Daylight and Fluoros

[daylighting]

Yup, I've increased the distance between the bulbs and plants on everything to give them a little assistance. The female hasn't grown much in the last couple of days, but I think that was because she needed a watering. Hopefully the roots branched out a little in search of H2O down in the bottom of the pot.

The Jets are very Afghani-dominant and fast; I can't wait to see how much bigger #6 can get in better medium. The last seedling is like 3-4" wide on its first leaves. That's what all of them should have been like. :/

Decided to go ahead and sow a seventh seed in seed starting mix, coco and a little perlite. I can fit three pots and three two gallon grow bags in the tent, so why the hell not?

The worm castings are still drying out. I had a very vivid nightmare last night where I saw a preying mantis hanging out in one of the bags. It saw me and hid, but was still peeking out. Then, all of a sudden, it was a weird blue-eyed frog with its eyes on antennae, and it was still evading me. I wanted it out of my precious castings, but there was no way in hell I was going near it. LOL

Every time I take a break from smoking pot, I have the most insanely vivid dreams. Anyone else noticed that?

 

[shokdee]

Was that another smoke report? Did you mix some mal pitte in there too?

 

[daylighting]

haha, I would love to mix some mal pitte in something some time, but I'd err on the side of caution for sure! That stuff is crazy!

 

[daylighting]

Well, she ain't quite Haagen Dazs yet, but we have an Ice Cream sprout above ground level. The first seed probably would have been fine if I hadn't tried to germ it in the nasty potting soil and hadn't kept messing with it to see if it was sprouting, and then transplanted it into new mix. Still a little upset about that; 11 Euros a seed and I personally carried it back from Europe. Ah well, I picked up two Nirvana packs for 10 Euros each, which was a steal. They were clearing out their Nirvana stock. They had quite a few seeds that had been sitting in the fridge for five years that they were willing to let go of at half price.

I'll let the Ice Cream veg while the Jets are doing their thing, and clone the heck out of the Ice Cream once it puts on some size. Hopefully I can pull off cloning; I've never attempted it. I'd like to run five clones and the mom, and leave one cut out under a fluoro to serve as a mom for the future.

I think I'll pick up another three or five seed pack of the Ice Cream when I'm in Europe next (pretty soon). Since the guy at the store gave me such a solid recommendation, I'll ask him for another recommendation too. Buying seeds is addictive. The promise in each little pack makes them irresistible!

I took a little trip this morning and bought around four gallons of the pro mix from the guys who made the seed starting mix I've been using. Mixed with coco and perlite, and a touch of rice husk charcoal and worm castings, it should do well in the Smarpots. I'll mix up my medium a gallon at a time in gallon ziplock bags and then fill the pots. The heavy soil/hydroton mix in the plastic pots will have to wait until the Jet-47s in them are done or show me their bananas. I'm probably not looking to make anymore seeds unless I get a very vigorous, stinky male.

I see a few swollen seed pods on the female.

Letting the soil dry out and using Gnatrol and sticky traps seems to have knocked the gnats out too.

 

[daylighting]

This is nuts...the seedling started in the seed starting mix is only one week old and is one of the biggest seedlings I've ever grown. The seedling under it was sowed directly into the heavy potting soil/clay pebbles and lost its cotyledon leaves to fungus gnats. Look at the difference in size between them! I almost want to cull the runt, but I want to see if it can catch up.

The female is growing again and putting out pistils after the watering. I expect some solid growth from her over the weekend now that she has everything she needs.

 

[wildgrow]

Cant say for sure, but I believe that's from raising your lights too. If your plants never have to strive, they really cant thrive - though they may survive.

Are you running your big light too? That helps. As long as the seedlings aren't too close to it.

The new one looks so much better than the 1st few.

 

[daylighting]

Thanks WG! Well, the first two were started on 12/12 under fluoros before I got a tent, and in soil that had been soaking wet for about a month! This one is 3" under a 9W LED bulb with an acrylic lens. The dealer strongly recommends keeping it close to the plants. I think the lens diffuses the light so its less likely to burn. It also has CFLs about 6" away from its top, and it gets several hours of 400W HPS a day. I think the main factor is definitely the better medium though! The runt was under even less light than #5 and its still runty.

I noticed some crusty patches on the leaves on my female yesterday, and now they've gone brown. I noticed a new spot today too. Not sure what it is, but I've backed the LED that was over it way off (12" or more).

The HPS is around 18" above the top of the female. I don't think seedlings can get too much light; they germinate under tropical sunlight and are just fine. The sunlight in this part of the world is ridiculously intense. LEDs, however, penetrate somewhere between lasers and HID, so they can do some serious damage.

Hoping my Ice Cream is fully erect (lol) and vegging tomorrow. It shed its seed coat all on its own, but hadn't fully straightened up yet. If it does splendidly in the seed starting mix, then I'll put money on it being the better soil.

 

[shokdee]

LEDs, however, penetrate somewhere between lasers and HID

That's deep!

 

[daylighting]

Yup, LEDs are no joke and can do some serious damage to your eyes! I hope my sunglasses are enough protection, but I don't look directly at the emitters very often.

The Ice Cream is up and getting some light. I noticed one of the Jets sitting ON TOP of the seed starting mix this morning. Not sure how that happened, but maybe I sprayed the soil off the top of it. I covered it back over and sprayed it again. Hopefully it didn't dry out too much.

The female is growing well, putting out pistils at all of its budsites and generally looks happy. The brown/crispy patches aren't spreading, so whatever it is, it seems to be ok (for now). I also see more seeds in the making than I expected; more than the eight I originally purchased. The good thing about the ol' autos is I can pop one or two in the tent while vegging something else. 20/4 is a great cycle for vegging photos and for running autos. Hopefully this Ice Cream is clone worthy!

 

[wildgrow]

The patches could be from light getting lensed through water droplets. Its like a magnifying glass.

 

[daylighting]

The patches could be from light getting lensed through water droplets. Its like a magnifying glass.

Yup, I've had that happen in the past, so I've been very careful not to leave droplets on the leaves under HPS. I guess it's possible the 24W LED light could have burned them through the droplets? I've been seriously underestimating the power of the LEDs. Then again, when folair feeding the female, the whole plant was misted down and the necrosis is only on larger fan leaves in the middle.

 

[wildgrow]

Keep your eyes peeled. The high rh is an invitation for molds and such. Ive been feeling paranoid.

 

[daylighting]

Thanks, I run air conditioning when I'm down there and have two 12" fans blowing in the tent if I'm running the HPS.

I am paranoid for a whole other reason right now and thinking about scrapping this grow...

 

[shokdee]

I am paranoid for a whole other reason right now and thinking about scrapping this grow...

The grow is not worth it if you have a bad feeling!
If the feeling is strong and clear, ACT NOW!

 

[daylighting]

Yes, I agree 100%. It's not as strong and clear as it has been in the past...just a suspicion. I'll PM you about it!

 

[shokdee]

Can I be frank? Stop smoking coco and perlite, hee hee. Summerimes I get the feeling your mind is pre-occupied. Maybe you have a heavy workload, problems at home, worries of some kind. Keep a clear head and everything around you clears up too. Good luck with the grow and read the signs and look for signals.

Remember, when you travel, always follow the beliefs and customs of the local people. That why there's no need to kiss ass or have sleepless nights.

 

[daylighting]

LOL no more coco and perlite for me. Lots on my plate right now, and this is freaking me out. I am always looking for signs from above and from those who have passed.

I've had someone locally narc on me when I wasn't even doing anything, and had a few grams and some beans sent to me that got stopped. Of course I knew nothing about it!

The heat has died down from then, but they are definitely interested in my recent purchases.

I'm proceeding with caution now, won't buy anything grow related online, and may just rip them out today anyway. At least I'll have a few grams of smoke from the female if I go that route, and I can always set everything back up further down the line (possibly overseas).

I don't NEED to smoke pot, but it sucks that I can't even supply myself and myself alone. I don't want to buy black market smoke grown by criminal gangs, which really would be the only other option if I want to blaze one once in a blue. Sadly I'd be in more trouble for growing my own stash than for buying from the bad guys.

As you know, I've been a few places and am very multicultural...that's definitely not the issue here. Well, maybe it is, because the locals don't want people growing pot (even though it's mostly the locals who do it)!

In other news, I have a new Jet-47 baby. She should straighten up nice and tall by tomorrow. Still waiting on the other one.

With the halide on, I don't need the CFLs, and I can keep the tent zipped up. Perhaps I should have bought a 400W instead...

 

[shokdee]

that's definitely not the issue here. ... Well, maybe it is

It is not, then maybe it is!

This is the kinda muddled thinking I'm talking about. Take time off line, go for a walk, chase a ball, work out at the gym, burn off the negative energy til you feel clean and refreshed.

 

[daylighting]

haha, it's just the way my mind works. I get plenty of exercise. I need to meditate. Amazing that you can tell that about me online!

The 'stem' is indeed catching up. One of the leaves was touching a clay pebble, and there's a chunk missing out of the leaf today. It looks like the gnats got to it again! I have to let all the plastic pots dry out. Saves me watering for another week or so. The Ice Cream's little pot dried up very quickly, so it's going to need regular watering until I transplant it into a Smartpot in a few days. The fungus gnatty stuff might indeed be good blended with the other media as it will increase its water-holding capacity. I'll try out different combos.

 

[daylighting]

Perfect track for today...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc_ZDYjkHZc

I feel much better after doing some reading today. Due to the tiny size of my grow, it's almost certain I would get off with a fine and/or probation, if that. What I really care about is the impact on my mom (and no, not my Ice Cream lol) if I were to get popped.

This is definitely one of the better places in this part of the world to be into pot. There's no shortage of smoke around right now too, but for the most part the quality isn't all that, even if it is pretty potent. Better taste, appearance and aroma would be good. Most of the commercial here is indoor, and the industry is absolutely booming, but most is poorly grown with chems, purely for profit. They are actively looking to bust people for possession here, even if small amounts are pretty much a slap on the wrist. In a way the increased supply and busts is a good thing, because things are getting more lenient every year.