Indoor Grow 1.5 : Auto Jack Herer & Biodiesel Mass & Bag Seed Plant

[bigfun]

Well, 29 days since ordering seeds. 10 days since I first tried germination, and here waiting for my second attempt - I'm so hopeful every strange rock or bump in the dirt I see I think is a seed sprout! ... but it's only been two days since replanting.

This hobby has a creeping effect on expenses, one thing leads to another. Let's see ... Monday's soil purchases (and I bought rooting powder hormone) was $35. And I went ahead and ordered the 'Big 5' of Earth Science fertilizer products yesterday for $77. Total now is $310, and I still need a filter and am pretty sure I'm going to get a tent now, too. I figured out a 32"x32"60" will fit just right in my space. So, when I'm done, it'll prob be close to $500 for my start. ... maybe not so simple and reasonable -- I just obsess too much in good fun!

 

[bigfun]

Yes!! ... Success! One of the JH has popped yesterday evening ... My new baby girl! (I'll be passing out joints in the lobby.)

I guess this is the formal 'Day 1'.

This is the one in the MG soil. If I have trouble, I'll probably repot it into better soil. I couldn't wait any longer on the 2nd pot w/ the HF soil, so I carefully unearthed w/ toothpick again, and couldn't even find the seed. I remember watching it go in... but I figure that's not a good sign. ... So, only one out of three auto JH seeds broke ground. Bleh

... I went ahead and planted my non-autos, delahaze (fem) and afghan (normal) seeds into HF soil today, small pots.

I guess that makes it time to order more seeds. : It's funny irony, toss aside a bag seed, do nothing, and have a healthy plant. Then spend a few $$... and you start to sweat!

Purchased:
32"x32"x60" tent from ebay: $61
20x Root Riot cubes: $12
Airpump for aerating water from Petco: $13
Running Total: $396

This is about the point I stop letting my wife know how much things cost. ;-)

I sure hope my newly sprouted beloved auto does well. I need to review best ways for keeping it healthy this first week.

 

[bigfun]

2 days old. The baby looks good, it's not as green as some new seedling pics I see.

I needed a way to separate this auto out from my 12/12 flowering bag seed plant so I can give it 24 light, yet use the same garage closet. I did a quick and dirty grow box! I had a small old side table that originally had a glass top (I removed it). It was just the right size for my light and two 12" pots.

I cut up some cardboard, and then taped some Mylar to them, and duct taped them to the sides.

I even made a cardboard hood.

Fun afternoon!

 

[bigfun]

quick update: 3 days old:

Day 4

The green still looks a little light. Does it look ok?

... and in good news, all of the last 3 seeds (DeLaHaze and 2x Afghan, photos) sprouted! ... on two the seed casing is preventing it from standing straight up, but I think they should grow. Is it ok to keep a journal of photos, or basically my whole grow?

 

[Chester]

I generally put drops of water on the seed casing to keep it loose and flexible enough to pop off when the time is right ... we like lots of pictures here ....

 

[bigfun]

Day 6
The auto is looking good I think!

... JH seems to be doing well. Coming in at 1.5" ... I've haven't fed it any nutes, and only very light water the other day. Soil is starting to be a little on the dry side.

Here are close-up shots of my new babies yesterday, at 1 day old:

These three plants are just 2 days old now, one still has 1/2 seed shell stuck to it, but they are all looking happy enjoying the morning sun. I did lightly scrape the casing stuck to one leaf off, but they straighten out just fine.

They have been sitting on the deck since planted w some direct sun. The one in the large pot is the feminized DeLaHaze, it's shooting up fast -- already 2" tall, taller than the JH. The two small potted ones are the regular Afghans, which are just over an inch each. If you look closely you can see the shells at the base of all of them.

Here are the four plants now tucked in their temporary housing, now using 6x 23W cfls. The Afghans are in the small pots tucked to the side of the large pots.

... back on the other side of the closet, I've discovered that my temperatures for the bag seed plant are even going lower than I thought. The A/C seepage is worse than I thought, making the small room sometimes really cold. From 59-77F (15-25C)! ... the bs plant is looking ok. It's been flowering for a little over a month now I think. The cooler temps are likely making the process slow?

Here is another of her:

I'm not really sure what the dark haziness on the leaves are. Nor am I sure exactly when she will be ready for harvest. I've never grown any plant to maturity. I've read when about 75% of the hairs turn brown, and the resin balls turn amber. To me, this plant still looks like it needs more blooming time. Any tips or ideas on how much longer?

The lower buds are very small, and oddly the scent of the plant is not as strong as a couple of weeks ago.

Kitty always wants in on the action!

Thanks as always for any tips you can offer this newbie.

Happy Farming!

 

[Chester]

Seedlings all look good ... they are not getting enough hours of light if you're not supplementing daylight ... I wouldn't worry about your temperatures (may be a couple degrees cold at the low point) ... little bit of chill will bring out the special qualities of the buds ... I think your plant w/ the dark and light leaves is suffering from an 'N' deficiency ... not certain but if she were mine I'd feed her ... she's about a month from being done ...

 

[bigfun]

Chester, thanks! ... I appreciate your tips.

... so I had already put them in my grow box last night, but unfortunately I woke up this morning to find the temps have hit 102F(38C)!! -- I was quite surprised to see such high temps from just 6 23w cfls ... plus humidity had gone to 25%

There looks to be a little heat stress on the baby JH! -- and she's a week old today. I hope she recovers.

I'm probably going to run 4x cfls tonight in the box, with a fan to the side.
Here's the 4. Thank goodness they are still alive! -- Day 7, Day 3s

Cheers!

 

[bigfun]

Oh dear, going to only 4cfls didn't really help the high temps again last night. The babies all look ok, except for the heat stress. My tent is scheduled to arrive today, and once I get that set I won't have to enclose my seedlings and that will help w/ the temps. My nutes arrived, too. I'm mixing up a 2tsp/gal of Micro & 4tsp/gal Grow/Catalyst in a brew now. It will be the seedlings first feed.

Spent another $35 on more cfl lights and some y-adapters/sockets: Running Total: $441

I may move the seedlings under the LED, and switch the cfls to the blooming bag seed plant. not sure yet...

 

[Chester]

I think I'd feed them a little less for their first time or two ... many here don't give any nutes till 2 weeks ... I feed at 10 days ...