Sleestack X Skunk, Kandy Kush X Skunk, Kushberry X Skunk, and Roadrunner

[medtoker]

Hello everyone and welcome to my most recent CFL closet grow.

My hope is that this journal helps those even newer than me, and encourages them to give personal growing a try. Growing can be as easy or as difficult as you would like to make it. This journal is not meant to be a guide for commercial grows, but rather as a way to grow for personal use. Efficiency and productivity are not as big of a concern here.

Please feel free to leave comments, but understand that I already know that there are different and better ways to go about this. Again, this journal will attempt to keep the process as simple as possible for those attempting their first grow. Readers are free try other ways if they like.

For your first grow, I suggest either purchasing Indica seeds or using any bagseed you may have (only growing one or two plants to start). If you choose to use bagseed, it is important to understand that many of the growing problems you encounter may not be your fault. Then again, it probably is your fault. Since you have little idea about the genetics you are trying to grow it will be hard to learn from your mistakes. My very first grow was from bagseed. And while I was able to harvest flowers, it was a bit of a disappointment. However, I did learn a lot. If you have the means, I suggest going the"The Attitude Seedbank" and ordering a hardy version of an Indica. Ordering seeds to the USA is a bit frightening at first. However it is very safe. I have ordered many, many times and one of my orders was even confiscated (but through Nirvana, not The Attitude)! All that happens is that you get a form letter and they take your seeds (which are easily replaced with a guaranteed purchase, which Nirvana did). I have ordered numerous times since then without incident. Just use your real information and no one will care if you are growing for personal use. Law enforcement has much more to worry about, such as traffickers and suppliers.


Speaking of supplies, here are some you will need to start a closet grow from scratch:

• Plywood = $20
• 2X4 = $5
• Nails = $5
• Screws = $5
• L Brackets = $5
• Blanket = Recycle an old one you will never use again
• Mylar Sheets = $3 each
• Nashua Foil Tape = $7

• Cup Hooks = $5
• Lamp Kits = $10 each
• Twin-Socket adapters = $3 each
• Binder clips = $5
• Small link chain = $20

• General purpose extension cord $25
• Timer = $15
• 12" Pots and trays = $15 each set

• Lights (varies greatly: 27W daylight = $2 each, 30W bright white = $5 each, 68W soft white = $19 each)

• Great working room air filter = as needed. Some of these plants really smell like skunk.

To save money, you can buy the light bulbs as you anticipate needing them which will spread out the cost over a couple of months. For the just basics to start with, you are probably looking at about $250 (plus $20/mo electricity) plus seeds. However you can generally re-use most of the equipment for future grows, only needing new bulbs and soil.

 

[medtoker]

Let’s get to work, shall we?

First, you will need to cut two sections from the piece of plywood. The first section should match the dimensions of the closet floor. Your goal here is to protect the carpeting. The second piece should be as wide as the closet is deep, and as tall as will fit under the closet shelf. The goal here is to build a movable wall. However, this piece will actually need to be an inch or two less wide so some heat can escape and so the doors do not rub against it when you open and close them. If they rub, you will tear up the reflective Mylar and therefore have to replace it. Attach supporting pieces of the 2X4 to the second piece with screws, nails, and the L Brackets so it stands upright by itself and is very stable. You WILL cry if it falls over and breaks your plants.

Next, cover as much of the inside of the closet with Mylar as you feel necessary, using the Nashua tape. Cover the “movable wall” too. One of the few pieces of advice from various other posts I that I believe is that Mylar is the best reflective surface. You can go to Wal-Mart or K-mart and purchase emergency blankets (in the hiking/outdoor recreation section). You can compare a photo of an old set up I have to see the difference in reflectiveness. The last photo uses foil.

Then, add hooks to various parts and heights of the closet. I add as many as I can fit to the bottom of the closet shelf. This way, I can position the lights wherever they fit the best. If you ever need to return your closet to normal use, these holes will be the only trace of it’s growing use. Hooks on the side of the walls will be used to attach the chains to keep the lights where you want them. In general, the more hooks the better, but you can add them anytime and can wait until you need them. Still, go ahead and add as many as you can to the bottom of the shelf (top of the growing area).

Assemble the lamp kits to create your adjustable light sockets. You will probably need 2 – 4 to begin with. I also use twin-socket adapters so I can have two lights per lamp kit. Since we are just beginning the grow, use the “daylight” or “fullspectrum” bulbs (often times packaged with a blue identifying color).

Replace the plywood flooring and cover it with a blanket to absorb un-expected spills and to make cleaning easier. Attach the lamp kits to the top screws and set the height to just above the height of the future seedlings. Attach everything to the extension cord and outlet strip.

Let the good times roll!

 

[medtoker]

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Here are a few more pics of the cab set-up.

 

[medtoker]

For this grow, I will be using some of Attitude's freebies from 2009. I have 3 Kandy Kush X Skunk, 3 Sleestack X Skunk, 2 Kushberry X Skunk (I smashed one in storage), and 1 auto Roadrunner. They are a little old, but every one of them sprouted! The ‘tude rocks. Here is how I started them on October 2nd, after the overnight soak:



Since they were olderish I put them in small glasses of bottled water until they sank to the bottom. I, of course, kept each type of seed separate from the others and properly labeled. Once they sank, I then carefully transferred them to wet paper towels, again using bottled water. I then placed them into plastic bags to help keep them moist, but ensuring that the bags remained opened so air could circulate. I then set them in a warm, dark place and carefully examined them about every 12 hours. Once the tap root was about a quarter of an inch long, I carefully put them in the peat pellets and into the light. The pellets were thoroughly wet the night before with bottled water. I use tap water from here on.

 

[cacamal]

nice one look forward to your grow! good luck

 

[medtoker]

Thanks cacamal. I'm hoping this will be a simple grow.

Here they are on October 3rd:



October 4th (what I'm calling day 1 of vegitation):



October 5th:

 

[medtoker]

One of the Sleestack X Skunk seedlings started pulling itself out of the peat pellet overnight so I decided to re-plant it in a pot and hoped for the best. This one should grow relatively tall so I just put it in a medium sized pot. I will re-pot again in a couple of weeks.



Day 4:

 

[medtoker]

Today was an interesting day. The roots started to poke out of the peat pellets and it's time to transplant them to their first pots; So much for the efficient lighting.

When I plant autos, they go directly in their final pot; So my Roadrunner takes up a lot of room. I also color code the plant stakes that I use to label them. Green = female, yellow (none right now) = male, and white = unknown. My Roadrunner is the only known female. When I determine the sex of the other plants, I will separate or destroy the males (decisions, decisions) and change the stake colors appropriately.

Before pictures:

Close-up of Roadrunner (nice and compact):

Their new, very much wider home:


Here is where things get interesting -- the lighting. Don’t get too freaked about this set-up. It does look scary, but it’s perfectly safe. The lights are low heat, and the chains don’t heat up much at all. The hottest they have ever felt to me is about 85 degrees Fahrenheit when the room temperature was about 80 degrees. Yep, I could tell that they were not room temperature, but that was about it. Actually, the part that scares me the most is threading the chain through the bulbs. Here is a close-up of a chained bulb.

It won’t take long to learn how to use the spiral on the bulb to hold the light where you want it (by using the chain). Be creative but not too complicated with your chain use. And always be gentle! Here, because the lights need to be in both parallel and long lines, I connected a few lights together. In a couple of days I will have a completely different setup. My goal is to only use 6 outlets. With two splitters, that is only 12 bulbs. I seldom ever exceed 550 Watts. This configuration uses 324 Watts. Ouch, 550 Watts all day long is about $40 a month!

A close-up of one of the little ‘uns:

I'm done for the night folks. Enjoy the rest of yours!

 

[cacamal]

good to see they all cracked and are growing nicely!

 

[medtoker]

I don't expect anything exciting to happen for the next couple of weeks, while these guys grow up. But here are some more pics:

Notice the reflective properties of the Mylar.

And some close-ups:

 

[medtoker]

Still not much happening, which is good for the moment. Soon I will have to adjust the lights every day. Since they are so young and don't have a big root ball yet, I gave them a splash of water so they don't dry out.



Not too much stretch so far. I can't wait to thin out the males and free up some space. That will still be about a month from now though. Since this is just for personal use, I plan to keep the plants shorter (which also helps with CFLs). I expect to switch to 12/12 on November 1st.

The Roadrunner should be finished around the middle of December and I might even be able to quick cure a bud for Christmas! I have grown one other Roadrunner freebie before, and frankly didn't like the taste. However, it did get better with curing. Either way, I can't wait.

I might sneak a small popcorn bud from one of the others for New Year's.

 

[medtoker]

Still not much change, but I can tell they are getting ready to explode.



Here is a close-up of a Kushberry X Skunk:

and showing the streach

This Sleestack X Skunk seems happy:



I'm a little disappointed with this Auto Roadrunner so far, but I still have hope:



It's only Tuesday and I am already anxious to receive my Attitude order. I took advantage of their promo on Friday and ordered some more seeds. I got addicted to ordering seeds a couple of years ago and it has taken me this long to go through all of them. This grow journal is using my last beans.

I expect the package to arrive sometime between Friday and Monday, containing the following feminized seeds:
G13 Blueberry Gum (5)
G13 Auto AK (1)
G13 Purple Haze (1)
G13 Pineapple Express (1)
Serious Seeds White Russian (1)
Paradise Nebula (1)
Paradise Wappa (1)

Patience is sometimes difficult in this endeavor

 

[medtoker]

There are now two sets of leaves on the little 'uns. I gave them a small drink of water last night because it is getting hot inside the house. It is really hot outside again and is expected to stay that way for at least another week. When growing, the maximum temp I allow inside the room is 80 degrees. It is not at all ideal, but with 80 as a maximum the conditions are just fine to grow IMO. It meets my needs anyway.

Here are the pics:



Not too much stretch, still nice and compact:

 

[medtoker]

Well, it's day 10 from their birth. Yawn At least they are getting a little size to them. Here are a couple of pictures showing their actual size:

The first pic is my Roadrunner.

Here are a couple more pics:



I am a little concerned about how small they are, since I want to start the flowering cycle on 11/1. But the Sleeskunk has a good bit of sativa in it and I don't want them to grow too tall. Since I want to keep this grow as simple as possible, I won't be training it. I guess only time will tell if 11/1 is too soon.

Also tomorrow is the first possible day I expect my special package to arrive from the 'Tude. Tomorrow is my 7th day from order and that is the earliest it has ever arrived. I more likely expect it on Monday or soon thereafter, but it's hard to be patient.

 

[medtoker]

Update - just got me first USPS update. My parcel just left NYC. Looks more like it will show up on Monday. Looks like the delivery time will be about average. Still, not bad at all.

 

[medtoker]

I'm starting to like what I see. Right after these photos, I gave them their first real drink. Nothing but tap water, and not enough to soak the soil all the way through (these guys are still very small and won't use much water). Right now, I expect the root ball to be the size of an apple or orange. I doubt the roots have reached the edge of their containers yet.

Here are more pics:



This one (Kandy Kush X Skunk) has stretched the most, but is still very respectable IMO:

It is beginning to have some nice leaf development.

 

[medtoker]

Some of the plants in the larger pots are showing more size than the ones in smaller pots. Some of this might have to do with the lighting, and I know the Auto is on a different time schedule.



Here is the Roadrunner:



Here are some Kandy Kush X Skunk:



So, it's been 15 days since I put them in water. Just to re-cap, I have only given the plants water up to this point. The organic soil is high quality and will feed them well into their flowering period (with a short veg time). So far, all I have done is added water, soil, and light. The lights are on a 20/4 cycle.

 

[medtoker]

First, I received my parcel from Attitude in yesterday's mail. I ordered very early Friday morning and it was at my door 8 calendar days later. Slightly better than normal, 7-13 days is the range so far.

As you can see, they are starting to show some development:



The next pic is my Roadrunner and the last pic is the larger Kandy Kush X Skunk:



I forgot to mention earlier that I label my CFLs so I can track how long I have been using them. I replace them after about 3 or 4 months. That basically ends up being 2 grows each, since I switch between "daylight" and "soft white".

They should start showing more growth and size fairly quickly now.

 

[Murder//Mitten]

Wow! Looks very clean and neat!

Lots of plant eh? How many were you expecting to go nto flowering? Are you gonna use a hps for flower

 

[medtoker]

Wow! Looks very clean and neat!

Lots of plant eh? How many were you expecting to go nto flowering? Are you gonna use a hps for flower

Thanks Murder//Mitten.

Yeah, light will be an issue. I will start all the plants into the flowering phase. Once I know their sex, I will select one female from each strain and cut the rest. And if a particular strain doesn't have a female, I won't replace it with one of the others. So, I expect I'll end up with 3 or 4. I think 3 would be better, but I would hate not to be able to try a particular strain. With 3 or 4 plants (and the Roadrunner will be harvested as the others begin to need the most amount of room), I should be able to re-arrange the lights and keep them nice and brightly lit.

I don't want to use a HPS right now because of all the changes to the closet it would require. After this grow, I would like to be able to make it all disappear within a day so guests can use the room and never know what I use it for.

I am really curious just how much of a difference it will affect this grow. I want to know just how much more I could get if I made more permanent changes. It might be worth the investment for my next grow.