BigBadBiddy's first go around after 20 years of absence

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

Pull up a chair and check out what I have been up to.

The goal of this project is to provide myself with top quality herb and have some fun with a rediscovered hobby. I also plan to make crosses in the future.
But for now I am trying to get my feet back under me and dialing in the setup.

I currently have my veg-chamber set up running a 400W MH as the main light source.

The plants are in 2 gallon pots for veg and will move to 5 gallon smart pots for flower. Flowering chamber is still under construction.

The soil might be quite interesting as we are in the organics section (this is copy/pasted from another thread).
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Here's what I ended up going with:

1 part = 5 liters

3 part peat moss
1 part coco coir
1 part hydroton with mycos
3 parts buckwheat hulls
2 parts EWC

Makes 50 liters of basic mix. A little more actually, I think about 55 or 60 liters. I just roughly measured it.

I amended with:
1 cup kelp
1 cup bloodmeal
2 cup bone meal
2 cup dolomite lime
1 cup oyster shell flour
1 cup neem seed meal
1/2 cup epsom salt


I was a "bit conservative" in the sense that I usually used a little less. So if I say 2 cups bonemeal it was more like 1 3/4 cups, a cup of kelp I went with 6/8 of a cup or sth of that sort. My reasoning was that the recipes say 1 tbsp/gallon. I have a little more than 10 gallons (so 10 tbsp.) to amend and there are 12 tbsp to a cup. So I thought a little less than a cup should hit the spot.

To finish I added them minerals and here I went with "more is more" sort of. I just poured them in "by feel" and in some cases like the Azomite, I believe I poured in like 5 cups or more.

I added by feel:
Azomite
Basalt meal
Lavarock meal
Glacial rock dust
Bentonite



I then germed 5 seeds each of:
- Mr. Nice Shit (Skunk#1)
- Mr. Nice Master Kush x Skunk#1
- Mr. Nice Critical Mass (Skunk#1xAfghan)
- Mr. Nice G13 x Skunk#1
- Mr. Nice NL#5 x Skunk#1
- PeakseedsBC C99

Unfortunately I got a bit antsy in the pantsy and germed the seeds before my veg-chamber was done (rookie mistake...). I figured I had a good couple of weeks to finish it up but then got derailed by other things happening.
Long story short, I had a 30 for 30 germination rate. After planting into solo cups, 28 of the 30 got their heads out of the soil.
Some were very, very fast (I remember the first C99 was 3 days from germination to head above soil but sadly didn't make it to the bigger pot) and quickly all plants started stretching like crazy trying to absorb what little sunlight was available on the windowsill.

Ultimately, when I transplanted to the 2 gallon pots for veg, I had about 22 seedlings left. 5 more didn't make the transition and were removed so I have currently 17 left.

Going by the numbers in the pic they are as follows:
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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1) Critical Mass A
2) Critical Mass B
3) Critical Mass C
4) G13 x Skunk A
5) C99 A
6) NLxSkunk A
7) C99 B
8) G13 x Skunk B
9) MasterKush x Skunk A
10) Skunk A
11) skipped for some reason
12) G13 x Skunk C
13) NL x Skunk B
14) Critical Mass D
15) MasterKush x Skunk B
16) Skunk B
17) Skunk C
18) Nl x Skunk C

1,2,3 and 14 are all Critical Mass and were quickly considerably ahead of the rest. Very heardy, didn't even care about the abuse it seems.
9,10 and 12 are also noteworthy and sticking out. With 10 having very round, very thick, very Indica looking leaves and is likely an Afghan leaning pheno of Skunk#1.

It should be noted that these plants were located in the center before and were moved to the outer rim of the light about a week ago to give the other seedlings a chance to catch up.
They reacted and did catch up but are still lagging behind the standouts, considerably.

I am using an old hammerhead reflector and have since realized that I should probably replace it with an Adjust-A-Wing reflector for a wider spread. It seems that the "middle corridor" gets considerably more light than the outer edges.

Will also use 1 gallon pots for veg in the future. I used the 2 gallon ones this go-around as I knew I have personal stuff coming up and will have to veg them for quite a while before I can finish up the flower room, take clones and move them over.
For now they should have plenty of space to develop their roots and grow.

Watering is done by hand every other day using well-water and occasionally (by feel) adding some bio rhizotonic (although I doubt it is necessary as the soil mix includes high quality mycos).
I also started spraying with neem after every watering, every second watering the latest. I introduced some other plants into the veg chamber (some veggies) but the soil I used for them was cheap gardening soil from a garden center and it was likely not the cleanest. When I opened the door before, there was maybe one odd fruitfly or something in the room. Since I introduced the other veggies, there are always a hand full or more of them flying around.
Since I started spraying neem I at least feel like they aren't bothering my plants much.

[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Any comments and suggestions are welcome.
So far I am quite satisfied and moving forward with confidence.

Let me know what you think.
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cool....

cheers bro

Checked back on them and 2 days after the pic, they experienced quite the growth spurt. New pic following shortly.

In the meantime:

I used a "seedling mix" to germinate my seeds which I mixed up as follows:

2 part peat moss
2 part coco coir
1 part mycos on hydroton
4 part buckwheat hulls
1 part EWC

Only amending with rock dusts et al.

I was not so convinced of this mix. Apparently there is still a debate whether or not seedlings need nutrients from the start.
My experience says yes.

28 of 30 germed just fine in this mix and made it above ground.
But when I transplanted the survivors several weeks later, there was close to no root structure build up. I had expected the solo cups to be rooted through but they were far from it.

The main reason is undoubtedly the lack of light but I assume that the basically nutrient free soil was also not doing the seedlings any favor.

My plan going forward is to change my seedling mix recipe as follows:

2 part peat moss
2 part coco coir
1 part mycos on hydroton
2 part buckwheat hulls
3 part EWC

Amending not only with rock dusts et al but also with kelp, blood, bone meal, etc. basically the same as my main soil but with lighter nutrients added (I was thinking half the dosage of my main soil for the nutrient amendments).

Any thoughts?

Good luck on your grow!!
will follow this one because your soilmix looks alot like mine.
Wish u the best bless

2 parts wormcasting
2 parts coir
2 parts perlite
1 part black turf from germany

then i use per cub feet
1/2 cub bonemeal,guano from seabirds,chickenpellets,seaweedmeal and maltaflor
1/4 cub kali vinasse
and 1 cub each of lavameal,betonite,dolocal 5%,basaltmeal
letting this sit now for 4 weeks or so then i am gonna make a tread about it
cya

@ricow damn wtf....your moms are divine...i damn need a mom room man...

whats maltaflor....??

maltaflor is an natural plantfeed
german link for u wasgedn http://www.maltaflor.de/produkte/produkte.htm

wasgedn ....

my paranoia makes me have a decontamination chamber for plants going into cannabis areas. and without my own soil id have to hot compost that before using it on anything. otherwise id agree with the assumption of needing nutrients, at least a cal/mg. for seeds. im going a bit beyond my personal extensive experience with EWC but they should be fine to keep upping that or even just pop em in good vermicompost. good castings have perfect mineralization (cal/mg+) as well as great baby nutrient levels. idk if the minerals are necessary on seeds or clones mixed to the mix, as opposed to thrown in with a compost for a light more than castings seed/cutting mix, but maybe someone can chime in. worms break all that down and make it bioavailable so its in there. the only other thing, never used peat that early, but it may be redundant with cocoa, as well as watch for ph changes over even a couple weeks or less. oh and maybe this was for the seedling mix and not your full soil, but dont amend the blood, bone or whatever to the seedlings, or clones. certain seaweeds soaked as teas are great, rinsed of salt. amending the solids post soak in small amounts of different dried seaweeds can be used on seeds and definatly cuttings, small amounts for a boost in steroids (that plant growth hormone or something). i assume you dont know the kind of seaweed, or regional kelp. hope thats some kinda informative. keep on man.

nice
pulling up chair

good luck!!

Howdy folks,

quick update:
Had a lot going on recently. The result was a lot of neglect on the poor plants.
They went without water for a 3 day stretch several times, couldn't be avoided.
Came back each time to find them droopy and sad looking with many brown leaves, some dried out and fell off.
It was always the lower nodes that were affected, the top half of each plant always looked droopy and sad but still green and all.
After watering them they always bounced back. But only the top looked good, the lower branches lost most if not all of their leaves. In some spots new leafs were trying to grow but didn't get all that big before the next "drought" hit them.

All in all, these plants were in veg more than 2 months now and are accordingly tall. Stems are relatively thick, most have signs of becoming wooden at the base where the stem meets the soil.

Top half of each plant looks fine, bottom half looked like a disaster of brown and dried up leaves.

I pulled them out now, trimmed the bottom half of each plant, took clones and re-potted them for flower.
Flipped them yesterday, pics following soon.

They look alright but I ran out of soil for 2 of the MkxSkunk plants, they are still hanging in veg as I mix up a fresh batch (probably will transplant them after letting the soil cook for a week).

I stalked each plant with a bamboo stick but haven't tied them to the stick yet.
Considering if I should install a trellis net as I am unsure if they will be able to support themselves when the buds add weight.

I didn't top them or train them beyond pressing their stems once at the start as I wanted to see them grow "naturally". Very interesting as some plants grow straight up while others have pronounced side-branching and lean towards growing in the shape of a chalice or the like.

Let's see how they develop now in flower. Hope to have some pics to show in the coming days.

Spraying daily with neem seems excessive. Good luck though.

Ya felt weird doing it.

I switched to Day 1 neem, Day 2 pure water, Day 3 rhizotonic, Day 4 neem etc.

Should get some pics this weekend, stay tuned.

They went without water for a 3 day stretch

Click to expand...

gives more thc...is not bad...desertplants...

ya but they lost hella foliage

I said to myself "whelp, guess I lollipopped them the natural way" but I did feel like I was abusing my children or something lol.

Could be Neem phytotoxicity. Good luck. -granger

Will post pics in the coming days that should clear some stuff up.

Also have a potential pest problem in my veg chamber due to other vegetables growing there in generic garden store soil.
Pretty sure the soil is infested as I have some sort of fruit flies amassing in the veg chamber ever since I removed the canna plants and stopped spraying neem.

Will snap a pic of the buggers and post alongside pics of the flowering plants (week 1 still but all showed sex and were separated already, male stud was also identified already).

yep fruitflys and others i got a lot ...
i spray neem,mk5,EM-a and terrafert boden every week....no problems..
got mini spider predators between pots too...
yellowcards
just neem can do it too i guess....
some stuff which has silica is important...like schachtelhalm extrakt....i got this in terrafert



but pls dont kill your soillife...

Howdy folks,

I attached a pic I snagged of one of the fruit fly type critters in my veg chamber.
Honestly worried about transplanting the shit garden soil they likely come from into my own soil mix because I want to flower the veggies with my canna. Just don't want to infest my own soil mix and am contemplating if I just start over on the veggies or clone them and start fresh clones in my own soil mix ...
Any advice?
Can I transplant the shitty soil the veggies are currently in into my soil mix and put them into the flower chamber without worries? Or will I just infest my good soil mix with these critters and have them flying around my flower chamber too?

Anyway, I also attached a group shot of the flower chamber.

1) MasterKush x Skunk (MkxSk)
2) Critical Mass (towering above all others with lush growth and budding)
3) MKxSk
4) NL5xSk
5) C99
6) C99
7) MkxSk
8) Nl5xSk

There is one more in the pic to the front left but it is a male Skunk. Unfortunately all Skunk and G13xSkunk plants that made it through the gauntlet of abuse turned out male. None seemed special to me aside from one Skunk male that had clear "sweet" or "berry" type notes, maybe fruit punch or sth when rubbing the stem. But the male was otherwise unremarkable.

I found a keeper male from the remaining 3 Critical Mass (all males). One of them was way ahead of the others. They say "you know the stud when you see him" and I agree I suppose.
While all other males had just developed their first balls in assorted locations, the CM stud had already exploded and was covered in balls all over, even at the stem. Hints of mint/something fresh when rubbing the stem and "skunky" undertones.
There are a couple more relatively interesting males but none could hold a candle to the stud just in terms of ball explosion and overall growth pattern/structure.


I have quite many leafs still browning, some are just a little colorless around the edges of the leafs, some leafs are clawing a little.
I think my soil mix might still be missing something... But other plants look very healthy. Might be strain specific...

Overall I believe that the plants are still "ejecting" old growth from veg because they didn't get enough water. In many spots you have a large "old" fan leaf that is slowly dying off while in the same spot new growth has formed. So not sure if it is really a soil issue or just due to the previous abuse (days without water).

I think all in all I can be satisfied although there surely is much to fine tune.

Would love your opinion on the soil mix because that is something I would like to tune before the next round, if tuning is indeed required.
Here is the mix again:

1 part = 5 liters

Base mix:
- 3 part peat moss
- 1 part coco coir
- 1 part hydroton with mycos
- 3 parts buckwheat hulls
- 2 parts ewc

Amendments:
- 2 cups bonemeal
- 2 cups dolomite lime
- 1/2 cup epsom salts
- 1 cup bloodmeal
- 1 cup kelpmeal
- 1 cup oyster shell flour
- 1 cup neemseed meal

Rockdusts (added by feel thinking "the more the better"):
- Glacial rock dust
- Bentonite
- Azomite
- Lavarock dust
- Basalt (same as glacial rock dust?)

I water with plain well-water which is very high quality.
After transplanting, planting etc. I add Canna Bio Rhizotonic to the well-water.
During Flower I add Canna Bio Boost to the water.

Spray neem regularly during veg but have only sprayed it after transplanting to flower (have since stopped after week 1).

Any questions let me know.

Any advice, comments, feedback etc. is welcome, I know I have much to improve and learn.

Cheers and thanks for stopping by.

BBB

/Edit
the clones I took look like shit by the way ... Not sure what I did wrong but I assume that the root it sponges were not as moist as the packaging led me to believe and the cuts were likely a bit dry. Most of them have dried out, yellowing leafs and I haven't seen a root stub yet. Some seem to be forming new growth below the yellowing leafs though.
I think I give them 1 more week. If none have rooted by them, I will try to take new cuts from the flowering plants.
Otherwise I write it off this time and do it better next round. Will take pics of the clones next chance I get.

/Edit2
By the way: I don't think I ever caught the little critters on my plants. They are just flying around. The plants look healthy overall and it doesn't look like the bugs/flies/whatever are harming the plants. If they had appeared from my own soil mix, I probably would have thought they are beneficial. But they only appeared after I introduced the vegetable plants in their shitty garden store soil.

Howdy folks,

haven't updated in a bit and there was quite the progress.
Plants are doing well.

I want to pull your attention to the 2 C99 phenos I have going.

One of them is the twofer (2 seedplants from one seed) which looks mostly unremarkable compared to the other plants present as well.

Now the other C99 is another story...
Just from the overall structure and high number of strong budding sites, the branching out towards the sides, it does look very much like the pictures of C99 I remember from 20 or so years ago. Have been quite excited about this plant from the get-go and even more since she started budding.

But look at that head bud! I have never seen anything like this.
It is pure white, like a bunch of pistils trying to pop out.
If you look closely, there are a few leafs that are a bit yellow and look somewhat "bleached". But these will become regular green leafs with time (lower nodes had the same bleaching/yellowing of leafs strait at the head bud but turned regular green once new nodes started to form above).

I mean that center... What is that? Anyone seen something like it?

Input much appreciated on that C99, otherwise everything is going well and I am quite satisfied so far. I think they are about the half way mark, maybe a bit over.


Also: won my battle with the fungus gnats, haven't seen a flyer in more than a week. Everything seems a-ok.