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"Apollo11 Mutts" under 250w HPS in my Closet!!

KolorBlind

Member
High again ICMag lurkers and members!!

I am somewhat settled into my house and I have chosen a closet worthy of becoming my next grow room. I have decided to break down and purchase a 250w HPS to flower with, as well as 4x42w 6500K CFLs to help out in my veg/mom/clone area. The strain I will be using can only be described as an Apollo11 "mutt" or sorts. Long story short, they are seeds from a grow outdoors involving multiple Spice Bros. strains, the bulk of them being a delicious Apollo11 cross.

I had 16 total seeds left, and of the last 6 I planted I only got 1 female so I decided all or nothing here, and germinated all 16. 2 of them would not develop tap roots more than about 2mm long and once planted, never surfaced so I have 14 beauties left. They are all 23-24 days old and still currently in veg. I sort of jumped the gun on this run, as I usually do, so things are really pieced together and rigged up at the moment. Please excuse the crudity of my setup, I am really quite embarassed.

In fact, the only reason I am starting a log finally is to give me some motivation to work on my setup as needed. See, I have foud that grow logs are excellent for many things. One of which being the demand for more pictures and updates. I always like to try and contribute something with my updates and pictures in general, so hopefully if there is any demand for more, it will inspire me to continue making improvements :)

I only have a few pictures at this point, but Ill go ahead and share what I have with some descriptions. First off, i snapped a picture of the closet before and after i raised the top shelf. I plan to make the lower section where you would hang clothes the flower chamber, and the middle shelf the veg chamber. The top shelf will be used for power strips, 250w HPS Ballast, timers, etc. Eventually I will enclose the veg chamber in with a panda film roll down door attached with velcro. I plan to use a pull down light blocker shade for the "door" to the flower chamber. It will not be light tight but as long as the veg chamber and closet door are it wont matter.

Before
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After raising the top shelf. Originally there was only 15" between the 2 shelves, I raised the shelf 8" giving me a total of 23" of height to work with.
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The dimensions of my grow "cabs" are as follows:

Veg/Mom/Clone (LxWxH): 43.5" x 15" x 28"
Flower (LxWxH): 43.5" x 17.5" x 59"


The light, hood & hangars with the light int he top position occupy the top 8" of the flower cab. I will be growing in 3gal grow bags measuring 13" in height giving me a total of 38" or 3'2" from the top of the soil to the bulb. That should be a very doable height restriction.

Considering I started germinating the seeds before I even finished moving into my house, I had to make due with what I had and rig things up later. I started all of them out in my old reliable cab I made out of my wifes old 2 door walmart cab under 8 23w 6500K CFLs. Here are some pictures of their time spent in the cab.

I consider this day 1 for the whole bunch, even though only about 6 are poking through the surface. Its hard to tell int he picture, but the 6 on the left side are all barely above soil. The date was 12/19/09.
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4 days later all but 2 have sprouted and are after those CFLs like white on rice! The 2 on the left are the ones that never surfaced :(
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At 1 week most are starting their 2nd set of leaves and some their 3rd. All looking mighty healthy.
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OK, now here is where I really hit a snag. Well....more like a few snags. When you live somewhere that the only local options for growing supplies are Walmart and Home Depot things get pretty hairy around winter time in the lawn & garden departments. My local nursery stopped carrying Sunshine mix till spring time so I have had to settle with my own mix of Miracle Grow Organic, Perlite, Peat Moss & Blood Meal. So far it has worked great, but I still prefer the sunshine mix for its lack of nutes and for the fact that I dont need to add peat moss to it. Also, I only had nine 6" pots and everywhere that sells them here is out. I will eventually buy some nice 6x6x8 square pots for vegging, but for now 5 of my ladies are STILL in 16oz cups.

I simply rigged a couple porcelain fixtures and Y adapters up in the back of the cab. i think eventually I will install them in the top of the "ceiling" of the cab but I am worried about height restrictions. I still have all my plants on a couple laptop boxes raising them 4.5" off the shelf, so I may be alright moving the bulbs to the ceiling.

Here they are at 9 days old, 9 of them in new 6" pots and 5 still hanging on in their 16oz cups. My 42w CFLs still hadn't arrived so i was using a conglomeration of Y adapters and 23w CFLs.
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At 17 days old they have grown nicely and are looking very healthy. Even the ones in the cups have shot up quite a bit. The biggest challenge was turning them at least once a day as most want to grow more over than up due to the odd light placement.
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Here is a shot I took just before posting this at day 24. The tallest one it the one front and center, standing a nice 9.5" tall. The ones in the cups are looking good, but not great. They all have some brown edges on most lower laves and even some new growth. I imagine its form being in that crap soil mix in such small containers for so long. I whole heart-idly expect them to make a splended recovery once transplanting to 3gal grow bags. I also got my 42w CFLs in finally.
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I am ready to make the switch to 12/12.....well at least emotionally I am. Physically I have been somewhat of a .... oh what are the words....oh yes, lazy ass, that's it! I need to get 14 3gal grow bags ready for transplant and I have never used them before. They have holes on the sides near the bottom, but none actually in the bottom of the bags. Is this normal? Should I punch a few holes in the bottom of each bag?

I had a great friend that also used to be an electrician hook me up with a recepticle in the ceiling of the closet, as well as one up in the attic directly above the closet. I will hook my S&P TD-100x 100/135Cfm fan up in the attic and hang it with bungee cords. This way the fan will hopefully not be noticeable form inside the house. Previously I had been running an extension cord under the closet door and needless to say that wasnt going to fly for long. I have drilled a 4" hole in the ceiling and its all I can do now to keep the temps above 70F. Soon, under the 250HPS, it should be better.

So thats about it for now. I am so glad to be back in action. This hobby is 1,000 times more addictive than the drug ever could be, and I have been needing my fix BADLY!! I always appreciate any comments or criticism, just dont troll my log please. If you dont have something kind or constructive to say, please just continue to lurk.

If anyone has any interest in my previous grow, I grew out 8 Diesel Ryders in a gutted mini fridge using a single 150w HPS. The results were more than I even hoped for honestly, but the smell of the strain and size restriction lead me to a larger space this time around. The link is in my signature.


Peace
KB
 

KolorBlind

Member
Well, considering I had a HORRIBLE female to male ratio last batch, I am not getting my hopes up on yeild. My main purpose is to hopefully find a girl or 2 worthy of becoming moms, and pollinate a cutting off each for more seeds as well. Once I have my moms established I am expecting 1oz per plant minimum, hoping for more like 1.5.

Once dialed in, and with the proper technique (possibly Scrog), I would love to see 2oz plus off each with maybe 3-4 total plants. That would only be 168-224g off 250w HPS, so it should be easily doable.


Thanks for the interest :)
KB
 

KolorBlind

Member
Bengie & IDS - Hey guys, welcome!! nice to have you two in the audience :)


My project for this evening will be to transplant all 14 plants into their new 3gal grow bags. It will be tedious considering I havent used them before. I am trying to think of a good way to water them, all I have come up with so far is to use the bath tub.

If anyone has any advice on transplanting to grow bags, watering in grow bags, etc. please feel free to chime in. I have read up a lot on them but there are still some things I feel I am in the dark about. I know I will feel much better once I do it a couple time though. Also, I still am unsure whether or not I should poke holes in the bottom of the bag itself. They are Sunleaves brand grow bags and they have I think 8 holes, 2 in each side down near the bottom. I would assume that this will work ok, and that any water left in the very bottom will be soaked up by the roots eventually but I have never used a container without holes in the bottom so any advice or suggestions will be much appreciated!!

Ill update as soon as I am able to snap a shot of them all in their new containers under the 250HPS. Im so excited to finally put them into flower!!!

Peace
KB
 

kweezy

Member
i really think u can transfer em in the grow bags and juss water em like pots, thats wut id do lol. im thinkin bout buying like 4 fox farm soil bags in the spring time and start some outdoor grows, im thinkin bout juss watering em like pots
 
K

krushonkush

I've run apollo11 for about 2 years now, and still love her! pics in my gallery.
Yours look great BTW and I know you'll find a dank mom. Mine goes 45 dayz!
She loves scrog'n and train'n!

I would take cuts and sex the seed plants myself. 50% odds you waste 7*3=21 gals of medium...ya dig??
On the bags??? they have holes and 3gals BIG!
 

KolorBlind

Member
First official update :)

First official update :)

DAY 27

Plant Stage: Flower (Day 1)
Light Cycle: 12/12
Light: 250w HPS (33,000 Lumens)
Current Medium:
MG Organic + Perlite + Bone Meal
Current Nutrients: Schultz 10-15-10 Every other watering @ full strength
Strain: Various Apollo11 Crosses


So its time for my first official update. After realizing just how big a 3gal grow bag is, I decided against transplanting all 14 of them. I decided to bust out my 30x jewelers loupe and try to catch some preflowers. Im not much on identifying male preflowers, but I sure did see little white hairs popping out of tiny calyxes on 3 of the plants. As far as I know, that means female.

So what I ended up doing was transplanting just those 3 into the 3 gal grow bags. The rest I watered well and propped them up along side the bigger bags. All 14 plants are now under my 250w HPS and its set to 12/12. I will consider today Day 1 of flowering.

I began by mixing up my soil and popping the first hopeful girl out of her 6" pot. It was obvious she was ready...
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After pulling her roots apart a bit, transplanting and doing the same to the other 2, I ended up here...
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And the rest of the family joins in. 3 in 3gal grow bags, 6 in 6" pots, and 5 in 16oz Cups...
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Here is a shot with the flash on to show color. The poor suckers in the middle still stuck in 16oz cups are not looking great, but they're alive and growing. Some discoloration for sure, but the rest are doing great...
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And that's all for now. I will be popping in the closet a couple times a day to search for signs of sex. As soon as I am sure on females I will put them in 3gal grow bags and begin cloning. Ill probably take 2 off each female for now and watch how they finish. I will bring 1 or 2 males back into veg and probably top them. Then flower them with the best female cutting for some more seeds. Ill be doing this in my 150w HPS mini fridge aka "sexcab" :snowkiss::snowkiss:



All feedback is always welcome. If its rude it better be constructive, otherwise no trolls allowed :) Thanks for the interest guys, should be a fun ride! Gonna be a jungle in there soon:canabis: :canabis: :canabis: :canabis: :canabis: :canabis: :canabis: :canabis:


Peace
KB
 

el-rey-del-mund

New member
those are looking real nice. i run 2 plants at a time under the 250 with about the same foot print, what are you thinking? why not a 2' flouro instead of all the compacts?
 

KolorBlind

Member
those are looking real nice. i run 2 plants at a time under the 250 with about the same foot print, what are you thinking? why not a 2' flouro instead of all the compacts?


Yeah I am only doing this many right now in hopes of getting 7 females or so to chose from. That way I can pick the best of the 6 for moms and not just take what I got. Im hoping to get 2 moms that have clear differences.

As far as the 2' flouro, I just cant find one that puts out very many lumens. The ones that come close to CFLs are waaaay too expensive. I just had things rigged up this round. Now that everything iss of the veg shelf, I will get to work on setting it up a little better. Those 42w CFLs put out 2800 lumens, which is 800 lumens higher than horticultural grade 2' flouro tubes. I will only have 4 42w CFLs when its finished. Should be plenty. 1 for the moms, 1 for the clones, and 2 for the plants in veg.



Well, the timer worked because the light was off today when I got up, so thats always good :) I will check every day and post updates as soon as I find more females. Im thinking that eventually, 3 girls scrogged and in the 3gal grow bags will be perfect. That way I can keep the grow bags in 3gal buckets and never have to move them to water. Three 3gal buckets fit nicely in there. I also have 3 empty 6" pots now, so Ill transplant the 3 best looking plants that are currently in 16oz cups into those 6" pots tonight.

Peace
KB
 
B

BeAn

hey dude, great grow...nobody's gonna come in here and demand an apology cos you aint got bells n whistles on your lamos n fans with co2 tanks..:)

Watch your light doesnt weld the contacts in the timer shut, that creates a fire risk...i know its only a 250 but the timer is not designed to take the load of a firing HID/ballast.:nono:

looks great so far though man!!:lurk:

edit:also, before ya repot, give the plant in question a watering before hand, this stops them feelin the transplant, an sets them up for the root explosion.:)
 

KolorBlind

Member
DAY 34

Plant Stage: Flower (Day 7)
Light Cycle: 12/12
Light: 250w HPS (33,000 Lumens)
Current Medium:
MG Organic + Perlite + Bone Meal
Current Nutrients: Schultz 10-15-10 Every other watering @ full strength
Strain: Various Apollo11 Crosses


Well I have some good news and some inevitably horrible news. The good news is that my female to male ratio is outstanding! Out of 14 seeds I ended up with 9 females and 5 males!! The bad news is that the reality of our situation is really starting to set in. In a few months I will officially be a dad for the first time, and the risks involved with my beloved hobby arent worth taking anymore :(

So even though I planned, demolished, rebuild, spent, spent and spent some more, I will have to finish this run and let it end there. I had so many great plans for my closet, and I really dont know what I was thinking. As demanding as this hobby can be sometimes, it will be a plus freeing up more time to spend with my son.

So now that the bad news is over, lets press on! I decided to make this my last run the other day, so I have no reason to keep any males at this point. I was graced with about 50 more beans from the same genetic pool I am growing now, so instead of pollinating Id like to make my last run 100% sensimilla.


Here is the last shot of all 14 plants under the 250w HPS. At this point I was only certain about 1 male and 4 females. Within 4 days after this, all plants had shown sex. 7 days under 12/12 and all have shown sex, not too bad if you ask me :)
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The growth rate of this strain is crazy! No matter how close I kept the lights they would just explode with growth every day. The ones that were kept in small containers look a bit more stretched, but overall they all look damn tall for how young they are. The tallest was 10.5 inches when first put into flower 7 days ago, and it now stands a whopping 25" tall!!


2 of my males were very large as well, one standing 17" and the other 18.5" when I chopped them. Here is a shot of all the males (in back) and the one female that happened to be the only plant that endured the 16oz cup this whole time.
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My original plan was to grow out he 8 healthy females and pitch the candy cane looking female, but my wife wouldn't let me (I know, shes the greatest!) I ended up plucking off the bottom 2 sets of fan leaves and burying it 4 inches deeper to promote new root growth. It had a hard time standing up for the first night, but by the time it had a few hours of light on it, it was straight as an arrow!


Here are the 9 wonderful ladies I am left with. 5 in the back row, 4 up front. The white hairs on the girls in the back row are really taking off. The 4 up front all spent a long time in 16oz cups so there are white hairs, but only on the top 2 nodes.

Flash Off
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Flash On
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That is it for now. These 3gal grow bags are absolutely amazing, and I would definitely recommend them for anyone who has a limited footprint to grow in, but has some play with height. All my tall ladies are on the outside with the shorter ones int he middle as of now. If the short ones dont start catching up It will be extremely difficult to get good light to each plant without rotating them.

If I were going to continue this op, I would invest in a screen and scrog the hell out of them, but I dont want to invest another dollar if I can help it. Any and all suggestions or comments always welcome, thaks for chillin in my closet with me :)

Peace
KB
 

jus'plain'gill

Active member
Looking good KB! You've put time into it, money into it, and I'm sure lots of thought. It definitely sucks that you can only go one run with this setup but at least you've got your head on straight. I'm sure this one harvest will be your biggest and best to date and hopefully an awesome memory to tide you over for the next 18 years until you can get it going again, haha!

Good luck man, I'll be keeping up with this one. I'm most interested to see if you can get several low odor girls this run or if your lone female from the previous grow was just an anomaly. Keep us updated on that :)



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KolorBlind

Member
Looking good KB! You've put time into it, money into it, and I'm sure lots of thought. It definitely sucks that you can only go one run with this setup but at least you've got your head on straight. I'm sure this one harvest will be your biggest and best to date and hopefully an awesome memory to tide you over for the next 18 years until you can get it going again, haha!

Good luck man, I'll be keeping up with this one. I'm most interested to see if you can get several low odor girls this run or if your lone female from the previous grow was just an anomaly. Keep us updated on that :)



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Hey JPG thanks for swinging by!!

Yeah I know for sure no matter how much bud I get, it wont hold me over for 18 years. But youre right the memory will be nice! I had vegged these for almost 4 weeks just in case I only got 3-4 females. I figured they would get nice & tall, but I never thought I would get 9!! It will be interesting to see how well I can fit these in there as they get bigger.

As far as the odor goes, so far the stinkiest time was about 3 weeks into veg. I had no fan in the closet and no way for air to escape. The humidity would build up and when you would walk down the hall you could smell a distinct funky plant smell.

Now that they are a week into flowering, I can hardly smell them when I open the closet door. Its the strangest thing, and I still dont even have my fan hooked up pulling air out haha! If you run the stalk or a leaf though, the smell is quite distinct. Its actually much more skunky than I remember, but Im sure that will change as they continue to flower.

Ill probably wait a week or so for a picture update, and hopefully by then Ill have some nice clusters of white hairs on the top few nodes of each. I really think at least 60% of these are going to look just like the one I grew before, just taller. And Im giving more and more thought to rigging up my 150w HPS right next to the 250w, what do you guys think?


Peace
KB
 

jus'plain'gill

Active member
It looks like your space is big enough to handle more light and it sounds like you've got ample ventilation so why not add the 150 watt light? It only adds potential for a larger harvest. I think you could get close to 1gram/watt with your setup dialed in so 150 more watts is a potential 150 more grams. Take pictures, whatever you do!! Haha haha



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