First grow journal

First timer here. Shoulda started this a month ago, but too busy taking care of my plants! Getting close to switching to 12/12.

Set-Up:
4x4 Secret Jardin tent
Lights: 4 T8 fluorescents for seedlings/clones
600watt Hortilux lamp, set at 400watts for veg
600watt digital ballast
6" Blockbuster hood
6" inline fan / 6" charcoal filter

Medium:
Sunshine Mix #2

Nutes:
Gen'l Hydro MicroGro/Bloom
GH FloraNectar

Water:
tap water, left out to de-chlorinate, and ph'd down to 6 using sulfuric acid

Growing:
Master bubba clones
OG Kush clones
'bag seed' seedlings (brickweed)

Here is what I started with:

Master bubba girls:
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The OG girls after I potted them:
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And the some of the germinated sativa seeds:
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Pics from Jan 10th:

All but one seed germinated, and the master bubbas are looking good.

IMG_2048 2.jpgMBK1 Jan 10 2012.jpgMBK2 Jan 10 2012.jpg

Pics from Jan 15th:

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Seedlings all looking happy, and the clones are growing. Plain water for the seedlings, and going 1/2 strength on nutes for the MBK on 1/16. Using a feeding schedule for GH Flora series that I found here on RIU. FIM'd the MBKs.

Jan 20th:

The master bubbas are doing great, and the OG girls are looking better - they looked kinda bad when we got em.
The seedlings are on their 3rd set of leaves. Keeping the plants pretty close to the T8s - not exactly sure what to expect from the bag seed height-wise in flower, so am trying to keep these a bit 'stunted' in height early on.

Some of the seedling leaves are curling under, while others are not. Not sure why. (?)

IMG_2251.jpgIMG_2257.jpgIMG_2267.jpgIMG_2269.jpgIMG_2273.jpgSativa Seedling H Jan 20 2012.jpgSativa Seedling L Jan 20 2012.jpg

Jan 24th:

Am LSTing the OGs, which they seem to love; they are growing well and getting a better green color to them. The master bubs have been FIM'd twice, but this hasn't resulted in multiple tops forming yet; though it has put more energy into growing their middle branches.

The seedlings are doing well, but about half of them have curling leaves. Looks like there are many phenotypes growing, since the bag seed is from several different bags. Some are from a 2011 bag, and the rest I called "Other". They are some type of sativa cross, I guess with whatever was in those particular fields at that time. We'll call them a 'mystery'. Any guesses are welcome!

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Jan 27th:

Re-potted the seedlings into 1 gal w/Sunshine Mix#2 until they are sexed. Everyone looks good and growing. Master bubs are big enough to flip, but we want to flip everyone together so we'll wait for the seedlings til they're 12" high. The seedlings are starting their 4th set of leaves, but I'm keeping the T8 pretty low to keep the sativa seedlings from stretching now and growing out of the tent later.

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Some of these seedlings (like B) look indica-dominant, where some (like H & M) look very sativa dominant. Should be interesting. I sure hope these really nice ones turn out to be females!!! (no offense, guys)

Feb 2nd:

Well, the tent is looking about 1/2 full now, so thinking about moving the Blockbuster hood in with the hps light - the T8 footprint isn't cutting it anymore.

Seedlings are up to 1/2 strength of nutes at 5ml/5ml/5ml, and the OGs and MBs are getting 6ml/6ml/5ml full strength. Watering until they "pee", and have tested the water out, which is at around 6.0 - same as what's going in.

Master bubbas at around 20" high now, so I topped them to slow them down again. The FIMing doesn't seem to be getting me two top colas, so maybe topping will.

Temps in the tent have been mid 70s throughout this grow - nice! Love having an indoor garden in winter!


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Feb 4th:

Time to switch to the HPS light setup - out of space under the T8s!
These master bubs are getting BIG!


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Set the ballast at 300watts to get the plants used to the new light/higher watts, and set it up air-cooled with the inline fan and charcoal filter. Left the white cover over the filter, thinking it's supposed to be on there? Or, does it come off?

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Feb 6th:

And here's where the problems start!

So I see that one of the OG kush girls has some speckled leaves. Didn't see it before, but now that they're under the hps light, I see it much clearer:

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Made a post under Plant Problems w/these pics, and get the answer of Spider Mites! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

So out we go to buy non-antibacterial dish soap and some Neem Oil Extract from Lowe's garden center ($9.97). I took out each plant and sprayed them down - topside, bottomside, and stems - with the Neem Oil solution I mixed. The ratio I found online said 2-4 teaspoons of Neem Oil per gal of water with 1/2 tsp of surfactant (dish soap). I waited until the leaves had dried before putting them back under the hps light so I wouldn't cause further damage. I did find those little buggers on the backs of some of the MBK leaves, and on the other OGK, but nothing yet on the seedlings. I sprayed them ALL though, and I cut off any damaged or infected lower leaves on the MBKs and OGKs. They needed more light down there anyways.

Here is a shot I took of the back of one of the leaves. You can see the dang mites by my thumb:

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When I pulled up the photos of the OG girls when we got them as clones, I could now see (when enlarged) that OGK#2 came with spider mites! Check it out:

OGK Jan 17 2012 spider mites.jpg
See those little dots? Spider mite damage, I do believe! And this guy sold these like this. Nice, huh? Live and learn.