Getting the hang of this (maybe)

[JackAndSan]

Ok all you happy fellow growers. it is only due to the guidance of some of you that I have lasted this long. Much appreciation.
About a month ago, i started grow number 4. This one is where hopefully, i will get to apply some of what you kind folks have taught me.
I waited a month to start posting mainly because this is my fourth grow and i know that stuff happens.

Originally, I had planned on having 3 plants in my 3 x 4 tent. but, well, things happened. i am far ahead enough at this time to hold my wife over (i grow for her) so, we tried to do a little crop rotation planning. She has her card, but we have been lucky enough that for the last 9 months i have been able to supply her “day weed” and she only needs to purchase some Indica (which she likes at bedtime to help her sleep). so, since we now have a little inventory, i wanted to toss an indica into the mix this time.

I had planned on one each Hindu Kush, Strawberry Cough, and Bruce Banner (she REALY likes her Bruce). all seeds are ILGM, fem, photos. Up til now, Bruce has been a stellar performer with a 100% germ/grow performance and a shear refusal to die no matter how feeble my skills. The Strawberry seeds are leftover from my second grow and back then i was killing about 50% of what i touched. The Hindu is a new strain for me.

so, before we start the fun stuff (pictures) a little background on setup. Since my last grow was still in progress and i was trying to minimized down time, i purchased a second tent for my “starters”. i have a 2 x 2 x 3 that seems to fit on the table in my grow room perfectly. if you have read any of my threads, you know i am pretty good at making a couple poor purchases along the way, so i have a million watt blurple (maybe 100 wall watts), that actually seems to do a great job in this teeny tent. Since this is primarly for starters righ now, i have a heat pad. I also have a vivosun 4 inch Spaceage (i.e. cheap plastic) fan that is doing great job to keep a nice flow of fresh air in the tent and keep it from overheating (from my massive blurple and warming pad).

TENT: 3 x 4 x 6 vivosun which has worked great for me so far. (if i were to buy again i would opt for a taller tent).

LIGHT: Despite getting GREAT lighting advice (from successful growers), i have a Mars TS 3000 light (for now).

FAN: 6" Vivosun fan. it doesn’t have the high end controller of the AC Infinity Cloudline, but it more than makes up for that by being on the loud side.

SOIL: Fox Farms Happy Frog with some added Perlite, in 7 gallon fabric pots. Misquito bits on top for a garnish

NUTES: i switched Jack’s 321 on my last grow and will be using that for this grow along with Fish Sh!t, recharge, and perhaps some Silica Blast (i am still uncertain if i should be using this with soil).

OTHER: oil filled heater (worked GREAT this winter, won’t need if for the summer), small evaporative humidifier, and small de-humidfier. these will be lesser players now that we are coming up on summer and i am in conditioned space

As i mentioned i am 30 days in so the beginning pics are now old and back when they were in the nursery. i will post the next batch later.

Getting ready (the space)

The Germ box ( i forget who i saw with this setup, they were using AWESOME Jack Daniels gear. i had to make do). you can see the 3 amigos.

Ready for bed

Two days later, popped, and in the dirt

Heads up!

Still missing someone

The GLIXER Blurple stretch (sometimes a million watts aint enough)

i lost the next set of pics when i transferred from my phone, but over the days following these, i made some adjustments.

#1 Adjusted the light much closer and although i was afraid i might kill them, i slid the other girls out of their solo cups, took some soil off the bottom and popped them back in deeper and refilled the soil up around the skinny stems. they LOVED it and have thrived almost immediately.
.
#2 Bruce never made it, Unfortunately, neither did the next 3 BB seeds. i am getting ready to try one last attempt and this time i will drop both a BB and another Strawberry to see if i can end up with 4 plants for this crop. (fingers crossed.)

I hope folks will enjoy this thread as much as i enjoy reading all of yours. My day job is calling so i will pop on later for an update and we will jump to day 30.
Please feel free to follow along and invite your friends!

[JackAndSan]

Just adding some of the folks that have helped so much along the way by constantly monitoring threads and graciously answering questions (many times the SAME questions over and over), and all those folks that have kept great active grow logs allowing us to follow along, watch and learn. Thank you for your time and patience. @Hellraiser @Covertgrower @Myfriendis410 @Nicky @CalamityJane @Mrs.Daisy @Underthestairs @Carpenter @Nickknowsfunny @beardless

[spankyjr1]

@JackAndSan

Silica Blast (i am still uncertain if i should be using this with soil).

I use silica with FFHP FFOF mix and it works great for roots and stalk/branch development compared to grows without it

[beardless]

Keep an eye on light height and intensity. Looks like your seedlings are getting stretched out a bit too much. You will need to bury them deep when you transplant. Thanks for the tag and good luck

[Carpenter]

Thanks for the tag. I agree, If you can drop your light without getting too much heat! Other than that they look great

[Carpenter]

FF has silica in the soil. No need to add! Confirm with @Nicky

[Underthestairs]

Jack your box for seedlings is identical to the one I started a couple months ago. I can only hope it you got it from me it works as well as it did I’m house! I’m very excited to follow this along!

[Covertgrower]

@Carpenter

silica in the soil.

Correct.

[dbrn32]

I concur, most soils are going to have a small amount of silica available in them. I have added too, just don’t get carried away because for the most part unnecessary and it can create some havoc with other elements.

I would email seed shop on those failed to germ too, they should pop. Things looking great otherwise.

[JackAndSan]

Thanks to everyone for the input on the silica!
@dbrn32, unfortunately, all of the seeds popped and showed at least some tail, so i am assuming it was more their treatment once they were moved to the soil. i have already had a stern talk with the party responsible for that, and i promise that i will try to do better on the next two seeds.

So, this am we are jumping ahead to the current pics. Be advised that although these girls have done very well, that my photography skills have not improved much since i have started.

Filling the new 7 Gal fabric bags with 75% FFHF 25% Perilite. I fill them partially first and then water that soil to get it to settle, let it drain for an hour, then come back put a placeholder solo cup in the middle and fill to the top of that cup.

Then i water slightly just so the hole doesnt collapse when i pull the placeholder out. Nice hole!

Pop the first girl out of her solo cup. As i thought they should ahve been transplanted a few weeks earlier, but i had no room in the beg tent til the last girls finished.

PLUNK! like they were made for each other

Happy as clams

Ready for their close ups First Krishna (Hindu Kush), then Shortcake (Strawberry Cough). My wife likes to name them so she can keep track of them when she smokes em up later.

[Nicky]

@Carpenter

FF has silica in the soil. No need to add! Confirm with @Nicky

Corret as covert confirmed

[JackAndSan]

Shout out to @Underthestairs for the “starter box” idea. i KNEW i had seen the Jack Daniel’s bourbon startup special here somewhere but couldn’t remember who i copied it from. way cool. i wanted to breakout my dovetail jig and make a permanent one (maybe in cedar so the heat matt gives the nursery a nice smell), but fortunately my wife reminded me that i am more than a little obsessive and generally crazy.

So, as promised (to myself i guess), i am going to take one last attempt [today] to drop 2 more seeds in the hopes of having 4 girls for this grow party. I kerplunked another Bruce Banner and a Strawberry Cough. The “big girls” are on day 34 today, but, i think we can make it work. i have all kinds of knowledgeable peeps to ask when realize i am in over my head.

Here they are, nice and cozy, distilled, with a few drops of H2O2.

with their lids on

[Underthestairs]

I dropped 2 new last for pots outside. Looking great man.

[JackAndSan]

Day 34 and also Day 2!
So, yesterday i dropped a Bruce Banner and a Strawberry Cough in the Corrugated Germination Machine (i am splitting the profits for the new product with @Underthestairs ).

Added Distilled with a splash of H2O2, lightly stirred, not shaken.

This afternoon, pop city. Here they are making their debut

Family Shot

[Underthestairs]

Almost like the contraption I made to raise RH without any extra power in the tent

[JackAndSan]

I popped them into some solos with DRY soil since i have drowned my last several attempts. Then added just a tablespoon or two of distilled to moisten them around the seedspot.

Put them back on the warming matt so they dont get a chill and gave them a nice dark cover til their birthday. Excuse the messy labels and reused solos. work is kicking my butt. Don’t they understand i LIVE to GROW [weed]

[JackAndSan]

Ok folks, another day, even more excitement!

Day 2 in the dirt. POP!
got a couple live ones here. i just have to NOT drown them! I got this

Aren’t they cute little helmet heads? i will give them a day or so to see if they lose their caps. Then i can move them into the tent with their older sisters who are now at day 37 and growing like WEED

[Underthestairs]

I’m a little jealous… dropped 2 Sour Diesel seeds that ain’t doing a thing. You’re off to the races!

[JackAndSan]

@Underthestairs, yeah I am learning that possibly the best skill for me to “cultivate” (see what i did there) is PATIENCE. finally starting to pay off. My last grow was two bruce banners, they were chopped 8 days ago. This morning one “seemed” like it was ready (the smaller of the two). I pulled her from the drying tent and cut and trimmed. definitely my best yield yet from a single plant (thanks to all the folks here) and I am starting to get some bigger buds (but porn to follow this post). I got a little over 4 oz off her, which probably doesnt sound like a lot to most folks, but its a GREAT step for me. That said, i believe i was STILL a little impatient. when i tested for dryness, i only checked the ends. As i started to trim i can tell that the she def could have used a little more hang time. I am rigging up a screen in the drying tent with the intention of spreading the [now nicely trimmed buds] over the screen to give them a little more time. Her sister is still hanging and i will WAIT until i get dry all the way through to pull her.
i purposely cut these girls and just hung them with NO wet trim except fan leaves to slow down the drying as my last 2 batches, the buds were a little crunchy by the 7 day mark. I have to say, not a huge fan of the total dry trimming approach. a lot more tedious but since i have a little more experience (and my wife is having a good day, so she helped) so it went quickly.

I did remind her that in all the movies, the girls in the processing room are always topless, she reminded me this isn’t a movie.

so, i am looking for tips to better judge WHEN to pull them from hanging and start to trim. i currently use two metrics, the popcorn test (the buds should have the almost squeaky feel of popcorn when you squeeze them) and the “branches should snap” test. i admit i didnt try snapping all the branches, but this plant was more robust than my previous so these are not teeny branches.

if anyone has better suggestions i am all ears.
Side note, my last harvest i lost over 60% to WPM, so i had the RH WAY down during flower this time. i pulled a few buds apart and looked at them under my big table mount lighted magnifying glass and i am happy to say, NO sign of mildew.

And now for the previously mentioned bud porn.
Fresh out of the drying tent

Spread out

Some nice nugs

This current grow, i am concentrating on how to clean up my plants to i get more energy into the tops and eliminate all the little buds and to try to develop better structure.

[Nicky]

Using a little bit of hydrogen peroxide in your seed soak is important, soaking for only 24hr (or until seeds sink) then followed by damp paper towel in a Ziplock in a dark environment that’s also warm like 79f really is a game changer.
By far the best seed germination rates out of everything I’ve tried.