First Grow - NL Special, Cannatonic & Mystery Seeds!!

[WilhelmFink]

Hey everyone,

I decided to stop procrastinating & just go for it!

I started with two NL Specials from KC Brains, regular. I had some cash left on a prepaid card after buying from an online headshop, so I said why not buy some seeds?!
They were sitting in a drawer for a good few months until I decided to just go for it! I germed with paper towel & plates in my grow closet, with a radiator underneath to keep things n' toasty



After about 2 days, one decided to say hello!



I was in a hurry, & this being more of an experiment, or proof-of-concept so to speak, I put both of them into their pots.


The compost I used was standard potting compost, a mistake I later realised! I initially had x3 23W & x2 11W 2700k CFLs.
I wasn't at home for it's first week (& every week since incidentally..) so my sister looked after it. After much anxiety & no word, she sent me these pics!



I was ecstatic!

 

[brettsog]

good to see you have jumped on the wagon so to speak, just a small improvement to be made, get the cfls horizontal, you are wasting so much of their light

 

[WilhelmFink]

My set up wasn't ideal, I realised that. But I'm away from home during the week & it's the best I could do.

Only one of the NL sprouted in the end, but hey that's nature! The other made for a tasty snack

I noticed the tips of the leaves were burning, & went to the net to try find an answer/cure!



The good folks here & at other forums helped me diagnose the problem. Turns out the compost I had was way too hot for seedlings! Oh well, you have to learn to walk before you can run!

I was fortunate enough to get a bag of BioBizz Light-Mix from a friend. So, it was time for my first re-pot!
After procrastinating & telling myself I'll end up killing it, I just went in head first & removed it from the pot.
It looked a lot better in it's new home!



Unfortunately, she took a turn for the worst!



As I was disposing of the old compost, I made the grim discovery that I had actually cut about 3 inches of roots off! I was gutted, kicking myself for not being more careful.

I once again had to leave for the week. It was the worst week, I was like an over-protective mother, mourning her child!
I resigned myself to the fact it was dead....

Until I got a call saying that it had perked up & was doing fine!

A few days later. Plus, I got a 125w & replaced the two 11 watts with 24W.



Fast forward a week or so (last week), & this is where it was at.



I have made nettle brew/tea, & have fed it to it once personally. Stinks to high heaven! It was one I just left to brew for 2 weeks in a bucket. My sister, whom without her this would not be possible, said she fed it the tea & it shot up!

Here it is, about a day ago!



I re-potted it again about 2 weeks ago. I changed the 5lt pots to 3lt recycled pots (I like to pretend I care about the planet! )

The only thing we have been feeding it besides the nettle tea/brew is molasses & tap water! Have yet to see any signs of malnutrition. The few burned spots I think are from the lights, & there's also the original set of leaves that were scarred from the original hot compost.

There is quite a potent odour off this one already!!

What do you think? I thought it was quite bushy underneath? Is that normal?

 

[WilhelmFink]

In the meantime, I have made good use of those other 3 pots!


The guy I bought the light of was nice enough to give me 15 or so beans! He's not sure what exactly they were, they were from his last grow. They could either be The Church or an auto-flowering strain. Time will tell! I used the two least healthy looking (some were cracked! )

A few days later, the first made it's debut! I don't have any pics, but it looks alright. Then after a week the second. I had planted three in a pot (I know I know...) but seeing as they were free, I had 12 more & I had planned to buy strains from a seedbank, I said why not! They might have been duds for all I knew! They look a little strange, but I shall let nature take it's course


My friend was growing outdoors for her mother who has cancer. I said I'd take on one of her seeds, in the hope that it's be done sooner.
The strain is Cannatonic, fem, which is a pretty rare & medically potent strain. It has roughly equal amounts of THC:CBD, each about 13%.
She poked her head out, & looks pretty healthy!



No pics of it lately, that was about a week ago. It's got it's 2nd set of leaves, quite pointy & thin compared to the NL. About 3in across Will have updated pics at the weekend.


Thanks for reading! Stay tuned


(And yes, I named them )

 

[WilhelmFink]

good to see you have jumped on the wagon so to speak, just a small improvement to be made, get the cfls horizontal, you are wasting so much of their light

I'm hooked already!

I know they should be horizontal, but I don't have a good solution to making them so. I cannot get the fabled y-splitters here, all I have is a standard bayonet fixture like this;



I have made a reflector from mdf (waiting for a sunny day so I can leave them outside whilst I paint it white) so the 125w is horizontal.
The five 23w though, I have no idea!

 

[brettsog]

if you hang them lower around the sides of the plant then they will be getting light from the sides of the bulbs not the tip which is what you what. you'll find that using cfls you will be adjusting the lights almost daily sometimes twice a day to make sure all the buds are getting sufficient light