Barking Mads Grow Journal, with Pics

[Barking Mad]

This is my first grow.
I am using a 400w MH and have a 400w sodium for flowering, they run off the same ballast.

The soil I am using is 'BIOBIZZ ALL-MIX' It cost me £12 sterling (about $20/24 US)
Major constituents:
Peat Moss
Spaghnum peat
Worm casting
Perlite
Pre-mix

EC:2.4
pH 6.2-6.6
50ltr bag including 2.5ltr fertilizer

Typical rookie mistake, I was adding nutes from day 1.
I have stopped using nutes in the water after getting some nute burn on the leaves.
I am using tap water. My tap water has a pH of 7.5 which is way too high so I let it stand for a day or so then reduce the pH to 6 by adding a few drops of lemon juice. I was going to flush all the plants but just did the three worst affected. For the others I will just continue giving them water with nothing added. There is plenty in the soil to feed these for the next couple of weeks. After that I will add the nutes again but on a smaller scale. I was adding 7ml per litre (reccomended) 'Ionic=Grow' but will start at about 3 or 4 ml next time and, just on one or two plants to begin with.

I have lettered the plants alphabetically and Alice 'A' is my mystery seed it was showing what I over-enthusiastically thought was signs of it being a girl. It has little white pistules that look a bit like hairs. It is in fact the new leaves coming through. They look totally different to all the others. I wish I knew what strain it is. It has nodes coming out all over the place.

Of the other plants, about half of them seem to be doing better, are these males I wonder? I am hoping for about 4 females to grow and harvest so, fingers crossed on that one.

My set-up is in a spare room at a friends house, the house is empty as he now lives abroad so security should be OK.

The temperature around the plants is pretty much constant at about 78f, I know it's a touch high but I can't get it any lower. Below the plants (root level) it is more like 72/76f.

I have a home made co2 bottle and a fan blowing across the plants, it runs for 15mins then off 15mins. Not ideal but I guess it will be ok.

I will be geting an extractor fan in about 10 days, I am hoping that will bring down the temperature.

My light schedule is 24 hrs until flowering.

I lost a couple of plants due to adding nutes too early and still have one that I was going to toss but, it looks like it may pull through.

I have 9 and a half plants, (the half being half dead lol) which includes my mystery plant, I germinated the mystery one about a week earlier than the others.

Any suggestions, comments or advice will be very welcome.

Feel free to comment but please try not to hijack this thread. it is my journal after all.

The plants are now 24 days old including germination time.

The mystery seed is A or Alice which is the name I have given it.

Pics below.

 

[Barking Mad]

Man I don't belive it, 25 days into my grow which is from seeds and I have just found out that I can get some cuttings off a mate. I asked just on the offchance and he said, "Oh yes, I meant to mention it to you the other week!!!" DOH! What a plonker, I could have had all females guaranteed instead of spending a month or more wondering what sex my plants are. Oh well, at least I know now I can get half a dozen clones to make sure I have something to harvest at the end of all this. Stroll on the next few days, I will add some pics as soon as I have my new babies. I don't yet know what strain the cuttings are but, I have smoked it and I do know its quality. It's gonna cost me £25 GBP (approx $50 US) for 6 cuttings, is that about right? I think its worth it for all the labour and worry that it saves me.

 

[Barking Mad]

Lol that sounds like a statement from law enforcement. I have given names to some of my babies but as yet, not all of them. They are all lettered from A to J and the ones that I have named are all beginning with the initial, also, there is a criteria, they have to be either unisex or have another meaning. These are the names I have so far.
A, Alice (hoping for a wonderland).
C, Charlie (Girl or boy or ??)
D, Dog, (I have 3 of them including a bitch)
F, Fucker (full name is "sorry looking fucker" - it looks half dead)
G, Genie, (I'm hoping for some magic from this one)
J, Jay, (It's the name of a long time friend and also, I like to smoke J's )

So that leaves B, E, H, K.

Anyone who can come up with some cool names for these last four initials will definately get a +rep from me. If I get more than one good name for any letter I will do poll the winner gets the + (now theres an incentive lol)

WHUFC: I'm West Ham Till I Die

 

[greenbehemoth]

Hi Barking, nice to see you've got your journal up and running, and plants looking good You've got a good plan worked out now as I said before, so hopefully things will go smoothly for you. No idea about the price of clones, sorry. But that doesn't sound too bad to me. Look forward to dropping by to see how you're getting on. All the very best for your grow mate - keep on like you are and you'll be dead on.

greenb.

 

[Barking Mad]

Thanks greenbehemoth. Im glad I got some acknowledgement (not sure I spelt that right!)

I'm sure this is just me being over eager but I'd like a second opinion on these new growths on my mystery plant. They look like hairs, I know it probably just new leaves coming through but, they do not look like the other shoots where leaves have developed.
Is this a sign of my babys sex or a sign of my enthusiasm. She is only 1 month old which seems way too early to be showing it's gender, especailly as I am still on 24hr light schedule.

Here's the picture.

I thought there should be two hairs when it shows itself. Is that right?

 

[unity]

Thanks greenbehemoth. Im glad I got some acknowledgement (not sure I spelt that right!)

I'm sure this is just me being over eager but I'd like a second opinion on these new growths on my mystery plant. They look like hairs, I know it probably just new leaves coming through but, they do not look like the other shoots where leaves have developed.
Is this a sign of my babys sex or a sign of my enthusiasm. She is only 1 month old which seems way too early to be showing it's gender, especailly as I am still on 24hr light schedule.

Here's the picture.

I thought there should be two hairs when it shows itself. Is that right?

A little to early to tell, you will either get balls growing in the area of the stipe or she will show her hair in the form of 2 pistils!

As to the letter 'E'
Name her Eden, for she is the ticket you will need for a little visit to the forbiden place

Good luck mate,
Unity

 

[Barking Mad]

Eden it is, thanks very much lets hope I get to paradise if it's a girl. i did think of ecstasy but that was a bit too Junkified, a bit like calling your Dog, spliff or Rizzla etc

As for the growth, after reading up I believe these are apparant in all or most plants, I thought it was a bit too soon.

+Rep for you for taking the time.

 

[unity]

Thanks mate
How do we give reps and how does it work?

Unity

 

[Barking Mad]

At the top right hand corner of your comment there is a pair of scales, click on that and just follow what it says. example, on this comment there will be a number 9 (9th comment in the thread) the scales and this (!!) for reporting a thread.
I'm not sure exactly how it works. I think it just adds to your points that you get for posting etc etc. Example my status is 'learning how to roll' yours is 'pot head' the more you post and what-have-you the higher your status.

 

[OB Cron Kenobi]

Nice, noticed your sig off another thread, thought i would drop in- looks good so far, best of luck- +rep.

 

[Barking Mad]

I thought it was time to put some new pics on, I am not using thumbnails this time as I personally get tired of having to click on the images to see them properly.

I am going to try to post them in order.
Still learning how to use this site properly.

Here is ALICE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is B (no name as yet)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
This is CHARLIE

-----------------------------------------------------------------
DOG

----------------------------------------------------------------
EDEN

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FUCKER (because its a sorry looking fucker)

------------------------------------------------------------------
GENIE

-----------------------------------------------------------------
H (no name)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
I (no name)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
JAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, here's a picture of the whole gang.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I have been thinking about topping some of the bigger ones. I am wondering; what is the advantage of this, will it take them longer to develop, I know it helps them to fill out instead of going up but, I really need to just see this first grow through as quick and simple as possible without complicating anything. I just thought that of the 8 healthy G13s 4 are growing quicker and if I topped them it would give the others a chance to catch up height wise so they are all about the same height.

Also, does anyone think that Alice could be a sativa? her leaves are much more slender than the G13s which are all indica.

I will be getting a few more bits and pieces this weekend to improve the grow-room. Hopefully some mylar to enclose the grow area and improve the light distribution.

 

[OB Cron Kenobi]

Mylar rocks! I Love it, just got mine.

Topping will slow growth, but will result in two colas that are 75% of what the original would have been each, so ultimatley a bigger yield, thats what i have heard- I chose not to top, cuz it was my first grow, didnt wanna complicate- the weeds not for sale- just needs to grow- at this rate I am glad I didnt looks like I will have plenty.

Alice looks more sativa for sure. I got really lucky and got 8 out of 11 females, hope you get good ratios as well!

Looks great so far.

How do you add your pics like that?

 

[Barking Mad]

Thanks for the rep, yes I saw you on the same thread with the forrest in his attic. I plan to browse some of your posts and follow your experiments. Definately going to follow your suggestion of 24 to 36 hours darkness before flowering.
I learn plenty every day on here.

 

[OB Cron Kenobi]

let me know how it goes on this thread, or preferably that one, their are some others i am waiting to hear what they say... like i say it worked great for me, and 2 others that have reported back to me- no complaints yet...

Best of luck

 

[Barking Mad]

Sure thing. i will be adding some mylar to my grow area this weekend, I need to install an extractor fan at some stage too, I do have a fan blowing across my plants but at night I have to cover the window for security reasons so the air is just circulating instead of exchanging.
What age are my plants likely to start smelling,? Before I flower or after?
My grow room is still a work in progress even though it is probably adequate to see me through to the finish. I am trying to keep it as simple as possible for my first grow but at the same time I want to ensure the best quality and yeild. As we all do.

Finally, how do I subscribe to your journal, or anyones for that matter, I am subscribed to a few but no Idea how I did,

 

[OB Cron Kenobi]

at the top of the page click thread tools, then click subscribe to thread...

To give rep click on the scales in someones post.

and you get autoscribed if you post on their thread.

Smell depending on strain doesnt really get that bad at all- i am at 4 weeks and no smell outside grow area.

Mine is also a work in progress and always will be... thats just how they are...

Hope to see you on my journal.

 

[hothousemary]

Good start!! I look forward to watching your progress! the growth you are seeing I think is just the plant spreading out a lil...How long do you plan to veg? are you going to be cloning and keeping a mother?

 

[greenbehemoth]

Looking good Barking

 

[Barking Mad]

Good start!! I look forward to watching your progress! the growth you are seeing I think is just the plant spreading out a lil...How long do you plan to veg? are you going to be cloning and keeping a mother?

Thanks for stopping by HotMary. I am getting some female cuttings this weekend so I might keep one of those for cloning, I am also considering taking a cutting off one off my current plants (providing they are not all male).

Also, if Alice is female, I might take one from her too.

I am going to see if I can get a couple of fluorescents and set up a seperate vegging area in the loft. I don't want to use the MH up there because of the heat issue being a fire hazard, it would mean running another extractor fan. Therefore my running costs would go up quite a bit.

my original plan was for a 3 month grow, 1 vegging and 2 flowering but I might let them grow for an extra week or so depending on the size.

I haven't used any nutes yet on these, apart from the first week when I nearly killed the whole lot. So I will be introducing them on the next watering. I will start with 25% of the reccomended dose.

Ideally, if I manage to set up another room then I will possibly start flowering one or two of the bigger plants so that if I make any errors I don't lose the lot. it all really depends on what materials I can get this weekend.

 

[Barking Mad]

Looking good Barking

Thankyou Greenbehemoth.