400 Watt CFL Continuous Grow

Hey everyone! I decided to start this journal because Im planning on getting a cycle going to have plants at different stages to make it so Im harvesting more often. Its only for personal use, but I like having different varieties to choose from.

Ive got 6 different strains that Im planning on cycling for now. Im just going to cut a few clones before I put it into the flower box so I can preserve the strain. I have Grape Ape that is in this box now. This seed Im not sure if its male or female yet, but all the others I got are feminized seeds. The other seeds are Spicy White Devil from Samsara seeds, Tangerine Dream from Barney's Farm, Critical Kush from Barney's Farm, Vanilla Kush from Barney's Farm, and Super Lemon Haze from Green House Seeds. Im planning on spacing them out about 2-3 weeks.

This will be a 100% coco grow. I will be using all General Hydroponics Nutrients and following the FloraNova Expert Drain to Waste feeding schedule. I used that schedule for bloom on my current grow and am more than happy with the current results so Im going to stick to it. For lighting in this box I chose CFL's and so far they are working more than fine. I am planning on cropping the plants to be shorter because I do have height restrictions in my flower box too. The pots Im using are 8 inches and Im not planing on transplanting into anything larger yet. The way I want these to grow is more like a bush or shrub. I planted the grape ape a little to one side of the pot. When it got tall enough I bent it all the way over across the top of surface. as it grew back towards the light I bent it again. As soon as it gets to the end of the pot Im going to top her and then train the 2 off shoots to wrap around the the contour of the pot in a circle. Then the stem of the plant will also be now producing additional tops as well and that will fill out the middle.......In my head that sounds like its going to work haha. But I guess we will see!

So the Grape Ape is starting week 4 of veg right now. I started it from seed so its been about 1 month since seed. There is also a autoflower in with it. It was a free seed so I just decided to throw it in. That has been going for 5 days total since germination.

Sorry this was so long! I update often, so follow along. I am going to start a thread on the flower room too once I get the plants in cycle and Ill link it over too.

 

Grape Ape day 23 of veg

Going super strong.... I pinched the top yesterday and its already started to do its thing. Again, the plan is to train the two main resulting off shoots to the shape of the pot to get a bush going. The internode spacing is so short.... If this is female I think it's going to have some really nice bud production.

I was planning on these 8" pots but I actually think I'm going to end up using 3 gallon smart pots and transplant about a week before flower. They won't take a lot of space but I hear great things about them.

The autoflower is doing good too. End of week 1, day 7 today. A lot of separation from the round leaves over night. I expect to see some changes really quick here with that.

 

Grape Ape day 30 of veg. Lots of great stuff going on. Sites developing nicely. Internode spacing is really good too. Responding really well the LST training right now too. I was really surprised to see where I topped the plant the normal 2 offshoots were there and have been growing a lot.... But now where the top died off there are now 2 new growths out of the dead area. I pinched it rather than cutting the top and so that was the result. I'm going to put it into the flower box in a week or so..... Really want it to be female! If it is the timing will be perfect....

The auto flower is on day 14 so that's 1/4 the way finished! That means if I flower the grape ape in 1 week and even of it takes 9 weeks to finish, I'll have this harvesting in 6 weeks and then 3 weeks after harvesting the grape ape. Should keep me supplied with those for a bit!

 

[quote name='"morange"']Looks great, is it in 100% coco? For some reason recently I've been having the hardest time getting my seeds to germinate and live past seedling stage. I think it has to do with the temperatures being to cold ambient, I've lost Chiesel, Emerald Jack, and Great White Shark. All have germed and sprouted but either never dropped the seed casing or dried out in a few days. I feel like such a newb, I've been using clones for so long I'm wasting cash trying to germ these seeds.[/quote]

Ahhh.... I know EXACTLY what you are talking about! When I started to grow again I couldn't get one to stay alive after it sprouted to save my life!! I ordered a heat mat on eBay for 17 bucks I think it was..... No issues since. Can't say that was it for sure but nothing else really changed.

This is 100% coco in this mix..... In the beginning I keep my coco moist all the time. Then once it's survived I water 1 time a day until I get run off. So far that's been my routine and working well. I can't wait to get my new room...hoping for a lot bigger plants with the new room!

 

[quote name='"morange"']Yeah I've been thinking about getting a heat mat, definitely going to give that a shot. I haven't had this issue until recently so I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I use 100% coco for starting off and I try to keep it moist at all times until it sprouts, and then I make sure to water it whenever it dries out, which is often.

I know if I can get them to them to their 2nd or 3rd leaf set I'll be fine. It's the seedling stage that I seem to have lost my touch.[/quote]

Hmmm... Maybe taproot isn't deep enough? I hope it corrects itself soon! I really wanna try great white. I hear good things!

 

[quote name='"morange"']So far I have a Violator Kush and an Afghan Kush both broke through the soil but still have the seed casing on. I plan on germinating a Trainwreck tomorrow and planting in 70% coco 30% perlite and put that on a heat mat under CFLs. I need some new genetics only have one strain which I'm cloning right now.[/quote]

I want to do a trainwreck grow too but I have a few a head of it that I'm gonna do.... I thjnk critical mass and tangerine dream are next after this one. Im really happy with the cfls....so far they have done great for veg. Hope the seedlings are going good still!

 

[quote name='"JFlow941"']Ill sub to this, looks interesting. Who's the breeder on the grape ape?[/quote]

Welcome! I got the grape ape seed from some random stuff I bought.... I didn't have any seeds ordered at the time so I figured I'd germinate it and see what happens.... So here we are!

 

Day 19 for the auto flower and its looking really good. Looks like its starting to flower. So I'm sure start of week 3 ill see some real signs of flower. It got really green too, which I'm really happy about.

Today is day 1 of flower for the Grape Ape. Ill post the link to the continuous flower thread tomorrow. If it is female I'm going to take 2 clones and get those going so I can keep that strain alive. Planning in making feminized seeds out of one of the clones if they both survive so that will be fun to document too!

 

Day 23 for the flash Babylon auto flower.


Transplanted into 2 gallon smartpot and that will be its home for the last portion of the grow. It's growing like mad right now. Looks really good and healthy.

Adding 2 Grape Ape clones to the mix today because it turned out the one I had is a female.... Well about 95% sure at this point. Got my rockwool cubes soaking in ph'd water to 5.5 with some rapidstart and some other micros. Gonna leave them there for a few more hours. Got a cloning powder I'm going to try that I've heard good things about called Rooting hormone. Then I'm gonna get my cuttings and put them in the humidity dome for a week and check on them.

Here is the link to the Grape Ape in my 600 Watt Continuous Grow if you would like to continue following that grow too! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/1126613-600-watt-hps-continuous-grow.html#post16146287

 

Day 25 for Flash Babylon autoflower.


I guess that makes this just about half way through now. Growing a lot. Stem is getting a lot thicker. Looks really green and really healthy. Maybe a little droopy in the pics cause these are JUST before lights on. But I'm happy so far. The top is showing signs of pre flower. I am on the early flower phase in the feeding cycle I'm following and so far the plant seems to be loving it. Here's a few pics!

 

Day 28 from seed


Looking really good! Has stretched and looks to be ready for full on bloom. Stem is getting thicker and she is really healthy looking. Little more than half done

 

Day 31 for Flash Babylon.


Got a nute change and am at about max strength right now. I have about 3-4 weeks left on it. I'm going to feed for another 2 -3 weeks and then start flushing. This is my first with this strain so I'm just sorta watching the plant and keeping this journal. Looking good tho, no complaints. Bloom is in full effect for sure. The top has started getting hairs so its on!

Got the Critical Kush on day 6 from seed. Have a small dose of mostly micros but a shot of CaliMAgic to get that coco going good. So far so good.

 

Day 34 for flash Babylon auto

Getting super thick on the stem and starting to show flowers all over all. I've only had 1 experience with auto flowers and it was a really small plant so I wasn't expecting it to be like this. I'm really impressed so far. I know they don't yield as much but I'm planning on keeping two of these going all the time cause they are so quick. Only about 3-4 weeks left on this one.