Wawona's Assortment

[wawona]

Okay. This is merely a stab at an attempt at keeping a diary of my current grow for informational purposes. All I know to do is take some pics of each step that I take during my current grow. Hopefully, I will be able to keep up the information current AND stick with it from start to finish. I am a stoner ya know, so who knows. I would gaciously accept any tips, advice or constructive criticism. Hell, if you wanna flame me for something that you see is stupid. In the meantime I am gonna round up some stuff and get the ball rollin here. Just givin you a heads up of what was to come. Since Nobogart has broken the cherry in this forum I guess I'll go second. Wish me luck!

:animbong: wa

[wawona]

I am gonna start with the materials I use and my setup. I Have a 400w Metal Halide light fixture and ballast. However, I use a 360 watt HPS conversion bulb for veg and flower. I find the HPS much less harsh and it's easier to keep the temps down with the HPS. My light is covering about a 3'5" X 3'5" area that is 51" tall. 1 intake fan, 1 exhaust fan and an 1 oscilating fan. All of which run 24/7 365.

This grow I will be using Fox Farm soil and Nutrients. The soil is Ocean Forest, which I mix with 20% perlite. I use Grow Big fertilizer for veg 18/6 light schedule. I use Big Bloom plus Tiger Bloom For Flower 12/12. I use 2 1/4 gallon containers.

This grow I am trying something new. I am gonna put the seedlings under 50 watt compact flourescent light for the first few weeks. Lights on 24/0. I will go to 18/6 when I move them to the actual room. Had to manufacture a temporary veg chamber. To date I have always gone to the HPS 18/6 right from the start. Using only the single room. In this grow I have 5 Golden Skush, 3 Top 44 and 2 White Widow femminised beans.

I germinate my beans using the highly controversial paper towel method. :biggrin: I moisten two paper towels and place the beans between them on a small plate. I put the plate and all in a large zip-loc "zip n seal" air tight baggie. I put them in the drawers of the nightstand and place a small heater in the room to keep it pretty warm. Any warm dark spot will do. This time I started 12 beans and 10 of them germinated. This is a much higher ratio than when I have placed the ungermed bean directly into the soil. Make sure you lable the strains as you go so you know what you have where.

After they have about a 1/4"-1/2" tap root I place them in "peat pots" made by Jiffy. You know the kind that expand when you add water. They have a kit that comes with a mini greenhouse that I find perfect for my situation. These peat pots will come in handy later for cloning purposes also.

a pic of the jiffy pots for illustration purposes
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_jiffy.JPG
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_jiffy2.JPG

Here are a few "germed" beans. You can see the paper towels that were used. I would reccomend plain white paper towels. These beans all germed within 36 hours. The curling under of some of the tap roots makes it a slight more difficult to get into the hole in the peat.
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/thumb_germ1.JPG
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_germ3.JPG

I put the germed bean in the peat disks with the root facing down. You'll have to make a small hole in the disk. I used a paper clip. After I get them in the peat disk I put the plastic dome on and place them back in their dark warm drawer until at least half of them have popped their heads up out of the soil. This time it only took about 24 hours before they popped up.

At this point I put them under the light. Below is the first day under lights. Shortly after they came up
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_headsup.JPG

Seeing as how I am using flourescent I can get them pretty close to the light. About 4-6 inches or so. Starting them under the HPS it would prolly be neccessary to start them out at around 24" give or take an inch or so. Here is a pic of the light the seedlings are currently under.
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_flo2.JPG
http://www.420-genetics.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10008/normal_flo1.JPG

I plan on leaving them under this light for about 3 weeks. A transplant will be in order soon, along with other updates and pics if you wanna follow the bouncing ball.

:animbong: wa

[Silent]

what will they flower under wawona? ill be watching your grow as it unfolds buddy maybe even send u a few tips for improvment ,if i see u need it ?

[wawona]

they veg for a while and flower under a 360w hps conversion bulb. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

:animbong: wa