Tai-pan

Well, it's been a long time since I posted last but I never left (went back to being a lurker) and never stopped loving Mary Jane but she likes to keep her fingers in my wallet, so to speak, and the green I was getting was all over the scales. One week it's great local hydro nug, the next week all you can find is some shitty mexican brick weed that you dare not smoke in anything but a blunt or joint.

In any case, I finally got feed up with the inconsistency of the weed supply and the quality available. After a few recons to Home Depo, a couple local nurseries and Wally World...and some shitty nug that looked beautiful but wasn't worth half what I paid... I got up the nerve to start my own grow. Nothing big mind you, just a few plants for personal use.

First, I went out an bought a $20 chrome bathroom light bar at HD, 4 "Y" splitters, a 4 pack of ecosmart daylight and a 4 pack of soft white CFL's, five large pots, 5 bags of potting soil, a digital timer for the lights, and a wireless temp/humidity monitor.


Instead of buying seeds online, I decided that my first grow should be done with bag seeds. Say what you may, but I would rather learn/fail on 'free' bag seeds than on Chocolope or Arjan's Super Silver Haze (strains I'm itching to grow!) seeds. Leave those for when I have the basics down pat.


BEFORE you ask....Yes, I plan to add two more "Y" splitters and put 4 more bulbs in there. I know you are thinking "why the hell is there a 'spot lamp' in there?". Well that's for my unexpected gift. More on her later

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Tai-pan

When I first thought of growing, I was more into the idea that I won't have to buy random green anymore. I would grow enough that by the time I was getting low, my new crop should be up.

Well, after I got my grow room set up, I used the wet paper towel and two plates method of germinating my seeds. I picked five seeds to start with and three germinated, I waited a day more and then tossed the duds. The three newborns were planted in soil mix (potting soil cut with perilite, white sand, and small pebbles to 'lighten' the soil) in dixie cups.

I replaced the paper towel and used three more seeds to germinate, and only one was a dud this time.

So with five slowly growing babies in dixie cups, I left the light on 24/7 for the first two weeks, then when the first 'triple leaves' had unfolded, I switched to an 19/5 light schedule and transplanted them into their respective and permanent pots.

I have a small oscillating desk fan set at it's lowest setting running all day on my babies to help strengthen their stalks and move air over their leaves. I also have an old Pentium 3 laptop I loaded down with mp3's that plays all day through some half decent speakers. Believe me or not but you can see the light is right over them...but they bend towards the speakers! I'm turning them every day...I'm tempted to mount the speakers above my lights at this point. My babies seem to LOVE classical and those 'sounds of nature' cds.

One thing that baffles me is my babies are 4-5 weeks old right now, and while they all sprouted within 5 days of each other with the light just a few inches away from the tops of the plants at all times, I have one plant that just is rocketing skyward, another that is still under 6 inches tall and three others who look more like proper MJ bushes I have seen here. I'm thinking it has to be a strain-thing.

In any event, I dolt over my babies every day. First thing when I get home at night is spend a few hours in my grow room, smoking some nug in a few joints or a bong, listening to the music and just watching the grass grow.

Tai-pan

*Note: I use "she" when refering to my plants but I don't yet know if they are male or female...just being optimistic. 2-3 out of 5 plants turning female would make me happy though all five would make me table dancing happy)

From left to right, the first picture is Baby #1. I'm not sure what strain any of my babies are but I've got a strong feeling this is an indica or mostly indica strain.

At 5 weeks she is 9 1/2" tall with broader leaves than any of the others. Just starting to see some red/purple streaks on the newest extension of her main stalk. I've looked around the web and given that mexican brick weed, white rhino, and Northern lights are the most common strains around my area, I'm betting this is northern lights...but that's just a guess.

The second and third pics are sativa or sativa strong/indica mixes. They are almost identical and I'm thinking probably from the same bag. Well, time will tell for them. Both measure 9" tall.

The fourth picture is my tall and lanky girl. There was no reason for her to stretch but she has grown 'up' faster than any of her sisters. She is just at 12" now. I have no idea what she could be. Her leaves say sativa but that's all she is telling me about her heritage.

Now the final baby is one I nearly decided to discard because of her slow growth. She is just taking her sweet time to grow, and it isn't a light issue as I have raised her pot high enough to keep the light only a few inches from her. I'm glad I didn't discard her as she is 'THE' most beautiful plant in the entire crop. Her main stalk has streaks of red/purple and her branches all are red/purple. Her leaves are a darker green than any of the other plants and there is a dusting of purple on them. I would LOVE to know what strain she is.


I know the pictures suck but not much I can do about it with my cell's camera.

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Bongy_Digital

LOVE the idea of music fertilizer! You've set a new personal smoking quest for me... Good luck to you and your babies!!

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Tai-pan

Thanks! I heard about 'sonic bloom' from an article I read in the paper about wineries that were setting up elaborate speaker systems in their vineyard to play music to their growing grape plants.

I thought that if the people with multi-million dollar vineyards feel the money invested in playing music to their plants is worth it, what's the harm in trying it with my babies


You may have caught that seedling in the picture in my first post. Ever hear of parents saying one child was planned while another was and unexpected 'gift'? Well, I'm saying it without being sarcastic. What happened is that I had a bag of REALLY good nug last week that I was smoking in my grow room. I had found a few seeds and put them aside for my seed collection. (I'm a geek. I put each group of seeds in their own ziplock with a small note that states the date I got them and how good the high was.) Anyway, this stuff made me tingle so much, I sneezed and I'll be damned if those seeds went flying.

I was kinda pissed about it but what can you do (and honestly, how can you stay pissed when you are baked?). That morning I had just turned the top 3 inches of soil and watered the plants so the soil was loose and moist.

Well, zip forward a few days and low and behold, what do I see but this seedling just peaking out next to her tall and lanky sister. I kid you not, I was floored.

So yes, I have 5 planned babies and one unexpected gift

Dandaweedman

Excellent thread so far. You seem to be doing fantastic.
Nothing wrong with using bag seed, it'll most likely turn out to be a lot better than it was when you bought it.
Don't get hung up on Arjans SSH, get it from the original breeder, shantibaba.

This will be a good one, good luck

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Jenna_Grows

those look great! I'd vote for indica dom judging from the width of the leaves. Very kewl idea with the music... I bet they soak that up.

Stay safe.

Tai-pan

Thanks Dan and Jenna. I'll keep that in mind about the SSH. I tried Arjan's when I was in Denver last summer and it literally floored me. I'd love to see the original strain!

I do have a an issue with my tall and lanky girl. Pic is below. It looks like nute burn but last time I used foxes nutes was two weeks ago at 1/2 strength. I'm getting worried about her. (BTW the end of the leaf that is missing happened to get accidentally cut off. I dropped a pliers I was using to mount my light bar, (by accident!) and thank god it only took out the tip of the leaf.

Two others also show some yellow/tan spots but it is confined to just three leaves between the two plants. Any idea what's wrong? I'm at a loss.

*Edit: I highlighted the affected areas*

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farmergiles

That's a very creditable plan imo.

Cool idea with the music- what tunes are you playing them?

Jenna told me to sing to my seedlings so they'd be more likely to turn out girls- maybe you're on the right track...

I like the light fixture you've used- ideal for putting the lights where you want them.

Re the plant with the yellowing/scorching on the lower leaves- a couple of questions if I may.
What water are you using? Do you know it's pH?
What was the potting soil you used? Do you know how rich it is in fertilizers?

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msicidron

good for you man you have your shit together!

my first grow was a mess!

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SmokeaJoint

Looking nice so far.

I saw on Mythbusters where they tested music on plants. Out of the three musical genre's tried, (Country, Classical, and Rock) rock music had the most favorable results. The heavier the metal, the better actually. Just a tip.

EDIT: It does look like an indica dominant because of the broad leaves. However, thats a kinda longish internode distance I think. If your still using CFL's, lower then to 3-4 inches off the plant tops. They don't get that hot at all so if the plants are looking toasted its not because the lights are too close.

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