Somatek's Chibatorium

Welcome to Somatek's Chibatorium of funktastic fun. My first grow in almost a decade, first time being legal but not the first time around the block. Which has led to a more relaxed playful approach, it didn't take long for the veg & flower rooms to be renamed the Dopository & the Chibatorium. Just a little nod to my appreciation of steampunk & it's creatively weird beauty, I'm so happy my niece is into steampunk so I have an excuse to indulge. It also reminds me of the ingenuity of underground growers so it seemed fitting to tie them together.

My license finally showed up in the mail yesterday and miraculously these plants sprung up over night. The Rene S1's look about 6 weeks old, the Violeta around 3. Luckily enough I also got another surprise in the mail, the latest order from True North Seedbank as I had to take advantage of the 30% off. So I have Barbara Bud, Jean Guy and Sunshine (sweet skunk S1) from House of the Great Gardener to pick to start tomorrow. Currently I'm leaning towards Sunshine...

The Chibatorium is a 6x6ft room (7 and a bit tall, short basement but at least it's cool) with a 4x6ft table on wheels (access from either side is nice) covered by two 600w HPS. Nothing fancy for ventilation just a 6" vortex exhaust (450 something CFM) and a 6" inductor for the intake. Central air keep the temps at a steady 22-24C (68-75F) during the day, dropping to 20C when the lights turn off. Just a single circulation fan for now but if I can find space to fit another in the more the merrier.

I'll be running a simple run to waste system to start, 50/50 coco/peat (pro mix organic as it was on sale and living off saving means every penny counts). I was planning on going back to using biocanna's line but over the months of waiting I started reading about coots soil mix. Which has piqued my curiosity, so when I noticed Nature's Nectar line at the hydroshop I decided to give it a try. It's easy enough to use so far, pH seems fairly stable when mixed (I always adjust it, I ignored their earlier feeding schedule which said to ignore it) and the plants are healthy. Other then dialing in the ideal feeding schedule, a bit more of a learning curve the PBP or Fox Farm but still user friendly. Other then the NPK and CaMg, I use KSi for pH up and grozyme once every week (assuming I don't forget) as I reuse my soil. Soon enough I hope to test a deep bed filled with coots mix on a 1/3 of the table, 2x4 ft (roughly 18cu ft of soil) for 8 plants.

There's still some odd jobs to finish up; tidying up the wiring, testing and re-wiring the old lights (three 600w HPS, 1000w convertible and the first 400w I ever bought is around somewhere), hanging the second 600w, setting up the carbon filter and putting up the second curtain to make it light tight. I'll probably need to start running a dehumidifier when it's filled but that's a problem for future me to worry about. Currently I'm just happy with how the rolling table turned out, the storage space underneath is nice as space is tight.

Not many plant pics yet as vegging plants aren't that thrilling to look at. There's some signs of nutrient stress visible from dialing in the ferts. More so in the Rene (bigger plants) as the Violeta have been chugging along nicely. I've got to take clones and LST the 6 Rene and lone Blueberry Fem (freebie from canuck seeds) to get them ready to flower in a week or two. I'll snap some pics when I do as one Rene was showing whorled phyllotaxy and has become a cute little ball of confused growth.

I'll be building the Dopository (aka veg room) soon, just gotta build a wall to divide the room from the rest of the living space first. Which should only be a couple hours of work before cripplehood, in my post cripple days I'll take a couple days to do it so that I don't stress my still recovering back out. It's a wee bit of a change going from working full time in the trades to only being able to work 2-3 hours at a time. On the bright side at least I have lots of time to catch up on new trends in growing and all the modern ways to stress your plants

Finally got around to finishing clipping clones, cleaning the girls up and tying them down getting ready for flowering. What can I say, things can get kinky in the Chibatorium but always consensual...

Here's shot of the garden now that the canopy has been evened out, gonna have to fire up another light though as the one 600 isn't quite enough for all the girls. I may just switch a 1000w mH in for a week until the next batch of seeds germinate but it depends how quickly I get around to wiring up a ballast.

Rene #2 is fairly typical of the growth I've been seeing. Most are pretty bushy with close internodes, although I was about a week late transplanting them into the bigger pots so being root bound may have contributed to that.

There's a couple shots before and one post prunning. I'm guessing 10 days or so and I'll be flipping them to flower.

#4 is the less common pheno that's not quite as bushy and a bit more stretched out. She's also the most sensitive, they all had a bit of a magnesium deficiency early on but #4 showed the most extreme signs and took the longest to bounce back. You can still see some of the older damaged leaves in the overhead shot.

"My license finally showed up in the mail yesterday and miraculously these plants sprung up over night." Congratulations on legal status LOL

You can't have a grow without at least one runt/freak, which brings us to #5. Early on around the 3rd or 4th node it showed whorled phylotaxy and grew 4 leaves instead of 2. The apical meristem also got funky as the next leaves grew as one merged in the center growing straight up instead of a growing tip. Wish I had gotten some pics but my camera has been acting up and I was too busy to deal with it.

When I topped them it became a mass of mini branches competing, so it took a bit of prunning and supper cropping to encourage 3 main growing shoots and a couple branches big enough to clone. It reminds me of a NYPD Green I grew way back when, it was from a seed found in a bag and had no apical dominance. Slowest growing plant ever as the nodes would only be 1/4-1/2" apart but when I eventually flowered it (after a year of vegging and trying to get a clone to root) it formed the densest buds I've ever grown, they looked like I hit them with PGR's but that was a good decade before they were common. Since them I've always had a fondness for freaks, so this is my darling of the batch. I doubt it'll be the best example but it's always exciting seeing what happens with the weird ones.

Couple shots of the glorious top palm-like double leaf on #5, I should be ashamed of the pic quality but I was rushing to finish prunning/cloning before my back gave out. I failed and it got stretched to three days; prunning on the first, cutting clones from the clippings the next day as therapy for overworking my back building a wall, then finally tying them down today after a solid 12 hours laying flat/napping/starring at the ceiling for fun and profit. Thank god I'm not making a living off this anymore or I'd be starving...

Next week it's building the Dopository, waiting and watching for the Sunshine (sweet skunk S1's) and Kerela x Do si Do/Floscout seeds to pop their heads up. Violeta have been topped, so should start bushing out now that they're in 1gal pots. I have to decide if I'm going to buy actual smart pots for them or if I'll make DIY ones again, or save money/time by just buying plastic grow bags. I really prefer fabric pots for added root health though...

I came for the thread title, I stayed for the greenery.

Thanks for writing like you have some self respect. Writing well is not easy, and I tip my hat to those who take the care you seem to with it.

Nice growing, looking happy.

Herb & Suds said:

"My license finally showed up in the mail yesterday and miraculously these plants sprung up over night." Congratulations on legal status LOL

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Thanks man, it was like something straight out of the bible. With less sexism, judgement and sin, so really nothing like the bible but more like the miracles it describes without the politics. Why can't we just enjoy a good water to wine miracle without suppressing some minority?

Michael Huntherz said:

I came for the thread title, I stayed for the greenery.

Thanks for writing like you have some self respect. Writing well is not easy, and I tip my hat to those who take the care you seem to with it.

Nice growing, looking happy.

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I love words almost as much as I love that marvelous Mota. Thank ya kindly sir, coming from a family of chronic poor communicators I try to be concise and clear but can't help playing a wee bit here and there.

The plants are looking better every day, which is all I strive for as a grower until the room is dialed in and it's just a matter of maintaining. I'm not embarrassed by the signs of nute stress here and there as it's from old growth and the issues were corrected. The Violeta haven't shown nearly as many sign and I expect that'll continue as I get use to the new ferts. Better to show the reality of growing instead of a sugar coated version so I can learn from other and beginners will have a better idea of what to expect

Somatek said:

Thanks man, it was like something straight out of the bible. With less sexism, judgement and sin, so really nothing like the bible but more like the miracles it describes without the politics. Why can't we just enjoy a good water to wine miracle without suppressing some minority?

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Might as well ask why can’t we have an election wihout Russian espionage. Too soon?

I almost forgot the lone blueberry fem (freebie from canuck seeds), which is for all intents and purposes my fiancees plant. What better way for her to learn then having a plant of her own. Ironically it's also the healthiest plant as it was started a couple days later. Just long enough that it missed the first watering that seems to have created the mag deficiency. Which has been a great teaching tool as she got to see a plant that was started later, grow faster when it wasn't stressed compared to some that were a bit delayed and #4 that was not a happy camper at all.

At some point with extra clones I'll run a test that I use to suggest for beginners. I'll split them into 3 groups, giving one the normal amount of ferts, another half as much and the last twice as much. Really helps understand nutrient disorders seeing them first hand, also a handy trick for people having a hard time zeroing in their nutes. Often a lot of customers seriously cut back their usage when they realized plants getting half as much were growing as well or better then what they thought was the right amount.

Michael Huntherz said:

Might as well ask why can’t we have an election wihout Russian espionage. Too soon?

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I'm just wondering if Canada's worth the hassle for the russians, it only seems fair that they equally meddle in ours, unless they're afraid of how badly we'd thrash them on the ice in retaliation. It's not like we have a military or any other option but dear god watch out on that rink...

Somatek said:

I'm just wondering if Canada's worth the hassle for the russians, it only seems fair that they equally meddle in ours, unless they're afraid of how badly we'd thrash them on the ice in retaliation. It's not like we have a military or any other option but dear god watch out on that rink...

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You ain’t kidding! I think the most likely things the Russkies would infiltrate in Ca are Team Canada and maybe the Molson factories.

Lucky you, it’s a mess down here.

Michael Huntherz said:

You ain’t kidding! I think the most likely things the Russkies would infiltrate in Ca are Team Canada and maybe the Molson factories.

Lucky you, it’s a mess down here.

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If we could make vodka half as well as the Russkies, Canadian beer would probably have a lot stiffer competition. Now our pot is another story, definitely need to look at implementing national security to make sure those sneaky commies don't steal our kind buds

Michael Huntherz said:

You ain’t kidding! I think the most likely things the Russkies would infiltrate in Ca are Team Canada and maybe the Molson factories.

Lucky you, it’s a mess down here.

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They hit us for years in Detroit , in light of our success those years I may owe them a thanks
Go wings LOL