H0bbyGr0wer89 - 8 Soil - 1 DWC - 5 Exotic Strains - 2016

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Hello all,

Welcome to my second grow! I have learned a few things from my first grow (one plant) and I am now scaling up, hoping that I know enough to give all the ladies enough / proper attention. I still have a lot to learn though - teach me!

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Strains: White Widow (fem) (1), Zambian Gold (fem) (1), Purple Nepalese (fem) (1), Mozambique Poison (reg) (3), Shenghai Express - RARE (reg) (2).
Grown from: Seed
Medium: Soil (Manna Organic Coco)
Container: Cup > 1 gallon > 3 gallon (final transplant)

Note 1: Notice the plant on the right with what appears to be two colas? Well... there are actually three. This deformed plant did this from seed and might end up being my pride and joy - hopefully it's a girl.

Note 2: You will notice one DWC plant (not included in the list above) - this is a White Widow plant. It is an experimental plant that I am re-vegging after the last grow and transplanted it from soil to DWC; it survived! (so far)

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Nutrients: Advanced Nutrients [Sensizym, Micro, Grow, Bloom (bloom), Big Bud (bloom), X-Factor (bloom)]
Other: SuperThrive, Molasses, Up/Down Water PH (PH'd to 6.0-6.5)

Lighting: 300 Watt Mars Hydro 2 (2)
Environment: 40"x40"x80" Matrix grow tent
Ventilation: 6" ducting fan (INLET), Charcoal Filter (OUTLET), circulation fan
Temperature: Module activates inlet (cooling) and mini heater (heating) to maintain 74F (+/- 2F).
Humidity: I simply increase OUTLET (Charcoal filter) to decrease humidity (RH @ ~55% currently)
Other Monitoring: Remote Temp/RH monitor, WIFI Camera - 950nm IR ("invisible" to the plant?) for night vision.

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Background up to this point:
So far, I have germinated and planted the seeds and just getting the plants to where things can get somewhat interesting. All of the seeds germinated at varying times... for some strains, the initisl batch didnt germinate so I had to start over - they vary in ages by about 2 weeks. I am not really tracking the age in vegetative stage... when they look ready, that is when I will flip to 12/12 for bloom.

For a while, the plants had a PH issue - a few began wilting and turning yellow. I have now fixed the PH by flushing and they are doing much better, and I learned a valuable lesson!

I plan on femming / topping the plants as the grow - I just recently femmed the largest of the plants by pinching off the top between the two most recent fan leaves (hopefully I did it correctly).

The node-density is looking pretty good, they have turned back to a nice green, leaves are perky (sometimes reaching for the sky), and overall they are looking pretty good to my not-so-well-trained eyes.

LESSON LEARNED! (IMPORTANT)
This is likely growing 101, but I wanted to make sure I make it be known in case a newbie stumbles across this and does not know. In regards to PH, you CANNOT SIMPLY PH YOUR WATER and assume your plants have the proper PH - this was my mistake. Even though my water was perfectly PH'd every watering, it turns out that I am using soil that tends to be acidic. I have now realized that I have to water with water PH'd to 7 in order to arrive at a soil PH of 6.0-6.5 (which is what actually matters).

 

[Stinky Snid]

Hey hey, first dibs on the recliner! Let's get this grow started, looking forward to seeing some exotic strains. Goodluck and... As always,

KiG cheers

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Oops, the foundation of the info I used was an edited copy/paste from my last journal. One correction - I've increased the temp to 78 degrees F (+/- 2 degrees).

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Quick Update

I fimmed all but 3 - 2 are not big enough yet, the other is the "three headed one" which I am going to leave alone.

Those that I femmed I have also bent over to train them a bit.... hopefully to help the lower growth pop up more quickly.

The DWC plant seems to be doing well! There is some residual burning from the PH climbing up to 7+ after I initially put her in. I think that was due to some of the dead roots or something after transferring from soil to hydro.

 

[Rifleman]

 

[Kingsnake235]

Lookin good

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Preliminary Sexing

In case y'all are interested... I have done some preliminary sexing for my "reg" plants - I am not going to throw any out just yet, but I can get an idea which ones to watch more closely now.

First, I will start with the Mozambique Poison (From oldest to youngest).

The most mature of all my plants... It's a girl!

Next, I have a feeling this one is a boy. It is a bit more "leggy?" I guess is how I would describe it - just looks a bit different and upon investigating the one or two pre-flowers... doesn't quite look female.

This is the only one so far; just like the one guy going to a yoga class just to be surrounded by the ladies. Although I admire his strategy, he will still need to be thrown out of class - he's quite attractive and might get them preggers merely with his presence. I'll give him (or maybe her) a little more time.

As for the third Mozambique Poison our lovely three-headed friend... it's too soon even for a guess, unfortunately.

Now... onward to the Shenghai Express - the plant I am most excited about and REALLY hope that it is female. I had issues germinating this strain, so I cam out with only one plant and a very young one following behind as a backup... but he/she is about 3 weeks behind this one.

So, what's the verdict!? This one too is a little too early to tell... but right at the top where I fimmed (hopefully, her) I can see a little preflower... I think. My initial guess... It's a girl.

As for the other Shenghai Express... well... far to young, quite obviously. I'm not even sure I should be posting a picture - it just seems wrong, given the age.

 

[hydro1000]

Great start! Pulling up chair and getting comfortable for this.

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

It dawned on me today that some of you might be curious about what each of these strains are and what makes them "exotic," if you aren't already aware of the strains. Some of them are not as common and more difficult to find info via google, leafly, etc. What I find most interesting about these strains is that they are "landrace" strains, meaning that they are "pure" and are as nature provided (allegedly - I don't know for sure).

Here's the descriptions of each strain from the seed bank's website and from our email conversations (below).

Side Note: The White Widow doesn't fall into the "exotic" category, obviously - I am sure 99% of us are well aware of WW. But, I'll add the description anyways

Shenghai Express - Pure Sativa

"Supply is non existent on the market which is the reason we are not advertising or selling it through our website. The strain isn't as resinous as the pure indicas but its high is the stuff of legends if you like a "working" high that is euphoric and uplifting. A few extra puffs takes the high to very psychedelic. The color of the dried buds is a blondish red with streaks of purple. The density of the buds is not as tight as an indica but more airy typical of pure sativas. The yields are phenomenal when growing outdoors - indoors yields are very good."

Mozambique Poinson - Landrace Sativa

"Mozambique Poison is a trancy sativa well known to possess a potent psychoactive high. Traditional healers pay biannual pilgrimage to this plant. Has a multi branch structure. Easy to grow. Long lasting euphoric "up" high!"

"Height: 4 ft.
Flowering Time: 10 to 12 weeks
Yield: 2 to 3 oz per plant indoors."

Zambain Gold - Landrace Sativa

"Zambian Gold is grown widely across the plateau regions of the copper belt in Zambia. This is a sub strain similar to Malawi but faster flowering. Large branched plants, darker foliage, buds laden with white & red tipped hairs with very large resin coated buds and colas. Strong high similar to Malawi."

"Height: 4 ft.
Flowering Time: 10 to 12 weeks
Yield: 2.5 to 3.5 oz per plant indoors."

Purple Nepalese - Landrace Sativa

"Nepalese cannabis plants are known to produce a high resin content with a sticky coating of glistening trichomes covering both the leaves and the buds of this luscious plant. These genetics come to us from the Rukum Valley in Nepal where cannabis has been grown for generations and is known for producing hand rubbed Nepalese purple 'finger' hash. This strain produces dark compact buds that are characterized by alternating floral clusters. Grows taller than most hash plants and produces an excellent yield with a unique aroma and taste."

"Height: 5 ft
Flowering Time: 11 weeks
Yield: 2.5 to 3.5 oz per plant indoors."

White Widow - Hybrid

"Among the most famous strains worldwide is White Widow, a balanced hybrid between a Brazilian sativa landrace and a resin-heavy South Indian indica. Its buds are white with crystal resin, warning you of the potent effects to come. A powerful burst of euphoria and energy breaks through immediately, stimulating both conversation and creativity. White Widow is known for its abundance of white trichomes and high potency with a THC count of 20%. The variety won the Cannabis Cup in 1995. White Widow buds are covered in crystals, giving it an almost snowy look."

"Indoor Height: 3 to 4 ft
Flowering Time: 55 days
Yield: 3 to 4 oz per plant
Outdoor: Early to mid September"

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Dang it - woke up to this (see below) this morning.

Any ideas on what's up? My initial thought is that when I corrected the PH, I corrected it too much and PH is now high. Just my luck... my PH meter broke yesterday too.

 

[hydro1000]

I'd say ph issue

 

[hydro1000]

Are all your plants like that since watering

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

They all vary.

This is the only one that looks "bad" - I don't think I am a fan of this soil. Out of the bag, it's quite acidic at like 5.5ish PH. Now, Im in a PH dance with trying to correct the soil PH. Some "pots" are taking to the correction differently than others

It would be great if it were the correct PH to start, then I would only have to worry about managing it to stay at that PH instead of correcting.

Soil PH in my experience is a very tricky thing... at first, it was too acidic and the plabts were yellow. Then, I correcred, m the turned green, perked up, looked great... then I watered the higher PH (tap water) again to compensate for the acidic soil... it looks like it sent the soil the other way and now my PH is too high.

Going to correct back down again - I have a new PH meter on the way. Thank you Amazon same-day delivery haha

At least I am learning exactly what low / high PH looks like!

 

[hydro1000]

I'm not a very good soil guy so this would be a guess, but if you flush until the run off ph is where you want it. Wouldn't that correct the problem? The soil would then be saturated with the right ph?

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Yup - that's what I did to correct it before...

Then there's the tricky part of it (I am likely over-thinking it), where... in order to get my PH to climb, I wad to water with like 12 PH water, otherwise it was having no affect. It would climb about .1 with every flush. I flushed many times until it got to 6.5.... HOWEVER, runoff is 6.5, but the water going in is at 12... so... then there is the question of what the soil PH is between the two.

Get where I am going? I am not sure if the soil is 6.5, if it is 12, or if it is somewhere inbetween. Perhaps once my runoff is at 6.5, I continue with that PH for my water and all is good? Not sure.

There's probabaly a best way to go about it - I'm just going to have to learn what that is.

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Ok - checked the runoff after using water PH'd to 6.2. The runoff cam out at 6.5 - so, although it may not be optimal, I don't think that there is anything drastically wrong with the PH. It has been hot lately (grow tent got to 90 degrees) and I have no way of cooling... my garage and home is that hot too. Perhaps that has something to do with it. The lower growth looks ok...

 

[hydro1000]

Ok - checked the runoff after using water PH'd to 6.2. The runoff cam out at 6.5 - so, although it may not be optimal, I don't think that there is anything drastically wrong with the PH. It has been hot lately (grow tent got to 90 degrees) and I have no way of cooling... my garage and home is that hot too. Perhaps that has something to do with it. The lower growth looks ok...

Great to here you have no major issues and got you ph resolved, chin up we all have these little issues to deal with.
What ph meter did you pick up?

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

It surely won't be the last issue either, I'm sure .

I got this one: "JellasTM Pocket Size PH Meter Pen Water Quality Tester for Aquariums, Swimming Pools, PH 0-14.0 Measuring Range, 0.01PH Resolution With ATC and Backlit LCD (Yellow)"

Sent from my SM-N920T using 420

 

[H0bbyGr0wer89]

Update

I took another look at the sex of the plants today and I have definitely determined the sex of 2 of the 5 "REG" plants (non-feminized). Quick refresher on what I have in terms of non-feminized plants:

• Mozambique Poison (3)
• Shenghai Express (2)

First, I will start with the good news - the Shenghai Express is definitely female, with 100% certainty. This is AWESOME since I was only able to germinate 1 plant and I only have a very very young seedling as a backup. This is also the strain I am most excited about.

Now onto the not-so-good news. The largest and most mature of my plants that I thought was a female (had what looked like a tear-shaped bulb) is actually male - I'm about 80% certain about this one. See below.

As for the other two, it is still too early... there are not much lateral branching yet and therefore no preflowers either.

Next, I wanted to update you on the really cool "3 headed" Mozambique Poison (as mentioned above, sex to be determined). Upon further investigation, it look to be more like 4, actually - check out the branching. Pretty cool.

Last, but not least... check out the White Widow in the DWC! This plant has been through the ringer - it has been flowered VERY young, harvested, re-vegged, and then transferred from soil to hydro. And it STILL survived; this thing is a trooper. After a stunt in it's growth from all the chaos, it is now taking off with new growth and has nive healthy new roots sprouting out of the basket reaching into the water.

 

[hydro1000]

Sorry about the males, it sucks when you care for them like kids then all that hard work and love is gone!
The poison looks wonderful three tops off the start, what a bonus. Keep that White Widow going, I want to see her flower she is a trooper.