2nd Grow: Violator Kush and Power Skunk!

Ok, so here we go again! With a grow under my belt (which went VERY well), I feel much more confident in myself. This time I'll avoid the little fundamental mistakes which were learned and corrected the first time around. My last baby was just one Grape Goo plant from bagseed. This time I've decided to step up to some prime genetics. After a little browsing around the Attitude I found Barney's Farm Violator Kush which looked amazing, so being a true Kush lover, I had to go for it. Originally, I had intended this to be a perpetual grow so I went with regular seeds intending to clone, but after reconsideration, I think I'm going to just buy individual feminized seeds and plant 6 different ones each time. I grow because I love to grow, not for profit, so sounds like the perfect plan for me. I got 5 free G13 Power Skunk seeds as well with my order, so I've got a little mix going in the garden for this grow.

So heres the set up:
4'x4' closet
24w Blue Spectrum Fluorescent (For seedlings)
600w Lumitek Digital HPS Ballast
600w SunMaster Cool Deluxe MH Conversion Bulb (On now)
600w Hortilux Super HPS Bulb (For flowering)
Econowing reflector for now, seriously considering a vented hood soon.
6" 180cfm CanFan w/ ducting bringin' that heat out!
Carbon Filter

I'd really like to upgrade the fluoro set up in the future. The seedlings like to stretch slightly under it. Nothing serious, it could just be better.

The 3 Violator Kush were started a little earlier and are under the MH, and the 2 Power Skunk are still a little too young and sitting under the fluoro.

Seedlings were planted in a 50/50 mix of Peat Moss and Perlite w/ a little less than 1Tbs/gal lime in little flexible pots for an easy transplant. As you can see from the pictures, I am lucky enough to have an ungodly amount of Keystone boxes sitting around that really couldn't be more perfect for stacking up to get the kids a little closer to the light. As soon as they're ready, they'll go into 3 gallon pots in a mix of 2/3 FoxFarm OF, 1/3 FoxFarm LW I already have mixed up for them. I plan on pretreating my soil mixture with a flush of Rhizotonic and Cannazyme.

I'm running all Canna nutes (Bio series) which include:
Rhizotonic (Root growth stimulator)
BioVega (For Vegitative)
BioFlores (For Flowering)
Cannazyme (Yummy microlife stimulator!)
Superthrive

I've got a 4 gallon bucket and a bubbler w/ an airstone to dechlorinate my water and mix up my nutes in.

Right now, the little ones are getting their top soil misted with only Rhizotonic @ 15mL/gal and Superthrive @ 1drop/qt. I'm also misting the leaves with a little fresh water to keep em happy (it's gotta be tiring sitting in the sun all day)!

After transplanting into the big pots with the FoxFarm mix, I'll only be using Rhizotonic and Cannazyme for 2-3 weeks--that FoxFarm's already got a lot of goodies in it. I'll probably start with a 1/4 nute concentration and work up from there.

The picture of the little guys under that grating is of the Power Skunk. They'll go under the HID when they get a little bigger. I'll try and get some better shots of them soon. It's interesting how much thinner their leaves are than the Kush--their my first sativas.

Well, that's pretty much it at the moment. I wish I would have gotten started on the journal from day 1, but they're still young. Here we go again... I hope everything goes as well as last time! Updates to come soon and often.

A quick rundown of dates (I'm actually keeping track this time):
10/14: 5 Violator Kush Germinated
10/16: 5 Violator Kush Seedlings Potted
10/17: 3 Power Skunk Germinated
10/19: 2 Power Skunk Seedlings Potted
10/20: 2 Weakling Violator Kush Eliminated
10/23: 3 Violator Kush moved from Fluoros to HPS (3')
10/25: Light Height lowered to 2.5'
10/27: Light Height lowered to 26"
10/28: MH Conversion Bulb Installed

Nice setup man! Looks like you've been doing some homework haha

1 of the 2 remaining Power Skunk seedlings is looking very weak. I thought it was just growing a bit slower than the rest, but something is definitely wrong. Curved main stem, edges of the leaves yellow/wilting. It's weird, it's just the edge of the leaf and the main stem. Sorta sounds like a molybdenum deficiency from the "Marijuana Plant Problems and Cures" guide. It's in the same soil getting the same water as the others, though, so I sorta think that he might just be retarded or something... I'll get pics up tomorrow. Either way, it's looking like he gonna have to be put out of his misery soon. Started germinating another Power Skunk seed along with a Feminized Big Buddah Blue Cheese seed I got in the mail today--yay! These guys will be a little over 2 weeks behind the others, but I plan on experimenting with a combination of LST and topping on different plants, so I'll keep 'em all about the same height. I had incredible results topping last time (topped my last baby 9 times... and boy, was she a dense, dank little bush of bud). So, I'll be doing that and trying my hand at a little LST--sounds interesting. Enough rambling, time to add to my list of dates:

10/30 1 G13 Power Skunk and 1 Big Buddah Blue Cheese Germinated

nice set up you got.especially the keystone.hahaa.nice babies

The healthiest of the 3 Violator Kush is showing progressive yellowing on its first set of leaves. Haven't used any nutes yet, so I assuming it's a nitrogen deficiency. I'll be transplanting into the FFOF soon. Lot's of goodies in there. Should green things up a bit.

11/1/08 3 Violator Kush and 1 Power Skunk Transplanted

Yesterday I transplanted all 3 Violator Kush and the 1 Power Skunk to their new homes. They look happier! A little drooping as seen in the picture, but that cleared up within a few hours. I rearranged the set up and dropped the carbon filter a little closer to the light to relieve the heat. Temperature is still getting a bit hot, but my last grow was pretty hot and worked fine. I think as long as I stay below 90 I should be ok.

Here's a picture update. I know it's only been a couple days, but the ladies are lookin' pretty fine. I think they are starting to feel the benefits of the transplant.

Went shopping today. Home Depot is like a toy store for growers. I went to go pick up a new door that I don't have to worry about drilling holes in so I can port my intake and exhaust through it. Apparently my door is an off-size: they sell 28", 30", 32", and 36", but my door is 34"...kinda annoying, but it's being special ordered and it'll be here in a week or so. Also, as you can see from the pics, I picked up some CFL's, a fixture, and a splitter for my Big Buddah Blue Cheese seedling. My original fluoro couldn't get down far enough into the pot, and it was about time I upgraded my fluoro set up a little bit. I got a new bucket with gallon markings for mixing nutes and a watering pot with a shower head to keep from disturbing the soil too much during watering. I also got a probe-style soil pH tester and moisture meter (separate devices, not the crappy combined kind). I already have a fancy, expensive digital pH/ec/temp meter, but it is better suited for a hydro set up, and the probe I got will be good for quick readings to make sure nothing is too far off. The moisture meter was sort of an impulse buy, because I can already tell my moisture levels by just picking up the pot and feeling how light it is, but hey, I was on a roll spending money... The girls look great. I noticed very slight yellowing on the tips of the upper leaves on one plant. It's in the picture that only shows half of one of the plants. I'm sure it's all good. I'm just nitpicking. That's it for today!

looks good so far bro. keep it up. looks like u got your shit together. check out my journal in my sig. i have some recent pics of experimenting with lst

i hear chasseur likes poop

So the ladies got their first real watering today after the transplant on 11/1/08, 6 days ago. So I now know what the watering schedule will be for the mean time, and every 6 days sounds about right this early in veg. I used only Superthrive @ 1drop/gal, Rhizotonic @ 10mL/gal and Cannazyme @ 8mL/gal.

tracker7821 said:

i hear chasseur likes poop

Click to expand...

worm poop and bat poop yes i do yes i dooo

Nothing new to report, just some new pictures. They are really growing fast. I'm taking height measurements (and being a huge nerd and plotting them in excel) and they are growing somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4" every 2 days. The Power Skunk looks a little droopy today, but it doesn't look like anything significant. I'm sure she'll perk up in a day or two. I'm gonna go pick up some training wire for LST tomorrow. I only plan on trying LST on the PS and just topping the VK. She's still a little young to start I think, but I'm unsure about when I should. I haven't tried any LST before.

If anyone has any advice on when to start LST, please let me know.

Wow, those babies look good man, tight inter-nodal growth. I have yet to germ my skunk on the basis that its a sativa and I don't want to wait forever.. I'll post some pics later take it easy bro

Went to the local garden center today and picked up some LST supplies. I got some basic training wire and a spool of "twist tie" that can be cut to any length. I'm gonna experiment with both and see what works. After some careful consideration, I've decided to go with LST on 3 of the 4 plants, and I'll just top 1, instead of my original plan of just LST the sativa and topping the rest. I think it'll be interesting to compare the results of the plants regulated by LST and the one topped. Anyways... here are the new pics. Look at 'em lean!

lookin good man. its amazing how fast the plant rebounds from you bending it. the leaves go back to normal after a couple hours. plus you just let more light in to bottom of the plant promoting new growth faster.can't wait to see yours turn out!

joeyjoejoe said:

lookin good man. its amazing how fast the plant rebounds from you bending it. the leaves go back to normal after a couple hours. plus you just let more light in to bottom of the plant promoting new growth faster.can't wait to see yours turn out!

Click to expand...

I know man, it's crazy! When I woke up this morning, the plants had already taken a whole new shape! Really cool...I'm likin' LST. I'll post some pictures in a bit.

i wholeheartedly support your decision to LST 3 instead of 1. they get more beautiful every day. i like the dark colors in the violator stems...yum...

It's been a day since the first tie down. It's really amazing how fast they changed their shape to face the light. Pretty cool...