New Grower My first grow attempt HBSS

[grgazzels]

@Mañ'O'Green,
But so many do it and swear by it. And it worked for me. I lost 9 in the paper towel method, be it by a cooling fan breaking. What do others say and would it make a difference if it was aerated water?
I'm a noob and want to learn with the fewest mistakes as possible. Not trying to be dismissive, I listen to all and consider all advice and try and take the best option or what I think is the best.

 

[epenguin]

I can only speak from my experience. The paper towel method has been 98% success for me. I keep the towel moist, in the dark and warm but not hot. I don't soak before hand. Usually within 4/5 days at most (sometimes 3) I get a tap root breaking out. I wait until it is 4/6 millimeters before putting into my medium.
I have used root plugs and they were fine also. I guess most times I get a fail it is due to a duff seed, not the method.

I also am a KISS type grower. Get a few under your belt before you try the expert methods.

Good luck......eP.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

We live in a time of instant gratification. Soaking seeds in a glass of water allows you to see the seed crack open as soon as it does. Growing them in a paper towel allows you to witness the tap root grow. We like this because it makes us feel satiated at our power over the process. When really we only provide some water and warmth to a process way beyond our own significance. Seeds have been germinating for millions of years without our help or presence. I already talked about drowning seeds so let's talk about paper towels. I do not have access to a 200x microscope with a camera or video but I have witnessed this with my own eyes. If you look at a tap root under this power of magnification you can see hundreds of little lateral root "hairs" that grow into the paper towel fibers and they are srtipped away when the seed is lifted off/out of the towel. Here is a video of a tobacco seed germinating .Then you risk bumping or bruising the tip of the tap root. Did you need to abuse it like that - no. Did you kill it - no - and the plant grew despite this abuse so it must be good, right! IMHO I don't think so.

 

[grgazzels]

Nice video MOG, kind of makes me want to go out and get a powerful microscope and experiment a little. Starting another group in 30 days. Maybe Ill try a few different ways. Paper towel, straight to soil and straight in a plug.

 

[grgazzels]

Day 3, not a whole lot going on. Moved the lights down to 18 inches. Soil was still moist but the plug was dry so used a spray bottle to moisten it up. Weight of the pot is telling me to water tomorrow.

Pic of the largest of the 5,

Pic of the smallest of the 5:

At this stage should I be running both veg and flower lights or just keep it on veg?
There are 2 Vipar 600 Watt LED.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Turn it all on. Your plants will adapt to whatever light you give them.

 

[grgazzels]

Day 5: HBSS
Massive heat on day 4, I turned all lights on both Vipar when lights cycled on in the morning, 1 hour later the temp went from 74 to 97F and 22% RH. Lifted lights back to 24 inches and sitting at 84F and 48% RH now. opened up bottom air port and placed the fan there and will see if I can get it at 80-81F.
Day 4 all plants took about 36oz of aerated water

Looks like a small stunt in height for all of them. One has not grown much taller and growth is very slow.

This one is still the largest and I should label them 1-5.

This one I call snowflake. Its the smallest and it was the one that did not want to leave its safe space in the plug and just rolled up inside:

Will be working on getting everything placed right and spaced out as they continue to grow. So much to learn and so much to tweak.
I imagine each grow will be like raising a infant to adulthood every 60-75 days.

Cheers all....

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Controlling the environment is a genuine task! It gets easier with practice.

 

[grgazzels]

Day 7: HBSS

Was not going to update until Day 10. But had a conversation with inlaw who said he was going to switch to autos last week and now says he wont. Reason is that he does not want to grow autos and only get 10 grams a plant.
He said on average all autos only produce 10 grams and anything higher is luck and good genetics and rare. Kinda lit a fire under my a$$. So I am more then determined to prove him wrong. So.

Been showing the largest and smallest of the 5 since they are small and not much to look at yet. So I guess I will stay with that format for now.
Temps are jumping from 81-86 RH between 38-50%. Hard to keep steady in this area. Will be moving tent in 30 days that will fix this.
Smallest plant has 3 very small dark spots on leaves edge, they actually are far less visible today then yesterday. So not really concerned.
Not using any nutes yet. And they only been watered once since being placed in soil day 1 from sprout. There weight says water me tomorrow.
Lights are full blast at about 26 inches.

Group Pic:

Pic of the largest which is bottom left.

This is the smallest, still really not growing in height but trying to catch up with additional leaves. Maybe she will kick in and surprise.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Show your cousin these pictures of my last grow - all autos:

Review of the seeds and the grow.

Fast buds Girl Scout Cookies Auto.
Cured bud weight 2 plants: 30g, 165g
I got 2 phenotypes.
Fast growing short squatty indica looking plant with small volume. The plant was almost all bud, it was just small. The buds were very dense and I got some bud rot. My other plants towered over this plant and sheltered it from the lights and fans which may have contributed to the mold problem. Other plants around it did not get mold! The quality of the meds was medium.
The second plant was very slow to grow in the early weeks but came on like a champion in the stretch to become a large hybrid looking plant with an above average yield of very nice colas and excellent quality meds. What you would expect in a Girl Scout Cookie!

Fast Buds Green Crack Auto.
Cured bud weight 2 plants 370g
Large sativa/hybrid looking plant with a very high yield, big colas, many side branches with excellent production. The quality of the meds is very high.

Cream of the Crop Amphetamine Auto (NYC Diesel).
Cured bud weight 1 plant: 168g
A Large plant with excellent branching and an open internode placement it boasted a hybrid look. It grew Big sticky colas that needed support with a huge fragrance. The fragrance of grapefruit and diesel was overpowering during harvest. The result is excellent meds. This plant took longer to mature than the breeder’s claims but the above average yield was certainly worth the wait. High quality meds.

Zambeza Blueberry Auto.
Cured bud 1 plant: 57g
A medium sized plant that got shaded by the larger plants in the same grow. Indica/hybrid looking leaves with compact colas. The fragrance of this one makes it a keeper - it is hard to describe but you know you want it when you smell it. A lot of the harvest went right into a long term slow brew glycerin tincture to be truly enjoyed in a year or so. The rest of the buds are in a slow 6 month cure because this is just that special.

790g total / 650 watts = 1.22gpw I will take it!