Indoor Moonijuana 2: The Remooning (Delicious Sugar Black Rose & Heavyweight Massive Midget)

[TimeTraveler]

Hey all! It's been busy here on the moon, but the time has come for another grow of our advanced moonijuana.

Using only the most refined, hyper-advanced moon-based technology, I have prepared for this grow. Learning from the mistakes of my last grow, I've refined the Moonijuana Growing Chamber. The box holds heat perfectly without the ceramic light, so it was taken out to increase room (I also think that reflected and focused heat may have aided in damaging parts of the last two plants). Next, the mylar on the panels was ripped off and replaced; instead of the double sided tape I used before that didn't stay flat, this time mylar was applied with spray adhesive. Next, new holes were drilled in the top so I could raise the LED light up about 2 inches more than it was hanging, increasing vertical space. Cords were cleaned up and tied up better, then a light timer was set up on the back. I'm thinking for this grow I'll do 20/4 or maybe 18/6. Lastly, instead of tiered planting I'll be going with plugs of planting mix into the soil proper. All told this should give me another 3-5 inches of vertical space in this box for my plants to grow. It may not sound like much but in such tight quarters it is huge. I still haven't rigged up the automated watering system, but that's largely because it's hard to do that and keep it stealthy; I need to think of a way to hide the water supply and find all the parts I need for the pump first.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, in case anyone was interested, I'll be using a super soil mix for this one again. Last grow I managed to get from sprout to chop without any real need to feed, so I'm confident this will be a success. I detailed my soil in a thread (located here), and the various plants I have grown in it are thriving like mad.

Next, the seeds were prepped today according to master grower Ronin's methods: root riot cubes and into a sealed container atop a modem.

For this coming grow, I'll be using two different seeds again. Firstly, a Heavyweight Seeds Massive Midget. As a shorter strain with dense, heavy buds this one should do quite well in this setup (the sour crack last time did pretty good and it's also a shrubbier shorter strain). I'm hoping it lives up to its name; growing taller strains in here will be a big challenge.

The second strain is a Delicious Seeds Sugar Black Rose. I got a few of these as a freebie from Herbie's, and am genuinely curious how they'll turn out. I've heard lots of great things about this strain, so I'm eager to see how they turn out.

So, not much else to say now. Stay tuned for updates!

 

[TimeTraveler]

Greetings everyone. First off, mad props to Ronin once again for his excellent germination advice. Today, both seeds have sprouted and pushed their way towards the light. While I prepare the airpot trough and the box they're bathing in the sunlight. Exciting times ahead! Here's the wee ones now:

The slightly taller girl on the right is my Sugar Black Rose. The Massive Midget is on the left, taking her sweet time to wake up and smell the sunshine. Much closer sprout times than my last grow. Now that the most nerve-wracking part is past, onward to the seedling stage!

 

[TimeTraveler]

No pics today, but then again not much to show. Both seedlings are in the airpot trough, in a seedling mix plug cut with about 1/3 soil, then soil all around them. They've both grown up a bit and have their first tiny little leaves! So, we're a go for this grow for sure now!

Sticking with 24/0 for the time being, but when the first set of true leaves show up, I'll switch over to 20/4. I'm wondering if the light damage might have been lessened if I gave them some darkness to recover during. I'm hoping between the new walls, no heat lamp, and lower height they'll do better anyway, but I do wonder if those hours of dark will make a difference too.

I still need to figure out a SCROG screen for this grow. Unfortunately, funds and supplies are too tight at the moment to go buy anything. If I can't figure out something, I'll have to do LST again for this grow.

 

[TimeTraveler]

First true leaves are here today. It also seems I got a faulty or damaged timer, so I won't be switching to 20/4 just yet. Not a big deal, just some difficulties along the way.

 

[TimeTraveler]

Just a quick peek inside today; second set of true leaves coming in, and both look healthy and happy in the planter.

The Sugar Black Rose:

and the Massive Midget:

This grow is shaping up nice already; I'm glad they're both on identical timetables so far, so here's hoping for more simplicity ahead.

 

[TimeTraveler]

Monday morning update, and the plants are looking stunning after a few days to drink in peace. Now for the ladies, fresh from the photo shoot. Firstly, growing fast and strong, is the Sugar Black Rose:

Looking very good, and the beginning hints of a nice weed smell showing up.

The Massive Midget is coming along well too:

Although it's a tad behind in leaf generation, I'm not as surprised. This kind of slower initial growth seems to be a trait of shorter, bushier strains. That could bode well for this plant's future, and I'm very optimistic.

Excited about where this is heading, and can't wait to get through the long weeks until harvest.

 

[TimeTraveler]

More growth, more health! The plants are thriving in the supersoil, with no signs of nute burn (my last grow had nute burn by the two week mark, and I'm two days shy of that point).

Both seem to be doing better at this point than my last grow; whether it's the richer, organic soil or the use of a stronger LED light from the beginning, I don't know. I do know they look stronger and bigger already, and the leaves are a gorgeous, vibrant green.

On to the ladies! Firstly, Sugar Black Rose:

Next, the Massive Midget:

Not much to add in terms of description; they're sprouting new leaves and growing nice and strong. As you can see, they're a solid, healthy green and flourishing, so I'm optimistic.

I'm still not sure how I'm going to do my training. My plan is to see if I can jury-rig a basic frame for this grow and make it work until the end. I'd planned on making a sturdier one with dowels and magnets, but that's beyond my budget for now. Time to see if I can MacGuyver something together. I think I've got some bamboo skewers laying around. That might be just what I need, and something to lash them together.

 

[The Elvis]

That SBR will be a stunner trust The Elvis!! the taste is gonna get ya!!

 

[TimeTraveler]

That SBR will be a stunner trust The Elvis!! the taste is gonna get ya!!

Thanks Elvis! Awesome to have you in the thread! It always means a lot to me when the veterans come by to look at my work.

Well, the weekend is coming and that means hands off for a couple days because of the nature of my life. The girls have been watered, and training has begun. The sugar black rose is looking great and was easy to bend over (young and green enough that her main stem is nice and flexible), but the Massive Midget is shaping up to be a dense one; although she's right on the SBR's tail in development, her leaves and stems are much closer together, making it harder to bend her to the side logistically (just as flexible though, so I just had to make sure not to pinch any leaves). So, we're officially at DAY 14. On to the girls! First, the Sugar Black Rose:

Looking good, right? Lots of fan leaves, and as you would expect, the more she puts out the faster she seems to put out more. Seems like every time I check on her the last set of new fan leaves have already grown out nice and big, and new ones are sprouting. Next, the Massive Midget:

Not quite as leafy, but hot on the heels of her container mate. You'll notice if you look at the bottom-most fan leaf tip a tiny tan line; I had a digital hygrometer/thermometer in the case to monitor how it was fairing without the ceramic heat lamp (another factor I think hurt my last grow). It fell one night, and landed on that leaf, bruising the tip where it was pressed against the rim of the trough. Doesn't seem to be a major problem though. If you're wondering, the case is holding steady at 80 F/26 C, so it's nice and warm without being TOO hot.

Both are looking very dense and healthy, with lots of small developing nodes under the major fan leaves already growing. In other good news, at this point in my last grow I had nute burn, and none to be seen this time! Small victories, and such. I credit the better soil mix (props to everyone in the Organic section for their advice, particularly EoF who was kind enough to work with me in PTs to tweak the soil juuuust right). I think the personal touch and the longer cook time were all that was needed to make it perfect. I'm excited about the future of both of these plants. Of course, I don't have the experience to really make predictions (especially not early on), but I have a better feeling about this grow. Last time I was cautiously hopeful for a half ounce per plant, and ended up going over that by a few grams, landing me an ounce and a half total. It probably would have been closer to two total if they hadn't suffered light damage.

This grow, I'm hoping for about 35g each. While it's over double what I wanted last time, I undershot my last grow and made a number of mistakes that hurt their productivity. I'm optimistic that I can reach this goal (roughly an ounce and quarter each), although actually seeing that number typed out is kind of sad knowing there are master growers on here reaching for (and exceeding in cases) a pound or more from a single plant. At any rate, knowing my skills and yields intimately is more important than fixating on a nonexistent competition, so I'll be happy if I'm on point.

 

[TimeTraveler]

A lot going on today, everyone. Weclome to DAY 17. The plants are really starting to take off; the Sugar Black Rose especially is getting big and pretty! Also got the SCROG screen made, and in place. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the ladies.

Firstly, the rising star of this run, my Sugar Black Rose:

She recovered from her training over the weekend pretty much instantly; everything was straight and tall today, and only by looking at the stem and seeing the curve to it was I able to tell she'd been trained at all. Lots of new sites and nodes on the lower ends, I've got a feeling she'll respond well to training.

Next, the Massive Midget:

Nice and healthy, but slower to put on those vertical inches. No sign with either of them of nute burn or deficiencies, so we're off to a great start so far. I'll be watering them today with some RO water mixed with a dash of inoculate, just to make sure the soil is still in top health.

Here's a side by side shot for comparison, Sugar Black Rose on the left:

So, about the SCROG screen. I did have the supplies on hand to fashion something! With space such a huge concern bigger things like PVC are out of the question. I rigged up a simple screen from bamboo skewers and duct tape. I've got 8 roughly 3"x3" squares in the screen, with about 6" clearance from the light. So, it's cramped in there, but I've got a good feeling nonetheless. Here's hoping it will work for this grow. Here's a picture of the trough in the grow box, with screen:

Tight quarters to be sure, but on the moon we are obsessed with efficiency.

Hope to hear from some of you! It's getting lonely in here talking to myself...