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my ACE journey begins

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
Welcome back, dubi! I hope your time away was restful, although you also had a lot of work to do. Anyway, glad to see you back!

Lots of updates.

We got notice that they were going to show our apartment so the garden had to come down the day after the last photos were taken. It was kind of a mad scramble to get it all down and put away so the plants were just trimmed down and tossed into paper grocery bags. The bags got caught up in the move and the flowers were pretty dry by the time I found them. I put them into jars but haven't sampled any yet.

I've been sampling my KC a bit. Wow! The aromas and flavors are like nothing I've ever had! Very interesting spicy character. Up, happy feel at first and then relaxing a bit but still uplifted. I'm running another KC this round, too.

On to the big news--we got the house!

We took possession at the end of October. It's still crazy around here. We're trying to keep boxes from piling up inside but the garage is pretty full. We've still got quite a bit of stuff out in storage, too, and I want to get it emptied by the end of the month. Crazy fun times, I can't wait to get unpacked and set up!

The new basement garden room is roughly 3.5' x 11' (~ 1m x 3.3m), but adding a door, etc... it will probably be closer to 10' long. Ceiling is 6' at very back and 6' 6" the rest of the way. Insulation, etc... won't take much from my height. I'll have to put my mom/veg tent in there, too, for security reasons, so that'll leave me a flower area of approx 3.5'w x 7'l, which should be plenty big for the two of us.

I'll need to get it wired for electricity and figure out my ventilation. I've been using an old repurposed warehouse 400w hps but I'm thinking new lights for the new garden. I love my little LEDs in my tent but CMH is probably the way I'll go. A couple 315w lights should work great. Concrete walls and floor and it's pretty cool down there right now so not sure if I'll need to add heat in the winter or how it'll all work. Plenty of time to figure it out!

And despite not being ready for a new grow right now, I started one anyway. I went with 2 Congo, 2 Zamaldelica and 1 Kali China, all fems. The KC popped first followed quickly by both Z's. Nothing yet from the Congos but it's only bee a day or so. In fact, I was down in the front of the basement last night setting up the tent so I'd have a place to put the seedlings. I'm hoping I'll be able to flower them in the new room, at least for part of the time, but we'll see how the construction goes. We're not even fully moved in yet!

I'll try to check in when I can but I don't have a lot of free time lately. I'll post more as we make progress. Lots of fun times ahead!
 

ULMW

Active member
Congrats Samuel on your new home. Great news! May it bring your family great happiness. Basement sounds cool and spacious. Way to go already germing your beans!!!
Hope your last stash pleases too.
Happy growing !
 

rlsmooth

Well-known member
Good choice with the CMH:s I think! This is going to be an interesting run..gonna follow and waiting for nasty bud pics!
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
back left - Kali China, back center and right - Zamaldelica
front - Congo

picture.php

View image in gallery
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
I added some fresh worm castings to some of my old organic soil and potted up my gals. I'm happy to be using my old soil mix again. Zamaldelicas on the top row, KC front left, Congo front center and right.

Kali China was the first plant harvested from the previous run so we've been smoking that quite a bit lately. Great flavors and aromas but I'm disappointed to say that the effect is very weak. I smoked 4 consecutive bowls yesterday while working around the house and got very little out of it. Maybe some relaxation after while but overall not a satisfying smoke at all. I'm hoping the next round will be better.

The Tikals came down later than the KC and I've only sampled them a couple times but it's MUCH better! Great fruity aromas and flavors and much stronger effects, despite having been chopped before they were fully finished. I'm looking forward to running these again!

 

OnceUpon

Member
interesting. I had a different experience with tikal & kali china

i found my two Kali China to be a much more intese effect than my one Tikal girl... only it was much shorter duration. sort of bang! then fade.. i preferred that friendlier tikal feeling.not as strong at first... but kind , conststant and long lasting
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
I'm assuming/hoping that it was just a freak as I've read several good smoke reports. I'm running another KC this round and thinking about popping my remaining beans, too, just to see what it's really all about.
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
Update time. I had the day off and the weather was spectacular so I got some work done around the house. I spent all afternoon raking leaves and enjoying the effects of my Tikal! Very nice! Uplifting, positive feelings, energetic and it seemed to last quite a long time. Flavors are fruity and smooth. It's seems to be exactly what I was hoping for. :yes:

My current garden, nice growth in the week since my last update. They had been under a T5 but I switched to the LEDs that I used on my last round.

Same order as last time - Zamaldelica in the back, KC front left and Congo front center and right.

 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
Weekly update, approx 3 weeks from seed. I'm seeing several little roots poking out through the fabric pots so I know they're growing well. (I love fabric pots!) They started on 24/0 light, mostly because I didn't know where my timer was, but I've stepped them down to 18/6 now. I'll give them another week or so and then start stepping them down, probably another week or so after that to hit 12/12.

First pic, full tent, same order as previous pix - Zams in the back, KC front left, Congo front center and right.

 

deepwaterdude

Well-known member
Yep, ditto that, nice growth the last week! Amazing how fat Zams can start out and how skinny they can get in flower. Mine looks about the same;)

Are they in 3 gal pots?
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
Yep, ditto that, nice growth the last week! Amazing how fat Zams can start out and how skinny they can get in flower. Mine looks about the same;)

Are they in 3 gal pots?

Thanks, guys! I'm super excited to try the Zams, they keep getting such great reviews!

Yep, Zams are in 3 gal, the rest are in 2's. I've got more 3's but couldn't find them until the day after I used the 2's. Oh well.
 

dubi

ACE Seeds Breeder
Vendor
Veteran
Hi Samuel,

Hope you finished with the move to the new house, wish you and your wife are now fully established and confortable in your new home :)

Sorry to hear that the effect of your first KC didn't meet your expectations, Kali China has been bred to have a very refined and complex terpene profile, it is not our strongest strain, but i wouldn't rate her as weak, maybe it had something to do with the fast drying ? Anyway, i'm glad the Tikal is of your taste ;) I hope the upcoming Kali China really hit strong and in the way you like.

Thank you very much for starting a new grow with our genetics! :yes: Best wishes!
 

Samuel Caldwell

Well-known member
Happy holidays! It's been a hectic couple weeks, hope everyone is doing well!

I moved my tent up to our bedroom closet for the holidays--having some family over and they'll want a tour of the house. I'm sure the gals are enjoying the warmer temps compared to the winter basement and I need to get my carbon filter out ASAP! Unfortunately my wife got really sick and we had to postpone our holiday. Not sure when we'll reschedule, probably mid-January.

I've been tapering my light down, flipped to 12/12 tonight. Girls are getting big, probably should have flipped a week ago. Hoping to get the electrician over ASAP to wire up the new garden room.

full garden pic - Zamaldelicas in the back, KC front left (propped up) and Congos front center and right

 

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