Hello Everyone! This is my 2nd attempt at growing BC Big Bud from seed. I would be growing from clones at this point, but I fucked up in that I placed my clones under too bright of lights and that caused them to not root for over 35 days, and when they did, mold got to them. This time, I'll be taking the best female and making her into a mother. Last time, I simply cut clones from the females and was hoping to generate a mother from one of the clones. I'll toss any males that come up, and flower any remaining girls. Once the mother reverts to the veg state, I'll trim clones from her and get that cycle going. Once I have some viable clones, I'm going to SCRoG again. I neglected to LST or SCRoG for my first run at BC Big Bud, and I regret that fact. I'll also be topping this time around. I have time on my side, and am not in such a rush to get a harvest as I was on my last time around. I went from seed to harvest in 75 days last time. I am using a 400W Metal Halide for Veg and a 400W HPS for flowering, with 2x 26W 10.0 UVB Reptisun CFL bulbs inside of brushed aluminum dome reflectors for maximum efficiency with the CFLs. I am seriously considering adding another 400W light, as long as I can manage the heat somehow. I'm not going to outline what my real plan is, what kind of nutes i'll be using, or any of that junk because every time I do, I end up doing something else Best to just stay tuned and see what I end up doing to make a fool of myself again this time around! I think it'll be interesting to compare against my last grow. Take Care! ~Experimentalist
Day 1 - Germination (1) This is BC Big Bud from BC Seed King. This is my 2nd attempt at growing this strain, my first run wasn't that impressive but I had some problems and ended up harvesting early. I'm giving it a 2nd chance as I've learned a lot during the last grow, and now know the nuances of this strain. I've placed six non-femmed seeds into paper towel and soaked it in pure water. I placed the paper towel into a ziploc bag and have it in a warm place. Last time I did this, I had four cracked in 18 hours, and all six in 24, ready for planting. We'll see how it goes! ~Experimentalist
Hey , I'll be following this one, came in after you finished the 1st grow. Question: How far did you keep the 10 UVB Bulbs away when you flowered last time, can't seem to recall if you mentioned it. Good Luck with Grow 2, G
Day 2 - Germination (2) At the 24 hour mark, all six seeds had cracked. I went to bed and when I got up this morning (36 hours since placing in paper towel) they all had 1/4 inch tap roots exposed. I planted each in an individual solo cup, tap root down, about a quarter inch below the surface. I've got them under some CFL's & tube flouros for now. Once they sprout, I'll wait a day or so and get them under the Metal Halide. All six cups are covered with a plastic bag to retain moisture. ~Experimentalist
Day 3 - Germination (3) Two of the plants popped up through the soil today, the seed cap is mostly in place yet. I'll help them along tomorrow if they haven't pushed the seed cap all the way off the cotyledons by then. I'm sure the rest will appear up through the soil in the next 24 hours. I have them still covered with a bag, and plenty moist. The temperature in the room is in the low 70s. One of my clones is starting to show fresh veg growth. I may have a viable female clone! I'll help it along and see where it takes me. ~Experimentalist
i read ur first grow, its a shame u ran into those little heat problems, etc. im gunna grow my first Big Bud grow ever outdoors (germinating 2morrow!!). im glad i finally found a Big Bud grow journal, to give me a lil more confidence in the strain + rep
Day 4 - Germination (4) I'll call this the last day of germination. All six plants had come up through the soil and had their cotyledons exposed. The first set of true leaves are beginning to emerge on all of them. However, on one of the plants, the seed shell hadnt come away from the cotyledon cleanly and when I attempted to remove it myself, I accidentally ripped the top off. So I'm down a plant already haha. My clones are showing lots of nice green growth today, so I think I am in business no matter what happens! Yay! I'll be moving the plants into my cleaned and remodeled grow room tomorrow! ~Experimentalist
Thats cool man, glad to hear it! Remember, I am growing BC Big Bud, not normal Big Bud. There may be some differences. I've got everything figured out now, I am confident this next grow will be kick ass. Good Luck!! ~Experimentalist
Day 5 - Veg (1) Day one of actual veg begins today as the first set of leaves start to add some actual mass. Not much else to report today. I'll be moving them from the flourescent bulbs and into the grow space tomorrow. I've got fucking bronchitis and pneumonia together right now so I've been moving kinda slow the last day or so. Doctor put me on some antibiotics, so I'm sure I'll be good to go again soon. I've reduced my smoking to just once or twice a day now, instead of the half dozen+ I usually smoke haha. I figure the lungs can use all the rest they can get! ~Experimentalist
Not that much to tell I guess, I just took everything out and washed the whole thing down. I did some rearrangement of my fans, increased the "bench" space in there, added a shelf, and put in two little retaining walls to keep back some sand that continues to slowly pour in along the edges. I've also got a new dehumidifier coming which will drastically reduce the heat being generated in the room. I swear that old beast threw as much heat as my 400W! It was consuming ~560W+ of energy. The new one is ~60W. Much better! I was going to put in Panda film, because I like the white finish better than the silvery mylar, but then I remembered that white absorbs UVB whereas aluminum reflects it, so I'm hoping the mylar reflects UVB as well. I've got to still deal with further rearrangement of my carbon air filter, it helped for the last grow but you could still smell it sometimes upstairs, and that was only two plants. My wife doesn't care if I want to grow a few more plants, but she did tell me that I have to solve the odor problem before anything else. She's right of course, odor gets people busted. So getting that under control is crucial. I figure I've got about 2 more weeks until they start smelling, at least, thats how quick they started to stink last time. The wife is fine with me adding another 400W light, so that will be coming in the summer sometime, as long as I know I can deal with the heat. ~Experimentalist
Day 6 - Veg (2) They are doing well, the first inklings of the 2nd set of leaves are showing. I moved the five seedlings, and three "clones" under the Metal Halide bulb today. RH in the Grow room is 55% and temp at the canopy is 80F. Still too hot!! ~Experimentalist
Sorry man my camera has been fucked. The USB connection doesnt seem to work more than 1 time out of 50 now. I just realized my laptop has a SD card reader built in, so I'll just use that for getting my photos. I'll be taking some today!! ~Experimentalist
Day 7 - Veg (3) This is actually from yesterday, I've been 'off-by-one' for a couple days now. Anyways the plants are looking good. My "clones" are throwing out some new growth now and they have seemingly taken to the Metal Halide with no problem. Yay! I *need* to deal with the heat though. It's sitting at 81F at the canopy, and we are NOT into summer heat here yet. Christ, I don't want to buy another noisy ass inline fan to exhaust the room, but I don't know what choice I have otherwise. I might have to buy one of those little room ACs or something. I am putting together the plans to build a frame to allow me to easily SCRoG various numbers of plants, I'm going for four this time. I'll show some pics when I get that stuff ready. Todays temperature is 81F with an RH of 56%. The light is hanging about 14" from the top. I'll be lowering it tomorrow, I just wanted the plants to get used to the light first. No water, no nutrients added today. The photos show my little seedlings. These photos were actually from two days ago. I'll be taking fresh photos for todays post. ~Experimentalist
Really? Thanks for lending my grow some credibility haha.. Great though, it's good to have you along! Thanks! ~Experimentalist