Wecome to the jungle

Welcome to the jungle – not my first grow – but my first “grow journal”


I dedicate this grow to the RIU community for giving me so many great ideas over the past few months; I’ve been watching these boards for a while, but just joined the community yesterday. Feel free to chime in with any tips comments or questions…

My motivation: I’m tired of paying too much for weed that is – in many cases – not my first strain choice (I’m partial to indicas), harvested too early, not cured properly, treated with god knows what, or not even flushed properly. Also my bro has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, so I hope to be able to supply him with enough devastating smoke to make his last days as comfortable as possible. He’s responding well to chemo but if you ever knew someone who has had to go through this process; each treatment turns you into a puking piece of flesh for a few days. I’m hoping Illinois will soon pass the medical marijuana bill, so I no longer have to worry about the bullies in blue breaking down my door, bu there's no guarantee the bill will contain much useful - common sense - legislation. I believe I do have the right - under the US constitution - to privacy in my own home – as long as nobody is being harmed. Write your congressmen and women, and encourage them to do away with this silly prohibition, as it only enriches the criminal underground, while patients go without their medication, and peace-loving people go to jail. I’ll get off the soapbox now.

A little about myself: I’m an old school stoner in my 40s- did some grows under floros in the 80’s and a couple outdoor grows as well – without much success - but that was before Al Gore invented the internet lol

On with the grow: Switched to 12/12 on the 4th, but the girls are still thriving/growing a couple inches a day. They got plain water today - after the photo-shoot - and will be getting low nitrogen bloom nutes from here out. That should slow the vegetative growth.

The Strains:
The first 4 - 2 different strains of bag-seed); The first strain is an unknown skunky sativa leaning strain (one more stinky than the other) and the other strain is a true indica with a pine smell (possibly hash plant). This strain sprouted with purple stems. I chose these 4 based on their lush stocky growth, and 3 out of the 4 have shown female sex. I started these 4, over 3 months ago, before my grow was dialed in – had them in another cabinet – and I continue to LST them unmercifully just to keep them from crowding out the others.


The next 6 - DJ Shorts Blue Moonshine (I purchased 5 fems, but what looked like a cracked seed turned out to be twins. That’s right 2 plants came out of 1 seed; very rare! The twins were separated the first week by the way.
1 Gigabud (freebie)
1 Quicksilver auto flower (another freebie)

The Grow area:
2” x 5” x 8” closet (4 - 5’ usable vertical height)
The lights - dual 400w HPS magnetic (housed in a separate room to reduce heat)
The Reflectors - 2 inline cool tubes

The bulbs – Philips Master Color Retro White Ceramic Metal Halide (will also run these through flowering) They produce a wonderful full spectrum light heavy in blue, red, and UV, plants love.
Ventilation – Blower – 8” S&P 200x pulling hot air off the ceiling, down and through 2 cool tubes, then back up and though my DIY carbon filter. And on the other end only a duct muffler - in the attic. All insulated ducting by the way
2 small fans keep the air moving throughout the grow area - counter clockwise direction.
Temperature control – a DIY window unit mod on a $99 5000BTU air conditioner keeps temperatures in the 70’s
Co2 - yeast and sugar mixture
The Medium - Soil – Farfards organic, 1 cup lime per cubic foot to correct an acid PH,. Earthworm casings, Pearlite.
Nutes –trying to keep it organic, except for the silica supplement I’m using (silica blast) Alaska Fish 5-1-1 for (Veg). Rainbow Mix Bloom (flower). Also plan to supplement 1 Tbl Grandma’s molasses 3 weeks into flowering.
Plain water every 4th watering. Watering schedule – every 2 – 3 days or once the pots are light and the top 2” of soil is parched.

I took lots of pics today so enjoy the show. I'll put these up in several consecutive posts to help keep things organized

First: shots of the setup.
#1 draws air off the ceiling
#2 and #3 cool tubes from the top
#4 scrubber and blower (insulated)
#5 and #6 modded A/C unit

Top notch set up Green Cross! Yo Mind Melted shoot some info on where to go to add my name to that petition you are talking about.