Citral/Assorted in Soil** First Grow **

[SIZE=+5]Grow Journal[/SIZE]
Grow Number: 001
Start Date: 05/22/09
Strain Info: Citral (x4) Assorted (bonus bag) (x4)
Source: amsterdammarijuanaseeds.com
Grow Plan:
Indoor CFL/HPS (veg and bloom) in soil (KISS)
Things I Have:
8 sprouts
3 single bulb light fixtures
9 Y-Splitters
26W CFL 6500k (x12)
400W HPS (unvented and old)
Power Strip
PC Fan (x4)
Soil FFOF
The power of the internet
Things I Need:
Intake/Exhaust Fan
Journal:
Startup:
So here's the deal. In a moment of introspection I decided that I was gonna do this. I had the cash and sprouted the buds to bite the bullet. I started researching in April and after a few weeks realized I was ready to take the plunge. I ordered seeds from a Seed bank that I read in several forums was reputable, and 32 hours later circumstance/fate/Providence stepped in and I was $2000.00 less wealthy. Now I had seeds on the way, and a lump in my throat. I didn't care about the money so much. But the timing was ultra-shitty. Sitting back over a smoke, contemplating options, I decided that the most prudent course would be to take ½ of the seed stock and give it the old college try. I am going through this grow on a shoestring made of prayer and worst case scenario, I will be a good deal more knowledgeable with some experience under my belt, and still have enough seeds to try again after I have saved up enough cash to do it the right way.
Now, I am poor, not stupid. I will do all that I can to ensure this grow is successful, within my meager means. There are vast resources of information I will annotate where information comes from if I feel it is pertinent. I also will take a stepped approach so as to try to maximize my financial situation at any particular stage of plant development. My hope is that this continuing record will assist me with current grow crises, or at least to help me laugh at my nubby mistakes. And of course that I get a few ultra dank nugs to set ablaze.

05/22/09
1800 - Seeds arrived. 10 days from order to delivery. No problems with shipping . So much to do and nothing is ready. Always the way. Wouldn't you know I am dead broke too….
2200 - Distilled water and paper towel method. I used a Tupperware tray and a ceramic plate on top. Heating pad on low on top of the plate in a totally dark environment. I am so excited.
05/23/09
1000 – 1 Citral and 1 assorted have cracked. Excitement. Worry. I need soil pronto.
2200 – 7 total taproots, only 1 assorted has not broken. I ran by the local hydro shop today and purchased a bag of Fox Farms Ocean Forest and some 16 oz plastic Solo cups. Popped several holes in each cup and labeled them. Filled 7 cups with soil and watered them very liberally. (I did not measure the total amount per plant.) The soil drained much faster than I thought it would. Planted all seven in labeled cups and covered with baggies to retain moisture.

05/24/09

0800 – Last seed cracked. Gonna check for taproot later.
2030 – Last taproot sprouting. Planted in same fashion as the others. No signs of any green popping through. Will check again later.

05/25/09

0900 – First green this morning. (Assorted #4) I need to hook up some lights pretty soon. I bought 26W CFL 6500k (x4) to get this brood started. I need to get some more fixtures and find some much larger lights.

1342 – 7 of the 8 have broken earth. All 4 Citral and two more of the assorted came up while I was out searching for big CFLs. 26W have been the largest that I have found. I am a little upset (but really too excited to be mad.)So as of now I have 3 fixtures with 3 Y-splitters for a total of 6 x 24 (6500K) = 134W total. (I feel I can probably get away with doubling this, depending on how the first week or two of vegging goes… Just going to play it by ear for now.

2338 – I can see the last sprout but it'll be tomorrow before she really pops. Sitting under the lights this evening warmed up the room quite a bit. (More than I thought.) I really need to get some air moving in there. I have several computer fans that I need to match up with some chargers and at least get a little circulation. I am taking some time tomorrow to take care of just that. I gave each gal a drink (bout ½ cup distilled) and dropped the lights from about 6-7 inches to about 3 inches. I will check them in a couple of hours to make sure they are alright.

05/26/09

0700 – Everything looked good this morning. Last baby sprouted and is turning upwards towards those lights. I wired and started one pc fan last night and it seemed to help the temp quite a bit. (I have to get a thermometer/barometer to keep up with conditions…. I know that stressing the plant in early life can cause undesirable consequences down the road. I want this to be a pleasurable experience for all… Cathartic even.
2300 – Seemed warm in there this evening. I wired up 2 more 90mm fans to try to keep the temp down. Got an idea of how to add more watts for no more fixtures. Double up on the splitters. I do not know if this is desirable, but it seems electrically sound. So long as I do not exceed the overall wattage rating of the socket, I should be good. This would allow me to effectively double my canopy output to 268W out of 12 26W bulbs which I believe gives a good amount of flexibility to placement as well. More to come on this.





05/27/09

0600 – It is too hot in the room. I just don't know how much to cool it off. I will fix both of these issues today. None of the kids appear to be doing much. I can see the start of the second set of (fan?) leaves on the largest sprout. That is pretty exciting. The runt is still ½ the size of her sisters :rays:: But even the smallest looks healthy. Soil is starting to dry out.
2315 – Came home with goodies to a furnace of a grow room with a digital thermometer/hygrometer. Soil was very dry and the T/RH was 94.6F/42%... I almost dropped dead. I turned off the lights and opened the door and gave all of the babies a drink. (2/3 cup distilled each.) I am still not sure how much t o water with this medium…. It seems that every drop I pour in comes out the drain holes, but when I feel the consistency of the (peat?) moss is very damp… (Water straight pours out of the bottom of the cups though…) I heard that you should compact the bottom 1/4-1/3 of the medium in whatever planter you were using to help retain more moisture, but I did not do that for these seedlings.
Got a box fan (thanks Kitty) running over all of the plants on medium to try to get a good bit of airflow. I turned it on low for two hours, then switched to medium to try not to change the atmospheric conditions too quickly. The temp has stabilized at about 82F and the RH is at 51% (due to just having watered?) This is after having added two more 26W bulbs to the mix. Yes, I doubled up the Y-Splitters on one of my fixtures. Lights are all running and there don't seem to be any problems.(208W and growing…) I officially have to wear sunglasses to look at the plants if the CFLs are on.
Last note and I am goin' to bed… I found my camera and took a couple of snaps… I will add begin adding pics as well.


05/28/09
1300 - I have no idea how but my soil is dry again. Temps are steady at 83F with RH at 50%. Nonetheless the soil is pretty dry and I desperately do not want to overwater. I am gonna give them a little taste, but I think I will post on GC and see what the good people think. I have no experience with soil, and the FFOF drains sooo fast. I'll check on them later to see how they are doing.
2230 – I decided not to water today, but I will do it in the morning. Everyone looks happy, and I think the risk of drowning those roots/stunting growth or worse outweighs the potential benefit of increased growth.
05/29/09

0600 – I watered all the girls this morning. Temp 83.6F/RH 51%. Leaf growth has begun to ramp up a little bit and 7 of the 8 babies have a second set of leaves coming in very quickly. I have a lead on a 400W HPS for cheaps…

05/30/09
1115 – So I picked up that HPS setup and it is a beast… I did some major reinforcement t o the garden walls and hung that puppy up. The light…. It burns… Literally this thing raised the temp in the space by like 10F in an hour… So I haven't really dealt with circulation yet and I was running a bit hot already (81-83F consistently.) Time to make some holes…
1721 – Finished hanging the HPS and cut a 4” hole for a passive intake then remembered all those PC fans I had… Wired them together and duct taped them to a 4” vent outlet. Through flexible ducting to an AC vent in an adjacent room. I wondered if it would be more efficient to just cut it off at the wall as the room temperature air would be pulled in via the fan, but not have 15' of ducting to go through, or if those lil fans could even pull any air in at all. We'll take a look at the temps over the next few hours and see where we stand. I have to exhaust as well, and need to check on something first.
2320 – Cut down the intake ducting and ran an exhaust using another pc fan leading into the HVAC return. Wonder what kind of trouble that will cause?? Still feels pretty warm in there. Man those kids are growing though.


05/31/09

0600 – 93F/51% RH @ 24”.Too hot. I need to change venues. I cannot afford any ventilation equip now so I decided to move the operation to a room where I could hopefully control the climate a bit easier.

06/01/09

0237 – Finally got everything swapped out. Lots more room in here. Will check temps later. Still at 24”.
1117 – Things are definitely cooler in here. 83-85F during the hottest part of the day. I want to get the light closer though. Watered the flock still at 2/3 cup distilled. The perlite in the soil looks like it's turning brown. I do not know whether or not to be alarmed. Growing like weeds. Started first branches today I think.
2250 – Watered 1 cup distilled, dropped the bulb down to 20” and temp went up to around 90F. I diverted some cold airflow onto my tray and got the temp down to 80F. I do not know if it is better to have the plants 4 degrees warmer for the increase in lumens from the bulb being 4” closer.. Oh, well… I just have it rigged anyways…I can pull it down if I need to. Also this grow has been hot from the getgo, yet I cannot imagine their growth has been stunted too much… I just hope it doesn't put hair on their chests.

06/02/09
1722 - Temps are pretty steady and the kids are lookin good today. Branching is ramping up and the stems are finally starting to fatten to my satisfaction. (I have had that fan blowing on them since they were 1 day old). I am beginning to look at a date for transplanting. Hmm if they are 8 days old today, and I have to leave for 6 days in 4 days time, am I better off transplanting right before I leave, or waiting till I get back?? I have only one pot anyways, and I am still dead broke…. I am also gonna need nutes in another couple of weeks. Got a lead on some buckets from a buddy from his work, but he said it would take about a few days to get up 8 of them. It's ok though cuz I also need soil probably at least 1 more bag. I have one of the buckets, and it is about a 3 gallon. I figure that will suit my purpose very well.

 

So I am just noticing how incredibly small the text in this journal is. I tried a couple of times to increase the font size, and no matter what I did the preview looked the same. Well, if anyone can get through all of the eye straining to get to current, I will strart posting this directly in GC to try to keep things a little more legible. (I was just going to keep this for personal; use, but I am a sharer at heart.)

06/03/09

0820 - Kids are all nestled, and I am thinking about transplanting more and more. It seems a bit early still, but I was looking at size and assuming the root mass is 2-3x larger then the visible foliage, they are going to need a new house very soon. Cups are feeling very light this morning. I'll probably water tonight. I like making them wait for a drink. It is a bit empowering. (I do not want them to go and revolt on me though.)

 

Hola Nmarino.. I am currently runnig 24/0 on the 400W HPS and yesterday added 100W of CFLs (6500k), and now that the temps are well under control am adding another 100W of vegging CFLs tomorrow before transplanting.

I was just about to try to go to 18/6 with lights out in the middle of the day to keep the heat down, but I just changed rooms and the CFLs don't put off any heat anyways. I am hoping they really start to shine after I transplant, and can get them up in between the buckets and maximize some side growth.

I will try to get a decent update with some pics from the kids in their new beds tomorrow or Saturday.

Stay green.

 

So I am back from my little holiday and to my surprise, I had some modest growth during the six days I was away. I had my caregiver water only once during the week, and the plants really seemed to respond to the dryness well. I gave them all 2L with 1/4 strength BioBiz nutes after transplanting into 3 gallon buckets last Friday, and a 1L sip of distilled during the week (Tuesday) and then I gave them a good 3L drink this morning (w/Biogrow 1/2 strength).

My sweet watering wench also found a bagseed (1st in 5+ years) that she is germinating in the room (taproot planted Thursday night) but no poking yet. We will include it in this journal, should it prove viable.

I am thinking of topping 1 or two plants, just to get a bit of experience at it. Also I do not know if I can still try to LST any of them, as the main stems are all very rigid now, and I do not want to damage them. (Shame I missed the opportunity... Oh well, there are always clones.)

Well I could go into all of the boring detail stuff much further, but I will forgo it in lieu of getting to the sexy stuff. Here are some candids of the kids on day 21:

 

Thanks for stopping by Alex and netuzer. They do grow up so fast, don't they? I was worried heading out of town, but I have been blessed and lucky so far. I feel like no matter how much I read and research there is no substitute for just trying things myself and finding out what works best.

I purchased a timer this morning and am moving this batch from 24/0 to 18/6 starting tomorrow. I am going to veg them for another week or so and look at moving to flowering/sexing/cloning... _: pray for girls with big hips :_

More pics soon..

 

I spent a lot of time with the kids today and I got a good shot of the THC Fairy visiting the kids to put them to sleep with visions of sweet sticky buds. M'Lady asked me if I realized how long I spent in the garden today? Heh...

**update**
I took the shorter plants and raised them to the approximate height of the tallest plant so I would have a more even canopy heightwise... I then raised the light to 20" and am currently sitting at 82F at 49%RH. I did some reading today and decided not to top or FIM any of the kids this go round. Vertical height is not all that limited for me and so it seems alright to let them get a bit of leg to them.

 

06/14/09

Took a few pics today during lights out. I do not know how important keeping all of the light out during my 6 hours off. There is not enough light for them to stretch to, but I haven't gotten around to lightproofing their "enclosure" yet. (Or even enclosing their enclosure as of yet). I need to get on that if I want to start flowering in the next couple of weeks.

Measured the lot of the kids. All were between 9-13" total height with what I have read is good internodal spacing. Both old leaves and new growth all look good to me. Consistent and dark green with newer growth starting a couple of shades lighter and then deepening.

My little wood nymph found a couple of ladybugs and we put them in the garden in case of mites. They have ben hanging out there for a couple of days now, and seem very content. I told her I would pay her for every one she found for me. (Apparently they live in windowsills).

Anyways, on to the pics... We are calling tese the Official Three Week Old Portraits, even though technically it was yesterday.
Stay green.^^

 

So here we are again. SO much has happened in the past week. I changed the light schedule to induce flowering on 06/19/09. I had one plant with one alternating node and am very impatient to see how many of these kids will actually make it to adulthood. I am praying for two moms to re-veg (hopefully one Citral and one assorted) and four other girls (two of each) to keep in flower. I just don't know how much room I will need to make sure that I am not starving any of them for light. (I know having all eight in there is too many).

So the first feeding in flowering I gave full strength Bio-Grow and 1/2 strngth Bio-Bloom and Top-Max. (I still need to go onto the Bio-Biz site and d/l a feeding schedule). I have not noted any sort of pre-flowering on any of the plants. I am checking at least twice daily and am about to bust with anticipation.

I decided not to seal off the flowering chamber and instead use it as an entire flower room. It took me so long to get the temp/humidity worked out, I want to leave well enough alone. As of now my temps range from 70F-80F@ about 50% RH. Once I get my mom situation squared away, I can use another room for cloning/vegging.

All of the lil champs are looking pretty good. Color is still fine, and all of them are growing taller and fatter every day. My tallest is now just under 29" and there are two short ones who haven't gotten past 18" yet. The others fall in between with most being in the 24-26" range.

I have already said too much. I have a few pics. Sorry for the color, but not much I can do about it, unless i can get in just before or just after lights out. I will try in the next update.

Enjoy and stay green.^^

 

Sorry I have been running a lot here as of late. I will get a proper update tonight with some good pics.

 

So by my count I am at day 20 since I switched to 12/12. I realized how busy I am and how little time I had to do the really important things in life like update my grow journal.

My girls (I ended up with 4/8) are doing very well, I think. (I don't really have a standard for comparison except for other journals.)

I have one little lady who's the captain and star center for the JV basketball team.(Pics #1-4) Laura Legs measures in at 59.5" from toe to tip. She is one of my assorted mystery strains, and is, I believe going to do big things. I would say that she stretched, but I have done everything in my very limited power to make sure that all of the kids had the same opportunities growing up... That they all stayed the same distance from the light. But she always wanted to be closer. Always grew more then her brothers (RIP) or her sisters. SO driven, the kids these days.

Next there is Gentle Gertie. (Pics #5-7) She is consistant and steady Citral #4. She has a quiet countenance to her, though she is always the one who speaks up for the group when they are thirsty. She is 40" and flowering is moving along with her very well. Very symmetric leaf/branch structure and plenty of bud sites which are getting sufficient light. Moving much slower then Laura.

Now to Gertie's twin, Special Edwina. (Pics #8-10) Citral #1. She suffered a mishap early in life which left her rather disfigured, and has been in need of some of Dad's "special" attention. She also stands, though not totally upright, at 40", and has several good bud sites starting to form, and as such, was well worth the bit of extra effort.

Last, but certainly not least, is Sug. (Pics #1-3 next post) Citral #3. Short and stout (takes after her Dad) Sweet Mama (as I like to refer to her as) is one little ball of green. She was always the most "healthy" of the brood. She is only 31", but her leaves are so vibrant and green and the buds which are already starting to form smell of sweet honeysuckle and pine. I want to live in her. (The group shots are pics #4-5 in the next post.)

All of the girls are on the same schedule, which consists of 4L drinks every 3-4 days(whenever Gertie's bottom fans start to droop). 1/4 dose of Bio Grow with a maximum dose of Bio Bloom and Top Max every other watering. I also cycled in one mini-flush the watering after the first time I added bloom nutes. (Had a little burning and flipped out a bit.) I didn't ease them into the nutes like I should've. I figured, hey, they're organic and they took so well to the veg nutes. Bio Bizz recommends continuing their veg formula throughout the grow, and I have been but I cut back on the veg in my flower mix. I don't know what the right answer is, but they seem to be doing alright. My local hydro store guy has been a big help though.

The only real hangup that I am having now is my light. I have an ancient vertical reflector and no more vertical space. I seperated the bulb/reflector from the ballast and gave myself another 12", but I desperately need a horizontal hood of some sort. I am destitute until next Wednesday. I have already burned a couple of leaves on Laura, and she is still growing... (I don't know how to slow her down.) I will try to keep her outside on thew perimeter of the light, but I do not want her production to suffer too much.

***Picture Disclaimer*** I am not a professional, or even amateur photographer. I have a wife who has a camera that I cannot work, or hold steady on a tripod. I apologize for the horrible nature of the following photos. If I can coax my better half into the garden, I will have her take some pictures you can actually salivate over. She is off with the girls tonight. (Not those girls... her girlfriends...) My promise to you is that in person, these ladies look every bit the part.

And with that, let the NC-17 show begin:

 

Here are the rest of the pics. I am, as always, open to advice, criticism, lavish praise and I am soon to be accepting Paypal (j/k)...

Stay green.^^