DK's new grow! 400w HPS+MH (Mango, Blue Cheese, Vanilla, Purple Maroc and The Goo!)

It's been a while, but I decided to stat up a new journal. Here's all the info:

My last grow (click my sig to read!) was under CFL in a closet and it went really well, so I figured I should up my game and see what I can do with some better equipment.

I just got a 36''x20''x62'' reflective mylar tent with 400w dual ballasted light set. I'll now be vegging under MH and flowering under HPS. I still plan on using soil, since it hasn't treated me wrong yet, and I'm honestly not ready to try hydro/aero yet. Someday...

I'm currently growing two plants that are complete mysteries. I ran out of seeds and didn't have the bread to buy new ones, so I just asked around. I got 10 seeds. 3 popped, 2 were girls. I'm 50 days into flower. I had quite a scare with them. Their leaves started turning yellow and getting rusty spots and it looked like nute deficiency, but closer inspection revealed they had been infested with fungus gnats. They were all over the roots, eating them and depriving my children of nutrients. I ended up covering the top of the soil with perlite, flushing and blowing fans on them and the gnats cleared away after about 10 days. They're doing better now, but their development seems to have slowed as a result.

I can see the HPS making a difference already. Here is one of the plants two days before getting under the HPS.



Here's the same plant two days after getting under the HPS.



I can see the difference, but maybe I'm being optimistic.

Here are the both of them together, happy in their new home. It's a big step up from twisty bulbs under the stairs to their own private quarters.



As far as I can tell I've got one indica and one sativa. These plants will stay the rest of their lives under the HPS, but I've only mentioned them to keep your attention until the seeds I ordered get here.

I've ordered some Vanilla Kush and Blue Cheese seeds and got some Purple Maroc thrown in for free (big ups to Attitude). A visiting friend has offered a Mango seed and to cap it all off, I have been given some Goo seeds. After doing a little research, I discovered Goo is a local strain from Modesto. How it made it's way out to the midwest is beyond me.

The rest of my seeds should get here this week, and all will be well. In the meantime we'll keep on eye on my current ladies.

Here's some nugporn, followed by questions.



I've been having trouble taking clones on my last few attempts, and I need some pointers.

I'll be using TakeRoot to do my next batch when the new seedlings get big enough, but I'm taking all tips and links to guides for cloning anyone has to offer. I really want to hang on to the strains I have.

Also, any tips on how to keep my new grow tent nice and cool for my kids?

looking good +rep

Not much to report at the time. One of the bagseed plants looks to be a couple weeks away from chop, but the other has been taking FOREVER. Is it possible that their development was slow after the overfert/fungus gnat incident?

MINI UPDATE:

So one of the plants (the one on the right) kind of snapped irreparably when I was doing some LST, so I'm drying out the not-so-great buds now. Nothing special about them, but I figure they shouldn't go to waste. My last remaining plant is flowering vigorously in a CFL cabinet I made for it and I've got about 7 seedlings from the 12 or so that were contributed to me. I'm pretty sure one of them is the mango seed, considering it's already showing fat indica leaves at a few days old, but I'll never be sure.

Since my tent only has room for 8, I'll probably have to end up sacrificing a few bagseed plants when my seeds get here from attitude. I've got all the seedlings vegging under 24 hours of MH now, and I can really see the difference at just a few days. They're springing right up where other seeds would struggle under my CFL setup. Things should be more interesting with a tighter grow space and more light to fill it.

I decided I like the plant I have remaining, so I'm gonna try my hand at cloning and see if I can revert a clone to veg and keep this strain alive. My setup is pretty simple. I don't have any rockwool and peat pellets have been letting me down, so I figured soil is as good as any other medium. I've tested the soil I bought and found out it's pH neutral and has absolutely no ferts/nutes in it. So I've decided to just try and get it to root in moist, warm soil. I'm just keeping it in a volcano cup with a misted ziploc bag on top. It's under 24 hours of indirect CFL, so I'l just keep my fingers crossed on it.

CLONING QUESTION (+rep for answers)

Has anyone used TakeRoot or Rootone before? If so, how was your experience? I've got both, but have had rotten luck with rootone. I'm trying takeroot this time, but what's a REALLY good rooting hormone?

I bought some of Shutltz TakeRoot during my last grow just to see if I could clone the smallest branch on my Widow & it worked beautifully, but instead of just dipping a fresh cut clone stem in the powder, I also watered it with a solution of pH balanced water, TakeRoot (about 1/2 tsp per 24 oz water,) and a pinch of MG plant food (tomato.) It took about 5 days to root before I planted it in it's final container. That plant ended up being my 2nd largest out of about 8 plants. I now use that rooting compound on EVERY plant at about 2 weeks old. I'm not sure about other growers, but I have found that it helps tremendously with new root growth.

Good to know, this is my first attempt with it. I just used pH neutral water (<3 the super clean tap water in my area) and a dip in the hormone, but maybe I'll put a drop or two of some of my FoxFarm nutes in it next time.

Now, should I keep the clone in direct or indirect light? I've read tutorials that say both and I'm not sure which is better. I have it in a cupboard with a cfl pointing near it, but not at it. Will it do ok in that setup?

Also: MY DAMNED SEEDS HAVEN'T ARRIVED YET!! AARRRGGHH!!!

Pics of the new kids today!

As I said earlier, I've got 7 bagseedings (some may be Goo and Mango, that's part of the mystery) living under the MH lamp now. They're doing as much growth in one day as seedlings would do in three under my old setup.

Where the magic all happens:



Group shot:



These are the 4 quickest-growing out of the bunch, so if all 4 seeds from attitude pop, these are the ones who get to keep living. Keep your fingers crossed that they don't all turn out to be dudes.



They all sprung up at about the same time, but it's weird to see how different they are at such an early stage of growth. If the clone roots itself (or suffers the consequences for insubordination), it'll end up squeezing in the tent as well.

I still have trouble believing this whole setup cost about half of what I thought it would.

Small update:

The bigger plant in flower seems to be a slow developer. Definitely has bad genetics, because resin production is minimal and the buds are taking forever to develop. Hopefully it'l just be some medium-grade shit to hold me over until my good seeds are ready. Speaking of which, they're still not here. Damn international shipping.

The babies in the tent are doing great. Three of the four are already working on their fourth leafset, so I expect the growth rate to keep picking up the pace like it has been. Still not sure if any of those seeds are the mango yet, but you never can tell at this point. I probably won't even be sure after harvest, I haven't smoked a whole lot of mango in my days, so I wouldn't be able to pick it out of a lineup. Blue Dream is another story, though. I really wish someone would make some damn feminized seeds from their clones and send them to me (hint hint)

The clone seems to be doing well. No yellowing leaves, no droopiness. I've never heard of anyone cloning in a cup of soil, but I can't see why it wouldn't work. I'll take it out of the cup next wednesday to check for any new developments. I figure there should be some kind of visible roots at that point, but please stop me if I'm wrong.

Update time, as if anyone's reading this

The one girl left in flowering is in pain. She's suffering from what appears to be overfert, but I can't tell. Her growth is already mad stunted, at 62 days into flower she doesn't even look close to ready. I started flushing today to see if that will do the trick. Here are some pics of her problem. If you can offer ANY help, please do.

View attachment 1436816View attachment 1436817

My seedlings are doing well. I've killed the slackers that weren't showing much growth over time, so I'm down to two bagseeds from the original 7. One of them has some pretty fatass leaves, so it's probably safe to say I have an indica dominant (or possibly full indica) strain. At about 12 days into veg, one has already developed it's third set of true leaves, complete with 5 points. 4th set is coming in nicely.



The bigger one is looking kinda droopy, and I'm not sure why. I've been watering only when the soil dries out at the bottom, so it's probably nothing. Still growing strong, so I'm not complaining. These two seedlings have started on a half dose of Grow Big, and they appear to be using the nutes well.

Good news...

My goddamn seeds arrived, goddammit!

All four have cracked, so I dropped them into some soil and watered them with extra love. This will now be a six-plant grow, which is the most I've ever grown at once (I know, I'm a small-time amateur)

Group shot



And Attitude sent me my new favorite shirt



This is going to replace my "bottle of hot sauce chasing a taco" shirt as the best one I own.

+rep for ANY tips on healing my sick baby.

Mini update/end of this journal

This journal is now dedicated to Murphy's Law. Both the Vanilla and Blue cheese seeds have failed to germ thus far. They're just sitting in their damn shells not doing anything. The Purple Maroc have both sprouted, so I'l be keeping them alive, but as far as this thread goes, I think it's too much of a clusterfuck at this point. I'll be starting up a new journal in the appropriate forum this time soon.

The sickly plant doesn't seem to be getting better, but isn't getting worse, so keep your fingers crossed twice and knock on wood if you got it. The buds are starting to fill out and resin production has increased in at least some parts of the plant.

The seedlings are doing fine (although the Goo and Mango are showing signs of early nute burn. The bottom leaves have yellowed, but I started flushing with distilled water and the damage appears to have stopped.), and I've ordered some new pips. I ordered some colored seeds from Greenhouse and they'll be arriving soon enough. I may germ them and have the rest of my plants veg a bit longer, but considering I'll be getting six seeds including my freebie, I'll probably just germ one or two and leave the rest for another grow.

I'll post a link to the new journal here once I start it, otherwise post away if you like.

New journal HERE https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/409010-dks-400w-tent-grow-starring.html

looking good mate, and it's strange but random bag seed seems to always surprise and do fantastic for some strange reason.

Thanks. My grow has moved to the thread in my sig, though. A lot of the originals have died early, but there's a lot going on despite it all.

NICE, i bet it smells real goooooooooooood