevent clumping in the soil.

#3- Most of us start out with 12 or 16 oz. party cups for containers and repot into slightly bigger containers several times during the plants growth. This allows the plants to grow into their pots.


For pics, the easiest way is to upload them to your Forum Album and post from there.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Another seed has germinated! This is so exciting. I think from my limited knowledge is that the seeds outside in the greenhouse were having a rough time with the heat. I started five different groups of seeds each days. Two were exposed to the ridiculously horrible temp swings and three from inside. What's exciting to me is the seed that just germinated was from the batch I thought I torched with 110 degrees. It seems that now that the seeds are in the proper environment, they're starting to pop. A couple more look like they could pop soon. This is great!

Ninja thanks for your advice. Could you recommend a soil for early youngsters? Right now I'm putting my popped seeds into Rapid Rooters (after dunking the RRs in PH-balanced water) and then once they're showing roots I'll throw them into party cups like you recommended. That idea of starting them out in 3 gallon pots was stupid on my part, I should've done it the most basic way (like I was preaching) but my lesson has been learned. I've also learned my lesson about Lysol. As previously mentioned my only real experience with growing or gardening has been with mushrooms and you have to crazy obsessive about possible contaiminations and keeping a clean space. I'll put the lysol away

Also the greenhouse is dead to me. I can't control temps or humidity out there and it's been just a lousy experience. For right now I'm growing in my bedroom and will probably move the grow into one of my extra rooms when the time comes.

Thank you for the advice and vigilance.

 

[Weedninja]

I have grown a mushroom or two in my day, but I have retired from that. You know the Trichoderma mold that's such a pain in the ass for mushroom growers? It is actually good for growing weed.

Any commercial seed-starting mix is good, like Jiffy or even Miracle Gro.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Success!

Got home from a camping trip this afternoon and went into my room to discover two beautiful sprouts come from the the rapid rooter cubes and several more seeds germinated. Unbelievable! Those little sprouts absolutely shot up, it's incredible how much they grew in just a day.

I'll post a more detailed report and pics later but I'm exhausted so I'm going to catch a nap.

83 degrees in the germination station
46% humidity

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Day 8

They're starting to pop like they got the blood lust. I simply cannot believe the progress they've made in one day. Switching to a more suitable climate was such a money decision. I learned from mushroom growing that looking at your grow all the time can only hurt it and frustrate you but I do take a look ever couple of hours or so. It's unbelievable that every time I look at them, they've made noticeable progress. Just in the time between my earlier post and this time, one plant that I was worried about because of it being bent over at a dead looking angle has shot up like Superman and a third sprout has appeared. By the way, these rapid rooters are a big fucking win. My seeds seem to be really responding to them and they're really easy to use and work with. I'm not sure how to water them or keep them moist, I'm going to research it right after this post. However, my plants look really happy right now so I don't want to fuck with them. I know over-watering is a hardcore n00b mistake and as evidence with the first page of this post, I've already made a lot and I'd like to steer clear of as many more as I can. The one thing that surprised me today was the temp swing when putting a 125 watt fluoro directly above my plants (I'd always heard you can place CFLs inches away from the plants without a temp swing, but that's not my experience. The plastic box my plants are in right now probably has something to do with it and I'll keep track of this as this goes along but just wanted to note it here.) The temp swung up as much as 15 degrees into the high 90s which really concerned me. I rearranged my grow space and placed a fan on the lights to keep the temp in an optimal range but that's something to keep in mind in the future.



What my germination station looks like right now with the two fluoros on it.

80 degrees
43% humidity

 

[GuerrillaRed]

WOW!!! Look at the progress in 15 hours! I'm telling you man, these plants got the blood lust. I'll definitely transplant them into some small pots with soil tomorrow but so far these rapid rooters are the big fucking win.

I know you all do this every day and it's mundane for you but man I'm creating life in my closet, it's amazing to me

78 Degrees
40% humidity

 

[GuerrillaRed]

I'm getting a little concerned as the leaves on my plants have been drooping. Some more than others.

This one is really bad

I don't know if it's something I shouldn't worry about or if it's a problem. I haven't watered the plants since dunking the rapid rooters in water and only now just misted thinking they may be thirsty (they popped up early yesterday and I haven't watered them) I also this may think it's because of my low humidity (always around 40%)

Should I be concerned?

But man they're growing like crazy, they're growing so fast that I'm actually a little concerned that they're going to be pushing against the plastic top on my germination station when I wake up in the morning. I can't wait to transplant these babies in the morning. I'm going to go with a 20% coco coir, 10% perlite, and 70% seedling start mix to avoid water problems and hopefully keep these babies maintaining their blood lust.

 

[GuerrillaRed]

Just went out to my greenhouse to get a little vaped out and think about the next step in this process. I came up with a cool idea to hang and adjust my lights in the closet for the rest of the veg process, came up with a idea to hang my temp gauge, and also mixed up some PH balanced water for misting my plants tomorrow. Eariler this evening when I check on my plants, two of the rapid rooters felt dry so I dropped some PH'ed balanced water with a eye dropper on both of them and the plants seem happy.

I used zip ties to hang my 25 watt light in the closet which makes total fucking sense and so simple. I'm probably one of the dimer ones on this board but I've been fighting with the ridiculous light hanging methods that come with the lights. Why do they make 'em so impractical and fucking flimsy. Here I'm trying to hang a 20 pound $350 dollar light and they send along skinny fucking pieces of tin that bend and easily fall out of the holes if you don't exact a precise combination of zen mastery and hulk hogan pressure on both sides to lift and hang the bitch. Not to mention the ridiculousness of try to raise and lower the thing. I'm sure all of you are laughing at my stupidity right now (I used to try to use 20 ft dog chains for my lights... yeah I was masochist) However zip ties seem to make the most sense. Number one because they won't suddenly decide to go bitch cakes and drop the light on your foot (...which hasn't happened to me... multiple times... making me scream out... like a bitch) or worse drop it on the floor and break it. Plus you just have to pull 'em tighter to raise and to readjust the lights lower, just cut one off and put a new one in. Fucking simple... at least for me right now.

By the time I came in from getting vaped out, and took one last look for the night. I was amazed that one of the plants was already pushing against the plastic of the germination station. Amazing how well that all worked and how much they exploded in the last 36 hours. I hope I can have as much luck with the rest of the grow as I have for the last two days.