Captain Ahab's Nirvana Bubblelicious and Ice T8 SOG

Well here it is, my first RIU grow. It's my second grow.

First, a couple'a things:
1. I have a relatively extensive knowledge of plant physiology/botany/horticulture, so, more than likely, I will know what you're talking about.
2. I have a pretty extensive knowledge of cannabis cultivation/biology/physiology, but not much actual growing under my belt (that's where YOU come in).
3. This is my second grow. I have a serviceable knowledge/experience of growing. I have turned seeds into dank. However:

I do not claim greatness. Do not expect greatness. Help me attain it!!!

4. It is not unlikely that I am high when I write a post. So chill out.
5. If you are my friend, I am yours.
6. My posting may seem sporadic. I am here. I will be back soon.

DISCLAIMER: Any information (especially related to Marijuana or any other Controlled Substance) relayed through the use of this or any other or any related website by any person(s) operating THIS PROFILE, "Captain Ahab," does not portray or relate to any real act, action, or activity of any actual person(s), whether a user of this profile "Captain Ahab," or mentioned as a third party; as such, all information posted or uploaded by the aforementioned person(s) using this profile, "Captain Ahab," is to be regarded as entirely fictional and hypothetical. Any photographs posted by any aforementioned person(s) or users of this profile, "Captain Ahab," (especially those depicting Marijuana or Cannabis or any other Controlled Substance) are hereby declared to be fictional (digitally altered or fabrcated), original (legally owned by the user of this profile and/or originally created by the user), or legally borrowed with permission from a third party.

I will post lots of pics, and when I get my good camera, I will post some pretty nice ones.

Feel free to follow and comment at will. I am here to talk, and grow dank weed.

Here's a pic of my clone chamber with clones rooting inside (this thing has been 100% successful):



I will outline the grow in the next couple posts. Come along for the ride. Post.

Everyone.

looks like a great start i hope you update pics and results!!!

I will. Updates will include details/status of grow, as well as notes. It'll contain most of the general information in my real (paper) grow journal, including dates and product information. Photos will be well described. This will go all the way from sterile clone babes to bowl.

kick ass love the clone to bowl result hope you follow through good luck!!!!

The seeds are regular (non-feminized) seeds from Nirvana. Here are some of the basic details provided by the vendor:

Bubblelicious
White strain: Yes
Feminized: No
Medical: Yes
Effect: Stoned (body buzz, relaxing effect)
Flowering period: 8 - 10 weeks
Average yield: 350 - 450 (g/m² in SOG)
Flavour: sweet / smooth
Plant height: Short
Plant type: Indoor
Indica / Sativa: Predominantly Indica
Parentage: Nirvana Bubblelicious was developed in the Midwest, U.S.A., then brought to the Netherlands in the 1990s to be further refined. Smooth/sweet flavour, sometimes remniscent of bubblegum.

Ice
White strain: YesFeminized: No
Medical: Yes
Effect: High (head trip) yet stoned (body buzz)
Flowering period: 8 - 10 weeks
Average yield: 400 - 500 (g/m² in SOG)
Flavour: pungent / fruity
Plant height: Medium
Plant type: Indoor as well as Outdoor
Indica / Sativa: Hybrid
Parentage: Ancestry of Afghan, Shiva, Northern Light and Skunk. Ice won the 1998 Cannabis Cup

The goal of this grow is to gain experience, as well as experiment with decent commercial flourescent lighting, good soil, cloning, havesting/curing, and SOG-type growing. Also, to select a mother plant from each of these two strains for future growing.

The grow will be under commercial 6-bulb 48" T8 fixtures. They measure 48" long and pack 6 bulbs into 17" width, with a full parabolic reflector behind each bulb. These are not your old grandpa's big, dim T10's. Tey're the slimmer, brighter, 1" wide T8. They're pretty bright. I know I could do more with HPS and name your favorite light, but this is what I'm using. When i change out bulbs for bloom bloom time, I'll post a pic of the fixture. As far as flouros go, it's sweet. And I'll be adding another when the plants demand it, expanding the light area to 48" x 40"

Bulb Specs:
(for veg)
48" 32 Watt T8 Daylight Deluxe x6

Soil
Trying to keep it as simple and natural as possible, so I'm going with soil. Here's my mix:
Scott's Premium Potting soil.
Perlite: enough so that the squeakiness of the perlite can be felt in your hands when the soil is handled/crunched, but still mostly soil, like 7:1.
Miracle Gro Organic "Garden Lime"- fine dolomite lime. about 1/4 cup per 5 gallons soil, mixed in before potting.
This mix drains freely with the perlite, and with lime added into the soil, should be close to neutral PH to the end of the grow.

Plants
Of the 8 seeds I planted, I got 3/4 female Bubblelicious and 2/4 female Ice. Nice.
All of the seeds were named by strain and number, then cloned and sexed. Males were pulled before this grow started. All plants you will see are true females. So from here on out my clones will be referenced by these names: (oh, and I'll list the number of clones I have of each, as well), With BB and I meaning Bubblelicious and Ice, respectively, followed by the seed number:

BB1 (4 clones)
BB2 (4 clones)
BB3 (male-deceased)
BB4 (3 clones)

I1 (male-deceased)
I2 (5 clones)
I3 (3 clones)
I4 (male-deceased)

So, that means I have 4 genetically identical BB4 plants, 4 of BB2, etc.

One plant of each genome will be named a female before flowering begins, and removed, til after the grow is over, for future use. Most likely, one will be chosen to represent each strain in my collection.

As of right now, I have 19 clones growing, and if all goes according to plan, I will finish with 14 flowered females and 5 vegging mothers.

Enjoy and post.

Everyone.

So here's the Clone Chamber. It's a 10 gallon glass aquarium, with a layer of wet lava rock at the bottom. The clones sit in their Jiffy Pellets on a corrugated white plastic thing (don't know what its called, its a plastic shade deflects the glare in commercial flourescent lights), cut to the size of the tank, which reflects light and allows plenty of air flow. It is sealed with plastic wrap, then a metal screen lid. The covering is removed every day to exchange air, and the plants are misted with distilled water. After a week as the clones start to root, the plastic wrap is removed to allow better air flow, preventing fungus growth and increasing gas exchange. As roots start to show, the metal screen lid is removed as well, as the plants regain their need for light. All the while, the chamber provides the correct level of humidity and light, adjusting for the development of the clones.

Some yellowing of foliage occurs as the plant endures up to 14 brutal days with no root system (though my earliest plants were out in 7 days).



And here are some clones a couple days out of the Clone Chamber, in 1 Gallon plastic pots in my previously described soil.



Here's a BB4 at 7 days in the real world.



If anyone would like a detailed description of my cloning process used for this grow, just ask. Also, I'd be happy to do a photo step-by-step tutorial thread for cloning If anyone's interested.

That's it for now.

Well. 100% of clones survived. Here's a pic of the two BB4 clones that will be flowered. The oldest clones at 2 1/2 weeks. The one in the left is the same plant a week and a half since the last pic in the above post. The one on the right is her clone. They share genes and their looks.





Try and find the differences between the two. haha. This weekend I'll be doubling the lighting, and letting the girls spread out and get comfortable. Then more pics. Then ~week of veg, then lower the lights for sexy time.

~1 week(?) til 12/12. Have been watering with Miracle-Gro all-purpose plant food (24-8-16). Been steadily increasing food every watering. So far, foliage looks immaculate, if I may say so myself. Topped off all pots with a little extra soil mix +lime +perlite. Today also repotted my two ensign Avocado Bonsai, as well as a Drosera rotundifolia and Epipactis helleborine, the latter both legally wild-collected from Maine. So, all this, as well as setting up the new grow area in the righteous September humidity, it's been a long day of gardening.



The group of five smaller plants on the lower left are official mothers whose fate will be decided after drying and curing.



I'm really stoked about these Ice plants. Not even flowering yet and the preflowers at each node are all plump and trichome-covered. Wish I had a closeup. Bubblelicious pre-flowers of equal age are just small and clean. Also, check out the range of indica-sativa leaf phenos in the bubblelicious. Two in the front row look Sativa-esque, wouldn't you say? The Ice leaves have been very consistent in appearance from seed to here. Wonder what this means.

Remember everyone, feel free to comment.

Also, I'll be using a Canon Rebel once sexy time starts.

Gardening-themed Stoner Doom/Sludge, anyone? remember bong hits first.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irVFQK-CEAM

ur plants look fantastic,i got bubblelicious growing from nirvana,not going so well :/ keep up the good work

Thanks, PeacefulKid. I had a little trouble with the bubblelicious at the beginning. First, a lil germination trouble (which I attribute to the soil i had at the time- Miracle Gro Moisture Control (total garbage)), then, the seedlings get rootbound so damn fast in a 16oz cup that right around day 6 i swear they zapped their nitrogen supply and turned totally yellow in like 8 hours.. I came into my grow room one day after work like like

good luck to you as well!

12/12 Day 1

Girls just finished full cycle of darkness. First 12/12 cycle today.

Grow and girls look nice.....rep....happy growing

any predictions of what yield will be like from this group? They cover about 1.2 m^2

Looks AMAZING mate!!!

Thanks, splifchris!

I finally grabbed my canon DSLR, so as flowering continues, there will be many pictures to come.

Finally got my good camera, so it's time to turn this into a photo-intensive thread! I think plants are beautiful at this stage of flowering.

A beautiful sea of green.
Those three skinny-leafed girls front and center are BB1. They are flanked at the ends of the front row by BB4. Behind these front plants are BB2. In the back are all I2 and I3- the only difference in pheno between these two are the differing results of being topped once, and twice, respectively. Nirvana Ice has been extremely consistent in appearance between plants; Bubblelicious, however, is a different story entirely (not that I don't like a little variety).


I2


BB2


I3


I2


My narrow-leafed Bubblelicious, BB1- I think she's pretty. Notice the Fungus Gnat corpse. There's this little jumping spider in my plants, and he just hops from leaf to leaf, slaying these poor guys one after another and draining them like a Predator-Chupacabra hybrid. Basically, I'm hoping it's a pregnant female. Note: I've never NOT had a few fungus gnats amidst my plants.


BB4


Not bad for a 1 Gallon pot.

Like I said, feel free to comment.