# The Desert garage grow



## Vegas Kid (Jun 20, 2014)

The Grow

 This was gnarly.  After an unruly St. Patrick&#8217;s Day. I dropped 9 seeds in rockwool (3/19/2014), RO water dark and warm) germinated 7, one was three leaf set bonsai about the size of a dime before I got bored and tossed it. 11 days of RO water under the Dome. ¼ strength (Lucas Method  - Maxi-Bloom base) for 4 feedings the bumped up to 50% until transplanted. Under 150 W CFL . 
The relative humidity in the Mojave Desert was some of the lowest on record if you left the dome off too long you could see the wilt. 4/17/2014 transplanted 6 to Dutch Bucket top drip 24/7 with Hydro Halo rings under 400W MH and 400W HPS 925 PPM Maxi. 18/6 for 5 days and I flipped them. 1 plant lost to fan burn and 1 damaged. 
When I looked at roots of the burned plant I found most of them in the Rockwool cube. Over spray had kept the plants fed and they were showing NO interest in rooting. Changed to periodic watering system and pushed the rings into the hydroton  then pulled back until they just cleared. The plants will chase the water, no rooting product this time. 
Put a wind break on the damaged plant and crossed my fingers. And Flipped
I don&#8217;t know what I expected, but I am sure it&#8217;s not what I got. I ran a 15 gallon reserior for now 5 plants. They were about 6 to 8 inches tall. I ran ppm&#8217;s 870 to 920.  I deliberately forced them short. They grew like the proverbial weed; alas 4 of them had balls. The single female was the wind damaged plant.

I am not hard up enough for weed to spend a couple of months babysitting a single survivor. I was out of time to restart. 

SEED CROP
Never gave it a second thought. Clipped the male flowers and froze. Then threw 3 in the trash and let nature take is course. 5/6 to 5/14. 
On June 8 I reduced to 11 hours of light on a single 400W HPS

Since then I&#8217;ve learned 
1. Don&#8217;t grow if you&#8217;re not going to be there. 3 days out town - SLIME
(End of May in Vegas = hot)
 2. AIR stones will knock chlorine out of the water (if you put it in light just before feeding you get the roots; heavy dose at night will be in the reservoir 12 hours)

3.        Nutrient salts build up fast in a top feed system - in the heat

4.        68 to 70 F in the reservoir beats bleach

5.        reduce PPM&#8217;s as Heat rises

6.        flush with low ph water 5.3

7.        flush weekly for 24 hours 

8.        What &#8220;they all say&#8221; about the first grow in new hydroton is true

9.        Never grow hydro on the second floor (way too many floods on my garage floor.)

10.   You may not get away with starting so late next time

11.   This one is counter intuitive run the lights during the day. It may be 83 to 86 F during the day if the lights are on or not, but I can give the plant a 70 to 75 F night (for swamp coolers)

12.   One problem on one leaf may only be one problem on that leaf and you don&#8217;t have to press the panic and start reaching for additives.




The plant has been in flower for 57 days and this is the 6th week tomorrow since pollination. It is now 34 inches, and loaded with prime White Widow f2. The plant is rangy and spindly consider its 5 day veg under HID. Has survived 87 F @ 60% RH - 76 F reservoir, dry and cold , air circulation fan and feed water pump off 24 hours. I&#8217;m afraid to look back on the log any more. 90% of the calyx have split and the tips are starting to brown up. The lower fan leaves turning a soft yellow. There are very tiny flowers among the seed pods. It is going to be 110 in shade at my place this weekend. I still like the odds &#8211; this one is a survivor


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## Rosebud (Jun 20, 2014)

You learned a lot.


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## 1username (Jun 20, 2014)

would love to see a picture of that survivor!


ostpicsworthless:


j/k


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## Vegas Kid (Jun 20, 2014)

View attachment survivor.JPG


I will refrain from trying to squeeze a grow in before summer in the future.(we had an official 108 F in May)


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## Hushpuppy (Jun 20, 2014)

You can call yourself a veteran after this one  The good thing is now you have some solid seeds from which to work


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## Locked (Jun 20, 2014)

Wow, talk about a wild ride.   At least you are getting one hell of a learning experience out of this.   Green Mojo.


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## Vegas Kid (Jun 20, 2014)

Ambient 103 RH 5%
Plenum 82 
Flower  83.8 RH 44%
435 PPM
5.8 PH

Hey one and all, the swamper is holding its own. Along with the sealed lighting. The plants are in a strong breeze from the 8&#8221; Vortex and the tower fan.
View attachment cluster.jpg


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## Locked (Jun 20, 2014)

Wow, yeah she is quite pregnant.  Congrats on the beans.  You have to look at things on the brighter side.  You learned a lot and now can start again with a nice stash of beans to play with.    Nice pic by the way.  Not crystal clear but it shows a lot of detail anyway.


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## 1username (Jun 20, 2014)

thank you for showing us your girl friend! She looks like she is ready to read the book," what to expect when your expecting"!

congrats on some fun seeds that you will be able to really enjoy watching grow,.... always more enlightenment when you were the breeder!

cheers and thanks for sharing the pic


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## Vegas Kid (Jun 20, 2014)

View attachment hps 2 cluster.jpg

to get shots in total darkness. I got a few usable pics before the hps came to life. Heat strees at its best


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## EsC420PoT (Jun 21, 2014)

Cool, I've never seen anyone continue a grow with a male or pollinated female. (unless it was a breeding forum). I like how regardless of the odds and luck, you stayed persistent, and looked at the positive perspectives. And that is a key characteristic when being a grower. There will always be variables and obstacles, **** will and does happen, and to dwell on it, will kill the fun and experience of growing. Now instead of getting 1 plant that yielded. you now have many seeds which you can turn into as many plants as you desire. Green MOJO!


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## 000StankDank000 (Jun 22, 2014)

Im confused. Did this plant get so stressed it went hermie on you?


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## Vegas Kid (Jun 22, 2014)

Surviving female from a 9 bean drop. On May 11 induced pollination. Turned the 450 CFM vent fan into circulation fan and gave the male a good shake and voila: 
YELLOW FOG
Pretty sure he was slipping out a little pollen before that.
 The first seed dropped by the plant was 6/9/2014 the seed was early and had good color.


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## 1username (Jun 25, 2014)

Vegas Kid said:


> Pretty sure he was slipping out a little pollen before that.




hopefully not!


thanks for sharing everything Vegas Kid


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## 8planets8 (Jun 25, 2014)

HUSHPUPPY I TRIED TO GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU BUT I STILL CANT FIGURE THIS SYSTEM OUT I THANK YOU FOR YOUR OFFER TO HELP ME DO A COCO MIX BUT I DECIDED TO GO BACK TO THE KIT I BOUGHT WHICH HAS A 6 POT TANK WITH AIRSTONES 6 FOOT TENT THE WHOLE 9 YARDS EVERYTHING I NEED EXCEPT I THINK I WILL TAKE YOUR ADVICE AND GET THE JUNGLE JUICE AS OPOSED FROM TECHNAFLORA I HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE TECHNAFLORA I MIGHT HAVE PUT TO MUCH IN MY TANK ILL FIGURE IT OUT ALONG WITH ALL YOU GUYS MY TARGET DATE IS DEC RIGHT NOW I LIVE IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING WITH WAY TO MANY PEOPLE COMEING AND GOING YOU NO HOW NOSY PEOPLE ARE I GOT TO FIND A much more secluded place WHERE THE HEAT IS NOT SO HOT,PLUS THE NEXT 5 MOUNTHS I CAN LEARN MUCH MORE TO PUT UNDER MY BELT TO MAKE IT RIGHT I DO THANK YOU FOR YOUR OFFER YOUR A STAND UP GUY,THANK YOU,AND MY MONEY IS FUNNY RIGHT NOW I JUST BOUGHT A TRUCK SO I GOT A PAYMENT TO.I'M A PATIENCE PERSON WHEN YOU GET OLDER TIME FLYS AND THE NEXT THING IT WILL BE DEC AND I'LL BE ON MY WAY I INTEND TO PICK EVERYONES BRAINS LOL TILL I FEEL COMFORTABLE AND MORE SECURE THANKS BUDDY 888


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## 8planets8 (Jun 25, 2014)

I no i was off topic but i cold not make my message directly to you ok 888  sorry everyone


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## Hushpuppy (Jun 26, 2014)

You are quite welcome. As long as I am here and able to get on this forum, I will be glad to help anyone that needs it 
The Technaflora is good nutes but it is a PITA to follow the recipe, not to mention a bit "pricey". I found the Jungle Juice to be so much more straight forward. Just remember (anyone who decides to use JJ) it is not a pH buffered nutrient like the "pH Perfect" nutes or the  Flora 3part, so it has to be pH adjusted manually with adjusters (which I prefer over automatic adjusting).


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## bagabones (Jun 30, 2014)

Hushpuppy said:


> You are quite welcome. As long as I am here and able to get on this forum, I will be glad to help anyone that needs it
> The Technaflora is good nutes but it is a PITA to follow the recipe, not to mention a bit "pricey". I found the Jungle Juice to be so much more straight forward. Just remember (anyone who decides to use JJ) it is not a pH buffered nutrient like the "pH Perfect" nutes or the Flora 3part, so it has to be pH adjusted manually with adjusters (which I prefer over automatic adjusting).



technaflora was the first thing I ever used and it is a total a pain.. agreed

if your new or unsure id go with the GH flora nova 1 part... youll get good results and its super easy as long as you don't over do it


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## Vegas Kid (Jul 2, 2014)

Accidently brushed a cluster and they fell out. Color looks good.Currently resisting the temptation to give her a good shake. I'll dry them out and store until next month.


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