Snap's 1st Stab - Welcome to Snapland..

[McSnappler]

EDIT: I've changed the thread title, as this has become more of a collection of what I'm currently up to, rather than a single run of specific strains. I seem to have encountered almost every newbie calamity going so far, so stick around and see what else happens!

Hey all, welcome to my first IC Mag grow diary. I've grown weed twice in the past, but both times I didn't finish the job.. first time, the plants just stopped growing, second time was much better, but security & paranoia made me pull them before they finished. These attempts occurred in 2001/2, and I haven't been in a position to try again until now.

I'll be starting out with some UK Cheese cuttings. Whilst these cuts are being flowered (and turned into mothers), I'll be kicking off some Sensi Silver Haze & SOL Sweettooth #3 beans that I've had since my first grow attempts.. fingers crossed these old seeds will germ ok in my inexperienced hands.

My previous failures were all about preparation, so this time, I've read, absorbed, read, designed, read & redesigned, until I have a cab I'm happy with, comprising a 150W HPS flower chamber, 125W CFL mother/seedling chamber, and utility room.

I'm almost finished building the growbox, but today, my hand was forced, as my cuttings showed up, the UK Cheese - so for the second, whilst I finish off the DIY, they're in the temporary veg cab below. The ghetto ventilation is the fan I'll be using in the proper cab, coupled with something I pulled off my portable aircon! Seems to be doing the job though, temps are same as ambient with the 125W CFL in there.



The three clones came fully rooted through in 3" rockwool cubes, which I've now put in a 70% compost/30% perlite mix. I put mainly soil on the top couple of inches, as I had problems with the perlite floating to the surface during watering on a previous grow attempt. Two are in 2 gallon pots, one is in a much smaller tub as it's going into a friend's micro cab.


Exodus Cheese#1 (my favourite of the three)




Exodus Cheese#2 (looks as green & healthy as #1)



Exodus Cheese#3 (this was quite yellow, not as healthy looking as others, but was also the most rooted through of the three)

I know I've not got much to look at yet, but please let me know if you have any comments about things so far! I'm learning as I go, and hopefully I can continue to absorb ICer knowledge like I have been already. I'll post up pics of the finished cab in action in the next few days.

 

[McSnappler]

New growth on the cuttings is definately getting bigger, so they seem to be reasonably happy in their new home. There is some slight yellowing on the tips of the leaves, which I understand could be nute burn.. I've not yet fed anything, and the compost I put them in is designed for young seedlings & cuttings, called John Innes No 1 here in the UK, so I'm a bit baffled.

The cuts may have already had a tiny bit of this yellowing, but it's definately got a bit worse since Saturday when they arrived.

 

[libby]

New growth on the cuttings is definately getting bigger, so they seem to be reasonably happy in their new home. There is some slight yellowing on the tips of the leaves, which I understand could be nute burn.. I've not yet fed anything, and the compost I put them in is designed for young seedlings & cuttings, called John Innes No 1 here in the UK, so I'm a bit baffled.

The cuts may have already had a tiny bit of this yellowing, but it's definately got a bit worse since Saturday when they arrived.

Just glve lt a blt of tlme to settle down, the yellowlng wlLL sort lt's self out, looklng good mate, need to get my hands on some cheese one day.

 

[Max0r]

McSnappler:

Cuts look good bro! Do you plan to select one as a mother and clone her out or are you going to try and flower all three? I got greedy and flipped all of mine so I'll probably end up trying to reveg my favo(u)rite one!

I'd love to compare the "UK Cheese" we get out here with the real deal someday.

 

[Ryu]

Yo Snappler

Yo Snappler

Looking groovy man, if you got new growth and your temps/humi are fine, just check you let em dry off a little before watering so air gets in the root zone.

Respect
Ryu

 

[McSnappler]

Just glve lt a blt of tlme to settle down, the yellowlng wlLL sort lt's self out

Thanks, will give it a few days to see how it goes!

Do you plan to select one as a mother and clone her out or are you going to try and flower all three?

Somebody is taking the one in the small pot, to flower almost straight away in a micro grow. The other two I'm going to grow on for a bit and see which looks healthier, then either keep it as a mum, or take cuts and bonsai one of those up - before eventually flowering some of it! The reject mum I'll probably put into flower too.

Looking groovy man, if you got new growth and your temps/humi are fine, just check you let em dry off a little before watering so air gets in the root zone.

Cheers dude, I think my RH is a bit low, if anything. I've got an idea up my sleeve for that though!

I had a little conversation with someone else off the forum via PM, and they've suggested monitoring the leaf yip yellowing on new growth for a few days.. If it gets worse & worse, could be best to whip them out of the soil before they get properly settled, flush the rockwool through with water, and put them either in a hydro system, or maybe in hand watered coco. I had intended to do so all along, but I was 'caught short', so to speak, and didn't have anything ready!

 

[Max0r]

How's it going in there?

 

[McSnappler]

Well, a week on and I'm quite pleased with how things are going so far. The problems exhibited by the plants last week seem to be under control, and everything seems to be moving along nicely. I've left them in the soil, rather than repot to Coco, as the new growth seems healthy.

I can't really believe I've done it, considering the amount of time I spent on Google SketchUp designing my cab, but I've grabbed a small BudBox to house my vegging plants. I'm going to follow that up with a second identical tent in a couple of weeks, to flower in, and will probably link the two, using my main fan to ventilate both tents.

I'm feeling the BudBox, its well put together, compact & discrete. I plan to build a shelf across the top of both tents, which will sit side by side, with my fish tank on top - should prove a reasonably stealthy setup.

BudBox tucked in the corner..


Inside it's a bit cramped right now..


The extra pots on top under the dome are Silver Haze & ST#3 seeds that I've just started, I'll rearrange the space a bit when they poke their heads above the Canna Coco they've been planted in. I followed Rosy Cheeks advice on germination in Coco, but got a bit impatient & only waited for the first couple to crack before they went in the dirt.. I'm keeping them constantly moist, and have got the humidity up, so fingers crossed everything goes to plan.

The humidity was pretty easy to solve with my ghetto solution, which I probably read about on here at some point.. whatever, it works - perhaps too well, as I woke up in the night dripping with sweat!

Some perlite in RO water with the fan blowing over it seems to have done the trick..


So now, onto the Cheese. Well, the little runt is still the little runt, and was awkwardly positioned at the back of the garden, so hasn't been photographed this time. I'll bring her out next week for a snap.

The best two cuts have now had some LST love, and their first feed of weak nutes - they seem to be loving it.

Exodus Cheese #1


Exodus Cheese #2


Any comments massively appreciated. Be good to get some reassurance that I'm not on the road to killing my clones!

 

[jamrockjay]

Im in

Good luck with you grow McSnappler i cant wait to see how the exodus cheese turns out for you......

 

[Hazeseeker]

good idea with the training on those Uk Cheese man, do you have anything for killing spider mites if they show up?, if you don't i'd recommend buying something now bro as the mites will find those clones sometime, honestly it's magnet for spider mites even in perfect growing conditions, there's a product called SMC which is 100% organic which works well, even if you don't spot any mites i'd still spray the plants with this stuff once a week in veg just to be on the safe side cause once they appear it becomes a battle,
also when growing take it easy with those nutes dude, lower nutes on the Uk Cheese = stronger/true aroma

peace

 

[McSnappler]

@ jamrockjay Cheers!

@ Hazeseeker Thanks for checking in dude. Thought I should try a little of what I've been learning, as I want to turn the best one into a little bush to take cuttings from. I've not prepared myself for mites yet, so I appreciate the warning! I'll track down some SMC and start the offensive.
Been very light on the nutes so far, only one feed of 3/4 strength GH 3-part. Found a local source of RO water refills, which is a bit of a touch.

I've also decided today that some T5's, or some of those long CFLs, are in order. I can't believe how useless a single 125W envirolite is. Great light for plant growth, but I'm fighting a battle to keep everything as close to it as I would like. The BudBox has a little utility shelf you can buy, so I might grab one and strap a load of T5/CFLs to it!

 

[Ryu]

Yo snappler, a small 150w hps may be worth looking at for the lumens/wattage.

Pretty easy to pull twice what I can from a 200w CFL with a 150w hps. I agree they rock for veg, seed production, foliar feeding without heat stress, using 2 myself
SB invigorator is excellent for mites also plus foliar feed, sounds similar to the product above.
Greens horticulture online sell it should you need it.

Lovely and green in there man, looking forward to seeing it fill up. Certainly looks like you got them wenches well trained already.

 

[McSnappler]

Yo snappler, a small 150w hps may be worth looking at for the lumens/wattage..

I've got a couple of 150W HPS laying dormant at the moment, ready for purchase of tent number two. Could be looking to get a 250W or 400W CMH later in the year though, if funds allow.

With the T5's I'd just looking for a more even spread of light in the veg chamber. Trying to position plants in big pots under this clonking great CFL on chains is a PITA.

edit: The first of the Sweettooth seedlings has popped her head above dirt, and is now basking in CFL goodness.

 

[McSnappler]

MITES!

MITES!

Bit of drama today, I've noticed what I assume is spider mite damage on all three clones.

There are no webs etc, but white pinspots on leaves, and Cheese#2 seems a bit unhappy. She has done for a couple of days, tried watering on Monday as she was a bit dry, but that hasn't perked her up too much.

I will buy some SMC or SB Invigorator tomorrow and give the plants a good few treatments. I'm thinking about following that up with some predator mites, as the main Cheese is going to live in this chamber for a while, definately long enough to build up the community of lion mites.

I'm now slightly worried about my new seedlings. Should I try and move them elsewhere until I have the mites under control?

Any advice appreciated.

edit: Took them out & inspected, now I'm not sure if it's mites or not.. #2 is definately unhappy but maybe it's not that. I need to get myself a magnifying glass I think! Whatever the weather, I'll get some mite spray and give them a good soaking!

 

[Standaman]

Hey McSnappler-
As a total cheese head i'm gonna be watching this thread hard!
Fingers crossed it goes well for you, and although i don't know a lot i would say watch those little fookers don't hurt ya babies. I dunno why UK Cheese is so prone to these buggers but i have heard it a lot!
keep up the good work mate

 

[Max0r]

McSnappler:

Neem Oil can work well as a prophylactic once you get the infestation under control.

 

[McSnappler]

Cheers guys, been reading up on mites, and checking my plants closely. Will apply the first treatment tomorrow, even though I'm not totally convinced the borg has invaded yet. Hopefully this will turn out to be prevention rather than cure, though something is making Cheese2 unhappy still. I checked her runoff and its 6.0-6.2 which isnt too bad?

A little update on the seedlings:3 ST#3s now above ground, the other 3 I retrieved hadn't germed - I crushed one by accident (it was really soft), and have put the other two down somewhere in the room, and misplaced them, like an idiot.

The Silver Hazes haven't germed, so have put them back in paper towels.

My own fault for being impatient really, and not keeping the coco moist enough at points - tough in tiny little pots with a normal life to lead! Guess that would have mattered *slightly* less if I'd germed all the seeds fully before I planted. I never had any problems first time round, so maybe I'll just go back to basics..

Hopefully the Hazes will sprout, but I've just got hold of some new genetics, so I wont be TOO heartbroken.

 

[McSnappler]

Picture Update

Picture Update

Hey guys.. managed to blag a temporary digital camera, until I can win a decent one on eBay, so hopefully picture updates will be a little more frequent! I'm absolutely loving things so far, and have decided I hate going out and being away from my babies.. although, it's a lovely surprise coming home after a day or more and seeing progress!

So, how's the garden looking under the cool light of CFLness?



Well, after wondering what I was doing wrong with Cheese #2, I decided to give it a thorough flush through with pure RO water.. partly to check the runoff pH, partly in case I'd screwed up the ferts. A couple of days later, she's looking much much happier. I guess in my paranoia of overwatering, I'd actually underwatered her - so despite a recent feed of nutes, she was thirsty as! Doh, newbie mistakes, and all that.. I've not included pictures of her, as she'll be out of the door in a day or so.

My baby, Cheese #1, is coming on in leaps and bounds, responding well to the training. These pictures were taken a few hours after some LST, so the snaps in a few days will probably look prettier than these!



Cheese #3, the runt, is finally coming along alright, if a little "leggy" - probably not very descriptive, sorry! Maybe I mean stretched..



The reinforcements in the battle of the spidermites has arrived, though I think I was being overparanoid in thinking the garden was already infested. I had to seek it out in a hydro store, so a quick trip in the old womans car and I found some SMC.



I'll be on the lookout for some SB Invigorator too, as it's cheap, recommended - and the RHS use it to control pests in their gardens, so it must be mustard!

Finally, the Sweettooth #3 seedlings. Two are doing fine, one is really not happy!



The first seedling has slightly distorted first leaves, but otherwise looks healthy. Hopefully nothing to worry about?

The third one is a concern. It sprouted a day after the second, and seemed ok at first. I let it get a bit dry, and the first true leaves wilted. After a good watering it's still not having it.

That's it for now, sorry there isn't more, and sorry about the picture quality. The new digi cam I'm sizing up is a beast, so quality should improve soon! I was also lucky enough to be donated a load of beans - some quality crosses, and some Diesel Ryders that I hope to experiment with. That's for another grow thread though, I guess - I kind of limited myself in terms of strains with the title here! Still, one step at a time..

 

[JamieShoes]

hope you get your mites under control mate... other than that everything is looking good in the garden...excellent choices on the SSH and cheese. I think those 2 are not meant to be easy to grow, so by the time you're finished you'll have learned a heap of good stuff :smile:

 

[McSnappler]

Thanks dude. Fingers crossed the mite treatment is only a preventative measure. I was being extra paranoid, but as far as I can work out they've not found the Cheese, yet!