Bud Wiser UK
This Bud's for you!
Ok, first off, if you're unaware of the growspace I'm using, the clue's in the name.
(For the energy-challenged, try the second word.)
I'll update you .. I've turned my rotting bottom-of-the-garden shed into a ganja growroom.
There you go, you're now updated.
Link to the build's in my signature.
So, virgin territory on more than one level ...
FIRST indoor grow under LED lights
FIRST outdoor grow in a shed
FIRST time I've grown my own strain
FIRST time I've used Airpots
FIRST time I've read the weather reports in the WINTER!
Ho hum, off we go..!
Seeds
I've procured quite a few beans from my accidental breeding program back in the summer..!
The hermied Blueberry Cheese, remember her/it? .. well, I didn't throw the beans away as I said I would, I just couldn't, so I'm using them to test out the growspace. Turns out to be not a bad idea, as it allows me to play around a bit, not wasting any of my pukka beans. Plus I've got literally hundreds anyway ..
I've named her too .. Super Skunk x Blueberry Cheese = Bud's Blueberry Chunk (or BBC for short, lol).
From here on in, I have no fucking idea what's going to happen next..! She could be a beast, she could be just bollocks. (pardon the hermie pun).
Water
I'm mentioning this because I've got a little experiment going on in this department too.
I checked the local Water Authority online-published purity data for my area, and found a few surprises. First, my water is 'soft', so it's low in Cal/Mag, and has a pH of 7.6 which is a bit too alkaline for my ladies. So don't follow the Google-generated water-softness maps, they're not accurate .. I've been thinking all this time that I lived in a 'hard' water area!
The rainwater, however, has a pH of 6.1 so I'm collecting a load in a plastic bin and then filtering it through bleached coffee filters. I bought these by accident for making qwiso, but the bleach comes in handy when filtering rainwater, so I still have a use for them! Research tells me that microbial bacteria is ever-present in water, which is why tap water is 'treated' .. stagnant water exposed to air and light will accelerate the microbial reproduction process exponentially, so by removing 2 of those components (air and light) and treating with a trace of bleach, the bottled rainwater can be stored safely, in theory, without forming algae in the bottom. By the way, a minute trace of bleach in the water won't be harmful to the plants in any way, I checked.
So I've been saving 1 Litre plastic tonic bottles, whilst drinking a load of Gin, and raiding my neighbours' recycling bins..! [HASHTAG]#tramp[/HASHTAG].
All in the name of colour-coding ...
The black-cap* is ordinary tap-water at pH 7.6, the yellow-cap** is ph-adjusted tap-water at pH 6.6 and the red-cap blue-bottle*** is filtered rainwater at pH 6.1 ... all stored in the dark in a cupboard at room temperature.
* - Asda tonic water, with a twist of lemon! Mmmm.
** - Lidl tonic water, goes flat quickly.
*** - Flavoured something.
The one-litre bottles are handy on a number of other levels as well .. I can carry a couple at a time up to the shed on each visit without attracting too much attention, I already have a measuring system without dicking around with a jug, and they're essentially being 'recycled' so they're a nod in the eco direction too.
It'll be a test of the yellow-cap versus the red-cap.
Tap-water with a hint of pH-balancing chemical versus nature's sweat with a hint of bacteria-balancing bleach!
The point, of course, is ultimately to save me having to cart a load of water all the way from the tap to the shed. If filtered rainwater proves to be beneficial, then I'll build a proper water-butt system next year.
Lights
I'm growing the vegging stage under a T5 unit ... 4 x 2ft HO bulbs at 6500k, specific for vegging.
At first unsure of how high above the plants to hang them, I ventured onto the intertwibblenet and got back answers ranging from the reasonably-intelligent to the sublimely-ridiculous. After a bit of tweeking, I've settled on 12" above the seedling plants, to be dropped to 6" once they're established. At this height, the surface temps of the soil under clingfilm are around 27C, the air in the chamber around 24C and the ambient temps in the reception room around 18-20C.
Soil
I'm a fan of soil-growing, comes from my outdoor adventures, so I'm aiming to replicate my outdoor-soil-growing-experience under lights, as it's all I've got..! I've chosen to invest in some long-overdue decent soil, and having watched a video made at the Plagron factory in Holland, I was so impressed by the attention to detail, I bought a load, 200 litres of Batmix and 50 litres of Lightmix.
Now, unfortunately, I took the 'low in nutrients' Lightmix to mean 'good for germinating'. However, on reading the Q's & A's on their website, I discovered that, although you are able to germinate in this mix, it's not advised. Shit. Wish they'd said that on the packaging spec.
So it's back to the good old cheap shit from Lidl ...
I'll keep playing with soil mixes, some bought, some home-made as I've got my very own worm-castings farm just outside the door .. he he.
I'll also be playing with RHS Root Grow, Airpots and the Batmix, so watch this space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's all the background for the moment, now it's onto the grow ...
Bud's Blueberry Chunk. Take One. Day One. Thursday 1st December.
Beanz in water .. about 20 or so.
Day Three ...
A variety of germinating soil-mixes, mainly the not-recommended Lightmix, beanz with tails go into pots.
Day Eight ...
Nothing happening. Onto Intertwibbleweb, realise mistake, chuck everything, start again.
This is what happens when you forget to order Jiffy Cubes.
More beanz into water.
Day Nine ...
Beanz with tails get potted, this time into a known medium. Lucky I saved some.
Day Eleven .. 11th December .. reset the clock, this is the new Day One..!
So, Day One (Groundhog Day)!:
Kerching. At last, we're off.
Here's Day Two:
Day Three was today ...
There'll be some more on their way for sure, but it looks like these two will get the priority treatment. I only want the fastest and strongest in the finishing room. I'm going to keep germinating tho' ... I'll explain later.
Later.
The plan is to maximise the advantages of a photoperiod by utilising the control over the flowering time, keeping a few plants 'back' in the vegging room. It dawned on me that I can have several plants in 'perpetual' veg state waiting in the wings, great for 'testing' a space. Should I make a big mistake, I don't have to start again from the beginning, I'll have some plants ready to move into the flowering room straight away. Kerching.
Another part of the plan is this ... if the first run's successful, then I'll keep on topping and trimming the still-vegging plants until the first run's finished, then I'll stick them in the flowering room having had 2 months of topping .. they should grow well-bushy given the time allotted to top and recover, top and recover, top and recover ..etc.
So it's a win-win all round.
That's the canna-theory ... wish me luck.
Winter Bud :smoking:
Edit: I just want to make a small point .. and that is, that 'Autos', although touted as a beginner plant, are actually in my opinion mainly a 'pro' plant. Sure, you can start off with one in a pot, little attention, get a result, build confidence, get hooked. But the REAL advantages come when you get 'pro' ... and there's little room for error as Autos are unforgiving. Test the growspace first with something forgiving, then move on up to the Grand-Daddy Autos later. In my humble drunken opinion ...!
(For the energy-challenged, try the second word.)
I'll update you .. I've turned my rotting bottom-of-the-garden shed into a ganja growroom.
There you go, you're now updated.
Link to the build's in my signature.
So, virgin territory on more than one level ...
FIRST indoor grow under LED lights
FIRST outdoor grow in a shed
FIRST time I've grown my own strain
FIRST time I've used Airpots
FIRST time I've read the weather reports in the WINTER!
Ho hum, off we go..!
Seeds
I've procured quite a few beans from my accidental breeding program back in the summer..!
The hermied Blueberry Cheese, remember her/it? .. well, I didn't throw the beans away as I said I would, I just couldn't, so I'm using them to test out the growspace. Turns out to be not a bad idea, as it allows me to play around a bit, not wasting any of my pukka beans. Plus I've got literally hundreds anyway ..
I've named her too .. Super Skunk x Blueberry Cheese = Bud's Blueberry Chunk (or BBC for short, lol).
From here on in, I have no fucking idea what's going to happen next..! She could be a beast, she could be just bollocks. (pardon the hermie pun).
Water
I'm mentioning this because I've got a little experiment going on in this department too.
I checked the local Water Authority online-published purity data for my area, and found a few surprises. First, my water is 'soft', so it's low in Cal/Mag, and has a pH of 7.6 which is a bit too alkaline for my ladies. So don't follow the Google-generated water-softness maps, they're not accurate .. I've been thinking all this time that I lived in a 'hard' water area!
The rainwater, however, has a pH of 6.1 so I'm collecting a load in a plastic bin and then filtering it through bleached coffee filters. I bought these by accident for making qwiso, but the bleach comes in handy when filtering rainwater, so I still have a use for them! Research tells me that microbial bacteria is ever-present in water, which is why tap water is 'treated' .. stagnant water exposed to air and light will accelerate the microbial reproduction process exponentially, so by removing 2 of those components (air and light) and treating with a trace of bleach, the bottled rainwater can be stored safely, in theory, without forming algae in the bottom. By the way, a minute trace of bleach in the water won't be harmful to the plants in any way, I checked.
So I've been saving 1 Litre plastic tonic bottles, whilst drinking a load of Gin, and raiding my neighbours' recycling bins..! [HASHTAG]#tramp[/HASHTAG].
All in the name of colour-coding ...
The black-cap* is ordinary tap-water at pH 7.6, the yellow-cap** is ph-adjusted tap-water at pH 6.6 and the red-cap blue-bottle*** is filtered rainwater at pH 6.1 ... all stored in the dark in a cupboard at room temperature.
* - Asda tonic water, with a twist of lemon! Mmmm.
** - Lidl tonic water, goes flat quickly.
*** - Flavoured something.
The one-litre bottles are handy on a number of other levels as well .. I can carry a couple at a time up to the shed on each visit without attracting too much attention, I already have a measuring system without dicking around with a jug, and they're essentially being 'recycled' so they're a nod in the eco direction too.
It'll be a test of the yellow-cap versus the red-cap.
Tap-water with a hint of pH-balancing chemical versus nature's sweat with a hint of bacteria-balancing bleach!
The point, of course, is ultimately to save me having to cart a load of water all the way from the tap to the shed. If filtered rainwater proves to be beneficial, then I'll build a proper water-butt system next year.
Lights
I'm growing the vegging stage under a T5 unit ... 4 x 2ft HO bulbs at 6500k, specific for vegging.
At first unsure of how high above the plants to hang them, I ventured onto the intertwibblenet and got back answers ranging from the reasonably-intelligent to the sublimely-ridiculous. After a bit of tweeking, I've settled on 12" above the seedling plants, to be dropped to 6" once they're established. At this height, the surface temps of the soil under clingfilm are around 27C, the air in the chamber around 24C and the ambient temps in the reception room around 18-20C.
Soil
I'm a fan of soil-growing, comes from my outdoor adventures, so I'm aiming to replicate my outdoor-soil-growing-experience under lights, as it's all I've got..! I've chosen to invest in some long-overdue decent soil, and having watched a video made at the Plagron factory in Holland, I was so impressed by the attention to detail, I bought a load, 200 litres of Batmix and 50 litres of Lightmix.
Now, unfortunately, I took the 'low in nutrients' Lightmix to mean 'good for germinating'. However, on reading the Q's & A's on their website, I discovered that, although you are able to germinate in this mix, it's not advised. Shit. Wish they'd said that on the packaging spec.
So it's back to the good old cheap shit from Lidl ...
I'll keep playing with soil mixes, some bought, some home-made as I've got my very own worm-castings farm just outside the door .. he he.
I'll also be playing with RHS Root Grow, Airpots and the Batmix, so watch this space.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's all the background for the moment, now it's onto the grow ...
Bud's Blueberry Chunk. Take One. Day One. Thursday 1st December.
Beanz in water .. about 20 or so.
Day Three ...
A variety of germinating soil-mixes, mainly the not-recommended Lightmix, beanz with tails go into pots.
Day Eight ...
Nothing happening. Onto Intertwibbleweb, realise mistake, chuck everything, start again.
This is what happens when you forget to order Jiffy Cubes.
More beanz into water.
Day Nine ...
Beanz with tails get potted, this time into a known medium. Lucky I saved some.
Day Eleven .. 11th December .. reset the clock, this is the new Day One..!
So, Day One (Groundhog Day)!:
Kerching. At last, we're off.
Here's Day Two:
Day Three was today ...
There'll be some more on their way for sure, but it looks like these two will get the priority treatment. I only want the fastest and strongest in the finishing room. I'm going to keep germinating tho' ... I'll explain later.
Later.
The plan is to maximise the advantages of a photoperiod by utilising the control over the flowering time, keeping a few plants 'back' in the vegging room. It dawned on me that I can have several plants in 'perpetual' veg state waiting in the wings, great for 'testing' a space. Should I make a big mistake, I don't have to start again from the beginning, I'll have some plants ready to move into the flowering room straight away. Kerching.
Another part of the plan is this ... if the first run's successful, then I'll keep on topping and trimming the still-vegging plants until the first run's finished, then I'll stick them in the flowering room having had 2 months of topping .. they should grow well-bushy given the time allotted to top and recover, top and recover, top and recover ..etc.
So it's a win-win all round.
That's the canna-theory ... wish me luck.
Winter Bud :smoking:
Edit: I just want to make a small point .. and that is, that 'Autos', although touted as a beginner plant, are actually in my opinion mainly a 'pro' plant. Sure, you can start off with one in a pot, little attention, get a result, build confidence, get hooked. But the REAL advantages come when you get 'pro' ... and there's little room for error as Autos are unforgiving. Test the growspace first with something forgiving, then move on up to the Grand-Daddy Autos later. In my humble drunken opinion ...!
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