[Rellikbuzz]

I just put four Kalichakra seeds into a 24 hour soak in a Black Tea mix last Tuesday night. Wednesday I rinsed them with tepid tap water and popped them into some Rapid Rooters that were soaked in a solution of distilled water, H202, a dab of dishwashing liquid and a couple of drops of Superthrive. I mixed up a gallon of this solution and PH'd it to 6.2.




Before you ask , the acid in the Black Tea soak helps to soften the shell so that it helps the seedling to break free more easily. I put the container of seeds and Black Tea into the refridgerator overnight. According to Mike, the tech support guy at Advanced Nutrients, this simulates the cold dampness of late winter/early spring (he's such a naturist! ).

After three days in the Rapid Rooters, two of the four have poked their little heads up and out of the Rapid Rooters.


I will be vegging these babies under a 256 watt Tek 5 flourescent until they are about 6 weeks from seed or so. I will do progressive transplants from a 16 oz. beer cup to 1.5 gallon pot and then eventually a 5 gallon in time for flower.

My soil mix will be 2 parts Fox Farm's Ocean Forest and 1 part Fox Farm's Light Warrior soilless mix with an additonal 20% perlite added. No nutes for the first three weeks or so but then will receive the entire Advanced Nutrient's 2+ Program through to harvest.

The last two weeks of veg I will move these into my flower closet to be vegged under my two 400 watt MH/HPS switchable HID's with the halide bulbs and then, when I flip to flower, I will put the Hortiliux EYE Super HPS EN bulbs in. My flower closet measures 2' x 6' x 9'. So, I am running about 67 watts per sq. ft. in the flower closet. I am also using tank CO2 supplementation and have a Dayton 265 cfm blower that I use for air intake and a 630 cfm Hurricane centrifugal fan for exhaust that pulls through the two reflectors for cooling.

I actually won these beans in the Weekly Seed Lottery back in December (thanks a bunch, Dutchgrown!) and I am just now getting to work them into my grow. I must say that these are some of the biggest, best looking seeds I have seen! Mandala Mike's description of this plant pushed me into trying these out. It should be really interesting as I believe that this is the first indoor grow of this strain to date on ICMag.

If there is interest in seeing the Kalichakra in grow, I will carry out this thread to harvest. If not, I'll just post some pics right before and after harvest. Let me know what you think!!

[Hooked-On-Grown]

Front row of the grow....yeah babby!!

Let me know if you got any questions bro!!

Looking good so far!

[MandalaMike]

Welcome Rellikbuzz,

the set-up sounds top notch. The CO2 is also a good idea. Take it easy on the ferts since our plants love good soil and utilize every ounce of nutrients from mother earth. It would definately be interesting to see more of your grow here and not just the harvest pics! :wink:

I hope that the other two seeds are going to sprout. We do advise clearly against pre-germination methods with our seeds because, among other things, we carry only fresh seeds in stock and they don´t like to be soaked (pls check our online catalog for details). I think we will eventually have to put a little note in the seed packs, since so many growers choose to pre-germ their seeds (never heard of tea though!).

Till later, Mike :smile:

[Rellikbuzz]

Hey Mike - It's great to have the breeder stop by to say hello! I'll definitely watch the ferts when I do start using them. I won't be feeding them for several weeks so that the plants can just use whats in the soil and the Fox Farms soil are very nice indeed.

As for the Black Tea, it is really not meant to be a pre-germ method at all. This is why the seeds soak in the refridgerator so that they won't germ before going into the soil. It's really meant solely to be a method to soften the shell husk so that moisture will more easily penetrate. I have read several of your posts in this forum discouraging pre-germing and advocating planting straight into the soil. So I didn't want to stray too far away from the fine advice. I hope to do you proud, Mike and I am really looking forward to seeing how I do with your fine genetics. Thanks so much to stopping by!

HOG - As always, my brotha, thank you for being the first to take a seat in my grows. I always feel so much better when I know that you're looking over my shoulder. It's kinda like having a guardian angel!! A guardian angel that wants to snip off a budlet or two to see how I'm doing!!

[CalcioErba2004]

*pulls up lazyboy*

Anybody want popcorn?

The price is right, lets see what they can do...

[zeppelindood]

interesting note Mike.... regarding the germination of fresh beans. thanks man... plenty of luck, as always.... Rell ~

i am in..


pretty interested in these seeds, grow em out strong Rell!!

GIT ERRR DUUUUUN...okay so how was that huh? im cut right in for texas!!

He is your garden angel.. lol
Anyway i will pull up the covers. Light my joint.. and watch this unfold..
Goodluck all the way thru... with all females.. peace.

sack

[Rellikbuzz]

Welcome CalcioErba2004 and Noruas, glad you've joined in for this ride!

Zepplindood - Mandala Mike has always suggested germing in soil instead of paper towels. I did do the Black Tea pre-soak but so far everything has turned out alright. Three of four seeds are above ground and looking good. One of them got a bit twisted trying to break ground. As a result, I've tied her to a stake (toothpick actually) to get her upright and she seems to be doing well.

Danimal my brotha! Yer gittin' the lingo down, may man! Not bad for a Filipino Hawiian!!

Sackoweed - Always good to have you around the threads, man. I'll do my best to do justice to these babies!

Update Time!!!

The seedlings are now about 10 days or so from seed. I have kept them under the humidity dome with some other clones this whole time. They seem to be doing pretty well so far. Although the fourth seed has still not broke ground as of yet, I've kept the Rapid Rooter moist in hopes she still might make an appearance.

My intention is to remove the dome as soon as my other clones have hardened off a bit and showing new growth. At that point I will transplant the seedlings into 16oz. beer cups with a mixture of Fox Farms Ocean Forest and Fox Farms Light Warrior (soilless mix) in a two to one ratio with about 20-25% perlite added.

Here's the pics as of last night.

Kalichakra #1


Kalichakra #2 (This is the one that got it's meristem twisted when trying to break ground)


Kalichakra #4


And lastly, a overall shot of my seedlings which includes some Sour Mist babies that I germed at the same time.


So far, so good. I will keep updating this thread every week or so so that we can see some growth. Any more frequent updates just gets redundant IMHO.

To those of you who have subscribed to this thread, my heart felt thanks to you. I encourage and appreciate any feedback or comments, good or bad, with regards to how I'm doing. I'm still a "newb" and I benefit greatly from your comments/feedback. Until next time, take care and be safe.

Rellikbuzz