Master Kush--215 Watts CFL Stealth Grow!

[robnarley1111]

Hello to everyone!

My name's Rob and I am a newbie grower. However, I've learned so much from this site in addition to actually growing bagseed (which turned out to be males )

I decided to buy a couple of seeds and try my hand at growing some decent quality genetics, and hopefully have some BOMB stuff after harvest! I would be happy with an ounce, but I'm learning how much I can push my limited horizontal space to get the highest yields!

Okay... here are the details:

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Strains selected:

Both seeds purchased from Single Seed Centre. Very quick shipping and very good selection!

1. Master Kush Feminized (Nirvana)

2. Northern Lights Feminized (Vision)
This seed was D.O.A...damaged upon arrival. Hopefully I can add the Northern Lights to this
grow journal if they fix the issue in time and replace the seed. So, that strain won't be included in this journal to start, at least.


Light schedule:

18/6: Lights out at 2pm and back on at 8pm.


Medium:

Soil-less Mix: 30% Perlite/33% Vermiculite/33% Shagnum Peat Moss/Lime to balance PH



Pot:

12 ounce Dixie cup
Will be transferred to one gallon pot after 2 weeks of veg/seedling growth. To save space that
will be the last transfer for the entire grow



Nutrients:

Possibly tea made of Mater Magic organic tomato nutrients (for starters...)

Unsulfured molasses--1TBSP per gallon of water to be fed once or twice in veg
and during latter stages of flowering.

Bloom nutrients..still undecided, but want to stay as organic as possible



Grow Space:

"Stealth Grow Buckets"....5 gallon buckets crafted with relfective Mylar to grow organic
medical cannabis! Buckets are stackable to add more height as needed; current space used
is 1'x 1'. Actually got the idea from a guy who posted recently on this site, and I just
decided to "refine" a few things and see how it works for me (he refers to them as "space buckets")!

I want to grow my plants in controlled environments, before I start making bigger investments
toward growing in bigger spaces. Since I can grow quite a few plants at a time, I'd rather
isolate them from each other for the time being. Then I can fine tune and dial-in the perfect
atmosphere for each plant!



Lighting:

CFLs - up to 215 Watts total (using up to 7 CFL bulbs)

Currently running 109 Watts: 3-23 Watt 5000K bulbs and 1-40 Watt, 2700K bulb.
(Total of 7,400 lumens until 2 weeks of age, then going up to 150 watts)



Ventilation:

1-small PC intake fan
2-120mm PC fans used as exhaust, pushing the hot air out of the box and away from the lamps.
A/C as needed


Miscellaneous:

Surge protectors
Light timer
Industrial-type extension cord

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The Master Kush seed was soaked in RO water for 24 hours, and placed in paper towel and enclosed
in plates overnight. The next day it popped and was ready to plant! Pictures coming up....

 

[robnarley1111]

One of the best days of my life! My Nirvana seed arrived!

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Germinated very quickly...less than two days

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Rigged-up humidity dome, the D.I.Y way
9/1/13, ready to go under the 23 Watt light!

 

[robnarley1111]

View attachment 2810080
And two days later........"it's a girl!"

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Here she is two days later...

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And the next day....

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The next day...slowly but surely. More pictures to come of her in about a week.

--

Now, check out my "grow apparatus!"


Stealth grow bucket busy in action


Take a peek under the lid.
*For safety reasons, plant(s) are watered away from the bucket and are drained accordingly before being placed back in it.
Using such precautions, there is virtually zero risk of an incident involving standing water and electricity uniting--a bad, bad scenario. *



Let's turn off the lights and get a bit closer, shall we?
Each socket will be given a "Y" shaped adapter which allows two bulbs per socket, for a total of 7 bulbs or up to 215-223 Watts!
The highest wattage lights are closest to the fans, the lower wattage lights are closer to the plant.



Intake fan and rigged-up dust/debris filter.


Those exhaust fans..always full of hot air!

 

[robnarley1111]

Keeping it simple for nutes, right now at least. For micro-nutrients, kelp is looking good.






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I'm always open to suggestions and ideas, or just general feedback on what you think about my setup. Looking forward to some good times!

Thanks for the visit!

 

[robnarley1111]

Thought I'd add a few more pictures. I couldn't resist!

She turned a week old yesterday!


These are a couple of pics from 9/9

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These are from today, 9/10.

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Northern Lights Feminized (Vision) Seed Update:

I contacted Single Seeds Centre about the damage seed and they shipped a replacement the very same day they replied. Now THAT'S excellent.

So I'll be adding Northern Lights to this grow as well, with another grow bucket, another 215 watts of CFLs, blah, blah, etc, etc....

 

[robnarley1111]

Decided to up the wattage a bit. Just added an additional 23 watt 5000K CFL.

5 bulbs total; total wattage is now 132 and total lumens is 9,000.

 

[chiefsirbong420]

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/721368-update-my-lil-girl.html looking good!!! heres my first cfl grow and she is 4 days old check her out!

 

[robnarley1111]

https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/721368-update-my-lil-girl.html looking good!!! heres my first cfl grow and she is 4 days old check her out!

Thanks...checking her out now!

 

[robnarley1111]

MK Update!!

She's now about 10 days old. Thought I'd add a few pictures....


Getting several nodes now with super-close internodal spacing!



Top view...



Even closer top view...

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So far she seems to be doing well in her environment. Temps stay between 78-82° F. Low humidity (dry environment..still waiting on my hygrometer). I will be giving her the first nutrient feeding on the next watering (a day or two). Gonna do 1/4% and cross my fingers for lush foliage to start growing within the next week or so. I'll post some more pics in about another week!

*Still waiting on my Northern Lights package to include with this grow*

 

[robnarley1111]

Update!

So my Vision-Northern Lights seed finally arrived from S.S.C.



Soaked it in water for about 24 hours, and "paper toweled" it for another 18 hours.



It popped.



I planted!


More updates to come on the Northern Lights as it progresses.


As for the Master Kush..it's growing pathetically slow.
At the rate it's going, the N.L. will catch up to it and probably pass it up! More pictures to come of the MK when it grows. Guess it's busy building its root system? I did notice a bright-white root coming out of the bottom drain hole in the 16oz Dixie cup..but it hasn't started growing enough foliage to warrant a transplant yet. Guess patience is a virtue for MK (two weeks old)?

 

[robnarley1111]

Update on Master Kush AND Northern Lights!


Master Kush:

So growth pretty much stopped for several days once it hit the 2-week mark. The leaves also turned yellow or pale green. So I said... time to eat!
Gave it a quick dose of organic fertilizer and the green started coming back within a day or two. Growth is also starting to take off, albeit slowly!





Used tap water for the first time today really, got tired of buying RO/bottled water and dealing with needing to supplement calcium/magnesium. So I decided to go tap, PH it, and see how it works out. Got a water report from my local water company, let my gallon of water sit out 24 hours to evaporate chlorine, added a TBSP of Epsom salts and PH'd it to 6.0.


I just LOVE CFLs! Ambient room temps are 81-82° F, and even with lights on in my growbucket, temps are the same as ambient room temps.
CFLs give off very little heat, even in enclosed spaces using Mylar to reflect light. Ya can't hate on CFLs!

Anywhoo, I will be transplanting MK within the next day or two, so it can focus on building roots for flowering. I'll most likely veg for a total of six weeks then go 12/12.
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Northern Lights:

This seed is really on the go. Less than 24 hours after planing the popped seed, it's sprouting out of the soil, ready to go.Guess why they call it Northern Lights...because it's reaching North for the lights!!



More to come...stay tuned!

 

[robnarley1111]

It's a girl!

Woke up this morning to find the NL fully sprouted..




Off she goes into growbucket #2....her "sunny" new home! Weening her on one 2100K-23 watt CFL and one 5000K-23 watt CFL for a total of 46 watts.




She's off to the races!




Just look at 'em go!




As usual...stay tuned for more updates to come in a week!

 

[robnarley1111]

Update Time!!



Master Kush:

Plant took a turn for the worse. NOT looking good at all. From the moment the plant started developing leaves, I noticed the leaves/nodes were very, very close together. Too close. I figured that, that may pass, but also thought that this could be a sign of a "bigger" issue. That and the fact that the plant grew kinda crooked in the beginning, which was a red flag.

So...after the cotyledons shriveled and dried, the seedling took a turn for the worse. The leaves started slightly drooping, and it wasn't due to overwatering because I let the pot pretty much dry out before watering again. The PH of the runoff is between 5.8-6.2. I tried foliar feeding in case there were PH problems...nothing. Makes no difference at all. I'm stumped. It's getting worse and the leaves are yellowing and falling off.

Guess this is what I get for buying ONE feminized seedling (for space reasons).

Then again, this is why I bought ONE seed instead of several, just to try out Nirvana. But now I don't think I'll be using them again. If I were to get genetics like this again from them I would be even more disappointed. If this plant pulls through I'll be stumped.

Pictures? No! I'm too embarrassed...yeah, it's really THAT bad! Moving along...



Northern Lights.

This little seedling just turned a week old TODAY. And it is flourishing! Grown in the same conditions (if not worse) as the Master Kush, yet it is two weeks younger and passing it right up in growth and health. Believe it or not, this N.L. seedling is 2-3 x the size of the MK. So far I'm impressed with Vision Seeds!

Check her out so far!


View attachment 2838558
9/20/13...


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9/23/13....


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9/25/13....(I sprayed my "molasses mix" on the leaves on this day. Look how they exploded in growth overnight...)


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9/26/13...



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9/27/13....Temps have been holding steady for the last week or so, between 69° F and 77° F.

 

[robnarley1111]

Nutrients Update!

So I have learned through trial and error that my organic nutrients aren't going to cut it.
Reason#1: They don't have any micro-nutrients, which I will definitely need, although in small amounts. I'd rather a solution that includes micros instead of getting them separately. Reason #2: I am not experienced enough to go organic yet. It sounded like a good idea, but it's harder to figure out how much the plant is getting of each nutrient, due to some types being slow release and others being released quicker, causing lockouts, deficiencies and more. Finding a "mix and forget" nutrient solution is what I need!

Miracle Gro?
I actually got a free packet of 24-8-16 plant food with a tomato planter I bought from the $.99 store. I thought..."should I use this?" Then I learned that the source of nitrogen is urea, which is broken down by soil effectively, but with hydro/soil less it can cause problems and its not in a form the plant can actually use (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I also realized that the MG only had about half of the micronutrients needed for Cannabis. So for these two reasons among others, I decided I won't even THINK of trying Miracle Gro. Shame on me for even thinking to consider MG!


I decided to go with Dynagrow!
I am totally oblivious when it comes to buying nutrients and what to look for as far as brands. But, I did some research and checked out many types of nutrients, most which use urea as their nitrogen source. No-can-do! Not ideal for MJ in hydro/soil; nitrate is the form I need.

Checked out a few big name nutrient companies and also realized that they use clever marketing to command extra-high price tags that aren't in my interest to pay. So...I looked on good ole' eBay, and found a $10 bottle of Dynagrow with free shipping! It's the Foliage Pro formula, at 9-3-6. At $10? Sounds good to me! Checked out many reviews from various users and was sold. This will be a complete vegging nutrient solution for me, in addition to some kelp that I will probably use as a foliar feed. It even contains Cal/Mag! I'll wait til the cotyledons start to get pretty yellow and I'll feed at 1/4 strength.


eBay saved the day once again!



Also picked up a PH pen; using drops and a color chart just isn't accurate enough for me!

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Two more strains on the way from S.S.C!

So I decided to purchase some more seeds to grow a couple more plants! I went with Barneys Farm LSD and Queen Royal Seed's OG Kush. I finally decided after literally hours upon hours of trying to decide. So I went with my favorite strains that are extremely potent and effective! I will start up a new journal for those as soon as I get them going!!


Feel free to chime in with any thoughts or comments. It gets lonely in here all by mu'self!

 

[robnarley1111]

Thought I'd add one more picture..couldn't resist. I've never seen a plant grow so fast (with my limited experience)!!


10 days old...


I'm gonna feed her some nutrients for the first time on Wednesday (~next watering), and transplant to a 1-gallon pot for the rest of the grow, in 4 days.


More to come in 7 days!

 

[robnarley1111]

Time for an update!


Master Kush:

The MK seedling was taken off of life support several days ago. Pulled the plug on her; there was no chance of this one even thinking about growing out of its slump.

Here she was on 9/28, getting progressively worse:


Let's have a moment of silence for the memory of this sucky Nirvana seed/seedling.

Moving on....



Northern Lights:

Day#10


Here she is on 9/30/13, day #10...


Day #12


Here she is on day #12, after a good watering of 1/2 teaspoon of Dyna-Gro per gallon; 200 ml to be exact PH'd to 5.8.


She's being transferred now, day#12. From the 16oz. Dixie into a 1-gallon. I transferred by cutting the cup downward until the plant could be pulled away without disturbing the roots at all. I gently sat it in the pot on a small bed of moistened medium. I then gently placed DRY medium around the newly transplanted plant.

I wanted to keep the medium dry so the roots will search for water and nutrients, helping them fill the new pot quicker. I also wanted it to dry out quickly so I can give her a 600ml dose of nutrient solution, instead of just 200ml. She took the transplant without missing a beat, and kept on growing. No Super Thrive or other "potion" needed. Time for her to start FAST growth!

Here she is right after the transplant..




Day #17:

A little over two weeks old, she is growing well without any hitches; temperatures have been steady, between 72° F and 78° F mostly. I just FIM'd her two days ago, so she is starting to grow additional nodes to bush out a bit. Not sure how I will train her if at all, might let her grow "normal" just to learn her normal growth pattern...I may LST the stem at a nearly 90° angle though.




Her light schedule is currently 24/0. I think when she hits week three, I'm gong to up the nutrient solution to 1/2 teaspoon/gallon instead of 1/4 teaspoon/gallon. Since the bigger pot takes a little longer to dry out, she will develop deficiencies as she starts rapid growth--if I continue using such a low concentration of nutrients.

I'll keep an eye on her lower leaves to see if they get any lighter in color. If they do, I'll know she most likely wants more food.

Current light setup:

4 - 23 watt 5000K CFLs
1 - 32 watt 2700K CFL

Total wattage = 124
Total lumens = 8,500

Next week I'll move up to 145 watts/9,500 lumens as she gets bigger...



More updates to come soon!

 

[Canocrpse86]

Plants looking good man.

 

[robnarley1111]

Thought I'd post some more pics!

Day #19:

I allowed the soil-less mix to dry out completely, to get an idea of how long it takes for the pot to go dry between watering. So after four days she needed water. I decided
to take a few pictures while she was thirsty and "asleep." Her leaves are always down at "night"...






Day #20:

These pictures were taken this morning, during lights-on...






Stay tuned!

 

[robnarley1111]

Thank you!

 

[GKID69]

looks nice keep it going