sophomore grow

[mojomon]

Well, here goes the 2nd grow, hope it's a good one.

As you can see, we are in the start-up phase and the little ones are struggling to get their grow legs. Soaked ten seeds in paper towels a few days ago, all but 2 opened, and I put them in rockwool yesterday. They are all of the same strain. Something called "Master Haze", obtained last year from a Netherlands seedbank, who described the strain as:

"Composed of the pure Haze with just a hint of brasil male and some Indica (Northern Lights)."

Some who might have seen some of my prior posts from the first grow back in '05 may recognize the system and grow room(closet). This will probably be my last grow with this NFT system, as it does have it's pains regarding logistics and maintenance that sometimes make it more trouble than it's worth, but it will grow weed, I know that for sure.

Setup is almost identical to last time, with just a few changes. Got rid of the pH testing strips and cheap pool thermometer from Home Depot in favor of a combo (pH/tds/ec/temp) meter. Rigged up a cheap exhaust fan and some ducting to try and draw some heat away from the 400w MH, but as it is batwing and not hooded, it probably has a negligible effect, at best. That will be on the list of upgrades next time around as well.

Wanted to clone this time around, but this system is tray NFT type and is almost impossible to accomodate transplants once they've rooted. Not to mention don't have suitable cloning chamber set up yet. Next time.

As I have hopefully moved slightly out of the beginners circle into that of the novice, I plan on fine tuning a bit more on this grow and tweaking soulution more to obtain a better harvest. I'm stilll shocked that I managed to get a crop finished on my first grow (six seeds germinated, six plants vegged, four females and two males, and some suprisingly potent bud that aged like fine wine).

Will be adding more photos and notes as time goes by. Look forward to comments/suggestions/discussions with all the cool buds on this site!

Cya,
MojoMon

 

[Mutt]

Thats a sweet set-up dude. can't wait to see that closet full of green.

 

[mojomon]

Thanks Mutt--
Check out some of my posts from last year, if you find the ones from around Sept-Nov '05 you will get an idea of how the finished product looks in this system. The plants stretched quite a bit last time, but I am going to employ some different methods this time in hopes of keeping them fatter, bushier, and with many more nodes per plant.
Mo

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Whats up Mo. May i say you have a very nice clean set up. Now lets get some ladies in their and make a jungle. I'll be watching.

 

[mojomon]

Thanks Bros Grunt, I will be taking some more pics soon and posting. The little ones have finally spouted well and are showing their first little leaf beginnings and I am very pleased that I got all six to come up this far. the seeds had been in my frig for over a year and I was a little concerned they might not still be viable, but they were just waiting for the right moment. Last time I got four girls out of six plants, so I am hoping to do at least as good if not better this time.
I think I will keep this NFT system for maintaining mother plants when I get my second closet/clone chamber set up, and after I upgrade to a different and better system in the future. It seems that it is better suited for that, as it isn't very versatile for rotataing/moving around. As a starter/beginner system it is great though.
Look forward to corresponding with you in the future!
Peace,
MoJo

 

[mojomon]

Here are the seedlings at just about 2 weeks from sprout. Not looking so good, as you can see.

They actually started to curl up and yellow with only distilled pH balanced water running through, so my guess is I might have either had the light too close (started @ about 26" moved back to 36" a few days ago), and/or the temps too high (86-90F). Started out at 24 light cycle, but went to 18/6 yesterday in an effort to keep the temps down during hottest part of the day. They seemed to just halt growing and cotelydons started to yellow, so I decided to feed conservatively.

I had two extra germinated seeds, so I decided to put them in my homemade drip cloner and under a 125w flouro on the shelf above the main grow area. Those two in the cloner are the worst looking, and I have the pump set to go on for an hour every three hours each day.

Started adding nutrient a few days ago, ppm is around 200 and pH between 5-6 for both resevoirs. Using GH maxigro.

Got a bad feeling I might lose most of these puppies, not sure what I am doing wrong--

Any suggestions are welcome--

Thanks,
Mo

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Whats up mojomon. I'm not a hydro grower so i wouldn't be able to tell you what the problem is but you can send Stoney Bud a PM. He know's alot when it comes to hydro. Hope you get things worked out man.

 

[mojomon]

Thanks, TBG.

It would appear, however, that I am not going to receive much attention or assistance from too many folks here, at least not as much as I did on my last grow. You have been most gracious, however, and I thank you.

Mutt has been most helpful as well, thanks.

It seems as though maybe I should move on. Perhaps I don't exhibit the necessary tenants of wisdom or experience becoming a "true grower", or maybe there is some other reason.

In any event, I will forge ahead, and perhaps visit another forum where folks are a little more receptive.

It's too bad really. I'm just a novice grower looking to benefit from the experience of other's wisdom, but if I don't fit in here, I'll just look elsewhere.

Adios compadres,
MoJo

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

You fit in here man what are you talking about. You will get the help you need for your grow i promise.

 

[Stoney Bud]

Yikes Mojomon! Somehow I missed your thread. Bro Grunt sent me a PM with the link and it's the first time I've seen it. I'm not sure how I overlooked it, but I know you're here now!

When seeds first sprout, they have all the nutrients they need within the shell of the seed for a very short period of time.

When growing in soil, the ambient nutrients in the soil are metabolized by the plant in graduating amounts until the plant is growing entirely from the dirt held nutes.

In hydro, you have to compensate for having an environment that is totally free of any nutrients by adding them in the correct quantities for each part of the plants life. The nutrients you're giving, (Started adding nutrient a few days ago, ppm is around 200 and pH between 5-6 for both reservoirs. Using GH maxigro), might be too strong of a mix for the seedlings however. It sure looks like burn to me. The flowing nutrient water is getting the seedlings nice and wet isn't it? If so, then try reducing your nutrient strength to a 1/8th strength mix that would be used for full growth.

Let me know how it goes, cool?

 

[mojomon]

And then there were three...

Looks like only 3 of the original 8 seedlings made it----but my plan is to take 2 clones from each just before flower and hope that I end up with at least one female (which would mean two female mothers to clone off of for a while), and maybe I can get the rotating crop finally started.

Wish me luck---

MoJo

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Whats up mojomon. Your babies are looking great. I'm giving all my GREEN MOJO to ya hoping that they are females.

 

[Stoney Bud]

Looking good man. The three plants you have left are nice. It looks like you're over the hump man!

Make sure you check your reservoir water level and always mix your nutes in a seperate jug BEFORE adding it to your reservoir.

This will help in case you mess up the mix. It's really hard to compensate for a screwup in the primary reservoir.

Good luck man!!!!

 

[Tonto]

Yes, they are looking good. Are they to your liking, in regards to height? I might move the lights a little closer, but not too much, don't want to get them too close to heat.....
Keep it up!

 

[mojomon]

Thanks BG, SB & F1---I appreicate the good words and encouragement---I have been checking the water level religiously and attempting to do a better job this time around with regard to ppm and pH. Having this Hanna multimeter has taken the guesswork out of alot of it--I think I might lower the light a bit, but as my 400w mh is not air-cooled and has a batwing reflector, I'm being a little cautious---been pre-mixing my (GH dry/powder)nutes with a little water in a bottle and just shaking the hell out of it, adding a little at a time to reach the desired ppm, unlike last time when I was just dumping them in the res and stirring it up---right now running at about 450 ppm w/5.5 pH.
I have a home made controller that I made from an empty plastic cat litter bucket that I used for the last grow, getting ready to hook that up as the plants are starting to really drink now. Just praying for that one female (or more, the Gods willing), so I can get my rotating thing going. This will be my first time cloning, so I am reading everything I can so i get it right--
I'll have more pics in the near future--
Thanks for all your help--
MoJo

 

[Tonto]

Definitely keep us posted with pics and comments. I wish you the best with the hunt for the right woman, hopefully you get more than 1!

 

[mojomon]

These have really entered a growth spurt as of late and are moving faster than I expected. Thinking about pulling two cuttings from each plant next week for my first attempt at cloning, and then giving them another week after that to recover before I go to 12/12. I only have around 4' height to work with, so I will need to go to flower at the 6 week mark of veg so I don't exceed my limit.
Thought I would include a pic of my homemade "Tidy Cat controller". It works great and with my new meter I have found a way to keep the ppm and pH numbers optimal with very little adjustment between change-outs of the res water.
Just gotta feed them good karma thoughts of feminization...

More pics soon--
MoJo

 

[Tonto]

I gotta ask... what's the Tidy Cat thing for? lol The plants look great though! I just did some cloning tonight, I say go for it, you have some healthy looking plants.

 

[THE BROTHER'S GRUNT]

Your babies are looking great. I'm sending all my GREEN MOJO your way hoping that you get nothing but females.

 

[mojomon]

Thanks BG, I will take that good mojo wish and hold on to it for dear life--

F1: the tidy cat bucket serves as a "controller". Most hydro outlets sell them as an accessory to larger systems, and they are usually used in larger applications where huge res volumes are needed. It really is nothing more than a gravity feed to supplement the main res. My res is a real pain in the ass to drag out and change, so between change outs, I fill the tidy cat bucket with pH bal water and 1/2 strength nutes. This is connected to the main res float valve (analogous to the float valve in your toilet), which is open as the water fills the res and makes the float rise, then closes the valve when the float reaches it's high point. It is a great way to maintain a constant level and requires only minimal attention once you get the hang of it. Not alot of moving parts, which for me is a good thing.

They are really easy to make with just the bucket, some 1/2 inch tubing, some elbow connectors and a float valve installed in the main res. Let me know if you need some more specific directions on parts, etc..--

Cya,
MoJo