And The First Grow...Was Hydro

[skatterbrayne]

Peace,

After a recent enlightenment spawned by various first timers and gurus, namely NDW4M, I've decided to make a journal for my first grow. I sat by and watched my friend neglect everything from nutrients, to ventilation, to lighting, in growing what ended up being two males of Snow White, from Nirvana... a while ago. We wasted loot on a pack of those AND NL.

So I decided to start with some commercial bagseed, and try to learn the art myself first hand before spending on seeds again.

The VEG growroom is 2x4x4, and I've crowded it.

I've got six plants in 15G DWC Hydro under 2 4 ft 32w Cool Whites. Inside is lined with the white side of poly film. pH stays around 6.0, water temp 68 degrees, growroom temp about 74. I should be getting a tds tester this week, as recommended by a fellow grower here.

And to spice things up, I also have another 6 in a much smaller DWC and in closer proximity to each other..affectionately named: The Jungle Trap..I know these shouldnt be this close to each other...but you only live once, and if this is the worse thing I do in life...I'll be cool with it.

The pic is on day 10 from sprouting.

I'll photo document it so someone else can learn from my mistakes.

I dealt with what I think was nutrient burn during week three, seen here..

The reason I think it was burn is because things started to clear up after flushing the solution and letting the plants grow in plain water.

Week 4 Veg

This pic was week four Veg 7 days after topping one of 3 out of the six. It's crazy how the two shoots develop where one was cut. Damn near everything I've done has been learned on this board, or inspired by it in these recent weeks.

Just a pic of the canopy. (its my first grow, so it all fascinates me)

and an overhead closeup..

The thing is, I plan on trying to clone what I can get away with from these six, and then throwing the mothers, and the other 6 in The Jungle Trap into flowering, this weekend.
Which means, I'll be flowering 6 plants in their 5th wk of veg and another 6 in less than 1 sq ft. on or before their 14th day from sprouting.

For flowering, I'm using a 4x3x10 room and should be getting a 400w hps this weekend. Whether I get that from a friend of mine or not is really what dictates when I'll toss these into flowering..

If I clone these saturday, is it okay to throw the plants right into 12/12 on Sunday? I've read about the plants needing to recover after pruning.

Anyway, I'll try to keep it posted weekly, if not more.

 

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

Lookin good so far bro. Those plants in the small system are way to close, but fuck it. lol Only thing that concerns me is it looks like the plant on the right of the second to last pic is quite a bit out of the light. If possible I would suggest getting another set of your two 4 foot lamps.

Also worried you're going to be a little short on light once you go to flower. You might want to look into picking up a HPS for that purpose if you can afford it. You can find a decent 400 watt hps for about $100 including the bulb. Definitely worth it. You can ask anyone on here that has made the switch from fluoro to hps for flowering and they will tell you that you get more dense bud and a higher yield.

The plants are lookin great so far though so you are doing great. Just keep it up and try to get some more light in there and you should be set.

 

[DankCloset]

definatly would go with the hps, iam glad i made the switch. it was worth it, although i didnt get a yield last time, i will this time.

i may buy another hps, what do you guys think? 2 250 or 1 400?

 

[NoDirtWeed4Me]

I don't know Dank. Price wise there isn't a large difference between a 250 and a 400. I mean $85 for one 250watt or $100 for a 400watt. If I was getting two I would fork out the extra $30 and get two 400watts.

 

[skatterbrayne]

Peace,

And thanks NDW4M...

I actually pulled the entire system out from under the light to get a shot of the canopy. Usually its completely under the light, I'll try to post a better pic of the entire set up this weekend.

And I'm definitely getting the hps like everyone here is advising. I wish I could afford the metal halide for veg. AND the hps. Should have a 400w hps this weekend.. Again, the plants will be moved to a 4x3x10 flower room and placed under the hps for flowering.

And you're so right, man.. I'm probably f*ckin' up big time having "The Jungle Trap" so congested.. but I figured, if I dont try it, I'll always wonder if it could've worked.. I do plan to prune the plants quite a bit, perhaps leaving only main colas...only because of the limited space.

Those six are really my group to experiment with..maybe try some techniques
I've been reading up on.

And in the end..its all commercial bagseed, nothing special..
I know they probably wont be that dense, but Im eager to see how well commercial or schwag seeds can turn out when grown hydro, despite genetics.

 

[DankCloset]

if you get the maximum thc content the strain allows, then u did ur job right lol looks good though, iam about to build one this weekend, i keep get screwed cuz of work.

 

[skatterbrayne]

Peace,

Good advice DankCloset, and I'm takin it all in. How did you get the pics up at a favorable size?

Incidentally, the plants in the "Jungle Trap" are starting to suffer...could be cause I havent topped off or flushed it in a week.. Or maybe the problems with planting too close together are starting to show already.. Anyway, I'll have pics up later this evening so other rookies can learn what not to do.

Peace

 

[skatterbrayne]

Thanks guys..

I uploaded...just waiting for approval on pics...So I'm thinkin' its all good. And I'll put em up as soon as I notice the approval. I'll pm you if anything seems wrong NDW4M

By the way, I did get the 400 w hps...but wont be flowering until Tuesday..We've gotta modify it so that the ballast is separate from the bulb and fixture so that I can hang it in my flowering room.

In other news...I took 2 clones each off my biggest 3 from the main hydro setup, 1 off another and I actually cut my 6th plant down and am attempting to root that, and just veg it with the clones.... got pics.

It was only about 4in after 4 weeks. Barely getting any light despite pruning the canopy and tying back some other fan leaves..



QUESTION???
YOu guys think I'll be alright flowering 5 mothers on Tuesday after taking 2 clones from each today?? Is that enough recovery time? or does it matter? The mother's are going on the 6th wk of vegging

Thanks for the help.

 

[skatterbrayne]

Peace, Okay,
Had some nutrient issues in the jungle trap this past week... pH has been a steady 6.0 so I assume that this:

Nute Defiency -

More Nute Def/Burn –

was either from some sort of defiency, or burn from the 2 tsp of Epsom salt I put in there, along with limited water.

I'm thinkin' since the DWC is actually kinda shallow, like 7 or 8 gallons, that the solution will just need to be topped off and flushed more often then the 15 gallon tank the mother plants are in.

Jungle Trap-Day 14-

Also tried my luck at cloning today..
It was my first time, so I hope I didnt f*ck up too bad.
I've got 7 clones, and one super underdeveloped parent that I snipped and am attempting to reroot so I can give it better lighting.

Clones -

I snipped just below the 4th node at a 45 dgr angle, cut off all lower leaf sets, placed the tips in water momentarily, made another 45 dgr cut while under water then dipped in Dip'n'Grow liquid concentrate (diluted form).

I placed these cuttings in rockwool that soaked over night in pH 6 tap water. Then misted the leaves.

Check em out next to the jungle trap, with a holed tupperware container as a humi-dome. Its all sitting on a heating pad..Last I checked the temp for the clones inside the dome is 82 but I can bring it down to 74 using a lower heating setting on the pad.. What do you guys think is best?

Greenhouse-Jungle Trap-

If things go right tomorrow with modifying this 400w hps, then I should be flowering at least some of the 19 plants that are now goin. Probably the 5 mothers.

Wish me luck on the clones.

Peace

 

[Urdedpal]

Why do to have four plants in one container? Its too late now but next time don't do that, it can slow and stunt growth. Your flowering them pretty small, is your height issue that bad?

 

[skatterbrayne]

Why do to have four plants in one container? Its too late now but next time don't do that, it can slow and stunt growth. Your flowering them pretty small, is your height issue that bad?

Peace,

Naw height issues arent that bad at all, IMO: Vegroom 4x2x4 Flwr room 4x3x10

And yeah, without question you're right ... way too close together..and to make your statement even more valid, its not 4 but actually 6 plants there in the “jungle trap.” But thats all part of the experiment.

Initially, I planned to flower 6 mother plants after 5 weeks veg and the 6 in the Jungle Trap after 2 weeks veg..

If you read the journal, you'll see that I got the early flowering idea from NDW4M, who, incidentally shot me a photo of a plant he flowered after 3 DAYS, looked great.

At this point I'll actually only be flowering 5 mothers... I took 7 clones from them, so thats what I'll really take time and learn with...



The other six you see crowded in "The Jungle Trap," are more for experimental purposes. I wanna flower em early, and grow only the main colas or maybe tie em down.. But ultimately, I wanna keep em ultra short and flower early in a congested area (similar to SOG) to see if it can be pulled off..
If it can be done, it may spawn ideas for others..If it is a total failure, then other beginners will have an illustrated guide of WHAT NOT TO DO
, and I'll still have 5 plants and their clones to work with...
And again...its bagseed...I'm prepared to lose all six if necessary.





Keep smokin' and Stay Peaceful,

Peace...

 

[Urdedpal]

If a plant dies or is a male to be removed you will not be able to pull the plant. The roots will rot and cause the other plants to be infected with the rotting roots. The roots will strangle and stunt the plants and you will have smaller bud sites. Good luck with the experiment.

 

[skatterbrayne]

Peace,

damn... lesson learned quicker than expected.
All good though..Won't try it again, but you're right, this is too late, so I guess I'll let it play out. I'd hate to just toss the plants.

Thats cool though because now I know the reason WHY I shouldn't do that to reinforce the rule itself.
Thanks, Urdedpal.

As an update: the clones look ok after day one. Will post pics tonight

Peace

 

[DankCloset]

cool

 

[skatterbrayne]

UPDATE:
Negative Energy.....
1. Camera broke about a week or two back.
2. The ballast of the 400 HPS I got from my friend blew before i even got a chance to use it...

So, I began the flowering cycle of 5 Mother plants and the 6 in the Jungle trap.
ALL UNDER 2 4'32 w Cool White Flouros....
But I was able to dip outta state and grab a HPS from a hydro store..
I got the 400 Watt HPS w/ Hortilux bulb (25% more blue spectrum)
Plants seemed to dig it right away.
I think their growth may be stunted from the lack of light, and also I pruned them like the first week of flowering and last week.. All dying limbs though.
And the clones I took WERE dying miserably, but seemed to have been revived under the hps and in soil.

Lrg Plants - Day 59 overall, 17 of flowering...I dont see any signs of sex yet. Again I think I've delayed the sexing due to some stress.

Jungle Trap - Day 36 overall, 17 of flowering

All of these plants have only been under the HPS instead of 2 flouros for one week now. It was only 64 w of cool white and probably less than 5 or 6000 lumens before now...

Anyway, here are some pics:

Flowering Room: 3 X 4 x 10

4 lrg plants left 6 in jungle trap doin well. 4 clones, and 1 cutting that originally came from the big DWC= 15 plants in my first grow.

After 7 weeks of 64 watts of Flouros...finally got the hps

This plant was topped..3 main shoots now.

Hard to see, but this plant was tied down, with piper cleaners:

Here are some pics of problems we faced

So I flushed my systems...Let em go on pH 6 water for about 4 days and then gave them this at 1/3 strength 1 wk ago.. plants seemed to love it.

Im gonna buy GrowBig and go Foxfarm start to finish next time out.

17 days into flowering..Still cant determine sex

Every single one of the clones started to deteriorate like 2 days after cutting.. maybe cause rockwool wasnt pretreated correctly.. (my girl contaminated the water I had sitting out overnight that was pH adjusted...So in a hurry I soaked the clone cubes in plain tap...I happen to know our tap pH is wAAY too HIGH. The clones were wilted, drooping, and dying.

But a week ago, I put the cubes in soil, watered with pH 6 water, and put them in the flowering room, AND THEY STARTED TO REVIVE!!!Anyway, since the clones were recovering from the dead anyway, and its bagseed, I decided to throw em straight into flowering. I've heard it produces a small "bud-on-a-stick" type of thing if its female..

I'll post clone pics after approval

In the meantime, I ordered some Snow White & Cali Orange Bud from Nirvana for my next grow which may be predominately soil. Any one have any accounts of grows of that type?

Peace

 

[skatterbrayne]

Hard to See but these clones, which were yellow wilting, drooping and falling apart, are now actually starting to come back around. I've been foliar feeding with a very diluted tiger bloom solution.

 

[cement head]

your plants look healty are you flowering those little ones already just thought that what the tiger bloom was or is that for vegging

 

[skatterbrayne]

your plants look healty are you flowering those little ones already just thought that what the tiger bloom was or is that for vegging

Thanks, CH.

Yeah, those are clones of the bigger ones that were on the verge of death when I decided to throw their rockwool cubes into some soil and into 12/12 under the hps a week ago, on their second week. Then they just started puting out extremely small but green growth.

So I put a tsp of tiger bloom in to a gallon of pH 6 water mixed, and filled a small spray bottle with the contents for misting twice a day. No complaints after a week.

I heard that flowering your small clones like that can be done, giving you ("bud on a stick") it just isnt because of the negative yield.

I'm really not worried about that, more about the testing some limits in my first grow so that I can gain a little more experience.

Plus I'm trying to hurry up and clear out this bagseed grow for a Snow White grow journal

 

[cement head]

cool look forward to it

 

[skatterbrayne]

today I get a call from my wife that my biggest plant fell onto the smaller hydro plant system.....but didnt damage it.. AND the grow room was 95 degrees inside!!!!!

So she turned on the central air and called me at work. I didnt get off until 3 hours later, but came home and she had taken care of things pretty well.

Temp was down to 82. Humidity was at like 45%. And best of all if I'm not mistaken, the plant that fell over (top heavy in the hydro bubbler) showed the two white hairs emerging in various bud spots.. Hopefully that fall didint stress it out too much.
On tuesdays I get home from work just in time to wish the plants good night. (Nightcycle is 6pm to 6am).
So I will take a closer look tomorrow.. it is exactly 20 days into flowering today.

Peace