Hello my friends,
There has been a lot of interest in this strain, so I am going to document a grow for you.
This will be a seed run, but I will only fertilize a few of the lower buds on each female.
On Jan 11th, I selected the seeds and started to hydrate them.
I used the last of the seeds I made in 2002, plus seeds from the 4th, 5th and 6th generations.
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For 24 hours I soak the seeds in a starter solution I make.
to 1 gallon of de-chlorinated water, add :
1 tablespoon of kelp meal -- let stand for 24 hours.
Just before use add :
1 tea Ful-Power
1 tea Aloe Vera Powder (or a tablespoon fresh gel)
Shake the shit out of it, then pour through an unbleached coffee filter
Fill shot glasses half full of this solution, add seeds, let soak for 24 - 36 hours until almost all seeds sink
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After the soak, put about 6 unbleached coffee filters flat in a 1 gallon ziplock and moisten with de-chlorinated water.
When happy with the moisture level, grab the top 3 filters, and fold them back, exposing about about 1/4 of the lower filters. This forms a handy line to place your soaked seeds.
Cover your babies back up - do not seal the ziplock.
BEWARE some paper towels are toxic to seedlings and will kill every one ! Personal experience talking here.
Now this is important - the ziplock must be placed vertically, so that the roots can grow down. I place it between two books on a shelf. Not too tight, but snug enough to keep the bag upright.
Less than 48 hours after beginning the soak, many seeds have 1/2 inch roots and I am busy planting them in their permanent homes. Another generation has begun!
Everything is done at normal room temperature 70 F
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Day0 seeds started to soak 2pm
Day1 seeds went into seedling mats
Day2 6 had 1/2 inch roots and have already been planted 8am

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Day 0 seeds started to soak 2pm
Day 1 seeds went into seedling mats
Day 2 _8am 6 had 1/2 inch roots and have been planted
_____ 8pm 18 had 1/2 inch roots and have been planted
Day3 _ 5am All 54 sprouts have been planted !
Sprouted seeds were planted 1/2 inch deep and marked with a toothpick. This allows me to know exactly where to water.
It is important to keep sprouts moist - water everyday.
I use a plastic ketchup dispenser to water tender seedlings (2 for a buck at the dollar store) .
Growing in a 4x8 area, I have 18 big smart pots (10-12 gallon?).
These are the pots for females, and with 3 seeds in each, I am almost guaranteed a female in each pot.
The males will be in smaller pots so that I can move them when they sex.
I expect to flip the lights to 11/13 in about 3 weeks. Stay tuned - don't touch that dial...
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Day 0 seeds started to soak 2pm
Day 1 seeds went into seedling mats
Day 2 _8am 6 had 1/2 inch roots and have been planted
Day 2_ 8pm 18 had 1/2 inch roots and have been planted
Day 3_ 5am All Female pots have been planted - with 54 healthy looking sprouts
Day 4_ 6am Filled 10 pots with soil for the males, put 4 seeds/sprouts in each of these. All the real work is done.
Some of the last seeds to be planted had just cracked with little to no root showing. Most of the male pots got at least one healthy sprout, the remaining seeds filled out the male pots and then the last few seeds were put in the females pots, about 3/4 of them now have 4 sprouts.
2 pm the RACE is ON!
Several sprouts have broken the surface and are standing proud, although only an inch tall. Dropped the lights, turned up the fan and set the auto-pilot, relax, have a beer. Job well done!
Looking pretty bare. Xerb
Not much to see here today, the sprouts continue to break the surface and straighten themselves out. Just more than half, 28 have come up so far.
But while we are waiting, I will show you another of my tricks.
Before I plant my sprouts in a pot, I like to stir in a handful of grocery store alfalfa sprouts mixing them into the top inch or so of soil.
Even better is the "sprout medley" which has alfalfa, radish, lentil, garbanzo beans, peas, etc. Make sure you use the beans at the bottom too!
If there are any hungry pests around, most the time they will go for these rather than your expensive, hard to get, genetics.
A hungry slug or pillbug can make short work of your $10 seedling.
I also add a few more sprouts to the top of the soil each morning just to keep the offering fresh and moist. Another good sacrificial offering is an apple core, sliced into small pieces, put one piece in each pot - not too close to your seedlings.
Almost every time I find a pest in my pots during this vulnerable seedling phase, they are munching on the "snacks" left for them and not my seedlings. Within a couple weeks this precaution is no longer necessary.
Just food for thought, Xerb
PS. Another potential pest that can really wreck havoc with your grow are ants. When I grow in pots I always place the pot in some type of tray that will hold water, and keep water in it.
The water will form a barrier to keep the ants from setting up a aphid farm in your trees. This water is also available to small critters and should keep them from chewing on your stems to get water. Thirsty mice can take out a BIG plant or two before you even realize what is going on.
Ever loose a plant to termites? It happens.
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I was away for almost 48 hours, and lost several sprouts to lack of water, a couple more to pests. Two had been cut off at soil level - I suspect pillbugs and removed a couple big ones from the garden today (Hot and dry, with no moist alfalfa sprout to distract them, they went for the nice succulent seedling).
Luckily I over-planted and can move a few babies around if necessary.
Currently I have 48 sets of leaves unfolding, and expect that number to grow a bit.
These seedlings have big fat leaves.
Xerb
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I have lost a few sprouts to pests. Several sprouts were cut off at soil level and a couple below the soil level. Several others had their roots munched on but are still alive and will probably pull through.
I had two pots without any sprouts left. I turned off the lights and waited an hour. When I turned the lights back on pill-bugs where running amuck ! I snagged over 100 of them out of those two pots. Turning the first 1/2 of soil I found them lined up in little clusters of shiny dark balls, as if they like to sleep together.
Usually they don't cause much damage, but your sprouts are vulnerable. I find a vacuum is a handy weapon against them, as they tend to hide in the darkness between two pots.
Anyway, I still have multiple sprouts in most pots, and will continue my pill-bug raids - I take them out to the compost pile and turn them loose.
Here is a typical sprout , just so you can see the progress. It seems like they are growing so slow at this stage, but really they are almost doubling in size everyday.
I always try to water my soil with de-chlorinated water. I fill five gallon buckets with cold tap water and add a handful of organic alfalfa pellets ($6 for 50 pounds at the local feed store). Over the next 24 hours the chloramine works on the alfalfa and releases all the chlorine into the air. There is a tiny amount of nitrogen in the alfalfa, but it does not seem to affect flowering or ripening times. If anything my ripening times are better than usually predicted.
Tomorrow I will water with a mild kelp solution. Xerb