[Elevator Man]

Just a quick intro to my new grow - I'll post a lot more, but the plants are just vegging after repotting. All plants are in soil, and I'll be using the Canna suite of nutrients on this run. At the moment, nine out of the ten are here - my Jamaican is still in the nursery, as it's too tall compared to the rest - I'm going to give these girls another week under the HID and then bring in the Ja plant. They're currently under 600W, and I'll add the other 600W lamp later in the grow.

All the varieties are listed in the first pic:

[jaypee89]

interesting strains. hope for the best brud

[Elevator Man]

Just a few stats and facts for the technically-minded before we go any further (and as I don't really care about posting such matters generally, it's probably the first and last time!):

The Malawi Gold, Skunks and Flo are all from seed - the rest are from clones I've had for a while. The G13 I think is possibly a G13 hybrid - maybe G13 X Skunk, based on what it looks and smokes like. The NL X BB is tried and tested, and the Mystery Strain is well-documented in my threads as being one of the most amazing varieties ever - I never stop speculating just what it is, but it will become one of the grandparents of my first proper variety over the next couple of years, so it's probably pointless worrying about that anymore.

I'm in the UK, so branded potting soil is limited - I'd already bought a few sacks before I realised Canna produce their own potting soil (next time!), but my mix is generally fine - just 50% Multipurpose compost and 50% John Innes No. 3, with a liberal amount of Perlite/Vermiculite mixed in for good measure. I don't add anything else to soil, but usually mix more John Innes in for the more sativa-leaning varieties, which keeps it nice and sandy at harvest - I found less food is better toward the end.

The pots are all 9" and 10" diameter - I have no idea on capacity, but would guess around 8-10 litres each.

Nutrients are Canna Terra - I just fed plain pH-balanced water for the first week with Rhizotonic added, and this week I'm feeding with a one-third strength solution of Terra Vega plus some Cannazym. I'll feed the Rhizotonic with plain water until flowers develop, alternating between feeds. I'll fade in to Terra Flores about the beginning of the proper bud development, and also use Cannaboost and PK 13/14 as required.

As mentioned, light is currently 600W, upping to 1200W for peak flowering - I'll drop back to 600W for the last two weeks. Photoperiod for vegging is 16/8, (I use this for all vegging plants), and after another ten days I'll switch to the flowering cycle. I'm changing the flower period this time from the usual 12/12 and will run the following schedule:

7 days @ 14/10 hours
7 days @ 13/11 hours
28 days @ 12/12 hours
7 days @ 11/13 hours
7 days@ 10/14

I may extend the 12/12 period to five weeks if development is slow, but I don't think I'll need to - I'm quietly confident that I'll have all the plants budding before 12/12 stage kicks in. As to the end of the cycle - the Malawi Gold and Skunks 'A' and 'C' will run over to 12-13 weeks, so I'll maintain the 10/14 regime until they come down. I don't think it harms yield particularly, and I definitely feel it increases the psychoactivity and flavour, especially in sativa-leaning varieties.

So that's it for now - I'll post regular updates as and when required. Hope it stays interesting for everyone!

Looks like a great set up. Interesting about the flowering times. I generally stick to the 12/12 but by accident two of my plants have had a couple of weeks in 14/10, but now on 12/12. I doubt i will see much difference but interested to see how your plants turns out.
I'm rooting for the Ja plant, although i think the malawi is going to be hard to beat
Good luck with the grow!

[James Morrison]

oh me oh my

Im keepin an eye on this thread

Great pots, lotsa good dirt and room looks sufficient from those shots
Just wonderin if you have heat issues?

Thanks for sharin brother

[Elevator Man]

James - no heat issues at all at this time of year - I grow in a sub-room I built within a room in my cellar, so it's pretty chilly ambient temps most of the time. Plus, I grow at night to keep it even cooler - the lights currently come on at 4pm and go off at 8am. The average ambient temp of the cellar in winter is 54F, and in summer it's 60F. Inside the growroom with one 600W 24" above the plants, it's about 75F at plant level. When I add the second 600W, it can get pretty hot - in summer it's pretty much a case of venting permanently. In winter, I can just raise the lights until it's cool enough. The space is 6 feet X 5 feet X 7 feet tall, so there's plenty of room, and 1200W in that space is dazzlingly bright.

Neil - the Ja plant will go in probably about four days - it's a good 6" taller than the rest, and is definitely 'vertically-oriented' genetically! It looks very much like Flo branch-wise, and in color too, although the leaf-shape is totally different - in fact different to everything else I have. This will be an interesting one.

I've been away for a couple of days, but the plants look great and are really starting to move now - a week more of veg I think, and then I'll put them into flower. I'd rather let them get larger this time - I've been disappointed with stretching since I switched to soil - i.e. not enough! I keep putting them into flower expecting a doubling in height, and only getting a quarter extra. So this time, I'm aiming for a metre tall at completion - I want this room filled!

EDIT - here's the thread on my Jamaican as I haven't any more recent pics:

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=42420

I was unsure about it's genetic heritage when I posted it, but I'm now tempted to think it may be closer to the real deal than before - I've subsequently seen other pics of very similar looking plants, including on Gypsy's free DVD. And it smokes like a Jamaican, that's for sure...

good selection of genes and a nice clean setup! this one is going to be good!

EM,

I am looking forward to following your grow especially with the "natural" light schedule.

What sweet spot are you trying to replicate?

Peace

[Elevator Man]

Well given that some of my strains will flower at 15 hours, I thought it best not to travel too far south in my 'virtual sweetspot'! I veg on 16 hours, and so the plants will hopefully 'think' they're more in Northern Cali or Spain than rainy England.

I'm trying to simulate more of a natural flower cycle, but compressed, and with an extended mid-period - should be interesting to see what happens.

[Elevator Man]

Well, what a difference six days makes - the plants are undergoing explosive growth, almost as fast as hydro, which is amazing - I've never had growth like this before in soil. Something here is working amazingly well - the nutes/additives I guess. The branching in particular is seriously vigorous, and some are getting extremely thick already.

The Jamaican has been in there a couple of days and is still getting adjusted - it was getting a little starved of light and food in the nursery room, due to its height, and has a few fading leaves, and is a bit grubby from a recent neem spray. However, in two days, this one will be motoring, so I aim to put the room into flower (i.e. 14/10) probably on Saturday.

I took a bunch of clones of the most mature strains tonight, and I'll do the rest on Saturday - plenty of copies, just in case - I can't really keep mother plants any more due to space problems, so I just take clones before I flower them, veg them out, and use those for the next crop, etc. Much less hassle, but also much more risky...I've already lost one strain this way...:(

Anyway, here's a few pics - I discovered a much better white balance on the camera halfway through the shoot, hence the mix of colors. Also I've moved several since last time, so apologies if folks get lost - didn't have time to label these! But it's pretty good growth, when compared to the first pics in the thread...

All together:








Skunk:




NL X BB:




Jamaican:



Purple Flo (green Flo in foreground of first pic with albino splodge!):