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** pics are below, keep scrolling
I’ve set up this thread to journal my first serious grow. I’ve smoked (almost exclusively swag) for the past 12 years, at times heavily with some breaks in between. I’ve recently been re-introduced to the wonders of weed through a two week trip in Amsterdam and through a friend who has secured me some of the finest smoke I’ve ever had for very reasonable prices (several different strong strains). His service and growing has inspired me and given me the itch to try it again. I tried growing weed several times through high school and college. Most attempts involved bag seed and a shop light and were aborted because of basically no progress and frustration of not being able to effectively manage the progress without a boatload of cash and space.
Now, I’ve got a little money and some space and have decided to do it for real. I’ve spent about $1500 on gear and supplies so far – you budget for a light and a carbon scrubber but then you don’t account for all the little expensive things you need to set up a grow space (it really adds up). Also, I had no idea how big most of this equipment is in real life. I got one of the smallest can filters and aircooled hoods I could find but they both seem huge! [I see “computer case” grow threads now and just can’t comprehend how that would work!] I know this sounds like a lot of money but it’s worth it for the thought of never buying again (some high end strains are $1500 for a qp!) and for the thought that the better set up I got will allow for better product in a more secure environment, perpetually.
Anyway, here’s what I am running on this grow:
Veg/Flower Room: Homebox XL
Lighting: SunSystem I 600w HPS
Yield Master 4 Air Cooled Reflector
Hortilux Enhanced HPS Bulb
Ventilation: Eco Plus Carbonaire 4" Filter
Eco Plus 4" Inline Fan (pulling from light into filter)
Connected with 4” Flexible Duct
Automation: Graslin 15amp Grounded Timer
Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer
Seedling/Cloning: 10” x 20” Propagation Tray with Clear Dome
Seedling Heat Mat 10” x 20”
Rapid Rooters
Medium: Soil: Organic mix/Perlite/Jiffy Mix/Potting Soil
Nutes: Pure Blend Grow and Bloom
On 1/17 I put 7 feminized Black Jack beans (Black Domina x Jack Herer by Sweet Seeds), 5 feminized SourNL* x Haze beans (Female Seeds), and 5 GSA SourNLX* (“Sour” NL x WW(?)) freebies into rapid rooters in a clear dome with a heat mat under. On 1/19 I put 10 Master Kush (Aghani x Skunk by Nirvana Seeds) in a shot glass of water overnight. The next day the Master Kush beans went between wet paper towels on a glass plate in the dome with the rapid rooters. By 1/21 6 of 7 Jack Blacks had sprouted or formed a seedling, 4 of 5 SourNL x Hazes sprouted, and 4 of 5 SourNLX sprouted. Also, at this time all 10 of the Master Kush had popped and shown 1-2 cm taproots.
*As an aside, I really doubt the voracity of these “sour” NL strains. Apparently, they contain no Sour Diesel or SD-linked strain but are products of a particularly “sour” NL cut. To me this sounds like typical bandwagon jumping given the NYCD/ECSD popularity. However, we’ll see by the end of the grow if these stand up at all to the established “sour” strains.
So, on 1/21 I placed all the Master Kush sprouts in rapid rooters and proceeded to pot all the beans listed above that had germed (including the Master Kushs now in their rooters). I put the rooters in 6” pots (roughly 1.5 liter) with the soil mix listed above. The pots went on small window trays that held three pots.
All together I had 24 potted sprouts/germed beans. I figure in the best case, 10 of the plants will be viable females. Of the other 14 I hope for a 50% female rate, giving me a total of 17 buddable plants. Assuming 4-5 more are culled for whatever reason in the growing process, I hope to have at least 12 viable females. I am hoping to get at least ½ oz per plant on this run. That would leave me with 6 zips of various strains and some nice trim – this should be enough to last me the rest of the year comfortably. Any thing else is gravy.
After the rooters were potted, they went into the homebox. The homebox is very cool but is a bit of a bitch to set up, especially if you’re like me and get frustrated when putting together grills, etc. The cover is very hard to get over the frame if you’re like me and don’t zip up the sides before trying to secure the top (the instructions don’t make this clear). While the material and zippers appear solid I did pull a rather large rip in the top of the fabric. The material is strong, but no material is probably strong enough with people manically trying to pull the fabric on with all their weight. Needless to say, I found a large black vinyl grill cover that can cover the top. I’ll probably patch this anyway with duct tape earlier. There’s also some other small light entry points around the tent that I intend to patch up this weekend.
Once in the homebox, the young tings were given their first real light in the form of 2 x 100w CFLs suspended from the homebox ceiling by their cords. These barely covered the plants but gave them a little warm up while I arranged my hps set up. I watered the new pots fairly well (I need a waterer as I am basically dousing the little guys now). The next morning (1/22) the plants were doing ok and I gave them a tiny bit more water. The evening of the 22nd I put together the aircooled reflector. For now, I just connected this to a hose running out of the light in the homebox into the blower listed above just blowing out in the (unfinished) room, as the plants are so small. The can filter (sitting out side of the tent) will be connected to the blower in the next week or so.
On the morning of the 23rd I watered a bit and the heat seems ok. This evening on the 24th I watered a wee bit and heat levels seem ok – a little warmer but that’s probably related to the weather being a little warmer outside (the space is unconditioned). On the 26th I gave a little more water and rotated the pots around the space. Today, I've got 24 3" to 6" seedlings some starting their second leaf sets. I have them on 20/4 right now and will probably keep them there for at least another two weeks. I am awaiting receipt of my pure blend ferts and will start that regimen within the next two weeks. I have read a lot about the 12/12 from seed method and while I’m not ready to go there yet (need to patch light leaks/monitor temp levels) I do intend to start flowering no later than three weeks of today. I understand the sacrifice in yield but I simply won’t have room for 13-24 trees or big bushes. I would rather harvest a load of spears a few weeks earlier – again, I don’t have huge aspirations for yield. My goal is to keep them small by going no bigger than 2 gallon pots, transplanting when going into flower. This round is all about “getting my feet wet” and if things go well I’ll keep clones for another, more serious run after this one.
I’ve already started looking into a hyrdo set up to start any clones taken from this run and would like a little help on an easy hydro set up if anyone has pointers (I’m looking at the various kits now).
I’ve stocked away some seeds and have Wonder Diesel and a host of other Nirvana and White Label strains to grow out after this, in addition to any keeper clones from this run.
Well, that should be the basics covered. I’ll be updating this and posting some pics over the next couple of weeks as things get more interesting. Feel free to comment as you see fit.
I’ve set up this thread to journal my first serious grow. I’ve smoked (almost exclusively swag) for the past 12 years, at times heavily with some breaks in between. I’ve recently been re-introduced to the wonders of weed through a two week trip in Amsterdam and through a friend who has secured me some of the finest smoke I’ve ever had for very reasonable prices (several different strong strains). His service and growing has inspired me and given me the itch to try it again. I tried growing weed several times through high school and college. Most attempts involved bag seed and a shop light and were aborted because of basically no progress and frustration of not being able to effectively manage the progress without a boatload of cash and space.
Now, I’ve got a little money and some space and have decided to do it for real. I’ve spent about $1500 on gear and supplies so far – you budget for a light and a carbon scrubber but then you don’t account for all the little expensive things you need to set up a grow space (it really adds up). Also, I had no idea how big most of this equipment is in real life. I got one of the smallest can filters and aircooled hoods I could find but they both seem huge! [I see “computer case” grow threads now and just can’t comprehend how that would work!] I know this sounds like a lot of money but it’s worth it for the thought of never buying again (some high end strains are $1500 for a qp!) and for the thought that the better set up I got will allow for better product in a more secure environment, perpetually.
Anyway, here’s what I am running on this grow:
Veg/Flower Room: Homebox XL
Lighting: SunSystem I 600w HPS
Yield Master 4 Air Cooled Reflector
Hortilux Enhanced HPS Bulb
Ventilation: Eco Plus Carbonaire 4" Filter
Eco Plus 4" Inline Fan (pulling from light into filter)
Connected with 4” Flexible Duct
Automation: Graslin 15amp Grounded Timer
Digital Thermometer/Hygrometer
Seedling/Cloning: 10” x 20” Propagation Tray with Clear Dome
Seedling Heat Mat 10” x 20”
Rapid Rooters
Medium: Soil: Organic mix/Perlite/Jiffy Mix/Potting Soil
Nutes: Pure Blend Grow and Bloom
On 1/17 I put 7 feminized Black Jack beans (Black Domina x Jack Herer by Sweet Seeds), 5 feminized SourNL* x Haze beans (Female Seeds), and 5 GSA SourNLX* (“Sour” NL x WW(?)) freebies into rapid rooters in a clear dome with a heat mat under. On 1/19 I put 10 Master Kush (Aghani x Skunk by Nirvana Seeds) in a shot glass of water overnight. The next day the Master Kush beans went between wet paper towels on a glass plate in the dome with the rapid rooters. By 1/21 6 of 7 Jack Blacks had sprouted or formed a seedling, 4 of 5 SourNL x Hazes sprouted, and 4 of 5 SourNLX sprouted. Also, at this time all 10 of the Master Kush had popped and shown 1-2 cm taproots.
*As an aside, I really doubt the voracity of these “sour” NL strains. Apparently, they contain no Sour Diesel or SD-linked strain but are products of a particularly “sour” NL cut. To me this sounds like typical bandwagon jumping given the NYCD/ECSD popularity. However, we’ll see by the end of the grow if these stand up at all to the established “sour” strains.
So, on 1/21 I placed all the Master Kush sprouts in rapid rooters and proceeded to pot all the beans listed above that had germed (including the Master Kushs now in their rooters). I put the rooters in 6” pots (roughly 1.5 liter) with the soil mix listed above. The pots went on small window trays that held three pots.
All together I had 24 potted sprouts/germed beans. I figure in the best case, 10 of the plants will be viable females. Of the other 14 I hope for a 50% female rate, giving me a total of 17 buddable plants. Assuming 4-5 more are culled for whatever reason in the growing process, I hope to have at least 12 viable females. I am hoping to get at least ½ oz per plant on this run. That would leave me with 6 zips of various strains and some nice trim – this should be enough to last me the rest of the year comfortably. Any thing else is gravy.
After the rooters were potted, they went into the homebox. The homebox is very cool but is a bit of a bitch to set up, especially if you’re like me and get frustrated when putting together grills, etc. The cover is very hard to get over the frame if you’re like me and don’t zip up the sides before trying to secure the top (the instructions don’t make this clear). While the material and zippers appear solid I did pull a rather large rip in the top of the fabric. The material is strong, but no material is probably strong enough with people manically trying to pull the fabric on with all their weight. Needless to say, I found a large black vinyl grill cover that can cover the top. I’ll probably patch this anyway with duct tape earlier. There’s also some other small light entry points around the tent that I intend to patch up this weekend.
Once in the homebox, the young tings were given their first real light in the form of 2 x 100w CFLs suspended from the homebox ceiling by their cords. These barely covered the plants but gave them a little warm up while I arranged my hps set up. I watered the new pots fairly well (I need a waterer as I am basically dousing the little guys now). The next morning (1/22) the plants were doing ok and I gave them a tiny bit more water. The evening of the 22nd I put together the aircooled reflector. For now, I just connected this to a hose running out of the light in the homebox into the blower listed above just blowing out in the (unfinished) room, as the plants are so small. The can filter (sitting out side of the tent) will be connected to the blower in the next week or so.
On the morning of the 23rd I watered a bit and the heat seems ok. This evening on the 24th I watered a wee bit and heat levels seem ok – a little warmer but that’s probably related to the weather being a little warmer outside (the space is unconditioned). On the 26th I gave a little more water and rotated the pots around the space. Today, I've got 24 3" to 6" seedlings some starting their second leaf sets. I have them on 20/4 right now and will probably keep them there for at least another two weeks. I am awaiting receipt of my pure blend ferts and will start that regimen within the next two weeks. I have read a lot about the 12/12 from seed method and while I’m not ready to go there yet (need to patch light leaks/monitor temp levels) I do intend to start flowering no later than three weeks of today. I understand the sacrifice in yield but I simply won’t have room for 13-24 trees or big bushes. I would rather harvest a load of spears a few weeks earlier – again, I don’t have huge aspirations for yield. My goal is to keep them small by going no bigger than 2 gallon pots, transplanting when going into flower. This round is all about “getting my feet wet” and if things go well I’ll keep clones for another, more serious run after this one.
I’ve already started looking into a hyrdo set up to start any clones taken from this run and would like a little help on an easy hydro set up if anyone has pointers (I’m looking at the various kits now).
I’ve stocked away some seeds and have Wonder Diesel and a host of other Nirvana and White Label strains to grow out after this, in addition to any keeper clones from this run.
Well, that should be the basics covered. I’ll be updating this and posting some pics over the next couple of weeks as things get more interesting. Feel free to comment as you see fit.
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