[Che]

" The beginnings will not be easy; they shall be extremely difficult."
- Che Guevara April 1967

[Warning: Extended introduction rant! Scroll down for photos!]

I've been lurking on these forums for several months, learned lots and only just scratched the surface I'm sure! I joined so that I could share and learn, and maybe even contribute here and there should the situation provide itself.

I started growing cannabis late in 2008, but I've been smoking the stuff and saving seeds up for years. I finally got a place with a "small" area I can grow in and not be disturbed, and I've been experimenting with a few things.

I began this adventure in a spare bathroom with a few CFLs and a dozen "Red Rhino" bagseed (as all of my seed currently are). I used rockwool, hydroton, and a rubbermaid with netpots. The nutrients I had were of a brand I've not read anything good about on cannabis forums, needless to say they weren't great. But it was free, gifted from a friend.

As the plants grew, I constructed a wall to section off the future growing area. The area is about 14'x19'.. but only 5' high. I was determined to make it work.
Before long it was all setup and I installed an intermatic T103 timer, a small space heater (I live in a very cold area, especially this time of year), several fans and my (second hand) lighting.
A vertical 400w MH with parabolic reflector, and a vertical 940w HPS conversion Eye Hortilux bulb on a 1000w MH ballast, with matching parabolic reflector. The intense HID lights were so bright, I was amazed. And thoroughly hooked on this hobby.

Over the next few days I stabilized the lights off temps to about 15C or higher, which is acceptable to me. The lights on temps never go over 26C. Humidity was very low without any plants or water in the room.
Transplanting the Red Rhino seedlings into their own 5gal DWC's, and switching to the GH Lucas Formula feeding schedule, I was off to the races!
I vegged those plants to about 30 days old, then flipped the timer to 12/12.

While all this was going on, I was down to 6 red rhino plants (my mortality rate has improved since then), and still didn't know the sexes. I only had bagseed which may or may not be feminized, so I decided to stack the odds in my favor and start germinating some of the other beans I had.

I ended up popping about 40 more bagseeds from my "Unknown" stash, as well as some other gems that came out of sacks such as "Northern Lights", "Endless Sky", "Pink Grapefruit", "Hash Plant", and "BC Big Bud".
Of course, I'm hoping that once these plants are full on flowering, you the fine members of IC can be the judge as to how close some of these plants come to the names listed on them. But that will remain to be seen.

The plan was to save on expensive buckets, pumps, etc, and instead use soil less medium and hand water. I now see how flawed it was, but at the time it seemed reasonable. The seedlings suffered. I eventually gave up on that idea and transplanted all of the seedlings and young plants to soil, Pro Mix BX mixed with perlite and worm castings. Now they are much happier!!

The Red Rhino plants are now in full flowering, however there are only 3 remaining as the other plants ended up being male. One of these I have since transplanted to soil, as the root ball didn't look good. This particular Red Rhino plant has a "CatPiss" skunky aroma, it's absolutely intoxicating.
The other two are still in the DWC's, with H202, SM90, and lucas formula, and doing well. The were mildly LST'd, one moreso than the others.
I did have some issues with light burn, and I will have to move the plants away from the 940w as they grow towards it. I will remove the reflector if the plants ever reach the "ceiling" and top them as needed.

Now the seedlings are starting to become vegging plants, and as I didn't germinate them all at once, but instead several weeks apart of each group, they are all different sizes!
The Pink Grapefruit is about 6" tall, and already beginning to flower. Quite a few of the "Unknown" seedlings are looking like healthy sativa hybrids and one of them has shown female sex as well. There are a few very indica dominant unknowns as well, so there should be a nice mix when these begin to finish.
The Northern Lights plants are very uniform, with large spear shaped early leaves. I hope that one of the plants exhibits the stinky phenotype that I was accustomed to smoking a few years ago when I collected these seeds. A classic favorite, that I dearly miss. Sour and deadly.

Hash Plant and BC Big Bud, I killed the first few seedlings but I've germinated the remainder of my seeds and a few are now coming up. I'm confident that these will do better in the Pro Mix soil.

I intend to pick up some 3 - 5 gallon containers to flower the soil plants in. I am only using about 25% of the space in the grow area, but this allows for massive air flow, temp control and lots of storage space. As my spacial needs increase, I can add another 400w MH light and space out the plants. I expect that up to 50% of the unsexed plants maybe male, so space isn't a concern yet.
My T-103 powerboard is built with the intention of running up to 4x600w with light movers, as well as 1 additional outlet of constant power. If and when funds permit, I will consider something along those lines, but before that I must purchase odor, humidity and climate control equipment. Right now there is none, and humidity can get up to 75%. Currently the growing environment is completely sealed.

And that just about brings us up to speed on my project. I know this has been a wordy post so far, but I love taking tons of pictures. So I'll add a few now, and I intend to make a habit of updating this thread as everything progresses! Thanks for reading!

[Dr Dog]

Nice read, feel like I know you already

It looks like you have an idea of what you want to do and where you are going, nice to see from a beginner grower.

Looking forward to seeing how your progression from noob to guru goes

Best of luck with your grow and viva le liberation

[Che]

Thanks Dr. Dog, I'm glad that you feel that way because after reading these forums for the last while, the feeling is mutual!

This is pretty much my test grow, I wanted to get my feet wet and get a feel for it before I go full out on equipment and genetics.

Also, as far as genetics go, I plan on keeping a few mothers from this run, just cutting them in such a way that I can rev them all and then keep the best ones after testing. Then add to the pool...

I also have a ton more Red Rhino seeds, so if the strain holds some prime genetics (Cat piss Skunk?) I can try and get a desirable male.. I've already killed a bunch of them.

But by and far, the one I am most excited about is the Pink Grapefruit. I had bought a large sack of the stuff when it came around, and even done a BHO extraction on some of it. Amazing, the honey oil tasted just like grapefruits! I want that again... I hope this one is the citrus pheno cause I have plans for the trim...

Since I've written a few more paragraphs, here is a photo to reward you for reading haha

[Che]

"I am not a liberator. Liberators do not exist. The people liberate themselves."
-Che Guevara, 1958

Today I bought a few 10" Grower pots and moved my potted RR plant from the 8" to the 10". I think this is more appropriate and gives room to grow a bit and support more. I also gave her a good trimming, taking light burned and wilted leaves off. I have pics of how much happier this plant looks, but the gallery is down right now so it will have to wait.

Took a few macro shots of the developing buds on the Rhino and PG plants, and a few macros of an interesting mutant plant I have as well. I'm not sure where this mutant is going but I've given it a chance to show me what it's got.. we'll see how it goes.

Pulled one male from the unknown origin plants. 2 down, lots left to go.
Everything is green and there's not much else to report really. This is a good thing! I'll come back and add some photos once the gallery is up...

[Che]

Ok I believe Skip has the new gallery working, so here's some macros of my mutant freak plant.
This plant started out as a weak seedling that couldn't shed the seed and was running out of time. I removed the shell and there were bleach white cotyledons underneath. I figured it would die but eventually they turned green and a bit of growth started. Eventually it overtook it's one sibling, which was also having problems (I suspect these seed were on the verge of immaturity). Now it's thriving, and growing out in a strange way.





Sorry the pics are so huge. I did resize them, they were 3x as large in original format...

[Dr Dog]

I dont mind big pics, really can see the plants now

I can wait for some stellar bud shots that will be showing up

Plant looks good Che

[Che]

Originally Posted by Dr Dog

I dont mind big pics, really can see the plants now

I can wait for some stellar bud shots that will be showing up

Plant looks good Che

Thanks Doc! I'm working on some more images right now, got a few budshots from the Red Rhino plants coming up

[Che]

Waiting for these Rhino ladies to start putting on some weight...

[Tonatiuh]

lookin good che,i'll be here for the ride man and to give some help if i can.
looks like you know what ur gonna do so play on playa...
peace-T-

[justanotherbozo]

nice job man, very ambitious for a first grow! and good luck with your
bagbeans, sometimes you find a real gem!

like the Doc, i can't wait to see your bud shots.

btw, you could just add thumbnails to your posts that would link
to the full sized shots. i'd be happy to explain how if you'd like.
then it'd work like this


peace bro, stay safe and have a great 2009!

btw, Dr Dog and Tonatiuh are some top growers man, they know thier stuff
and will be able to help you no matter what you may encounter.