After six years, it begins again... My second grow

[cyclepipe]

I'm working with DP's Master Kush on this grow, only 2/10 seeds germinated in the lot I received. These seeds were from Seed Direct and I'm not shy about saying, I've ordered from Seeds Boutique for the next go round. A disappointing showing at the start but I think I'll manage. The first seedling emerged from the soil on 7/29.



It then stretched a bit on day 2.



Later on the 2nd day, the second seedling showed its little cotyledon above ground.



By the 4th day they both seemed to be taking off a bit. You'll also notice that the first seedling is much stronger than it's sibling.





I didn't snap any pics for several days but today (day 9) seemed like a good time to mark some worthwhile progress. I'm not sure what caused the crisping of the leaves in the first picture. I think it may have been that the plants were too close to the light, there was also a pH issue that I've taken care of with the most basic Hanna pH meter and some pH up and down. That stuff is potent! I quickly learned only a few drops are necessary. About the meter, the only issue I've noticed is that I need to calibrate a lot. I read through a post where Tom Hill mentioned cheap pH meters and I'm curious what would be the next best step up from what I'm using?



Anyway, I moved the plants down a couple inches, altered the pH and they both seem to be taking to it well. The slower sprouting/growing plant's soil is a slightly lower pH, 6.2 vs 6.4. I've let the soil dry out before watering, so I'm not sure what is causing it's drooping leaves but we'll see how things progress.






Finally, I love looking at all the growth taking place under the fan leaves. If anyone wants to describe what I'm seeing here, I'd appreciate it. For a little bit I thought I might be staring at preflowers but it seems waaaay too early for that.



Thanks for stopping by and checking out my super basic grow. I'm having fun caring for these plants and I hope it shows in these pics.

 

[Hazy Lady]

Finally, I love looking at all the growth taking place under the fan leaves. If anyone wants to describe what I'm seeing here, I'd appreciate it.

It is as you said, it's growth, you are doing a great job, you have kept it nice and short, obviously vigorous, shame about the germ rate keep doing what you're doing.

 

[SativaDreams]

congrats man It's been about 4 years since my first grow and I can't wait to begin a new one within a year or so...

good luck!

 

[resin_lung]

Damn you guys grow some LONG flowering plants! SHEESH! I've heard of 120 day sativas but 4-6 years?!?!?! I want a smoke report! LOL

 

[cyclepipe]

Below is a description of my setup as it has evolved thus far:

-Hydrofarm Xtrasun reflector
-Agrosun 400w MH bulb
-Lumatek 400w electronic ballast w/ Super Lumens enabled.
-1:1 Ratio of FoxFarm Ocean Forest soil to Light Warrior Agro-ponic medium, once transplanted the surrounding soil will be a 1:4 ratio of the same mediums

I'm not sure what type of fertilizers I want to use, I've always thought organic was the best and that is what has produced the cannabis that has been most effective for me. I visited my local hydro store and they said that chemical nutrients are not going to change the output relative to organic. I'm sure there are some threads in the forums that cover this topic but if you want to offer some quick advice, I'd appreciate it.

 

[Hydrosun]

Welcome Back!!! I love more good stuff coming into the universe.

Peace,

 

[Dr Dog]

well whats the deal

did you get enough to last you 6 years from your last crop

or did you have bread and water for 6 years

You cant have a title like that and not tell us something

 

[cyclepipe]

well whats the deal

did you get enough to last you 6 years from your last crop

or did you have bread and water for 6 years

You cant have a title like that and not tell us something

I was making a not so subtle attempt at being epic. Six years ago I wasn't able to finish my grow due to moving out of my living space. I'm in a stable location for the foreseeable future and have the opportunity to try producing my own cannabis again. That's the story. lol

 

[KMK0420]

you so stole my thread title! lol...GL man

 

[cyclepipe]

Ladies in the sun

Ladies in the sun

...at least I hope they're ladies.

I decided to put the babies out on the window sill and let them be fed by the sun. If you can't tell, I'm totally going to be one of those overly proud parents should I ever have children. lol

 

[SativaDreams]

somehow, I knew for a fact after my first indoor grow that I would be doing it again sometime in my life.

 

[cyclepipe]

Uh-oh

Uh-oh

They might have gotten too much sun, I posted some pics in another thread if anyone would like take a look at the leaves.

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=132382

 

[cyclepipe]

How do I know once they have entered vegatative grrowth? Any recommendations regarding nutrients?

 

[Dr Dog]

vegetative growth? they already are

Nutes I recommend a couple things

Botanicare Pure Blend Pro( Grow and Bloom)
Liquid Karma
Some sort of Cal Mag formula
and some sort of bloom booster, I personally like using Bat Guano

 

[cyclepipe]

vegetative growth? they already are.

So what is the tell tale sign of vegetative growth? The 3 fingered leaves or...? Would you worry about an EC/TDS meter or will following the instructions on the bottle and keeping the pH in range be all that's necessary?

 

[Dr Dog]

vegetative growth is what you are in from when the seed first shows up, meaning teh plant is growing and not flowering. So there really is no sign...The only time you start looking for something is in about 2 weeks you start to look for preflowers, and that will tell you what you are working with.

Then you start flowering

All you need to worry about really is keeping your ph in check and stay just a bit below what the bottle recommends, and you will be fine

 

[cyclepipe]

The only time you start looking for something is in about 2 weeks you start to look for preflowers, and that will tell you what you are working with.

That throws my timetable way off.

I thought there was around 2-3 weeks of seedling growth, then the 'veg' growth cycle started and continued for around 4 weeks, finally flowering for whatever time it takes for the strain to finish.

 

[PharmaCan]

That throws my timetable way off.

I thought there was around 2-3 weeks of seedling growth, then the 'veg' growth cycle started and continued for around 4 weeks, finally flowering for whatever time it takes for the strain to finish.

The amount of time you veg the plants is going to depend on how big you ultimately want the plants to be. You can flip the plants to bloom cycle (lights 12 hours on/12 hours off) anytime you want now. But the bigger you let the plants get in veg, the bigger they will be in the end.

Since you only have two plants, and one or both of them may be male, you might consider taking some clones as soon as you can then vegging those while you flip the other plants and let them show their sex. What you'd do is take 3-4 clones from each plant, then put the seedling plants on 12/12 so that they show their sex. If one or both are females, you keep the clones from the females and use those for your grow; depends on how many plants you intend to grow. Then, if at least one of the seedlings is female, you'd have 3-4 plants to grow out instead of just one - or two depending on how the sexing turns out.

PC

 

[cyclepipe]

The amount of time you veg the plants is going to depend on how big you ultimately want the plants to be. You can flip the plants to bloom cycle (lights 12 hours on/12 hours off) anytime you want now. But the bigger you let the plants get in veg, the bigger they will be in the end.

Since you only have two plants, and one or both of them may be male, you might consider taking some clones as soon as you can then vegging those while you flip the other plants and let them show their sex. What you'd do is take 3-4 clones from each plant, then put the seedling plants on 12/12 so that they show their sex. If one or both are females, you keep the clones from the females and use those for your grow; depends on how many plants you intend to grow. Then, if at least one of the seedlings is female, you'd have 3-4 plants to grow out instead of just one - or two depending on how the sexing turns out.

PC

I'm just a bit apprehensive about cloning. I know it's mundane to the rest of you but cutting my plants feels slightly odd. I'll have to read up on that in the Cervantes Bible.

 

[cyclepipe]

So it turns out I wasn't wrong about those little nubs coming out from the nodes. I've already got pre-flowers and its starting to smell a little bit! Now is this a bad thing or is it ok for me to be excited? lol I will admit that for the first five 24 hour periods I had a zip lock bag over the plants, which I removed once I noticed algae had begun to grow on the pieces of perlite. The algae died very quickly but I noticed shortly thereafter what appeared to be the pre-flowers. Probably stress causing them to emerge so early? I'll post pics momentarily. Oh and the gimpy curled leaf one is taking a turn for the worse but we'll see what the community has to say once the pics are up.