First Time Grow - 2 x Nirvana Freebies - 1 x White Widow - 1 x Pineapple Punch

[NSFW]

Hey everyone, this will be my first grow ever! They are still germinating, and pictures will be uploaded as they sprout, hopefully...

Strain:
2x Nirvana Freebies, no idea how they will turn out, and there seems to be very little journals on growing these. As a first time grower, my plan is to make these my "back-up" plants in case my other 2 plants die. Hopefully, as they grow, maybe someone can suggest what strain they are!

1x Nirvana White Widow auto fem (WW). They should be a sativa dominant hybrid. There were freebies from sensibleseeds, I got 10 of them in total.

1x Autoseeds Pineapple Punch auto fem (PP). These are an indica dominant hybrid.

I chose these two to grow because I wanted to experience both indica and sativa dominant strains. Also, based on researching the strains, they have a similar harvest time from seed (9-11 weeks), and a similar height (50-100cm).

Grow tent:
I will be putting them in a Gorilla Lite 2x2.5 grow tent when they have germinated. I kinda regret not getting the original one as I've found some reviews complaining about light leaks for their Lite line as it uses a much thinner fabric. This will be an indoor grow.

Germination method:
I did a 24 hour tap water soak on each of the seeds in a glass container, 3 of them cracked by 24 hours, and have been transplanted into a solo cup with soil. The White Widow has not cracked after 24 hours, and I may be transferring them to a moist towel in a bit, hope they manage to germinate.

Growing Medium:
As a first grow, I felt most comfortable with soil. After doing a lot of research, I'm currently using an organic soil, and have mixed with around 20-25% perlite. Hopefully, the soil will able to help buffer any stupid mistakes I make later on.

Pot sizes:
Currently in solo cups, with first transplant to a 1 gallon plastic pot, and finally to a 3 gallon smart pot.

Light used:
LED lights 220w actual draw, HID equivalent to 300w. It leaves a footprint of around 2'x3', which is more than the size of the tent. This will be the light used from veg to flowering. There are no veg/flowering modes for this light either. I plan to use 18-6 for my light cycles and see how they go.

Nutrients:
I got the nirvana yield pack, it's got 5x of RootXtender, Soiltabs and Flowertabs. I plan to share 1 pack of rootxtender for the WW and PP, and use 1/4 of the recommended dose of the soiltabs and flowertabs. I've read in many places that LESS IS MORE, so, lets see how that goes. I will not be adding any nutrients for the freebies for the entire grow. I will not be monitoring PH levels, but will check the RH and temp of the grow room.

Training:
I have never done any gardening before, so I will be trying out some techniques I've read about online. I will be using LST on my WW and PP autos, as it seems that autos have little time to recover from more stressful methods. I will use topping for the 2 freebie plants, and perhaps even try supercropping. Since I'm guessing that the freebies are photoperiods, they should give me ample time to experiment different stuff on them. I am not expecting any good harvest from these plants. Also, I hope one of the freebies is a male, so I can get some first hand experience on what they look like, and how to identify them (and finally killing them).

That's all for now, hopefully I will be able to have some updates in a few days as they begin to sprout!

 

[Tomula]

Hello, welcome here on the forums.
I did manifolding (or mainlining, call it as you wish)- 3x topped my plant and it worked flawlessly. Now I am helping my friend with it, planted WW/Ak47 hybrid into big (9 gal) pot straight away using compost some soil from chickenhouse and live worms. In my last grow I did not check the roots regularly and let them bind a bit. After that the rootball did not get much bigger. I did use root stimulator. Do not forget good air circulation (rotating fan and outtake) as it helps a lot and prevents mold. Great way to start a seed putting it into small rockwool cube after the root shoots out. Buy some yellow bug catchers to get rid off annoying flies. And some cheap kit for Ph, it is good to have as much data as possible. Yes less is more thats for sure gradually increase the feeding and watch them closely respond. Put the seeds under light before the first shoot so it does not stretch a lot, but you can always add more soil to cover the stem up to the first leaves.
Thats some things I´ve learned so far. Always expect the BEST harvest and keep up the good spirit (freebies be surprising). And no, you wont make any stupid mistakes, I believe in you! Do not worry. Read a lot, journals, guides and you WILL be fine. Best of luck to you our friend! Have a nice grow.

 

[NSFW]

Thanks Tomula!

First update:

Freebie#1:
It was soaked in a water cup for 16 hours, seed cracked but no taproot sticking out yet. Planted into a small plastic cup. It took around 72 hours for the sprout to push through the soil. Moved under LED grow light once cotyledon opened up. First set of tiny true leaves shows after 16 hours under grow light. I plan to do lots of experiments with the freebie plants. The first one will be to keep them in the tiny cup to see how long it takes for them to become rootbound in a cup this size.

Freebie#2:
Sorry, no pics for this one as it has not sprouted yet. Same as #1, seed cracked and was planted into a small plastic cup. After 96 hours, still no sprout to be seen. I am keeping it somewhere warm and dark, misting the top of the soil twice a day to keep it moist.

WW#1:
Soaked in water cup for 24 hours without cracking, changed to wet paper towel for another 12 hours before the seed cracked. Planted in soil in <1 gallon plastic pot. 60 hours and no sprout has broken through the top soil yet. I was a little worried that this wouldn't be viable so I went ahead and added 1 more WW seed to germinate.

WW#2:
My WW#1 seed was the biggest and best looking seed of the pack of 10 WW freebies. When it didn't crack at 24 hours, I added another WW to germ. WW#2 seed was the tiniest seed in the pack. It only got a 12 hour paper towel soak, and was planted into soil without seeing any visible cracks. You can see the difference in seed sizes below. I think in terms of weight, the tiny seed was probably barely 25% of the other one. 60 hours and no sprout at the moment.

PP:
The pineapple punch seed was soaked in water cup for 20 hours before the seed cracked. It was transplanted to a <1 gallon plastic pot. It sprouted after 48 hours, and moved to grow room under LED lights. After 16 hours, the first set of true leaves can be seen. This seed began germination around 24 hours after the 2 freebies, and is currently the same size as freebie#1. I've got some high hope for this one!

Grow tent:
I am currently running a fan inside my grow tent to provide air movement, but have not installed the carbon filter and extractor fan yet. All the venting holes of the tent are open to provide passive air circulation. I thought I might as well save some electricity as the plants are so tiny. I will set up the filter / extractor fan after all my seed have sprouted and are moved into the grow tent.

My LED lights are currently on a 16/8 cycle, I will change them to 18/6 once the rest of my plants are sprouted and moved into the grow tent.

On a side note, the gorilla lite grow tent I got had a broken zipper. As I was unpacking the contents of the box, I heard a metallic clang as the metal handle thing fell out. I suspect it had come off way before I unpacked it. Luckily, the zip itself was still fine, and after some improvising I made a new handle with some thick string. Oh, the broken zipper was the middle vertical one, the one you HAVE to use, how freaking great.

Anyways, I'm really excited about this grow, more updates coming when the other seeds sprout! Peace.

 

[Tomula]

Nice man, I hope you get some females, good luck. Sorry to hear about the zipper, but at least it zips.

 

[Light Addict]

Ill subb in if you've room for a little one

 

[NSFW]

Quick update:

WW#1 has finally sprouted, tossed under grow lights with the rest of them.
WW#2, the tiny tiny seed, surprisingly has also sprouted, and are under grow lights. Never judge a seed by its size, lesson learnt.

As I don't think I will have space for 5 plants, and there was no sign of freebie#2, I dug through the soil and found it. It had sprouted but was less than half an inch long after 7 days since water cup soaking. Decided to give it an exciting send off, and so down the toilet it went.

More pictures update in a few hours! Hopefully the two WWs will have started to grow it's first set of true leaves!

Oh, and I've learnt to NOT CHECK THE PLANTS EVERY FEW HOURS. Just do it twice a day or you're gonna go crazy. I swear they (the seeds and plants) know if you're watching. The more you watch, the less they do.

 

[Mondstern]

Subbed. Keep it going. Alwa, s interesting to see new grow being done.

Sent from my E5803 using 420 Magazine Mobile App

 

[NSFW]

Help! I've got a question about soil mixes and PH levels!

I water using filtered tap water, and after some research, I've found that the water department in my area treats the water to a PH of 8.2-8.8 (to decrease the lead dissolving from old pipes if acidic). I do not have a PH meter at the moment, so I am unable to verify this right now.

My question is, as I am growing in soil, will watering my plants with that water be OK? I know that cannabis plants best absorb nutrients in a slightly acidic range. Will my store bought organic soil mix be enough to buffer the slightly basic water?

I am thinking whether to add some peat moss into my future soil mix when I transplant to the 3 gallon pots, as a way to lower the PH. Is this a good idea? I've read lots of articles contradicting each other, and that sulphur is the most effective to lower PH in the long run.

Also, I've been reading up on making your own super soil, and one of the things in most recipes is dolmite lime. I'm guessing it is for the calcium, but it is also alkaline. So why do people add it? Is it that the other ingredients are too acidic and it is used to neutralize it? Leaving just a slightly acidic soil for best growth?

 

[Tomula]

I don't think they would like 8.8 ph water. You can buy ph testing kit (drug store, garden store). I bought one for like 5 dollars and it is for many uses. Then I got ph- nitric (growth) and phosphorous (flower) acids good for a lot of water for 20 dollars I make my water 6,5. Definitely worth it as my plant is not showing any stress as before. I think it is essential to have good ph water. Yes meter is a good thing as it is for indefinite uses.

 

[NSFW]

Quick update and pics time!

Freebie#1:
It's growing great, second pair of true leaves seem to be ready to pop! As this is an unknown strain, probably photo-period, I'm thinking how I should get it to flower to show sex. I don't like the idea to go 12/12 with 3 autos just for this plant. Perhaps I'll veg this until the 3 autos are harvested, then grow a batch of regular seeds, using 12/12 from seedlings for them. This should give me at least 3 months to play with this poor plant.

Freebie#2:
Dead and removed.

Pineapple Punch:
Best looking one so far, with second pair of true leaves out. 4.5 days since sprouting.

White Widow#1:
Still a little small, but looking quite healthy.

White Widow#2 (newly added):
With tiny seed comes tiny seedling. I accidentally killed off one of its cotyledon leaves when I tried to remove the husk of the seed, luckily it seems to be still alive. But my god is this thing puny! Let's hope it grows out to be nice and healthy as more leaves develop! It has currently been 48 hours under the grow lights.

 

[NSFW]

Oops, seems that I shouldn't have mentioned my LED grow light brand as it's not a sponsor. Will be careful to avoid that in the future!

Also, didn't know that photos need to be uploaded here first! Will do that for next updates! Are my old pictures from outside hosting sites still working? IF not, I'll re-up them using the proper way when I've got some time.

No wonder I couldn't find any info on this forum about the LED lights I was considering when I was still shopping around, seems a little strict, but understandable I guess.

I see that I shouldn't take a picture of the LEDs, but what about if its a small part of the whole picture? Like a pic of the whole grow tent, with the filters / lights / plants. Most LEDs have got their brand name carved out of the metal on the sides. If that isn't allowed, I'll make sure to crop that out with paint or something if my photos do contain my lights lol.

 

[Tomula]

Whoo, all perky and coming up! I love this part when the new tiny plant emerges and grows its first leaves. Remember this moment for comparison. Ha ha nice.

 

[NSFW]

So, some backstory first...

24 hours ago, I noticed my Freebie#1 and the Pineapple Punch having droopy leaves. As the soil is pretty dry (72 hours since last watering), I assumed it was thirsty. I gave them a full watering, with 20% runoff.

12 hours ago, I checked up on them, and PP was doing fine, its leaves were pointed back up to the lights, and looking happy. However, the Freebie#1 still looked droopy. I thought maybe it was too hot, as the grow tent was in the 85f+ region. I decided to raise my lights 6 inches to see if that helps with the heat issue.

Just now, checked on them, Freebie#1 was still droopy, so I took it out of the tent to give it some extra attention in my cooler room to see if it responds better. While doing something on the computer, I did not notice the havoc that was happening beside me by one of my dogs. When I saw it, it was on its side, and some roots were torn off. I stood it back up and secured it with some soil.

Perhaps my dog was trying to help me top it or FIM it. I will have to educate him that you DO NOT DO THIS ON THE ONLY PAIR OF LEAVES THE PLANT HAS! Lol! Well, its a laugh, at least it was a photoperiod freebie and I would have destroyed it anyways if I ran out of room for my autoplants. Well, if someone posts the topic "help my dog ate half my seedling's leaves, will it be ok?" in the future, I will be able to provide some answers.

Update: Actually, my dogs helped me solve my problem! There are no droopy leaves! Good boy!

 

[Tomula]

Sorry to hear that, still I think the seedling will be ok.

 

[NSFW]

Quick update (with pics!)

Nirvana Freebie (Day 10 from sprout)
This is the half chewed up nirvana freebie, seems to be alive and kickin. The roots got pulled out a bit, and flopped over during watering. May let this one die and add some other strains.

White Widow #2 (Day 7 from sprout)
This was my emergency white widow when I freaked out that my first one didn't germinate (but it did). I accidentally damaged one of the cotyledon leaves when peeling off the seed casing. Now, it seems that it is not developing leaves on the damaged side.

Pineapple Punch (Day 10 from sprout)
My favorite plant so far, it's healthy and growth seems to be accelerating! Got some high hopes for this one.

White Widow #1 (Day 8 since sprout)
This one gave me quite a scare when it didn't sprout fast, but patience is key! It is now growing beautifully, and looks like a miniature version of the pineapple punch. Super excited for this!

Nutrients:
I added 1/4 of a soiltab from Nirvana to each of the pots about 4 days ago, just made a hole with my finger about an inch beside each plant and put it in. I have since lightly watered with seaweed solution. Probably going to use the seaweed solution once every week or so.

New seeds:
Due to the almost death of the nirvana freebie, and the half damaged white widow, I have decided to add 2 more plants. I may have killed those 2 seeds by leaving them on top of the modem in a ziplock bag (wet paper towel). I thought they would enjoy the warmth, but after 12 hours, I realized that it was WAY TOO HOT. I think that it could have been up to 120 degrees. They have cracked, but the tap roots have not moved for the past 72 hours.

Germinating another 2 now, a Northern Lights autofem and an Ice Cool autofem. Just going to use a cup of water, then paper towel, and putting them in a drawer instead of a heat source.

Stay tuned for more updates! Peace!

 

[Tomula]

Hello NSFW, man the plants look great. I'm curious how will the damaged recover, you may be surprised what they'll do. I wish you luck with the new seeds. You can bury the freebie deeper into soil, to give her chance to grow more roots. But anyway you have some first hand unexpected experience. Keep it green and have a nice day!

 

[NSFW]

My Pineapple Punch and a White Widow has been transplanted into a 3 gal smart pot 1 day ago, and today I've decided to try LSTing my biggest plant, the PP!

I used a combination of a safety pin, a rubber band and a zip tie. It has exposed more of the new baby leaves at the lower part of the stem. I've read somewhere that LST done correctly should lower the top of the plant (or the part you are training) to be lower than the rest of the plant, because plant growth hormones like to gather at the highest part of the plant. But my plant isn't high enough yet to get more than the 90 degree bend required. Well, we'll see how this turns out!

Any comments (especially if I'm doing it wrong) are welcome!

 

[Dataint]

looking good man.. i am growing some plants from nirvana also. I like the LST u did with the smartpots. will enjoy the show.

 

[Tomula]

Looking good. I wouldn't have used the zip tie, but some lace you can untie. But hey even zip tie will work.

 

[photos]

that pineapple punch is kicking ass man, if your tap water ph is too high you can use lemon juice to lower your ph