new name, four strains, hydro, cfl (for now)

[dutchgirl78]

703 here. had to delete my account and change my username and all that junks. nothing perilous--i just realized there were a few ties from my old account to my identity on the webnet, so i scratched everything and started over just to err on the side of caution. i didn't get busted or anything, no one knows anything, and all's well. in case anyone was worried. sometimes i still forget that even though 98% of the world's population smokes pot, discretion is still the name of the game for the time being.

anyway, i don't have any new pictures now but i'll post some soon. my current strains are two each of mango, green crack, power skunk, and a couple bagseeds. today is two weeks since they sprouted, except for the power skunk, which i just planted in a couple jiffy pots earlier tonight. i plan to put them under the lights within the next twenty-four hours and consider today day one.

lights = 2x48" t-12 ott-lite veg grow lamps, 24/0. i have a homemade drip system ala mr. green, with eight 3x3" rockwool cubes and 1/4" black vinyl tubing spiked into each cube. i just changed my res today because of high ph problems and a non-lightproof container. so now the water in my 15-gallon res is between 5-6, with a few drops of advanced nutrients ph down and 50mL each of advanced nutrients sensi grow a&b. it's being pumped by a 396gph water pump. i also got an airstone and air pump just to keep oxygen levels in the water up at all times. it can't hurt, and i'm coming to realize that changing out the res is a real bitch and a third, so i'm hoping to stretch this water until i have to change it (although i did get a drain with a valve for my res container today, too).

when i flower, i want to ideally build an aero system for maybe half a dozen plants (or however many females i wind up with) and put them under 400 watts of high pressure sodium. electricity's not a huge issue, but i'd like to keep it down.

there are ladybugs EVERYWHERE in my grow room. everything's looking great, and i'm really starting to feel like a legit grower of sorts. i'll be drunk with power in ten weeks, no doubt. did i mention i have two trips planned to go out of town with no one watching my stuff for seven and ten days each?

[dutchgirl78]

DAY 15

yo. things looking good. i haven't watered the plants in about 32 hours at least, i'd say, and they're shooting up with new growth every time i enter my grow room. i even put a little chair in there because i find i'm hanging out so much that it's just more comfy

most of the plants are bushing out nicely and not stretching at all. the nodes are super compact, which is nice. one thing that's weirding me out: as you can see in the closeup of the mango stalk below, it looks like it's starting to develop pistils. i have no idea why this would be, because it's so young and it's been under constant light since it sprouted. i could be totally mistaken and they could be new leaves, but they don't look like it to me. the same plant is also quite stressed on its first set of true leaves from the ph stress, and it's also the plant that's grown the fastest. i think this one could turn out male or hermie, i don't have huge hopes for it. but i still like watching it grow. a couple of the other plants have leaves in the same spot, but i can tell for sure they're leaves (they look identical to new leaves coming in through the top of the plant, and the mango "pistils" look like hairs).

(edit: i just went back and looked, and a couple other plants have eency weency little hairs, too. maybe they're just new leaves, after all.)

the plants are probably 3-5 inches from the light, depending on the gal. ph is somewhere around 5 or 6, i can't be sure because of the ph papers. lots of ladybugs still, and they seem to be making their home instead of flying back into my living room. the mint plant is doing awesome, and i'm strongly considering cloning it and putting it by my window so i have a few little mint plants instead of one big rootbound one.

wind is blowing on the plants constantly and temperatures are in the mid-70s. i have an airstone pumping on low at all times to keep the water uberoxygenated. getting more and more excited for each new day of growth every day

speaking of, the two power skunk seeds haven't sprouted yet. they were a little cool the first couple nights, so i put them near a wall heater and water started to condense inside the plastic jiffypot thing.

ps i don't have a picture of the second mango because it didn't come out when i was taking pictures this time. it looks great--par for the course.

[dutchgirl78]

DAY 23

soooo good. spent the weekend watching the mr. green videos and getting my grow room set up right. finally got a hannah ph/tds combo tester today. i originally wanted separate meters, and when i told the guy at the hydro store why, he said my worries were pretty unfounded and he's been using the same hanna tester forever without problems. so i caved and went with his opinion. working like a dream so far:

old ph: 3.6
new ph: 4.8 (adjusting nto 5.8 tomorrow, don't want to shock them too fast)

old ppm: 540
new ppm: 380

old water source: 8.5 ph tap (yes, i used to drink it, even though it tastes hard and kinda funny, but my plants do not like)
new water source: 10 gal RO water, storebought at 35 cents/gal (7.0 ph, 2 ppm)

nutes: 60ml each advanced nutrients sensi grow a + b, 10ml superthrive

temps: roughly 74F air, 67F water

good water is so cheap i'm gonna switch to storebought from now on. i usually don't mind tap, but the stuff around here is really crude. nyc tap water is another story...

as crappy as i was about the water for the first three weeks, the plants that i actually care about are booming beautifully. cannabis really is a resistant little weed. a couple of them look absolutly perfect, shownig no signs of stress whatsoever. both of the bagseeds took to the low ph pretty hard, and one of them looks so retarded i just had to take it out of my grow room. its two original fanleaves are obscenely huge and the new growth is terminal on one side and lopsided on the other. it really looks so dumb. laughably silly, even. you can really start to see how genetics play a factor in the bud; all pot plants are not created equal by a longshot. the mangos and green cracks (from CA prescription meds) are even starting to give off a slight smell of marijuana

of the two power skunks i germinated, one looks perfect and the other has signs of ph burn but nothing it won't recover from, i'm sure. looking good for just under a week, i'd say.

i also have some basil that just sprouted under the clone dome. real excited. i tried to take cuttings of the mint, but it was a messy process and nothing's taken at all after about a week. i plan to try again, this time with sterillized equipment, sometime soon. the guys at the hydro store asked for some mint cuttings, so i figured why not. it can't hurt to get on the good side of the guys who'll be supplying my pot-growing environment. they even gave me 10% off the ph/tds tester because of some gunk on the outside. brought it down to $180, and then another $30 for calibration solutions.

i worked as a cabin counselor for nine-year-olds last summer, and one of them was named hannah. she was such a twat. mean to the other kids and whiny and petulant. good to know the name will bring much more positive things to mind from now on. i should tell her that...

onward!

[adajam4]

no pics added and u never got back to me about the mango!

[adajam4]

oh man its u lol... is our race still on? we need to compare the mango!

[dutchgirl78]

haha hey adam, glad you recognized me didn't want to make a big fuss about anything. dumb laws and unwanted fears...

haven't been on the gc much the past few days on account of rehauling my junk. i'm all eyes now

and YES our race is still on.

[adajam4]

i think my stunted mango may have caught u up ... maybe even in the lead now.. i only have one left... good to have u back ... but wait... ur not a girl are you.. i mean fair enough with the paranoia go a little under cover.. but calling urself a girl... too far lol!

[adajam4]

wow a girl... as u can guess i am not a girl but i am shocked to see that u r.. and that i managed to befriend you without knowing.. i am like the russell brand of GC lol!!! so i think ii am winning the race at the minute... yay!

[dutchgirl78]

i think with more light your girls will shoot ahead of mine...don't tell mine, or they'll get low self esteem

never know who you'll meet in a giant online pot smokers club haha

[adajam4]

maybe even russell brand! it may be a good thing though.. they will strive to prove us wrong and grow at an exponential rate! and be girls!

[XchaoticmetalX]

Heya dutchgirl, nice start to a journal, can't wait to see some updates with pics. I am always lookin for girl growers since my girl helps me grow and she feels there are none to get to know. Ya should come check out my threads, all the impressive stuff is in the Orange Bud thread since the others havent budded yet lol. Catch ya later, ill be watchin.

[dutchgirl78]

Originally Posted by XchaoticmetalX

Heya dutchgirl, nice start to a journal, can't wait to see some updates with pics. I am always lookin for girl growers since my girl helps me grow and she feels there are none to get to know. Ya should come check out my threads, all the impressive stuff is in the Orange Bud thread since the others havent budded yet lol. Catch ya later, ill be watchin.

right on, thanks for checking in! i'm a couple pages into your orange bud thread, those led ufos are sick. i was looking on ebay and they're about $400 or so. i was seriously considering a 400w hps for flowering, but this might be a good investment. i'll definitely leave some comments and continue to read through and watch your grows

[dutchgirl78]

DAY 25

just a quick update: i supercropped my two bigger plants, which are one green crack and one mango. i pinched them just beneath the top node, and i felt like an awful human being for about eight seconds. to feel myself pinching and destroying the internal structure of these beautiful plants was kind of heartrending. but i talked them (myself) through it, and i'm sure all will be 130% better in the near future

i also put the plants into these long wallpaper trays that i found at a hardware store while i was looking for a 2x4' planter when my hydro store was closed. i don't have any drainage set up yet, but at the moment the plants are getting water dripped verrry slowly into the rockwool for twenty minutes, twice a day, so there's not much overflow. eventually i'll tack on a nozzle that will drain to a separate res. the hydro store guy recommended i just use one fresh supply of water and drain the excess to a dump res. that seems to make sense to me. as long as i'll be changing the water every couple weeks, anyway.

i'm really medicated right now. my back has been killing me lately right at the base of my neck and the top of my spine, as it's done on and off for the past few years. the best analogy i can come up with is that it's like having horrible stomach pangs in the back of your neck whenever you reach for something or sit in an awkward position. stabbing lightning pain and such. in california i'm a legal cannabis patient, but i'm only there about two months out of the year. my guy here came through with a zip of pineapple express, and it's some of the best stuff i've gotten from him in years (blueberry being the very best, mmmm). ack.

anyway, all of the stuff i grow will be for me. it's getting silly to pay so much for something i use so frequently.

[chemicalcomfort]

i like your cute little mint plant

[dutchgirl78]

Originally Posted by chemicalcomfort

i like your cute little mint plant

it's delicious with seafood